"Happy 18th Konoka! May you have a happy and fulfilling life from this point on," Asuna declared, clinking glasses with the brunette. She paused, "Well I guess you don't really need that since that's practically a given."
Laughing Konoka leaned back against the semi-circular seat around their table taking a gulp of her drink. It was just her and Asuna, celebrating her birth-day and having a girl's night out at the local night-club down from the dorms of the high school they lived in. The school was more like a high school and university combined into one.
"I can't believe it. You're going to be engaged next year," Asuna grinned, setting her glass down on the table.
"Yeah…" Konoka gazed at the champagne in her drink. "But it's too soon Asuna, way too soon. I don't think I'm ready yet."
Sympathetic, Asuna reached across and squeezed her arm, "There's still time. You guys have only met each other twice right? Maybe it'll get better."
"Well it's not like he seems like a bad guy or anything. It's just that we barely know each other," Konoka said.
"Maybe when you become the head of the Kantou Assoication you guys can break up and make it look like you had a falling out or something," Asuna wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Asuna don't say that you know he's going to be the heir of the Kansai Association. We'd both get into big trouble if we did that," Konoka hit her playfully, grinning.
Asuna was her roommate and best friend. They'd known each other since the start of middle school all the way throughout high school. Not much had really changed during that time. If there was anyone who knew her best it would be Asuna. Asuna was the complete opposite of her, brash, loud and sometimes a little bit overbearing but hidden underneath all that a very caring, kind heart.
"I just can't believe it. I mean you…married with kids," Asuna shook her head, her face softening.
"I know it's weird," Konoka began to run a finger over the rim of her glass. Around them electro dance music reverberated around the room, people dancing. "Come on let's go dance I don't want to think about it."
Standing up Konoka finished the rest of her drink and started to head out onto the dance floor. It was a completely open area in the middle of the night-club complete with a revolving strobe light attached from the ceiling.
Asuna was looking out the stained-glass window set high into the wall next to the entrance of the night club, straining her ears.
"Asuna what's wrong?"
"Thought I heard gunshots," Asuna replied uncertainly.
Suddenly the window exploded in a shower of multi-coloured glass, jagged pieces shredding through the air. The music stopped and people screamed, scrambling to avoid the person who'd been thrown through the window. It was a girl with black hair with a sideways ponytail that was fashioned in strange asymmetrical spikes. She'd been holding a sword that was as big as her which clattered to the floor near the table.
She hit the table of their booth hard, toppling off the edge and collided into Konoka who yelped. Groaning she sat up, gritting her teeth and ripped out a shard of glass from her shoulder. A man with dyed blond hair in a black jacket, white shirt and black trousers leapt through the window wielding a sword. As the night-clubbers scattered, yelling and shouting in fear, the man leapt towards them sword over his head.
The girl snatched the glass from Konoka's hand, spun around and flung it at the guy's face. He stumbled as the glass shattered shards piercing his skin, dropping to the floor and holding his face.
"Thanks," The girl said to her before diving down to pick up her sword and jumping the guy, a knee on his chest with the sharp edge of the sword pressed hard against his throat.
The door burst open. Gunfire pelted the air, bullets peppering the walls, lights, bar, tables and seats. A bullet lodged itself near Konoka's ear. Asuna was pulling her down, covering her.
"What's going on?" Konoka cried out.
The sound of glass breaking into pieces with tinkling crashes ricocheted across the air. Gunfire still ran rampant.
"I don't know but we got to get out of here!" Asuna let out a terrified yelp as a bullet nicked her shoulder.
"Everyone freeze! You four, hands up now and don't make any sudden movements!"
Just like that the gunfire stopped. Slowly, very slowly, Konoka sat up. Security guards were at the door along with about a dozen police that swarmed into the room, surrounding the two guys and girls. In the centre of the dance floor was a tall girl with two braids, her gun aimed at a man who was on the floor with a gun that was aimed at her. They didn't move their fingers on the triggers.
"I said hands up!" One of the police officers yelled but his hand was shaking.
Suddenly the guy beneath the girl threw some powder in her eyes making her stumble off, rubbing at them frantically. He grabbed Konoka, dragging her into the centre with the sword drawn at her throat, his arm around her waist.
"Anybody try to hurt me and I'll silt the girl's throat!" He warned.
"Let her go we don't take hostages," The girl approached them, her face tense.
As Konoka struggled the man jerked her hard, the metal touching her neck, "Don't move."
"Setsuna we should go now there'll be more coming then we'll be surrounded!" The tall girl called.
The girl, Setsuna, flicked her eyes over to her then back to Konoka who had gone still, terrified.
"Haru just let her go and we can finish this without anyone getting hurt. You don't need this blood on your hands," Setsuna said, gesturing around them. "Look around there's six guns on you. You'll get hit the second you spill a drop of blood."
"Setsuna come on let's go just leave her!" The tall girl was backing away, the gun still levelled at the other man's head.
"Let the girl go or we will shoot!" One of the police officers yelled.
Konoka felt the man hesitate. Setsuna tackled him, knocking Konoka away. Asuna caught her, her face white. The police opened fire and screams rent the air. As Asuna pulled Konoka underneath the table for cover she saw the tall girl leap through the window, firing over her shoulder at the police faster than she could see. Half of them went down, clutching their knees which were bleeding from the bullets while the rest ducked for cover. Her opponent followed. The man, Haru, pushed Setsuna away and hurtled through the crowd towards the back door desperately. His face was bleeding from cuts. Setsuna leapt to her feet and that's when Konoka noticed her hands were bandaged. A bullet whizzed by, scraping her cheek as she made to run after him. Setsuna didn't even flinch. Turning to the police she tightened her hold on the sword going completely still, her expression cold.
She swung her sword so fast in less time than it took Konoka to blink. A burst of white energy had erupted with each strike, slamming into each officer and knocking them off their feet. Setsuna fled through the broken window, pausing as she stood on the ledge and glanced over her shoulder at her. Something flickered in her dark eyes. Then she was gone.
Setsuna didn't meet up with Mana until one in the morning at the door of the flat they lived in with Kaede. Mana only gave a brief nod of acknowledgement as they saw each other then knocked on the door four times with a one second pause in between each. After a few seconds she rapped twice again without pausing. There was a clinking sound and the door opened a fraction, held in place by a chain-stopper.
"Kaede it's us," Setsuna said.
Unhooking it Kaede opened the door the rest of the way. Kaede was the second tallest in their trio which meant she was about nearly two heads taller than Setsuna. She was highly independent but blind, something which most people wouldn't have noticed if they looked at her considering how she had her eyes closed most of the time. When they'd first met Mana had remarked with dry sarcasm if she ever hit any walls like that. They didn't know that Kaede had been blind then.
"You two were on breaking news I feared you'd finally been arrested," Kaede strode back over to the couch, a curious look on her face. The TV which was sitting on the little table in front of the room was switched on.
"What already? That was just four hours ago," Setsuna snapped to her, surprised.
"Setsuna's brother got a little bit impatient. Tempers flared and it turned into a fight. Not a good move since he and his friend are both incompetent when it comes to dealing with us," Mana said, stretching and going over to the kitchenette in the back.
"Touji was always a psycho anyway," Setsuna muttered.
She flopped down on the couch, rubbing at her eyes which were beginning to sting. She picked the remote up from the table, turning the volume up. They were showing footage of witnesses being questioned.
"You might want to clean your eyes. There's probably still powder in there," Mana advised as she sat down near Setsuna handing her a glass of water.
Taking it she dipped her free hand into it and rinsed her eyes out, blinking and wiping her eyes. When her vision had cleared they were interviewing a redhead with twin bells in her hair and a brunette.
"Hey, those are the two girls," Setsuna said, straightening.
"The girl you were willing to get caught for?" Mana remarked, her lips twitching.
"Shut up I knew what I was doing," Setsuna said bluntly.
"As expected of you Setsuna," Kaede clapped her shoulder. "The yakuza don't harm people who don't deserve it isn't that right?"
"Don't call me that Kaede," Setsuna frowned slightly, irritation lacing her voice. "I'm not part of them anymore, never will be ever again."
"Hey Setsuna your girl-friend's talking about you on TV, should've invited her over," Mana said, her lips twitching. She looked like she was about to break out into laughter. Setsuna just ignored her, focusing on the TV. Sometimes Mana could be brutal.
"I was really scared. I thought I was going to die but then the girl, Setsuna, she saved me. If it wasn't for her then I would probably be dead," The brunette smiled a little straight down the camera.
She was easy on the eyes, a natural.
"She looks familiar," Setsuna said thoughtfully. "I've seen her somewhere before."
"She's the grand-daughter to the man who owns one of the largest businesses in Japan," Mana sounded amused. Setsuna didn't take that as much of a good sign. "Her name is Konoe Konoka and she's going to be engaged to the heir of the Kansai Association. Rumour has it that it's primarily for business."
"How do you know that?" Setsuna stared at her.
"You forget how many contacts I have," Mana replied dryly.
"This has been the fifth brawl within the past 24 hours. It is believed to be related to the recently exposed illegal arms and drugs operation in the area run by local mob boss-"
Setsuna switched the TV off, leaning back and shut her eyes. She was exhausted, having been hiding from the police and felt like curling up on the couch and sleeping which she did. She felt the couch move meaning that Kaede had gotten up, probably to retire to her bedroom. They only had one real bedroom. The other was that was right next to it operated as a storage room with a hamper for all her clothes and a moth-eaten couch to sleep on and since Mana was the one who'd originally paid for the flat she usually had final say over who slept where. Since Setsuna had gotten used to sleeping on the couch even before Kaede permanently moved in with them it didn't bother her. For safety reasons Kaede had ended up sharing the bed with Mana when she'd moved in with them but sometimes Setsuna saw the way they looked at each other and she got a feeling that wasn't the only reason. Mana never hasselled Kaede for any payment anyway and in return Kaede was the de facto cook.
"Setsuna, how do you feel about doing a job for me when you wake up?" Mana asked.
That was another thing. Mana made Setsuna do work that was either not worth it to her because it didn't pay enough or whenever she needed to pay rent. Problem was that Mana's work tended to have a high chance of death, more than she liked to risk at times. Sometimes she wondered if her luck would run out one of these days.
"How much do I get paid?"
"It's for your rent for the week. So does it matter?"
"…Guess not."
A.N: Just a small side project/thing I worked on while writing another one of my fics. No magic unless you count Shinmeiryu blasts "magic". For those who are interested in the epilogue for Breaking the Habit I'm still fine-tuning it. Having a little trouble. In regards to this fic this is not for the squeamish at all. There are things that are going to happen that is not for the sensitive so turn back if you're one of those people. For the others, well enjoy.
