Reckoning - Chapter 15

“My God,” Miki gasped.

Umbozu stared at the tableau as if petrified, while Mick turned the air blue.

Before Kaibara’s demented chuckle could turn into laughter, he gurgled. His eyes shot wide as he swayed. With an incredulous expression that would’ve been comical on anybody else, he looked down to where a large crimson stain bloomed on his shirt.

“Wha…” His fingers slackened and the Anaconda clattered on the metal floor. Eyes wide, but going blurry, he turned his head toward the sofa. Toward Kaori.

She stood and smiled slightly.

“Fuck,” Kaibara breathed and collapsed onto his back.

Kaori walked toward him, gingerly observing his supine form; it wouldn’t do to get complacent. When she stood over him, she kicked the Anaconda into the corner, far away from the man’s grip.

“What the hell just happened?” Mick muttered, then cursed again as Ryo let out a pained groan.

Smirking, Kaori walked to where he lay, blinking slowly up into the ceiling. “You still with us, Saeba?”

Ryo groaned again, his eyes focusing on hers. “Fuck,” he hissed. “This hurts.”

“I know,” she replied. “The bruise’ll be a doozy as well.” She extended her hand down to him.

He grabbed it and pulled himself up with another pained groan. “Jesus. I think I’d prefer a bullet.”

She scoffed. "No, you wouldn’t. Aren’t you glad I came by earlier?” She plucked the twisted bullet out of the dark, coarse fabric of the body armor T-shirt. It was lodged right above his heart. She examined it with a frown and a near-silent growl, then flicked it away, looked back up at him, and smiled. “You can thank me now.”

He leaned down and kissed her.

A rather tame, chaste kiss that turned devouring and ravenous the moment she circled his neck with her arms and opened her mouth under his as he tunneled one hand in her hair while the other landed on her butt, pulling her closer. She could get used to this, was her last thought, before sensation and taste took over, and her mind went blank.

Her entire being was focused on points of contact with Ryo. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else existed.

The feel of his silky hair, the soft skin at the back of his neck against her fingertips, the breadth and strength of his hand at the back of her head, holding her still, the stroke of his tongue against hers, the sting of his teeth on her lower lip, the tickle of his nose against hers when he changed the angle of the kiss, the hardness of his chest squishing her breasts, the ridges of his belly pressed against hers, his other hand gently kneading her butt, pulling her groin closer to his, his erection pressing against her mound…

She’d been kissed before, had her fair share of first kisses with men, but this one took the prize.

Her world tilted on its axis, everything around her blurred, and the floor trembled underneath her feet, rumbling, louder and louder.

The explosion shook the ship, making the metal groan and screech, drawing Ryo and Kaori apart, breaking the mindblowing kiss.

“Welcome back,” Mick chuckled from the other side of the glass partition, helping Umibozu steady Hideyuki’s still-unconscious form. “A little longer and we’d have been in for quite a show.”

Umibozu slapped him upside the head. “Moron.”

Mick opened his mouth, but another explosion shut him up. He looked at the two of them. “We got Makimura. You two better find a way out before it’s too late. The ship’s sinking.”

“Yeah!” Umibozu slammed his fist on the partition. “You better not stay in there, Saeba. Enough with being a martyr.”

Kaori grinned at the man, patting Ryo’s chest. “Don’t worry, Umibozu. I’ll make sure he gets out. Even if I have to drag him along.” She winked. “You know me.”

“See you outside.” Umibozu heaved Hideyuki onto his shoulder and followed Mick, Miki, and Saeko out of the cavernous room.

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re trapped,” Ryo said softly. “Maki fried the computers. This partition stays put.”

“I noticed,” she replied, looking at him. “What could they have done here? It’s better; at least someone gets out.”

He smiled slightly and held her hand, and she wanted to scream. This wasn’t the way she thought she’d die. Unable to do anything but wait for the ship to sink. She squeezed his fingers. This wasn’t the way she thought she and Ryo would end up.

If she had to go out, she might as well do it happily. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him softly.

“Son…”

The hoarse whisper broke the kiss and drew their gazes to Kaibara’s supine body. He coughed, blood bubbling from his mouth, eyes searching, gaze unfocused.

Ryo picked up his gun and reholstered it before they gingerly approached Kaibara, wary of hidden weapons. The bastard might be dying, but he could still be dangerous.

He coughed again when he noticed them, his gaze focusing slightly. “There’s an elevator hidden behind a panel in the corner.” Another wet cough. “I was planning on using it to get to the upper deck. The short-circuit disabled everything.” Blood trickled out of his nose and down his chin. “There’s no way out.”

“I always wanted to go out with a bang,” Ryo quipped.

Kaori rolled her eyes. “Now’s not the time for glib.”

He shrugged. “Gallow’s humor.”

“Ryo…Shoot at my prosthesis.” Kaibara’s gaze turned unfocused again as he stared at the ceiling, but his voice grew stronger. “Underneath the floor is the sea. There’s a bomb hidden in my prosthesis. If you’re lucky, it’ll make a hole in the hull…Maybe you’ll be able to escape.”

Was it possible that in his last moments, Kaibara’s insanity finally left him?

“Thank you, Ryo.” Voice once more feeble, Kaibara smiled slightly. “I knew you were the only one who could stop my madness.”

Ryo went down on one knee beside the man who raised him. “I knew that behind all the hate toward me, deep inside your crazy mind, your conscience was howling, begging for help.”

Kaori squeezed his shoulder, her heart breaking for him.

“During the war,” Kaibara continued coarsely, “all I could see was the baseness of humanity, the ignoble madness of it all. To survive, all I could do was to go mad myself and hate everybody else.” A cough rattled in his chest. “Whatever sanity that was left tried to make me trust the goodness in people…But the war destroyed even that, turned me into a crazy, murderous monster. Even after the war, my madness continued to rage…”

“Your heart was too pure,” Ryo murmured. “If I got even one choice in my life wrong, I’d probably share your fate.”

“Don’t say that,” Kaori whispered, squeezing his shoulder again.

“No,” Kaibara whimpered. “You could never take the same path as me. Your ingrained code of honor wouldn’t let you. She wouldn’t let you,” he added, turning his head to look at her. “Thank you for staying with him. He’s lucky to have you, Kaori. You’re lucky to have each other. Don’t waste it.”

“I’m sorry this is the only way I could save you.” Hearing the tremble in Ryo’s voice, a tear rolled down her cheek. “Forgive me, Dad.”

Kaibara smiled. “Thank you…son.” A rattling breath, then his head dropped to the side. He was gone. He was finally free.

Kaori crouched behind Ryo, hugging him as he mourned, sobs shaking his body.

Another explosion rattled the ship, followed by sounds of twisting, tearing metal.

Ryo stood, wiped his eyes, and pulled her to her feet beside him. “We better try to get out of here.”

As he unholstered the Python, Kaori pulled him back. “Let’s try getting out alive,” she told him. “I have no intention of blowing up, if I can help it.” She pulled him back some more, until they were almost at the glass partition. “Aim from here.”

He stepped in front of her, aimed, and she saw red. Skirting him, she faced him and glared. “I don’t need your protection, Saeba.”

He blinked. “What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes. “You have a complex, you see. You need to be a savior. Let me remind you, I don’t need one. I don’t need anyone to stand in front of me, I want someone who will stand beside me.”

Another explosion and the floor tilted beneath their feet.

He glared back at her. “Now’s not the time.”

She shrugged. “We might not get another opportunity.”

He sighed and stepped forward until they were side by side. “Okay,” he said, grabbing her hand with his left and aiming the gun with his right hand. “Here goes nothing.” He pulled the trigger, and a gaping hole appeared where Kaibara’s body was just moments ago.

Hand in hand, they approached it, saw water, the ship shaking and screeching around them. With one last look at each other, they jumped into the hole together.

 

Ryo swam toward the illuminated surface of the ocean, trying to get as far away from the ship as possible, hoping Kaori was doing the same. He lost his grip on her when they hit the water, the currents created by the sinking vessel tearing them apart.

You better be right behind me, Kaori. I can’t lose you again.

He broke the surface with a sputter, flipping his wet hair off his face, temporarily blinded by the powerful searchlight on the chopper hovering above him.

“This is the Japan Coast Guard!” a metallic, disembodied voice sounded from somewhere on his left. “Don’t move.”

These guys sure were geniuses. He smirked. He needed to move; otherwise he’d drown.

“You’re under arrest!”

A gurgling explosion from behind him made him swing around just in time to see Kaibara’s ship sink. Panic swung in. Where was Kaori? He couldn’t see her. He turned, swung in a circle, searching for her in the halo of the searchlight.

Where was Kaori? Hasn’t she followed him away from the ship? What happened to her? Did the ship pull her down?

“Kaori!” he screamed, the wind created by the chopper, muffling any sounds. “Kaori!”

He swung around one more time and saw movement beyond the searchlight. Was that…

Her pale face bobbing out of the water just outside the bright circle of light, she placed a finger on her lips. Then she turned and went under again.

 

As the Coast Guard fished Ryo out of the sea, bundling him with Umibozu, Miki, Mick, Saeko, and still-unconscious Hideyuki on the Kunigami-class patrol vessel PL-10 Bukō, Kaori hefted herself into the speedboat, bobbing stealthily quite a long way from where Kaibara’s ship went down.

She was thankful to have thought of using an extra long line to secure it earlier. As the rope had brushed her cheek as she swam toward the surface, she’d quickly cut it so Kaibara’s ship didn’t pull the boat into the circle of light or into the depths with it, then used the line to find her way back to the boat.

Chest heaving, every single muscle in her body aching, she lay on her back, staring at the twinkling stars, catching her breath.

As the Coast Guard finally departed for Yokohama Port, obviously satisfied with their haul, she started the boat and guided it back into Tokyo Harbor.

As she passed Haneda Airport, she used her burner phone to call Ito. Even though it was past midnight, she knew he wasn’t asleep. He was waiting for updates.

“Hideyuki’s alive,” she said in lieu of a greeting. Before he could ask for an explanation, she continued, “the Coast Guard has him, along with five people under arrest. Including Detective Nogami. Act surprised when you get the call.”

“Where are you?”

“On my way to the pier.”

He sighed. “Roger. See you in the morning.”