CHAPTER I
(Shooting Range)
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Multiple gunshots rang out over Mai's shooting range, the telltale sounds were an all too clear indicator that business was booming. Inside varying targets of all different shapes and sizes were shredded into oblivion without mercy by the uncaring metal bullets that cut through them.
Two patrons in particular were doing an extra good job of laying waste to their targets. Each bullet that left the chamber of their guns made each wooden target explode on impact, and the accuracy of each bullet gave the other customers around them pause.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
More and more targets were reduced to little more than splinters on the floor. Whoever these two marksmen were were good, really good. Surprising given how short they were and how young they actually looked. One was a boy dressed in a simple school uniform with messy black hair and red tips.
The other was a girl, slightly taller than the boy next to her. She had long dark hair and was dressed in a sleeveless-pink shirt with golden star that read in big bold letters: Star Platinum. She also had blue skirt and matching pink shoes along with a black eyepatch over her left eye, decorated with red tomoe.
BANG!
BANG!
CLICK!
"I'm out." said the boy.
CLICK!
CLICK!
CLICK!
"I'm out too." the girl parroted.
The carnage the two had left in their wake was jaw dropping to anyone watching their shared range. Not a single target had been spared. Splinters that were once fully human shaped targets and bullseyes now littered the floor and anything else that would've been in their way was completely left untouched by the live rounds.
"I take it you don't have anymore bullets, Mirai?" the boy asked.
The now identified girl shook her head. "Sorry Koji, I didn't pay for that many, just what I needed."
"Same here." Koji replied. It was then he noticed the people crowding behind he and his date. They all looked absolutely shocked. Their faces almost reminded him of that famous painting... what was it called again...? The scream? Yeah, that's it. They all looked like the scream.
Mirai followed his gaze and noticed the onlookers as well. She quickly put two-and-two together and realized why they were all staring at them. Both she and Koji cleared the range of all targets without managing to strike anything that would create collateral damage.
That was something she expected from herself given her shinobi training and Koji used to be captain of the archery club at his school. Of course they would eliminate everything they were supposed to. This was just another day at the office to them.
"Anyway..." Koji began awkwardly before turning away from the crowd. "I still have just enough money left over for some ice cream. Wanna go to Yusuke's?"
"Sure." Mirai smiled. The two held each other's hand as they made their way through the crowd that was now beginning to disperse. The contact made Mirai blush and she could swear she felt her heart beating from inside her chest. It felt nice to be noticed and the center of someone else's attention. If she had her way, she'd want this feeling to last forever.
To be continued...