Hello! Please, enjoy what you read at your own will, within reason and respect. Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not claim nor own anything. All rights are reserved to their respective owners and no copyright infringement intended. This fiction is for pure entertainment only and not for commercial purposes.
On the eve of winter, chilly air and flakes of snow have yet to fall. It was best to wear clothes that protected the body from winter's cold. No one knows when the snow would fall. Despite the precaution, a teenage girl was in hiding, from someone or something. The girl wore a loose T-shirt that went below her hips, denim-shorts that covered little of her legs, and ankle-high casual-shoes with loose socks on.
The twin-braided jet-haired girl was leaning against the narrow walls between two buildings; hiding in anticipation and hope in her hungry state. The girl had been running for a long while, and the group that was chasing her were a bunch of money launders. The girl had stumbled upon them by accident, and while she could have fought them there, guns were in their hands. It was her job after all, to serve the people that had kept her fed and clothed. That did not matter anymore, as the girl was now alone and happy not to serve them anymore.
"Find that brat! Mikoto could not have gone far!" One of the woman in a group ordered, running pass Mikoto hiding in between the buildings.
A solemn and sad look was on Mikoto's face. The woman that was barking orders was Mikoto's friend. Now the woman was after Mikoto for abandoning her master, and for revealing their blackmailing attempts. Mikoto did that because she thought it was wrong to corner a person's life, sucking them dry of their life long efforts. When Mikoto worked for them, she believed and thought they were good people, because they were after people that did not keep on their promises. Mikoto was wrong, when she found out that they had burned down a building along with the family inside and the secrets they did not confide to her.
Mikoto shimmed her way out between the buildings and looked around. It was safe for now. They would not pull out a gun in the middle of the street or out in the public. That does not mean they would not resort to violence with their bare-hands. At any rate, as Mikoto walked along the path, away from the group had ran off to and hoped that there would be a fast-food stand for a quick grub. Mikoto was very hungry from the running and fighting a couple hours ago.
It did not take a while to find a fast-food stand, after turning to some corners and crossing a few traffic lights. Mikoto immediately headed over to the food stand and ordered a couple of snacks. With two hotdogs in Mikoto's hands, she immediately chomped on them, after paying for them of course. The taste of fresh, warm bread and hotdog, lingered in Mikoto's mouth. Mikoto savoured the taste and desired for more, easily devouring the hotdogs in her hand in a few bites. With a big grin and turning around to the stand again, Mikoto was about to order for more, until…
"She's over here!"
The shout of a man prompted Mikoto to look at him, and immediately declined for more hotdogs. Mikoto sprung off without hesitation, as the man and two others chased her. Running was easy, but going in a clueless direction was sure to be more dangerous. Mikoto was not wrong when a man and a woman stood in front of her. Mikoto charged onwards, knowing that she and they were in the public, they would not reveal their guns or weapons.
The man in front of Mikoto leapt forward with his arms wide-open. Instead of easily weaving around him, Mikoto dashed and grabbed at the man's waist. Immediately carrying the man along and throwing him over to the woman behind him. The man was the distraction so that the woman behind would slip behind to trap Mikoto in a submission. The man and woman tumbled together to the ground with a heavy thud. Mikoto front-flipped over them with her hands planted on the man's chest as she threw her legs over swiftly, causing the man to let out a harsh exhale. Mikoto landed successfully and continued to run onwards without stumbling in her steps.
A gate stood before Mikoto, and without bothering to know where it led, she agilely climbed over the gate with ease. It was tall for an average adult to reach above it, so the group chasing her would take a little more time to climb. Mikoto's master had sent her alone to be the best fighter, to both protect her master and fight what they ordered her to do. Moreover, Mikoto was the only person out of the many others to be the best; the reasons remained unknown to her.
Mikoto stopped at a fork in her path leading to the left or right. Quickly glancing behind, they had a woman to climb over the gate and open it. Mikoto immediately chose to run to the left of the fork. They were not far behind Mikoto, as she heard them call in her direction.
Suddenly, a man tackled Mikoto to the wall with a ferocious force. Mikoto grunted in pain as her shoulder slammed against the wall, but she had no time to dwell on the pain. With the man's arm at Mikoto's neck, Mikoto grasped onto the man's arm and shot a knee to his rib. The man jerked back with a cough, slightly slipping his arm away from Mikoto. With a swift and decisive moment, Mikoto ducked her head, looped the man's arm over her shoulder and swept her foot to the back of his heel. The man tumbled backwards as Mikoto grabbed his waist with an arm whilst holding onto the man's arm on her shoulder.
Mikoto immediately spun around as she held the man, carrying him around like a ragdoll. Then Mikoto threw the man at the oncoming group that was behind her. The man yelled as he flew over to the group, slamming his large back onto five people, crashing them to the ground. Mikoto did not waste time to look at them and ran off.
To the front, there was an intersection of traffic lights, packed with vehicles and people standing by the traffic lights. Mikoto grinned as she was close to hiding amongst the mass of people; she had the advantage in terms of height. Freedom and escape was on sight, so Mikoto picked up speed and burned the remaining excess energy she had just regained. The traffic light turned green and the mass body of people began to cross the roads. Mikoto knew this would be her one chance to hide amongst them.
Suddenly, a black rope looped around Mikoto's neck before she could even reach the crowds. Mikoto's eyes widened in sheer shock, and she was pulled to the side as her hands tugged on the rope around her neck, chocking her with a strong pull. The sight of the escape was a glimpse away, disappearing as the rope threw Mikoto to the ground, beside a wide and deep pool.
"There is no escape for you Mikoto." A woman said, standing beside Mikoto and holding onto the same rope that was around Mikoto's neck.
Mikoto gave a chocking gasp as the rope wrung tightly around her neck. Mikoto fought against it, prying it with all her force, but it was no use as the woman stepped on her neck, blocking her hands from the rope.
"If you surrender and obey the master's will, I will set you free." The woman said with a stoic face, and slightly loosened the rope.
Mikoto immediately retaliated with a quick breath of air, and threw her feet to the woman's side. The swiftness and force of the kick was sudden, sending the woman staggering away from Mikoto. Mikoto immediately twisted her body around as she stood up, unwinding it from around her neck and looped it around her wrists. The woman tried to counter with a strong pull of the rope, but she was slammed back as Mikoto used the momentum and pull to throw a pair of fists at her stomach. The woman lunched away from Mikoto and fell onto the lounging chair, perfectly.
"Huooogh!"
Mikoto immediately turned to the side, only to meet a powerful kick to the side of her stomach by a man. The last thing Mikoto saw as she fell into the pool was the wide and triumphant grin of the man's face. The kick had forced out the air in Mikoto lungs. Mikoto had no time to suck in some air before she fell in the water with a huge splash.
"Sayonara, little bug." The man said with a lopsided, winning grin.
Then the group turned and left Mikoto in the pool's water, not staying behind to mark any presence of themselves. As Mikoto sunk into the water, she tried to unwind the ropes around her wrist. The struggle was short, as Mikoto felt the burn in her lungs and nostrils. Mikoto could only manage a few loops of the rope to unwind, but it was too much to go any further, her mind burning up the more she struggled not to breathe underwater.
There was no flash of life in Mikoto's death, as darkness consumed her, and the heavy weight of her body was growing – as if sinking even lower than the undefined depths of the abyss. Fear welled into Mikoto, as water invaded her nose and mouth, letting out a hopeless plea – it was too much. Before Mikoto fully closed her eyes, there was a silhouette approaching her. What Mikoto saw were shades of orange-hair, and a pair of violet-eyes determinedly staring at her.
Meanwhile and before Mikoto drowned in the pool, the silhouette Mikoto saw was performing on a stage. Children were cheering on and there were adults going along with them too. This orange-haired silhouette was doing awesome kicks and punches, throws and stunts on the stage with the other performers. The orange-haired silhouette wore a costume with a red scarf wrapped around the neck.
"Curses! The Flaming Princess Warrior has defeated my minions!" The 'monster' said on the stage, as it retreated frightfully.
'The Flaming Princess Warrior' grinned, "Oh tortured creature!" She said as four rings around her wrists and ankles appeared.
"Cease this mindless action! And go back to whence you came!" 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' struck an awesome pose and flames erupted at her sides.
The audiences roared cheerfully as the image of a white-dragon with fiery-wings appeared on the screen. The dragon roared and sparks exploded around the stage, and 'The Flaming Princess Warrior's' rings glowed and spun with flames on it. Another cheer roared as 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' swiftly threw a punch to the side just as the stage's door slid down. Out came within the darkness of that door was a beam of light fired at her, which was deflected by 'The Flaming Princess Warrior's' punch.
The crowd goes wild as 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' leaped into the air with a backflip. As 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' landed and immediately got into her combat-pose, she slammed her elbow down to rebound a knee at her side. Then a kick slammed down above 'The Flaming Princess Warrior', but with a quick reflex, she leaned her body to the side with an arm blocking the leg and following down at its arch.
Once the leg nearly touched the ground, 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' immediately lunged forward, grabbing the leg and the attacker in a quick succession. However, the attacker slipped away from 'The Flaming Princess Warrior's' hold with her slippery legs and flipped over 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' to stand beside the 'monster'.
"Dark Koumori!" 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' glared at the attacker.
"Koumori! You have arrived!" the 'monster' cried joyously as he approached the attacker.
'The Dark Koumori' turned and threw a kick at the 'monster'. The audiences gasped, but it was not of fear or intimidation, but of anticipation and awe. The 'monster' smashed itself to the wall of the stage and slumped down with a groan. Black flakes popped from above the stage, shimmering down and bringing elegance to 'The Dark Koumori'.
"Koumori!" 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' yelled and earned 'Dark Koumori's' attention with a graceful turn and pose.
"Monsters deserve their punishment. Do not avail from this Princess." 'Dark Koumori' said with a cold tone.
'The Flaming Princess Warrior' shook her head, "We must not feed The Obsidian Lord with such cold and malicious punishment."
"Hahahaha!" An echoic cackle caught the two heroines' attention and turned to it with their combat-poses ready.
"Yes! Feed me! Feed me with your constant attempts against me!" A large moving eyeball appeared and hovered above the stage.
There were whimpers around the stage, mostly from children; otherwise, it was whimpers of excitement and anticipation. The large eyeball had single enlarged, red slit-eye, looking bloodshot as if deprived, insane, or madly angry as it blinked and bulged out its eye from its horrid-looking black fleshed socket. They were amazing props thankfully.
"Yes! Yes! Let me hear your whimpers! The Dark Lord commands you!" 'The Obsidian Lord' cackled maniacally as it menacingly stared at the audiences.
"Hyah!" "Hwoh!"
"Argh!" 'The Obsidian Lord' retreated as two kicks plunged at the sides of its flesh, near the eye.
"Fear not citizens!" 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' said as she back-flipped in the air and onto the stage.
"Evil shall not prevail!" 'The Dark Koumori' twisted in the air gracefully and landed onto the stage with a flip of the cape.
"Cry out the name of our justice!" 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' and 'The Dark Koumori' roared in a battle cry as they posed heroically on the stage.
The crowd roared and went wild; even the winter's cold could not touch the heat from the crowds. Standing on their seat and shouting with pure excitement with utter satisfaction on their faces. 'The Flaming Princess Warrior' grinned at the crowds with a fist pump, while 'The Dark Koumori' elegantly swept a hand across the crowd.
"Your justice is weak! Argh!" 'The Obsidian Lord' cowered back as a hail of flames and a swarm of dark bats attacked it.
The show goes on becoming wilder and wilder, burning up the crowd with pure excitement and joy as they watched the two heroines attack 'The Obsidian Lord'. They cheered on both heroines, each favouring the sets of stylish poses, attacks, stunts and 'powers'. Goodness, the producer sure did have a huge grin on his face with all that wild script.
"Excellent work Flaming Princess! You too Koumori!" said a man, as the two women have just stepped out of the dressing room.
"Producer…" Both women said with a huge grin on their faces.
"What do you say we celebrate and party our success?" The producer asked with a glint in his eyes, happy to show-off the two women.
"I have to decline." The blonde-haired woman said with an apologetic smile.
"That's a shame Miss Sara." The producer said with a small frown, and then turned to the orange-haired woman.
"I'm too exhausted." The orange-haired woman replied.
The producer sighed, "Very well Miss Mai. Mr Tate was expecting you." He added coyly.
Mai hummed in thought for a short a moment, "Tell him I'm very sorry and has my best regards." She said and walked pass the producer with a big grin.
Sara giggled as she followed Mai, leaving the producer to stutter and fiddle with his thumbs. Apparently, the two women had worked for entertainment in a television show under the same man, Yuuichi Tate. Yuuichi had scouted them and told them about his reminiscent childhood shows that fit the two women's role perfectly. More than that, Yuuichi wanted the show to feel awesome, inspiring and energising that the kids and adults would love it. It was a huge success thanks to their producer and their entertainment president.
"Are you going to see your mothers Sara?" Mai wiped the beads of sweat on her neck with her towel that was around her neck.
"Mm. Elliot and Lena have been gushing over each other. But I'm glad Lena has moved on ever since her husband's death." Sara said with a gentle love and joy in her voice.
"Hmm… How did Arika take it?" Mai turned her head to Sara as she walked onwards.
Sara grinned brightly, "She's very happy for her mother, and she has called me 'Sister'."
Mai giggled, as she looked forward, "One happy family." She said and smirked delightfully.
"Ha-ha~. I love them still. What about you?" Sara pulled the door open, leading the way out of the stage's backroom.
"I'm amazing and happy." Mai replied, as Sara glanced at her questionably, seeing the sincerity in both her reply and in those violet-eyes.
Sara amusedly smiled and shook her head. Mai had gotten through the toughest and difficult things with such a carefree and relaxed attitude. How Mai had gone with it, perplexed Sara, not to mention the other party of Mai's friend.
"Great work Sara! See ya'!" Mai said, as she jovially smirked and pat on Sara's shoulder.
"Oh! You did great too! Bye-bye Mai!" Sara replied in her brief startle, and waved at each other as Mai went on.
Sara sighed mirthfully, and then she head off to her home with a nice grin on her lips.
While Mai had an early start from Sara, she was thinking of taking a new job. The contract Mai and Sara has was about to end. They had renewals of their contracts a couple of times, and this was their last. Their reasons were their own, and the adrenaline has burned out on Mai as she worked on the shows. Mai needed a shift in her job and lifestyle to cool down and gather some thoughts. As for Sara, she wanted to stop working on entertainment. Sara enjoyed helping her mothers on their floras and tailors shop, it was something new and similarly to cool down.
As Mai walked along the pathway, after a fork, she heard a group with a boisterous laughter. In front of Mai was a group that had just hopped over a chained fence. They seem rowdy and while they looked prim and proper, they oozed with trouble. Nevertheless, Mai walked behind them, keeping her distance.
"Hah! I hope that girl drowns in the pool." One of them said aloud.
Mai froze on the spot wide-eyed, had she heard wrongly, or was it her exhaustion causing mishearing.
"Oh, she will, my kick made sure of that. Besides, I saw her eyes looking at me." Another one said, gloating gleefully and confidently.
Mai wasted no time and hoped over the chained gate, and quickly head over to the poolside. The pool was deep and wide, but Mai found the victim in the pool's water. Without stripping off the clothes, Mai bravely dived into the pool and paddled her way towards the victim. Mai saw the victim's golden-eyes; it was bright and clear looking at her, before it hid behind shut eyelids.