By nightfall, Gogo, Satsuro, Vivienne, Kiruga and ten of his guys were assembled at the entrance to Asaki, discussing their first major operation.

"We need to hit Hakata fast and hard. Our first target will be his weaponry. Here's the plan: I infiltrate the building, while you and your men distract them. Try to hold out as long as you can until I plant the bomb. Satsuro and Vivienne will be helping you." Gogo said, addressing Kiruga.

He smirked mildly, putting his hand on her head and sliding it off to the right.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" He asked.

"Are you worried?" She asked, slightly surprised.

Kiruga shook his head, laughing. "Honestly? I can't think of anyone who you can't manage."

"So why do you ask?"

"I guess I just can't accustom myself to the fact that I'm accepting orders from a woman." He said, rubbing his neck. "Besides, I want to blow the thing up personally."

"I can handle it." Gogo said, sounding self-confident.

Kiruga nodded as the three got up on their bikes and started the engines. Kiruga himself got into a van, his men sitting in the back.

But just as they wanted to ride off, trouble arrived in form of a dozen youths from Kiruga's rival gang.

"Damn it, we can't spend time fighting with these idiots, let's drive!" He shouted to Gogo and her friends, accelerating his vehicle.

His foes followed, grabbing their bikes and pulling out their swords.

"Gogo, look!" Vivienne shouted, pointing at even more of them appearing, all armed with blades and all gripping motorbike handles.

The van was heading towards Tokyo, but it was a long way until they would reach the armory. It was way too slow and the rivals would reach Kiruga and, without a doubt, kill him.

"We've got to protect the van." Gogo said to her two friends.

"Yeah, we need Kiruga and his troops alive." Vivienne agreed, clenching her fists.

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Satsuro asked, looking at the gang's bikes coming closer.

"They will attack from the left, right and the back of the van, right?" Gogo asked and Satsuro quickly understood what she had planned.

"I'll guard the back, Satsuro take the left side and you Vivienne, watch out for attacks from the right." Gogo said, putting on her helmet and the two nodded, following her example.

"Let's hope this will work." Vivienne said, pulling out a gun.

"When did I ever disappoint you?" Gogo asked, her words sounding distorted through the helmet. Vivienne's laughter was the rightful answer.

The three bikes took off, picking up speed and reaching the van within a minute. Engines roared from behind as the rival gang's bikes came in view, one after another.

The moon was the velvet sky's only illumination, revealing only parts of the road behind them. Kiruga's enemies were drawing near. Their figures were as dark as the night itself, dressed in abstruse attire and guiding dark blue bikes.

One of them was already coming close, from the left. Sasturo rapidly blocked a sword attack with his left arm as one of the youths tried to pass him. He grabbed the bike's handle with his right hand, simultaneously wielding his sword in the other.

The persistent youth continued his attempts but after yet another attack, Satsuro steered his bike sharply to the left, knocking his offender off of it and sending him onto the hard asphalt. But the intermission didn't last long.

Two were now advancing in a frontal assault, straight towards Gogo and she had to act fast I order to survive. Stretching out her left arm, she turned her head to Satsuro and presented the palm of her left hand. Retsuja swiftly apprehended her idea. With great precision, he threw his sword over to her as she gripped it tightly.

The two pursuers were already coming from left and right at the same time, not giving Gogo a chance to simply block their onslaughts. But Gogo already knew what to do.

Suddenly, she stretched out both arms in opposite sides, stopping her bike and letting the two assailants drive their machines right into the sharp metal. The blade cut through their tires, ripping the synthetics to shreds as the motorbikes oversteered, thrusting the two out of the seats and splattering the tarmac with their crimson red blood.

Gogo swiftly accelerated, coming up behind the van again. She steered to the left, returning Satsuro his sword and nodding in appreciation.

The attacks followed on, pushing the three assassins to the limits of their skill as they evaded each and every oncoming offense, still defending the van.

-

Kiruga saw what was happening through the rearview mirror. The gang was advancing in great numbers. Gogo and the other two wouldn't hold out much longer.

Do some good, for once in your pathetic life...

"All right." He said, as he turned to his co-driver – a young girl. "Take the wheel."

Kiruga then squeezed his body out through the window, gripping a shotgun in his right hand. The girl was driving as fast as the van allowed it, the fierce wind almost throwing him to the ground.

But he managed, finally climbing the roof, lying onto it and aiming the shotgun forward. "Come on, give me something to aim at, my little friends."

Vivienne was engaged in close combat after she had missed one of the oncoming bikes. Her opponent was battering his sword at her and she was barely able to block the attacks with her gauntlets.

Gogo and Satsuro were also fighting and couldn't help her. Suddenly, her adversary's bike received two blasts and crashed to the ground. Vivienne looked up, seeing Kiruga wave his shotgun at her.

He was taking them down one by one and soon the attack was aborted, when the gang finally realized that they had no chance of success.

-

Romeo sat in his cabinet, four soldiers of his personal brigade in front of him and ten others behind them. He was furious.

"So what did you do, let them go?" He asked, his voice as sharp as the blade he was holding.

The four remained silent, not daring to look him in the eye. Romeo rose from his chair and put his blade on the table. Instead, he pulled a small knife out of the pocket of his white pants and leaned onto the table, eyeing his failed trainees.

"I presume they threatened you with death. That they would kill anyone who tries to stop them." Romeo grinned, slightly bowing his head to the left.

With one quick move, he threw the knife to the right wall. But instead of ricocheting to the ground, the sharp iron twisted around and flew back across the room at incredible speed.

It returned to Romeo as four young men, dressed in white suits, fell to the ground, dark blood flooding out of their slit throats. Their master kissed the crimson blade, putting it back in his pocket.

"Anybody else insists on keeping his pathetic life?" He said, raising his voice to the ten scholars standing in the back. They held their breath, witnessing the execution of their friends right before their eyes.

"Let that be a lesson to you." He asked, not a single soul replying to his question. He stood up, straightening his garment.

"Not all of us are meant to live." He said, looking at each of the disciples with cold, dead eyes.

"Find them and don't bother coming back unless they're dead." He said, sprawling out his right arm. "Leave."

When all had abandoned the room, Romeo walked up to one of the four corpses and sat beside him on the floor. He lifted the boy's head and looked into his eyes.

He closed the young one's eyelids with his fingers and put his head back down. Romeo's eyes went red, as he buried his head between his arms. The four dead bodies were the only witnesses to his tears.