The girls got out of the car and had to drag Nozomi out with them. They all sat on the sidewalk in pain. Bleeding started to stop, and aching joints were being tended to. Honoka tucked her knees in. Her eyes were peeking above them, staring at her .380 she deliberately left on the ground. They all remained in their spots, silent, waiting for the adrenaline to die down.
"...should call HQ..." You pulls out her phone, damaged, but not destroyed, and stared to dial Chika. You sandwiches her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she ties a tourniquet around her upper thigh. Eli watched as You did this calmly. Here she was, treating herself from potentially lethal exsanguination, and she tied it off as if it was everyday business. The other line picked up, and You held the phone with a free hand as the other tightened the tourniquet. The make-shift bandage seemed to have worked, despite her grunts of pain. "Hey."
Eli moved her head stiffly back to Honoka, who continued to stare forward at the pistol that laid on the floor. Eli stared at her own Kalashnikov, wondering what had gotten into her. She couldn't help but wonder how she might've been able to scare them off without having to cause such trauma. Her mind was burning with guilt for remaining still. Her mind wandered back to the night that she arrived in Tokyo, when she was faced with the three delinquents. There, she had no problem remaining calm as she tried her best to fight them off, but earlier, she was frozen stiff, not taking action despite being able to. Eli knew why she stopped. The scenario she played in her mind where she exits the car and gunned each one of them down was nothing but a lie, and Eli knew it. She was scared, scared for herself, as one naturally would be.
"Yeah, uh, it was a setup..." You lay down on the cement, turning her head to see the final rays of sunlight fade from visibility. "I...I didn't know! Ruby said it was...yes, I am blaming...okay, sure..." The conversation didn't sound overly heated, as Eli thought it should have been. Their lives were in danger, and valuable cargo was just stolen from them. Why did they converse so normally? "Alright. See you there." You hung up and stood, leaning on one leg as not to put too much undue stress on her bandaged leg. She looks at her team up and down, observing their faces. "Come on guys, let's get back to the safe house."
"I wanna go home..." Eli mutters, not sounding like herself, and more so like a child. "I just wanna go home..." You sighs.
"We'll...talk more about this when we get back to base," she says, heaving Nozomi over her shoulder and placing her on the passenger's seat. Most of the glass had been cleaned out of the car, courtesy of You, and, while the car smoked, it was still functional, much to their surprise. After everyone else painfully put themselves back in the car, they take a moment to rest, realizing how much of a chore it was just to move. You starts the car and makes the awkward drive back to their headquarters.
With the car parked, You leans her head back on the headrest behind her. She closes her eyes, contemplating on how she was going to explain herself. The sound of a slamming door forced You to sit up, briefly hurting her back for moving too quickly.
Kotori had tears running down her face, running down the steps and tugging on the back car door. She jerks it open and hugs her friends tightly. Eli and Honoka don't respond, their faces listless and blank. "You guys..." Kotori looks at Nozomi, and her joy drops immediately.
"She's fine. She got knocked out during the crash, but she's alive," You notices Kotori's face on the rear mirror. The former still didn't want to exit the vehicle due to her leg. Chika steps outside, as nonchalant as ever.
"So, a setup huh?" the redhead looks into the driver's window of the car like a jaded cop. You kept her head leaned against the headrest, clearly exhausted and in pain.
"Yeah. Big white truck. Looked like Shion to me, but, they didn't have their uniforms on," You says with her eyes closed again, trying to relax herself.
"Shion? Why would they want our drugs? Did they know we were mixed in?" Chika asks, referring to Aqours. You shook her head and waved her hand, as if to say to ignore it.
"I don't know. Maybe they did. Maybe they were just hungry," You opens her eyes and moves her head to look at Kotori without losing contact of the headrest. "But they're definitely shaken for sure." Chika exhales a long, tired sigh.
"Definitely..." she groans, making her way to the other side of the car to take out Nozomi. The purple haired girl looked like she was sleeping. She would've looked peaceful if not for the dried blood, tears in her clothes and glass shards. Chika roughly dusts her off and takes her inside. You looks back to Kotori, trying to get the two in the backseat to come out.
"Leave 'em there for now, Kotori. They'll come out when they want," You calls back, forcing herself up as well.
"What about the deal?" Kotori says unexpectedly, referring to the mission.
"It was a setup. There was never a deal to begin with." This was certainly going to be a long week.
By the time Monday arrived, Honoka had learned to suppress her thoughts. She figured it was unhealthy, but there was really no better alternative for her since they had to return to their regular lives so shortly after. Even with her best attempts, she found it too overwhelming to simply bury. What had she done? The .380 was left at the safe house thanks to You picking it up for her when Honoka refused to. Honoka didn't care about the gun, however, she cared the memories behind it. She had shot someone. What happened to them? Honoka couldn't stop thinking about "Boss", and kept putting herself in Boss's shoes. What would happen if she were shot? What would happen to everyone else?
That evening was ingrained into her mind. Vivid memories of the pain and the surging adrenaline moving her hands forward sometimes forced her eyes to glaze over and think of nothing else. She didn't want to remember, but she always does. Trying to pay attention in class, trying to do her schoolwork, trying to listen to other people as they talked—she couldn't do it.
Honoka was walking down the hall at the beginning of classes; her body had been on autopilot as her mind kept replaying the crash over and over again. It was stuck on loop, and Honoka wasn't sure how to stop it. She runs into someone before Honoka noticed they were there, and they both stop. "O-Ow, sorry..." Honoka mutters instinctively, gripping her own wrist lightly. Honoka believes the recoil of the gun might have caused her hand to jerk too far back, leaving behind a sprain. Perhaps she was so numb with adrenaline and shock that she couldn't feel it at first. Honoka had run into Maki, who noticed the grimace on Honoka's face.
"Honoka, are...are you alright?" Honoka nods, still holding her wrist gingerly.
"I'm fine."
"What happened?" Maki asks, her piercing eyes telling Honoka that there was no getting away. Honoka starts to walk away, but Maki was quick to put a hand on her shoulder. Honoka sighs.
'She doesn't understand, doesn't she?'
"We did an operation. That's all. It's nothing serious-"
"Tell me exactly what happened." Maki was insistent, her hand's grip tightening as Honoka tried to keep walking "How about the others?" Honoka stopped trying to act nice. She had had enough.
"We got in a car crash that night. That's it. Everything else is fine." Honoka shakes off Maki's hand and starts to walk again, but Maki only follows her.
"W-Wait, are they hurt? Tell them to meet back in the safe house-"
"Why should I do anything for you?" The sentence took Maki aback. "Whatever. Go back to being a rich girl and live your life. Unlike me you have a future ahead of you."
"Honoka, what are you say-"
"Are you deaf? I said go back to being-"
"I am not..." Honoka turns her body around and takes an aggressive step towards Maki.
"You said you weren't joining me, so don't. You weren't there when it happened, so stop acting like you can fix it." Honoka turns back around and kept walking where she was originally headed. The other girls in the hallway stood in shock, keeping their eyes on Honoka's fierce steps and getting out of her way when she approached.
They just didn't get it.
After the final bell rang, Honoka got up hastily, as if she were rushing to get out of school. Maki hadn't given up, however, and started to trail her on their way out. "H-Hey, wait, Honoka." Honoka doesn't even bother to stop or turn around as Maki chased after her. "Did you tell the othe-" Honoka stops walking, closing her eyes in frustration.
"Stop following me." Honoka started again, but Maki remained.
"I have to see if everyone else-"
"I said they're fine. Go away." Maki couldn't believe that Honoka was going to act like this. Was it just for not joining her? How bad could the incident have been? Honoka decides to give up and lets Maki follow her over to the safe house. They arrive there as the sun neared its descent into the horizon. Maki was unfamiliar with this part of town, but she was fine knowing that Honoka was there with her. Honoka enters the door with Maki in tail. You, Chika and the others that joined Honoka were all sitting around the rugged, homemade table discussing something. With their conversation cut short by the opening of the door, they all look up to see who Honoka brought in. "Maki?"
"Hey guys..." Maki looked around the empty room as she closed the door behind her. It surprised her how barren it was. 'It's only their first week...' She thinks to herself.
"What're you doing here?" Unlike Honoka, Eli spoke in a tone that was more surprised than condescending. Maki recognizes the two girls from Aqours from the cafe and nods to them as a short greeting.
"I was worried for you guys. I heard of what happened," Maki replies. Nozomi and Eli look at each other, then at Honoka. The two university students looked concerned.
"Why? Who told you?" Nozomi questions, hoping that Honoka didn't give away too much in school.
"I asked Honoka what happened to her wrist, and, she just said that something happened," Maki replies defensively. Maki takes out a small first aid kit, always available in her bag. She couldn't tell if it was because she was working to be a medical student, or just because she wanted to. Opening it, she picks out a roll of short stretch bandages, scissors and some tape, almost as if she knew that there was some fixing she had to do. Nozomi sighs, glad Honoka didn't give away any more.
"Anyways, how're you all feeling?" Maki asks, looking at everyone. Nozomi lifts up her bangs to reveal a square bandage on her forehead, properly cleaned and taken care of. The rest of her body was covered in small bandages as well, mostly from the glass, but she kept that to herself.
"I'm fine," You says flatly, not caring that she revealed band-aids all over her arm. Maki decided to leave her be.
"I'm alright," Eli says as she shows some bruises on her arm and a minor sprain on her ankle. Maki rushes over to examine Eli. The ankle was poorly bandaged; whoever it was that attempted to correct her ankle didn't do it any favors. "I tried doing it myself last night." Maki sighs but tries not to show it.
"Take your shoe off," she commands, and Eli does as told. Looking down, Eli asks,
"Why? What's wrong-"
"Sorry, Eli, this might hurt a little," Maki says, tenderly holding Eli's ankle as she undoes the bandages. Eli winces quietly in pain as Maki observes the swelling. "What did you do..." While it looked perfectly fine to everyone else, Maki saw that the wrap was done all wrong—there was too much slack, the bandages didn't even cover the whole foot and the ankle must've not been iced for as long as it should have. Maki readies her supplies, making it her duty to correct it.
As she was working on Eli's ankle, Chika looks down at Maki with a hand under her chin. "Are you, looking for someone?" Chika cuts in, eyeing Maki suspiciously. "Or have you found what you were looking for?" Chika's hand slowly reaches down to her holster. Noticing her intention and the look of suspicion in her eyes, Eli waves her hands to Chika.
"No, no, she isn't here to rat us out. I'm sure of it, right Maki?" Maki looks up and blinks, surveying the nervous glances from the room. Maki sees from under the table where Chika's hand was.
"N-No! I was here to...to check up on...my friends-"
"I thought you didn't want to associate with us," Honoka huffs, throwing her bookbag on the floor. "Chika, it's fine." Chika relaxes as Honoka waves her off. "We're fine, Maki. If we needed help, we would've gotten it." Maki tapes off the bandage and receives a quiet thank you from Eli before she responds.
"Look, I'm sorry I cared. I just wanted to see how everyone is, okay?" Maki starts to pack up her kit, now realizing how awkward she made it by interrupting their conference. "I'm sorry I can't be charitable every once in while." Having gathered her things, Maki turned around to face the door. She was about ready to open it when Nozomi's voice stops her. Nozomi had a taunting voice, talking as if she were scolding a child. The power behind it made Maki shiver.
"Uh-uh-uh. Where do you think you're going?" Maki turns around to face her. She was leaning back into her seat and had rested her feet on the table. It didn't feel like the real Nozomi, and Maki knew it.
"I'm leaving." Maki moves to the doorknob but was stopped again.
"I'm sorry Maki. I know we know each other but, it's just business," Eli said it. All the while Kotori remained silent and stared at her feet as not to make eye contact. "You know how to get here now, don't you? You know what goes on here." Eli was standing now, and was walking towards Maki.
'At least she doesn't seem to have changed...' Maki thinks, but that was the least of her worries right now. Eli was towering over her intimidatingly, almost threateningly. "W-Wait, you got it wrong-"
"What do I have wrong exactly? You know how to get back to the school, don't you?."
"H-How do you kn-"
"Else you would have asked for directions." For the first time, Maki felt fearful of her own familiar. She had always looked up to Eli as a leader, a strong-willed sentinel, but she had turned against her. "I think you need to make us a promise." Maki swallows, trying fruitlessly to hide her shaking.
"I-I promise...not...to tell...about what goes on here." Maki exhales in relief, but looks up to see Eli shaking her head.
"Not that kind of promise. Those are just words to us."
"Wh-What do you want, then?!" Maki was backing towards the door, but Eli had put her own hand on the doorknob.
"I want you to promise to be a part of us." Maki looks past Eli over to her friends. Honoka and Aqours remained indifferent as Nozomi speculated in amusement. Kotori sat as if she were invisible. The brunette's eyes glistened, tearful of the unfamiliar hostility between them. She knew it wasn't right, but what could she say?
Maki's breath was shaking as well. She stares back up at Eli. "If you say yes, you stay with us. We're even closer than friends—we're family. If you say no, you're free to leave that door and never speak to us again." A pause ensues before Maki nods her head slowly.
"Y-Yes."
"Very well." Eli lets go of the doorknob, and Maki leaves without hesitation.
On her way home, Maki thought about what had just happened. Was she just extorted by Eli to join a life of crime? Maki didn't believe it. Why did she nod like she did? "I'm so stupid..." Maki frets over what she'll most likely have to do. What'll happen to her future? Her family? Her only friends? Maki was home before she knew it, and was about to input the code to unlock the gate when she noticed that the usual silence of the night was disturbed. Maki stopped. The smell of smoke reached her as she notices something orange faintly glowing in the distance.
"What is that?"
SUSPENSE!
Thanks anyways,
-DWalkthroughGuy
