Fire

"eh...?"

He was surprised.

"You were... So broken just a moment ago, Aimi, what is this?"

"Ah, this, you ask?" Aimi said in a gentle voice.

"You expected me to sit silent after they tried to remove you from my life?" Aimi said in a low voice.

"W-wa...?"

Aimi went forward.

"W-WAIT! BUT...WE CAN, JUST RUN, RIGHT?"

"No..."

"The reason w-why I helped, you... Aimi...was, I understood how she felt, after the day I conquered Aiko, but this,"

"IS BESERK!"

Lisa was horrified.

Snatch! Rush!

"RYOU! WE NEED TO CATCH AIMI!"

"AIMI, NOOOI....!"

And as Aimi ran towards the electric board,

Rush

"Haah..haah..." She panted

"Ryou, quick! We gotta escape!" Lisa suggested running

"B-but...Aimi, we can't just leave her?!"

"Idiot! She's the one killing all of us! Run!"

"You're right." Ryou agreed.

"Goodbye, Aimi..." Ryou said as he turned back,

Before finally taking the leap of faith

JUMP!

He jumped across two dead bodies, as he ran through the door, almost reaching door-

SCREAM!

"I HAVE REACHED, ITS YOUR TURN, QUICK!" Lisa screamed

"I AM COMING...!" Ryou gasped

Run...run...

.

.

.

FALL!

"WHAT?" Ryou fell as he tripped on his ankle and-

Slam! Shut!

Suddenly, the door shut itself.

"NOOOOOOOOOO...!!!" Lisa exclaimed

"Oh god..." Ryou was now trapped in the room.

"it's controlled by the wires I'm playing around with over here~" Aimi said playfully

Twist

"Trying to escape? Oh my~"

"AIMI! DONT KILL ANYBODY! DIDN'T WE HAVE A NEW CONTRACT?!" Ryou pleaded.

"Exactly, after this, I'll take no lives, and you'll be mine~"

It was no guess, that Aimi went BESERK!

And as Aimi kept stepping forward, marching with her ambitions and goals in mind, she said

"Ryou, if I were madness and I looked into the mirror, I'd see a stranger. Want to know why?"

"It's just how beserk I am, currently~" She seemed proud of what she had just said.

"When I first met you, I expected a generic boy who would be spoiled rotten to the core by the riches of life, clearly never being able to resonate with someone, an orphan like me.." Aimi said to herself.

"That's no true! I resonate with you, please!"

Sfx: giggle

Ahahah!

"I know, right?! It is so beautifully unbelievable that my expectations were dismantled, and yet I was proud. You're quite the foolish man, aren't you, Ryou?"

"Showering an orphan, a killer like me with kindness, love and compassion. For you, it was basic kindness. For me? It was everything I could have ever gotten, even more than I deserved. You made me feel special, and you still expect me to not treat you with my own form of love?"

And as Aimi finally reached the switch, she said

"Oh my~ Isn't every form of love, a love? Even if it's twisted, how can it be different if the feelings are the same?"

Switch...

BOOM!

Chapter 52: Fire

At the Corridor

"Do you smell that?" A factory worker said.

"Smell what?" Aiko was confused

"Idiot! Wasn't talking to you!" The workers left.

"What a huge waste of time!" Aiko said

Quickly, he resumed his ran again

Run!

Sfx: pant

"Haah...haah..." Aiko panted.

"Where could be, Lisa, where the hell he you been?" Tears ran from his eyes.

"Hff...haah... Ugh, did you find anybody?" Lee panted.

Lee clearly didn't have the right body for running even so, the old man tried his best of his physical abilities to help.

"Harold isnt picking up either...!" Lee was frustrated.

"Well, what the hell do we do?!" Aiko was confused.

Harold and Aiko, along with the Taxi driver were searching for Miko, Ryou and Lisa.

But now, Harold, Mai and Michael aren't picking up either.

"Try calling Mai, she might be of help!" Lee suggested.

"No hell! They are probably busy bullying the hell out of Aimi to get their way through the questions!" Aiko refused.

"We don't have any other options!"

"Apart from that, what do we do?"

"Well, Aiko, let us revise our situation first."

"Okay"

"We just met four suspicious people. Teamed up with them. The taxi driver went to search for Miko, which means Ryou isn't there either. Lisa is also missing out of a sudden. and Harold and Mai don't pick up the call... That leaves us with"

"MICHAEL!" Aiko guessed.

"You're damn clever, Aiko!" Lee was impressed.

"Calling Michael should help us, since he's just sitting there watching the whole show, it'll be more than help to us than anybody else."

"You're right ..."

Sfx: pull

Lee pulled out his phone, as he dialed to Michael

Sfx: ring

"He's not picking up...!" Lee panicked.

"The number you dialed, is busy...!"

"Why the hell would he not pick up either!" Aiko exclaimed.

"Let's try again!" Lee was determined.

Sfx: ring

"Shit...it's not working...!"

"Well, whatever! Let's just keep going!"

And so, Lee and Aiko ran to search for Lisa again.

At the storehouse

"What the actual hell!" The taxi driver searched through all the evidences.

"Miko never told us she's interested in unethical medical practices!"

The driver found a knife, a stethoscope and a bottle of sanitizer.

"Just what the hell was she doing with all this?!" Using the little medical knowledge the Taxi driver was taught, he deduced

"With the blood marks coming from the knife, while the room smells all sanitizer-like alcohol, it's easy to guess... RYOU WAS BEING TORTURED." He said with a horrified look over his face.

How could humans be so cruel? He thought.

"It's possible to say that he must have escaped, and the panicked Miko must have ran after him."

"But where would they go?" He thought.

"It's the only thing I can do..." He pulled out his phone as he dialed Miko's number.

Sfx: ring...

Pick up.

"HEY! MIKO! WHERE ARE YOU..."

"Ryou...Ryou..."

"GIVE US YOUR LOCATION!"

"I...Ryou...where's he...?"

"Agh goddamnit! Ryou's with us! Now come here!" The driver lied.

"lies...ALL LIES!"

"I-.... Save... Will save..." Miko said in a weak voice.

Hang...

"She cut the call..." The driver said as he sighed.

"The only people left, to contact, are those four...including that guy..." He said.

.

.

.

At the Corridor

"We haven't tried calling Michael have we..?" Said Aiko in a voice of hope.

"Wait... Should we call him?"

"Hey...tell me?"

Nobody answered to any of Aiko's questions.

He was confused.

"Hey...? Answer?"

"Lee...? LEEE?"

Aiko was confused,

Where is Lee?

"Don't tell me..."

And as he turned back,

He realised

"...oh"

Lee just went the other direction, that's all.

"Nevermind."

Aiko was embarassed, moreover,

Sfx: pull

Pull

He pulled out a phone from his pocket as he called

Sfx: phone ring

Ring....

"Goddamn..." Aiko was frustrated.

And why wouldn't he?

Even Michel didn't pick up.

"Goddamn Michael... PICK UP THE DAMN CALL!!!"

And so, Aiko kept spamming calls onto Michael's phone.

"Sigh... I won't be pick up..." Aiko was frustrated.

Throw!

"AGH!" Aiko threw the phone onto the ground!

"Stupid ass!" He imagined Michael to be probably enjoying the torture of Aimi while he ignored Aiko's call.

"Could they be devising some of their own plans?" He had another imagination.

"It is also highly possible for Michael to have taken over Harold." He thought of another possibility.

"Well, whatever. I should find Lee now, it else he might just disappear too!"

And so, Aiko started walking opposite the phone.

But suddenly-

.

.

.

"..hey!" A voice came from the phone

"HEY!!" the voice only grew louder.

"Huh...? Am I hearing things...?" Aiko turned back.

As he picked up the phone, the first thing he said was

"Who the fuck are you"

"You're seriously asking me that?"

"Yeah"

"Check the contact"

"Huh?"

Aiko looked at the phone

"Oh my god..." He was in shock.

"Michael, its you?!" Aiko gasped

"You're the one who called me...ahh, it's not like I can say I wouldn't be calling you..." Michael sighed.

"Huh? What do you mean? Are Harold and Mai okay? What happened to you?"

"Shut up...you're ahh..asking to many questions..." Michael was out of breath half the time.

"Huh? What the hell has happened to you, answer me!"

"What I'm about to say is crazy yet possible..."

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Aimi...she..."

Stun....

Aiko was stunned with Michael had just told him right now,

Even taking the name of Aimi was enough to cause a shock to Aiko with all the current events taking in place, making Aiko already aware of what was going on.

"..."

"Ah..."

The silence was too loud, that it even reached Michael's deaf ears, as he realised who's the real killer.

He understood that even Aiko has realised what is going on right now.

"Aimi has... broken free. I managed to escape, but you need to be safe." Michael said as he panted.

"...just tell me, how did she break free?"

"Ah..haah..." Michael was still breathing heavily,

He could not understood Aiko's word

And not long in,

Thud!

"Michael...MICHAEL...!"

But Michael didn't respond,

For he had gone unconscious

And wouldn't be in his mind, for now.

"Ah... What has happened on earth!"

"Michael, please respond to me, I'll help you!"

"...a-" a thin voice came from the background.

"Who?" Aiko was curious, yet he was still shaking from all the fear accumalated from what had heard just now in a moment.

"I-... Stop Aimi, that's all he wishes to say!"the voice said.

"Huh? I sure will..."

And as sudden Aiko spoke

"So-"

.

.

.

BOOOM!

"WHAT THE F-"

A CHAOTIC FIRE DISRUPTED THE ENTIRE FACTORY...!

Sfx: run

RUN, RUN RUN!

"WHAT THE HELL HAS JUST HAPPENED!"

Aiko ran for his life, as he stepped over everything that came to his way!

"OH GOD...SAVE ME, SAVE US!"

THE FIRE COUNTINUED SPREADING...

.

.

.

"OH HOLY-" A factory worker said

Boom! Fire!

"HELP ME! IM DYING! WATER...!"

The worker was engulfed in the raging fire.

"What the hell is happening?!" A police officer, who had came for daily factory inspections, said.

"Officer Keiko, we have no idea!"

"OFFICER-"

Keiko was trapped in the fire.

"Bastards! Leave! I'll handle through this!"

.

.

.

Sfx: run

"Haah...haah..."

Pant.. pant...

Lee was still running, he was about to strike gold, but suddenly

"Wait...is that, Keiko?!"

He assumed Keiko could tell Lee something

But what happened next, shocked Lee.

"Oh my god... KEIKO, IS THAT YOU?!"

LEE JUST SAW A MAN BURNING IN FIRE

leap! Rush!

"HAAAAAAAAAH!" He jumped into the fire, not fearing for his own life even for a moment

And as he dived into the raging pit of fire, he

Grab! Twist!

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Lee grabbed the unconscious fallen Keiko and ran through the fire

"AGH!"

FIRE...!

"OH SHIT-"

Lee's clothes were on fire, yet he still countinued to rush through the corridor, in order to save the almost dead Keiko

"Old guy, hang in there!"

"You're older, you know that...Lee?"

"Thats my guy! You're alive, huh?" Lee still had hope.

"you're...Lee? Are you Lee..?" Keiko was surprised.

"Now's not the time to recognise me, pal, let's save you out of here first!" Lee said.

.

.

.

Front of the Main room

After the electric short circuit had caused a eruption of fire in the entire factory,

No place was safe.

Except for the main room itself.

However, the outside, was a hell in itself.

Not because of the fire

But because of the immense guilt.

"W-why did I...help him...."

She said.

As she kneeled down, her hands over forehead, she thought

[Lisa's Perspective]

Why did I help her?

What had gotten into me?

I understand how she feels,

Knowing the feeling of owning your lover, it's wonderful, but

"Remember, I made you feel that way..." Words echoed through my mind.

I remember how she asked me,

To commit such an act with my brother.

It's not like I hadn't done it before, but still, when he's awake? I thought it was absurd!

She tested my purity, impurity, morality, and everything I could think of.

That only raised a single question,

Why?

Why did she ask me to do that?

She's not dumb, and every action of her's are well calculated and foreseen.

Though others claim her actions solve the proble for a temporary amount of time as she focuses on the main thing that is her lover

I'd argue with that and say her solutions, are a fix to even the later problems of life.

"And that's how..."

I realised.

She wanted me to win over Aiko, so that I could feel how she feels for Ryou.

And that's exactly how I understood her exact feelings from her very perspective.

Just like, I had no absolutely nobody to rely on. Or to have a support either.

I was alone, in the void of darkness, I too, had only a spark of light, my brother Aiko.

While just like that, she had a spark of light too.

"When you're drowning and see a hand reaching out to you just so they can pull you out of that drowning hell, it's very easy to get attached and remain indebted to that hand, especially when you're naive and young. Pure and innocent. And have no selfishness or greed over you."

And that's exactly how a posessive lover is formed.

"It hurts even more when the lover who reached their hands out to you act like they never wanted to save you in the first place. I-it..feels like, y-you WANT TO WIN THEM!"

As I trembled, with my hands shaking with the gun that I had held,

Turn

"It's time to..."

I turn the gun around,

Ready to pull the trigger

"If it is for the best, let's just do it..."

What other reasons could I have possibly to live, any longer?

My brother would no longer accept me.

After what I have done, there's absolutely nobody to take responsibility of me. Nobody's going to accept me.

I don't care about just anybody, but my brother, my dear Aiko, even HE WONT ACCEPT ME!

"Haah... I-i..I am a traitor! I deserve..t-to die!"

I am twisted. I helped Aimi's and feel regret while I also believe what she's doing is right.

Goodbye...

And as the trigger pulled,

Trigger...

BANG!

"..."

"I..."

Thud!

"Lisa..?"

"LISA!"

"Lisa!!"

Huh? Who is it?

"ARE YOU OKAY?!"

The voice only grew louder.

Who was it?

"It's the second time you're saving me, huh?"

I had recognised what this voice was, and from whom it came from.

"It doesn't matter, are you okay?"

"So you're telling me... The bullet didn't hit me?"

"Not it didn't, now let's go, Lisa!"

"Thank you, Nina..."

.

.

.

And as Nina carried Lisa, she said

"This place... It's burning!"

"As if I couldn't see that..."

"Well everybody can see it, but what I wanted to imply was, you saw she did it, right?" Nina said in a concerned voice.

"So you know she's the killer too, isn't it?" Lisa laughed a little.

"Are you crazy? I'm one of the first people who knew she's the killer!" Nina said in a high voice.

"How do?" Lisa asked with a weak voice.

To which, Nina adjusted her glasses as she said

"Master Ryou never told us to leave the mansion for a week yet Aimi persuaded us to believe that Master wishes to be left alone for a week in order to be adjusted. Back when he was new in the mansion."

"Interesting, why did you not ever tell the others?"

"I did tell Isabella, though she never believed me! She always had a grudge against Ryou, while she believed Aimi pretty blindly. Why wouldn't she? Aimi was her tutor..."

"Well, now's not the time to discuss these things, let's move!" Nina added.

Lisa nodded to what Nina has to say, though she still didn't had her curiosity be satisfied.

.

.

.

At the other side of the corridor

"HOLY SHIT-"

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS HAOPENING?!"

Alice and Aoi were terrified, they thought the factory was about to be blown

They weren't wrong.

"My paradise vacation...!"

"Holy shit Alice is that all you think of when you're about to die?!" Aoi scolded

"You don't understand what it's like to live!~"

"We'll see about that when you're burnt roasted hard to death!"

.

.

.

"Theres a high possibility that we will get roasted before the factory is even blasted off."

Minoru said as he observed the possibilities.

"Now that we are going to die, shouldn't we atleast go out with a bang?" Takashi suggested

"I don't get you, how do you think we would die?"

"The exit is took far away, even if we run, we are going to just die, isn't it?" Takashi said in a calm voice

"Yeah, that's true. Do you know who could have done this?"

"Anybody who has the floor plan of this factory, honestly."

Takashi and Minoru had the idea that this factory could be blown upto pieces with just a few adjustments upto the electric board Circuit.

The real challange, was to know which wires were in what contraption and which rooms do they lead to. Which required a floor plan.

"Who could have had the floor plan, perhaps Aimi..?"

"It's quite obvious. Who else would want to blow up this factory?"

"Michael, the cash cow?"

"Out of the question, this might be an abandoned factory, but a few workers still visit this place and work. Which keeps this thing running and producing, any blowing up this place would lead to loss of money. A greedy businessman like Michael would never even think of this."

"Then who else? Somebody like Harold?"

"It could be. Wait, speaking of abroad, in this situation-"

"CALL HIM!"

"RIGHT!"

And as Minoru pulled out his phone to call Harold

Sfx: phone ring

"HELLO?! ITS ME, MINORU! ARE YOU THERE?!"

To which, a faint female voice came with a calm and composed tone.

"oh my~ Mr. Minoru, let's meet shall we~"

.

.

.

At the Corridor, from the Storehouse

Sfx: run

Haah...haah...

"I'll save you...RYOU!"

the taxi driver was running from the storehouse to the corridor to make his way towards the main room.

"How could this possibly happen?"

As the taxi driver looked around him, all he could see

Was destruction.

"It's all..."

"EVERYTHING IS BURNING!"

"Michael is probably not safe either. I can't find Lee and the others, Aiko isn't here too! What do I do?"

.

.

.

To which, whilst running,

Sfx: giggle

He suddenly started laughing

"AHAHAHAH...hahahahah " he thought to himself.

"It's the perfect time, to use that."

He pulled out his phone, as he stood in front of the main room gate.

"Calling Michael wouldn't work, if Miachel Ahrold and Others were safe with Aimi, this fire wouldn't have been erupted at all!"

"And...ah, how do I know this?" He said while smiling..

Pull...!

"It's because, this fire wouldn't so big...WITHOUT ME!" He laughed to himself.

"Ahahah....ahahahahhah...AHHAHAHAHAH.... AHAHAHAHHAH!"

the taxi driver pulled out a floor plan as he traced his finger along the room and the wire the contraptions to which he commented

"So, Aimi, you really think you're the on behind this fire...huh? That's what I want you to think, too."

"The thing is, the wires you have played around with, indeed, DO initiate a fire, however, did you not realise the fire only occured in some places of the factory?"

"It's because...you have the WRONG FLOOR PLAN...! AHAHAH!"

sfx: door open

*Creaaaakk

Suddenly, the door opened,

"Huh?"

"Oh look who here is~"

That's right. I controlled the half of the fire and made it even bigger so that you can die in this fire. Since you have no idea how big ge fire will be, and it would obviously exceed your calculations. He thought to himself,

But suddenly, Aimi said

"Your plan failed. The fire didn't even reach my room, fufu~"

"Eh-...? What?" The taxi driver's eye grew apart as he couldn't recover from shock,

And in an instant, he went to screaming and shouting

"AIMI! YOU- I-...YOU NEED TO STOP THIS! STOP KIILING EVERYBODY! PLEASE, WE CAN FIND A WAY THROUGH!"

"I don't have to~ fufu~" Aimi said through Safe distance from the door.

To which, the taxi driver took a sip o breath as he finally revealed his identity

.

.

.

"AIMI! PLEASE STOP! ITS ME!"

"Who?~" She said playfully.

To which, the driver finally revealed his real name.

"I-ITS ME! TAKASHI!"