The head of the JSDF took the loudspeaker and brought it near his mouth.
"What do you want?"
"Oh? A new character. Can you introduce yourself?"
"W-"
Before he could retaliate from his seemingly absurd questions, Shiraishi stopped him. Shiraishi was seen whispering something in his ear.
The JSDF official nodded subtly after Shiraishi finished discharging all the contents of his whisperings.
"My name is Buriko Sei."
The terrorist, holding captive of Harue, seemed satisfied.
"What good manners. Looks like someone has been learning."
The terrorist glanced at Shiraishi as he remarked Shiraishi of his previous disrespectful behaviour. It was evident to the Senior Inspector because his demeanour became melancholy.
Buriko Sei detected the gloomy vibe Shiraishi gave off. He proceeded on interacting with the terrorist, after having sympathized with Shiraishi in his mind.
"Now, can you tell me what do you want?"
"Of course. It's a small request. We just want that helicopter to stop flying over the mall or even near it. You see, my Boss is veeeerry annoyed by that noise so he might vent his anger on one of the innocent people you are trying to save."
"...."
"In other words, it is going to be your fault if one of the hostages dies.
"...Okay, we understand. Just don't harm the hostages."
"If you do what you are asked, then the safety of these innocents will be guaranteed."
"Okay....."
"And I hope the money is already coming here.
"The money is monstrous in amount, so it will take time. The expected time for the arrival of the money would be around 30 minutes."
The terrorist and Buriko were exchanging words that contained the lives of the hostages. The snipers did not have a good shot at the terrorist as he used Harue as a shield. Regardless, it did not matter because they would not shoot.
It would be beyond stupid to fire the bullet and endanger the hostages.
Harue, afraid and anxious of the position he was in, kept his silence as he observed the scene in front of him. Police cars filling the mall's vicinity and civilians watching from behind the yellow lines displayed by the police.
He could not help but awkwardly laugh at the eventful day he experienced today.
The day he was given a surprise by his best friend, the day Adachi Yuna, his crush, accompanied them in their shopping and the day, he would confess to his crush.
But his day went from wanting to live every day, to wanting to survive this day. An unexpected event was enough to make that happen.
At the moment, he could only helplessly watch the mass of people gathered here. From left to right, people were observing the situation in awe.
When he scanned the environment he could see an individual with a unique clothing that was conspicuous to everyone. He was amongst the police and the JSDF.
'Is that a hero?'
That was one major possibility. A blue mask hiding his face exponentially increased Harue's first guess to be right. He stood firm as he was observing the interaction of both the terrorist and Buriko.
But other than the hero, Harue seemed to be focused on another part of the crowd.
An individual he seemed to recognize. He strained his eyes more to concentrate on that specific person.
A girl, in her late 20s but did seem younger. That assertion that Harue put forward was done without any hesitation. It was because he knows who that girl is.
"Nee.....chan?"
He murmured to no one in particular but he could not stop himself from calling out to her. He did not look helpless anymore, instead, he looked happy.
His sister, Akane, who noticed that Harue finally looked at her side, was baffled. Even if he was in the clutch of a dangerous man, the moment he looked at her, he seemed happy.
The shock of Fukuyama Akane was unreal to her when she saw Harue being held hostage. But she kind of expected it.
Before, when she heard the news that Heisei Shopping mall was invaded by terrorists, she realized that Harue went to the same mall.
She tried to communicate to Harue via mobile phone but that failed. Immediately, she got off work and went to the site. On the way she prayed that Harue escaped but fate went according to what she feared.
Akane was worried about his little brother and did not know what to do. She could only hope that the police, the JSDF, the SMF and finally, the hero to do their best.
Harue felt like a big burden has been lifted and he did not feel that gloomy.
The helicopter was now flying away from the mall. It went far enough that the noise generated from that flying vehicle was not heard completely. The terrorist was satisfied.
He pulled Harue away from the edge as he spoke through the speaker.
"Thank you very much. The lives of the hostages remain intact. Good decision Buriko."
He slowly backed up with Harue as he went near the door that led downstairs. The snipers could only do one thing. Watch through their gun's scope the terrorist dragging the hostage.
The terrorist beckoned Harue to open the door. He was still in his clutch as he followed his orders accordingly. The masked man slammed the door behind him after having entered. All of that was watched by the snipers.
"Good work~"
The terrorist soon took off his serious atmosphere and became relaxed. He let go of Harue, letting him free to walk. He was confident that Harue would not run that he put away his gun.
"...Thanks...I guess..."
Harue had mixed feelings on how to reply to him. He did not know how to react in this unique situation.
Being held hostage by a terrorist which exhibits playful behaviour. It did not seem like he was serious. Harue wanted to strike a conversation with him as he was also intrigued in him, the same way as the terrorist feels towards Harue.
"Uumm, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
They started to return to the hostages' containment. Both of them sure looked like some recently met acquaintances, if you exclude the mask of the terrorist.
"If you cannot say your name, then can you tell me what the Boss calls you every time, like a nickname or a codename....if you don't mind that is..."
Feeling that he barely went overboard with the question, he was overcome with a sensation of self-restraint when he started to converse with him.
The masked man did not think that it was unnecessary or unwanted talking, he casually gave his answer after a slight pause.
"They call me Bigoko."
"...Bigoko-san, why do they you call you that?"
"Not any real reason. Let's just say my Boss has a good naming sense."
"I hope that this is not linked in any of the slightest with your real name."
He smacked Harue on the head, which got him frightened greatly. He was scared again that he overstepped the limit of this sensitive relation.
But the terrorist played it off quite jokingly.
"You do not have to worry about that. My real name is more suitable for my character."
"...That's good to hear."
They walked slower than before because they talked about a lot of things. Topics including Harue's age, hobbies and distastes were brought out. Harue did not give out information about his family, school or address because that would be a stupid mistake that could endanger his life.
Other than that, he was open with Bigoko. But no matter what Harue said, Bigoko would not reveal any piece of information about himself or his Boss.
They arrived at the hostages and already, Bigoko pulled up his gun from his holster and beckoned Harue to move.
But Bigoko threw Harue down next to the bespectacled girl that he saved earlier. The girl cushioned Harue's fall. She knew that this was not enough to repay him for his bravery.
Harue was shocked at Bigoko but he could figure out the intentions behind Bigoko's action.
From the way Bigoko looked at Harue before he walked away to the Boss, Harue was very slightly thankful at him.
Bigoko knew that girl was someone that Harue loves. So, Bigoko made Harue sit there to be close to her. He was quite the good guy if you take the fact out that he is a terrorist.
"Are you alright? Any injuries? Did he harm you?"
The girl was anxious but she did not want to annoy the Boss, so she held back speaking aloud.
The whispers carried concern and that made Harue happy. He did not want to make her worry anymore so Harue responded with a reassuring tone.
"It's okay Yuna-san. All he did was just threaten the police with me."
".....I'm sorry,.....Harue-senpai..."
"It's alright Yuna-san. It was my duty after all. A senior must look after his or her junior. Isn't it?"
"Even so, that was dangerous..."
"I came out just fine Yuna-san."
Yuna's head hung low. The messy hairs of hers dropped from her shoulders, covering her face sideways.
"Yuna-san. Do not be so worried. I know we are in a dangerous situation that we have never been in."
Harue grabbed her shoulder as light as a feather so as to not spook her. At the point of contact. A small portion of warmth spread tardily from her shoulders to her whole body.
"We have to face this obstacle with optimism and the hope of being able to get out of this situation."
Harue stopped touching Yuna's shoulder and went in a comfortable sitting position.
"We have to stay calm and strong Yuna-san. Being so pessimistic and scared every second will wear off your mind. That is not good."
"....Yes, Senpai."
"That's right. Do not be scared."
".....Yes."
Harue instructed Yuna to breathe and maintain the stability of his heart and mind. She was much better than before. Harue was feeling relieved now because Yuna now looked more confident.
"By the way, have you seen Kouki?"
"You mean Watanabe-senpai? No...Didn't he went to the toilet?"
'On purpose.' was what Harue thought.
"He must have escaped the commotion."
"That's good."
Harue who was now mentally tired from all of this pondered about his friend Kouki.
Harue really wanted that Kouki would be by his side.
Even though Harue felt bad about himself wanting his friend, Kouki, to be a hostage like him, he could not help but be regretful.
Kouki was kind of Harue's mental support. Kouki being with him would greatly help Harue be more stable in this situation. On the other hand, he was also happy that Kouki got away from this danger.
Yuna got in a comfortable sitting posture because being anxious all the time would not help her increase her probability of getting out.
With time, the whimperings of the other hostages started to die down. They were now slowly adapting. The masked men patrolled the hostages, the corridor's of the mall and all sections that sell items.
After about 15 minutes, some hostages and the terrorists noticed an odd occurrence.
The rubbles that firmly sealed the east part of the mall, large quantity of water was seeping through the cracks and spaces. The stream of water slowly formed multiple large puddles under the rubbles.
A masked man checked it out but other than the leaking water forming puddles, nothing unusual was happening.
"Is it raining?"
"Might be."
"Did you see the weather report for today?
"No."
"What about you?"
"No, I did not."
The terrorists were discussing among themselves. Bigoko, who has taken a liking to Harue, asked one of his companions to go in a group of 2 to go to the main entrances.
He orders other 2 people to go to the door that leads to the roof. A few others were designated to blockades on the west side of the mall. Bigoko assigned those groups a job.
Put a trap.
He suspects that the water was not rain, but someone's doing. An attack? This was a possibility and Bigoko did not want to risk it.
There were a few now that held captive of the hostages. They were on guard, expecting for an attack.
The Boss was leaning on a concrete pillar and watched the scene. He was thinking about something. Bigoko looked over to his Boss quietly as if he was planning on doing something.
The Boss started walking and grabbed one of the hostages, a middle-aged man that had few strands of white hairs. The Boss puts his hand on his neck and led him violently to one of the concrete pillars.
"Please not him!!"
A middle-aged woman was pleading for the man's safety. From the way she spoke, it was possibly the man's wife or family.
The Boss ignored her pleas and stared at the man.
That was the same place one of the hostages was killed. Blood was still there, staining parts of the pillar. The man feared for his fate greatly.
"I-I'm sorry!! P-P-Please don't kill me!!"
The Boss did nothing but instead, waited for something to happen. He was thinking of killing this innocent man if someone tried to attack.
Hostages were now terrified, the few terrorists were prepared for an ambush.
This was one of the tense moments that Harue and Yuna experienced. The time increased and the anxiety of people also increased.
But is this really what the terrorists think it is?