Hello all, Author here. Next installment is now in. Please enjoy, and thank you for continuing to read this piece.
6 - Irregularity
There was something to be said on the reaction time of one who had fighting experience and a strong instinct. Yukino's eyes were some of the most perceptive, but even she had trouble following the movements of Natsuki. The dark-haired girl had been shoved back several meters out into the open living room by the explosive force behind the now-bent door, but her arms had shielded a good portion of the blast. She was still terribly confused, however, and her reaction time was invariably compromised by that split-second of hesitation. A stray bit of shrapnel from the door scratched her forehead, causing a slow, steady stream of blood to drip from the open cut.
There were four—no, five, Yukino corrected herself—men leering at Natsuki through the damage they had caused. Their wrinkled dark suits and flashy shirts, coupled with the unnerving sight of lead pipes carried by some, did not paint them in a very friendly light at all. Yukino shrank against the wall as Natsuki narrowed her eyes and planted her feet down in a stable stance. What looked to be the ringleader of the gang stepped forward and studied Natsuki for a moment before cracking a smile towards his cohorts.
"That's one of them. I do believe we have the right place, gentlemen."
"One of what?" Natsuki growled. "What the hell do you creeps want?"
The ringleader's ensuing laugh sounded more like a bark as he shouldered a sheathed katana. His free hand idly swung a charm that was attached to the blade.
"Honey, I wasn't paid to talk."
His lips curled into a derisive grin. Yukino swallowed thickly.
There was a quiet click of a door opening at the end of the hallway. Both parties stopped their silent standoff and a most curious thing happened to the ringleader as Fujino Shizuru stepped out wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Something dangerous swirled into his eyes and Shizuru shifted, a momentary lack of composure threatening her calm veneer.
"You!"
The ringleader swung the katana in her direction. Shizuru now narrowed her eyes.
"Boss! Don't lose it!" one of the lackeys blurted out, hastily trying to defuse his captain.
"Shut up!" the ringleader snapped. He snapped his head back towards Shizuru. "And to think I've run into you first! It seems luck has favored me today..."
He reached into his jacket. The unmistakable metallic glint of a gun flashed as he aimed the pistol towards Shizuru. His thumb made quick work of the safety, causing much more alarm amongst his lackey.
"Boss, no!"
"I said shut it!" He glared at Shizuru. "Do you know what you've cost me, you bitch? Or do you not remember?"
Shizuru pursed her lips. If she was alarmed by the gun she did a remarkable job of not showing it. Yukino would have been thoroughly impressed if she weren't shaking in abject terror over just how badly the situation was turning. Even Natsuki was highly unsure of what to do even though guns were her bread and butter back in the HiME days. But those were magically crafted and spewed out bullets of ice, they were nothing like the firearms smuggled in to serve the needs of the yakuza. Natsuki's eyes flicked nervously between the gun and the end of the hallway.
"Ara... it has been a while since I have heard someone else from Kyoto speak."
Yukino felt her jaw drop slightly. There was a gun being shoved at Shizuru and all she could do was comment on the assailant's accent? It seemed the ringleader had already bought tickets to Yukino's thought train. His nostrils flared with one abrupt intake of breath, and his brow twitched.
"Boss..."
"I won't tell you to shut up again," the ringleader warned. "And as for you! Fujino! I was given pretty strict orders, but to see you here first... Fuck it!"
Yukino stared at the gun.
She must have done something terrible to have someone like this threatening to shoot her...
"Die!"
There was a muffled shout soon after the resultant bang of the gun going off. Yukino had flinched from the deafening noise and could only see the scuffle that began to ensue.
Natsuki had only a second to spare, but it was enough. The bullet had lodged itself into the wall by the time she knocked the ringleader's wrist out of alignment with a hasty grab. Out of her periphery she could see Shizuru begin to run towards her.
She's safe. Good.
It was too much of a gamble but initially it looked to pay off handsomely. She threw her body weight onto him, knocking them both to the floor. Her ears rang from the gun going off previously as she struggled for control of the hand holding the gun, but the blood from her injury sustained earlier dribbled into her eye. She shut her eyes for only a second... enough time for the ringleader to wrestle himself free.
"Get the hell offa me!"
A second bang.
A beat.
He shakily got to his feet, breathing through his teeth as his chest heaved. Oh, this was bad. He wasn't supposed to use that gun at all. And now one of his objectives was laying at his feet with a steady pool of red growing from underneath her. This was very, very bad. He just knew it.
He looked up and saw a black blur descend upon him. His own katana's sheath slammed into his skull with a sickening crack that was followed by his knees limply hitting the floor beneath him. He swore for a fleeting moment of conscious thought that he could taste the color red. Perhaps it was the cold eyes that were glaring at him that made him think of that particular color, but he would never be able to expand what could have been quite the compelling thought as he saw black.
Yukino wasn't too sure what to think about the rest of the men who had accompanied their unfortunate captain. Whatever level their innocence or guilt was, it was a non-factor in Shizuru's mind. She took three looming steps towards the first man who was still from reeling with shock. The sickening crunch that ensued from her palm slamming up his chin most assuredly signaled a broken jaw. The force of the palm caused him to fly backwards from her, snapping the rest of the men out of their collective trance.
Shizuru regarded the now-advancing men with a glare that could cut diamonds. The katana in her hands had yet to be unsheathed but it served her purposes just fine. She grabbed onto the sheath and brought the sword up horizontally to knock away the pipe that was aimed for her head. She grit her teeth and shifted, jamming the tip of the sheath violently towards the assailant's throat. A muffled choke gurgled from the man's lips as he shakily fell, grasping onto a rapidly-bruising throat before croaking in horrible pain as she slammed the palm of her hand against his ear, rupturing his ear drum. Someone grabbed her shoulder, digging his fingers into her skin. She paused, nesting her weight against the bigger man's bulk and allowing him to pull her in before her elbow slammed into his floating ribs. With a howl his grip lessened and she retaliated by wrapping her arm over his shoulder and grasping onto his shirt from his back. The resulting hip throw slammed him into the coffee table, breaking it in two. She hurriedly blew her bangs out of the way and raced towards the next man, snatching a lead pipe on the way. It took only two heavy cracks of the pipe against the back of the knee and the collarbone to sweep the man off his feet and render him immobile.
These men were far from fighters, Yukino was certain of that much. They had obviously just agreed to whatever they were asked to do because they figured there would be no struggle attached to it. But whatever deal they had agreed to apparently wasn't binding enough to forfeit their own lives, and they reached this conclusion almost as quickly as Yukino did. The frightened men scrambled to their feet as best they could and began to fall over themselves in an attempt to run away from the woman who had meted out so much pain and terror. They wasted little time in getting away, leaving their leader in their wake.
And just like that, it was over.
Yukino blinked.
The ringleader was still kneeling, an amazing feat considering he had no idea what was happening around him on account of getting knocked out. Shizuru let loose a slow, shaky breath as she knelt to pick up the katana, discarding the pipe in the process. Yukino began to open her mouth to say something, anything. The look on Shizuru's eyes suggested nothing but malicious intent as she slowly dragged the katana with her. She stopped in front of the ringleader, her lips straightening into a thin line as she carefully unsheathed the blade. Shizuru paused for a moment, regarding the blade with an appraising eye. It was a rough blade given to years of service and bad handlers, but it would have to do. She brought the blade above her head with practiced ease, staring down at her target with an executioner's gaze. Yukino froze with a scream fighting to get out of her lips.
Shizuru took in a deep breath but stopped as she felt something restricting her arm. A calloused hand, warm and familiar, cupped her elbow with shaky fingers but a firm grip. From her periphery she could see slightly-disheveled dark blue hair. Immediately her grip on the blade loosened as her arms began to relax, allowing Natsuki to quietly disarm her.
"N...Natsuki?"
The younger girl nodded then winced. She dropped the katana and waved a dismissive hand towards the ringleader kneeling before them.
"Fortunately for us... he has terrible aim."
She continued wordlessly, stepping more into the light. She was grasping onto her right side with her left hand. But she was standing, and her eyes were alert.
"It's okay, Shizuru. Stand down."
Natsuki let loose a sigh. She glanced unsteadily at Yukino who also stepped into the middle of the living room. Shizuru started, noticing for the first time that they had a guest before the night had turned so horribly intense. Yukino gave a hesitant nod towards Shizuru before nervously clearing her throat.
"W-What should we do now?" Yukino asked.
A brief pause.
"These people were sent here for a reason," Natsuki pointed out in a gruff tone, her investigative self taking over for the moment. She scanned the room with her eyes before settling on the ringleader. "But this man in particular knew you, Shizuru. I don't know if these two facts are related, however."
Yukino could see that the air was becoming tense, but she could not help but stare at the blood that was beginning to dry between Natsuki's clamped fingers. A stopped wound was a healing wound, but she knew that risks needed to be minimized to facilitate a clean healing process. Her concern overruled her caution and she cleared her throat, catching Natsuki's attention.
"We... we need to get you patched up."
Natsuki looked up towards Yukino and gave a curt nod.
"We have a first aid box in the bathroom."
"Oh.. good... good." Yukino bit her lip. "Please come with me, then."
The kit in the bathroom was heavily stocked with bandages and rubbing alcohol, and soon Yukino went to work cleaning the wound with towels and a basin of water as Natsuki sat on the closed toilet with her shirt already rolled up. Eidetic memory and countless hours studying medical textbooks had given her working knowledge on how to accurately dress and wrap the wound. Yukino guessed that Natsuki's past and their collective experience as HiMEs predisposed Natsuki to being familiar with pain, but the thought gave her more sadness than admiration. Yukino stepped back to observe her handiwork. The bandages would stay, she surmised, and if they were replaced at least once everyday there would be little risk of infection. Natsuki was up and moving about, indicating that perhaps the greater damage was related to the shock of having a gun go off rather than the wound itself. That, or adrenaline was kicking into an incredibly high gear. Yukino's brow tensed. That would mean the crash would come soon, she noted.
"I... I think you should rest..."
Natsuki waited until Yukino carefully adjusted her t-shirt back down before getting up from the toilet.
"I'm feeling pretty damn good right now..." Natsuki paused as logic began to wrestle with adrenaline. "But you're right."
Natsuki threw an uncertain gaze out towards the living room as they both exited the bathroom. Shizuru was standing before the ringleader, but her hands were empty. Instead she merely stared down at the man with an unreadable expression on her face. The slightly-bent door was now closed and locked securely. Only the gun remained out of the assorted weapons that had lain around the apartment, and it had been placed on the side table with the magazine already out. Now, Shizuru looked positively exhausted. Natsuki walked up behind her and quietly wrapped her arms around her fiancée.
Yukino studied the two, becoming acutely aware of the pained spike that buried itself in her heart. She shakily chose to sit down, clasping her hands together and fiddling with her fingers. The danger was over, she knew this. The sense of trepidation had faded away and she felt exhaustion creep up on her, a sign that stress and adrenaline were seeping away from her body. She could tell in the sagging shoulders of Shizuru that even though her eyes were still very sharp, her body was visibly fighting exhaustion as well.
"You need to rest," Shizuru began in a low tone.
Natsuki nodded against Shizuru's back.
Questions would have to wait. For now, everything would have to wait.
The winter night was an excellent remedy to Haruka's blurred senses as she raced through the streets. The street lamps provided enough illumination to get by without too much slowing down, and quickly her lungs pumped out huge clouds of steam that wisped past her face. She knew the area like the back of her hand but that thought couldn't erase the fact that it would still take her a good ten minutes to get to any of the areas Yukino would frequent. Her cellphone had failed to respond to any of Haruka's calls, leading her to a blind chase down the streets. She allowed herself to slow to a jog while she racked her brains. It was late, which meant the school was out of the question. Would the dorms suffice? Or maybe she was out with someone else? Who would that someone else be?
Her feet stilled and she let loose a frustrated groan.
"Where am I going..."
She took in a deep breath. The cold seared her lungs and caused her to wince as her throat constricted briefly. She skipped a little into an uncertain jog and turned a corner. There was a muffled shout as she slammed into someone who was rounding the corner while going the opposite direction. She shook her head as she steadied herself, instinctively bringing her hands up. The man who ran into her started and waved his hands in a gesture of frantic surrender. She frowned.
"Huh?"
The man offered no solution to her confusion as he tripped over himself in an attempt to get as far away from her as he could. She watched him go before shaking her head.
"What the hell is going on?..."
She craned her neck and stared down the alleyway where the man had been running through before their crash. A brief survey of the area confirmed her nagging thought as she stared at the apartment complex ahead of her.
"That's Fujino's place..."
A slow whine started to echo in the back of her head as her feet began to move towards the apartment complex.
What was this feeling?
Her body offered her no answer, only a boost in speed. Soon she found herself running towards the complex, skidding to a stop near the elevator and jamming her thumb on the up arrow.
Please let her be there...
This was not the type of visit Haruka had imagined. She hadn't talked to Shizuru since the debacle at the holiday party. She had anticipated maybe taking a month before begrudgingly trudging back up to the apartment to apologize and perhaps make amends for her outburst. Life apparently found her careful plans laughable, however. She licked her dry lips and waited for the waiting elevator to open before hurriedly stepping in and tapping the number for Shizuru's floor. She gave her surroundings a cursory look and immediately locked onto a smeared hand print on one of the steel walls. She knew that color.
Scratch that.
Please let her be okay.
She could feel her pulse thudding in her head. Her fingertips twitched. The elevator door opened after a shuddering halt and she took off like a race horse starting off the block. She saw nothing but the door to her destination.
Is that door bent?
What the hell is going on?
She stopped and raised an arm. Three heavy pounds echoed in the night and she waited, shoulders heaving.
"It's me!" she called, clear in the night sky. "Open up, Fujino!"
A few seconds later there was a click of the locks being worked. A shuddering groan of the slightly-broken door being heaved open greeted her call.
Crimson eyes almost glowed in the darkness, entrancing Haruka for a second before she felt the collar of her coat being grabbed. She was yanked into the apartment and slammed against the wall. A surprisingly strong, slim arm pinned her against the wall as those crimson eyes studied her meticulously before they flicked towards the open doorway.
"Were you followed?"
There was no trace of politeness in Shizuru's voice. Haruka shook her head.
"I... I don't know."
Shizuru let go of her colleague, allowing Haruka to look around the apartment. The living room was an absolute mess. Fragments of what looked to be the coffee table were strewn across the length of the room save for a small neat pile of wooden chips that had started to form near the center of the room. A strange man had been haphazardly set up on the floor next to the broken coffee table. His eyes were closed but his chest was still moving, indicating that he was merely asleep. His wrists and ankles had been restrained with duct tape as well as his mouth. Natsuki looked over blearily from the couch. A pillow propped up her head and neck as she laid with a blanket draped over the rest of her body. She offered Haruka a crooked smile in greeting. Haruka blinked and looked to her left, registering Shizuru's presence.
She cut a pretty haggard figure, standing near the doorway. As she turned to close the door and lock up Haruka noticed her disheveled clothing and bruises starting to form on her shoulder.
"Wh-what is going on?"
Belatedly her mind raced back to her father's words but she had little time to voice her concerns as she heard a welcome voice penetrate the tense silence.
"H-Haruka-chan?"
Haruka turned, then, and the relief began to flow in. Yukino was alright. Her glasses were a bit tilted and she looked so very tired, but she was alright. Haruka rushed over to her best friend, stopping just short of running straight into her. Instead she clamped her hands on Yukino's upper arms.
"You're unhurt, Yukino-chan?"
Yukino managed a nod before Haruka drew her in, wrapping her in a tight hug and resting her cheek on the top of the younger girl's head. Haruka closed her eyes.
"Thank goodness..."
Yukino felt the warmth seep from Haruka's coat. Haruka was always a bit more warm-blooded than anyone else she knew, and the heat was welcome this time as she buried her face in Haruka's coat and reciprocated the hug.
"It's going to be okay, Yukino-chan. I'm here now."
Yukino could guess with 95% certainty that Haruka merely meant that she was physically here and Yukino needn't be scared of anymore intrusions. But there was a nagging 5% there that Yukino desperately hoped was the actual meaning behind Haruka's words, that Haruka was actually here for her. She knew it was illogical, but for once she dared to hope.
Haruka could feel her heartbeat begin to race despite her attempts to control herself. She immediately remembered their kiss, the passion behind Yukino's anger, and the hours spent agonizing over it. Her lips nearly grazed Yukino's head until her eyes shot open.
What am I doing?
Haruka let go and nervously cleared her throat. Yukino looked up with confusion clearly written on her features. She could barely hide her crushing disappointment in time. Haruka abruptly turned to face a Shizuru who was studying the two quite intently. Even Natsuki seemed interested in the two as she peered over the edge of the couch. Whatever moment that was there was now buried.
Natsuki decided to break the silence in order to give Yukino some measure of mercy.
"So I hope you are here, Suzushiro, to give us some sort of good news."
Haruka's nostrils flared. She too was welcome for the interruption but she would never admit it aloud.
"It's more like I came here to make sure nothing suspicious was going on, but I guess that's already happened."
Shizuru made her way over to Natsuki and knelt down beside the couch. Her hand easily found Natsuki's forehead and she wove her fingers through Natsuki's hair to soothe her.
"Kanin-na, Haruka-han, but we won't get any definite answers until this man wakes up."
Again an unreadable expression crossed her face before she stood. Natsuki sighed and closed her eyes, finally relaxing enough to get some rest. Still her hand reached for Shizuru with an unspoken request. Shizuru's lips curved into a smile as she bent down to give her a kiss before straightening.
"Until then... would you like some tea?"
Haruka knew she had no other choice but to accept. She let loose a sigh and found her way over to the kitchen table, sitting down on a chair. Yukino wordlessly joined her, but she failed to meet Haruka's gaze when the older girl tried to look at her. For some reason Haruka felt a sadness settle in her bones. As she mulled over what exactly brought it on, Shizuru turned on a burner on the stove and proceeded to boil water for tea.
It had to be one of the strangest Christmas Eves Haruka could ever recall, and her mind had only question marks on what more the next day would bring.
A/N
And here is another chapter. The yakuza ringleader is somewhat based off of Negishi, a yakuza member in Mai-Hime Destiny.
I would like to extend a request onto you, my readers. I would like to write small vignettes involving these characters, and I would like you to suggest some topics/situations. It would be greatly appreciated and I hope we have fun with the results.
Cheers.