La Sorella - {Captivated} -

[HPriest]

La Sorella - Lullaby for Aniki
When things turn gray II

- {Viva l'Italia} -
- {Welcome!} -
- {Nutshell / Identikit Picture} -
- {United / LDP / Phone Call} -
- {Shards} -
- {Surprise/Fan-Enemy} -
- {Final Button/Sayumi's Secrets} -
- {Cleaning Up/Sharpshooter} -
- {Like a Gust} -
- {Sacrificed Again} -
- {Captivated} -

Viva l'Italia (Prologue)

"Today might have been the turning point of the current votes in Japan. The opposite party are about to reveal the criminal acts of the Liberal Democratic Party. They claim to have evidence that the Liberal Democratic Party itself was involved in the murder of the former prime minister, 15 years ago. Although nobody has seen the evidence so far, the people of Japan will become curious. LDP has been governing the country for 54 following years. Will we see another winner in this year's voting? The opposite party doesn't really have a a clean slate either, but they are not official involved in any major crimes. Whatever the result will be, it will depend on this evidence."

It's been two years since the stand-off in the warehouse. Sho moved to Europe and took Eri with him. They are currently living in Italy. Eri's watching CNN. It looks like there are a lot of things happening in politics. Not that she is really into politics, but it's still interesting to follow the news. She has no other connections to Japan anymore. Soon after they escaped from the harbor, Sho told her about her brother and that he probably has been killed. First she didn't want to believe, but the media confirmed his words. Every newspaper and TV channel reported about the bloody stand-off of the two gangs. Now she is a part of Sho's family. His wife and kids are also in Italy. It wasn't necessary to adopt her or something like that. She is an adult and can decide on her own about where she wants to live. The whole family, including Eri, also has a new identity. Sho made sure that nobody would find them, at least not with a lot of effort.

Eri has been thinking about Koji a lot. They never had the chance to talk and she imagined what it would be like to have him as brother. Sho always told her stories about his life. How he was as kid and such things. He tried not to involve the actions of the Yentown Brothers in his stories. Eri also learned a lot of things from Sho. Many of them are not really made for a young girl to learn, but she insisted him to teach them anyway. She wanted to feel how her brother felt. Sho probably didn't imagine that these things would become very useful someday.

The news are over and Eri zaps through the channels. Nothing interesting seems to be on, when suddenly the phone rings. Eri picks up the phone.

"Pantani here, hello.", she says.

"Eri..", an unknown man answers.

"No, it's Alessia. You must have dialed the wrong number.", Eri becomes nervous and wants to hang up again.

"Wait, Eri! It's about Koji!", he quickly says.

Eri is becoming curious and moves the telephone back to her ear. She decides not to say anything in order not to reveal herself.

"They have him. You have to come quickly."

Eri is confused, but keeps silent.

"Please trust me, I am your father."

Eri doesn't know what to think. Maybe it's only a joke or a test?

"Somebody will wait at the Haneda airport. The flight has been paid already. It's flight JL 408 at 8pm from Malpensa airport in Milan. It's your decision, but I want you to know that Koji is not dead. Did you hear me? He is alive.", the man says and hangs up.

Eri still has the phone at her ear. She doesn't know what to believe. How did he find her anyway? She throws the phone away and runs out of her room. It's the garret where she wanted to go so quickly. Eri opens it and searches for something. It's an old box. She carries it downstairs and sprints to her room again. The box is full of newspapers from Japan and Italy, heaving the shoot-out on the front page. She pulls out the pages and reads them again.

Deadly shoot-out of the two biggest criminal gangs in Tokyo
Yesterday was one of the deadliest shoot-outs in the history of Tokyo. Two gangs, Yentown Brothers and P2, confronted each other in a warehouse in the harbor of Tokyo. It is unclear why they even met. Usually they both avoided confrontations with each other. They both were aware of the power of the other gang. Maybe they simply wanted to end this dispute. Police said that nobody survived the shoot-out. Exact numbers are unknown.

Eri picks a page of one day later.

Second shooting not far away.
Police kept it hidden until now.
No more information is given.
Why was there a second shooting?

Eri continues to rummage through the newspapers and finds a page of the same day.

Car crash near the harbor; burned out.
Eye-witnesses say that it was speeding away from the warehouse.
Girl on the passenger seat; picture reveals her identity.
Kamei Eri from popular idol-group DEAD!

Eri smiles a bit. Sho really tried hard to make everyone believe that she was dead. Fake pictures, fake reports, fake eye-witnesses. Everyone, even her closest friend Sayumi, think that she is dead. During the the first half of the first year, it has been painful not be able to call her. Now it became better, but she still misses her.

Another newspaper, also from the same day.

This evening: A man saw it all!
Exclusive interview on TBS.
"Innocent involved in shootings!" - Man saw a girl near the second shoot-out.

Now Eri checks the title pages of the next days and only reads the various headlines.

- Man canceled interview. Studio insider tells us that he didn't appear. Fake or frightened?
- 2ch, heated discussions and speculations crash boards and servers
- Blog writes about the incident, is it the same man?
- Picture of a girl appeared at the blog of the mysterious man, she was there before the shooting
- Users in 2ch believe the mysterious girl is Takahashi Ai from the same group like the Kamei Eri; Agency keeps silent.
- Police finally comes up with more details. Takahashi Ai dead as well. They have no information about their connections to the gangs.

Eri realizes that there are no exact numbers of the casualties, no named men and no detailed informations about the second shooting at all. She suddenly starts to consider that her brother might be alive. The doubts still outweigh, but this little chance is driving her crazy. Eri notices the clock, it's 7:30pm. She needs to decide fast. Going to Japan and following the small lead that her brother might be alive or staying in here, not bothering about all the mess anymore. Eri looks at the second hand of the clock. She follows every movement, each seconds becoming heavier and heavier. Then she suddenly jumps up and goes to her wardrobe, picks out a small bag and throws in a few clothes. All the necessary papers are in the drawer of her desktop. She gets them and rushes downstairs. The little daughter of Sho notices her and asks her dad what she is doing. Sho doesn't know either. He follows Eri to the door.

"What's up?", he asks.

"Ah, I forgot something.", she says and sprints into another room.

It actually is the room of Sho. Here he does all the work and boring stuff. Eri knows that he has more than documents in here. She goes to his desktop and searches for something.

"The keys?", she asks.

"What keys?"

"Ah, found them.", she takes the keys.

"Hey, wait a minute, what are you..", Sho is confused.

Eri opens a drawer and picks out a pistol.

"Alessia!", she tells her to stop.

Eri checks the weapon and puts in a clip. She loads it and says, "My name is Eri, not Alessia."

"Where are you going?", Sho is afraid.

"The airport. Koji might be alive.", she tells him.

Eri rushes out of the door, but Sho calls her back. She doesn't want to stop.

"I can drive you", he suddenly says.

Now Eri stops. Driving would be faster indeed. Eri can't drive herself, she still hasn't learned it. Sho still doesn't understand what's the matter and the idea with the driving obviously only is to buy more time to talk with her. They both get into the car. Sho is a bit nervous about the weapon and wants Eri to explain everything. She tells her about the call and the newspapers. He doesn't like it at all, but Eri made her decision and will fly to Japan. Sho can say whatever he wants, she won't listen. At least he is able to convince to keep the weapon here. The staff of the airport would detect it and arrest it. Eri realizes that it was a stupid idea with the weapon.

At the airport she rushes into the terminal to check in. It's almost 8pm. Sho isn't able to stop her, she is already past the security check. It was way too fast for him. Now he starts to realize what's happening. Eri is really going to Japan. What did he do? He should have chained her somewhere. It's such a dumb idea to get back to Japan. He promised Koji to keep an eye on her. But what if he really is alive? "Nah, it's impossible.", he says to himself. However, Eri is on her way to Japan. It's dangerous and stupid. "She sure is exactly like Koji", he thinks. At least Sho is aware of Eri's abilities. He trained and taught her a bit, but never with the idea for her to use it sometime. It was to keep her closer to her brother. He really blames himself now. Sho walks around the airport, looking at the planes. Various thinks pop up in his head...

"Somehow...I always knew that something like this could happen. Maybe I agreed to teach her because of this feeling? Is this what Koji wanted? What if everything makes sense? Maybe I actually want her to go?"

-----------------

[Note: I hope it was good, although it's not as 'noir' as the original...]

[JFC]

It's been two years since the stand-off in the warehouse. Sho moved to Europe and took Eri with him.

WTF Europe???   So Eri's living in Italy now with Sho? What's their relationship like, I wonder? What happened to the rest of MM when they heard of Eri's "death"?  Also...what happened to Aichan? She was there, how's she holding up?

Eri also learned a lot of things from Sho. Many of them are not really made for a young girl to learn, but she insisted him to teach them anyway. She wanted to feel how her brother felt.

Is Sho teaching Eri how to be a yakuza or something?

Nothing interesting seems to be on, when suddenly the phone rings. Eri picks up the phone.

"Pantani here, hello.", she says.

Hmmm...it'd be interesting to hear Eri speaking Italian.

"Eri..", an unknown man answers.

"No, it's Alessia. You must have dialed the wrong number.", Eri becomes nervous and wants to hang up again.

"Wait, Eri! It's about Koji!", he quickly says.

Eri is becoming curious and moves the telephone back to her ear. She decides not to say anything in order not to reveal herself.

"They have him. You have to come quickly."

Eri is confused, but keeps silent.

"Please trust me, I am your father."

The old guy? He's still alive? O_O  It's been two years, who would be holding Koji after all this time, and more to the fact, why would they?

"Somebody will wait at the Haneda airport. The flight has been paid already. It's flight JL 408 at 8pm from Malpensa airport in Milan. It's your decision, but I want you to know that Koji is not dead. Did you hear me? He is alive.", the man says and hangs up.

She should tell Sho about this. If there's anyone who could help her decide on if she should act on this call, with all that he knows about Koji and his family, it's Sho.

This evening: A man saw it all!
Exclusive interview on TBS.
"Innocent involved in shootings!" - Man saw a girl near the second shoot-out.

The second shoot-out? That would be Aichan!

- Man canceled interview. Studio insider tells us that he didn't appear. Fake or frightened?
...
- Blog writes about the incident, is it the same man?

If there WAS a witness, either Sho got to him, or one of the gangs did.

- Picture of a girl appeared at the blog of the mysterious man, she was there before the shooting
- Users in 2ch believe the mysterious girl is Takahashi Ai from the same group like the Kamei Eri; Agency keeps silent.
- Police finally comes up with more details. Takahashi Ai dead as well. They have no information about their connections to the gangs.

AICHAN NOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!!! 

The other MM girls must have been devastated.   

She needs to decide fast.

...

She gets them and rushes downstairs. The little daughter of Sho notices her and asks her dad what she is doing. Sho doesn't know either. He follows Eri to the door.

"What's up?", he asks.

"Ah, I forgot something.", she says and sprints into another room.

It actually is the room of Sho. Here he does all the work and boring stuff. Eri knows that he has more than documents in here.

...

"Ah, found them.", she takes the keys.

"Hey, wait a minute, what are you..", Sho is confused.

Eri opens a drawer and picks out a pistol.

Shit, what's Eri thinking? She can't take that on the plane with her.

"Alessia!", she tells her to stop.

Eri checks the weapon and puts in a clip. She loads it and says, "My name is Eri, not Alessia."

Shit, he HAS been teaching her how to be a yakuza!

"Where are you going?", Sho is afraid.

"The airport. Koji might be alive.", she tells him.

...

"I can drive you", he suddenly says.

...

 Sho still doesn't understand what's the matter and the idea with the driving obviously only is to buy more time to talk with her. They both get into the car. Sho is a bit nervous about the weapon and wants Eri to explain everything. She tells her about the call and the newspapers. He doesn't like it at all, but Eri made her decision and will fly to Japan. Sho can say whatever he wants, she won't listen. At least he is able to convince to keep the weapon here. The staff of the airport would detect it and arrest it. Eri realizes that it was a stupid idea with the weapon.

Good, he convinced her to leave the gun behind. If she really wants to find Koji, arriving at the airport armed isn't going to do her much good.

"She sure is exactly like Koji", he thinks. At least Sho is aware of Eri's abilities. He trained and taught her a bit, but never with the idea for her to use it sometime. It was to keep her closer to her brother. He really blames himself now. Sho walks around the airport, looking at the planes. Various thinks pop up in his head...

"Somehow...I always knew that something like this could happen. Maybe I agreed to teach her because of this feeling? Is this what Koji wanted? What if everything makes sense? Maybe I actually want her to go?"

I would say it's probably more that he knew that if she should ever want to go back to Japan, she would need to be able to defend herself against the gangs and to have an idea of how they work.


It still begs the question, if Koji IS alive, why? Why didn't they kill him then? Why have they been holding him all this time? Why did Koji's dad only call Eri now?

[HPriest]

Welcome to Japan!

Eri arrives in Japan. All she has is a small bag with clothes. Everyone here believes that she is dead. Will she really be okay?

"Somebody will wait at the Haneda airport."

Eri looks around, but can't see anybody. She walks outside. There is a limousine waiting at the entrance. The driver holds a card with "Alessia Pantani" written on it. She approaches him. He immediately opens the door for her.

"Where are we driving?", she asks, but the driver doesn't respond. Eri is a bit suspicious. This just is too weird. Come on, a limousine? Anyway, she has enough brave to get into the car. Nobody is inside and Eri is curious about where they are going to drive. The man on the phone claimed to be her father. Will they drive to him? Is he so wealthy? She never met him before. However, the biggest thing on her mind is her brother.

They drive through Shinjuki. Eri is still a bit tired from the flight, when suddenly the car stops. "We arrived", the driver says. He isn't really a talkative person. Eri steps out of the car and notices where they are. "The government center?", she asks while looking at the skyscraper. Of course, the driver doesn't say any word. Another man already awaits her and leads her the way. So far everyone seems to be friendly, but voiceless. Still, why the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center? Eri doesn't understand why she is here. The man leads her into a room where a handful of other men are waiting.

"Eri~", one of the men approaches her.

"What's the meaning of all this?", she is curious.

"You must had a long flight. Take a seat. Want something to drink?", he ignores her question.

"No, thanks."

"Did everything go smoothly from the airport to here?"

"Could somebody explain to me why I am in a room together with a bunch of weird man in suits?", Eri gets the feeling that something is wrong.

"Come in", a man says.

Some kind of doctor enters the room, followed by an assistant. The assistant carries a plate with an injection.

"Alright, it was fun, but now I have to go.", Eri stands up. One man pushes her back.

"Don't leave us already, the party just began."

"What the fugmgmhgmgmhgm...?", Eri asks. Two men are holding her on the couch, covering her mouth. The doctor takes the injection and prepares to giver her a shot.

*BANG*

An bang out of nowhere in a room close to them. The doctor stops and puts it back on the plate.

"What's this noise?", one of the men asks. Three go out to check what happened.

Suddenly the assistant picks the injection and rams it into the arm of the doctor. The remaining men are surprised. The assistant quickly pulls his gun and shoots the two men holding Eri. The elder men in the room are no danger to him. He takes the hand of Eri and drags her out of the room.

"Who are you?", she asks.

"Noooot now", he answers being busy with getting her out unharmed. The bang distracted most of the guards. Together with a bit of luck, they are able to leave the building without being spotted. They walk through the front entrance, looking like normal people and walk around the next corner. There is a car waiting for them. He tells her to get in. Somehow she heard the same words today already and isn't really sure whether she can trust him or not. At least he rescued her..she thinks. Eri still is a bit baffled about everything that happened. She just stepped out of the plane and already is in some weird mess. However, she gets into the car. The man follows her. Another man sits at the steering wheel, driving them out of Shinjuku. They both can be sure that she is going to want some answers from them.

"Breaking News
An explosion occurred in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center, a couple of minutes ago. The security personnel soon found the source. A bottle bomb detonated in one of the bathrooms. Right now they are still going through the security feed the person who did this. People suspect it to be some bad joke of some teenagers. A first sign of the mood of the people of Japan or really only a bade joke? More about this in the evening news, here on NHK"

[JFC]

Eri arrives in Japan. All she has is a small bag with clothes. Everyone here believes that she is dead. Will she really be okay?

"Somebody will wait at the Haneda airport."

How will this person know her? Eri must have changed her hair and general appearance, right? Then again, eveyone in Japan thinks she's dead, what if someone (especially if it's one of the MM/H!P members) sees and recognizes her?

Eri looks around, but can't see anybody. She walks outside. There is a limousine waiting at the entrance. The driver holds a card with "Alessia Pantani" written on it. She approaches him. He immediately opens the door for her.

"Where are we driving?", she asks, but the driver doesn't respond. Eri is a bit suspicious. This just is too weird. Come on, a limousine? Anyway, she has enough brave to get into the car.

C'mon Eri you should know better. If that really was your father that called you, he wouldn't have sent a limo to pic you up. He would have come and gotten you himself to keep your arrival as secret as possible.

Still, why the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center? Eri doesn't understand why she is here. The man leads her into a room where a handful of other men are waiting.

"Eri~", one of the men approaches her.

The government is involved? How did they find out that Eri wasn't really dead?

"Could somebody explain to me why I am in a room together with a bunch of weird man in suits?", Eri gets the feeling that something is wrong.

"Come in", a man says.

Some kind of doctor enters the room, followed by an assistant. The assistant carries a plate with an injection.

"Alright, it was fun, but now I have to go.", Eri stands up. One man pushes her back.

"Don't leave us already, the party just began."

"What the fugmgmhgmgmhgm...?", Eri asks. Two men are holding her on the couch, covering her mouth. The doctor takes the injection and prepares to giver her a shot.

Not good, this is definitely NOT good. If these guys really are with the government (which I somehow doubt, because if they were they would/should have been honest with her from the start and told her exactly what they needed her help for), what exactly are they planning and why are they trying to (presumably) sedate Eri?

An bang out of nowhere in a room close to them. The doctor stops and puts it back on the plate.

"What's this noise?", one of the men asks. Three go out to check what happened.

Suddenly the assistant picks the injection and rams it into the arm of the doctor. The remaining men are surprised. The assistant quickly pulls his gun and shoots the two men holding Eri. The elder men in the room are no danger to him. He takes the hand of Eri and drags her out of the room.

"Who are you?", she asks.

"Noooot now", he answers being busy with getting her out unharmed.

The assistant might be a mole or something within this group who actually works or knows Koji and/or his dad.  If that's indeed the case it means that more people must have been aware that Eri was coming back to Japan.

At least they were able to escape the building safely.

"Breaking News
An explosion occurred in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center, a couple of minutes ago. The security personnel soon found the source. A bottle bomb detonated in one of the bathrooms. Right now they are still going through the security feed the person who did this. People suspect it to be some bad joke of some teenagers. A first sign of the mood of the people of Japan or really only a bade joke? More about this in the evening news, here on NHK"

A joke by teenagers? Is that the best that they could come up with? If it was me I'd at least have used the "disgruntled ex-employee" story.

[HPriest]

Nutshell

Eri looks at the two men. They don't really look like professionals. She should try to get some more information. Eri grins. Her breathing starts to become deep and unsteady.

"What's the problem?", the man next to her on the backseat asks.

"It...", she breaths, "it must be my asthma."

"Arstma?", the driver asks.

"He didn't tell us that you have asthma."

"I need" .... "fresh air..please stop..", Eri asks them.

The two men don't know what to do and the driver decides to better stop and let her out. They both also get out of the car to look after her. The man from the backseat approaches her, when suddenly she punches him in the face. With her right elbow, she hits him in the chest and pushes him against the wall. The driver comes to help, but Eri quickly steals the gun of the man she pushed against the wall. She tells the driver to back off. Then she rams her knee into the nuts of the man at the wall. He slides down the wall in pain.

"Who are you?", she shouts at them.

"Rrilax", the driver tells her.

"What's with your dialect. Are you Russian?", Eri asks him about his weird dialect.

"You have to excuse him. He indeed came from Russia.", the man on the ground says.

"Tell me who you are!!", Eri keeps shouting at them.

"You could be a bit nicer. I mean, we just saved you.", the man stands up again. His precious things still hurt.

"I still don't trust you. What was it anyway, this injection and those men?"

"Truth drug. They wanted to drug you to get the missing part of the song.", the man explains and leans against the wall, holding his crown jewels.

"Truth drug? Song? What song?"

"Your brother will explain. Can we please get back into the car and drive to him?"

"Koji?", Eri asks.

"Yes, Koji.."

"He really is alive?"

"Depends on how you define 'alive'."

"What?"

"Let's drive to him, please."

Eri still doesn't trust the man. They may have saved her, but who tells her that they aren't some weirdos as well? She orders the man with the crushed nuts to get on the backseat again. The Russian gets back on the steering wheel, while Eri sits down on the passenger seat. She still has the weapon and doesn't even think about putting the gun down. Let's see if they are really going to visit her brother.

~~~

Identikit Picture

Back in the government building, the men in suits moved the room. The corpses were distracting them. They tell the man at the door to bring in Mr. Tsukamoto. Tsukamoto might sound familiar. The man enters the room and it indeed is Koji's father.

"You told us it would be easy!", one of the elder men blames him.

"I didn't think she would get help already.", Mr. Tsukamoto answers.

"Already? ALREADY? You better get this sentence out of her or...."

"Don't worry, I will. I know where she is."

"Then get her!"

Koji's father leaves the room. The men are not satisfied with the outcome. They come up with their own plan to get her, in case he isn't successful. "Here, give this to the press.", he orders one of the young men.

Evening...

"Bomb placed to injure DPJ Official
Nobody got injured, but the first facts lead to that it was placed in the bathroom of the DPJ part of the complex. DPJ claims that they got a threat earlier the day. They took it for joke and are more than shocked about the outcome. Luckily the members were in a meeting during that time. One man of the security personnel saw a woman rushing in and out of the males bathroom. DPJ and the police gave us an identikit picture. Any leads are appreciate. The chief for the security of DPJ said the following: 'We will not allow anybody to disturb the election. The criminal acts of the Liberal Democratic Party will be revealed. It would be no surprise, if the woman was a member of the same criminal organization who rules this country for way too long.' Now we will show you the picture of the wanted woman for 10 more seconds. Please send in any information regarding this woman to...."

The picture clearly shows Eri. There is no doubt that they will try anything to get her.

..somewhere, in an unknown room..

The TV is running. Somebody is watching the news. The image of Eri pops up. Suddenly a cup falls to the ground and breaks into shatters. We can see some feet, but no face.

"Eri.....is alive...", a female voice says....

[glcorps2002]

Ok, that is either Sayumi shocked that her prince is alive or Ai surprised that another girl survived.

[HPriest]

United

The car stops and the man says that they arrived. Eri looks around. It's a really quiet place a bit out of Tokyo. On last road she only saw two-three farmers. She steps out of the car, ordering the others to do the same. The pain of the one man is almost gone. They go into an old farm. First it looks like nobody is here, but then the men point at something on the floor. It looks like a door to some kind of basement. Eri tells the Russian to open it. She lets them go down first, the gun still aiming at them.  Slowly she follows them. The first things she sees definitely look more modern compared to everything else in this place.

A few more steps and she can finally look into the room. First she quickly points the gun in the room to clear the area, but there are no people in here, only a bed. Eri is confused. The two men wait at a wall and look at the bed. Is her brother supposed to lie in this bed? Step by step she gets closer to the bed. She puts the pistol in her pants.

"Brother?"

"Eri....", the person in the bed answers. The voice sounds like her brother, but the person doesn't look like him at all.

"Is it really you?", she asks.

One of the two men locks at the clock. "He just took his medicine is pretty sleepy, I am sorry."

"Medicine...", Eri gets closer to the bed.

"His condition was really bad after the shooting. He basically was dead, but some men with a lot of influence ordered the doctors to keep him alive at any cost. His live now depends on a couple of machines that keep him alive. Not really a nice sight, but he insisted to see you anyway. However, the timing now is not the best...I am sorry.", the man explains.

Eri now finally can see his face. All the treatment and medicine made him look way older, but she still can see her brother's face somehow. Her eyes become wet and it doesn't take long until the first tear rolls down her face and drops on the ground. She takes the hand of her brother. He might not be able to talk right now, but at least he can smile. Eri gently hugs him. The other men look away to not disturb them. This moment lasts a while...

~~~

LDP

The members of the LDP also saw the news about Eri. They are totally aware of the this evidence and know that the DPJ already has half of the access code. They also know that Eri is the key to the second half. Those documents are the currently most important documents in the country. They basically decide about the future of Japan. It's not really about good or bad. Both parties have done good and bad things, although public doesn't read that much about the bad things. The LDP might have been involved in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, but maybe it was for the good? The motives of both sides are not really clear so far. However, the LDP can't let the DPJ have these important documents.

"Do we know where she is?"

"No, we lost her after she escaped from the Shinjuku."

"What now? The DPJ is probably already searching for her."

"We should try to find her brother.", some man from the Ministry of Defense answers.

"Good idea...Get him! He will lead us to his sister."

"We will.", the man leaves the room.

"You are really letting the Ministry of Defense handle the situation?"

"We may not let the DPJ get the documents!"

~~~

Phone Call

"So you are really friends of Koji?", Eri asks the men and gets up from the bed.

"Hm? Yes..somehow..", the man answers.

"What did they do to him. His soul should be put to rest."

"Y...you want to kill him?", he is shocked.

"NO!...I don't know...not now.....brother...."

"Yu warnt e coffee?", the man with the Russian dialect asks.

Eri looks at him, "No thanks, I should phone Sho.", she picks out her mobile phone.

"Don't try, you don't get a signal here.", the man stops her.

"Do you have a telephone?"

"Yes, in the next room."

There is an extra room for the men next to Koji's. It would be uncomfortable to be in the same room with him all the time. In the other room they have everything to survive, food and TV. Eri calls Sho and tells him that everything is okay. She doesn't mention the incident and makes it sound like there were no complications at all. Sho sounds relieved, but he probably feels that not everything she says is the truth. Eri looks at the TV.

"Is this me?", she is shocked.

Sho is confused. Eri tells him that she has to hang up now. Sho keeps talking to her, but she still hangs up.

"The woman in this picture is still on the run. We now have the additional information that she refers to herself as "Eri" or "Alessia". It also seems like that the LDP is also looking for this girl. What is the connection between them? Is she really a "terrorist" like the security chief of the DPJ recently mentioned in an interview? We will give you more news as soon as we get more information."

[JFC]

Nutshell

Eri looks at the two men. They don't really look like professionals. She should try to get some more information. Eri grins. Her breathing starts to become deep and unsteady.

"What's the problem?", the man next to her on the backseat asks.

"It...", she breaths, "it must be my asthma."

Rika's the one with asthma, not Eri.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice one Eri.

The two men don't know what to do and the driver decides to better stop and let her out. They both also get out of the car to look after her. The man from the backseat approaches her, when suddenly she punches him in the face. With her right elbow, she hits him in the chest and pushes him against the wall. The driver comes to help, but Eri quickly steals the gun of the man she pushed against the wall. She tells the driver to back off. Then she rams her knee into the nuts of the man at the wall. He slides down the wall in pain.

"Who are you?", she shouts at them.

Sho sure taught her well.

"I still don't trust you. What was it anyway, this injection and those men?"

"Truth drug. They wanted to drug you to get the missing part of the song.", the man explains and leans against the wall, holding his crown jewels.

Ah, so whoever that was that was had Eri before must have found out that the key is a song, but they don't have all of it and think she knows the missing part.

"Truth drug? Song? What song?"

"Your brother will explain. Can we please get back into the car and drive to him?"

...

"He really is alive?"

"Depends on how you define 'alive'."

Ugh, I don't like the way he said that last part. From the sound of it, Koji could be anything from a quadriplegic to some type of bedridden vegetable to some living head in a jar.

She orders the man with the crushed nuts to get on the backseat again. The Russian gets back on the steering wheel, while Eri sits down on the passenger seat. She still has the weapon and doesn't even think about putting the gun down. Let's see if they are really going to visit her brother.

Strategy-wise, this isn't the best setup. By putting one of the men in the back seat, and having the other one drive, she's basically splitting them up, which means that she can only keep an eye on one of them at a time. If she gets to distracted with one, the other could somehow sneak up on her and snatch the gun away from her. It would have been better for her to have both of them sit and face the front, while she sat in the back with the gun. That way, she could shoot either of them in the back (or back of the head) before they could try anything (since they'd have to turn around to face her to do it).  If she really wanted to sit in the front, she should have made one of them get into the trunk, and lock it for the duration of the trip. That way, she'd only have one goon to potentially deal with.

Back in the government building, the men in suits moved the room. The corpses were distracting them. They tell the man at the door to bring in Mr. Tsukamoto. Tsukamoto might sound familiar. The man enters the room and it indeed is Koji's father.

"You told us it would be easy!", one of the elder men blames him.

"I didn't think she would get help already.", Mr. Tsukamoto answers.

"Already? ALREADY? You better get this sentence out of her or...."

"Don't worry, I will. I know where she is."

"Then get her!"

So then Koji's dad (Tsukamoto) is working for these "government" guys? That would mean that the call to Eri was part of a deliberate plot to get her back to reveal the missing part of the song!   But what makes Tsukamoto think that Eri knows the missing part, or is he just trying to cover his own ass?

Also, if this really was intentionally a plot to get Eri back by these guys, then who is the other group that got Eri out of there, and how did they know that she'd be there in the first place?

"Bomb placed to injure DPJ Official
Nobody got injured, but the first facts lead to that it was placed in the bathroom of the DPJ part of the complex. DPJ claims that they got a threat earlier the day. They took it for joke and are more than shocked about the outcome. Luckily the members were in a meeting during that time. One man of the security personnel saw a woman rushing in and out of the males bathroom. DPJ and the police gave us an identikit picture. Any leads are appreciate. The chief for the security of DPJ said the following: 'We will not allow anybody to disturb the election. The criminal acts of the Liberal Democratic Party will be revealed. It would be no surprise, if the woman was a member of the same criminal organization who rules this country for way too long.' Now we will show you the picture of the wanted woman for 10 more seconds. Please send in any information regarding this woman to...."

Oh great, so now politicians are involved, AND there's an election happening?  So since they're trying to associate Eri with the LDP, that must mean that the documents (because remember kids, the song was supposed to lead to some documents that provided proof of some criminal activity) must have data that could damage the LDPs standing and turn the tide of the election in favour of the DPJ.  By making it a police report, and splashing her picture around, they must be hoping on getting the public to provide some eyewitness sightings of her to find out where she is and/or where she's going.

The picture clearly shows Eri. There is no doubt that they will try anything to get her.

..somewhere, in an unknown room..

The TV is running. Somebody is watching the news. The image of Eri pops up. Suddenly a cup falls to the ground and breaks into shatters. We can see some feet, but no face.

"Eri.....is alive...", a female voice says....

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh crap...one of the girls saw her picture.   This is going to seriously complicate matters.



United

They go into an old farm. First it looks like nobody is here, but then the men point at something on the floor. It looks like a door to some kind of basement. Eri tells the Russian to open it. She lets them go down first, the gun still aiming at them.  Slowly she follows them. The first things she sees definitely look more modern compared to everything else in this place.

WTF, has Koji somehow been hiding out here all this time?

"His condition was really bad after the shooting. He basically was dead, but some men with a lot of influence ordered the doctors to keep him alive at any cost. His live now depends on a couple of machines that keep him alive. Not really a nice sight, but he insisted to see you anyway. However, the timing now is not the best...I am sorry.", the man explains.

Eri now finally can see his face. All the treatment and medicine made him look way older, but she still can see her brother's face somehow.

"Men with influence"? They must somehow be involved with one of the political parties, and wanted to keep Koji alive so that they could get their hands on those documents. He must have refused to cooperate, and somehow he had men that helped bring him and hide him here below this farm.

The members of the LDP also saw the news about Eri. They are totally aware of the this evidence and know that the DPJ already has half of the access code. They also know that Eri is the key to the second half. Those documents are the currently most important documents in the country. They basically decide about the future of Japan. It's not really about good or bad. Both parties have done good and bad things, although public doesn't read that much about the bad things. The LDP might have been involved in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, but maybe it was for the good? The motives of both sides are not really clear so far. However, the LDP can't let the DPJ have these important documents.

Shit, looks like neither political party here can be trusted. First it was two rival gangs fighting with Koji and Eri being caught in the middle, now it's the same, except that now these politicians are involved, which makes the stakes even higher.

Eri looks at the TV.

"Is this me?", she is shocked.

...

"The woman in this picture is still on the run. We now have the additional information that she refers to herself as "Eri" or "Alessia". It also seems like that the LDP is also looking for this girl. What is the connection between them? Is she really a "terrorist" like the security chief of the DPJ recently mentioned in an interview? We will give you more news as soon as we get more information."

Damn, they're going to have all of Japan on the lookout for Eri.

[HPriest]

Nice summary.
The thing with the seats in the car sound logical. Nice thinking there from you. It's just too bad I didn't think about it when writing. Maybe I was already too far in my mind and didn't consider them a threat already.

The rest of your comments seems like you are really into it. At least your thoughts on everything were longer and more detailed than usually.
That's cool. I hope I can deliver more nice chapters for you and the silent rest.

 

[HPriest]

Shards

The men explain her about the explosion in the government building. They made it to distract the guards and rescue Eri. She understands this part, but why is she being hunted? The men don't know. It looks like the government is trying everything to get her. Eri looks a bit worried, but not frightened. She remains completely calm. This must lay in the family. Anyway, it's getting late. Koji won't be up before the morning. Eri decides to get some sleep. The flight and all the mess here in Japan made her tired. The men offer her to stay there with them, but she refuses. She needs some time alone to think about everything. After all she want to Japan without any plan or organization.

"We will go with you.", the man says.

"No..please, I need some time to think.", Eri refuses

"Koji wants us to protect you.."

"Can you drive me into Tokyo?", she asks the Russian.

He nods. Eri tells the other man to stay her and keep an eye on Koji. He actually doesn't want to listen to her, but her look alone lets him melt and shiver at the same time. Something around her feels so strong...you can't resist or deny her. Another thing that lies in the family?

Eri and the man with the Russian accent arrive in Tokyo. He also wants to make sure again and asks he if she will be okay. After all she has a big "WANTED" above her head. Eri repeats that everything is fine. She is going to visit someone and will return in the morning. The man doesn't argue with her. He drives off.

Eri walks around Tokyo. The light streets just went on. It's getting dark and the setting sun sends it's last rays through the city. Gentle gusts from the sea are freshing up the evening a bit. She zips up her cardigan. The area she walks through isn't that crowded. There are two or three cafés on the street. Couples sit in them and have a nice evening. Not many cars drive through the street. Eri finally gets the time to think and to relax a bit.

Suddenly she gets scarred to death when the window of the café next to her shatters. The first second she can't move at all due to the shock, but then she quickly turns around. A man is lying in the shards. The first panic of the people inside of the café is over. Eri gets closer to the man. It looks like there is a gunshot wound right in his head. From the entry wound she can tell that it's the result of a sniper rifle. She turns around and looks to the roofs, but can't see anybody. The shooter must have left already. Eri obviously isn't scarred. The bullet wasn't meant to be for her. The man must have been at least 4meters away from her. A sharpshooter doesn't miss his target that much. The man must be somebody special. Eri looks at him, while the owner of the café calls for an ambulance. There is nothing suspicious about him. She checks his pockets. Eri takes out his wallet, "..Defense Intelligence Division..". She gets surprised and drops the wallet. The police? Some special division? Was he following her? Eri suddenly runs out of the café and hides in a side-street. The customers are probably more than confused. Eri looks around the corner to inspect the roofs again.

"If he is a cop, then who shot him.... and why? Was it to help me?", Eri asks herself.

[JFC]

The rest of your comments seems like you are really into it. At least your thoughts on everything were longer and more detailed than usually.
That's cool. I hope I can deliver more nice chapters for you and the silent rest.

Depends on what's in the chapter and how it's written in. Quite often, as you've noticed, I just make short comments because frankly, IMO, there isn't much else that I can/need to add.  If/When I do make longer comments, that's just my big mouth wanting exercise.

The men explain her about the explosion in the government building. They made it to distract the guards and rescue Eri. She understands this part, but why is she being hunted? The men don't know. It looks like the government is trying everything to get her. Eri looks a bit worried, but not frightened. She remains completely calm. This must lay in the family.

Acutally, something that I want to know is... does Koji know that these government people have his dad in their custody?  And what makes the dad think that Eri even knows or remembers the song that seems to be the key to it all?

Anyway, it's getting late. Koji won't be up before the morning. Eri decides to get some sleep. The flight and all the mess here in Japan made her tired. The men offer her to stay there with them, but she refuses. She needs some time alone to think about everything. After all she want to Japan without any plan or organization.

Considering that she just came back on a spur of the moment, it would be better for her to stay with them. She has seen for herself that her picture has been plastered all over the Japanese news. She can't risk going to a hotel as someone is likely to recognize her. It also probably hasn't even clicked in her mind yet that one of the H!P girls could have seen her picture. They all think she's dead. If one of THEM find her, not only could this just complicate things for Eri (if either political party finds out they might kidnap and/or otherwise threaten the lives of the girls to get Eri to cooperate), but she'll have a LOT of explaining to do.

"Can you drive me into Tokyo?", she asks the Russian.

He nods. Eri tells the other man to stay her and keep an eye on Koji. He actually doesn't want to listen to her, but her look alone lets him melt and shiver at the same time. Something around her feels so strong...you can't resist or deny her. Another thing that lies in the family?

Looks like she takes after Koji quite a bit.

Eri and the man with the Russian accent arrive in Tokyo. He also wants to make sure again and asks he if she will be okay. After all she has a big "WANTED" above her head. Eri repeats that everything is fine. She is going to visit someone and will return in the morning.

Visit someone? Everyone in H!P believes she's dead. It was necessary for her protection. So who's she going to visit? 

Suddenly she gets scarred to death when the window of the café next to her shatters. The first second she can't move at all due to the shock, but then she quickly turns around. A man is lying in the shards. The first panic of the people inside of the café is over. Eri gets closer to the man. It looks like there is a gunshot wound right in his head. From the entry wound she can tell that it's the result of a sniper rifle. She turns around and looks to the roofs, but can't see anybody. The shooter must have left already.

A sniper? Was Eri the target, and the shooter just missed and hit that man by mistake, or was that man just a target for something totally unrelated?  Perhaps the sniper did this on purpose, killing a random person as a warning to Eri to get her to surrender herself and give up the final line of the song.

The man must have been at least 4meters away from her. A sharpshooter doesn't miss his target that much. The man must be somebody special. Eri looks at him, while the owner of the café calls for an ambulance. There is nothing suspicious about him. She checks his pockets. Eri takes out his wallet, "..Defense Intelligence Division..". She gets surprised and drops the wallet. The police? Some special division? Was he following her? Eri suddenly runs out of the café and hides in a side-street.

The man was a cop? If he WAS following Eri, then the question is, who sent him, and what other orders (if any) did he have?   Was he just to report Eri's movements to someone who'd somehow use the info later?  If so, to whom was he reporting? One of the two political parties? Sho? Koji?  Someone else we haven't met yet?

"If he is a cop, then who shot him.... and why? Was it to help me?", Eri asks herself.

If the sniper actually WAS trying to help Eri, then it would mean that the cop was likely working (intentionally or not) for one of the "bad guys" in this story. The problem is... almost every person/group other than Eri could be considered a "bad guy" here.

[HPriest]

It was on page 2 already 

Surprise

Eri continues to walk to the place she wants to go to, but she is more carefully now. Somebody is probably watching her and it looks like it's more dangerous on the streets than she thought. She didn't tell anybody where she is actually going to. After more of an hour of walking, Eri crosses the Tama River and enters the region of Tama. She stops in front of a single-family house.

Eri knocks at the door. The door opens and who we see is Sayumi. Eri smiles at her, but all she can say is "Eri...". They look at each other for a while. Sayumi seems a bit surprised, but not as surprised as somebody who thought that she would be dead. Maybe it's the shock. However, she lets Eri in. Before closing the door, Sayumi checks the outside. It almost feels like she is a bit nervous.

"What are you doing?", Eri asks.

"You shouldn't have come here.", Sayumi surprisingly answers.

Eri is confused. This isn't the reaction she thought she would see. Also, Sayumi doesn't look like she is that surprised to see her alive. After looking out of every window, Sayumi finally relaxes and approaches Eri to hug her. Her mood changed from nervous to happy. They hug each other for a while. Eri doesn't want to interrupt this moment. She missed her all the time she was in Italy and now the only thing that matters is that she finally is together with her again.

Fan-Enemy

In a place that looks like the area where Sayumi lives, a man picks out his mobile phone and calls somebody.

"She is here.", he says.

Somewhere else, in the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense, a man with a headset receives the call.

"Can you please repeat it?"

"Kamei Eri just entered the house of Michishige Sayumi.", he repeats.

"Alright, wait for further instruction.", the man with the headset hangs up.

He now taps on the shoulder of a man sitting next to him. The other man also has a headset and therefore couldn't here his conversation.

"What's up?", the other man asks.

"I know where she is."

"Kamei Eri?"

"Yes.."

"We have to tell the boss!"

"Wait!", the man suddenly stops him.

"What?", the other man is surprised.

"What about the comeback?"

"You mean the comeback of Morning Musume that is supposed to happen next week?"

"Exactly.."

"What about it?"

"Any action involving Sayumi could endanger it. You, as a big fan as me, should consider this, too."

"You are right..what now?"

"Do we really have to tell the boss?"

"Tell me what?", the boss interrupts the two. He must have entered the room just now and overheard their conversation. The two men realize that it would be better for them not to lie to him. They explain the current situation to him. The boss looks at them and makes a phone call. The two look at each other. They seem to be friends and fellow fans of Morning Musume, not that it matters anymore. What they did was the right move, at least for them.

The phone rings in the office of the LDP. A man picks it up.

"Yes?", he asks.

"Ministry of Defense here.", the head of the Ministry of Defense answers.

"You got some new information about her whereabouts?"

"Yes, we have her location. What are we doing now?"

"Kill her.", the man says with a serious tone.

"Are you sure?"

"Kill her!", the man in the office repeats and hangs up.

In the headquarter the boss puts away the phone.

"Give me the headset.", the orders the man.

"What are you going to do?", the man asks, thinking about his beloved group.

"Just give me the headset."

Back in the office of the LDP, the man sits behind his desk. Another man looks at him with doubts. Was it really the right decision to kill her? The man explains why he ordered this.

"This way nobody will get the documents and our party will win the elections like every year."

His expressions give away that it wasn't the first time he ordered something like that. It really looks like that both parties are involved in illegal actions the public doesn't know about.

[JFC]

It was on page 2 already

Several people posted comments on a lot of the other fics during the past couple of days. No biggie.

Eri knocks at the door. The door opens and who we see is Sayumi. Eri smiles at her, but all she can say is "Eri...". They look at each other for a while. Sayumi seems a bit surprised, but not as surprised as somebody who thought that she would be dead. Maybe it's the shock. However, she lets Eri in. Before closing the door, Sayumi checks the outside. It almost feels like she is a bit nervous.

"What are you doing?", Eri asks.

"You shouldn't have come here.", Sayumi surprisingly answers.

What the...either Sayu is taking Eri's sudden appearance really, REALLY well/calmly, or she knew that Eri wasn't really dead!

In a place that looks like the area where Sayumi lives, a man picks out his mobile phone and calls somebody.

"She is here.", he says.

Somewhere else, in the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense, a man with a headset receives the call.

"Can you please repeat it?"

"Kamei Eri just entered the house of Michishige Sayumi.", he repeats.

"Alright, wait for further instruction.", the man with the headset hangs up.

Whoa. The government must have had the girls placed under surveillance once they set in motion their plan to get Eri to come back to Japan.  Sayu must have noticed she was being followed, which would explain why she seemed so paranoid when Eri first arrived.

"What about the comeback?"

"You mean the comeback of Morning Musume that is supposed to happen next week?"

...

"Any action involving Sayumi could endanger it. You, as a big fan as me, should consider this, too."

Comeback? The group must have fallen apart or otherwise just disbanded/ceased activities after Aichan and Eri were declared dead.

So these guys are fanboys, huh? 

The phone rings in the office of the LDP. A man picks it up.

...

"You got some new information about her whereabouts?"

"Yes, we have her location. What are we doing now?"

"Kill her.", the man says with a serious tone.

If the LDP wants Eri dead, then the documents in question must have something that can damage them/make them look bad.  They'd probably rather have the documents themselves so that they can witness them being destroyed, but if she's dead, then the key to finding them supposedly goes with her, and that would mean that no one will likely find them.

In the headquarter the boss puts away the phone.

"Give me the headset.", the orders the man.

"What are you going to do?", the man asks, thinking about his beloved group.

"Just give me the headset."

Shit, he's going to give the execution order to the guy who's been watching Sayu's house!

C'mon dudes! You're MM fanboys! You can't let something like this happen to them!!!

Back in the office of the LDP, the man sits behind his desk. Another man looks at him with doubts. Was it really the right decision to kill her? The man explains why he ordered this.

"This way nobody will get the documents and our party will win the elections like every year."

Man, did I call it or what?

His expressions give away that it wasn't the first time he ordered something like that. It really looks like that both parties are involved in illegal actions the public doesn't know about.

If the public finds out, they'd still have to choose which party is the lesser of two evils.  However the political chaos that would ensue would just be insane, and would make Japan vulnerable politically, economically, and even militarily.  It would seem that this might be one of those distasteful cases where the truth must be kept hidden for the greater good.

[HPriest]

Final Button

The man with the Russian dialect is on his way back to the farm. He still is a couple of minutes away.
The other man sits next to Koji.
Suddenly the door to the hide-out under the farm opens. He suspect that it is the Russian, but he doesn't get an answer. With the weapon aiming at the stairs, he tries to find a better position. It may not be too close to Koji. Still no answer from upstairs. Usually they always talk with each other to be sure that it isn't somebody else. Who could have found them?

A man walks downstairs. He has a weapon in his hand, but doesn't aim at him. Slowly he reveals his face and he finally recognizes him. It's Koji's dad. How did he find them and what does he want? He asks, but the father of Koji remains silent. Suddenly he starts to talk.

"You..", he says. The guard of Koji is confused. What is he up to? Why is he visiting Koji?

"Are worthless.", he continues.

All of a sudden he raises his arm and shoots him. The guard wasn't able to react fast enough. He falls to the ground. The father of Koji picks up his weapon. Now another man comes downstairs.

"Give him something to wake up.", Mr. Tsukamoto orders. The man who just came down immediately walks over to Koji and replaces the infusion. It takes a couple of seconds and then he really wakes up. Koji leans his head to the left and sees his father. The medicine they gave him, helps him to sit up a bit. He can see his friend and guard lying on the ground.

"Why?", Koji asks.

"You are coming with us.", his father answers.

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's the best for this country..", he gets interrupted by the guard who seems to be alive. After two more shots, he is finally silently lying on the ground, dead. Of course, Koji witnessed the whole thing. "It would also be in the interest of your mother.", he continues.

"My mother?", Koji asks with disbelief.

His father looks at him, "Don't waste your energy and get ready." He turns around and walks towards the stairs.

"I won't...", Koji says.

"You won't?"

"I won't let you drag Eri into all this shit."

His father turns around and looks at him. He can see something weird in the hands of Koji.
"What is this?", he asks.

"Your end.", Koji says with a certain satisfaction.

The Russian is still driving, but he can already see the farm in the distance. He roots for the cigarettes in the gloves box. "Therr thei a.", he says to himself. One cigarette is left. He should have bought some in Tokyo. The man picks out the lighter and wants to lit the cigarette, when suddenly he hears a loud bang.
He looks up and can see the farm exploding into pieces. Immediately he hits the brakes. The cigarette drops out of his mouth. Luckily he wasn't able to light it before. The explosion is really huge.
"He did it.", he says to himself.
Of course he knows about the remote Koji has. He demanded to have it since they started to hide in the farm. They never understood why he would want to kill himself. Sure, it kills the 'threat' as well, but everyone inside and outside of the farm will die as well. Suddenly he accelerates and turns on the street. He drives back to Tokyo. Koji gave them the order to continue to protect Eri after his death. He probably only wanted to see her again before dying. It would have been no problem to shut off the machines. Still, everything came earlier than they thought. One of the parties must have found her pretty quick. Now Koji is dead and all the Russian knows is that he has to protect Eri now. Koji probably had his reasons to blow up the farm and himself. Sure, the Russian could check for survivors, but the police and fire department will likely arrive at the scene soon.

Sayumi's Secrets

Back at the headquarter, he takes the headset and orders the man to kill Eri.

"Got it.", is the short answer.

The man with the mobile hangs up. The two men at the headquarters are shocked, but they can't do anything anyway.
Near Sayumi's house, the man walks back into another street. He knocks at a van parking there. The door opens and four more men come out. They put on clothes of the police and get ready to approach the house; two to the backdoor, two to the front door. The two sneak around house, while the others wait a little before walking to the door.

Inside, Sayumi and Eri are still talking. The mobile phone on the table rings. Sayumi jumps and suddenly becomes nervous again. She looks around and tells Eri to get up. "Sshh!", she says. Eri is confused and Sayumi drags her to the backdoor, but stops all of a sudden. It looks like she heard something from the behind the house. Sayumi tells Eri to hide behind the wall, while she goes to a drawer and picks out a gun. Everything is going too fast for Eri and so she decides to better hide behind the wall. Somebody knocks at the door. Sayumi heads back to the living room to pick up the mobile phone.
The men at the front don't like that nobody opens the door. One of them decides to take a look through the large window of the living room. Sayumi hides behind a wall, with view on the backdoor, and arms the pistol. She leans around the corner and can see the man looking through the window in the living room. Suddenly the head of the man gets pushed at the window. A bullet gets shot into the couch, the window bursts and blood splatters all around the broken area. He got shot right in the head from the other side of the street.
The remaining man at the front immediately hides so that he can't get shot from the other side. He tries to spot the shooter, but as soon as he peaks around the corner, a bullet hits the wall 2cm next to his face.
The two men at the backside of the house also heard the impacts are becoming nervous. They decide to storm into the backdoor. Sayumi can hear them approaching the door. Instead of waiting for them to open it, she just shoots a couple of bullets right through the door and really hits one of the men. He falls into the grass and gasps for air. The other men quickly runs back around the corner of the house. Eri saw the whole thing and is more than surprised to see Sayumi shooting a pistol like a pro.
The man in front has no other choice than to call for reinforcement. His boss will cover the whole mission and make it look like a legal mission anyway. He inspects the bullet-holes and realizes that it has to be a sniper rifle.
For a while nothing happens and the sirens of the reinforcement come closer. Sayumi now also hears them. She has to do something quick. Slowly she walks to the door and opens it very carefully. The man lying on the ground is already dead now. Sayumi peaks around the corner and can see the other man around the corner of the house. She looks around the room and sees a spray can.

"Eri!", she whispers, "come here!".

Eri sneaks to Sayumi. Sayumi explains her that as soon as she finishes the second man, she has run through the bushes.

"Sayumi...what are you doing?", Eri asks with a confused look.

"No time for explanations now.", Sayumi answers and moves the hair out of Eri's face. She fondles her and smiles, "Ready?".

Eri nods and Sayumi concentrates again. She throws the spray can towards the man. Right after it, she runs out as well. First the man is confused, but then he realizes what she is up to. Sayumi shoots at the spray can, causing a small explosion. The man wasn't able to move away. She quickly approaches him and shoots him as long as he is distracted from the explosion. Eri slowly walks out of the house as well. Sayumi turns around and throws the pistol to Eri. She catches it. The whole situation is still way too weird for her.

"RUN!", Sayumi shouts at her, hearing the sirens coming closer and closer.

Eri isn't really sure what she should do, but decides to run. She looks back a few times, but Sayumi only waves and signalizes her to hurry. Sayumi walks back into the house and calls somebody with her mobile phone. "You know your priority, I'll handle the situation here.", she says and hangs up.

The reinforcement now arrives, but the man at the front door signalizes them not to come any closer. He peaks around the corner again, but this time he doesn't get shot. Did the sniper leave? A few minutes pass before he tries it a second time and again no reaction of the sniper. The sniper must have left. Now he is brave enough to show his whole body and no reaction as well. The other men now rush to the scene. Together they storm the house and look into every room. There is a sound coming from the bathroom. He brakes the door open and finds Sayumi sitting on the ground, wrapped up in only a towel.

"W..who are you?", she asks.

"Police, where is Kamei Eri?", he asks with a serious voice.

"I...I don't know. I was just taking a shower and suddenly I heard all the noise coming from outside. It....it....it sounded like pistols?! I was too afraid to leave the room", she acts like a clueless and innocent girl. The minutes that passed must have been enough time to make everything wet enough to make her story believable.

"Damn, check the area.", he tells the other man. He phones the headquarter of the Ministry of Defense again.
"Eri escaped, killing three of my men. She must have had a sniper as support.", he explains.

The two men in the headquarter are relieved, but can't really show it. The head of the Ministry of Defense is not really happy about it. "DAMN!", he says. "What about Sayumi?", he asks.

"She is still here."

"Bring her to Base3D, but alone."

"I called for reinforcement."

"I know, I will handle the situation."

They both hang up. The man orders Sayumi to put on some clothes. She walks into her bedroom, followed by the man. Sayumi is really clever and lets the towel drop a bit to show her naked back to him.

"Do you have to watch?", she turns around her head and looks at him.

"............I..I will outside", he stumbles a bit embarrassed, closes the door and walks away.

Now she has enough time to put on some clothes and to hide a pistol in her pants. She really wanted to get captured. The reasons are still unknown. So far it doesn't look like that the men consider her as a threat. They probably see her as innocent bait to get to Eri.

The man walks outside and talks with the highest ranked policeman at the scene. He asks him what happened and he explains that Eri must took Sayumi hostage and started to shoot at his men. Eri is wanted criminal and so the story is more than believable. The man continues that he will take Sayumi with him for questions. There is no problem with that, because his boss just phoned and told him the same. Sayumi walks outside

"Who is going to make sure that nobody steels things out of my house?", she asks.

"Don't worry, Miss. We will cordon off the area and stay here until you come back.", the policeman says.

She looks at him and nods. Together with the man she walks to the van. She may sit on the passenger seat, because there are no seats in the back of the van. He really doesn't see her as a threat at all. Her acting of the clueless girl really was flawless.
Let's see what she is up to and who she really is.

[JFC]

Fuck I had EVERYTHING typed out for my usual-style response/review...and all of a sudden my computer spontaneously reboots on it's own, causing me to lose it all. 


Sorry dude but I'm just not feeling up to re-typing it all out again (that, and I don't remember a lot of what I said originally, so doing it a second time won't be as good since I already know what happens. Suffice it to say, good chapter as usual. Lots of questions still up in the air that need answering. Keep it up.

[HPriest]

No problem. 

Happens to me from time to time when I write a chapter.
I accidentally click refresh or something like that (where the 'back'-button can't help you anymore  )
..or PC just jokes around with me

[HPriest]

Cleaning Up

"Japan's Women didn't make it to the quarter finals of the..."
*zap*
"Mizuki....is a girl...?"
*zap*
"..~ai no uta hibikiwatareba~.."
*zap*
"Although the police quickly raided the house, they weren't able to catch Eri. A few days ago she is said to have caused the explosion in the government building. There seems to be no connection between the occupier and the girl. Police suspects that she needed money and decided to break into the house. However, she was able to escape and is still wanted by the police. Please send any information regarding this girl to the number at the bottom of the screen."

..somewhere, in the same unknown room we've already seen before..

It looks like that the unknown woman or girl is watching the news again. The camera is placed right next to her on the couch. Slowly we see the hand with the remote coming down. The finger reaches for the power button to shut off the TV. She places the remote right in front of us. The hand is moving out of the sight again. There is a wobble and from the right we can hear footsteps. This unknown woman is leaving the room.

...at the house

The female reporter just finished to talk about the incident. Some police man is standing close-by. The woman turns towards him and asks, "Was this okay?". The man nods and picks out his mobile. "This house belongs to Michishige Sayumi, right? Does this mean that the girl you are searching for really is Kamei Eri?", the reporter continues to ask. He sighs, "Why do you even bother? Just read out the lines we give you ....okay?". She feels offended and stops asking questions; at least they pay good. This woman isn't dumb and knows that she is reporting fake or edited news, but the viewers won't realize it. It's only one of many lies they see in the news. It's a wonder that they still trust in what they see in TV or in newspapers. Anyway, the police man walked away and now can finally make the call.

"The press has been handled.", he says.

...headquarter of the Ministry of Defense

The head of the MoD is at the phone.

"Good, now go and meet with the others.", he replies and hangs up.

The two workers at the headquarters are still relieved that they didn't get Eri. However, they now have Sayumi and so it's still not good for their beloved idol group. All they can do now is staying quiet and listening to the orders of their boss. Their boss, the head of the MoD, already dialed another number.

"We are done with the press. He is coming over to you now, just to be sure.", he says.

...in some unknown building, they call it "Base3D"

"This wasn't necessary. She seems to be completely clueless and is no threat at all.", the man who took Sauymi answers.

"It's not because of her, it's because of Eri.", the head of the MoD hangs up the phone.

The man also puts way his mobile and looks at a monitor. It's Sayumi on the screen. She is sitting in some room that looks like a room for interrogations. Sayumi seems to be unharmed and not handcuffed. They really see no threat in her.

Sayumi looks around the small room without acting too suspicious. She is calm. The fact that they didn't handcuff her is making her smile inside. "If this wasn't a fault of them...", she says to herself.

Sharpshooter

Eri is almost out of Tokyo and hasn't been recognized so far. She might have not noticed it, but a van of a TV channel just passed her. It drove into the same direction. The fire must have caused attention already; the fire department probably already trying to extinguish. Only Eri doesn't know about it yet. She keeps walking when suddenly some girl behind her starts to talk to her.

"You shouldn't go back."

Eri gets a slight shock, but decides to ignore it and keep walking.

"He pushed the button to protect you.", the girl continues.

Eri doesn't know what she is talking about, but becomes curious. She stops, but doesn't turn around.

"Eri..., Koji and your father are dead."

Now Eri has to gulp. What is she talking about? Who is she? Slowly she turns around to find it out. The girl's face is in the shadows, but Eri notices the weird backpack hanging around her. Eri isn't stupid and so it doesn't take long to come to the conclusion that...

"Are you the....?"

"Sharpshooter? Yes.", the girl walks out of the shadow.

Eri can't believe her eyes, "Reina......................................?"

[Kreuz_Asakura]

  What the...!!!!
REINA??????
OMG!!! I ask myself if all the girls are involved in all this or only the 6 generation?

[JFC]

Cleaning Up

..somewhere, in the same unknown room we've already seen before..

It looks like that the unknown woman or girl is watching the news again.

Obvious question is, who's the mystery woman? Also, (how) does she know Eri?

The female reporter just finished to talk about the incident. Some police man is standing close-by. The woman turns towards him and asks, "Was this okay?". The man nods and picks out his mobile. "This house belongs to Michishige Sayumi, right? Does this mean that the girl you are searching for really is Kamei Eri?", the reporter continues to ask. He sighs, "Why do you even bother? Just read out the lines we give you ....okay?".

Ah, so the corruption in the government is so deep that they even control the news agencies and can thus manipulate what is broadcast as they see fit.  Even if the public only found out about THIS part of the corruption, there'd definitely be hell to pay for the government.



Sharpshooter

Eri is almost out of Tokyo and hasn't been recognized so far. She might have not noticed it, but a van of a TV channel just passed her. It drove into the same direction.

But was she seen by anyone in the van?

She keeps walking when suddenly some girl behind her starts to talk to her.

"You shouldn't go back."

Eri gets a slight shock, but decides to ignore it and keep walking.

The mystery girl from before? How did she find Eri so quickly?

"He pushed the button to protect you.", the girl continues.

She must mean Koji...but how does she know about him and about what happened?

The girl's face is in the shadows, but Eri notices the weird backpack hanging around her. Eri isn't stupid and so it doesn't take long to come to the conclusion that...

"Are you the....?"

"Sharpshooter? Yes.", the girl walks out of the shadow.

Eri can't believe her eyes, "Reina......................................?"

One the one hand, YAY REINA SAVED ERI!!!


On the other hand though...Reina's a sharpshooter...

...

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH????

[meowz]

This just keeps getting more and more interesting! And I just had a kind of 'charlie's angels' vibe with the three of them possibly kicking ass together 

The only strange thing I didn't understand was

Sayumi seems to be unharmed and not coughed. 

Sayumi looks around the small room without acting too suspicious. She is calm. The fact that they didn't cough her is making her smile inside. "If this wasn't a fault of them...", she says to herself.

What does it mean to cough someone?