"Say 'ahh', Onee-chan." Tokaku said teasingly, moving a spoon full of curry and rice towards Isuke's mouth. Chitaru and Kouko giggled seeing Tokaku tease their "big sister".
"I would join you, but-" Chitaru said, being cut off by Hitsugi also spoon-feeding her. Isuke sighed in resignation as even Otoya joined in, massaging her shoulders.
"You seem tense, Onee-chan..." the serial killer taunted with a grin. "Why's that, hmm?"
"It's cause Isuke has to babysit these annoying kids…" Isuke said while actually enjoying the massage. "Really, I should never have opened up to Azuma that much…" Tokaku gave her a pout, and Isuke sighed once more.
"Come on, Inukai. What happened to us being your sisters?" Kouko asked, trying to feed Isuke a piece of katsu.
"Even you, Kaminaga? God damn it…" Isuke groaned.
"Come on, lighten up, Isuke Onee-sama!" Haruki chirped, passing her girlfriend a piece of pocky. Isuke allowed Haruki to feed her despite her earlier protests.
"Fine...it's too early for sweets, though. At least the food's decent, didn't expect you clowns to be able to cook well~" Isuke said. "Though it is a bit burnt…"
Tokaku smiled a bit awkwardly. "Well...there was a fire."
"If you're going to cook, Azuma-san, please don't damage my kitchen." Sumireko chided.
"Ah, sorry about that." Tokaku said. Kouko and Chitaru both joined her in apologizing as Haru laughed a bit from across the table.
"If only I were there, Tokaku would probably have taken me out of the kitchen instead of cooking…"
Tokaku laughed a bit too. "Right…" she said. But soon after, both she and Haru looked away, blushing. The awkwardness was broken by an unexpected source.
"This food is awful!" Nio said cheerily, with a smile. "It's total garbage that only sewer rats would eat!"
"Then why are you allowing us to feed it to you?" Suzu asked as she fed Nio some soup, as the blonde girl was too hurt to feed herself. Haru helped Nio wipe some food off her shirt and fed her a spoonful of curry.
"Cause I can totally feel the love from you guys feeding me." Nio replied in a sarcastic tone, her shark-like teeth seen in her grin. "I get to enjoy an indirect kiss from both of you, after all." The girlfriends of her feeders gave Nio angry looks, but the blonde girl just shrugged dorkily, basking in the attention.
"Being fed doesn't make it any better." Shiena said. "I-" Before she could finish, Otoya cut her off by inserting a piece of katsu into the brunette's mouth, giggling in glee at Shiena's shocked reaction.
"What did you say, Shiena-chan?" Otoya asked innocently. Shiena reluctantly swallowed the food and sighed at Otoya.
"Nevermind…" Shiena sighed, adjusting her glasses.
"Be careful, Kenmochi-san." Sumireko said. "Takechi-san has definitely improved in her speed since our last encounter...I had to actually put in effort to counter her strikes this time when we trained earlier." The young Hanabusa heiress then showed one of her arms, revealing a few cuts here and there, showing traces of the metal beneath it.
"You know, Princess…" Otoya teased, her eyes showing her predator side with a slight glow "if you're so impressed with those reflexes, I could show you how I use them in bed…"
"Please don't." Sumireko said, shutting Otoya down. "And only Shinya-san is allowed to use that nickname to refer to me, thank you very much." Sumireko suddenly stood up, leaving the dining table as if she had to attend to something.
"Speaking of Shinya-san!" Haruki said. "She really impressed me earlier, you know. With a bit more finesse she'd be pretty much unstoppable, that girl has some real strength!"
"Yeah…" Mahiru agreed as she slowly ate her food. "Shinya protects me very well...I like it…" Haruki smiled and high-fived Mahiru, Mahiru accepted the high-five with a slight smile. "Thanks…" she whispered.
"Ichinose impressed me too." Shiena said with a slight sigh. "Hate to say it, but she really outclassed me earlier…"
"Well, it's fine!" Haru assured her. "Everyone's special in their own way! You're really good with your computers, for example. And um...I've kinda always wanted to be like Tokaku since I watched her train...so I used a bit of what I learned from that earlier."
"Really, I wish I was there cooking with you guys…" Suzu mused. "I really wanted to see Kouko-chan in a cute apron!" Kouko looked at Tokaku and Chitaru as if to confirm what she had said about Suzu, and the two gave her a grim nod.
"Well, it was pretty cute We should cook more someti-" Chitaru said before Hitsugi cut her off with a pinch to the neck that stunned the redheaded girl, locking down her body for as long as Hitsugi held it.
"You've been generous enough today, Chitaru…" whispered Hitsugi. She released the pinch and Chitaru nodded as if in apology.
"What the hell was that?" Isuke asked Hitsugi. "Can't believe you did it to your own girlfriend~"
"It's a simple technique!" Hitsugi replied casually, but her eyes had a deadly look in them. "It just shuts down the target's movement by pinching a crucial nerve in the neck!"
"I see." Nio said. "Seems awesome! Hope none of you guys get killed by it...but knowing how weak you are, it'll probably happen anyway."
"Shut up, Hashiri." Haruki said, her voice colder than usual.
"Guys, guys! Calm down!" Haru said. "We don't need to fight again, alright?"
"Right." Tokaku added. "It's best for us to be ready for anything."
Sumireko returned to the table, a serious expression on her face. "Please don't be alarmed..." she began.
"...But our security has been breached-"
A large armored truck then smashed right through the wall.
The table was knocked over, bits of rubble flew throughout the room. The girls immediately scrambled to find cover. Sumireko immediately tore off her dress, revealing a light pink jumpsuit underneath and moved right in front of the truck, stopping it with her bare hands much to the driver's surprise. She gave the driver a wicked grin as she looked through the window.
"Don't worry. I'll make your end quick…" the heiress snarled.
"Sumireko!" Mahiru cried out as she grabbed Sumireko by the collar and pulled her to protection behind the overturned table. Right as she did so, bullets started to fly past the area Sumireko had just been in. Mercenaries flooded out of the truck and began to open fire. Mahiru hugged Sumireko tightly, sobbing. "I'm so glad...you made it…" she whispered.
"Thank you, Mahiru-san." Sumireko said. She pulled in Mahiru for a kiss but Isuke cut her off.
"Now's not the time, quit smooching and start shooting already!" the pink haired girl yelled, pulling out two pistols and returning fire at the mercenaries. Kouko tossed a smoke grenade, blocking out the mercenaries' view and allowing the girls to have some cover. Hitsugi, Kouko, Tokaku, and even Shiena then drew their own guns, getting ready to shoot as well. Sumireko's robotic arm shifted, turning into a smaller gun resembling an assault rifle.
Haru ducked behind the table, joining Sumireko, Mahiru, and Haruki there. "Everyone!" she yelled over the gunfire. "No killing!"
"It's fine." Sumireko said. "I will be sure that their injuries are non lethal. This gun fires concussive rounds made to knock them out instead."
"I'll try my best, but my aim isn't that good…" Shiena said, trying to assure Haru.
"Understood. I'll aim to wound instead of kill." Tokaku said. Kouko nodded as well.
"My darts are only paralysis based." Hitsugi explained. "They won't do anything lethal."
"Alright." Suzu said, strangely calm, speaking quickly and low enough for her classmates to hear her but not the mercenaries, as they had found cover for now. "Kenmochi-san, focus on re-enabling the defenses with your hacking, if you can do so. Kouko-chan, the weapons room isn't too far from here. Go there to retrieve more weapons. Everyone else, stay here and fight. They seem to be more cautious instead of trying to swarm us, so take them out quickly before they have a chance to stop you. I'll instruct you further if we have to adapt our tactics. Protect Kenmochi-san, Kouko-chan, and Azuma-san at all costs. Understood?"
The girls all nodded in unison. Suzu gave a signal with her hand towards the mercenaries. It was time to commence the attack. Kouko immediately threw down another smoke grenade and ran through the hall to the weapon room, covered by the smoke, as Mahiru, now transformed into Shinya followed the class rep to protect her. Shiena pulled her laptop out of her bag to begin her task. Sumireko went to the hacker's side, and began instructing her on how to interface with the house's defenses.
"Why don't we split up?" Haruki asked. "We can engage them throughout the house, wouldn't that help?" Suzu shook her head.
"No. There are just narrower halls leading to this room...if we go there, we're dead meat. Nothing to block their shots and no room to dodge. We need to hold our ground."
Multiple mercenaries, their goggles allowing them to see through the smoke, ran in pursuit of Kouko and Shinya. "Kouko-chan and Shinya-san can't take them on by themselves! Sagae-san, come with me!" Suzu commanded. Her and Haruki ran after the mercenaries, Haruki felling two of them with quick yet harsh blows to the skull while Suzu immobilized them with her stun gun. The two ran down the hallway as well.
"Shit!" cursed Isuke. "Shutou and Kaminaga are gone, we need a new commander…"
"I'll try!" volunteered Shiena, still typing on her computer, but glancing up to look at the fight. "Um...alright guys, we need to-"
However, she couldn't see everything through the smoke, and a mercenary charged right through it at her, gun ready. Sumireko was too far to intercept it, having been drawn away from Shiena's side by more attackers. Shiena instinctively cowered but the mercenary was tackled to the side before he could reach her. Otoya stood over the felled man, and plunged a pair of scissors into his knees, causing him to scream and drop his gun.
"Cutting up men is no fun, but I still need to save you, Shiena-chan!" Otoya said with a smile. Shiena nodded in gratitude despite Otoya being herself.
"Just cover me while I hack and do tactics!" Shiena said. Otoya nodded and went to immobilizing more mercenaries who approached Shiena. Shiena smiled a bit. Otoya may have been a psychopathic murderer, but she was at least doing her job well.
Nio, meanwhile, found herself somewhat enjoying the battle. Despite her injuries, she had recovered enough to use her powers somewhat, and had a whole wave of mercenaries stunned using her hypnotic gaze. She smiled, unleashing her inner rage upon their minds in a telepathic attack similar to the monstrous illusion she had used earlier. They all cowered and fell backwards as Nio chuckled, weaving in and out of the smoke to dodge attacks.
Tokaku shot down multiple mercenaries, either aiming for their knees and arms, or simply for their weapons before she punched them out. She was like a blue wind of death, tearing through their ranks with no mercy. Her raw speed and technique was impossible for them to pin down. Haru, knowing she was outmatched despite her training, attempted to hide in a corner with a tablecloth as cover, but multiple mercenaries approached to apprehend her.
Luckily, due to the tablecloth covering Haru and the orders from Shuri not to kill any of them, the mercenaries were forced to go into close range to make sure they incapacitated the girl non fatally. This proved to be their downfall. Haru threw the tablecloth into their faces, serving to hinder them, and Tokaku swiftly knocked them out from behind using powerful kicks and strikes. Haru's eyes sparkled in admiration as Tokaku helped her up.
From the smoke, a girl clad in utilitarian all black clothing, without a mask unlike her other allies, walked out with nearly robotic movements. She simply aimed an automatic pistol at Tokaku and spoke.
"S-stand down, now. If you do so...I will spare Ichinose…"
Seeing the girl's face, Haru let out a horrified gasp. Tokaku was just as shocked but kept it inside, only clenching her fist.
Chitaru dashed through a wave of her opponents, disarming them quickly with a single sword stroke. With no guns, the mercenaries were shocked, and Chitaru was able to quickly incapacitate them with a few whacks from her sword's blunt end.
However, the fatigue of the battle was getting to her. She struggled to stand, panting heavily, due to having overexerted herself. The effects of the poison hadn't fully faded yet.
One mercenary swung a stun baton at her, and she barely blocked with her sword. Another mercenary clubbed her in the side with his own baton, though, knocking her down. Chitaru winced as the electric shock spread throughout her body, forcing her to drop her sword. The mercenary raised his baton to knock her out but stopped right on the spot, his entire body freezing up.
Hitsugi stood behind him, pinching the mercenary's neck. She then took out a syringe with her other hand and injected a paralyzing venom into his back before releasing him, the immobilized man dropping down as if he had died. Hitsugi then quickly fired her dart gun into the other man's shoulder, taking him out as well. The redheaded girl blushed as Hitsugi helped her get back up.
"Ah, sorry, Hitsugi…" Chitaru muttered. "I really should have been stronger…"
Hitsugi kissed her girlfriend to shush her. "It's fine. Your little prince is the only one who will see your weak side...and she loves it."
Suddenly there was a thud before the couple as they made their way out of the smoke. They turned around to see a mercenary with his face seized up in pain, his posterior skewered with a particularly large pair of scissors, and a grinning Otoya. "Hate to be a third wheel, but let's head to where Shiena-chan is. Way safer there!"
Hitsugi shook her head and gestured towards the hallway Kouko had ran down. Multiple mercenaries, led by a masked figure, were making their way to that hall. The mercenaries headed there, though, wore crosses around their necks.
Nio leaned against the wall, somewhat tired but still able to fight. Using her powers on such a large scale was normally tiring. But her sheer rage and enjoyment of the battle allowed the Kuzunoha girl to unleash her full strength on her hapless enemies. Tricking them into attacking their allies or simply keeling over right where they stood was child's play to her. Another man tried to attack her, but she simply dodged his strike and slammed him into the wall, knocking the wind right out of him.
Two more mercenaries charged at her. Nio prepared to attack them, but before she could, they were knocked back by two kicks. Isuke and Sumireko stood in front of Nio, prepared for battle.
"I don't need your help!" Nio protested. "I was handling them fine!"
Sumireko just shook her head. "Save it for later, Hashiri-san. We need to cooperate now."
"Laaaaame." a female voice mocked, the speaker hidden by the smoke.
"So lame." an identical voice agreed. "Even if you cooperate…"
"...you can't beat us!" the first voice finished. Two girls stepped out of the smoke, wearing the exact same white combat uniform, and blank white masks showing nothing under their two dark eyeholes.
"Wh-what happened to you?" Haru exclaimed in horror. The girl she and Tokaku faced was, for lack of a better word, unsettling to look at.
Her face was stitched together, reminding Haru of the scar across her classmate Banba's eye, except this girl had stitches crossing all over her face. It formed a patchwork visage that was more disturbing than graceful. But even more disturbing on a personal level...was her resemblance to Tokaku. She had the short, electric blue hair that Tokaku did, but her face was clearly artificial. While, without the stitches, she looked like Tokaku, there was something uncanny and artificial about her face. It was clearly a false imitation, a bastardization of the Azuma heir's appearance.
"Haru. Get back." Tokaku warned, not just because of her girlfriend being in danger, but because she didn't want Haru's ability interfering. This conflict was clearly personal. Haru nodded and ran off to find shelter.
"Who are you?!" Tokaku asked, out of both anger and curiosity. The other girl remained completely calm as she replaced her pistol with a kunai.
"Rion...Kurokawa…" the girl muttered. "I'm here…"
Rion slashed forward with terrifying speed, surprising even Tokaku as she was barely able to parry the blow.
"...to kill you."
"Shut up and die~" Isuke said. She fired two shots at the twins, but the two of them were already right in front of her in the blink of an eye, having dodged the shots. The twins both grinned under their masks. Nio tried to attack their minds, but their masks blocked out her powers. She needed more energy to affect them like this.
"The hell?! How did they-" Isuke growled. The twins simply giggled and began pummeling her, one of them striking Isuke in the stomach with a kick while the other twisted her arm and threw her to the ground. A sickening crunch was heard from the damaged arm.
"Inukai!" Sumireko said. She rushed to help her classmate, using her robotically enhanced speed to strike at one of the twins. The girl easily dodged and threw Sumireko into a wall. Before Sumireko could react, she had been pinned down by both of the twins.
"You're such a loser. Totally a loser." one of the twins said.
"Who needs robot parts like that anyway? So stupid and ugly." said the other one. Both of them grinned and spoke in unison.
""Let's fix them for you!""
The two twins then twisted Sumireko's limbs as they pulled, using an intricate martial arts maneuver. The heiress' right arm and left leg were both removed using quick precision, and the twins barraged her with punches and kicks. Sumireko fell to the ground defeated and dazed as the two stood over her triumphantly.
"That was so easy, right Ari?" the first twin mocked.
"Right, Ami. So easy." Ari agreed. She tauntingly kicked Sumireko while she was down, causing the heiress to gasp in pain. Then both of them turned to face Nio, who had drawn a knife. Nio's eyes glowed as she stared them down, her shark teeth shown in a rare scowl.
Kouko and Mahiru both ducked behind weapon racks, as the mercenaries shot at them. Apparently, despite the smoke's cover, they had been followed. Kouko returned fire while Mahiru stayed behind the weapon rack in fear.
"There's too many of them!" Kouko yelled, stopping to reload. "Mahiru, can you shoot a gun?" Mahiru shook her head, panicking. Kouko looked around for a grenade, but the grenade rack was far away, and it would be too risky to hide there with the threat of them detonating from a stray shot.
Mahiru tried to help by throwing some knives that were near her, and although her aim was a bit off, she managed to take out a couple of enemies. But then another wave of mercenaries burst in, shocking Kouko- not because of their arrival, but because of the crosses they wore.
"They're here too?!" Kouko said out loud in shock. Mahiru looked at them and cowered away. Kouko snarled and dashed over to the bomb rack, evading their gunshots, but before she could reach it, a gunshot managed to hit one of the bombs. The entire rack was blown to bits, Kouko was lucky enough to have not been close enough to the explosion, yet now she was in the line of fire.
Mahiru immediately tackled Kouko out of the way, both landing behind a rack of bladed weapons. Kouko looked down at her revolver to see that this was her last round. She cursed herself for not being ready with more ammunition. But it would have to do. Kouko steeled herself and prepared for what was most likely her last stand…
Just then, an explosion rang out. Kouko looked and saw that the mercenaries were scattered, trying to gather themselves as the concussion grenade knocked some of them out. Suzu stood, another grenade in her hands, while Haruki's fists made quick work of the recovering mercenaries. Suzu and Haruki then rushed to join Kouko and Mahiru.
"Kouko-chan! Mahiru-san! Are you alright?"
"Yes, but...those mercenaries. They were with the Clover Home!" Kouko cried. Suzu's face got a grim look and she began gathering some weapons in a bag.
"Change of plans, then. Me, Sagae-san, and Banba-san will move out." Suzu said. "Kouko-chan, stay here and defend. You can use the other bomb rack to handle anyone who tries to enter. Set traps at the entrance, and stay here until this is all done."
"No! I can fight too, Suzu!" Kouko cut in.
"I have to protect you." Suzu said, ignoring Kouko. "I can't stand to lose you. Not now...so please. Listen to me. You need to stay safe here."
A masked figure stepped through the door. They removed their mask, revealing a feminine face with blonde hair and a blue streak. Teru drew her pistol and spoke.
"None of you are leaving this room. Sorry."
Tokaku and Rion clashed their knives as the two fought. Tokaku was clearly the superior combatant, not because of her innate talent, but because of Rion's attempts to emulate it. Rion's attacks and techniques were halfhearted and imperfect imitations of Tokaku's, sloppy in form and execution. Adding on to that was the desperation Tokaku sensed behind Rion's strikes, which made them even more easy to predict and dodge. Tokaku parried a kunai swing and disarmed Rion, but made no further aggressive movements.
"Stand down, Kurokawa-san." Tokaku said. "You don't have to do this."
"I have to...or else…" Rion whispered as if she were a ghost. "...I'll be...punished...and that means I was bad…"
"Punished by who?"
Rion shook her head in fear and grabbed her gun, firing wildly at Tokaku. Tokaku dodged and dashed right towards her flawed replica, knife ready.
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but leave those losers alone." Nio said as she got into a combat stance with the knife in her hand, her eyes glowing red to match her tattoos hidden under her uniform.
The twins chuckled at her. They got into combat stances, fists ready.
"Alright, let's beat her up too!" Ami said.
"Yeah! Let's do that!" Ari agreed. They advanced on Nio but then, surprisingly...the robotic limbs that they had torn off started to move. They shifted and transformed into a pair of combat robots, short but deadly, wielding small buzzsaws in their hands. Before the twins could react, the robots pounced, swinging their buzzsaws into the two girls' eyes.
Ari used her pure instinct to react and smash right through one robot with her fist, but it only went right through the robot as Ami did the same. The two robots faded, having been mere illusions to distract the twins.
"No fair! You cheater!" Ari complained.
"Yeah!" Ari added. "You cheated!"
Nio smirked at them. During the distraction, she and Isuke had re attached Sumireko's limbs, and Nio had also fixed up Isuke's dislocated arm. "The art of misdirection~" Nio explained with a smug tone. Sumireko moved around her arm, making sure it wasn't damaged, before aiming the arm's gun at the twins.
"Damnit...that hurt!" Isuke snarled. "But now Isuke's gonna give you some payback~"
"Indeed. You two won't get the better of me this time." Sumireko agreed. She quickly fired a pair of concussive rounds into the twins' faces, shattering their masks to reveal their green hair with purple streaks, and more importantly, their annoyed faces.
"Screw that! I'm done playing around!" Ari growled, putting up her fists again.
"Time to kill you for good!" Ami said with a malicious grin.
Without another word, Haruki lunged at Teru, her fist primed for a deadly right hook. Teru stepped out of the way, predicting her movements with her superior experience. Teru then knocked Haruki backwards with a spinning kick, and aimed her pistol at the redhead, prepared to fire.
"Sagae!" Shinya yelled, taking over Mahiru's body to protect her friend. She charged forward at Teru. While running, she pulled a sledgehammer right off a nearby rack, and swung it towards her target's head. Teru jumped right over the hammer with a casual finesse, barely even trying to dodge the attack.
"Crap...she's fast!" Shinya thought. She went for another swing of the hammer, but Teru immediately fired two shots into the girl's arm, and another into her leg. Shinya dropped the hammer and fell down to the ground, bleeding from her fresh wounds. Haruki struck as well only to be taken down by one shot by each of her shoulders.
Suzu and Kouko both tried to flank Teru while this was happening. They moved to opposite sides of the room for a pincer attack. Suzu took a sniper rifle, while Kouko picked up more ammunition for her pistol. Teru noticed this, though, and immediately moved behind another rack to block their shots. They tried to fire through the gaps in the rack, but Teru was aware of this and constantly shifted her position to dodge, taking advantage of the lapse in their fire.
Kouko stopped to reload, and that gave Teru an opportunity to strike. She kicked the rack right at Suzu's position with surprisingly powerful force. This move left no choice for Suzu- with Kouko out of the equation and unable to provide a distraction, and both Mahiru and Haruki incapacitated, Suzu would either have to leave her cover or take the hit. And if she left her cover...what would come next wouldn't be pretty.
Suzu decided to go for the less risky option, and allowed the rack to smash into the one she was hiding under, burying the immortal girl under both racks. She would be able to climb out with enough time, but every second in this fight was crucial. However, Suzu noticed something unfortunate- she couldn't reach her gun. The impact had knocked the rifle right out of her hands. While she was buried under a rack of guns, none of them were loaded, the ammo canisters and clips too far for her to reach.
"Kouko-chan!" Suzu yelled. "Run!" Kouko looked around for an exit, but realized there was none. She would have to fight. No more escaping, no more running. The class representative adjusted her glasses and used her time to run over to another rack of bombs, grabbing a few of them before running over to a less volatile weapon rack- one that held bladed weapons.
"You know, Kaminaga-san." Teru said as she reloaded her gun. "We have orders not to kill you girls- with one exception. You. We are working with the Clover Home, after all, and you probably know that. It's really nothing personal..."
"...Just business." she finished, as she threw an explosive grenade right at Kouko's direction. Kouko kicked the rack forward to tank the explosion, and threw a smoke grenade right at Teru's feet before running to the side again to another rack.
"You can't keep running forever, Kaminaga-san!" Teru yelled through the smoke. "Fate always finds you!" She looked around as the smoke cleared, and was able to make out the figure of Kouko crouching behind a wall of bulletproof vests.
"Clever." thought Teru. "So that was her destination, huh...fine then."
Haruki and Shinya both struggled to get up, but Teru gestured towards them threateningly with her pistol. "Stay down, or else." she warned. "I don't want to hurt you even further...I'm only after Tokaku-san and Kaminaga-san."
Kouko fired more shots in Teru's direction. Teru rolled to the side and returned fire with more pistol shots, still electing not to use the sniper rifle carried on her back for the more fast paced battle. The vests on the wall, however, provided better protection than the other weapon racks. They were locked in a sort of stalemate.
"Come out already!" Teru said. "Make it quick...if you do, I won't hurt anyone else. I promise."
"Fine then." Kouko thought. "I'll do it! This time…"
"...I won't fail!"
Kouko burst out of her cover, firing a shot at Teru. Teru easily dodged it and aimed right at Kouko to counter attack. But before she could fire, a blinding flash of light from below consumed her vision and her shot missed.
"Crap!" Teru yelled. Kouko had also thrown a flash grenade as she fired her shot to divert Teru. And now…
Kouko was aiming right at Teru. Her pistol was loaded, her aim was true. She was close enough to kill. Not a single hint of hesitation was in the Clover Home runaway's eyes, and Teru felt true fear in that moment.
Kouko took the shot.
The bullet whizzed by Teru's head, only slightly grazing the assassin's cheek. And an even worse fear seized Kouko's body.
"I missed." she realized.
Without another word, Teru immediately fired a shot at Kouko in response. The other girl was too shocked and off guard to dodge. Unlike hers...this shot found a target and pierced right through it. Kouko gasped in horrified pain...
...as Suzu Shutou stood in front of her, a bloody bullet hole originally destined for Kouko's body right through her chest.
"I...did it." Suzu said with a calm smile as she fell into Kouko's waiting arms.
Teru stepped back, also shocked. This wasn't according to plan. She hadn't meant to kill Suzu at all. In fact, Kouko was her only real target. She took a deep breath and raised her gun- only for a furious Shinya to punch her outside of the room, despite the white haired girl's wounds.
"You bitch!" Shinya screamed. She furiously pummeled Teru, with a primal ferocity that even a wild animal would fear but Haruki pulled her off, though not before taking Teru's weapons.
"Banba...we have bigger priorities." she said, mournfully gesturing towards Suzu. Shinya nodded and left the beaten Teru, both her and Haruki rushing to Suzu's side.
"Suzu! SUZU!" Kouko cried, tears pouring from her blue eyes. She held Suzu's body close, the other girl still smiling despite her wounds.
"I did it, Kouko." Suzu muttered. "I stopped someone from dying...someone I care about...that's all I've ever wanted…"
"Don't say stuff like that Idiot! You're going to live! I won't let you die!" Kouko yelled. Haruki and Shinya stayed quiet, respectfully giving the couple their privacy, but still staying at the dying girl's side. Kouko desperately tore off a piece of her dress, and wrapped it around Suzu's wound, but the bleeding didn't seem to stop. Suzu put a finger on Kouko's lips.
"It's fine...don't cry...Kouko-chan…" Suzu said as she coughed up more blood. "This happened many years too late anyway...I shouldn't even be alive now, so don't cry…" The blue haired girl then used her hand to wipe some of Kouko's tears, before placing it on her chest.
"Help!" Kouko yelled. Haruki and Shinya both tried to inspect the wound, but neither had medical training. However, it was almost definitely lethal. There weren't any medical supplies in the weapon room either.
"I'm sorry, Suzu..." Shinya said. "I should have been stronger...should have protected everyone instead of just Mahiru...damn it…" She clenched her fists as the tears fell.
Haruki tried to keep in her tears. "Hey, Suzu...I really wish...we had more time together...but I'll be sure to keep your memory alive. Don't worry. Me, Kaminaga-san, Banba-san, and everyone...I'm so sorry…"
Shinya then switched to Mahiru, who began to weep loudly. "Suzu...don't go...please...you're my friend...you can't…we were going to do so many things together...why...why?!"
"Thank you, everyone." Suzu said in that same calm tone. "I love you all. Not in that way, of course." She chuckled a bit despite the blood coming from her mouth. "Just...keep Kouko-chan safe, okay? It's better that I die than any of you, so don't be sad..."
"I can't lose you! I can't lose anyone again!" Kouko screamed. "Please! Stay with me!"
"God...if you exist…" Kouko mentally prayed, clutching her rosary. "Don't let Suzu die...I beg you…"
But nothing happened. The bleeding, the tears didn't stop. Suzu was dying and there was absolutely nothing Kouko could to stop it. She hadn't felt this powerless, like such a failure, since that one night years ago. But this hurt so much more, somehow.
"Suzu...please! I'll wear an apron every time I cook! I won't mess up too! I'll take baths with you whenever you want! I'll make the best fireworks every festival! Just please, don't die!" she pleaded, her voice cracking and raw. Suzu chuckled and cupped Kouko's cheek.
"Hey, Kouko-chan. I have something to confess, alright? Don't be angry, okay?"
"W-what is it?" Kouko asked.
"That festival we wanted to go to...we missed it. Silly me, I listed down the wrong date on the calendar...I'm sorry. I must be getting old." She laughed softly a bit as her body's breaths slowed down.
"That...doesn't matter!" Kouko yelled. "We can go to every festival after that, not just us, but all our friends too...we'll have so much more years and memories together…"
"Sorry, Kouko-chan. I really love you, but I think I won't be around for the next one. It's sad yet fitting, isn't it?" Suzu said, her voice even weaker than before. She pulled Kouko in for one final quick kiss using what little strength she had left and whispered into her ear.
"In the end, we were both too late, weren't we? But at least...I had you."
And with that, Suzu fell silent.
Kouko then let out a scream, a raw scream as if she had her very soul ripped away from her, towards the heavens themselves, as Suzu's body went limp in her hands.
But the heavens offered no response.