The Crooks, The Police, and The Armoire

The halls vibrated with every note being played, causing both of the mobster patriarchs glance about irritably.

“What is that ungodly racket?” Gunther exclaimed, his dragon mask shifting its hateful gaze towards Hayami and Oto.

“That?” Hayami responded with a smug grin. “Oh, just your son’s huge pipe organ.”

Opening her clutch, the girl withdrew the pistol she had hidden and, with a snap of her wrist, levelled it at Hildebrand senior. In an instant, the man took a cautious step back, his hands raised in response to the weapon.

“Do it, daughter,” Tsukasa ordered from behind. “Pull the trigger. Avenge your mother—”

“Quiet!” She yelled out in reply, swinging the firearm his way. “I’m done with your shit, too! I don’t take orders from you, old man!”

The moment Hayami had looked away, Oto watched as his father quickly reached into his coat once more. This time, he withdrew more than a handkerchief, instead pulling out a matte black pistol that he swung her direction with murderous intent.

Oto could see the hate in his father’s eyes, similar to the paparazzi on the island who had done much the same. Similarly to before, the boy failed to hesitate and instead whipped his arm down with a forceful strike. Ripping free of its threaded binding, Hayami’s baton slid into his hand before firmly resting in his grip. By the time the pistol had begun to move her way, the blunt weapon struck at the man’s hand, knocking the firearm from his grip.

“Pa-pa!” Oto scolded. “What are you doing? Do not harm—”

A backhand swung, striking Oto across the face. He tumbled against the wall, his head hitting the plastering with a loud thud before limply sliding to the floor.

Hayami’s heart raced seeing this, as she angrily swung the weapon towards Gunther and prepared to fire.

“Oto!” She screamed, squeezing the trigger to finally put down the dragon that had caused so much pain.

But with the same speed that he had taken down Oto, the man had cleared the distance to Hayami. Slapping at her wrist before twisting her hand down, he put pressure on the right points to force her to release the weapon.

“Gyah!” She screamed out, falling to one knee.

She watched him take hold of the falling firearm, turning it against her in an instant. As he squeezed the trigger, Hayami rolled forward, picking up her baton. The gun fired, missing her and instead striking Tsukasa in the leg. He yelled out in pain, briefly distracting the gunman as she swung her weapon towards Gunther's knee.

Though she wasn't fast enough, and before the hit landed, he shifted. Not to fully dodge the strike, but enough to save his leg from a crippling blow. 

Gunther groaned, hobbling backwards and lowering the pistol to Hayami’s head as she swung her baton up, striking the weapon much the same way as Oto before her. And, as she hit, she forced herself up, pushing his arm with her as he fired three shots into the ceiling.

Hayami felt confident that she had the man where she wanted him, until she no longer did. He raised his foot and kicked at her leg, causing her to stumble backwards into the wall, where she tripped against Oto’s unconscious body.

“Worthless children,” Gunther growled, preparing to fire on her again. "Behave!"

“HAYAMI—!” Tsukasa cried out, charging his rival.

The girl watched as the mighty tiger tackled the dragon to the opposite wall. Using his bulk to his advantage, Tsukasa took hold of Gunther’s wrist, slamming it repeatedly against the plastering until he finally dropped the weapon. With one hand on the man's wrist and another to his throat, Hayami was all but certain her father would be victorious. But that was when she saw a familiar confident smirk cross the dragon's lips. The same one she had seen in Oto so many times before. 

With a free hand, Gunther slipped a hand into his back pocket and withdrew a butterfly knife. With a flick, the polished metal glinted in the overhead light before he stabbed Tsukasa in the side. The strikes came again and again, landing three times before the man knew what was happening.

“Dad!” Hayami screamed, watching as the tiger staggered away from the dragon, holding at his bleeding side.

Diving forward, Hayami took control of her pistol and raised it in the direction of Oto’s father. Squeezing the trigger, she fired two shots, the first barely missing, but the second hitting the man in the shoulder.

With a hiss, Gunther stumbled backwards, using the bulk of Tsukasa as a shield as he rushed for the elevator. Diving in, the doors began to close, but not before his rival barreled down the hall in pursuit.

“Gunther!” Tsukasa cried out, preventing the door from closing as he forced his way in.

Hayami attempted to take another shot, unloading the remainder of the magazine while trying to be careful not to strike the man who saved her life. And, by the time her gun clicked and the bullets stopped, the door to the elevator had closed, leaving only the sound of the organ and the screams echoing out from below.

With heavy breaths, she glanced to her side, seeing Oto and the trickle of blood that came from his head.

“Oto!” She panicked. “Oto! Wake up!”

“Miss Hayami? Miss Hayami?” The phone she had dropped beside her announced.

“Giles? You’re still there?”

“Of course, Miss. I wanted to let you know that Interpol has heard your gunfire and is enroute to your location.”

Hayami had become so caught up in the fight that she had forgotten the back half of their plan. During the preparation stage, Giles revealed that he had a friend in the International Criminal Police Organization who was heading up the operation to take down Oto’s father. He and his task force were the driving members planning to take down the mafia present that evening.

Suddenly, the screams from the first floors made sense to her as she saw various figures through the slits in the distant bannisters making their way upstairs. As planned, the minute the organ had begun playing, the police started their assault.

“Send them to the docks. Gunther and my dad have gone down to the docks.”

“Very well. Move on to the next stage. And don’t forget, Interpol is just as much after you, White Tiger.”

“Mmmhhhmmm…” Oto began to stir. “Hayami? D-Did we win?”

“Win?” She huffed, pulling him to his feet. “There’s no winning until we get out of here. Now get up, we need to go.”

As the boy slowly stood, Hayami reached into his coat and began to take the extra magazines she had put on his body, sliding them into the pockets on her dress. Reloading her pistol, she reached over and grabbed her baton and forced it into Oto’s hand.

“Great job, by the way,” Hayami whispered to him, kissing him on the cheek. “Thanks for saving me.”

“Saving you from?—Oh my, the furries!”

“The wha—?”

“Freeze! Get down on the ground, White Tiger!”

Hayami looked behind her at the two INTERPOL agents in body armour with their pistols drawn. Her heart raced as she eyed their weapons, shifting to their locked gazes focused on her exposed tattoos and firearm.

Making a split decision, she took hold of Oto and pulled him against her as a shield.

“Ack, Hayami!” He gasped as he felt her gun pressed to his temple.

“Stay back! Or the pretty boy gets it!” She screamed and dragged Oto towards the nearest door.

The agents watched her, holding their ground with weapons drawn, unsure what to do.

“Hayami, w-what are you doing? The furries are going to shoot me!”

Oto began to wriggle against her grasp as she continued to drag him along. Releasing the boy, she quickly opened the door.

“Fuzz, Oto, fuzz! They’re not furries!”

“Fine! The fuzzies!”

With Oto freed, the police began shooting at Hayami, who cursed and moved into the safe space. Yanking the boy into the room, she slammed the door and locked it behind them. She had successfully evaded the police. At least temporarily. But they still needed a way out.

“Am I bleeding?” Oto asked, looking at himself in the mirror that hung over the headrest of the bed. “Oh dear, this is going to get on my suit.”

“Stop worrying about your suit, Oto!” Hayami snapped as she pushed her way over to the room's armoire. 

Tapping against the slab of wood separating the fixed cabinet and back wall, she was met with a hollow thud. With a smile, she ran her fingers along the panel's edges, knowing she had found the entrance to the servant hallway positioned behind it.

Luckily, after learning of the secret passages, Hayami had spent time exploring the nooks and crannies of the house. As such, she had discovered numerous helpful entry and exit points used by the servers, one of which was the armoires where maids could deliver fresh clothes without ever setting foot in the room.

With a satisfying click, the panel pushed into the wall, revealing the faint incandescent light of the house's interior spaces.

“Come on!” The girl barked, reaching back and pulling the boy from the mirror. “We’ve got to get to the helicopter.”