Within the Battlefront existed groups, each separated by their respective characteristics. Cliques, groups of friends, work buddies. Like any other organization that existed, imperfections were always present. Actions taken may reduce trust, or gossip can cling to one's back like a persistent fly. Assumptions and prejudices were hard to discard and had caused trouble on a few occasions one way or another.
As the Top Brass was always one group and had more or less run the entire operations that the Battlefront conducted, it avoided large amounts of scrutiny by others simply because of their high stature. Like a bridge, many supports only allowed it to move slightly but kept it stable. Even the strongest of winds were only capable of nudging this bridge in uncomfortable directions, but it would always return to its original state with minor to no damage. These supports can be compared to the bonds of the Top Brass: nearly unbreakable.
It was to be said that if anything would destroy those bonds, it would be because of the people within, not because of some outside adversary.
At various times were the Top Brass put to the test in regards to their relationships, or so had Shiina said. However, considering I was the most recent addition, there was a decent chance that could change. Various people held their views about me. Some were strong, while others weren't as favorable. According to her, even those who disliked me supposedly had a fair amount of respect for me. If that was true, I couldn't see it. I still felt like a cub compared to these wolves.
One thing that Shiina had emphasized was that the bonds the Top Brass held with the rest of the members that weren't a part of them weren't as strong as before. I took this opportunity to keep asking her questions and find out more missing pieces of the Battlefront's history. Unfortunately, she was not a person who often paid much attention to her surroundings or remembered details as such. She only remembered details that Yuri or anyone talked about in regards to objectives or operations. Everything else was discarded or was vague.
Still, there was much to learn from her. Other than the incident with the fish in the Afterlife, the Battlefront never made themselves out as a bunch of philanthropists. Them going out of their way to support good causes, lending their workforce and money for the sake of doing good was unheard of. Even so, there's no way they would perform good deeds unless it benefited Yuri and her cronies.
Yet now, I was being explained that it was an activity they often partook in. I raised an eyebrow, wondering how they could manage to advertise their presence and get approved to help underneath a name like the Afterlife Battlefront. I made an assumption, and Shiina had told me that I was correct. They went under a single pseudonym to whatever events they participated in.
What a shady business practice, but I still wonder what good could they possibly get from it. I had a couple of guesses, but even Shiina never really knew what the purpose of such things was. There were never any extra chips to cash in, nor has she seen the people that they had helped do anything for them. Maybe they did it for good karma, but the number of lives that I've helped save never seemed to be enough. This world, even as a second chance, was still unfair.
Looking at Shiina as we engaged in short conversations, her facial expression never really changed from a blank poker face. Her words were always straight to the point, speaking in a flat tone, and never any changes in pitch to emphasize a point or whatnot. A girl lost in time, unable to communicate in the same fashion as the words around us. I had wanted to ask her what her background was like, but it felt like a line that shouldn't be crossed. While her choice to move in with me was something that I obliged, and we were made partners through mutual agreement, the distance she closed with me was at most minuscule.
I am curious about her, but this wall of silence we comfortably share was already more than enough. Unable to fit in a way to stir up conversation, I maintained my silence. Whenever her red eyes meet mine, I give her a simple smile and resume whatever I was doing.
At the corner of my eye, I can spot her sometimes just...looking at me as if I was a test subject under experimentation. Whether or not she had made a deal with Yuri to have some kind of detailed log about what I do, it wasn't something that I minded.
In fact, I found myself a bit more at ease, knowing someone was with me. The loneliness that had taken over the house had faded away like a distant memory. I cooked breakfast every morning, eating at the table with Shiina on the opposite side of me. She devours her food nearly every time, so either my food was complete utter garbage that it's easier to stomach rather than taste, or the smell and taste were so appealing that it had to be finished quickly. Either one of those two options, or she just doesn't have any particular tastes. A hardworking person like her might be eating just for the energy, which is a possible explanation. The first time we had sat down without anything happening to us, she just sat at the table, waiting for me to finish.
"Thank you for the food. It was good."
She said that every time to my relief. I'm glad it was something to her taste because I had put in quite the considerable effort than I had when I was living alone. I tried learning more dishes and balancing certain aspects of it throughout the day to meet her extraordinary nutritional needs. Nutrition was quite important when it came to working the body out, and this girl was never a person who skimped out on something like that. With inhuman abilities like hers, there is no way in a million years she doesn't push her body one hundred and twenty percent every day. Usually, driving a human body beyond its current limits often results in injuries, minor or severe. The way she thinks, though, makes me inclined to believe that she doesn't care about that fact, which bothers me.
Looking back at her words, I never really heard her say something like, "It was good." While it wasn't something for me to thoroughly think about, her unexpected manners defined her out to be more of a complex person, which contrasted her screaming looks of simplicity and attitude.
That dream that I had the first night she slept had already escaped my memory, but something as memorable and pleasurable wouldn't be so easily forgotten. I remembered vaguely what it was about, and it was safe to say that it was at no point going to be a reality. There was doubt in my mind that a girl like her would consider intimate relationships, and I wasn't in the mood any longer to seek people out.
I had tried that once, but things never really work out the way that you wanted to. Although, it didn't burn as much as some people I know make it out to be. If it were a testament to my ability to function in relationships, then that would be a bit disappointing. What I have now was something more significant, and I wouldn't mind keeping things the way they are now without the whole secret group thing going on.
Life never really is convenient, but that's what gives us a sense of value, I suppose. What I had done so far with this group apparently was of importance, as a bit ago I had received a text message to pick up my payment for my 'services.' I shrugged at that, but I wondered how enormous the amount was. If it exceeded my expectations, the Battlefront doesn't seem like a bad place anymore after all.
I'm not too sure what I had picked up from Shiina, but now it felt numbing to think about what I was told about this group like I never really cared about it that much in the beginning. The thought of hating myself was something that I didn't care for anymore, but this personality change almost felt like I had always thought this way. A conspiracy theorist would believe that they were being targeted. However, I refuse to believe that such a thing is in play. Shiina's cold personality was like a virus, replicating within me, and instead of fighting it, I embraced her serious nature.
Since I had stolen her way of seeing things, I'm guessing I also took the good parts of it too. For once, I can say that I was pretty satisfied with myself, and I think I'm a bit more at peace.
Then the nights approached where it would just get hard to sleep. Chalking it up to my botched sleep schedule, which sometimes leaks out to lunchtime, I had made attempts to sleep earlier to fix it, but I was met with the failure of being fully energized while trying to sink away from the world. It was nice that Shiina had the consideration of waking me up every morning, though there seemed to be a lack of tact with her, as she would just open the door unannounced and shake me lightly. There wasn't anything wrong with what she does. However, knowing this development made it difficult for me to ask her to knock first and ask if she can come in.
As for why it was difficult, the temperature in my room often fluctuates to where sometimes I would need to remove my clothes in order to achieve that perfect temperature where I can sleep comfortably. A situation where she would walk in on me at the wrong time could go terrible.
Or, more realistically, she most likely wouldn't care as much compared to a normal girl, and I'd expect to be asked why I slept naked. I'll prefer for that situation not to occur in the first place.
A change of pace in conversations would be nice, though. Her presence brings me comfort, and the silence that we share isn't awkward. Sometimes I wish we could break out of that and just idly chit-chat about other things beyond the Battlefront and working out. Our relationship had become based upon this group that I get such a superficial feeling from it, even though I feel warm inside whenever she's around.
She doesn't even seem to bother with conversations unless I ask her something first or if she needs something. Nothing was beyond that, which is unsettling at times. However, I still wouldn't give up anything right now. Things were just how I like it: peaceful with a bit of chaos every now and then.
In the near future, I'd like to hold a conversation with her. To find out about her past and what kind of girl she is. The girl I know at home was more than I could ask for, but her background was shrouded in mystery.
With that, I had to make sure she was safe when I left her alone. To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing or what purpose I'm doing this for. The urge to leave every night due to my failure to sleep and finding any reason to go outside to carry my gun only grew. Eventually, I had succumbed to being the cool soldier that I was. So, my silent nights began.
I had scoured and searched through the streets that stood below skyscrapers. No one ever questioned the man on the motorcycle on why he was driving through the streets at night. I made sure to be like a ghost, only appearing in a place for a short amount of time before quickly driving off into a separate part of this city. The only thing I choose to leave behind is a gust of wind, carrying my purpose and sins with me.
Typically, people wouldn't be out and about at this time. The time where darkness usurped the sky and light pollution blocked the stars, there was no point in mucking or hanging about in the streets. It was the end of the night for some people, and they returned to the safety of their homes, but for others, it was the beginning of a hunt. Some searched for people to rob, others searched for places to steal from, and some looked for playthings.
There are also others who lived in the night. Those who have taken a step further in increasing the efficiency of those illegal knew well that the night helped keep them under the radar. At a deficient number, some shared the night with these criminals.
Tonight, I was one of those who stalked the dark.
Passing by corners, intersections, odd side streets, and then eventually through the main streets of the city, I had seen that they were mostly barren. Only a few had chosen to explore the after-party of the city nightlife, but none of them seemed to participate in any form of activity that would cost them their lives. The thought of just finding someone to choose and to get rid of had come across my mind, but even those who don't have morals have a standard on what their targets are.
Once the first night's end approached, I returned home as the sky had only cracked a bit of sunlight. Amongst the black, the tinge of blue began to leak from the east, and the wind shifted the cold air around me. Prowling only one night didn't allow me to see anything worth intervening, but my restlessness began to make me tired. I may have found the solution after all, but I was sure to get bored of it eventually.
I parked my bike and stepped inside my house, putting my gun on a nearby table before heading to the kitchen to wash my hands. I had pulled up a cookbook that was in a cabinet which I had only begun to use a lot more recently. While I had started to prepare breakfast and referencing the cookbook multiple times, I could feel the lost hours of sleep catching up to me from being up at night. My act, which cost me a few hours and a decent amount of gasoline were probably worth it if I can make myself even more tired at earlier times.
Close to finishing the series of dishes I was working on for Shiina, the door from the hallway clicked and twisted open, revealing a yawning girl with hilariously looking frazzled hair and baggy eyes.
"Did you have a goodnight's sleep?" I asked her. Her reply was a faint mumble that I couldn't understand. To her lack of audible words and posture, I could only guess that her sleep wasn't terrible, which was a good thing.
My unsaid responsibilities had included making sure Shiina was sleeping well and that she got to and from home on time to ensure that her everyday schedule wouldn't be ruined. She had to deal with the burden of moving away from where she was initially, therefore messing up whatever internal clock she had that kept her energized and efficient. Still, it didn't seem to affect her too significantly.
Adding the final garnish, I had created something a bit more complex this time, but it was still rich in nutrients. Hopefully, it'll be something that will amaze her.
I laid down the dishes one by one on the nearby table, handling each of them with a certain grace akin to serving royalty. Once the final plate was laid down, I took a step back and raised my arm to welcome her to the grand room known as a kitchen.
"Your throne awaits you," I had said majestically while bowing my head.
"..."
"..."
"..."
There would have been crickets, but the night was so close to being done that they were no longer willing to make noise for me. A lack of appropriate sounds left us in a weird silence that was troublesome.
"...Just enjoy your breakfast," I told her with a defeated sigh, restoring my posture to resemble a normal human once more. Walking past the staring Shiina to the living room, I sank with failure onto the couch. That didn't get the effect that I was hoping for. Any chance of trying to liven things up was basically hopeless if I were to try something like that again.
How embarrassing.
A breath of fresh air came through my nostrils before I proceeded to lay my body flat on the couch, pulling out my phone to do my daily task of absolutely nothing. The schedule was always the same and never changing, with the future event of Yuri's hellish training regimen inching closer each day.
Wake up, make breakfast, train, idle, meeting, make dinner, sleep. With some variation now and then, these events are a nutshell of what occurred each day. I feel that I can temporarily break that pattern today to get some shut-eye.
"You're not going to eat?" I can hear her call out from the kitchen as a chair skidded across the floor.
"I'm not feeling too hungry right now. Coupled with the fact that I had difficulty sleeping last night, I'm just not in the mood to eat now. I'll eat later."
I turned to my side, closing my eyes to let my mind wander off and make my consciousness disappear. Since Shiina was a silent person naturally, I was at ease knowing she won't scream in my ear or rudely awaken me by something she was doing. Probably the only time she makes loud noises is when she's talking to me, and even then, our conversation remains at a quieter than normal level.
I was under the impression that Shiina had only chosen to be my partner just to take care of me, but only to certain levels that I never really thought about. At least, until I heard a chair skid against the floor again and footsteps that gradually became louder.
Clink. Rattle.
The sound of multiple plates positioned on a table disturbed the peace that I was beginning to enjoy. I opened my eyes, slightly annoyed, only to see Shiina on her knees beside me as she grabbed the chopsticks I had provided for her.
"What are you doing?"
"You need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Lack of a rumbling stomach doesn't always mean you're not hungry," she claimed.
"How does one eat without being hungry?" I countered her, but she ignored my question as she waddled on her knees towards the plates of food.
Using the chopsticks, she grabbed something off one of the plates, and she hovered it in front of me. Mentally sighing, I obliged by opening my mouth, and she had gently set a piece on my tongue.
A subtle sweetness with a warm fragrance exploded in my mouth as I closed my mouth and chewed.
"Does it taste good?" She asked me. I sat myself up on the couch, scooting up towards the edge.
"You tend to be a bit more biased with your own cooking than you do others. It tastes fine to me; however, I wanted to make sure it's to your taste."
I patted on the cushion beside me, a motion to have her sit on the couch instead of the floor and enjoy her food on something a bit more comfortable. Using the same chopsticks she used to feed me the food that was intended for her, and she finally fed herself. Her face was static as ever, and she had repeated what she had always said since I've started cooking for the both of us.
"It's good."
Her compliment felt like an insult. No smile or any audible noises of glee came from her even though I tried to make sure the food was tasty as possible. Like I said before, it wasn't anything compared to what they served in the Afterlife as I am no master chef, but it was at the very least somewhat desirable to consume.
"Open."
In my own thoughts, Shiina had gotten another piece and hovered the chopsticks once again in front of my mouth.
"I might as well just get myself a plate at this point."
"You should. I won't be able to have this all for myself then."
If her attempt at humor meant anything to me, I'd say that we were getting along as partners just fine.
Night approached again, and my inability to sleep has resurfaced. I had decided to leave a bit earlier, extending my hours to keep roaming the streets at night like a police officer. Law enforcement has certainly undergone rapid changes in the most recent years. Many had called it the beginning of fascism within Japan, while others see it as modernizing and progress in the developing world. Tradition is the enemy of progress. I had once heard that quote in a movie, now a motto used by those pushing for a stronger law enforcement presence.
An idea like modernizing law enforcement felt foreign, and it was a change of pace for many others, including individual police departments who began to see the need for more protection, better tools, and more efficient training. Some were worried the police would be given too much power, but popular opinion often said otherwise. Then came the "Protection Dissertation," a long document created by a combination of former military and law enforcement that made a list of various points that enforced the point of modernization. Eventually, it had become the standard that many departments were trying to aim for.
It was something that I needed to keep an eye out for because while some departments haven't fully implemented the "Protection Dissertation," city and regional police departments had nearly everything. The restructuring of a typical police officer and departments of a whole had changed a somewhat decent system into a more efficient and prepared one. Fortunately, modernization suffered a cultural crisis which caused various departments to stick to a lot of old traditions.
That was fine with me. It meant I had an edge.
I visited Shiina's bedroom once again, although I never took her for much of a roamer, as I had found her head on the foot of the bed. Another hilarious moment that I'd want to take a picture of, but it didn't feel right to take a picture of her without her permission.
I couldn't help but smile. Walking up to her bed, I shook her slightly.
"Hey, come on. Let's get you back to the right side of the bed."
There wasn't a need for me to do something like this, as the foot of the bed didn't really differ much from the other side, with the exception of a headboard. A lack of pillows on the foot of the bed could mean she was uncomfortable, but at this point, I'm just finding excuses to be next to her.
She was non-responsive, as expected from a girl who nearly drains herself every day. I had thought about trying to support her torso and head to spin her around slowly, but that didn't feel practical and would also wake her up, which was the last thing I wanted to do.
Grabbing a pillow from the head of the bed, I moved over to her and lifted her head gently, placing the pillow underneath her and letting gravity push her head down towards the pillow until she made contact with it. Close to her head as I was, the smell of a bundle of flowers from the shampoo she had used gave me a pleasant surprise. My hand slipped away like a snake, and she was in a more comfortable position than she was before. At least, I hoped she was more relaxed.
Then I left her, making sure to lock her door every time I go. I had left the house for a couple of nights, combing the streets over and over again as well as observing the many people I've seen and observed them. Many had typical plain personalities, with a mix of irregularity and a touch of uniqueness within each individual. While there were situations that almost saw my personal intervention, they had resolved themselves within mere seconds, or another party had intervened. Since those situations had never escalated beyond what barely counts as acceptable in society, I hadn't done anything remotely interesting.
A bag of popcorn would've been nice since the movie of other people's lives played before me endlessly. The snacks that I would pick up at convenience stores sufficed, but I had to watch what kind of snacks I ate. With so many options available to me and if I had a sweet tooth one night, managing the snack choices was a lot harder than it sounds.
One night, after I had secured more snacks to hold me through, I had picked a spot that was smack dab in a suspicious part of the district I went through. Quiet as a mouse, I nommed on my snack while swaying side to side, not giving a damn about what's happening around me as I was on a break. Of course, things never really work out the way that you want them to, and the events one deals with often happens when you least expect them.
In the corner of my eye, I had spotted a sight that was ignored by people who minded their own business. A female was escorted by two males. Now, something like that wouldn't be put into questioning if it weren't for the fact that the girl actually seemed underaged, was clearly donning a school uniform that belonged to a local high school, and the ages of the men she was being escorted exceeded what was socially acceptable.
Their shameless looks on their face had already told me everything that I needed to know, and whether or not this girl knew what she was doing made it even more disturbing. However, I wanted to cast my doubts and tell myself something different. Whether or not this was actually happening, and that what I see with my own two eyes wasn't just some situation I misunderstood. Then bears the question of why a girl would be donning a school uniform so late at night in the first place. Her circumstances had already stressed the weirdness of that situation even more, but I still didn't want to touch on something that I could possibly fuck up.
I've seen weirder things that always have a deeper story that is grounds for misunderstanding on the first look. I just want to be sure that what I just saw was actually what I thought it was.
So I finished up my snack, and while they were still in my view, I had put the trash in my pocket. Once they turned the street corner, I turned the key on my bike, and its engine roared to life. It was still warm enough from me running it not too long ago. However, I had to stay in place for a bit, so it doesn't seem like I was following them.
After a few seconds, I took off, turning the corner to see that they had created some distance away and were approaching another intersection. It had dawned upon me that there was simply no way I would be able to track them with a loud bike like this. Not without attracting unnecessary attention.
Once they turned the other corner, I waited once again before finding a streetlight to park under, leaving behind my helmet and kicking down the stand for the bike. I wish I had brought a mask of some sort because it came into mind that these people, if they were to see my face, most likely won't forget it.
I turned the corner, my firearm still in its holster. A bit of sweat had disgustingly lubricated my skin and the holster, and it had begun to form a sticky, disgusting feeling around my pelvic area. It had also done a decent job of keeping that area in particular warm, but a detail like that wouldn't matter in the freezing temperatures of some days.
They were straight ahead, walking with a focus and excitement that one could quickly tell from a mile away as the district became more urbanized. The already tall multiple-story buildings only grew more elevated, and the street lights became more consistent in their appearance as more and more cars continued to drive by. But it was the dead of night, and the vehicles that would pass by would only come every few minutes or so.
The lack of police cars and people in this particular area was astounding, as I had grown accustomed to the streets near me being filled with just a bit more people. Even the chilly air refused to move as it had frozen in place from no one displacing it.
A fear had developed with the new type of officers that had risen from the revamped academies. Many residents who weren't as involved with relations with the police now sought to establish connections with their local police officers. Additionally, they reinforced the relationships with the officers who followed traditional values rather than making new ones, which was a particular development in this changing world. The point of it was to allow a lot more leeway in a now more strict environment where there had been a decreasing amount of "spirit of the law" cases and more "letter of the law" cases.
People had begun to fear punishment from the law, which contrasted the aforementioned statement of forming connections. Even the appearance of one of those new police cars was enough to incite nervousness within a crowd and would cause those on the other side of the spectrum to avoid areas entirely.
Which told me a lot about the people who I have been stalking for a couple of minutes now.
They haven't had the least bit of some decency.
They turned around another corner, and I followed some distance away, my footsteps only increasing in rampancy as I had grown impatient with how much walking they had to do. Either they're throwing off a tail, or they had picked an unreasonable location to bring her to wherever it is. Their attitudes had shown to be carefree—one who doesn't care about consequences and only sought to seek what they want with no standards. When I had said that I wanted to continue my observations to make sure I was correct, the intention was made clear when one of their hands gradually lowered behind the young girl, yet never really touched her.
I continued to stalk them, and they eventually had arrived towards a derelict building that had shown obvious signs of degrading and natural wear. As it stood amongst the other buildings in this urban environment, it had blended in well to provide that dirty feeling of a city, where footsteps trampled the sidewalks and carbon had formed an invisible layer on the street. Even the water that flowed down the side of the road mixed in with the dirt and trash, providing that rancid toilet water smell that made me scrunch my nose.
How fitting.
Standing outside, a jangle of someone's keys pierced the air, and I closed the distance, hiding behind a wall a nearby residence shared with this worn-down building. Sticking my head out slightly, I continued my careful observation while pulling out my gun for a highly likely confrontation. Taking my attention off them quickly, I checked to ensure that my magazine was full and that there was a bullet in the chamber before leaning past the wall to continue.
The door in front of them unlocked, and their rowdy voices welcomed her in. She complied, her sweet but shy voice thanking them for their hospitality. An ironic situation like that made me furrow my eyebrows as I tried to look at them closely. Oddly enough, the men before me weren't old nor terribly looking. With a lack of business suits and with such a small amount of jewelry, they were quite the opposite of expectations—more of a letdown than anything else.
The trio walked in, the door closing behind them. Waiting for a second, I began to run towards the door, remaining light on my feet to prevent my approach from being audible. With both hands on my gun, I brought it close to me while aiming towards the door as I silently approached. I wanted to wait for a click to indicate the door was locked, but I never really heard one. There were voices in the room behind this barrier, although they had become quieter as the sound of footsteps began to fade away towards the upstairs section. Then they became inaudible.
It was time to move in. There wasn't a click, so I wondered if I could just open the door. Repositioning myself so I was on the opposite side of the door hinge, my left hand gravitated towards the knob.
Twist. No rattle.
Well, would you look at that?
I gradually opened the door slowly, trying to prevent it from squeaking as I began to clear the parts of the room before me. Darkness was the only thing that existed in this place, and the voices have returned, muffled by the floor above me. I flashed my light for a quick second using my index finger, and I didn't see anything of interest other than the composition of a couch, television set, and various decorations that lined up with what you would find in a house. With no human figures in sight, I pushed the door open more, turning my light on for the bare minimum to identify what's in the room before moving on.
The room was clear, so I stepped in, keeping light on my feet while I turned my gun towards the stairway. Using my back, the door closed behind me as my left hand returned to support my right hand on my gun. A crucial decision had to be made here on whether or not I wanted to clear the rest of this building, and naturally, a safe option would be to clear this entire floor first. I'd like to take my time on this, but this is what happens when I had decided to step outside my house doing something that was completely irregular of me. With no one to back me up, I chose to push up the stairs since it didn't seem like anyone was on the first floor.
Staying silent, I kept the gun close to my body with my right eye lined up properly to the attached reflex sight. Their muffled voices get louder, allowing me to hear their conversations a bit more clearly. Using their voices as a mask of my sound, I ramped up my speed while pushing up the staircase, clearing corners, and listening to any noise that I could derive information from.
The end of the stairway forced me into a hallway, which I checked side to side to clear my corners. I never realized how difficult it was to clear things by yourself. With no one supporting me, I was already stressed out in anticipation.
A couple of rooms spanned the hallway, and beside the staircase was another staircase leading to the third floor. However, the second floor made the voices to be a lot more clear. A quick deduction made them out to be in the far room of the floor I was on, meaning that I could avoid the third floor in its entirety. Closing in on the door at the far end of the hallway, I stretched my gun out a bit instead of holding it close to my body, keeping my finger off the trigger while pointing it ahead.
The loudness of the men increased exponentially when one of them let out a hardy laugh. Since I wasn't too far from the door, their conversations had become easy to understand.
"You have quite the humor on you, young girl. Tell me, where are you from?"
I couldn't hear what she had to say, but the man replied back with a hint of interest.
"Ehhh! I've been there before! The food there is quite tasty. I know of this restaurant over there, hold on, let me show you."
...Just what kind of conversation is this? Is this an attempt to make her feel comfortable or have some sort of connection to her?
I gave in to the temptation to roll my eyes, and even if the way that their attitudes and postured portrayed them to be pedophiles, the ongoing conversation had made them out to be something different. It was just a doubt of mine, so I had hoped that what I saw was the truth. Hearing her following words reaffirmed my initial belief.
"Hey...Are we going to get to business yet?" Her embarrassed voice came out finally.
"Ah, you're one of those girls? I like that. Since you're a bit snarky, I have a bit of a special request. I'll pay you extra." Then I heard the quick shuffle of clothing.
"Hold on...wait!"
Okay. That's enough.
Positioning myself while pointing my gun in a safe direction, I prepared to kick the door down, aiming right beside the knob and I delivered a kick. The door shot open with a resounding bang, and I think a piece of wood had ripped apart close to the hinge.
Barging into the room, the light in the room had temporarily dulled my senses before I was able to engulf the scene before me fully. She was sat at a table in the middle of the room, 'preparing' herself while a tie was on the floor in front of me.
My hands returned to my gun, and it instinctively pointed at one of the men who was seated on the floor. I hadn't thought of anything to say to them, so I yelled the first thing that came to mind to take control.
"Get on the floor!"
I transitioned over to the other man present, who hadn't taken off any article of clothing but still showed his surprise from the unexpected breach. Shivering, he immediately dove his head towards the floor and attempted to lay down flat.
"Fuck! Shit! Take it easy!" He pleaded to me.
"Shut up and get on the floor!"
The dot on my gun then veered towards the other man, who was still seated but unmoving. I may not have noticed, but the red dot itself seemed to be shivering, refusing to stay exactly in the place where I wanted it. It may have been on target, but I wanted it to be steady.
"You! On the floor!" I stomped forward, barking my order to him as I begin to feel my hands sweat, and my finger tightened around the trigger.
"Alright, alright!"
Like the good boy that he was, he slowly lowered himself towards the ground.
"Hands behind your back. Both of you!" I ordered. Keeping my gun on one of them and my finger already rid of the slack on the trigger, I spoke to the girl in a calmer but more urgent voice.
"You. Come to me," I motioned at her with my left hand.
"It's alright."
My heart began to beat a little hard as if trying to come out of my chest. My very own brain failed to register what I had wanted to do and was now beginning to process what events occurred.
I could possibly kill two people right here, and then I'd have to leave the area possibly.
Everything that had occurred so far felt like forever, but only half a minute had passed as my hypervigilance was kicked up by my adrenaline. My blood pumped in my ears, and I got a feeling that I needed to look behind me. A quick look ensured that no one was sneaking behind and an odd feeling of paranoia crawled on my back. Keeping close to the doorway, I watched through the corner of my eye as she put together her buttoned shirt and began to run towards me. With her now at my side, her trembling hands and quivering eyes showed me how frightened she had become. Whether it was because of me or the men who complied to keep their lives, I know this was the right thing to do.
I had maintained control of the situation so far, but I had failed to anticipate the one thing that had completely changed the course of my plans: the presence of another human being. One who still had plenty of room to grow and most likely had never seen the death of another human or blood.
Feeling that I had lost my lethality, I took one step back, both in the real world and mentally.
"Hands behind your head while you lay flat on your stomach!"
A bit of unauthorized movement came from the pussy of a man, his hand moving down towards his waist. My gun then trained on him as I began to take another step back.
"You two don't fucking move! You stay laying there until I'm gone!"
Feeling that his life was in danger, the man who had made a move toward his waist returned his hand toward the top of his head. The dot on top of my gun remained still on the man as I tried to leave the immediate area with the girl still close to me. I had to be careful about what I would do from here, as they could easily chase me down while I made sure she left. The threat of a gun could only do so much when you're the one running, rather than the one attacking.
I heard quick footsteps behind me, followed by the girl who tried to grab my attention by screaming words of danger. I turned around rapidly, seeing a black figure barreling towards me at high speed.
Faced with no choice, I pulled the trigger. Then I did it again. Faced with an unknown weight, I was forced off my feet, and my legs buckled, forcing me to fall to the ground with a thud. My upper torso absorbed most of the impact, which didn't hurt at all, but I felt a slight ringing in my ears.
I was off my feet, with something significantly heavy on top of me as I attempted to recover from the concussion I had just received. Something warm began to seep through my pants, and then it started to get wet gradually. I tried to push and roll off the weight, but the way my body was structured essentially had me almost covered, except for my head and the top of my upper body.
Gradually, the weight slowly began to get pulled off. The newfound momentum allowed me to roll off his body to the side, but then more footsteps came from the room I had just left.
My gun. I had dropped it somewhere below me when I got tackled by the asshole who I just shot. Looking beside me, my weapon had actually landed right beside me. I picked it up, rolling over to a prone position, and laid more bullets down the hallway towards the room I breached, effectively suppressing whoever was in there. With each bullet fired, I could feel my brain attempt to shut down my hearing by muffling the sound. Each sound wave ricocheted off the wall and had amplified the noise.
Grunting at the displeasure of thunderous noises, I got up while keeping my gun trained on the door. Then I fired another shot.
My leg was completely soaked, and the appearance of a dark red all over my leg must've meant I got shot or something.
"Shit."
I began to back up, and my calf hit something solid. That solid matter began to move away, and I glanced behind to see the girl, who was behind me and stared with a fear-stricken face as she covered her ears. Looking at her, it was easy to deduce that she had attempted to pull the body of the guy who tried to stop me.
"Come on! We got to go!"
As my words were finished, I had instinctively reacted to another loud bang. A bang that wasn't mine. Crouching down, I screamed at her to run, and I looked toward down the hallway once more, pulling the trigger over and over. Completely blinded by my willingness to suppress the person on the other side, I filled the hallway down with even more lead, not choosing to give any chances to the people who had now just attempted to murder me.
The rumbling of her fast footsteps gave me the signal to retreat as I put one more bullet down the hallway. With my heart now racing at high speed compared to my last operation, my survival instinct kicked in, and I raced down the stairs trailing just behind the girl, who had now opened the door I came through and escaped the building.
For some reason, whoever had the gun on the second floor kept shooting off rounds and was yelling. Not like it mattered, as I had chosen to escape. With my gun pointing towards the sky, I followed right behind the girl who despite didn't appear athletic in the slightest bit, ran like a track star away from the gun battle I had the pleasure of participating in.
Since I was faster, I was able to catch up to her within a couple of seconds. Her look indicated that she didn't want anymore to do with me and just wanted to go home, but I couldn't let that happen right now. She was under my protection and running anywhere but here wouldn't help her. It also wouldn't help me too because the events that transpired would have warranted a police response.
So I caught up to her and grabbed her arm before pulling her towards me. With my arm outstretched and not willing to lose sight of her, I made sure she stayed close as we left the area.
It was then I realized that we had gone the opposite way of where my bike was.
For most people, carrying a gun with them to the outside world gives you a nice sense of security and confidence. That piece of iron one carries fires bullets, able to maim or kill whatever it is aimed at. It gives one the ability to choose whether or not to engage in a situation, rather than being held hostage and having no choice but to comply to raise the chance of survival. Even then, survival isn't guaranteed, depending on the ethics of the hostage-taker.
And how they currently feel.
Some don't even care. Whether or not they grew up with a sense of morality or even standards for taking human life, a person never truly knows whether or not the people before them will let them go. Sometimes, it's even too much of a liability to leave anyone alive.
"Mission above all," Otonashi had tried to tell himself. A new concept that he had reached out to grasp in order to put away his feelings when it comes to participating in operations. When lives are on the line, emotions and feelings shouldn't come first when the lives beside one are at stake.
Setting aside personal feelings was more difficult because it was aligned with one's morals and ethics. Discarding that temporarily is not feasible without thinking about it. For some people who served in any military, it was one reason they can't ever return to being a 'normal' civilian. Life was no movie. No special effects can be added, and nothing is ever exaggerated. Anything that happens occurs in its raw form, with the person experiencing it and interpreting it in their own way.
The mission had become a little difficult, but the idea refused to come onto him. A statement like, "there's always a way out," was a lie. In order to have a way out, it had to be provided, or you needed to have some backup. However, waltzing into a structure with no preplanning or backup made choosing options extremely limited. It was a good thing he had escaped as soon as possible because otherwise, he wouldn't have seen the outside world for a long time.
In the world where politics had become a lot more visible to Otonashi's eyes, he had idly kept track of what was going on. Keeping his attention to Japan specifically, the uptick in gun violence in a place where it had none, they hoped to snuff out the problem before it became contagious. Inspired by modern policing technologies, varying cities had implemented a program similar to the Shot Spotter Gunshot Detection program, which placed sensors in strategic locations around a defined zone to "listen" for gunshots.
The sensors will then send a signal once gunfire has been detected, and other sensors in the area will also send a signal in an effort to triangulate where the gunfire originated based on the data provided. Third-party analysts and/or law enforcement alike will analyze the gunfire and may relay it. The decision to send police officers will be based on the evidence provided, but it is often they will be sent as a "better safe than sorry" measure even if evidence can suggest that an incident is not gunfire.
Such elaborate systems would require funding, and naturally, big cities with huge police departments were able to allocate budgets to place them around. While it was considered a huge construction project, each individual sensor was small enough that construction costs and impacts to the environment were minuscule. Placing the sensors in other locations like private property was another hurdle on its own, but many business owners and companies were cooperative with the program.
It was without a doubt that police had heard those gunshots. Even muffled by the walls of a building, its echoes rang through the streets.
"Come on...!" He whispered harshly to the girl he dragged behind. Her shoes skidded across the pavement, with little breaks in the sound barrier in between as she attempted to get her footing.
Even as the girl behind him was dragged, she tried to keep up with his fast movement to escape the area. She was about to make a fatal mistake that night, but she never realized it. A man like Otonashi had no business in what she was trying to do. He was also a man, so her business deserved even more privacy. In fact, no intervention was needed at all, as she deliberately chose to go there.
In his eyes, a pretty girl should never serve herself on a platter like that. Even with escape on his mind, the smallest amount of relief came out with a sigh.
He attempted to create more distance away from the scene where he had grabbed her; unfortunately, vehicles were made to be faster than a human's ability to walk. The echoed sirens came from every direction, but the sound waves he tried to analyze didn't align with what was thought to be multiple cars. Either it must have been one vehicle, or other cars haven't reached within audible range...yet. He had to divert away from the road and continue creating distance.
Looking from side to side and around, he spotted an alleyway, and he began to run toward it. The girl's light blonde hair began to levitate from her shoulders as she began to run with him, although his arm was still outstretched behind him to make sure she didn't escape in a place like this.
He had to leave her at a place where she was safe, but it was a complete contradiction to what they were doing now. What's the point of escaping the law if she was the safest with them rather than him? He knew the answer. It was because he was worried about himself, but it wouldn't have been safe for him to leave her without ensuring she wouldn't share what happened tonight.
Darkness consumed the alleyway, and it was filled with absolutely nothing. It wasn't by any means narrow, but the buildings were close enough to make it easy to miss.
They entered the alleyway with labored breathing, with Otonashi looking for a place to conceal them. A part of the building next to them had a pocket that would hide them from the street, so he slammed his back against the wall and swung her around to get her behind it as fast as possible. Facing the same direction he was, she began to open her mouth to speak to him before his hand covered it. His arm went around her front to keep her from moving, and he looked to the side where they came from.
"Shh," he ordered her.
With a bit of hesitation, she nodded, an uncertain looked formed in her eyes as the sirens gradually became louder. Closing his eyes, Otonashi prayed that the approaching sirens didn't see them and focused his attention on praying. The sirens had approached at high speed, and as expected, grew closer. Otonashi looked to the side, watching where they came from, and peered a bit towards the street.
Flashes of red and blue appeared on the adjacent wall for a split second, and he recoiled his head back, tightening his grip on the girl before him.
Her body up against him, his heartbeat thumped through her. An earthquake that would resonate through buildings and beyond. It added to the anticipation of what could be the possibility of being caught.
As the police vehicle passed by, Otonashi made note of its high speed, which made it clear that they were responding to the situation that these two had just left. Bringing her closer, his holster began to dig into the girl's back. Compared to human skin, the material of the holster wasn't as flexible and stretchy. Neither was the gun.
Little time had passed before more sirens had rung their eardrums, and more cars with the red and blue lights zoomed past their alleyway, not knowing that the people they were supposed to be looking for were a lot closer than they thought.
Consequences aside, a situation similar to this in a movie would've been nothing more than a fantasy. The police were always coordinated, and no one ever thinks of creating distance. When they do, their obvious appearances coupled with nervous behavior and descriptions get them caught near instantaneously. The distance was a major factor when trying to find suspects in a crime scene, and had Otonashi not cut the distance he would have, his capture would've been definite.
A bright idea had risen in one of the two heads.
"Hey..." Her soothing voice broke the silent air they tried to maintain. Otonashi's head looked down at her. Her hand tugged on his arm, and the tightness that kept her in his clutches was gone, albeit with a hint of nervousness.
Turning around, she took a look at the man who leaned against the wall. His quiet heaving brought a stare that linked them to identify the person before them properly. A young girl who had attempted to sell her body, and a vigilante who just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Contrary to the situation, there was a feeling of security that made her trust him.
His eyes squinted at her, and she took a step back. Not one out of fear but to calmly take a look at the bigger picture. Subconsciously, she monitored him on whether or not he would take the step forward, yet he didn't. He only kept his look on her.
Somewhere in her mind, she had realized that he was not there to hurt her or to take her. An uncertainty existed on what his true intentions were, though the chance was low. After all, the people that she had just met were quite polite, even if their intentions matched ones of an unsterilized dog. Their attempt at socialization was commendable, but the morals behind commending such an attempt were questionable.
"Are...you alright?" She had asked him.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Otonashi replied, rubbing the back of his head.
A light giggle came from her mouth. Even with a dull remark as that, the girl had found the light of the situation and inadvertently brought a tense situation into something light-hearted. She was a beauty of ignorance and a beautiful girl herself. Considering they were just shot at not too long ago, and she had seen the blood of a human being pouring out slowly from the lifeless body, she still remained considerate.
"Maybe. Maybe. I like to think I'm a lot stronger than what people see in me initially, ya know?"
"Mm..."
That was all Otonashi could mumble because he really didn't know.
"Seriously, are you okay, though? We did just get shot at," she reiterated her question. He sighed, lowering his head before chuckling.
"Why are you laughing at me?" She began pouting.
"Did you not just hear yourself?"
"Yes, I did. We got shot at, but would anything truly come out of me overthinking the fact that I nearly died if I'm still alive?"
...
"No, not really," Otonashi conceded. Either this high school girl had some realistic thinking, or it was some sort of defense mechanism for her mind. Thinking like that, if maintained, would probably make her into a great soldier. The idea of recruitment had briefly came into Otonashi's mind, but the situation at hand made it a completely dumb idea to recruit her into a group that had a closed membership.
The last time they recruited someone that wasn't a close friend was not too long ago—a woman who had an allegiance to nobody but herself, at least before she was recruited. With the help of the Battlefront, they had gotten her a way out. The convenience of the situation made it all too easy for a job. She knew she was going to be a target but already wanted to leave the life of a criminal leader.
Officially, she was the target of the Battlefront, but Yuri had intervened at the last second when Shiina's blade was next to her neck. Shiina had taken the blade away from her neck and holstered it, while Busujima herself had a smile on her face even though she kept her hands up.
"You understand what you were going to do, right? Getting yourself involved with men like those."
"And why shouldn't I? They were actually quite respectable, and they said that they wouldn't do anything I wouldn't want to."
"..." Otonashi tightened his eyebrows. What she had said regarding their terms and conditions was uncertain and had no form of guarantee. Granted, a situation like such offered no guarantees but her lack of awareness of the situation needed to be addressed.
"They had a gun. I have a feeling they would've held you hostage to do whatever they wanted to you, even if their attitude was 'respectable.'"
The girl before him had gone quiet as if she thought before she sighed and admitted her blindness.
"...You're probably right."
Otonashi nodded, choosing not to press on her blindness further.
She began to bow in front of him.
"Mystery man, thank you for intervening when you did. When I realized this was something I didn't want to do, I thought I couldn't get out of it."
Otonashi raised his hand as if to politely silence her. She raised herself back up, looking at him with a slight tilt to her head.
"You shouldn't have to have seen what I had to do. I uh..." Looking down toward his leg, the warmness he had felt not too long ago was physically present in the form of redness that stained his pants. That redness was human blood that must have come from the guy that tackled him.
"If you think you killed him, he was still alive when I tried to get him off you. He was moaning when you shot him, so he's probably fine. My ears still feel a bit dulled." The girl before him tried to tap her head to see if she could get that ringing out but to no avail. Looking down at her legs and her clothing, there wasn't any sign that the blood made it onto her uniform. Her uniform had consisted of a blackish-gray skirt and a white shirt with a cyan patterned tie.
There was a difference between having carnal desires and acting on them, and sure enough, if anyone had a craving for high school girls, they would've gone for this girl in a heartbeat. The best part about her was that she was willing to participate in such acts, which Otonashi deemed to be plain wrong. A girl like her should wait until a certain age because otherwise, it will continue to bite at her for the rest of her life. It wasn't something he personally experienced, nor did he know anyone who had gone through such a situation, but it was still a no-brainer on what giving up one's body could do to someone. The risks outweigh whatever positive benefits one could get.
Her blonde hair made her seem more like a rebellious gal, which could have added the appeal to a fun night with a young high school girl.
Disgusting.
"What's your name?" Otonashi asked her.
"Masumi."
"First name?"
"Nariko."
"You give up personal information pretty easily, Nariko Masumi."
"Please just call me Nariko. Hearing my last name..." She audibly groaned.
"Alright."
"What's yours?"
"..." A bit of hesitation came in the form of Otonashi's quivering lips.
"Otonashi Yuzuru."
"I guess revealing personal information is the norm then?"
"You revealed your name first when I asked. It's courtesy, especially to someone younger than me."
It was Nariko's turn to be confused, as she now had become curious as to what he meant by his statement.
"...Eh? How old are you?"
"Twenty-six."
"You're pretty good looking for a twenty-six-year-old."
"Thanks," he sluggishly said. Compliments like that had now become a norm. Refusing to toot his own horn, he only thanked people now if it ever came to his looks, which happens a lot more than one would think.
"What's your business then, Otonashi-san? Logic dictates that owning a gun like what you have makes you an enemy of the state. That is unless you're a cop or federal agent? Which wouldn't make sense since we are hiding from the cops."
"..."
Otonashi had found himself in an uncomfortable spot. His eyes looked away from hers as if trying to look for an answer on the nearby walls.
"Well, I won't get into it if you don't want to. After all, I'm your hostage."
Her wordplay made her out to be more intelligent than her looks gave off. However, the word hostage felt wrong in this context. Leaning against the adjacent wall, Nariko wrapped her hands in front of her.
"I have an idea if we want to leave this place. To be frank, I really don't want to be here anymore."
"What do you have in mind?" Otonashi asked her, open to any ideas.
Blending in plain sight was quite easy to do, although it had taken a significant time to maneuver around the area to reach his bike, which remained at it's original parking spot. A quick compliment to his bike and a desire to ride something with only two wheels, Nariko had placed herself behind a complete stranger, her arms wrapped around him tight. The stranger who had saved her was now something she couldn't let go of. The wheels sped up, and the last thing responding officers heard that night was a roar of a motorcycle.
Shrugging off the loud noise, they continued their investigation of a man who had bled to death after being shot. With no one around the area, a search area had to be made, as the only piece of evidence that was at the scene were bullet casings from two different guns.
Elsewhere, Otonashi had stopped close to a nearby hill. It was a stopping point and was close enough to her home. She had refused to show him exactly where she lived, but there was time for some conversation.
Sitting down on the soft green pillow of grass, she had looked up toward the dark sky. The night had only got darker, but the lights of the city got brighter. Escaping the light pollution of the city, it bled out toward the sky, which masked the stars above. Only little slivers of shining dots could make it past the barrier, and the night sky was no longer a painting of stars but a black canvas.
The clouds threatened to rain on what Otonashi deemed to be the last time he would ever see this girl again, as a single strike of thunder roared in the distance.
"Failure and disappointment are some of the worst things this society breeds. It's why I was there."
"..." Otonashi stood behind her, listening to the words that she had finally wanted to say.
"Independence is a pride that plenty of people seek. It's a driving factor for many high school students like me and those who choose to continue humanity's mission of expansion. Splitting off, doing your own thing, and forming your own place."
"..."
"My mother wants me to succeed but refuses to do her job properly as a mother. So I began to work, yet the money I made was only enough to cover a few of my necessities. Then she would ask me for my money, which I would give her."
"I never know what that money is for, and there's a good chance I won't ever be paid back. In this mother and daughter relationship, I had become the mother providing for the daughter, while she had assumed the position that her giving birth to me was ownership."
"Sounds like slave work to me," Otonashi remarked. Another thunderous clap had echoed through the air, marking his words as God's will.
"Doesn't it? It's easy to recognize when someone is using you, but only if you learned what it meant. I had been used all my life, so I didn't really think much of it when I had offered my body to those men. It was just only a means of getting more money."
"It seems to me you already recognize what was going on. You had thanked me for saving you, yet you were still going to go through with it. If it was for monetary purposes, wouldn't it have been better if I didn't intervene?"
"No, you did something right."
"And how is that?"
"I changed my mind when he starting coming onto me."
"I'm guessing you had never done something like that before?" Otonashi asked her, his hands in his pockets as he walked beside her, although he remained standing.
"No."
"...I see."
Otonashi then pulled out his wallet, taking out a few large bills of yen before offering it to the girl beside him. Looking at the money, then looking back up at him, she took it gracefully and looked at it.
"Are you just giving this to me?"
"Yeah...I don't find selling one's body appealing, especially with a girl like you. You're still high school, right?"
"Mm," she nodded.
"Once you do something significant in your life, especially at this age, you may not think about it right now or as something serious. It's all about perception, but once you do something, you're never really rid of it."
Otonashi began to lower himself down to the ground, his feet still planted on the floor and looking at his hand before looking up at the same sky Nariko had looked up at.
"After a while, even if you still perceive it as nothing important, it infects you. When you're growing up to be an adult, it changes the way you view things. You can consider yourself mature enough to make your own decisions since you can weigh the benefits and costs, but there's a reason why legal age limits exist."
"...Mm," she nodded once more.
"Please don't take it as me downplaying your situation. It's why I'm giving you all the money I have on me."
"Don't you need this more than me then?" Nariko had raised the money she had in her hand back toward Otonashi, but he shook his head.
"I have made decisions myself. I'm a doctor, and now I'm...whatever you call me, I guess. I have more money than I need, really, but I'm sure you really need it if you go as far as what you did today."
A group like the Battlefront had provided him a place to call home and everything else needed to live in a society. Money makes the world go round, and the Battlefront was a provider of it so long as the people within provide the services required. They usually do so well, and Otonashi so far had done a few jobs that could send him on vacation if he was frugal with his money.
"Really, thank you, Otonashi-san."
She thanked him in a heartfelt voice, and he smiled at her.
"If you really need anything more, sometimes you just have to ask. It's okay to need a helping hand sometimes. I guess for your circumstances, you've never really had a break yourself."
She shook her head in agreement.
"No, I haven't."
If only she knew what kind of man she was dealing with.
The return trip back home was undesired. I should have listened to nature's call because the thunder in the air was supposed to signify that a change in the weather was coming. While that doesn't happen all the time, it was enough to observe the weather and make judgment calls on whether or not protection was needed against the elements.
Sure enough, it began to pour. Driving a motorcycle in the rain was a completely different level than driving with a car, and it was one of the major downsides I had to face when living in a country that's surrounded by water and threatened by typhoons on a seasonal basis.
Luckily, I made it back home without wiping out on the street or hitting a car, although completely drenched. Hell was freezing over, and it was no help that the accompanying cold air was magnified by the darkness of night. My back became numb, and the stresses of the world, as well as tonight's events, were the least of my concern.
I ran towards my front door, and after multiple attempts of trying to put the key in the hole, no thanks to my shivering hands, I finally escaped the blanket of rain that covered the city for the rest of the night. A quick check of my phone let me know that it will last up until morning, which wasn't far from now.
Stepping into the bathroom, I took out my holster and changed out of my wet clothes to something more comfortable. Hearing the sound of a door unlocking, I turned my attention towards the hallway. Immediately after, Shiina's head poked out from the side.
"Yuri is requesting us to go to the Battlefront base later tonight."
"I see. You should go back to sleep, Shiina."
"...Where were you?"
"Went for a drive."
"Okay."
That conversation ended quickly, and she left to go back to her room. Leaving the bathroom, I closed the door behind me before looking towards Shiina's room which was wide open.
The window was cracked all the way open, and her gear which included the grappling hooks, was beneath the foot of her bed.
She never moves her gear unless she was...
Oh.
"You attracted some unwanted attention, Otonashi-san. Care to explain?"
"I have no explanation."
Those words were all I could mutter to Yuri. I really did not have an explanation for that random bout of willingness to do something completely irrational. Attracting police attention and nearly getting shot at were the main points that she brought up.
She had monitored all the way, with Shiina following behind me despite my knowledge of her sleep schedule. I made sure that she was safe every night and she had done something like this...
I had no right to be angry with her, but there was this feeling of betrayal that I had. This feeling was completely baseless, as I already know that it was dumb of me to do something like getting into a gunfight in the middle of a city.
My voice remained tight and to the point. I had no choice but to remain serious in the face of the leader who still had a threatening presence. I also don't want her meddling in my life, even though now she has more of a reason to do so.
Last night was a major fuck up, even if a good deed had been done and some trash was removed from the street. Now I have to suffer the consequences and get reprimanded.
I had tossed a look toward Shiina, who leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. To think I gave her a ride here especially, it really didn't feel good at all.
Knock knock.
"You're good. Come in," Yuri yelled out.
A squeak and rolling sound came from behind me. Turning around, a line of people began to pile into the meeting room. All the members of the Top Brass were here, ready for the daily meeting but unaware of the conversation that transpired behind the closed door. They were kept outside for a bit until the time hit exactly on the dot, and it was apparent that some conversations were clearly about me.
Hinata shot me a look that basically said, "What's going on?" to which I simply shrugged. Breaking off from my stance, which had my hands behind my back, I walked over to my usual spot on the wall and leaned against it, awaiting the upcoming details that she was supposed to reveal due to my late-night adventures.
"Quiet down. I got something important for us."
The people within the room gradually shut their mouths, and Yuri sighed in disappointment.
It was very clear who the cause was for the disappointment. Although, it took a while for Yuri to actually say anything.
Then she spoke against my expectations. Instead of directly naming me and describing the events of last night, she instead spun around some fake story about how we have to do some final clean-up operations. What she deems cleaning up is the same as the definition of tying up loose ends. What was crazy was how that nobody really asked about the origin story of the operation. How it came about, and so forth. Instead, the questions were more strategy-oriented, such as the number of people and intelligence.
Thanks to Shiina maintaining a watchful eye on me, she was able to track down the people that I had previously engaged in a gunfight with. They had been identified, and their names and personal information were plastered on the screen in front of us.
Two separate buildings and the goal was to come in under the disguise of armed police to apprehend the suspects.
Yuri continued laying down all the details for us, and we were told to return close to the end of the day tomorrow. They had to gather up the information and confirm it.
As much as this was a clean-up operation, Yuri had relieved me of any fault and didn't hold me accountable. I was sure that she was going to expect something from me in the future—payment for my fuckup.
Once again, the Battlefront meets in the room where business gets done.
A day has passed and I stepped into the room, the smell of gunpowder coming from each of the member's respective firearms as they manipulate and adjust their firearms and gear. Click, clack, rack, tap. Each member ensured their gear was in the proper place and in working order through velcro straps or elastic bands.
I walked past each member towards Yuri's table, which had patches of various sizes that were spelled out in reflective white letters denoted as, "Police." Grabbing the few patches that could fit my carrier and shoulder, I slapped them on and slid my hand across them, making sure they were in place.
Yuri had looked toward my direction, watching me as I adjusted my gear. How I noticed was through the corner of my eye, and she maintained her watch on me but with no visible expression. It was a blank stare, most likely just observing what I was doing. She didn't make any attempt to hide it.
After a bit, we got a second briefing. Apparently, a secondary team had been assigned to one of the houses, so all of our attention can be focused on one. We were told of possible civilians in the house. If I had to make an educated guess, those possible civilians were family members. Family members or close relatives would make things complicated. Roommates choose not to interfere with the affairs of other roommates, but family members are people one would know for life. They have some degree of care for each other where they had to ensure their wellbeing.
Family members contacting the police department for a raid conducted by a non-police department organization would definitely put more heat on us than what was required. Though, I questioned why we lacked the choice of being incognito. Would it not be a smart choice, or is there some other goal in mind that I wasn't aware of? Breaching the doors with guns under a government name surely would discourage people from intervening and even turn a blind eye, but still would draw attention if someone were to just be at the right place at the right time.
Looking toward Shiina, she was focused on putting on some kind of black gloves. She clenched her fist, pulling whatever slack was left in the fingers, and she looked at me, tilting her head at me.
I can't help but feel slight contempt for her.
Returning back to my portion of the wall, I grabbed my rifle and helmet and started making my way toward the cars. One by one, the Top Brass filed out the room, all talking like it's another day at the office while I maintained my silence.
Ahead of me, a yellow-headed figure had a clipboard in her hand, as if ticking off checks on a checklist to make sure everything was in working order. Yusa seemed to be doing the job she usually had done, but I had a strange feeling that she had some more abilities than she was letting on.
Keeping my face forward, a couple of footsteps had caught up to me.
"You're awfully quiet."
The unexpected girl.
"We're doing this because of me. Of course, I wouldn't be in a talking mood."
Yuri took a deep breath but chose not to continue a conversation that was not going anywhere. For some reason, I felt like there were a pair of eyes glued to my back the moment she initiated contact with me. Looking back, there didn't seem to be anyone who would want to pay attention to something like that.
Taking my place in one of the back seats of the car while Hinata took the driver seat, I now chose to predict the events that would play out in my head. Although, I can't really see anything beyond us achieving victory in this operation.
Sure enough, we did.
The trip didn't take too long, and whatever was done to the cars had made us look even more official as the red and blues lit up like a Christmas party. Following in the formation and maintaining my sights on the second-story windows, the head of the pack had breached the front door with a strong kick to the side of the knob.
Each room of this house was cleared, with Top Brass members clearing rooms in rapid succession while calmly communicating with each other. This room clear. That room clear. Moving to the second floor.
Fujimaki, Yuri, Ooyama, and Yusa had moved upstairs while my group converged on the last few rooms. Towards the back of the house was a dining area with a couple of tables set up in the middle of the room for a large occasion. Many were already looking toward the door, and some began to cower in fear.
Keeping my barrel away from my fellow group members, I moved around Noda, my barrel pointing towards the ceiling until I saw a familiar face. When I recognized that face, I immediately put my sights on him once creating some distance.
My hands were quite nervous. With my senses dialed up to eleven, I transitioned my aim from that one familiar person to another as my group yelled at them to get on the floor, to comply, and to shut up. Their voices overlapped each other, a nice cocktail of serious gunfighters threatening to shoot them if they refused to obey. So they did, dropping whatever it was they had in their hands and dropping to the floor like the dogs they were.
With the way we overpowered them in our dark appearances, superior firepower, dominating voices, and numbers, it was easy to tell that the people who I had just met not too long ago couldn't fight this lost battle. Endless training, information from municipal records, and name gathering were all that was needed to find out who exactly these fuckers were.
A rag-tag team of degrading assholes who didn't have any ties beyond themselves. It turns out there were more of these fuckers that were identified as just friends of one of the guys I saw that night.
It seems as though we caught them in a meeting of some sort. Noda began to check and empty their pockets as well as their waistbands. Clinks of keys and the thuds of wallets dropped onto the floor as he began to identify each individual before vocally citing what crimes they were charged with. It was the same crime for all of them, and I can personally verify it because they admitted it when we aimed our guns at their heads.
I'm surprised they didn't escape when they had the chance. The thought of chasing them down in our cars made my hands shiver in anticipation of something that was never going to happen. We had them in handcuffs, so we began to drag them out one by one through the front door until this place had two occupants left.
Walking toward the door, I stopped in my tracks and looked to my right, meeting the eyes of Yuri Nakamura, who had exposed her face to them. Having them know who I was could make things difficult in the future, so I hid my face and my hair beneath the helmet and mask. A shadow that never existed, but I sure would enjoy making a grand reveal to them.
She stared into my eyes, and I could only stare back at her for a few more seconds. I couldn't tell whether or not that face held contempt for me or disappointment. My attempt to decipher it ended in failure, as I finally turned my attention back to the parked cars outside and leaving her inside the building. I expected her to follow, and that's what she did.