Before the Battle

Enemies and Friends 6/8

~~~TAIRA~~~

When I finally arrived at my apartment, it was almost eight. It had been snowing heavily outside and the streets were disappearing under a white blanket of steadily falling flakes.

Even the few metres I had to walk from Maya's car to the front door were enough to get my hair wet and full of snow.

The kitchen light was on. Shira was standing with his back to me, hunched over the worktop, doing something.

I was surprised to see him here. I was a bit worried that he wouldn't want to come back to Kashima today.

Suddenly I was in a much better mood. Maybe this day wouldn't be such a disaster.

I took off my uniform coat, damp on my shoulders from the melted snow, and threw it over a chair at the dining table.

I walked over to Shira and hugged him from behind. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then looked down at the kitchen counter.

"What is it?"

"I thought I'd make us dinner."

"You can do that?" I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. I'd never seen him make anything more complicated than tea.

He gave me a quick look and smiled, "I can do a lot of things."

I watched for a moment as he cut the vegetables into precise cubes. "Well, you're certainly good with a knife," I said with a grin.

I couldn't resist and brushed his loose hair aside, moving to kiss his neck, but stopped myself. My eyes fell on a faint stain seeping through his dark t-shirt.

With an uneasy feeling, I rolled up the t-shirt.

A bloody gash was visible above his right shoulder blade.

"What's that?"

"Crap," he frowned. "Is it still bleeding?"

"A bit."

It wasn't the wound itself, which was merely superficial, that worried me, but how it had got there. I'd seen too many gunshot wounds in my life to know when I saw one right in front of me.

"Can you explain why you were shot at?" I asked sharply.

"They shoot at me quite often. I didn't think it would surprise you anymore."

"Shira!"

"A failed conversation, that's all," he reassured me. "And I was going to tell you about it anyway, I was just hoping we'd eat first."

He stopped preparing food and leaned his back against the kitchen counter. He studied my face for a moment before speaking, "Marat had you followed, so I wanted to give him a friendly warning."

I stared at him in confusion, but then laughed. "That bastard."

I suppose the revelation should have shocked me, but that was to be expected from Marat. What did he think he could get out of it?

I winked at Shira. "You didn't chop his head off, did you?"

He measured me from behind half-closed eyelids and said wryly, "Funny."

I knew he wouldn't do that, of course, but I couldn't help it and had to tease him.

"I just wanted to talk to him, his people escalated it. And before you ask, no, I didn't kill them either."

"Good boy," I complimented him playfully, enjoying that displeased look of a deadly assassin that no longer worked on me.

I stepped closer. "I'm more worried about your life than theirs."