To Lyger 0: That would be quite the sight!
To Anon: Was it even a fight, once she turned on him?
Ronin let out a breath, twisting his neck in either direction until it hit resistance. The muscles across his shoulder blades locked up; one of Kamisenshi's slashes had caught him across the back with the flat of the blade, and though he hadn't felt it at the time, the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off. Placing a hand on his side, he could feel blood weeping from a shallow cut just above his hip. Kamisenshi had feinted in one direction and come at him from the opposite, and though he had parried with his wakizashi, he had reacted too slowly to fully avoid the strike. Ronin sheathed his wakizashi, and his upper arm pulled slightly. He frowned: hadn't that shuriken gone wide? Looking down at his shirt, he was surprised to find a long slash cutting clean across his stomach, exposing the thin layer of cut-resistant material beneath. While he had jumped back in time to avoid getting cut, he had still felt the sting of the blade brushing against his chest.
Gritting his teeth, Ronin held himself upright by force of will, his katana clutched in a tight grip, and scanned the street around him. On the far side of the street, Ryoku and Kunoichi stood over Kamihikari and Kamiikioi, who lay on the sidewalk, clutching the tourniquet affixed to the stump of his severed arm. Geber and Capricorn leaned against the wall of a building midway down the street toward them, with Kamidoku and Kamitakasa bound and sitting on the curb in front of them. When she had fetched the tourniquet device, Kunoichi had brought out a quartet of headbands for the captured Tsuyoi-gumi – power disruptors developed on New Atlantis. Kamitakasa shook his head violently, trying to knock the headband loose, but it would not budge.
Kamikaze had taken a good hit from someone; blood flowed freely from a cut on his forehead which he wiped away on the torn off hem of his shirt. The group of girls that Bu-Geisha had rescued from the brothel had finally moved out of the middle of the street to huddle by the curb; Bu-Geisha herself had taken a seat next to them, her arms hanging limply at her sides and all pretense of etiquette abandoned. Ayaka sat next to Bu-Geisha, watching her curiously. Far from the cool and composed front she had put on for this mission, Bu-Geisha looked absolutely drained and exhausted.
Next to Ronin, Kamimizu glared down at Kamisenshi, lying on the ground in the middle of the street. Slowly, Kamisenshi roused himself, shaking his head groggily. Quickly, Ronin scanned Kamisenshi, double-checking that the bindings they had placed on his wrists remained in place. Kamimizu spat in Kamisenshi's face, nudging him with her foot. "Capture is better than you deserve."
Kamisenshi narrowed his eyes and met her gaze without flinching, shaking his arms and straining against his bonds. "If you think so, then you should just kill me now and get it over with."
Ronin's eyes flashed. "It's tempting," he told Kamisenshi, one hand resting on the handle of his own katana, as well as that of Kamisenshi's katana next to it. "After you murdered my father, I wanted nothing more than to take your life in revenge. But no: my father is now avenged. You will never hurt anyone again. Prison is where you belong, so prison is where you will go. I will not grant you the dignity of a swift death."
"I will not be in prison for long," Kamisenshi retorted, his mouth turning down bitterly. "Ishii-san will see to that."
Kamimizu scoffed. "You think he will break you out?"
Kamisenshi arched an eyebrow at her. "Have you learned nothing, whore?" he sneered. "Our oyabun would not free me. He would see me dead: I failed him today. He does not accept failure lightly… as you should well know." His lip curled.
Kamimizu flinched, her eyes flashing. With a flash, she spun one of her shobo around her finger and jabbed the end at Kamisenshi's throat. Kamisenshi stared up at her unmoving, and the shobo froze a hair's breadth from his skin. Kamimizu leaned in until their faces were mere centimeters apart. "You would like me to do that, wouldn't you?" Kamimizu whispered softly. "To 'poke' you as you so regularly 'poked' me? To do to you what you have done to my sister so many times?" The shobo as quickly vanished into her palm. "But no," she told him, straightening up and kicking him in the chest, knocking him flat on his back. "Ishii-san may have you killed for your failure, but I will not be the one to do it for him."
"That is a mature decision," observed Kamikaze, walking stiffly toward them and stopping by Kamimizu's shoulder, a bloody makeshift bandage tied around his forehead.
Kamimizu frowned. "I already find myself regretting it," she admitted, stepping away from Kamisenshi with a last kick to his ribs. Kamisenshi glared up at her silently.
Kamikaze shrugged in acknowledgment. "I cannot blame you for that. But I hope your anger is reserved solely for him?" She hummed. Kamikaze gave her a nervous smile. "As you can see, I did fulfill the promise I made to you, nearly six weeks ago: your sister is now free of that place. She is no longer in Ishii-san's control, no longer suffering their abuse. She is safe."
"Or as safe as she can be while Ishii-san still draws breath," Kamimizu pointed out sullenly, not taking her eyes off of Kamisenshi.
"I am sorry," Kamikaze apologized, his jaw clenching.
Kamimizu sighed heavily and shook her head, finally tearing her eyes away from Kamisenshi and looking up at Kamikaze. "No, I am sorry. I am being ungrateful. Thank you for rescuing my sister. You have done so much more than I could ever have hoped in saving Ayaka from that place." She frowned, her jaws working back and forth silently for a moment, her eyes drifting toward where Ayaka sat with the other rescued girls. "I… didn't wish to fight you again after we worked together in Tarascon; I am even more loath to do so now."
"Are you going to return to Ishii-san?" Ronin's eyes widened.
"No… Of course not." She sighed heavily. "But what else can I do?"
Ayaka looked up at Kamimizu in surprise, her eyes widening. "I–I don't want to go back to that… hell."
"You don't have to go back there," Ronin assured them, focusing his attention on Kamimizu. "Your life is now your own. You may choose which path you take: if you wish, you can take your sister and return to your home and your parents."
Kamimizu scoffed derisively. "Do you think we can return there?" she retorted. "There is nothing there for us to return home to – Ishii-san has certainly seen to that." She raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "And even if we could return home, do you think that Ishii-san would leave us alone? He has already gotten his claws into us once; what will stop him from doing it again? We will never be safe from him – not after this."
Ronin hummed in acknowledgement. "Perhaps not," he allowed. "But there is another option."
Kamimizu gave him a confused look, and Ronin raised an eyebrow meaningfully, jerking his head toward Kunoichi and Bu-Geisha, and then to Kamikaze. She started, staring at him in shock. "What?" she asked. "You want me to join you?"
"You said it yourself," Kamikaze answered, holding his hands out. "You will not be safe while Ishii-san lives. If that is the case, then Ishii-san needs to be dealt with before you and Ayaka can do anything else. And we are going to stop him, but I do not think we can do it as just the four of us. We need you on our side."
"I'll… think about it." Kamimizu pursed her lips, looking away from them and down toward the crowd of girls sitting with Bu-Geisha. "But I have so much more I need to worry about now. Yes, Ayaka is safe. Yes, we can get away from Ishii-san. But get away to where? Where are Ayaka and I to live now? And what will become of the other girls?"
Stretching her arms to either side, her trident over her shoulders, Kunoichi nodded pensively and cleared her throat. "My people are going to arrange with the government for the rescued girls to be repatriated to their home countries – if that's what they wish. If not… there are other options available," she explained with an enigmatic smile. "The same offer is available to you and your sister."
Kamimizu scoffed. "Not like there's anything for us to go home to…" She let out a breath. "Honestly, I think I would as soon stay here – help you against Ishii-san. But," she added quickly, her mouth set in a thin line, "that's only if I know that Ayaka will be safe."
"We will figure something our for you," Ronin promised.
Kunoichi shrugged. "I have space in my apartment – though not a lot. At least until we come up with a better option, you can stay with me."
"Both of us?"
Kunoichi frowned. "It would be tight to cram three into my apartment," she admitted, grimacing. "But we could try to make it work for now."
Bu-Geisha cleared her throat, her hands braced on the curb. "Actually," she began, raising an eyebrow, "I might be able to offer a different option – at least for Ayaka."
Sitting next to her, Ayaka's eyes widened nervously, and she cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"
"What if I provide you with shelter for a few months, at least until you can decide on a future course of action?" Bu-Geisha offered. "I can present you to my okiya for training as shikomi, as a learner and trainee. You will be safe and provided for, and you will be able to see your sister whenever you wish. I will keep an eye on you to keep you safe. And with luck, the Yakuza will never know where you are. If you choose to, you may continue on as hangyoku and geisha, but you can leave if you don't like it."
Ayaka's eyes widened and she gave Bu-Geisha a nervous look. "That… it does sound interesting – or at least better than where I was… But would I have to…?" She gestured vaguely toward herself.
Bu-Geisha cocked her head to one side, confused. Suddenly her eyes widened. "No – of course not," she answered quickly. "That is not what true geisha do!"
"Wait… true geisha?"
Bu-Geisha smiled. "Yes: I really am an actual geisha!"
