Training at the Ginkawa mansion

The next day, 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 as Yuni arrived

“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.”

"You two fight a lot, but do you actually care about each other?" Emeri asked.

"No, we've hated each other ever since we first met years ago at Ryokoma."

"So why do your highlights match Yuni's hair color?"

"Oh, she got those because she thought having a similar hair color as me would make her smarter and help her pass her tests," Yuni smirked.

"And I told you a million times, they're natural, dammit!" Serika fumed.

“All right tsunderes, its time to begin!” Madoka smiled as everyone turned to face 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. Yuni's and Serika's outfits had actually been made onsite in one of the mansion's facilities the previous evening and had been delivered to them first thing in the morning. It truly was a bit overwhelming for the two, but they both decided to just roll with it.

“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?” Emeri asked.

“Sure, just tie me up.”

After tying up Madoka, everyone 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 before leaning her legs back and cutting the zip tie binding her ankles. She then hopped off the table and finessed the scissors into a position that allowed her to cut the zip tie binding her wrists.

“1 minute 2 seconds; easy right?” Madoka smiled as she ripped the tape off her mouth. "Now it's your turn!"

The other three girls stood in disbelief as they wondered how they were even going to escape. As soon as they were all tied up, 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 even knock the scissors off the table. She then placed the scissors next to her, and 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?” Madoka asked.

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

“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 a zip tie. To everyone's surprise, Serika managed to break free of the zip ties with brute force.

"Wow, that was impressive," Emeri trembled.

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

"Probably because 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 snack break, the girls were bound in strait jackets and strapped to chairs. Yuni and Emeri struggled to break free while Serika 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 zip ties, 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.

...

After a few more hours of training, the girls  decided to take a lunch break and headed towards a small dining room.

"I really hope this can build up my stamina," Yuni sighed.

"Traitor, us non-athletic types are supposed to tick together," Emeri pouted.

"It's not like I don't like exercising, rather I've always had low stamina since I was born. I guess I'm lucky it was just that and not something worse, it was a miracle my mother was even able to have me considering what happened to her."

"Not sure it was a miracle for the rest of us," Serika snarled.

"Break it up, you two! Anyway, how long until your boss demands you return to work?” Emeri asked.

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

“What do you mean?”

“Bootleg Col. Sanders was arrested yesterday by Bianka.”

"Bianka!? She's feeling better!?" Serika gasped.

"Yeah, she ended up going viral for his arrest. Apparently, she 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 Bianka 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 Bianka walked him in to the police station.

“Hey everyone! Your girl's back and she brought in some Kentucky!” Bianka snickered as various officers and personnel applauded.

“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 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,” Bianka taunted.

“FRIED CHICKEN!? I’M GONNA SUE YOU ALL TO HELL FOR THIS DEFAMATION!”

“Hey, does anyone have some tape?”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE 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.

"Guess I can understand why Bianka's fluent in English, but it is still kind of weird hearing her speak it so seamlessly," Serika shrugged.

"I'm fluent in English too and so is Nakajima. Heck, I'm more surprised you aren't," Yuni smirked.

"I can understand English, I just can't speak it well."

"So you know that bald gyaru, then?" Emeri asked.

"We've know each other ever since I met Sensei, but I wouldn't consider her a friend. Well, guess we were friends, but we grew a bit distant after Mochi changed."

"You know the loli?"

"Yeah, she was just as smart as she is now, but she was far more expressive. Bianka never told me what happened either."

"Fujiko apparently gunged them with hot wax," Emeri stated as she pulled up some information on her phone.

"I heard about that incident. But clearly something happened to Mochi during her hospitalization. Sensei suspected Purin  did something and that perhaps Bianka has a better idea of what happened since she was much closer to Mochi than her.

"Well, at least Momma rekt Smoothieko," Madoka proudly huffed.

"Guess... I take back what I said about Twintails. She didn't deserve to be shaved by that bitch," Serika mumbled as she faced Emeri.

"Huh? What's that about wanting me to get shaved?" Yuni glared.

"Shut it, Twintails, wasn't talking to you."

“As for that Senator, 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!?”

“Apparently, she was found in front of the station hogtied and gagged last night... Along with Inohara from HQ."

“Wait, that kook was tied up with her!? Sensei warned me that she's suspicious considering she's close with Mochi's asshole sister. Heard them along with Kurobane were besties in their officer days. So did she get arrested?"

"Didn't seem like it, though apparently she enjoyed the bondage according to Nakajima. Now that you mention it, I do remember Sensei telling me to be wary of Inohara, 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. Come to think of it, I think she mentioned the former Superintendent general's daughter was with them too along with someone else."

"I heard she had a criminal record. So who was the other person that was with them?"

"Sorry, I can't remember."

"Some genius you are."

...

Once their break was over, the girls resumed their training 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!" she 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 trembled.

"Yes way, she gave birth to me."

"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," Madoka asked.

"Yeah, that actually caught me off guard. My mother's real name is actually Futami Kirikawa. 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.

As everyone got up to leave, Serika lagged behind as she hung her head low. "T- Twintails was Fubuki's daughter all along? And I did all that, and said all that," she thought as tears began to fall down her face.