22:00 arrived and the phone alarms abruptly shattered the silence of the room, prompting Renka and Kasumi to abruptly rise from their naps. After a rapid preparation period, the pair descended the building, and at the main’s lobby’s front desk they found the same man who had welcomed them earlier in the day.

Huh? They’re both heading out right now, with all of their equipment and backpacks? he questioned, as his eyes involuntarily fixed on the pair. ‘You’re leaving already?’ he asked, loudly.

Both ladies stopped suddenly. Renka turned and eased closer to the desk, ‘We’re just going for a late-night shopping trip is all,’ she replied, with a playful smile.

Going shopping while carrying full backpacks and weaponry? The desk attendant smiled in response. I guess they aren’t afraid of heading directly into the heart of the incoming storm. He shook his head, apparently attempting to compose himself. It’s painful to the point of almost being paralysing; being pinched between the anxiety and/ or potential relief of possibly soon finding out Kana’s fate. Voice slightly wobbly, he offered, ‘Well, I hope you have fun out there, or should I be saying good luck?... Ah! Um, I hope all goes well?’

The duo turned to look at each other and almost let slip a little giggle between themselves. Renka quickly issued a friendly smile to the desk attendant and thanked him, before re-joining Kasumi and leaving through the hotel’s main entrance.

When the duo emerged from the hotel, gusts of wind greeted them; strong enough to make them sway slightly and chilly enough to trigger brief shivers as they proceeded.

The intense rumbling of thunder is booming in the distance and although it’s night, the looming cloud cover is still impressively threatening. Although the storm’s estimated to be over an hour away from landfall, the early effects are abundantly evident. Mercifully, the immense amounts of rainfall haven’t arrived yet, though it’s definitely only a matter of time, Kasumi assessed.

The pair trudged along side-by-side for about twenty minutes before Renka looked across and called out through the blustering, ‘Our rescue mission starts here I guess. I’ll meet you back at the shopping centre within the next hour,’ concluding with an encouraging smile.

❀

Less than an hour left before midnight arrived and the shopping centre had gained a single-deck public transport bus parked near the rear entrance. In the driver’s seat, a young glasses-wearing woman with a single trail of orange hair sat back, aimlessly staring.

Not long after the turn of the hour, her eyes sharpened. Ehh? A pair of headlights closing in? she noted, while straightening up in her seat.

An instant later, a silver convertible revealed itself, being driven at a relaxed pace, before slowing to a stop roughly ten metres in front of the bus. After the engine fell still, the driver emerged; a tall, young woman with messy, short black hair and rose-coloured highlights, cuing Renka to gather her backpack and tools and disembark from the bus. Almost perfectly in sync, the pair reconvened between the two vehicles with all of their equipment.

 

 

 

<Insert Image; The S2000 Cometh>

 

 

 

So, you drive manual as well; I definitely made the right choice back at the camp, Renka commented, before voicing, with a bright smile, her brightened eyes alternating between admiring the car and its bringer, ‘An S2000? You managed to find one of these with the keys still left in?? Poor thing; I’d definitely at least have locked her doors before leaving her alone. Either way, I can confirm that you have indeed earned the bonus points.’ As Renka commended Kasumi on her achievement. Ah. Way to dampen the mood quite literally. Mother nature, have you no mercy? The first drops shouldn’t be this heavy!

‘We’re going in, starting from the ground floor; secure the most hostages as early as possible, right?’

Renka nodded, ‘Mhmm.’

Kasumi, with her arm-mounted arrow launcher at the ready, led the way to the fire escape that the women then used to methodically infiltrate the shopping centre.

The pair of women slowly proceeded down the corridor that connected the fire escape to the central area on the ground floor. Hmm, it’s not much brighter than outside in here, and that probably includes anywhere that we set down in too.

Pausing at the end of the stretch, Kasumi assessed the area of engagement. The central area’s at least got some lighting switched on and some of the shops are contributing brightness to the region as well, though overall, the centre overall still remains quite dim.

The duo sat almost directly opposite each other, legs outstretched, using their backpacks as makeshift cushions.

A best-of-three match of rock, paper, scissors, determined that Kasumi sat with the better view of the central regions of the shopping centre. The wait to strike would last over five hours, but she still immediately set about studying the movement of the enemy and the situation with the civilians.

❀

‘Huh!? I really should have checked the radio for a weather forecast, I guess.’

Still sat in the cabin where she had been resting for over a day, the young lady with black hair which phased to purple at its ends suddenly awoke, following an intense, crashing of thunder overhead.

Looking through the window, Uwah; the trees are dancing pretty wildly. Unsurprisingly, there are no stars to be seen through the small gaps in the tree foliage.

A tropical storm.

Surely, they’re not going to attempt to try and take me during this? Well, I kinda hope they do, because they’d be absolutely fucked, she concluded, as she surveyed the woods, being ruffled by the winds and rainfall.

There goes the luxury of relying on sound to monitor the directions that lie in vision blind spots. She loaded her weaponry into their usual places and slung her jacket back on. Pondering as she put her shoes on, two options; roam the forest and hope that they turn up at a favourable point or rest in the cab of the truck, where the side mirrors and long-range panes will highlight the blind spots and give me the advantage.

Who in their right mind would go for the first of those ideas? She sprinted to the lorry, with the handgun firmly gripped in her left hand. Despite the rapturous winds, Hikari darted across from the wood cabin to the lorry as if aided by Cybele herself; her form assured and her body’s motion perfectly in harmony with the clashing winds that raged through the forest.

After getting comfortable in the driver’s seat, she quietly joked, ‘Come on fellas; didn’t your parents teach you to never keep a lady waiting?’ She sank in the seat a bit before murmuring, ‘Unless the plan is to bore me to death as a means of elimination.’

After sharpening up and shuffling about the cabin, to adjust all of the mirrors, that should ensure a good panoramic view of the forest from here, which means I’m now free to drift off and nap maybe...

❀

‘So, um, how many arrows did you manage to prepare in the end?’ Renka asked her black and pink-haired companion, still sitting, eyes shut, resting against her backpack.

‘I took the tranquiliser-delivery ends from the small arrows that we carried yesterday and put them on longer arrows, so I have sixteen of them, plus nine ordinary arrows,’ Kasumi replied, calmly.

‘Hmm; we might have to get creative then and it looks like we might have to spill some blood on this occasion.

I’m happy to get into some hand-to-hand combat, so you can use whichever arrows you see fit, keeping in mind whether or not I’ll be able to quickly quieten and subdue them.’ Renka explained, before taking out a 17 pistol, ‘I’ve only got six rounds in one magazine; they’ve got M37 revolvers, P230 pistols and probably corresponding ammo up there as well, so I’m not gonna be able to refill. It didn’t look like they got any USPs.’

The captain glanced up and frowned slightly, not long now, scumbags. ‘I’ll probably take the weight off your shoulders when we get to that furniture place though,’ she offered, turning back to face her partner with a warm smile. Waving the gun about, in a presentation fashion, she rambled, ‘You know; they do make threaded barrels for these things, but they are pretty rare over here.’ After a brief pause, ‘In an ideal situation, I’d have spare magazines and a suppressor on the end of the barrel, but alas, here we are.’ Sorry Kasumi; gotta play the cards we’re dealt, after all.

As daybreak approached and the forecast predicted the storm to have passed by in about an hour’s time, Renka hopped to her feet and started the last of her preparations, pulling on and strapping up one of her plate-carrier vests, kneepads and gloves.

At the same time, Kasumi also rose to her feet, followed by removing her jacket, putting a reinforced glove on her right hand and slinging her quiver over her left shoulder. When the bespectacled officer finished, she moved to join her partner, whose eyes rested fixed on the pack of hostages contained in the central area of the ground floor. She also fixed her gaze on the group, paying particular attention to the three gang members that guarded the captives.

After a short while of observation, the captain rested a fist against her partner’s shoulder, quietly inviting, ‘Okay, let’s bring them all home safely.’

Kasumi cautiously led the advance, keeping her body low and making use of the obstacles that stood between her and the crowds. Both women took care to tread lightly, as the shopping centre stood mostly as a silent void, with the loudest noises throughout the shopping centre being that of the gang members rambling, although in quiet intervals the clattering of doors in the distance could be heard, along with the buzzing of lights within the main central zone of the shopping centre.

Starting off with something nice and challenging, I guess. The main objective right now being engaging three targets in quick succession without at least one of them alerting everybody that they’re under attack.

Renka studied her partner intently during the pause in their advance, I can only imagine you’re strategising, well, so am I, my dear. She tapped Kasumi on the right shoulder and began to whisper, ‘Want a distraction? I could probably lure one of them towards the far corner, leaving the other two in his blind spot.’

Without looking back, Kasumi nodded.

Renka sprang into action, advancing further along the large display that hid both women from the small crowd and their captors.

She slowly and carefully eased herself forward as far as possible whilst keeping the gang members out of her line of sight.

The captain retrieved from her skirt a spent 9mm casing from the previous night.

A strong overarm throw from her right hand, launched the brass cup and after painting a shallow arc through the air, the small metal projectile crash-landed, announcing itself with a short but conspicuous pinging.

Perfect; right in the midst of the dead silence. One of the men began slowly advancing to the relatively dark corner near the edge of the central area, drawing his pistol as he made his way.

Once the wanderer strayed beyond fifteen or so metres away from his two comrades, two arrows zipped through the air in quick succession, the second landing cleanly before the man could shout or properly pan his view to find who let loose the arrow that made him flinch.

Both men limply collapsed face first, as if somebody had flipped their power switches off.

The whumping sound and sight of the bodies hitting the floor prompted whimpering and panicked surveying of the scene from some of the hostages.

Thank goodness they’re staying quiet. We should wrap this up quickly though.

Once the last remaining member of the trio had made it to the corner, he too received a speeding tranquiliser-tipped arrow, landing in a calf muscle. After a short delay, he fell face-first, pulled along by the momentum of his movements.

Almost instantly after the third man fell still, Renka had returned to formation behind Kasumi, with a little smile as she passed, quietly commenting, ‘Three down, goodness knows how many more to go.’

Kasumi moved swiftly toward where the wandering gang member had just been taken down, fixing her gaze on the coffee shop, tucked away in the opposite corner. There appears to be no staff held hostage, though there are three more men, who appear to be helping themselves to breakfast?

Peering from behind Kasumi, over her shoulder, Renka quietly commented, ‘Amateurs; they’re so busy indulging themselves that they have no clue what’s going on outside.’

They’re oblivious partly thanks to the walls and glass, parting the shop from the central area; a barrier that makes a stealthy entrance difficult while you don’t have a quiet weapon and mine will likely loudly shatter the glass.

While Kasumi considered, Renka tracked off briefly, to collect the spent casing that she had tossed moments earlier.

As she crouched down to pick up the brass piece, her eyes darted away. Huh? That’s intriguing; the darkness makes it difficult to make out, but I can see bright yellow…

She casually advanced and picked up the suspicious object, Well, this will do quite nicely, though I can’t imagine the battery has much juice left in it.

I guess it was accidentally dropped by a fleeing shopper when things kicked off.

The captain returned to her position behind Kasumi. ‘I’m pretty sure this thing is just as illegal as the handgun, but at least it saves us spilling more blood and using up all of the tranquiliser arrows straight away, right?’

‘Right. Then you can lead the next advance, and I can assist while you charge at them,’ Kasumi suggested, still facing toward the shop.

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Renka cheerily confirmed.

This confirmation preceded Renka briefly studying the upper levels, if there aren’t any patrols or lookouts on upper floors, we can take our time with securing the coffee shop.

After a short period of observation, she passed by Kasumi and led the pair along a route which snaked around the central display in the middle of the floor, ‘We’ll breach the shop, but minimise the time that they have to react when we appear in view.’

Upon arriving at the edge of the small venue, Renka dropped to a prone position, so that she could crawl along using her elbows. Kasumi remained stood with a foot angled and ready for a quick launch into action, at the edge of a glass window, with her bow and an arrow at the ready.

Renka edged forward and when she reached the door, she paused, to intermittently peer through the front door. The three clowns are busy having a friendly conversation, with a pair of them facing one other. There are a few tables and chairs in there too, and they’re not fixed to the ground, which could be helpful.

‘Alright; here we go,’ she quietly uttered, before springing into action, launching upwards from her monitoring position using an action similar to that of a sprinter departing from their starting block, using her head to open the door.

Renka dashed towards her targets and Kasumi took one sharp and quick sidestep, taking aim as she fell into position in the doorway.

The men jumped back and began to reach down as soon as the door flung open.

In confusion, ‘What the fu-,’

Almost instantly after setting her feet, an arrow bolted through the air and landed in a lower leg limb while Renka still had a metre or so to cover.

A forceful outstretched right arm from Renka, which connected squarely with the asker’s neck sent him tumbling backward.

Renka quickly darted aside, to dodge an incoming trail of hot drink.

Nice try; but I didn’t order anything. I’m out of position, but not too far away to push this lumbering mass onto you before you can draw that weapon.

Following a quick extension and confident shove, like bowling pins, both men came crashing to the floor.

Renka swiftly turned on the spot. Now what to do with you?... Still aimlessly wriggling about on the floor and weakly groaning, a momentary razzle of a stun gun being used on his right arm caused him to groan in agony before falling still and laying in a similar fashion to a felled tree.

No recovery for you, I think, Renka declared, watching the final enemy struggling to push off the inhibiting mass of the man that had fallen on top of him.

A powerful push cleared the lumbering mass from pinning down his comrade.

Which leaves you exposed for this. Renka struck; his arm in receipt of the raspy flickering and flashes of another blast, which triggered a short period of energetic convulsing from the man before calming to a still state. After checking the pulse of the two men who had been shocked, the captain proceeded to restrain all three men, using zip-ties to secure their hands and feet.

Renka gave a little friendly smile as she turned back to Kasumi. ‘Good work. Onwards and upwards; lead the way.’ she instructed, with an encouraging smile. Before heading up, the pair of women quickly surveyed the first floor, using the darker areas of the ground floor as vantage points.

Still the same two places being used by the criminals; a restaurant and the gym, Kasumi assessed.

Longbow lowered, she proceeded cautiously. I’m guessing that gym is swarming with enemies, so it’s probably best to strike the restaurant first.

After a brief climb, when the pair drew close, an unsettling cry hastened the women’s progress.

Peering through the front door, both women scowled and Renka emitted a low grunt. Two men harassing a young woman, frantically crying out for help and pleading for them to stop while she struggles to keep them from groping her.

My blood might boil if I spectate for any longer.

‘Sorry, but these two are mine,’ Renka coldly asserted, with a serious facial expression, before charging in, with her gun drawn, thought its barrel pointed at the floor and her right index finger remained outside the trigger guard.

Enjoy it while it lasts guys, because I won’t be nearly as easy to play with.

After speeding in, without hesitation, Renka heavily bludgeoned one of the men with her 17 pistol and the other received a merciless knee between the legs, followed by an equally forceful kick to the side of his ribs from a rapidly extended leg.

Still aimlessly waddling and rubbing his temple, the man who had first felt Renka’s wrath found himself on the receiving end of an unhealthy dose of electric shock from the stun gun that she swiftly retrieved from her skirt.

His partner writhed on the floor, face screwed up into a pained expression while groaning and clutched his left side. The sound drew the attention of the captain, who instantly shuffled, to tower over him.

‘You’re still making noise?’ she gravely asked, with a condemning frown.

She kneeled down, on top of the man’s chest, pinning him to the floor, before pulling back her right arm and forcefully releasing all of her fury through her glove-clad fist, punching the man four times in the face, before turning to look at the younger woman, who stared at her, eyes wide, frozen in place with her hands covering her mouth.

Uwah; I can’t even say I’m surprised, to be honest. I was wondering when this would happen; I love how passionate and explosive you can be, but wondered if you had a dark side, Kasumi thought, before heading in, to join the two women.

‘Ah… Uh… Sorry about that. Are you okay? Did they hurt you at all? Renka asked the younger woman, softly, with a friendly smile.

Nervously, the younger woman began, ‘Um, yeah, I’m okay, thanks, I guess? Nothing hurts, besides my pride.’ She let out an awkward laugh before pausing for a moment. Hesitantly, the victim questioned, while slowly edging back from the women, ‘So, who exactly are you people? Were you sent here to abduct me or something?’

‘We’re just two wanderers, who’d like to send all of you folks home, send the criminals and their stolen equipment to the police as well as inviting the law enforcement back to this city,’ Renka explained, her voice serious, matching her cold facial expression. An element of suspicion evident in her voice, she queried, ‘Say, you wouldn’t happen to work here, under normal circumstances, would you?’

‘Y-yes; I normally work here on weekends. Why?’ the younger woman asked, apprehensively.

‘Ah! Do you have a brother that works as a hotel manager, or something similar?’

How do you strangers know that information?? Slowly, the younger lady replied, ‘Y-Yes.’

‘He definitely cares about you a lot; the joy when he sees you return might be enough to make him pass out. Actually, he’s the one who informed us that there was a problem in this part of the city,’ Renka explained, with a friendly smile and warm tone.

‘Yeah; you must have the wrong person. He’s never like that when I’m around,’ the younger woman replied, with a derisive tone and expression, after a smirk.

‘You’d be surprised how differently people behave when they’ve lost somebody close to them,’ Kasumi, interjected, her voice cold as a frost-coated winter day.

The room fell awkwardly silent.

Uwah; that was one awfully bleak and chilling statement. Judging from how she looks, she’s speaking from experience? Way to make me feel guilty and regretful about what I said, the younger woman internally remarked.

Renka stared into space. Another piece of the puzzle falls into place perhaps?

Maybe that’s where the parents fit into the equation for her then. That might explain the where; now I just need to figure out the when and how… She directed her eyes onto Kasumi in the awkward silence. It’s hard to feel relief at rescuing the youngster with spirits a bit dampened by considering what the journey to be stood here before me must have been like for you.

Just thinking about you like that; it’s like I’m being sunk by depression, as if I experienced it myself. It’s surprisingly painful and paralysing.

Before long, she turned back, to look at the younger woman, ‘It’s probably going to be another ten or fifteen minutes before we clear this place out, so please hold still for a little while longer; we’ll evacuate everybody once all of the threats have been neutralised.’ Turning to Kasumi, she continued, ‘I’ll restrain these clowns and then the next stop is the gym, right?’

Kasumi nodded to confirm and watched Renka complete her zip-tying duty.

Once the captain had finished, she waved goodbye to the younger lady, with a friendly smile and returned to Kasumi. She quickly settled back into formation behind her, ‘To the gym we go’.

When they arrived, glass doors greeted them, providing a good view into the space, despite the mixture of frosting and clear finish. Large, probably three-metre-wide front desk and generally cosy decorum prevalent in the space, Kasumi assessed.

I’ve also got four men, all using gym equipment. Oddly, there’s not much body armour being worn. Strange, given that the gang members downstairs and in the restaurant were all wearing it.

After another minute or so of observation, between herself and Kasumi, ‘They’ve also got vests lying around on the floor, or in among clothing piles, like those being carried by two towel-clad men who’ve just emerged from either a shower or sauna,’ Renka commented.

Also convenient for us, is that some of the equipment in use faces away from the entrance, meaning that if we charged at them head-on, at least two of them would be unaware for a short while.

Calmly, Kasumi dictated, ‘Three plus three. I’ll take the two facing us and at least one of the treadmill runners at the back. The unarmed guys to the left are yours, along with the nearby treadmill runner, if I don’t get to him first.’

‘Understood,’ Renka replied, with an encouraging smile. Kasumi retrieved an arrow from her quiver and turned to the captain.

A single nod from Renka set the strike on the gym underway.

Within seconds of having passed through the door, Kasumi turned slightly to her right and unflinchingly sent an arrow flashing through the gym.

Renka swiftly advanced to the left of the front desk, prompting the under-dressed men to scramble in panic, turning over piles of clothing.

As she crossed into the workout area of the gym, the woman with the flame-coloured hair accent picked up a 5kg weight without losing too much speed. At a similar time, another arrow whizzing through the air? I’m down 2-0? Thank goodness we didn’t place a wager on this being a race.

The arrow raced into the arm of a man who sat using lateral pull-down equipment, only able to unhand the machine before being hit by one of Kasumi’s arrows and involuntarily sliding to the floor.

In the process of hurriedly searching, one of the men’s towels slipped and fell to the ground.

‘Oi, fucking pervert!’ Renka thundered, along with steadying her right arm, before putting all of the strength she could summon behind sending the five-kilogram weight hurtling toward the naked man.

The target looked up, only to find a speeding large, black, circular projectile which shortly after, firmly connected with one of his pectorals.

Instantly, pained groaning added to the ruckus in the gym before the man fell and slowly rolled around on the floor, clutching his upper chest.

Meanwhile, a treadmill at the back of the gym ejected a limp user who had an arrow sticking out of their hamstring area. That’s three. Come on Renka; at this rate, I’ll end up subduing five rather than three.

The second towel-clad man willingly dropped his towel and profusely turned over almost everything in the nearby area.

‘Nobody asked for the party piece, asswipe!’ the captain barked, along with retrieving her stun gun, before jabbing directly at the man’s abdomen.

After her initial swipe had been dodged, Renka quickly twirled the weapon between her thumb and fingers, before pulling it back and counter striking. At the same time, another tranquiliser arrow ripped across the training area and neutralised a fourth gang member. I saw that gun in his hand; he almost had you there Kasumi and you almost gave me a heart attack.

‘Four-two to you I guess; well played,’ Renka playfully remarked, as the gym complex fell quiet, following the last thud of an unconscious mass hitting the floor.

‘Now to see if any enemies are hiding in other segregated parts of the gym,’ Renka quietly commented, setting off to explore with her model 17 held close to her chest.

After a couple of minutes, she returned to Kasumi. ‘Clear!’ she shouted from across the space, giving an “all good” signal with a thumb and index finger tip brought together and smiling. After a brief pan of her view, What a mess. ‘Right, I’ll sort out the guys, while you clean up then.’

One of the men still mumbled, groaned and rolled in pain.

‘Yeah, I’m hardly in the mood to be sympathetic, deviant; put some clothes on,’ Renka ordered, with an unimpressed tone.

She quickly threw towels onto them and clinically zip-tied the man, occasionally hitting him whenever she encountered resistance. The other undressed man received similarly harsh treatment during his restraining process.

Once the pair of women had concluded their business at the gym, they emerged and had another survey of the second floor, before ascending the escalator, in formation, with Kasumi primed to let loose from her longbow.

Two at the entrance.

As soon as the men came into her target sight, Kasumi sent an arrow ripping through the distance, straight into the thigh of the one on the left.

The right-hand guard raised his weapon and stood, ready to aim, though an arrow embedded itself just below his neck, quickly rendering him completely powerless and unable to avoid hopelessly tumbling over, coming to a rest on his side.

‘Same left and right flanking formation,’ Kasumi informed Renka, as she continued to press forward toward the entrance of the furniture store.

‘Got it,’ Renka replied quietly, with an excited smile. Probably more of the same, but this furniture store is still likely a hive of enemies, she thought, while advancing along the mostly dark shop floor with her 17 pistol held at chest height, in a two-hand grip.

She occasionally peered across to her right, at the black and pink-haired woman proceeding in parallel, similarly postured to herself, with an arrow primed, though her bow remained pointing downward as she progressed intermittently. Following the sound of vigorous discussion and the buzzing of isolated lighting in the distance, the pair halted at the nearest sheltered points.

Right; ten or so metres away from a large, almost black, wood table, seating five men, two along each of the sides and one at the head, both women observed.

Renka waited, to establish eye-contact with her partner, before gesturing, pointing to herself and signalling “one”, followed by pointing to Kasumi and signalling “two”.

You’re leading and I’m following; like Sunday night? The archer signalled back, with an affirming hand gesture.

Without hesitation, Renka calmly broke from cover and pressed forward, drifting slightly towards Kasumi’s domain, with her target quickly changing from the general area of the table, to the men seated on the table’s left.  Two loud blasts obliterated the quiet of the store, each 9mm round triggering grimaces and clutching of right arms.

Kasumi took aim, and the speeding arrow struck the left arm of one of the men on the opposite side of the table in between Renka’s attack. Resulting in one of the women’s enemies lazily slouching, then slumping in their seat.

Renka ducked down and slipped away from her position after firing and the remaining two men raised their weapons.

Renka laid on the floor, leaning on her left shoulder.

Good; they don’t know exactly where I am, but I have a pretty good view of some exposed feet, ankles and lower legs.

With two more (would-be) ear-splitting cracks, the captain sent another couple of 9mm NATO rounds speeding along the floor; one for each of the men, one of whom also received a tranquiliser arrow as well for good measure.

The man who previously sat at the head of the table fell; the nearby clatter of a metal frame accompanied the thump of the body hitting the floor.

Kasumi ensured that the two men who were forced to use their weaker hands weren’t a threat, with two arrows, each landing in the wavering arms which attempted to collect or aim pistols in her direction.

Renka jumped back to her feet and proceeded around the table, with a combat-ready stance and weapon grip.

As she rounded the table, How cute; the guy who sat at the head of table crawling toward his handgun, that’s fallen less than a metre from his reach.

The woman with the orange streak in her hair casually walked over to the last man and pinned him in place with her right foot. He began to thrash his arms about, prompting Renka to temporarily increase the strength channelled to her right foot.

Frowning with irritation, Renka began, her voice low, menacing and conveying an air of terror that would strike fear into even a battle-hardened combatant.

‘So, you’re the fuckwad that assaulted police and held all of the people in this shopping centre hostage. I still have two rounds left; unless you want another dose of lead in places that’ll hurt, but not kill you, I suggest you stop resisting,’ she commanded, further driving the sole of her boot into the man’s body.

Kasumi had arrived nearby. Renka shook her head, inviting her companion to deal with the faltering enemies.

Her attention quickly diverted to the table. That is one huge pile of money they have stacked in the middle, along with the wealth of food, saké and a Type-56 assault rifle leaned up against a leg of the table, it’s like the sort of thing you normally see in a crime drama show.

Despite the years in service, I’m still disgusted by what I’ve seen in the past half an hour or so having moved through the shopping centre and faced off against all of the gang members.

Sounding a bit despondent, she concluded, ‘What a mess. I can only hope that there weren’t any civilian casualties before we got here and that the families of the slain officers take comfort in these scumbags being brought to justice.’ She paused for a short while before continuing, ‘Let’s get these guys ready to haul back to the bus and start cleaning up.’

❀

So, after having a good rummage through the phones, the only thing of note that I’ve managed to turn up is that these guys were invited to conduct some live testing around the time that the hotel manager reported that the trouble had occurred.

Pure conjecture, but my guess would be somebody used the raid on the police as a live testing scenario for some offensive technology.

There’s a name, but no organisation to trace the invitation back to at the moment. If the limited rumours that I’ve heard are true, I wouldn’t be surprised if this links back to that CSS company that also had some connection to the gang from last week…

A lot of research to do, to fill in the blanks, but right now I don’t like where this is heading… Renka concluded, with a concerned frown.

The clean-up process took the women almost forty minutes. At the finish, they returned to the hostages and Renka informed them that they were all free to leave, though they should take care, given that the winds still held good strength and the rain continued to come down in buckets.

‘I think that’s everything taken care of now, so let’s RV with the hotel manager’s sister,’ Renka suggested, as the pair prepared to make their exit.

Although I approve of your choice of getaway car, Kasumi, it does have one flaw; it can only seat two people.

Renka proposed that Kasumi escort the hotel manager’s sister back to her older brother personally. She planned to follow the car and park the bus as close to the hotel as she could, working on the presumption that it would only be parked there for a short space of time, while the women oversaw the safe return of the younger lady.

When the three ladies emerged from the shopping centre, strong winds resisted their progress, though not nearly as vicious as those which ravished the area overnight and through the small hours of the morning.

‘You don’t have clothing at all suited to this weather, so hold on tight; let’s try to make this as quick as possible,’ Kasumi insisted, extending a hand to her younger guest.

Although it’s beyond the time of usual sunrise, the skies are still very gloomy and dark. It looks like the menacing, grey clouds are pretty stubborn and resolved to linger for as long as possible. How much longer can this rain keep up for before the clouds lighten up?? Renka debated while the women jogged to their vehicles.

Within a couple of minutes from having exited the shopping centre building, the bus hurriedly followed the S2000 away from the shopping centre.

The drive to the hotel, much to the women’s delight, passed by uneventful and took little more than three minutes. Kasumi declined to use the full extent of the 250PS or so of power that the car’s F20C engine had to offer, allowing Renka to follow in formation almost nose-to-tail.

Rather than drive in, the black and pink-haired lady waited for her partner to park the bus and disembark.

Renka ran into the hotel’s entrance and parking area hotly tailing the S2000 and dashed straight under the entrance cover, to wait for the other two.

‘At some point we’re gonna have to get some coats – this vest isn’t really made for shielding against water,’ Renka remarked, painting a false sense of irritation with her voice and facial expression when the other two women walked toward her.

‘We? It doesn’t have a hood, but this jacket is waterproof,’ Kasumi bluntly replied. I already know that a bit of rain makes no difference to you, Captain, so expect no sympathy from me. When the pair joined Renka under the entrance cover, they assumed a formation, with the two older women flanking either side of the hotel manager’s sister, as if they were bodyguards escorting a VIP.

The trio only made it about a metre into the hotel’s entrance before an exclamation filled the area.

‘Kana!?!’

An absolutely ecstatic man ran towards the young lady at the centre of the formation, giving her a very enthusiastic glomp at their point of meeting.

He made no sound for a good while, though the vice-like embrace that he gave his sister and the eventual subtle sniffling that accompanied his crying enunciated far more about his sentiments than anything else probably would during the moment that the two were reunited.

Both Kasumi and Renka stepped away.

Such a tender and genuine display of affection, Renka internally remarked, with a relieved smile.

She gently moved her left hand around, eventually finding her target and delicately clasped Kasumi’s right hand, as she continued to spectate on the reunited family members

Before too long, she softly commented, with a satisfied smile on her face, ‘Thank you for being here with me, I know I’ve really asked a lot of you this past week or so, but seeing these two here, knowing that we maybe saved a life or two and also taking into account how smooth and even kinda enjoyable it’s been, I’m genuinely glad that it’s you that’s been with me.’

❀

‘So, I guess this is as bright as it’ll get today; it’s still more or less night.’ So much for being sat here waiting for daylight...

The little specks of light grey that I can see are dominated by dark clouds, as if the trees didn’t already block out enough sunlight.

The woman with black and purple hair remained sat in the driver’s seat of the box truck, listening to the continuous drumming that the lorry’s cabin received from above, along with the relentless and systematic rumbling of thunder.

The rain’s less intense than it was overnight, but still pretty heavy. The winds have also weakened; though they’re still giving the trees a vigorous ruffling, they aren’t swaying anywhere near as violently they did overnight. The currents of air crashing into the truck’s cabin are still pretty intense though.

Sighing and moaning in frustration, Ugh, please can something just happen?? At this point I’ll take anything. Surely with the storm receding somebody will be brave enough to come out here, though if it’s friends of the guys I robbed, they’re still conclusively fucked.

Less than ten minutes later, ‘Oh ho?’ she suspiciously asked.

Her eyes fixed on one of the lorry’s mirrors. That’s cute; I guess they’re trying a shrinking circle formation.

She opened the adjacent door and hoisted herself onto the roof of the truck. After closing the door, she ascended into the tree line, launching from the truck’s storage body onto nearby branches.

Despite the winds, her body apparently moved in perfect unison with all of the forces of nature, elegantly scampering through the elevated greenery.

Her motion remained smooth and natural as she regularly alternated between quick and soft branch landings with her high-tops and swinging using two-handed grips, to eloquently launch her body through the air between further-apart branches. Just how I like it; this is my hunting safari, not yours, boys.

Getting back to the ground might be an issue though, without another vehicle or vines like what that famous ape man uses.

Like an animal native to the forest, Hikari explored the upper tree line for another minute or so before finding her way back to the forest floor, dropping from a low enough branch and lightly landing on her feet.

When her hi-tops reached solid ground again, she immediately darted behind a tree and studied her enemies. I guess these idiots didn’t factor in the winds and rain making it next to impossible to locate me by sound, along with the leaves and branches continuously being in motion helping if I’m moving about above them.

Then again, who would realistically expect their target to move through the upper tree line? Heh…

Hikari drew her violet-accented dark grey tanto from its thigh holster and like a leopard, surged forth towards her prey as they cautiously closed in on the lorry.

Similar to the group from Sunday, these guys have body armour and are carrying modern handguns, though with the addition of balaclavas, presumably to shield their faces from the harsh gusts and deluge from above.

Zipping between trees, taking care not to advance into the view of the men, less than two minutes elapsed before bleeding corpses lay lining the wet floor of the woods.

Rapid, calculated footwork along with sharp sweeping arcs of her blade efficiently dealt with four of the armed men, one-by-one, with their pained cries lost in the overpowering chorus of the wind and rain.

Straight for the bait, she remarked, spectating the three men converging on the lorry.

The rest of them are out of sight, I guess they’re looking for me in the cabin. Going in now would be like shooting fish in a barrel, well, without the shooting.

The guys inspecting the truck are checking out different areas; two checking the rear and one inspecting the cabin.

Let’s hope that anyone in the wood cabin isn’t near a door or window, Hikari commented while swiftly advancing toward the truck’s front.

She dashed into the small clearing and took a forceful slash at one of the quadriceps of the man inspecting the truck’s cabin from its side steps, closely followed by unceremoniously yanking him back by the collar of his vest, covering his mouth and then assuredly driving the blade into the side of his neck, quickly bringing him to a silent standstill.

No shots flying through the woods yet; so far, so good.

Hikari retreated from the lorry and studied from behind a tree.

Hmm; one of them from the rear of the lorry has disappeared from view and one of the rear doors are open.

She closely observed his movements at the truck’s rear and then set off again, quickly arriving at and then circling around the truck, shifting her tanto onto her left hand.

Maintaining a brisk jog, the predator turned, to run along the rear of the truck.

The man guarding the rear door growled as he raised his handgun.

The speeding woman slowed none at all, quickly dragging him back with her as she tackled him.

One quick jam of her blade into his right forearm forced the handgun to haphazardly fall to the floor, closely followed by a forceful plunging of the blade into his throat.

A trail of blood roughly followed the blade on exit as the man’s face quickly settled from the pained expression that it initially took on; turning blank as his motionless corpse slumped to the forest floor against a tree.

Looks like I will get to use them after all, Hikari thought, as she briefly searched her skirt.

The black and purple-haired woman slowly rounded the rear of the truck, metal flower primed between her index and middle fingers.

She slowly edged around one of the rear doors. Almost disappointing, how easy this is; he’s so busy inspecting crates that he’s unaware of his imminent death.

The metal flower ripped through the air, instantly burying its petals in the man’s skull, centimetres above his right ear. I’ll be back for you later, dear shuriken, she playfully remarked.

She used the man who lay lifeless near the rear of the truck as a cleaning cloth. Well, this rain is proving pretty handy, to be honest.

Hikari clambered atop the lorry and hopped back up, to the relative safety of the upper levels of the trees, coming to an uneasy stop directly above the wood cabin.

‘Now, to figure out what the prey below are up to,’ she murmured.

…and then, like a peregrine falcon, I’ll conclusively swoop down when the optimal time arrives.

Perched on a branch, delicately countering the winds, she waited little more than a minute.

Four targets, dispersing in two directions; two heading towards the lorry and two heading in the polar opposite direction. Best to wait for them to separate before moving in...

After a brief period of study, although I’ve got the keys, they might try to take the truck, so I guess they’re up first.

Directly above her targets, Hikari matched their progress, swinging and scampering between branches, slightly making her way down as she went along.

She took a quick glance behind. Almost thirty metres or so between them now.

The woman dropped down through the trees, collecting her tanto from its home on her left thigh along the way.

A merciless crash down onto the right-hand member of the patrolling pair softened her fall.

Her left arm remained outstretched during the descent. That wasn’t exactly my plan, but I’ll take that disarm, still.

A long trail of blood soaked the right-hand sleeve of the landing pad’s partner not long after his pistol fell to the wet woodland earth.

From her seated position, she drove the tanto into the right leg of the struggling man, then fixated on his right arm. Following the resulting jolt and slip, the blade slammed into his side, forcefully driven in under his vest.

Even if you do survive that, you won’t make it far.

Shortly after, she turned to face and straddle the man that she crash-landed on. The blade harshly sliced across his neck, ending the heavy breathing and releasing a stream of blood, which rolled to the forest floor, hurried and also diluted by the wash of rainfall.

Turning to look back, ‘Don’t tell me you’re leaving the party early?’ she asked.

The lone woman hauled herself upright before jogging toward the remaining imminent threats. Only two left, so it should be fine for a direct strike, taking them by surprise from behind.

As the winds howled, thunders crashed above, tree leaves energetically rustled and swayed and the rain continued to intensely gush down, she arrived behind the men who continued to search the forest with torchlit handguns aimed ahead of them.

Starting with her tanto in her right hand, she clinically sliced into the left hamstring of the right-hand man, closely followed by a slick transition of her weapon to her left hand, before carving into the right hamstring of the left-hand man.

Both men staggered, reaching towards their legs and hobbling as they turned.

Her blade swiftly changed hands again, to slice the right-hand man’s neck and release a crimson trail into the rainfall before returning to her left hand.

The left-hand man then attempted to dodge the same fate but his weakened right leg betrayed him, causing him to stumble backwards mid-turn.

Using her left foot, Hikari kicked up and sent his pistol flying, closely followed by a lunge and firm stab into the side of the man’s left calf muscle.

Have fun trying to walk when both legs have heavy bleeds.

Hands on hips, she studied the man’s attempt to crawl along the forest floor. Rolling her eyes and displaying an unimpressed frown, she murmured, ‘Just give up; surely the lights are fading now...’

She kicked the struggling man over onto his back and knelt down beside him, so that she towered from above.

Looking directly into the man’s eyes, she laughed mockingly.

The laughter lasted little more than a second, before her face abruptly transitioned to a markedly more menacing and intimidating expression.

Calmly and coldly, she interrogated, ‘How many more of you are there?’

Increasingly condescendingly and derisively, he replied, despite faltering, ‘I’m gonna die soon, so why would I say anything? Eat a dick, you who—’

A cold, merciless, dark grey blade quickly slashed across his throat.

I’m not really into guys, worthless piece of shit, she thought, as she wiped down her tanto on one of his sleeves before neatly recovering to her feet.

During the slow walk back to the wood cabin, Hikari looked down over herself.

Uwah; that’s a lot of blood-staining.

Her eyes scrolled across, to her right shoulder. Still a fair amount of lingering pain when heavy amounts of force are sent through it.

The sole woman left standing in the forest surveyed the floor, oddly painted with crimson blotches and trails with corpses scattered about haphazardly.

Yep; conclusively fucked.

❀

After delivering the bus to the police and promptly scampering away from the scene, using the S2000 as a getaway car, both Kasumi and Renka headed west, to return the car that they had “borrowed” and to visit the gym, for what Renka advertised as “training”.

‘How can it be almost noon, and the city still be this gloomy?’ Renka asked, under her breath. The wind, rain and pretty angry-looking clouds following the storm are pretty stubborn, huh?

After returning the car to where Kasumi had collected it from, the pair of women retrieved their backpacks and equipment from the boot and set off back toward the shopping centre.

‘You’re not going to take the protective equipment off?’

‘They’re the closest thing I have to waterproof clothing, so no.’ As the pair jogged alongside each other through the downpour, the captain added, with a playful tone, ‘You know; most romance stories would have the main couple walking under an umbrella at a time like this.’

Where did that come from? I get what you’re saying, but it’s pretty random. ‘What?’

Renka continued on, with her head turned to face Kasumi, ‘But running through the rain is just as romantic if you ask me,’ offering a friendly smile as she spoke.

The pair of women ran for another few minutes or so before scampering into shelter near the former battleground.

The entire complex now looks totally deserted; nobody to be seen or heard throughout the building.

The pair of women casually proceeded up to the first-floor gym. Once both women stripped away their sopping wet outer clothing, Renka searched for Kasumi’s gaze and quizzed, ‘It’s not every day that you get to run along with the cool sensation of rain on your skin like that; it’s kinda refreshing, right?’

‘Yeah; It’s been years since I’ve done anything like that,’ Kasumi replied, in a neutral tone.

‘Uh, hold it right there!’ Renka started, as her companion’s hands gripped the top of her skirt. ‘As much as I’d love to admire you in your underwear, we have other things to do first,’ Renka asserted, half playful and half serious.

‘Such as?’ Kasumi questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

A friendly smile appeared, ‘We’re going to have a training session, involving some lessons on hand signals, hand-to-hand sparring, maybe some exercise with the equipment that they’ve got here and you’re also going to teach me how that mini arrow launcher of yours works.’

After a short hesitation, ‘Right’.

The afternoon passed by, largely spent between rounds of hand-to-hand sparring and using the equipment for strength and cardio training.

The sparring portion of their training took the form of simple bouts within a limited square area, with rules not too dissimilar to a judo match. The women did agree however, that punches, kicks and attacking joints were fair game, though intentionally injuring the opponent still remained outlawed.

‘Haha, chalk another up for the Ittō rikui,’ Renka jested, sitting down after concluding another of the sparring matches.

Kind of annoying that despite my abilities, you get the better of me in close-quarters combat more often than not. I’m well aware that you’ve got the advantage of SDF training and years in service, but I still don’t like losing to you. If I had to estimate, it’s only roughly a third of the battles resulting in you having to admit defeat.

Hmm, I figured my training and experience would give me the upper hand, but I was hoping for a more even outcome. It’s weird; I feel disheartened by you not being on level terms with me, though I don’t fully understand why. I will admit though, it’s reassuring to know that you can still take me down. Come on; I hope you’re not holding back on me or something here. I know for certain that any fondness or kindness I have for you is no match for my competitive spirit and desire to be victorious over you, Miss Commanding Presence…

The hand signals lecturing that followed took Kasumi through various standard signals for movement instructions, communication signals and weapon identifications. Similar to the time the pair spent in the mountains, at Kasumi’s grandparent’s cabin, Renka set up a quiz, to see how much of her tuition managed to stick with her black and pink-haired partner.

After completing the test, Renka proudly exclaimed with a friendly smile, ‘Awesome! A perfect score. Not that I ever doubted you, of course. Now we can silently communicate on the battlefield.’

❀

Surely now that the bad weather has almost completely vanished, the resolution team will turn up, right?

Sat on the floor of the cabin, wearing only her underwear and thigh holster while the remainder of her clothes lay strewn across the floor, soaked and blood-stained, the black and purple-haired woman sighed and pondered.

When will I receive my requested assistance, complete this current mission and be free to make a hasty return to my family and Tsubaki??

Yeah; she’s definitely gonna be pretty pissed off at me, for one reason or another.

The dark forest grew lively; affected by a rough rumble and beam of light, which grew increasingly louder and brighter for the cabin’s sole inhabitant.

Difficult to notice, given the overpowering nature of the sound coming from the engine of the lead vehicle, but I’m almost certain there’s also a panel van approaching; another HiAce van.

Hikari shuffled to the front door, and slowly edged forward, to take a peek through the front door once the forest returned to tranquillity.

Hmm; a man and a woman hauling one of the dead bodies to the van and there’s a pressure washer set on the ground next to the van as well.

‘And thus, the ordeal drew to a close,’ she murmured.

 Hikari shuffled back, to put her shoes on and head outside.

Her face quickly brightened up, with an excited smile.

Yeah; there’s no mistaking an EJ20, even from a long way away.

The section have brought a GRB chassis Impreza WRX STi. Ehh? It’s the Spec-C? Vivid blue with dark grey wheels and black mud flaps too.

The pair of cleaners had finished loading one of the dead combatants into the back of the van. The woman, after exiting, spotted Hikari and greeted, ‘Good evening. This is for you.’

The woman tossed a set of keys underarm to Hikari, from a latex glove-covered hand, before sternly advising, ‘There’s a spare outfit of yours and an equipment kit in the boot. Please try to not destroy this one.’

‘Thank you,’ Hikari sheepishly replied, blushing in addition. ‘Ah, here are the keys for the truck,’ she continued, stretching out a hand with the keys for the lorry in the woman’s direction.

‘If you could please put it in the ignition, that would be much appreciated.’

Hikari fulfilled the request and then extracted a holdall from the boot of the freshly-allocated car.

Nice; it’s an exact copy of my standard dark blue and white outfit.

After heading inside, she got dressed and folded up the bloodied, rain soaked and dirtied counterparts, ready to hand to the resolution team for disposal.

Returning to the pair of cleaners, Hikari bowed and loudly thanked the resolution team before taking her seat at the steering wheel of the car.

Now we’re talking, she thought as she pushed the key into the ignition and sparked the engine into life with a twist.

The distinct, rough and hearty growl that these cars were more or less famous for greeted her.

Hello to you too. The excitement could probably make me melt. She pressed down the rightmost pedal in the footwell a few times, that UEL exhaust manifold growl never gets old…

Given how close the trees are and the winding nature of the trail back to the road, I’ll have to remain disciplined for the five or so minutes that it’ll take to re-emerge onto proper roadways. ‘After that point, all notions of driving like a normal person are out of the window though.’

After rapidly weaving through the forest and emerging out onto tarmac, she kicked down the throttle pedal and the change in speed forced her back into her seat as she allowed the flat-four engine to unleash all of its power.

Still not really out of the woods just yet though; I wouldn’t be surprised if some backup arrives in the near future, though I have no idea what they’d use to keep track of me, she thought, as the car flew tore along expressway.

Not far before midnight, Hikari arrived at her destination, with the trip taking less than an hour, despite taking detours to avoid checkpoints and roadblocks. A loud screech of tyres marked her return, as she used the handbrake to spin the car so that she could reverse along the drive and up to the family home.

Hikari sprang from the car, leaving the engine running and the driver’s door open as she ran inside. Sitting upright in your futon, eyes fixed on your phone; that’s convenient. Doing her best to sound cute and smiling, Hikari asked, ‘Heeyyy, did you miss me?’

The doctor stared with an irritated scowl.

Missed you? You idiot; is that really what you’re returning with?? Although I’m relieved that you’re not dead, that disappearing act of yours was a major pain and not just for me. So many different things to complain about and ask…

‘Yeah, I know; you’re pretty ticked off with me right now, but unless you come with me this instant, you’re gonna have a huge load of other problems stacked on top of whatever’s bugging you.’ Hikari then knelt down and bowed, with hands pressed together.

Ugh; here we go again. Tsubaki relented after a short while of staring at the pleading woman, quietly but firmly issuing her reply, ‘Please stop being so embarrassing, you idiot.’

She emerged from the futon and gathered some clothing, which instantly dissolved Hikari's panicked expression. ‘You’re lucky that most of my things are already packed,’ she continued, as the other woman in the room played with her phone.

I’ll have to request that the section set up something to guard the family house from any incoming threats for a while…

The doctor’s voice sounding a bit disappointed, queried across the bedroom, ‘You’re not going to say goodbye to your parents or anything?’ with a mildly condemning frown.

After a brief period of awkward silence, Hikari conceded, replying with the reduced power that one would expect from a guilty woman, ‘Yeah; I’ll write a note for them and try to fill them in later on. They’ll at least be happy to know that I’m still alive and kicking, heh.’

Well, it’s better than nothing, which I should probably class as a victory. If you think you’re escaping talking to them later though, you’re sorely mistaken, Tsubaki thought as she slipped on her boots. Once on her feet and her backpack in her hand, she paused, fixing her eyes on her helmet, ‘I heard the sound of some pretty extravagant driving. Was that by any chance you?’ she asked, nervously. Please let the answer be negative.

‘Yeah, that was me,’ she admitted, with a proud smile on her face, which prompted Tsubaki to roll her eyes and sigh exasperatedly.

The pair began to make their way to the front door when Hikari paused, ‘I’m gonna get something from the kitchen, the boot should be unlocked, so you can go ahead,’ she quietly explained, with a little smile.

Once her companion left the house, Hikari searched for a pen and paper and once found, she scribed a message, “Hey, mother, father, I’m sorry for the sudden disappearance and for having to leave again so soon. I promise I’ll be in touch again soon. Thank you for not giving up on me (°◡°✿) Hikari xx”.

She gently placed the note on the kitchen table. They shouldn’t miss it when they come through here later.

Hikari swiftly made her exit, running back to the car.

Once returned to the driver’s seat and strapped in, she glanced across, to check that Tsubaki was belted in as well, before easing the car along the drive.

When the hatchback reached the street, a screech of the tyres, four slick marks on the road and both of the women being pressed back into their seats evidenced the beginning of Hikari’s dash toward what she hoped would be relative safety.

Having to concentrate on the road left the driver unable to watch the doctor, across from her, frowning in discomfort. Judging by those cute fearful sounds you’re making, I take it you’ve never had a wild ride before.

Without taking her eyes off the road, Hikari quietly declared ‘Don’t worry so much; it’s time for me to repay you for everything. So long as I’m still alive and kicking, I’ll do whatever I can, to make sure no harm comes your way,’ with an undeniably straight and serious expression on her face.

I won’t repeat the same mistakes I made back then…