Office of a governmental organization, evening
"Here are the documents you tasked us to obtain, sir." Homura says in a serious voice while giving a folder to the man sitting behind the desk.
Of course, Homura's friends are with her, all serious looking.
"Let's see it…" The middle-aged man says before opening the folder to check the documents inside.
Accounting, pictures, emails… The material that the man was looking for.
"Perfect! We were correct! This family is involved with criminal organizations! That's all we need to take them down once and for all!" The man says in a triumphing voice, smirking.
The show reassures Homura and her friends, because that means something important for them…
"Anyway, you did well. Very well… You completely deserve your remuneration." The man says while taking a briefcase from behind his chair and putting it on his desk.
"Three million Yen, in cash, as agreed." The man says before opening the case.
The five girls moan when they see the large amount of money right in front of them. Yomi even feels dizzy, to the point where she almost collapses.
"Your services were appreciated, I'll be happy to work with you again…" The man says.
Two hours later, Homura Crimson Squad's cave
That was the third mission the Crimson Squad has successfully achieved.
After their performance during the Peach Beach Splash event, many shinobi employers were amazed by their determination, and some actually gave them a chance.
The girls knew a failure would put a definitive end to their shinobi path, but for now, everything has gone well.
"So, how much?!" Mirai asks Haruka, who's counting how much money they have right now.
"Wait, wait, Mirai…" Haruka says, about to end her accounting task.
"We have… seven million and two hundred thousand Yen!" She says in a joyful voice.
By hearing that, Yomi finally collapses for real…
"So… Much…" She says, about to pass out.
"Yomi… Calm down…" Hikage tells a dizzy Yomi, looking at her without any particular facial expression.
The three other girls just sigh. Then, Homura asks something that makes everyone silent.
"What should we do with this?"
Indeed, none of them actually thought about it until now, but with so much money, they can't even choose.
"We should keep it, just in case…" Yomi suggests.
"Yomi, we have more than 7 million. I think we can afford something at least…" Haruka says.
Yomi just nods in agreement, saving money is important, but saving everything is useless.
"Perhaps we could invest it to earn even more?" Mirai suggests.
"Investing in what? Toothpicks? We earn more than enough with our shinobi jobs." Haruka says.
"Well… You're right…" Mirai answers, embarrassed.
Then, something comes to Homura's mind.
"We should purchase better quality weapons! In order to be even more efficient and thus, earn even more!" Homura yells proudly.
"First, that's still investment. Secondly, our weapons are already top quality. Thirdly, I can make top weapons myself…" Haruka says, starting to be annoyed by her friends' stupid suggestions.
"Um… Maybe we could find a proper house…" Hikage proposes.
The rest of the team freezes when they hear Hikage's words, and turns their heads to look at the snake-girl.
"I don't mind this place but… Since we don't have to hide anymore, we have no reason to stay here, no?" Hikage asks.
Her friends take a few moments to think, then…
"Hikage is right. A better place is something I'm actually dreaming about for long…" Haruka says in a fake sad voice.
"If I could have my own room again, it'll be great!" Mirai says, excited.
"This place is fine enough for me… But if you really want it, I can tolerate." Yomi says, trying to hide she would like to leave this cave too.
"I guess we all agree, let's find a good place to live!" Homura says in an excited voice.
"Yeah!" Her friends cheer together.
One week later
"My dear Mirai, you should be careful with it, you know?" Haruka says in a teasing voice while looking at Mirai holding some strange cardboard boxes.
"Could you at least tell me what's inside?!" Mirai asks in a panicked voice, but Haruka only giggles in return.
The crimson squad quickly found a pretty nice and spacious house, spacious enough for them to each have their own room.
They almost finish the move, with only a few boxes left, mostly Haruka's ones.
However, Yomi has something important to do, so…
"Excuse-me, but can I leave, please? I have…" Yomi starts, but Homura quickly stops her.
"No need to ask, of course you can." The tanned girl tells Yomi.
Yomi didn't have many things to move from their cave, so she mostly helped her friends with moving their own things.
So Homura couldn't even think about refusing Yomi's request to leave. In fact, she's glad she's finally taking some time for herself.
"Thank you!" Yomi says before leaving.
One hour later, slum
"I, Cropped Bean Sprout Mask, will spray justice!" Yomi proclaims heroically, wearing her mask and playing her superhero role as usual…
…Or rather almost as usual, because this time, Ikaruga isn't here to play BC Mask.
However, it doesn't mean she's alone.
"Ahahahah! As if the Great Uglior the Ugly has something to fear about you!" A man wearing a painted carton suit yells.
This man's name is Masami, a middle-aged person living in the slum for a long time already. He used to be an actor so, he offered his help for Yomi's performance.
Even if the suit is poorly made, the man still does his best not to laugh, and actually manages to play the role pretty well.
"Prepare yourself! AHHHHH!" Yomi yells, charging the costumed man.
"Not bad but… Eh?!" Uglior the Ugly screams before slowly falling in order not to break the fragile costume.
"No way! Beaten that easily! Mommy why!" Masami says, giving everything he's got to be as credible as possible.
"How…" He adds in a weak voice before stopping moving.
"Justice cannot fail!" Yomi proudly exclaims.
The children watching the show start to cheer.
"As a hero, my duty is to make sure no one hurts innocent people, even if it means giving my own life to allow justice's triumph!" The blond-haired girl screams, her heroic words make the audience cheering even more.
Yomi smiles by seeing the poor children so happy thanks to her, and thus without Ikaruga's help.
But in her mind, Yomi is actually laughing at the naive words she just said.
Not only because they come more from BC Mask than Cropped Bean Sprout Mask, but also because only a few months ago, she couldn't even think about saying such stupid and naive words. Even for one of her performances.
Yomi sighs, but the show isn't over yet.
"I will protect those smiles, no matter the cost!" Yomi thinks.
Special thanks to NeoDingleBat for his proofreading