Chapter 19: And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about
Sitting on the lounger in the sitting room that connected to her new bedroom, Risa was idly flipping through tv channels, bored out of her mind. She still had about four hours left until her therapist got here and Ai was off somewhere doing paperwork that was apparently, “Too stressful for you to handle right now, Risa.” And so, the gunner had been dragged back to the sitting room to rot her mind with daytime soaps.
She hated soaps….
“Please,” she begged, watching the predictable drama unfold, “let something interesting happen.” As if on cue, the door to the hallway burst open and in came Sayumi, Reina, Ai and Captain, the con clutching her bleeding face and the cop favoring her right arm. Blinking placidly as they scrambled with a couple of first aid kits, Risa turned to the ceiling and glared upwards, “Smartass.”
Watching in silence, the gunner observed as first aid was applied that there was a tension running through the wounded pair. Reina was trying to catch the con’s attention, while Sayumi was steadfastly ignoring her. This was backwards, when had they switched roles?
“So, did you guys have fun?” Risa asked nonchalantly, gaining three glares. The con immediately launched into a rant about her wounded face and Reina turned to calmly explain.
“My brothers attacked us, a drive-by. We got lucky.” she patted her arm lightly, “I only jammed my shoulder when we fell and Sayu just has a scratch.”
“’Just a scratch!’ This is not ‘just a scratch,’ Reina! My face is going to scar!” The con screeched indignantly.
“If it had been anymore to the right, you wouldn’t have a face!” the cop screamed back, making everyone else jump with the hysterical edge to her voice. She breathed in like she wanted to say something else, but held herself back at the last minute, reaching out towards Sayumi to gently brush against her undamaged cheek.
The con jerked away from her, a fearful looking passing fleetingly across her features. She stood up, still eyeing Reina unsurely, and left the room. The cop wasted no time in following after her hastily. The room fell into a contemplative silence as the remaining occupants regarded each other.
“Is it just me or is something finally going on between those two?” Risa asked her lover curiously.
“No, I see it too. It looks like Sayu’s not very receptive to Reina’s advances. I wonder why, she was the one to first go after her, now that Reina’s showing interest, she runs away? Doesn’t make any sense.” Ai sat down next to her and Saki slowly packed up, pretending to be engrossed in her task, but really listening in on their gossip.
“I think it makes perfect sense. It was all fun and games at first, the way Sayumin always plays, but then her toy turned the game around on her. Now she’s being pursued and she’s losing control of herself because she really feels for Tanakacchi, something she’s not used to. She’s a con artist, an actress, she makes herself into whatever role she needs to be in, she doesn’t know how to be herself around someone and now with all these new feelings bombarding her, she’s confused. So she’ll run, it’s her nature.” Risa shrugged and Ai looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Where do you get all this incite from?” The gunner rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been watching this dramatic crap all day! Please get me out of here! I’ll do paperwork, anything!” the other two laughed and the serious air was broken, but still, her own words rung in her head.
‘I can’t believe you don’t see any similarities between our relationships. You were just the same as Sayumin when we were growing up.’
”Ai-chan! Talk to me!” Risa called, running after her friend down the darkening street. The sun had been setting behind the older girl as the two sat in their usual spot by the creek. The baby bean couldn’t help but to lean in and kiss her, Ai looking as angelic as she was. At first, her affections were reciprocated, but then, she ran. “We live in the same house! I know where you’re going!”
They’d been running for at least six blocks and the younger girl couldn’t keep up this pace for much longer. Finally, just when Risa thought she’d collapse from exhaustion, did Ai slow down, only half as winded as her counterpart, which annoyed the future gunner to no end.
Sucking in much needed oxygen greedily, lungs burning painfully in her tightening chest, Risa grabbed onto the older girl’s wrist, just in case she decided to take off again. “It’s not right, Risa-chan!” Ai finally spoke, her voice lilting frantically as her accent emerged amidst her panic, “We’re both girls and even if we weren’t, you’re too young for me!”
“I’ll be fourteen next month, Ai! That’s only a two year difference. And so what if we’re girls!? I like you for who you are, not what gender you are!” Regardless, her words didn’t seem to help and Ai shook off her grip, taking off at a run down the street again. This time, Risa didn’t give chase, her legs giving way underneath her, the image of her friend running into the darkness etched in her mind.
There was only one place she could go now and so she headed to where her brother had been killed. Ai hadn’t allowed her to come back here since it had happened, for which she was grateful, because the only thing that awaited her were painful memories. The front door was locked, but the sliding glass door in the back still had no glass, so she easily slipped inside.
Everything was just as she remembered it, only covered in a thick layer of dust. All of the hidden stashes were untouched, their owners all dead and rumors about the house being haunted keeping locals away. She headed up to Ai’s former room, grabbing a few blankets and dragging them downstairs with her. She decided to just sleep outside tonight, the furniture too dusty for her to stay on comfortably. On the way outside, she raided one of the stashes and brought out with her an American military issued Colt .45 that some lucky Blue had traded for at one time.
She crouched next to a large rock out in the backyard, chuckling mirthlessly when she realized that it reminded her of a headstone. From her position, she had a perfect view of the spot on the grass where her brother had lain before the coroner had taken the bodies away. Getting an idea, she pulled out her ever present knife and began to carve a name in the rock. When she was satisfied, she curled around the headstone and fell asleep.
The next morning, a twig snapping under a person’s foot sent her flying into awareness and Risa sat up, whipping the pistol to point towards the sound. The barrel pointed squarely at a surprised Ai. They stared at each other for a long moment before the older girl spoke, “My mom wants you to come home.”
“What about you?” Risa countered, “Do you want me home?” Her response was Ai turning her nose up and the baby bean turned angry, “Then go away, I’m fine here.”
“Come on, I’m not leaving without you.” The older said, reached forward to try and haul Risa to her feet. The other girl struggled violently against her grip and they grappled for a moment, neither gaining ground until Risa lunged towards Ai, pressing their lips together again. Her heart soared when she wasn’t immediately rejected, but then, the older girl shoved her away, sending her tripping backwards to the ground.
She landed on her butt, hands instinctively reaching out behind her to catch herself and Risa felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Giving a cry, she grasped the injured appendage and heard a gasp, looking up into Ai’s shamed gaze. Before she could say another word, the girl was running away from her, again.
Shaking her head at the memory, Risa watched as, once again, Ai was moving away from her. With a sad smile, she looked down at her left hand; that time, it had been broken and it never healed quite right. “Hey, Captain, wanna see something?” she grinned childishly at the younger girl and pulled her left thumb back to touch her arm. She laughed when Saki made a disgusted face.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“Sayu!” Reina called as she darted after the other girl, lunging forward to grip her arm, “You can’t just run away from me, we need to talk.”
Immediately, shaking off the grasp, the con spun around to glare at the cop, “There’s nothing to talk about, you’ve misunderstood. You’re just fun to play with, I’m not looking for anything serious.”
“Then let’s keep playing.” Reina declared, “You’re right, this is fun, I don’t want to stop.”
A hurt look flashed across Sayumi’s face before she could stop it and she took off down the hall again, the cop on her heels. “Go away. I said no!”
“Sayu!” Reina cried, not caring who was listening, “Please! Don’t turn away from me!” she managed to grab the older girl’s arm again, but the con turned swiftly and the sound of skin hitting skin echoed in the hallway.
Both girl’s looked surprised by the slap, Sayu clasping a hand over her mouth and Reina’s eyes widening, head staying turned to the side. Slowly, the stunned yankii looked back at the con and gave her a hurt look. Once again, Sayumi ran down the hallway, this time, leaving Reina behind.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“All right, if you wanna hang out with us, you can’t be such a nerd.” Aika declared as she paced in front of a wide eyed Lin. The hacker was dressed in old camouflage army greens that were about two sizes too big and swallowed her adorably. Branches were weaved in her hair and olive colored face paint was smeared under her eyes.
“I’m not a nerd!” the older girl protested, gaining looks from the thief and Jun, “I’m not!”
“Look at you, you’re so pale I bet you could float through a wall if you tried hard enough and I could knock you over with one hit if I wanted.” Aika continued, “So we’ve decided to teach you to be like us, starting with a bit of stealth.”
“Uh, is that why we’re here?” Lin questioned, gesturing around the park from her place sitting on the fountain, gaining odd looks from passersby.
“Yes. It’s very simple, you have the entire park to hide in, the point of the exercise is to make it back here undetected by either Jun or I. She will stay here to patrol the perimeter of the fountain and I’ll be out looking for you. If I find you or Jun catches you, you have to start over again.” Aika explained to the now confused hacker.
“Wait, so it’s like hide and go seek?” She immediately received two less than amused looks.
“No,” Aika drawled out like she was talking to a particularly slow child, “It’s not like hide and go seek, it’s like we find you and we kill you.” Lin gulped at the way Jun cracked her knuckles, “So try to do well, alright? Now, go.”
The hacker took one more shifty look at her companions, then darted off into the bush. After they were sure she was out of ear shot, Jun and Aika began to laugh, “This is a little mean of us, don’t you think?”
“Eh, best way to learn is to think you’re in danger. Nothing motivates like self preservation.” the thief replied and the two laughed again.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“I will not take no for an answer, Mr. Jones.” Ai said coolly, “It’s my way or the highway.” Saki sat in the darkened corner, looking as creepy as possible, short hair shading her face and cleaning her nails with a dangerous looking knife.
The normally unflappable man swallowed hard, Ai had spent the last twenty minutes slowly whittling away at his resolve with unflinching demands that bordered on stubborn. “Well, perhaps we can work out a deal, then.”
Almost instantly, her pretty face changed from nearly scowling to a beatific smile, “Well, now, that’s what I want to hear. So, you’ll accept my offer?” The man just nodded, unsure of what was the façade and what was real, “Good, isn’t that great Captain?” she addressed Saki, who also transformed from menacing bodyguard to excited teenager. “Well, then, it’s settled. Have a nice day!” And she marched out the door like she owned the place.
As soon as she settled into the car, though, Ai slumped forward, “You okay?” Saki questioned to her tired visage.
“Does this ever get any easier?” The overwhelmed young woman asked as she mentally crossed another name off her list.
“No and if it does, then you should start to worry. Once you get used to intimidating people, then you stop caring. I really don’t want to see that happen to you, Takahashi-dono.” The younger girl said solemnly.
“No, no, no, there will be no Takahashi-dono or even Takahashi-san for you. Just call me Ai-chan.” The demo expert waved her arms around and Saki looked at her askance.
“You’re my boss now.” She said flatly.
“Yes, but you’ve been too big a help for such formalities. I think we’re friends now, don’t you? Besides, Risa’s your boss. I’m just you’re boss’s, erm.” She blushed a little, thinking about her relation to Risa.
“Concubine? Mistress? Lover~?” Saki teased with a grin and Ai glared at her good naturedly.
“Sub-leader.” She finished pointedly and the younger girl laughed heartily at her. Ai smiled, feeling her mood lifting slightly.
“Well, I know my ‘sub-leader’ would never do that with me if I had one!” Saki just laughed harder at the demo expert’s pout.
“Aw, come on. I know I said we were friends, but I didn’t mean you could pick on me freely.” Whined Ai, crossing her arms.
“It’s just too easy, though.” The young thug replied with a grin. “And you are so cute when you pout, like a little girl.” The last comment sent red flaming up Ai’s face in embarrassment. “Haha, see?”
She pouted for a few more seconds before bursting into laughter. After she had calmed down, Ai smiled and patted Saki on the head, “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Now Ai felt ready for her next appointment.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Risa sighed, wiping sweat away after another grueling therapy session. Her body ached from the strain she’d been put through, but she was already showing progress. It was as if her body was slowly remembering things it had forgotten, like reviewing notes after not learning about the subject in school for a while. Still, she felt tears stinging her eyes and flopped backwards on the bed.
Ai wasn’t here to coddle her now and Risa couldn’t help but feel depressed. How could she not, lying with nearly useless legs, unable to care for herself. The only thing she felt like doing was curling up in a ball and crying until her lover got back. A knock on the door distracted her from her misery, she hurriedly wiped her face and called the visitor to come in.
Eri poked her head inside cautiously, lighting up in a cheerful smile when her eyes landed on the gunner, “Gaki-san~!” she called out, her happy tone making Risa smile despite herself.
“Kame.” She said back in greeting as the girl sat next to her on the bed.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you since you’ve been up, I’ve been a little caught up in red tape.” Eri absently reached towards her friend to fix her mussed hair and pat her cheeks and forehead with the towel wrapped around the gunner’s neck, “You look like you could use a shower, need some help?” Before Risa could say either way, Eri had scooped her up and carried her towards the bathroom.
Giving the same aged girl a suspicious look, Risa glared at her, “Did Ai put you up to this?”
Genuinely confused, Eri shook her head, eyebrows knitting together, “No, I haven’t spoken to Ai-chan since yesterday.”
The response made the gunner’s expression soften and she allowed Eri to help her undress. It was always a little awkward to bathe with someone for the first time, but the cop ignored the atmosphere and began to hum, unaware of scrutinizing eyes on her face. Soon the two were reclined on opposite sides of the tub and waiting for the warm water to fill up.
Having relaxed since having the fruits of her labors washed away Risa felt a drowsiness slip over her and tears well up in her eyes. It was like this all the time, now, having to exert so much effort to do the simplest things left her feeling so drained that she just couldn’t help but begin to cry. Her sniffles filled the room, gaining Eri’s instant, surprised attention and the girl’s eyes snapped open from their resting position to see the gunner with her face buried in her hands.
Immediately, Eri moved over next to her and wrapped her arms around shaking shoulders, “Shh, Gaki-san, it’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, I feel like a baby. I’ve been doing nothing but crying and feeling sorry for myself, I’ll never get better if this is all I can do.” Despite her words, she clung desperately to the same aged girl, burying her face in Eri’s neck and taking in her comforting warmth.
“It’s okay, Gaki-san.” The cop said helpfully, “It’s natural to feel like this, you’re so independent and to feel helpless, you’re stronger than I am for dealing with this like you are.”
“Really?” Risa whimpered and Eri nodded firmly, smiling at her pouting face, “Eri, you’re a good friend.”
For just a second, the smile faded from the cop’s face, before coming back at only half power, “No, Risa, you’re the good friend.”
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“Okay guys.” Risa said, sitting comfortably at the head of a large meeting table in an official looking room somewhere in the manor. Everyone was sitting in states of attentiveness in plush chairs, “Now, we were going to take out the Tanaka’s anyway, but this preemptive attack is as annoying as it is admirable. I say we don’t take this sitting down.” Sayu opened her lips to say something, but immediately found her mouth covered by two sets of hands, courtesy of Reina and Eri on either side of her.
“We’ll hit them where they think they’re safest at a time when they least expect it.” Ai picked up, tossing a folder on the table, “The club.”
“Wait, the club?” Reina said, retracting her hand in shock, “But what about collateral damage?”
Ai and Risa exchanged a look, before the gunner piped back in, “Try not to shoot anyone.”
“I’m not comfortable with that kind of advice.” The yankii glared, backed up by her nodding partner. “Think of another plan.”
“Look, here Tanakachii,” Risa said firmly, “Unless you can come up with a better place that they completely have their guard down and are more than likely drunk and distracted, you speak up with that helpful little bit. Until then, we do it my way. Just check your fire and shut up.”
The two had a stare down for a long moment, the atmosphere tense around them. Finally, Reina rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair, turning her head away in concession, “Whatever.”
“Okay, now that that’s settled, Ai, you’re in charge of this one.” The older girl looked surprised, “I mean, I’m not going anywhere yet, and you are technically leader, so…” Risa shrugged innocently, “You set it up, you figure it out.” She’d known Ai long enough to see the panic begin to set into her face, “I’ll be here if you need any help from the sidelines.” she finished quietly and that seemed to make her girl feel better.
“Aika,” Ai said in a no nonsense tone, “Do you still have contacts inside the Tanaka gang?” The girl nodded, wide eyed, “Good, find out when they’re going to the club next. Jun Jun, Lin Lin!” The Chinese girls straightened up at their names, “I want to know everything about the layout of the club. Blueprints, pictures, recordings, whatever you can find. I want to know where every booth, chair, table, pole and exit is, the whole layout.”
“Risa!” Ai turned to her lover, who had been watching her with a dreamy expression that quickly cleared when she realized she was being addressed, “Does your little box of goodies included enough assault weapons for all of us?”
“Not for all of us, but I know where to get more.” The gunner responded, voice a little husky. Ai gave her a long look before turning back to business.
“Eri, Reina.” Both saluted on habit, “Your job is to get Risa’s weapons from wherever they are.”
“Yes ma’m!” They chorused, dropping their salutes.
“You have your orders, get to it!” Ai commanded and they group scattered quickly out of the room. As soon as they were gone, the demo expert slumped slightly and turned to her lover again, who was still watching her with that expression, “So, what do you think?”
Risa immediately pulled Ai down into her lap, kissing her soundly on the lips, “It turns me on when you take charge.” She grinned after they’d broken apart, eliciting laughter from her girl.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“Okay, so even though we didn’t kill sis and that pretty girl, I’d say we didn’t exactly waste the day,” Akio said from the head of the desk, folding his hands behind his head with a smirk.
“You know she’ll be angry.” Baku, the second oldest son, commented, pausing in his bored inspection of his fingers to raise an eyebrow at his brother.
“Let her be mad.” Daisuke, the fourth son, sneered, the scar that ran down his face making him look wolfish, “She can’t do anything to stop us.”
Estuo, the fifth son, adjusted his glasses, his slicked back hair giving him an aristocratic feel. “I don’t think we should underestimate these girls. I mean, they did take out Takashi, they have to be worth something.”
Chion, the third son and by far the most cruel and calculating of them, examined the occupants of the room. The six brothers were there at their regular places, farther down the line was Toshio, the hulking eighth lieutenant, more brawn than brains. Near the head of the table was Erino, observing quietly, and next to her was her daughter. “What do you think, Maimi?” Chion asked lowly, gaining the room’s attention. Chion rarely spoke and when he did, you had better listen.
“Me?” Maimi asked uncomfortably, the thought of fighting against former friends not sitting well with her at all.
“You should tell us your input if you have any, after all, you’ll be one of us someday soon. Isn’t that why you came to this meeting? To learn how we do things at the top?” Chion expressed emotionlessly, his eerie tone sending shivers down her spine.
“I think Estuo’s right in that we shouldn’t underestimate them.” The girl said slowly, trying to gauge Chion’s reaction. The man was known to snap if something didn’t please him.
Smirking slowly, the third oldest brother leaned across the table, “You must have valuable insight on them, after all, you grew up with Aika and Reina and we all know about you and Saki-tan.” he mocked the name, sending Maimi bristling.
“I don’t think I have anymore insight into Reina-nee-san than any of you and maybe my mother knows Aika better than I.” She countered, eliciting snickers from the other men at the table, but even that didn’t make Chion’s smirk drop.
“And Captain?” He pushed, watching her bristle again.
“Is my problem.” she didn’t miss a beat, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms with a finality. Her defiance seemed to amuse Chion and he settled back into silence.
“Well, for now, let’s forget it!” Baku exclaimed, “Let’s go out and celebrate!” His statement was met with cheers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a super apology for my epic lateness and the shortness of each chapter I shall now commit cybercide *turns and cuts down tiny representation of myself* Good bye little friend, you will be missed.
Bring in the clone! *an identical representation scampers into the room*
Oh, and I'll also blow up the forum, figuratively speaking.
Enjoy!
Topic: Black and Blue (Ch 34 6/4 The End!) (Read 153273 times)