Chapter 556 - FADING TO BLACK

The thirty seconds following the sound of the two gunshots felt like forever. 

The hostages started running, including the girl who was in charge of holding the phone for Watch streaming. She dropped the phone and followed the screaming crowd out of the restaurant. People collided, and some fell and sustained injuries. 

But no one was willing to remain in the restaurant for a moment longer. 

Without a visual, the people in the mobile command centre of the CAB were also freaking out. The minister was particularly worried about Akira. She had proven to be more than a great asset to the country. 

If anything happened to her, it would be a huge loss for the country. 

Her quick brain and bravery had helped the country avoid a terrorist incident. If the bomb exploded, it would not only be a matter of losses and mass terror. The country would lose face because of its vulnerability to terrorists. 

But now, things were going wrong. 

"Who came up with such a dumb idea? Turn on the lights. We have lost visual, and our sniper is blind." Director Deguchi shouted into the com line for the enforcement team sent to the Floating Pavilion. He was at the edge of his seat.

The line crackled. "It was my decision, sir. I thought the temporary darkness would disorient the terrorists and give us a chance to strike." 

"Just turn the electricity back on. You cannot afford the price if anything happens to Ms Yamazaki." Director Deguchi was frustrated. "We need to keep an eye on the situation." 

"Understood, sir!" The commander of the unit said. 

Deguchi also reached out to the CAB air support team. In addition to the sniper, they naturally had video surveillance equipment to record the scene. The reason everyone was watching the video from Watch was that it had the advantage of on the ground point of view.

Now that the girl who was holding the phone had left the scene, they needed to depend on their equipment and agents for footage. 

"Connect us to a video stream of the scene." Director Deguchi ordered. 

In the building, the CAB officers tried to approach the top floor and the restaurant through the stairs. However, before they could get far, they met with haggard hostages. The hostages cried out for help. Some even threw themselves at the officers as they felt relieved after being rescued. 

Unfortunately, this delayed the progress of the officers. 

Within a short moment, the building washed with light once again. The restaurant became bright without warning, exposing the four people who were left in the space. It took a moment for the eyes to adjust to the light.

The scene caused the hearts of those who could see everything to stop. 

Clyde and Kaito were standing close to the shattered window still. While fighting for the firearm, Kaito had managed to kick it far from Clyde. Therefore, there was no immediate threat to handle for the two people. 

Unfortunately, this meant that the gunshots had probably not come from Clyde's gun. 

Both men turned to look at the other two parties in the restaurant. The first thing Clyde saw was Bonnie on the ground. A pool of blood was flowing on the stone flooring beneath her body. However, this was not the most disconcerting thing. 

Her head was turned toward Clyde, and her eyes were empty and lifeless. When Clyde looked closer, he discovered that Bonnie had been shot from the chin. A bullet had gone through her head, killing her without a chance of recovery. 

"Bonnie!" Clyde cried out desperately.

He fell to his knees, weakened at seeing the death of his most beloved. He had known that their little show would end in their death. However, he never thought that he would have to see her dead. He always believed that they would die together, hand in hand. 

Kaito did not care about the death of Bonnie. 

He looked at Akira, who was standing over Bonnie's body, and he felt relieved. His Akira was safe. He could not ask for anything more. He had been focused so much on preventing Clyde from shooting Akira that he overlooked the equal craziness of Bonnie. 

Akira looked up from Bonnie while dropping the gun in her hand. Her face lifted to look at Kaito, and her misty eyes connected with his dark ones. The distance between them was not too long, but it felt like a thousand miles away. 

A single tear flowed from her left eye. 

Kaito remembered something he read while looking for proposal ideas for Akira. If the first tear comes from the right eye, it means happiness. But if the tear came from the left eye, it meant sadness. 

He felt afraid. He had never felt so afraid, even when he thought he might never see Akira again while he was on Martial Island. This fear was real and gripping as if it was redefining everything. 

He lifted his foot to walk towards Akira and check on her. 

She lifted her right hand towards him with her misty eyes becoming more animated. She opened her mouth to say something to Kaito, but instead, she coughed out blood. Her hand lifted to the left side of her chest. 

She was bleeding profusely. 

"Akira!" Kaito shouted and wanted to rush to Akira's side. 

However, it was at this moment he realised what Akira was trying to tell him before she coughed up the blood. 

But it was already too late.

Clyde roared as he threw his entire body onto Kaito with superhuman strength. He was overwhelmed with grief after losing the only person who ever truly saw him. The person who made him realise that he was not invisible…

That grief made him channel all the power remaining in his body. 

Perhaps if Kaito was not distracted after realising that Akira was injured, he might have been able to turn the situation around. However, his entire mind, soul and heart were focused on his beloved who could no longer stand. 

This moment gave Clyde the perfect chance.

Without saving an ounce of energy, he used his momentum to propel Kaito and himself through the shattered window of the restaurant. 

Under the eyes of the CAB air support, the command centre, the intelligence department and the news channel, the two people fell out of the skyscraper.

"Kaito…" Akira tried to speak as she collapsed to the ground due to blood loss. 

Her heart broke as her vision faded to black.