Chapter 10: A Sprig of Mistletoe
That evening, Natsuki, wearing her motorcycle outfit, met Yamada, the man who offered her information and tools in her quest for revenge- if at a price- in the Rorschach bar.
"I take it you have… it?" Natsuki said. Yamada produced the package.
"My payment, please," he said. Natsuki handed him twosets of bills- one for the product and one for short notice.
"Thank you," she said.
"If I do say so, you must be desperate," he said.
"You don't need to know why," Natsuki said. Yamada nodded in response- it was easier and safer to not know what his customers were planning- before Natsuki continued. "Let's just say that if I don't succeed, you'll likely end up a victim... or perhaps it's easier to count who here won't become one."
As Natsuki inconspicuously excused herself, she cast a worried glance at where her friends- as surprising as she considered the term- were waiting across the street. Whereas before, everything she had done had been to fit her goal of revenge, her plan now was to ensure they survived the night, and to a lesser extent, ensure the long-term safety of the other groups Shizune wished to purge from the earth.
"How long has it been since I've sought to protect someone else?" Natsuki thought.
The previous night, the group had discussed Natsuki's solution.
"The problem is just that," Natsuki had said after outlining the problem had given her inspiration. "We are completely reliant on our powers. So I would suggest procuring a firearm somehow and using it to deal with Otonashi once and for all."
"A gun, Natsuki?" Mai said incredulously.
"Let's put things in perspective here, Mai," Natsuki said. "Your Kagutuschi can burn a path through forests and slice an aircraft carrier in two. Mikoto, Nao and I have defeated entire squads of soldiers armed with assault rifles and single-handedly destroyed tanks. A handgun is pitifully weak compared to those. And yet, now that our powers are failing us, it may be our only hope."
"What Kuga-san is saying makes sense," Yukino said. "In the old Norse legends, Baldur's mother saw a prophecy saying that he would die, and went through the world, making everything swear to be of no harm to him. The one thing she overlooked was a sprig of mistletoe, which she thought was completely harmless, and that sprig of mistletoe later killed Baldur when Hod unwittingly threw it at him. Perhaps Otonashi-san can only be defeated by a weapon she does not consider a threat."
"Wasn't the point that the mistletoe wasn't designed to kill people?" Nao said.
"As I said, a handgun is weak compared to our powers," Natsuki said. "Otonashi, with her power-nullifying abilities and shield, probably isn't scared of anything smaller than a cruise missile."
"How are you planning on getting it?" Midori asked Natsuki.
"I have some… connections," Natsuki said evasively. "I will, however, need to head into town, which could put us at risk of encountering Otonashi again, so I could use some help in case we encounter her on either leg of our trip. And it will likely, at earliest, have to be tomorrow night."
"Still, there's one other thing you should consider, Natsuki," Mai said. "Otonashi-san's powers seemed weaker after several of us had escaped, so it's possible that having fewer people around reduces their effects."
"Then again, Tokiha-san," Shizuru said, "The fewer people there are, the more effective the ability to block powers like she did with Kikukawa-san, is. We can conclude that it only works on one person at once, but a group of two people would not likely succeed. She would nullify one person's powers, dispatch that person quickly, then turn her powers to the survivor and quickly win."
"I'll bring four people with me when I go to retrieve the gun- Mai, Mikoto, Shizuru and Nao. With luck, that's few enough so that our powers won't be completely useless, but many enough so that we won't be left vulnerable if someone gets disabled."
"You're picking me?" Nao asked incredulously.
"You'll be quite helpful with Julia's webs, as you were against Asahina" Natsuki said. "While Mai- or Mikoto distracts Otonashi, and Shizuru forces her to parry her attacks, you will attempt to capture her while I deliver the finishing blow."
Natsuki realized back then that there was no guarantee her plan would work, or that they had accounted for all of Shizune's powers. But it was the best plan she had at the moment, and Shizune was a threat that needed to be eliminated.
"Are we ready to go?" Natsuki asked her waiting companions after the meeting with Yamada. "Without Yukino's Child, it's dangerous to remain out here longer than necessary."
"Kuga, I've been thinking," Nao said. "Are you really prepared to kill Otonashi?"
"It seems that we don't have any other choice," Natsuki said. "We could kill her Child, but our own powers aren't strong enough to do enough damage, and neither is any piece of modern technology we could bring to bear against her."
"We didn't have any choice when we had to destroy Alyssa-chan, Kirhara-san and Asahina-san's Childs," Mai said. "But it's still difficult to take a life, especially when you're setting out to do so rather than just killing the Child oblivious to what will happen next."
"As it should be," Shizuru said. "Otherwise, you might easily end up like Kirihara-san, killing without thought to the consequences."
"Tokiha and Fujino have the right of it," Nao said. "Kuga, have you wondered why I never killed any of the perverts I rob?"
"Because they don't deserve it?"
"That's only partly correct. Once you get to solving problems through killing, it changes your perspective on the act. Either you break under the weight of what you've done, or you slowly but surely become desensitized to it."
"I understand your concern, Nao, but I think we're out of options. At this point, it seems Otonashi is prepared to kill us all or die trying. If it's not possible to talk her down or destroy her Child, the only alternative is killing her." Natsuki paused for a moment. "But why are you concerned anyway?"
"We haven't always seen eye to eye, to say the least, but I can tell you're not the sort to kill whenever it's convenient. And I hope you never will be."'
Natsuki paused a moment, contemplating Nao's words.
"I appreciate it, Nao, and wish there were some other way," Natsuki said.
"My thoughts exactly; I wish I had some alternative myself," Nao said. Her stomach then churned with discomfort, but not because she had actually agreed with Natsuki, but out of realization that there would likely be no easy or pleasant solution for Shizune or the rest of the SUEs.
On the way back to campus, in a secluded area near the school, Shizune spotted the returning Himes.
"I've finally found you!" Shizune yelled, readying her Element. "I'm looking forward to killing some dykes tonight!"
"You're not killing anyone, least of all people whose beliefs or lifestyles don't meet your standards!" Mai shouted defiantly, summoning her element, as her companions did likewise.
Both sides had realized the time for discussion had ended the previous night. They had fully committed themselves to their respective causes, and now only one side would walk away alive.
"Argus!" Shizune yelled, and the large monster with a face full of eyes fired a sigil toward Mai, causing her rings to disappear and her to drop from hovering off the ground to a slightly awkward landing, causing her to stumble backward and fall. Shizune rushed in for the kill, but Mikoto swung her sword in defense of her friend, her eyes shining with a fierce yellow glow. Mikoto pushed with both hands, but her larger and heavier blade was barely keeping Shizune's sword, held in one hand, locked in position. Shizuru swung her naginata, but Shizune blocked it with her shield, and Kiyohime's attacks had little effect against Argus. Argus fired a laser at close range, causing Kiyohime to recoil in pain, and several other shots kept the other Childs at bay.
"Julia!" Nao yelled and fired a string of webbing . It was stronger than before, and held Shizune for a moment, but a small blue beam of light came from one of Argus's eyes, burning through the string. Mikoto and Shizuru seized the chance to launch attacks at Shizune's blind spots, forcing her to parry attackers from opposite angles, and leaving her immobilized.
In what seemed like an instant, Natsuki pulled out her gun, aimed it at Shizune's head and pulled the trigger. Shizune immediately realized what it meant, but her only response was a look of astonishment and an "Oh God, why-" before the bullet came to rest in her head, resulting in blood trickling down her face as if she were sweating on a hot day.
Elsewhere, Yukino, waiting with the rest of the Himes in an abandoned classroom, saw the Sigil on her body disappear, and then realized what had just happened. Summoning Diana, she observed the battlefield and cloaked it from normal people just as Shizune fell.
"They did it," she said. Although she was sobered at the necessity of taking a life, she also felt relief at the end of Shizune's threat to them, their loved ones and their ideals.
As Shizune fell, her sword and shield vanished, as did her Child. Shizuru noticed that Kiyohime was preparing to spit acid again.
"Everyone, run!" she yelled.
Nao climbed onto Julia, who jumped over the attack, while Shizuru retreated backward out of the line of fire, and Mai was able to shield herself, Mikoto and Natsuki with her restored powers. The acidic breath spewed forth from one of Kiyohime's mouths and dissolved Shizune's body until nothing recognizable remained.
Inside her dormitory room, Kyoko woke up late in the night with a pain in her chest. Her intuition told her that her death was close, yet she was able to accept it relatively calmly. She had always worried that her friends would die before making peace with her God, but while she did not understand why she was dying, she saw it as simply going home.
"Lord, please forgive my sins and watch over Reiko. I only wish I'd talked to Senou-san more and told her about You. I'm coming home…" Kyoko whispered.
Kyoko disintegrated looking over to the sleeping Reiko. Kyoko's face was wracked by pain, but with a slight, relieved smile on it, hoping to see her friend again in Heaven.
Within moments, the smile was the last part of Kyoko to fade into the darkness of the room.
"Natsuki, are you all right?" Shizuru asked. After a moment of failing to register what she had heard, Natsuki realized that Shizuru had spoken to her, and turned to her.
"I'm fine, Shizuru," Natsuki said. "…mostly."
"What do you mean?" Shizuru asked.
"The burden of killing Otonashi weighs on me, but it is not even my largest concern," Natsuki said. "I feel as though this conflict and the deaths associated with it are far from over, and I can't help but wonder if the next one to die might be one of us." She then looked at the gun she had used to finish off Shizune. "I'll probably have to use this again before this is over," Natsuki said resignedly before stashing it in a prepared holster under her clothes.
"Mai, what's a 'dyke?'" Mikoto asked.
"It's an extremely offensive term for a lesbian- a woman who is romantically attracted to other women instead of men," Mai said. "But I wonder, who among us could be one?"
"Maybe you, Mikoto?" Nao said. "You always seem very… touchy-feely with your female friends."
"Yeah, Nao, I often say I 'love' you, Mai, everyone else… could I count?" Mikoto said, confused.
"Or maybe Otonashi was just as insane as always and was grasping at straws," Natsuki said. "Let's get out before someone shows up."
"So Shizune-chan's dead," Midori said, meeting with Natsuki's team inside the classroom and hearing what had happened. "Did she give any indication that she was working with anyone else, and if so, who?"
"As if anyone else would agree with those crazy beliefs she has," Nao said. "It's possible there are more than one group of SUEs; maybe she was in league with the Advisor and Asahina was not."
"But we are at a dead end as far as things go," Natsuki said. "Unlike the last one, we have no idea where the next threat will come from or when, and unlike with Kirihara, we have no illusions of this being the last time."
"We'll have to keep a look out and watch other people around the school for suspicious behavior," Midori said. "Mai-chan, didn't you say we had a SUE running around before we even met Hitomi-chan, much less knew what they were?"
"Yes, that's correct- Suou Mariko-san, the student who disappeared without a trace," Mai said. "The only red flags were her being improbably popular and suddenly vanishing without a trace after her death. Akane-chan's diary serves as the only evidence she exists, and of how much of an effect she had on Akane-chan."
Midori considered what Mai had said, then spoke when an idea came to her.
"Perhaps we should do something similar," Midori said. "I'd like all of you to record a diary about your past, your personality, your relationships with others, and your current thoughts. If another SUE tries to change one of us, we can look at it to see how they're changed and notice if anything goes wrong."
Midori was confident in her plan, but knew the SUEs would not be defeated so easily. The battles to come would test the Himes' abilities and own inner resolves. Neither survival nor victory were guaranteed.
Author's Note:
Thank you for the reviews.
Nao, while possibly the most selfish and cynical of the Himes, is also no different from the others in that she, in normal circumstances, has lines that she is unwilling to cross or tolerate others crossing; she may be something of a jerk and relatively amoral, but she is not a psychopath. When things happen to push her over the edge, those lines tend to fade, but the same can be said of the other Himes (for example, Mai almost kills Mikoto while enraged over thinking her responsible for Takumi's death).
When Mary Sues get killed (although seldom permanently), I've noticed that rather than falling prey to their opponent's ultimate attack or an ingeniously devised plan, it's often something as simple as getting shot by a gun or stabbed by a knife. If you've played Dragon Age, you might have heard of the "Murder Knife," the dagger used to dispatch characters without a fight in certain dialogue options (when you might otherwise have to take several hits with a sword or use a magic spell), and something similar appears to happen in those cases. As such, Shizune wasn't aware that her death would come from something so mundane that she didn't think would be a threat, or so suddenly, which is what inspired the chapter title.
A three-chapter "intermission" will follow and focus on some of the characters' development so far.