Chapter 1
April 8th, 2015
Iwatodai
There was no way that anyone could have seen it coming. Fuuka's death came as a surprise to everyone that was part of the Shadow Operatives group, and no one took it well. Mitsuru, Yukari, Aigis, and Minako were gathered in their friend's college dorm room. No males were allowed, so the boys had remained outside the building. Aigis touched the long scratch on Fuuka's neck; it was irregular and practically separated the muscles from bone. Aigis made no movement to shake the blood off of her hands, but then again, robots probably didn't notice such things.
"She is gone," Aigis stated clearly. Everyone had already known it, but hearing it out loud somehow made it much worse. Minako felt her heart sink further and further into her chest, almost leaving existence completely.
"If I had known..." Minako's voice was soft and almost lifeless, something none of the others had ever heard before.
"We're all just as at fault as anyone," Mitsuru told her friend. "But we aren't the ones who murdered her.""
"Then who would do this?" Yukari insisted. "I don't know." Mitsuru's leather suit squeaked as her muscles tensed. "But we will find out."
April 13th, 2015
The funeral had been beautiful. Flowers of all sorts, chosen by Yukari, surrounded Fuuka's grave. Her headstone had some heartwarming truth on it that Minako couldn't seem to ever recall...not in her current state. This was the first time she'd lost someone in a long time. She'd been so sick of it and had had 6 years of blissful peace until this day. Since the day she and her friends had saved the world...
Minako wandered the graveyard, away from her friends and Fuuka's family. She stepped carefully over all of the grass-and-dirt burials, some new and some older than she would ever be. Her mind explored its repressions to remember the people she'd cared about that had been lost from her life. Ryoji, whom had loved her so dearly that he had let Minako alone make the choice of whether she should fight Nyx or have her memories erased. Then...there was also Shinjiro, who had sacrificed his life for one of their own, and whom she'd spent one glorious night with...
Ryoji had never gotten the honor of having a memorial planted for him, but Shinjiro had one nearby. Minako mindlessly wandered its way...
She hadn't noticed the ripped-out patches until she found Shinjiro's grave. She gasped upon seeing it, or what was left. His casket had been unburied and was left open beside the gaping hole...Empty.
Minako knelt beside it, trying to control her rapid heartbeat. How did this happen? Who dug up her old love?
Then, something filled her entire being so swiftly that she almost couldn't control it as she lifted something from beside the cushioned "bed". It was Shinjiro's leather watch, the one she'd left behind for his lovely ceremony. She clutched it and couldn't breathe; somehow she knew...
Shinjiro was alive.
August 4th, 2016
Inaba
The woman screamed aloud as the thug reached for her gypsy skirt, searching the pockets for her wallet. The fortune teller tried to push him away, but he was much stronger than she was.
The thug suddenly had a vibration run through him and turned around. Minako hit him again, but all it did was make his muscles buzz.
"That tickled," the thug told her, grinning with his decaying yellow teeth. Minako grinned, too, unafraid. She pulled a small stick from her waist which extended to about the same length as her arms. She gripped it tightly, almost wishing it was her naginata. The thug could use an inch or two less of his body weight. He swung a sloppy hand that Minako dodged easily, then countered by hitting the thug were it hurt-where it really hurt. He doubled over in pain and Minako thrust her staff up to his chin. It hit him hard and he toppled over, out cold.
The gypsy approached Minako slowly, eyeing the thug to ensure that he was really down. She took one of Minako's hands and squeezed it. "Thank you!" She said loudly. "Thank you so much!" Minako smiled at her.
"It was no trouble. You ought to get out of here soon, though." Minako urged her to go on, but the woman remained for a moment longer, shrugging out of the purple cloak that was tied around her shoulders.
"Take this," she told Minako, pushing it into her arms. "This has a spell of protection around it for the most unnatural of situations. Take it as my thank you." Minako considered giving it back, but saw the determination in the woman's eyes and simply showed her gratitude with a bow. The fortune teller smiled kindly and touched her hand. Suddenly, she gasped. Her grip tightened on Minako's skin for a moment, then released.
"You'll need my cloak more than you know, child." Then, she scuttled away.
Minako looked down at the cloak, brought it around her shoulders, and returned to the thug. He was starting to regain consciousness again. She pressed her staff onto his cheek, rousing him awake further.
"Where is your leader?"
