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"Blah" — Speech

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'Blah' — Thoughts

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*Blah* — Sound effects in speech

(Blah) — Author's notes

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Love Live! School Idol Project. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Train

Eli raises her arm to the side of her face just as a fist crashes into her arm. The blonde slightly turns her body to thrust a jab into her opponent's face. The blow struck the helmet and forced the attacker to stagger backwards.

Eli raises her hands up to her face and rushes her opponent. The attacker kicks his leg out toward Eli. She shifts to the side as the leg passes right by her chest. Eli wraps one of her arm around the attacker's leg and swings her leg at the heel; the attacker falls down and Eli lowers her body to keep balance.

The blonde shifts her arms to squeeze around the ankle and she pulls upward.

"Arrgh!" The attacker taps the floor, "I yield! I yield!"

Eli immediately relaxes her arms and the leg drops to the floor. She bends down and holds her hand out, "Thank you for the fight."

Her sparring partner accepts the hand and stands up from the floor, "No problem." Once the both of them are standing, they give one last handshake and they leave the area.

Eli looks around the room to see numerous mercenaries practicing their hand-to-hand skills. The blonde walks over to the bench to see Nozomi and Maki already there. Her partner smiles, "That was a good fight Elichi."

"Thanks." The blonde picks up a water bottle and towel, "How was your fight?" She then takes a swig.

Nozomi shrugs, "It went well. My opponent tried to drag it out but I was able to surprise her."

Eli wipes her face and turns to the doctor, "Was this our last test?"

"Well..." Maki flips through her notes, "Your speed, stamina, muscle strength and endurance have improved." The redhead nods at them, "You two have made a full recovery and then some."

Nozomi does a small fist-pump, "Nice."

Maki collects her notes, "Since you two recovered, I'll be heading back to Japan soon."

Eli sits down on the bench next to Nozomi. 'So two weeks have passed since that video.'

Nozomi looks up at Maki, "Why not stay for a while longer?"

Maki shakes her head as she tucks her notes under her arm, "I've been away from my company for too long."

"Aw," Nozomi slumps her shoulders. She then waggles her eyebrows at the redhead, "Be sure to have a farewell-party with Rin and Hanayo."

Maki's cheeks light up and she speed-walks out of the room.

Eli raises her eyebrow, "Did you have to do that?"

"What?" Nozomi leans back on the bench, "It's not good to be stressed all the time."

Before Eli could respond she sees Honoka walking through the door. As their boss stops in front of them, the blonde nods her head, "Hey Honoka."

She nods at them, "Yo Eli. Nozomi." Honoka waves them over, "We've got a lead."

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. . . . . . . . . . .

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Command Center

Once Eli entered the room she notes countless digital screens and the technicians manning them. She spots Tsubasa, Umi, Rin, and another woman standing behind their technician.

"C'mon." Honoka waves them to follow as she walks to the group.

They reached to the group and they greeted each other. The woman holds out her hand, "I'm Jane Miller and I'm the commander for this operation."

Eli shakes her hand, "Eli Ayase. What's this about an op?"

The woman tilts her head to the biggest screen in the room; it's showing a thermal imaging of a house with two blotches of red inside.

Eli looks back at the group, "What is this?"

Tsubasa is the one to answer, "Thanks to your info, we found out some of the attackers are Slovakian." She gestures to Hanayo and the workers around them, "It took some time but we were able to find all Slovakians entering Los Angeles." Tsubasa pats Hanayo's chair, "Hanayo here actually found a group of them staying in an empty house."

Rin beams at that, "That's great Kayo-chin!" The techie shrinks in her chair at the praise. Rin tilts, "Wait how come they are still here?"

Umi answers, "It could be that these two are the ones that Eli incapacitated." The blunette looks at the screen to see the blotches staying in place. "It seems they were left behind because they could not use any hospitals."

Jane jumps in, "You could ask them when they get here." She taps her ear, "Get into position." Eli then notices other blotches surrounding the building. "Change the camera." The screen changes to video of a POV camera attached to one of the operatives.

The mercenaries take position along the walls, "We're in position."

"Execute."

The camera briefly shows a couple of soldiers throwing stun grenades through the window. The view then shifts to the ground.

BANG

BANG

"GO GO GO!" The person positions themselves in front of the door to kick it. The soldiers rush into the building. They spot one man laying down on a bed and the other sitting on the couch.

"HANDS UP!" The one at the couch was about to reach for the gun but froze in place. "HANDS UP!" The both of them slowly comply.

Now that the screen is stable, the blond is able to study the incapacitated kidnappers; the one on the bed has bandages around his chest while the other one has a makeshift splint around his leg. Eli almost smiles at their state but she stops herself, 'Wait what was that?' Eli takes the time to look around and she stops at Rin; she bits her lips, 'Rin...'

Jane nods, "Good extract them back to base. The other team will clean up the area." She turns to Muse, "It'll take some time before we can get anything from those two."

Eli nods at Jane and then to Honoka, "I suggest we should start our squad exercise."

Honoka nods her head, "Okay. I'll be here to see if anything changes."

Eli tilts her head to the door, "Let's go." Umi, Rin, and Nozomi follow after the blonde.

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Hallway

"Um Eli this is the dorms."

Eli continues walking, "I know. I need to talk to you." They reach inside Eli and Nozomi's room; Eli closes the door and looks at Rin, "I think you should step out for this one."

Rin recoils at the blunt statement, "W-What?" She tries to recover, "Why not!? Isn't this our job?"

Eli shakes her head, "Not like this. We trained you against amateurs, not professionally trained terrorists."

"I—" Rin shakes her head, "No... No!"

Nozomi raises her hand, "Rin—"

"Nico is my friend!" Rin grips her elbow, "I failed her by not being there. I can't..." She shakes her head, "Not this time."

"Can you kill someone?" Eli steps closer to Rin, "Can you aim a gun at them and pull the trigger?"

"I—"

"Because they will not hesitate to kill you."

Nozomi places a hand on her partner's shoulder, "Eli."

Rin bolts out of the door. Umi sighs and follows after the newbie, "I will talk to her. In the meantime..." Umi stops at the door to look back at the duo. "While I do agree to some of your points, you could have handled the subject in another way. I suggest you to take a break to cool your head." The blunette closes the door behind her.

Eli sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, 'Goddamn it.'

Nozomi steps closer to the blonde, "What going on Elichi? You never acted this way before."

"Rin needs to understand how dangerous these people are."

Nozomi stares at her partner, "...It's not just about that is it?"

Eli draws in a deep breath and looks at Nozomi, "...I love her Nozomi and I know you love her too." Nozomi widens her eyes as the blonde continues, "Seeing her held hostage like that, a part of me thinks we won't see her again and I hate it. We didn't get the chance to say it to her."

Nozomi suddenly clasps her hands around Eli's hands, "We will rescue Nico! We have the largest company in the world as our ally and you have us." She places her hands on either side of Eli's head. "Trust us Eli... Trust me."

Eli stares in shock at Nozomi's face. After a few moments in silence the blonde sighs and rests her forehead against Nozomi's forehead. "Thanks."

"Mnn." Nozomi waits for a few seconds before she speaks again, "Will you give Rin a chance? I know that she is a civilian but this is our job. We have to be prepared to take action to protect our friends."

"...Okay."

"C'mon." Nozomi tugs Eli hands to their bed, "Let's take a break before we go back outside."

Eli follows after Nozomi.

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. . . . . . . . . . .

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Simulation Dome

"Eli."

The blonde turns around to see Rin standing there; the blonde can see her resolve in her eye, "Yes?"

"I know that this is extremely dangerous and these are very dangerous people but I am ready to do what—"

"You can stay."

"—but I will—" Rin blinks her eyes, "What?"

"You can stay. But know this..." Eli points at a group of mercenaries posing as the enemy, "I will make sure that you are prepared for anything and we will be unmerciful. Are you prepared?"

Rin nods, "I'm ready."

.

Days later...

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"Again."

For days Eli and the others have been pushing Rin in her training. Right now they are practicing a squad exercise in a cave setting. Eli controls her breathing as they reach the starting area. Just as they were about to start the simulation, Eli phone rings. The blonde takes it out to see Honoka's number and she answers the phone. "Yes Honoka?"

"We captured the spy."

"Really? How?" The others have stopped and watch Eli. She turns on the speaker.

"The commander had her operatives watching the safe house. It took a while but the spy came to check on the house. He's in the interrogation room now."

"We'll go there."

"Okay I'll see you there." The line cuts off.

Eli looks at the others who nod back and they leave the room.

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. . . . . . . . . . .

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Eli steps into the room to see Tsubasa, Honoka, and other employees in the room. "Honoka. Tsubasa?"

Tsubasa nods at them while their boss turns around to face them, "Hey." Honoka then tilts her head to a digital screen, "The spy is in the other room."

The blonde looks at the screen and her body tenses.

Rin is the first to comment, "Isn't that the guy who got shot at the garage?"

"Yes," Honoka nods, "Steven Nash... if that's his real name."

Eli's body shakes as she glares at the man sitting in the room. 'It's his fault that Nico is gone.'

She then feels a hand wrapping her hand; she turns her head to see Nozomi at her side. "Eli."

The blonde takes a deep breath and slowly releases the tension. "Thanks." Her partner smiles. Eli smiles back and focuses on the interrogation.

"...With these kinds of evidences you could be charged with treason and be labeled as a traitor for helping terrorists." Steven stays silent.

The interrogator sighs and opens the folder, "I see that you have a lovely wife a two-month-old baby." Steven twitches.

The interrogator taps the table, "This may seems like a coincidence but that seems to be around the time the US lead a joint strike against the Brotherhood." Steven's eye twitches. "It seems they had to do a C-section on your wife and your baby almost didn't make it. Because of that their leader died because you didn't have time to inform them. I believe they gave you a second chance to redeem yourself otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"...What do you want?"

"Where's Nico Yazawa?"

He shakes his head, "I don't know."

The interrogator sighs and starts packing up, "How disappointing Mr. Nash."

Steven starts to sweat, "I really don't know! Look I only make contact with their second-in-command. Ever since the attack the brotherhood moved their base and wouldn't tell me." He sighs, "They threatened my family if I didn't give information on the idol and fail them a second time." He drops his head down onto his hands, "I'm sorry."

The interrogator stays silent as he tilts his head to the side. Eli spots an earbud in his ear and turns to Tsubasa, "Who is he listening to?"

Tsubasa taps her earpiece, "...It's the boss lady. She's giving a deal for the spy."

The guards look back as the interrogator leans forward, "How about we make a deal Steven? We can offer you and your family protection from the Brotherhood. In return you give us information and we will wipe them off from the face of the world. Not only that we will pretend that you were a spy and you can live out your life here with your family."

Steven gapes at him, "...Isn't that illegal?"

The interrogator shrugs, "We're not the government."

"...I really don't know where she is."

"Any information can help us."

Steven frowns as he stares off into space. After a few moments of silence he perks up, "Wait." He focuses back on the interrogator. "I heard that they are making a weapons deal to resupply their assets."

The interrogator starts to scribble down on a piece of paper, "Where and when?"

"Somewhere in Greece... I think in Athens. The deal will be made...I think in about three weeks."

The interrogator nods, "Thank you for your cooperation Steven. We'll make sure your family is safe."

Eli looks around as everyone moves into action; Tsubasa is on the phone as the technicians rapidly types on their keyboards. The blonde then makes her way to the door.

"Where are you going?"

Eli turns to Honoka, "We need to get ready and move." Honoka nods and the crew leave the room.

Rin catches up to Eli, "Have you ever been to Greece?"

"A few times in my travels."

"We also had a client at Greece before you joined," Nozomi chimes in as they pile in a jeep and drove off.

Rin tilts her head, "I guess this would be my first time."

Umi pats Rin's shoulder as they returned to the simulation dome, "Do not worry Rin. We will make sure to teach you about their language and culture."

They reached inside the dome and got off the vehicle. "But for now..." Eli puts on a vest as the dome shifts into an urban setting. "We train."

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Fin.

The crew is finally on the move.

Now for the future:

Welp my school schedule is finally kicking into full gear. That means that I will focus on papers, volunteer work, and presentations...what fun. So I'll see you guys... next month?

Thanks for reading

Constructive criticisms are appreciated

Bravo Tango out.

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Nico looks up as the door opens to show the black beret and an older man. "Hello Nico."

"What do you want?"

"Don't be like that." Black beret walks closer and Nico finally notices a bag in his arms. He walks behind her and she hears a soft thud.

Nico tries to control her breathing, "W-What are you doing?"

"Nothing much." Nico feels something on the top of her head, "Did you know your hair can hide a lot of things?"

The idol sees a flash of metal at the corner of her eye. 'It's a knife!' Nico starts to panic and thrash about.

"Hey! Hold stil—"

"ARRRGH!" Pain flashes around her left eye. She then feels two hand gripping her head; she opens her other eye to see the other man in front of her.

Through the haze she hears him barking orders, "You! Get the medic. You! get a bucket of water." It felt like minutes when another man comes in. The new arrival replaces the older man and starts to inspect the wound.

In the background she hears someone arguing:

"Что делаешь?"

"Я просто надел ее стрижкой."

Sigh "Еще не поздно отпустить ее."

"Нет! Аyase нужно получить то, что ждет ее."

'Ayase? Isn't that—' The man injects something into Nico and she starts to feel sleepy. 'Eli's...'