Chapter 25: Desperate Circumstances
A Gessen nurse or medical shinobi sat working with some equipment at a nearby desk, Shiki being only a short distance away. The nurse then got up, giving Shiki a slight bow before speaking. "They will be okay, miss Shiki. For now, they just need some rest. Though it may take a few days for a full recovery."
As the nurse left, Shiki was left in silence. She looked down at Yozakura and Rom. Their bodies mostly still as they soundly slept, with their breathing and the humming of the fluorescent ceiling bulbs being the only sounds heard. I like still can't believe any of this is happening. Shiki shook her head. Folding her arms and losing herself in her thoughts. Thoughts of the creatures they fought, the giant machine called Trick, and this mysterious girl who was now lying in the Gessen recovery room, unsure if bringing a non-shinobi into the school was the right thing to do.
Suddenly, the ringtone version of 'Sunshine Fes.' began playing as Shiki's phone vibrated. The name 'Akko' lit up her phone screen, Shiki hesitating for just a moment before swiping upwards, speaking in a deadpanned tone. "Like, Heya Akko. Long time, no see."
"SHIKIIIII!" came the sobbing voice of her friend, which caused both Shiki and her eardrums to recoil in startled pain. "I didn't think anyone was gonna pick up! Like, I totally been all like 'should I call Shizue? Maybe Meg or Hitome? No NO! you've been such a horrible friend to them lately, how could you burden them with THIS SHIT?! You'll feel like a god damn needy bitch, Akko'!" Akko's voice droned into sobbings.
"Whoa, whoa. Like, take a chill, girlfriend. One at a time. You'll be okizay. So like, tell yer ol' pal Shiki wussup?" a sympathetic smile formed on Shiki's lips as she tried to comfort her friend.
"Ya… ya know that Yamauchi guy?" Akko said.
"The one you been dating? How's it goin there?" Shiki asked.
A moment of silence followed before Shiki's ears were blasted by a bawling Akko. "We NAW DA-ING ANYMOOORR-H-H-H-OOORRREE!"
"Ouch!" Shiki recoiled, but tried shrugging it off for Akko's sake. "Hey, hey. I'm here for ya, Akky. Now who initiated it?"
"He…" Akko hiccupped, taking a breath. "He dumped me like yesterday's fashion trends! Only said something like 'things will get more dangerous from here on out'. Like, WHAT THE HELL KINDA EXCUSE IS THAT!?"
Shiki continued consoling her friend, trying to get her calm down from her sobbings. "I shoulda listened to them, Shiki! I shoulda listened to Shizue and the others! But I thought we would last! I couldn't bring myself to call them, Shiki, but I heard you'd been kinda absent from the gang yourself for a while and I figure 'hey, maybe sheeks will listen'."
"Oh. Y-yeah, I been… pretty busy." Shiki laughed slightly.
"Talk to me, girlfriend. Like, gimme somethin' to clear my mind, please." Akko pleaded.
Shiki began to chat casually to her friend until Akko cornered her with questions regarding a 'totes cra-cra' outfit of hers. Shiki chuckled, "I guess the cat's out of the bag. I… hehe… really enjoy a gnarly cosplay from time to time. I was just too embarrassed to say anything about it."
"For real, Sheeks?! Then what the hell was Shizue on about, what with you doing martial arts and throwing giant weapons around? Personally, I think this whole 'alien' thing in the media is total bogus, ya dig? These are clearly terrorist attacks. Shizue just subscribes to dopey conspiracy theories." Shiki's eyes dropped, wishing that Akko's words were true. Fabricating a story about how her one school friend got her into cosplay and that the weapon was fully aesthetic, Shiki told Akko that Shizue was probably just shocked and her reaction made Shiki flee from embarrassment. "Pfft. Like, Come on, dudette. We all go way back, don't be so embarrassed with us. Look, just call the girl up, okay? Shizue's been worried sick about you, like, you totally haven't been answering her texts and that jazz."
"Y-y-yeah, Akko. I'll… I'll totes jump on that." Shiki replied, "But hey, it'll be alright, girl. I know it's absopositively tough losing someone you love. So why don't we go out for coffee sometime? Just a girl's night out, kay? You and me."
"Really?! Like, RIGHTEOUS!" Akko happily cheered, "Thanks, Shiki. Thanks for hearing me out and helping me. I know I can always trust you. Love ya, Akko out!" A lump hit Shiki's throat at Akko's last words before she hung up.
A sigh escaped the Gessen Shinobi's mouth as she placed a palm against her forehead, shaking it. "What are you doing?! Shiki, you idiot!"
Rising smoke from burning cars and shattered debris sent Minori coughing and tripping through the streets of Chuo, Tokyo. It's darkened skies casted a grim outlook on the ruins of a former battle. "What we even doin' here, Murakumo?" whined the young shinobi.
"Doing what we should as good shinobi. Search for any survivors and assist them. If we find the big black alien, then we attack." Murakumo stated plainly. Minori hopped over a broken steel beam, which jutted out, scraping her across the knee. Tumbling over onto her butt, Minori's eyes began to water, holding her knee as she called out for her friend. Minori felt her hand being lifted up by her friend, Murakumo proceeding to ask if she could still walk and checking for major injuries. But afterward confirming, Murakumo proceeded to walk onward as though nothing happened. Minori felt a pounding frustration in her heart, looking at the ground through angry tears. Turning back, Murakumo sighed, "It's just a scratch, Minori. What's wrong?"
"You… leave Minori behind… knee still hurt." She choked out the words, puffing her cheeks and not daring to let her eyes look into Murakumo's mask as the droplets began to fall.
"Minori, you have basic first aid in your pack that can easily take care of that. Besides, we're on a mission. If you want to grow as a shinobi, you're gonna have to toughen up a bit. People count on us with their lives, Minori. Yumi's right. You're going to have to let go of that kind of mindset." As Minori heard Murakumo turning to leave, she stomped angrily, quickly jerking a bandage out of her bag before following Murakumo at a distance. Minori didn't know why, but a silent anger simmered over her to where she didn't want to look at Murakumo.
The voice of a terrified man suddenly called out from under the rubble. Minori watched as Murakumo quickly rushed over, pulling aside debris and then reaching for the man's hand. Murakumo looked back towards her. "Don't just stand there, Minori! Help me!"
Still puffing her cheeks, a reluctant Minori huffed over, holding out her hand and pulling the man to safety. "Can you walk?" Murakumo asked, the man confirming and thanking them before staggering away, Minori simply folding her arms and staring. The moment he left, Murakumo's voice came at Minori in a scolding manner. "What's the matter with you, Minno!? How do you think Yumi would react if they saw you acting this way!? Or Kurokage!? You're so selfish!"
Minori's heart felt like a stone sinking in a sea of guilt, which splashed forth water that became her tears. Minori looked down, sniffling and whimpering as she bit her lip from the inside. Just then she felt Murakumo's hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have, That was too harsh of me."
Minori shook her head, "Yoza right. Me not fit to be shinobi. I let Kurokage down… GRANDPAAAA!" a flood of tears burst forward as Minori began bawling, her heart and her mind clashing in a battle that she didn't even understand.
Murakumo then got on one knee, lifting her mask just above her head, which Minori took notice as her eyes caught Murakumo's green eyes. Murakumo's voice trembled lightly, her pitch only slightly higher than her deep masked voice. "Listen, Minori. The path of a good shinobi is not easy. Sometimes… we can let our emotions get the best of us and that can lead us astray." A moment of silence followed, Minori's eyes red from crying. "We never forget those we've lost, Minori. But we also have to move on for their sake and ours."
"I… I don't get it." Minori muttered, looking over at Murakumo.
Murakumo proceeded to put her mask back on as she spoke. "How do I explain? It's like… We won't forget grandpa Kurokage, but also… what would he want us to be doing?"
Minori tilted her head, drying her eyes. "Doing… with what?"
"Uhh… let's see. An example… Ah. You see those people over there?" Murakumo pointed, Minori looking up to see a tall, blonde woman pointing a spear at a man in pink armor, who was on his rear, scooting back in retreat.
"The costume people? What they doin' out here?" Minori asked.
"I don't know. Let's go investigate." Minori began to follow Murakumo as she headed closer. "Now, Minori. Just watch me and think to yourself what would Kurokage want you to do?" Murakumo then turned her attention to the strangers ahead. "Hey you!"
The taxi driver screamed as he was yanked out of his cab. A man in a large, pink-armored suit sent waves of electricity through the driver's phone, short-circuiting it before dropping it beside him. "I really tried to be civil, but I'm a man with a schedule and I can't have any pesky police coming around." Anonydeath said, throwing Ram into the seat beside him as he jumped inside, speeding off.
Vert, who had been in hot pursuit, summoned an aethereal circle behind her, which formed a green energy lance that she took in her hand. "Sylhet Spear!" Vert threw the spear, impaling the rear window of the taxi, causing both Ram and Anonydeath to yelp.
"Yikes! If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was trying to stick it to me!" Anony chuckled, Vert's attack doing little as he drove off.
She then ran up to the cab driver, pulling him up by the arm. "That was your car, wasn't it?! Come on, we can't let both a thief and a child-napper escape!" a bit dazed, the driver asked who she was. "I am that girl's fr-… sister. Please, we have to get her back!"
The driver waved for another taxi that was driving by, Vert immediately jumping in the seat beside the other driver. "What the hell is going on!?" the new driver cried, the other driver jumping in the back as he tried to explain the situation to her, "B-but we're supposed to be evacuating this area! And you want me to go back!?"
Vert, however, continued pleading, insisting she was Ram's sister. The taxi driver, then thinking of her own child, began turning the car around. A relieved 'thank you' left Vert's mouth. "Buckle up, this could get bumpy." The driver said.
Anonydeath smashed his way past some police barriers, ignoring the cops' hand gestures to halt. They proceeded to pursue until a certain point, where the officers hesitantly stopped, turning their car back. As Anonydeath drove onto a freeway bridge, Ram looked down, seeing a train just below travelling in a similar direction. "Ah, perfect. If I can smash through that gate up ahead and land on that train, we'll be good as gold with no one to trail us!" Anonydeath said out loud, not noticing Ram slowly scooting over in her chair.
With a sudden shove, Ram forced the steering wheel towards Anonydeath, swerving the car rightward. Anonydeath yelped before violently pushing Ram backwards, trying to regain control of the car. The taxi haphazardly swerved onto an exit ramp, smashing up against guard rails and shattering its mirrors in a downward spiral until finally smashing headfirst into a yield sign and a set of concrete road barriers, throwing both Anony and Ram.
Anonydeath groaned and shook his head. "Iris Heart's name, kiddo. You realize we don't have extra lives to spare." Ram grunted in pain, trying to regain her composure from where she had been thrown, her hand reaching for the car lock, before pushing the door open. "Heyheyheyheyhey! Let's not be a bad girl, Rammy." Anony tried to grab her leg but his hand swiped at this air as Ram fell out the door.
Getting up, Ram quickly began limping away towards deserted city streets. On the other side of the taxi, the driver's door smashed open with a bang, Anonydeath squeezing himself out of the partly bent-up car. Turning around with a start, she tried going faster as the armored hacker walked towards her. "Come on, Ram. Don't cause trouble for me, I really don't enjoy violence. Ya know, all we had to do was follow the damn train, Ram. If you hadn't gone and wrecked the car, I wouldn't have needed to keep you hostage for much longer."
"N-no! You stay away you… creepy… FREAK!" Ram's voice stuttered; her body chilled as she tried to run faster, only tripping over a piece of rubble jutting from the side of the road.
"Oh, come now, Ram. That wasn't nice at all." Anonydeath stuck his hands on his hips when he heard a car approaching.
Vert quickly ran out with spear in hand. "Hold it right there, fiend! What have you done to her?!"
"I tried to keep her safe, but this little barbarian just tried to kill us both by wrecking the car. Kids these days, am I right Lady Vert?" Anonydeath causally made hand gestures.
"Nuh uh! He was gonna take us onto a train, but I stopped him!" Ram shouted.
"I was gonna let her go after a time! I have no use for a hostage when I'm far from danger!" Anony protested.
"And yet I find that hard to believe. Ram, catch!" Vert took Ram's staff, throwing it overhead of Anonydeath towards the little Loweean candidate. Despite Anonydeath's attempt at grabbing it, the staff landed beside it's rightful owner, who quickly snatched it up, aiming it at the hacker. "Now. You will tell us just what it is you are up to and where we are!" Vert said, pointing her spear at Anony from the other side.
"Honestly, I have no idea where we are either. That whole blinding light thing really did a number on all of us." Anonydeath shrugged. Ram slowly began to get up, casting a minor, lingering healing spell on herself.
"You honestly expect us to believe that?" Vert said, taking a step closer.
With his hands still up, Anonydeath gave a simple "No, not really." Before jumping behind one of the concrete barriers, fleeing down the street.
"Let's get him, Vert!" Ram shouted, the two goddesses then pursuing Anonydeath through the city area. But Ram began to take notice as buildings around her were torn apart, cars were smashed, and the very road looked as if it had been the grounds of a ferocious battle. "Vert, something's wrong. The city is looking more destroyed as we go on."
Vert gave a quick look around, still keeping most of her focus on Anonydeath, who then fled down an alleyway. Vert then pointed around the building to the left alley. "Ram, go around and see if you can catch him in an ice blizzard. I'll keep in pursuit!"
"Flank him! Got it!" as Ram dashed around, Vert kept on Anonydeath's trail as he tried lobbing a trash can her direction. Leaping over it, Vert continued in her chase, turning the corner as Anonydeath ran into the street, only to get iced by Ram.
With frost weighing down his armor and obstructing his joints, Anonydeath slowed to a backwards retreat. "Now, now. Let's not get too hasty. Violence is unbecoming of a Gamindustri goddess is it not?"
"But we're not in Gamindustri… are we?" Ram glared into Anonydeath's helmet visor, staff out as she walked closer.
"Listen, now. You know I can easily access your basilicom terminals and expose your info, don't you?" Anonydeath backed up, the two goddesses closing in on him.
"I know you well enough to know that you're bluffing. Now tell us what you know." Vert pointed her spear closer.
"I-I don't! I swear it!" Anonydeath protested, only to then get thrown into the air as Ram blasted him with a wind spell, sending him flying upward before falling on his back, his helmet flying off to reveal a very handsome looking face, with a smooth jawline, light skin, strawberry-blonde hair that went down just below his ears and light blue eyes that glimmered of both shock and fear. "Oh, not my helmet! J-jeez, Ram, why you gotta be so… insensitive!?"
"You started it by kidnapping me!" Ram yelled. "Let's get him, Vert!... Vert?"
"My, so that's what he looks like. If he wasn't such a villain, he'd fit right into some of my favorite harem series. What a face." Vert smiled for a moment.
"Um. Earth to Vert!" Ram huffed.
"Hehe… Well, I'm glad you seem to think so, Lady Vert. You know, employing me into Leanbox's services could work wonders for your nation." Anony grinned, but it was a failed masking of his fear.
"But you did once hack Lastation's basilicom, so inviting you in would be like an act of war against an allied nation. Now, why don't you be a good boy, hm?" Vert walked closer towards him, spear in hand.
Still on the ground, Anony began backing up, scooting away from the goddesses. "I-I can give you an edge over the other nations. Install advanced cooling systems during hot whether or invent a digital store with gold membership. We can call it Leanbox Live! EEH!"
Ram had her staff at Anonydeath's throat. "Just spill to us what's going on!"
"That's right." Vert smiled passive-aggressively. "All will be fine if you simply cooperate."
"Hey you!" a deep woman's voice could be heard in the distance, Vert then noticing a masked samurai-like woman approaching them. Beside her was a short, brightly colored girl with long brown pigtails.