A few opening words: Sorry this took so long. Stuff happened, I got distracted. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Oh, and it should be noted that it's early afternoon right now. Just so you know.
Sakaki pulled the car into the garage and shut it off, waiting for the garage door to close behind her before getting out. She grabbed the pistols from the seat beside her and left the car unlocked. She made a quick stop in the 'armory' to put the pistols and ammo away. While there, she took note that the case with the sniper rifle was missing. Sakaki hung the pistol holsters and trench coat on a hook in the storage room, and closed the door behind her.
Upon entering the living room of the house, the mystery of the missing sniper rifle quickly solved itself. There, sitting cross-legged against the wall was none other than Ayumu Kasuga, and she was at work building the rifle. Sakaki stood there for a moment and watched. In almost no time flat, she had the thing completely assembled and loaded, before going to work taking it all apart again. Again, less than a minute later, it lay, in pieces, in its case. She looked up and noticed Sakaki standing there, oblivious to the fact she had been watching for a few minutes already.
"Ah, Sakaki-san! Welcome back. Didja complete your mission?"
"Yes, I did. We can cross him off the list." Sakaki felt no remorse for what she had done. As she had convinced herself before, they took something from her, and se was just repaying the debt.
"Hey guys, Sakaki-san's back!" Ayumu called out, and sure enough, Chiyo and Kagura came into the living room from the kitchen, a plate of sandwiches in hand. Chiyo set the plate she was carrying on the table before greeting her.
"Welcome back, Sakaki-san! Did everything- oh my God! You've been shot!" The small girl yelled in horror, pointing to Sakaki's left arm. Sakaki glanced down, and saw that she was correct. There was indeed a bullet wound in her arm. Now that she had noticed it, it started to throb. However, it wasn't serious. It hadn't bled much, and appeared to be only a scratch, where a bullet had grazed her during her escape.
"It's only a scratch; I'm fine."
"It could get infected! I'll get the first aid kit!" Chiyo quickly dashed off to a side room and returned with the small first aid kit. She took Sakaki by the arm and sat her down by the table where she opened up the kit. Before Sakaki could object, she swabbed on some alcohol, causing Sakaki to emit a pained gasp.
"I'm sorry, Sakaki-san, but it's necessary."
"Really, it isn't..."
"You're not getting hospitalized again under my watch." Something about the commanding tone in which she said that told Sakaki that was the end of the conversation. Chiyo finished cleaning the wound, then wrapped some of the bandages around it, tying them tightly, which caused it to throb a little. The wound stopped bleeding, and all that was visible on the bandage was a small spot of blood right where the center of the cut was. Having finished, Chiyo packed all the medical supplies neatly into the kit and set it on the table.
"There, all done. Are you hungry, Sakaki-san?" Chiyo asked, holding up the plate of sandwiches.
"Yes, thank you." Sakaki took one off the top of the pile, a tuna salad sandwich. After taking a few bites, she looked around at the others, who were all staring at her.
"Is... something wrong?" she asked.
"No, it's just... it's just weird seeing this side of you. Well, this is you now, what with your memory all messed up. But you would be the last person I'd expect to be doing what you're doing, the assassinating and whatnot," Kagura said. She spoke with a hint of admiration in her voice, and seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Also, the wound and the knives make you look like a total badass! Who'd expect that the real you is a total softie?"
"Well, thanks, I think..."
"In any case, I wanna go on the next hit with you! Maybe you won't even need to get a single scratch then!" Kagura was starting to get excited.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. I'm no professional, and I'm glad I'm not, but I don't want you – any of you – getting dragged into this. Being with me is dangerous enough. Chiyo's an exception, they already know about her, so I have to protect her. But you Ayumu, and Kagura, don't have to be here. It would be better for you if you left." Sakaki hated to say it, but she did want them out. If any of her friends were to be hurt, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
"Look, we're your best friends. And hell, I'm your rival. I'll be damned if I'm gonna miss a chance like this to prove myself. It's not like I'm totally incapable of defending myself. I'm an athlete, I've taken self-defense classes and stuff; I can hold my own in a fight. And Osaka, well, I'm sure there's enough weaponry for her to be fine too. Hell, she's probably got some wicked awesome accuracy with a rifle or something, as God's way of compensating or something." Kagura shrugged, and Ayumu looked over, confused. She had begun re-assembling the sniper rifle again, as she had been before.
"Compensating?" she asked.
"Yeah, you know, for your other... shortcomings." Kagura was trying to find a way out of her little predicament. It wasn't working.
"What shortcomings." Though she didn't seem angry, Ayumu pressed her for an answer. Before Kagura had a chance to reply though, Chiyo saved her and butted in.
"The point is, Sakaki-san, we're your best friends, and like it or not, we're sticking by you, right?" Chiyo looked over at the other two.
"Hell yeah!" yelled Kagura.
"Raaah!" Ayumu called out. It wasn't a word, more of an odd cheer, which she raised the rifle above her head to accent. But it wasn't an objection, and that pleased Sakaki.
"I... I don't know what to say. I, um, thank you, all of you." Sakaki wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes, and recomposed herself. "Alright then, if we're going to do this, we'll do it together. First, Chiyo and Ayumu, for obvious reasons you two won't be going out with me. Kagura, you can. But before anything, we should probably see what all of you are capable of, so to speak. I already taught Chiyo how to defend herself with the knife, so that leaves you two." Sakaki said, looking over at Ayumu and Kagura. "Help me clear out this area."
In almost no time flat the girls had the living room completely empty. The TV and table, among other things, had been moved into the bedroom where the animals had been hanging out or the time being. Now, Kagura and Sakaki stood facing each other in the center of the room, with Chiyo and Ayumu on the sidelines. Ayumu was still fiddling with the sniper rifle, apparently fascinated by it, especially the scope.
"Alright Kagura, you said you took some classes. If that's the case, then show me what you've learned."
"What? You want me to attack you?" Kagura was a little on edge. Sakaki had taken on a serious tone, clearly ready for a fight.
"Yes, attack me. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I believe I was trained long before I lost my memory, and I still remember those skills. So, show me what you can do." Kagura shrugged, and stepped back, raising her fists in front of her face in a basic combat stance. Sakaki slid a foot back, and had her hands out in front of her, high but not covering her face. Kagura opened up with a quick one-two punch, followed by a right kick aimed at her head. Sakaki dodged the two straight punches, and grabbed Kagura's foot as it came up to her face. In one fluid movement, she tossed Kagura's leg up and swept her other out from under her with a low kick. She hit the floor hard with a muffled 'oomph!'
"Damn, Sakaki. You weren't kidding..." Kagura said. I guess I'll have to pull out all the stops to impress her. With kick boxing classes a while back, and Tae-kwon do as well, she was more suited to using her feet, so that's what she did. Kagura leapt to her feet and delivered a strong roundhouse kick to Sakaki's abdomen. Sakaki almost didn't see it in time, and blocked it with both hands. Before she could get a hold though, Kagura yanked it back and instead swept it low like Sakaki had done before. The taller girl jumped gracefully over the kick, but was caught unprepared when Kagura continued the motion, bringing her leg around in another roundhouse kick to the abdomen. This time, it connected.
Sakaki was knocked back a small bit by the force, and Kagura could tell it hurt from the look on her face. She wasn't deterred though, Sakaki had said to give it her all, and that was what she was going to do. Kagura continued her attack, using both legs to unleash a dizzying flurry of kicks, a few of which made it through Sakaki's defense. She must be testing me, she isn't even trying to counter anything, or block it for that matter. Just as she though this, Sakaki shifted slightly to the side, causing one of her kicks to fly right by her middle. Sakaki grabbed on to her leg and held on. She then hooked her own foot around Kagura's other foot, the one that was holding her up. In the blink of an eye, Kagura was on the ground, Sakaki's foot poised over her foot. The victor had been determined, and it was not her.
"Not bad, Kagura, but you're too aggressive." The look of sheer determination disappeared from Sakaki's face as she offered a hand to help Kagura to her feet. "You leave yourself open to, well, that."
"Thanks, but, damn! Where did you learn all that stuff?"
"I don't know, but when needed, it comes to me on instinct." Sakaki couldn't have been more modest.
'Well, you gotta teach me some of that!"
"That's just what I intend to do." With that, both girls took their positions, and the sparring began again, but this time, not for the purpose of competition. This time, Kagura was a student, and Sakaki the teacher.
After about an hour and a half, Sakaki ended the training session. She herself could have gone longer, but she wasn't too sure about Kagura. The athlete was starting to breath heavily, clearly exhausted. At any rate, it was probably a good idea anyway; she had learned quite a lot in the short time they had sparred.
"That's enough for today, Kagura." Sakaki said.
"Really? Cause, huff I can go longer." Kagura spoke between heavy breaths.
"Look, you've learned enough to defend yourself well, and you're clearly tired. We can continue tomorrow. For now, we should rest a bit." Kagura reluctantly complied, and sat down against the wall as Chiyo returned the table to its place in the room. Ayumu followed with the TV. Chiyo took a seat beside the table, and Ayumu followed. For the first time since she got here, she had left the sniper rifle alone in its case.
"So, what now?" Chiyo asked. "Are you going to go after another one?"
"Nah, that'd be a bad idea. They'll be on edge now, with one of their bosses taken out. Wait till tomorrow, then go." Everyone looked at Ayumu.
"That's... a very good idea..." Kagura scratched her head. "Man, I never thought I'd be sayin' that to Osaka. Today's all kinds of messed up."
"In any case, Ayumu is right. I'll wait until tomorrow before going after the next person on the list. For now, you guys can relax. There's a few board games in the bedroom with the animals. I'll be in the other exercising if you need me." With that, Sakaki got up and headed into the empty room, closing the door behind her. She heard the others happily talking amongst themselves. Shedding her clothes, Sakaki began the same routine she had done the day before, twirling the two knives in a beautiful display of the deadly arts.
Author's notes: And there's that chapter. Up next on my list is the last part of the flashback in Ragnarok, so heads up. It may take a little longer, I need to iron out a few details (its gonna be plot-heavy I think).
Anyway, till next time!