Papiratazzis

The rifle kicked at Hayami’s shoulder as she watched the round splash against the water beside one of the approaching boats. Much like her first time firing from horseback, the rise and fall of the speedboat meant she needed to adjust her shooting style. Though for her, that was hardly a challenge.

That was, except for the distracting thoughts of her straddling Oto and the feeling of his warmth once again wriggling its way into her mind. She inhaled sharply, lifting the bolt and drawing it back towards her cheek. The spent casing flew out as she chambered a fresh round and slammed the bolt closed.

Focus! Hayami thought, exhaling as she squeezed the trigger and felt the rifle kick once more.

Watching through the scope, she witnessed a spray of mist as a gunman tumbled backwards and over the edge of the boat. Immediately, the other shooter crouched for cover, his arms reaching above the hull and firing blindly in Hayami’s direction.

“That’s awfully loud!” Oto exclaimed, turning to see Hayami’s kneeling form and the rifle she held in her grasp. “Where did you get that huge gun?! Do they come standard when motorboating now?”

“Stop calling—grr!” Hayami yelled frustratedly. “Giles left them for us.”

“Giles? You got a hold of Giles?”

“Yes, he gave us these coordinates.”

Hayami tossed her phone to Oto before staring through the scope once more. With an exhale, she squeezed the trigger, this time watching as the bullet pierced the chest of a man helming one of the boats. A smile crossed her face as his body fell to the side, his still firm grip pulling the wheel with him.

The speedboat sharply veered to the right, catching the water and beginning to flip wildly. The two gunmen aboard the vessel flew to the side, becoming caught in the path of the tumbling boat before disappearing beneath the waves.

“Heh.” Hayami chuckled to herself as she loaded another round.

“Did you happen to remember to tell Giles that I wanted him make dolmades and souvlaki tonight?”

She turned back to look at Oto as he stared at her with an excited expression crossing his face. Her own look hardened to a scowl as she delivered a sharp reply.

“What?! No? Why?”

“Oh,” Oto’s delight immediately disappeared. “N-no reason. Carry on with your—erm—shooting or what have you.”

Hayami glared at the boy as he turned back around. Her eyes quickly glanced down, staring at the way the hakama hid his ass from her gaze. Disappointment clouded her mind as she had hoped for a peek at his firm rear.

Shame. She thought to herself. Gah! No, Hayami! Focus!

Looking back, her heart stopped as a steady stream of impacts on the water revealed high-calibre rounds raining down from above. She only had a moment to react, raising her gun towards the sky and screaming as loud as her voice could go.

“Oto! Left! Left! Veer left, now!”

“Wha—oh my!”

Glancing behind, he saw the approaching white spray that reached up from the ocean. Even Oto had watched the occasional action movie and knew what bullets striking water looked like. Panicked, he gripped the wheel firmly and cut the boat to the side as hard as he could manage without capsizing their vessel.

From the back, Hayami’s body forcefully slammed against the opposite seats as she coughed loudly in response. But there wasn’t time for her to hesitate or even acknowledge the cracking sound that came from her ribs as, with the rifle already trained on the helicopter’s door gunner, she squeezed the trigger once again.

The stream of bullets barely missed the boat as the helicopter quickly veered away in response to the counterattack. Correcting his bearing and speed, Oto watched from the corner of his eye as a limp body cartwheeled through the air before crashing into the water.

“Nice shooting!”

“Thanks!” Hayami replied, expelling the spent casing once more as she prepared to keep firing.

“You really showed those aerial papiratazzis!”

“What was that?”

“Pap-papiratazzis? Pirate paparazzi?”

“That’s…” Hayami sighed before chuckling. “That’s stupid, Oto.”

She focused again on the approaching threats, resting her cheek against the comb of the rifle and staring through the scope. The fact of the matter was that more boats were approaching than she could deal with before they overtook them. But that wouldn’t stop her from trying. After all, Hayami loved a challenge

After inhaling a calming breath, her heart slowed enough to temporarily quell the anxious tremors before she began the process of shooting again.

Hayami’s hands moved quickly as she masterfully worked the action. Spent casings were ejecting from the chamber almost as fast as the bullets flew from the muzzle. She calculated that the eleven approaching boats would be within optimal range of their semi-automatic rifles in a two-minute window. This gave her enough time to finish two magazines easily.

Unfortunately, after the fourth boat flipped and scattered the crew into the ocean, the remaining pursuers began to commit to evasive maneuvers.

Hayami adjusted to this, taking her time to line up her shots and even managing to take out another vessel before the bullets began to chip away at the back of their own.

“Hayami!” Oto cried out. “Shoot them! They’re damaging our boat!”

“I’m trying!” She screamed in reply.

Throwing her rifle down, she began to search back through the carefully packed storage. Hayami knew that, if Giles had indeed done his homework on her and knew she liked the ninety-eight for long range, then he would have known what her preferred mid-range rifle was.

“Ah! Perfect.” She gasped delightfully, withdrawing the customized SCAR-H and quickly examining the magazine. “A-COG scope, vertical foregrip, and twenty-round magazines? Butler, you spoil me.”

Slipping the magazine into place and ripping back on the charging handle, she chambered the first round. With an excited breath, she began to fire, listening to the satisfying sound of the weapon and the resulting sight of pursuing gunmen dropping off the sides of their speedboats.

With new sounds coming from behind, Oto couldn’t help but look over his shoulder. To him, Hayami had magically gained yet another gun. Unsure where she was pulling these firearms from, he chose to instead marvel over her beauty once more. Admiring the way she focused, her lips pursed as she squeezed the trigger and the way she shouldered the recoil of the firearm, Oto couldn’t help but be attracted to her.

“Damn,” He spoke softly so that he would not distract her. “A Grecian goddess with the might of modernity in her grasp. This would sooo trend.”

Grabbing for the phone that he had been thrown, he quickly opened the camera and, with one hand, snapped pictures. He waited for the right moments, as the wind whipped at her navy jacket, splitting it enough to reveal her white shirt and prominent bosom. Silver hair flowed from the cap that did little to protect it from straying into her face.

“If only she…wait—” Oto thought of something to add to the shot. “Hayami, catch!”

Still maintaining a hold of the boat, he placed the phone down before tossing her his sunglasses. As though she had been waiting for that moment, she swung around and snatched them from the air. Slipping them over her eyes, she protected the precious amber orbs from her hair, and the look became complete.

“Thanks!” She yelled back as she continued to shoot. “How did you know my hair was getting—”

Looking over her shoulder, she caught Oto as he continued snapping photos.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She screamed at him, lowering her gun and directing her furious gaze upon him.

“Don’t mind me!” He returned, his finger tapping the camera repeatedly as he continued to get shots. “You’re just so hot right now! And if you kill all the paparazzi, then no one else will know. Do you think you can pose against the engine a little? I think it would look fantastic!”

“Eyes forward, idiot!”

“You’re going to need to stop calling me that!” Oto yelled back at her. “I’m not an idiot, you know!”

“Prove it by looking—Oto!”

Hayami turned towards Oto, raising her weapon skyward as she rushed to his side. Following her movement, Oto turned his gaze forward and inhaled sharply.

Lowering itself from the sky to be directly in front of the boat was the helicopter from before. Another figure had taken up position as the door gunner and was directly facing them.

Oto’s heart dropped. The paparazzi had surrounded them, and soon they’d be taking their last shots.