Chapter 10: Up and DownRisa stared in awe at the imposing figures that stood in the backyard, the three men had introduced themselves as representing the interests of the Yokohama gangs. Of course, Risa had no idea what that meant, but her brother seemed guarded about them, so it couldn’t be good.
“The Blues are willing to work something out of course.” Hiro told the walking refrigerator in the middle. This always cheerfully smiling man drew most of Risa’s attention, as Tanaka-dono stood a towering 198cm and was built like a Coke machine. The two who flanked him were the wiry and alert Doro-san and the bored looking Watsu-san, Kusumi-dono‘s second.
“Glad to hear it.” Tanaka-dono bellowed, “Hate to have to clear the street of your flags. For now, you can provide us with a show of faith, two full crates by Thursday.”
Looking beside her, Risa took in the pouty, young daughter of the Tanaka clan. She was playing with her nails and looking almost as bored as the Kusumi representative. “Would you like to play a game?” she asked amicably, only to receive a strange look in return. So much for making friends.
“Well, hello little one.” Tanaka-dono boomed out at Risa as he came to collect his own little girl, “Are you gonna help out your big brother gathering up some weapons for us?” Reina giggled happily when her father picked her up in one massive arm.
“Of course! I’m gonna be a Blue soon enough!” the future gunner puffed out her chest in pride and the big man laughed heartily.
“Maybe you would be interested in joining my gang then! My little Reina could always use some more friends.” he gave the youngest girl a warm look when she rolled her eyes at him.
“No way, no gang is better than the Blues. Thanks, but no thanks.” Risa swiftly declined, eliciting more laughter from the man. His deep bass rumbled through her chest in a pleasant sensation and the baby bean felt her own smile tug at her lips.
“I guess any gang with your brother in it is the best then. Too bad, we could use a spunky girl like yourself. You ever change your mind, I’m not hard to find.” and with that, Tanaka-dono was gone, making his way out to a dark sedan with his precious daughter cradled against him. She saw that he was followed by an all too eager to leave Watsu-san, but Doro-san was no where in sight.
Returning to her vantage point, Risa peered out into the backyard again, finding the Takashi representative conversing seriously with her brother. She couldn’t tell what they were saying, but it didn’t seem to please Hiro any. Finally, Doro-san walked towards the house and Risa watched her brother hang his head in what wasn’t quite a depressed way. More like he felt backed into a corner.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Risa spun around and noticed the Takashi representative regarding her curiously. “I don’t think this is any place for children. Go play somewhere else.”
Risa glared with every ounce of anger in her little body. Who did this man think he was, coming to their neighborhood and pushing around both her and her brother within the span of five minutes, “Good thing I don’t see any children here. Maybe you’re the one who needs to find another playground.”
He stalked towards her and Risa felt a spike of fear shoot up her spine, but held her ground when he grabbed her face. “Those eyes hold so much hatred, but you don’t really know anything about the world. Maybe I should teach you.”
“You could try.” Risa spat venomously and then kicked him hard in the shin. More startled than in any pain, Doro-san let her go and took a step back, giving her an appraising look.
“Good, keep that fire, you might need it some day soon.” He turned his back on her and walked away. Risa felt herself reaching for the miniature gun she had tucked into her belt before she thought better of it and stopped. The gun had been a birthday present two weeks ago and had come with strict orders not to use it unless necessary. Fortunately for Doro-san, this was an unnecessary time.
“Risa, let’s go home.” The tired voice of her big brother rang out from behind her.
“Onii-san.” she murmured, “Are you okay?” Hiro nodded slowly and then suddenly reached down to scoop her up into a big hug.
“No matter what happens to me, know that I love you.” he said firmly, confusing the future gunner greatly.
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“Looking back on it now, I think he knew that he was being set up. He started training me more in how to use my weapon and timing how fast I could get to a suitable hiding place. He would always tell me to recognize when I was outgunned and outclassed and that it was better to run and live to fight another day.” Risa stared up at the ceiling with her hand folded behind her head as Eri sat up next to her crossed legged.
“I wouldn’t find out until much later, but after they returned to Tokyo, the bosses called a meeting. Tanaka-dono said that he thought it would be more beneficial to work with the Blues, as they had access to resources that the Tokyo bosses didn’t know about yet. Watsu-san only said that he didn’t like them and they should be killed immediately. The tie breaker was Doro-san.”
“He said that the Blues had the potential to be a problem later. Their pride would not let them ever submit to rival gangs and no matter how placid they looked, because of their resources, they would be able to rise up and put a major dent in the Tokyo forces. He said that it would be wise to nip them in the bud.”
“And so that’s what they did.”
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Risa sat in her hidden cupboard, placidly reading a book. About a month had passed since the Blues had begun to work peacefully with the Tokyo gangs and despite the smooth sailing, she couldn’t help but follow her brother’s example and worry. The other Blues thought that this was a good step for their normally small time little band, but Hiro seemed to sense otherwise. He had recently been pushing to have her initiated into the gang and had been denied at every turn.
Thinking back on such a conversation she had overheard just last night, Risa lowered her book to her lap. She had been drawn to her brother’s familiar voice arguing repeatedly with someone in the hallway and had found him with one of the founders, nearly on his knees begging.
“Please,” Hiro had said, “reconsider my sister’s application. She needs to be a true Blue so that she has someone to take care of her when I’m gone.”
“I’ve already told you that she’s too young. I’m not going to cannonize a nine year old, nor am I going to ask her to bring back a Red head. We can accept your request when she turns fifteen.” the older man laid a gentle hand on her distraught brother’s shoulder, “Why are you so certain that you won’t be around for much longer? With the backing from our Tokyo brothers, there’s no way anyone will mess with us.”
“Only the one’s who we think have our backs can.” Hiro had replied and then Risa had snuck back around the corner.
For some reason, her brother’s complete certainty of his own demise did not bother her as much as his suspicions about their new found friends did. Maybe it was because he was so sure that his death would be at the hands of the Tokyoites and therefore preventable if the other Blues didn’t trust them. Or maybe it was because she had learned in her short time on Earth, that death was the only certainty in life. Not to say she wouldn’t miss Hiro when we was gone, just that there would be no stopping it if it was his time to go.
Shaking her head, Risa returned to her book, unable to pick up much from it with her distracted thoughts. This was a new book, one Ai had bought specifically for her about the nuances of the art of war. Though the older girl had been a little confused as to why she didn’t want a good fantasy book or happy romance like a normal little girl, she had gone out of her way to bring this for Risa. Her thoughtfulness brought a smile to the little bean’s face, Ai was so kind.
Try as she might, though, Risa could not seem to get back into the chapter on morale and her restless mind soon drove her to wiggle out into the open. She decided to head out back and see what her brother was up to and just as she reached the clear back doors, she paused. It seemed that if you thought of the devil, he would appear. Talking to Hiro outside was a very serious Doro-san and about six of his men.
Whatever was being said didn’t look very good, if the pensive, almost frightened expression on her brother’s face was any indication. She watched, trying to read their lips as Doro-san gesticulated wildly, but just as she reached out to slide open the door, a sudden movement caught her eye.
All six of the Takashi representative’s men had snapped their weapons up at the startled Blues that were gathered in various places around the yard. With a single motion, they opened fire, mowing down the helpless gangsters. Both Risa and Hiro were left too stunned to move as Doro leveled at pistol at the young man’s head. He mouthed an unmistakable, ‘I’m sorry.’ before the future gunner saw her beloved brother’s brain matter explode out of the back of his head.
An indescribable feeling began to well up in Risa’s chest until she realized that she could only see a thin film of red. Through her haze, she locked eyes with Doro-san for a long moment until he shouted and motioned towards her. His men turned their weapons to bear at her, but Risa felt as if she was moving through molasses and was unable to react. A hand grabbed her collar and yanked her backwards out of the line of fire just in time to avoid the bullets that sailed through the place where she had been standing.
A soft, warm hand threaded through hers and began to drag her in the direction of her reinforced stairs. Risa felt herself pulled along and pushed through her secret hide away until she was shoved into the far corner and a body was thrown over top of her. From the kitchen was the sound of bullets whizzing through her cupboard hiding place and the future gunner could imagine her books being torn to shreds as well as her red juice spilling violently out over the floor.
She wondered if that would give the illusion that she was dead. Footsteps thudded on the stairs above them as the men went up to search. Risa could hear them tearing through the rooms, including Ai-chan’s, before deeming the rest of the house clear. Everything else was a blur, but the next thing she remembered was those same soft hands shaking her shoulders and calling her name.
“Risa. Risa! Risa!” A pretty girl with deep eyes and big ears was looking at her in concern and the future gunner belatedly realized that it was Ai. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
Risa could only shake her head and shake off those warm hands. She had to see for herself up close. She had to find her brother and so she stumbled out back. He lay in front of her on his back, eyes frozen open in a horrible surprise with a hole in his forehead. A pool of blood surrounded his upper half, emanating from the hollow cavity where his brain had been.
Only feeling a peculiar numbness, Risa reached into her pocket and drew out two coins. She kneeled before the corpse and gently shut his eyes before placing the coins on the now closed lids, “Good warriors get to pay the ferryman.” she mumbled nonsensically to herself, unaware of Ai watching her worriedly from inside the house.
“Risa-chan, we have to go.” the older girl called out, hearing sirens begin to close in on their position.
As if she had just realized she wasn’t alone, Risa looked up startled, “Oh, hi. I guess this wasn’t the most ideal time to meet, huh?”
“Come on, I’ll take you back to my house for a while.” Ai pulled her to her feet and started to lead her off.
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“I know she was worried about me for a long time after that, but I was in so much shock that I couldn’t even mourn.” Risa finished while watching her ex’s face and feeling Eri’s eyes burning into the side of her head, “When I finally did cry, I hated it so much that I just started to hate. I think she knew right away when I began to change and she tried her best to pull me out of my darkness. It worked, for a while, until the day that I became a part of Doro-san’s crew.”
“I read about that, too.” Eri confirmed to Risa’s unspoken question.
“Then I guess that’s a story for another day. Now, why don’t you tell me how you got shot?” Both girls sat facing each other and looked down at the barely noticeable bandage underneath Eri’s shirt.
“Ah, I’m surprised you saw that. It was pretty simple really. Not long ago, we got this call for domestic disturbance. Basically, some guy was slapping his wife around loudly enough for the neighbors to hear and we had to go take care of it.” Eri shrugged nonchalantly and Risa nodded in understanding, such things were common.
“We got out there, just the two of us, her a beat cop for all of two months and me not really expecting anything out of the ordinary when this woman comes bursting out of the house in hysterics. We can’t understand a word she’s saying, she’s so frightened and crying so hard. She was trying to tell us he had a gun. We didn’t realize it until he took aim at Reina. I just reacted.” Eri shrugged again, causing Risa to tilt her head.
“Wait, you just jumped in front of her? She couldn’t have taken the bullet herself?” the turtle girl laughed lightly at her tone.
“You make it sound as if I meant to get shot. I was trying to push us both out of harm’s way, but when I leapt at Reina, he changed his aim. We both landed behind our car and I called for back-up while she took a few shots at him. It all worked out in the end, not too much damage done to my insides and I only spent a week and a half in the hospital.” Yet another unaffected shrug.
“That’s pretty badass.” Risa acknowledged, thoughtfully nodding her head, “Will it scar too badly?”
“No, it shouldn’t. I kinda hoped it would, though.” the turtle mumbled through a sleepy yawn.
“Oh, looks like it’s your bedtime, huh?” Risa asked slyly and Eri nodded in agreement.
“It feels like such a long day.” she replied as she crawled to her feet, “Good night.” Eri waved over her shoulder as she left the room.
The room was unbearably silent for a long moment after she left and Risa turned her attention to her ex. Bringing up all those old memories made her think about why she had fallen for the woman in the first place. Ai was filled with the sort of unconditional loyalty that you just couldn’t find in most people today and she truly cared for those that she was close to. She had taken care of Risa until the day they parted.
As if sensing her thoughts, Ai moaned a little and began to stir. Risa nearly tripped over herself hopping out of her bed to check on the awakening beauty, running a tender hand across her cool forehead and down her cheek. “Ai?” she questioned softly as the other’s eyes fluttered, fighting against grogginess.
“Risa.” was the sluggish response when she could finally form words, “What happened?”
“You got shot dear, congratulations.” Relieved to finally see those orbs coherent, Risa broke into a brilliant smile, “You’ve been out of it since yesterday.”
“I missed a whole day?” Ai tried to sit up, but Risa held her down. When she tensed to struggle, the older girl groaned in pain.
“I wouldn’t suggest moving too much, you’re probably going to be sore for a while.” Still, Ai tried to sit up and Risa sighed in exasperation, leaning farther over her to hold on more firmly, “Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time Ai? Let me look out for you for once, you know you don’t have to always be strong around me.”
Ai appeared to ignore her words, but Risa knew she’d been heard when the older girl finally lay still, “What did I miss?”
“Well, after you passed out, Jun and I took care of Takashi-dono’s men and a couple of agents helped to bring you back here. Then all of us except Lin Lin and Kame-chan went to do some recon on a main safe house. That was pretty fun, but not too terribly exciting.” Risa perched herself on the bed next to Ai, “That’s it.”
“What do you mean by ‘took care of?’ You didn’t kill, did you?” Risa felt like rolling her eyes, but instead she just gave Ai a flat look. “You did! Even after I said not to.”
Sensing that her ex was gearing up for a rant, Risa quickly cut her off, partly because she didn’t want to hear it and partly so she didn’t strain herself, “Was I supposed to let them kill us? Or wait for back-up that wouldn’t have arrived on time? I keep telling you that it’s the only way to live! We would have died if I didn’t kill them first.”
Surprisingly, Ai’s doe eyes welled up with tears, “You can’t kill anymore, Risa. You can’t.” The gunner leaned down to wrap her arms around the distressed woman.
“I have no choice, it’s kill or be killed.” she felt warm wetness begin to soak her shoulder.
“I can’t let you do it. It hurts too much to see you hurting yourself like that.” Stunned, Risa pulled back to look Ai in the face, “You say you’ve changed, but you haven’t. From the first moment I saw you in that room, I knew that you were carrying this burden on your soul and it was eating you. You’ve always had such a kind heart. To see you repressing it like this is just too much! You don’t want to hurt anyone, you never did.” she degenerated into sorrowful sobs and Risa could only watch her in silence.
She realized that Ai wasn’t crying for her own pain, but Risa’s, that somehow, the older woman could see right through her, as she had always been able to. Even years apart couldn’t change that. Ai had known that everything she had said and done was just an act to hide how much being this way hurt her. She knew, she had always known.
“I’m sorry.” Ai sobbed into her hands, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
Risa tried to speak through a lump in her throat, but no sound came out. Her realization, combined with reliving painful memories had left a chink in her normally unbreakable mask and she felt an unfamiliar sensation burning her eyes. Warm, salty water dripped from her tear ducts and fell down her cheeks and Risa couldn’t remember the last time she had cried.
Before she knew what happened, she was the one sobbing into her hands with Ai trying to comfort her. She was crying so hard, like a child; it felt as if she didn’t, she would just explode from the pressure that was built up from years of bottling up her feelings. Feelings she could only share with the woman holding her.
Risa wept for her innocence and her blood stained hands, for the time apart from her home and heart, for her self imposed anger and her defensiveness that hadn’t been there before. She finally let go of all that was holding her back and leaned forward to kiss Ai deeply, feeling the woman respond in kind. The held each other desperately, sharing in their pain and sorrow, finally together again.
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Well, here ya go. Sorry it's a little later than usual, but I haven't felt much like writing recently. I'm passed a few actions scenes and now I'm stuck. If anything's confusing here, make sure to comment on it, also don't mind any spelling or grammar mistakes, I totally don't have an editor.
Topic: Black and Blue (Ch 34 6/4 The End!) (Read 176912 times)