Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 42

The building was on fire. Pieces of the ceiling collapsed around them and the ground shook with the oncoming explosion. Rather than hear Araya and Hayato in her earpiece, there was nothing but static. It helped her concentrate though. Mariko had her gun aimed at Mineko's heart, and fired.

She cried as the dark-haired woman fell, a red stain spreading across her chest where the bullet had entered.

Mariko ran over and kneeled at her side. Even if she was a villain, she had been family and despite everything she had done, Mariko couldn't let her die alone.

Mineko's eyes eventually turned glassy as she exhaled her final breath.

She moved her hand to close her eyes, but as she was pulling her hand away, Mineko's eyes snapped open. Only this time, they were completely red, blood red. She grabbed Mariko's hand so hard she heard it crack. The dead woman sat up and Mariko scrambled away from her, reaching for her discarded gun. Standing up quickly, the weapon was once again pointed at the woman, but she didn't look concerned anymore. She took a step towards Mariko and the latter fired.

It didn't deter her.

She fired again. Nothing.

Mariko stood frozen as nothing could stop her.

She was only a foot away now, she reached out to her, her hand wrapping itself around her throat.

Keigo woke up knowing something was wrong with Mariko. Every once in a while, he left feathers around the brunette. Usually, it was just because he was bored and it gave him a way to mess with her, but sometimes he would use it just to seek out her presence. Sometimes he would scatter a feather or two around her as they slept just in case she had a panic attack. His feathers could sense changes in heartbeats. Mariko's had suddenly spiked to dangerous levels and he knew that she was probably having a nightmare. It was almost two in the morning and he was rushing out of his apartment to get to her.

She reacted when she heard the front door open. Quickly, she grabbed the gun stashed on the underside of her nightstand and dove on the other side of the bed. It was a place of plenty of cover and she had a window as an escape route if she needed it.

When the door opened, Keigo found a gun pointed at him. He froze. "Whoa," he said, putting his hands up. He looked at the brunette, who wasn't responding. He noticed her eyes were hazy. "She's still asleep," he realized. If he moved too fast, she would definitely shoot him and he didn't want to take chances with her aim given the fact that she'd been the captain of one of the most elite group of soldiers the Japanese army had to offer. "Mari...Mari it's me," he said lowly.

She didn't respond.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, please put the gun down," he assured.

Nothing.

"If I can't talk her out of it, I gotta physically take it away from her," he thought. Very slowly, he shuffled over until he could reach for the gun. In one swift moved he'd grabbed the gun, but even in her sleep she was able to react to his speed and brought a knee up to his stomach.

He grabbed her leg and yanked on it- not enough to hurt her, but enough to throw her off balance.

Mariko fell backward but swept her legs around, knocking him down as well.

Hawks fell on top of her, pinning her to the floor with the help of his feathers. He straddled her waist, keeping her hands away from the gun that had fallen close by. "Don't make me hurt you Mari. It's me Keigo. I'm begging you please wake up."