The streets were still wet from the previous rainfall. Kiyomi Kobayashi placed her goggles over her crystal blue eyes and smiled.

She jumped off the ledge of a building and leaped like a rabbit from rooftop to rooftop. Kiyomi's purple hair trailed behind her like a bird's tail as she swung in mid-air and twirled. She ground across the fence lining the playground. Little children stopped swinging and playing to watch the strange purple haired girl skid across the pipe.

One child waved. "HI KIYOMI-CHAN!"

Kiyomi waved back as her skates grated across the pipe, causing red sparks to fly behind her. The children cheered. Kiyomi rushed across the pipe and pressed her skates in at the last minute. She had enough speed to soar in the air.

She felt the breeze on her face for a fraction of a second before the downward force of her weight forced her to crash. She fell with her back to the ground fearlessly. She watched the birds flying by overhead and reached out a hand.

She widened her eyes.

Kiyomi back-flipped and landed in a crouch on a nearby fire escape rail. She relished the rush, but that was much too close. Her right leg still hurt where Kouen had struck it. She bit her lip and looked away. She couldn't leave Hirota. Not just yet.

"Are you done with practice?" Hirota asked.

Kiyomi had spotted him earlier, leaning against the wall of the alley. He walked into the sunlight where Kiyomi could see him.

Kiyomi gasped.

"Your eye!" she fretted, dropping from the rail and hitting the ground.

Her wheels clicked out and she slipped in the mud. "ARGH!" she got up immediately, disregarding her now heavy clothes dirtied with muck, running towards Hirota. Her arms outstretched so that she could hold either side of his face but Hirota caught her wrists in his palms.

His fingers wound around her hands. "What was that?" he probed.

"N-nothing!" Kiyomi shook her head. "Hirota-san…what happened to your eye?"

"It was a mere misunderstanding with Lisette," Hirota replied in a bored, mechanical voice.

"What do you mean mere?" after the initial shock, Kiyomi's vision stretched and expanded to absorb all the injuries that were carved into his usually flawless skin. "Hirota-san, did you go after Lisette without me? What were you thinking?"

"It was the only rational decision to make," he mumbled, looking sideways. "Why are you so worried? These wounds will heal."

Kiyomi gritted her teeth. A vein pulsed on her forehead prominently.

She wrenched her hands out of his grip. "You," she snarled, "are completely insensitive!" Kiyomi stomped her feet and her wheels came out, intentionally this time.

"It was only fair that I save Ryouko's life after she saved yours. Lisette planned on killing her, something which is altogether unfathomable if you consider the facts—"

Kiyomi sighed, turning on the spot. "What happened?" she couldn't resist asking.

"Lisette had her orders from her master to deal with everybody affiliated with Ryouzanpaku," Hirota stated.

"It's not like you to show mercy," Kiyomi folded her arms. She grinned. "Hirota-san, are you getting a soft spot?"

"No."

Kiyomi giggled. "Ah, that would be perfect if you were! I always thought of you as the tsundere bishounen type!" Kiyomi's eyes glittered with stars and Hirota had officially lost her.

"Anyway," Hirota coughed awkwardly. "As one martial artist to another, I asked her rather politely to cease and desist from altogether killing her. It seemed only fair, as she saved your life on multiple occasions."

Kiyomi's poofy fantasies disappeared as a bubble popped. "I see," she said evenly. "So doesn't that compromise Golden Mashibiki's position of neutrality?"

Hirota smiled. "In a war, nobody can be completely neutral."

Kiyomi straightened. "What are your orders, sir?"

"Clean up a possibly horrendous mess," Hirota leaned once again against a trash can. "Gather our men for the trip to the Island."

Kiyomi widened her eyes. "Does that mean we're going to the All Martial Arts Championships?" she took a step forward.

"Yes," Hirota said after some thought. "The best bet would be to show our neutrality there."

Kiyomi's eyes dilated. "You don't know how much this means to me, sir," she pressed a tightened fist to her chest.

Hirota stared at her blankly. "Then I'm sure you'll take pleasure in the order."

The girl nodded seriously, spinning on her heel and skating quickly out of the cul-de-sac.

After making sure Kiyomi was completely out of sight, he sank against the trash can and opened his jacket. A pool of blood against his white shirt made him lift it and pick uneasily at the shrapnel of broken metal.

He leaned his head against the can and stared up at the clear sky.

Kiyomi stared down at him, her face upside-down to his. She frowned.

"You're a terrible liar," she accused dryly.

"You're not much better," he said evenly. "You're still limping."

Kiyomi flinched. She couldn't defend her case when she had fallen over herself a few minutes ago.

"Here's the deal: we both admit ourselves into hospital and stay there until we're both better," Kiyomi grinned. "We'll leave Lois in charge…?"

Hirota grunted.

"If we're even going to advance into A.M.A.C. we'll need to be in top form. Let's face it, we aren't even at half tank if I can't even land properly and you can't even beat a seven year old."

Hirota remonstrated, "She's a child prodigy."

"Still," Kiyomi chuckled." Pinkie swear?" Kiyomi wriggled her small finger in his face.

"Very well," he sighed, raising his finger tiredly.

…

Honoka stomped into the healing room, with Ren and Midori in tow.

"Is it true!" she bellowed, tears in her eyes. "Where is Ryouko-chan?"

The master of Jujitsu, Akisame and the master of Chinese Kenpo, Ma Kensei stared. Ryouko was just behind them, hugging her large chest that was being wrapped in bandages. Immediately, Ren's nose bled.

"How much does the rent cost here?" he demanded, as Midori shoved him out.

"Knock, Shirahama. Jeez, what were you raised in, a barn?" Ryouko exhaled, loosening her grip on her chest and slipping off the surgery gurney. "I'm fine."

"Oh, big sister!" Honoka wailed, hugging her waist and weeping. "I was so worried."

Ryouko froze and gritted her teeth. She vibrated with anger. "LET GO!" she yelled, essaying to get out of her vice-like grip. She swerved from side to side angrily.

"Her injuries are minor," Akisame removed his plastic gloves and threw them in the sterilization bin. "Some torn tissue but that's about it."

"You're lucky someone left you at our door, little girl," Ma Kensei added.

Ryouko stopped. "You mean the blind girl?" she snarled. "I'm gonna kill her."

Honoka froze. "Blind girl?" she straightened.

Midori tilted her head in confusion.

"Silver eyes, brown hair and an expression like this?"—Honoka pulled her eyelids up and turned her lips down into a pout.

"Yeah, yeah that's her!" Ryouko clenched her fists. "Who is she?"

Honoka wavered.

"No one," she said coolly. "I guessed that might be what she looked like."

Ryouko's countenance darkened. "So help me Shirahama I'll—"

"Little disciple," Akisame pulled her up by the collar and tutted. "You know how we feel about with holding information. And you know what we do here to get information out of you…"

Honoka blanched and blue lines impressed on her forehead and over her eyes.

"Please don't kill me again!" Honoka cried. She hated being revived from death by Ma Kensei's weird Chinese potions that all tasted like chicken.

"You've left us with no choice," their kind eyes were replaced by white orbs on the darkness of their faces.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Alright, alright I'll tell!"

"Hey," Ryouko's voice rang out as the camera drew out of the house and into the streets, where irate neighbours covered their ears, "I can still kill her though, right?"