I have been very busy & also have felt well, recently, but I still found time to write something. This acts as a kind of side story to my "Ann Stamps Out Uglies" story, as you'll see as it progresses.
[ POV – Yukari ]
...The sound of her beating heart was all Yukari could hear. With her eyes closed, she began to wonder if this was all some horrific nightmare.
"Hey...erm, are we sure this is okay to do...?"
Yukari opened her eyes, and looked at her companion. Aigis looked both stern and yet strangely calm and collected.
"It is as we have been requested as Shadow Operative members," states the 'robotic girl', "Mitsuru-san has made it quite clear."
"I know, but..."
The sickly feeling in Yukari's gut was rising with each passing second-
"Hey, come on..."
As he addressed her to her right, Yukari turned to look at Junpei.
"This will be fun!" he tells her.
"I'm not sure if I'd say this is gonna be 'fun'..." Yukari replies, with a sigh, "I mean, this is a necessity, I get that, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna say I'm gonna have 'fun' doing this..."
Yukari looked down at the bow in her hand. She had always used this to take out shadows—entirely evil beings to which she didn't give a second thought. But now...
"L-Look, I just wonder if this is maybe a step too far..." Yukari says, her voice a little dry, "I mean...children?"
Yukari didn't want to think about it...but she couldn't help it.
As much as she understood; and empathised, with the reason behind their plan, the mere fact wouldn't leave her mind: that these are children.
Just children.
"It is as has been explained already," Aigis says, "our projections have estimated the likelihood of the children who will grow up to be amongst the 'physically inferior'."
"I-I get that, but..."
"Come on, what's there to worry about?" asks Junpei—As he addressed Yukari, he was distracted with swinging his bat, as though getting in some last minute practise. "If all goes according to plan, no one will even realise we were here, let alone that this was perpetrated by the Shadow Operatives."
"Yeah, see, if this is so morally okay, why are we using the word 'perpetrated' to describe our plan?"
Aigis looks to Yukari, from examining the clipboard in her hands, and shakes her head.
"This IS illegal, but so are much of what we do as Shadow Operatives," she simply says.
"A-And that just...makes this okay?" retorts Yukari, "I mean, this is on a MUCH larger scale than anything we've done before. And to do it to children is—"
"Hey, why is it that you're the one freaking out about this?"
Yukari turns to Junpei, who has his bat rested on his shoulder. He used her free hand to adjust his cap, as she smirks.
"I mean, you're the model here," he continues, "I would have thought that 'Operation Ugly Eradication' would be right up your ally."
"Come on, being a model doesn't mean I just want to kill all ugly people or something..."
Aigis smiles as she looks to Yukari.
"Yes, although, I think we can all agree that ugly people do deserve to be eradicated."
"I-I mean, I can agree to that, sure, but..."
Yukari closed her eyes—
"I'm sorry, I'll get it over it, I'm sure...I'm sure that once I begin to actually do it, I'll begin to feel better about it."
She just had to burn her dread, and go for it—Yukari did understand the necessity of beauty after all. She understand how much ugly looking people tainted that.
And since they had discovered a means by which to discover those who would taint that beauty before they grew up, why not do something to eliminate the threat?
She understood the reasoning at least.
But morally speaking, it still felt entirely sickly—Even if these were people who were destined to grow up into ugly looking subhumans, at present, they were still simply children.
Was it truly justified? Could this actually be justified as 'right' within her heart...?
"(Maybe I'm being selfish by doubting myself, though...I should think of what benefits the Shadow Operatives, not what I want...)"
"In any event, it is now time."
Aigis's voice caused Yukari to snap her eyes open. Both Aigis and Junpei were already moving out. Yukari swallowed down her fears, and began to move after them. As they walked, Yukari still couldn't help but feel as though what they were about to do was a mistake.
Although perhaps a 'mistake' was the wrong way to look at it...
No, what they were about to do was a necessity—Perhaps that was why she felt so awful about it. 'Necessary things' often felt awful to do in principle. Sometimes it was about burning your dread, and going into it with full force...for the sake of the greater good.
"Yo, relax," says Junpei. As they walk, he casually puts a hand onto Yukari's shoulder, and slouches into her. "You've got Junpei Iori, Ace Slugger with ya, you know?"
Yukari forces him off, with a groan.
"Augh, get off me, jeez. Look, someone like you has no prospects for his future, so you have nothing to worry about!"
"Ouch..."
Junpei looked legitimately hurt by that—Not that Yukari really cared.
"-But I'm a model, an actress, and I'm in college!" she continues, "so I have a reason to be trepidaous about this! If it got out that we're the ones behind this, society is gonna have our butts on a plate, never mind about the law!"
"B-Butts...on a plate...?"
Junpei smirks.
"Didn't you were into that kinda kinky shit—"
Yukari casually aims her bow in Junpei's direction, while continuing to walk.
"I'd not finish that thought you don't want to end up like the kids we're about to kill, Stupei."
The wide-eyed and suddenly terrified Junpei remains silent, obviously. Yukari lowers her bow.
"We need to put our faith into Mitsuru-san," Aigis tells Yukari. As they continue to talk, the trio get closer and closer to a school building in the distance. It towers into the sky, above the surrounding buildings.
"Even so, we're not even attempting to disguise ourselves, so how—"
"Look, Mitsuru-senpai says its okay, so it's okay," Junpei interjects, "quite questioning every little thing. You're being such a buzzkill. It's no wonder you haven't got a boy—"
Yukari, once again, casually raises her bow, aiming it towards Junpei.
"What was that?"
"I-It's...n-no wonder y-you haven't got a boy to...e-ever want to break up with you before...! Ha...haha..."
Yukari lowers her bow, and lets out a sigh.
"Sometimes I regret joining the Shadow Operatives..." she mutters.
She always felt honoured to be called in as one of the Shadow Operatives' special members—but when she was called in last time, it had been for something a little more morally black-and-white than this. Not to mention, something much safer, when it came to the legal ramifications.
Then again, she supposed that there were always legal question-marks regarding the Shadow Operatives. That was part of what made them such a unified team—they all stuck together, and they all trusted in each other's best interests.
To go against this operation meant to betray that trust...
...
As the trio got near to the school, they approached from the side of the gates—It was already close to midday, so school had already begun, and it would soon be time for the lunch break period. It was at that time that they planned to strike.
"So, to run through the plan once more..." Aigis begins, as the three hide away in the trees, "when the children of this school are on their designated lunch break, we will begin Operation Ugly Eradication."
The plan that Aigis outlined was the following:
They would begin in the school's outside play area, and would move towards the school building, through the hallways, and classrooms. All the while, they would use their visors—or in Aigis' case, her new in-built function—that were developed by the Kirijo Group, to distinguish the 'valid targets' from the 'invalid targets'.
Valid targets were children who were estimated to have low likelihood of growing up into a physically worthwhile individual. Thusly, invalid targets were the children with likelihood to grow up into physically beautiful individuals.
Targets considered 'neutral'—the average children—were classified as 'valid targets' for the purposes of their operation. This decision was made mostly for the sake of ease. It would be difficult enough to attempt to eliminate the valid targets while causing minimal damage to the invalid targets, as was their goal. So, for the purposes of the operation, almost every child who did not fit high beauty standards within their estimation of their futures, were decided to fall under "valid targets". After all, they were almost all friends with the invalid targets anyway.
"On that note," Aigis continued, "we shouldn't fret if we accidentally eliminate an invalid target. They are friends with valid targets, and so are tainted with 'ugly sympathy', after all. Nevertheless, Mitisuru-san has asked us try and keep such eliminations to the minimum."
"R-Right...I've got it..."
'Eliminate'...'Target'...
Yukari found the use of 'coded language' here rather cold. It was as though they were clearly trying to distance themselves as much as possible from the humanity of the children they were about to kill. Nevertheless, she also understood that as a necessity. Sometimes you had to do what you had to do, for the sake of a project...
"W-What about the police, though...?" Yukari asks, "I mean they're gonna turn up eventually, aren't they?"
"Mtisuru-san has told us to not worry about that," Aigis tells her, "she has apparently made the necessary arrangements."
"In other words, we've just gotta go in there, and do what we've gotta do!"
With that, Aigis takes out the two visors for her companions, and hands them over.
"Put these on, and you will be able to designate valid targets from invalid targets," she tells them. As Yukari takes her visor, she looks down at it and grimaces.
"Augh, I have to wear this?"
It was ironically rather ugly looking for something that helped distinguish those who have worth in their appearances. Nevertheless, Yukari had been asked to wear much worse during her job as an actress, so...
"Hey, it'll look good, on you," Junpei says, after having already put on his own visor, "especially with that costume of yours, you look like a real hero!"
"A...real hero, who is about to commit a school massacre...right..."
Yukari sighs. She couldn't help but notice the irony of the situation—After all, she was dressed up in as a children's hero, about to go and kill a load of children...
Just how had things turned out this way, she wondered? When she had gotten to the call from Mitsuru to help with the Shadow Operatives, she had been in the middle of filming for Featherman R...
And now, this was just how things had somehow turned out. Again.
"Hey, what we're doing is heroic," Junpei says to Yukari, "if you just channel your inner Sentai Hero, I'm sure you'll be able to pull this off, no problem."
"Whatever you say..."
Yukari hesitantly puts on her visor. Looking through it was like viewing the world through some sort of VR headset—Everything was tinted a slight blue, and objects around her were outlined with white. As she looks around, she ends up gawking over at Junpei.
"...Wow, I figured as much."
She raises her bow at Junpei, who flinches.
"H-Hey, what the—"
"It's saying you're a valid target, Stupei," she tells him, "now come on, uggo, let me kill you."
"H-Hey, it so does not! M-Mitsuru-senpai told us these things only work on children!"
Yukari shrugs, while still aiming her bow.
"Huh. Strange. So why isn't it working on a man-child like you, then?"
"O-Oh shut up! You just admitted it ain't showing you shit, so leave off, will you?"
Aigis steps up to the bickering pair.
"Please, you two, do not infight. We must prepare our feelings and unleash them towards the valid targets whom we are about to eliminate."
Yukari sighs, and lowers her bow.
"I still think it's ironic that Junpei of all people has been picked for Operation Ugly Eradication."
"Hey, do you want me to beat you until your 'pretty face' isn't so pretty anymore, or something?" Junpei threatens.
Yukari rolls her eyes.
"Yes, that's right. You're SO secure about it, that you need to beat up beautiful people to make them as ugly as you. Makes total sense, Stupei."
"Hey, what is WITH you?!" Junpei rants back, "jeez, you're really coming on my ass today, aren't you?"
Yukari looks at him with a blink, before gagging.
"Augh. God, reword that, please..."
"Huh?"
Junpei seems genuinely ignorant of what he had just said.
"Oh for the love of—that wasn't intentional? Jeez, I just—" She thought of the right words to express the tangled feelings of regret and nausea inside of her right now, before giving up. "-Oh, whatever..."
Yukari groans and turns away.
In truth, she was being particularly harsh towards Junpei—harsher than usual—mostly to compensate for the sickly feeling of dread inside of her right now. She felt so much like this was something she shouldn't be partaking in—and yet she knew that she had no choice.
And she knew that it would, ultimately, be for the best...
...
Several long minutes passed, with the trio all kicking their heels—and Junpei continuing to be an annoying nuance for Yukari. Eventually, the school yard began to fill with children—It was now around 12:30, which made it the beginning of the lunch break.
As the three observed the children from a distance through the gates Yukari could see them all plainly through her visor—and her visor was already tell her who the 'valid' and 'invalid' targets were, indicated by their outline of the children turning red and blue respectively.
"Jeez, there's...a LOT more valid targets than invalid ones..."
It was a bigger leaning than Yukari had been expecting...
"Well, yeah, of course," Junpei says, "I mean, not many genuinely beautiful people exist, you know?"
"W-Well, that's true, but—"
"There is no way out of this now," Aigis interjects. She tilts her head towards Yukari. "We need to go through with this...for the sake of the operation. All of the invalid targets must be eliminated."
Yukari closed her eyes, and took in a breath.
"You mean...all of the ugly children must die...?"
The bluntness of her voice made it clear why she was reiterating the point. Her companions look at her with surprise.
"Look, if we're going to do something this extreme, and justify it ourselves as being for the greater good" Yukari begins, her expression unusually serious, "then there's no use in kidding ourselves, is there?"
As she speaks, she reaches for her bow on her back, and takes it into her hands.
"We're about to kill children...that isn't something we should pretend isn't true," she continues, "so stop with the 'eliminate' and 'target' nonsense. Say it like it is."
Junpei and Aigis exchange a look, before nodding to one another.
They couldn't deny that Yukari was right—She had a valid point, and they could understand her reasoning.
"It is a pretty extreme thing we're about to do, huh?" says Junpei.
"Yes...I may only be a machine," Aigis begins, "however I understand the emotional gravity of this operation..."
Yukari nods. She's glad they understand, at least.
"Exactly. So please, let's not kid ourselves..." She clenches the bow in her hands so hard that the skin of the back of her hands begin to turn white. "If we know what we're about to do is okay...then we should have no problem saying it like it is."
"Yes...you are correct," replies Aigis.
"I agree..." Junpei says, "I mean, I've been trying to justify to justify it to myself this entire time as just another operation, but..."
Yukari was glad her companions understood her sentiment—She could feel some of the burden in her heart begin to lift a little bit.
"Is that what has been eating away at you, Yukari-san?" Aigis asks.
Yukari nods.
"Y-Yeah...I just feel like, we're about to throw away a large part of ourselves for the sake of this. And maybe that's okay, and maybe it's justified, but...we shouldn't try and cover that up."
"Huh...Never knew you could be so deep," Junpei comments.
Yukari rolls her eyes.
"Can you be serious for even 30 seconds?" she says.
Oh well, that was what made Junpei who he was...In either case, Yukari felt a little bit more ready to do this now that she had gotten that off her chest.
She had felt like she had been holding it in this whole time...
"Okay, I'm ready now," Yukari says, while reading her bow, "er, just remind me of what our plan here actually is..."
"We eliminate the...—We kill...the ugly looking children..."
"No, I get THAT, but...like, how do we approach the children over there?"
"I think it would be best to close in on them, and then take them by surprise," Aigis says, "as they are mere children, it will take them a long time to understand the situation. We can use that to our advance to swiftly eliminate large amounts invalid-..." Aigis pauses, before closing her eyes. "To...kill a large amount of ugly children before the situation becomes chaotic."
"Yeah, once they begin running around like headless chicken-children, it'll make things a lot harder, huh?"
"(Chicken-children are called "chicks", Stupei...)"
"Okay, it's time," Aigis indicated towards the others, "let's go."
With that, Aigis practically leaped over wall that separated the wooded area from the school grounds in a single bound. Meanwhile, Yukari was still hesitate, but just swallowed it all down. She had no right to back out of this now...
"Okay, just climb up onto my shoulders, Yuka—
"No," Yukari immediately interjects.
There was no way she was giving him that satisfaction.
"You climb, then pull me up," she tells him, sternly.
"Oh come on..."
"Get on with it, okay?" Yukari tells him, "if you don't hurry, you'll mess up the entire operation."
Junpei grumbled to himself, but ultimately realised he had no choice. He awkwardly began to climb onto Yukari, clumbering up onto her shoulders.
"Nngh! Wow, how much do you weigh...?!"
"Oh give it a break, you were the one who wanted it this way."
"Augh...Yeah, in retrospect, that wasn't my smartest idea...!"
Maybe she should've realized the difficulties she was imposing on herself...
Junpei nearly falls to the ground, with his arms flailing around—However he manages to, just barely grab onto the top of the wall. With a great exertion of effort, he pulls himself up.
"Haaah...J-Jeez, that was WAY too close..."
He reaches his hand down, to pull Yukari up. After a bit of fumbling, they managed to both get over the wall, and jumped down into the yard on the opposite side. Aigis was already there, standing a short a short distance away.
As the two approached her, Aigis indicated towards the crowds of children, who were gathered on the primary field. They hadn't yet noticed the trio who had climbed the wall—They all seemed too distracted.
All three exchange nods with each other, before moving in towards the children. As they approached—
"W-Whoa, look!"
"H-Hey, isn't that Feather Pink...?!"
The children began to take notice of them—Yukari in particular, given her distinctive costume, of course. As the children began to run in towards them, Yukari looks over them all with her visor. There really were a lot of invalid targets around here—
"Hey, Feather Pink! Where are the rest of them?"
"Wow, are these new friends of yours, Feather Pink?"
Yukari closed her eyes—These children admired her as a hero—and yet, within mere seconds, they would be dead. At the thought, Yukari felt her chest begin to tighten—and the same sickly feeling from before filled her gut.
"(No...I just need to understand the situation...)"
Yukari opened her eyes, so she could see the children whom she was able to kill. It wouldn't do her any good to try and hide from them—from the reality right in front of her.
The children marked out in red by her visor—the so called 'valid targets'—were all children that were expressing emotions towards her; positive emotions, that she was helping to install into them.
"(If anything, I should try and use this feeling to find the strength of heart to go through with this...)"
Yukari inspired kids as their hero—Children of all types; boy, girls, ugly, pretty, those who housed any genes within them. And yet, there was something about that was she couldn't help but find repulsive.
As that thought entered into her mind, her feelings began to swirl—and she clenched her bow even harder within her hands.
"Hey, Feather Pink!"
A certain little girl—fat and swollen, and with braces on her teeth, approaches Yukari, excitement. Her outline indicates her as an invalid target. As the girl approaches, Yukari instantly clenches her eyes shut.
"I'm your biggest fan! I love you—"
Gunfire suddenly sounds out—Yukari opens her eyes, to see the same little girl as before, now falling to the ground, blood slattering from her head. As her lifeless body falls to the floor, Yukari turns her head, to see Aigis aiming her finger-guns at the child's direction.
"Now," Aigis commands, "begin to slaughter the ugly children."
Without hesitation, Aigis turns, and then begins shooting for the children that are gathered around. As she does so, she attempts to avoid hitting any children outlined blue—the 'invalid targets'.
"Auw hell yeah!" yells Junpei, "eat some of this, ya chicken-children!"
Junpei moves on a child who is nearby, and begins swinging his bat at them—The impact cracks the head of the children, and Junpei moves from child to child, bashing them down. At the same time, the children begin to panic, throwing into disarray—Although some of them seem simply frozen to the spot.
As she continues shooting down various children—their bodies flopping to the ground—a blood soaked Aigis looks casually in Yukari's direction.
"Yukari-san, what are you waiting for?"
Seeing the situation actually unfold in front of her had been something of a sucker punch. Yukari couldn't quite believe she was taking a part in something like this, and yet...
"F-Feather Pink...!" one of the children yells out, "help us...!"
Yukari looks towards the child. Their legs seem glued to the spot, as though they are unable to move. However, her visor is telling her that they are a valid target.
"(My first kill...Once I do this, I...)"
Yukari raises her bow, and then pulls it back, aiming it squarely at the child's head. She hesitates for a second—before closing her eyes, and letting it go.
As she opens her eyes again, Yukari catches the sight of the bow piercing the kid clean through the head, in through his right temple. Blood shoots out of the wound, as their body falls over, collapsing to the ground.
"..."
Yukari can't quite believe what she's just done...and yet...
At the same time, she feels so happy—Hell, she's never felt happier, perhaps. It's as though something has been ripped off; like she has finally set something free...
"(This feeling of eliminating ugly children is...)"
To know she has prevented an ugly person's existence in the future—It's a euphoric feeling of relief that is filling her entire being.
"O-Oh god, this is...t-this is perfect..." she mutters—
As she looks to Aigis, she notices how many children she is killing so quickly—her endless gunfire doesn't seem to stop. Junpei, too, is moving from child to child, bashing them down, as she goes; he chases after a child nearby, and swings his bat at their head. The child falls to the ground, and Junpei climbs on top of them, and begins bashing at them with his bat.
Stood nearby is the kid's friend, looking on in shock.
"F-Feather Pink...!" she yells—
She looks over at Yukari, as if wishing for her help.
But Yukari simply smirks to herself.
"Sorry, kid, but Pink is on the side of beauty, and that means she's NOT on your side!"
She raises her bow up, aims it at the kid, and fires off an arrow that pierces right into the kid's head. Immediately, Yukari feels the same sense of euphoria as with her first kill.
It's a perfect feeling—one that she cannot get enough of.
"O-Oh god, yes...Yes, this is amazing...!" she cries out.
She turns to more children, and begins firing off at them—
"F-Feather Pink! Why is Feather Pink...?!"
"Aaaaaah! Someone help us...!"
The children attempt to scatter like chickens, but Aigis and Yukari make short work of all of them.
"Auw, crap, I just shot an invalid target!" Yukari cries out, having just fired an arrow through the skull of a kid outlined blue.
"Don't worry about it," Aigis tells her, as she continues gunning down children, "the less children to get in the way, the better. Just try and keep it to a minimum."
"B-But that kid...I just killed someone who it wasn't justified to kill...!"
She had eliminated a beauty...someone who would have physical merit. How could she not find that distressing?
"Hey, they're all friends with the ugly children here!" Junpei yells out, "so who cares? Just go at it!"
Yukari wondered if, perhaps, they were becoming a little too morally flippant...Nevertheless, she understood his point. She tried to remind herself of that same fact.
"(It's okay...Just kill more uggos, to make up for it...)"
Yukari aims her bow again, and shoots down some more ugly targets. Soon, the mistake she had just made washes from her mind, in amongst all of the euphoria she was experiencing from getting rid of ugly looking children from the gene pool.
It took the trio only 45 seconds, in total, to clear out the area of invalid targets—and by that time, there were only a few children who remained. Those children were either trying to hide themselves or had already run off. With the latter in mind, Yukari was getting herself prepared for having to deal with the consequences—
Namely, the presence of teachers, and eventually, the presence of the authorities.
"Okay, let's move in towards the school building."
At Aigis's command, the trio does just that...