10(A/N: This is a story I've worked on a long time ago, every few days I'll release a chapter (as they're all pre-made), but be warned, it's pretty crap honestly, I've always wanted to release it, but I never got around to it… and eventually forgot about it.)
(Hopefully you'll see how I've come a long way from it's childishness writing by nature, please enjoy!)
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Cold… cold and dark would be the very first words that'd pop into Ichika's head if you were to ask him about his current experience, the second words that would pop into his head would be tight and wet… but the main word he'd use to describe his situation would have to be fear. Fear of many things, but currently his biggest fear would be for his own life, fear that in time, would turn to anger… but that's okay, it's okay to be afraid, that's what his Onii-chan taught him, it's what she drilled into his being, he thought about what she said to him for whenever he would be afraid.
"It's okay to be afraid, for that is only one of the many emotions that make you human… but if you are afraid yet still follow through with whatever must be done, then that's what makes you Brave… and you know why heroes are so brave? Because even if they are afraid, they wont let an emotion as pathetic as fear control who they are."
After remembering the words of the wise, he quickly calmed himself and assessed the situation, for fear Will Not control him, he must be strong, he must be brave, for Chifuyu-nee, for Madoka and for his friends. He observed his surroundings, he appeared to be in a small metal room and, at least from his current position, he couldn't make out the color of his metal prison, for there was no light anywhere within, however there were plenty of boxes and crates even a chest here and there, after a few moments his eyes adjusted to the room that contained him, the room looked more like a hallway than a room, perhaps he was in a cargo container of some sort?
'No, the room is unimportant right now, I must remove these restraints.' he looked at the accursed objects that bind him here, a large heavy pair of cuffs as large as his wrists held him in this nightmare, however the chain holding the cuff's themselves look frail and weak, even if he was taught never to judge something by his looks he decided to take a leap of faith and assume his chains could be broken easily… but how…?
He gave it an experimental tug, he was rewarded with nothing but the rustling sound the chains gave him, he looked at what he was chained to instead, it looked to be a handle to the metal box, perhaps a door handle? he couldn't see it very well, but he could try feeling it.
And that's what he did, he felt the base of the chain that imprisoned him here, after a few minutes of trial and error, he finally felt screws, and to his luck they were unbelievably loose. 'Looks like I found my out.' he silently cheered while quickly removing the screws with his small and nimble fingers. After a few minutes of removing the surprisingly long screw, he yanked the chains from the handle, and it came off with a snapping sound followed by a large thud, he wasn't worried about the weight of the cuffs, although he was young, he was quite the strong young man thanks to both of his sisters, and between wrestling with his twin Madoka and his training from Chifuyu he could likely hold or take on someone twice his size, he'd also be able to move these crates if he had to… and seeing the situation he was in at the moment he just might have to.
His chains were tight on his wrists and ankles as well as the large collar around his neck, the tightness made him think of a noose, just the thought of a noose around his throat reminded him of the urgency of his situation, not wasting any time he hobbled over painfully towards where he assumed the exit may be, not paying any heed to the boxes surrounding him at the moment.
As he moved he was reminded of how cold he was, he wasn't in his school uniform when he was captured, he was wearing casual clothes, after all, he was just going to be in the living room all day watching the Mondo Grosso, he wasn't counting on his own kidnapping however… he was still wearing his shoes strangely enough, even though he left them at the door back home, he also wore a pair of shorts and a simple light green shirt… unfortunately he wasn't wearing a jacket of any kind so he was freezing and miserable.
The room was big compared to him, but still small for human standards, the floor wasn't only cold as well, it was unbearably wet, combined with the temperature it felt like iced water clinging to his feet, clothes and binds, at this rate he was sure he'd get frostbite, luckily his shoes were durable so he still had time before such a thing would happen to his poor tootsies, after a few uncomfortable minutes of climbing over and under boxes to get to his desired location, he arrived to find… a bloodbath… a literal bloody bath, he could see much better now thanks to the hatch above him, the hatch was small and although it was see-through, he didn't doubt how thick it was, after all he couldn't hear the rain currently pelting it, he sees the water droplets just fine, but hearing it was a no go.
Back to the scene at hand, he was looking at a literal tub, full of blood…-bags, no nightmare fuel here, not today, though it is a strange way to store blood bags, he looked at the ground, watching the water at his feet ripple and lurch, almost as if he were… floating… he looked back at the hatch, not seeing any doors means this was likely currently his only way out, he could see the emergency release lever just a few feet above him. He looked closer through the hatch, looking for anything that could give him any clues as to where he may be, and through his observations, he could only see a street lamp.
It seems he's been here all day, and now it was night time, meaning the Mondo Grosso was likely wrapping up at the moment, and Chifuyu-nee would win soon… sadly he knew he was going to miss her big moment, and that thought alone brought some uncomfortable feelings to nearly surface, luckily he was strong enough to suppress them, as this was not the time, nor the place to sulk and feel shame. Instead he absolutely had to escape here, so he wouldn't be used as leverage by his kidnappers to make her forfeit the match, if that was what he was kidnapped for anyway, besides, he'll make her so proud if he escaped on his own, as he thought about how proud she'd be the light above him flickered, snapping him back to reality, he hatched a small plan inside his head to escape, it was incredibly simple even a toddler could think it up, though Tabane-nee would probably shake her head in disappointment and think of something much more complicated just for fun.
So he got to work pushing and lifting boxes and crates here and there to make some sort of staircase, he thought about the way he was kidnapped, he remembered sitting on the couch with a bowl of chips and a can of soda, even when Chifuyu taught him to only eat in the kitchen today was a big day, the day he was sure Chifuyu-nee would win the Mondo Grosso once again just like last year, he remembered trying to get his twin Madoka to enjoy it with him, to which she refused stubbornly, having some sort of grudge of some sort with her though she might have just been jealous.
Instead Madoka had gone to her room, who knows what she does in her spare time when she isn't clinging to him, perhaps she studied for school, or perhaps she takes naps, he may never know as she isn't alone often, the only time she leaves Ichika's side is… well, now that he thought about it she never does leave his side no matter what. 'I hope she's okay…' thought Ichika worriedly as he finished his task and climbed up the makeshift stairway he created and reached out to the lever that was sure to set him free, though it was quite difficult climbing not only because of the bulk of the cuffs and chains, but also because of their unbelievable weight that were almost the reason for his downfall multiple times ever since they were put on.
Finally, finally he had his hands on the object of his freedom, with a strong and defiant pull, the latch came free with surprising ease, he was rewarded with an onslaught of the storm hitting him right in the face. But he was a big boy, a little water wasn't going to slow him down, just to be positive he escaped and to be sure of making his sister's proud and full of happiness, though they would likely never believe him when he tells them of his great escape, it'll still amuse them, he was sure of that much, he pulled himself out of the little room he had been trapped in and looked around almost alarmed. What he saw annoyed him, it seems he was on a large cargo vessel, near a shipyard, but not docked, not it was just floating in the middle of the harbor looking ready to depart. The lamp from before was a security light and the supposed 'room' he was in was a container and that handle it seems was a door out of there.
He facepalmed in embarrassment, glad no one was here to see his misjudgement, but he quickly regained himself, he didn't have time for childish games and looked over to a cord that secured the container where it was, he made his was over and climbed down the cord past four containers, then bolted to where he saw the bridge was, he thought quickly, assessing this new development, he was in the open still in shackles and with no weapon and had no way of leaving the ship, unless he got a lifeboat, he couldn't swim with the damned shackles still on him, at the very least he'd like a way to break the chains of the damn cuffs, that way he'd at least be able to move better. He didn't have time to think further into it when he saw a light approaching from around the corner of the cramped space he currently stood in, he was not going to be caught again after he just escaped, it'd ruin his already poor mood.
Instead of retreating he quickly approached the corner where he saw the light approaching from, he didn't have to worry about anyone hearing him, what with the storm covering all his movements, and pressed up against the container he was at and waited… and there he was a man wearing a uniform of some kind came around the corner, it wasn't a military uniform but a company uniform instead.
thinking quickly Ichika slammed his bulky cuffs and fist into the man's crotch, when he doubled over in reaction to the pain he brought the chain on his cuffs around his neck twisting the dazed man into a choke hold in a kneeling position, then using every ounce of strength in his body he could muster, he drew back fast and hard, the man had no way to support himself and was completely vulnerable to Ichika, he couldn't stand with the combined weight of Ichika's own body as well as the cuffs that held him, it didn't help this was all done by surprise.
After a minute of desperate scrambling he eventually fell to the ground in a cold heap, all fight leaving his body, Ichika silently thanked both his sister's as well as every book he read about the human anatomy, he was only able to knock out bullies with this, but he never tried it in a life threatening situation like so, he did it to many children and maybe a few adults, but now it may have just saved his life, he lowered the man to the ground, quickly pulling his chains away from his bruised neck and searched the man's body for anything useful, like a key to his cuffs. 'That'd help immensely.' thought Ichika.
Though there was no luck in finding said key, he did get a small maintenance light, a keycard, several keys that seem to open anything but his cuffs, a lighter, a butterfly knife, and a company radio. He couldn't carry everything himself so he went back to the man and immediately latched onto his oversized jacket, as he pulled it off to observed it, it was a simple brown zip up jacket with a hood, it was twice his size so he wouldn't be able to move comfortably unless he made… 'Improvements'... after a few minute to himself he made the jacket fit him a little more comfortably, he had trouble getting the cuffs through the sleeves but he did it with otherwise no trouble at all (how he do dat?), he had made it more comfortable by cutting off unneeded extensions as to fit his small form better, he kept the scraps he cut away just in case, you never know after all…
Stuffing everything he could into the various pockets he had and putting the hood over his head to keep the rain from hitting his face, he set out in the direction the man came from, not bothering to hide the body, as he went he made sure the radio he had was turned down, he was not going to be compromised by ear-rape noises from a shitty speaker (I blame bad Vines) he clipped the radio to the utility jacket and held the quite small butterfly knife close to his body, he doubted it could kill anyone but it calmed his rapidly beating heart, yes, even after beating a man into submission with ironically the weapons that were supposed to hinder him, he was still afraid, but he continued to push forward, that's what bravery is after all.
Left, right, right, left, right, left up a little, aaand crossroads… this place was quite big, unnervingly so, he felt like he was in a maze, with no end in sight, he wasn't even sure which he way the bridge was anymore… he observed his surroundings for anything helpful once more, there were various sizes and colors of the cargo container maze he currently walked through nothing but metal, the storm as strong as it had been since it first kissed his skin, and oh so dark, he didn't dare use the flashlight lest it give his position away to his captors.
This kept up for quite some time, him wandering around the maze of containers until finally he found a large bundle of electricity cables at his feet, perfect, now all he had to do was follow them and perhaps find a maintenance line to follow back to the bridge, that was roughly the plan anyway, he didn't have anything better to do at the moment… eventually he found himself at another set of container doors, the line going through them apparently, he didn't even think about what might be within the cargo containers… shrugging, he pushed through the container full of… rubber duckies… is this really what was inside a ship of kidnappers? How absurd, and simply silly, shaking his head and pushing the door that sat on the other side of the container, he was met with the bridge itself, completely lit up, white metal, with the english words high above stating the usual 'NO SMOKING' sign, though usually those sat on oil tankers, he supposed it didn't matter to him, he was simply a boy after all, he didn't have to worry about grown up stuff until… well… he grew up!
He made sure the coast was clear before sprinting over to the door that sat not far away and yanked it open, darting in, then slamming it shut with a sigh of relief, the hallway was well lit up, the lamps swaying ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably so, the hall was short and to the point next to a set of stairs that led up and down the ship, there were pipes here and there of various colors, the floor looked like a factory floor, an ugly brown, but the walls were all white like a lab, doors left and right going into many labeled room, though labeled mostly in english.
This was going to be a headache, now that he was in the bridge he had no idea how to proceed, should he follow the hallways still, perhaps go up or down the stairs… decisions decisions, he could always go back to that maze that's already wasted his time for the past… forty-five minutes perhaps? "Ugh, so frustrating, okay, must make a plan, gotta decide… radio room would help, I could… no, no one would believe me, perhaps they'd believe it was a prank, I can't just say, 'Hi, I'm Ichika Orimura, little brother of Chifuyu Orimura, and I'm currently on an unknown container ship, in an unknown harbour, with unknown people with unknown motives'… yeah… I don't even know where the radio room is. And even when I find one I refuse to call Onee-chan and cost her the win in the Mondo Grosso, heck, that might be exactly what they kidnapped me for, for her to forfeit the win, I won't be the reason that she loses…"
While he had his little monologue out loud he had been wandering the halls the entire time, already lost within the behemoth once again… but it wasn't long until he walked into a container room below deck containing a very alarming sight, he had walked into a room where he heard voices, one voice was smug and sounded quite old, it was obviously a man's voice, the other sounded like it was distorted in some way, though not in a bad way, more like it was from a communicator of some kind, he crept closer, to the voices and cautiously looked in between a set of crates, then he eavesdropped.
"-nd you sound awfully sure of yourself Brunhilde, perhaps you have misheard me, let me spell it out for you again: I have your siblings as my hostages, and I am fully willing to pull the trigger to end both of their lives, if you fail to forfeit the championship, then they will undoubtedly die from your arrogance." said the man, he sounded smug, and there was more than a hint of annoyance in his voice, then Chifuyu responded unexpectedly in an unusually cold hearted tone.
"I heard you the first time snob, it is truly disappointing that they'd be kidnapped so easily, perhaps this was a long time coming for them, especially my brother, this should teach him to stop being so dependant on me like he always is, self-reliance is something I had to learn at an early age, I'm not going to save them, if they wish to escape they must do so on their own." she finished in a humor filled tone, this made Ichika wince in hurt. 'Is this really what Chifuyu-nee thinks of me, being entirely dependant on her?… surely she's bluffing… right?' No, he didn't have time for this, he started to sneak away when he started to hear the man yelling angrily at his sister…
No, something else caught his attention in that conversation, apparently they captured Madoka as well, he wasn't going to leave her, there was no way in hell that he was going to leave his twin behind, no matter what. He almost completely departed when he heard the man slam an angered fist into the table he stood at, and he listened to what he had to say. "That slut! How dare she hang up on me, I'll show her, you! Get the girl right now! I'm going to fucking blow her brains out, that'll show the bitch." yelled the man at an unseen subordinate, the subordinate replied with a question: "Why not the boy?" and the first man replied with "She obviously cares a great deal less about the boy, besides, someone else is already bringing him here… though he is running late…" he shook his head, then after a moment of silence he glared. "Don't just stand there you buffoon, get the brat right fucking now, we're on the clock you know!" the second man scrambled to obey, when Ichika heard him coming his way he himself followed his example and scrambled between an opening between some crates, when the man passed, Ichika wasn't far behind, this man was going towards Madoka after all, if he understood correctly, and Ichika was also looking for Madoka, might as well deal with the deck he was dealt.
The man was apparently in a hurry, Ichika almost lost him multiple times but he was a stubborn and clever child and found him easily again without too much trouble, luckily they were close to where she was, after going down many flights of stairs the man went to a small closet looking area, pulling out a set of keys, thinking this was likely the place Ichika jumped from a conveniently placed set of boxes and lunged for the mans back, Ichika threw his arms above the man's head, wrapping the chain around his neck. The force and momentum from the jump as well as Ichika's weighty surprise attack, caused the man slam into the iron door supposedly containing his sister, cracking the view port with his face and falling unconscious almost instantly.
Ichika honestly thought he'd have to suffocate him just like the first guy, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, the key was already inside the lock, he gave the key a careful turn that unlocked the door, and was immediately greeted by darkness, wasting no time he searched for a light switch and flicked it on. After a few moments of looking around he saw her, his poor poor Madoka was suspended from a wall on the far end of the iron closet, she looked like she's been crying for hours, and he could hear her pitiful sobs, Ichika couldn't bare the sight and quickly hobbled over to her, this wasn't the usual Madoka he looked after, the usual Madoka was a spunky spirit… a girl that never cried. "Madoka I'm here, don't worry everything's gonna be completely fine now." he continued to say sweet things to her without pause, while quickly cutting away at her ropes with the butterfly knife he had yet to sheathe, as soon as she was freed she threw herself into his arms, crying softly into his shoulder, he patted her back in a soothing manner, whispering sweet nothings into her ear.
"Let's go home, I can't stand being here anymore..." she quietly stated after a few minutes of calming down thanks to Ichika, thankfully she seemed to be much more composed and allowed her expression to return to it's usual glare. "Well? What're we waiting for? Let's get the hell out of here Twerp." yep, back to her somewhat usual self, he nodded with false confidence and told her of his non-existent plan of escaping, after hearing said plan she was hesitant, although she was the one to usually make the plans, she quickly put trust into the only one who had never steered her wrong, never lied, never lost, she trusted him and him alone with her life… he always put her before himself, so she decided to cooperate with him always, even if she was afraid or believed she'd be a better leader or that they'd somehow fail, as long as he was there everything would be fine, she was sure of it.
And so he winged it, he didn't have a real plan, but as long as he had her fooled and feeling safe he felt at ease, he couldn't bear to see her afraid and unsure of herself, usually she was confident and strong and never needed his support, but right now she needed his support, she needed a plan, and someone to confide in this unfamiliar situation, he was never kidnapped before so he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do, but he needed to keep his confident facade for her sake.
After multiple flights of stairs and a few hallways he finally made it back to where the angry screaming man was previously, upon entry he noticed he wasn't there, the plan Ichika told Madoka was that they'd contact someone to rescue them, like Tabane-nee or something he didn't mention Chifuyu for her sake, after all Madoka despised Chifuyu for an unknown reason, after multiple attempt at trying and failing to contact Tabane-nee and eventually even Chifuyu-nee he started to contact the police when the man from before walked in: "Hey, what do you think your doing little brat! Where the fuck are my boys?" as he spoke he started to approach with his gun drawn, pointing it threateningly at Ichika, each step he took spelled doom for the boy, Madoka was frozen stiff in fear at the sight of the gun, Ichika was the only one who could bail them from this situation.
When the man was less than three feet away Ichika picked up a coffee cup from the table and spilled the steaming contents on the man's face, weather he was screaming in rage or agony didn't matter to the Orimura boy, taking advantage of the moment Ichika climb onto the table and tackled the man, the man fell easily, surprised that the boy was putting up such a fight so easily, unfortunately he quickly retaliated by pulling his gun up to Ichika who was right above him, Ichika noticed the movement and had one hand firmly grip his wrist while the other was on the man's gun, with one finger where the trigger sat.
After a minute of struggling Ichika finally got the gun to point at the man's head, switched the safety off, and finally blew his brains out, the shot was deafening and shook Madoka out of her paralyzed state, while Ichika just sat on the now noticeably fat man's chest… he was covered in sweat and shaking uncontrollably, panting heavily… he had just killed this man, this man that had kidnapped them and planned to kill him and his sister for a stupid championship… Ichika had experienced his first kill at the age of eight(8) years old while kidnapped to protect himself and his sister… and he had no idea how to feel about it, there wasn't any guilt for sure, he didn't feel angry or sad, not even happy… just…
Empty…
While he sat there in a dazed state covered in the man's blood that now ran down his face, Madoka went to a TV that sat near the table he leaped from, apparently she was curious about the Mondo Grosso as well, as soon as she turned on the TV it went immediately to the Live Broadcast currently watching his sister's match, hearing the ruckus Ichika somewhat snapped his gaze away from the corpse he still sat on, he stood up and sat down in a heap on a chair near Madoka, holding the gun that he killed fatty with, Madoka followed his example and sat on the chair next to him, looking and feeling annoyed, like they completely forgot that they were kidnapped at the moment.
What he saw… made him feel so many emotions that he previously was empty of, he saw Chifuyu delivering her finishing move in her IS… and she looked so happy, if he wasn't currently kidnapped he would have cheered for her… but at this moment he felt many emotions and thoughts run through him, he felt joy that she had won once again, anger that she seemed so happy while he was trapped in this nightmare even after he had just killed someone for the first time in his life and had no one to comfort him, but most noticeable was sadness… he was so sad that she was happy without him… he remembered the way she spoke about him to the fat man, she sounded careless and disappointed… and assumed she was careless when it came to him, and that she was disappointed in his weakness… even after hearing that her only family was kidnapped and that they'd die unless she forfeit, she continued to fight in the Mondo Grosso with that knowledge… did she truly care for him? The joy and anger burned away, being trampled by shame and guilt and so, so much sadness, he felt his heart tighten and tears threaten to spill.
He tore his gaze away reluctantly to stare at the gun in his hands, when he heard the door open and someone walk in, he shot the gun from its resting spot from his knee and shot exactly where he knew the door was without looking, the man that stood in front of the door fell with a cry of pain, yelling curses, without hesitation Ichika stood, walking calmly towards the man he shot, when he was in front of the man he watched as he brought his gun up to kill Ichika, Ichika didn't hesitate to fire into the man's wrist, it wasn't hard considering the distance. The gun dropped and the man started screaming while throwing insults at the boy, Ichika pointed the gun at the man's head and spoke in an unsettlingly calm tone: "Where on this ship can I find a working IS? If you cooperate I will not have to hurt you like I did your boss there." the man looked confused when the boy said this, he looked behind the boy and saw that, indeed, his boss lay in a bloody heap on the floor.
Ichika was on autopilot, an autopilot of what no one knows, he seemed so calm about killing someone just now, and even used the gun like he had it his whole life, and when he spoke it unnerved the man, this was a child they kidnapped isn't it? not some kind of child soldier right? The man decided to take a gamble just this once to the boy, not like the kid can use an IS anyway so why hide the information "There are a few IS stationed on the roof of the ship, what's it matter to you?" the man answered clutching his wounds, upon hearing what he said Ichika paused, why did he want to know that? Then he remembered he had Madoka with him, after a minute of thought he was about to lower his gun when the man lurched for his previously dropped gun, Ichika had no choice but to quickly end his life, by shooting him right in the head, he made sure it was quick, there was no need to make the man suffer, he was just a grunt and he had no time for games.
He grabbed the dropped gun and turned to look at the horrified looking Madoka. "C'mon Madoka, we must escape if we want to celebrate with Chifuyu-nee on her second win…" Ichika said shakily, it seems the weight of killing people was starting to catch up on him already, he wouldn't give it the chance right now, he had to keep the adrenaline pumping. "You just killed him, you said you'd let him live…" Madoka looked unsure of what she were saying, she couldn't believe the kind and gentle brother of hers had just killed someone right in front of her, twice, and didn't even seem bothered by his actions in the least.
"I know, but I can't let that bother me right now, the only thing that matters is keeping you safe Madoka, and even if it kills me, I'll do it, your too important to me, if I gave that man a chance to live he would have hurt us, he would have hurt you… I won't let that happen Madoka, I love you too much." at his words made her unsure feelings turn warm and happy, her heart beat painfully in her chest at his words, and her face flushed… Madoka Orimura was embarrassed.
She didn't have time to process this however when Ichika presented her with one of the pistols he had taken' when she was about to refuse he gave her a pleading look, and said that just in case if she absolutely has to, that she didn't have to use it but it would ease his worry for her, she looked into her murdering brother's eyes and gave a soft sigh and snatched it from his grip. He smiled brightly at her and gave her a look of relief before he motioned for her to follow him, leaving no room to argue.
After a few minutes of walking silently, not counting Ichika's chains rustling the whole way, and soon they were at the top of the stairs, now they just had to climb the ladder leading up, climbing the ladder Ichika opened the hatch without hesitation, when the hatch opened he immediately noticed a change in scenery, for one thing it looked like it was early in the morning, the storm hadn't calmed one bit, but most noticeable of all… they weren't in the harbor anymore, he could only barely make out that Japan was a somewhere off in the distance behind them, he looked around the roof and noticed a few IS… currently being piloted.
"Fuck." Ichika stated the obvious, unfortunately the pilots heard, and upon seeing him, they immediately opened fire without hesitation, Ichika dropped back down through the hatch pulling his twin with him and covering her fall, when they landed Ichika let out a yell of pain when he fell, but quickly recovered and stood up and shouted at Madoka to hurry up and run, they were lucky they moved when they did or they'd be dead, the spot they were previously was full of bullet holes, Ichika didn't even bother returning fire, he knew that small arms fire was useless against an IS unit, after a few minutes of running for their lives, and Ichika repeatedly having to save Madoka from death they found themselves emerging from a lower deck of the ship and appearing back in the container maze, he doesn't know how long they did this benny hill bullshit but somewhere along the line the storm, combined with the IS pilot relentlessly hunting them down got the ship to catch fire, apparently there really was a real reason to have a 'NO SMOKING' sign on the ship, many of the stray bullets caused many things to combust or otherwise explode, now most of the ship was on fire.
There was smoke everywhere, the fire was nipping at their heels, and bullets were flying over their heads, Madoka was shivering furiously, the only thing keeping her moving was fear, adrenaline and bravery, as showed as an example by none other than her twin at the moment, they were surrounded, Ichika returned fire to a few men to were still lurking around with rifles and pistols, in one direction was a fire they had no hope of making it through, in the other were men and women they also had no chance of making it through, no, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of killing them, Ichika grabbed Madoka's hand and rushed around the fires going through the occasional container until finally, they were trapped.
"Dammit… c-c'mon, we can make it out of this, let's just go back through those container's a-and maybe uh… w-we'll figure it out..." Madoka clutching tightly to her gun, shaking from the adrenaline pumping, as well as clutching at Ichika's arm, Ichika knew she was trying to be brave for his sake, he was too, but he couldn't let that slow him down, there was only one thing he could do at this moment, he turned to his twin and spoke words that would haunt her for the rest of her life: "I know… so in order for you to live, I will be the one that must die."
She looked mortified at his words. "I-Ichika? Stop talking nonsense… we'll find a way out of here… together!" he shook his head sadly and continued. "Madoka, even if we escape this fire, I cannot pilot an IS, and you are in no condition to fly either, even if we escape the monsters that kidnapped us I cannot swim, these chains will pull me down to my death no matter how hard I fight… but just because I will die, that doesn't mean you will too… you aren't bound by chains like I am, you can fly and be free, while I remained a chained for your sake, you will live and I'll follow through with my promise…" she interrupted him. "Shut up twerp! we can find a lifeboat and leave together so just hang on!" she looked around frantically in hopes to find some way for them to both live, but he merely shook his head sadly, grabbing a life vest that hung on a hook nearby and putting her into it while she was distracted. "Even if we find a lifeboat that's not already deployed these people will just capture us again and kill us… please live for me Madoka, I love you… I'm sorry!" he finished strapping her into the vest. "I-ichika? What are you doing? No! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You can't do this! Ichika! Ichika!?" he gave her a hug and a loving kiss to her forehead before he tossed her through the fire that previously obscured their vision to an open gate that lead into the ocean below… but just because he couldn't see her, didn't mean he wouldn't hear her last cry of despair: "ICHIKAAAAAA!~"
The last thing she remembered of her beloved twin brother was his sad smile before he was engulfed in flames and an explosion that she was positive must have killed him. As she fell down into the ocean below the ship only one thought ran through her head, the thought was the embodiment of denial: 'No, he didn't just sacrifice himself so that I would live… he… he can't be dead… I was never able to tell him how I… never tell him… oh please, no…' when she hit the water she looked for a way to get back onto the ship, but before she knew it the ship had left her behind. Even with the chaos currently surrounding the ship, it was still moving with purpose, and propeller's urging the ship onwards at speeds she couldn't hope to keep pace with.
"No! STOP!~ ICHIKA! I… I wasn't ever able to tell you how I felt… no… M-maybe he'll be okay…" she tried to rationalize, as she watched the ship get further and further away she started to regret the way she had treated him… whenever she hit him or yelled at him he always rationalized it as tough love, no matter how many times she cut him, no matter how many broken bones, no matter how many times she declared her hate for him he never stopped loving her… she believed it was just him putting up a tough facade, but one day, when she was being gained up on by a few of their senpais from the kendo club, he was right around the corner… and hadn't allowed a single hit to touch her… at that point she always hid her feelings by acting rashly, pretending to hate him, even when they were inseparable, she always acted like she hated him, no more beating him to near death… but she never once showed she loved or cared for him… just like Chifuyu… she had to keep swimming, to be close when he escapes, to tell him how much she really appreciated him.
After a few minutes of swimming and thinking of a way to… 'show her love.' to him, she saw something that has traumatized her ever since, the ship was engulfed in fire, before being obliterated from somewhere inside… she watched helplessly as it sunk down into the unforgiving ocean floor, the unknown vessel, the unknown organization that kidnapped her twin and herself, and the unknown-no- the known fate of her heroically selfless brother that had sacrificed himself and gotten revenge on those people for doing those terrible and unforgivable things to them… it was too much for her to handle.
'I… lost my chance… I never even said goodbye…'
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"Ichika…" Madoka's eyes filled with tears as she saw the last trace of the ship that was responsible for her brother's unforgivable fate, she slipped unconscious from grief and exhaustion and was later picked up by a patrol boat going to investigate an SOS from a cargo ship just a few miles away from the harbor it had departed from them only a few hours ago, after an extended investigation and endless searching around the sight, Madoka was declared to be the sole survivor.
Currently she is being escorted home by the Gotanda family father, Ran and Dan's parents who were in charge of looking after them until Chifuyu returned. "Are you okay Madoka? Don't worry, I'm sure your siblings won't be mad at you for being in trouble, it's probably just a misunderstanding." tried to comfort Dan who misunderstood why they were taking her home from the police station of all places. "Yeah, knowing Ichika he'll probably just smile and laugh saying that it wasn't your fault." continued Ran who had no idea about the weight her words carried, Madoka said something under her breathe that the other siblings didn't catch, when they asked her to repeat a little louder she complied.
"I said… I said he's dead…" the other siblings looked uneasy and felt disbelief when she continued. "That's why I'm being taken home now, me and Ichika were kidnapped yesterday… when we tried to escape he… he..." Madoka almost broke down in that moment, but kept it all in, she didn't snap at the two, she didn't sound cold, besides Ichika, Ran, Dan and Rin could barely be counted as friends but she knew Ichika and them were close so she thought they deserved to know, when they pulled up to the front of her house she turned to them as said one last thing before she went inside. "Can… can you go tell Rin for me… I… I need to be alone right now…" when they heard her request they nodded quietly, still unsure of this horrible news presented to them, before she nodded back to them then went back inside to mourn her other half.
After a few days of an uneasy silence surrounding the area from hearing the news about how one of the sweetest and most helpful neighborhood kids had passed on, the eldest Orimura returned to the house slightly irritated, she returned back to the house slightly earlier than she'd have liked, though on the phone she was told it was an emergency concerning Ichika, she didn't even bother calling their neighbors as she wasn't really... social per se when it came to other people, when she approached she was surprised to see that Madoka decided to greet her, she was caught off guard both because Madoka never greets her home, and because when she is anywhere near Chifuyu she'd constantly scowl and snarl, instead Madoka looked like she was running on raw will power, when Chifuyu got close enough Madoka started shaking uncontrollably and started to break down quickly throwing herself into Chifuyu with open arms.
Chifuyu was surprised, at first thinking that Madoka was bursting with joy… until she spoke "Chifuyu huhuhu~! I-Ichika…" her grip tightened onto the elder sister, Chifuyu was quick to comfort the younger sibling she was usually on bad terms with.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?... and where's Ichika?" for a moment she thought Ichika might have been the reason she was crying, then as quickly as it came she brushed that thought aside, Ichika would never hurt Madoka, or anyone for that matter.
"He… He's Dead!~" Madoka wailed, completely catching the elder sibling off-guard. "W-we were kidnapped a-and we got s-s-separated and later he came back and saved me, h-he k-killed some of them a-and then there was a fire… and then an explosion… he Protected me… he's de-he-he-" she wasn't able to finished her recalling as she had completely lost it, burying her head into Chifuyu's chest seeking comfort in her only remaining family member.
Chifuyu Orimura was unamused and moved inside with Madoka, believing this to be some stupid elaborate joke, when she set Madoka on the couch, and stood up straight. "Ichika!~" she called into the house, Madoka decided that if Chifuyu wasn't going to believe her, she could see for herself, after a few more attempts of calling Ichika she got frustrated and started heading up the stairs, checking every single room, bathroom, closet, her room Ichika's and Madoka's room, even the addict she went down stairs and repeated the process, as time went on her heart started dropping and her mind raced furiously. 'No, that was just a stupid bluff… there's no way they were actually… oh god…' instead of checking with the neighbors she frantically called Tabane-nee to see if she could figure out where Ichika was, she was not prepared to be greeted by a very not Tabane sounding… Tabane...
"H-hi Chifuyu… congratulations on your second win in a row…*Sniff* you did… really good…" Tabane sounded not only normal, but Sad she never does that… something was seriously up. "What's wrong Tabane? Did one of your experiments mess up again? Upon saying this Tabane spoke without a doubt in her tone: "Yeah… it's the biggest failure that's ever happened… I didn't expect it to turn out like… like That… I'm sorry Chi-Chan… I need to be alone right now… rethink how I do things… and who I hang out with." the last part was said under Tabane's breath, and it was filled with so much disappointment, so much regret that for a moment Chifuyu considered the fact that she might not be speaking to Tabane at all… it was then realization finally hit her. 'Oh god… do… are they saying Ichika's dead?…' if only everyone knew the truth of the fate of the Male Twin.
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(Meanwhile…)
Ichika was currently washed up on a beach somewhere, passed out, after a few minutes of laying there he started to stirr. 'Where am I?' was the first thought that ran through the young boys head when he woke up, he quickly sat up after recalling what happened before he passed out, after throwing Madoka overboard he rushed somewhere below deck and and made an important piece of equipment catch fire, the fire quickly spread from below deck before getting into multiple fuel tanks and engine rooms, causing the ship to be engulfed in an explosion that would have surely killed him… 'Wait… shouldn't I be dead right now?' realization dawned upon him that he should indeed be dead…
'Then how'd I survive… ugh, I suppose that's unimportant, right now all that matters is that I am indeed alive and well… now I just need to figure out where I am…' with a plan in mind, Ichika stood, albeit shakily, and walked along the beach, the ocean to his right, and the sand at his feet, with the jungle to his left… "JUNGLE? Where the hell am I really at?"... the poor boy seems to have short-circuited… after a while of walking and trying to rationalize his endeavor, he came across a truly unexpected sight, just up ahead was a lifeboat being surrounded by a pack of Hyenas, after a few minutes of watching them, it seems the lifeboat was too high for them to infiltrate, unfortunately there didn't seem to be a way around the Hyenas onto the lifeboat for shelter or supplies, possibility of survivors is unknown.
He didn't want to risk grabbing their attention and becoming their next meal, if there was one, maybe he could take it, but he couldn't take… fourteen, there were fourteen Hyenas and not a single one has noticed him, he decided not to push his luck and quickly retreated back where he came from, as he retreated he decided to take in his surroundings, the ocean was a beautiful azure blue, the sky being much clearer, no sign of any storms any time soon, though he would be sure to find shelter anyway, the air felt fresh, so much different from where he lived, the cool breeze that kissed him and his clothes, the jungle looked a particularly bright shade of green, and the sounds felt so soothing, the birds chirping, the splashing of the wind on the shoreline… it looked and felt like paradise.
He was interrupted by the sound of his stomach grumbling in complaint, obviously not as appreciative of the sight of his surrounding like he was… shaking his head in slight amusement he decided to take inventory.
(Inventory list)
1 Flashlight
1 Knife
6 Cut Rags
1 Company Radio
1 Pistol
3 Pistol Mags
1 Lighter
1 Keycard
He doesn't have much, the rags he can make into bandages if he needs to, the pistol was miraculously still in working order, so were the mags, does that mean his jacket was waterproof? Apparently it does as the flashlight might not be waterproof, it was also inside his zip pockets, unfortunately the company radio wasn't small enough to fit inside his pockets, after checking it over it seems he can't call for help with it, but it does seem to work as he is able to tune into frequencies… that's a relief, it also means the batteries aren't fucked either… either the radio isn't waterproof and only damaged the mic, or it is waterproof and it got banged up along the great escape from the kidnapper's ship.
He also still had a lighter which would definitely be useful… and finally the useless keycard… he never did think of actually using it, aside from unlocking a few locked door's… it was a bit disappointing if he were honest, he decided that this card was still going to be useful somehow in some way, shape or form, then promptly stuffed it to the bottom of his shoe for a later date.
He looked himself over once again, the chains and cuffs still clutching onto him for dear life even the one around his neck, he was surprised his neck wasn't broken by now, unfortunately his collar was connected to the chain keeping his wrists together, but not his ankles, his ankles chain was far apart enough for him to lightly jog but that's about it… it was a pain in the ass when he tried to escape, he kept tripping over himself, also they were still quite heavy, each individual cuff felt like Chifuyu-nee's bokken+2, he was pleasantly surprised he was still moving even with these weights stuck to his body… but he'd still at the very least like to eradicate this chain as to let him move more fluently when in a confrontation, although they were a help in the past, they were still obstacles stuck to his body that he didn't intend to kept any longer. Upon closer inspection of the chains, he noticed they were a dark black color, reminding him of Ebony, but what really got his attention was the pulsing Red lines that certainly weren't there before…
"Ebony Shackles huh?" he asked out loud, obviously to himself… he wondered who put them on him anyway, if he was being completely honest they had actually grown on him since they were first found and he first woke up with them on… he realized if he didn't actually have these shackles he'd likely be dead, them being used as weapons to take down his wardens, then seemingly suddenly tightening when he's about to get shot to death, causing him to trip and accidentally dodge… he owed his life to these shackles… and after a while he wasn't so sure he wanted to remove them now.
Now that he thought deeper into it… he remembered being able to spread his arms and legs wider now than before, even when he was running with Madoka he was actually able to Sprint, not Jog, and whenever he had to attack someone the chains seemed to shrink or the cuffs would get heavier or lighter depending on the situation… 'Heeey… did these cuffs purposefully trip me when I was about to get shot…?' after a moment of serious thought. . . he laughed, he laughed so hard he was sure his sides already hurt, he laughed because it hurt so much, was he already thinking that these damned things suddenly have a consciousness and had saved him multiple times. . . how pathetic of him.
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
*Smooch* In his moment of weakness and vulnerability, he confided in his prison the only way he knew how to, he closed his eyes in a show of surrender. leaned his head into his cuffs, and kissed them firmly where the locks would be. "Thank you." he whispered. And he meant it, he knew that without his mobile prison guard he'd no doubt be dead before he even started… he doesn't know how long these cuffs have been stuck to him, and he doesn't know how else it may have helped him, he didn't know if these cuffs could hear him, he didn't know if it could feel him, or even see him, or how much longer they'll be stuck to him… but he knew for absolutely sure that he didn't want them coming off any time soon, maybe the chains, but they might be his cuffs only tools to keep him safe, as strange as it sounds, he wasn't ever going to dispose of these cuffs…
"I won't let you go… Ebby… you don't mind me calling you Ebby for short do you?" at the moment his eyes were closed, so he didn't see the bright red pulse rush through his cuffs, and a warm and comfortable feeling that ran through him, though even if he did, he probably wouldn't believe his eyes and chock it up to his hunger getting revenge on him. He was going to treat these cuffs as his best friend or better yet, family, just like in that one movie where that American had a friend called 'Wilson'... or was it a Frenchman… was it even a man at all? In this day and age girls were the star's of everything now… ugh, it doesn't matter, all that mattered to Ichika was that he wasn't alone at the moment, he had his current best friend right here, right now.
He gave his cuffs, or 'Ebby' an appreciative pat, then stood up and at attention, after all, he might be here awhile… so first things first: Food… after a few minutes of searching he came across a tree that housed a cliche tropical food… coconut… he was definitely going to use it to bath as well, might be nice smelling like coconuts… then again, it might be best not leaving a scent behind with the current situation, bummer… after collecting some coconuts he found a few berry bushes… though he didn't know to tell the good ones from the poisonous ones… he decided to grab them indifferently and test them out later by using traps, then he'll know the good ones from the bad ones… after that he wandered around and found a patch of trees that nearly made his eyes pop out of his head, it was a patch of mango trees, and they looked so, so good… he climbed up with great difficulty and collected a small handful, then went back towards the beach.
Now that he had his fill of mangos he had to find shelter… it didn't take him long to see a bent over tree with leaves making a makeshift roof over a small patch of soft dirt, he wasted no time in digging up the soft dirt and making a trench hut… he decided this was only temporary, as it wasn't nearly good enough to keep him safe…
(Inventory list)
1 Flashlight
1 Knife
4 Cut Rags
1 Company Radio
1 Pistol
3 Pistol Mags
1 Lighter
1 Keycard
4 Mango's
27 Blueberries
5 Coconuts
2 Makeshift Bandages
18 Small Sticks
6 Small Rocks
Currently he didn't wanna bother breaking his skull trying to open a coconut, he made two of the spare rags into bandages, and around the immediate area plenty of rocks and sticks he decided to collect… one thing that got Ichika slightly baffled was that he didn't find a wallet or phone in the jacket he took, but that mystery was quickly solved when he rationalized that it could have been in his pants pocket… except he searched those pockets too… "Meh, doesn't matter now anyway."
He thought about that life boat that was surrounded by Hyenas… and for some reason he was filled with anxiety for multiple reasons, one was that there must be a lot of amazing supplies on board, another was for that being a great shelter to be housed at, as long as he added defences of course… but there was the little though in the back of his head full of 'what if…' what if there were survivors perhaps, sure they were the people that kidnapped him… and they were surrounded by hyenas… that didn't sit right with him, the more he thought about it the more sure of himself he was, why else would hyenas surround that damn thing? Likely because they smell Prey, dammit, he wasn't like those people, he can't leave them there like that when he could do something, anything at all…
So he decided, he was gonna help whoever was onboard that little lifeboat even if it killed him, and it likely will, many would call him a fool others would call him dramatic… but a select few people would call him brave, after all, being able to do what you believe in even if your afraid is what bravery is right? He may regret this, this may indeed be his last good deed ever… he stood up, his mind made, and his destination set, he quickly unloaded what he didn't need on his body and took what seemed to be essential, that would be the gun, the knife and the bandages (That he likely won't end up not using). Then he set out for the little rescue mission for whoever might be onboard…
A few minutes later he found himself where the lifeboat sat… it was all clawed up, obviously from the frustrated attempts of the Hyenas, apparently most had given up and there were only four left, he wanted all of their attention, he pulled out his small knife, even though it wasn't very likely to kill them, perhaps it'd cut them up enough to feel threatened and retreat, before he could even have seconds thoughts, two had already noticed his presence and quickly got into attack formations, they let each out a small yip to the other half of their small party of their newfound interest… this was the beginning of Ichika's new life…
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(New-A/N: Meet old (but improving) me, I'm gonna try not to change anything I typed, as it has sentimental value to me… even if it's embarrassing. -_-')
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(Old-A/N: welp, here is what I have atm, I'll try to fill in the blanks more and improve my rusty typing skills, if anyone is wondering this will definitely be a large harem story… Maybe, but there also might be incest… there will definitely be incest… some of the characters are OOC IK IK but dammit, I like AU's so damn much, it's just me I think but I… great I'm ranting, if you don't like don't read this is just the first chapter of many more to come, if any of you are wondering no I'm not likely to finish the Gravity falls fanfictions.
those were just Beta's for this story truth be told, so I might end up obliterating them, no matter how much work I did, there will always be more to come, after all, we may only progress if we move forward :D thank you guys and gals so so much for reading, be sure to Review and leaves your suggestions and opinions, I'm always reading, so without further adieu, ba-byeeeee!~)
(P.S.: the future OC's are all mine, I love them with all my heart even though they are likely to end up back round characters… *POP*)