Forewords
So in the previous chapter of Gensokyo Untold which is also the first chapter, we've learned that (at least in the universe of Fantasy Blitzkrieg) 50 years ago, Gensokyo has a crime-rampant Makai-hole of a metropolis as its capital, and the crime rates are so high that the then-still-functioning government of the so-called Democratic States of Gensokyo was planning to replace the police with the army.
Yeah, thinking outside the box in terms of fiction-writing can sometimes get you very weird results. Otherwise, we wouldn't have all those Anime and Manga in which the settings and storylines seemed absurd in comparison with, say, American or British medias... Hey, even Chinese and Korean fantasy titles aren't as weird!
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone from East Asia on that last part...
So let's cut the Forewords short and get going with the main story.
Chapter 2: ...There Is Only Bloodshed
"Back then, the City Ruins where the Citadel is located was a thriving, technologically advanced metropolis, with a balanced percentage of magic here and there. Although the technology and magic back then were two separate terms as opposed to the hybrid Magitech we were all familiar with today.
Additionally, the metropolis, called Ignobilium City, was more of a dystopia filled with crime and political corruption, yet somehow managed to remain the capital city of the then Democratic States of Gensokyo. The city itself was on a daily basis rampant with gang wars between four gangs so powerful even an armed force look underequipped in comparison..."
...
Time: 0715 Hour; 26th of December, 2067
Location: Terminal, Gensokyo Inter-Sanctuary Airport.
As soon as the gunfight began, most of the civilians in the airport terminal had quickly evacuated themselves by running straight for the nearest exit. The gunfight was so bad even the airport security guards have abandoned their posts to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Mafiya Bratok exchanged a hail of full-auto live ammunitions with each other. Some just stood there as they opened fire at the opposing gang, while others used the surroundings as covers.
Miko Hakurei and the Kirisame couples took cover behind a Duty Free merchandise booth as the hail of bullets from the two dueling gangs tore up nearly everything in the terminal.
A few innocents that didn't escape or take cover in time were injured by stray shots.
Seeing innocent people getting injured in the crossfire caused Miko to change the plan she has in mind. The Rural Shrine Maiden turned toward Daisuke and said "We need to get the innocents out of the firefight!"
Daisuke seems to sight as he finishes loading up his handgun. "I'm telling you, Miko, you care about other people too much..."
Several assault rifle bullets tore through the part of the booth counter above Mami's head, causing the young lady to squeal in fear.
"Well, the police won't be arriving anytime soon, so I guess we have to do something..." Daisuke comments about the situation, before responding to Miko. "Right... I'll go evacuate as many innocents as I can, while you help make sure I don't take any bullets."
All of a sudden, an Al-Jihad Clansman tumbled over the Duty Free booth counter as he was pushed back by continuous submachine gun fire from a Tuskachevy Bratok.
Mami looked away from the bullet-riddled corpse in disgust.
"Mami, you stay low and try not to get shot while Miko and I help evacuate the innocents." Daisuke told the young lady, before coming out of the cover. He laid low and crawled toward the closest injured innocent slowly as to decrease the likelihood of being hit by a stray shot.
Miko jumped over the booth counter, nun-chucks in her hands, as she whacks out cold an approaching Al-Jihad Clansman and a Tuskachevy Mafiya Bratok.
Two Bratok have noticed the Rural Shrine Maiden, and since those two weren't shooting at any Al-Jihad Clansmen, they were able to temporarily divert their attention on her. The two Bratok proceeds to empty entire magazines worth of bullets on her.
Miko deflects every single one of those bullets with very precise swings of her nun-chucks.
The Bratok dropped their jaws in surprise. They tried to reload their SMGs, but one was knocked out cold by Miko kicking him right in the face. The other Bratok dropped his SMG and attempted to engage the Rural Shrine Maiden in hand-to-hand combat. The first punch thrown by that Bratok was easily dodged by Miko before she elbowed him on the back of his head hard enough that either his collarbone or cranium was cracked due to blunt force trauma, knocking him out of commission instantly (hard to tell whether that actually killed him, but he's not going to survive the ongoing gunfight anyway).
"Pathetic..." Miko commented on how quickly the two Bratok went down.
"Gensokyo to Miko Hakurei...!" Daisuke interrupted the Rural Shrine Maiden and called out to her. "I'm taking fire here, and shooting back is not easy when I'm helping people escape!"
As it turns out, one of the Al-Jihad Clansmen had broke off from his colleagues and started shooting innocents after one had thrown something hard at him. Daisuke was returning fire with his handgun, but had no success because firing one handed compromises accuracy by a great deal, and he's dragging an injured innocent with his other hand.
Miko rushed toward that Al-Jihad Clansman without further thinking, and attacked him with a triple-blow of her nun-chucks to his head, the third blow landing straight on his Solar Plexus, hitting with enough force to make him spit out blood before he falls limp on the floor. The Clansman's assault rifle slid a tiny distance away from him as it slipped out of his limp hand.
Without any warnings, the Rural Shrine Maiden picked up that assault rifle, and broke it in half by kneeing it before she threw the two halves straight at the mobs of Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok.
The throwing of the two halves of the assault rifle did not make the two gangs turn their attention toward Miko. However, it did confuse them enough that thy stopped shooting at each other for about three seconds.
Which is just enough time for the innocents to make a run for it.
"Okay, people! Now's your chance to get out of this Makai-hole! You're not gonna get another chance unless you're lucky!" Daisuke shouted at the innocents to tell them to grab the opportunity to escape from the airport terminal. The innocent the merchant's dragging with him is too injured to walk on his own, so Daisuke dragged him toward an information booth that seemed to be strong enough to deflect all bullets fired at it.
After he's done with the innocents, Daisuke rejoined Miko, handgun locked and loaded.
"I usually don't like to get into any fights, no matter who started it first..." The merchant complained to the Rural Shrine Maiden. "But when I have no choice but to get into one... Let's just say the bad guys ain't gonna get away without at least a graze..."
That said, an Al-Jihad Clansman suddenly showed up in the airport terminal brandishing a rocket launcher. This Al-Jihad Clansman proceeds to fire a single rocket at the largest cluster of Tuskachevy Bratok he could find. The explosion blew some of them to smithereens, and the ones that are still in one piece are thrown several feet into the air (a few even slammed into the ceiling of the airport terminal as the result).
"Even if they show up with more firepower than necessary..." Daisuke added calmly. He then turns toward Miko. "By the way, did you really grab a tank shell from midair and throw it back at the tank that fired it, with just your bare hands?"
Miko slapped Daisuke on his shoulder with her free hand, "Think of it as a volleyball..." before she dashed straight toward the middle of the gunfight with her nun-chucks in hand.
"Yeah... A high-velocity volleyball that can penetrate concrete..." Daisuke throws in a comment before following the Rural Shrine Maiden into the fight.
...
Still hiding behind the Duty Free merchandise booth, Mami crouched down and cowered as hail of bullets flew above and around her. But after a short while, it seems that both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya have stopped firing...
...At least, that's what it looked like. Gunshots are still being heard coming from them, but no more bullets came near her.
Taking the opportunity, Mami poked her head slightly out of the bit of cover she has left, and sees something that is stuck between lame and amazing.
The amazing part comes from Miko singlehandedly beating up Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok in quick succession with what amounts to hand-to-hand combat in a massive gunfight, and the one fighting hand-to-hand is winning, not to mention that Miko either dodged the bullets fired at her or deflected them with precise swings of her nun-chucks. At one point, the Al-Jihad Clansman with the rocket launcher placed his attention on the Rural Shrine Maiden and fired a rocket at her. Miko snatched that rocket from midair with her bare hands and proceeds to throw it straight back to where it came from, blowing that Clansman into smithereens.
The lame part comes from Daisuke hanging around just outside the edge of the danger zone, taking potshots at both gangs with his puny handgun. Granted, he still manages to avoid getting shot while avoiding friendly-firing Miko at the same time, but the merchant was pretty lame compared to the Rural Shrine Maiden.
By that point, there were more Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok either unconscious or dead than the ones still shooting at each other, and some of those have temporarily diverted their attention on Miko and Daisuke, only to be taken out by the duo soon after. At least for now, the gangs' gunshots stayed inside the zone of the gunfight, making it safe enough for Mami to come out of her cover and sigh in relief.
That is, until one of Miko's heavy punches has sent a Tuskachevy Bratok barreling toward the Duty Free merchandise booth. The Mafiya member crashed halfway through the booth, stopping just short of where Mami currently stood.
Somehow, that Tolkachi is still alive despite the injuries he sustained, and was staring straight at Mami with that pair of bloodshot eyes.
The stare totally freaked out the young lady, as she pulls a magic wand from her Perception Hammerspace and proceeds to cast a spell which blew the almost-dead Tuskachevy Bratok back toward the zone of the gunfight, which was at least halfway across the airport terminal.
The Mafiya member being blown such a far distance away drew the attention of both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya as the two gangs stopped their duel. Miko's eyes widened as she pondered how Mami was able to pull off what she just did, but Daisuke's reaction was that of a horrified man, taking into context what might happen next.
"Mami... What did you do?" The merchant said to Mami with the same horrified look.
The Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok raised their guns for a moment before both gangs were ordered by their lieutenants to put them down. With so little active members left in the airport terminal, both sides have decided that they've already broke even with their fight for now...
...That, along with armed police force arriving just in time. Most policemen rushed in from the main entrances and aimed their LMGs or shotguns at the surviving gang members, a few descended from the ceiling of the airport terminal via fast-rope descend.
"Drop your weapons and surrender in the name of justice!" The police officer in charge demanded to the gangs via megaphone.
Both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya have decided that right now, they should put their weapons down instead. Both sides did, but did not put their hands up in the air
Seeing how the two gangs basically just surrendered, Miko became relaxed, and Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief before rejoining Mami.
"They could've fired at you..." The merchant told the young lady.
"I was freaked out. Didn't think further when I acted..." Mami replies.
An Al-Jihad Clansman tried to run toward and grab Mami, only to be quickly whacked multiple times on the head by Miko and her nun-chucks after just stretching his hand out. An audible crack can be heard when the last hit knocked him onto the ground (again, hard to discern whether he's alive or dead).
"Overconfidence can get you killed, idiot..." The Rural Shrine Maiden delivered a post-mortem line to that Clansman as she puts her nun-chucks away.
Then just as the police were moving in, the lieutenants of the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya both did something that caught everyone not with any gangs off guard.
The Al-Jihad Lieutenant dropped an object that emitted a thick layer of fog which enveloped all of the Al-Jihad Clan, in which the entire clan somehow disappears into thin air after the fog had cleared. The Tuskachevy lieutenant - Avtoritet in their mother language - pulled off something similar at almost the exact same time with a very bright light-emitting object that blinded everyone else, and the entire Tuskachevy Mafiya had also disappeared afterwards.
Both the police officers and the Kirisame couple are bewildered by how the two gangs managed to escape despite the airport terminal being surrounded to the point of being airtight. However, Miko, having seen something like this many times in the past, wasn't surprised one bit as she explains it with a single word.
"Magic..."
Although the police officers didn't care much, as they moved in, LMGs raised, and surrounded Miko just like at Plaza Fantasia yesterday.
Miko, having been used to this, remained calm as she lets the officers cuff her without resisting in any way. "Don't worry, Daisuke. This happens on an almost daily basis..."
"Seriously?!" Daisuke himself, although knowing that this has happened multiple times in the past already, is still not happy about it. "You help them stop a gang fight and reduce civilian casualties, and this is still the way they repay you?!"
"This is just so unfair, ze..." Mami added in to that sentence.
But just as the police officers are about to escort Miko onto an APC, all of them were suddenly distracted by something else arriving on the taxi runway outside the terminal entrances.
It was a jet black SUV. One that was instantly identified as coming straight from the Black House. In other words, someone from the Gensokyian government has arrived in person.
"...The Makai...?" Daisuke exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the black SUVs.
One would normally expect at least one Gensokyo Secret Service Agent accompanying whichever government official may be in that SUV. But that was not the case, as said official came alone, as the driver no less...
...It was the presidential secretary - Yukari Yakumo. She came straight to the location where a massive gang war had only just ended a few minutes ago, and she came out of that SUV alone.
The police officers saluted Yukari on instinct, in which the secretary dismisses before walking toward the officer in charge.
"Release her, officer." Yukari told the officer in charge, with the "her" referring to Miko Hakurei.
The officer in charge attempted to question Yukari's reason for making that demand, considering that Miko has been, from their point of view, obstructing justice. But then he reconsidered the fact that the demand came from a government official. Even if it isn't made by the president, he being simply a police officer had no rights to not comply.
And so, the officer in charge ordered his squad, "You heard the president's secretary. Un-cuff that woman."
The same officers that cuffed Miko immediately went to un-cuffing the Rural Shrine Maiden.
Miko rubbed her wrists upon being un-cuffed. She then turns toward Yukari and said "Thanks..."
"That's just something I'm supposed to do for a fr..." Yukari replies, but stopped mid-sentence because saying what she was going to say as a politician right within public earshot is very bad for her PR. The presidential secretary turned toward the officer in charge instead, and engaged in a discussion that wasn't audible at the moment.
Daisuke and Mami were more or less surprised by Yukari's unexpected arrival.
"Geez, didn't expect Yukari to come here today, especially after what had just happened, ze..." Mami voiced her comments.
"Bit... Girl's haven't been promoted nor demoted either..." Daisuke added his own.
Miko walked toward Daisuke and slapped him on the back of his head. "Even if Yukari is our friend, she is still the secretary of President Atrius Stone. In other words: a government official. So watch what you're about to call her."
Knowing why he received that slap, the merchant put a hand to his head in embarrassment. "Oh right. I always forgot that. Especially in front of a squad of police officers, that probably wasn't such a good idea..."
At about the same time, Yukari had finished her discussion with the officer in charge. The officer ends the discussion with a salute before turning back toward the other police officers and ordered them to secure the airport terminal.
"Right..." Yukari said to Miko, Daisuke and Mami. "We should let the police officers do their job. So, Kirisame couple, care for a ride home?"
...
Time: 0845 Hour.
Location: Block 7, Residential Apartments; downtown Ignobilium City.
Although Yukari offered to be the chauffeur for their one-hour ride home, the Kirisame couple weren't that much interested in the jet black government-issue SUV which, aside from heavy armor plating, is pretty much the same as any civilian SUVs. Then again, Miko's motorcycle could only carry one driver and one passenger.
The Kirisame couple got off the SUV without any additional comments on it, as they unloaded their relatively intact luggage which have managed to survive the airport terminal shootout more than an hour ago.
"Well, was kind of expecting more from something used by the government..." Daisuke hangs a lamp on the blandness of the SUV. "Then again, not all politicians spends their income on impractical things."
Miko dismounted from her motorcycle and killed the engines, before saying to Daisuke. "One always learn new things about the reality that we all live in. For example, I've learned that you take too much time just to aim at your target."
The merchant heard that quite clearly, and he took it as a pseudo-insult. "Well, at least not like you who always fight with melee attacks, even if your opponents outnumber you hundreds to one and have guns."
Mami cuts in to the argument just in time to stop it from erupting any further. "Not everyone could knock out an escaping snatch thief by just extending their right hand over the sidewalk while riding on a motorcycle, ze."
Both Miko and Daisuke turned toward the young lady and said in unison, "Shut up..."
Yukari sounded the horn of the SUV once to get everyone's attention. "Is there anything else I can help you with right now?"
"None at the moment, thanks." Daisuke said.
"I have one: make sure the president stays true to his job." Miko told the presidential secretary.
Mami just shook her head to indicate that she has nothing to say.
"Okay, then. I'll be going back to the Black House for now. See you next time." Yukari said before she drove off on her own and left the vicinity.
"I will be going back to the Hakurei Shrine. You can always call me if there's something urgent." Miko told the Kirisame couple before she too left the scene on her motorcycle.
The Kirisame couple now finds themselves alone in front of Block 7 of the Residential Apartments. A small gust of wind blowing in the background serves to drive in the fact that this part of Ignobilium City is the most silent.
Mami broke the silence by asking Daisuke a question. "You know, I heard what Miko is asking you back at the airport before the gunfight began. What about my borrowing of things?"
Daisuke's answer was relatively straightforward for such a question. "In that you usually claim to 'borrow' without returning them..."
Mami gently elbowed Daisuke in the gut in response. "Come on, I'm just borrowing them until I die. It's not like humans could live as long as Youkai or other non-humans, ze..."
Daisuke face-palmed upon hearing that. "You're hopeless, young lady. Now I'm worried if our future son or daughter would act just like that..."
...
Time: 0900 Hour.
Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.
The Hakurei Shrine, where Miko Hakurei lived was a shabby place. The main shrine and the torii gate in front of the shrine courtyard, although in pristine condition, gave the few visitors it does have a sense of cultural isolation. Quite reasonable, when one considers the fact that the closest settlement from the Hakurei Shrine was the Human Village, the least technologically developed part of the Democratic States of Gensokyo.
Miko killed the engines of her motorcycle and pushed it up the shrine stairway upon arriving back at her home. After setting the motorcycle down on a corner of the shrine courtyard, the first thing she did was to check the donation box, which was the only thing in the shrine right now that is not in pristine condition (the Kanji on it had mostly faded away, and part of it has been bitten off by rats and termites).
There was exactly one bank note inside the donation box, and it wasn't even in Genso, the official form of currency of the DSG. It was a bank note from Wonderland that valued at a mere 5 Sterling - Wonderland's official form of currency.
"Another day with less than enough income for life..." Miko comments on the emptiness of the donation box. "Tourists from other Sanctuaries decreased in massive amounts once the gang wars got worse..." The Rural Shrine Maiden turned from the donation box to the shrine torii which overlooked the Human Village about walking distance away from the bottom of the shrine stairway. "...And that is bad for the Human Village in which the inhabitants relied on tourism for a living..."
With nothing else to take note of, Miko took off her shoes and walked past the donation box into the shrine's main building that she lived in.
Had Miko made closer inspections of the surroundings first, she would've noticed that someone was hiding within the vegetation that surrounded the shrine courtyard.
That someone was a Pakmunjeong Mafioso...
...
Location: Kirisame Household, Block 7, Residential Apartments.
"It feels so good to be home."
As soon as Daisuke got the door unlocked and opened, Mami ran straight in and laid herself over the couch in the middle of the living room.
After what had happened earlier today, Daisuke smiled as he dragged the luggage into the household and closed the door behind him. "Always a giddy little lady. Forgetting the day's events soon after..."
"I think you should take a rest too, ze." Mami told Daisuke while still lying on the couch. The young lady raised her hand up to make herself more obvious from behind the furniture.
"Nah, there's something else I have to do first..." Daisuke kindly rejects the offer, as he scanned around the apartment room.
Nothing seems to be wrong about the Kirisame couple's apartment... except for the teapot that seems to be used recently.
"Again..." Daisuke scoffed at finding out something different about that teapot. He walked toward the wardrobe that was placed in the living room, and opened it to look inside.
Turns out there was someone else not belonging to this household inside that wardrobe. This person appears to be a young lady of East Asian origins about Mami's age. This young lady has braided red hair, and is wearing a beret and what looked like a slightly modernized hanbok, both of which are gray.
"May Lee..." Daisuke greeted that lady in a jokingly creepy way. "You snuck into my apartment again..."
The young lady - May Lee stepped out of the wardrobe and bowed apologetically in embarrassment. "Old habits die hard. Ever since that one time you left for work and forgot to lock the doors..." She gave herself a light slap to the cheek once before saying, "Joseong habnida!" [I'm so sorry!]
Daisuke felt guilty seeing the way May Lee apologized. "Ah, forget it. Just make sure you leave my apartment exactly the way I left it next time you decide to... you know, sneak in..." The merchant then points out something else. "And also, not many people in Gensokyo speaks your native language, so stick with English at the very least. You know how we Gensokyians are still getting the kinks in our Translation Spell worked on."
May Lee bowed apologetically a third time. "Yes, I will."
Mami got up from the couch. "You know what, May?" The young lady approached May Lee and made her stop bowing to Daisuke. "Enough with the bowing, ze. You're not anyone's servant or anything... Even though you worked at the same place as I am..."
"More precisely..." Daisuke kindly interrupted Mami. "One's a supermarket cashier, while the other's a supermarket security."
"Enough with all this, ze..." Mami interrupted Daisuke back, before turning back toward May Lee. "Sorry for keeping you here longer than you planned to. You can go now."
May Lee bowed one last time, this time to thank Mami, "Gomabseunida..." [Thank you...] before she dismissed herself and left the Kirisame couple's apartment room.
With that settle, Daisuke then turns toward Mami. "Jeez, you've kind of spoilt her from a certain point of view..." The merchant told her.
The young lady makes a verbal counterattack. "And you... Why do you carry guns everywhere you go, anyway? Maybe Gensokyo I can understand, ze. But even in Wonderland..."
Daisuke decided to end the discussion, and interrupted Mami, once again. "Okay, let's take turns under the shower, and take the rest of the day off. We're going back to work tomorrow."
With her sentences interrupted so many times in such a short timespan by the same person, Mami sulked under her breath, and mumbled "I'd have cast a spell to literally zip your mouth shut, had I actually knew how to cast it..."
...
Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.
With nothing else to do at the moment, Miko came out of the shrine's main building with a broom in hand, and started sweeping the shrine courtyard with it.
The shrine courtyard is at the moment littered with small amounts of leaves and pieces of scrap papers. Even if the Rural Shrine Maiden purposely sweeps slowly, she is still going to be done in just about five minutes.
Indeed, Miko is done with the sweeping in exactly five minutes. The leaves and scrap paper pieces gathered in a single neat pile just a few steps' distance from the main building.
Miko spent the next few seconds wondering how she should dispose of the pile. "Just leave it there? No, either the wind or some random fairies will scatter the pile all over the place again. Burn it? No, too much smoke in this autumn weather even though it should've been winter under natural circumstances..."
Then, something or someone sneaking up from behind the Rural Shrine Maiden interrupted her thoughts.
Miko proceeds to greet that entity without turning around. "Another successful raid on a Yadoshima-owned warehouse, I presume?" After making the cold greeting, Miko turned her head slightly, just enough for her to see what or who is behind her.
It turns out to be a Pakmunjeong Mafioso, or more precisely, the Lieutenant of the Pakmunjeong Mafia, pointing a handgun at the back of Miko's head point-blank. The Lieutenant isn't alone either, as several other Pakmunjeong Mafioso showed up in the Hakurei Shrine, five of them under the torii armed with submachine guns, three more on the roof with what appeared to be military-grade anti-material sniper rifles.
"You are half-correct, shrine maiden..." The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant replies to Miko. "We did raid a warehouse, but it belonged to the pigs that are the Tuskachevy Mafiya."
Miko tightened her grip on the broom. "No wonder the Mafiya went to the airport without their usual firepower." She made an offhand comment. "So, why are you here, Choi?"
The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant, who went by the surname Choi, kept his handgun pointed point-blank at Miko's head. "I have but a simple demand..."
"Then name it." Miko tells off Choi with a daring tone. "I may have plenty of time, but I'm very sure your boys here don't."
Choi scoffed in response. "Even at such a disadvantage, you still dared to say something like that." The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant pulls the trigger of the handgun just enough that anything making him flinch will cause his trigger finger to twitch in response, thereby firing the gun. "As I was saying, my demand is but a simple one: I want to know the whereabouts of something..."
"What would that be?" Miko said, not quite getting what Choi is demanding due to his not being specific enough.
"I believe... your merchant friend's girlfriend may have mentioned it at the airport..." Choi finishes his demand in a specific manner.
Now that certainly caught the Rural Shrine Maiden's attention. "Mami Kirisame? What about her?"
...
Location: Kirisame Household, Block 7, Residential Apartments.
"Your turn, ze..." Mami said to Daisuke after she was done with her shower, coming out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.
"Well, that was quick..." Daisuke commented on how quickly the young lady was done. The merchant proceeds to walk into the bathroom, and locked the door behind him the moment he did.
Mami made sure Daisuke has actually locked the bathroom door before she went straight for the bedroom and threw herself onto the bed.
"Home. Sweet home." The young lady told herself. Noticing her luggage that she set down next to the bed earlier, Mami sat up from the bed, and then undone the locks of the luggage before opening it.
The luggage is filled mostly with the clothes and everyday item Mami bought with her on Daisuke's business trip to Wonderland, but one particular item in the luggage is the center of focus at the time.
Mami took a small box from the luggage. Running a hand over the surface of the small box, the young lady said silently, "The customs at the airport sure did not expect me to grab it back without anyone noticing via my pickpocketing skills, ze..."
Mami opened the small box and looked at its content with a smile.
"Earrings made of Pure Crystal, a material best used for magic. Glad that I grabbed the last one just in time, ze..."
...
Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.
"Pure Crystal? That is what you wanted?" Miko remarked upon being told of Choi's demand by the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant himself. "Its best used for all sorts of magic spells. But its literally non-existent in Gensokyo, and even a tiny amount costs a bomb in Wonderland. No wonder you and your boss wanted the only current sample from the Kirisame couple..."
"That is correct..." Choi told Miko as he kept the muzzle of his handgun pressed against the back of the Rural Shrine Maiden's head. "We wanted the Pure Crystals to be ale to help us turn the tides against all the other gangs of Gensokyo, especially the so-called Al-Jihad Clan and Yadoshima Syndicate..."
"You might want to consider just dealing with Yadoshima..." Miko shot a dare-flavored suggestion at Choi without turning around. "He and his Syndicate has been silent for a while already, and you yourself knows how far ahead those psychopaths make their plans..."
Choi laughed with a mocking tone in response. "Then we shall interrupt them before they are done planning." Deciding to get back on topic, the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant pressed the muzzle of his handgun much harder against Miko's head. "So just answer my question: Where are the Kirisame couple?"
Miko just stood there, still holding the broom in her tight grip, and stayed silent despite the situation being against her favor.
"Five more seconds, shrine maiden..." Choi decides to get serious with the topic, and threatened as he starts a countdown. "Four. Three. Two. One..."
Then at that very last second, Miko turned around and grabbed Choi's handgun with such a speed that, from the POV of the Pakmunjeong Mafioso present, the whole action was faster than the blink of an eye.
Choi had pulled the trigger of his handgun all the way. But despite the loud audible bang, the point-blank shot did not draw any blood on Miko.
"You're fast, Choi, but still too slow." The Rural Shrine Maiden taunted the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant as she let go of the handgun.
Turns out, Miko had crushed the metallic handgun with enough force that both the slide and the muzzle crumpled to the point of crippling deformity. The bullet that was fired only left the muzzle halfway before it got stuck in the deformed muzzle.
Choi stared at the crumpled handgun, dumbfounded for three full seconds, before Miko stabbed the flat end of the broom right between his eyes, causing him to stagger back several steps.
"You and your boys can tell that son-of-a-bitch Park Ryeong-Han to go shoot himself." Miko taunted all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso as she prepared herself for battle.
"Tch..." Choi grunted out of spite, before giving a command to the Pakmunjeong Mafioso present. "Geungyeoleul jug!" [Kill her!]
The three Mafioso standing on the roof wielding anti-material sniper rifles were the first to open fire on the Rural Shrine Maiden.
Miko still managed to dodge those three shots despite being fired from such a shot distance with the addition of laser sights. In retaliation, she snapped the broom in half, and threw each half at two of the sniper Mafioso.
One took a hit right on the forehead and stumbled backwards, dropping his sniper rifle off the roof; the other got hit on the chest, and his stumbling backwards caused a misfire that blew out the brains of another Mafioso under the torii that was about to shoot Miko.
The third sniper Mafioso manages to fire another shot at Miko, only to have the Rural Shrine Maiden snatch it from midair with just two fingers before she throws it back with enough force to tear through the rifle scope and right into the poor Mafioso's eye.
The remaining four Pakmunjeong Mafioso under the torii aimed their SMGs at Miko. But before any of them can fire, the Rural Shrine Maiden kicked the pile of leaves she swept earlier, scattering leaves all over the shrine courtyard that temporarily threw off their aim.
Miko took the chance to run up close to a Mafioso and punch him in the face with enough force to dislocate his lower jawbone and kill him outright. She then grab hold of that Mafioso's SMG and throws it at another Mafioso with the same amount of force, knocking him out before he can fully pull the trigger of his SMG.
The last two Mafioso did not bother to take aim, as they volley-fired their SMGs at Miko.
The Rural Shrine Maiden turned out to have the reflexes to dodge such a large amount of bullets as she ran toward the two Mafioso without even getting grazed. She then finishes the two Mafioso by grabbing and bashing their heads together, knocking them both out.
With all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso dealt with, Miko turned her attention back on Choi. "Anything else?" She delivered.
The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant frowned at the incompetence of his men. Out of frustration, he threw his deformed handgun onto the ground and then kicked it away.
After that, the two stared straight into each other's eyes with hostility for a full minute, as if having a staring contest. The only sound heard during that period is the trees ruffling in the background as they were being blown by the wind
And then, Choi breaks the silence as he makes a dash toward Miko, preparing to throw a punch at her direction.
Miko swiftly dodges the charge at the last second, and then lands a Karate chop at the back of Choi's head.
"Not the same kind of hit, but consider that an irony..." The Rural Shrine Maiden delivers a one-liner to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant.
Choi, without saying anything, quickly turns around and retaliates with a series of rapid punches.
Miko parries each and every one of those punches just as fast as Choi throws them. Choi had thrown 30 punches rapidly, and Miko had parried 29 of them, with the 30th being stopped by Miko catching Choi's punching hand.
"Nice move, but you will have to do better than that..." The Rural Shrine Maiden said to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant, before she picked him up and thrashed him onto the ground multiple times like a ragdoll.
The thrashing that he received had all but made Choi unable to continue, as he laid in the man-sized dent that formed from the thrashing. All that came out of his mouth is a cough.
"Now is my turn to ask you a question..." Miko said as she plants a foot on Choi's torso to keep him pinned on the ground. "For what exact purpose does Park Ryeong-Han want Pure Crystals for?"
Rather than answering the question, Choi responded by raising his right hand up, from which an orb of light exploded with enough brightness to blind Miko.
By the time the bright light faded, Choi and all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso in the Hakurei Shrine courtyard had disappeared. The only evidence of them ever being present are the spent bullet casings, the deformed handgun, an anti-material sniper rifle, some fresh patches of blood and the dent on the ground being left behind.
"Looks like I will need to keep a keen eye out for them... the Pakmunjeong Mafia..." Miko told herself as she looked at the spot where Choi was only seconds ago.
Afterwords
Well, well... With such a rampant crime rate, as well as the gangs possessing military gears, its such a surprise that President Atrius Stone hasn't done much about it, other than planning to keep them under control with the army. And that's just planning to... Another surprise is that he hasn't met with protests to get him removed from office for essentially not doing anything else about the situation. Wonder how he got his job in the first place...
Additionally, it turns out that like her future daughter (Marisa), Mami Kirisame is also a kleptomaniac, and also has the "ze" verbal tic. Although Mami isn't trigger happy at all, that is Daisuke's characteristics.
I did a tiny bit of research on the concept of Mafiya (Russian mobsters) and found that their generic mooks may not be called Bratok, but I used the term as a stand-in because both "minions" and "soldiers" don't fit the mobster bill quite as well. I refrained from referring to Al-Jihad Clansmen as "jihadi" out of respect to real life, and because the Al-Jihad Clan was a gang and not a caliphate despite the name. "Mafia" is technically an Italian term, but since the Pakmunjeong Mafia is Korean, I avoided using any other Mafia-associated terms to not make their nature any more confusing. As for the Yadoshima Syndicate... Well, not revealing anything about them yet due to spoilers, other than that their planning are more like scripting...
Before I end this chapter's Afterwords, let me explain this last bit: May Lee is not entirely original, as she's basically Hong Meiling as a Korean girl.
Shout-out index:
May Lee - Same nationality and name as, but different appearance and personality than May Lee from The King Of Fighters. And since this May Lee is an expy of Meiling who is a martial artist, she might be qualified to call herself a Tae Kwon Do fighter...
That is all. "Until then..."
