Chapter Seven - Monday II

Well, I highly doubt they’ll send an assault team after me under the cover of darkness, unless they really are stupid. Even with NVG or thermal imaging equipment, they’d still need a clear line of sight and by the time they get that, it’ll be too late, the lone woman discussed, as she sat gazing at the stars through the constantly shifting gaps in the forest trees.

So tense, yet so peaceful; the rustling as the leaf-laden branches continue to sway in the night breeze.

Despite the situation, she continued to ponder with no signs of fear in either her facial expression or actions.

No idea how long it’ll be before somebody turns up, so it’s probably best to start resting from now.

Hikari unloaded and neatly laid out her five remaining throwing stars, alongside her temporary phone and the HiPer handgun that she had acquired during the previous afternoon’s confrontation.

Got to keep at least one to hand, so the tanto stays put, she concluded, whilst resting her hand on the hilt of the blade sheathed against her left thigh.

She also cast off her jacket, which revealed heavy bandaging and gauze. Back and front, the bandaging essentially formed a loop of white, with some dark red spots between her neck, right breast and her right shoulder joint.

She ran her left hand over the arrangement and lightly poked and tapped the zones with the heaviest reinforcement. The sharp inhibiting sensations have decently receded, thankfully, she summarised as she quietly hissed and grimaced.

It’s not all in order yet though; there’s still lingering pain if prodded forcefully enough.

She subsequently removed her shoes, gloves and delicately extracted the violet water lily that sat atop the hairband which she commonly used to hold her side ponytail in place.

The woman longingly studied the flower for a considerable period.

Unlike the case for when she inspected her wounds, the black and purple-haired woman occasionally slightly frowned with sorrow and regarded with eyes that held an extra shimmer.

She spent no time playing, stroking or otherwise physically interacting with the vivid-coloured flower; she simply held it in front of herself in the palm of her left hand, perfectly still while she continued to study it.

She sat up, before gathering together some of her hair and tying it up, high, on her left, almost perfectly restoring the side-ponytail that had been there fifteen or so minutes prior.

Her face reverting to a neutral expression and the shimmer in her eyes vanishing, she pondered, I wonder if I could set some traps in the woodland or use anything from the truck? before rising to her knees and surveying her surroundings, through the nearby window. The lorry sat parked, about fifteen metres away from the cabin. The trees surrounding this small building ensure that nothing else nearly as large can come any closer.

The cabin stood alone; single story tall, mostly made from wood, with only four rooms in total. During her initial assessment, Hikari found no excess whatsoever; a small bathroom, kitchen, living room and a bedroom, presumably to accommodate no more than two people. Furnishings were minimal, reinforced by the fact that no electrical appliances could be found throughout the building.

Awesome; all I’ve found is a box of candles and a packet of matches. At least I can save some of the phone’s battery power by using candlelight instead.

‘I guess rigging traps is off the cards then,’ she murmured. Maybe there’s a hidden underground bunker or something around here? Heh; who am I trying to fool? That kind of thing would only appear in a place like this if it were a work of fiction, Hikari thought, as she investigated the woodlands immediately surrounding the cabin.

After spending only a few minutes wandering around and inspecting the nearby woodland, the lone women paused, pouting while mumbling in frustration.

More of the same; nothing especially useful.

Huh? I didn’t actually think it’d be unlocked. I thought these guys were relatively professional, Hikari thought as she unlatched the rear doors to the lorry’s rear storage box.

Following a light skip up the rear step, Uwah; what were they planning to do with all of these?? Invade and occupy a small nation? she asked herself, while her view panned the contents in the truck’s storage area.

This much ordnance is definitely gonna have some pretty pissed-off guys coming to take it back. Probably a good idea to keep myself out of view while I peruse the containers, she considered, before drawing the rear doors together, converting the internal area into a pitch-black abyss for an instant.

She leisurely analysed as many of the crates and containers as she could without making a complete mess of the limited movement space within the area.

‘Oh ho?’

APX A1 Tactical handguns, roughly twenty of them.

More HiPer handguns; roughly fifteen.

Uwah; surely there’s about fifty of these PDP SD Pro handguns.

A crate with ten 229mm barrel HK437 SBRs, naturally…

An EVOLYS GPMG? It’s a 7.62 as well; it’s a good thing it won’t get wherever it was originally heading.

Eh? They aren’t messing around; a DSR-1. Knowing that there’s more of these possibly floating around the island is pretty unsettling... Still, for the sake of satisfying my curiosity, let’s see what else they were carrying.

A 6-36x56 PM II High Performance scope; not a bad choice for the LRR, I’ll admit.

Five M32A1 multi-shot grenade launchers; yikes.

Of course; an ordnance shipment wouldn’t be complete without what must be a hundred bricks of PE4 explosives.

Well, if I needed ammunition, I definitely wouldn’t be left wanting; pistol, intermediate and large calibre ammo, as well as grenades...

They’ve also got crates loaded with protective equipment; plate-carrier vests, plates, shoulder pads, knee-pads, helmets, goggles and even some suits of heavy-duty, bomb-resistant armour as well.

Not a single quiet weapon in here at all? So many weapons, yet none of it useful for mowing down incoming threats without giving my position away. The explosives might be useful, but having to set up and carry a charge sounds like a hassle, Hikari internally concluded, while slamming shut one of the large containers.

These had better be going out the country; facing off against this stuff would be a pain in the ass.

After leaving, shutting and returning the latch of the large twin doors to the closed position, Hikari returned to the cabin, taking care to tread lightly and quietly.

Once back inside, she returned to the spot near the window where she had previously been admiring the night sky.

Rather than wearing it, Hikari opted to drape her cardigan over herself, as she returned to sitting and resting against the wall, thinking, with an annoyed frown. Please can we hurry this along, folks? I have people waiting for me at home…

❀

During the ensuing Monday morning, as the sun announced its presence over the hills with a bright yellow glow in addition to the bright orange which gathered on the lingering clouds, a lone woman with emerald eyes unhurriedly sat up from her futon and turned to her left.

Still not here. Please tell me you’re just busy with something and haven’t been able to contact us? Either way; I can imagine your mother is going to be edging towards implosion the longer you stay away, after having just turned up. At this rate, I’ll have to put you on a leash.

On second thought, forget that; you’d probably enjoy that. She quietly asked the empty futon which lay beside her, ‘At least come back unharmed, okay?’

Ugh; what a pain. Thanks for dumping me right into the thick of it, Hikari. A bit of excitement and change of pace is nice, but this is a bit much…

Aside from having no clue where you’ve disappeared to or if you’ll even return, I’ll have to bear seeing how your father and/ or mother feel about the current situation. I don’t think consoling your mother will be too much of a problem, but the heart-breaking sight of her being upset yesterday afternoon wasn’t fun.

Putting the parents aside, I’ve also got the problem of potentially not being able to treat any new injuries that you bring back.

Probably time to go shopping, I guess.

Eventually, she rose from the futon and scrambled for her clothing. I should probably get some new shoes as well; these flats won’t really cut it in the mountains and they’d be the perfect getaway spot for the day.

After getting ready, she headed toward the kitchen, abruptly halting part way into the journey.

Eek!?

Ah; he’s on his way out? Wearing a smart shirt, trousers and shoes. No tie and his jacket’s in hand though. The sight of him smartly dressed projects an inescapable air of authority; I thought he was scary before but this is pretty intense, somehow it trumps any intimidation I’ve felt since arriving.

Crap.

Eye contact.

Professional etiquette, Tsubaki; use it, before things get awkward, again. The doctor bowed and flung out a loud and unsteady greeting, ‘Good morning, sir!’

Sir!? Has my brain not booted up correctly this morning or something??

The nervous outburst prompted a small chuckle and a smile as the towering figure greeted in reply, much more assured than the young woman had done so.

I’d better redeem myself quickly. Tsubaki nervously questioned, ‘Um, if you don’t mind my asking, I don’t think it’s come up yet, but; what do you work as?’

‘I’m essentially retired, but still work as a university lecturer in the regional capital,’ Michisato replied, with a firm but friendly tone of voice.

Tsubaki almost involuntarily questioned, ‘Which subject do you teach?’

His eyes widened very slightly in reaction (presumably to her enthusiasm and the fact that she managed to ask with more confidence in her voice). Before long, he responded, ‘I teach automotive engineering; I used to be a powertrain developer, between here and Europe, up until a few years ago.’

Tsubaki nodded in approval; it’s not my field of science, but I’m happy to have somebody other than myself in the house who’s interested in sciences. With a pleased smile, she replied, ‘Ah; so, you’re a person of science as well.’

Moving to slip on his black smart shoes, Hikari’s father replied, ‘Indeed; for the most part, tis not life-saving, but it is very much enabling.’

I guess that would partly explain why Hikari and her brother were taught how to drive cars from so young then. Come to think of it, the car that she arrived in on Friday looked pretty fancy; I guess she really is her father’s daughter, Tsubaki considered. A voice reaching from near the front door summoned her back to reality however.

‘Alright, I’m off!’ Hikari’s father announced, loudly enough to carry to the other side of the house.

A warm response flew back in return, in almost perfect synchronicity from Hikari’s mother and Tsubaki, though with some audible panic mixed in by the latter, ‘Take care!’

Hmm, that’s strange; not a single mention of his daughter there, the doctor observed. ‘Probably best not to think too hard about it,’ she murmured, before continuing on to the kitchen.

Ah; Hikari’s mother’s having her breakfast. Lost in thought, I see? Yeah; I don’t blame you, I probably would be too if I were in your shoes.

After a few paces, she internally noted, Oo; whatever it is she’s having, it smells lovely; evenly-balanced with a mixture of sweetness and spice. I would ask for some, but at this point, even thinking about asking makes me feel uncomfortable; a disappointing truth when the rolled omelette, grilled salmon and seasoned rice balls do look and smell very appetising.

Better make this quick then; avoid eye contact, get the water and leave. The journey took her straight through the view of Hikari’s mother, whose eyes fixed on her, ‘Oh, good morning Tsubaki,’ she greeted with a friendly smile.

‘Ah, good morning.’ Right; I should have known that I wouldn’t make it through without at least saying hi.

With the friendly smile wilting a bit, ‘I’m guessing you haven’t heard from Hikari?’

Yeah; that’d be difficult, accounting for the fact that we haven’t actually exchanged contact information, ‘No, unfortunately.’

Sounding a bit dispirited, ‘That sounds very much like her, to tell the truth. I wanted to believe that maybe she had made some progress from how she was when I last saw her, but alas, no.’

‘Honestly; I’ve only known her for a week, so I wouldn’t know,’ Tsubaki incautiously replied.

At that revelation, the eyes of Hikari’s mother widened a bit and she set her chopsticks down, in favour of resting her chin against her left palm. Curiosity abundantly evident in her tone of voice, while gazing directly at Tsubaki, with a small hint of a mischievous smile appearing briefly, ‘Hmm; interesting…’ she slowly posited.

That can’t be good; she’s probably imagining some intimate fantasy, the doctor thought, as the mother’s stare continued to skewer her presence.

Best to move this on quickly, before this conversation heads down an annoying road, as they usually do whenever I talk to your daughter. As calmly as she could manage in the face of her rising levels of awkwardness, she decided to ask, ‘What will you be up to today?’

‘I’ll be going to the gym and then working on one of the public gardens,’ Hikari’s mother replied, with a friendly smile.

Public garden? Intriguing…, the doctor remarked as her eyes brightened. ‘So, you maintain a public garden along with the beautiful arrangements that you have outside?’

Smugly, the older woman returned, ‘Indeed I do, thank you. Aside from being able to admire the natural beauty of the plant life, it’s also quite therapeutic.’ She paused briefly, stroking her chin and smiling playfully, ‘Why do you ask? Would you like to join me?’

Although still not quite sold on your character, there’s no denying that it would probably be relaxing to spend time with a skilled gardener.

Curse my love of the outdoors and natural scenery.

Ugh, I can’t even wallow in my indecisiveness with her stare bearing down on me, threatening to squash me completely flat. Unsteadily, ‘I would love to, but I have to go and get new equipment and supplies; I don’t want to impose on your family any more than I have already, if it can be helped,’ she replied.

Tsubaki turned away, to rinse off her glass, quickly, before she can interject, ‘Who knows; maybe while I’m out, a wild Hikari might appear. If she does, I’ll capture her for you.’

❀

‘Hmmm?’ the glasses-wearing lady slowly and waywardly mumbled, while sat in the driver’s seat, as her black and pink-haired co-driver repeatedly prodded her left shoulder; wordlessly attempting to raise her from her sleeping state.

After a long drive beneath the starlit skies and slowly brightening and increasingly dull morning, the pair of women decided to take turns and sleep on rotating shifts until daybreak. The area that the pair had stopped in lay on the north coast of the island, near the centre of the island’s width. This particular city took Renka’s fancy largely due to the presence of a massive river that flowed through the west; not too far from the coast.

‘Right, right; I get the message,’ Renka tried to assert, frowning resentfully at her companion. The woman with the orange lock of hair aimlessly flapped a hand in her partner’s direction. As much as I’d love for you to touch me, accursed finger, begone! Shortly afterwards, she wearily lifted her head from the headrest and wiped her eyes. The captain beamed Kasumi a warm smile as soon as her glasses returned to their normal resting position. She softly greeted, ‘Good morning.’

‘Good morning.’

Your tone as plain and nondescript as the clouds drifting by above us. Well, I admire your consistency at least… ‘It’d be nice to get freshened up after that little scuffle last night, so, how about we stop at a hotel for a short while? We should hopefully get an introduction to the area while we’re at it.’

‘That’s fine by me.’

As the Altezza trundled through the north west of the city and only a few kilometres away from the shores, It’s not the biggest hotel I’ve ever seen, but it should do quite nicely. ‘Let’s give this one a try,’ the captain offered, as the black Altezza pulled into the parking area of a hotel.

Soon after departing from the confines of the car’s interior, ‘Uh, Kasumi, where are the plates?’ Renka asked, suspiciously studying the front bumper as the pair started to walk to the hotel.

‘I took them off and put them in the boot while you were cleaning up last night. Local police are stretched thin, but the N-system is probably still working.’

‘Ah, good call.’ Renka nodded in approval as the pair approached the huge, glass double doors. So thoughtful; though you have your flaws and mysteries, with that kind of knowledge and forethought, I’m almost certain that you’re at least girlfriend material.

After passing through the large revolving door array, Kasumi’s greyish-blue eyes slowly scanned the space and she evaluated. Good call Renka; this lobby is surprisingly luxurious but more importantly; it’s peaceful and quiet.

At the same time, Renka also assessed. A single attendant at the desk and he looks like he’s in his late twenties, like us. Fairly smart dress; a button-up shirt, tie and waistcoat. His eyes are pretty much level with mine, though his presence doesn’t suggest a particularly muscular build, not that such a thing would influence how I approach him either way. I imagine him to be pretty soft, to be honest; with that unassuming face and hair to match.

Despite being tasked with welcoming potential or existing customers, the man fidgeted nervously and exhibited a disturbed facial expression as the two women approached. One woman with a wild orange streak in her hair and an even taller strongly-built companion, with a presence that’d probably strike fear into any ordinary person, even if she didn’t have a longbow strapped to her back.

Renka studied the mildly panicking man who struggled to remain looking in her direction as she approached. With a cheerful smile, ‘Good morning!’ the captain ejaculated. ‘We’d like a room for one day and one night please.’ Despite her friendly introduction, the desk attendant’s eyes narrowed in suspicion of the two women.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged madam, but could you please provide me with a form of official identification,’ the attendant replied, doing his best to sound stern.

After a short moment’s worth of rummaging in her backpack, a wallet came forth, with the front cover bearing a single horizontal line and three sakura flowers above it. The bearer opened the wallet, revealing a resident card, which sat across from her military identification.

I don’t really understand the specifics of the military info, but the general message is definitely something I didn’t see coming, he thought, while his eyes widened in amazement.

His mind raced through a variety of different thoughts and feelings at once following the revelation of Renka’s identity. Cautiously, he enquired, ‘So, you’re a military officer?’ his voice sounding somewhat wobbly as he posed the question.

Peering directly into his eyes, Huh? Poor thing; judging from the alteration of his speech, it sounds like he’s desperate for help of some sort. So much for thinking that this would be a rest stop. I get the feeling we have work to do...

Sounding less bouncy than when she first arrived, she replied, ‘Yeah; I’m a junior officer of the Ground Self-Defence Forces; Ittō rikui rank,’ with a little smile.

Yeah; junior GSDF officer is all I got from that.

What doesn’t make sense is how bizarre this is; a military officer and what appears to be a civilian travelling together, alone. ‘You’re not on active duty, are you?’ he quickly quizzed, eyes narrowing, with increased suspicion.

This is quite the interrogation, isn’t it? Renka asked herself, before asking aloud, playfully, after a little smirk, ‘Do you always interrogate your new arrivals like this?’ afterwards straightening up and packing away her identity, as if ready to leave.

The attendant shrank back slightly and meekly whimpered as his eyes suggested panic.

Poor guy; I feel a bit sorry for him now, with his eyes welling up a bit. Sounding the most serious that she had been since arriving, she continued. Before his spirit takes a complete nosedive, ‘I’m not on active duty. Why do you ask?’

‘Would you perhaps have time to look into a little, well, kind of big problem that we have in this city?’

Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Renka replied, her voice quiet, ‘Ehh? Big problem you say? We can take a look; we can’t promise that we’ll be able to do anything though,’ followed by a small welcoming smile.

Trying to maintain a calm tone as best he could, he lectured, ‘Please bear with me while I explain; I don’t know how accurate the information that I’ve put together is, but it should give you a good picture of the problem. I’m not sure exactly what caused it, but a large criminal grouping swept through the west of the city a couple of nights ago, starting with storming the police stations, assaulting the unprepared officers and raiding the station supplies for equipment. As a result, the remainder of the police force for the city had been advised to withdraw and focus on the central and lower-threat areas until the military can be deployed, whenever that will be. The SDF are operating in the city, but they’re mostly defending key infrastructure points and the airport. The local radio and reports that have come in from folks that live nearby suggest that the group has occupied the large shopping centre and have hostages as well.’

The man’s face became grave at the utterance of this last sentence and he paused for a moment before continuing to explain. He clasped his hands together and pleaded with tears on the verge of rolling down his cheeks, ‘Please, if you could take a look and maybe at least get some help, we’d really appreciate it. My little sister worked weekends in that shopping centre and I haven’t heard from her for almost two days now.’

Renka turned to face her travel companion, who had remained quiet throughout the whole exchange, ‘Are you up for a tour of the shopping centre?’

Soundlessly, Kasumi nodded.

‘Thank you!’ the attendant blurted, with a bow. ‘You can stay here and use our resources free of charge, if you’d like; I’ll figure out something with the manager, given that he is my father,’ he continued, still very animated and speaking more loudly than he had been since the conversation began.

‘So, do you have a map or directions for where this shopping centre is?’ Renka asked, with an inquisitive expression on her face.

After being provided with the directions and thanking their provider, the captain turned, ready to lead the procession toward the shopping centre. A few paces into her journey, a voice from behind her caused her to halt.

‘So, you’re not staying then?’ the attendant asked, downheartedly.

Renka turned back slightly, angling her head in puzzlement, ‘Hmm?’

‘You’re leaving with all of your belongings, so I thought you might not be staying,’ he replied, with a slightly despondent look on his face.

Renka hurriedly responded, ‘Ah! No; we’ll be staying here, but we’d rather keep our equipment with us. We’ll be back in the evening though, thanks,’ her baffled expression shifting to a warm smile as she finished speaking. Kasumi’s gaze remained fixed on the captain, quietly observing her diplomatic efforts.

‘Before I forget; there is something that you could help us with. Our car does need a good cleaning, inside and out, if you know anybody who could take care of it?’ We do kind of need to dump that gang-affiliated Altezza, given that it’s probably wanted by the police elsewhere. We can’t get rid of it without making sure there’s no evidence of Kasumi or I having used it though.

‘I shall arrange it now. Take care out there,’ the attendant concluded, with a wave and friendly smile.

❀

Rather than using the car, which at that point had an almost empty petrol tank, the pair of women journeyed west on foot.

The relatively slow approaching pace gave them time to assess their surroundings and detect where threats were lying ahead of them on their route. ‘It’s like a disaster struck this place,’ Renka commented, as her view panned across the streets.

Uwahh; the city has a modern feel to it, much like the capital. The only real difference here being the lack of very tall buildings and structures. Despite the desertion, it’s still fairly clean here (compared to say, a natural disaster at least), though there are lots of broken doors and glass windows. I guess a lot of people fled in a hurry and dropped a lot of things while fleeing, that or these places have been broken into and the robbers didn’t really care for a clean job.

‘I’m guessing the ordinary folks all evacuated and decided not to come back, I can’t say-,’ she abruptly cut off, as the pair scampered to hide behind a parked car.

A group of five men, armoured and armed with P230 handguns; undoubtedly commandeered from the local police.

Complete and utter scum; taking police equipment and then walking around like they own the place with it as well, Renka remarked internally, scowling with irritation as she studied the gang members.

‘Are you okay?’ Unusual to see you infuriated like this. I would offer to strike, but I’m guessing you’d have already suggested it if you weren’t planning something else.

In response to the question, Renka sank and sat with her backpack pressed against the parked car, before musing, ‘It’s just like the situation last Monday, I guess; the people who are trying to protect everybody and maintain order while everything falls apart end up getting mowed down by opportunists and dillweeds with no morals. Yeah; danger is inevitable and is kinda what we signed up for, but we don’t expect to get picked off by entitled pricks who suddenly believe they’re the chosen ones and are above the law.’

An awkward silence filled the air between the two women. Would it be too optimistic to hope that the law enforcement officers weren’t killed in the process of these gang members getting hold of their supplies?

Kasumi occasionally glanced across at her, taking care not to directly look and catch Renka’s attention. Irritation visible on her face, still looking directly ahead, Renka eventually let out a conceding sigh before beginning, ‘Well, what’s done is done. The best thing we can do now is try to root out the problem afflicting this area and keep further damage to a minimum.’ She turned and raised her body slightly, to peer at the street before continuing, ‘It looks we’re gonna be sneaking around between here and the shopping centre.’ She then rotated, to make eye contact with Kasumi, ‘I can probably guess the answer, but; how much tranquiliser do you have left?’

The short-haired woman responded with little delay, ‘I still have enough of the substance for about fifteen arrows. Though, we should be looking for some medical supplies soon, because the delivery elements of the arrows are single-use. Attempting to reuse them would significantly increase their lethality.’

‘Yeah; I figured the case would be something like that,’ Renka calmly admitted, before sitting back down. Still with her head turned to her companion, she resumed, more seriously, ‘We’re only going to take a look today then; get ourselves a good picture of what’s going on in there. If it’s like the reports, then we’ll have to approach with even more caution than we did last week, at least, if we want the hostages to come out alive.’

After finishing her explanation, the captain’s gaze drifted away from Kasumi and upwards. Although the skyline’s a blanket of white and shades of light grey, the distinct contrast with the dark presence on the horizon is pretty conspicuous.

I wonder if they’re ominous and suggesting that there’s a storm coming our way? she pondered, before getting to her feet. With a hand outstretched to her partner, ‘Ready to head into the lion’s den?’

‘Always.’

The response prompted a half smile from Renka. That cold nature does have its moments; I love your composure and reassuring presence in moments like these, dear Kasumi.

❀

It took less than five minutes for Kasumi and Renka to arrive with the designated shopping centre in their view.

‘So that’s the rumoured base of operations for whichever criminal collective have taken control over the area?’ Renka quietly asked.

Again, the pair took cover at a roadside behind a parked car, on this occasion using binoculars to survey the perimeter of their objective.

Eh? The main entrance of the large multi-storey building looks to be devoid of guard patrols or any obvious signs of a lookout, Renka considered.

A lack of guards; it’s not a given, but it’s possible it could be a trap, among other things. ‘We’re going to check all of the entrances first, right?’ Kasumi asked.

‘My thinking exactly,’ Renka confirmed, with a little smile. Either these guys are full of it and have no fear of being attacked or they’re just plain incompetent; either way, we don’t want to get into a fight without knowing exactly what’s going on in there. Well, there’s that and the possibility that it might just be an ambush, she internally assessed, as she continued to study the long side of the large building. ‘I feel like I’ve been leading the way for most of today, so I’m handing the reigns back to you,’ Renka casually informed, while lowering her binoculars. ‘When you’re ready, feel free to lead the way,’ she concluded, turning to face Kasumi and beaming a friendly smile in her direction.

The pair ran across the car park as quickly as the loads on their backs would allow.

The entire area is silent, so I guess there really is no threat lurking, nearby at least. Rather than staying out in open space for longer than they needed, the pair essentially gravitated to the nearest point on the large, long side walls of the building and continued to proceed along it.

They swiftly crossed each of the two large glass door entrances and eventually paused at the entrance to the cark park levels. It’s still near-silent; these car parks might be a good ingress route. ‘We’ll take a look at the car park arrangement and then come back out, to see what the north side of the building looks like,’ Kasumi quietly declared, met with a simple nod from Renka.

So, the car park has a spiral-shaped roadway, which goes up four floors and ultimately leads to an open-air level on the roof.

Much like the ground-level car park adjacent to the building, the upper-level parking areas have very few cars lingering.

On the upside, both interior levels of parking have a direct entrance into the shopping centre. We could come through and infiltrate directly with an elevated viewpoint.

The duo descended to the ground level and then advanced to the rear of the building. After turning the corner, Along with the main ground floor entrance, there’s also a zig-zagging exterior staircase on the far end with fire exit doors on each level; another potential infiltration point, Renka noted.

The pair ascended the metal structure and at the top, Kasumi set down her backpack. As a precaution, she prepared three tranquiliser arrows. While she prepared the arrows, Renka remained close to the door, keeping her hearing sharp to whatever may have been going on inside.

Pretty convenient that these doors have an external override handle and are unlocked as well, Renka concluded, after gently rocking the handle in preparation.

Uwah; rather than using her longbow, she’s got a more compact, metal-constructed device attached to her forearm. I like the new addition though; her reserve ammunition being held in a special armband as well? With slots and strapping designed to hold the tranquiliser ends in place and prevent the needles from touching her bare skin. Suddenly my internal temperature’s flickered upward a bit.

Once finished, the black and pink-haired woman neatly arranged her backpack, away from the entrance door and returned to Renka, with her right fist held fully extended out in front, triggering a little friendly smile.

Not the same strong image projected by the mighty longbow, but this lighter archery setup still looks pretty awesome. Well, you look pretty awesome… Gah; focus...

Wordlessly, Kasumi nodded and set things into motion. With little delay, the door swung open ahead of her and she swiftly entered, right arm pointed ahead and her left hand keeping the mini bowstring tense. Despite the corridor being an empty void, she still proceeded with caution, as the captain drifted into formation behind her.

Before the duo emerged into the slightly brighter walkways that surrounded the central area of the shopping centre, Kasumi paused at a corner, surveying the main shopping centre space as soon as she halted. At the same time, Renka moved across, to the corresponding corner, so that she could peek around it and survey everything in her partner’s blind spot.

Movement from the far side of the centre? Kasumi shuffled back a tiny distance before taking out her binoculars. ‘High concentration of armoured and armed men, who appear to have taken up residence in the luxury furniture store. Two men, patrolling outside and I can see more wandering around inside. No sign of any people without armour though,’ she reported.

‘Yeah; it’s all clear in my areas of observation.’ Shortly after Renka’s reply, the yelp of a woman could be heard from below, a sound closely followed by Renka continuing, with a frown, ‘On this floor, at least.’

From the discreet viewpoint, Kasumi studied below. The scene in that restaurant looks pretty distressing. ‘More armoured men on the floor below, roughly handling what appear to be staff of a restaurant. It looks like they’re forcing them to work for them,’ she calmly informed Renka.

Intuitively, the pair switched positions and exchanged their viewpoints, Renka focused on the restaurant. ‘Tch,’ she dispensed a short, sharp sound to match her scowl, as she watched the pushing, shoving and gunpoint ordering of the people on the floor below.

‘Like I said earlier; complete scum. It looks like they’ve taken over and are looting what’s valuable, while also living it up by using the citizens as their servants.’

And I thought you sounded aggravated when we first spotted these guys. I’ve never before heard you so irritated, even in combat. Kasumi turned toward the exit and rested her left hand on Renka’s shoulder, before looking into her eyes and suggesting, ‘Their time will come soon enough. Rather than head out into the main area, how about we head back out, down and repeat the process for the next two floors. That should give us the full picture of which venues they’re occupying.’

I couldn’t have picked a better partner, could I? Much needed coolant, to prevent me from flaring up with rage.

Without a word, Renka forced a comforted smile back at Kasumi and turned toward the exit.

During their quiet descent from the second to the first floor, the skies above drew the captain’s eyes. The dark clouds from earlier have brought friends and taken over the skyline. Hmm; I’ll probably check out what direction they’re coming from on the way back to the hotel.

The pair of women continued to observe the shopping centre for close to another hour, spending thirty minutes on the first and ground floors each.

‘It’s just as we suspected, unfortunately. Hostages, most likely staff from the various shops and venues that were being occupied, are being kept to maintain the wellbeing of the criminals that had taken over. Some of the venues that served food or drink remain open, along with the women-only gym. They’ve taken it, for their own sanitation and exercise purposes.

‘The furniture store seems to be functioning as the base of operations, with many of the hostages being used (along with some gang members) to transport looted goods there,’ Kasumi bluntly reported.

‘It’s a despicable sight alright; forced labour, ransacking and on the ground floor, there’s a herd of people being held captive in the central area, under close guard. I dearly hope their destiny isn’t to become human shields if things turn messy.

‘Thank the lord that there aren’t any children among the group,’ Renka quietly concluded, her voice lacking its usual warmth. Civilian situation aside, I’m wondering how such a situation came to be. How does a street gang overrun a police compound and set up such an organised operation on the fly? Surely, there has to be somebody behind them. If there is, what could they possibly gain from this? It can’t be that same CSS that might have been connected to those clowns from last Monday and Friday, could it?...

The pair of women exited the building and immediately prepared to return to the hotel.

During the time that Kasumi spent packing away her equipment, Renka retrieved her compass. Which direction is that ever-growing population of increasingly gloomy-looking clouds drawing inland from?

Yeah; just as I thought; that dark mass is advancing from a WNW direction; out at sea, heading directly inland. Yeah; I’m definitely gonna have to check the weather forecast when we get back. A storm could play into our hands; they’d almost certainly all be congregated here, meaning that we can hit them all at once, she thought, as the duo continued to cautiously make their return to the hotel along the almost completely deserted streets.

❀

‘Well, that’s all of the shopping taken care of, I think. Let’s see; PCBs, compact data storage device, compass, sedatives, new gloves, a fresh supply of gauze and bandaging, a new backpack and a new pair of boots. There’s still half the day left as well; lots of time to explore and think things over I guess…’ the lone emerald-eyed lady quietly monologued.

Rather than head with a trajectory towards home and risk even a brief awkward period with Yuri, I think I’ll try out the new boots, by taking them for a test run, out by the rivers and maybe into the mountains, she decided while departing from the well-paved residential and commercial region of the town and entering greener and gravel-pathed areas.

The doctor pondered as she sauntered north. It’s a good thing the route north has the river running alongside it; the natural soundtrack of the flowing water and ripples crashing against the banks or rocks, the occasional buzzing of the insect life and the odd outburst from birds that leisurely float atop the water’s surface has been working wonders in terms of soothing and helping put my mind at ease; it’s as if the tension evaporates bit by bit with each step.

Before long, she paused. What do we have here? An almost cross (x) shaped junction, where multiple rivers convene; two noticeably larger waterways and two much smaller counterparts. What a peculiar sight; a mixture of grass-covered riverbanks and sand dunes, creating an odd marble-like blend of green and pale yellow.

Noon has recently passed, so I might as well pitch up somewhere near here for lunch, she considered, as she leisurely studied the landscape. The doctor picked a spot on the riverbank healthily covered by luscious, green grass to sit down on. Despite the thick blanket of clouds above, the river peacefully flowing and the ecology that it sustains create a pretty relaxing scene; perfect to stop for a little while.

If I’m honest, there wasn’t actually that much shopping that I needed to do, accounting for the fact that I left with my basic medical kit, which has almost all of my tools and equipment for treating common wounds and injuries.

Best not to get sucked into thinking about the other problem on my hands. Maybe some photography will keep my mind occupied… Before getting to the camera app of her phone, she froze; her fingers remaining still and her eyes firmly fixed on the centre of the screen.

Monday; meaning that come this evening, it will have been one week since that woman crash-landed in my life. The single most annoying patient that I’ve ever dealt with, that’s for sure.

Then again, without her crossing paths with me, I’d probably still be at my desk, working away, after having spent a weekend doing pretty much exactly the same thing, like some kind of shut-in. No lover, no friends, nor even many acquaintances to share anything personally exciting or joyous with really. Imagine being so lonely that you seriously consider befriending a serial killer whose fundamental values are polar opposites to yours...

I hope she does come back though; it’d be kind of depressing and frustrating having the memory of her beautiful face as she lay resting, or that brief moment where we stood face to face, with her eyes threatening to make me misbehave and knowing that she’s a patient that I couldn’t save.

As much as I hate to admit it, Yuri did a good job of sewing the seed of thought, that there’s a half a chance that Hikari might not be a complete waste of time…

Yep; I’ve definitely spent too long thinking about the past week and her. There’s that annoying uncomfortable tightness in my chest and shortness of breath again...

Ugh. The doctor frowned.

‘That’s probably my cue to get moving, into the nearby hills, before I guilt trip myself straight into being smitten by a woman who might not even return,’ the doctor declared, shaking her head vigorously, as if to shake off her concerns.

Standing up, she looked around and checked her phone. Not too far from the river, in the east, a long stretch of thick forest-covered hills essentially forms half of the valley. The map suggests a roughly two-hundred metre climb from here.

‘Back to Hikari’s family home heading south, but using the vantage points high in the hills to admire the town, the river and the numerous parks dotted along the waterway sounds like the plan for this afternoon,’ the doctor quietly confirmed, while slinging her backpack straps over her shoulders.

❀

Nightfall descended way sooner than I’d expected it to when I woke up this morning, helped in no small part by the cloud cover shifting from white, in the morning, to a very dark shade of grey as the evening arrived, a lady with a long ponytail held up by a bright scrunchie and matching orange streak in her hair considered, while sat up on her bed, back against the wall.

Unsurprisingly to Renka, the weather forecast on the local radio predicted that shortly after midnight, a tropical storm would make landfall, bringing winds exceeding 80 kph along with highly intense precipitation. The weather report advised that the storm advanced fairly slowly and its effects were likely to last for over six hours for certain north coast areas; the storm’s resilience improved by the proximity to the sea.

Both Renka and her black and pink-haired associate sat on their beds and after listening to the report, Renka turned to Kasumi, ‘Are you up for another shopping trip?’ offering her a playful smile.

‘Sure. Do you have a plan in mind?’ Kasumi asked in return, her voice as measured as ever.

‘I’m glad you asked, mi amiga,’ Renka began, with a pleased smile. ‘We will need some more equipment than what we have right now though; namely, a large bus. Big enough to haul a hefty amount of criminal scum straight to the police. We’ll more or less be repeating the routine from last night so far as the final phase goes, except we’ll be fleeing in a second vehicle.’ Renka’s declaration prompted a slight narrowing of Kasumi’s eyes. ‘Yeah; when we head out from here, we’ll be splitting up; I’ll be getting hold of a bus and you’ll be getting hold of a car; preferably one that’s already got the keys in, it’d be nice if we could keep the damage to property to a minimum.’ She smiled playfully, ‘Oh yeah; bonus points are on offer, depending on your choice of car as well.’

‘Is that so? What would be the prize if I were to emerge victorious from this game, test or whatever it is?’ Kasumi responded, with a playfully mocking tone.

‘Come on; when have you ever heard of a mystery prize being revealed ahead of time?’ Renka fired back, with a mischievous smile. Her smile vanished instantly as she resumed, ‘Anyway, I’ll be parking the bus near the door before we head inside, so that we won’t have to spend forever loading subdued asshats into it. We’ll be in the shopping centre building for the six or so hours that the storm is overhead. We’ll be studying their movements for a while and then strike close to the time when the storm is expected to have passed by.’

Renka sprung from her bed and collected the model 17 handgun stashed in the front of her backpack, before heading across to a dressing table, where she took a seat before disassembling and inspecting the handgun’s slide, recoil spring assembly, barrel, lower frame, firing pin assembly and trigger mechanism.

She turned back to Kasumi briefly and asked, with a friendly smile, ‘It’s just another simple shopping trip, right?’

‘Right,’ Kasumi responded, her voice calm, despite her thoughts. I may not have much left for myself, but at least I might feel a bit better helping these people avoid ending up like me.

Strange as she is, I am at least thankful for her helping me find a morsel of positivity after losing almost everything, she thought, as she casually spectated her companion’s weapon inspection and cleaning.