Alright, enough torture!
Chapter 27 pt. 2: Bearing an Olive Branch
From the top of the containers, Aika had a great view of the entire dock. Her sharp eyes and quick reflexes made her perfect for this kind of scouting and she leapt, climbed, rolled and ran, an acrobatic dance high above everyone’s heads. It took her a relatively short time to locate her target, but the older woman spotted her immediately and began to sprint in the hopes that she would lose her.
Aika was hot on her trail, though, lifting her talkie to alert the others, “I found her!” She panted out harshly, “We’re running east from, uh, uh,” she looked around frantically, trying to discern where they were. The setting sun behind her made it easier, “the north west? Yes, northwest! About 25 meters from the water!” She was closing in fast and grinned, “I’ve got her, I’m going to get her!”
The thief gasped when two gunshots went of in quick succession, the second one making her talkie explode in her hand, some shrapnel cutting painfully into her face. Adrenaline surged through her, she was only a few meters away from the older woman, who had taken a turn down a slim alley. She thought that the thief wouldn’t be able to maneuver, but she was wrong.
Pulling a long knife from her pocket, Aika flicked it open and jumped off the top of the container at an angle, using her momentum to run along the side of the one across from her for a moment. When that energy began to decrease, she pushed off the metal, somersaulting in midair and planting her feet on the side of the first container.
Her target was so stunned at her impressive acrobatics that she paused in her steps. She quickly realized her mistake, but by then it was too late, she tried to fire her pistol at the thief. The first shot bounced harmlessly off the metal container. As Aika pushed off a second time, catapulting herself at the older woman, knife raised for her strike, her target fired a second shot, hitting her square in the chest.
Luckily, the Kevlar vest she was wearing made the shot non-lethal, but the wind was still knocked out of her at the pain. Her aim was thrown off a bit as they crashed together, the older woman frantically swinging her gun into the side of her assailants head as they went down. The impact sent both girls into darkness.
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“Aika. Aika. Aika!” The thief mumbled incoherently as someone began to shake her shoulders, “Hey, no sleeping on the job!” Groggily, the girl began to come to, realizing that she was laid out rather uncomfortably on the hard concrete. And her chest hurt. Also her head. And it was hard to think straight,
“What happened to the truck that hit me?” she grumbled as Risa helped her to her feet.
“Damn, you really had me scared for a second there.” The gunner exclaimed, not letting the girl go quite yet. Aika seemed to not mind as she was still a little unsteady on her feet, “I saw all that blood…”
“Blood?” The thief questioned as her most recent memories began returning.
Risa pointed to the ground and the woman that still lay on it. Aika blinked, taking in Sayu, who crouched on her target’s torso like a gargoyle, staring intently into her face. Now that she had a moment to slow down, Aika realized that the left side of her face was covered in burn scars. In her bicep, sticking straight out, was Aika’s knife, one source of blood, the other source seemed to be the back of her head, probably where it had hit the concrete.
“I don’t think Sayu’s decided what to do with her yet…” Risa whispered.
“Should we call Tanaka-san?” The thief questioned, inching her way to the siblings, “Is she dead…?” About that time, the older woman let out a loud groan, “Zombie! Kill it!” She shouted, scampering back to Risa’s side like a frightened puppy. The gunner shushed her, intently watching Sayu’s face for any change in her unreadable expression.
The older woman groaned again as she tried to lift her injured arm up, quickly giving up as pain lanced through her. She suddenly seemed to realize the pressure on her chest and her eyes focused on the con above her, “Sayumi.” she greeted quietly.
“Erina.” The younger returned in much the same tone.
“Are you going to kill me…?” Erina asked a little bit fearfully.
“Maybe, if I’m not satisfied by what you tell me.” Though her expression was still blank, Sayu let her muscles relax, “So you’re a lieutenant now?”
“Yes. I worked my way up. I’m still the lowest, but the last one to have this spot was my former owner.” Erina revealed, “His name was Mano Yuusuke.” After a slight pause she mentioned, “I’ve taken his name, as well. I’m no longer a Michishige. Well, I guess I haven‘t been one for a long time now.”
“Mano Erina?” Sayumi raised an eyebrow at her. There was a few seconds of silence, until, “Have you even looked for me at all?” The con whispered in a hurt sounding tone, the real reason for her animosity coming out, “I searched for you for years! I could understand when you were a slave, but now that you have freedom? Did you even miss me at all…?”
“Of course I did, but you didn’t make it easy. Every time I would pick up your trail, you would change your identity and cover your tracks. I finally found you when you were sent to prison, but you were released before I could make it up there to visit you.” Erina defended herself, glaring at her sibling.
“I was there for months!” The con shouted back, reaching around to grip the knife’s handle as though she was going to twist, “You could have come anytime!”
“I was afraid!” The Kusumi woman yelled right back, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me after so much time.” Sayu slowly released the knife, “I wasn’t sure if things had changed too much, if we were even related anymore!”
“Of course we are.” The con whispered, hurt flooding her features, “You’ve always been my precious Nee-chan. Time apart doesn’t change blood and neither does slavery.”
Erina was silent for a moment, blinking back tears, “…sorry. I’m sorry.” she half sobbed, struggling to a sitting position to embrace her sister, “Forgive me!”
Sayumi gripped her back just as hard, mumbling into the other woman’s shoulder. Watching on the sidelines, Risa and Aika shared relieved smiles, the gunner slinging an arm around the thief’s shoulders in a half hug of camaraderie. Finally, a sort of happy ending.
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They had decided, after much debate, that instead of killing Erina, they would simply kidnap her for a while and the woman complied willingly. Reina guessed that it wasn’t really kidnapping then, but she kept a wary eye on her lover’s sibling as they drove back to the cottage in high spirits. They had chosen the cottage as something familiar for the two so that they could catch up while Erina’s wounds were treated.
For some reason, the whole gang had squeezed into one van, resulting in Aika curled up on Reina’s lap, dozing against her shoulder. The cop stroked her hair soothingly, being careful of the deep purple bruise that had formed around the top outer edge of her left eye and temple due to her face’s meeting with Erina’s gun.
To her right were the reunited sisters, awkwardly conversing as they tried to catch up on lost time. Both were pleased to see the other, but it had been so long, that they were different people. They weren’t entirely sure what to say or how to say it, but they struggled through the talk admirably. Reina merely observed them closely.
The ride back seemed to be over more quickly than the cop remembered and before she knew it, she was struggling to pull Aika from the van without jostling her painfully, Jun coming to her aid after a moment and scooping the smaller girl up like she weighed nothing. Suddenly freed, Reina felt a little cooler, now that she was away from Aika’s radiating warmth. Rubbing her arms, she headed inside after the siblings.
They had set up in the living room, a large medical kit out on the coffee table. Sayu was tending to Erina’s wounds, while Jun had brought Aika in and sat her in a large chair. The little thief whined fussily as the hitter tried to clean the cuts on her face, “Hold still.” The Chinese woman growled lightly as the younger girl jerked her head away again.
“Let me.” Reina decided to rescue them both, taking the disinfectant spray and a cotton ball out of Jun’s hands, “Why don’t you go get changed?” She gestured to the Kevlar vest still adorning the other’s torso. After a moment, Reina gently began to pat Aika’s shoulder, “Hey, we need to get you cleaned up, ok?”
The girl murmured tiredly and the cop pressed on, soaking the cotton ball disinfectant. The first swipe of it on Aika’s cheek made the younger girl flinch and her eyes half opened, “Nnn~ Yada~” She tried to turn away, but Reina had firmly grabbed her jaw, wiping at her face like a mother trying to clean off her errant child. The thief squirmed and cried at the stinging sensation, but the experience was over quickly enough.
“Jeez, you’re just like my little brother.” Reina mumbled, setting the cotton ball aside. A few sharp tugs had the vest opened up, “How is your chest?”
“Mmmhurts.” Aika flopped around in tired cooperation as Reina removed the Kevlar.
“Probably just bruised, but still lift up your shirt a bit.” The cop commanded, fully in nurse mode. The thief complied, lifting her slim a-shirt enough to show off an impressive purple blossoming from the bottom of her sternum. Reina placed four fingers on the left side of it, touching against her ribs where they connected to the bone. “Take a deep breath and hold it for a second.” Aika grimaced as she did, but managed it and Reina put a bit of pressure on the place underneath her fingertips, “Okay, let it out slowly.” Satisfied with what she felt, the cop moved her fingers to the right side, “Again.”
After a short moment, Reina nodded, pulling her hand away and pulling Aika’s shirt back into place, “Doesn’t feel fractured at all, like I thought, probably just some bad bruising. It may hurt like hell for a while, but it’ll go away soon enough.” The thief mumbled her understanding, slumping back into the big chair. Reina chuckled as she stood, turning to find Erina watching her interestedly. Sayu had apparently gone into another part of the cottage. “What?” She asked defensively, noticing the older woman had the photo album from the coffee table open in her lap.
“Nothing, never mind.” The woman shook her head, “Just reminiscing.”
Reina wasn’t sure why she felt so on edge around her lover’s sister, watching as she flipped the page in the album to where Sayu was meeting her husband. Then something dawned on her, “Aren’t you the eldest? Shouldn’t that be you there?”
“It almost was.” The woman smiled sadly, “That marriage was supposed to save Father’s company, but he had a lot of enemies that really didn’t want that to happen. When the merger was announced, they took me and made me… Like this.” She gestured to the scars on her face, “Of course, these are just aesthetic enhancements,” she described sarcastically, “He wouldn’t have turned me down just for this. No, the real damage was down here.” Erina touched her lower belly, “After all, you wouldn’t want to marry a woman who could never continue your bloodline. Since I was made unusable, Sayu took my place.”
Finally, a little sympathy settled in at the woman’s story and the cop found herself a bit lost for words. She stood awkwardly, shuffling her feet a little as Erina smirked at her, “You don’t like her marriage at all, huh?”
“Why would I like the fact that my lover is already spoken for?” Reina responded quietly, watching the woman nod understandingly. Before they could continue their bonding, the rest of the gang came back into the room, changed into their disguises. “Are we going?” The cop questioned Risa, who simply nodded.
“Get Sayu, but leave Aika. We don’t have any time to waste.” The command came from Ai, “Besides,” she continued after catching the protesting look on Reina’s face, “What she needs most is rest for that concussion.”
They all began to file out, Sayu reappearing after a moment to follow. Reina was the last to head for the door and she paused when she felt a hand touch her wrist. Turning back to look at Erina, she raised her eyebrow questioningly, “I’ll watch over the girl, good luck.” The cop gave her a small, thankful smile before turning around with determination in her eyes. Time to put an end to all of this.
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This story is quickly drawing to a close finally. Let's hope I can keep up the inspiration!
Topic: Black and Blue (Ch 34 6/4 The End!) (Read 153395 times)