Never, My Alpha

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

From within the crowd one of the thugs rushes forward to hit Jun. However, from behind Jun, Kichirou pushes him out of the way, shoving him as hard as he can. From this surprising amount of strength, Jun stumbles, almost falling to his knees, the only thing saving him was the wall. Jun turns around in enough time to only see Kichirou is reach out with one arm and hit the thug with his momentum underneath his chin, jarring his windpipe. The thug clutches his throat and snarls wordlessly.

From Natsuki's other side, the other thug rushes forward turning the tide, making it a two versus one situation. Against the wall, Jun just stares, not knowing what to do. He has no fighting ability so he knows he will just get in the way. Should he call the police? They probably wouldn't do anything though.

Suddenly he remembers Kichirou telling him about how Ren had been his sparring partner throughout college. He pulls out his phone as the thug reaches Kichirou. THe thug pulls back his arm going for a punch, but Kichirou swipes out his leg and it connects with the back of the first thugs knees. Thug 1 collapses to the ground. Thug 2 roars and charges forward at a faster speed.

Jun is going through his contact list looking for Ren's number when he realizes that he didn't have it. He thought he would never need it because it seemed pointless to have a potential rivals number in his phone. Jun suddenly panics and looks up to see as Kichirou doesn't dodge in time and is punched in the gut. Kichirou stumbles backward coughing and gagging.

"Give me your phone!" Jun yells, stretching out his hand, hoping Kichirou will hand it over. Kichirou pulls out his phone and throws it into Jun's direction, never taking his eyes off of his opponents.

His eyes narrowed again before he moved. For a moment, it seemed to Jun as if he would lose sight of Kichirou. One of the thugs flung his arm up to his right side, catching Kichirou's kick. It knocked the thug back. He didn't wait for him to recover, and moved in for another kick. THe thug bobbed and weaved, trying to read his movements. Kichirou's facial expression turned stone cold, unreadable.

Jun, meanwhile, was scrolling through Kichirou's phone looking for Ren's number. When he found it, he dialed quickly. It was answered immediately after the first ring.

"Kichi?? Are you ok?" Ren's panicked voice rumbled through the receiver.

"Probably, I don't know." Jun answered.

"Jun? Why are you answering the phone? Where's Kichirou? What going on?" Ren was almost screaming. Jun winced at each word and almost hung up the phone. But he gritted his teeth to explain.

"Natsuki trapped us in an alley. He brought two thugs with him."

"Why are you not helping him instead of calling me!?"

"I don't know how to fight!!"

"You're so useless!!"

"I know," Jun whispered, heartbroken. "Can you please hurry here to help him?"

"Where are you?"

Thug 1 collided with the wall as Kichirou pulled his arm back, ready to punch him. But Thug 2 came finally shot up off of the ground and knocked him off balance. Thug ducked and rolled away as Kichirou tried to steady himself. Kichirou breathed in softly before he pushed his glasses up his nose and bared his teeth at the two thugs. The two thugs stood side by side, catching their breath before the moved forward again. Using several moves, Kichirou once again had bothe men groaning on the floor, clutching various body parts.

Panting, Kichirou watched the two thugs. His heart beat fast, and then, his eyes widened slightly as he felt a familiar heat began to course through his veins.

No....he thought, not now, please.

"That's no fun, Kichirou." Natsuki chides from the corner where he is standing, watching Kichirou defend himself against the two. "Why are you taking my fun away from me?"

From within his pocket, Natsuki pulled a 9mm gun. His hands didn't tremble. His eyes were bright and a crooked smile graced his lips.

"There's no need for you to live if you ruin my fun, Kichirou."

~~~~

Ren was panting heavily, his heart beating furiously in his chest. He was so worried for Kichirou, how long had it been since he had practiced? His feet pounded against the asphalt as he ran as fast as he was able, ignoring the disgusted looks of the people around him.

He skid around the corner where Jun had said they were. As he did, his heart froze in his chest. Natsuki was holding a gun, pointing it toward Kichirou. No one noticed Ren standing there.

"But," Natsuki drawled, "It might be more fun for you to watch your lover die." With a malicious chuckle, Natsuki turned his gun until it was aimed directly at Jun's head. Kichirou's heart collapsed in his chest even as his heat began to coarse through his veins. Without even thinking, without even knowing he had moved, Kichirou had his hand wrapped around Natsuki's wrist, trying to hold the gun upwards so it pointed at the sky.

Natsuki growled and moved his left hand so it wrapped around Kichirou's throat. He could feel the windpipe below his finger beginning to crush. Due to his heat, Kichirou lost a good portion of his strength, but he still whipped his other hand out to punch Natsuki in the stomach.

No one realized, that at this moment, Natsuki's right hand was freed from Kichirou's grip. The evil smirk graced his lips as the barrel of the gun laid flat against Kichirou's heart.

"Go to hell." Kichirou whispered as he felt the cold steel against his chest.

Natsuki chuckled, whispering in almost a sing song voice. "Goodbye."

BANG!!

Jun screamed, his heart shattering, tears cascading down his cheeks as he rushed forward, oblivious of the gun still pointed at him. Ren quickly disarmed Natsuki, but the deed had been done. Kichirou lay on the ground, his knees crumpled beneath him, blood welling up all around the wound. That red steam of life began to seep from his lips, a thin line, almost like the red string of fate.

As Kichirou's eyes dimmed, those purple orbs bright even in the darkness, he swore he could see the string of fate his cousin was alway talking about. But...even as he lost consciousness, he could see the string beginning to unravel until there was nothing but just a thread holding it in place.

Ah, he thought, so it's true.