To Lyger 0: "You mean that girl you poisoned yesterday somehow managed to beat you up today!?"

To Guest: Very tempting.


"She's been in there far too long," Ronin muttered, crouching just inside the alley they had selected for the stakeout position, not more than half a block down the street from Tanoshi Endingu. It was a simple neighborhood, with a handful of two- and three-story apartment buildings separated by a convenience store and a couple restaurants. Ronin's stomach had rumbled on smelling the aromas from the hibachi next to them, but he couldn't let his focus waver. Taking in the street in either direction with his peripheral vision, he kept his eyes focused on the brothel's front entrance. A car slowly drove past without stopping, only the third car he had seen since arriving almost thirty minutes earlier. Two cars had been parked in front of the building, but both had driven away shortly after Yuki had entered the brothel. Another had taken their place as three men entered the building, as had another couple of pedestrians, glancing nervously in either direction. One had left three minutes later with a look of frustration on his face; the others had to still be inside.

But that would still leave Yuki outnumbered by at least four-to-one if a fight were to break out. And if that happened, they were too far away to do anything to help her.

Ronin tensed, one hand finding the grip of his katana. A hand settled on his shoulder from behind.

"She knows what she's doing," Kamikaze replied, mouth set in a thin line, his tone of voice not betraying any emotion.

"She does," Ronin agreed, frowning, "but she only just got out of the hospital. What if something goes wrong? What if they call her bluff and she has to fight her way out?"

"She can handle herself," Kunoichi replied, her voice loud in Ronin's communicator.

Ronin glanced across the street toward the apartment building roof where Kunoichi lay in wait. "Under normal circumstances, yes," he agreed. "But now?"

Kamikaze grimaced. "We tried to convince her otherwise," he reminded him. "She insisted."

Ronin's stomach clenched. Yet again, he was leading his friends into danger, all because of his need to avenge his father, to stop Kamisenshi. The first time, it had been Kagami and Luka… and Kagami had almost died in the endeavor. The second time, it had been Keiko, Yuki, and Shun, and they had failed to rescue the trafficking victims – the same ones who had been brought to Japan by his family's company. And in the process, they had been attacked by Kamisenshi and Odoshi-gumi, nearly getting themselves killed in the process. This time, it was even worse: Yuki was in there all by herself, and the rest of them were stuck outside to wait. Yuki had nearly died yesterday; she had been weak this morning. If that weakness got her killed, all in service of his mission…

Was his family's honor truly worth that?

His mouth set in a thin line. He would not allow anyone else to get hurt for him.

Ryoku let out a heavy sigh over the communicator. "It seems a little late for us to worry about that," she pointed out. "The plan is already in motion, and she's already inside. But believe me: if she gets into trouble, I can be inside in less than a second."

Ronin hummed darkly. "I'll hold you to that."

Kamikaze squeezed his shoulder. "Believe me, the rest of us are just as concerned. But this was the best option we had available. We need to make this right. I need to make this right."

Nodding, Ronin examined the front of the building carefully. "As long as she gets the girls out safely – and herself…"

"I failed Kanako and Ayaka once," Kamikaze murmured to himself. "I cannot fail them again."

Ronin let out a breath slowly, frowning. He was not the only one struggling with his past mistakes. With as focused as he had been on his own doubts, he had not considered Shun. Turning to look at Kamikaze, Ronin placed a hand on his shoulder. "We have both failed," he told him quietly. "But we will make it right."

"We will," Kamikaze agreed firmly. "But not alone."

Movement on the other side of the street caught Ronin's attention, and he tensed, turning to watch the brothel entrance. With a sudden flurry of movement, the front door creaked open and five men sprinted out, looking around in agitation, their eyes wide with panic. Two forced their way into the car parked in front of the brothel and peeled away from the curb in a matter of seconds; the others scattered in all directions. One ran straight toward the alley between two buildings where Ronin and Kamikaze hid, and Ronin pressed himself against the wall next to him, willing the man to run past without noticing them. A sudden cloud of dust swirled up through the alley, just as the man passed them, only to settle moments later. Kamikaze's tessen dropped to his side, and Ronin nodded in acknowledgment. The door opened again.

"Here's the moment of truth…" muttered Ronin. The first woman to walk through the door wore a sour expression, not turning her head one way or the other. Something metal glinted at her throat in the evening light. Ronin studied the woman's face carefully, though the distance made discerning her features difficult. Finally, her head turned slightly to one side and he caught a clear view of her profile. His eyes widened. "That's the server – the one who poisoned Yuki. I'm sure of it."

Kamikaze's mouth set in a thin line. "Kamidoku. Even just that makes this a victory," he murmured.

"That's the one?" demanded Kunoichi. "Any objections to throwing her out of a plane later?"

"None from me," Ronin agreed, glaring intently at Kamidoku. "Although this is a bit of an extra complication."

Following directly behind Kamidoku came Bu-Geisha, one hand resting on Kamidoku's shoulder, the other holding her kaiken at Kamidoku's throat. Yuki's makeup had smudged slightly, the white foundation having been wiped away from around her mouth and chin in an imitation of her Bu-Geisha look. She walked stiffly, hardly moving her upper body, each step precise and measured. A dozen girls of varying ages poured out of the building after Bu-Geisha, all wearing brightly-colored kimonos, their faces painted bright white. Though he could hardly make out the faces of the girls, he could see some tension in their posture. Bu-Geisha nodded behind her to one of the girls, who pushed the brothel door shut once all the girls had left. Looking around, she grabbed the rim of a planter pot and started trying to push it over, only to give up when it failed to budge. Another girl paused to help her, and between the two of them they pushed the pot over, spilling the sapling onto the sidewalk and scattering soil on the ground. Quickly, the two girls rushed to catch up with Bu-Geisha and the others, who had already made it halfway to Ronin's alley.

"Do you see Ayaka in the group?" Ronin whispered to Kamikaze.

Kamikaze hummed, his brows furrowed in concentration. "I don't… there!" He pointed past Ronin's shoulder at the girl standing directly behind Bu-Geisha, almost seeming to cling to the back of her kimono.

Ronin let out a breath. If they could rescue Kamimizu's sister, to say nothing of the other girls the Yakuza had been holding, then maybe this whole mission would have been worth it. He tensed. But they were still far from safe.

Bu-Geisha continued to hold the kaiken to Kamidoku's throat, but her footsteps slowed as she walked down the sidewalk at the head of her strange procession, which reduced their pace to little more than a crawl. The rescued girls looked anxiously up and down the street, their eyes wide, terror plainly visible on their faces despite the makeup. Ronin's stomach churned, and he scanned the street in both directions, in front and behind. This would be the most dangerous part of the whole ordeal. Could they get the girls to safety before the Yakuza could react?

"Just two blocks and we can get them in the van," Ronin murmured.

"Don't jinx it," Ryoku warned.

Ronin furrowed his brows, studying the area around them carefully, though his eyes continually drifted back to Bu-Geisha and Kamidoku. Kamidoku's hands were held in front of her, her sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and her eyes focused straight forward. For her part, though she masked it well, Bu-Geisha continued to move woodenly, stiffly. Only yesterday, she had been lying in a hospital bed, with the doctors working to remove the poison from her system. Even when she had left the hospital today, she had been weak and a little unsteady on her feet, though she had insisted on walking out herself. They had spent most of the morning discussing their plans for this operation – how could they get the girls away from the Yakuza without cluing them in to what they were doing? Ultimately, Yuki's had been the best plan they had come up with, even if it hinged on her. They had considered holding off another week. They had considered sending in Kunoichi to pretend. They had considered a dozen alternate scenarios. But in the end, Bu-Geisha had insisted: the people who would attempt to poison her had to be stopped. And she could be the one to do it.

Ronin's jaw clenched. Hopefully this would not come back to bite them in the end.

Suddenly movement down the road in front of Bu-Geisha drew Ronin's gaze in that direction. A group of seven people had just appeared around a corner, one block ahead of Bu-Geisha, almost exactly halfway between her and the van they had been counting on for their getaway. Ronin's mouth set in a thin line as he recognized several of them. "Kamisenshi!" he hissed, as Kamikaze's grip on his shoulder tightened.

Brilliant white light flashed all along the street, leaving white spots flashing in Ronin's vision as light bathed Bu-Geisha and the girls with her. One of the girls screamed in terror. At that same moment, the man standing between Kamisenshi and Kamihikari dropped into a sprinter's stance and burst forward, turning into little more than a blur as he sped down the street toward Bu-Geisha. Bu-Geisha flinched, one hand coming up to shield her eyes from the light flares surrounding her. The moment the kaiken moved away from her throat, Kamidoku spun in Bu-Geisha's grip, one arm coming up to push away Bu-Geisha's hand, and something flashed in her hand, stabbing at Bu-Geisha's forearm. Bu-Geisha moved to evade her attack and stumbled, the blade slicing into the silk. Shifting her body into a defensive stance, Bu-Geisha shifted her kaiken from hand to hand and lunged for Kamidoku, who backed away, swiping at Bu-Geisha as she did so. The blur of Kamiikioi whipped past Bu-Geisha and Kamidoku and into the group of girls. Bu-Geisha stumbled to maintain her footing as he rushed past her, barely avoiding a slash from Kamidoku as she did so. Behind her, one of the girls stumbled and fell to the ground. Bu-Geisha cried out. Kamisenshi drew his katana and rushed forward with a shout.

At that moment, there was a sudden flash of lightning from the far side of the street, almost immediately followed by a clap of thunder.