Chapter Six - Sunday I

As Sunday arrived, Kasumi found herself already dressed and ready to go by the time the first rays of sunlight permeated the window.

Her eyes drifted away from her book, as the approaching daylight apparently prompted the woman occupying the other bed to waywardly shuffle about in her bed.

Me getting up first up might be a surprise. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the musical element of the visit to the concert hall and the warmth provided by growing closer to somebody who’s trying so hard for me, but memories torrented back and stubbornly remained, cluttering my mental space.

I can still remember everything from back then as if they happened yesterday; thoughts so vivid that they staunchly blocked me from drifting off, to the supposedly more peaceful and pleasant realm where dreams live.

Well, at least during the day, I have your weirdness to distract me.

Although this is now the third morning where I’m beholden to this odd quirk of yours, I’m still a bit unsettled by the fact that you always sleep stark naked whenever the circumstances allow it.

Or the more unsettling thing is that I’ve more or less accepted your behaviour without outward question; this isn’t normal, surely? Though I guess it’s fine when you’re at home? I guess you’re at home around me then? Either that or you’re just plain weird, Kasumi concluded. She greeted, using her usual neutral tone of voice, ‘Good morning,’ also waving statically as she spoke.

Renka shot up from her bed, and blasted back a cheerful and unnecessarily loud response, ‘Good morning, early bird! Nice to see you ready before me for once.’

She stood smiling and gazing directly into Kasumi’s greyish-blue eyes after issuing her reply.

Well…

When I woke up from my nap this morning, I wasn’t anticipating you towering over me sans all clothing.

Although I’ve seen you in your completely natural form once before, it didn’t have as much effect as it does right now.

Your relative height advantage gives you a dominating presence in the moment, and your long, dark brown hair looks quite elegant when it’s let down, despite having just emerged from the bed, Kasumi considered, with her gaze magnetised to Renka’s eyes and warmly smiling face, looming above.

That’s nothing compared to how imposing the yet darker brown colour of your irises are though, without the filter of the glasses; it’s like staring into a black hole, the irresistible gravitational force that they carry.

Seeing your beautiful features, well-toned arm and leg muscles as well your strong build in all its natural, uninhibited glory does me wonder how long it’ll be before you suggest we sleep together…

After Renka got dressed, the duo headed down and had breakfast. The inn-keeper offered to prepare another no-strings-attached breakfast for the pair to carry on their travels, which they gratefully accepted. Once breakfast had been eaten, the women then prepared to depart, collecting their bags and equipment from their room, before heading back to the front desk to return their keys.

As the inn-keeper alluded to the night before, she had prepared a few recipes for the women to take on their journey, neatly scribed on small notebook leaves, small enough to fit in one of their hands. The old lady also returned Renka’s map to her, with a friendly smile; then bearing markings, guiding the pair of women exactly to where their next target should be.

Once everything had been exchanged, Renka fell silent.

Huh? What’s brought on the expression of sorrow? Kasumi wondered.

Before too long, Renka piped up, ‘I’ll miss you, grandma! Thank you for everything!’ again, unnecessarily loudly, though this was nothing compared to what followed. Stretching her arms out, Renka asked, ‘Can I have a hug?!’ The old lady smiled sympathetically and granted Renka her wish, as Kasumi watched on. There you go again; I’m struggling to decide if this makes you weirder than previously thought, or if this is an endearing gesture.

Once the two had separated, the inn-keeper sent the pair of women on their way, waving lightly, with a warm smile, ‘Good luck dears and do take care of yourselves.’

The ladies bowed, ‘Thank you for looking after us, you stay safe too,’ before continuing with ‘Off we go,’ as they waved and left the inn, set to journey almost two hours south-west, to the area where they expected to find their target in the evening.

❀

As lunchtime approached, not long after noon, Tsubaki tentatively shuffled into the kitchen, although it does seem like he’s trying to appear friendly, Hikari’s father is so imposing that I can’t help but be nervous in his presence.

The house is tranquil, so hopefully I can make good progress on the AI project during the afternoon.

Arriving in the kitchen, Ah; Hikari’s mother.

Across the space, she stood, preparing something to eat at the counter, with a frying pan nearby, on low heat. After hearing the doctor come in, the older woman turned and directed a friendly smile at Tsubaki. ‘Oh, so I’m not home alone then. Would you care to join me for lunch?’

While Hikari’s father is a challenge for one reason, her mother is a problem at the other end of the spectrum. She’s friendly and welcoming, to the extent where it makes me uncomfortable, especially considering how Hikari behaves half of the time; clearly the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Before the delay in response became too lengthy and awkward, Tsubaki nervously replied, ‘Yes!’ failing to correctly regulate the volume of her voice in the process.

Hikari’s mother continued to smile, ‘I’ll be done cooking in a bit, so feel free to have a seat and I’ll be over with the food in the next five to ten minutes,’ she advised, before turning back to her cooking.

Would it be rude if I opened up my laptop and started working right away? Maybe I should stop being a wuss and strike up conversation, to pass the time while waiting.

‘You wouldn’t happen to know where Hikari went, would you?’ Tsubaki quizzed, tentatively.

‘I’m not sure. To be honest, I was hoping you could tell me.’

After a short pause and noticeable sigh, she continued, wistfully, ‘Then again, I’m not really surprised; Hikari wandering off to do who-knows-what for indeterminate lengths of time is pretty much to be expected nowadays. All I can do is hope that she stays safe and returns soon.’

Uwah; I can feel the weight of concern in her voice pressing down on me. There it is again; an odd tightness to my breathing. Partly triggered by the knowledge that Hikari is probably out, getting into trouble and partly from seeing that her mother still evidently loves and cares for her daughter quite deeply, despite the less-than-ideal circumstances.

‘What about her father? Is he also not at home?’ Tsubaki questioned, as positively as she could manage.

‘Ah; he’s gone out into the mountains for a drive with the old car. It’s one of his favourite Sunday pastimes. When the children were big enough, he used to teach them how to drive on Sundays using that same car as well. I guess it’s his direct link back to fond memories.’

The next few minutes passed in silence, so far as dialogue went. Time, in which Tsubaki did little more than compare the similarities between Hikari and her mother, observing her while she cooked. After the period of silence elapsed, the stoves fell quiet and still before Hikari’s mother transferred all of the food she had prepared to a single plate.

Smiling, Hikari’s mother set down the plate and took her seat, nearby Tsubaki.

That’s a lot of croquettes, along with cooked seaweed and a decent number of onigiri, all neatly arranged in neat circular patterns, based on the quantities. Tsubaki instinctively remarked, ‘It smells and looks lovely,’ eyes slightly widened and smiling in anticipation.

‘Thank you.’

Aside from the doctor confirming to Hikari’s mother that the food tasted just as great as it looked and smelled, silence lingered between the two women.

Ugh; the silence is weird, she might think I’m rude at this rate… Tsubaki scan the room and eventually ended up with her gaze fixed on a framed photograph.

Hmm; two of those faces look familiar; Hikari’s mother and father, along with a young man (presumably late teens) and girl (presumably mid-teens) with long, elegant, black hair, wearing what I guess is a school uniform, composed of a smart, short-sleeve shirt, ribbon tie, waistcoat and smart skirt.

After studying the picture for a while, Hikari’s mother picked up on where Tsubaki’s eyes had focused, prompting her to fix the doctor with a studying gaze, ‘I’m guessing you’re wondering who the two youngsters in the photo are?’

‘Yes!?’

‘The young man is our son, Kouki; Hikari’s older brother by three years. They used to be fairly close, though they drifted apart once he left for university studies. He works in the capital city now.’

Your daughter worked there as well, until a couple of nights ago, the doctor responded, in her head. Sounding a bit confused, Tsubaki enquired, ‘And the girl? Is that Hikari?’

Hikari’s mother gave the doctor a friendly smile. ‘Believe it or not; yes, that’s Hikari.’

‘Did something happen to her? She looks like a completely different person in that photo.’

This question sparked a rapid transition from the previously cheery attitude to a tangibly dejected one. Sounding laboured, Hikari’s mother explained, ‘Honestly, I don’t even know the full details of what took place. I know the main details, but even then, it’s probably best that you ask Hikari herself; partly because she’d no doubt despise me for telling one of her biggest secrets and partly because you’d probably find out more from asking her yourself.’ She paused for a moment in thought before continuing, ‘Hikari used to be popular among the student body and teachers alike. She was also a shining star on the artistic gymnastics teams; always winning local and regional competitions with her floor, beam and sometimes uneven bars routine performances. She also had test results which never strayed far from near the top of her classes. However, not long after starting her first year of high school, she suffered something that quite quickly derailed everything.’

Not good; her voice turned increasingly wobbly as she finished her explanation. There are tears forming at the corners of her eyes as well.

Well, I didn’t see that one coming. I guess everybody has their reasons for why they do what they do and why they are how they are. I guess this also means that there’s more to Hikari than she lets on about, the doctor remarked. Tsubaki recovered a handkerchief from a pocket of her overall skirt and offered it to Hikari’s mother in an outstretched hand. ‘I’m sorry to hear that and I’m sorry for asking such a sensitive question; I didn’t think it would be such a painful memory.’

After a short interval, in which Hikari’s mother wiped her eyes and gathered her thoughts. The older of the two women resumed, sounding more positive than when she last spoke. ‘You needn’t feel too bad about it; she hides it very well and keeps her distance from virtually everyone, including us, as part of how she’s chosen to deal with her problems.’ She continued to stare out into space for a little while longer before turning back to Tsubaki and continuing, with a relieved smile, ‘At least she’s found something special, to help her reclaim some of the happiness that she lost back then.’

Come again? Are you being playful like your daughter, or serious? Tsubaki questioned confusedly in return, ‘Something special?’

‘From the way that she looks at you, I’m certain that she sees something unique in you. She may not be great at expressing it to you, but a mother can tell these things,’ she confirmed with a smug expression, resulting in the doctor’s cheeks turning red and a quick turn away from eye-contact with Hikari’s mother. I recognised somebody familiar from the very first moment I laid eyes on you; hopefully she’ll introduce you to her at some point.

Seeing Tsubaki’s embarrassed reaction, she dispatched a light chuckle before continuing, with a reassuring smile, ‘In all seriousness, I’m glad that she’s met somebody like you; if there’s anybody who can help repair the damage from her teenage years, it might just be you, given that you’re the first person that we know of, who’s cleared the initial hurdle of actually getting close to her. That and she could do with having a good influence as well. I know she can be a handful at the best of times, but if you’re patient with her, I’m sure she’ll open up to you and when she does, you’ll almost certainly find that she’ll make it worth the time and effort.’

What a week; never had a best friend or romantic partner before and suddenly I’ve sort of stumbled into a relationship with a potential ticking time-bomb, I think? Still, her mother seems to have a fairly accurate initial evaluation of me, so I guess she must be right about her daughter as well; that’s a logical conclusion, right?

It does however leave my mind in the midst of a storm formed by a mixture of excitement, fear and also nervousness from the hope, or possibly expectation rather, that Hikari’s mother has for me.

Too much to process right now, but I don’t want to instantly deflate the spirits of the loving mother. Tsubaki replied unwaveringly, ‘I’ll try my best,’ offering a comforting smile after declaring so.

Hikari’s mother smiled almost as brightly as the sun on a fine summer’s day. She lightly concluded, ‘Thank you Tsubaki, I’ll leave her in your care.’

I wonder; have you just passed on a hot potato or gifted me a rough diamond?...

❀

As the afternoon slowly coasted by, a lone woman with black and purple hair found herself idle, doing little more than studying the expressway as she remained parked at the side, her eyes occasionally drifting off, to admire the rich, green valleys that surrounded it.

She sat at the wheel of a “borrowed” late 2000s HiAce panel van whose sides bore the large logo of one of the region’s public works companies.

Ugh, it’s been almost a full hour now, she thought, while sighing and leaning back in the driver’s seat.

Oh ho? What’s this in the mirror?

As the vehicles passed by at moderate pace, her purple eyes tracked their movement. A dark grey, late 2010s Patrol SUV leading an almost unassuming early-20s F135.240 box truck.

I guess it’s show time.

She kicked the diesel engine of her van to life with a turn of the key shortly after the vehicles passed.

The lorry cabin had no markings, was painted plain white and had no unusually bulky panels either. The windows gave good visibility into the cabin, suggesting that it doesn’t have reinforced glass either; in other words, it’s an ordinary lorry.

It should have a 90km/h speed limiter fitted to it, and the escort car is matching its pace; nothing that a trusty old panel van can’t catch up with.

Hikari emerged from the shoulder, into the faster, right-hand lane and progressed to within fifty or so metres of the lorry and escorting SUV within a couple of minutes, prompting her to shift back to the slower lane and simply follow.

Now, for the one thing that I didn’t quite prepare for; a means for disabling the escort car; a task made difficult by pretty much every vehicle on this island being right-hand drive, forcing me to choose between controlling the van or sabotaging the target.

Well, at least the roll of heavy-duty tape should be useful to an extent, for sorting out the speed.

The biggest problem is the steering. Even finding a stretch of road where the steering wander would be manageable from the passenger seat isn’t a perfect solution; one bump and that’s probably the death of me.

Times like this, inviting a wheelman would probably have been the best call, but here we are, she thought as she continued to follow the truck and SUV, maintaining about a twenty-metre gap.

After another five minutes or so. I guess it’s now or never; a good 1k or so straight section ahead.

Hikari wound the passenger-side window down, followed by carefully taping down the accelerator pedal. Once the pedal and window were set, Hikari shuffled across to the passenger seat, collecting one of her shuriken from a skirt pocket as she transitioned.

Right hand to steady the steering wheel, and the left to flick a shuriken into the sidewall of the lead car’s right-front tyre should work.

Here’s hoping the worker’s outfit is effective as a disguise...

As the van eased its way alongside the lorry and then the SUV, Hikari prepared the shuriken between her index and middle fingers. I’m sorry about this, friend, she thought, half eyeing the elegant metal flower.

Unless you somehow manage to firmly embed yourself in the tyre sidewall and miraculously remain there until the SUV comes to a halt, this is sayonara.

As the van’s cabin drew near to the front of the SUV, Hikari casually set an arm on the interior armrest of the van, mimicking an ordinary resting position, while closely analysing the location of the target tyre from the corner of an eye and taking aim.

A powerful and swift flick of her left wrist instantly fizzed the throwing star straight into the escort SUV’s front-right tyre sidewall.

A loud bang temporarily drowned out the engine noises in the vicinity, along with a few chunks of hot black rubber breaking free and rapidly flying back along the expressway along with bright sparks.

Your service will not be forgotten, dear shuriken.

Heh; it looks like a party in there, the way that they’ve all become animated.

Carefully, Hikari leaned down, as if reaching for something to her right in the cabin, closely followed by shuffling back into the driver’s seat and ripping off the tape holding the accelerator pedal down.

She slowed the van, returning it to following behind the lorry

It looks like the disguise worked. Now to check the usual equipment.

Throwing stars; five remaining.

Tanto; secured in its holster.

Violet water lily; exactly where it should be. The black and purple-haired woman gently stroked the flower which always sat against the hair tie of her side ponytail.

The pair of target vehicles continued for no more than a few hundred metres before pulling over to the shoulder on the left-hand side of the road.

Roughly ten metres or so behind the lorry, Hikari brought her van to a halt.

She rapidly exited and swiftly scampered to the back of the lorry, instantly resting her left shoulder against the rear door, at the right-hand corner.

She slowly poked her head beyond the corner. Sooo; who’s gonna come out and inspect the tyre problem?

Her initial prey hurriedly emerged from the SUV.

Two men, dressed in grey and black, similar to Friday night; light armour vests, knee-pads and high-mobility boots in addition to their shirts and cargo trousers.

This must be the same organisation; both of them have pistol holsters, filled with relatively new handguns. Their guns aren’t far from being factory-fresh either, like those in the section’s armoury.

They don’t have any head protection though. These clowns will never learn, will they?

Like a cobra that had carefully stalked its prey and knew that the perfect moment to deliver its venomous strike had arrived, in rapid succession Hikari sent a pair of shuriken whizzing alongside the lorry.

The projectiles to embedded themselves in the back of the skulls of the two unsuspecting arms transporters who inspected the destroyed tyre.

Both men hopelessly collapsed face-first from where they stood and crouched down.

Sudden sinister clicks from unlatching doors disrupted the relative quiet.

Boots, cautiously advancing alongside the lorry.

Hikari closed her eyes as she pressed herself against the back of the lorry, while the thumping against the ground closed toward her.

She held still, her tanto drawn, lingering close to her upper-chest. Public road setting means no wide entry, mercifully…

As soon as the driver emerged, around the corner of the rear of the lorry, a single, lightning-fast plunging of a tanto into his neck ended his life.

You might be dead, but you’re still useful, Hikari caught the man, got into position behind him and guided his already-drawn pistol upward.

When his partner appeared, three ear-splitting blasts of 9mm gunfire from the handgun of his freshly-killed colleague, under the woman’s guidance, jolted him backwards.

Gotcha.

Another single blast forcefully sent his head back and left him as motionless as a brick after waywardly tumbling to the floor.

Sharp clicking sounds from the SUV’s doors broke the brief quiet that followed.

Yeah; this is why I’m not a big fan of guns; they broadcast your position and activity to everybody.

She rapidly sank to the floor, lying along the back of the lorry, leaning on her left shoulder, with both hands firmly gripping the HiPer handgun that she had just used to dispatch the lorry’s passenger.

Two bursts of rounds blazed across the negative space under the lorry, forcing an unnatural twisting of an ankle and sharp jolt of a lower leg of each of the men who charged at her.

Glaring at her gun and scowling, Fuck! Really!? She quickly scanned the nearby floor. Well, you won’t be needing it, will you? she asked, eyes lighting up. The woman promptly dumped the spent magazine while she shuffled to collect another and reloaded her weapon with it before unlocking the slide.

Oh ho? Neither of you can stand, but despite your groaning, you’re still cocking your weapons. Your persistence is almost admirable, she considered, with a little mocking smile.

Hikari sprang to her feet with lightness and speed that one would normally attribute to a grasshopper.

She skipped along quickly, her motion refined to a level that one would rarely witness even on the stage of a world-class gymnastics competition or figure-skating tournament. Got to keep the time in contact with the ground minimal or I’ll get a taste of the medicine I just served those lead-footed fools lying on the other side.

Using the steps and large side mirror clusters of the lorry cabin as stepping stones, like a spider, she smoothly climbed to the roof of the lorry.

Crouched, Hikari advanced slowly and quietly, easing herself across the roof.

Just as I’d suspected, she thought as into view emerged the last of her enemies, with eyes busily panning around at ground level.

Two deafening cracks shattered the silence.

Each man meekly fell back, to lie flat with a stream of blood pouring from their forehead.

‘No shoulder injuries this time; what a delightful change, heh,’ Hikari quietly joked to herself.

Amid the relative silence, Huh? What’s that strange buzzing sound?

A quick turn and glance upwards prompted her eyes to widen slightly.

Now that’s a big problem, she thought, scowling at the little flying nuisance, instantly running through the implications of an observation drone being present.

It’s not moving? After aiming down the micro red dot sight of her handgun, two final blasts rang out before the little aerial vehicle came tumbling out of the sky.

She collected the quadcopter, along with the unspent magazines that were left lying around and began to search the SUV. Let’s see what kind of transmission equipment these guys were carrying…

Hmm, I don’t see any signs of long-range transmission equipment, but if they were this prepared, I wouldn’t put it past them to have hidden a tracker either in the lorry or within the weapons crates.

There’s no such thing as a smooth operation nowadays, is there? Hikari thought as she removed the local transceiver unit from the SUV and carried it over to the lorry.

I’m sorry mother, father, Tsubaki; looks like I’m not coming home tonight, for your own sakes, she thought, as she climbed to the driver’s seat of the box truck.

❀

‘The gang operation; part two,’ the glasses-wearing woman blurted, gesturing with jazz hands to the woman with choppy black hair and pink highlights seated across the table from her.

The pair of women had spent most of the day rambling through the city, only intent on beginning their reconnaissance of the target bar at sunset.

‘I’m not actually sure on the details of how we’re gonna pull off this little apprehension mission. I have a few ideas for how we can catch our target, but ideally want to see what their protection setup looks like before developing any more concrete plans,’ Renka added.

The pair opted for observing the bar from a restaurant across the street. Renka took a liking to the establishment partly for the large, unobstructed windows, which stretched almost to the ground and partly for offering Renka and Kasumi natural means to blend into the scene, along with the food and drink menu factor, naturally.

If I’m going to use the bow and arrow, it’s not going to be from a place of great elevation advantage, that much I can already tell you from studying the rooflines in this area.

As the skies above nearly completely blackened and the stars glinted, the captain’s eyes sharply snapped away from her drink. Eh? What’s this? It looks like our special guest has finally arrived.

A black Altezza, identical to the one which turned up on Friday.

Quietly, with her eyes fixed on the car, though still facing Kasumi, Renka commented quietly, ‘Here we go.’

After the car came to a stop, all of its doors opened simultaneously.

Five targets. At least two of them tucking their handguns into the rear waist area of their trousers. On this occasion though, their weapons are all hidden underneath jackets.

‘Either way, they’re not hiding the main indicators that I sought; hand and neck tattoos similar to those found on Friday,’ Renka murmured. Two of them remained hidden behind the car, so we’re gonna have to work on the presumption that they’re all carrying handguns.

So, we’ll only have to worry about four of them then, Renka thought, as she studied the lone man stood outside the bar from the corner of her eyes. It won’t be perfect, given how closely the car is parked to the bar’s entrance, but I can form a basic strike plan at least.

‘As much as I hate to admit it, beyond our lone friend over there, this one’s gonna be a bit messy and noisy. Getting rid of the lookout won’t be a problem; you can neutralise him from a nearby rooftop and I’ll swoop in, to remove him,’ Renka explained, along with a series of eye movements, gesturing at different locations as she spoke. ‘In theory, this should be the last of the gang that attacked the camp almost a week ago, at least in this region anyway. Unless this is a trap; there shouldn’t be any reinforcements turning up again. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on high alert, though turning up here would lead to their gang’s complete collapse…’ she continued and eventually trailed off, tilting her head in thought. CSS shouldn’t be an issue; at least there was no sign of them on Friday…

‘So, plan A; from your rooftop position, tag at least one of the men after they leave the bar. I’m not sure how intoxicated they’ll be, so I’m planning based on the assumption that they leave sober. Tagging one of them should cause enough confusion for me to use blunt-force and get rid of another of them. After that, I’m counting on at least one of them attempting to use a gun; at least then any witnesses should see it as self-defence if I just so happened to end up kneecapping the last two guys,’ Renka explained.

This seriousness is pretty much the polar opposite compared with how you’ve behaved for the majority of the time that we’ve spent together; it’s kind of cool to see you like this though. The confidence and lack of usual warmth in your voice is telling. It’s blatantly obvious that you’re looking forward to carrying out this operation, Kasumi thought, with a faint trace of a wry smile appearing on her face.

‘Oh yeah; I’ll need your help getting all of them stashed in the back of the car, and our things in the luggage area. We won’t have the luxury of time, so we’ll be taking that Altezza.

‘It’ll probably end up looking like something out of a comedy, trying to stash five guys in the back and quickly unloading them for the police, but it’s not like we have any choice here, unless we want to disturb the locals,’ Renka concluded, sounding slightly agitated. After the confrontation in the support camp and the dangerous situation that gang members like these have already put unfortunate civilians in, the last thing we need to do is disturb them as well.

‘We don’t have to unload them right in front of the station though, do we? We could drop them off nearby, signal the police and then depart before they arrive.’

‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Renka confirmed, with a pleased smile.

Surely that’s enough discussion, right? It would be nice to get physical preparations underway. Kasumi declared, in her usual level tone, ‘I’m heading out, to set up. I guess I’ll meet back up with you when they’ve all been taken down.’

Yeah; this does feel kinda weird without a motivational cheer that gets shouted before heading onto the battlefield or competition stage, Renka thought, as she watched Kasumi collecting her equipment.

Finding an elevated position that still has a good view of the gap between the car and the bar entrance is going to be fun… Kasumi pondered, as she picked up her bow and arrow quiver, before departing from the restaurant.

After leaving her backpack behind with Renka, she clambered on top of a nearby roof.

Something a bit closer would have been nice but at least there isn’t much wind to contend with tonight.

Once she found a stable position on the roof, she removed her arrow pouch, longbow and jacket, extracting from one of the pockets a small bottle of clear liquid. It’s refreshing; the cool air of the night softly drifting over my shoulders. It’s almost funny, how that jacket is so light, yet still too inhibiting for my liking when using the longbow.

She sat down and proceeded to carefully fill syringe arrow ends with tranquiliser solution. We should be fine with one for each of four targets and I’ll add one spare, in case I have to strike all five, for an unforeseen reason.

After five minutes or so, Kasumi had finished preparing the special arrows, and returned them to the quiver, which ended up in a resting place on her back, near her left shoulder, while the standard arrows had been laid out on the rooftop near where she sat. Once finished preparing her arrows, she progressed through a series of different postures.

At 184cm tall, me standing up would probably attract undue attention from any civilians, but it might be my only option.

As Kasumi raised her longbow into an aiming position and her view panned different areas of the street, her eyes soon fixed to a spot below. And now there’s a dubious character in my sights, hiding behind a parked car across the street from the point of interest. A woman, dressed fairly smartly, but with an armour vest, and the nearby lighting reflecting off the lenses of her thick-framed glasses.

The odd individual turned her head, revealing a vivid streak of orange, near her glasses’ left lens. After the woman at ground level looked around for a few seconds, Kasumi locked eyes with her, prompting Renka to beam a confirmatory smile and a flick of her head, inviting her to get started.

Without delay, a tranquilliser arrow flashed through the night air, quickly embedding itself in the left thigh of the man on the lookout.

Within an instant, Renka covered the man’s mouth and dragged the lumbering mass away from his post. Kasumi watched on from above, as she hauled the gang member around the corner and stripped him of his weapon.

Yet another 17 handgun.

She studied, using the peepholes of the freshly-ejected magazine. Eight rounds if I include the one in the chamber; this’ll definitely be more than enough to let me do what I need to, she thought, with a little delighted smile on her face. She unhanded the partly-racked slide and allowed it to return forward before slamming the magazine back into the well and turning to gaze up at her short-haired partner.

She directed to her an affirming nod, closely followed by setting her back against the wall, sitting down with the pistol beside her.

Half an hour later, she perked up, collected the handgun from the floor and carefully peeked around the corner of the building. Like shooting fish in a barrel, as they say; that loud and wayward joking between them suggests so anyway… The captain broke out from her train of thought and turned to Kasumi, to nod invitingly.

Almost instantly, Renka watched, fascinated by the swish of an arrow flying past her, closely followed by the dull thumping of a man falling over.

Comedy gold; they’re unable to figure out which angle the arrow came from.

Renka barged in on the men’s confused debate and quickly delivered a very heavy strike to the rear skull of one of the men looking down at his comrade, which swiftly resulted in him falling forward in a heap on top of the man he had been inspecting.

Shortly after Renka’s initial strike, another arrow sped in and buried itself into a thigh belonging to one of the gang members staggered by Renka’s entrance. Involuntarily, the tranquilised man slowly tumbled to the ground.

Y’all are finally getting your act together? Renka asked, glimpsing the last two enemies reaching behind.

Renka quickly lowered the model 17 in her right hand and raised her left, to form a two-hand grip, before taking aim.

Two sharp knocks in quick succession decimated the tranquillity of the scene as well as briefly soaking an area of the street in bright light.

One shot to a lower leg of each man brought them to the floor, grimacing, with stifled groaning.

Two merciful arrows swiftly delivered from above silenced the pained groaning in short order. You’ll live; don’t worry, Renka thought, rolling her eyes, as she retrieved a bunch of zip-ties from a skirt pocket.

The captain looked up to Kasumi and issued a thumbs up sign, followed by raising her left hand, pointing up at the sky and swirling the gesture in a circular motion.

After a few seconds had passed, which Renka spent looking at Kasumi, whose head tilted and eyes narrowed in confusion, she swapped to a more conventional signal, directing Kasumi to come to her. Right; she’s not a military officer – whoops. I’ll have to teach her the hand signals at some point…

It took little more than a minute for Kasumi to return and by the time that she did, Renka had finished her run of zip-tying. She playfully smiled when she looked up at her freshly-returned partner.

A pair of keys leisurely flew through the air, drawing a neat arc, destined for a one-handed catch by Kasumi’s left hand.

Swiftly, the black and pink-haired woman stashed away the women’s backpacks and other equipment in the luggage area, while Renka yanked the spent arrows from the limbs of the resting gang members, along with gathering up all of the spent 9mm casings.

It would have been useful to scavenge the ammunition, but I’m absolutely certain that’d make it more likely that the police would pursue us.

I‘m pretty sure I’m being pierced by the residents of the area intensely staring at us, Renka internally remarked as the pair of women packed the incapacitated men into the back of the car. Passers-by and residents alike murmured as they spectated, but made no noticeable effort to interfere or protest.

The women efficiently wrapped up their clean-up process without any drama. With everything loaded into the car, the rear arches are sitting millimetres away from resting on the rear tyres, I want to laugh, but if a part fails it won’t be a laughing matter.

The duo calmly took their seats and with Renka at the wheel, they rapidly fled the scene, the car’s rear sinking in complaint at the load.

Renka drove with little elegance and plenty of urgency, bringing the women to within range of their destination in under five minutes.

The women carefully, but also hurriedly unloaded the still unconscious men around the corner from the station. Renka also set down all but one of the recovered weapons, beside the men. I highly doubt that they’ll be able to use them with their hands and feet zip-tied.

‘Alright, that’s everything. Well, almost,’ Renka declared, as she revealed a personal safety alarm, which she held afront her chest with a mischievous smile. ‘You go ahead, I’ll pull the pin when you’re in the car.’

Kasumi nodded, before running back to the car.

Following the sharp clank of the door shutting, Renka pulled the pin on the alarm, dropped it, and began her sprint amid the almost deafening ringing.

The Altezza’s 3S-GE engine roared into life along with a loud, sharp screeching sound. Small clouds of smoke emanated from the rear tyres which laid down hot, black trails, as the then-lightened car hastily carried the two women away from their second operation.

‘Sorry; it’s been a while since I’ve driven a manual in anger like this,’ Renka offered Kasumi, with a smile on her face as she continued to violently shift through gears and wrestle the steering, to guide the car quickly through the city streets. Thank the lord for this area being generally fairly quiet and the lack of traffic at night.

After a short pause, she continued again, while still focused on the road, ‘We should hit an expressway in a few minutes, would you rather head north, east, south or west?’

‘Maybe we should continue going north east? We’ve been heading north east for almost a week now; why not keep going?’ Kasumi responded, sounding as indifferent as ever, also keeping her gaze fixed on the road ahead.

‘Ehhh? That’s some pretty simple logic you’ve got going on there,’ Renka remarked, with playful curiosity in her voice, before excitedly signalling her approval, ‘I love it! North east it is then.’

Once the pair had reached the expressway that would carry them north, Renka relaxed in her seat, eased her grip on the steering wheel and shift lever, before recapping, ‘You don’t really miss any shots, do you? Not that I’m not grateful obviously; I’m still impressed that you can hit targets so accurately and quickly just from training with your grandparents,’ she paused briefly and offered a friendly smile before continuing, ‘Well, actually, I’m impressed that you can strike so accurately and quickly, full stop. I’m so used to modern technology that seeing weapons from yesteryear feels a bit strange to me, heh.’ Renka dared to take her eyes off the road briefly, stealing a glance at Kasumi, ‘It’s a shame that I never got to spectate; you firing from that roof must have been a pretty awesome sight,’ she summarised, with a flirtatious smile on her face.

‘Thanks,’ Kasumi waywardly answered. Such erratic behaviour; how am I supposed to respond to such an incoherent series of thoughts? ‘Seeing as we’re heading north, does that mean we’re not going to deal with the remainder of the gang, stationed near the camp, in the west?’ she questioned, after a brief pause to consider the aftermath of their operation.

‘Those idiots were all carrying their phones and if they’re anything like the ones we found on Friday, then a bunch of special assault or anti-firearms officers will probably be paying them a visit in the next few days, if they aren’t completely overwhelmed with other operations,’ she replied, with a quantum of doubt audible in her voice as she finished.

I should have checked to see if they had any connection to that CSS company that was mentioned on Friday, but the time didn’t really allow it. It would have been nice to get some more information on that unknown quantity…

‘I wonder what we’ll find when we get up there,’ Renka quietly mused, her voice loaded with curiosity.

After a short while of silence, she informed her companion, ‘We’ll probably be taking a few detours on the way up there, because I don’t know how jumpy the checkpoints will be about us driving through the night like this,’ sounding annoyed, but with her face still carrying a pleased smile.

After another brief pause, her voice softened as she concluded, with a hand wandering across, trying (and failing) to take one of Kasumi’s hands, ‘Either way, I’m still totally glad that it’s you beside me for this and whatever’s up the road.’

❀

Well, at least it’s a place to stay, for now, Hikari thought, after a brief survey of the small wood cabin which she stood in, amid the darkness.

After the armed skirmish and her coming into possession of the target lorry, she drove for hours, departing from well-travelled roadways, to more obscure paths and eventually into areas of the mountains where the lorry’s main storage box was repeatedly brushed by low tree branches before she reached her improvised destination.

It’s not like I have any other choice besides disappearing for a little while; on top of not knowing where the nearest section station is, I’m also probably being tracked, either by a drone receiver or by a discreet tracker on the lorry.

The black and purple-haired woman sat down on the cold, hard wood floor and retrieved a tiny device from her jacket, pressing a button on it before returning it to storage.

She shuffled across the room to sit, back against a wall, where she could look up and see bits of the starry night sky through a nearby window. No sleep for me tonight I guess, heh. Well, at least I have the comfort of knowing that the doctor and probably my parents as well, won’t lose much sleep over me not coming back so soon and aren’t being put directly in harm’s way.

Though, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if that’s at all comforting, she thought, with a glum expression forming on her face.