The Accompanist

Chapter 33: Escape

(Earlier)

It had only been thirty minutes since Boutarou left the apartment, but it was clear to Isuke that Sayaka wasn't going to get any better. She only continued coughing, despite having the mask attached to her mouth. Her breaths were getting weaker and weaker in between coughing fits, and her skin was paler than before.

Mr. Yaketsuko attempted to console her, to prop her up with pillows and get her mind off of the fact that they may or may not have tried to send Boutarou to his doom. But his father wasn't very good at human relations.

Finally, Isuke had enough. He walked over to the foof, putting a hand on his father's shoulder. "Dad. We need to call an ambulance... She's not looking too good."

"But if she goes to the hospital, she'll just be an easier target. Especially if they're trying to kill her... Let's stay here for a little longer. We can call Mrs. Tsukasa."

"Dad, I don't think she can handle a little longer," Isuke whined. He watched her limp hand shake against his father's larger one every time she coughed. "Her breathing is getting weaker... If she dies, Boutarou is going to kill us."

"Do you really think Boutarou could kill me?"

"If he had Mr. Umari or Mr. Utsushima on his side, yes. Yes I do. I'm calling an ambulance." He stood to his feet and dialed the emergency number, explaining Sayaka's symptoms to the operator. 

But the second he hung up the phone, the door to the apartment busted open and nearly scared the pants off of him. A gruff, unfamiliar voice said, "The girl is over there."

His father stood up and drew a long rectangular knife from the sheath on his back, pistol in his other hand. A blank look sat on his face, betraying nothing but eerie calmness as he faced off against the two men. "How did you find this place?"

"Cellphone signal. Yesterday, someone from that fake-blonde boy's contact list visited here... But instead of telling you that, I think I should just kill you and take her. Men!"

Isuke ducked and slipped behind the wall. They wouldn't kill Sayaka if they wanted her as a hostage. And his father could take care of those men singlehandedly.

"Why do you want her?" Isuke figured he'd help his dad out a little by stalling and giving him time to calculate the best possible way to kill the intruders. "I thought you were after the boy."

"Hm." A third appeared in the doorway. "The boy is already in our hands as--"

The man didn't get to finish his sentence, for he had been stabbed.

Mr. Yaketsuko's knife slid cleanly out of the abdomen of the man, blood pooling on the sharp metal and dripping from the tip onto the floor. "Should I kill the rest of you? Or would you rather run?"

On his face was a smile. The same smile that welcomed Isuke home from school. Isuke knew his dad cared for him, but the way that he negated all bloodlust and snuck up to an enemy made him question his father's ability to experience emotions properly.

Muttering curses under their breath, the men pointed their silenced pistols towards Mr. Yaketsuko and shot. But at such close range, it was impossible to kill his dad. Especially not when he could use the man he just killed as a meat shield.

Mr. Yaketsuko made sure to block all the bullets that were headed in Sayaka's direction with the corpse and finally threw it against one of the men before they could reload, sending two bodies crashing back against the wall. His sword sliced through both of them as his silenced pistol put a bullet hole in the head of the other. And with that, he obtained a fresh shield.