(Feb 12) Killer Queen: Chapter 9 (Atsumina)

[miayaka]

my ace is awesome!
taka so protective!
all and all im a bias atsumina shipper
forgive me if im too obvious 

[fffff]

I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. The first part was originally the ending of chapter 3 but that would have been too long and now it doesn't fit that well. Also, there's a lot of time passing by in this chapter that I'm not particulalry talking about but if you read the headlines you shouldn't be confused.
Anyway, thank you for the comments on the previous chapter and I hope you'll like this one as well, even if some parts are a bit  -meh. Oh and watch out for swearing and such. And a bit of violence, not really bad though. 
 
@ Haruko: We'll get to know more about Kojiyuu's story in later chapters but your assumption may be correct... And about the Atsumina kiss: Stay patient!
@ ikun1216: I'm so happy that you like it that much! I'm actually working on Ume-chan's character, in the beginning she did not really have a big role but somehow she became more important as I wrote it... we'll see were this goes.
@ arrow27: Yep, she's a mysterious character...
@ ChoyShinhwa: Ah, the drama, the drama... I fear that we'll have a lot of drama here... But you'll read it nevertheless, right? Please?
@ Pdpond: A lot of things are going to happen.
@ O r i g a m i: I added a lot of Atsumina moments last minute because I felt that the fic needs them.
@ takamae: You'll find out soon.
@ Tanchan: She's too awesome to be bothered by a simple lock. And if it was for Minami she'd be able to get anywhere.
@ TakaminaBG: They aren't going to kiss... yet.
@ cisda83: Glad you like it!
@ kahem: Yeah, it's certainly not the greatest job in the world.
@ miayaka: Well, it's an Atsumina fanfic, so you're free to be as biased as you want!

Chapter 4


CoF Headquarters, 10:22 AM

Atsuko climbed the stairs to the top floor of the factory and pushed the door at their end open. She was greeted by the smell of expensive perfume lingering through the hallway. The floor was covered with a luxurious carpet and the wall was plastered with hand painted portraits of people she couldn’t identify. It had been a while since she climbed the steps for the last time. Most of the time Mariko could either be found in the conference room or she wasn’t in the building. However Kumi had told Atsuko that the boss hadn’t come downstairs for the entire morning and finally Atsuko had decided to go and see her in her office. Mariko’s rooms took up the entire top floor and Atsuko didn’t know half of them. She stayed downstairs, in her own room which was located one floor below, together with everyone else’s bedrooms, a kitchen and the conference room where they spend most of their free time which was quite a lot. Nobody knew what Mariko did upstairs in her quarters though.
“Come in” Mariko’s voice echoed in the hallway before Atsuko could raise her hand to knock.

Forgot about the security cameras. You can’t surprise a Shinoda Mariko.

Sighing she opened the door. Mariko’s office was the only used room that included a window. It was hidden behind a tree, so people from the outside barely noticed anything, but provided enough light for Mariko to work without turning the lights on all the time.
“What brings you here?” Mariko leant back in her chair. She sat on a little pedestal, behind a ridiculously big desk.
“Who is Yamamoto Sayaka?”
Mariko raised an eyebrow but replied promptly.
“A private investigator. Although people say that her record isn’t completely clean either. To get what she wants she won’t stop from anything. She is a master of disguise and I think that she is the one who stalked out the restaurant. Why?”
“I met her somewhere” Atsuko answered, wondering what Mariko was going to do about that woman. “Didn’t you already have a plan to get rid of her?”
“Did I?” Mariko asked vaguely and bent over to pick up a piece of paper from the floor.

I hate it when she does that. Makes me stand around and wait like an idiot.

“Yes” Atsuko said firmly. Mariko placed the paper on the table and stared at it for a minute. Atsuko was smart enough to keep her mouth shut for that amount of time. The boss seemed to be in deep thought.
“Wherever you met her” Mariko finally said. “Don’t go there again”
Atsuko shrugged.
“Whoever you were with” the boss continued. “Don’t see them again. Yamamoto will use every connection you have to other people against you”
It took a moment to sink in.

Don’t see Minami again. Don’t endanger Minami. She’ll be in danger if I see her. I’m going to kill that bitch who shows up and forces me to stay away.

Atsuko turned on her heel and went downstairs. She didn’t say a word and didn’t show any kind of emotions. But on the inside her thoughts were twirling and wandering round and round.

Let’s pretend I never met her, let’s pretend Haruka never existed, let’s pretend Umeda has been my partner for years and everything will be fine.

Mariko sighed.


Thursday, Kuramochi Travels, 12:04 PM

Minami played with her food while her colleagues were enjoying lunch break. The weather was nice and sunny, so everyone had decided to eat in front of the building. People were walking by, with their children, dogs or friends. Everybody seemed to be in a bright mood, but Minami was down. She hadn’t seen any trace of Atsuko for an entire week and she was really worried. Worried that something had happened to the other woman, but also that she would never see her again.

Did I anger her? Is it my fault?

“Girlfriend troubles?” someone asked mockingly.
Minami looked up and sighed inwardly. In front of her stood one of the people she definitely didn’t need right now.
“Hmm” she grumbled and hoped that Mayu would just go away. The other girl ignored her bad mood and sat down next to her. She was wearing her school uniform and carried a ton of books with her.
“I’m skipping” she announced happily when she met Minami’s curious gaze.
“Eeh? That’s no good Mayuyu!” Minami answered. “Does Yuki know?”
The girl shrugged. She had been around for the entire week, always showing up at the office sometime around noon. Minami had assumed that she was skipping but hearing it was still a shock to her. She had always been a model student and would never have skipped to go see her crush. It was obvious that Mayu was not coming to visit her cousin, but Yuki. She was always around the older woman, offering to do small jobs for her, such as greeting the visitors by the door and leading them into the office. Asuka generously ignored the presence of the school girl and Yuki seemed pleased.
“There’s nothing valuable at school” Mayu said and smiled at Minami.

Nothing valuable?

“What about your friends?”
“Don’t have any”

But… shouldn’t she be popular? With her attitude and looks and everything?

“There must be some people you like to hang out with” Minami said confidently.
“They’re boring”

No, you’re just arrogant.

“I’m sure they are nice. Besides, you will need your lessons to pass the exams, you should go to school”
“I have no problem with my exams. Classes are for dumb people. I don’t need them”
Minami could see that the girl was tense even though her smile pretended something else.

Ah, Mayuyu, what happened to you?

“If you want to talk about it, I’m here” she offered. The distrust she had felt earlier was replaced by a feeling of sympathy for the girl.
“No, thank you” Mayu said coldly. “Don’t transfer your self-pity on me”

Self-pity? 

“Hey! I’m fine” Minami lied, but she noticed herself that she sounded pathetic.

I barely know Acchan; she broke into my house and seems to have some nasty secrets. Why do I feel this way?


A dark alley, 03:22 AM

Atsuko’s foot landed exactly where she planned for it to hit. The man groaned as he fell on his knees, clutching his wounded side where Atsuko had just landed a kick after stabbing him. It was a little scratch, not deep enough to kill him but quite hurtful. Her fist connected with his unprotected jar, successfully making him crash on his back.
“The money” Atsuko demanded, already bored. She had decided to take some smaller jobs because Mariko didn’t allow her to go after Yokoyama, before Yamamoto wasn’t out of the way.
“No way, bitch” the man spat out. Atsuko stomped on his face, smirking as she heard his nose crack.
“You sure?” she asked sweetly.
Two minutes later she was on her way back to the headquarters to deliver the money to Mariko. He had handed her the entire purse, meaning she got a tip tonight.
However, she was not satisfied. It drove her crazy to do nothing at all. The fact that she was not allowed to see Minami had caused things to get worse than she ever expected. She missed Haruka like crazy, now that nobody could take her mind off things. In a way she missed Minami as well, even though she had only known her for a short time. Sometimes she had nightmares were both, Minami and Haruka, appeared and merged into one person and whispered sweet words that Atsuko had never heard them say in real life. But when she tried to reach for them they disappeared and she woke up, all alone in her room with nothing to do.

Please… I need to do something, let me kill, please!

Atsuko was desperate.
   

One week later, Kuramochi Travels, 09:04

Minami took a sip of coffee as she flipped the pages of the catalogue that offered luxurious hotel rooms all over the world.

Wellness in Turkey, Adventure in Brazil…

“It seems alright to print” she finally decided. “Ami, could you take one of the copies to the front desk so Yuki can already show it to the visitors, while I go and see Kuramochi-san?”
“Of course” Ami exited the room, while Minami leant back to enjoy the silence for a minute. She hadn’t allowed herself to take breaks for the past few days. She spent most of her evenings in The Old Coin, she even asked Miichan if she could work part-time. Her childhood friend didn’t agree though because she knew that Minami was already busy enough with her work at the travel agency. Still, Minami spent as much time with her as possible. Miichan was overjoyed to see that Minami finally dropped the slightly anti-social attitude she had for years now, but she knew that there was something going on.

I’m lonely without Acchan… How can I become addicted to having company just so fast?  Maybe I should really go somewhere, fly far away…

Minami rubbed her temples and got up from her seat. Everytime she tried to relax, Acchan wandered into her thoughts. Uninvited and with a smirk on her lips that Minami could not resist.
But there was no time for longing thoughts now, thankfully. Minami had to go and see Kuramochi-san because of the new catalogue for the winter season.

Winter already...Time is going by so fast, yet so slow…

However, in the hallway Minami bumped into someone.
“You’re too early, Mayuyu” she sighed.
“I’m not” the girl frowned and wanted to go, but the older woman blocked her way.
“Mayuyu, this has to stop. It’s not … healthy”
“Healthy you say?” Mayu smiled her fake smile. “Better than school”
“Please…” Minami begged. She had learned to appreciate the moments when she caught Mayu alone, because sometimes the girl would lower her guards then. There was something weird going on with her and she really wanted to help her, but whenever Yuki was around, she didn’t stand a chance. The other woman seemed completely oblivious towards Mayu’s feelings, which were, even for Minami, clear to see. 
“Naaahh, it’s fun here!” Mayu squealed, completely controlling her facial expressions. Her smile was bright and her eyes wide open to give her a cute look, but Minami was sure that the excitement was not real.
“If you get bullied or something, tell us”
“And what would you do, midget? Go to my school? Now that would be embarrassing for both of us” With that comment, presented in a sickly sweet voice, Mayu left.

I don’t know, but I want to help you. I can’t seem to make myself happy so let me help you at least. Ah, aren’t I a bad person to use you only to distract myself?


CoF Headquarters, 04:23 PM

Atsuko met Yuko in the hallway and knew that finally shit was going to go down. She could see it in Yuko’s determined eyes as the small woman put up her hair into a ponytail. She was wearing dark jeans and a loose black shirt to cover her munitions belt. Atsuko knew that she would take it off as soon as she was alone with her enemy to reveal a bullet proof vest; Atsuko knew that there was a knife in each of Yuko’s boots and a gun in her purse. And Atsuko knew that Yuko would succeed and then, finally she herself would get her orders.
“Do your best” she said as she passed by.
Yuko didn’t reply; she only called: “Sae! Sayaka! Ayaka! Let’s get moving” but Atsuko knew that she had heard her.

Never look after someone who is leaving for a mission, so it won’t be a final goodbye.

“Kumi, run to the bakery and get me some cake” she stuck her head into the kitchen and saw the secretary chatting with the cleaning lady as usual.
“Can I take Tomo~mi with me?”
“Just hurry, I have a job tonight” Atsuko answered and entered the conference room where Mariko and her revenge waited for her.


The Old Coin, 07:00 PM

Minami was drying some glasses. Miichan had finally allowed her to help in the restaurant since one of the waitresses was sick. She was glad that she had found something to occupy her mind, even Miichan’s constant talking was better than the loneliness at home. Only her cat would occasionally spend time with her - when it was hungry.
“Takamina, you should go home” Miichan ordered.
“What? No way!” Minami shook her head. “I’m fine with staying a little longer”
“But you’re drying this glass for the third time now” Miichan scratched her head. “And business is not good today, so…”
“It’s not even really evening yet. Come on, I jut came from work!” Minami begged.
“Takamina. I don’t like you’re behavior” Miichan put her hands on her hips and tried to look impressive. “You’re constantly sulking and do not tell me, that awesomely empathic friend of yours, what the heck is going on. It is no good, no good, you hear me?”
“It’s no good” Minami repeated.
“Exactly. Now tell me”
“What?”
“That”
“What that?”
“That thing that bothers you”
“What thing?”

Maybe she’ll give up.

“Well, that thing I was just talking about”
“What thing were you talking about?”
“Goddamn, do you want me to call Myao?”
“Huh?” Minami blinked in confusion.
“You’re co-worker. Miho. I got her phone number now, you know? She would love to give you a piece of her mind, but left it to me since I’m the one who gets your mood. So, I shall say it straightforward: You broke up with your girlfriend, didn’t you?”
“Eh?”
“You’re obviously lovesick”

No, I’m not. Hell, I don’t even know Acchan.

“No”
“Oh yes” Miichan grabbed Minami’s chin and stared into her eyes. “You can’t hide it from love expert Minegishi Minami”
“You don’t even have a boyfriend or girlfriend yourself”
“Because I’m Cupid, you idiot. Ever seen Cupid with his… Cupida? No? Yeah, I thought so”
Minami stared at her childhood-friend because she suddenly remembered her as a little chubby girl, only wearing a diaper.

Add a bow and arrows and wings and I totally get the picture. Ah, what am I thinking?

“Hey were do you think you’re going? You didn’t pay yet!” Miichan suddenly yelled angrily. It seemed that two women had started to drag one of the customer’s away, but Miichan had reached over the counter and started to pull said customer by her jacket to keep her in the restaurant. Minami recognized her as the weird woman with the oversized hat who had been around when she had eaten with her friends. The small woman struggled against Miichan’s iron grip but didn’t have any chance. Even the two tall women who were pulling her in the opposite direction were powerless
“Sae, pay that annoying woman” the boss who was watching the scene from the door ordered.
“Of course, Yuko-sama” the handsome kidnapper let go of her prey and walked over to Miichan who eyed her suspiciously.
“You didn’t steal that money you plan to pay me with, right?”
“Won it fair and square” Sae winked at Miichan who wasn’t impressed at all. Minami wondered if she should call the police because her friend didn’t seem like she understood the situation. Instead she started to list the things her customer had supposedly eaten. Her smile grew wider with every dish she listed while Sae’s smirk threatened to fall off her face. The tall woman started to roam her pockets for money before she turned around.
“Yuko- sama… I don’t think I have enough money with me. Sayaka you got some?”
“No…” the tall women who held her victim in a strong grip shook her head.
“Then Yamamoto will have to pay herself, right?”

Yamamoto?

Minami took a closer look at the kidnapper’s victim and held her breath. Even though she was in disguise... now that she looked closely and ignored the dirt-stained shirt and the uncombed hair, the head that was supposed to hide the face… it was Kuramochi Asuka’s friend.
“I know you!” Minami yelled and pointed at her. Immediately Yuko’s attention shifted to her.
“You do?” she stepped close to Minami and looked down on her even though the difference in height wasn’t actually severe.
“Y- yeah?” Minami shrunk under the other midget’s glance.
“How?” 
“Well… I don’t…” Minami could feel Yuko’s breath tickling her cheek and it freaked her out. For once even Miichan was frozen in action.
“We met briefly” Sayanee suddenly intervened. “It was…” Sayaka put her hand over her mouth successfully shutting her up.
“Yuko-sama wants to hear it from ribbon-girl, detective” Sayaka growled.

Detective? Just what mess did I get myself into?

“I… uhm… we…” Minami tried quite hard to think of a way to get herself out of this unharmed. “She’s an acquaintance of my boss. We met at a party at the office”
“What office?”
Much to Minami’s displeasure, Yuko didn’t seem to be interested in taking a single step back.

I can’t think when she’s that close.

“‘Kuramochi Travels.  The best address for a vacation of high standards’” she blurted out the office’s catchphrase.
“Nice” the killer said coldly and stepped back. She raised Sayanee’s head by grabbing her chin. “And why would you be there? I can’t recall that you would have made a lot of money, at least not enough to enter high society”
“Childhood friends?” Sayanee asked with her lips curving into an innocent smile.
“As if I would believe that. Anyway, sorry for the trouble” Yuko apologized and bowed to Miichan, Sayaka forced Sayanee’s head down as well while Sae didn’t even notice because she was still digging through the ridiculously huge pockets of her black sweat pants. Minami was not sure if she should consider the outfit stylish or not, but since she had never seen Yuki wear anything like that it probably wasn’t.
“Hey, Yuko-sama, do you think Ayaka got some money with her?”
“Where is she anyway?” Sayaka asked.
“Outside. Taking care of detective’s companion” the boss explained and nodded towards the entrance. “Let’s go”
They started towards the door, still dragging the detective with them. A regular threw an empty beer mug at them that barely missed.

Shouldn’t she struggle or anything? I mean, she’s just getting kidnapped by… kidnappers! Oh hell! I should call the police or something!

“Miichan? Miichan!” Minami turned around and found her best friend in an unusual quiet state.
“That was… weird”
“What should we do?” Minami freaked out.
Miichan stared at her, blinked… then threw her hands up in the air, yelled “Panic!” and disappeared into the kitchen.
“What are you doing!”
“Looking for arms! I’ve got some pretty impressive kitchen knives, you know?”

She’s not thinking what I think that she’s thinking, right?

“We’ll go after them, they didn’t pay!”

Oh, yes she is.


CoF Headquarters 07:48 PM

Atsuko got up as soon as she heard Yuko and her troops in the hallway. Grinning, she stepped out of her room, only to find a raging midget passing by.
“What happened?”

Don’t tell me that you made a mistake that could cause me to fail my mission.

Yuko stopped. Atsuko could here her sigh before she turned her head slowly.
“Yamamoto escaped” she said with a bitter smile. “Everything went just fine, we walked into the restaurant, fetched her and came back. And then she… she…” Yuko raised her arm and pointed downstairs. Her hand was shaking due to the rage. “Stabbed a fucking knife TROUGH Sayaka’s hand, broke Sae’s wrist with a single move and made a run for it before I could get to her, RIGHT AT OUR FUCKING FRONT DOOR!”

She must be kidding me, right? Oh hell, no.

“What?” Atsuko exclaimed, absolutely aware that she sounded like an idiot.
“Don’t make me repeat it” Yuko hissed.

My mission… my revenge… it can’t end like this! I won’t allow this, I just won’t! I want to do it now!

Fuming, Atsuko walked downstairs and into the conference room. Droplets of blood showed a trail to where Sayaka was sitting, cursing like crazy as Mariko bandaged her hand. Sae stood behind her with a white face and supported her injured wrist with her other hand, but Atsuko couldn’t care less. All she could focus on was the fact that she felt an overwhelming anger, not necessarily at her colleagues or at the detective, but at the entire situation.
“What’s going to happen now?” she demanded sharply.
“I’m going to take those two to the hospital” Mariko replied as calm as ever.
“No, to me!” Atsuko demanded and took one step forward and then two steps back because Sayaka had been overwhelmed by her pain and was releasing her tension by throwing up.
“There are many options” Mariko shrugged and got up without stepping into the remnants of Sayaka’s last meal. “You could find Tomo~mi to clean this mess, that’s an order by the way,” she pulled Sayaka up, “you might as well calm Yuko down, but that’s no order because it’s almost impossible, “ she grabbed Sae by her uninjured wrist “or you should maybe go and help Ayaka with our prisoner”
The door closed behind the three of them and Atsuko was alone in a room that smelled like blood and vomit. 

What prisoner?

Sighing, Atsuko exited the room and started to call for Tomo~mi and Ayaka, but didn’t get an answer.
“Kumi!” she yelled with growing impatience.
“Yes?” As expected the girl showed up right away with her usual naïve expression on her face.
“Where are Tomo~mi and Ayaka?”
“Umeda-san is in the basement with the prisoner”
“And Tomo~mi?”
A badly hidden look of guilt flashed over Kumi’s face.
“I don’t know” she lied.
Atsuko simply looked at her. The younger girl met her eyes for a brief moment and shuttered.
“She… she’s not here” Kumi mumbled with her gaze glued to her feet. “She’s on a date and asked me to cover for her, but please Maeda-san, I didn’t want to do it. I swear! I would never lie to you, really! I don’t think that it’s okay to leave during work, you know? Please Maeda-san!”
“You’re cleaning the conference room” Atsuko stated coldly and went downstairs.

What the hell do I care about that?

“Umeda!” she pushed the door to the old basement open. Ayaka was kneeling on the stone floor. In front of her, pressed against the wall sat a girl. Her hands were tied to the chains above her head and she was breathing hard. Tears were streaming down her face and Atsuko noticed a lighter in Ayaka’s hand and fresh burn mark’s on her victim’s skin.
“Maeda-san!” Ayaka got up quickly, relief painted on her face. She looked tired and if Atsuko would have been in a brighter mood she would have almost felt sorry for her. “She won’t talk”
“I see” Atsuko said and stepped closer.
“Are you the boss?” the girl asked in a cracking voice. “I swear, I do not know a thing. Not a thing, I tell you! Just don’t kill me, okay? Please?”
“You’ve been tickled by a pathetic lighter for what… 10 minutes? And you’re already begging? How pitiful”. Atsuko shook her head slowly and stepped closer to the girl who looked up at her with tears in her eyes.
“I know! I’m pathetic! I so am! Really, absolutely worthless, just let me go alright?”
“No”
“But… I…”
“Well, I guess we could talk about it”
“What?”
“Letting you go without informing the boss” Atsuko signaled Ayaka who was a little shocked to keep her mouth shut.

Watch and learn, newbie.

“That’s a trap, isn’t it?” the victim muffled into Atsuko’s thigh because she had stepped so close that she left the girl no other choice but to get into body contact with her. She knew that it was immensely confusing to invade someone’s personal space like that.
“Well, of course I want the basic information on you and your relation to Yamamoto. Out of safety reasons when I let you go. And your cooperation. Nothing big, really. You don’t have to be my spy or anything”
“That… means?”
“Promise to behave and I’ll take you somewhere where we can talk in a civilized manner”
Silence filled the air and Atsuko see that Ayaka was getting impatient. To be honest she was quite impatient herself and had to resist the urge to punch someone, but for the sake of her mission…
“Alright”
Atsuko smirked and began to unchain the girl.
A couple of minutes later, her surprised victim found herself in the freshly cleaned conference room on the couch, with a cup of Atsuko’s beloved rum-chocolate and Kumi carefully treating her burn marks.

Well Umeda, looks like your careful interrogation work is going down the drain.

“I’m Maeda Atsuko and that’s Umeda Ayaka”
“Who’s that?” the girl asked looking at Kumi who seemed flattered that someone wanted to know her name.
“The maid” Atsuko answered coldly.
The girl nodded awkwardly and gazed into her cup.
“There’s no poison in there, is there?”
“No” Atsuko waited for a moment. “Who would you be, then?”
“I’m Sashihara Rino”
“Riiiino-chan” Atsuko smiled teasingly. “It’s quite a nice day to meet, isn’t it?”
Rino gazed at her burn marks in a sad manner. Then she finally dared to take a sip of her drink.
“It’s good!” she exclaimed wide-eyed. As she didn’t get any reaction from the assassin she turned to face Kumi. “It’s good”
“I always make it for Maeda-san. There are some… secret ingredients you know? Like milk, well that’s not a secret and rum and…”
“Kumi, if you tell her it’s not a secret anymore!”

Do not make me lose my patience, got that? Hell, why does she have to be here?

“Of course you’re right Maeda-san” Kumi seemed seriously shocked at her statement.
“Go and find Tomo~mi” Atsuko waved to dismiss her and she followed the command in an instance.

She is a well-trained idiot after all.

“Who is Tomo~mi?”

Sashihara has an interest in servants, huh?

“The boss” Atsuko threatened and enjoyed her reaction. Rino started to look around as if Tomo~mi was hiding somewhere in the corners of the room.
“But… you said… you tricked me!” she whined and jumped up from the couch as if she was trying to escape, but then she noticed Ayaka still standing at the door. Slowly she backed away and started to eye the window even though it was bricked up.
“It’ll take some time for Kumi to find her. As soon as she arrives I will tell her that you escaped. You unarmed me bare-handed!”
“But I never unarmed someone! I can’t even fight, you know? I’m just Sayaka-san’s underling because she didn’t turn me in for shoplifting. If I would have known that she knew people as dangerous as you and her and Tomo~mi” Rino shuttered at the name, “I wouldn’t have followed her! But she went to that restaurant and there was just so much great food, really great food, and she invited me if I promised to guard the door later on and then you guys suddenly appeared and tortured me, and kidnapped me and gave me poisoned chocolate!”
“We didn’t”
“Eh?”
“We didn’t. There’s no poison in there”
“Oh”
“You can go. Umeda guide her outside” Atsuko ordered. She had gotten any information she needed. She stood up, Rino moved out of the way quite quickly and for a moment Atsuko enjoyed the feeling of being the boss. On her way out she touched Ayaka’s shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Follow her”
Then she went upstairs to take a shower and put on her outfit for tonight’s job.


Somewhere between The old Coin and the CoF Headquarters, 08:32 PM

Minami felt like the heroine of an old gangster movie and she somehow enjoyed and hated it at the same time. It had started to rain and she was soaked but that was obviously not the worst part about the entire excursion. She was following Miichan through the old and deserted industrial district of the town and since it was almost fall, the light had already faded into a wavering twilight. Miichan was trying to avoid the street lanterns and had stepped into some dog poop in the darkness. She was still wielding one of her kitchen knives although they had lost track of the kidnapper gang long time ago.
“Miichan?”
“Sssshhhh!” Miichan waved her left thankfully empty hand through the air and hit Minami right in the face without noticing. “I hear someone coming!” she hissed and grabbed Minami’s hair.
Minami gasped from the pain.
“What are you doing?”
“Where’s your arm, dammit?”

Just turn around Miichan, turn around!

“Why would you need my arm?”
“For safety reasons”
Minami decided that it would be better to shut up before Miichan started waving her knife.
“Alright” she mumbled and was once more surprised by the solid sound of her voice.
“There, there!” Miichan mumbled excitedly as a person appeared from around the corner. 
“It’s a girl” Minami whispered.
“A kidnapper, for sure” Miichan’s hand that held onto her friend’s arm tightly was trembling. “We need to…” she took a deep breath and then she yelled while leaving the shadows with a surprisingly big leap “ATTACK!”
She pulled Minami with her for three steps until the smaller girl couldn’t follow anymore and fell face first into a puddle on the street.

No way. That’s just too… Maybe I should just stay like this, huh?

Minami raised her head to see her companion chasing after some screaming passenger with the knife raised above her head. She would have facepalmed but given her current situation she settled for lowering her face into the puddle again.

We’re so getting into trouble. I’m going to lose my job and then I’ll lose my house because I can’t pay the water bill anymore and I’ll have to sell everything because I need money and Miichan’s restaurant won’t exist anymore because she’ll be locked up and then my cat will leave me and then…

Minami’s trail of thoughts was interrupted by a voice.
“Excuse me?”
Suddenly overwhelmed by the realization that she was laying flat on the wet street while it was raining and a stranger was talking to her, Minami jumped up.
“Y-yes!” she stuttered, barely keeping herself from yelling ‘To your service’.
“Have you seen a girl passing by a minute ago?”
“Y-yes!” Minami reported again, still embarrassed. The woman in front of her was somewhat beautiful, wavy hair of the color of caramel was framing her face and her lips where almost smiling. Almost.

Acchan is prettier. Wait, what?

“Could you tell me which direction she went?”

If I tell her, Miichan is in trouble. But if I don’t, that girl might be in serious danger. Not that Miichan will actually hurt her but she could trip and accidentally pierce her with the knife, at least that’s what I would do.

“She went…”, Minami chewed on her lower lip thinking very hard if she should at least try to lie even though she knew that she just couldn’t. Her lip tasted like mud and she realized that her hair was dripping with the dirty water she had fallen into. “Somewhere” she finally finished lamely.
“Is that so” the woman looked slightly confused and a little stressed.
“Indeed, yes” Minami nodded. “I tell you”

What am I thinking? I’m having a slightly embarrassing conversation with a stranger here!

The woman nodded. Minami knew that she was looking for a way to end this conversation that wouldn’t be embarrassing for both parties.

I already got the part of the idiot here, so…

“I should go” she offered. “It was nice to meet you”
“I guess” the other woman bowed her head politely. Minami stared at her until she realized that she said she would be the one to leave.
“Yeeees…” Minami gestured down the street. “Bye” Stiffly she walked away as she felt the stranger’s gaze burning into her back. She resisted the overwhelming urge to run away as fast as possible with her entire willpower, because she wanted to save the leftovers of her pride by any cost.
“Miichan?” she called out softly but didn’t get an answer. “Miichan?”

C’mon show up! Please don’t do anything stupid.

Miichan was nowhere to be found. Minami stared into the night with a growing fear taking over her heart. It was so quiet… too quiet. Not even the steps of the stranger she had just talked were to be heard anywhere. Minami risked to look back, only for a second, but couldn’t find anyone. The street behind her was deserted and to make things worse the street light above her head flickered and went out with a silent bzzzz. A sigh escaped Minami’s mouth. She pondered what to do but decided that going home without her friend was not an option. However, searching the entire area in the dark was not a possibility either.
“Stupid Miichan. Stupid me. Stupid kidnappers. Stupid stranger. Stupid…” Minami searched for a person to place the guilt on. Finally she settled for: “Stupid Acchan” out of whatever reasons. Somehow it felt good. “Oh yeah. Stupid, idiotic MAEDA ATSUKO!”
The name echoed through the street as she screamed top of her lungs. For a person as small as her, her voice was impressing. 

I have no idea why I’m so angry at her, it’s not like she was a trusted and close friend who just left me, right?

Minami’s lips curved into a sad smile as she realized that she was actually missing her scary companion.
Then something hit the back of her head and with her mouth open in surprise she fell into a mud puddle for the second time that day.

[arrow27]

Thanks for the update!! Amazing chapter as always & ahh! a cliffhanger ending! Now i'm really looking forward to your next chapter to see what happened!!!!

[TakaminaBG]

Who the HECK would go after a kidnappers????
What happened to Miichan????? AND MINAMI!!?!?
Please update soon SOON!!!

[Pdpond]

God! I wanna kwon more~
Look forward next chapter!!

[Haruko]

yea another chapter... awww atsumina miss each other...

not kojiyuu T_T

[ikun1216]

  Yay a new chapter!!! 
Even if you're not satisfied with this chapter, this reader is  Seeing how Acchan and Takamina are acting since they haven't seen each other is cute. You can tell on some level they miss each other terribly.
I'm a bit worried for Mayuyu, it's never good to run away from your problems, or skip school despite being a cyborg I wonder what her story is 
Poor Twin towers. . .getting beat down but someone half their size

Ume-can's character become more important?! That's great!!!  I definitely will keep looking forward to each and every chapter 
By any chance was that her who was talking to takamina near the end of the chapter? I don't want to assume anything but based on the description I can't help but feel it was. . . Hm I dwell on that later 

thank you for updating!! 

[takamae]

Acchan really got a bad temper and kinda creepy, need minami as medication 
I almost thought miichan and minami that help yamamoto get away, bad for minami and acchan if that what happen
Thanx for the update ^^

[KojiYuu44]

I just started reading this fic...
i like how atsumina met... the person from Yuko's past... who is it 
What's going to happen???
I need to know!! 
I want to know!!
Please update soon

[cisda83]

poor atsumina.... unable to see each other for the time being.

Thank you for the update...

Looking forward to the next one

[kahem]

The WMinami are so funny. especially Miichan ^^

[Wmatsui22]

Thanks for making this VERY NICE chapter...

I already read it and saved it to my phone...

A very good chapter! hahaha!

I am serious about what I said..

Please do continue writing..

Update if you have time!

Good Luck!

thank You

+WMatsui_22+

[miayaka]

i love the update! 
thank you..
mysterious
interesting
romantic
you got me!

[fffff]

I did it! I managed to finally finish this chapter! I try to post a chapter at least every saturday (if possible earlier but I never make it even though I've got a lot of pages written ahead that do only need to be reworked).
This chapter is a tiny little bit weird because it had a completely different storyline in the beginning. I also feel like Atsuko is a little bit out of character but let's just say she's stressed out, okay?
Also I've been wondering if I should post a list of the appearing characters including age and some backgound information because there are a lot of the girls making an appearance at some point. Where should I put it then?

Anyway, I actually just wanted to thank you for your nice comments.
@ arrow27: It needs a little bit more suspense, right? I hope I'll have a few cliffhanger chapters later on as well, so...
@ TakaminaBG: Miichan would! She'll get herself into some trouble at the end of this chaper as well!
@ Pdpond: I need to keep up the suspense! I'll try!
@ Haruko: Yeah... Kojiyuu... I'll deal with them later.
@ ikun1216: I'm really happy if you think so. Mayuyu's story? I'll deal with this somewhere around Chapter 7  I think? And Sayanee beating the Twin Towers: I love her too much to not try to make her superior! And yes, that was Ume in the end. She was after Sasshi (who Miichan ran after).
@ takamae: They only helped her indirectly because they kept Ume from following Sasshi. Miichan started to chase Sasshi and that caused Umechan to lose track.
@ KojiYuu44: Well, judging from your username you may already have an idea who that person could be, right? Also, I'm glad that you started to read my story!
@ cisda83: Yeah, I just had to have a bit drama and longing... They are going to be reunited!
@ kahem: Happy if you think so! A lot of people consider me humorless so I'm glad to hear that.
@ Wmatsui22: I'm glad that you liked it! I'll continue this story for sure until the end because I dislike to stop something I started. When I write a story, normally the beginning is nice, the middle part is not that great and the ending is nice again!  So we'll see how this will turn out...
@ miayaka: I'll do my best to keep you interested then.
@ O r i g a m i: Well... Mayu's school story will be linked to the main storyline somewhere in the future.


Chapter 5


CoF Headquarters, 08:50 PM

Atsuko glanced at the clock when she heard Ayaka calling her from downstairs. Immediately she knew that the other woman had failed. There was no way that she had already stalked out the detective’s position by following that stupid shop lifter. Angrily Atsuko bit her lower lip until she could taste her own blood on her tongue. She wondered if Ayaka knew that she had just destroyed her carefully prepared plan to get her revenge, to finally avenge her love’s death.
“UMEDA!” Atsuko stomped her foot on her carpet as she threw her head back and screamed in anger. She didn’t get a response which allowed her to take a deep breath before her anger was able to take over completely.
She stormed out of her room and down the stairs. Ayaka was kneeling in the hallway in front of a woman who seemed to be unconscious. Atsuko couldn’t get a proper look at her but from what she spotted she knew that it couldn’t be Rino.

Somehow she seems familiar.

“What did you do?” hissed Atsuko.
“She was standing on the street and screamed your name” Ayaka looked up and Atsuko noticed the stubborn look in her eyes. “That’s somewhat…suspicious”

Screaming my name? It couldn’t be… no.

Atsuko took a step back. The hairstyle, the kind of clothing, it was all too familiar. The small form on the floor could only be one person and she was too lifeless for Atsuko’s liking.
“Did you kill her?” she demanded to know and hated herself for the fact that her voice cracked.
“No” Ayaka slowly got up and for the first time she stood in front of Atsuko with a proud and smug expression. “Who is she?”
“Nobody”

You see it, don’t you? You see that I care for her. But trust me Umeda you better don’t try to use this information for yourself.

“That’s a lie” Ayaka’s voice was low but her words were threatening.
“How would you tell?” Atsuko’s answer was as cold and sharp as ice. Her hand was reaching to the knife in her right sleeve. She examined Ayaka’s position carefully. The other killer didn’t seem to realize that she had gotten herself into a dangerous position. It would be easy for Atsuko to slice her throat in one swift move if Ayaka would dare to harm Minami in any kind of way.

If I hurt her I’ll be sure to be killed by Yuko or Mariko-sama. I hope Minami appreciates what I’m willing to do for her.

Ayaka didn’t answer but didn’t seem to be willing to back down either, even though the more experienced killer was already shaking from the rage that was boiling in her.
“Go to your room. You let Sashihara get away. Mariko-sama won’t be pleased” Atsuko growled.
“You let her go”
“I told you to follow her. You were the one who failed. First in interrogating her, then in finding Yamamoto’s hideout. It’s all your fault!” Without even noticing Atsuko raised her voice. Her chest started to heave and she was close to losing her composure.

My revenge! Haruka, Minami! This is all too much, it’s all too much, I cannot stand it anymore!

As Ayaka felt Atsuko’s eyes still on her she finally realized that she was in danger. Her senses kicked in and she gave in to the other girl’s request. Atsuko stared after her as she went upstairs.
Then she turned around to look at Minami. She was out cold but didn’t seem to be hurt badly. However, the sight of her on the floor was heart-wrenching. Atsuko sat down next to her and touched her forehead. It was cold but sweaty. She traced Minami’s jaw line deeply in thought.

She’s beautiful, isn’t she? She shouldn’t be here, that’s no place for her. She can’t stay. What will Mariko-sama do to her? She said that it’s dangerous that I’m forbidden to… And Minami, hasn’t she been sad enough when her brother died? Didn’t she lose a lot already? After all… After all… I’m an assassin.

Atsuko closed her eyes when she finished that thought.

And that’s why she HATES me.

For seconds she just stared at her ex-fake-girlfriend.

But… I could make her like me, couldn’t I? I get what I want, I always do!

She knew that she was only assuring herself but it made her stronger.

Screw you Shinoda! Fuck off Umeda, get lost Yuko. I’ll do what I want to do. For Minami.

Quickly Atsuko pulled her hand away from Minami’s face. She got up and lifted the body up with one arm around her hip.
“Kumi! I need help!” she yelled for the secretary who appeared as soon as she was called.
“Yes Maeda-san!”
“Help me get her to my room”
Kumi blinked.
“To your room?” she echoed with a confused expression. “Of course!”

At least someone I can rely on. Although she tends to be useless.

Kumi slipped on the stairs and almost caused the three of them to fall down. Only Atsuko’s reflexes prevented the accident.

See?
 

CoF Headquarters, 09:13 PM

Minami groaned. For a second everything was dark and numb even when she opened her eyes, but then a throbbing pain appeared in the back of her head.

What happened? Am I blind? Am I kidnapped? Am I dreaming?

The thoughts were running wild in her head and her heart beat increased slightly before she realized that she didn’t see anything because she was in a dark room. There was a little bit of light coming from underneath the door and it was just enough to illuminate the furniture close to the entrance. From the shape of it Minami recognized a chair and something dark on the floor, a pillow or maybe clothing. However, this was certainly not her room at home and not Miichan’s place either. It was too quiet and too dark as if there were no windows.
Carefully Minami sat up, every move making her headache worse.

Someone hit me? I was walking and then… someone hit me and knocked me out!

“It’s fine Minami, just fine” she assured herself but her voice sounded lost and small. Sighing she set one foot on the floor. The carpet felt soft against her naked feet.

My shoes… my socks… jeans…

Minami squealed in shock as she realized that she was only in underwear, jumped back into the bed and got under the covers again. Also, someone seemed to have washed her face to get the mud off as well as her hair. She buried her head in the familiar smell of the pillow.
“Acchan” she whined as realization dawned. To be honest her mind was too clouded for her to be actually surprised because now everything made sense. She was calling Acchan’s name so she probably summoned her like, well, some kind of a ghost. That would also explain how Acchan was able to break into Minami’s house.

Oh Minami, get a grip. There’s no such things as ghosts. But still…

Minami took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself, even though she had no idea what she wanted to prepare herself for, and got up again. She stretched her arms out in order to keep her from running into something and made her way to the door taking really tiny steps. However she soon enough stepped into something soft. She bowed to the floor and touched it. It felt like a shirt and she pulled it over her head.

I don’t want walk around in my underwear when I don’t even know where I’m going.

The light that had been coming from beneath the door went out all of the sudden and left Minami in complete darkness. For a second she was tempted to make her way back to the bed but she was not sure if she would find it anymore so she continued her journey to where she had seen the door. Her hand made contact with the light switch but she didn’t use it in order to avoid to let anyone know about her presence.

Acchan… where am I? And more important, where are you?

The door creaked a little as Minami opened it and for a second she closed her eyes and expected some kind of monster attacking her. When nothing happened she let out a shaky laugh and dared to peer out into the corridor. It was just as dark as the room and for a moment she hesitated. But then one of the doors opened and the lights went on again. Quickly, Minami closed the door just so much that she could still peek out.
A woman walked out of one of the rooms, her brows furrowed and burning fury in her eyes. Minami felt as if her heart was going to stop as she realized that she had been the boss of the kidnappers. Trembling, she wanted to crawl away from the door but it seemed that she was frozen in her place. The woman, Yuko as Minami recalled, stood in the middle of the corridor and took a deep breath as if she was trying to calm herself down. Then she turned around and marched right towards the room that Minami was in.

No, way, no way… hell, no! What do I do? How do I escape? I’m done for.

Minami surrendered to the force of destiny as Yuko knocked on the door.
“Acchan? Are you there?” she called out. Minami who was only a few centimeters away struggled to hold her breath because she didn’t dare to make the slightest sound.
“C’mon Acchan! Don’t be a bitch!” Unable to tame her anger, Yuko kicked the door what caused Minami to squeal and fall back.
“Don’t hurt me!” she hid her face behind her arms as Yuko opened the door.
“What the…” Yuko grabbed her wrist tightly and started to pull her arm down. “Let me see your face!” she demanded.
“Please! I’m Minami! Takahashi Minami!” Minami whined with her eyes closed.
“You were… at the restaurant right?” Yuko sounded confused. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“She’s my guest” another voice interfered that Minami knew really well.

Thank goodness.

“Acchan!” Minami opened her eyes and couldn’t help but smile as she saw the other girl standing behind Yuko.
Yuko raised an eyebrow, then looked at Atsuko who stared back with an emotionless expression on her face.
“So…” a smile appeared on Yuko’s face. “That’s your girl then? I’m glad that someone wears the shirt I gave you last Christmas. Wonder what you guys did to her own clothes though…” the expression on her face implied that she had some ideas Minami couldn’t even grasp. She looked down on the shirt she had put on in the dark and immediately blushed as she read what was written on it.
 “I give up” she whined.


CoF Headquarters, 09:20 PM

Atsuko rubbed her temples. She was trying to figure out just how she was supposed to explain to Minami why she was at this place together with Yuko and why she had left her alone for two weeks. Unsure what to do she glanced at the other girl who was sitting across her. She wore a confused expression on her face that made her look, well, ‘adorable’ was a fitting term.

Here we go.

“Minami?”
The girl looked at her with so much trust in her eyes that Atsuko felt a pang in her chest. She knew that Minami hated assassins but she didn’t want to betray her trust, she just couldn’t.
“Do you like the hot chocolate Kumi made for you?” she asked instead. Minami stared at the cup.
“There’s alcohol in there, right?” she furrowed her brows.
“It’s just a little bit of rum, okay? Drink up honey, drink up” Atsuko sighed as she saw her opposite flinch at the word ‘honey’.

She knows…

“Why…” Minami blinked as if she held back tears. “You never…” Another attempt to speak failed and she went silent again.
Atsuko couldn’t tell how long she had to endure the silence before she heard someone’s steps in the corridor. 
“Maeda-san?” Kumi looked into the room. “Shinoda-sama is on the phone”
Atsuko nodded for her to give it to her.
“Yes?”
“Acchan?” Mariko sounded tired and irritated. It was so much easier to read her when Atsuko could only hear her voice and wasn’t blinded by the confident air she used to give of. But with the sounds of the hospital in the background she sounded just like any other woman who had had a hard day.
“Yes. What is it?” To her own surprise, Atsuko’s tone was calm.
Mariko talked in a hushed and rushed manner as she continued to speak.
“Listen, we are still at the hospital and our usual doctor is not here, which means that they ask a lot of questions. Also, we do not know if Yamamoto talked to the police, so we did not give an explanation yet. In case they show up at the headquarters: Do not let them search my rooms before I’m not home. Tell Yuko to hide upstairs, her prison break did not exactly make her popular with those people. Kumi will inform me about everything that happens, am I clear? Do not allow her to make up any crazy stories or worse to spill the truth to the police as soon as they come knocking. Make sure Tomo~mi keeps her mouth shut and keep Ayaka by your side. If they ask, she’s your cousin”
“Got it” Atsuko hung up and tossed the phone at Kumi, who caught it surprisingly skillful.
“Who was it?” Minami tilted her head.
“My boss. You’ll meet her soon. Kumi?”
“Yes?” Kumi hurried at Atsuko’s side.
“You wouldn’t tell Mariko-sama about Minami, right?”
“I wouldn’t?” the secretary seemed unsure but willing to give in to Atsuko’s intense glare.
“You wouldn’t”

Goddamn, I’m not in the mood to play games tonight anymore. Give in already, just give in!

“Acchan?”
“Yes?” Atsuko quickly turned her attention to Minami as she spoke.
“Aren’t you scaring her?”
Atsuko clicked her tongue.
“You know Minami… There are many scary things about me. And I know that you wonder why you’re here and why that little you-know-what of an Umeda kidnapped you. And about Yuko, you know her, right?”
 Minami seemed confused. “I don’t really… wait, somebody kidnapped me?”
Atsuko had to resist the urge to hit her head on the table rapidly.
“Well… yeah!”
“That’s… that’s… Oh my god!”
With that being said, Minami jumped up from her chair and ran out of the conference room, knocking Kumi, who was still in the room and seemed to have been talking about something the entire time, over. “Sorry!” She disappeared and all Atsuko could do was stare after her.
“I like her” Kumi announced dreamingly from the floor.

Yeah, me too. But she drives me crazy.


In front of CoF Headquarters, 09:27 PM

Minami felt the chilly air hit her face as she stepped outside. Ahocked by the fact that she got actually kidnapped she had made a run for it and actually managed to find the exit at the first try. Now she should probably hurry and escape but she found herself in an unfamiliar street. The scenery was gloomy and actually creeping Minami out. She stood in front of an old factory building that was surrounded by equally shabby garages and factories. The street was completely empty and half of the streetlights didn’t work at all. However Minami was sure that this was not far from the street were she had been abducted and that was close to Miichan’s restaurant and her house.
She could hear sirens somewhere far away but they seemed to get closer. She stood still and just listened. As she saw the blue light flickering on the walls of the buildings nearby and the first car shot around the corner she straightened herself up and waited for them to arrive. Soon enough a total of 5 cars had arrived and cornered her.
To be honest she had no idea what she was doing but they seemed to be after the kidnappers and she as one of the victims…

I don’t feel like a victim though. I feel stupid for running anyway… they’re not even coming after me. Ah, Acchan must have been trying to make a joke and I just didn’t get it… Who am I kidding?! The police are right here! This is real!

“Takamina!” Miichan jumped out of one of the police cars, ignoring the officer who shouted for her to stay back. “Thank god! You okay?” she pulled her friend in a bone-crushing hug and started to touch her all over as if she was looking for injuries.
“Miichan” Takamina chocked, utterly embarrassed by the situation. “Stop feeling me up” she mumbled even though she had to admit that it was nice to know that her friend cared.
“Hell, you had me worrying” Miichan rambled and flared her arms. She didn’t even notice that she almost knocked out the approaching officer. “You know, I was running after that girl but didn’t catch her and then I came back and you were gone! Vanished! Nowhere to be found! Can you imagine how worried I was? How I blamed myself?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine” Minami mumbled while her thoughts were running wild.

It’s surreal. I was just sleeping, for a few minutes at Acchan’s place, who seems to be living with kidnappers, who seem to have kidnapped me, but I was just staying over at a friend’s! Okay, not planned, but not unwillingly.

“Excuse me?” A policewoman addressed Minami. “I am Inspector  Takajo Aki and I’d like to ask you a few urgent questions”
“Of course, Inspector” Minami freed herself from Miichan’s embrace to give off a composed impression.
“Judging from the reaction of Minegishi-san you are Takahashi Minami?”
“That’s me, yes”
“Right. Well, Minegishi-san stormed into our station 30 minutes ago and informed us that you had gone missing. She was… persistent” Aki furrowed her brows. “Normally we would not react to this kind of notification in a time frame as short as this but we had just gotten a hint from one of our informants that we should keep a close eye on this area. Takahashi-san, can you tell us what exactly happened to you?”
Minami gulped nervously. The entire situation was too messed up for her to fully grasp it.
“I’m not sure” she began.

I know that Yuko is a kidnapper, but she’s Acchan’s friend. And Acchan, well, I can’t possibly tell them about her although I don’t even know how she relates to this. I don’t even know who kidnapped me!

“I was unconscious”
“Could you be a little bit more specific? Did somebody knock you out? When? How?”
“I…” Minami chew on her bottom lip. She did not want to tell anybody about what happened, she didn’t understand.

Why are there so many policemen? What have Acchan and her friends done?

Suddenly a terrible thought struck Minami.
“The murder” she whispered. “Takajo-san, is this related to the recent murder on” she searched her mind for the name and suddenly she remembered Atsuko’s words crystal clear.

“She was shot. In the head. Three times, completely accurate. Her name was Sato Amina and she had the bad luck of serving the wrong person. Isn’t it cruel?”

“Is it related to the recent murder on Sato Amina?”
Aki’s brows shot up almost to her hairline.
“Takahashi-san, you seem to know a lot”
“Just answer me” a sudden anger overwhelmed Minami. She was sick and tired of all of this. She was sick and tired of the troubles and mysteries revolving around Acchan and she would just like to go back to bed and sleep through all of this.

I do not want it to be true!

“Takahashi-san, let’s keep calm, shall we?” Aki stretched her arms out as if she was trying to calm Minami down like some kind of an animal in a trap and suddenly Minami was aware of the fact that she was surrounded by policemen who seemed not only to aim at the factory but also at her.
“Oh gosh” she laughed bitterly. “That’s fucked up”
“Takamina!” Miichan exclaimed, shocked to hear her friend cursing what was so out of her usual character as one could imagine.
“You know what?” Minami looked at the people who surrounded her. “I’m going back to bed”
She was well aware that she sounded crazy. She was also well aware that she stood between a bunch of policemen and that she was still wearing that infamous t shirt.
“Takahashi-san. Where do you think you’re going?” Aki jogged after her as she turned around to go back to the factory entrance and grabbed her arm. “This is supposedly the hideout of a criminal organization!”
“No it’s not” Minami shook her head. “See, it’s just an abandoned factory. I fainted, low blood pressure, you know? And then my girlfriend who uses this building as rehearsal room with her band found me and took care of me. That’s it. Excuse me”
And with that she yanked her arm out of the inspector’s grip and made her way through the main entrance that opened for her.
On the inside she pressed her back to the cold metal of the door and allowed herself to take a deep breath. She slid down and sat on the floor. Yuko was standing next to her and fiddled with the lock above her head. Minami wondered if she had been right behind the door the entire time.
“Oi!” Minami heard someone bang against the door. “Oi! Takamina, open! What is wrong with you?”
“Minegishi-san...”
“No! I swear inspector, that’s not like her! Takamina, open the door! It’s me!”
“Step back Minegishi-san! Please, do not interfere with the investigation. I’ll take care of this. Takahashi-san, it’s Inspector Takajo talking. Look we can ta- Minegishi-san! Don’t push me, please!”
“You do not understand! Something is wrong! Oi! Takamina! I swear she was lying, I know her! They are holding her hostage!”
Minami whimpered as she thought about Miichan who was probably getting herself into serious trouble with the police.
“Takahashi-san! Before you act rashly, please listen! I want to help you! You are getting yourself involved with one of the country’s main criminal organizations. We have reason to believe that Oshima Yuko is hiding in this building. She has been proven guilty for the murder of at least 13 people! Takahashi-san, please think about it!”
All Minami wanted was to cover her ears and forget everything she just heard. Looking up she saw said killer standing above her with a sympathetic look at her face. She was stretching out her hand and before Minami knew what she was doing she took it and allowed the other woman to lead her through the hall. As they arrived at the secret door, it opened to reveal Acchan who was wearing a blank look on her face.
“I’ll take care of those people until Mariko-sama arrives” she said to no one in particular.
“Don’t hurt them. My friend’s out there” Minami said and to everyone’s surprise it didn’t sound like a request but an order. Atsuko nodded, her dark bangs sweeping over her face.
“Come on” Yuko squeezed Minami’s hand. “Turning around won’t earn you anything anymore”
Minami nodded and followed her. She was too tired and her head hurt too much to think or worry about anything anymore.


CoF Headquarters, 09:47 PM

Atsuko heard someone banging at the door furiously.
“Takahashi-san? Anyone? This is the police, I repeat, this is the police! Open the door; otherwise we will have no choice but to storm the house! You have 15 minutes to surrender! I repeat: this is the police; you have 15 minutes to surrender. Ah thank you”
The person stepped away from the door, only to repeat her message over a megaphone.

Damn Yamamoto, what kind of trouble did you get us into? I’ll mess you up, I swear I’ll mess you up!

Atsuko turned away from the door, knowing that there was not much she could do. She stormed upstairs.
“Yuko, Kumi, Umeda, Minami!” she yelled.
“Yes?” Kumi appeared as prompt as ever, almost giving Atsuko a heart attack.
“Call Mariko-sama” Atsuko ordered. “The situation is critical”
“Tell her that we’re leaving right now” Yuko, who had just entered the hallway together with Minami, who was properly dressed now, ordered. “She should be able to meet us at the emergency meeting point. Atsuko, get the weapons from the basement. You” she pointed at Minami who looked like she was completely out of this world, “stay right here and don’t move no matter what. I’ll find Ayaka and save some of Mariko-sama’s files”
“Got it” Atsuko replied and turned around to walk downstairs again. However she stopped on the middle of the stairs.

Leaving Minami alone like this... What if something happens to her? No, Atsuko, no. Everybody on their own in case something goes wrong. Do your job and if the others don’t arrive as soon as necessary you got to escape with everything you got. 

She shook her head as if to get rid of her unprofessional thoughts.
As she arrived downstairs she could already see the shadows of policemen behind the windows that were not bricked up. Blue light flickered in the room. As fast as she could she made her way to the basement door that was secured with a bunch of extra locks. She knew the combinations by heart but she was still nervous that something could go wrong. It was unusual for her to worry as much as she did now, but something had changed with Haruka’s death. She had realized that she was not invulnerable and that was the scariest thing she had ever felt.
The basement was dark. Atsuko’s hand found the light switch by itself and the lamps illuminated the large hall that stretched underneath the factory. Different kinds of weapons were stored in chests or hung on the walls. Quickly Atsuko got herself the spacious backpack that lay in a corner next to the door and grabbed various things.
“Let’s see, my gun, Yuko’s assault rifle and her knives, Mariko-sama’s grenades and Kumi’s throwing knives, did I forget someone?” Atsuko mumbled to herself. “Well, I might as well get something for Umeda”
Carelessly he grabbed another gun. Then something caught her eyes. She approached the katana that rested on a pillow on a little table.
“Someone will use it” she decided and grabbed it when she heard noises from the door. She spun around and saw Ayaka stumble into the room.
“The police are already inside!”

I knew this wouldn’t end well.

Atsuko cursed, tossed Ayaka the backpack and grabbed her gun tightly.
As she arrived upstairs the sight of a total mess greeted her. Glass was shattered all over the floor as all of the windows were smashed by the forces. The police cornered Yuko who was standing in the middle of the room and pressed a knife against Minami’s neck. Kumi was nowhere to be seen but Atsuko was sure that she was around and hid in a dark corner. Miichan was trying to climb in through one of the windows with her mouth wide open and her eyes glued to Minami’s pale face. Miichan’s glance shifted and she noticed Atsuko who stood in the door to the basement.
Quickly Acchan pressed a finger to her lips to signal her that she was supposed to stay quiet and to her surprise it worked. She was not sure if it was out of worry for Minami or if she truly trusted her, but she didn’t care.
Yuko’s voice rang through the room.
“You’re 3 minutes early, motherfuckers! Look, you let me get to the basement and no one gets hurt. I’ll pick up some stuff and in 3 minutes you guys can come after us. Sounds like a deal? Good!”
And with that she dragged Minami towards the door were Atsuko was standing.

Please, Minami, don’t look at me like this. It breaks my heart. She won’t hurt you, trust me, she wouldn’t hurt you, because if she did she’d have to face me.

“Do something!” Miichan ordered as she had finally gotten through the window and fell on the floor. She raised something that looked dangerously like a kitchen knife and started to run towards Yuko with a war cry.
She didn’t get far.
Kumi, who had indeed been hiding in the shadows, started to run towards the basement entrance and simply overran the other girl as she passed her by. Miichan fell on the floor and let go of the knife that flew through the room and got almost stuck in Minami’s shoulder, but Yuko pulled her out of the way soon enough.

You better take care of her Yuko.

Kumi, Minami and Yuko disappeared downstairs and Atsuko followed them but not before giving a sincere warning to Miichan.
“You shouldn’t come after us. You better get the hell out of here, trust me”
Miichan looked up at her and Atsuko could only hope that she would take her seriously. Then she hurried to follow the others.
 
Okay Atsuko, you’re getting soft. There was no reason to spill that you’re up to something.

Downstairs, the basement was already deserted. Atsuko saw the hidden entrance to the secret tunnel that led to the neighboring building wide open and the little silver box already placed in the middle of the room. A red light was blinking and Atsuko knew that she was supposed to hurry. As fast as she could, she ran through the room and closed the heavy metal door behind her.
She heard the explosion when she surfaced in the building across the street.
Minami stood at one of the windows and looked at the factory. Black smoke was coming out of the windows, almost invisible in the night. The still blinking blue light on top of the police cars was not bright enough to shine this far and illuminate Minami’s face, so Atsuko could not tell what she was thinking or feeling.
Yuko and Ayaka were leaning against the wall and stared at their feet blankly while Kumi was rummaging through the bags.
“Miichan” Minami’s voice shook and Atsuko wanted nothing more than to comfort her. “She’s… she’s in there”
The room stayed silent and Atsuko knew that she was the one who was supposed to answer.
“I told her to stay away from the basement. If she wasn’t in there but upstairs she should be fine. The bomb was only meant to destroy the interior of the basement”
“And if she ignored you? If she didn’t trust you? She had every reason to, right?”
“I…” Atsuko bit her bottom lip.

All I could say… everything would hurt you, right Minami?

“And what about the policemen? They were normal people with families, friends and a right to live”
“I… I guess”
Minami nodded and leant her head against the window.
“Am I stupid because I came here? Could this be my fault? Or are you people the only ones to blame?”
A muffled cry escaped Atsuko’s lips as Minami accused her in a weak voice.

What is this? What is all of this that you make me feel? Is it… regret? Or am I hurt because you are?

[bimbo]

Yay! An update! 

I hope Miichan is safe 

Minami, believe in Acchan! 

[ChoyShinhwa]

Wow It's great

I like this chap

What the hell Minami will do now? >"<

Waiting for your next update 

[TakaminaBG]

Okay, now I'm officially scared!
Miichan, won't die, right??
Minami, don't be so harsh on Acchan, although, yeah she is an awful person, but she really cares about you!!
Please update SOON!

[KojiYuu44]

Oh no I hope Miichan is safe
Takamina have a little faith in Acchan
Thank you for the update

[arrow27]

thanks for the update!!!! Really intense and amazing chapter I really do love your writing style and the way the story is progressing! Seems like everyone is in a tight spot but I hope Atsuko and Minami can help each other Loved the other characters in this chap as well, Miichan is such a good friend, yuko is awesome and Kumi was funny
Thanks again, looking forward to your next update

[ikun1216]

I've had a terrible week so seeing your update definitely made me feel a whole lot better! 
This chapter seemed really intense, I applaud your ability to write such a suspenseful scene  I'm glad the girls bought more time to escape but ahh...I'm worried about Miichan.
I think how you portrayed Acchan was pretty spot on, with everything going at the moment on her behavior seemed understandable.

The part where Acchan was gathering weapons made me chuckle a bit Mariko-sama uses grenades and Kumi throws knives?  That would be a site to see. Glad she was "kind" enough to grab Ume-chan something too

Thank you for your reply! Ehh for once I'd have to disagree with Takamina I think Ume-chan's prettier 
Have you seen the new NMB48 pv for HA! ? When I watched it I couldn't help but think of your story (Well the part of Sayanee being pretty badass, with the lead pipe and "connections")

I think it would be great if you could post up the characters information, especially their background info.
As for where will you put it. . Ah . .not quite sure? 

Thank you once again for updating! I await patiently for your next update.