'Shu, we have to go. Now.'

Lui's hand was gripping my wrist tightly, as if he was afraid that I could slip and fall like Miyu any second. Normally I would've felt a little happy, but his voice was so serious. I nodded, taking one last look at the place where Miyu died, before letting him lead the way. His eyes were on me the whole time, etched with concern and grief, but he didn't push. I was grateful for that. 

The group were going uphill but more east, avoiding the main bombing section. Tanaka-san told us that the helicopter coming to pick us up will land there, where they have enough space to land. That won't happen until three hours later. As we trekked up the mountain, I kept my eyes on the scenery to distract me.

Dirt had been freshly kicked up, the winter grass sprayed all over. Trees had been knocked askew, leaves and branches littering the snowy path up. All earth matter had been affected. There was no doubt even some animals had died. A crackled of thunder caused me to look up at the sky. In just the half an hour we had been walking, clouds had swallowed the blue sky and replaced it by their own dark grey dreariness. Birds were fluttering nervously, left right and center, wondering where to go in this confusion. I felt the lightest touch of snow drip on my nose. 

A storm was brewing. 

'Let's go!' Tanaka-san called out loudly, making sure everyone heard. We all nodded and started scampering quickly up, desperate not to be caught in the storm. I forgot all about the scenery. I kept my eyes on the dirty snow, just focusing on walking the whole time. 

Walk, walk, walk, I repeated myself, so lost and desperate to come back to civilization alive. The death of Miyu made everything feel so much more realistic. One wrong move, one slip, and someone could be tumbling back down to the foot of the mountain and not see the sun again. I gulped and hurried on, my feet moving more carefully and quickly now. I clutched on to Lui's hand even tighter, partly to stabilize myself, partly because it was comforting being in his grip. 

The howling of the wind escalated, and the wind slapped everyone's hair into a frenzy. It's chilly frost bit into everyone's exposed skin, and I felt my lips getting colder and colder, undoubtedly blue now. Droplets of water began pouring, the rain making everything more slippery and much more colder as icy water plunged towards us. I shivered and tugged the sleeves over my hands. Lightning flashed overhead, bathing us in a bright light. Leila shrieked and stopped, but slipped on a bit of ice doing so.

'Help me!' she cried out as she began to topple backwards. Lea was desperately screaming, trying to get her back but doing absolutely nothing. Lui's hand had left mine and instead was gripping onto Leila's and helping her regain her balance. 

'Careful,' he warned her, his hand not leaving hers. She blushed madly, scarlet tinting her face. Tanaka-san, Ayumi and the rest of the grown ups had continued walking up, leaving only Lui, Leila, Lea and I in the pouring rain. Lea stood, miffed, to the side, and I felt her eyes on me.

'T-Thanks Lui-kun,' she mumbled, dropping his hand, twiddling her fingers together and looking at her feet with the faintest smile. It surprised me she didn't turn this into something romantic, but instead let go of his hand. Maybe she was too weary and grateful too. Still, just seeing their hands intertwined together sparked an emotion that made me want to take Lui's hand. Jealousy. 

As I watched, she leaned in until her mouth was mere centimeters away from his ear. I watched as those lips with faded crimson lipstick move, but I heard nothing. Lui did, however. His cheeks turned pink and he looked away from Leila, but uttered out a, 'He doesn't like me.'

Without waiting for an answer from Leila and or Lea, he grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me up with him. I don't know what Leila said to him, but his grip was more painful. I heard Leila sighed and begin walking with Lea, her feet more careful this time. He squinted, and so did I. The only source of light were from the lightning, the clouds blocking off the sun. It was nearly pitch black, but I could faintly see a clump of coats together. The group. 

'Lui, can you loosen up a bit please?' I asked him softly. He nodded, making direct eye contact with me for only a second before loosening his grip and looking away. It was just for a second, but I saw a mixture of love, concern and pain in his eyes. How somebody who still loves their ex might look at them.

'Sorry. Let's go,' he told me without making eye contact. I nodded and let him lead the way as I pondered about his response. 'He doesn't like me.' Those words sent a chill down my body, and it wasn't from the cold. Was this "he" me? I felt dread filling me up. It was, wasn't it? 

The memory of him confessing to me slapped me hard. I had forgotten about it again. I felt horrible. He must've been thinking about what my response was to his confession all morning while I had forgotten it, but had come to the conclusion that my silence was a no. I glanced at the Longinus blader, making awkward eye contact before he grunted and focused on the floor.

Lui, I wanted to say, yell, scream. I do love you. I just forgot. 

But how do I tell him? I didn't need much courage because I knew he liked me as well. But this isn't the place for a confession, where someone could die so easily, where someone has already died. However...I looked at Lui again, who was still looking at the floor. It's probably killing him knowing that I don't like him. I need to tell him. Now. 

I stopped walking, jolting Lui slightly backwards. Leila and Lea were now in front of us. He glared at me, confused but gentle. If that was even possible. 'What is it? What stopped you?'

'Lui, I...' I hesitated before continuing. He raised an eyebrow, but let me continued. 'I need to tell that I-'

'Lui, Shu!' A sharp voice called. We glanced up from where the voice originated from. I could distinctly make out a dark figure with a hat standing forward from six other figures. The rest of the group. This was Tanaka-san. 'We need to talk!'

'C'mon,' Lui told me before hurrying up there. I paused for a second longer, partly upset that an opportunity had gone to waste. 

'Coming.'

We joined to safety of the huddle, and I stood next to Tanaka-san and Lui. Their body warmth was slowly diminishing every second that passed. We didn't have long before the cold took over our body. I glanced around the circle. Leila and Lea were chattering from the cold, Ayumi gritting her teeth, Tanaka-san looking grave but determined, Haruto looking weary, Sam and Annie looking tired, Lui looking...unreadable. His cold façade was up again. 

'Alright,' Tanaka-san shivered as the skies continued to turn darker and even more gloomier. Light snow began to patter down gently on us along with the heavy rain. I felt the water soak my clothes and stick my hair to my face. 'We have two hours to go to the spot where we need to be picked up. Unfortunately, a log has blocked our way there. So we have to go around it, but...it will be closer to the bombs. There shouldn't be any bombs there, so nobody should get blown up...I hope. Well, let's start walking. I want each teenager with an adult. Lui, with Sam. Lea, with Haruto. Shu, with Annie. Leila and Ayumi, you're both with me. Link arms with your partner or partners, everyone.'

There goes my chance to confess. I glanced at Lui one more time before shuffling over to the freezing figure of Annie. Her arms seemed to quiver when I touched it. It was clear we couldn't be out for too long, otherwise results will be grave. Especially since Sam and Annie are from Italy and are not all used to snow. Tanaka-san seemed to sense this, because he took lead quickly and barked at us. 'Quick, in a line! Now walk quickly, but carefully!'

We all obeyed fast, forming into a line formation with Tanaka-san and Ayumi and Leila at the front. Next was Lui and Sam. Then me and Annie. Finally, Lea with Haruto. Thunder clapped over head, and the rain seemed to get heavier and icier. We continued walking, this time with urgency. I stared at the back of Lui's head, watching his hair move softly in a gentle wave, not at all violent like the times we had battled during tournaments.

Why didn't I ever get to know Lui? Why did I not ever question myself about him, who was known for being one of my biggest rivals on the beyblade stage? I hardly knew anything about him except for the basic facts. Why did I have to wait until this moment? 

I groaned silently and continued walking. A couple of times Lui's head would turn, and my heart would flutter at the thought of him looking at me, but all he did was check the storm we were leaving behind.

The thunder crackling seemed to get fainter and fainter, but the coldness did not. It chilled and soaked my to the bone, and for a second I thought Miyu was lucky to have her puffer jacket. Before realizing that she was gone. I swallowed, feeling hot water begging to leak out of my eyes, and gazed at the woman next to me instead. 

Annie was a short blonde with tan skin and a splash of freckles across her nose. Her brown eyes seemed unfocused, probably recalling the times she had on the beaches in Italy, were the weather was perfect.

She looked around her mid-twenties along with her husband.  Her clothes were quite simple, really. At school our teachers always said all the fashionistas and divas lived in either North America or Europe. But all Annie wore was a simple red coat with a light blue undershirt and a pair of white, pressed trousers. Her blonde hair was curly, but the curls seemed natural and so did the colour (unlike Lea and Leila's).

Her makeup had faded and been washed away, but she seemed the same, really. She's probably glad she didn't put much makeup on, as Lea and Leila's were getting smudged and messed up from the rain. Annie's clothes looked as soaked as mine, and I could tell she was getting tired. 

'It'll all be fine, Shu,' she said. I blinked once and realized she probably thought I was scared of the storm. 'Halfway there.'

I sighed wearily and ran a hand down my wet locks before feeling somebody's eyes on me. I glanced up, meeting royal purple for a second. Only a second, then they flit away as quick as thunder. Even in the darkness, I could see his cheek's turning pink. That's it. I need to talk to him. Now. 

Boom. 

What now? 

About thirty meters away from us, dark smoke was rising. I could make out angry flames licking at barren trees, sending them up in flames. Lea groaned as earth matter was splattered all over us. The fire was melting the remaining snow quickly before spreading. We all watched in horror as a broken piece of metal from the train exploded in smithereens before us. 

Bombs. 

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I'm so sorry it's short. ;-;

Btw, there is still a death coming.

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Word count: 1990