Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 36: Coward's Treatment

Even while pedestrians were pointing and vocalizing their concern, the girls of Gessen Academy continued to scurry away with Murakumo in their arms with Miki trailing behind. Being led by the young man into an alleyway with plenty of debris and trash to hide behind, their only concern in that moment was doing what they could for their dear sister. Not daring to hide any of the alarm in his voice, the boy ordered, "Behind the wood slab!" as he reached down and pulled up and leaned wide plank against a dumpster to provide cover.

While setting Murakumo down, tears were waterfalling down Minori's cheek as she begged under her breath with increasing urgency, "…be okay, be okay, be okay…" before she began to sob. Shiki was right next to her, clutching a hand onto the shoulder of her unconscious sister while tightly clinging the oni mask to her chest. Ever so quietly amidst the frantic situation, she would let out a moan riffled with worry.

Yozakura remained composed for about thirty seconds after the incident took place, doing her best to try and calm everyone down with tiny assurances. Though, once the weight of Sato's action hit her, the blue-haired girl's eyes began to glisten with worry while she repeatedly cried to the young man, "Do something… Please, there must be-, just-, I need you to do something…!"

Not even processing the girl's requests in his ears, the young man was already laying his hands against a blank-faced Murakumo's forehead. Even while her unreactive eyes continued to trickle tears as they seemed to stare right back at him, the young man was using his every ability as an infiltrator to see if he could repair any of the damage. After all, it should have been something simple to deal with. Sato severed the distortion along with the affected personality. Ergo, that had to have meant that the young man could just reattach it, provided the procedure didn't provide too much trauma to Murakumo's mental state… Yet, as he felt around her forehead from different angles, as though it could make some kind of difference, the boy could only mumble under his breath, "She doesn't trust me…"

"What's that have to do with it!?" bellowed Yozakura through her tears, "Any of that!? What does that…?" but she already knew the answer.

Without Murakumo's cognition either being absolutely open or completely closed off, trying to repair her mind would be like trying to gather the pieces of a shattered window from a pile of glass with a different pane mixed in. The mind, with all of its great complexities, was not something that could simply be gathered and put back together so simply.

"Is there anything that can be done?" came Yumi's frighteningly chilly voice. Though he was a bit scared to turn around, the young man forced himself to face her and took in her dangerously narrow eyes. Even while a few of the other shinobi rallied at the alley's entrance, all of them calling out in confusion for Murakumo, the only thing that the young man could do was look straight at Yumi and feel the wintry aura of death that was being expelled from her silently growing rage. In response to his continued silence, the girl asked in her monotone voice, "Is there something that can be done? Even as a temporary measure?"

Clenching his eyes closed as Miyabi and Yomi came rushing down the alleyway, the young man did his ultimate to think of any other possible solution. Everything practical was off the table, seeing as the only infiltrator, himself, was completely cut off from being able to do something about it. Then he questioned to himself under his breath, "How to fix that…? How to fix that…?" before ending that train of thought. The only way the young man could do something was if he either gained Murakumo's complete trust or distrust, though she didn't even seem to be aware of herself at that moment. He doubted that she would be aware of any words of assurance or appeasement to build such a bond in a short time.

Then, as Yomi passed by and knelt down next to Murakumo, crying her friend's name, the young man began to formulate a different plan. He didn't have the level of trust that the girl needed… but what about Miki? The young man was about to turn his eyes to the boy, who resigned himself to the other side of the wooden plank, sitting against the dumpster while casting empathetic glances to the group, until he realized that he also didn't fit the bill. While Murakumo was more likely to have a cognition that distrusted the boy, there would likely still be a semblance of trust since he outright admitted to being a dignitary the other day. Throw in the fact he likely didn't know the procedure to repair a mind, due to his own personal training, the young man would also have to consider a tether strategy in such a case. Though, with Miki, considering that plan would have been fruitless…

Then, as a bit of desperation settled into the young man, his thoughts turned to Sato. Certainly, in those last few moments before Murakumo had her distortion corrected, she had no trust at all for the little witch. Plus, if that was the case, the likelihood of permanent damage being afflicted was diminished since both her conscious and unconscious mental state should have distrusted the girl. Unfortunately, going with that plan left all sorts of different questions, mostly being on how to get the girl to cooperate and tethering their minds together. Unless the individuals, not including the shinobi, were of a like mind, the entire process would be incredibly exhausting and straining to both parties. Not even considering the prospect of offering empathy to Sato, the young could only wonder what damage would be done to himself in such a process. Though, if it were for Murakumo…

Brushing past Yumi after offering a supportive squeeze to the shoulder, Miyabi approached the crouched young man and asked plainly, "What can we do? There must be-," but was promptly cut off.

"Everyone who can fight…" groaned the young man in a low voice before he clenched his eyes closed and took a breath. After a moment, he spoke a bit more clearly, "For those of you who can fight, I need you to bring back Sato… alive and not at all critically injured."

He would have been a lot more aggressive with his order, demanding that they all immediately moved out to apprehend the dignitary. Yet, when he looked at Minori and Shiki, who were on the verge of falling apart in their sorrow, he couldn't bring out any aggression. Even Yozakura in her increasingly panicked state was pulling at his heartstrings and keeping back his desire to unleash his simmering anger. Thus, he left an opening for them to opt out and be with their sister in case the worst was to come.

Yet, surprising nearly everyone, Minori was the first to spout through her tears, "I'll go after-," before she coughed to clear her throat. After another few seconds, she said, "I'm going."

The young man, wondering if they'd rather be with Murakumo, was about to ask something before a sniffly Shiki set down her sister's oni mask, stood up as well, and stated, "I'll-, I'm going to figure out where everyone's got Sato…" as she quirked her head to the side, "We do have people going after her, right?"

Approaching from the alley's entrance, Asuka called, "Homura, Ikaruga, and Hikage are already giving chase…" She paused for a moment of thought before stating, "I'm also pretty sure that Ryōbi, Ryōna, and Murasaki left once we got set down… Murakumo…" before giving an anxious shrug, "though, I only say that because they're not here now."

"I'll start a group call," moaned Shiki before she cleared her throat and coughed, "I'll see if they're still on Sato's tail." Stepping towards the alley's exit, the blonde pulled out her phone and began to text in a mix of great franticness and precision.

The young man looked to Yozakura, who looked like she was about beg the others to let her stay with Murakumo. Yet, throwing off that overpowering desire within her, the blue-haired girl sucked a long breath into her nose, whipped her head around, and growled under her breath, "Once we're pointed in the right direction, we'll bring that wretched creature back."

Letting out a quiet and affirmative grunt, the young man nodded to them all as he sat himself beside Murakumo, "I'll keep her comfortable and safe until the lot of you get back then."

"Sato needs to be alive?"

Turning his head up to Yumi, the young man tilted his head in confusion before nodding, "Yeah." While her eyes burned a hole into the top of his head, he continued by saying, "It's not out of kindness. If we want a chance at helping Murakumo, she'll be critical-," but was cut off.

"We'll bring her back then," stated Yumi as she rounded her body toward Shiki, who was still waiting for an update.

Avoiding the girl's accusatory eyes, Miki hung his head as she passed by before he craned his head around the wooden plank to peer at the young man while stammering, "There must be something I can do… Remember, I'm-," but immediately quieted himself once the young man's eyes met his.

"Have you ever repaired a mind before?" asked the infiltrator in a cold voice.

Feeling the slight pang of aggression against him, Miki was about to say something else before remembering the circumstances and biting his tongue. Instead, he replied, "No… though, I was always under the impression that infiltrator and dignitary techniques were always meant for offensive attacks."

"Whoever told you that is a liar," stated the young man in a harsh voice before averting his gaze, "so just sit back then." While Miyabi turned her head, wondering how the boy was doing through the situation, he quietly continued, "We'll need Sato to do this."

"They're chasing her into the commercial district!" cried Shiki who nearly dropped her phone from how eager she was to give chase.

A simultaneous, "SHINOBI TRANSFORMATION!" echoed from nearly everyone else in the alley. With her combat clothes donned in a literal flash of light, Yumi was already running up the alley's wall, occasionally bouncing herself to the other side or leaping onto a fire escape to sacrifice no momentum from her speed. Trailing behind her as blurs, Yozakura and Minori also began to zero in on their hated target. After receiving an affirmative nod from both Miyabi and Asuka, the young man watched everyone else within and without the alley transform to follow their comrades up to the roof before giving chase without another word. At that point, everything was all up to them and he could only wait until Sato was brought back.

The young man sat himself back down and sighed into the air, hoping to keep his stress levels in check until they got back. As anxious as he was to wait, the boy knew that everything was out of his hands at that moment since he had no way to fight. Thus, he put all of his trust into the girls and closed his eyes, not dropping the hand that he had placed onto Murakumo's shoulder. While he wasn't sure if she could feel his quiet assurance, he desperately hoped that some kind of comfort was getting through to her. After all, who knew what frantic hell she was enduring within her own mind at that moment?

Having disturbed the shadowy hive,

The hawk has sealed her end…

Sato had plenty of wishes and desires through all of her life. Nearly all of her birthdays passed by with her blowing out the candles and wanting everyone around her to just disappear. She forgot how many times she plucked her own eyelashes and hoped to just become invisible. Once, she even spotted a shooting star and hoped that it would carry her along to a lonely place with an internet connection.

Yet, at that moment, Sato wanted nothing more than to just go home in hopes that her current crisis wasn't actualreality. She wanted to go home, look in the mirror, and not see the ski mask covering her face. She just wanted to live.

Flying!

Rappelling over the bustling streets of people who were gawking up at her as she swung by, Sato knew that the shinobi were in quick pursuit. In fact, unless it was just paranoia, she was sure that the police sirens that were zooming in from the distance were meant for her as well. Regardless, she knew that she had to either fight or run for her life and she wasn't at all confident with her odds for the former.

As if on cue, the sound of rifle shot echoed from atop a building and a bullet whistled just to the side of Sato's head. Using the time between her grappling hooks' shots to arc her body around, she spotted Ryōbi aiming a rifle straight at her from a rooftop while yelling something along the lines of, "LIE DOWN AND DIE, YOU WORTHLESS WHORE!" before firing the weapon again.

Fleeing!

Swinging around a building corner, the bullet blew apart the concrete and produced an audible cry of fright from Sato. Yet, before she could start to feel bad for herself again, a pair of silhouettes appeared from one of the roofs above and began to descend toward her. Reeling back their blades with no intention of holding back, Homura and Hikage were flying straight down the side of the building with venomous eyes, prepared to attack or halt their descent at any given moment.

Reacting as quickly as she could, Sato whirled her arms back and fired both of her grappling wires to an area that was barely above the streets and swung herself backward. Realizing that their target wouldn't be in their path, the two shinobi stabbed their blades into the side of the building to slow their descent, though they continued to get dragged down for some time before coming to a full stop. Noting each of Sato's movements and the anticipated path of her retreat, Homura yelled down to the phone clipped to the side of her skirt, which was on speaker, "She's going west! Ryōbi, you'll have another shot!"

Frightened!

Just as Sato came around the corner, the sound of another sniper shot filled the air. But, needing to adjust her flight path to avoid splattering into the ground, the only thing Sato could do was hope for some good luck. Fortunately, as Sato kicked up her legs and was flung back into the air by the pull of her wires, the bullet blew into the concrete just beneath her, where she would have been if she had tripped up her technique even slightly. Though it produced a slight breath of relief from Sato, she knew that she wasn't out of the woods yet.

Then a painfully sharp object grazed into the side of her cheek and left a long cut. Reacting without thinking, Sato detached the anchors of her wires and let herself crash onto the awning of a business building. Behind her, the sound of metal getting crushed and obliterated filled the air with a few shrieks of alarm. Following the sound of blaring car horns to where the destruction took place, she peeked out and found that there was a massive circular hole in the hood of a parked sedan, as though a meteorite had just slammed straight through it.

Just as Sato reached up to her cheek, feeling the strange cut that ripped through her mask, she heard a quiet whistling sound in the air that beckoned her to drop onto her stomach. Just as she obeyed the strange instinct, a thumb-sized bit of debris painfully struck her in the back of the head and a large bit of concrete exploded straight into the side of the building she was next to. Letting out a noiseless cry, Sato rolled her body around to get a look at her unseen attacker. On the far side of the block, a gorilla-ish figure was standing atop of a smaller building. He reached down, gripped the corner of its ledge, and ripped out a piece of concrete with a loud snarl.

Careless death!

Enraged, frustrated, and completely ashamed of himself, Oda reeled his body back like a baseball pitcher and launched the bit of rubble in his hands at the offending dignitary. He wasn't sure if he had lackluster aim that day or not but, like before, Sato had dodged his next attack and fired her grappling hook to escape. Not at all willing to let her go, Oda growled like a wildcat, "Shinobi transformation…" and his outfit changed in a flash of light. His once curt and matter-of-fact suit of the day was traded in for only a single article of clothing: a wonderfully short and sturdily armored yoroi hakama. Wiggling his toes and giving his massive arms a bit of a flex, the man leaped off with an animalistic grunt under the cover of his shinobi barrier.

In the back of his mind, he was kicking himself a new one because of his reckless decisions in the previous twenty-four hours. With his resources having informed him of another dignitary at the young man's school, he spent a bit of time trailing Miki after the boy revealed himself and was let go. Of course, he knew to check on Sato, whom he found on her way home after, presumably, spying for an opening at the apartment. But, as if letting the treacherous girl get away with that wasn't bad enough, he let paranoia get the best of him once again. Rather than watch Sato, whom he knew that Jasmine and Hanzō were already planning to anticipate via a plan with the girls, he opted to instead keep an eye on Miki while watching the shadows to check for any potential sneak attacks from the other dignitary.

"That little bitch…" Oda groaned under his breath as he leapt from one building to another, using his bulky arms to occasionally launch himself into the air like a gorilla, "I don't know what's gotten into her… but coming out into the open like that…!? Before everyone in the whole damn city!?"

Though she soared,

Prowling wolves sniffed the air,

While Sato was swinging by a single wire and hovering over a shorter building, she heard a call, "SECRET NINJA ART: SKATER'S WALTZ!" before Ryōna leapt up the side from seemingly nowhere and began to unleash a flurry of kicks and pistol shots in her direction. While the bullets certainly had a great kick to them, either burning Sato with extreme heat or frost, the dignitary wasn't at all crippled or thrown off by any of the ranged impacts. However, once Ryōna was close enough for one of her kicks to land a hit, the overwhelming strength that blew straight into Sato's shoulder was enough to send her rolling while disconnecting the wire she was swinging on.

Landing on the roof and tripping over herself, the spectacled girl forced herself to move once Ryōna launched herself into the air again. Her instincts tried and true, Sato dodged off the roof just as numerous spears of ice shot out from the area where she was just lying. It was then that it fully dawned on Sato that the shinobi were actively trying to kill her. She knew that it would happen and thought herself to be prepared… yet, seeing and feeling it firsthand, she just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. But Sato knew that she had to keep moving. She fully believed that there was still a chance out of that terrifying situation.

Snarling as they whiffed,

She who struck down their warrior's head!

"Shiki, are you absolutely sure?" groaned Ikaruga as she hid behind a large chimney, looking down to the phone that was clipped to the top of her white jacket, "She won't be holding back, even if we just try to capture her."

On another end of the group call which everyone else had joined into by that point, Murasaki could be faintly heard murmuring, "I just want to kill her and get this over with… Ryōna came pretty close…"

"We need her to save Murakumo!" cried Shiki on another end at the same time, "That's what we were told! Please, do not kill her under any circumstance!"

Peeking her head to look for Sato, Ikaruga instead found the shadowy figure of Oda launching himself overhead into the dignitary's anticipated path of retreat. Clutching her phone in alarm for a moment, she murmured, "We'll need to get the message to Oda right away then."

Free to cry,

There's no quarter for her,

Cursing herself for stupidly thinking that she had gained some ground for even a moment, Sato continued to swing away by her grappling gun while Ryōna kept heckling from behind, "Come back! Come back, come back and play a game I like to play!" Getting steadily more terrified as time passed, Sato fired another wire up to a higher roof, one which the blonde would not have easy access to. But just as she flew up and past the edge, she was surprised by the sight of the massive man from earlier.

"DIRTY ANIMAL!" bellowed Oda as he grabbed a tantō from a sheath on his waist and whirled the one-sided blade for the girl's chest. With her hand already being slightly in position, Sato only had to adjust the pistol in her hand a little bit to try and block the blade. Yet, rather than bouncing away like Murakumo's spear did earlier, the blade ripped straight into the barrel and rendered the pistol completely ineffective. Were it not for the hardened metal wire that was grinding inward as it retracted from where it was once anchored, the blade wouldn't have been twisted around with its handle bouncing straight into Sato's nose. The blade fell to the ledge of the roof while the girl landed just past Oda, thus the man leapt for his knife as it was about to fall and turned his head to her as he lied in a prone position, "Come then, you wretched little imp…"

Thus they, seeking vengeance,

Threaten to sever her mind from flesh!

Keeping an extremely wary eye on Oda's tantō, Sato began to back herself up to the opposite side of the roof, raising up a hand defensively as she pleaded, "No… hold-, hold on, hold on… It-, what I did-," but was quickly cut off.

"Was a barbaric act," finished the massive shinobi as he sheathed his knife, kneeling himself up while grabbing the corner of the roof. Through his teeth, he continued to growl, "Because of your stunt, I'm nothing more than a deceitful ass who failed to stop you in time…" Oda's grip on the concrete tightened until it began to crack, "Though, kudos to you for surprising me in such a way… I've never seen an infiltrator or dignitary put on such a clownish act before the public like that. They're usually… we're all usually much quieter, considering our circumstances…"

"I'm sorry!" cried Sato as she continued to back herself up, "Please, I just want to go home now! I promise, you'll never see me again-," but was interrupted by Oda's commandeering voice.

"I hate worthless cowards like you…" growled the man as his fingers danced along the cracks within the concrete. Then, as his eyes narrowed sharply and dangerously, he shouted, "You do something horrible and then try to excuse yourself from the consequences!" and proceeded to rip the concrete out.

Back to wall,

Where to run!?

Yet, just as Oda was about to chuck the debris straight for Sato's head, Murasaki suddenly creeped in from the corner of his vision, flinging herself up the side of the building by riding a purple ball of pure shinobi energy. Just as the debris left the tip of Oda's fingers, she screamed with a crack in her voice, "ULTIMATE SECRET NINJA ART: SOMEONE, SAVE ME!" and drove the ball forward from underneath her. As Murasaki landed, she began to mindlessly flail her arms around, which bade the dark energy to swing around and claw away at the concrete midair. As a result, the only thing that collided into Sato was a bunch of pebbles, each one ripping into her skin.

While the dignitary bit down to suppress the resulting pains across her arms and legs, Murasaki collapsed from the exertion of her ninja art while Oda looked on with evident confusion. But just as he was about to question the actions of the purple-haired girl, Shiki flew up to the roof with her scythe and cried out, "We need Sato alive!" The blonde landed and tripped over herself a bit before running up to Oda with wide eyes, "We might be able to help Murakumo!" before pointing to the offending dignitary, "We just need her alive…"

Remembering his frustrating view from the far end of the street as the masked shinobi went down, Oda looked to Shiki with a skeptical expression and asked, "You're sure…? Who told you-," before he almost had to smack himself in the face. Keeping the young man in mind, he asked with narrowed eyes, "Did he appear… confident in this plan? I've never… witnessed a reversal of this sort after a dignitary attack."

While the two continued their exchange, Sato rubbed at a few of her wounds before considering the prospect of offering herself up to help. Though, it only took a few seconds of consideration for her to dismiss the idea outright. Once they used her for whatever she was needed for, Sato would either be arrested or killed for her actions as a dignitary. As someone who desperate to get away with her life, there was no way she could just go with either of those options. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, she began run towards the far side of the roof with the intent to leap, though she was quickly cut off by the arrival of Yozakura launching herself up into the air in front of her.

Too dimmed sight,

To spot a shadow's reach,

Having power-climbed the whole way up the side of the building with a mixture of her gauntlets and predacious focus, the blue-haired girl targeted Sato before viciously growling under her breath, "I've got you…" and reeled back her fist as she began to descend. Sato, desperate and without time to formulate a proper course of action, darted for the edge beneath Yozakura with high hopes for an escape.

But just as the dignitary made the jump and began to descend, another body surprised her from underneath. After delivering a merciless punch straight into Sato's stomach, Miyabi followed with a threatening, "There's more for you!" Having the air taken out of her as the two bodies twisted around one another through the air, with the white-haired girl having grabbed onto her combatant's wrist, the dignitary could only take the next few punches to the face that followed. Eventually, once Sato was effectively dazed and the two were falling faster and faster for the ground, Haruka flew off atop her puppet from a guarded position on the ground to intercept the pair.

Which a pinch of foresight,

Could have kept away their hateful blades…!

Seeing the oncoming renegade and mustering a lackluster second wind, Sato aimed her grappling gun for the hand that maintained a tight grip on her wrist. Before Miyabi could deliver her next punch, the sharp anchor pierced into her forearm and produced an audible groan. However, still holding onto Sato like her life depended on it, the Hebijo leader would not let go easily. But once Haruka's puppet finally caught Miyabi, the momentum of her and Sato's fall was heavy enough to let the girl slip free once the pain in the former's arm was too much. Stuck in another freefall, Sato pulled the anchor in the white-haired girl's arm free and took aim with her other grappling gun to swing away for safety.

But, cutting her off as she swung around another street corner, Asuka, Hibari, and Yagyū dived in from three separate angles of differing elevation. Feeling the pang of panic, Sato forced herself to analyze the situation: while the brunette was going straight for the grappling wire to cut it at its base, Yagyū had expanded her umbrella and was charging at the dignitary head-on while Hibari was flanking from the rear. Still, even with the situation having been analyzed in less than second, Sato could only react instinctively.

Quickly detaching and reeling her wire back in to protect it from Asuka, the dignitary kicked up her legs and did her utmost to twist herself around to aim her body for the top of Yagyū's umbrella. Completely unabated as she blinked her one eye, the girl slightly pulled her umbrella back and thrusted it for Sato's position. Upon collision, the dignitary's arm was nearly pushed out of its socket by the resulting force as she rolled over the umbrella. At the same time, Hibari managed to get her arms around the spectacled foe's stomach and clung for dear life as they fell downward and painfully crashed onto a balcony.

With the pink-haired girl having hit the back of her head against the ground, she was a bit disoriented while trying to maintain her grip on Sato. Fortunately, Asuka landed onto the balcony after a bit of climbing and began to get a firm hold on their opponent's legs. But just when one ankle was firmly secured, Sato bent her other leg up before delivering it straight into the brunette's forehead. While Asuka was forced back, the girl also managed to raise one elbow high enough to whirl it back into Hibari's stomach. Just as Sato was about to get away, Yagyū and Imu crashed the entire weight of their combined bodies into her from behind while the pink-haired girl backed off to catch her breath.

Hawks will fall,

Before the first-time crowd,

Grabbing the girl by the back of her head, Yagyū said in a low and dangerous voice, "If you think I can forgive you after hurting Hibari like that… you'll be sorely mistaken once we're done with you…" before yanking the broken pistol out of Sato's grip, "And that's not including what you've done to Murakumo…" She gave a nod to Imu before moving to tend to her injured friend while the Hebijo second-in-command had an equally furious face that lacked any forgiveness.

Then there was a glint in Imu's eye that reflected a mix of malicious deviance. She grabbed the back of Sato's ski mask, "C'mon," and led her from behind to the edge of the balcony, where a crowd of people were pointing up after having seen the grappling hooks. Confused and wondering what her captor was up to, the dignitary turned her head to the shinobi with wide and scared eyes. In a quiet and mocking voice, Imu goaded, "Our shinobi barriers prevent them from seeing us… though they can see you just fine…"

Without room to escape,

That moment marked the end of her days!

Fearing what was about to come to pass, Sato began to fervently shake her head back and forth, "No! No, no, no-!" but was immediately cut off

"With how theatrical you were earlier, I thought you'd like a little bit of spotlight!" cried Imu as she gripped the cheek where the mask was cut and ripped it off to display Sato for the whole world to see. Between eye witnesses, cellphones, and digital cameras, there was no way for the girl to ever deny that she was there that day. Realizing that her identity was completely and defenselessly exposed, Sato began to jerk herself around with increasingly desperate strength. While, to the world, she was just some mad and flailing girl who was using devices that had never been seen before, Imu was beginning to have trouble maintaining a grip on her.

Before the spectacled elite could turn to Asuka, who was painfully rubbing her head, Sato threw all of her weight backwards. Caught a bit by surprise while she was trying to ask for help, Imu wasn't able to keep herself from getting slammed back into the building. While she maintained her grip through that painful blow while everyone else began to scramble their way, Sato proceeded by diving forward toward the balcony's railing. Despite pulling back with all of her strength, Imu wasn't able to do anything as the dignitary flung them over the metal barrier.

Though Asuka and Yagyū were quick enough to grab the spectacled shinobi by her legs, since she had no way stop herself if she fell, they were unable to stop Sato's descent. The dignitary, desperate beyond measures, pulled out and fired her only remaining grappling gun and swung just over the crowds that were letting out all sorts of noises of excitement.

Don't relent!

Swinging up while the shinobi continued to give chase, Sato was loudly screaming, "I WANT TO GO HOME! NO MORE!" Just as she fired another wire, a bullet zipped past the side of her leg while a large bit of concrete flew just past her free arm, both colliding into a building that she was passing by. Frightened beyond all belief and desperate for any form of salvation, Sato could only cry again, "NO MORE!"

Circle 'round the caged bird!

Yomi and Mirai had positioned themselves up on a shorter roof ahead in an attempt to cut the dignitary off, which produced another frustrated cry from the girl. Though the latter of the two shinobi did refrain from using the gunbrella, since she couldn't kill Sato, she did utilize a new technique. Mimicking Murakumo's spear-throw from earlier, Mirai amateurishly angled her body, pulled back the umbrella, and took aim while Yomi bent herself down. Then, simultaneously, the smaller girl threw the umbrella into the air for Sato as the blonde launched into the air. While the umbrella certainly didn't fly with the same accuracy or strength of Murakumo's throws, it proved to be enough once it struck into the side of Sato's hand.

Let her sink and drown within the light,

As the thin tip of the umbrella shallowly stabbed itself into one of her knuckles, the dignitary was completely unable to focus on her grappling hook's next shot. Letting out an anguished cry of pain as both she began to fall from the air, Sato crashed straight into the stalwart clutches of Yomi. But, with her desperation at its absolute peak, she continued to struggle after the blonde landed onto the building. After a few second of Yomi arcing her body around with Sato's, Mirai began to approach so that she could offer some kind of help before a wayward foot kicked her in the side of the head.

Where there's no way to hide!

As furious as she was about the correction forced onto her childhood friend, Yomi still couldn't help but feel herself soften once Mirai was propelled onto her back. For a moment, she was pulled between maternal instincts and the need to restrain Sato, but then something else caught her eye. Once she was sure of herself, giving a slightly malicious grin to the dignitary, Yomi released the girl and moved to tend to Mirai. But, just as Sato thought she was being freed, Katsuragi tackled into her from behind, grabbing and painfully twisting the girl's breasts around while victoriously crying, "THIS IS FOR WHEN WE FIRST MET! REMEMBER!? DO YOU REMEMBER ME!?" Though Sato, pulled and kicked herself around to try and get free, it was pointless by then.

She's a grave…!

"I don't want to be your enemy," murmured Miki as he continued to sat dejectedly by the dumpster, his view of the pair he was with still being cut off by the wooden plank.

The young man, who was cradling Murakumo's head in his lap while patting her shoulder, turned to where the reluctant dignitary's voice came from and stared silently for a moment. After a bit, he replied, "I got that impression yesterday."

"But you must still be wary of me," said Miki, lifting his head from his knees.

"I am."

"Oh… yeah."

Even though he already knew that the young man distrusted him, Miki was still hurt by the frank answer he was given. He completely understood why and, seeing what had happened to Murakumo and knowing of Sato's previous attack, believed there was no one to blame for that matter. Still, it hurt to be categorized as a potential threat despite having never done any real service for the dignitaries. After a bit of self-loathing for the position he was born into, Miki mumbled, "What will you do to Sato…? Once you're done with her, that is."

Taking only a few second to think, the young man clicked his tongue and replied, "I suppose whatever the others decide. If they want to kill Sato, then I have no sympathy for her." Once Miki peered around the plank to give him a slightly disturbed look, he raised one of his hands defensively, "Never minding the fact of what she did to Murakumo, she also tried to kill me."

Making a sound of acknowledgement, Miki backed himself up, lowered his head, and mumbled, "Right…"

Turning his eyes away, the young man asked, "Can I presume you're sympathetic, based on your reactions?"

"I can't help it," said Miki with a small shake of his head. Before any accusation could come his way, which the young man wasn't going to make, he turned his eyes further away and said, "She's… a bit like me…"

"Talkative you and silent Sato? Alike? I'm doubtful."

Miki faced the young man with lightly frustrated eyes, "Not like that!" before taking a breath to calm down, reminding himself of the situation at hand again, "Not… we're not personally like each other, sure… But I was born a dignitary. Sure, my circumstances are better since I'm the son of a… more important individual to the hierarchy… but I didn't choose to be a dignitary at all… and neither did Sato."

Raising a stern finger, the young man quietly argued, "But she did have a choice when she attacked me. From the moment she raised a pipe to beat my skull in to when she went on the offensive today, she's had choices. A whole lot of them." Sneering after he let out a frustrated sound, the young man said, "Don't think that I'll be willing to forgive those choices just because she has some tragic backstory. She's accountable for her decisions."

"Indeed, she is," murmured Miki with a nod, before he raised a hand, "but can you, at the very least, bring yourself to understand why she made that decision?"

"I'd be happy to understand.," stated the young man before he threw his arm up, "Not forgive, mind you, but I'd like to understand," and proceeded to shake his head, "But I'm no mind reader. If she's being forced at gunpoint to attack me-, to attack my friends, then I could be… slightly more sympathetic. But I don't know if that's the case. All I know is this: she attacked me and she attacked Murakumo… Neither of those things can I forgive." Turning his gaze down to the unaware girl, he finished his declaration, "Unless you know something I don't, I wouldn't recommend trying to defend her actions once everyone else gets back."

Unaware that someone was peering down the alley, Miki peeked around the plank while considering the young man's points for a bit before deciding to ask, "Is she important to you?"

The young man turned to him, "Sato? Not at all," before he realized that the brunette was changing the subject. After a moment of silence, he patted Murakumo's head, "Not in particular… but I certainly owe her a couple favors."

"Oh?" Miki put on a cheeky smirk, "Do I sense the start of a love story? Love on the battlefield?"

"Don't even get me started on romance, dude," ordered the young man in a threatening tone, "I've been going through so much unnecessary bullshit recently because of it." After giving his own head a squeeze, the young man mumbled with a frustrated laugh, "I even got tackled, crushed… and a bit violated under the weight of five women last night because of it… And mind you, it was very… uncomfortable."

Completely opposite of the young man's horrified expression, Miki was smirking and snorting on the verge of laughter as he asked, "You expect me to believe that five of those girls were going after you all at once?"

"Test me, prick. I've got the bruises to prove it."

Realizing that the young man was being completely serious, Miki just put an awkward look onto his face, "Ah-, oh…? Oh…" before shrugging, "I imagine that's what you were… arranging back-, wow…" After a few more uneasy expressions, he slowly asked while pointing down to Murakumo, "Was she… in on the… catfighting, harem, I-don't-know-what-to-call-it antics?"

"No," replied the young man, "she's just been a bystander who's taken to sitting back and eating popcorn while the rest of us mess around."

"Seriously?"

The young man stared for a moment, "Figuratively…"

"Oh… whoops."

Taking a moment to exhale and consider all that had happened over the previous couple of weeks, he muttered, "But… she's… Murakumo's done me a few solids since we met. Though she may distrust me at the moment in whatever way she does, she's still saved my life on two occasions." The young man held up a finger, "One time when a big old bastard of shinobi came to kill me…" Upon seeing Miki's surprised look, he quickly added, "We're good now. He's… he was supposed to be watching Sato, though I don't know what happened there… I'll give him a mouthful for it later."

"You live a very charming life."

"Care to trade?" asked the young man before shaking his head and turning towards something behind Miki, "The second time was just now… when… oh… crap…"

The brunette tilted his head to the side as his friend just stared with a tired gaze, seemingly, right at him. Then, following the line of his eyes, he turned his head around too and found Takatsukasa awkwardly hovering over the two boys. While they stared up, the only thing that the larger teenager could bring himself to say was, "I'm… I was… still… concerned and confused…"

She wants to be released,

In a way, like the swan…

While Katsuragi continued to try and wrap her legs around Sato, who continued to struggle, most of the girls and Oda arrived on the scene and began to quickly approach. Feeling herself collapse into a wild panic more and more, the dignitary could only keep crying out, "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Shut up already!" groaned Katsuragi as she kept trying to get the girl's limbs under control. After a bit more scuffling, she turned over to the rest of the newly arrived group and demanded, "I need some help here! This is a live one!"

But he's no enemy,

Unlike the one who ran…

"Be careful," called Oda as Ikaruga and Hikage moved to help, "she's still got that grappling gun."

While Hikage quickly wrangled Sato's legs and held them firm, Ikaruga gripped the girl's wrist and tried to yank away the tool. But, after a few hard pulls, the dignitary's fingers remained completely unmoved despite the still bleeding spot in-between the knuckles. Thus, unwilling to tolerate any further trouble, Ikaruga took the butt of her katana's handle and slammed into Sato's fingers. Though her pathetic stammering had ceased and was replaced by a cry of pain, her fingers did not move at all.

Call out for evil deemed,

She'll die by her own hand…

Without any real thought, Sato fired the grappling gun and just barely missed Ikaruga's head. While all of the weight and pull of the girls pinning her down kept the dignitary from flying off, the four of them began to get steadily dragged across the roof while the grappling gun continued to loudly reel itself in. Seeing the dilemma before there was any time to call for help, Oda kicked himself forward and boomed, "Not like that, you little degenerate!"

Nearing the edge of the roof, Sato began kick her legs back and forth into Hikage, who bit down the pain as Ikaruga continued to smash her fingers and Katsuragi excruciatingly twisted her breasts around again. Then one of her hands were left unpinned for a split-second while the blonde readjusted her grip. Throwing a few punches to Ikaruga and continuing her kicks against Hikage, Sato continued to struggle as though she had a chance.

No escape…

Then, with an equal glint of knowing through all of their eyes, the three of them released the girl at once and let her fly away. Wondering what had happened, Sato turned her eyes forward to find Yumi at the top of the next building over, standing above where the wire's anchor was nested.

Not after the first shot…

Before Sato could dare to try and detach the grappling hook, Yumi bent herself down and kicked herself down to the wire. As tempted as she was to give a theatric finish with a shinobi art, all of her focus rested entirely on cutting off her sister's attacker. Thus, she drew her fans and proceeded to twirl her body around like an ungodly vortex, ripping the base of the metal wire and its anchor into pieces as it began to retract.

The hawk will land in the hole it's dug,

Watching with cold and unfeeling eyes as Sato plunged down from the side of the building, crashing onto a cold and rusty fire escape in the process, Yumi proceeded to dive down after her. Before the dignitary could react, the ice queen of Gessen Academy tackled into her and threw them both over the edge. While Yumi dug one of her fans into the side of the building to slow their descent, she thrusted Sato's body to grind against the structure on the way down. As the back of her head skidded against the rough concrete, the only thing the younger girl could do was scream in pain.

So shadows can lay dirt!

Just before landing, Yumi released Sato and let the girl crash hard into the ground. While their fall was slowed just enough so that nothing would be broken, there was still an ungodly amount of pain running through the girl's ankles, back, and her head. Landing just beside her, Yumi looked down to the offender of her family and was about to say something before Sato cried, "I don't want to die! I don't! I don't!" and stood herself up again to limp down to the opposite side of the dead-end alleyway. But, just before she could gain whatever amount of distance she was hoping for, Minori landed in front of the dignitary with a look of unreserved hatred. The spectacled girl shook for a moment, listening as Yumi began to calmly walk toward her from behind. Then Sato clasped her hands together and kneeled before the sweetly-dressed Minori, "I-, I-, just want-, I just want to go home… Please… I'm begging-," but was promptly cut off once the pigtailed girl slammed her candy bucket into the side of her enemy's face.

Bury her…!

Breathing heavily from her nose and mouth, Minori had to hold herself back from attacking the defeated dignitary anymore. Her shoulders bounced up and down as the remaining sisters landed into the alleyway, appropriately left to support each other while the rest of the shinobi carefully watched from the rooftop.

Yozakura approached Minori, quietly murmuring, "It'll be okay now… Understand? It'll be okay…" before gesturing to the sidewall, "Let's sit down for a moment," as she gave a nod to Yumi.

Lying on the ground as all of the pain accrued throughout the day bit at her, Sato just wanted to curl up and cry her heart out. She failed to kill the young man on that first day, an action which was enacted because of her own selfishness, and the resulting domino effect was going to result in her death. All of the life that she could have lived was going to be cut short because she made one-, no, a series of stupid decisions.

Yumi grabbed Sato and yanked her up by one ear, producing a small pained cry, before raising her other hand to pull back the girl's hair to command her absolute attention. Though the dignitary let out a quiet moan and sob, she eventually fell silent when the shinobi's icy orbs began to pierce into her. Then, just when Sato moved her lips to plead for her life again, Yumi whispered something to her. In response to hearing the dangerous tone in their sister's voice, Minori cringed her eyes away as Yozakura held her head and Shiki clenched her eyes shut for a brief moment. Though the voice took them all back to the time when Yumi was under the distortions control, they knew that she was talking in earnest and from the center of her heart.

When they carried Sato onto the roof and began to quickly make their way back to Murakumo, one of their most beloved sisters, Yumi's whisper to Sato would continually echo into their ears… For how absolutely frightening it was and for how it really and truly reflected their own feelings on the matter at hand.

"If you try to run away again,

I will surely kill you…

Don't test me…"

So many different emotions were swimming through Murakumo. If she were to describe it, she would compare it to the story of what Yumi told after her distortion had been corrected. Every single life memory, every prideful moment, and every regret flashed through Murakumo's senses in tiny fragments of a split-second. Sometimes, she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Other times, she wanted to sit down with her sisters to enjoy a peaceful night while also secluding herself to continue drawing her comics.

As draining as that those feelings were, Murakumo could still feel a continuously calming sensation rubbing at the back of her head. As though a caring hand akin to Yumi or Yozakura's was trying to assure her that everything would be alright. Even as the memories and emotions flooded into her, Murakumo was grateful to that one constant sensation…