Training at the Ginkawa Mansion

March 16th, 2023, 9:00 A.M.

Yuni slowly removed the bandages around her head and face. Her lips were chapped but otherwise healthy. Her hair was now a little shorter and more brittle but would recover. Though it was still long enough to be styled in twin tails.

“Finally, I can talk and eat properly again. I wonder if Miss Ginkawa will celebrate with some fried chicken,” she thought as she exited her room and ran towards the training room.

                                                                         ...

“You’re late mummy!” Serika growled.

“Hey! The bandages are gone now! Plus, I don’t need to text anymore to counter your bullshit!” Yuni glared.

“Good! I was getting tired of looking at my phone every time I wanted to know what stupidity you’d utter.”

“All right tsunderes its time to begin!” Madoka shouted as everyone faced her. 

The girls were all wearing gym shorts, sports bras, and running shoes, each color coded to match their affinities. Serika’s outfit was chartreuse, Emeri’s was black and crimson, Yuni’s was magenta, and Madoka’s was silver and white. Madoka had the outfits made onsite in one of the mansion's facilities.

“Today we’re gonna try zip ties. Now, these are some of the hardest restraints to escape. They can restrain you far tighter than rope or tape and are nearly impossible to escape from without something to cut it. For this lesson, you’ll need to reach some craft scissors on each of the tables in order to break free. Naturally, you will be bound and gagged. You can only get the scissors from your assigned table. You will have 10 minutes to escape. The timer will begin once all of you are restrained and in the starting position. Any questions?” Madoka asked.

“Could we see a demonstration?” asked Emeri.

“Sure, just tie me up.”

                                                                       ...

After tying up Madoka, the girls watched as she rolled to a table before using her strength to stand up and throw herself on the table. She rolled around until she grabbed the scissors. She then leaned her legs back and cut the zip tie binding her ankles before hopping off the table and finessing the scissors into position and cutting the zip tie binding her wrists.

“1 minute 2 seconds, easy right?” Madoka said as she ripped the tape off her mouth.

The three girls before her looked at her nervously.

“Now it’s your turn!”

                                                                        ...

Madoka started the timer as everyone began rolling towards their tables. Serika was the only one of the three that managed to hop on top of the table like Madoka. However, she was unable to bend her legs back as far as Madoka could and struggled trying to free her wrists. She’d constantly drop the scissors and have to pick them up. Yuni and Emeri elected to kick their respective tables in an effort to knock the scissors off them. After a while, Yuni managed to get the scissors to fall off the table. Though as soon as she freed her wrists, time was up.

Madoka surveyed everyone. Emeri had made the least progress and had failed to knock the scissors off the table. Madoka then placed the scissors next to her. To everyone’s surprise, Emeri was able to free her wrists easily.

“I figured you’d be good with your hands, though its still impressive considering your left hand still hasn’t fully healed,” Madoka stated.

“I told you; it can move just fine, it just hurts a bit if I don’t take pain killers,” Emeri grumbled as she ripped the tape off her mouth.

Yuni and Serika had each managed to free their wrists, though they had only managed to do so right as the time limit expired.

“Not bad you two, though it did take you a while to get the scissors. After a little breather we’ll move onto strait jackets. Any questions?”

“What do we do if there’s nothing to cut them with?” asked Yuni.

“Well, then you have to hide something that can cut them on you beforehand. If you don’t do that or your captors confiscate it from you, you’ll need to just escape using whatever resources you’ve got at your disposal.”

"Would brute force work?" Serika asked.

"Hmm, you'd need insane super strength."

"I got super strength. Can I have a go?"

Madoka shrugged and tied up Serika's hands with zip ties.

"HGNNN! GAH!"

Serika managed to break free of the zip ties with brute force.

"Wow, that was impressive," Emeri stated.

"*Huff* Took a lot out of me though," Serika replied.

"Probably cause the zip ties restrain you to where you can't properly break free without exuding a huge amount of strength. It's best to stick to a way that will conserve your strength so you still have the energy to get past any other traps and escape," Madoka stated.

After their quick break, the girls were bound in strait jackets and strapped to chairs. They groaned in pain as they attempted to break free. Serika however, managed to brute force her way out of the strait jacket.

"Not bad. Make use of everything at your disposal to escape. Even brute force," Madoka smiled.

"Unlike those damn zipties, I could actually make much better use of my strength here," Serika stated.

Yuni and Emeri responded with muffled groans.

“I know it’s a bit painful you two, but flexibility is the best way to escape the jacket if you don't have any super strength or tools on you. We can do some yoga afterwards if that will help increase your flexibility," Madoka smiled.

                                                                     ...

The girls enjoyed a rejuvenating lunch as they sat in a small dining room near the training room.

“So how long until your boss demands you return to work?” asked Madoka.

“We’ve got a few more days off. Though I honestly do want to return soon considering what’s happened,” Yuni said.

“What did that dumbass say?” asked Serika.

“Maybe add her in your contacts and you’ll find out. Though I’m sure you heard that bootleg Col. Sanders was arrested yesterday by Nakajima.”

“Sadly he was able to weasel out of prison, though his passport was confiscated and some American news stations are giving him hell. Apparently, there’s also some protests calling for him to resign; though considering he just got reelected last year, I doubt he’ll do so. It looks like the only way to get rid of him will be to convict him of kidnapping here in Japan. I doubt it will be easy though considering how powerful he is,” Emeri explained.

“Yeah, though I heard Nakajima paraded him through the station to thunderous applause. Here’s the video she shared.”

Yuni showed everyone the video in question. It was from a news crew that followed Mutsumi after she arrested Carl.

“[Release me this instant! This is DEFAMATION! The video’s a FAKE! I will sue you and your entire damn establishment!]” Carl roared as Mutsumi walked him in to the police station.

“Hey everyone! I brought in some Kentucky!” Mutsumi snickered as various officers and personnel applauded her.

“Hey that’s some big shot American politician!” one  officer said.

“I saw the video, apparently he was a customer of Benise," another commented.

“He’ll look more like fried chicken when we put him in the jumpsuit," another snickered.

“[The hell you Japs mumbling about!? Speak English dammit! I can’t understand a word!]” Carl fumed.

“[They’re saying you’re a piece of shit and you’ll look more like fried chicken in an orange jumpsuit,]” Mutsumi taunted.

“[FRIED CHICKEN!? YOU FUCKIN JAPS! I’M GONNA SUE YOU ALL TO HELL FOR THIS DEFAMATATION!]”

“Hey, does anyone have some tape?”

“[WHAT THE HELL-RE YOU PUTTIN NE-MMPH!]”

Carl glared and grunted as a officer gleefully slapped some tape over his mouth. The officer bowed to the applause as Carl was marched to the holding area where his mugshots and fingerprints were taken. The video ended with the news station showing Carl’s mugshots.

“Well, that footage and those mugshots should definitely help his future opponent, though sadly his buddies in Washington were able to pressure the station to release him from custody. While he can’t leave the country, he can sure as hell file a defamation suit. You’d need something bigger than just the video to bring him down if he’s able to do all that.” Emeri stated.

“That’s the other thing, apparently Sayuri Benise was caught," Yuni stated.

Serika turned to Yuni in shock.

“What!? How!?” she gasped.

“Apparently Inohara dragged her into E-station last night. I heard she found Benise bound and gagged in a sarcophagus on the back road we were on back during the museum incident. However, her car broke down and her phone ran out of battery, so she had to drag her all the way back to civilization.”

“I don't care how good a detective that kook is. Sensei warned me that she's suspicious considering she's close with Mochi's asshole sister. Heard them along with Kurobane and the superintendent general's daughter were besties in their officer days. Are we sure it's the real Benise?"

"Seems like it. Now that you mention it, I do remember Sensei telling me to be wary of her, though she never said she was overtly corrupt or with Illumous."

"She never really did a deep investigation into her, though kept an eye on her due to her corrupt acquaintances."

                                                                         ...

The girls resumed training after lunch and continued to do so until nightfall. To Yuni's delight, fried chicken was the main theme for dinner.

"That Kentucky fried bootleg will always be a criminal in my house!" Harumi declared as she unveiled a blown up poster of Carl's mugshots.

"I'm gonna make sure you get hell for this! Lets see you try and sue everyone hotshot! Your buddies will cave in when you start hurting their poll numbers!" Harumi fumed at the poster.

As Harumi ranted and raved, Yuni happily gobbled down the table.

"Why do you get to eat the whole table?" Serika grumbled as she snarfed down a tender.

"Coz I haben ee-en fo ah ay (Cause I haven't eaten for a day)," Yuni mumbled while snarfing down the chicken.

"Well, least I won't get fat like you."

                                                                          ...

Yuni moaned in bliss as she finished her meal.

"Thanks for the dinner Miss Ginkawa."

"No worries, you deserve it after all you've been through. Though if you don't mind me asking, what is your connection to Fubuki Dakota. I greatly respect her, and have used my platform to help her spread her words, however, I don't know what happened to her. When Madoka mentioned you respected her, I was wondering if perhaps you knew anything," Harumi asked.

"Yeah, why'd she ask Sensei to look after you?" Serika chimed.

"Simple, Fubuki Dakota is my mother," Yuni smiled.

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Wait!? You mean you're her daughter!? No way!" Serika stammered.

"Wait when you said your mother did dangerous jobs, you meant-"

"Yep, exactly that. I kind of alluded to it a bit, but didn't want to say it out loud back then due to the risk of Illumous overhearing."

"Though why'd Benise recognize you? You and Fubuki have different surnames," Serika inquired.

"Yeah, that actually caught me off guard. My mother's real name is actually Fuka Kirika. Futagawa is my uncle's surname, that I adopted when I began living with them. He works abroad though so I rarely saw him. Though my theory is that Benise identified me because of my aunt. In Fubuki's videos posted since February 1st of last year, she's been speaking via an aide that sounds nearly identical to her. That voice is my aunt and her twin sister Hitomi. She never approved of my mother choosing her dangerous career path, however, she loved her deeply. I imagine once she received the S.O.S. she resolved herself to save her and follow her on the path of danger," Yuni concluded.

"Thank you for your insight Yuni. If I ever find them, I'll do all that I can to get them to safety. Now how about you girls relax in the hot springs out back?" Harumi suggested.