It hadn't been 30 minutes since he napped but he jerked awake. Raul checked on him through the rear view mirror.
"Are you okay Sir Kiro?" He asked a little bit concerned. He felt like an utter failure that he couldn't find them in time.
"It's okay Raul, no need to blame yourself." Kiro said while propping himself up on the seat. He looked over at Felix and he was sleeping soundly.
Kiro had always assumed Felix never slept. The dark lines that were always under his eyes made him think so, now he just thought he had some kind of condition.
"But Sir, if things had gone awry..."
"They didn't though, stop being such a worrywart. My body aches a lot though." He complained. He shook his head before Raul could suggest the hospital.
His mind quickly wandered to the Sanctum, area 51 and his grandfather. For some strange reason, Phinix had lit a flame of hope within him. He couldn't help but want to believe that his grandfather was being kept somewhere, in this area 51. Now all they needed to do was find out where exactly that is.
Which proved more difficult the more he thought about it. He knew the map of their world by heart, and he couldn't see, notice any unoccupied lands that could be the 51st area.
Anything beyond there were mines, and very poisonous air for them to breathe. They weren't allowed to go further than that line, as it was not inhabitable.
He thought his head would crack into two, thinking of places they could hide a whole area from the public. An area that had its own population of kidnapped individuals. He couldn't wait to tell Hiro the good news, his father was likely also there.
It may not have been the final answer but it was something, it was hope and that's something his best friend could use right now.
"Sir, did you..."
"Kill that guy? Totally self defence." Kiro answered nonchalantly.
Raul didn't know what to make of this. Kiro didn't seem like a scared sh*tless kid who had just killed someone. He seemed way too relaxed, his eyes were unwavering.
"I could take the blame for you if you'd like."
"It was self defence, there's no case here. Besides a very bad man died by my hands, I have no reason to feel guilty." He shrugged.
"He's right, they were going to kill us first if we didn't." Felix chimed in waking up from his slumber, he yawned, stretching his limbs.
Raul nodded, convinced at their answers. He realised he was questioning him because he felt guilty about abandoning him. He swore to be better next time, he also wanted to take fighting lessons.
He figured he could be a driver and a bodyguard. He didn't mind expanding his resume.
"I thought we'd arrive before I even woke up." Felix mumbled.
"Why? Don't want to be stuck in a car with me?" Kiro rolled his eyes.
"I mean, it's not that, I'm not really talkative and people make me uncomfortable for that."
"Oh." Kiro didn't know what else to say.
"What are we gonna do? Regarding that thing?" Everything was starting to come back to him, the things that stupid man confessed, they were deeper than he thought his world was.
"We will discuss it, at that place." Kiro told him curtly.
They were sitting at the kerb while the adults talked about this incident and how to better avoid such situations in future. Isla softly caressed Kiro's palm, it was surprisingly calming for him.
"Was it scary? Doing all that?" Isla asked, vaguely.
"Of course it was, but you have to realise, they were bad men. If we didn't fatally attack first, they would've ended us." Kiro reassured her.
He didn't want her to think he was some kind of monster. He only punished the bad after all, couldn't be that bad right?
Isla wanted to cry thinking about it. Tonight could've been the day she lost Kiro. Waiting for her dad to approve him was something she no longer had the patience for. Kiro could tell how uneasey she felt.
He didn't know what to do, or how to comfort her. So he started gently combing her hair with his fingers. Hopefully it could tell her everything was okay now.
"We don't have to wait." She whispered to him.
She was resting her head on his thigh. Not even looking at his face.
"We can." Kiro whispered back in her ear which startled her a bit.
He continued, "I know what just happened was scary, it made you question a lot of things but I'm not gonna die."
"You can't promise me that..." She trailed off.
Kiro thought about it and he really couldn't promise her that he wouldn't die. He'd died once after all. He thought for a moment.
"Then how about this, before we go back to school, I'll talk to your dad, how's that for a compromise?"
That made her turn her head towards him. Their foreheads met, she held onto his neck with a really beautiful smile.
"Really?"
"Really." He reassured her.
'you're so damn beautiful.'
The others were looking at the spectacle with a tinge of disgust.
"Okay lovebirds, we're still here." Hiro commented.
"I don't want to hear that from you." Kiro shot back. He was dating Saanvi and didn't even tell him.
"How did the media even get ahold of our names?" Felix asked, more to himself.
"My guess? The person who hired them leaked our names, to cause panic within our families and it worked." He said looking intently at his father.
His brain started to put things together. 'What if we weren't exactly the target, what if we were the distraction?'
He looked around slowly zooming in each and every person who was on their street. Nobody seemed out of place, nobody seemed to be snooping.
'Okay, don't be so paranoid champ.' He consoled himself.