Back at the hospital, where Naomi was taken, she was making a speedy recovery to get back in action.
"Well, Ms. Naomi, I honestly thought we were gonna keep you here for weeks on end, but the rate of your recovery is astonishing. I've never seen anything like it. I'll go ahead and release you today. You'll probably feel a bit sluggish from the pain medicine, but you should be back to yourself, within a few days. " said, the doctor.
"Thanks so much. I appreciate everything. I really could've been a goner without you guys." she said, as she left the hospital. She returned to her home, and immediately bathed, and took a minute to rest on her large balcony. "(Perfect. Thank goodness, I was able to recover from that in a timely manner. I knew Miakumi had to be strong, but I never imagined she would possess such terrifying strength, to that degree. The next thing I need to focus on, is rescuing Ms. Akure. It'll be alot harder this time around, since she's probably in the custody of a much more capable agent, then Urayama. I won't be able to pull the whole fake news stunt, like I did, last time. Also, I wonder what the situation is with Jaakuna. She said she had a plan to deal with Miakumi, but... she couldn't possibly have taken her out already, could she?)" thought Naomi.
The next day, at Kurai Yohei's headquarters, Jaakuna was doing some in house work, for her transition as leader.
"Now then, let's see. With Urayama dead, Ikara and Kurui in prison, and me stepping up as leader; that brings us down to only six agents. I suppose I could attempt to locate those two, and break them out, but either way, I want to be more hands on then Miakumi." she thought. "To compensate for the drop in numbers, we'll drastically increase the quality." thought Jaakuna. "Osorai, Zurui.. Come to my office, please." said Jaakuna, over the intercom.
"Yes ma'am.." said Zurui, as they entered, and had a seat in front of Jaakuna's desk.
"As you know, we've lost a few members along the way, but make no mistake; we'll be many times more powerful then before. That means, I need you two to step it up." said Jaakuna.
"Oh? Right to the point, huh, Jaakuna-chan? I mean.. Jaakuna-sama." said Osorai.
"That's right, I won't sugar coat anything. In terms of physical ability, you two are lagging behind the rest. Zurui, in your battle with Naomi a while back, you failed to land even a single blow; and you were knocked out in a single attack. Your strength, speed, and skill are the lowest of all the agents, by far. I need you to improve." said Jaakuna.
Zurui dropped her head, in dissappointment in herself. "Y-yes ma'am. I'll do my very best." said Zurui.
"Osorai, while your style and abilities, are indeed exceptional, and among the most specialized of the agents; you rely entirely too much on those illusions of yours. Our opponents in the Yakuza, are said to be on par with, if not greater then Miakumi. Your mind games, won't be enough. I need you to be more adept in combat." said Jaakuna.
"Hmm.. Huhuhu, I guess you do have a point, Jaakuna-sama. I've never really cared much for combat, since I get such a kick out of showing people, how pathetic they are, mentally, but.. I see now, if I want to be a true monster, I'll have to get stronger, and face other monsters. Just like you did, Jaakuna-sama." said Osorai.
"Hmhmhmhm.. Fine, As long as you two understand. While you two are the weakest currently, don't think I'm singling you out. I plan to have a conversation with the others as well. We all need to be the best, we possibly can. Anyway.. I want you two to spar with each other for the next few days, and I'll test your progress. If I think you're ready, then I'll show you something, that will put you on a whole other level." said Jaakuna.
"Thank-you Jaakuna-sama. We won't dissappoint you." said Zurui, as she and Osorai bowed their head.
"I know you won't. I have faith, that you can do it. You two are dismissed." she said, as Osorai and Zurui left the office.
"Can I come in, Jaakuna-sama?" said Blair.
"Yes. What is it?" she said.
"Well, I just wanted to inform you that the first batch of weapons are done. Now all foot soldiers, will be equipped with laser blasters, and energy swords. The second batch of specialized weapons, for the agents should be done in the next few days." said Blair.
"I see.. That's good to hear. And? hmhmhm.. You have something else you wanna say, don't you?" said Jaakuna, as she tried to get a read on Blair.
"Well.. Yes. I'm honored that you decided to make me, your top agent, but as it stands, I'm really not all that much more powerful then Jaleesa. I feel like as the #1 agent, I need to be definitively the best, to be deserving of this spot." said Blair.
"Hmm.. And where have I heard that before? I remember having a similar conversation, with Miakumi. hmhmhmhm.." laughed Jaakuna, as she leaned back in her chair. "I remember you telling me, that you and I were alot alike, and I'm beginning to see why you said that. You know what the difference is, though? You're not built to take on my path. It'll lead you to nothing but, suffering, misery, and death. So just keep that in mind." said Jaakuna, sternly, as she lowered her eyelids.
"I completely understand why you're keeping me close, which is all the more reason, why I want to work harder. I'll earn this #1 spot with you, genuinely. Which is why I've been training hard to reach new heights. I thought you should know that." said Blair.
"It's fine. I agree, with your logic. We need to be at our strongest, for what's to come. I appreciate you coming to discuss it with me. Trust is one thing, but do know that, regardless, you do have my respect." said Jaakuna, as she opened up one eye at Blair.
"Thank-you. That means alot, to me. I know how hard that is to earn from you, so I'll do everything I can to be worthy of it." said Blair. (Hmhmhm.. I see through you, and you see through me, huh. This'll be challenging, but I like that.) she thought.
"Of course. I'm expecting great things from you. Naturally, I'll be monitoring your progress, very closely. With someone of your intelligence, I don't think I need to take the time to explain why." said Jaakuna.
"Of course. Given your situation, I'd do the same. If you'll excuse me." said Blair, as she walked out of the office. "(Hmhmhmhm.. As I thought, she's still on guard, for now. That's ok, I expected that. At some point, she'll lower it. That's when you'll be sharing the same fate, as Miakumi, heh heh heh. This is nothing against you, Jaakuna, for I have respect for you, as well; but I simply must attain everything I possibly can from this world. Life is too short.) thought Blair. She headed to the training room. She put on a form fitting track-suit, that hugged her curves, as she began lifting weights, going through agility courses, and working on her seishi control. "(I think it's about time, I met this, Naomi Senshima. I won't kill her, for Jaakuna's sake, but I wanna see how powerful she is, and what's she's like. If my hunch is correct, I might be able to use her. Plus it'll be a good gauge, on how close I'm getting to Jaakuna's level)." thought Blair, as she was doing upside down, sit ups, with her legs tied to a rope.
The next day, Naomi went to the research facility, to see if she could find any clues about what had happened to Ms. Akure. "Damn, this place is a mess. A battle definitely took place here, but... again. No bodies, no blood, or anything. Shit. They've gotten one over on me, once again. Everyone was counting on me, and.. this, is what I let happen to them.... No, I've got to snap out of it. All I can do, is keep moving forward, and save anyone I possibly can. There's got to be something. Anything, to go off of." she said, as she looked around, with a special device that allowed her to pick up biological info. She finally came across a few black hair strands, and placed it in a plastic bag. "Finally, at least it's something." she said, as she went to home to analyze what little evidence she could find. After a D.N.A test on the hair, she was able to figure out that it belonged to Jaleesa. "Hmm.. Jaleesa, huh. So she's most likely the one, who has Ms. Akure, captive. She's definitely one of the tougher ones, since she nearly had me beat, the last time we fought. I should be able to take her, fairly easily now, though. Although, I won't be able to goad her on, into a trap, like I did with Urayama. Which means, the only way to save Ms. Akure, is to find, and infiltrate their headquarters, downtown. I've got to risk it. Surely, Miakumi or Jaakuna isn't there, 24/7. If I can infiltrate at a time, when they're gone, I can pull it off." thought Naomi. "Damn, with just her D.N.A, I won't be able to locate a member of Kurai Yohei. Other then vague, obsure, info, some of which is false; it's like they've dropped off the map. Wait, Of course!.. If I remember right, from Miakumi and Blair's conversation, Blair still works at Okinawa Software company. I can tail Blair, to their headquarters. Hopefully she still works there.)" she thought.
Two days later, Blair was finishing up her shift at her normal job, at Okinawa software company.
"Here's those reports you asked for, Ms. Blair." said one of her employees.
"Thank you. Well, I'm about to call it a day. You can take it from here." she said.
"Sure thing. You know, you don't pull those all day shifts, like you used to. You leave, as soon your shift is done. It finally catching up to you, huh?" said her employee.
"Hmhmhm.. Well.. I guess you could say, I have very big things in the works. Have a good day." said Blair, as she left. "Now then, what would be the best way, to find this Naomi. To my understanding, the last place she was seen, was at the mining site. If I were a detective, trying to stop Kurai Yohei, what would I do?" she thought, as she walked down the hall, towards the exit.
As Naomi's arrived near the Okinawa software company, she decided to grab a nano tracking device, and parked her car in the distance, as she waited for Blair. "Ok, I'll need to be careful. Their security is probably pretty high. I don't wanna be caught by any of the cameras." she said, as she looked around, and finally saw Blair, walk out of the building. "Yes.. There she is. I wonder, if she's heading towards the headquarters now, or back home. Either way, all I need to do is tail her, and I'll plant a tracking device on her car, when she leaves it." she thought, as she tailed behind Blair, until they arrived at a cafe. "Oh, right. This place again. She loves to eat here." she thought, as she waited for Blair to leave her car. As soon as Blair entered the restaurant, Naomi, covertly snuck up to Blair's car, and planted a tracking device under it. "There, that should do it. With this, I'll know exactly where the headquarters are." thought Naomi, as she grinned confidently.
"Hmm.. And what do we have here? Having fun, Naomi Senshima? Hmhmhmhm.. laughed Blair, as she leaned up against her car, with her arms folded. She grinned as she stealthily pointed a ray-gun down at Naomi, while keeping it partially tucked under her arms.
Naomi's eyes bucked open, completely shocked, that she was able to get the jump on her. "H-how did she know? Was she waiting on me, or something? Damn it.." thought Naomi, as she was caught red handed, in the middle of the act.
"Ya know, it's funny, I was just contemplating about the best way, to go about finding you. To think, you'd literally fall into my lap. Thanks for saving me the trouble of hunting you down." said Blair. "You look like you want to say, (how'd you know I was here?) Am I right?" she said.
"Heh.. I must say, I am shocked. I knew it was a risky move, but I didn't think I'd be found so easily, Blair Nanimora." said Naomi.
"Oh? You know my name, despite me, not having told you? What a surprise. You must've suspected me, for quite some time." said Blair.
"That's right. I knew about you, before Miakumi even recruited you. I spied on you, without you noticing a thing. Seems you've come quite a ways, already." said Naomi.
"I see. All the way back then, huh? It's surprising, really. That I haven't had the chance to do battle with you yet. Let's change that, shall we? But not here. There's an empty construction site for a mall, about a mile or so in that direction. I'm sure you don't want to catch anyone in the crossfire." she said.
"Well, aren't you awfully kind, but I see you've already taken on that overconfident nature, typical of you guys." said Naomi, as she grinned confidently.
"Hmhmhm.. Oh, this isn't overconfidence. I simply know the outcome. Now follow me." she said, as they dashed to the construction site, near instantly. As the two stood atop, the framework of a building, Blair looked at her ray gun for a second, and simply tossed it aside .
"Wow, you really are underestimating me. You're definitely fast, but you're not thinking, clearly. I'm not an opponent, some newbie, can handle. Especially, unarmed." said Naomi.
"I've heard all about you, Naomi Senshima. I appreciate your concern, but spare me the gallantries. Just come at me, with everything you have." said Blair, as she grinned evily.
"You asked for it. Hopefully, I don't kill you, by mistake." said Naomi, as she zipped towards Blair.
To be continued:
Next time: Blair vs. Naomi( You can't beat Jaakuna.)
