It's a Chisato Special!
Chisato laid a very large dessert in front of the regular group that had been playing board games with them.
"I'll have one!"
"Over here too!"
"Hell yeah, I want one!"
"One, two, three specials! Takina, you get that?"
"Chisato. Quick meeting."
"What is it?" Chisato asked as she followed the girl further into the back, curious as to why the girl found something more important.
"We're losing money. Costs of transportation and ammunition add on even more."
Kurumi frowned at the sight of the graph showing their income. Meanwhile, Mika entered the room with Mizuki as Chisato was told to call for them.
"We're over the budget, huh?" Kurumi already knew the answer to her own question.
"Yeah, this thing shoots such expensive bullets!" Mizuki immediately blamed Chisato, to which Mika flinched for a split second, his mind elsewhere.
"Hey, who are you calling 'this thing'?" Chisato gritted her teeth as she went forehead to forehead against Mizuki.
"You know what? I'm going to take this-LycoReco's finances-into my own hands!"
—-
Takina kept on pointing out each of Chisato's faults within the field, as they would cause an increase of using up their income. However, she was not the only one targeted as Mizuki kept slacking on electricity usage, Mika was being slow, and Kurumi kept dropping dishes. After completing several tasks and even a mission, Takina found managing an entire budget by herself to be quite taxing. The next day, she prepared something to benefit the cafe.
"Mizuki! I created a new parfait, wanna see?"
"Yeah, yeah! Give me a second, I'm finishing things up here!"
"It's been getting colder lately, so I created this hot chocolate parfait!"
The 'parfait' Takina had created looked extraordinarily similar to that of a shit. Mizuki knew it, and almost threw up on sight.
"Good mor….w-what the hell is that?" Chisato faltered as she entered the room.
"What do you think? It's my own parfait creation," Takina smugly announced as she continued to be impressed by her own work.
"It kind of looks like a shi-"
Mizuki quickly silently motioned to Chisato not to finish her sentence, and was sweating bullets.
"It..looks….very good!"
"For real?!" Takina jumped.
"Absolutely."
She lied as she breathed.
—
"Chisato! Dr. Yamagishi is calling for you."
Wincing, Chisato already could tell that it would not be an easy explanation.
"H-hello?"
"Hey! You promised to take your physical test today, didn't you?"
"Y-yeah, but we're actually a little too busy today…for some reason, we're trending. I'm sorry!"
As Chisato hung up, Yamagishi sighed and turned to a pink haired woman.
"She's not coming today either."
"I see…" she said, leaving the room.
'Strange newbie.'
—-
After a long two days of budgeting and helping out countless people and businesses, Takina checked up on the LycoReco budget. It was looking great, possibly the highest they had. To celebrate, a robot, classic music player, and automatic dishwasher were added into the cafe.
Suddenly, Chisato's phone started to ring and before she could even get a second to look at the name 'Dr, Yamagishi', Takina took it out of her hands.
"Hello? Is this Dr. Yamagishi? Takina here, Chisato will be heading to the physical tomorrow."
Being late at night, Chisato groaned as she was tired and feared the upcoming physical test.
"Takina…you're going to wake me up in the morning then."
"Whatever, if it'll get you to see your health."
The two headed back to Chisato's safe house, as Takina almost forgot she had to keep going back. She frowned as she was constantly reminded of the past game of rock-paper-scissors, where she won for the first time-and then had her ass kicked.
"Goodnight, Chisato," Takina bidded as Chisato went into her own room.
—-
"AHHHH!"
Takina had forgotten her phone at the LycoReco cafe in her locker, and overslept because of it.
"Chisato, wake up!" She yelled as she got dressed within a millisecond and exited the room, catching something else in her peripheral vision. Something green.
"Really? Now I have to use two hands?" A man rolled his eyes. He pulled out another gun, one aimed at Chisato as the other was on the newly awoken Takina. Chisato's phone was on the table, and was ringing several times-signaling that Yamagishi was livid.
"Chisato!"
"Takina…here, there's space on this couch!"
Majima had entered the house in the morning, but did not know Takina had been living with her-as it was recent. Hesitating, Takina slowly moved to the couch as she stared at the man, who recently should've been dead. Her weapon concealed around her thigh was placed into the coffee table. Majima's half-mask was not looking as fresh as it was before.
"Hehe, I guess I won't be taking my physical today, either, Takina!"
"How can you be so calm about this sudden situation…"
"Your body is your asset, isn't it, red girl? Well, at least for us two."
"Us? You say that to someone you're threatening with your gun?"
"Unfortunately, one has to be alive for me to kill," Majima witted as he pulled the trigger towards Chisato, causing Takina to flinch. However, the only casualty was a poor lamp in the back as Chisato avoided the bullet without a scratch on herself.
"Damn, you see this girl, blue one? How do you even do it?"
"That's..a secret."
"Maybe it has something to do with your heart?"
Takina seemed pretty curious herself, as she only recently found out Chisato had an artificial heart. It was incredible how it functioned well enough, especially for the top Lycoris which moved about frequently.
"How do you even know about that, two-faced?"
"Heh, it's a secret."
Putting his weapons back into their holsters, as well as taking Takina's own weapon, Majima moved away from the gun threatening. Takina nearly jumped at the opportunity to strike, but Chisato set her down.
"He's faster than you would think, Takina. Besides, we have a little guest here!"
"You say that..but he tried to kill you, and killed a few of our other Lycoris."
"Just…let it go for a little, 'kay Takina?"
'I'm not going to risk losing you.'
"…count your blessings, green man."
"I wish I had some to begin with."
…Silence filled the room as Majima responded coldly, staring at the ceiling.
'Maybe I should get a new mask.'
Clearing her throat as she found the situation awkward between a top Lycoris, a demoted Lycoris, and a man who killed their kind.
"It's the morning, so want some coffee ?"
"Please tell me you got something else. I can't stand anything bitter."
Sighing, Chisato only continued to move and make some coffee as Majima checked out the girl's movies as if he were a roommate.
"Why do I have to sit here and take this.."
"Now, now, blue girl, I'm not just here to take you hostage. I have something to say with your little friend here-I guess you can listen in too. It'll really tell you something."
"I'm back! Eh? Did you two fight already?" Chisato became concerned as she came back to Majima and Takina staring at each other.
"No, just small tal-yuck. Coffee."
"Just drink it," sighed Chisato and Takina in unison. Chisato sat down, as Majima spaced himself away from the girls by sitting on the single chair. Immediately upon taking a sip, Majima gagged while Chisato threw a cube of sugar into his mug.
"So? What did you want by coming here?"
"You might not remember me because of the black mask. Do you?"
"You literally spat blood onto my face a few days ago."
"That's not what I meant. Much before that. Let's give you a refresher, and this partner of yours some information."
Realizing what he meant, Chisato clenched up and attempted to stop Majima, but she was on the far side of the couch as Takina stopped her.
"Do you want her to hear this, Radio Tower Lycoris?"
"…."
Takina could tell this would be a hard choice as Chisato did not speak and only glared.
"It's..it's fine. Takina…she can learn..what happened."
"If you say so, girl."
—-
There was wreckage everywhere. The men's radio only output screaming and gunfire, as they sweated.
"A student? There are almost 30 men on that West side, what the hell do you mean a couple of students are beating them?!"
"They're surrounding us up above!" A green haired man yelled, with a blindfold around his head.
The men aimed upwards as they took cover behind a destroyed shopping stand.
"There's a few over behind the register. More in those aisles!"
Majima seemed to be able to hear sound with perfection, despite the large gunfire surrounding his group. A man ran in and threw a large grenade, killing the group of Lycoris as the ones above were shot dead.
"Sweet. They're gone."
"Hold it! There's two left."
"They found us, huh?" A girl's voice sprung up as two red uniforms weaved through the destruction. Chisato was one of them, although younger and had medium-length hair. She wore no hairband like she did presently.
The other girl was slightly taller, and had black hair with purple eyes. Her hair was incredibly short for a girl, and still she wore a red hairband for style.
"Kill them!" A man ordered as the gang of almost 20 fired rounds at the girls, who dodged and weaved behind cover very well.
"Get that guy first, Chisato. He seems important."
"Understood."
Firing 3 accurate rounds into the man, Chisato effectively disabled the still-alive leader as the men faltered for a split second.
"Yarim, do you believe you can kill a few guys while I disarm that bomb they have?"
"Pshh. Remember, Chisato, I don't kill. It's not a very humane way to emit justice. What I can do is cripple them! Just watch, your great senior Yarim will beat them up!"
"Very appreciated, but I still believe that killing is more efficient and effective. You should try sometime."
"And you should try not to kill them. It's refreshing sometimes."
The two split off as Chisato tampered with the huge bomb. Although some men tried to aim at the girl, Yarim managed to distract and disable them. Majima was sweating, as he knew they were not ordinary ladies. However, he found a window and shot towards Chisato, but as it was about to hit the girl, Yarim pushed her away and took the bullet in her chest. The girl fell to the ground, gasping as blood spilt everywhere.
"YARIM!" It was both the first time she heard Chisato yell, and saw her cry. Forgetting her original goal, Chisato got up and ran at full speed towards the remaining men, as she killed them with ease. However, she didn't venture too far away from Yarim as Chisato knew one of the men could kill Yarim whilst she lied with a major bullet wound.
"Chi..you…really…shouldn't…..kill.."
Ignoring the girl, Chisato continued to nail men far away with her pistol, as Majima panickingly ran for cover-but was shot in the leg as Chisato missed while aiming for another person.
"Damn it…"
"Majima…she's a monster…."
Majima turned to find his hidden leader. He was as good as dead, and they both knew it.
"The button…she still hasn't disabled the bomb. Do it. Detonate this place-kill those two!"
"I…I'll remember you, Garrett."
Smirking, the man found his situation depressing as he was finally defeated in his long lasting terrorist spree.
"Nothing lasts forever, Majima. This is part of why we are doing this, and even affects my own career. I called for our helicopter pickup for any remaining men. This old man won't be able to come with you. I'll be watching down on you."
"I sure hope you do," Majima joked, tears in his eyes as he pulled out a switch from his pocket and ran after pressing it.
The bombs in the nearby area began to explode first, as Chisato reacted and brought Yarim away from the bigger bomb and into cover.
"Yarim?! Yarim, I'm getting you out of here!"
"Heh…you know that's not possible…for you. Who suffered a wound. Yep…that's right..I
can tell you got hurt..in one of those…explosions."
The big bomb blew up a massive portion of the Radio Tower, causing the entire structure to begin to collapse.
"Get…out of here….I'm happy being killed…in a place where my duty…was seen fulfilled…And…you can make it….out alive…become like me…a top…Lycoris…"
Yarim slumped over as she lay onto the ground while Chisato couldn't stop the tears flowing down her face. She was a good senior partner, one that never hated Chisato for being so robotic. One that was always joyful. One who taught her.
"Chisato. Get out of the building,"
Kusunoki's voice was projected through Chisato's earbud.
"Mrs. Kusunoki…I can get rid of the culprit, I can get justice for Yarim! She's gone…but I can do it."
"These are orders, Chisato. Losing Yarim was bad enough. We cannot afford to lose you."
"….understood."
Chisato ran outside where she fired upon a helicopter that was fleeing the scene, but the flight vehicle was too fast. However, Chisato made it out as the tower began to lean over, and a great number of Lycoris and DA members scrambled to find a solution.
—-
Chisato was still shaking, and fought back tears remembering the fall of her best partner and friend. Even her best teacher.
"Now do you remember? I'm..a survivor."
"You…you're the one who did it all. You did it!" Chisato jumped to attack Majima, but he only got off the couch and distanced himself away.
"Right, one more thing. I got one of these too, Alan Lycoris," Majima spoke as he pulled a necklace with a special owl face-like object on it. Both Takina and Chisato noticed it as the Alan Institute symbol, since it was known for talented children and Chisato being one of them.
"Heh, see you later, Radio and Blue Lycoris!" Yelled Majima as he burst through the balcony and passed back Takina's gun. Although she caught it with ease, Takina found it difficult to hit the fleeing man.
"Chisato..did he tell the truth about what happened?"
"That damn man…of course he did."
—-
The next day, upon talking with the LycoReco staff, it was quite easy to get a reaction.
"He was over at your house?" Mizuki panicked.
"Did one of you shoot him?" Kurumi wondered.
"He got away, didn't he?" Mika already knew.
"He also had one of those," Takina informed as she pointed to Chisato's hidden necklace
"That must mean he has talent, but they support terrorists too?" Mizuki grew more concerned by the minute.
"No way, Mr. Yoshi wouldn't help a guy like that. Maybe Majima just…found it somewhere!"
"Chisato!"
"Woah, y-yeah?"
"Majima seems to be on your tail since we saved you from being beaten up by him. Please move to another safe house. Also, I will come over to you with a one-ring warning if you do not answer the call within three rings. This is to ensure your safety," Takina warned Chisato, creating an elaborate plan to prevent something like the car incident from happening again.
"...Only if you live with me again," Chisato pouted.
"Of course I will be."
"Really? You'll be there and cook for me again!?"
"Yes…"
"Yay! Then I'll gladly move away from my favorite safe house!"
"I hate to budge into the party, but-" Mika started.
"Oh! That's right, we need to get to cleaning and closing up, Takina!"
"Alright, I'll get to it."
"Those two…always such a lively duo."
—
As the two finalized their closing duties, Chisato found time to go outside into the cold night with her disguised Lycoris backpack. From it, she pulled out her gun, set on safety, and a cloth. Chisato inspected the gun closely, and proceeded to start wiping it with the white cloth. The door opened with a jingle as Takina spotted Chisato.
"That gun…it's not from DA, is it?"
"Nope, it's not from DA..I got it with this," Chisato explained, holding up her Alan necklace.
The two sat in silence as Chisato continued cleaning her weapon. A ruckus could be heard as MIzuki chased after Kurumi, trying to get her to sleep as if she were babysitting.
"It's pretty cold out here, isn't it?"
"Yup. It wasn't as much when you joined…and since then, Mr. Yoshi…hasn't come around to visit," Chisato looked down at her gun, with a smile that reflected sorrow.
Again, the two sat in silence as they didn't know what to talk about.
"Takina. You've been pretty active in the job lately, haven't you?"
"Yeah..I don't want it to go out of business."
"You say that, but you really have gotten attached to us, haven't you?"
"A-Anyways, please go take your physical! You've skipped out a few times already!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
"You don't like it that much?"
"It-it's not like that…" Chisato looked away.
"Then what is it?"
"N..needles…'
Takina had to suppress a laugh, but obviously smirked.
"You're afraid of needles, but not a gun at point-blank?"
"Yes! I can't dodge needles!"
"...Chisato."
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Do you want to tell me about…what really happened? That day? It's obvious you hate talking about it..and although Majima gave me some of the information, I want it from the one herself."
"...I will. Just…not now, we really need to get going," Chisato explained, as she was still reliving the experience in her head.
"I understand. Do you want anything to eat before we get to bed?"
"Nah, I had a meal at the cafe."
"And I didn't forget my phone this time. You WILL go to the physical in the morning!"
"Yes, I get it! Let's go, I'll show you the way to the next safe house!"
—
The next day, Chisato was trembling as she closed her eyes, looked away and extended her arm whilst waiting for the woman to give her the shot.
"L-Let's get this over with.."
"Are you done yet? Done yet? Now? What about now? Is it done?" Chisato stammered.
"It's over," the new pink haired woman told her, "are you scared of it each time?"
"The feeling of something stabbing me…I hate it. Dr. Yamagishi always says it's nothing but vitamins…but it feels like I'm being stabbed with something that is harmful."
"But it is different. At least today."
"Eh?" Chisato wondered what she meant by that as suddenly her vision became blurry and her head began to spin.
"Damn it…what did you do to Yamagishi?"
As Chisato fell over and was fast asleep, the woman talked to herself.
"Yoshimatsu told me to handle you carefully. I suppose this was sufficient."
Meanwhile, the LycoReco cafe was pretty shy of customers. Mika, remembering that Chisato went to her physical test, dragged Takina over to him.
"Takina. I have to deal with some business because of DA, and Mizuki has to babysit Kurumi. I suppose you're the only and most fitting option to go pick up Chisato; we're looking pretty dry today anyways. Best to bring her back and do something else as soon as possible."
"I understand, I'll go right now."
Takina exited the cafe, but abruptly came back in a few seconds.
"Should I take a car, or-"
"Just walk. It's not that far."
"Alright."
Laying Chisato on a table, the woman proceeded to grab a briefcase and opened it to set up her materials. Then, the room dimmed as she opened up Chisato's chest, showing a light glow from the mechanical heart she had within.
"Nothing personal."
The woman then placed a few wires onto the girl, and went to set an extremely high charge onto them. However, she halted for a moment as she heard a phone ringing, but went on regardless.
Yoshimatsu was sitting in a chair, looking into the sky and the city below.
"This is all your fault, Mika. You didn't keep up our promise. Even if it is a talent for killing…it must be carried out into the world. At any cost, it must be…a survivor."