"Oooh, that's gotta hurt," Reiji winced as he saw the arrow impale the right shoulder of one of the crossbowmen, who promptly dropped his weapon before collapsing onto the floor with a wail.
"AARGGHHHHH!"
The other two archers, aside from Hayashi, shifted their focus from Reiji's general hiding area to Beardy's truck, which revved with power as the wheels started turning again.
They simultaneously fired at the large vehicle, but now that it was moving, their aim was even worse.
Although crossbows seem generally easy to use compared to regular bows, they're still difficult to put into actual combat if you have little to no training.
And since these men probably held these weapons for the first time today, this was an expected result.
Reiji took advantage of their distraction and crept over to another steel beam, hidden by the darkness.
Baldy was crouched down at the same place, and it would be easier to choose their next steps if he could coordinate with him.
"Baldy, keep your voice down, it's me," he whispered.
A tense response came from the shadows.
"Boss? Go hide behind those crates over there, we'll take care of this."
"No, we gotta take care of those other two archers. Hayashi isn't a priority with how worked up he is. If we take out those two, the rest will be easy."
They both looked over and saw their adversaries scrambling for cover from the charging truck, which they could barely make out from the light coming from the headlights.
Beardy's constant attempt to run over the henchmen was extremely effective in breaking up their formation, and one of the crossbowmen had dived away from the collision course, conveniently pushing him towards their location.
Though that was actually part of the plan.
Two of the close-combat guys were also running near their area with fear-stricken faces.
"You take those two, I've got the dude with the bow," Reiji muttered, tiptoeing forward without waiting for confirmation.
*THWANG*
Beardy fired again, one hand on the steering wheel as he extended the other out of the window.
This time, he missed, but he didn't get discouraged as he pressed the automatic reload and released another shot.
*SHLICKK*
One of the men, who was carrying a katana, fell to the ground while clutching his thigh that had been shot through, the thin metal arrow still sticking out of his bloody flesh.
'There's 6 left,' Reiji thought, excluding Hayashi from his count.
That psychotic man was now just looking around the darkness fearfully, his white suit standing out the most due to the lack of light.
"AHHH! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" he yelled, waving around his weapon threateningly.
Reiji, now just behind the archer he was targeting, crouched underneath a piece of machinery as he waited for his opportunity.
The truck veered once again after crashing through a box of crates, spilling a bunch of tools that they were storing alongside another one of Hayashi's henchmen, who flew into the air still clutching his baton.
As Reiji saw the poor guy roll a bunch of times after landing, the truck's headlights shone in their direction, blinding the crossbowman momentarily.
He tried to move again, shielding his eyes from the painful brightness, leaving himself open for an attack from the back.
Reiji leaped forward, his footsteps muffled by the roaring sound of the large vehicle driving towards them.
Before the man could jump away, Reiji whacked him over the head with a wooden plank he had found next to his spot.
"ACK!"
*THUD*
He groaned in pain as he tried to get to his feet, but Reiji punched him on the chin immediately and knocked him out.
'Come to Papa.'
Reiji grinned, picking up the crossbow and cradling the heavy weapon in his arms.
He turned to his right and saw two dancing shadows exchanging blows near him, the pale moonlight revealing a third one sleeping on the floor.
Baldy had taken one down, and the other probably wouldn't last much longer since he trusted his skills.
By this time, the rest of Hayashi's men had also taken cover away from the large opening, hiding in different places so that he could no longer identify where they were.
'3 left. 1 archer and two close combat. Hayashi is out in the open still. Should I take him down first?'
It was one thought, and it was all he needed.
Reiji aimed his crossbow at the comparatively larger target, who wasn't even moving anymore, simply looking around while panting.
His index finger tickled the trigger, his arms steady as a rock.
But he froze.
'....They aren't shaking. Why aren't they shaking?'
This was no mere game.
This wasn't just torture.
This was life and death.
And he felt disgustingly calm at the thought of shooting an arrow through the pig's head.
And as if fate willed it so, the full moon that had been suppressed by the thick grey clouds was finally granted freedom, casting its bright light over the compound with sheer arrogance.
Hayashi's wrinkled face slowly analyzed the situation, his beady little eyes taking in the unconscious bodies of his subordinates with cold indifference, finally locking onto Reiji, who still had his crossbow aimed at him.
With an eerie grin, Hayashi raised his own weapon in return.
"Found you, you little shit."
"BOSS!"
Baldy started running, racing past the two people he had beaten down as his arms stretched out in panic.
"NOOOO!"
Beardy slammed open the truck's door, jumping furiously out of the vehicle that was facing the other way.
He aimed at Hayashi as quickly as he could, but went completely pale when he realized he had no arrows left, with no time to reload.
Reiji's breath hitched in his throat, staring down the barrel of the crossbow pointed at him.
His heartbeat was constant.
His mind had no ripples.
And yet, he couldn't fire the shot.
That last shred of rationality was stabbing his brain repeatedly, begging him not to go down that road.
People say that time slows down when you feel like your life might be coming to an end, and Reiji had always thought that those moments only happened in books and movies.
But here he was, experiencing it for himself.
The rest of the port darkened, as if swallowed by shadows, and only Hayashi and his bow were within his vision.
'Am I going to die? Because I didn't want to kill someone?'
He didn't know if it was instinct, a revelation, or divine intervention, but the finger on his trigger tightened at the absurd thought.
*THWANG*
A shot was fired.
No, two shots were fired.
Simultaneously.
One body moved, the other didn't.
*SCHLAACKK*
*SCHLOCK*
Blood sprayed into the air, staining the concrete floor with red hues of pain.
Reiji clenched his teeth, biting his tongue accidentally in the effort to bear with the excruciating agony coursing through him, tuning out the hysterical cries of his men.
He lowered his arms, the shakiness finally revealing itself, despite it being caused by suffering instead of fear.
The clean cut on his outer shoulder jolted him back to reality, the burning liquid leaking out with no signs of stopping.
He looked back, seeing the arrow stuck on the machine behind him with small droplets of his blood still on the shaft.
'I'm alive....'
He'd managed to turn his body away as soon as he'd pressed the trigger, trying to avoid the flicker of light that had been aimed at him.
If he hadn't moved, it would still have only hit the area between his shoulder and his chest, which was somewhat protected by the armour vest.
But that decision had prevented a much more major injury.
Hayashi?
He wasn't quite so fortunate.
"AHHHHHH!!"
The pig had crumpled to the floor, dropping his crossbow as he writhed in anguish at the arrow sticking out of his right leg.
The blood seeped through his suit, dyeing it red to match Reiji's shoulder.
Tears streamed down his wobbling cheeks when the realization set in, and he punched the floor as if trying to divert the pain elsewhere.
Reiji took a deep breath and lowered his weapon.
'I don't want to kill..... I think. But not aiming for a kill shot should be fine, right?' he tried to persuade himself internally.
Baldy and Beardy both rushed to his side, their red eyes and quivering lips exposing their feelings without needing to express them out loud.
The others also ran out of their hiding spots, no longer caring about the remaining archer who was nowhere to be seen.
"Boss!"
"Are you okay? Let's get you to the hospital!"
Reiji raised his working hand.
"I was thinking about this all wrong," Reiji murmured, his pupils dilated in deep thought as the adrenaline and pain forced his brain to work overtime.
"Huh?"
"Shooting doesn't mean I would've ended up killing him..... I just shouldn't miss!"
"Um.... Are you ok, Boss?"
"Shit, the pain's making him go crazy!"
Reiji looked out into the vast open area.
"The remaining ones, come out now and surrender, and I can guarantee you won't get hurt. Refuse, and I can promise that a few broken bones or arrow wounds will be the best outcome for you," he stated, loud but clear.
A few seconds went by with no response.
Just as Reiji decided to tell the others to spread out and look for them, a crossbow, a knife, and a baton were thrown into the middle from different corners of the place.
"W-We're coming out! Don't shoot!"
The three men walked out hesitantly, their arms raised over their heads.
"....Baldy, you take the other men and round up the people offloading the crates. Beardy, call for reinforcements and do what you usually do in these cases."
"B-Boss, we need to get you treated first!" Beardy stammered in worry, tearing off part of his shirt sleeve and pressing it against Reiji's shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. But we don't need to go anywhere," he snorted.
And right on cue, a deep voice behind them agreed with him.
"Yes. Go get treated. Leave the rest to us."
Reiji sighed, turning around to see his father and Gramps along with a large batch of people following them.
He took the cloth from Beardy and continued to put pressure on the wound, approaching Daichi by placing one foot after the other.
Every step reignited the throbbing in his arm, with dizziness washing over him.
He stopped once he was just inches away from him, his emotionless glare meeting his dad's gaze.
"Did you have fun?" he sneered.