"Dammit!!

Wait, just wait!!

I don't want to die!!!"

"Aah, and I don' wanna kill ya!!

'Slong as ya unnerstand!!"

"Don't shoot, okay!?

Don't shoot!!

I have a wife waiting for me at home!!

I don't want to die!!!"

"I won' shoot 'slong as ya don' yell or nuthin'!

Jes quietly put yer 'ands on yer 'ead and lie down!!"

"Will you really!?

Will you really!?!?

You'll keep your promise, right!?

This is a promise between men!!"

"I will!!

'S a promise between men!!"

"Keep your promise! Keep it!!!

I'm going to get down on the ground, okay?

I'm getting down!

I'll keep my promise, so stop pointing that gun at me!!

You're still thinking of shooting me, aren't you!?

You want to shoot me, don't you!?

When I get down on the ground, you're just going to shoot me in the back of the head, aren't you!?!?"

"I won', I won'!!

Fine!!

I'll put it away!

I'll put tha gun away!!

'S a promise between men!!

...There!!

No problem now, righ'!?!?"

"Yeah, absolutely no complaints!!!"

"Gah!

Ugghhhaaa!!!"

It was over in a flash.

The moment he lowered his gun, Ooishi didn't let his chance slip by!

Ooishi had been assessing the situation for quite some time from behind the two men.

But since they had their guns trained on me, he didn't really have a chance to jump in.

Seeing the look on Ooishi's face indicating that he wanted me to create an opening, I took on that role completely.

Ooishi forcefully lifted the arm that was holding the gun.

He then took the gun from the man's hand in only an instant!

The other man, who was a bit slow in grasping what was happening, pointed his gun at them, but with his ally grappling with Ooishi, he couldn't pull the trigger.

If that man was the one that was wrestling with Ooishi at the moment, he might have shot without hesitation.

But this man wouldn't shoot.

He couldn't shoot!!

Ooishi kicked the other man away, and while aiming the stolen gun with his left hand, pulled out his own.

With guns akimbo, he was aiming at both men at the same time!

"I do believe that's checkmate!!"

It was perfectly played.

But, heedless of the guns pointed at them, the men shouted "Scram!!" as they scattered away at full speed.

It was over in an instant.

Those two running away without putting up a fight was honestly unexpected.

Ooishi, quietly clicking his tongue in admonishment, slipped both guns into his pants pockets.

"Tsk.

Those guys know their stuff..."

"...?

What do you mean?"

"An officer won't fire at somebody who's fleeing.

I want to keep my pension here."

Ooishi and I grinned at each other.

"Are you Toshiki Inukai-kun?

The grandson of the Minister of Construction, Inukai?"

"Y... Yes...!"

"...This is going to be a major incident.

We probably only cut the tail off the lizard though.

Nfu fu fu."

Ooishi smiled amusedly.

The fact that the Onigafuchi Guardians (or rather, the Sonozaki family behind them) was pulling the strings was apparent, but proving it wouldn't be easy.

And, with apologies to Ooishi, this incident was unlikely to go public.

If this caused an uproar, it would obviously lead to the Minister losing his office.

With HQ having decided that doing so was in the national interest, this would probably be cleaned up quietly.

It might be a rough way of saying it, but this was born in the shadows, and was going to die in the shadows.

...Ooishi probably already understood the implications behind this incident.

"For the time being, let's cordon off the area,

since it seems that one of them still has a gun.

After that, let's get Inukai-kun to safety and get you to the hospital."

As the tension in the situation faded, the pain from the gunshot wound in my shoulder blossomed once again.

My forehead was also stinging painfully, and had grown hot enough to start a fire.

Thinking that the tension had caused me to sweat, I wiped my forehead, but what came off was a large amount of blood.

I realized that my shirt had been stained bright crimson from the blood flowing from my head.

I turned around.

...The boy was safe and sound.

Without a doubt.

There would probably be an investigation on the men who ran, but that was for another day.

At this point in time, I could safely say we had cleared the major hurdle of securing the boy's safety.

As soon as I recognized that, it felt like the lights in my head had been hit by a power failure.

My knees buckled from underneath me, the ground there feeling as soft as a cloud.

It didn't feel unpleasant even as I was covered in the rain-soaked mud.

Ooishi came closer, asking if I was okay, but somehow I couldn't tell.

...I turned off the switch to the last light in my head.

The exhaustion enveloped me.

Sleep.

...Something softer than any blanket wrapped around me...