Chapter 2
Hi, readers! Again, thank you soo much for reading this fanfic. I tried to make this chapter longer than the first one. I didn't realize how short it was until I saw the posted version. Turns out, 1000 words is A LOT less than I thought. Please leave a review and a like! It really means a lot to me!
Year 844 July 21st
Ayamu's Pov
Ayamu saw three options, Fight, Stay, Run. Also a bunch of sub ones. Since she would try to be there ally later, she probably didn't what to threaten them with her dart gun. But on the other hand, Shorty is standing there with a knife pointed at her. He didn't look like he wanted to talk. So running was really the best option. He couldn't exactly report her either because he hadn't gotten a clear view of her face yet. Also, he himself was a wanted person so he couldn't just waltz into the government office to report her. So quickly and silently she replaced the ammo of her gun with a wad of paper (her hand was already in her pocket). In one swift moment, she took the gun from her bag and fired a shot behind Shorty. When he was turned around to check what she fired at, Ayamu turned and sprinted. It wasn't long before Shorty was hot on her trail. Except Ayamu knew all of the hiding places in the city. When she turned around a corner, she slipped into the door of a building and took out her dart gun that she pointed on at the door. If he was smart enough to check the door she would fire. Luckily, he didn't.
"Did you happen to see a girl with hazel hair pass here?" asked Shorty. So he was checking around. Ayamu though.
"Nope," said whoever Shorty was talking to.
"Tch, that brat," said Shorty. Maybe I should change his name to Tch. Shorty turned around and started heading back.
"Levi!" said the other guy. Okay, so his name was Levi. It was short, like him.
"Yeah Farlan?" said Levi.
"Did you find the eavesdropper?" asked Farlan.
"Nope, The brat just disappeared" replied Levi. It took all of Ayamu's willpower to not fire at his little short body.
"Well, that can't be helped." Farlan said with a sigh. Then Farlan and Levi walked off. It's about time. She thought. It was 3:27 and she was supposed to be in alleyway to meet
her someone at 3:40.
"Well," said Ayamu, "I better get going." Ayamu pocketed her gun and, when the coast was clear, went outside and hurried to the alleyway. On the way, she took a bandana and covered her face with it. As an info. broker, she couldn't risk someone seeing her face. By the time she reached the alley, it was 3:37. She hid behind a stack of boxes and waited for her client.
"I'm assuming that you're there, Shadow Fox," said her client that had just arrived. Shadow Fox was Ayamu's code name.
"I am," Ayamu replied. "I heard you were paying 7 silver for info. concerning on a shipment of gunpowder."
"Yes," her client remarked, "I've heard of you being one of the best information brokers there were out there, and because of that I am assuming that you are here because you know what I want."
"The shipment will be of 4 boxes of 25. The train will arrive on the West Line on July 29th around noon. The shipment will mostly likely be in the last 4 train cars. Is that enough?" Ayamu said. She could tell that her client was not expecting a report that through.
"That's enough, and here are your 7 silvers." The client tossed a small drawstring bag with the seven coins in it. Ayamu took the coins out and tossed the bag back. The currency in the underground went like this; 10 bronzes equals a silver, 10 slivers equals a gold. The gold was actually rose golds but most people just simplified 'rose gold' to 'gold'. Plus, the coins were really old so instead of bronze, silver, and rose gold. They were more like rust, gray, and orange. Ayamu pocketed the coins and headed to her hideout. Well, Ayamu thought, that's two week's worth of food earned right there. Surviving in the underground is pretty easy once you know how.
Year 844, July 25th
Ayamu's Pov
Ayamu woke up on a stack of her notes. She had been studying them all night. With a lot of researching and observing she had been able to figure out how a 3DMG worked, how the straps went, and etc. She had taken notes before she got her 3DMG, but was dismayed when she realized they had missed several key points.
"Finally," she muttered as she got up and picked up her notes. "I get actually get to trying the 3DMG out." Ayamu took her 3DMG and walked outside of her hideout. Her hideout was on one of the upper ledges of the underground cave. The only way someone could spot her is if they found a way to stick to the top of the cavern, and looked directly left of them. Which, She thought, would never happen, even if they did get up here I would see them first. Ayamu picked up her 3DMG and began putting the straps on. After a bit of trial and error (and a lot of referencing back to her diagrams of how the straps were supposed to be put on.) she was able to get it on. She shot up the grappling hooks and tried balancing. Turns out, Ayamu figured after a few tries, The trick is to have control of your weight, then focusing on a spot and try not to make any unnecessary movements. Within a few (actuality, six) hours Ayamu was able to get the basic gist of the 3DMG. She was a really fast learner. After that she went inside she took the 3DMG off and settled down on her floor. It was already 1:00. Ayamu got her bag and cloak for a little eavesdropping in town. When she walked out Ayamu stopped to look around.
"Well," she muttered to herself, "It's another normal day, at least, for me." and with that Ayamu headed off.
I know it's weird to leave an author's note in the middle of a chapter but OMG, I just did a little research on when Erwin recruits Levi and the others, and I just learned that the animation director of AOT: No Regrets is Ayumi Yamada XD. Total coincidence. I promise I didn't do that on purpose.
Ayumi Yamada (AY)
Ayamu Yoshikuni (AY)
I cannot get over this.
Year 844, July 31st.
Ayamu's Pov
"Well, that was an easy five silver." said Ayamu, "Now to spend it all in the black market."
Sleeping drug was typically 1/2 silver for 2 doses, and gunpowder was 1 gold per can. Since all of the gunpowder and sleeping drug in the underground was either smuggled or stolen, it was only natural for it to be really expensive. Also, you could only get those deals in the black market, and that was all the reasons Ayamu needed to steal her gunpowder. For sleeping drug, they weren't too expensive considering Ayamu's income and a big hassle to get so she usually bought them.
Ayamu went around the corner to a nearby bar. Along the way, she took her bandana and wrapped it around her face. Anonymity was important in the black market. Especially for people that had a clean record in the government's view. When she walked in the bar she was greeted by cold looks. Ayamu sat down and the far end of the table and signaled the worker with her right hand. She wore a ring on that hand that was made out of obsidian and had an engraving of a fox on it. Recognizing her rank as the Shadow Fox, the worker leads her to a back room that had a tunnel leading to the black market. Without a word, Ayamu went down that tunnel and into a bustling place selling 3DMGs, high ranking officers, gunpowder and all sorts of illegal items.
"Ugh," Ayamu said, "This place still smells like trash."
Ayamu was walking around not really looking for anything when she saw a stand selling paralyzing darts. She walked over to the stand.
"Hey," she asked the seller, "How much do these cost?"
"3 1/2 gold to fifty," replied the seller. Ayamu sucked in her breath. So expensive! Then remembering a trick she casually put her right hand on the table. The seller's eye's widened when he realized that he was dealing with the Shadow Fox.
"Oh really," Ayamu sighed "Then that's too bad. I'll be going."
"Wait," that seller said abruptly, "I'll knock off ½ gold." Now that was a deal. That meant that each dart was around 6 bronzes.
"They're automatic I'm assuming?" Ayamu said. Automatic mean that the drug/poison would work within 10 seconds of admission.
"Yes, the poison starts working in 3 seconds then start traveling around. Within 30 seconds the person will be completely paralyzed." replied the seller.
"Okay," Ayamu tossed the 1 gold over. He slid a pack of darts over to Ayamu. Ayamu pocketed them. She didn't have much money left to do any more shopping in the underground so I went out through the tunnel that I came through.
When Ayamu burst out of the musty bar she walked until she was out of sight of the bar to untie the bandana that hid her face. She curiously observed the packet of paralyzing darts.
"Well, I guess I'm trying them out." Said Ayamu under her breath. She took out her dart gun and replaced the sleeping darts with the paralyzing ones. Then she put her dart gun in her bag.
Around that time Ayamu heard a lot of commotion going in the town square, Probably a riot, she thought, I should probably just scale the building with my 3DMG. Riots usually ended as a massacre and Ayamu did not want to get caught up in that. What Ayamu didn't know was that the commotion wasn't a riot. It was the Survey corps and Levi's mini-gang. So when Ayamu took off her cloak revealing her 3DMG and shot the grappling hooks out, a Survey Corps officer saw her. The instructions the Survey Corp officers were given were 'to catch anybody in the underground that had a 3DMG without blades.'
"There's one of them! Catch her!" Ayamu heard. That's when she realized they were after her.
"Really?" Ayamu muttered. She pulled herself up and began scaling the building as quickly as she could using her 3DMG.
"If you wanted to pick a fight with the Shadow Fox you're in for a world of hurt." Her hand tightened on her dart gun as she pulled it out.
"Because" She aimed for the officer "I have a reputation to hold up." She pulled the trigger, seconds later the soldier began to stumble and eventually fell. Looks like those paralyzing darts work really well. Ayamu thought. She was confident that there was no way she would get captured. She was relaxed, feeling smug even. But panic rose inside her when at least 8 soldiers rose behind the buildings. She could handle 3 easily, 4 with a bit of pressure, 5 would be a tight escape, 6 with a bit of luck. But Ayamu could not handle 8 highly trained soldiers by herself. Not to mention more reinforcements were probably coming.
"I sure am glad I bought these paralyzing darts." said Ayamu.
