BlackHope after WhiteDoom-Ch.5

White Hope after Black Doom
It was summer. The chase had started at half past 11 in the morning - when Soleil and Ichinose fled from Utagawa. At around 1, Yoshi joined the fray. Then the explosion took place at 2:30 in the afternoon. Anything with a reflective surface gave a rusty red glow. Sunset.
Soleil slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes opened slightly. The view was very bleary at first, but soon she realised what time it was from the sun's position in the sky. She groaned slightly; then attempted to push herself up from the ground. Her head felt heavy. She became light-headed and soon collapsed again from a splitting headache. She tried again and again, for she heard voices. They were too muffled and quiet for her to understand them.
'Looks like she's gone deaf. Soleil!'
'Lady?! La-'
'Hush your mouth!'
Leil heard a whimper, which was quickly followed by a cold-hearted laugh from what appeared to be two boys.
'Ho…and Ban…'
'O~oh! She's recognised us! How are-'
'Don't touch…the boy…'
They looked at each other in disbelief.  The sarcastic smiles faded from their lips. By now, Leil had grabbed onto a table and chair nearby for support. She was fighting the horrendous pain of her head. She could not focus, nor could she see clearly, but she knew that she had to look strong. Looking down at the spot where she lay, a large pool of blood was covering the area where her head had been. She was breathing heavily. The pain struck her harder this time, like a sharp knife, slowly piercing the skin. She remained in a rigid position. She knew she had to keep standing, and resist the pain. With her left hand she felt her forehead. On her hand, the blood was fresh, and it showed no sign of clotting up. Leil searched higher, soon feeling the shape of her (now broken) hairclip.
With a jolt, her hand fell down quickly. The impact of the fall and the position she landed in caused the clip to dig deep into her scalp, increasing the already large blood flow. It stung badly the moment Soleil touched it. Yet another whimper was heard. Without thinking, Leil ran at the twins and grabbed one of them by the collar.
'I said…don't TOUCH HIM!!!'
The twin seemed afraid, but she soon realised that this was just a rouse.
The other twin grabbed her two long pigtails, causing her to lose balance once again. Before she even hit the floor, a thick jet of ice-cold water hit her square in the chest - ramming her into the wall on the opposite side to them. She tried to stand, but once again she reseeded fell onto her knees. Ho and Ban cackled at her failed attempts. Leil's body was aching terribly. Along with the pain and wounds, she was in a very vulnerable position. Leil knew she had lost a lot of blood, but had no knowledge as to how she ended up on the tile floor in the first place. She was very confused, but she knew that without a way of defending herself, the twins would be more than happy to kill her.
'This will be the end of me...' she murmured to herself.
'Indeed it already is! Indeed-!' Ban was taken by surprise.
In a matter of seconds the Bount twins were slashed all over by rays of bright light, quickly tied, and put in the furthest corner of the room. Leil did not move, but watched in fascination and was soon content with what she had seen. A small face lightened up her face.
The power of Nijigasumi was long known to her. She had no trouble recognising the technique. As for the ropes, she guessed that it was a Soul Reaper Kido spell.
Everything was blurred. The fast movement of the black-clothed man was barely visible. Before she knew it, the man had picked her up and carefully put Leil over his shoulder. She soon saw that the boy, Jin, was being carried in the right arm of the tall man. The musty smell of his clothes had but a small scent of sweet talcum, which she knew was the scent of Ichinose - and his alone.
                 All three of them where soon in a very dark room. After adjusting to the dim light, Soleil recognised the room as being the old, abandoned kitchen, which was now filled with outdoor clothes and usually only used to retrieve a spare coat or a pair of shoes- which was seldom done. Along with being dark, it was also very dusty. Jin gave a sneeze, which made both Soleil and Ichinose jump. They remained quite, for there was nothing to say. He began tending to her wounds. At first she pushed him away, refusing to accept his help. He stopped, but placed his hand on her arm. At this she jerked her head up, accidentally hitting it on the cupboard door which she was sitting against. She took a deep breath through her teeth, which told him she was in pain. He put his left hand slowly on the back of her head and rubbed it lightly. She retaliated, by moving ever so slightly towards him. He began to tend to her wounds once again with the cloth and cold water. It was most welcome.
On close inspection, Maki was beaten up as much as she was. Soleil gazed at him. His clothes were dirty and slashed in places. There were signs of blood; little of it was still fresh. His eyes twinkled in the darkness, and as he caught her gaze, Leil quickly looked away. She felt her face burning up; she knew she was blushing, but it was hardly seen in the darkness of the room. It seemed only after a long while, did his gaze slowly return to his work. Bit by bit, her skin began to heal itself by ordering the blood to clot up. With that the cloth slowly moved upwards towards her cheek, then forehead, then up to her scalp.
She whimpered every time the cloth came close to the broken clip. To her surprise, his soft, cold hand met hers, and began to hold it tightly. She knew why, and so she did the same.
Another whimper.
Afterwards a sob.
Then fell onto Ichinose, cry quietly all the while.
The clip had been dislodged and placed on the ground. He slowly put his arms around her, and kept his grip. She lightly rubbed her face in his chest. That welcoming scent of his clothes and body, along with being so warm…almost hot. His heartbeat had increased. She could hear and feel it. That made her feel glad. For she had realised, that he, indeed, had true feelings for her.
With his left hand he kept his hold on Leil, with his right he began working on her head wound again until the blood began to show signs of stopping flow. With the clean, cold, damp side of the cloth, Maki carefully wiped Leil's forehead, her cheek, her neck, and her arm. He had only just started on her thighs before hearing familiar voices nearby. He slowly stood up. Quietly he said:
'We need to go, now. We need time to find a safe place to perform the Konso.'
All of a sudden Soleil stood up. No longer looking the shy, weak woman who she was but a few moments before.
'But you're hurt-'
'I'll be fine. Look, we have to leave-' he met her eyes once more.
They were large; filling up with tears again. Her pupils were the biggest he had ever seen.
'I'll tell you what happened to me another time.'
He gave a weak smile, and she returned it.
Maki had answered her question even though she had not voiced it. Jin remained quiet while he was picked up, once again. He was squinting to get a better view of his surroundings.
'Seems to me like you're not very good at seeing when there is a lack of light.' Soleil said with a smile, as she lightly patted Jin's head.
Slowly he nodded.
'I can walk, Ichinose.' she said just before he was about to pick her up. He nodded.
'Well then, follow me. We have to be swift.'