The Green Light 5/6
Title: The Green Light part 5/6
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: Divided into 6 parts
Genre: Sci-fic, romance, adventure, action
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I only borrowed their name for this fic
Summary: Nino was just an ordinary programmer who suddenly involved in a danger adventure. He woke up in a strange room and met a man who could produce fire by clicking his fingers. He was brought to a strange place and met the extraordinary people - without knowing the fact that he was targeted…
Warning: Character’s death, some aspects were taken from ‘One Piece’ and ‘Gantz’ but the story is original. The setting is in a fantasy world and I took the title from Arashi’s song, one of my favorite.
Beta reader:
ladygiggles, I can't thank you enough for betaing this for me, you're awesome. Thank you for enjoying the story as well, kiss and hugs for you ^_^
The more Nino thought, the more he didn’t understand it. The general came twenty minutes later and talked with Sho instead of interviewing Nino. The latter couldn’t hear what were they talking about since they spoke with low voices. Sho approached him as they finished and told him to follow.
“You’re something,” Sho mumbled when they already outside of the general’s compound. “Making a memorable scene on your first day.”
“It was an accident,” Nino said, sighing deeply. He was a little bit angry at Sho for describing him as ‘weak’.
“You could have killed someone,” Sho said.
“What do you expect me to do?” Nino asked, stopping his step and facing Sho. The anger climbed to his head. “I’m not a warrior like you or Ohno-san, I’m just a mere clone who didn’t even know what he is until you appeared in my town and kidnapped me and brought me to an unknown world. If you expect me to act like a super hero, you’re taking the wrong person with you.”
Sho’s right hand grabbed Nino’s collar, he was clearly upset now, but he held himself from punching Nino. He gritted his teeth and let go of his grip while inhaling a deep breath to calm himself down.
“You’ll train under my troop,” Sho hissed. “Don’t expect any mercy this time,” he continued, walking so fast that Nino had to run to catch him.
***
The first week of military training nearly killed him, but Nino refused to whine and show weakness to Sho. He was given a special glove to prevent him from producing an accidental iceberg. It worked great to prevent him from inflicting accidental destruction, but it also weighed him down. The glove was quite heavy and wasn’t the waterproof type. It impeded him when it turned wet.
Jun came to visit him on the eighth day as he had been researching about the possibilities of why Nino could do such a thing.
“Every power is unique,” Jun explained. “It’s only my guess, but it seems that you can borrow the power from the dead. Ohno-san was the closest to you, so that’s why you’re able to use his power. Perhaps, you can do more in the future.”
Jun had returned to his old-self, but there was still a glimpse of loneliness in his eyes as he spoke of Ohno.
“It’s creepy,” Nino mumbled.
“I know,” Jun patted his shoulder. “But it’s useful.”
Sho was just another word for heartless; he didn’t tolerate any member who collapsed under the hard rain or suddenly threw up from exhaustion. He only let them sleep for a few hours before forcing them into early morning training. Many of them wished their captain would die in his sleep from a heart attack. Nino would have collapsed under the normal circumstances, but he really wanted to prove Sho that he could be as strong as Aiba and Jun, or Sho himself.
They slept in tents near the forest with freezing nights and a lack of blankets. It reminded Nino of his trip with Sho through the forest. He missed the blue flame Sho produced to keep him warm. He missed the Sho who let him rest his head on his shoulder - the scene felt like something that had happened years ago.
Three months quickly passed during their hard training under Captain Sakurai Sho and the troops had changed into tough guys, including Nino who could control his new power. He could make use of the ice he produced, even though it wasn’t as massive as Ohno’s, but it helped him in some situations.
The Vice-General, Matsuoka was satisfied with the results of the training and discussed with Sho about the placements. Nino was confident enough that he could protect himself now, he wouldn’t let any enemies capture him and make him a battery for their weapons.
Jun and Aiba came to celebrate his graduation; they brought him a bottle of rare wine and a piece of hamburger steak which happened to be his favorite. Aiba told him that Jun had made it by himself just for Nino.
“It seems that Sho-chan couldn’t kill you on your training,” Aiba said, grinning at him.
“He needs more than that to make me give up,” Nino answered, smiling widely at Aiba.
“Are you ready for the real battle?” Jun asked him.
“I think so,” Nino shrugged. He didn’t want to be a coward, he wanted to prove himself in a real battle.
“The war is coming,” Jun continued. “It’s not about fighting over energy anymore, it’s a war to conquer the other nations.”
“Does that mean I am no longer the priority?” Nino asked.
“You’ll still be a great bonus if they could capture you alive,” Aiba replied.
“How do they know I’m the one that they’re looking for?” Nino voiced the question he really had wanted to ask since what had happened at sea.
“They use a special sensor,” Jun said.
“Oh, that will be fun, where they all chase me,” Nino said sarcastically.
Aiba laughed and placed his hand onto Nino’s shoulder. “You’re more than capable to take them down, Nino.”
***
Nino returned to Sho’s personal quarters after the graduation ceremony was over. For some odd reason, he still hadn’t acquired a room for himself and because Sho hadn’t told him to move out, he believed it was okay for him to go back there.
Sho’s room was as messy as the last time Nino was here, he put away the dirty clothes and sat down on the armchair, waiting for Sho to come back. He watched his left hand; it wasn’t blue like Ohno’s which gave him some relief. He could control it very well now and could make some unique shapes from the ice as entertainment for his comrades.
The door fluttered open, revealing Sho’s figure. He looked at Nino for a few seconds before making his way towards the living room. Sho seemed tired and wasn’t in a good mood, his eyes were bloodshot, thin hair had started to grow on his jaw, indicating that he’d had no time to shave.
“I haven’t gotten my own room,” Nino said, trying not to sound like he was complaining.
“I can see that,” Sho replied shortly.
“When will we go to war?” Nino asked as if going to war was no more than playing a bad video game.
“War isn’t something funny, Nino,” Sho said. He rose from the armchair and looked outside the window, to the dark sky. “It’s about sacrificing your life, like what Ohno-san did. You have no idea what it feels like.”
“You’ve trained me, I don’t want to waste that training,” Nino answered, rising from the couch and standing beside Sho. It had been a while since they were this close; Sho smelled of sweat, a scent that Nino missed. “I heard from Jun-kun about your father, I’m sorry for your loss.”
Sho closed his eyes when he heard it, “You’re the living proof of his stupidity,” he hissed, turning at Nino. “He shouldn’t have created something which triggers conflict. He shouldn’t have created you!”
“So why didn’t you terminate us all when we were just created?” Nino tried to ask, despite Sho’s high temper. The man seemed so upset now.
“It was the decision of the upper ranks, to keep you alive and take you back to this place once you’re mature enough. If it was me, I would have thrown all of you off the cliff.”
“You could have done that to me in the forest and pretended it was an accident,” Nino said.
Sho shifted closer, his expression hardened. Nino thought that he would punch him when the man lifted his right hand, but all he did was place it on Nino’s shoulder.
“You’d better get some sleep,” Sho said. “We’ll start early tomorrow morning.”
Both of them went to bed in silence. Nino closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep, he didn’t know what to expect anymore, let it be, he thought. Nobody would shed a tear if he died anyway. Perhaps war was just another video game.
***
The Green Light troops had been busy for the last two weeks since their intelligence had reported that the enemy from Black Cloud State had started their movements. It would be the first open war in ten years; the upper ranks met almost every day to build strategy. Sho was one of the best strategic makers in the state, he attended meetings almost every day and trained his squads right after to deliver what they had to do in the battlefield.
Nino joined Jun and Aiba this time; they were placed in a special unit since Sho wanted to make sure that Nino was safe. At least, that was Aiba’s theory, there was no way on earth Sho would have said it out loud. He always tried to pinpoint how useless Nino was or how weak he was or how he would become the first who would die in the battlefield.
“He’s so bad in showing affection, you know,” Aiba said, grinning.
Nino shook his head in disbelief, he couldn’t imagine Sho showing affection, except when he let Nino lean on his shoulder in the forest all those months ago. That was the first and the last time Nino knew that Sho had that side.
He remembered when he saw Sho and Ohno kissing. He had been dreaming to see Sho’s face when he kissed someone - or perhaps when he kissed Nino. But it was out of question, there was no way Sho would kiss him, not even in his wildest dream. Perhaps, if he survived this war, he could ask for that as special reward from Sho.
Nino had never dreamed of a real battlefield, for him it was just a world in a video game, nothing more. But now, he found himself between Jun and Aiba, ready to face their enemy. It was a war for peace, that was what he heard from Sho. If they won, they could make the opposite State sign a peace treaty to make sure there would no more conflict over energy or so-called glory or conquering the other nations.
"We'll be alright," Jun patted Nino's shoulder lightly.
Nino nodded, hoping that Jun wouldn't do something stupid like a suicide attack because he wanted to follow Ohno to the afterlife. Jun had become a kind of an older brother to Nino during his stay at Green Light. He was the one who encouraged him to say what he felt for Sho, even so Nino hadn't taken any actions, he just couldn't talk casually with Sho.
Sho was taking command for ten platoons and would attack from the west part of the battlefield. The Black Cloud was the long-term enemy of the Green Light, they had been developing mass destruction weapons, but with the lack of energy source, their development had stalled. The only way to get it was to attack the other State and grab their energy sources - Nino was one of them.
Nino could feel the cold sweat ran down his spine, it was nearly like a dream. He was afraid of bullets, of grenades, of the unknown super power the enemy had. What if they could behead him from a distance? Or hypnotize him to do what they said? Or choke him by clicking their fingers?
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, it wasn't the right time to back down. He would go to war, like it or not. It was better than hiding like a coward. He didn't want Ohno to have died for nothing. He tightened his fist and concentrated his power to his left hand. His hand turned colder and he knew Ohno’s spirit was there with them.
Sho gave his first command and all of them ran to the west. Some of them would attack from the air by riding single-seated aircraft. Nino, Jun, and Aiba were the core and would lead the ground attack.
The enemy (just as Sho predicted) consisted of more than 5000 troops. They would take as many energy resources as they could, including kidnapping Nino. Sho promised Nino that he would protect him no matter what the cost and he would never let anyone from the enemy side get close to Nino. It was so sweet of him, if only Sho had said all of those words with a smiling face.
Nino followed Jun, gripping his gun tightly in his right hand. He had shot two enemies from a distance, he wasn't as good as Aiba, but at least he hit them. Aiba and Jun moved so fast that Nino almost couldn't catch them; Jun shot the enemies long before they made any movements and he could predict the direction where they would come.
Sho was far in front of them, but he returned to Nino's side as he completed his task.
"The platoons are in their respective positions, I just need to control them from afar," he explained. His right hand flared, he seemed to be more alert than he usually was, but also calm enough to face the worst.
"Stay close to me," he said to Nino.
Nino nodded.
"Answer!" Sho yelled.
"Yes, Sir!" Nino said loudly.
Sho's expression was unreadable. He led the way towards the main battlefield and commanded Jun and Aiba to go separate ways in order to handle the air troops of the enemy.
Soon, the situation had turned into chaos; the wounded from both side started to fill the battlefield. The dead bodies lay helplessly; their hands still clutching their guns. The sound of gunshots and grenade explosions were everywhere. Nino had already lost the direction; he couldn’t see Jun or Aiba. Sho was far behind him, busily giving commands to his troops.
He swung his left hand to block the enemy troops who kept approaching them. He didn’t know how long since the war had started; he began to feel tired. He looked around, there was smoke everywhere. Both sides had suffered severe casualties, Nino couldn’t tell which side had won the war since the situation was so frenzied. He ran towards the enemy and shot them, but they were more skilled.
Both of them were bigger than him; one of them caught him and slammed him to the ground.
“He’s the one we’ve been looking for,” the one with brown hair said to his friend.
“Let go of me,” Nino grimaced and tried to produce an ice shard with his left hand, but he failed. He was too tired and scared - Sho was right after all, he didn’t fit becoming a soldier.
“We need him alive,” the one with hands full of tattoos said.
“Stay still, kid. If you’re captured, this war will end. You don’t want everyone to die because of protecting you, right,” the brown-haired man said.
They pulled Nino from the ground roughly and that was when Nino made his escape by shooting sharp ice from the end of his fingers. He used his last power to run away from those two men, but he didn’t know where to go. The way was all covered in smoke; he was completely alone. He had lost Sho, he had no device to contact the others, and he didn’t even have any idea where this place was.
Nino ran, hoping to find his friends, but the direction he headed was empty. He tried to scream, but his voice was lost. He stopped and caught his breath, he must have been trapped in someone’s power. The one who could make him hallucinate. But even if he knew it was a hallucination, he didn’t know how to get out from here. His power was useless in this instance. Nino closed his eyes, trying to think of the way out, but he drowned deeper into nothingness and almost lost his consciousness when he heard a voice.
“Nino!”
Sho’s voice sounded far away as if he was calling from the other side of a ravine.
“Nino, get a hold of yourself!” Sho yelled.
“Sho-chan,” Nino called Sho’s name. He limped forwards towards the direction of Sho’s voice and saw him, he was bleeding from his shoulder. Was that a part of the hallucination? Did they know that Nino had a soft spot for Sho in his heart? Did they do that to capture him?
Nino didn’t care anymore; he ran towards Sho. The man was fighting three other enemies by himself, he was badly wounded. He must help Sho. Nino tightened his left fist and sent a fatal ice blow to one of the three men. He felt the cold sensation spread wider to his upper arm, but Sho was his first priority right now.
One of the enemy soldiers swung a long blade to Sho; the man had not enough time to dodge it. Nino jumped in between, trying to block the attack with the shield of ice he created and shot the enemy with the gun in his right hand. The man fell down to the ground, and Nino realized that the blade had stabbed him in his stomach.
“Nino!”
Sho sent the remaining troop into unconsciousness while screaming Nino’s name. The latter crashed onto the ground and gasped as the pain started to spread to every part of his body.
“Nino, what have you done? You stupid moron!” Sho threw his weapon aside and pulled Nino’s head into his lap. “I told you that I will protect you, not the other way around, you idiot.”
Nino lifted his hand to touch Sho’s face; he was glad that Sho was alright, he wanted to tell Sho that he wouldn’t mind dying, he wanted to tell Sho to live a happier life, but his voice wouldn’t come out. He was in great pain, he could feel the life ebbing from his body, and death seemed more tempting now.
Sho kept on yelling his name.
“No, Nino! Look at me, stay with me. I don’t want to lose you again. I need you, please.”
Sho’s face had never been more handsome, Nino thought. He wished he could say it out loud, but the consciousness drifted away from him. He fell down to the nothingness, there was no pain anymore, everything seemed at peace.
TO BE CONTINUED
Pairing: Sakumiya
Length: Divided into 6 parts
Genre: Sci-fic, romance, adventure, action
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I only borrowed their name for this fic
Summary: Nino was just an ordinary programmer who suddenly involved in a danger adventure. He woke up in a strange room and met a man who could produce fire by clicking his fingers. He was brought to a strange place and met the extraordinary people - without knowing the fact that he was targeted…
Warning: Character’s death, some aspects were taken from ‘One Piece’ and ‘Gantz’ but the story is original. The setting is in a fantasy world and I took the title from Arashi’s song, one of my favorite.
Beta reader:
ladygiggles, I can't thank you enough for betaing this for me, you're awesome. Thank you for enjoying the story as well, kiss and hugs for you ^_^
The more Nino thought, the more he didn’t understand it. The general came twenty minutes later and talked with Sho instead of interviewing Nino. The latter couldn’t hear what were they talking about since they spoke with low voices. Sho approached him as they finished and told him to follow.
“You’re something,” Sho mumbled when they already outside of the general’s compound. “Making a memorable scene on your first day.”
“It was an accident,” Nino said, sighing deeply. He was a little bit angry at Sho for describing him as ‘weak’.
“You could have killed someone,” Sho said.
“What do you expect me to do?” Nino asked, stopping his step and facing Sho. The anger climbed to his head. “I’m not a warrior like you or Ohno-san, I’m just a mere clone who didn’t even know what he is until you appeared in my town and kidnapped me and brought me to an unknown world. If you expect me to act like a super hero, you’re taking the wrong person with you.”
Sho’s right hand grabbed Nino’s collar, he was clearly upset now, but he held himself from punching Nino. He gritted his teeth and let go of his grip while inhaling a deep breath to calm himself down.
“You’ll train under my troop,” Sho hissed. “Don’t expect any mercy this time,” he continued, walking so fast that Nino had to run to catch him.
***
The first week of military training nearly killed him, but Nino refused to whine and show weakness to Sho. He was given a special glove to prevent him from producing an accidental iceberg. It worked great to prevent him from inflicting accidental destruction, but it also weighed him down. The glove was quite heavy and wasn’t the waterproof type. It impeded him when it turned wet.
Jun came to visit him on the eighth day as he had been researching about the possibilities of why Nino could do such a thing.
“Every power is unique,” Jun explained. “It’s only my guess, but it seems that you can borrow the power from the dead. Ohno-san was the closest to you, so that’s why you’re able to use his power. Perhaps, you can do more in the future.”
Jun had returned to his old-self, but there was still a glimpse of loneliness in his eyes as he spoke of Ohno.
“It’s creepy,” Nino mumbled.
“I know,” Jun patted his shoulder. “But it’s useful.”
Sho was just another word for heartless; he didn’t tolerate any member who collapsed under the hard rain or suddenly threw up from exhaustion. He only let them sleep for a few hours before forcing them into early morning training. Many of them wished their captain would die in his sleep from a heart attack. Nino would have collapsed under the normal circumstances, but he really wanted to prove Sho that he could be as strong as Aiba and Jun, or Sho himself.
They slept in tents near the forest with freezing nights and a lack of blankets. It reminded Nino of his trip with Sho through the forest. He missed the blue flame Sho produced to keep him warm. He missed the Sho who let him rest his head on his shoulder - the scene felt like something that had happened years ago.
Three months quickly passed during their hard training under Captain Sakurai Sho and the troops had changed into tough guys, including Nino who could control his new power. He could make use of the ice he produced, even though it wasn’t as massive as Ohno’s, but it helped him in some situations.
The Vice-General, Matsuoka was satisfied with the results of the training and discussed with Sho about the placements. Nino was confident enough that he could protect himself now, he wouldn’t let any enemies capture him and make him a battery for their weapons.
Jun and Aiba came to celebrate his graduation; they brought him a bottle of rare wine and a piece of hamburger steak which happened to be his favorite. Aiba told him that Jun had made it by himself just for Nino.
“It seems that Sho-chan couldn’t kill you on your training,” Aiba said, grinning at him.
“He needs more than that to make me give up,” Nino answered, smiling widely at Aiba.
“Are you ready for the real battle?” Jun asked him.
“I think so,” Nino shrugged. He didn’t want to be a coward, he wanted to prove himself in a real battle.
“The war is coming,” Jun continued. “It’s not about fighting over energy anymore, it’s a war to conquer the other nations.”
“Does that mean I am no longer the priority?” Nino asked.
“You’ll still be a great bonus if they could capture you alive,” Aiba replied.
“How do they know I’m the one that they’re looking for?” Nino voiced the question he really had wanted to ask since what had happened at sea.
“They use a special sensor,” Jun said.
“Oh, that will be fun, where they all chase me,” Nino said sarcastically.
Aiba laughed and placed his hand onto Nino’s shoulder. “You’re more than capable to take them down, Nino.”
***
Nino returned to Sho’s personal quarters after the graduation ceremony was over. For some odd reason, he still hadn’t acquired a room for himself and because Sho hadn’t told him to move out, he believed it was okay for him to go back there.
Sho’s room was as messy as the last time Nino was here, he put away the dirty clothes and sat down on the armchair, waiting for Sho to come back. He watched his left hand; it wasn’t blue like Ohno’s which gave him some relief. He could control it very well now and could make some unique shapes from the ice as entertainment for his comrades.
The door fluttered open, revealing Sho’s figure. He looked at Nino for a few seconds before making his way towards the living room. Sho seemed tired and wasn’t in a good mood, his eyes were bloodshot, thin hair had started to grow on his jaw, indicating that he’d had no time to shave.
“I haven’t gotten my own room,” Nino said, trying not to sound like he was complaining.
“I can see that,” Sho replied shortly.
“When will we go to war?” Nino asked as if going to war was no more than playing a bad video game.
“War isn’t something funny, Nino,” Sho said. He rose from the armchair and looked outside the window, to the dark sky. “It’s about sacrificing your life, like what Ohno-san did. You have no idea what it feels like.”
“You’ve trained me, I don’t want to waste that training,” Nino answered, rising from the couch and standing beside Sho. It had been a while since they were this close; Sho smelled of sweat, a scent that Nino missed. “I heard from Jun-kun about your father, I’m sorry for your loss.”
Sho closed his eyes when he heard it, “You’re the living proof of his stupidity,” he hissed, turning at Nino. “He shouldn’t have created something which triggers conflict. He shouldn’t have created you!”
“So why didn’t you terminate us all when we were just created?” Nino tried to ask, despite Sho’s high temper. The man seemed so upset now.
“It was the decision of the upper ranks, to keep you alive and take you back to this place once you’re mature enough. If it was me, I would have thrown all of you off the cliff.”
“You could have done that to me in the forest and pretended it was an accident,” Nino said.
Sho shifted closer, his expression hardened. Nino thought that he would punch him when the man lifted his right hand, but all he did was place it on Nino’s shoulder.
“You’d better get some sleep,” Sho said. “We’ll start early tomorrow morning.”
Both of them went to bed in silence. Nino closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep, he didn’t know what to expect anymore, let it be, he thought. Nobody would shed a tear if he died anyway. Perhaps war was just another video game.
***
The Green Light troops had been busy for the last two weeks since their intelligence had reported that the enemy from Black Cloud State had started their movements. It would be the first open war in ten years; the upper ranks met almost every day to build strategy. Sho was one of the best strategic makers in the state, he attended meetings almost every day and trained his squads right after to deliver what they had to do in the battlefield.
Nino joined Jun and Aiba this time; they were placed in a special unit since Sho wanted to make sure that Nino was safe. At least, that was Aiba’s theory, there was no way on earth Sho would have said it out loud. He always tried to pinpoint how useless Nino was or how weak he was or how he would become the first who would die in the battlefield.
“He’s so bad in showing affection, you know,” Aiba said, grinning.
Nino shook his head in disbelief, he couldn’t imagine Sho showing affection, except when he let Nino lean on his shoulder in the forest all those months ago. That was the first and the last time Nino knew that Sho had that side.
He remembered when he saw Sho and Ohno kissing. He had been dreaming to see Sho’s face when he kissed someone - or perhaps when he kissed Nino. But it was out of question, there was no way Sho would kiss him, not even in his wildest dream. Perhaps, if he survived this war, he could ask for that as special reward from Sho.
Nino had never dreamed of a real battlefield, for him it was just a world in a video game, nothing more. But now, he found himself between Jun and Aiba, ready to face their enemy. It was a war for peace, that was what he heard from Sho. If they won, they could make the opposite State sign a peace treaty to make sure there would no more conflict over energy or so-called glory or conquering the other nations.
"We'll be alright," Jun patted Nino's shoulder lightly.
Nino nodded, hoping that Jun wouldn't do something stupid like a suicide attack because he wanted to follow Ohno to the afterlife. Jun had become a kind of an older brother to Nino during his stay at Green Light. He was the one who encouraged him to say what he felt for Sho, even so Nino hadn't taken any actions, he just couldn't talk casually with Sho.
Sho was taking command for ten platoons and would attack from the west part of the battlefield. The Black Cloud was the long-term enemy of the Green Light, they had been developing mass destruction weapons, but with the lack of energy source, their development had stalled. The only way to get it was to attack the other State and grab their energy sources - Nino was one of them.
Nino could feel the cold sweat ran down his spine, it was nearly like a dream. He was afraid of bullets, of grenades, of the unknown super power the enemy had. What if they could behead him from a distance? Or hypnotize him to do what they said? Or choke him by clicking their fingers?
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, it wasn't the right time to back down. He would go to war, like it or not. It was better than hiding like a coward. He didn't want Ohno to have died for nothing. He tightened his fist and concentrated his power to his left hand. His hand turned colder and he knew Ohno’s spirit was there with them.
Sho gave his first command and all of them ran to the west. Some of them would attack from the air by riding single-seated aircraft. Nino, Jun, and Aiba were the core and would lead the ground attack.
The enemy (just as Sho predicted) consisted of more than 5000 troops. They would take as many energy resources as they could, including kidnapping Nino. Sho promised Nino that he would protect him no matter what the cost and he would never let anyone from the enemy side get close to Nino. It was so sweet of him, if only Sho had said all of those words with a smiling face.
Nino followed Jun, gripping his gun tightly in his right hand. He had shot two enemies from a distance, he wasn't as good as Aiba, but at least he hit them. Aiba and Jun moved so fast that Nino almost couldn't catch them; Jun shot the enemies long before they made any movements and he could predict the direction where they would come.
Sho was far in front of them, but he returned to Nino's side as he completed his task.
"The platoons are in their respective positions, I just need to control them from afar," he explained. His right hand flared, he seemed to be more alert than he usually was, but also calm enough to face the worst.
"Stay close to me," he said to Nino.
Nino nodded.
"Answer!" Sho yelled.
"Yes, Sir!" Nino said loudly.
Sho's expression was unreadable. He led the way towards the main battlefield and commanded Jun and Aiba to go separate ways in order to handle the air troops of the enemy.
Soon, the situation had turned into chaos; the wounded from both side started to fill the battlefield. The dead bodies lay helplessly; their hands still clutching their guns. The sound of gunshots and grenade explosions were everywhere. Nino had already lost the direction; he couldn’t see Jun or Aiba. Sho was far behind him, busily giving commands to his troops.
He swung his left hand to block the enemy troops who kept approaching them. He didn’t know how long since the war had started; he began to feel tired. He looked around, there was smoke everywhere. Both sides had suffered severe casualties, Nino couldn’t tell which side had won the war since the situation was so frenzied. He ran towards the enemy and shot them, but they were more skilled.
Both of them were bigger than him; one of them caught him and slammed him to the ground.
“He’s the one we’ve been looking for,” the one with brown hair said to his friend.
“Let go of me,” Nino grimaced and tried to produce an ice shard with his left hand, but he failed. He was too tired and scared - Sho was right after all, he didn’t fit becoming a soldier.
“We need him alive,” the one with hands full of tattoos said.
“Stay still, kid. If you’re captured, this war will end. You don’t want everyone to die because of protecting you, right,” the brown-haired man said.
They pulled Nino from the ground roughly and that was when Nino made his escape by shooting sharp ice from the end of his fingers. He used his last power to run away from those two men, but he didn’t know where to go. The way was all covered in smoke; he was completely alone. He had lost Sho, he had no device to contact the others, and he didn’t even have any idea where this place was.
Nino ran, hoping to find his friends, but the direction he headed was empty. He tried to scream, but his voice was lost. He stopped and caught his breath, he must have been trapped in someone’s power. The one who could make him hallucinate. But even if he knew it was a hallucination, he didn’t know how to get out from here. His power was useless in this instance. Nino closed his eyes, trying to think of the way out, but he drowned deeper into nothingness and almost lost his consciousness when he heard a voice.
“Nino!”
Sho’s voice sounded far away as if he was calling from the other side of a ravine.
“Nino, get a hold of yourself!” Sho yelled.
“Sho-chan,” Nino called Sho’s name. He limped forwards towards the direction of Sho’s voice and saw him, he was bleeding from his shoulder. Was that a part of the hallucination? Did they know that Nino had a soft spot for Sho in his heart? Did they do that to capture him?
Nino didn’t care anymore; he ran towards Sho. The man was fighting three other enemies by himself, he was badly wounded. He must help Sho. Nino tightened his left fist and sent a fatal ice blow to one of the three men. He felt the cold sensation spread wider to his upper arm, but Sho was his first priority right now.
One of the enemy soldiers swung a long blade to Sho; the man had not enough time to dodge it. Nino jumped in between, trying to block the attack with the shield of ice he created and shot the enemy with the gun in his right hand. The man fell down to the ground, and Nino realized that the blade had stabbed him in his stomach.
“Nino!”
Sho sent the remaining troop into unconsciousness while screaming Nino’s name. The latter crashed onto the ground and gasped as the pain started to spread to every part of his body.
“Nino, what have you done? You stupid moron!” Sho threw his weapon aside and pulled Nino’s head into his lap. “I told you that I will protect you, not the other way around, you idiot.”
Nino lifted his hand to touch Sho’s face; he was glad that Sho was alright, he wanted to tell Sho that he wouldn’t mind dying, he wanted to tell Sho to live a happier life, but his voice wouldn’t come out. He was in great pain, he could feel the life ebbing from his body, and death seemed more tempting now.
Sho kept on yelling his name.
“No, Nino! Look at me, stay with me. I don’t want to lose you again. I need you, please.”
Sho’s face had never been more handsome, Nino thought. He wished he could say it out loud, but the consciousness drifted away from him. He fell down to the nothingness, there was no pain anymore, everything seemed at peace.
TO BE CONTINUED