--

To say the Chief had been unhappy with him was a bit like saying that the sun is a little warm, or that space is a little bigger than Earth. Yuuki's first impression of her had been that of a tiger on the prowl, and it had been grossly inaccurate; the Chief Akitori who had welcomed him back in the station with all the warmth of a Siberian winter had a lot more in common with a rampaging Tyrannosaurus with a bad toothache, or with a volcano in the middle of an explosive eruption. And as much as he hated to admit it, he deserved to get buried under her pyroclastic flow.

He had screwed up. Big time.

"So let me get this straight," she was saying. "First, you let some two-bit corp with a big head trample all over us, the Japanese Police Forces, and kick your partner out of the facility you were both charged with investigating together on motives that scream of discrimination. Second, you leave her, a thirteen years old girl we are responsible for, HiME or not, unguarded for about two hours, in a highly classified area, regardless of what damage she could have done to the facility or to herself, or what sensitive information she could have seen."

She took a breath before continuing, "Third, you left her there with the fucking remote, just to be sure that you'd have no control over her if she went wild, and most importantly fourth, you let your partnership degenerate to the point where she'd rather blatantly violate some of the most important parts of the Public Protection Laws than stay with you."

Having made a list of his sins, she spent the next moments drilling holes through his head with the glare of her laser eyes. "I highly doubt it, but I hope for your own sake you have a good reason for this, and it better be the kind of stuff they make action movies out of."

He remained silent, though he was fuming inwardly. Why was it all put on his back? Kuga was the one with the super powers, right? How was he supposed to stop her, especially after he—stupidly, he had to admit—let her take the remote? What was he supposed to do, grab on her Child's tail and get his head chopped off?

"…I see you don't." the Chief said with finality in her voice. Yuuki tried to swallow his heart back down; it didn't work very well. "Had anyone else screwed up as badly as you just did, Tanuki, I'd have either kicked them out of the force with a note of incompetence, or sent them back to the academy regardless of their age. However, I don't exactly have a suitable replacement at hand, and I can see Princess isn't exactly being cooperative in this, even if the alternative is to have her bothering everyone in administration again. And I know how intolerable she can make herself be when she tries."

It took everything Yuuki had to resist nodding in agreement, something that would have had him kicked out of the force. Oh, how little a thread his job was holding on right now… and all because of her.

"Still, she is thirteen. You are twenty-four. Between the two of you, I expect you to be the responsible one—"

"Hold on, how was I—"

"How were you supposed to know she would react badly to being treated like a parasite?" she interrupted with a voice like liquid hydrogen. "Geez, I don't know, why don't you fucking tell me?"

There was another awkward pause in which both of them collected themselves, before the fierce captain spoke again. "After tomorrow, I want to see the two of you acting like a proper team, or I'm stuffing you so far back down the hole you crawled out of that by the time you finish falling, the sky will be glittery purple and cars will run on rainbows. And yes, I will have words with her. She's lucky we need her right now or I'd have locked her up to cool her head a bit.

"You're dismissed for today, Tanuki. Go home, and don't you dare disappoint me like that again."

That had been yesterday evening, and as his squad car slowed to a stop in front of the Himeno Orphanage, Yuuki reflected on the Chief's words. Get along with her? Become partners in one day? He was doomed. So doomed, in fact, that the devil would probably have to take pity on him and offer him a consolation candy.

He exited the car and closed the door, then moved to walk on the path that led up to the Orphanage's entrance.

"Mister officer, may Fumi-obaahan and I take a bit of your time?"

The sudden interjection made him jump. Behind the police car, dressed in a simple brown and red yukata, stood Fujino Shizuru with a serene, unassuming and unreadable smile on her face. It took a few seconds for Yuuki's brain to catch up.

"Ah? Ah—I mean… sure, I guess…"

How had she gotten there? He could have sworn the street had been empty…

Before he knew it, he was inside, sitting in the Himeno living room, and Fujino—…? Shizuru-san? He really wasn't sure what to call her, except 'ojousama', but he had the feeling it wouldn't be taken well by the young teen—was putting a steaming cup of green tea in his hands. The room was large and colored mostly in brown, with the exception of a rich red carpet and various framed pictures, most of them, evidently so from the… artistic talent displayed there, drawn by younger tenants. On the far wall at his right was an unlit fireplace sealed behind a glass, in front of which an oak table stood, framed by a pair of dark red sofas. Yuuki himself sat on one of them, whereas a voluptuous woman stood on the other, directly in front of him.

It took him a fraction of second to realize the smiling woman was the one his partner referred as "Fumi-baachan". The woman's chin-length pink hair bounced with curls, and alongside the matronly dress she was wearing complete with an apron, and the gentle green eyes on her rounded face, everything about her spoke of a caring and kind woman who was perfectly happy with the way things were now.

Well, almost; something in her eyes led him to guess Natsuki had already told her side of the story, no doubt completely biased. He resisted the urge to stand up and defend himself, as any truthful defense he could offer wouldn't have worked to his advantage in front of this jury.

"Ookini," he said to… Shizuru-san, who gave him a polite nod in answer and turned toward Fumi-san, who already had her own cup.

"I will fetch Natsuki," she said.

Fumi-san nodded. "Take your time."

The teenage girl (was she really?) nodded once more, and left, leaving them alone. Fumi-san quietly took a sip of her tea, and frowned a bit.

"Shizuru-chan always makes it a bit too sour. Still, she's getting better," the matron mused with a fond smile at the door before turning her eyes towards Yuuki. "Hajimemashite3, my name is Himeno Fumi, and I am the owner and caretaker of this orphanage."

"Ah… Tanaka Yuuki," he replied, then with a smile, "but you already knew that."

"Yes, I did." She was still smiling, but there was something in her voice that made his smile vanish. "As much as I'd love to talk and get to know Natsuki's new partner, I assume you do not have a lot of time in your hands, considering what you are chasing—and Akane-san already knows Natsuki tells me everything," she added at the surprise on his face.

'Akane-san', huh? Sounds like those two are pretty close, he mused while sipping his tea—it tasted fine to him—before sighing.

"You could say that. There's a meeting first thing when we get back to central, and I'd be wasting everyone's time if I didn't show up in time."

"If you and Natsuki did not appear in time, am I correct?" there was a warning note in her voice, and Yuuki winced inwardly.

At his nod, she spoke again on a tone he could only compare to the voice of a mother scolding a naughty child. "Detective Tanaka, this orphanage serves as a home for ten girls, between the ages of eight and seventeen. Each of these girls knows and cares for the others like sisters, and I care about them like I was their mother. And Natsuki is particularly precious to us all.

"When she came here, she was like a scared hedgehog, ready to stab back at the smallest word, rebelling against anything and everything in the world, claiming she hated it here and that she didn't care about or needed anyone else. More than once, things degenerated into shouting, and even blows. I even had to use my own remote once to get her under control, as much as I regret it today," the woman smiled sadly. "But I love her. We all do, and that's why she became as calm as she is today—do not give me that look; compared to how she used to be, she is a real angel now," she admonished with an unvoiced chuckle. "She only needed to be cared for and loved, something she'd never felt in her life before."

Yuuki blinked, and his itching curiosity needed to know. "She was abused?"

The woman shook her head. "Her past is her own to tell. Just know this: Natsuki does not like being put aside. No one would. The way you treated her yesterday hurt her a lot more than she'll admit, so you can expect her to be especially disagreeable today. There is unfortunately very little I can do about that, and most of it I've already done. Scolding her more would be counter-productive. And—"

"Obaahan? Natsuki is getting ready," Shizuru's voice startled them both as the kyotoite girl came back. The pink-haired matron nodded.

"Well then… I guess I let myself get carried away, and I apologize, but Natsuki has quite a bit to lose in this, you see. I'm surprised Akane-san did not ask you to arrest her after what she did yesterday—" the matronly woman froze, then with a little bit of nervousness, asked, "she… did not, did she?"

Yuuki shook his head, and she sighed in relief.

"Good. She is still afraid of the dark, and I don't want to think of what would happen to her if—oh, where did…" she patted the pocket of her apron, before sighing and giving him an apologetic smile. "I must have left that blasted thing in the kitchen. I'm always removing things from in there and putting them everywhere else… I'll be right back."

Yuuki nodded, and Fumi went to the door. She opened it, startling the two young purple-haired girls who'd evidently been eavesdropping, then while gently chiding them, she left and closed the door, leaving him alone with the red-eyed teenage girl.

"She seems very nice," he told her, and she nodded.

"Yes. Fumi-obaahan is a very kind woman, and we're all very grateful for the childhood she's giving us so generously." The unnaturally mature girl sat on the same seat the woman had just vacated. "This is less an orphanage than a foster home, despite the name, and she has become something of a mother to us. And accordingly, many of us, myself included, have come to see each other as sisters of fate in this strange family… which brings me to my point."

She looked right into his eyes, and Yuuki felt something primal in him answer as he stared back into those crimson orbs, like what was in front of him was not a girl ten years younger than he, but a deadly, dangerous creature that could strike him down in an instant, like a snake on a mouse, should she only be inclined to do so.

"Fumi-obaahan was not lying when she said Natsuki has a lot to lose. While I do not approve of her actions yesterday, I can understand them, probably better than anyone else here. And I have little doubt that, collar or not, rules or not, if Natsuki is pushed to that point again, she will repeat herself. And if she does, then… unfortunate things might happen."

Her hands flexed,

-FssshsKLISH

…and Yuuki discovered first hand that Fujino Shizuru was a HiME when the flawless blade of her element, a naginata tinted with the same dark red as blood, tickled the skin of his next like a teasing, deadly feather.

"To her and… to quite a few people, probably," she finished matter-of-factly. He was certain she was making no exaggeration and decided, at that point, that this slip of a girl who was probably less than half his weight was the single most dangerous thing he had ever faced in his life.

-click-

The turning of its handle made them both turn toward the door, where Fumi-san entered, Natsuki following grudgingly. The pink-haired woman addressed them both a smile; the naginata was, of course, gone.

"Then, if you'll excuse me," Fujino declared, her voice airy like nothing had happened, "I have other affairs to attend to. Gokigenyou, mister Officer, Natsuki." And she walked out, giving Fumi-san a nod and the bluette a fond smile as she left. By all means, he should have stopped her, or told Fumi-san about the threat he had just received, but the memory of those mesmerizing crimson eyes staring into his like the glare of a snake turned his objection into an undignified croak.

Somehow, this day had become one that would not only decide the path of his career for the rest of his life, but also apparently how much longer his life would last; after all, no amount of concrete and steel could stop a HiME on a rampage. And it all depended on him getting along with that little brat of a girl he'd been assigned to, who was glaring at him like he was the most revolting thing on this side of the world.

He had the feeling that, if the Chief was the judge and Fumi-san the jury, then Fujino-san was the executioner, and would only do her grisly task with far too much glee.

Screw doomed; once those three were through with his soul, even the devil wouldn't want it!

-

--

MyHiME

Book 1

Fresco

-

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. In soviet Japan, Sunrise owns you.

-

Chapter 6: Viridian

--

-

"Tokiichi Konishi. Born at Tadashi hospital 29 years ago, transferred twice in grade school, then once more during middle school because of his rather nomadic parents. Above average general grades with a weakness in maths. Entered Tokodai on the first try, passed with flying colors everywhere except maths. His teachers' evaluations noted him as who does just fine if pointed in the right direction, but who jumps to conclusions and has trouble adapting if something unexpected happens."

"Like his partners in crime deciding to dress up like carnival clowns," the Chief said.

Yuuki resisted the wince the Chief's voice threatened to cause in him, despite her cutting words not being aimed at him this time. The presences of Natsuki, Eriko and himself were to be expected, as was that of Kumaji seeing as their case was the biggest thing going on for the moment as far as he knew. Chief Akitori, however, had walked in the room while the busty researcher prepared the computer that was now sending a picture of the man in question at the screen. No one had dared comment about it.

Tokiichi Konishi – and boy was his name a mouthful, Yuuki mused – was a bit hard to describe, as he seemed to have very few features to distinguish him from anyone else; short bowl-cut black hair, beady black eyes, featureless nose, typical jaw structure, normal teeth… they would probably have had a bad time identifying him if he'd been the guy wearing the monocle and scrappy top hat.

Eriko continued, "His law record is mostly clear, except for getting arrested once over an altercation that went badly, with a certain Professor Araki from Tokodai a year after his graduation; apparently the student didn't appreciate his teacher rejecting his theory out of hand and calling it, quote, 'a beautiful piece of pseudo-science that would be well received by mystics'. Interesting fact, the theory in question had to do with Orphans—"

"Coming from another dimension, right, Morigawa-sensei told me about it," Yuuki interrupted. Eriko nodded.

"Right. Also interestingly, he was hired by GlearCorp almost immediately after being released from police custody, and from there on his records become spotty. Even though I couldn't find it, it's obvious his income suddenly increased. About six months after starting to work, he apparently bought himself a house—"

"Which we've already searched," Kumaji put in. "His neighbors told us he's been missing for 7 days now, but they thought he'd only been gone fishing."

"Seven days…" that would have been last Friday, the same day the Tetsuo brothers had vanished. "I see. Goes fishing often then?"

Eriko nodded. "There are various expenses listed on his credit card that can be explained if he went fishing a lot; bait, rations, and especially this boat," she hit a key on the keyboard in front of her, and Tokiichi's image was replaced by that of a small yatch. "Apparently, he goes off about twice a year, and the amount spent in food agrees with a length of approximately one week every time."

"I see. Is there a warehouse to his name then?"

"Apparently he stored his boat in a warehouse for rent near the coast just a bit south of the Rainbow Bridge." She gave them the address and he noted it down. "The rent isn't cheap, though. Makes me wonder exactly how much he made every week."

"No income tax records?"

"Glearcorp handled those for him," Eriko replied sourly, "which of course means they're top secret, approved by the government. I'd need Chief Akitori's help to get it…"

"…and it's not important enough for me to ask for more favors," the woman cut in.

Yuuki nodded, focusing his mind back on the case. The next step seemed obvious, and had everything to do with the address in his pocket; if they had picked up Tokiichi's boat, it meant their hideout had to be either at sea, or in a warehouse close to the sea, which would explain why their attacks seemed to be limited to Minato so far. No doubt they didn't want to use too much fuel in their car.

And about that…

"Have there been any sightings of their car?"

The police system of Tokyo was made of two sections with very different tasks. The ward HQ served as the first section, charged with conducting investigations, answering emergencies and patrolling the faster lanes to enforce traffic laws. Scattered all over the city was the second section, the police boxes ("Koban"), employed small groups of field grunts who were charged with knowing everyone in their area, reporting problems, holding suspects and helping HQ officers in their work with the information they had.

As a result, you were never more than two or three streets away from police officers anywhere in the city. And since each of them had the description and plate number of the car they were looking for, and since the same information had been leaked to the public, it was impossible for them not to have been spotted a few times so far, something that could possibly tell him where they usually hung around.

"Twice, both times quite literally in the middle of everything, so we can't get anything from those."

"Only twice?!" Yuuki repeated disbelievingly. "What are the koban'ers doing?"

"Interestingly," Eriko added, ignoring his question, "both times were flagged by young women whose names were found in the purple list."

"HiMEs." Natsuki clarified.

"I know what the purple list is, thank you," Yuuki cut in reflexively, then cursed himself at the glare she sent him. He was supposed to learn to get along with her today, damnit!

Still, the implications of that were sobering. Their quarry had been on the run in crowded Tokyo for seven days now, and being actively sought after for a little more than half that time. By all means, they should have been caught already, or seen at least more than twice. That only HiMEs signaled their car's presence meant… what exactly? That it was only visible to HiMEs? But they'd all seen in plain as day on the Murasaki's cameras, hadn't they?

"Maybe their car is like the star?" Natsuki's voice cut into his thoughts. He noticed, with mild irritation, that her question had been aimed at Kumaji, who sent it back to him with a single look.

He shook his head. "The star doesn't show up on video cameras."

"Uh? Oh. Right."

"It might be related, though," the Chief noted with a nod at Eriko, who understood the unspoken order and saluted. "Then, Tanuki, what do you plan to do?"

The question was a test, he knew it. It had less to do with the case than with his partner, and while he had some kind of plan for the first, the second one remained as mysterious to him as the brat's powers.

"First I want to take a look at that warehouse, to see if he left anything behind before going on that 'fishing trip', then… we'll see," he replied, the last bit being said with a glance at the scowling bluette. The Chief seemed satisfied with that.

"Then do it. Kuga, I need to have a word with you. The rest of you move out."

Left unspoken with anything but a deadly glare was a threat of what would happen to him if he tried to leave without his partner. He saluted with a hard swallow.

"And while she's talking to her, I'll be talking to you," Kumaji said. The tone of his voice clearly told him it would not be a pleasant conversation.

"Ah… yes sir."

Was it too late to write his will yet?

-

--

-

"So I heard you screwed up."

Kumaji's words weren't an accusation, nor were they a question. As he and Yuuki shut themselves in the privacy of the ever-deserted break room on the second floor, the kansai officer reluctantly nodded to the plainly exposed fact his superior told him.

The Chief had been angry at him because he'd failed in his duty, because he'd unintentionally—or was it?—sabotaged a partnership she'd believed in, or at least put her hopes on, and because he'd screwed up something spectacular. Kumaji would be angry at him for the same reasons, with the added factor of his own erstwhile partnership with the young girl.

That being said, he knew her probably more than anyone else in the station. If anyone could help Yuuki with his problem, it was him.

"I did," Yuuki replied. The bear-like man didn't say anything, preferring to walk over to the coffee machine with his cup ("Drinks are on me," declared the grinning St-Bernard on it).

"And I'm guessing Akane is giving you one last chance? She means that, you know. "Last"."

Yuuki sighed loudly and sat on his chair. "I knew that. I just wish I had some idea of how to start."

It wasn't like a relationship had a reset button, unfortunately. The little brat honestly annoyed him with her constant little jabs, her uppity attitude whenever she knew something he didn't—which was unfortunately frequent, since he'd never even seen an Orphan before last Sunday, and had never known a HiME more than by name, and she seemed to be a treasure trove of information about them—and her general attitude, and the fact that she was mostly useless as a detective's partner… damnit, couldn't she have been given to a grunt instead?

Kumaji's continuing silence cut into his thoughts, and he looked up. The bear-like officer was shooting him a look that reminded him of his forensics teacher whenever he'd asked a particularly stupid question.

"If you can't figure it out, then maybe Akane was wrong about you. I'm guessing you already know, but either you can't be bothered to do it, or you don't think you can."

Now what the hell was he talking about… before he could ask, though, the captain had moved past him toward the door.

"I won't pretend to having gone through the same problems as you did with her, I didn't. Your situation's probably as much our fault as yours and Princess', but there's a reason Akane picked you and not some random Koban'er from the city for this spot."

"And what was the reason?" he asked sourly.

Kumaji made a grunt. "What's in a good team?"

And before Yuuki could even think of a reply, Kumaji left.

-

--

-

What was in a team?

"People who got along," was the first thing that jumped to his mind, and continued to do so as he walked down the stairs to reach the lobby. The Chief's voice had been dimly audible through the insulated door of her office, proving that she still wasn't done with the brat, letting him know he still had to wait. Problem was, he couldn't see how that answer applied to him and his partner, as it seemed to describe the exact opposite of their relationship.

Back in Misato-cho, he'd been one of the dozen-or-so officers (excluding the double-handful of koban'ers) in a small town of four thousand. Because of how far the force had been stretched by its load, having a partner had been unthinkable, not after he'd been shown the ropes of detective work by the captain. And while he'd never been able to have one before now, he'd always had a mental picture of the ideal partner for himself: A strong, smart and especially beautiful woman, preferably available and interested as well.

He was far from oblivious to his faults, but that particular fault wasn't one he was inclined to suppress.

Even if his partner had been a man, he would have been fine with it; though there wouldn't have been any romance involved (hopefully, at least! He had nothing against those kinds of people, but that boat wasn't for him), he wouldn't have turned out the potential friendship. But his partner hadn't been a man, and wasn't a woman yet. She was a little kid, who, in his opinion, should have been at home studying for school or playing with her little kid friends, and not here playing police officer and stealing his dreamed of partner's place.

"Yes… no, I can handle it. Don't you worry about me, it can' be good for the baby… yes. Yes, I'll… no…"

The one-sided and apparently difficult conversation somehow made its way through the treacherous maze of his thoughts. It was Ishigami, sitting at one of the many cubicles that surrounded the lobby. The man had removed his square-rimmed glasses and his tired body language indicated that he'd only marginally been telling the truth to whoever was on the other side of the line.

"Hm… yes, I… hm… hm. Don't worry, we'll be fine. It's Kumaji, you know, and I'm no slouch mys… what do you mean, you're relieved suddenly—oi! … …yeah, take care of yourself. Later."

And he hung up, releasing a weary sigh immediately after.

"Girlfriend?" Yuuki asked with a grin. The pale-haired man startled and would have had to pick his glasses up from the ground had his lap not been in the way.

"Ah, Tanaka… Partner, actually," Ishigami replied, putting the lenses back on his nose.

In the midst of mentally celebrating at having someone finally use his real name, his mind collided on one detail.

"Partner? But aren't you a grunt?"

"Field Officer, thank you very much!" Ishigami corrected with mock outrage, "and the station assigns us smarter Officers to work alongside detectives; I'm the arm to her brain and her sounding board, really… well, usually. Princess is technically in the same position as me."

Ishigami's conversation replayed itself in Yuuki's mind.

"She's pregnant?" he guessed. Ishigami nodded.

"Six months through and shining like the sun. That is, when she isn't beating up her husband." The pair shared a conspiratorial grin at the mixed fortune of said husband. "So until she comes back, I'm jumping around, replacing people, or doing desk work."

"Ergh."

"Yes, well I think I'd much prefer doing desk work than working on the case Kumaji-taichou and I are stuck on."

Curiosity burning, Yuuki asked, "What kind of case?"

"Disappearances. High-handed serial kidnappings, rather. You might have heard about it on the news, the vanished kids…" Yuuki made a face and Ishigami nodded. "Exactly. And since Kumaji-taichou is always busy looking over the details, guess who has to go and comfort the parents?"

Ishigami nodded again when Yuuki winced in sympathy.

"How many disappearances so far?"

"Four with yesterday's twins—and believe me, I am not looking forward to trying to calm their parents down, one at a time was bad enough. There's nothing officially linking the cases together, and the victims don't exactly have anything in common either, except all of them being girls aged between eleven and thirteen. But with the timing and the MO…"

"No coincidences in this line of work, gotcha. No ransom note, I bet? Maybe it's a pervert?"

A small smile appeared on Ishigami's face. "Funny, that's exactly what Princess said… and about that, is it true that she sent Durhan after you?"

"What? No she didn't!" Now just what kind of rumors were spreading around?

"Rats. I knew believing the radio bunnies was a bad idea," he said in a tone that told exactly how little the lieutenant had believed said stories to begin with. "So, what happened?"

To be honest, Yuuki really didn't feel like telling his mistake to every curious pair of ears who bothered to ask. This pair of ears, however, belonged to someone who knew how to handle the pint-sized gunslinger he'd been straddled with.

"I… …can I ask you a question?" Ok, so he avoided telling it completely. At Ishigami's nod, he continued, "how do you get along with her so well?"

"Well," the other man noised, raising his square-rimmed glasses back up on his nose, "I could tell you that first contact was everything in my case, but I don't think it would help you much, would it."

Yuuki made a face. Running around the station in his underwear while she tried to shoot his balls off wasn't exactly what he'd call a good first impression.

"Hm… How do I do it…? Well, think of it this way: she's a scary little spitfire with the firepower of a tank platoon, but she's still a little girl, so you should treat her like one… well, that's what I do, I guess."

"Tried that, didn't work." He wasn't, of course, considering the fact that he had no idea how to handle a little girl.

"Then, I'm afraid I can't really help you. She hasn't had an easy time, our little Princess. Deep-down inside, she's a very sweet girl, she just has more defenses around her than a battleship," Ishigami said apologetically, then glanced at his watch. "And I'm afraid that's all the time I have. Any more than that and the old bear'll got on my case."

"Hn… good luck."

"Same to you," Ishigami returned with a suffering smile.

-

--

-

"Still in uniform, I see," was the first thing the damn bra—Natsuki-san, the Minato Ward Police's Angel of Mercy, said as she hoisted herself on the patrol car's seat and shut the door behind her. And, cur—bless her tender mercies, she actually sounded disappointed.

Ok, screw that. Fumi-san had apparently not lied when she said she'd be insufferable. He could already feel the headache. Still, he took a breath, told himself to calm down, and with steely self-control, managed to focus on what he had to do today.

Step one, visit the warehouse for some kind of hint, like a map of their new hiding spot (what the hell, they were idiots) or something.

Step two, report what he'd find at the warehouse.

Step three, find a way to get along with the brat before the day ends.

Step four, shamefully report his failure to complete step three.

Step five, run for his balls.

It sounded like a plan. A bad one, certainly, but it was rational and feasible.

Well, first things first.

-

--

-

The warehouse had turned out to be a bust with a minor confirmation. No, they hadn't found the thieves, or any kind of clues, like a map indicating where their hiding spot was (apparently, they weren't that big idiots). As Tokyo wasn't exactly the place with the most real estate available, it wasn't unusual for the people who had them to leave their larger and less practical vehicles, such as boats, in public parking areas. The warehouse had been one of those, and its owner had informed them, with understandable and ill-concealed anger, that their quarry had left only after climbing their way over the fences that protected the other costumers' areas and stealing their fuel.

What they had found, though, is what hadn't been there; the boat belonging to the Tokiichi Konishi was gone. Instead of being disappointed, Yuuki had been delighted, especially after the owner had given him every piece of information he had about the boat in question.

Another interesting tidbit was that the boat had vanished on May second, two days ago. Meaning, one day after the first attack, five whole days after their initial disappearance.

"A boat isn't like a car; you can't park it just anywhere, and it's not something you'd just want to leave somewhere unchecked," Yuuki explained while Natsuki pretended not to care. "Since this boat is built to go on high seas, there's practically no way they could take it up a canal, it would never have enough water there, so it has to be somewhere along Minato's coastline, and they're most likely close to it."

"What if it's like their car?" she asked. "You wouldn't be able to see it then."

She had a point, but… "We can use a camera to go around that," he replied, to which she conceded.

"That's still a lot of ground to cover," Natsuki noted.

"It's a lot less than all of Minato."

A few minutes later, Hăng Lê the radio operator informed them that two helicopters had left the HQ to look for the boat. That left him with nothing to do but wait, something that he had to take as fate's cue toward him to get to the next step of the plan.

Damn.

The brat had been annoying for the first ten minutes, after which she had thankfully kept herself quiet, although it was obvious she was still sulking. Unfortunately, while he considered this a good thing by all measures, it also wasn't the best way to get her to work with him, or him to work with her, for that matter. As he drove semi-aimlessly around, he tried to figure out a way to get on the topic that wouldn't have the little girl get mad at him, and that would help him… what exactly?

To be honest, he had no idea what to do. He tried to get in her brain, to figure out what she wanted to say, but no matter what he tried he couldn't figure out what made her tick, why she was still sulking and being an obstacle to their partnership instead of doing her best to work with him despite what it meant for her.

His instincts, trained to figuring out the motives of rational or semi-rational criminals, collapsed in incomprehension in front of the simple wall that was a young teen's immaturity.

The streets were clear, thankfully enough, as Yuuki doubted his mind would be clear enough to register danger at the moment. After nearly missing a red light, though, he decided to stop risking it entirely, and with a sigh, he parked his car just a few blocks away from Tokyo Tower, at the northern edge of a small forested park. He ignored the look the little girl gave him and glanced around, hoping for inspiration.

In front of him, a salaryman walked toward the pond on the park's other end, alongside a woman wearing a standard secretary uniform with a very tight skirt, obviously trying not to be obvious at peeking at her swaying hips. Somewhere right, a family of tourists was arguing over a map; he thought he heard "Zojoji", but it could have been just another word of the language they were speaking… Spanish? Italian?

At his left, beyond a fenced barrier, a noisy bunch of grade school kids were playing a game of softball. For a moment, he thought about asking her if she wanted to join in, but reconsidered after guessing she would take being asked to play with a bunch of kids as an insult to her age. He glanced behind her, absentmindedly noting she had left the car and was staring at him with a mix of confusion and impatience, and spotted a grocery store, from where a pair of high school girls was leaving. He smiled a bit, maybe that would help.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but you'd better not be getting any ideas."

But damn she was insufferable, he mused as he absentmindedly tasted his strawberry Popsicle. Sitting on the bench as far as she could from him, Natsuki was glaring at him with her own in her hand, still wrapped (blueberry, because they hadn't carried mayonnaise). In front of them, one of the kids, a speedy little tyke with green hair and boy clothes hit the ball, resulting in a flurry of excited screeches as he barely reached first base safely. Natsuki unwrapped her Popsicle and started eating it, eyes on the game and small legs swinging in boredom.

Another kid took the bat, grinning like a… well, an overconfident kid, loudly challenging the pitcher.

He sighed again. The moment seemed good enough.

"They're not going to put you back with Kumaji, you know."

"I know that," she snapped back.

The ball flew. The kid swung and missed, among laughs and jeers from his friends.

Yuuki took bite. The ice was so cold it almost hurt, and a cold spring wind flew by with a few early Sakura petals; perhaps Popsicles hadn't been the best idea.

"It won't be Ishigami, either." Why, he couldn't figure out, though; the grunt with square-rimmed glasses was much better at handling her than he was, and he was hurting for a partner at the moment. Maybe they couldn't be a detective team then, but surely there were some heads that needed Kuga's muscles to be broken, right? And yes, so the chief didn't think he'd be able to press the button if she went nuts, but Kuga, immature and annoying as she was, didn't look like she was the crazy type.

Well, except as far as he was concerned.

The ball flew again. The kid didn't swing, then loudly protested when he got a second strike from the umpire. The kid at first base yelled a threat; his voice didn't have the timbre of a boy's—a girl, then.

"I know!" she barked, this time, then quietly continued, "If the chief put me with you, then there probably isn't anyone that's good enough in her mind. Winding up in admin again is gonna be hell, but I guess it can't be helped."

He frowned. This almost sounded like…

"Couldn't you just quit?"

Natsuki shot him a glare, the hottest she'd ever given him so far.

"Mind your own fucking business," she seethed slowly. Her jaws took a savage bite of flavored ice.

He flinched. Ok, that hadn't worked.

The kid swung and hit low. He started running. He didn't reach first base, but the tomboyish girl got to second safely. A little boy on the stands cheered at her. Two out.

Inwardly, Yuuki fumed. How was he supposed to know which landmines to avoid if he didn't know the first thing about her?

But that wasn't true, was it. She was thirteen years old, working with the police on the field. She had started at nine, if not earlier. What kind of kid is allowed to work in a dangerous environment like that? What kind of kid is allowed to work, period? It couldn't be her HiME powers, since she'd apparently started working in administration, where her talents could only have minimal use. So then why…

She only needed to be cared for and loved, something she'd never felt in her life before.

She hasn't had an easy time, our little Princess.

The collar. The orphanage. Her attitude. HiME.

Another kid came up to the bat. The ball was thrown. He swung. He missed.

Clues flew around his mind, tossed around like armed grenades, but as he tried to put them together, he only drew a blank. He could now, however, figure out why she'd exploded at his question.

He had just assumed the girl was related to someone in the station, or that she had been offering her services as a volunteer… but he'd been wrong.

She couldn't just quit. She was being forced into this.

Throw. Swing. Miss.

Her past is her own to tell.

Maybe it was, but it was time for him to at least look up what part of it was easy to get. Past time, actually.

Throw. Swing. —CRASH—. Screams.

His mind derailed. His Popsicle fell to the ground. The concrete wall on the opposite side of the baseball field exploded in dust and metal shards. The kids started running, but the girl at second base, shocked by the explosion, tripped and fell instead. A monster stood out of the dust cloud, a headless roughly humanoid shape that stood about eight meters tall, with arms as wide as a bus and fists the size of wrecking balls. As the dust settled around it, Yuuki noticed it seemed to be glowing, and realized the Orphan was completely made of ice, and was reflecting the light of the sun.

Another attack. The thieves were nearby!

Then there was a blur at its feet. It moved quickly, too quickly, and dashed toward the kids—

"DURHAN!"

While he'd been standing there staring, Kuga had burst into movement; the leftover ice crystals that marked Durhan's appearance hadn't even vanished that the bluette was already on her Child's back, but it was obvious she wasn't going to make it in time; the blur, a second, almost imperceptible Orphan, would reach the fallen child far before she'd be in range to do anything about it. He saw it like in slow motion, the shadow bursting forward. Ten meters away. Six. Three.

A scream of terror from the child seeing death coming to her.

Then a blinding flash of light, and a screech that could not be produced by a human throat.

-

--

-

Natsuki stared in shock while Durhan skid to a stop next to the girl she had been certain she wouldn't be able to save. The flash of light had been a welcome surprise as it had thrown the speedy Orphan away from its near-victim. More unexpected, however, was that the younger girl was suddenly holding a pair of twin-bladed throwing daggers, and that, next to her, a large metal toad, roughly the size of a car, with blue tubes and crimson wheels arranged in a way reminiscent of an reversed ribbon, was staring at her. It took a few moments for Natsuki to realize what she'd just been witness to:

The crowning of a new HiME.

There was a powerful crash from the edge of the field. On its way to somewhere deeper in the park, the ice Orphan had smashed its way through the left-side wall. Natsuki was pulled out from her stupor, but unfortunately so was the speedy Orphan. With an unnatural screech and something that sounded like a buzzsaw, it threw itself forward almost too fast for Natsuki to see, but her shields were raised in time to block the silver flashes of blades aimed at her face. It backed away in surprise and slowed down enough to let her see it clearly.

It was taller than her, but not by much, with two stumpy legs wider than they were long and four toothpick-like arms ending with wicked-looking sickles. Its scaly back bore two pairs of leafy wings that beat impossibly fast in short bursts, producing the loud sound she had heard. She grinned at that; its speed would be useless if she could hear it coming from that far.

"Durhan, load chrome cartridge!" she ordered, and her Child obeyed. It didn't look like it had any kind of protection; one blast should be enough to take it out, she mused.

Durhan turned toward it, only to see that—

WHIIIIIZ—

…it had already moved, and was now a few meters above them. She pointed her guns at it, but faster than she could realize, it dashed again, this time straight down at the new HiME.

"Look o—"

The Child, the Orphan and the girl vanished in an explosion of sand and chalk.

-

--

-

It hadn't taken long for Yuuki to realize he'd been gawking like a moviegoer watching a particularly realistic action film, just long enough for the ice Orphan to take a few thunderously slow steps deeper in the park. Fortunately, it was very slow, and its size meant that practically every tree along the way blocked its path with their branches. That didn't seem to hamper it too much, though, as he saw it casually uproot and shatter an oak and a cherry tree with lazy a wave of its massive fist. Fortunately, it didn't seem like there was anyone who couldn't run from it or hadn't done it already. Unfortunately, it looked like it would be able to do a lot of property damage before the brat and her new friend could get around to killing it, busy as they were.

He had seen her take out something a lot bigger than the pipsqueak she was up against, so he wasn't worried. The thieves remained in his thoughts, but they were less important than stopping that monster as far as he was concerned.

But what could he do? He didn't have super powers, the army would never get there in time, and he had a handgun, but he didn't think something the size of a house would notice a little piece of lead jamming itself in it… not that normal guns worked against Orphans anyway—

Wait a second. Hold on. That thing… Where had he put it again…?

Of course! The car's trunk!

With one last glare at the plodding monster and another glance at the brat's scuffle, he dashed toward the parked patrol car and the weapon it contained; the photon-phaser or phase-disruptinator or whatever-was-its-real-name: the Flash-stick.

-

--

-

No normal human being could hope to survive fighting against an Orphan, even with the help of fearsome beasts like Childs at their command. As such, most HiMEs received not only Elements, but also physical enhancements when they were crowned. This was barely noticeable for some, while others became able to weight lift cars or single-handedly swing around massive weapons that they shouldn't have been able to lift in the first place. Natsuki herself was somewhere near the middle of the spectrum, but it seemed to her, as she saw the new HiME fling herself backward a dozen meters with just one shove of her legs, that the newbie had gotten quite a bit luckier than her.

Still a newbie, though, hence why the younger girl, surprised at the leap she had taken, missed her landing and tripped on her butt. The insect-like Orphan flew out of the dust cloud straight at her, but Natsuki had been ready.

"FIRE!"

There was another explosion of sand and dust, but Natsuki made a face when she realized it hadn't been caused by Durhan's blasts; the shells flew through the cloud to carve another hole in the ballpark's back wall, while the Orphan flew high above the new girl, having used its incredibly fast reflexes to avoid them.

"Damnit!"

'Apology'

"It's not your fault, boy…" she sent back, mentally weighing her options. The little bugger was fast, but the noise it made reduced its danger level to nearly nothing for an experienced HiME like her. Unfortunately, speed wasn't her strong point; Durhan's shots were relatively slow, too slow to catch something as fast as it. Her guns could hit it, sure, but unless she managed to freeze those wings, she wouldn't be able to do enough damage.

So, she turned toward the other HiME.

"Hey, you!" she yelled; diplomacy had never been her strong point, either. "Can you do anything?"

"U…Uh?" She was still sitting there, staring in incomprehension and horror at the weapon in her hand, and Natsuki held back the sympathy she felt; there'd be time for her to realize what she was later.

"Can you do anything?" She repeated. "What's your name?" Maybe an easier question would get a less vapid answer…

The girl stared at her, then at the small guns in her hands and at Durhan beneath her, with a slowly dawning air of comprehension.

"A…Akira. Okuzaki Akira," she replied. "I… you?"

"Kuga Natsuki," she replied, not taking her eyes away from the buzzing Orphan. "And Durhan."

"Y…You're… a HiME."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Well spotted. So are you, by the way, if the star, the mark, the elements and the giant flytrap over there didn't tip you off." Ok, so being in the middle of a battle made her a bit less patient than usual. "Now in case you haven't noticed, there's an Orphan up there, and it wants to cut us a new asshole near our foreheads. What do you think of that?"

"I…" the tomboy blinked at her language, then steeled herself. "What do we do?"

"I—"

WHIIIIIZ—

'Danger!'

"Wha—"

Durhan jumped away, barely avoiding the Orphan's sudden dive-bomb. The gunshot-like impact cut off Akira's surprised squeak and the raised dust hid her from Natsuki's view again, but not for long; when she saw her again, the Frog had moved between the Orphan and its HiME, mouth open and something black spinning in it like a drill. With a deafening metallic clank, the Child fired the drill(?) forward, but once again that damnably fast Orphan darted upward and avoided being hit.

"Uwaaa…!" Akira squeaked, falling back. Slowly, clumsily, the frog trudged around as gracefully as its too long legs allowed it to stare into the greenette's terrified eyes. She squeaked again and took a step back. The frog seemed to hesitate, then glanced around like an angry guard dog looking for an intruder.

Natsuki almost groaned when she recognized what was happening. The Child sensed the HiME's fear of itself without understanding its source, ultimately leading to it attacking anything nearby, scaring its HiME even more. A fear loop.

She'd been hoping to avoid that.

"Okazaki!" That was her name, right? Right. Whatever. "Calm down!"

"B…But…"

"That's your Child!" She shouted, remembering words she herself had received in the past. "Don't be afraid of it, it won't ever harm you!"

"B…B…?" She still looked terrified, but the Child's large red eyes were once again on hers. Obviously something was working…

"Akira-kun!" A voice came to their ears and both girls looked toward its source. There, on the stands about thirty meters away, was a young auburn-haired boy in blue and beige, probably one of Akira's friends. Why the hell was he still there?!

Unfortunately, it seemed the Orphan also had ears and, sensing an easier prey than a pair of HiMEs, it launched itself at the boy.

Akira saw this immediately. "TAKUMI!" She yelled, and threw herself forward as fast as she could; had Natsuki not been almost directly behind the action, she probably would have seen nothing but an imperceptible blur.

The younger HiME's footsteps came like automatic fire, small mounds of dust and sand rising far behind her, several meters apart. So fast even a camera would have had trouble seeing it, the green-haired girl threw something, small black blurs so quick Natsuki wondered if she'd imagined them somewhere on the ground at the Orphan's shadow, then threw herself up over the fence in one prodigious leap. Something seemed to slow the monster down, giving enough time for Akira to land next to the idiot boy, but a second later it broke free of whatever it was and finished its flight. With a thunderous crash, it rammed into the benches like a wrecking ball.

The toad must have known more about what was going on than she did, because almost immediately afterward, it leapt up, catching the airborne pair on its head (when she had ever found time to jump up, Natsuki had no idea). The ground shook when it landed, and Natsuki resisted a snigger at seeing the stunned look on Akira's face—the girl had obviously been going on instinct alone.

"Good job there," the bluette said to her, then to the shaken boy, "what the hell were you still doing there?"

"M…my pills," he replied.

"His… His heart is weak," Akira explained, gathering herself, then looked at her blades. "I… these things, they can slow it down… I think."

Ah, so that's what it'd been. "I noticed. Can you do it again?"

Akira frowned. "I don't k-"

"You do know," Natsuki interrupted. "Just think about it, say the first thing that comes to your mind."

"I…" she swallowed nervously, then nodded. "Light. I can pin its… its shadow down, I think… But it's too pale right now, we'd need a better light source… Gennai can… Gennai…" she blinked, then looked down at the toad under her feet. "You're… Gennai."

Natsuki grinned, ignoring the HiME's self-discovery ramblings. "Strong light source, hn? Durhan, load Chrome and Flash Cartridges!"

As Durhan obeyed, Natsuki's grin grew feral. Oh yeah, she could do light, alright.

-

--

-

Damn but that thing was heavy.

He was back where he'd started, near the bench in front of the ballpark, but with the massive futuristic-looking Orphan-busting rifle in his arms, and with probably a whole liter of missing sweat. However, now that he was armed, he could do something.

something. Like, what? On the other side of the fence, it didn't look like Kuga and her toad-loving friend had killed the first Orphan yet, but the massive ice Orphan was still heading deeper in the park, causing a lot more damage. Then there were the thieves. Where were they? He was pretty sure he wouldn't get there in time to put a collar on them this time either, but it couldn't be helped… hopefully the Chief would agree. Besides, she'd asked him to be Kuga's partner, right?

So what could he do? He could go up deeper in the park and start shooting the big Orphan, but he remembered Kumaji's warning about how efficient the heavy rifle was supposed to be against them, so doing that was begging to get stomped on like a mosquito. So obviously, that was out; he'd already had plenty of that with that lobster thing.

There was only one thing he could do, he realized as he raised the rifle in position and aimed inside the ballpark. Time to help the brat.

Whether Yuuki's shot turned out to have changed anything was a question no one could answer. The sequence of events happened very, very quickly; first the Orphan decided to make another pass at the delicious morsels standing on Gennai's head, if eating was even its goal in the first place. The toad's red ribbon-like structure rose over its back while the blue tubes inserted themselves into turbines on its back.

"FIRE!" Natsuki yelled, and Durhan obeyed; instead of a torrent of ice or a more conventional HE shell, the shot Durhan fired erupted into brilliant light, almost blinding the police officer. The Orphan wasn't so lucky, and with an alarmed screech, it slowed down.

The toad's turbines started spinning, and light erupted from the ribbons. A clean shadow drew itself on the wall behind the Orphan. Akira threw her blades toward it.

Yuuki fired at that moment, miraculously hitting the suddenly immobilized Orphan and tearing a hole barely as large as a golf ball in one of its wings. Its screech didn't change noticeably.

"FIRE!" Natsuki yelled once more.

The chrome shell hit it directly in the guts. Its screech stopped suddenly, replaced by a detonation and a rain of green flaming debris; very few of them reached the ground, and none remained half a minute later. Natsuki flashed a grin at Akira.

"Hot damn."

The other HiME blinked, then slowly smiled and nodded.

"Oi, Kuga! There's still one left!" Yuuki shouted. Natsuki blinked; he was still there?

"Why the fuck didn't you go after the thieves?" She yelled.

"N…Never mind that!" Oh, he so didn't want to tell her he'd taken so long to react that the thieves were probably gone. "The other one went that way!"

"Thanks," Natsuki rolled her eyes; the uprooted, smashed, crushed or otherwise destroyed trail it had left behind wasn't a big enough hint, see… She turned to look at Akira and the boy… Takumi, was it? and said, "I'm going after it. You don't have to follow if you don't wan—"

"Takumi, stay here," Akira ordered her friend, as if not hearing Natsuki's offer to back out at all. "I'll be right back." Natsuki noticed she used "ore1"…definitely a tomboy, and not a spray-painted one.

"You don't have to tell me… just… good luck…?" He said.

She gave him a boyish grin. "Luck's for that bastard Daichi, I don't need it."

Takumi gave her a dubious look, but didn't say anything.

Natsuki and Akira's eyes met, and together, on their Childs' backs, they went after the big Orphan, leaving the little boy and the mature young man behind.

"…Who the hell designed this damn strap…" Yuuki cursed, trying to find a comfortable way to carry the damn rifle. Takumi gave him a slow look.

-

--

-

"It's… big," Akira noted.

No, really? was what Natsuki felt like saying, but to be honest she was thinking the same thing as the green-head. It was one damn big Orphan, taller and bulkier than anything she'd faced before, even including the seafood reject from three days ago. An obvious downside was that she doubted even her kinetic shields to be able to stop a punch that size—HiME instincts being what they were, she really didn't feel like testing that hunch—but on the upside…

"Load Chrome Cartridge! Fire!"

…it was slowi/. The twin shells flew perfectly and detonated against the back of its head, drawing a grunt of pain that probably registered on the city's seismographs. Little bits of it flew off in a shower of green glitter, but it didn't even turn around to face them; another tree went flying out of its path as it continued walking toward the end of the park.

"Where is it going?" Akira asked.

"Fucked if I know," Natsuki replied. "I'll take a look from above, you try to slow it down."

"Huh?"

Instead of explaining, Natsuki transformed Durhan into hoverbike mode and launched him upward, still latched on his back. Once above the treeline, Natsuki immediately saw what the creature was after; its path, very easy to see from the trail of destruction, led it in a straight line toward the artificial lake at the south end of the park.

Maybe it was HiME instincts, maybe it was experience fighting Orphans, or maybe it was just plain common sense, seeing at the thing was made of ice, but something told her letting it reach the lake was a bad idea. She took control of Durhan and made them land near the lake's shore, where only a few trunks separated her from the monster.

"Durhan, load chrome cartridge!"

Durhan obeyed, but she sensed more than felt how difficult it was for him; he was getting tired, and she knew he wouldn't be able to fire many more shots, even if he wasn't informing her of it directly. She had to make this count.

There was a flash between the trees as Gennai's ribbons erupted into light, and a machine-gun like series of impacts when Akira's elements tried to pin its shadow against the tree trunks. The Orphan paused for only a second, but with something that could have been either a grunt of effort or an annoyed snort, the enormous beast shoved forward, and the trees serving as anchors went flying, roots still clinging to the dirt that fed them.

One of its massive palmed feet broke out of the devastated tree line and into the paved path a short distance away, followed by the other, down on the sand a mere meter away from the water. Natsuki aimed for the back foot.

"FIRE!"

Once more, Durhan's aim was perfect. The beast flinched this time, its movement aborted. For a moment, Natsuki dared hope that it would stumble, but one of its massive fists flew down to dig a crater into concrete and rock, holding it upright. It turned its beady little eyes toward her, and its other fist went up.

'Danger!!'

Durhan bucked, throwing her forward and off his back. The fist went down.

CRASH!!—

Natsuki landed face first and tasted dirt, but she didn't care; her entire attention was on her Child. As soon as she could, she spun around.

To her immense relief, Durhan was standing, dwarfed by the Orphan's fist right next to him. He didn't hesitate for a second and dashed for her, grabbing her by the shirt with his jaws and flinging her on his back before taking flight again. As they sped away, Natsuki saw something black return to Gennai's mouth; Akira's Child's projectile had shoved the fist aside, saving Durhan's life, and by extension, her own. Natsuki gave them a grateful nod. Akira returned it.

And then, the Orphan reached the lake.

Or rather, the lake reached the Orphan. The injured foot was dragged into the shallow edges, and was immediately mended. Worse than that, Natsuki watched in horror as it siphoned the lake away; dirty lake water flew up its body, enveloping it and freezing, enlarging the creature. She could do nothing but stare as the lake vanished completely, and when it was gone, the Orphan had gone from standing as tall as the tallest tree in the park to being taller than the buildings around it.

Feeling entirely inadequate floating like a fly next to the titanic monster, Natsuki could do nothing but stare as a foot as big as a small house took it away from the drained lake.

"…fuck."

-

--

-

Yuuki had not been idle in that time. He had the (accurate) feeling that his rifle would do very, very little against something the size of what the brat was shooting. The only thing he could do was, after making sure the other little kid would be safe, to find what the thieves had hit this time, and hope they'd left something juicy behind, or (dare he hoped?) were still there for him to stop them.

Once on the street, he looked around, brain going in full drive. Their first target had been a fruit store, their second a jewelry. Both times, they had gone for money or for expensive wares, meaning their goal was to get rich. They'd been unsatisfied with what they'd got out of the first target and attacked something bigger on the second try, but with the lack of buyers for their stolen goods, they didn't get anything out of it either.

Meaning… meaning…

He dismissed two nondescript offices and the drug store immediately. Not enough liquid money there. The electronics store next to them was also ignored; same reason. Seeing as they had picked here to attack, it meant they'd had found what they wanted; the amateurish positioning of the first attack followed by the much better targeting of the second hinted on a progression, a pattern. These thieves, these gutsy, gifted but incredibly dumb thieves, were drunk on their victories and would have hit the juiciest target they could imagine. And since they were after money…

Shinsei Bank

…bingo.

-

--

-

Spiral-shaped shurikens flew and dug small holes in the shadow-covered street. For a moment, they remained standing, but when the Orphan moved enough to allow sunshine to reach the little blades, they were yanked out as if pulled by strings, taking large chunks of pavement with them. The ice monster did not even slow down.

"It's useless," Akira said to a flying Natsuki between prodigious leaps from Gennai. "The street isn't tough enough to hold it." She sighed. "I should have kept that luck…"

"What about the buildings?" Natsuki asked. The green head shot her a startled look.

"B…But there are people in them! If I pin it to one and it pulls hard enough…"

Natsuki ticked her tongue in annoyance, thinking hard to figure out a way to stop it. The trail of destruction had changed from trees and dirt to concrete, steel and glass, but its path was straight, single-minded. It was probably a good thing it seemed to consider breaking buildings down to be more effort than walking around them, otherwise it would have left a trail of death and rubble instead of simply busted streets and destroyed façades on its way east.

East, but more precisely, and Natsuki growled at the offending and unwitting destination of the beast, toward Tokyo Bay. The massive expanse of water connecting directly with the Pacific Ocean was only a few hundred meters away now, if one flew over or crashed through the highway blocking the path. She didn't want to think of how big it would grow if it absorbed that much water. A new word would have to be coined.

Unfortunately, there was little to nothing she and Akira could do to stop it. Both Gennai and Durhan were exhausted, Natsuki's elements were worse than useless, and Akira 's had been their last hope. It looked like all they could do was make sure no one would end up hurt by it, and hope someone stronger would show up. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there was any other HiMEs anywhere nearby; surely something as big as this guy couldn't go unnoticed! Either that, or none of them had decided to help out or felt they could help (which was the more likely possibility).

Natsuki grit her teeth as the monster set off in a street too small for itself; one of its feet turned a vehicle warehouse into as much twigs and scrap metal. It couldn't be helped. "It's gonna reach the highway soon, let's block the lanes."

Akira nodded, looking as annoyed as Natsuki felt, and a hundred times more scared.

Oh, who was she kidding? Had Akira really been a hundred times more scared than her, she would have died a dozen times over.

If that thing got to the ocean, they were fucked.

-

--

-

In the middle of a crowded street, a small hand grabbed the young woman's sleeve. "Ano…"

"Hm? What is it?"

Some distance away, a pair of crimson eyes narrowed.

"Oh? Finally interfering?"

-

--

-

"Rich Rich Rich Rich, we're very Rich!"

Yuuki grinned from where he crouched in front of the counter as he heard the sing-song voice. Seemed like they got greedy and overstayed their welcome. Perfect for him; it looked like his natural assumption of competency on their part had been wrong. He really needed to check that reflex with these idiots.

The flash stick had been carefully left behind (but not too far away, just in case they called up another Orphan on him) and his handgun was already drawn. Gun laws being what they were, it was doubtful they were armed, so he'd be fine enough, so long as he didn't let them separate too much; he didn't like his chances fighting three grown men in close combat. Reinforcements had already been called and would get here any minute; all he had to do was stall them.

Carefully, he looked over the counter. The vault door was open—the shapely service clerk lying prone next to it had probably been threatened into opening it, which could explain why they'd taken so long to get to this point—and the voices floated from inside, along with sounds of boxes being pulled open, unlocked and looted.

"W-Will you be quiet, we're not done yet." The voice was shaky, as if the person owning it wanted to speak much louder but didn't have the backbone to do so.

"But Beru-kun, look! Bags full of cash! We're rich!" The second voice was… dumb. There was no other term for it; everything in it hinted in its owner being as agile mentally as a slug in winter.

"Don't call me that! The cops could still come…"

"And we'll just beat them up and leave, like Okutabius-sensei or the Shokka, only not like the Shokka because he always gets beat up, and not Okutabius-sensei because we don't have tentacle arms, and we'd need a rhinoceros suit to—"

Yuuki blinked in confusion. What the hell was he talking about now?

The first voice made a strangled sound, as if his argument had been found lacking in willpower and ended up stillborn. "I…In any case, we should hurry. Who knows how long our Orphans will distract everyone."

"But Ruru, we've only emptied half the vault—"

"It's Berzelius!" The first, which Yuuki realized had to be Konishi, suddenly erupted. "Not Beru-kun, not Ruru—"

"Calm down, Berzelius," a third voice, calm and stoic, said. "And Blade, he's right. We can't wait much longer."

"Aww, aniki2…"

The third had to be Ueda Tetsuo, the "Kaito kid", which meant that this one was the Freak show, Ueda Sunao (Blade? Berzelius? They'd picked crappy nicknames, too). And it appeared they were finished with the vault. Just his luck again. Fortunately, he had the perfect spot; the service counter he was hidden behind wasn't high enough to stop people from jumping over; it was shaped like an "L", with the long part protected by a thick glass while the short leg was unprotected and contained the door to the back section they would have to come from.

The wall at his right, in front of the counter, was covered with very sturdy half-an-inch thick windows giving to the street and the destroyed ballpark. The employees and clients must have had first row seats to the Orphans' appearance and had probably been the first ones to run away. Behind him, a short distance away, was the end of the smooth brick wall separating the business and transaction sides of the bank, and still beyond that was the front door, giving to the street corner.

He could see no other way out. They were as good as trapped.

Showtime.

-

--

-

Yamada Hanatarou had been having a lousy day.

Part of it was because of the cargo his truck carried, namely two hundred and fifty thousand liters of non-pasteurized milk for cheese production. While he had nothing against milk or cheese, his truck's cooling system apparently did; the mechanism had failed about an hour ago, and he'd been spending whatever moment he could spare to look away from the highway to glance nervously at the temperature display on his dashboard. In twenty years of career, he'd never messed up once, and he wasn't about to start now.

He lit another cigar, his third since leaving; his teeth had cut through halfway into the previous one.

He was almost there, though, and the highway was miraculously fluid for this time of the day, especially in the middle of Golden Week. Going west at the next junction would take him very close to his destination; he was maybe twenty minutes away, checks included. Unfortunately, he didn't know if the milk would last that long, but there was little he could do except drive as fast as he could and hope he didn't end up in a sudden--

!!

(&/?)(

His heart skipped a beat and both of his feet found the brake pedal. Had he been a less experienced driver, his truck would have jackknifed in a second, but as it was, he barely managed to break in time to avoid ramming into the suicidal HiME who'd gone and parked her fucking Child across the highway. Cursing, he kicked the door and tried to get out. When that didn't work, he tried the handle instead.

"HEY! What the f… What's going on here?!" That brat had to be around eleven years old… stupid kid thinking she's doing something funny, no doubt. Her Child, a big metal wolf, gave him a threatening look, while she didn't even bother to take notice of him.

"Just wait a second," she replied absently, staring at… where exactly? Somewhere at the buildings on the left… Bah, who cared! His precious flawless record wasn't going to be ruined by a little idiot's dumb game!

"Now you listen here. What I have in my truck is—"He paused, just long enough to realize his hands were shaking. He put the cigar to his mouth and continued, "…my truck's carrying perishable goods… stuff that'll get spoiled very soon. Do you get me? I don't have time to play—" The ground shook a little. He ignored it. "—your little games, so if—" a gigantic foot of ice made its apparition behind the building the little girl had been staring at, "you would…n't… mind…" he trailed off.

The foot crashed on the rails bordering the building, crushing three sets of tracks and raising an impressive cloud of debris. The other foot came forward and Hanatarou saw the beast they belonged to…

It was… big. His mind stopped taking details in at that point, afraid of what else it would find out.

It was only when the Orphan (because it had to be that) walked into a set of elevated rails and snapped the reinforced concrete structure like twigs that he came to his senses. He dimly noticed his cigar had fallen from his limp lips.

Screw his record. He was definitely not staying there.

Natsuki actually sighed in relief as that retarded truck driver scampered off like a mouse. The Orphan continued its slow walk, its massive feet turning a small plaza into fine concrete dust, then digging monstrous potholes in the deserted (thanks to her and Akira's efforts) highway, uncaring of the power lines (snap—cracklesnapsnap), the random tree limb (shh-crack—snap) or the traffic light (Squeee--CRRUNCH--clapclaaaangclannnng) it encountered.

It really pissed her off to have to let it go along like that, but it wasn't like she or Akira could do anything except cling to dwindling hopes that someone would arrive to help, preferably someone whose element happened to be a pocket nuke. Only a large-but-not-large-enough forested park separated it from the sea now, and if no one had bothered to come when it was breaking cars and damaging buildings, even fewer people would bother coming to help stopping it from stomping on a few trees.

At least, not until it would reach the ocean and everything would go to hell in a handbasket carried by 3 grinning baboons.

Damnit all! She was so going to cas…castre… kick those damn thieves in the balls when she caught them!

She looked around, trying to find some way of stopping it or slowing it down or even give it a toothache (oh wait, it didn't have a mouth, did it?), anything. The park, some kind of historical site she couldn't identify, had nothing but trees, grass, a couple of useless buildings and fleeing birds/people in equal numbers. It was surrounded on three sides by dark water contained there by a dyke and reclaimed land, where some tourism company had parked its unused yachts and cruise boats. Neither of the buildings immediately nearby, some kind of office on the boats' side and a several stories residential block on the other side of the highway, held any ideas—

Wait. Hold on.

Parked ships.

Not parked, that wasn't the right word. Moored ships, weighing several tons, held in place by a handful of mooring lines strong enough to them it in place in case one of Tokyo's relatively frequent typhoons tried to pull them away.

How strong was a cable like that? Strong enough to, say, tie up the legs of a Mothra-sized popsicle, maybe?

Excellent.

She reached the pier in less than half a minute, enough time for the lumbering giant to take only a pair of steps toward the bay. Akira had apparently reached her second wind, as told the handful of uprooted trees that followed its shade like… well, broccoli held by invisible cheese was the first thing she thought. Maybe the younger HiME thought she'd run away and was attacking out of desperation…?

Come to think about it, she hadn't told the newbie about her plan, had she?

Whoops.

Oh well, she had never claimed to be a team player.

Her landing near the fixtures on the pier came mostly unnoticed, as the handful of dock workers present were looking at the Orphan like guests at a particularly gruesome play. However, when she started pulling at the closest cable she could reach, a long one tied to the front of a seventy-some meters Luxury Yacht, one of them ran up to her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled. "You can't just—"

"Durhan." 'Threaten, don't attack.'

'Comprehension.' "GRRRRR."

"—take tha…er… good… boy… …thing… er…"

The cable came loose easily enough, and a short flight later, she was busily untying the boatside section, giving nervous glances at the park all the while. The Orphan had made less progress than she'd thought, probably thanks to Akira (a uprooting a handful of trees weren't a problem, but it seemed dragging a few dozen around was), but there were still only a few steps left before it'd reach the ocean.

The mooring line finally came loose. It was a little short for her tastes, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and she most definitely was a beggar at that point. Wasting no time, she made Durhan grab it in his jaws (it was way too heavy for her middle schoolgirl's arms) and flew straight for the Orphan.

"Okazaki! The line!" She yelled to the top of her voice when she thought the other HiME could hear her, and hoped dearly she wouldn't do something stupid, like, say, grab the line herself.

Fortunately, Akira seemed to have her wits with her. As soon as it was in range, Gennai's "tongue" flashed out, curled around the rope (allowing Natsuki to see that the tip wasn't a drill after all, but rather some kind of studded wrecking ball) and dragged it into the frog's mouth. She moved to control Durhan, but to her surprise the Child sent her an image of tied legs and a sensation of understanding. Grinning, Natsuki sent back a confirmation and let him lead himself; she could have done it and he wouldn't have minded, she knew, but he was naturally more gifted at controlling his own body than her.

Well, obviously.

The Orphan didn't even seem to notice them for the first two turns. Natsuki figured she wouldn't notice if a fly hovered around her legs carrying a string of spider web, either. On the third turn, the rope caught into its step and Durhan jerked violently, almost knocking her off (there was a surprised squeak from below as Akira lost her balance and fell off onto the dirt), but they recovered enough to make a fourth pass, ducking a waving fist in the process.

Then the line tightened like a noose in the middle of the fifth pass. Natsuki quickly ordered Durhan to the ground, where he dug his legs as far into the earth as he could. The Orphan made a noise like a grunting gorilla as it found its legs suddenly being immobilized, and started to pull.

'PAINpullingstrainLoyaltypainLegs/LovepainJAWS '

Natsuki winced at the echoes she was getting from Durhan and almost ordered him to release right there, but restrained herself. Behind them, the Orphan was, for the first time since it had grown from big to Icezilla, visibly straining. She spared a glance at Akira, who was holding her head and grunting in pain, suffering from the same reciprocal pain as Natsuki herself, without the experience to know how to distance herself. The ropes were tensed taught around the monster's frozen legs and were making an alarming creaking in strain. It had, however, stopped.

It had worked. She allowed herself a pang of hope and pride…

CrrrrKKKKKK--K--SNAP!!

...which proved to be a mistake when the cables suddenly gave in to the pressure and snapped with an incredible sound, whipping in every direction like striking snakes. Durhan lurched backward; Natsuki barely prevented an intimate meeting between her face and the dirt by catching herself on his cannons. Akira, having already fallen, was safe to watch her Child bouncing almost comically backward on his powerful legs to crash noisily into a tree.

And then, the Orphan started walking again. Thirty meters, three steps, separated it from the waters of Tokyo Bay.

Two steps.

One step.

Natsuki lost hope.

…then a powerful flash of fire colliding against its massive shoulder made it tip over; Natsuki and Akira watched the gigantic beast topple to the ground as if in slow motion, its massive fist too late at catching its fall. There was an impossibly loud crash and a tremor in the earth as it fell on its back, turning a good acre of forest into matchsticks in the process.

"You two look like you've worked pretty hard," a voice, adult and female, remarked from above; Natsuki looked up to see an elegant woman, probably around her mid twenties (though it could have been thirty or so; grownups…) riding sidesaddle on the flat of a burning sword and descending slowly. She was wearing a brown housewifely dress, had her long auburn hair tied in a braid and her delicately angled face bore a gentle, motherly smile.

Contrasting sharply with that, the sword, a long katana or a short nodachi, she was sitting on in a woman's saddle was surrounded with brilliant flames; its flawless blade was curved elegantly and its metal shone with deadly perfection, in sharp contrast with the vulgar old cloth handle from which a plastic shopping bag hung.

"Good timing," Natsuki greeted as the woman landed next to her. "Can you do anything? We're kinda…"

The older HiME's soft hand fell on the teenager's shoulder. "I'll take it from here."

"It's pretty strong," Natsuki warned, and the woman's smile became a little impish.

"Maybe, but it's made of ice, and unfortunately for it…"

Her free hand rose, and a ball of light and heat grew over her upturned palm.

"…my Child is the Goddess of Fire." She threw the fireball in the air, then grabbed her floating sword just behind its tomoe-shaped guard and cut it in half with one smooth slice. "Amaterasu!"

For the next moments, the only thing Natsuki saw was fire—fire in the sky, fire in the sea, fire in the trees, fire all over her, fire erupting from the broken ball, dancing and spinning in every direction like a tornado, a maelstrom of flames—but there was no heat, no pain, no smoke. And from the center, where the flames were the brightest, Amaterasu appeared as if from a private dance with the older HiME; skin the same tone as burning lava, golden hair twisting and dancing like a flame, rising to her full colossal height from the same flames that whirled around her naked form to create an elegant ceremonial kimono.

The Orphan paused in its attempts to stagger upright, and apparently realizing the peril it was facing, frenetically moved to crawl for the shore as quickly as its massive bulk allowed it to.

A hand as large as a car close around the grip of the building-sized sword sheathed in the Child's obi and meticulously pulled it out. Her eyes opened, twin suns glaring their indomitable will toward the fleeing monster. Slowly, the sword rose.

The Orphan reached the shore with a victorious roar and started to absorb the sea…

…then Amaterasu's sword slashed down, and with a powerful deflagration, the Orphan ceased to exist.

And so did the shore, the dike separating the marina from the open sea, and a good part of Tokyo bay; Natsuki was treated to the spectacle of twin walls of water several hundred meters long falling with a thunderous groan to fill the hole left behind by the almighty flames of a mature HiME's Child. For several minutes the roar of waves and wind echoed all over the city as the world recoiled from the hit.

Then Amaterasu turned toward her HiME. Her stony glare melted into a genuine smile, which the older woman returned, before melting further into a dim blaze. As if banished by the world, the Child's form faded and disappeared, and all that was left after was a deep, awed silence, as if everything in the world sensed that the first to make a noise would be eternally cursed.

And it was the older HiME who did, while smiling at them. "You did pretty well, holding it like that."

The bluette hadn't even noticed her mouth was gaping.

"T…Tokiha-sensei?" It was Akira, standing from the woods where she'd been checking on her Child. The older HiME blinked.

"Ara…? Akira-chan? Then Takumi…"

"He's safe, I left him in the park… ano… thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank the little girl who told me you needed my help," she smiled daintily and lifted her shopping bag, "I'm afraid I caused quite a stir calling my element in the middle of Ginza, but since it let me help you again, Akira-chan, I won't regret the problems it'll give me," the latter was delivered with a playful ruffle of the greenette's hair. The newly crowned HiME made a halfhearted protest—"Sensei…!" which only spurred 'Tokiha-sensei' to coddle her more.

Watching the scene from aside, Natsuki found herself smiling a little…

Obaachan! I told you I'm fine already… mou, Shizuru, there isn't even a bruise, see—Gykk—…Shizuru!!

Then with a wistful (and maybe just a little weary) sigh, she climbed on Durhan's back. She didn't really want to be there when people would start showing up to evaluate the damage.

Besides, like it or not, she had a partner to check up on.

Knowing him, he had probably found himself a third Orphan to get stomped on by.

'Little girl who told her we needed help, hn?' she thought idly, her attention elsewhere. 'I wonder how she got all the way to Ginza…'

-

--

-

"FREEZE!"

It was probably a good thing Yuuki had shouted as soon as he'd heard the thieves' footsteps approach the counter, because, had he waited until he had them in sight, he knew he would had frozen up for a few precious seconds. It was something to see them and their outlandish costumes on camera, it was something else entirely to have them right in your face, almost as if reality had walked over, kicked all reason to the curb and said, 'yes, there really are people who dress up like this to commit high-handed robbery, no, you're not dreaming'.

The first thing he noticed after he was done boggling over their clothes, was where their last stunt's loot had gone. Ueda Tetsuo had decided to take necklaces for himself; four different chains, gold and silver, the longest bearing a big golden disk–wait, was that a pocket watch?—hung around his neck. Ueda Sunao had chosen rings; each of his fingers were adorned with at least two rings, gold or silver, with or without gems, most of them far too ornamental to have been meant for men. As for Tokiichi Konishi, he had, as the good scientist he was, picked the most practical thing possible, although Yuuki wondered his wisdom—more than before, that is—at deciding to put on three different wristwatches around each arm. The three of them carried trash bags which he presumed were full of money over their shoulders.

"Ah… AH…! It's a cop, Aniki! It's a cop!" Sunao exclaimed almost happily, pointing at him with his free hand (that turned out not to be so free after all, holding some kind of weird knife in it) and bouncing like a child at a fair. "And he's got a gun! And now we're going to fight and he's going to shoot at us and the bullets will hurt and we'll go to jail and we'll make a power suit or something and escape and he's going to—"

The other two reacted their own ways; Konishi's eyes went comically wide and his body took the rigidity of a board, while Tetsuo made a mouse-like squeak and panicked. Ignoring the rambling tirade (which Yuuki decided he really didn't feel like trying to figure out), the older brother immediately ducked out of view and tried to find an escape route.

A few seconds later, he seemed to realize the only way out was through the armed policeman and, panicking further, he grabbed one of the clerk chairs, a lightweight thing he lifted with one hand, and tried to chuck it through the window.

It bounced off; bulletproof glass did that to flying chairs. Nonetheless, he picked it up and tried again, and again, while his little brother cheered him on and Konishi looked like he wanted to say something without finding the spine to do so.

Figuring it couldn't hurt, Yuuki just let him waste his strength and time; he even dared lower his gun (to preserve his arms, and especially not in dumbfounded—in the etymologically correct sense of the word—surprise). Twice more, the chair clattered harmlessly off the window, and each time Konishi's reaction got a little bigger.

THUMP—Claklap

Finally, after the seventh attempt, the scientist finally spoke up,

"Uh, Joker… um… that won't… I don't think this will work," he muttered, increasing in volume along the way.

The top-hat wearer scoffed at this. "Nonsense, I just need to throw this right…"

Apparently forgotten, Yuuki couldn't resist a smile of amazed amusement as the thief wasted his strength for the eighth time…

Somewhere else, fingers clicked

And there was a flash of red

Thum—crkk—CRAAAASH!!

…and nearly dropped his gun in shock.

Bulletproof windows are, like the name indicates, bulletproof; this implies a structure built with enough thickness and bounce to it to not only resist bullet impacts, but to absorb their energy so efficiently that nothing short of military-grade ammunition could theoretically pierce through, and even then, their penetration power would be spent.

It was understandable that Yuuki's brain tried to divide by zero trying to understand how a chair weighing barely one kilogram, thrown at arms length, could possibly cause an entire pane of such a window to break apart and collapse to the floor like a card castle blown by the wind.

He recovered quickly enough and brought his gun on them, but they'd already used their chance to dash through the opening and head for their van. His finger found the trigger and pulled easily (PAW!), but the angle was such that another of these supposedly bulletproof windows (yeah RIGHT. This bank must have skimped on the expenses.) separated them.

Unfortunately, it turned out that it was a bulletproof window after all. The thieves reached the van and hurriedly gunned its engine. Cursing, Yuuki dashed for the front door and out into the streets, but as soon as he looked to see them…

…nothing.

The van was gone. And it wasn't down any direction, either. It was like it had flown away. Just in case, he looked up; nothing but clouds.

His brain caught up and he realized it was likely still there, leaving, probably passing right next to him, and he simply couldn't see it. In fact, he couldn't even sense any sign of it; his every senses were telling him the street was completely deserted.

He'd had them right in front of him. He'd had them trapped.

But they'd escaped. Right. Under. His. Eyes.

"GODDAMNIT!"

He paced where the van had been, not sure of what he was looking for, and found nothing. The only evidence that the thieves had even been there was the shattered window and the two abandoned bags of mone…y…

Hey, consolation prize; they'd left most of their loot behind! There was that.

Now if only it hadn't been for this thrice-damned cheap window, he grumbled mentally as he walked inside and squatted over the broken glass. Strange, it looked like it was bulletproof glass…

Hm?

He frowned, then reached forward. Under one of the pieces, on the floor, was something… something red… something that looked like… something that could very well be…!

He reached in his pocket for his handkerchief and, after gently moving the glass out of the way, took a small sample of the red and wet fluid on the floor. It stained the blackish red of blood.

"Ah… AH…! It's a cop, Aniki! It's a cop!" Sunao exclaimed almost happily, pointing at him with his free hand (that turned out not to be so free after all, holding some kind of weird knife in it)

The vault door was open—the shapely service clerk lying prone next to it had probably been threatened into opening it

SHIT.

-

--

-

Finding the man who was her partner turned out to be a simple task for Natsuki; from above, the flashing lights of the three patrol cars and the single ambulance parked in front of the bank were like a lighthouse on a clear night. No one blinked twice when she and Durhan landed behind the security line.

She recognized two of the officers by face, without knowing their names; none of them were that guy. The paramedics were carrying a wounded out; there was the telltale bump of breasts deforming the sheet, so it wasn't him either.

She looked inside. As she appraised the destruction with a curious eyebrow raised—for once, none of this was her fault! What a novel feeling…—he walked out of the far hallway with a video tape in hand.

"Ah, good timing," he said as soon as he saw her. "Could you get your dog to check if the stain next to you is blood? It's on the floor, in the glass there somewhere at your right—ah… you, take this and the evidence bags back to HQ please," the latter was addressed to one of the officers, who nodded and went to obey.

The stain in question was easy to find, dark red on white and grey tiles among transparent bits. Even though he was exhausted, Durhan was still eager to obey her; the unmistakable stench of blood, more intense than the human nose and mind was meant to absorb, flowed into her mind from her Child's senses. She reeled; the connection was shut off with an apology.

"It is," she told Yuuki, inwardly comforting the metallic wolf.

(The officer left through the front door. A gust of wind flowed in as a passage was made temporarily.)

The kansaijin nodded, not appearing surprised at all. A frown appeared on his face; he was thinking, but Natsuki wondered about wha—

'Blood!'

The smell flowed through her Child's link again, much fainter. Only this time, Durhan's nose was not on the ground; the wind had carried the smell with it.

Which meant…!!

'Follow!' she ordered, climbing on Durhan's back. Behind them, Yuuki called after her, but she didn't slow down.

-

--

-

"Now what's she doing…" Yuuki sighed, following the running wolf and the little girl riding it down the deserted street. The relieved high he'd been on since discovering the clerk didn't have any wound but an ugly bruise on her temple was fading now, replaced by annoyance. Did she think this was a playground or something? He had other things to do than chase her across the cit—

He stopped his own thoughts there, chiding himself. She'd been working that way for a while, hadn't she? And Kumaji didn't look like the type who'd have tolerated any kind of messing around from her, did he? Which meant she had to have found something interesting, somehow, right?

All the way over there, a whole block away from the bank? A part of him remained skeptical, the part of him that refused to see her anything but as a brat. Another part of him just hoped she had a good reason this time…

'Had she ever done anything without a good reason in front of him?' a third part of him chided.

Pissing him off?

'Well, I kinda asked for that.'

Destroying a hamburger joint over a pot of mayonnaise?

'It's a good reason for her! …probably.'

He sighed. This kid was going to give him grey hair before his thirties, at this rate.

When he reached her and what she'd discovered soon after, though, he retracted every objection he'd had.

The alley's left wall belonged to a karaoke, and served as its dumpster. And among the small pile of black trash bags full of discarded foodstuff, an arm stuck out from the elbow, a small and deathly white hand dangling limply from its end.

Even as he called out for attention, he couldn't help but stare at Kuga Natsuki's completely still face.

-

--

-

The streets were deserted and plunged in the darkness of the night when Yuuki finally cleared the last turn leading down to the Himeno orphanage. At his left, Kuga sat in the passenger's seat, staring pensively out the window. It could have been the darkness, but he was completely unable to read that young visage, even when a streetlight shone its golden light inside the car.

The clock said 23:00. She was probably exhausted.

But she was big enough to stay out of bed. He recognized that now.

No kid had that kind of reaction to seeing a dead body, especially not the dead body of another child, one mutilated like the one they'd found. Or rather, the ones they'd found; there had been another body of the same young age, with identical wounds and identical faces. He hadn't even needed Ishigami's confirmation to know who it was, either.

The missing twins, Amasaki Yuuko and Yuuno, had finally been found, but not in the way everyone would have wanted. They'd waited at the HQ for the express autopsy results, but the cause of death had been evident from the beginning; both victims had been left with nothing where their chests had once been. Their insides, heart, lungs and other organs, had been completely missing; the flesh inside had been left blackened and flaky, as if a powerful flame had burned them open. There hadn't been time for a full DNA test, but the uncommon blood type of the twins had matched with the stain found in the bank.

There were no coincidences in this line of work. The thieves had to have done this.

And yet, even with the gruesome scene in front of her, a sight so horrible even he'd almost lost it, Kuga Natsuki hadn't even blinked. She'd been taking in the scene, the same way a veteran detective would have.

The patrol car reached the orphanage and slowed down to a stop. Kuga reached over and opened the door without a word. Stepping onto the sidewalk, she hesitated a little, wavered, before finally turning her cold emerald eyes toward his; they were much too cold to belong to a thirteen years old.

"I want to stop them, Tanaka," she said simply.

He nodded without hesitating.

"We will, Kuga."

A connection had been made; an understanding, a common purpose, something they could put their differences aside for.

He finally allowed himself to trace the lines between dots he'd been refusing to see.

Kuga Natsuki was not a child.

Not anymore.

--

The idiot's voice was grating on his nerves.

Who the hell cared about that cash? It wasn't like they could use it anymore, not with their faces plastered as Japan's most wanted on every available TV screen! Yet that fool kept on dancing and cheering like blithering moron (which he was) while his idiot brother nodded and agreed like any of what they'd done mattered.

He'd been going along with their farce for too long, he felt. He knew.

But it was for a good cause, all of it. After all, he had The Book, and although he hadn't read all of it yet, he knew the secret of Orphans had to be hidden there somewhere. Yet if he showed too much dissent or refused to play along, that damn Tetsuo was likely to take it to fill his own pathetic ambitions, never mind that he'd never have the intelligence to figure out the first thing about what was written on this precious pages.

As for running away with it, their benefactor had forbidden that; they had to remain together until they'd paid him back, or else he would take it all away. And all things considered, Konishi didn't think he'd be able to stop him if it came to that; he looked like he had more in common with Orphans than the little boy he appeared to be.

"Look, Beru-kun! We're rich!" Sunao had apparently decided that having it screamed in his face twenty times was not enough for Konishi to realize they'd just stolen a couple dozen million yen, and proceeded to whack him in the face with a bag full of the aforementioned money. He felt another chink in his much maligned armor of patience being chipped open.

"Y…Yes, I see that." Damn his lack of composure, damn it straight to hell! All he wanted to do was to stand up and yell in their imbecile faces about how their ridiculous romps were risking everything he'd managed to bargain for, to tell them to sit down and shut up… but he couldn't. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, his strength flowed away like a pressurized gas leaking uselessly from a fissured bottle.

Damn it all to hell.

One day, he'd take Sunao's knife and jam it right between his ribs. He could already feel it throbbing with the last of the fool's life between his fingers, and he loved it. He really, really wanted to do just that, right now. In fact, the knife was within arm reach at this very moment! He could just reach over, take it without that dumb oaf noticing anything, and gently nail his flapping jaw to his head, the angle was just right…

"Well, you're having fun I see," came a sudden voice. All three thieves whirled toward the source; he stood nonchalantly near the front door of their hideout, crimson eyes glittering merrily.

"It's about time for you to pay your debt back, don't you think?"

Their benefactor.

Homura Nagi.

--

Akuma-sama's notes:

Did… Did I finally finish this chapter?

WOOHOO! Party time!

Sorry for the "monster of the week" format again, but couldn't be helped. Hope you enjoyed the way I set it up anyway! ;-)

For HiME instincts, I actually base this on Canon. Namely, Mai. Watch how she acts when she gets her tomoe rings; her body moves on its own to use its features (the shield, the fire whip). Akira just went through the same thing. The physical enhancement thing, I consider semi-Canon; I don't know about you, but I don't think I could do the kind of stunts Midori (university student here, not some Ninja or wild girl) or Nao pull during the series!

Yes, Tokiha Takumi. Yes, Okuzaki Akira. Yes, Tokiha-sensei, Mai and Takumi's mom. She's still alive, and a grade school teacher. Why? 'cuz. You need no more reason than this. Besides, this Tokiha mommy didn't have to jump in the icy river to save Takumi.

Hope you enjoyed it… ;)

Seriously, I hope you did, because that was one seriously long and sometimes tedious fight scene…… There's only so many ways you can describe a big monster walking and someone failing to stop it.

Also, the thieves. I hate them. A lot. They're so damn dumb and lucky they're hard to write.

Hopefully my resolution of the partnership issue won't be having too many people rolling their eyes…

Japanese notes:

1 ore: Japanese has more than one word for "I", ore being the most vulgar of all, generally used by men. Women generally use the gender-neutral watashi or the feminine atashi.

2 aniki: Big brother.