[Violence]
Sure enough, the Amamiya Brothers' instincts were right on the money. It was the end of sunset, with night rolling in, when the first signs of mafia men, set off the motion sensor alarms around the safe house property. There was no sound, so the thugs thought they would take the house occupants by surprise. Saigo sent a mass text to everyone in the house, warning of the intruders. Kikuchi and Hiroto escorted the witnesses into the panic room. Masaki threw on his pants and boots, telling Asuga to make haste and do the same. They buckled up each other's bullet proof vests. Noriko had been in the shower, so didn't initially hear the cell. It was actually Hiroto walking in and calling out her name, that alerted her to trouble.
"We've got hitmen breaching the walls. Get ready to fight."
Noriko threw on her stitched up riding leathers and boots. Hiroto made sure the vest was on properly. He was calm and helped her focus on the fight ahead. "Stick to the shadows and do as we drilled last week."
"Asuga and Masaki?"
"On the main level for the first wave. The snitches are in the safe room."
"That's good, I already taught the brother how to use the computer to make sure only one of us, can get them out." Noriko softly spoke, just in case someone had already made it into the house.
Together they left her room and then split up, Hiroto moving down to the first floor, at the back of the house. Noriko did the same, but at the other end. This time the thugs made it very clear that they had brought fire power. An onslaught of bullets peppered the walls and windows of the house, due to machine-gun fire. The gun shot sound was minimal and Saigo guessed all guns had sound suppressers on too. Kikuchi on the roof, began to pick his shots, taking out the men with the machine guns, so that only the semi-automatics were left. Saigo was on the move, having already hit the kill switch for the house lights, sinking it into darkness, other than the blue glow of emergency lights. He was making sure all his shots were fatal. He also had a shot gun, to hit the thugs who came as a group. With him running all over the house, it seemed like there were more police inside, than there was. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep the mafia wave from gaining entry. However the gun men were still just outside, it was the men with knives and pipes that came through windows and the doors. At the front, Masaki was in fine form, disabling the gunmen with kicks and taking apart the weapons that tried to come in close. Asuga was also using kicks, but she got a message from Saigo, to start shooting as some gunmen were making it into the house. He directed her to where the men would have to come, to penetrate deeper into the mansion. Unwilling to kill, she shot at their thighs and shoulders. Their dad would've been proud, because her bullets hit their targets exactly where she wanted. The volume of intruders meant she ran out of bullets fast. After both clips were spent, she used the butt of the gun to enhance her punches. Asuga was forced to retreat to an area closer to where Masaki was. She could see the blade, as a thug came running towards her. Asuga didn't expect the man to just use his body and slam into her. She was knocked to the ground with a thud, hard enough that the gun went flying out of her hand and disappeared under a sitting chair. Fighting from her back, wasn't a strong point, especially against a knife. The man straddled her, pinning her legs, so she was unable to move. His weight alone, hindered the ability to get out from under him. Asuga yelled in frustration and a little fear, trying to protect herself from the knife.
Masaki lined up the thug's head and punted it like a football. The head violently jolted backwards, then the body slumped limp to the side of Asuga, on the white tile floor.
"I think you fractured his scull with that one," Asuga observed peering closely at her disabled attacker.
"Serves him right for trying to knife my woman." He waited just long enough for her to get up and start fighting again. "I'm going up, more are coming in on the second floor."
Asuga did her best to cover her boyfriend as he went up the main staircase. Once he was on the desired level, she began to make her way to her sister.
One thug thought he could immobilize Masaki by holding onto his foot, after a kick was deflected by the man's forearm. Masaki pivoted and circled 360 degrees and when he came back to where he started, he kicked the man with his other foot squarely in his face. The thug did a dead fall backward, over the balcony, making the branches of the tree outside crack loudly.
Noriko was on the second floor too, using the shadows to choke out the thugs who came in range. She saw Hiroto fighting men who were coming out of the room Asuga had used, probably climbing up the outdoor trellis. Two men came around the corner and Noriko kicked one in the knee and the other in the chest. But one of them was a street fighter in the past and blocked the surprise attack. She traded blows with them, but staggered when the shorter of the two did a kick that used both his feet and hit her in the chest. As soon as she fell the taller man with the knife, came on top of her aiming for her jugular. Hiroto grabbed the man by the neck, yanking him up and off Noriko. He raised his bloody right hand and fed it down the man's throat, with a thrust that smashed teeth deep down past the tonsils. That wasn't enough to subdue his wrath. Gripping the neck, Hiroto rammed the whole head into a concrete column, until the guy's face was a pulpy mess. The body crumpled to his feet. Just looking into his eyes, made the short man in the balcony hallway, swallow hard. Hiroto's eyes glinted like polished steel, but were colder than a shark's. It was like looking into hell itself. The man tried to flee, but tripped over his own feet, in his haste to get away.
"Please don't kill me," the man begged.
Noriko got to her feet and pointed to the railing, "jump."
The man was horrified at her suggestion, until Hiroto grinned at him and swayed back and forth, like he was possessed. All it took was one step forward and the man threw himself over the railing. Another scream tore through the night, as the jumper's legs broke on impact.
Noriko looked over the edge and reported what she saw in the moonlight. "The fractured bone has ripped his leg flesh apart."
The death light in Hiroto's eyes switched off, as he faced her. "Are you okay. Did the knife cut your throat?"
"You got here in time. I'm fine, just a scratch. It hurts like a paper cut, but not life threatening."
"Don't scare me like that," Hiroto's voice broke.
She cupped his face. "I knew what I was getting into, taking on these men. But don't worry, I won't let that happen again."
Whether it was in relief or because battle got his adrenaline pumping, the kiss Hiroto gave Noriko, was so passionate, she felt the inner tingle of lust ignite. Her tongue returned the hunger and she could almost smell sex on his skin. He was the one to pull away first, panting to catch his breath. "Save this until the battle is over."
"Right… sorry. It's just seeing you fight, is so sexy!"
They continued down the hall and heard Masaki once again fighting from the ground floor. Hiroto chose to go downstairs, sliding down the railing and punching out men as he went. It looked comical, like he was a bowling ball taking out pins. Noriko got her head back in the game and proceeded to make her way to Asuga.
"Once Masaki and Hiroto get back to the second floor, come with me so I can go into the security room and check if we're making progress. Have you shot anyone yet?" Noriko asked quietly.
"Yup, used up all two clips of bullets. There'll be a mess of blood all over this house to clean up in the morning. Saigo is on the third floor, so don't go up there or you might accidentally get shot. His partner is on the roof with a rifle picking off the asshole reinforcements as they come out of their cars."
"That sounds like a war zone. I'll stick to the first and second floors thanks."
Asuga asked, "what if I went through that passage into the garage?"
"Too risky, Saigo or Kikuchi might think you're a thug and fill you with bullets when you come out of the garage. Instead on the way to the security room, we'll pick up the dropped guns and you can use them until they're spent."
"Ooh that's smart, good idea!" Asuga said slapping her sister on the back.
The twins made it to the security room without too much trouble and found it had two thugs on handheld radios trying to tell their buddies where the cops were shooting from. The girls grabbed the men and smashed their heads together, but it wasn't enough force to knock them out. Noriko choked one and Asuga fed a knee into the nose of the other. Happy that the men wouldn't cause any more problems, they surveyed the cameras. No one was left standing outside. Two groups of five men each were heading to Saigo and his partner, which Noriko gave them a head's up. Twenty men armed with metal pipes and knives were circling in on Masaki, Asuga took off after them, even though Noriko told her she didn't have to. Another ten were fighting with Hiroto. From the security room Noriko radioed the panic room and gave the brother an update, telling them to stay put. One of the unconscious men from the security room, had his radio crackled to life. An all retreat was called, because the neighbours had reported the gun fire and the private security team was on their way. Those that could run, left, not caring about their fallen comrades. Saigo and Kikuchi told everyone to get ready to leave too, they couldn't stay at the house anymore.
Via her cell phone, Noriko told Hiroto to pack her bag, when he did his. She was going to the kitchen to take as much food as needed for two weeks. Hiroto came to help after packing, having shouldered their bags.
"Masaki and Asuga have gone to get the snitches to the van. The cops are retrieving some guns and will be at the garage shortly." Noriko told him. "Where will we go?"
Hiroto picked up the grocery crate and had her follow with the bags. They regrouped in the garage and Asuga asked the cops the same question Noriko just had.
"We've got a few safe…." Saigo began when Masaki interrupted.
"No. You follow me, I've got the place we're staying at for the next two weeks. It's not luxury, but it has running water and electricity. No one, not even Hiroto, knows this place, so it's safe."
"Alright, let's go then, we'll follow you Masaki."
The cops and the witnesses got in the van, with their packs and the food. Masaki led, with the twins and his brother following. They travelled to a more rural area and up an overgrown, dirt driveway. It seemed to lead into a bunch of bushes. When they came out on the other side of the bush cluster, there stood an old two story house. Masaki kept riding to the back of the run down building and parked under a metal car port that was separate from the house. It too had trees and brush all around it. All four motorcycles were parked there and the van just beside it.
"This is it. Can't be seen from the road, so no one knows it exists."
"It better have a flushing toilet," Asuga grumbled.
"It's a blue toilet, with ugly snot green tile in the shower. But it works. So do the sinks. The kitchen has electricity still working, the rooms you'll have to use candles. There's a fridge and stove. The oven no longer works," Masaki explained as he unlocked the back door.
"What is this place and why do you know about it?" Hiroto asked, as they walked into the house.
He sighed, "before dad remarried, mom's parents use to live here. After mom was gone, her parents left the house to Takeru and I, when they moved overseas. I've kept it in their name, to pay the property tax and utility bills. You'll see on the wall by the living room, marks written on it. That's Takeru's height when he was a little kid, before I was born. They measured him every year on his birthday. It's the last connection to him and who he use to be." Masaki explained and then walked to the front door, making sure it remained locked.
Hiroto wasn't sure if he was pissed that his brother had never told him about the place, or happy to learn about his favourite brother when he was a child. Noriko, could tell he was struggling.
"How many rooms does it have, will we have to double up?"
"Yeah, there's three rooms and a den. The rooms all have double beds and frames made of wood, that are sturdy and don't move. Watch your toes though, the edges are nail splitters. We'll have to buy blankets and bed sheets. There's no towels either. Windows open, but the screens all have holes."
Saigo looked around, "it will do. Get the food and your packs from the van. Since you're the only one who knows how to get here or where here is, you can take the van to get the blankets, sheets and towels. We need some air freshers too." He wrinkled his nose, then tossed Masaki a roll of cash.
Kikuchi suggested, "pick which rooms you want, Saigo and I will take the den."
"There's a big couch in here too," Saigo called from the living room.
Noriko began to load the fridge and her sister came to help her. "Look what I took before we left," she held up a silver tequila, a bottle of whiskey and a twelve pack of beer.
"I love you all the more because of it and I'm sure our boyfriends will too." Noriko gave Asuga a warm smile, but her eyes showed her concern.
Asuga whispered in her ear, "Hiroto has a lot of brother issues, but then so does Masaki. This might just resolve all of them at once."
"Yes, we'll have to be extra patient with them."