It's been a few weeks after the Liberation Army had placed that ultimatum to all in the city, after that girl defiantly stood up against their orders, after Minami had instinctively shot the helicopter down and caused chaos in the entire city.

The aftermath of such an event was not very clean. There was a 'kill on sight' order for the blonde, as well as an increased tension between the captives and the soldiers that patrolled from afar. Sniper shots were disgustingly common sound in anyone's day, although the frequency of them occurring has...diminished lately.

However, the Liberation Army largely kept to their own when it was not curfew, allowing a fragile amount of peace among Kumul. Invictus was slowly growing, from what Minami had heard, but they didn't seem to be doing anything now.

Minami had found a new hiding spot for herself and Kimiko: a small alleyway that would lead to a door with a 10X10 room. The room was cramped, but for the two of them, it would make do. The long alleyway that one had to go made it very obscure as well, so the two wouldn't have to worry of being disturbed. And if they needed to escape in an emergency, there was a trapdoor in the floor that would lead them to the underground.

The daily routine was for Minami to occupy Kimiko with either a book or sleep, urging her to only answer the door if three short knocks followed by two long knocks were given. Otherwise, Kimiko was to not respond, and if they tried to break in, Kimiko was instructed to enter the trapdoor and hide in the center of the underground network, right under the main street, for Minami to find.

Though, this was a special day, as today was Kimiko's birthday.

"Mommy, will you get me something nice as a present, pwease?"

"Aw~ of course dear. I'm sorry that mommy has to be gone all the time. It's to keep you safe and us protected during this ordeal. You know that, right? Trust me, I'll amaze you today, and hopefully make up for me not being here with you!"

Leaving Kimiko in their makeshift apartment, Minami would then travel through the broken city in search of food and other supplies. Often, she would raid the buildings around themselves to empty them of anything useful. So far, she has procured food, clothing, books, paper, pencils, jackets, and even some alcohol and jewelry. Anything that she and Kimiko could use, she would bring back to their apartment. Anything else, she brought it to the central market for trading purposes.

Surprisingly, the Liberation Army kept their word, as twice a week, they would drop crates of supplies in the market. Minami would avoid these initial drops as she heard they became...quite violent. People desperate for supplies would inevitably fight over them, either using guns, blades, or even their bare hands to utterly maim or murder anyone that gets in their way. She heard of one time that a small boy had been almost beaten to death when he tried to carry away a small box of chocolate. The kid's face was apparently swollen all over, purple in color, and that everyone was amazed when he had the willpower to get up and run away from the scene empty-handed.

Besides being a battleground, the market was a large trading post, with constant, surprisingly peaceful banter of new deals, offers, and transactions. Most likely because it was the last shred of a normal society Kumul could have at this point. After all, for the most part, everyone with the exception of those in Invictus were isolated, living to themselves in their respective little "cages" around the city. If someone were foolish to break this sort of serenity, that would just be foolish and catastrophic to any remains of order.

With the alcohol bottle that Minami procured earlier and her M1911 tucked into her back pocket, within reach and hidden, Minami walked into the market and shouted amidst the uproar so she wouldn't get buried. "I HAVE A 40% 32 OUNCE WHISKEY BOTTLE ON HAND! I'M MOSTLY LOOKING FOR NONPERISHABLE FOOD OR PERHAPS EVEN A WEAPON! TALK TO ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED!"

Now, the waiting game would begin.

Minami would continue shouting this to all that passed by, seeing if anyone would be interested. Alcohol fared high in the market, as it was never included in the supply drops, and it's more of a luxury item. Well, not only that, but it can also be used as a molotov, should anyone desire to use it in such a way.

Minutes, then hours would pass. And curfew would inch on and on and on…

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Ah...yes?"

She would look at a rather dilapidated yet smiling old man, wearing a tattered blue shirt and long track pants. In his hand, he held….a pocketwatch.

Something Kimiko would love to have….

"You said you were offering a bottle of alcohol for trade, did you not?"

Minami calmly nodded. "Indeed. What do you have to offer?"

"Ah well, everyone in Invictus wanted a day to celebrate, so I was interested in it. As for what I have to offer...name your price, and Invictus will bring it to you. Of course, as long as it's nothing too ridiculous."

"The watch."

"Pardon?"

"The pocketwatch you're holding. I'll gladly exchange this bottle for that item."

The old man simply looked to the watch in his hand. It was predominantly silver, with a beautiful design of a few ruby crystals on the back. Definitely an expensive item, as well as very aesthetically pleasing. He hesitated, but then he simply shrugged. And then he suddenly threw it towards Minami, which the woman would catch and then hand the alcohol bottle to him.

"Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Miss…"

"Tomoya Minami. I hope that Invictus has fun with th-"

"WHAT?! YOU WON'T TAKE MY DAMN PAPER FOR A PIECE OF FOOD?!"

Off across the market, there was a rather angry blue-haired woman screaming at a female teenager, who seemed to be emotionless at the moment in response to the woman's sudden outburst.

"Madame, please, calm down. What you're offering simply isn't worth it. The paper is of rather low quality and rather marked, so of course I won't exchange that for my canned beans."

"FUCK YOU! I NEED THAT FOOD! FINE, THEN IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, then…"

In the woman's hands, she held a 12-gauge shotgun, and without warning, she pulled the trigger and quite literally blew away the teenager away.

As well as any source of serenity and order.

With the teenager summarily dead, the corpse now bleeding against the wall, the woman would pump the shotgun again and fire into the general crowd, causing everyone in the market to either flee or shoot back. People just started falling and falling, getting caught in the crossfire as bullets rang throughout the entire city.

Minami, of course, ran, gripping the pocketwatch in her left hand while taking her M1911 into her right. The chaos of the market has now caused anyone who was even remotely armed to shoot at any strangers, as there was little knowledge on who actually started the scuffle. Thus, two people, one with a revolver and one with a carbine, took aim at Minami.

Minami took notice of this, kicked a thick metal table over, and hid behind it for cover. The table protected her from most of the bullets, but the metal wasn't thick enough, and some bullets bled over, causing some to hit her torso and began bleeding. Minami simply winced from the pain, but then kept track of where exactly the bullets were hitting from, taking in the sound of the muzzle and the sound off the table to get a precise angle.

See, Minami was rather...gifted with firearms. She had a natural talent with aim, especially during early hunting trip with her father in Australia, where she had managed to take down a large feral buffalo in a single shot. This natural talent was compounded when Minami joined the military, the People's Liberation Army, actually. After being shaped by its training regimen, Minami turned into a rather deadly machine with a gun in her hands. Able to quickly take down anyone in her way, and completing missions as an amazing elite, before retiring when she settled down with Kimiko.

Thus, taking down two amateurs here would be no problem. Once she was certain of their location, and when there was a break of gunfire due to them both being forced to reload, she shot in their direction, right before they would pop out to fire again, killing both of them with two swift headshots.

With those two out of the way, Minami would keep run towards one of the bodies, picking up the carbine and the ammo on his body. Holstering her pistol and putting the pocketwatch safely in her pocket, she grasped the carbine, loaded it, and ran off towards her home again.

Though, on the way, she took a...wrong turn. After three pathways, Minami found herself in a dead end. Cursing silently, she turned around before she saw three men, all armed and ready to fire.

And fire they did.

Well, one shot. Straight to her leg, crippling her and forcing her to drop her carbine on the ground.

"Hold on, don't finish her off. I think we can have a little fun with her~ What do you two think…?"

The two other men simply...chuckled sinisterly, mumbling incoherently as they nodded in a sick amount of eagerness. Yes, the three were planning to rape Minami.

'Dammit...no...I can't...leave...Kimiko...must reach for my...pistol..'

It didn't look good...to be honest. If Minami had reached for her pistol, one of the three would have shot her arm, and then she would be even more defenseless. To think, that this would be how she would go…

But...it seemed time would smile for her.

As the three men suddenly...fell over, with wounds over their chests, and in the distance, there would be a rather...young boy, who held two more throwing knives in his hands. The kid was short and evidently young, but he was rather...stoic. Blood that wasn't his marked his clothing, and his bright blue eyes were...ambivalent. What else was remarkable was that his face….it wasn't smooth, but looked like….looked like…

As if it were beaten not too long ago.

No way...this was the kid that Minami had heard of? The one that got beaten in the market for trying to run with chocolate?!

The young boy ran towards the three now dead people on the floors, and calmly took out the knives in each of their backs, not even bothering to wipe them off as he stored the blades in his green jacket.

"It's what you deserve after what you three did to me and my dad, and now you're going after another person. You people are truly weak."

Ignoring the pain, Minami took the chance to try to stand, which the young kid took notice.

"Hey, miss, don't exert yourself...let me help."

The young kid, who had an absurdly high amount of strength, supported Minami back to her two feet, allowing Minami to be upright.

"Uh...ugh...thanks...but...who are you?"

"Me? Oh, my name is Charles Pilcher. Looked like you needed help."

"Well, I'm fine at the...urgh...moment. Just need to get home. Not too far from here."

"...Ah I see. Well...I'll just...sit here then."

And just like that, Charles simply sat on the wall, looking into the ground with apparent feelings of loneliness and...emptiness. He had gotten revenge for what those men did to himself and his father, and he saved someone else from their wrath. So...why couldn't he feel anything? Victory, accomplishment, joy? Maybe it was because...there was no one else to share that with anymore.

Minami looked at the child with sympathy. As deadly as he looked to be, and how emotionless he may look, he was still a damn child. He was probably Kimiko's age actually, around eight years old. There should be no reason a child should be going around with those sort of weapons to fend for himself, let alone be in this sort of hellish nightmare at all. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to care for him….after all, he did just save her.

"Oi, Charles? If you want...I can lead you home with me."

"Huh, oh...madame, I couldn't. Resources are too precious to be shared for worthless people."

"Please, call me Minami. And worthless?! Come on, you say that after you saved my life? I owe you one, dammit, so take this opportunity and...urgh…"

Her broken leg failed on her, causing Minami to suddenly fall onto the ground, which Charles responded by standing up and supporting her again.

"...let me take care of you. I think my daughter will like you very much, especially when she hears that you saved me."

The boy simply shrugged. "I guess I have to then, now that you won't let me leave, and you sort of /do/ need my help. Alright, Minami, let's go."

With that, the two walked on to Minami's home, and during the whole way, it seemed that Charles had a soft smile on his face, while Minami also smiled, that was occasionally interrupted with the reminder of both the wounds on her stomach and her broken leg.

They made it to the particular door without incident, even though evidence of gunfights could be heard through the entire city, as well as bloodcurdling screams and explosions. Minami would lift her bloodied hand and knock, three times, then two long ones.

With that, Kimiko would open the door with a smile, only for that smile to be deleted off her face when she saw what happened to Minami.

"MOMMY! What happened...to...y-you?"

"Oh, baby girl…" Minami tried to embrace Kimiko as best she could, which was not that effective due to the condition she was in, being supported by Charles and all that.

"I'm alright, Kimiko...thanks to...well, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Kimiko would stop sobbing and change her teary gaze to the young boy at Minami's left, who would only give a sheepish smile.

"Ah...uh...I'm Charles. Charles Pilcher. I sorta saved your mother and brought her home. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kimiko."

"Wait...I brought something, Kimiko."

With a little bit of struggling, Minami would inch herself inside, closed the door, and sat down, before reaching into her pocket with groans of pain as she extracted what she had bartered for: the silver pocketwatch. Holding it out to the ravenette child, Minami gave a soft smile.

"Happy birthday, Kimiko…"

Charles would only watch in awe at what was happening before him, which would change to shock as he was suddenly hugged strongly by Kimiko, who had brought him and Minami to a small group hug.

"Thank you...thank you...both….I'm so...happy… that you...a-are….s-safe…."

That day was an important day for Kimiko. She would meet a child that she would grow with, survive with, eventually learn to love…

….And though she wouldn't know it at the time, that love would...destroy her.