#TheReturn.

A very special gift for my very special friend and head consultant, Killah Cam.

Feel good short story.

Prompt: We all know the family-orientated hero Natsuki grew up to be in the main stories, but what if another mishap from the past lead her down a darker path?

Eager to mold her apprentice into the ruthless killer we all knew she would have been, Namikaze stages Shizuru's demise. Made to believe her beloved and unborn children are dead, Natsuki disappears and delves herself into life of the Underworld. Sixteen years later, as the feared Kingpin lies dying in a dark alley, the Rokudaime is saved by a young girl whose golden locks and green eyes look too familiar for comfort. Sociopath!Natsuki. Ruthless!Natsuki. Badass!Natsuki. Dark!Natsuki.

A few minor changes as well. Since Natsuki ran away, Namiko-obaa-san was spared from her death. Like Namikaze, Namiko raises Shizuru as her own, but molds her into the young queen she never was. Kira, (mind the spelling, my new laptop refuses to accept my foreign pronouns) Kaya, and Nami (she's Nami to prevent confusion with the older Namiko) are triplets. They're all sixteen.

I

She's My Sister. Break Her Heart and I'll Break Your face!

...

A young girl roughly around the age of sixteen closed her Trig textbook and sighed. She'd been doing homework since she got home from school, and that was roughly about four hours ago. She picked up her book and set it on her nightstand before neatly gathering her papers into an immaculate and orderly pile, making sure her name was written on each individual sheet - front and back - and all of her answers were spot on.

She'd just finished stowing her binder back into her backpack when a knock sounded on her door. "Come in," she said, making herself comfortable propped up against the mass of pillows on her king-sized bed so she could give herself one hell of a manicure with the new skills her Aunty Nao had shown her during her last visit.

"Aye Ki, you trying to go to the store?" her baby sister's curly dark head appeared through the crack.

Kira groaned internally and glanced out the window. The last rays of sunshine were just beginning to disappear under the horizon. It was only 8:05pm too, much too early to turn in, especially on a Friday night. "Come on Ki, I'll buy you somethin'." Namiko wiggled her brows, knowing that was an offer her older sister simply couldn't refuse. Kira nodded happily, threw on her Raiders hoody, grabbed her phone, and was all set and ready to go in about two minutes. "I should've started off with that, huh?" Namiko chuckled as the two began their journey down the massive hallway.

"Yup," said Kira, playfully nudging her taller companion, "you know the key to any girl's heart is through her stomach."

"Oh trust me, there are a lot of ways to get to a girl's heart through her stomach." was the cheeky, suggestive reply.

"You're disgusting." Kira rolled her eyes. Namiko fell into a giggling fit, urging the older girl to walk ahead or else they'd be standing there getting on each other's nerves until the store eventually closed and they'd all be mad.

"Haha. Have you talked to mom?"

Kira nodded. "Yes, she'll be back tomorrow night. Her flight got delayed because of the storm."

Groaning, Namiko said, "I miss her, man. How could she do this to me?"

"Do what to you?" Kira inquired as she spotted movement through the corner of her eye. Through the wide, sliding glass doors that led to the backyard, she could see two figures outside. "What're they doing?"

"Leave me at home with you two! Kaya's all like 'kill people, burn shit, fuck school' when mom's away and you're like 'wash your hands after you eat dinner too' and I'm like, 'shit, I told Curie to wait somewhere and now I can't find her anywhere.'"

Kira blinked. "And your point is?"

"The point is…" Namiko paused, scratching her cheek uncertainly. "I think Kaya's making her practice their routine for the halftime show." she said instead. "Poor bastard, she's been here since school let out, you know. I personally don't know how she's still standing, I mean she did get her workout in last night…"

"You seriously need to stop hanging around Miroku. He's such a perv and it's rubbing off on you." Kira replied as the two stepped out into the night.

"And you need to seriously lighten up," Namiko chuckled, reaching out to put and slender hand on her elder sister's shoulder. Though the youngest of the Kruger-Viola batch, Namiko was the tallest and often took on that goofy yet extremely protective younger brother role. In a few years she'd probably breach the six-foot mark, but something in Kira was telling her it might be sooner. Namiko was a young and upcoming boxer, the apprentice of International Women's Boxing Champion and Hall of Famer, Kuroi Riku Kruger. (Black Riku.) Riku was also their favorite aunt, so it was a bonus to be training under her. "Seriously, you need get laid."

"Who needs to get laid?" the final member of the wolf-snake litter rasped out through labored breaths. "Wait, wait, don't tell me." she jokingly thumped the side of her head as if she were actually thinking. "That one." she pointed at her twin.

"Cute," Kira said as the three broke out in laughter.

"Aw, come on, sis," Kaya released her girlfriend's hand in favor of taking her twin's. "When are you gonna stop curving Skye? I heard she's really interested in you. Right, Nami?"

The youngest nodded. "Yep, says you've got a mean stiff-arm though and she thinks you could be the left-tackle the Raiders have always needed."

Kira blushed. "Oh my god, it was an accident!" she buried her face in her hands as she recalled that dreaded scenario. She'd been rushing to class to avoid being late and had accidently ran into Skye while she was out on her way ditching. One thing eventually led to another - Skye talked her into ditching with her to smoke weed under the bleachers, which eventually led to a heated makeout session, and ended with Kira fleeing, nerves on overload, and avoiding her ever since. That was Monday. Four days have passed since.

Kaya shook her head. "Skye's a hottie, Ki. And she's a great kisser." Alex's mouth opened, "So I heard." she corrected herself, flashing her woman a dazzling smile.

"Look, can we not talk about this right now?" Kira groaned. "I want some cheetos."

At the mention of the cheesy snack, three faces turned green. Namiko even went as far as making gagging motions. "What's wrong with cheetos?" Kira asked, slightly offended.

"There's nothing wrong with cheetos, per say," said Namiko.

"Then?"

"..."

Crossing her arms, Kira put most of her weight on one leg, adopting a defiant posture, one that said she wasn't moving an inch until someone explained herself.

"Well, it's the way you eat cheetos…" Kaya began.

"With mayonnaise…" interjected Namiko with a disgusted shiver. "Mayo is only acceptable on sandwiches and burgers. And in tuna."

"And deviled eggs." Alex added.

"And deviled eggs." Namiko agreed. "Which brings us to mustard. Which is also only acceptable in deviled eggs."

"I don't like mustard. Or ketchup. You know that."

"Mustard I can understand, but ketchup?" Namiko placed a hand over her chest, wounded. "What else goes better with fries?"

"Ranch." everyone said in unison.

"Hm. Anyway, I have two questions. One: do ya'll want to bust a mission to the liquor store for some snacks. And two: they let KD go to the Warriors?!" she directed her last question more so to Alex.

"Because the NBA is rigged," Alex sighed, "but they wouldn't let CP3 come to LA because they wanted to prevent these so called 'super teams.'"

"Hm, I think we're good on the routine, baby," Kaya said as she returned to Alex's side and wound her arms around her lean waist. "Thank you for agreeing to perform in the couple's dance-off with me during the halftime show at tomorrow's game."

Alex kissed the top of her head. "Anytime, babe."

"HA, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay." Namiko said with emphasis through her hands.

"Shut up, loser," Kaya smacked her baby sister's shoulder. "We'll come. I could use an Arizona."

"Go ahead and keep drinking that pisswater if you want to." Namiko warned. "I saw a tweet exposing all their fucked up schemes. Employees urinating in the damn cans. Disgraceful."

"Hm, so what flavor you thinking?"

"Might go with watermelon this time."

"So, after all that you're still going to drink it?" Kira asked as the foursome locked up the house and began their journey.

They both looked at her like she sprouted wings. Maybe she would too if she got a Red Bull. "I sure the hell am," said Namiko, "only drink that's still a buck these days. Plus, it's the only complimentary drink to skittles. And mom just bought a whole pack before she left!"

"I just can't wait for her to get back." Kaya replied. "I miss her."

"Me too." Namiko and Kira agreed.

"When's she coming back again?" asked Alex.

"Tomorrow night. She was supposed to be back in the morning but her flight was delayed because of the storm."

"I hope she's got some kickass Venezuelan candy too!" That was Namiko and Shizuru's thing. The girl had one hell of a sweet tooth. Everytime Shizuru went abroad or on a business trip that involved leaving the country, she always brought her children back souvenirs. For her youngest, the most popular sweets. For her middle-child, bathing suits, and for her eldest, books. Kira loved to read.

"I hope Jonah's not with her." Kaya almost spat the name out. "I really hate that guy."

"Me too!" Namiko agreed as the store's lights appeared in the distance. "He really thinks he's got a chance with mom! Idiot, doesn't he know she's a lesbian?"

"Please, mom's hot and single. That doesn't stop anybody." said Kaya.

Jonah was their mom's insufferable coworker. Everyone knew he was not so secretly in love with their mother. He followed her around like a lost puppy, doing everything he could to please her, but their mother remained aloof. Either she was unaware of the his affection or she did a wonderful job ignoring them. It didn't matter that she had three kids who hated his guts and vice versa, he just wanted Shizuru to be his.

"Mom doesn't date, though." Kira pointed out. "I haven't seen her with anyone since we were kids."

"She always says she's too busy." said Namiko. "And that she doesn't need anyone because…"

"She has us." Kaya finished. "But it's not the same, you know?"

"She has everything: a high-end job, prestige, money, fame, power, children, a nice house, nice cars, but she's missing an Alex."

"An Alex?" Alex herself echoed.

Kaya nodded and looked up at her girlfriend. She pressed herself closer, resting her temple on Alex's rock hard bicep. "What's all that if you don't have someone special to share it with? She doesn't need an Alex because Alex is mine, but she deserves one."

"Well, the world would be better off with a Namik- ouch!" Namiko cried out as Kaya hit her in the face with the door. "Damn it, Kaya! I'm telling mom!"

"Mom's not here!" she stuck her tongue out childishly and hit her again for good measure before sprinting inside, Namiko hot on her heels.

"Great, they're gonna break and I'm going to have to buy." Alex groaned, holding the door open for Kira. The young strawberry-blonde was just about to make a cheeky comment, but her phone buzzed in her pocket.

"Uh, one sec, Lexie, I'll meet you inside." Kira said.

"Sure." with that, the basketball player disappeared inside the store.

"Hello?" Kira answered before even really checking the caller i.d and moving over towards the alley way for some privacy.

"Kira?"

"Skye!?" Kira almost dropped her phone. With shaking hands, she managed to get it together. "H-hey, Skye."

"You avoiding me now?"

That was one thing about Skye that low-key drove Kira crazy - her bluntness. She liked that in a woman. "N-no…" She closed her eyes, trying to get her nerves under control. "I've just been… busy." Which wasn't a complete lie because 6 honors classes and volleyball were a lot to handle.

"Right."

Kira pinched the bridge of her nose, unconsciously moving deeper into the alley in case her nosey sisters were anywhere in the vicinity. "How… How did you get my number?" not exactly what she had in mind, but a safer way to begin the conversation.

"Your sister." Kira groaned. Of course! She'd forgotten Namiko and Skye were friends. Skye worked out at the same gym Namiko boxed for. She also made a mental note to kick Namiko in the balls later…

"I'm sorry," Kira began, leaning against the cold stone wall, "It's just… I don't… I've never done that before!"

"Done what? Make out with a girl?"

"Yes!... no! Gah, you know what I mean, Skye!" Kira replied, blushing furiously. "We almost… I almost…"

"Speechless, aren't you? I get that alot." Judging by the airiness of her tone, Skye was obviously joking, but it sure did send a stab of jealousy surging through her. A peculiar sound to her left had her brows connected at the tips. She squinted, trying to make something out of the dark end of the alley, but to no avail. "Kira?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, Skye, I thought I heard something. Must be a cat or something."

"Or a rat."

"Skye! Ew! Don't say that. I HATE rats. I would probably cry if I saw one." Kira moved away from the wall to the center of the alley. "Or run." she said as she paused to admire her reflection in a nearby discarded mirror. She was wearing a short dress under her oversized Raider's hoody (one she was thankful to have brung because it was beginning to sprinkle), but it made it look like she wasn't wearing anything under.

"They eat people, you know," Skye said spookily, "they're really carnivorous but like to pose as herbivores to fool prey."

"You know, if you're going to try to scare me with facts, make sure I'm not your bio-buddy so I can call you out on your bullshit." Kira shot back.

"You callin' me a liar?"

"I ain't calling you for dinner!"

Skye's musical laughter brought butterflies to the young woman's stomach. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. And luckily for you I know just how to keep those furry bastards away."

"Oh? How's that?" Kira challenged, then almost dropped her phone for the second time that night. There, in the junk mirror she was standing in front of, was a dark figure perched on the top of the small convenience store. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes, convinced her mind was playing tricks on her. And she believed it too because when she looked again, the figure was gone.

But the feeling of those eyes on her… those green eyes that were both alight with hellfire, but as cold and dark as the area around her.

"So, you down?" Skye's voice once again snapped her out of her trance.

"Y-yes, of course!" Kira said quickly, not wanting to be rude because it was the second time she got distracted.

"Cool, I'll pick you up around 8pm tomorrow?"

"Yes?"

"Alright, it's a date. I don't really know what's out, but we'll decide when we get there." Skye paused briefly to talk to someone in the background who'd been calling her name for quite some time. "Yeah? Alright, here I come. Hey, I gotta get back to work, but I'll text you when I got off, yeah?"

Kira's little heart skipped a beat. "I'll be up waiting. I mean - I'll be up. I'll be up."

"I'll try to finish this tattoo as quickly as possible, then." Skye said, her voice a lot softer than usual. "Bye, Ki."

"Bye, Skylar." Kira joked. It was kinda their thing. When Skye called her by her nickname she called Skye by her whole name. Skye hung up a second later, but not before hearing the person in the background say something about cyber-scissoring, whatever that meant.

However, before the young woman could actually leave the alley and meet back up with her party, a raspy voice sounded from the rear. "Please Miss, could you help me? I seem to have dropped my ring and I can't find it."

As the words died on his lips, he appeared. He was huge. Kira guessed somewhere between 6'5 and 7'0, and built like a damn tank. He was a skin-head with tons of demonic-looking tattoos in the place of hair. His eyes were two dark, beady little slants with smears of dark makeup caked around the edges. Kira instinctively took a step back.

He raised his arms in a submissive manner, trying to convey he wasn't a threat. Kira was still weary. "Look," he reached into his back pocket and extracted a worn black snake-skin wallet. He pointed to a picture of a young boy roughly around the age of six. "This is my boy, Jim. He's seven." he showed her another picture of a black woman with a huge nest of gravity defying curls that made Kira's eyes widen with awe. "This my lady, Michelle, we got another one on the way, a little girl. But she'll kill me if I go home without my ring. Then I won't get to see Little Lisa." he chuckled lightly.

Kira relaxed a bit as she watched him stroke the woman's face lovingly. "Met her down in Sudan during a tour. Got captured, tortured, took a pail of hydrochloric acid to the face, lost my hair… She patched me up… and it was her idea to get all these tattoos to hide the scars. Better than walking around looking like Zuko, am I right?"

Kira chuckled politely at his joke. He hadn't made any wrong moves so far, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't. "I'm Clyde by the way… Clyde…" he coughed a bit. "Clyde… Stone."

"Kim," Kira said easily. "How'd you lose your ring Mr. Stone?" she asked as she began looking around her area while he did the same to his.

"I'm new around here," Clyde replied, kicking a piece of rubble off to the side. "I just got hired yesterday. I was taking the trash out when I heard it fall, but I couldn't track it."

"I didn't know Emilio was hiring…" Kira said. Weird. When Namiko came a few days earlier looking for work, he'd turned her down. But she didn't blame him. She had a habit of disappearing for long periods of time, and always came back smelling like a damn dispensary.

"He probably understands how hard it is to get a job when you're a returning vet. Besides, he's a dad too. You know how that goes."

Ouch. Kira's easy-going smile evaporated almost as instantly as it was conjured. In all sixteen years, 58,40 days, 5.046e+8 seconds she'd been alive, she'd only heard things about her father when her mother used to drunkenly mumble things about her when she was asleep. Shizuru didn't drink often, but she had her days.

But she only knew a handful about her. She was a woman - she knew that very well, but she didn't know what kind of woman she was or what kind of woman she had been. They wondered of course. Sometimes, late at night when their mother was sleeping or out of town they'd wander into each other's rooms and just talk about everything - including their dad - over a blunt. (Courtesy of Namiko).

Namiko, who related to their father in a way she never could, always tried to remain upbeat about, claiming their dad was probably one hell of a woman if she'd managed to win Shizuru's heart. "Don't worry," the younger teen would say, "If dad's out there I'll find her and give her a piece of my mind! Then I'll drag her back home and let the Snake Queen have her way with her."

If anyone thought Namiko was fiercely overprotective of her sisters, wait till they got a hold of how she was with their mother. Shizuru was Namiko's favorite person in the whole wide world. Well, all three of her children were completely smitten with her, but Alex and their grandmother were her younger daughters respective idols.

Being the eldest, Kira took their father's absence harder than any of the three. As the eldest she was responsible for not one sibling, but two, especially when their mother was as busy as she constantly was.

She often wondered what it was that drove their dad away, especially when their mother needed her the most…

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Clyde asked softly.

Quickly swiping at her eyes, Kira responded with a shaky, "Yes" before looking up at the large man. He seemed even bigger up close. And now that she was standing so close she could see his tattoos much more clear. "Machine Gun Kelly" was written in large, bold letters across his jugular. Kira felt her blood run cold.

"Machine Gun Kelly?" she echoed, desperately hoping it was just a coincidence.

He was silent for a few moments. However, every second Kira could feel the pressure of his hand getting tighter and tighter until he had a firm grip of her shoulder - something she was trying to avoid all together! "I guess you could say… It's my hood name."

"HE-"

"Oh, no you don't, girlie." Machine Gun Kelly spat, smashing his hand over Kira's lips. His biceps were almost as big as her head. He pulled her against his chest and drew her deeper into the alley. Tears poured from the girl's eyes when she witnessed her phone fall out of her pocket and onto the filthy street. Just as Namiko's name flashed across the screen! She hoped her sister took her silence as a problem and came out looking for her. Alex and Namiko could surely take him if they busted a Naruto and Sasuke tag team like in the Boruto movie Namiko made her watch.

He kept his left hand positioned over her mouth as he began to trail his right up and down her bare thigh. "You're a pretty little Chink too. Shame. So was shorty from Sudan too. Want me to call her for a three? She's around here somewhere… everywhere… bwahaha."

Kira cursed her terrible luck. Of all the criminals she had to run into today, why did it have to be notorious serial rapist Machine Gun Kelly? Clyde Stone was a facade. It probably wasn't even his wallet. Or his son. "If your kitty is as tight and little as the rest of ya, I might have to keep you alive for round 2."

He chuckled darkly, but what began as easy laughter, turned into a gurgled cough. Kira yelped as a knife was plunged deep into Machine Gun Kelly's neck. His weight vanished soon after. Kira took that opportunity to run as soon as she saw those same luminous green eyes from earlier. She hit the corner, swung open the convenience store doors, and stumbled inside. Her sisters and Alex were gathered in the chip aisle. "This shit is harder than the pop quizzes Mr. Jones hits us with during the week." Namiko said after fifteen minutes of not being able to decide on what the hell she wanted.

"Wasn't it your idea to come to the store?" Kaya demanded.

"Mhm."

"Don't 'mhm' me, you little shit." she reached out and yanked Namiko down to her level by the ear. "So if it was your idea, why the hell didn't you come with something in mind!"

"Ow, ow, ow," Namiko whined, "first of all nobody made yo punk ass come. I was just asking to be polite."

While the two continued their banter, Alex's large doe eyes found the rapidly approaching Kira. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Namiko piped up, "where the hell have you been? I've been calling you! You know mom will kill me if something happens to you! And what kinda fucking cheetos do you want?"

"Guys…" Kira startled, then broke down in tears.

Kaya slapped the shit out of Namiko's chest, leaving her gasping for air. "You're such an asshole! Look what you did!" she pointed to their older sister who was crying her ass off in Alex's arms. "I'm really telling mom."

"NOOOOOO." Namiko sank to her knees, her hands clasped together in prayer. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Here, I'll buy you the big bag and everything. AYE, Emilio!"

"Que." came the Hispanic man reading a newspaper at the register's response.

"You sell mayo?"

"Si." he reached under the counter and set the desired condiment on the table top. He then sneered in Namiko's direction, pointing to the broken seal. "You already broke. You buy."

"MEEEEEE? I don't even like mayo!"

"Que."

"Okay!" the teenager rose from the floor and went over to hug her older sister from behind. Kira was now sandwiched between two buff yet lanky teens.

"Brazzers!" Kaya whisper-coughed.

"Kira, I'm sorry." Namiko mumbled into her hair. "I'm just starving. I've got the munchies and I don't know what I've got a taste for because everything looks good, but I've only got $3 and…"

"Wait." Kira pulled away from Alex's chest to fix her idiot sister with a glare. "How were you supposed to buy me some cheetos and something for yourself with $3?"

"And something for me?" Kaya crossed her arms.

"I didn't even want you to go, tbh, so that's definitely out. Besides, you already owe me $10!"

"I don't owe you a damn thing. That's between yall." she pointed back and forth between her girlfriend and her sister.

"As far as I'm concerned you owe me $10 too by association, you feel me. Both of yall can drop $5 though." She turned back to Kira. "I'm really sorry though, sis, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's okay, you don't do it on purpose. It's not my fault you're ugly. It's your fault. But you're not the reason I'm crying, Nami."

"Is it because of Skye? I'm sorry, Ki! I'll kick her ass. But she begged me for your number! I didn't know she was going to be a dick. She's a bigger dick than me. And I have one…"

"No, Skye didn't do anything." In fact, Skye and I have a date… I think. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her heart was still thumping violently in her chest from her violent encounter. Those eyes… that person with the green eyes, the one who'd been watching her from above, had saved her. And the last thing she'd seen of them was their body being thrown to the side like a ragdoll by MGK. "I was on the phone with Skye when something happened. No, not like that." she said, waving off her sisters' suggestive smiles. "There was this guy in the alley… he said he was looking for his ring… he showed me a picture of his wife and son…"

The tears returned. Namiko was a bit confused. "Were they ugly or something…"

"He grabbed me," Kira sniffled. God, she could remember everything like it happened ten minutes ago. "And he pulled me to him… and he smelled like blood and gunpowder…"

Namiko's and Kaya's arms were around her instantly. Alex loosened her embrace to fit them all. "I'll kick his ass!" Namiko swore, but Kira grabbed her arm.

"No, he's dangerous, Nami. He's a wanted criminal. Remember that serial rapist I was telling you about a few days ago?"

"The one who stole the rapper's name?"

"Well, the rapper Machine Gun Kelly stole the actual Machine Gun Kelly's name… but yeah. It was him."

"How'd you know it was him?" Alex asked.

"Because he had a tattoo on his neck that said 'Machine Gun Kelly.'"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What?" Kira said when she was met with silence. "I thought it was stupid too…" she whispered, feeling small.

"OH. I thought you were being sarcastic." Namiko said. "Well, are you okay? Did he do anything?"

"No." Thank god for Green Eyes. "Someone saved me."

"Someone saved you?" Kaya echoed.

"A man with green eyes. I don't know anything else about him. He was wearing all black and he had a mask on."

"If that's the case we need to call the police." Kaya said, much to Namiko's disdain. "Don't say shit about the system right now Namiko, or so help me…"

"I'm not going to say fuck the police out loud if that's what you were thinking." Namiko replied out loud. "Emilio, you've got a pair of loonies hiding in your alley. One almost got my sister. You need to call the police."

"No."

"What?" Namiko fixed him with the coldest stank face she could muster. "I just told you there are a bunch of crazy fucks on your turf and you're refusing to bring in the heat?"

"Si."

"Y tho?"

"Bad for business." he said gruffly, returning to his newspaper. Namiko oughta beat his ass! With a growl, she punched a hole through the newspaper and gripped him by the collar of his polo. He glared at her. "Que."

"Why I oughta…"

"Let's go, Nami." Kaya tugged on her jacket. "Our sister needs us."

Namiko nodded and allowed herself to be dragged away. "I ain't buying here no more. 'And I'm taking these cheetos. Which I'm not paying for."

"Stealing." he seethed.

"And you're refusing service to a customer. Illegal."

"Leaf."

"Gladly." With that, the three warriors, armed with cheetos and the bottle of mayo Namiko swiped when he wasn't looking, and Kira made their way out of the store.

"Now, you said someone saved you?" asked Alex.

Kira nodded. She looked back at the alley. All was quiet now, but there hadn't been so many blood smears on the walls when she'd been here. The mirror from earlier was now useless, smashed to pieces with bits of blood and torn clothing hanging from the upholstery. She couldn't see Kelly, but she could see…

"It's him…" Kira said, spotting his body lying curled up in the corner. "He's the one who saved me."

"Where's the other dude?" Namiko asked, looking around. But Kaya had already found him. With bile in her throat, the older girl pointed somewhere above them. "Ohh… I found him… he's just hanging around." she said as she stared at his body… suspended 20 feet in the air, hanging by the flesh of his… "Woah! He hung him by his intestines! Awesome!"

"How the hell is that awesome!?" Kaya demanded, smacking her upside the head.

"Gur… because he deserved it for trying to rape our sister! He's lucky this guy got to him before I did." Namiko stood by her opinion, and for once, Kaya agreed with her.

"He's hurt…" Kira whispered, unconsciously moving closer only to be stopped by Alex's hand.

"If he could do that to him, we gotta play it safe. I'll go first." At the shorter girl's nod, Alex began inching forward. "Oh yeah, he's hurt bad." she announced softly, "I'm going to call an - oof!"

"ALEX!" Kaya screamed as the strange man leapt up from the deck with amazing speed, his fist connected with her jaw effortlessly. The young forward was mercilessly tackled to the floor, her attacker upon her instantly, blow after blow until her face was a bloody mess.

"Hey! Bastard!" Namiko shouted, rolling up her sleeves. "Eat dirt!" she roared, slamming into the figure like a damn linebacker. They both rolled away from the downed woman. Namiko was back on her feet instantly, adopting her signature fighting stance.

He remained on one knee, unable to fully stand due to his injuries. But he sure did beckon Namiko forward. "Eh?" she blinked. "Alright, buddy, your funeral!"

"NO!"

"Kira!"

The man had reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade. Kira had seen it almost as soon as it happened. He was fully prepared to kill anyone in his path, and she knew that. Kicking her body into overdrive, she rushed forward. "Don't hurt her! Don't hurt him! Both of you, stop it!"

"W-waa…" Namiko stopped instantly, but he did not. Not only was she incredibly confused, but Kira had inserted herself right into his pathway. "Ki, NO!"

"AHH!

"KIRAAAA!"

.

.

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To Be Continued.

P.S. Ya girls are college students (2K16) now. But we've got time. Happy Birthday, Cam! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. Stay tuned for #Smoke&Mirrors and #NRFTW.