Chapter 1: Promises
"The moment I see them, I'm going to blow their brains out."
Tokaku crouched near the edge of the rooftop and loaded a sleek, black magazine into her assault rifle. With clenched jaws, she pointed her weapon at the alleyway door down below. They're disgusting! I'll make them pay for what they did. Her eyes blazed in cold, blue, chaotic wrath.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Azuma. We have to affirm their identities first before making any moves." a prince-like voice reminded.
A rush of wind blew the long, red scarf wrapped around Tokaku's neck behind her. She scowled. "It is them. I saw a woman with the insignia tattooed on her neck entering the building."
"Yo~, forget the boring stuff; let's just set the whole city on fire!" this time a husk, female voice, chimed in with laughter. "Night's still young, after all."
"That's not happening, Banba."
"Tch, Chitaru, why do you have to be a party-killer?" Banba swung the huge hammer in her hands onto her shoulder and pouted.
"For the same reason why you still have to act like you're in elementary school."Chitaru said matter-of-factly.
"Wanna say that again?"
Tokaku squinted; the rambling of her two companions distracted her focus. She'd had enough of their pointless arguing; it was annoying and crawled underneath her skin. They needed to prepare to fight at any given second. As Banba continued to heat their ongoing spat, Tokaku couldn't keep it inside. Her fingers tapped against the sides of her rifle's handle.
"Both of you shut up and ready yourselves!" Damn it.
Banba resented Tokaku's order and appeared as if she were about to retort, but, she thought better of it and shrugged and faced the opposite direction.
Chitaru sighed in relief and gazed into the sky. Her hands rested on her hips. Above, an airborne train glided through the ocean of dying stars. Despite the midnight darkness, the train illuminated its path with golden light emitting from its exterior. In the distance, two jumbotron blimps sailed over the radiant skyscrapers, relaying news, propaganda and countless advertisements on its screens.
It was indeed a perfect night for murder.
Tokaku and the others waited for what felt like hours. Time oozed and bled beneath their feet and was consumed by the famished shadows dancing around them. The more seconds that drained and slipped through the cracked hourglass within Tokaku's chest, the more she desired bloodshed.
Tokaku gritted her teeth. She inhaled sharply, a failed attempt at calming her erratic heartbeats. Violent, crimson-stained emotions ravaged the barrier of her jumbled mind.
Truthfully, she wanted this to be a horrible nightmare, to awaken and find that everything was still…still okay. That she was in her arms. Tokaku would do anything to turn back the clocks and relive the moments she never realized she should've cherished. Then, she could apologize for all the words she wished she had said. Her body hurt in ways in which she couldn't even begin to comprehend. All she knew was that it was excruciating and it pierced her soul with the sharpest of knives.
Because of them, Tokaku's world of sun had once again been dyed in the familiar and lonesome…
Black.
"Hey, I think I see movement coming from the door!" Chitaru spoke.
Tokaku snapped into reality and tightened her hold on her weapon, blood boiling in her veins. Chitaru and Banba leveled their selves with Tokaku. Chitaru reached behind her shoulders and felt one of the two katana swords sheathed diagonally across each other, forming an X on her back.
Sure enough, the door opened. Numerous guards piled out with heavy-duty guns in their hands and surveyed the wide alleyway area. Tokaku, Banba and Chitaru ducked from their sight. When the guards determined that the coast was clear, they notched their completely helmeted heads and nodded, signaling for the rest of the people inside to come on.
Tokaku touched the slide of her rifle.
"Wait!" Chitaru whispered.
Why? It's obvious! Namatame, are you a fool? You can't expect ordinary humans to walk out from a place with a bunch of armed guards in it. Tokaku's toes curled inside her boots. She forced herself to remain collected. Which lately, she hadn't been doing the best job of.
The guards dispersed and gave the people room to step outside. Tokaku glowered. Men and women dressed in average clothing filtered through, however, hand guns and other weapons were attached to their belts, sheaths, and pockets, some were even being held. They also had a wing and trumpet insignia exposed on their necks.
Then Tokaku noticed her.
The woman she spotted earlier during patrol.
She was at the center of the group as if they were forming a protective bubble around her. In her grasp, she carried a bullet-proof suitcase.
What's in that suitcase?
Tokaku glanced at Banba to her right and Chitaru to her left. Chitaru gave a slight nod of approval. Finally, miss goodie-two-shoes could stop complaining about "affirming the target".
Now, it was time.
I promise I'll find you Haru, I'm sorry.
Tokaku pulled on the slide, slammed it all the way back, and fired.