Chapter 30: A Different Kind of Fight

The 'love-triangle' (or whatever this hell-scape is) just evaporates. My head snaps toward the sound, and so does Ayako's.

A man in a dirty green hoodie is sprinting. He just shoved a woman to the ground and is clutching her expensive-looking handbag. He is running right towards us. And he is not alone. Two more guys, who look like his gangster buddies, are running with him, acting as 'blockers'. They are shoving people, knocking over mannequins, creating a path. "Out of the way!" one of them yells.

My instinct, my old, stupid, Shoujo instinct, kicks in. "Crap. Bullies," I mutter. My body tenses. I drop into a low stance, my fists clenched. My 'procedural update' can wait. This is what I do.

I am about to move.

"Wait." Ayako's hand is on my chest. Her voice is not 'predator' or 'goddess'. It is the 'dojo' voice. It is cold. "Observe," she commands.

"But..."

"Observe."

She is not looking at the thief. She is looking past him. At Hina.

Hina, who is not crying. Hina, whose face is not 'broken'. Her face is furious.

"Oh, no you do not," Hina Aizawa whispers, her voice like gravel.

And she moves. She does not run at the thief; she runs to intercept him. She is fast, an athlete. She runs on the balls of her feet, her center of gravity low.

"Hina!" I yell. "Get back! There are three of them!"

"Shou-chan, Ayako-san, stay here!" she yells back, not even looking. "I got this!"

The thief in the green hoodie sees her. He sneers. He thinks she is just another girl. He tries to shove her, just like he shoved the woman with the purse. Big mistake.

Hina moves. It is not like Ayako. Ayako is a predator; she is violence, her moves are destruction, palm-heel strikes, knee-breaks. Hina is control. She does not block the shove; she parries it. She grabs the man's extended arm, pivots, and uses his own momentum. It is beautiful. It is a perfect, textbook ippon seoi nage, a one-arm shoulder throw.

The thief goes flying. He sails over Hina's shoulder and lands flat on his back on the hard mall tile. WHUD. The entire mall just stops.

The two gangster-buddies skid to a halt, stunned. "What... what the hell?" one of them says. Hina does not even look at them. She is standing over the thief, who is groaning. She puts her foot on his chest. "You... are... an idiot," she says, her voice low and dangerous.

I am stunned. Ayako is stunned. "Wow," I whisper. "Hina is... wow."

Ayako is silent. Her eyes are glowing. She is analyzing. "Her form..." Ayako whispers. "It is... standardized. It is clean. It is... 'police'."

The two gangster-buddies are not smart. "Get her!" one of them yells, and they charge Hina. One of them pulls a small, collapsible baton from his jacket.

"HINA!" I roar. I am moving. I am not 'observing'.

"No!" Ayako snaps, and her hand is like a vice on my arm. "Wait!" I trust her. I stop.

Hina sees the baton. She does not panic. The guy swings. Hina dodges, moving inside the swing. Block. Twist. Lock. She grabs his wrist, twists the baton out of his hand, and it clatters to the floor. In the same, fluid motion, she drives her palm into his elbow from underneath. His arm bends the wrong way. He screams. She shoves him into his friend.

The friend just stops. He looks at his buddy clutching his arm. He looks at the thief on the floor, who is not moving. He looks at Hina, who has just cracked her knuckles.

"I... I..." The gangster runs. He just turns and runs the other way.

Hina is breathing hard, her face flushed. She looks amazing. The mall security, a bunch of guys in silly hats, finally show up, huffing and puffing. "Ma'am... ma'am... what... happened?"

Hina just points. "He stole a bag. He had accomplices. He... resisted arrest."

I just... "Holy... crap," I mutter.

I look at Ayako. Her face is a mask of pure, analytical fascination. "Her... technique..." Ayako whispers, her eyes narrowed. "It is Krav Maga. No. Systema? No... it is... Keisatsuken. Police Academy. Defensive Tactics."

She looks at me, her eyes dangerous. "Her father... is a detective," Ayako states.

"Yeah," I say, my mind still blown. "Hina... is... she is an excellent... police academy student."

Ayako's face is unreadable. "A... 'problematic variable'," Ayako whispers. "A... very... highly-trained... 'problematic variable'."