Dangerous Surroundings

“My name is Shishiro Botan.” The woman, now known as Botan, said. “Now, time for me to ask some questions. Why are you two kids alone in this part of the city?”

“City?” Samui asked, trying to get more knowledge of their location.

“Bahandar, the most dangerous out of the five cities.” Botan said while walking back to pick up her pistol. “Plus, my home. So, what are you two doing here?”

“You probably wouldn’t believe us.” Samui said.

Even if she had been locked inside a facility her entire life, she knew that her situation was quite unusual.

“Believe me.” Botan said while holstering her empty gun in its usual spot. “I’ve seen and heard it all. So you can...”

Before Botan could finish the sentence, however, some loud gunshots were heard. She turned around to look towards the beginning of the alleyway.

“Shit.” Botan said while taking out her knife. “It’s not safe around here. I’ll take you girls to my place.”

Samui wanted to decline. After all, she didn’t know this dangerous woman who moments ago had single-handedly killed the four men chasing her. But, on the other hand, she had acted kind and trustworthy towards them. Samui turned around and stared at Yakuina, who was shivering in fear while covering her ears. It seemed she only had one option. She grabbed Yakuina’s hand and squeezed it to give her sister a sense of security, then walked behind Botan.

“Good. Stay behind me and follow all of my instructions.” Botan said while giving the two girls a faint smile. “I’ll keep you safe, ok?”

Together, they walked out of the alleyway.

###

Samui and Yakuina had both dreamed about the outside world. But they were certainly not expecting this.

Bahandar City was a labyrinth of complete and utter chaos. Enormous buildings stood tall creating multiple paths, alleyways and dark dead ends. Debris, blood and a few corpses spread throughout the roads of the city. Samui kept her eyes on the ground, trying to focus on the occasional shards of broken glass and unstable grounds.

Despite how terrible the city looked, Botan seemed to know all the safest shortcuts and pathways, skillfully avoiding most of the hazards surrounding them. Samui tried her best in imitating Botan’s agile movements, managing to follow without much trouble. Yakuina however was another case altogether and kept on accidentally tripping and falling. Thankfully, Samui was there to catch her every time.

“Sorry.” Yakuina apologized. “It’s kind of hard to walk through here.”

“Don’t worry, just hold my hand.” Samui replied.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe, I guess.”

“I don’t like this place. It smells really awful and...” Yakuina turned to look at a corpse that was laying on the sidewalk. Its skin was pale and its eyes were wide open, they seemed devoid of any life. She immediately felt sick, but managed to keep her stomach under control. “Are... Are those people dead?”

“Don’t look at them. Focus on me and on the road.”

“Silence.” Botan said.

The voice of the lioness startled the girls. While they were talking, they had entered a narrow alleyway. Trash covered the ground and the walls were covered in dust. The simple act of breathing was difficult. With dried marks of blood and other fluids on the walls, the alleyway irradiated a heavy aura of pain and fear.

All of a sudden, without warning, Samui heard a faint swoosh. Before she could even process that, however, the lioness immediately pulled her and Yakuina out of the way. She felt a stinging sensation on her arm. When she looked at it, she found a gash on the upper section of her arm. She moved her hand to cover it as she turned back to look at their assailant.

The girl had long, pink and blonde hair. She was staring at them with cold greenish cyan eyes. She had two curved horns protruding from her head, the left one being longer than the right one. A pointy tail waved behind her. She wore what seemed to be the remains of a dress, colored in different shades of purple. But the skirt had been cut shorter, revealing more of her thighs and legs, which were covered in ripped stockings. Her white top had also been cut open in order to reveal her ample cleavage, with a black harness accentuating it.

Her tail was wrapped around what looked like a microphone. But it was no usual microphone, for it had two large, sharp horns and two wings protruding from it.

“It’s been a long while, huh?” Said the figure. “I see you haven’t lost your touch, Botan.”

“You.” Botan said while holding her knife towards the girl. “Leave us alone, Aloe. Don’t you have some dick to suck?”

“You see, I can’t really just let anyone pass by my territory without giving me some fun.” The girl said while showing a wide grin and licking her lips. “Especially someone like you.”

A loud laugh resonated and echoed through the narrow walls, reminding Samui of the man back at the facility. To them, people were only entertainment, their lives possessing no real value. Samui gritted her teeth in anger.

“Who are the girls behind you?” Said Aloe, slowly approaching them. “Didn’t take you as the type to act as a savior. Or maybe they’re your next target?”

Samui stared at Botan, who was keeping the same serious, deadly stare.

“No, if that were the case, they would be dead already.” Aloe said. “You were always so boring when it came to murder...”

Aloe smacked her head with her palm.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Assassinations, wasn’t it?” She said with a playful but demeaning tone. But her grin soon disappeared and she stared at Botan with empty eyes. “Deep down you know you’re just a murderer. No matter the kind of people you kill.”

Samui noticed that, for what seemed like a second, Botan’s grip on her knife had faltered. But it was back to its usual stance so quickly it would have been imperceptible if she hadn’t been staring at it.

“Anyway...” Aloe said while stretching. “How about we have some fun?”

Without any warning, Aloe licked her lips and dashed towards them, attacking with her microphone. Botan stopped the attack with her knife, then tried kicking Aloe away, but Aloe quickly dashed out of the way. She then quickly tried stabbing Botan in the face with her microphone, but Botan managed to grab Aloe’s wrist, stopping her in her tracks. But Aloe kept pushing, trying to land a hit.

“I have new tricks, you know? This horn? Delightfully poisoned.” Aloe said while struggling.

Botan did not say anything. Instead, with her free hand, which was still holding her knife, she tried stabbing Aloe on the side. But Aloe quickly moved her torso out of the way. She jumped up, twisting herself while in the air and landing on Botan’s shoulders.

“Nice try!” Aloe said while laughing.

Botan quickly jumped backwards towards one of the walls of the alleyway, trying to crush Aloe. Aloe quickly rotated to Botan’s side to avoid getting slammed. But Botan, who still had a grip on Aloe’s wrist, quickly swung her from one side to the other and slammed her towards the wall, making a big dent on the wall. Aloe fell on the ground as Botan released her grip on her wrist.

Aloe quickly recovered and pushed herself up as she retreated and then proceeded to strike again. For two women in heeled boots, they moved and attacked at such an incredibly fast speed that Samui was unable to follow, all the movements blurring in her vision. Aloe kept trying to find weak spots to stab. Botan, meanwhile, kept managing to block every single attack.

Aloe jumped back then threw her microphone forwards and high into the air. Botan turned to look at it. But by the time she realized it was a distraction, Aloe was skillfully using the narrow walls around her to rise up. She quickly caught the microphone then fell back behind Botan. Then, with her foot on the wall, Aloe launched herself towards Botan, pushing her against the wall. Botan’s head collided with the wall, getting stunned for a second. Using this moment of weakness, Aloe did something neither Samui, Yakuina or Botan were expecting.

She kissed Botan.

After what felt like a few seconds, Aloe separated her lips from Botan’s, with her tongue still out revealing a faint line of saliva. Botan fell to the ground with her back against the wall as her face relaxed into a dazed expression. Aloe, meanwhile, incorporated herself and stared down at Botan.

“I never thought I’d get to use that on her.” Aloe said, breathing heavily but displaying a smug grin.

Samui stood terrified, unable to bring herself to run away. She looked down to look at Botan. Her eyes looked void of life, as if all that remained was nothing but an empty husk of what was once the strong lioness.

“Oh, don’t worry...” Aloe said in a not really reassuring tone.

She then turned her head around to look towards Samui and Yakuina, her eyes glowing with sadism.

“She’s not dead yet, but I’ll deal with her later. You two are more important.” Aloe said while licking her lips and walking towards them.

At the incoming threat, Samui was able to snap out of it and started running, trying to get away while grabbing Yakuina by the wrist. But Aloe was faster. She dashed towards them and slammed them towards the ground. Samui tried getting up, but was immediately kicked in the stomach. She was sent back, rolling and slamming her head against a nearby industrial trash can. Mind-numbing pain seared through the back of her head as her vision darkened. She could feel herself slipping into the darkness.

“No... Can’t...” Samui muttered to herself as she moved her head up, trying to keep herself from falling unconscious.

Samui stared at Aloe, who was stepping on Yakuina with her foot on her belly. Meanwhile, Yakuina stared at her assailant with wide, terrified eyes.

“Now, what to do with you two? Oh, I have so many ideas!” Aloe giggled while staring at Yakuina. “I’ll have you get fucked by so many men and let them make you their sex toys! Have you all drugged up and unable to fight back!”

Aloe then broke into loud laughter. Samui tried to stand up, but collapsed back down on the floor.

“But three is a crowd, so I think I’ll kill you and use the other one. After all, I haven’t been able to see my poisoned horn in action yet.”

“P-Please... h-help...” Yakuina pleaded in a faint whisper while crying.

“Oh, the cries for help.” Aloe said as she pressed her foot more, the heel of her boot pressing into Yakuina. “Believe me, no one will help you.”

Samui extended her arm towards Yakuina, pleading her body to move, but being unable to. Then she caught sight of something. There was a faint thin glowing purple string, linking her to Aloe. With all her strength, she swung her hand towards the side. Samui stared in complete shock as Aloe was blasted towards a wall in the same direction as her hand.

“Get... away... from my sister!” Samui furiously yelled out.

Samui then started waving her hand around, slamming Aloe continuously between walls. Then, she finally moved her hand down and slammed her towards the ground. Aloe didn’t move after that.

Samui felt exhausted and nearly passed out, but she managed to walk towards Yakuina using the walls as support. Once she reached her, she kneeled down next to her.

“Are you ok?” Samui asked.

“I-I thought I was going to die.” Yakuina cried out as she incorporated herself and hugged her sister. “Thank you.” Yakuina muttered as she placed her head on Samui’s shoulder.

Samui then felt a sharp pain on her lower back. With the bit of strength she had left, she moved her hand back and grabbed the item stabbing her in the back: a shiny, black microphone. Samui dropped the microphone and collapsed over her sister as she felt the poison burning her back. Meanwhile, Aloe got up and willed her microphone back to her, which flew towards her hand.

Yakuina stared at Aloe. She was visibly wounded and breathing heavily, with blood staining her now dusty attire. Aloe was about to attack, but at the corner of her vision, she saw something move. She turned around and noticed Botan slowly getting up, visibly disoriented. Aloe, who was not in shape to further fight the lioness, quickly made her escape.

“Bitch.” Botan let out a growl as she saw the girl run away.

Botan then turned to look at the girls and noticed blood staining the back of Samui’s white robe. She quickly ran towards the girls and pulled Samui from Yakuina as she inspected her. Samui was still alive, but she was breathing heavily.

“We have to get help immediately.” Botan said as she pulled out a roll of white bandages. “I know someone who can help.”

She then tied them up tightly around Samui’s lower back to stop the blood from further coming out.

“Get up.” Botan said as she instructed Yakuina to sit over her shoulders.

She then picked up Samui and started running out of the alleyway, carrying the two girls with her.

“I just hope it’s not too late.” She muttered.