Chapter 1: Hired Guns
"P-Please...please don't kill me! I swear I'll pay you back. Just give me two more—"
"KABLAM!!"
The man's head snapped backwards as the bullet violently invaded his brain. The sudden, brutal motion created enough momentum to pull the rest of his body backwards as well. A young girl smirked at this fresh body lay strewn across the floor, blood beginning to leak out of the hole in the back of his skull. She puffed at the muzzle of her gun in satisfaction, an icy look in her dark eyes. "Sorry. Tiě Lián (Iron Lotus) don't negotiate."
"Xiaoli!" A sudden, harsh voice sliced through the air.
The young girl squinted and slowly turned to face the newcomer. "Y-Yes, Mistress? I didn't see you there," she replied tentatively, lowering her gun and head in submission.
The new woman was indeed a frightening presence to behold. Though she stood no more than five and one quarter feet tall, she seemed to loom over the girl with ease. A black trench coat adorned with various silver snaps and buckles hung around her shoulders and swished across the floor as she walked. On the back, in blood red lettering, the character for "Harbinger" was embroidered, adding to the overall darkness of her persona. The rest of her clothes were strange too. A simple yet sleek crimson sundress (minus straps) covered her from the chest to the knees, and a pair of strappy black stilettos gave her a few extra inches. Anything more she might be wearing was concealed however, since the trench coat was loosely closed and tied at the waist. Though...the one thing that was perhaps the most unusual about her appeared to be the childish hairstyle she donned (and pulled off) quite comfortably. "Odango" the Japanese called it...
Her lips were pursed in annoyance as she leered at this girl who stood cowering before her. "Do you enjoy defying me?" she demanded venomously.
Xiaoli shook her head quickly. "No! Of course not! I'd never—"
"SLAP!"
Xiaoli staggered backwards, clutching her cheek in shock and hurt. The "Harbinger's" deep copper eyes narrowed even further. "Kill one more client without my permission...and you'll join him." She motioned to the bloody body lying a few yards away. "Would you like to meet the Dragons, hm? Maybe even Death?"
The younger girl quivered and shook her head "no". The Mistress turned and walked over to the door, heels clacking loudly on the concrete. "Good. I'd rather save my bullets for someone else."
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"Mistress?...Mist—"
"Lee, I told you not to call me that," she said dryly, her coppery orbs half-shut in annoyance.
"Right! Well then, TenTen, I must ask you something!" he announced enthusiastically to the 19-year-old next to him. She continued to stare at him with the same half-shut eyes, peering at her bodyguard from across a long table – presumably used for meetings. "We have a visitor! A youthful new client that wishes to speak with you!"
TenTen sighed and rubbed her temples. "Fine. What kind of client is he?"
"He did not say!" shouted Lee seriously. "Forgive me, TenTen! I have failed you!" The young man began sobbing dramatically. The Harbinger rolled her eyes, wondering why she ever hired him in the first place.
"Lee, stop it. You haven't failed me...just bring him in please?"
"Of course! Right away!"
A few moments later, the drama-king returned with said client – a young man in perhaps his late twenties. His features seemed so familiar...it reminded TenTen, oddly enough, of Bohai – deceased father figure, but she knew that such notions were ridiculous. The man bowed low; TenTen merely nodded her head in acknowledgement, shifting herself in her seat and crossing her legs.
"Good evening, Miss...?" He seemed at a loss.
"Just 'Mistress' for now," she finished for him, growing slightly impatient. "Lee tells me you've come for something?"
"Yes, of course." The man smiled. "My name is Enlai, though my last name is not important. I have a proposition to make..." Enlai paused, maybe for dramatic effect.
"Proposition?" she repeated slowly. "Please explain yourself."
"It seems that both your Triad and my own have a grudge against a certain family, correct?"
TenTen's eyes narrowed. "Hyuuga..." she spat distastefully. "What exactly are you getting at, Mr. Enlai?"
The corners of his mouth twitched in an awkward smile. "Well, to put things simply, our Eldest Brother is getting on in years. He's not exactly up for an escapade at this point in time, so...that's where you come in. The Tiě Lián are quite skilled in our kind of business, so are you up for hire?"
The Harbinger stared blankly at him in response. Was she really hearing him right? "Up for hire?"
"See, now we won't get anywhere when all you do is repeat things, Mistress. It's no secret here in Shanghai. Your Triad came out of nowhere, and now flourishes in the Dark Trades – drug trafficking, smuggling, arms dealing, assassinations...and you've got a grudge against the Yakuza, do you not?"
"Yes..." she replied hoarsely, hardly daring to hope that this was really happening. "I do."
"Good. That's just what Elder Brother wants. Someone dangerous who's got the bloodlust naturally ingrained. Though your Triad is strong, it's quite small...that's where we can help."
"How? How are you going to help me?"
"Money. Money and men," he told her smugly. "We'll give you what you need, and you go do what you need to over there."
She studied him carefully, leaning forward and placing her elbows on the dark table top. "So...we get our hands dirty, while you sit back and watch. Is this really what your Elder Brother is asking?"
Enlai smiled. "Precisely."
TenTen smiled back. "Good. When do we leave?"
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"What?! We're really going to go?...Really?!" shouted another member of the Tiě Lián. This one was a bit older and wore an excessive amount of make-up. "No way! You're kidding!"
"Oh, shut-up already. If Mistress said so, it's true," snapped another girl. It only took a quick glance around the room to see that the entire group was composed of female members (excluding Lee and Gai – another bodyguard of TenTen's who looked like he could be Lee's father). All in all, there were about twenty-five of them. Each was occupying a seat at the long table with TenTen at the head, and Lee and Gai at either side of her.
The Mistress sighed and tapped her finger on the table. "Yes, Daiyu. We are really going to go. Now...are you all done doubting or shall I continue?"
Silence.
"Good. Now, we're leaving tomorrow on the first boat out. Enlai's men will meet up with us at the harbor in Tokyo. Now, since only two of you (excluding myself, Lee, and Gai) speak Japanese, Enlai's hired a translator. You non-speakers go with him. Xiaoli and Yingtai – you'll come with me."
Yingtai looked up and nodded. Xiaoli merely sat there in sullen silence – a huge welt standing out on her cheek. TenTen frowned. "Xiaoli! I hit your face, not your ears. And am I wrong to assume the gunfire did not deafen you?"
Xiaoli shook her head. "I'm sorry. Forgive me, Mistress."
The Harbinger turned her attention back to the briefing, ignoring the girl as she had been. "Now...for the basic plan..."
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This was it. This was finally it! TenTen clutched the railing nervously. All these years...all the training, the theft, the plotting, the recruitment...it was finally going to payoff. She'd been waiting for an opportunity like this. But she had to wonder...who was this Enlai? Whose Triad did he belong to anyways?
"TenTen! TenTeeeen!! TenTen! TenTenTenTenTenTenTen—"
"SHUT.UP, Lee!" she ordered. He snapped his mouth shut immediately. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to tell you how youthful you're looking today! And I want you to remember – you must do your best always!" His eyes burned with determination, those monstrous eyebrows of his twitching slightly. It was hard to stay mad at either him or Gai...
"Thank you. And Lee, this is going to be more risky than usual. Please take a gun already. It's common sense." TenTen knew what the answer was, however. Lee had touched a gun only once in his life, and it was more than enough for his tastes. To make up for it, the boy had trained for days on end in martial arts, making him a most formidable opponent and compensating for his lack of weaponry. In Shanghai, he could do more than hold his own...but in Tokyo...she wasn't so sure.
"No thank you, TenTen! I do not wish to use a gun – only my youthful skills as a martial artist!"
"Atta boy!" shouted Gai, jogging up to the pair. "Lee, gaze into my manly features and know this: youth shall never fail you!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
TenTen muted them out of her head as they continued on. Gai was a mentor to Lee, so they were very close...but it got quite annoying after a few minutes. Besides, she had to focus on other things. It would be only an hour or so before they arrived. Then, the Triad would split up into five groups of five, each heading off to their own district of Tokyo.
The Harbinger gave a passing couple a dirty look – sending them hurrying off in another direction. People who didn't understand were annoying...they were so wrapped up in the disgusting, happy little lives that they lead. There was no misery. There was no hurt. No...that had been reserved for her and her little sisters, hadn't it?
"Mistress?"
The unexpected voice at her side snapped TenTen back to reality. "Yes..." she replied dully.
"I want to ask you something..."
"What is it, Yingtai?" she sighed.
"Are we ever going to return?"
TenTen's copper orbs shifted to meet the deep hazel ones in surprise. "Return where?"
"Home...to Shanghai. Will we still be a family after this is over?" The girl pulled at her coat nervously.
"Yingtai..." The Tiě Lián's Mistress felt a strange emotion wash over her. It felt like sadness mixed with an unusual sort of anger. This girl next to her...her little sister...was very young. She was at most fifteen. TenTen's heart hardened. She'd made the terms of joining this Triad very clear. In fact, to join – one had to swear to help avenge the deaths of the Mistress's first family. Then, they signed it in blood. Yingtai knew what she was getting into – all of them did.
The Harbinger turned and looked out over the vast sea they were crossing, the coast of Japan just coming into sight now. "We'll still be a family no matter what. We signed a blood pact, remember? We're all sisters now...and brothers if you count Lee and Gai."
"But will we return?"
TenTen had an eerie sort of feeling run down her spine. It had suddenly gotten very chilly. The Mistress shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her body. "Yes..." she replied, but somehow everything in her said "no."
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Thank you to those who've reviewed so far!
-- Kimberly – annikacan --
Anyways, I hope it's not moving too fast...or slow. Right now, I just want to get the basic background info cemented down before I move into introducing new groups and characters. Well, that's all I've got to say for the moment, so...any constructive criticism would be loved. Reviews are loved too. The more reviews I get, the faster I update. It makes me feel like more people actually care about the story... uu"
- Hikari