Chapter 22 - A Ninja's Dream

...

It's gotten late in the evening, but we've all gathered in the Momoyodou shop for a strategy meeting. I, the Momoyodou girls, the Inner Discipline Club and Izuna all sit around, speaking with one another.

"Izuna knows exactly where her client is!" The ninja girl says. "But, there are still a lot of Mouryo working for him there."

"How many?" I ask.

"...At least a hundred." Izuna says, sadly.

"A hundred?!" Shizuko shouts.

"Eh, I've faced worse. More importantly, how long do we have?" I ask.

"The finale of the festival is scheduled for tomorrow." The idol says.

"Oh, yeah! It is!" Kaede pipes up. "There are gonna be fireworks, right? Using holograms! Woosh, bang, boom!" She exclaims, waving her arms around.

"You better believe it. We put together a big fireworks show using cutting edge technology to close the Cherry Blossom Festival." Shizuko says proudly.

"The Muryuo have another thing coming if they plan on interfering with it." Tsubaki says, upset.

"Yeah, but if we don't manage to stop them before then, the Festival Operations Department will..." The brunette idol trails off sadly, unable to finish her sentence.

"Shizuko..." Mimori says, sadly.

"Sorry. Be gone, negative thoughts!" The idol shouts. "We'll just have to find the culprit ASAP so I can take my frustrations out on the stupid jerk!"

"Okay, enough of that. How about we all go get something to eat, then rest for our operation tomorrow?" I ask, standing up.

"That's a great idea, Sensei!" Kaede says.

"Ooh! Izuna could go for some ramen right now!" The ninja adds.

Shizuko sighs. "I don't see why not."

Unfortunately, our dinner plans are inerrupted. As we hear a child crying. "Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?!"

Mimori walks over to her. "My, my. Are you lost little lady?"

"Now it's our turn!" Kaede says. "Tsubaki! This is a job for the Inner Discipline Club!"

"Sure, let's do it..." She says, sleepy as usual.

"Sorry about this! We'll meet up back at Momoyodou tomorrow morning!" Kaede shouts, as they leave.

"H-Huh! W-Wait...!" Shizuko calls out, before a robot man appears and runs to Shizuko.

"Oh, Shizuko! We've been looking for you! It's about the fireworks tomorrow. There's something we need to consult with you about." He says.

"Huh? Does it have to be right now?" The idol asks. "Wait." She slaps her cheeks. "I'm the Festival Operations Department's president, so I can't ignore this. I'll have to go."

"Good luck, Shizuko." I say, as she and the robot man leave.

"How 'bout that? Everyone is so busy all of a sudden!" Pina says, surprised.

"There's still a lot to do, I suppose. Even without the Mouryo." I say, shrugging.

"That's a good point, Boss! You're absolutely right." The blonde says happily. "The Festival Operations Department would have its hands full managing the festival even if it wasn't for the Mouryo! But instead, everyone is going through hard times right now. It makes me feel so..." She says, sadly. I notice Izuna's ears have flopped down. "No, what am I saying?!" Pina suddenly shouts. "I need to snap out of it! I can't be feeling down when I'm with you, Boss! Ooh, this is just like that one scene from Loyal Cat's Fist!"

"Oh! Izuna has seen that movie!" The ninja perks up.

"You have?!" Pina squeals.

Suddenly, an explosion rings out nearby. "Oh, COME ON!" I shout, annoyed.

The three of us investigate, as we find a group of goons, not Mouryo shouting at a street vendor. "What? So this is no good?"

"Are you messing with us? Huh?!" Another yells.

"L-Look right here. The corner is ripped off..." The vendor weakly says.

"Knock it off! It's my prize, and I earned it!" The first goon yells.

"Give me that three thousand yen festival certificate and I'll draw every single prize in this shop!" The second says.

"P-Please, have mercy! How would I stay in business?!" The vendor yells.

The first goon cackles. "That's for you to figure out! This is how seasoned prize-drawing veterans enjoy a festival!"

Pina groans in frustration. "These kinds of troublemakers show up at every festival!"

"Ah yes, people who rip off vendors. Nothin' new." I say.

"Yeah, they're known as Draw Killers and are feared by all the festival merchants! We've gotta do something, Boss!" The blonde exclaims.

I hum to myself, as I walk up to them. "Sensei?" Izuna asks behind me, surprised from her tone of voice.

"Just try to stop us!" The second yells.

"Okay." I say, now standing behind them.

"Who are you?!" The first goon shouts.

"Someone who's gonna knock you out if you don't stop harassing this guy." I say sternly.

"You? You don't look like much." The second taunts.

"All right then, I'll give you a free shot, and you'd better make it count, 'cause if you don't-" I begin to say, only to be interrupted by one of them punching me in the face, with no effect. "-'cause you're gonna regret it." I say, savagely. The goons recoil in fright, seeing me unaffected by the punch. "Boo!" I yell, suddenly jolting forward, causing them to jump back and land on the ground in fright.

"That was awesome, Sensei!" Pina yells, running up to me.

"Y-You're gonna regret this!" The second one yells, as they run off.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Pina yells, beginning to run after them. "Don't run away, cowards!"

I look down to Izuna. Upon seeing her equally confused face, I just shrug. "Let's go get that ramen." I say, causing her to smile.

Izuna and I walk through the streets, lit only by the street lights and the moon. "Look, Sensei. Daigona!" Her nose twitches. "And that sweet scent is... cotton candy! And... Yakisoba! They're selling yakisoba too!" She giggles. "It all looks so delicious."

"You wanna fill up on this stuff before the ramen?" I ask with a chuckle.

"Er, no." Izuna admits, catching herself. "Still, this is so great! Izuna really loves the Hyakkiyako Cherry Blossom Festival. Izuna is so happy that we can enjoy it together, Sensei."

"Same here. It'd be a damn shame for it to be canceled." I say, causing Izuna to look down. "Still can't say WHO they are, can ya?"

"No! A true ninja would never leak the identity of their client! Izuna could never be a great ninja if she did that!" She says passionately.

"Well, I guess that means you can't tell anyone about me, either?" I say, with a smirk. Izuna's eyes widen in realization, before she closes them and giggles. "Enough distractions, let's go eat."

Izuna and I gorged on ramen before we parted ways. I walked back to Momoyodou through the quiet, moonlit streets of Hyakkiyako, it's many festival shops now closed.

'There's a few people following me...'

They've been tailing me since a few minutes before we got to the ramen place. No way they weren't tailing Izuna. Deciding to take a different route, I pull out my phone and text my plan to Shizuko and the others, while putting said phone on silence. I also turn on sound record and hide it behind a few apps and the like. It can record for a few hours, should be enough.

Mouryo are stalking me. Gonna let them kidnap me, likely will take me to their boss. Follow my phone's location.

Not the best plan, but it's spur of the moment, after all.

Sure enough, as I near the end of the street, two Mouryo pop out in front of me. Stopping, I look over my shoulder to see two more. "Bingo." One says.

"How careless of you to be out here without a bodyguard, Sensei." Another sneers.

"I don't need a bodyguard, punk. Or did you forget how many of your pals whose asses I whooped earlier?" I ask with a savage smirk, causing them to ready themselves.

"S-S-Surrender if you don't wanna get hurt!" One bravely says, all of them having their weapons trained on me. Like that's gonna do them any good.

"Y-Yeah! R-Resist at your own peril!" Another shouts.

"Hmm... Fine, then. There's only one thing to do in this situation." I say, causing them to tense. "I surrender."

"...Wait, what?" One says, dumbfounded. I'm sure their eyes are bulging out of their skulls behind their masks.

"I surrender." I say, holding my hands up. "So long as you take me to your boss and let me have a word with 'em, I'll come with you. I'm sure they wanna speak with me too."

"...Our orders were to capture you, but I didn't think it'd be this easy..." I says in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter how we do it! Just grab 'em!" Another yells.

"I said I'd come with you, never did I say you could grab me." I say, with a low tone of voice, causing them all to tense once more. "Place your trust in me, I'm already surrendering, just lead the way."

"A-Alright, then." They say, surrounding me, but not touching me.

Meanwhile, at the observatory deck, Izuna sits down, looking out at the city.

"Hmm! That ramen was delicious! Sensei always knows where to find good stuff like this!" She says happily, before her phone pings. "Hmm? Sensei's texting Izuna...?"

Mouryo are stalking me. Gonna let them kidnap me, likely will take me to their boss. Follow my phone's location.

"...HUH?!" Izuna shouts in surprise and shock. "Sensei let himself get captured?!"

Izuna hops over the railing and onto a lower rooftop, as she goes to jump to another roof, she stops, seeing a group of four Mouryo surrounding Sensei. As they walk, his eyes move over to her, causing him to smile and wink.

Izuna sighs to herself, making a decision.

Elsewhere, the performance staff speak with Shizuko. "Thank you so much!" One says, as they all leave.

Once alone, the idol sighs in relief. "It's finally over..."

Pina then walks up. "Great job, President! Here's a drink to perk out back up!" She says, holding a drink.

Shizuko takes it politely. "Oh, thank you, Pina." She then takes a few sips before letting out a happy exhale. "That hit the spot! Hm?" She says, noticing her phone pinging, as does Pina's. "Sensei? What could he want?"

Mouryo are stalking me. Gonna let them kidnap me, likely will take me to their boss. Follow my phone's location.

"WHAT?!" Shizuko yells, as Pina's eyes widen on shock, just like her President's.

"Did you also get that text from Sensei?" Kaede asks in worry, running up. "E-Emergency!"

"Sensei's tough. He'll be fine until we find where he is." Tsubaki adds.

"All right, then. There's no time to waste!" Mimori shouts.

A bit later, in an abandoned building, Izuna crawls through the darkness, following the Mouryo.

"This is where Izuna saw them take Sensei..." She says, quietly. "Did the client order them to do it?"

Suddenly, she stops. 'Izuna can hear people talking!' Her ears twitch as she looks around. 'It's coming from this direction. Better hide.' She thinks to herself, before jumping out of a nearby window and climbing onto the roof.

She crawls around. 'Izuna could have sword the voices were coming from somewhere around here...'

"Boss! We've brought the target!" A Mouryo's voice says.

"We've got 'em right here!" Another says.

"Yes, yes. You've got me." Her Sensei says dryly.

"Well done. And in a timely manner, as well." Izuna's client says.

'The Mouryo, the client and... Sensei!' Izuna thinks to herself, looking at the interaction.

"If it isn't Schale's famous Sensei. It's a pleasure... to finally meet you." The employer says, hiding the darkness. He steps out and...

Hang on, he looks like the merchant guild president. exactly like him too. "Date Meowru? What's with the eyepatch?"

"I am NOT Date Meowru!" He snaps, causing me to recoil back a bit. "My name is Date Meowsamune. I am the alleys' One-Eyed Dragon!"

...I feel like the world is fucking with me right now. Cat puns, now an evil twin? I am so done with this nonsense.

He clears his cat throat. "I knew whoever was interfering with our plans had to be quite the tactician. So you're the one from Schale that everyone speaks of?"

"Indeed Joshua Birkin, Sensei of Schale. Nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Meowsamune-san." I say with a slight bow and a teasing tone of voice. It's not nice to meet him.

"Well, at least you're polite." He says with a grin. "I also believe you and my other half were acquainted at Momoyodou?" Other half? A fake identity, or was it his brother?

"Perhaps." I say, just messing with him now.

He laughs. "You must have something up your sleeve if you're this calm. I hate to burst your bubble, but I have a backup plan right here." He says, holding out my phone. "Of course I had it confiscated. I'd never make such a careless mistake. You have no way of calling for backup now." He says, trying, and failing, to intimidate me. "Your pleas won't reach the Festival Operations Department, even if you scream at the top of your lungs. You're all alone. Now do you understand the situation that you're in?" He asks, smugly, sitting my phone down on a nearby table.

I look around the room, counting the Mouryo present. "Hmm... Seventeen guards in this room. Not bad. How many more do you have outside?"

"Why would I-?" He speaks, but I cut him off.

"Oh, it doesn't matter." I say. "Because you've already fell for my plan." He tenses up. "You're clearly trying to be intimidating and, while it would certainly work on a lesser man, it won't work on me. The armed goons would be terrifying if I was afraid of being shot, but I'm not. If there were more of them, I might be worried of being overwhelmed, but I've faced far more insurmountable odds. I might be afraid of you hurting me, but just remember this..."

I walk closer to him, and stare him down. This works especially well, due to me being a good foot taller than him. "I came here willingly. I let you take my phone willingly. However, you've made the worst mistake you possibly could have. A mistake that has completely ruined your plan."

"...And what is that?" He asks, trying, and failing, to hide his fear.

"You brought ME to YOU." I say, causing his one eye to widen.

"I-I have more men outside!" He says, taking a step back.

"How many?" He doesn't answer. " 'Cause, unless it's a thousand or so, you've already lost."

"You jest." He denies.

"Do I?" I ask, with a savage grin and a slight head tilt. "I fought your goons with a trashcan. A TRASH CAN. I knocked out whole groups of them, not once, but twice today. What makes you think I was going all-out?" I ask, rhetorically. I don't think I've even put in maximum effort since I arrived here.

"So now, I ask you this, knowing I have YOU at MY mercy... Why?" I ask. "What do you gain from ruining the festival? Is this because of the festival's traditions, or perhaps something else?"

"Tr-Traditions?" He asks weakly. "Are you referring to the fireworks show and things like that?" I nod, causing him to laugh. "Don't be ridiculous! What we spoke of at Momoyodou was only a diversion." Okay, nix the evil brother idea, it was just him. "You're overthinking it. My goal has always been money."

"Of course it has." I say, annoyed.

"Do you have any idea how much cash flows into the Hyakkiyako Cherry Blossom Festival?" He asks, rhetorically. "Yet the only ones with control over it are the Festival Operations Department. Therein lies my gripe. Think about all they've wasted for the sake of 'fun'!" He spits out the last work with venom. "What gives them the right to spend a fortune on equipment from Millennium for the sake of 'fun'?! It's ridiculous!" He rants, throwing his hands in the air. "This festival would make so much more money if it were under my management."

"...You're ruining the festival... over something like that?" I say, dryly, while seething internally. Of course, it's ALWAYS ABOUT FUCKING MONEY!

"That's right. So I resorted to sabotage. If the festival were to be cancelled, the Festival Operations Department would have to resign from the planning committee." He explains his master plan like a B-rate villain. "Then the festival would be under my control."

"And you're takin' advantage of Izuna to do it." I add.

"Izuna? That self-proclaimed ninja?" He asks, surprised.

"Fought her earlier." I shrug.

"Yes, Izuna did prove of assistance." He admits. "And she didn't cost much to hire... She did so well, and all I had to do was play along with her ninja fantasy." He laughs cruelly. "Talk about a bargain. Having her was like having an extra dozen Mouryo at my disposal.

"Ninja... fantasy...?" I ask, slowly, rage seeping out.

"That's right, fantasy. It's all childish make-believe." He says. "She went around spouting things like 'You're my client, so I'll follow your orders.' and, 'Eliminating the client's enemies is the way of a true ninja.'. You've no idea how funny it was listening to her gibberish." He laughs. LAUGHS.

This piece of shit. No wonder Hoshino was wary of adults. It seems like most of them are scum, no matter where you go.

"I simply played along with her fantasies. It was hard to refrain from bursting into laughter every time she shouted things like 'I'll accomplish my mission like a true ninja!'." He says, with a laugh.

I feel my teeth grit.

One of the Mouryo chuckles. "The boss is right. It was pret-ty funny."

Another laughs. "It was absolute riot."

"Talk about convenient, and cost effective as well!" The eye patch-ed cat laughs.

"Shut. Up." I growl lowly.

"Hm? What did you say?" He must have not heard me.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" I roar, causing their laughter to cease as their faces suddenly are filled with fear. "I am sick and tired of you fuckers taking advantage of MY students and their dreams."

"D-Dream? Have you lost your mind?!" The cat regains some of his courage. "Y-You can't seriously be referring to that child's fantasies as a 'dream', could you?"

On the roof, Izuna jolts at that sentence. 'The client asked Izuna to carry out her duties as a ninja... But... it was all lies? He wasn't just deceiving Izuna to get her to stop the festival... but also was deceiving her dream...?

...Izuna feels so foolish for having fallen for it!'

"...So you knew Izuna was following my orders, did you?" The cat man asks.

"Yup."

"Yet you went out seeking her and even the Mouryo despite knowing they were carrying out my orders as well."

"Yup again." I say, with a grin, reeling back my rage.

The cat man laughs. "That was your mistake. I thought we might find if we left Izuna to her own devices, she'd lead us to you."

"So you had the Mouryo tail her, huh?" I ask, eyes narrowed.

"Indeed." He admits. "It was a brilliant strategy, if I do say so myself. And it was all thanks to Izuna's help!"

On the roof, Izuna jolts again. 'This... This was all because Izuna allowed the client to deceive her! Sensei believed in Izuna, but now he's...'

"Hm?" I hum. "Well, meeting Izuna might've been careless 'o me-"

"So you admit you were outwitted." He says, interrupting me.

"Interrupt me again and I'll make sure that you only have one eye by tomorrow." I growl out, causing the man's fright of me to return. I sigh, before continuing. "It might've been careless, but it wasn't her fault."

"Sen... sei?" Izuna asks out loud, surprised.

"You called her dream a childish fantasy, didn't ya?" I ask lowly.

"Y-Y-You heard me! It's nothing but make-believe!" He shouts, mustering his courage. "Wh-What about it?!"

"You... You are the one who is delusional. Being a ninja is a wonderful dream!" I shout.

"...Sensei...!" Izuna croaks out, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Y-You... You call THAT a dream?" The cat man asks, dumbfounded.

"And who are you to dictate what another can and cannot have as a dream?!" I ask with a roar, causing the cat to recoil once more. "Who are you to stomp on that dream?! How dare you." I cross my arms. "Who says it isn't a dream worth pursuing? Who says it's silly? So what? At the end of the day, what matters is that it's important to that person, it's their own personal dream, their own personal goal. To stomp on another's dream is the worst thing you can do to another person"

"Ha..." The cat man lets out a sound, before it turns into uproarious laughter. "This is priceless! I expected more from the vaunted Sensei from Schale! I see there's no use in trying to get through to you. If you're going to blather on like this, then we'll have to silence you!"

"Ha... AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laugh loudly, just as he did moments ago. "You STILL don't get it, do you? I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me!" He scoots back a bit. "Plus, you've already fallen for my trap."

"Wh-What?!" He shouts.

Just as he says that, the ceiling collapses next to me. I'm not surprised, I heard Izuna speaking to herself up there a second ago.

"The ceiling collapsed! What's going on?!" The cat man frantically shouts.

"I told you. You. Fell. For. It." I say, slowly.

Izuna stands up from the debris as the smoke clears. "Nin nin! It is time to take the next step on the path to being a great ninja! Izuna has arrived!"

"Glad to see ya 'drop in'." I say with a grin, causing the ninja girl to stifle a laugh.

"Izuna?!" The cat man shouts. "Why were you on the roof?!"

"Like I said, you fell for my trap. But it wasn't just in this moment, you fell for it this morning." I explain.

"What?"

"I ran into Izuna this morning, where she told me about her dream and how she was excited for the festival." I begin. "Then the Mouryo attacked and I spoke with her after knocking your goons out. I told her how these guys were messing up the festival, but she didn't want to betray you, the client."

The cat man scoffs.

"So, I decided to hire her." His eye widens. "I hired her to spy on you while still 'working' for you. Matter of fact, I knew your goons were following me, so I sent a text to her to let her know of my change of plans. Specifically, a change where I speak to you face-to-face."

"Yup! Sensei has fooled you! And... Izuna heard the whole story." She says. "But more importantly, Izuna heard Sensei's feelings... and knows Sensei truly does believe in Izuna's dream! Now things are crystal clear! Izuna can pursue her dream so long as she stays be Sensei's side!"

"W-What?!" The cat man shouts.

Izuna turns and looks me right in the eyes. "Sensei... No, Aruji-dono!"

"A-Aruji-dono...?" I ask, surprised. She called me... her lord...?

She stares passionately into my eyes, as she smiles. "Izuna will fight by your side from today onwards! Nin nin!"

I stare at her, surprised for a moment, before shaking my head and chuckling. I raise my hand and pat the fox girl's head. "I'll be countin' on you then, my ninja." I say, with a smile.

"Enough of this!" The cat man roars. "End them both!"

The Mouryo ready their weapons, as does Izuna.

Okay then. I have one ally, but am completely unarmed. I turn to Izuna and nod, an action she returns.

Jumping forward, I punch the cat man in the face and grab my phone, pocketing it. The Mouryo fire at me, but once again, I'm too quick. I clock one in the face with my fist, causing her to lose her grip on the gun. Grabbing it from midair, I shoot a goon behind me in the face, then the downed Mouryo I just punched. More shoot at me, but I kick over the table my phone was on and pick it up. I run toward a group with my makeshift shield and smack them all with it by jumping into the air and slamming the table down on them, followed by a quick shot to the head for each.

To the side, Izuna is swiftly taking care of them, shooting and throwing kunai at the lot of 'em. Seeing one sneaking up on her, I fire the gun, but it's empty, so I dash forward. She sees me, and turns to fire at me, but I'm already to close. Performing a crouch, I sweep her leg and punch her in the face once down. Taking the now unconscious Mouryo's gun, I see another behind Izuna, having just entered the room. I rush at her, taking her down with a tackle, before slamming my boot on her head, knocking her out. I take her gun in my other hand. "Dual wielding... oh yeah." I say to myself with a savage grin.

There's only a few left, which Izuna are dealing with, but a door opens as six more pour in. Still grinning, I rush them. I reach them before they can shoot me, smacking two in the face with my stolen rifles, followed by shooting the other four in the face. As they go down, the two I smacked are still awake, but not for long as I shoot them too.

Turning around, Izuna has knocked out the rest. "Good work." I say, walking up to her. She smiles, but her ears twitch and she turns her head. Looking that way, I see the cat man standing up, his face a little swollen. "Well, well, well. Look who's up."

"You... bastard...!" He growls out.

"Oh? You're lookin' a little worse for wear." I say with a grin.

"Nice job, ninja girl! We can take it from here!" A female voice calls out behind us.

"What? Who goes there?!" The cat man asks, as Izuna and I turn around to see Shizuko, Pina and the Inner Discipline Club run in.

"Sensei! Are you okay?!" The brunette idol asks, running to me.

"Just fine. You should be worried 'bout that asshole." I say, pointing to the cat man.

"We're here, Boss!" The blonde shouts.

The cat man gasps quietly. "The Festival Operations Department and the Inner Discipline Club!"

"I had a feeling you were the one behind this, Merchant Guild President Date Meowru!" Shizuko accuses, pointing at him.

"It's not Date Meowru! It's Date Meowsamune!" He corrects. "But never mind that. What are you doing here?!"

"What, you thought I only sent that text to Izuna?" I ask, smirking.

His eye widens. "B-But, you said-!"

"First rule of bein' a ninja, fool everyone." I say, patting Izuna on the shoulder as she smiles happily.

"But the Mouryo told me they weren't followed!" He shouts. "That still doesn't explain how you discovered my identity! or made your way to our location! Identifying me as the Mouryo's employer should have taken you hours, days! It had to be the most difficult case to crack of your lives! Isn't that right, Kawawa Shizuko...? Or should I say,-" He points at her accusingly. "-Festival Operations Department President Kawawa Shizuko?!"

...What kinda Scooby-Doo shit is this?

"Cool your paws and big sass. It really wasn't that hard." The idol says with a scoff.

"I told 'em to use the GPS to follow me." I say, causing his eye to snap to me, still wide.

"Plus, we just asked people on the street if they had seen anyone suspicious." Pina adds.

"Everyone we spoke to said the merchant guild president and Mouryo were going in and out of an abandoned building in this back alley." Shiuzko explains.

"The Mouryo do kind of stick out like a sore thumb." Tsubaki adds with a yawn.

The cat man stares at us in shock. "I-I was foiled by my own notoriety as the merchant guild's president?! Gah, it doesn't matter! Everything is still going according to plan." He grins. "I was prepared for you fools to find me from the very beginning!" He shouts, taking out his phone.

"Oh, stop posturing. You've lost, give up." I say, annoyed at him now.

"Shut up! Now, behold what I have in store for you!" He says, pressing a button on his phone.

Suddenly, loads of footsteps are heard outside.

"Wh-Wha...?!" Kaede shouts. "What's happening?!"

Soon, lots of Mouryo pour in from the doors.

"Look! Now there's even more of them!" The panda girl says.

"This doesn't bode well." Mimori adds.

"...Are you serious?" Shizuko shouts.

We're now surrounded by Mouryo.

"I know this gimmick!" Pina shouts. "There's a part just like this in Loyal Cat's Fist! There was a scene where the rival gang was lured into a huuuuuge ambush!"

"What a wonderful coincidence." The cat man says with a grin. "That's exactly how I'd describe the trap I had the Mouryo lay! How does it feel to have been so thoroughly outwitted?!"

"Annoying. It feels annoying. This is just a waste of time, man." I say deadpan, shaking my head.

"Enough! Prepare to meet your demise!" He shouts.

Let's see... four... twelve... twenty-two... Yup, fifty three Mouryo.

"Wow... Something about the way you said that made you sound like a total jobber." Shizuko points out.

"Good one, President!" Pina praises.

Or should I say... fifty three soon-to-be unconscious bodies.

Tsubaki yawns. "You're the one who's been disturbing the shopping district's peace..."

"What kind of young ladies would the Inner Discipline Club be if we overlooked that?!" Kaede shouts.

"We'll unite and stop you together!" Mimori shouts.

"Hang on." I say, breaking the tension, causing everyone to look at me. "Izuna mentioned you had at least a hundred Mouryo, but there's only fifty-three. Where's the rest?"

He chuckles sadistically. "She told you that too, huh? That's right. I spent a fortune. Mouryo! Have all the others converge on this street!" He yells, causing us to tense.

"Uh... about that, Boss." One Mouryo says, awkwardly. "We had some members who dipped out at the last second..."

"A lot of them said they'd rather enjoy the festival than work." Another says.

Everyone just stares in silent shock for a moment.

"Oh..." The short stack miko says.

"Dear..." The pink haired miko says as the panda girl yawns.

"Well, that doesn't matter! I still have over fifty Mouryo!" The cat man yells.

"Yeah! You're still outnumbered!" A Mouryo yells.

"Are you sure you gals wanna do this?" I ask, taking a step forward. "I mean, I took out six of you pals in a few seconds with nothing more than a table and their own guns." I say, pointing to the six downed Mouryo, causing the standing ones to become visibly worried. "On top of that, I took out around a dozen or more earlier with a trash can. A few dozen more of you guys doesn't mean you have a higher chance of winning, it just means it'll take longer for me to know y'all out." I say with a grin, as I flex my killing intent at them all, while avoiding my allies and the cat man. They all, as one, recoil in fright. If their eyes were visible, I'm sure they'd be wide as saucers.

"Oh, screw this!" A Mouryo yells.

"No way am I fightin' that guy!" Another yells.

One by one, the Mouryo run away in fright.

"How can you all run away at a time like this?!" The cat man yells as the retreating goons. "Stop! Get back here!" He stands there, silently for a moment, before taking his eyepatch off and turning around to face us. "So, uh, what do you say? Can't we just let bygones be bygones and get along, friends?" He asks nervously.

"...Do you have no shame man?" I ask, while holding my shaking head in my hand.

"Too late for that!" The idol yells, running at the cat man. "True Shizuko Punch!"

And she punches him in the face.

What the fuck has this day been...?

AN

Well... that was a bit anti-climactic...

So, Joshua shows off his interrogation skills, Izuna shows off her ninja skills and Shizuko shows off her punching skills. What a chapter.

Next time, Event Finale, then some well-earned Down Time.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next!