Fear.
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His heart exploded into a frenzied beast, clashing against his ribcage. Eiji felt like he needed to throw up. Eiji needed to throw up.

Dear. Lord. Please let it not be them.

If they saw me, it's over. Eiji quickly took a seat, doing his best to blend in and calm himself down. He marvelled at his phone like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen, not daring for a second to take his eyes off the the inspirational quote Shorter had set as the screensaver.

You don't always need a perfect plan, sometime you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.

Shorter's quote wasn't helping. What I wouldn't give for an invisibility cloak, Eiji added grimly. This was, quiet frankly, absolutely insane. His mother. Kyle. There they were, standing- chatting amongst the men that had tried to shoot Eiji, the men that had ripped wicked grins into their skulls as they rammed gun barrel after gun barrel through blasted windows, igniting the room with a hot, thick blaze of gunfire. Eiji had seen hell in his own house.

"What are they doing here? Mum, you were supposed to be on holidays..." Feeling frustrated, Eiji picked away at his nails. Was his mother involved? No. Surely not. They would be taking her and Kyle hostage, Eiji knew this. They would be tricked, used as bargaining chips, used as tools so the bad guys could get whatever they wanted. Only, why had they lied about being home?

Suddenly, things had become a whole lot more personal.

Eiji stood up as if his seat had suddenly become electric, his knees buckling weakly. Mum. He thought. Mum, why are you here with them? He made his way in clear view to the elevator for the whole world to see. Auto pilot took the reins as Eiji stumbled around his confused thoughts, one after another fogging his judgement.

He hadn't remembered giving his slip of paper, numbers still clear in red ink, to the faceless man that Eiji was sure had mumbled something about leaving while he still could. Reality's trigger had been the closing of two grey, elevator doors. Eiji's gasped, how could he have been so stupid?

Man of the Hour:
Shorter, I stuffed up. Gun guys are here-
they might have seen me, I don't know.

You're Fine Eiji:
Pal don't worry stay calm your ok.
Skipper and I are right here we aren't
gonna leave you. We would never

Man of the Hour:
You promise?

You're Fine Eiji:
I don't break my promises. Also I
don't want to die Ash spoke so
highly of you for whatever reason
I think he'd actually murder me.

Eiji wanted to laugh, but the elevator doors had suddenly disappeared. He was bare, exposed, cornered. Slowly, Eiji placed the phone in his pocket, moving so cautiously like one wrong movement would set a domino of explosives off.

He couldn't see anything more than white walls and a red stained carpet. Somewhat like a spooked cat, Eiji poked his head out from within the elevator- effectively stopping the door from closing in on him. He couldn't let himself freak out, he couldn't let himself give into the fear. He had come this far- and he would go further.

Walking lightly, Eiji stalked the halls looking for room 107.

100. 101. 102.

Shorter and Skipper, the both of them were in position. Ash's location had been confirmed a long time ago. Eiji had made it safely inside the hospital without too much of a fuss, his lied believed. All was falling into place.

103. 104. 105.

Eiji would just have to hope that he would have enough time to plant the smoke bomb before Ash gave it away that the two were indeed, not in a romantic relationship. Yet.

Yet? Eiji's mind echoed, this isn't the time for that. I have to focus, I have to not be selfish. I have to ignore the real reason I'm doing this and pretend to be selfless, just for a little while.

106.

Knock, knock, knock.

Eiji had found room 107.

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Hahahaha, hehehe. What will Eiji discover in room 107 I wonder? You'll just have to wait and see. I'm actually evil.

Oh my gosh guys, 1k views!! fucking woot 🎉🎉
Yay, thank you all! Trust me when I say it's your guys votes and comments that keep me writing this T~T
I haven't gotten this far into a fanfiction in a while, I usually abandon them after like, chapter 5.
I hope to see you all in future chapters~ cuz I will hunt you down with a pack of Banana Fish and brainwash you if you don't. Also, Shorter :'{

See ya next chapter!