Everything suddenly went quiet.

Mikushi looked up, blond hair flying backwards as he did. ‘This isn’t good,’ he whispered. ‘They’re probably on this level now.’

Saiku suddenly stood up, wincing as the slash on his shoulder twinged. ‘Alright. Who’s left?’ he asked, looking at the blood-stained ground.

‘I am,’ spoke Rui from the corner of the room, attempting to stop the blood flow from the puncture in his stomach, but only managing to spread it around and into light brown hair as he shifted, tucking a lock behind his hair. ‘Mikushi’s alive too, obviously. I think Ryuutai’s still running as well.’ Ryuutai whispered a confirmation, concentrating on his broken arm. ‘And...Ruku and Jikan are alive as well.’ The twins nodded, and Ruku got to his feet. Jikan still sat against the wall, trying to get her breath back. ‘Shuha’s still alive, isn’t he?’

Mikushi shook his head, hand on the non-existent pulse on the black-haired boy’s wrist. ‘He’s dead,’ the blond announced forlornly.

Saiku winced. ‘Damn. There’s six left out of the original twenty-two. That’s just great.’

‘What are you planning to do?’ asked Ryuutai, his blue hair getting soaked by blood.

‘We,’ Saiku began, ‘are going to die anyways. I don’t know about you, but I want to die standing. We’ll show those people in SHIKKU just who they’re dealing with.’ He grinned momentarily, stopping as his shoulder twinged. The others stood as well, many leaning on the walls of the warehouse room due to injuries.

Rui shrugged. ‘Might as well. What else is there to live for? Let’s go down with a bang. We’ll make us—heck, all of zero-sin—something that can be remembered.’

Saiku grinned again. ‘That’s exactly the point. Status check time. What injuries have we got?’

Rui spoke again. ‘I’ve got a literal hole in my stomach, Mikushi’s got a slashed knee tendon and broken rib, Ryuutai’s got a broken arm, Ruku’s got a major concussion and Jikan’s got two fingers hacked off and a crushed elbow. Same arm though, thankfully.’

Saiku sighed. ‘We could be worse off, then. That’s good. Weapons available?’

‘I’ve got my sword and a few smoke bombs, Ruku’s got his handgun, Jikan has a few needles left, Ryuutai’s got his knife, Mikushi’s got his swords and-‘ he shuddered ‘-we have Shuha’s daggers. You?’

‘A slashed shoulder. All I’ve got is my fists, though. Pass me Shuha’s daggers?’ Mikushi handed them over silently, and Saiku swung them around with his good arm, experimenting. ‘Perfect. We’ll live, I know it. Make me a promise, guys?’ He paused, as the other’s nodded. He was their leader, after all—the one who’d brought them and many others together. ‘Whoever survives, rebuild zero-sin. That’s all I ask.’ He saluted the other five. ‘Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure.’

‘Likewise,’ Rui added. He saluted the group one last time as their lieutenant.

‘Alright.’ Saiku dropped his hand, ‘Let’s go. We’ll make the others proud.’ Soku, Shiraki, Shuha, Kurion, Ari, Suji, Syuute, Kurie, Rioku, Aroku, Saikasi, Kosuke, Hashira, Tetsu,, Syafai-all of you.

‘It’s the last stand of zero-sin,’ Rui added. ‘What else is there to do?’ He placed a hand on the doorknob, murmuring a quick prayer for the fallen ones. ‘Let’s go now,’ he said quietly, slamming the door open. They rushed out, hacking at everything in sight, fighting death, fighting destiny.

Fighting for more time. Time to live, to breathe, to laugh—time to stay together and smile. Fighting to be more than a memory, more than bodies in a warehouse, long after the members of SHIKKU had cleared away and only the skeletons were left.

They were fighting to be with each other.

---

AN: The back story of Fighting for time. I know, there will be a longer version up soon, deviating from the third last paragraph. That was originally my Commonwealth essay, but I realized that the word limit wouldn't allow me to fit in all of their deaths, so I cut it off. xD The gore content was downed a little to raise my chances of making the class cut. -shifty eyes- It's four per class, and I think I made it--there's me, Vanessa, Robarts and Irene...

I know, a lot of those names in here will be familiar. Soku(he's Sori now xD), Shiraki, Shuha, Kurion, Ari, Suji, Syuute, Kurie, Rioku, Aroku, Hashira, Rui(in name only), Saiku(in name only), Kurion and Syafai are all from the as-of-yet-not posted Red on White which is still in the process of being typed up. Saikasi, Kosuke and Tetsu are from a different story, Etsuki. Shuha doesn't come in much, Kurie's mentioned in the flashback chapter, along with Aroku. Yes, I didn't feel like making names up and borrowed characters. A lot of them. xD Sue me, it's my story.

Any feedback would be really x56 million appreciated. As in, really really really I'll love you forever really.

-Kurion