He opens his left palm, fingers unfolding to reveal five marbles glinting in the sun. His eyes narrow determinedly, his lips tightening in form of concentration. His right hand is poised to shoot the marbles only a street away, inside the apartment building.

Him.

Sitting on the bed, looking worried, his waist and wounds bandaged by those people he considers enemies.

It is different now.

Sensui will get Kuwabara. I kill him.

The fingers hesitate.

He doesn't have to look to realize he is trembling.

~ * ~

Maybe there's a way to warn him,he thinks, arms folded around his knees. I must tell him something about what they told me...

Two girls surround him, one is the taller woman who addressed herself as the older sister of the man who saved him, Kuwabara, and the other was simply called Botan. They looked so trusting, so oblivious from his inner turmoil.

I have to find a way to get out,he realizes. I have to find him...maybe...

He opens his mouth to speak when the door slams open.

"Look out!" a strangled cry comes.

~ * ~

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Five round objects flash briefly against the sun before they break through the glass covering the window.

He smiles grimly and closes his eyes.

He does not want to see the result.

~ * ~

A large body collides with Mitara Kishuu's, throwing him off-balance from the bed. His ribs creak painfully, his skin tearing as he and someone else fall on the carpeted ground. "Stay down," his savior, Kazuma Kuwabara, told him seriously. "They're on top of the other building."

"Wh--who?" Would he notice his breath is caught?

Kuwabara looks at the other two girls. Botan has frozen in place, hands still clutching a manga. Shizuru is pressed against the wall, her eyes wide. "Get down!" he barks. "Don't do anything quick." He looks around, looking at the places where those bullets hit.

Shizuru takes one from the wall, warily examining it. "It's a marble!" she exclaims.

"You're kidding!" Botan leans forward, then pulls back immediately when another flies past her. "Ah! Yes! Yes!"

"Who?" Mitara insists again.

Kuwabara turns to him seriously. "Your friends. One in a jacket and the other is Sensui."

His heart momentarily stops beating. "In...what color is the jacket?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Kuwabara snaps, trying to crawl his way towards the door to get his other friends. But Mitara, who clutches the edge of his shirt, prevents this.

"It's important!" the other almost cries. "What color is it?"

Kuwabara turns to his desperate face and realizes it is true. "I can't be sure, but I think it's red." Then, he quickly scrambles up and runs to the door, a barrage of marbles following him.

"Red," Mitara whispers, lost in thought.

He knows. Hagiri has come to kill him.

~ * ~

More and more, then rain of marbles continues to destroy the windows and room.

Hagiri Kaname stands to wait for Sensui's next plan of action.

But he is tired of this. And hurt.

~ * ~

Mitara cautiously looks out the window and sees his figure.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Shizuru hisses, trying to pull him back.

Botan nods vigorously. "If he sees you, you'll get killed," she tells him. "Mitara-san..."

Yet he continues to ignore them.

His eyes finally focus. The other notices him from the top of the building and moves to raise his palm staring at his face, a new set of marbles on his palm.

But Mitara does not pull away.

And Hagiri does not shoot.

~ * ~

What's wrong with me?He stares at the figure. Kill him and get it over with! It's simple enough, you'll be doing it for the rest of your life. Kill him now...!

Yet he does not.

In his mind, he sees those nights once more, those nights when depression seemed their only friend, when release of pain, anger, and hurt came in a single climax in each other's arms. And even from afar, he can read Mitara's eyes.

He does not move.

~ * ~

~ * ~

The word forms from Hagiri's lips, and Mitara finally pulls away, heart beating faster. He looks away, his fingers clenching. "You," he said in a hard voice, "you have to get out of here."

Shizuru looks up to him. "Why?"

"They're not after Yusuke," he says quietly. "They're after your brother. They need his Dimensional Sword. Go to him."

Shizuru opens her mouth to ask some questions, but quickly snaps it shut as if she understands, then creeps quietly to the door. And no marbles.

Botan heaves a sigh.

Mitara draws himself to a fetal position.

~ * ~

No, he doesn't. He doesn't understand. He might never understand at all.

~ * ~

Hagiri sees the large ball of energy flying towards the south part of the apartment. He scowls. The first part is done, and he has not completed his mission.

Perhaps, the only heart that can understand this is another heart itself.

He turns away and jumps off the roof just as a large explosion comes.

~ * ~

A few minutes later, Hagiri slams the door at the passenger side of the truck they had gotten for this mission. Amanoma, a boy of eight, is at the wheels, handling the controls with ease as if he's been doing it for his life.

"Did you kill him?" Sensui called, raising his voice over the screams and yells of Kuwabara, who is now captured.

Hagiri looks at the side-mirror quietly before answering, "No."

He sees Sensui's broad shoulders shrug and feels him smile. "There'll be a next time," he tells him. "And it will be soon."

Hagiri closes his eyes. "Too soon," he whispers mostly to himself.