Later that day

The evenings in Sakurashin were also something to be marvelled at with the myriad of colours comprising of orange, red, gold and purple filling the sky like an artist's painting. Far off the east, a small black spot began to creep over the land, slowly growing larger with every passing moment. The night was on its way and the stars would soon fill the sky overhead, providing of course that clouds were not going to make an appearance as well. On the world below, a few streetlights flickered to life, followed moments later by some lights inside a few of the buildings as if they were in a competition with one another. Fewer cars were on the road now, yet people were still on the move going from shop to shop; fetching food; meeting friends etc. The night life of Sakurashin was stirring; it was known for being quite eventful. Not in a bad way; rather in a more relaxing, yet cheerful way. Something that the majority of the inhabitants could enjoy.

The same, however, could not be said for the mayor and her team.

"So this dragon spear is what eventually got rid of this Gojira thing?" Kotoha asked as she sipped her coffee and placed it on the table in front of the sofa she was sitting on.

"Yes, and the same with Ghidorah as well." Hime continued, sitting at one of the desks that was covered in office papers and empty sushi boxes (she had eaten a lot to try and help her get through the stress of trying to figure everything out). "But obviously, now we have to find out what Gin plan to do in trying to go after it." A pause. "If Gojira is still around, that is." She added.

"So what do we do?" Kotoha asked, resting one of her jean covered legs over the knee of the other. "We still need to find him, or at least something that would lead us to him."

Silence fell over the group again as Hime looked down at the desk as if it held a reply to Kotoha's statement. As much as she hated to admit it, they had no lead on Gin other than knowing why he was here. Damn! It was hard, very hard! With someone like him in their midst and threatening the entire city, it was going to be a race against time to find him and stop him before he caused immense problems for the town and its people.

And then, of course, there was the problem with-

"Ack! Okay, okay, I got this!" the girls' heads turned to see Akina walk out from a small nearby kitchen, carrying a tray with two cups of herbal tea in them. He had nearly spilt them when stepping and sliding on a paper that was left on the floor. We gotta get this place cleaned up a little. "Alright, here we go." He said, reaching the table and putting his cup on the wooden surface. "Ao?"

They all turned to look at the cat-eared woman sitting next to Kotoha, legs crossed underneath her, hands holding each other in her lap and a blank look on her face. She had barely changed out of what she was wearing yesterday, only having put on some different trousers but kept the same navy blue hoodie. The hood was pulled up, covering her blue hair and cat ears as if she were trying to remain anonymous.

The group looked on with concerned expressions. Kotoha had decided to stay at the office with her to try and cheer her up following the revelations made last night about her brother. The result, as you can see dear readers, was far from hat she had hoped. Ao had responded with minimal words to every question or statement put forward by her friend, her voice sounding as if she were someone suffering from depression. Even when she did her usual daily broadcasts to the city, she sounded terribly down, which only dampened Kotoha's spirits further.

"Ao?" Kotoha asked, giving her a concerned look. "Ao, c'mon. We're trying to make you feel better." She told her colleague and friend.

"I'm fine." Was all she replied with.

Obviously not! Hime said, a little annoyed at Ao's empty insistence but was quickly met with a glare from said person. "How about you shut up, Hime!" Ao snapped at her angrily, startling the group and almost making Akina drop her cup of tea.

For a moment, Hime, who was normally quick to respond to such derogatory things with a comment or a shout of her own, struggled to find the words. She tried to apologise but they were lost in her mouth. She had momentarily forgotten that Ao had the ability to read minds and could sense other people's thoughts, and right now, with the way she was feeling, upsetting her even more was not a wise thing to do.

"I – I'm so-sorry, Ao," Hime responded, stuttering a little. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Oh sure, especially when you made it clear that we "Had to take Gin down,"" she mocked Hime's voice and shot her mayor another dark look. "You do realise you're talking about my brother, right?! The one you-" she turned her wrath to Akina now. "-set to the Otherworld and now he's a maniac trying to kill us all!"

"Ao, we were-"

"No, I don't wanna hear it!" Ao cut him off, raising a hand and getting up from her seat, shoving her hands inside her hoodie's pockets. "I'm going outside. Don't follow me!" she emphasised the word 'don't' to them and, ignoring Kotoha's pleas, stormed outside, slamming the door behind her.

Another moment of silence fell among the group as they tried to process what had happened. This was a first for Ao, they had never seen her so angry or upset like this. It quite literally took them all by surprise. She was the most quirky and active of the group, like a child wanting to have fun and bring joy to those around her, and she was visibly upset by what had happened over the last forty eight hours. What was more, with the fact that her brother was the source of their trouble, it was going to be very hard to try and stay together in taking him down.

"Well," Akina breathed after a few moments, his voice also grim. "What do we do now? Do we have a plan before we start killing each other?"

Hime sighed and was about to speak up when the sound of voices from outside were heard. A young girl said something and Ao replied, though what it was they could not decipher. Another voice, this one masculine, spoke up and Ao snapped something at him. Silence. The door opened and Kyosuke stepped into the room, followed by a navy blue haired, teenage young girl with a grey, sleeveless hoodie, a pink top under that and a pair of shorts half-way down to her knees. One of her legs was covered in a white cast, the result of an accident some time ago, and she assisted herself into the room using a crutch.

"Is everything okay?" Kyosuke asked them as he shut the door, looking at them with an expression that wanted an answer to why Ao was sitting outside and had just snapped at them angrily.

Hime spoke up and explained everything to them as they sat down, Touka immediately wanting Akina to sit down next to her with a begging look in her eyes to which he awkwardly agreed to and let her rest her head against his arm. Kyosuke's jaw clenched a little behind his closed lips as his younger sister did this. She, like him, was an Oni as well and had a bit of a crush on Akina. Well, a bit was an understatement. Kyosuke often frowned upon his sister's fascination with the human male but said nothing, though they all knew he was not particularly happy with it. And right now was not the time to do so when they had more pressing matters to deal with.

"So what did you find out today?" Hime asked Kyosuke, facing him completely and waiting for his reply.

"Not much," he told her, adjusting his glasses and took out a piece of folded up paper. He spread it open and laid it out on the table for them to see the notes he had taken in pencil. "We spent a few hours going through the records at the city hall and the library and even in one of the neighbouring towns. There wasn't much in the way that pointed to anything major, apart from the appearance of the Nana-Gou, but we did find something."

"What was it?" Akina asked, setting his cup on the table and asking Touka to let go of his arm, which she did with a sad sigh.

"All the records point to around the time you told us about, Hime," he explained. "Around about that time, something happened and there was a lot of devastation and destruction and even quite a number of deaths. It took years for the land to recover, particularly economically as the output of each village had to steadily rise back to some level of normality over the following decades. Apparently, a lot of people wrote about it as well but there were no more surviving scripts from that time. Since then, it just faded into obscurity."

"Obviously now, though, that's changed." Kotoha spoke up. "The question now is: what are we going to do?"

All heads once again turned to Hime, who was focusing on the notes on the table before her as if trying to find some hidden meaning in them. What were they going to do? What could they do? With the group already at each other's throats at the moment and a madman running around ready to cause chaos at a moment's notice, she had to do something. This town that she had spent years building and trying to improve was not going to be torn apart, family members of her friends of not.

Though, as she tried to formulate something in her mind, she did begin to wish again for her grandmother's wisdom and words to help them in their time of need.

"Thank you very much!"

The taxi driver nodded and drove off down the largely free road, leaving the young black haired man with his girlfriend on the pavement. He was quite tall, about 5'9 with short brown hair, green eyes and was wearing a smart white shirt and jeans with black shoes. His girlfriend, a young woman who was about 23, two years his junior, had black hair, brown eyes and wore a small black jacket with a blue top underneath, a black short skirt and a pair of slip on shoes. Their arms were hooked around each other and they looked at each other with a smile in their eyes.

"Thanks for bringing me out here, Hiro," she said to him.

"Ah don't mention it," he brushed it off. "I'm glad we're spending time together, Ayano."

"Me too. Let's head into the café first."

"Okay,"

They walked down the street a little, keeping close to the edge of the pavement closest to the buildings, passing various closed shops, entrances to apartments and even a few restaurants that were gradually becoming busier as time passed. A few people were walking up and down the streets now, some talking on their phones; others together and engaged in a conversation or were simply out for a stroll.

Hiro and Ayano had been together for about a year now, having met because they lived a few streets from the other. Their personalities were very similar as they both liked the same things and, to an extent, disliked the same things too. One thing that really attracted their attention to one another, however, was that he was part-human and part-Yokai, as was evidenced by the tattoo of a wolf on his upper arm, and she was a human. According to what his family had told him when he was younger, they had become what they were when a clan in the distant past wished to protect its village home from raiding bandits. One of them had used a spell and the power of the spirits and was transformed into a werewolf, who had then permanently rid the area of the marauders. However, one con of this act was that the change was irreversible, which meant that all descendants from this family member would now be a mixture of human/Yokai.

This had had its ups and downs as time went on, particularly as Sakurashin began to take shape and it became a home for both species. Hiro had dealt with a little bullying in school, often being called a 'furball', or 'mutt', or simply a 'freak' because of the differences between him and his classmates who were mostly human. For a time, he had developed a strong dislike for them, which lasted well into his adult years. He had even considered joining a group of Yokai who were set on segregating the two species indefinitely around the city, something that was clearly inspired by the separation of the blacks from the rest of the population in the 1950s across America.

That had all been until he met Ayano, during a parade last year to celebrate a traditional spirit event the Yokai had celebrated for countless centuries before, and it had blossomed from there. What was more, she had been able to help Hiro rid himself of his dislike for humans, helping him see that not all of them were hateful or spiteful towards their spiritual neighbours. Their parents had been shocked and a little resentful towards them for having this relationship, but they had soon come to accept it, at least begrudgingly if not with open hearts. It made them both happy, and really that was all the two young people wanted.

As they walked towards a large restaurant, a neon sign saying 'Yama's sushi café' hanging above the double doors and small artificial hedges placed either side of them, they could see that it was quite quiet for a night like this. Most of the tables were empty, and those that were occupied held only a few people. There was only one family and they were seated towards the back next to the cream coloured walls in one of the booths that lined the left side of the shop. Behind the counter opposite them, a single worker stood manning the till whilst a few waiters and waitresses walked about inside the shop, taking orders and giving people their food.

"I haven't been here before," Ayano commented, looking up curiously at the café.

"It's quite nice, I came here with one of my cousins a few weeks ago." Hiro told her. "It's nice and the service is good. And it's relaxing." He added.

She smiled at him and he moved his arm around to her side and pulled her close to him. "Let's go inside. I'm starving." He said, which, as if to accentuate his mood, was highlighted by a slight growl from his stomach.

He held the door open for her (with a courtesy of "after you,") and they went inside, passing a middle aged man with grey hair and dressed in a large brown coat, an old pair of jeans and black shoes. He was sitting at a table next to the door, bent low over a bowl of soup. He gave them a momentary glance and then went back to his meal. Another couple of people, a young man and his mother, who were sitting at a table whilst waiting for their meal, shot them a quick glance before resuming their conversation.

The employee managing the till looked up and acknowledged them with a nod and a smile. "Hello there," he said. "What can we do for you?"

"A table for two," Hiro responded whilst Ayano looked for a table for them to sit at, eyeing one especially near the window on the door's right.

The till employee waved an arm through the air as if displaying the restaurant to them. "Pick anywhere you look and we'll be with you shortly."

"Thanks," Hiro said as Ayano began pulling him in the direction of the table she liked.

The two sat down and began to talk about the usual things one would expect to hear on a date; how things were, family, plans for the week, work etc. A waiter came up to them and handed them menus and asked whether they wanted drinks. Hiro asked for sake whilst Ayano took to a diet coke. Afterwards, they soon set on just staring at each other eyes, lost in the other's beauty and love they had towards one another. When the waiter returned with their drinks, he had to spend a few moments getting their attention, during which he glanced at his watch, before they snapped out of their stupor.

"Oh, sorry!" Ayano laughed as she took her drink. "Oh, no thank you. We'll order something in a minute." She told the waiter and he promptly left them alone.

Unbeknownst to them, a black car came to a halt just outside the other window of the café, its windows stained nearly charcoal black so it was difficult for anyone walking past to look into the vehicle. Luckily, there were few people on the pavement at the moment, and those that were present were too focused on either talking on their phones or smoking or their own thoughts to notice the car.

For a moment, the car stood where it was, silent, unmoving, engine now turning to a hum as if it were a predator observing its next victim. Its lights dimmed to the point where they were at a twilight level. Something was not right. Nobody had gotten out of the car. Was its occupant(s) waiting for someone? If so, what? Anyone looking on at this would find it strange, very strange indeed.

The car continued to sit in its place, the engine humming like the snoring of a hunter, the air thick with tension for the moment it would awaken.

"I love you," Ayano whispered lovingly to Hiro.

He smiled. "I love you too," he replied, his voice also a whisper as he took a sip of his sake, and reacted immediately. "Oooh, that's strong stuff!" he commented.

Ayano giggled. "Well, it is made stronger here than in most other parts of Japan." She told him, bringing her glass of coke up to her lips. She paused; her eyes turning to look out the window, a confused look on her face.

"You alright, babe?" Hiro asked her when he noticed this.

She nodded her head in the direction of what caught her attention and he looked out in that direction. A black car with its lights practically dim? Okay, that was nothing very ordinary but it certainly was not very strange either. Yet, as he observed the vehicle, Hiro could not help but have a strange feeling in his gut over the very appearance of this thing. Was anybody going to get out of it, or at least interact with the driver? Why was it just parked there?

Then, as if a switch was flicked, the headlights turned on full power, forcing him and Ayano to move away from the window as the light blinded them.

The next few seconds were a cacophony of noise and some unworldly power seemed to activate around them. The window seemed to explode, showering them with glass as they fell to the floor. The wooden tables around the café splintered. Screams filled the air. A chair was thrown through the air and landed with a crash in the corner. Someone shouted, and immediately afterwards a cry of pain followed it.

Hiro gasped as he brushed some glass off him, terrified about Ayano, and he became even more so when he heard her cry out to him. "Stay under the table!" he shouted at her, grabbing her and throwing her under there, shielding her with his body as another part of the window fell out onto the pavement.

He glanced over his shoulder and was shocked by what he saw.

Standing near the counter, a 9mm pistol in hand, was the waiter that had given them their drinks a moment ago. His eyes were so wide they looked like they would bulge out of their sockets, teeth were clenched to breaking point and a snarl was etched onto his face. His finger rapidly fired the weapon as he seemed to turn indiscriminately, sending bullets in all directions. The old man, who had taken cover under his table, attempted to run for the door and was met with a bullet that between his shoulder blades and he fell to the floor, a screaming, bloody mess. At the back of the café, the mother and father were shielding their two children as another bullet flew over their heads, just missing the woman's shoulder, and embedded itself in the wall. The waiter shouted something but with the shouting, crying and the sound of crashing all around them, Hiro could barely make it out other than something derogatory. All he could do was hug Ayano as close as possible and pray that noting hit them, or it at least him and not her.

Then, as quick as it came, the gunfire stopped. One second passed, then two. Running filled the air, followed by a thud and the sound of broken glass cracking under shoes. A car door opened and slammed shut and the sound of screeching tyres filled the air and quickly faded away as the car drove down the street. Silence, save for the sound of groaning and the occasional cry from the wounded old man and sobbing from the children in the corner as the parents comforted them.

Gingerly, Hiro sat up and scanned the café, taking in the devastation that greeted him. Most of the tables had bullet holes in them, the walls were riddled with bullet holes, all of the glass windows were smashed, along with some glasses, empty or full that once held drink, the contents of those that were in use dripping onto the floor. A few figures shakily stood up from behind the counter and an overturned table on the other side of the restaurant.

"H-Hiro?!" Ayano's voice came out as barely a whimper.

"SShhhh!" he hushed her, pulling her close to him as they slowly got up to survey the damage around them as one of the employees rushed over to the old man with a first aid kit and began to work on him whilst another was on the phone to the emergency services. Apart from them, no one else in the café said a word.

Outside, a small crowd was beginning to gather to assess the situation and offer any assistance if they could. As Hiro took a look out the window, some of the people there were, unsurprisingly, taking pictures on their phones, something which he rolled his eyes at. Such a stupid thing to do.

More gunshots and a chorus of screams from further down the road drew everyone's attention; some gasping, others breaking out in incoherent conversations. Hiro and Ayano shared a worried expression as they left the café, pausing to look down the road to see the black car veer right and disappear from sight about one hundred feet away, leaving a few people to struggle to their feet outside a corner shop in its wake.

This is gonna be a horrible evening Hiro mentally said to himself.

Within a few minutes, news of the attack had reached the mayor's office and there was an instant rush of activity. It had been an inconvenient time as they were about to call it a night, with Touka and Hime about ready to fall asleep when they were suddenly alerted by a call from Juri at the hospital.

"Where is my spear?!" Hime was angrily shouting as she threw a pile of papers off the desk in desperation to find it whilst Kotoha quickly put the dishes away, knowing that they would be too tired to do anything about them later tonight.

"Here, Hime!" Akina said, grabbing it from the sofa where she had put it after they came in earlier. He went to throw it to her but Touka wrapped herself around his waist.

"No, Akina, don't go! You'll get hurt!" she cried, fear in her eyes.

"Ah, Touka! L-let me go!" Akina struggled, nearly falling over whilst a nearby Kyosuke rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"C'mon, stop fooling around!" Hime snapped, marching over and snatching it from his grasp and quickly scanned the room. "Where's Ao?" she demanded.

"She's still outside," Kyosuke informed her, shooting a nervous glance at the entrance. "Shou-"

"Well tell her to get a move on!" Hime snapped at them vehemently and turned to Kotoha and Akina. "C'mon, you two. We need to get a move on! Touka, you stay here!"

"But what if you guys get hurt?" she protested, her eyes looking back at Akina to emphasise her point.

"No, she's right!" Kyosuke spoke up, pulling his sister off of Akina and sitting her down on the sofa. "You stay here. We'll be back soon,"

She pouted and folded her arms, unhappy that she could not get to go with them and help protect the city as well as hang out with Akina. It was so unfair. Just because her leg was healing did not mean she was useless, she could help! Look at the other day when she saved those two girls from being hit by a car.

Stupid rules and stupid leg! She thought to herself.

Hime rushed outside and turned to Ao, who was leaning against the side of the building, the hood still pulled over her head and, from the angle, looking down at the ground.

"Ao, c'mon! We need to go!" she ordered as Akina, Kyosuke and Kotoha rushed out after her.

The hooded girl looked up at them with a blank expression, though her eyes clearly held a sentence akin to: I really don't want to do this! It was not fair on her or her brother. She did not want to have to fight him, he was her brother after all! Oh, why did this have to happen? Why?

"Ao, c'mon!" Hime urged her forcefully.

With a heavy sigh, she pulled down her head, exposing her cap-less blue hair and cat ears, and followed the others as they headed out into the streets, ready to take on this new menace.

Nestled away in a grove of trees on the edge of Sakurashin was a small temple complex, each building made in the design of ancient Japanese architecture. The location was perfect for Hime, who lived and often practiced her sword and fighting skills at the temple, as it had been for her grandmother, and her ancestors before her. With the trees, some of which were cherry blossom, and the mountain in the distance behind the complex and that it was about ten minutes to the city centre by car, it was nearly completely quiet here all of the time. Just the sort of environment one would need to get away from everything when things got too much.

Right now though, under the now largely star filled night sky, a single lone person moved back and forth between the buildings that were arranged in a U-shape, the courtyard in the centre being quite small and close to the main gate. He was a middle aged man, with a balding head, a pair of small glasses and was dressed in a black top and grey work trousers. In his hands were a cloth and a bucket of water which he had just used to clean a room in the building to the right of the gate. Only one more to do.

His name was Rio, a caretaker of the temple area assigned by Hime personally because of the man's friendship with her grandmother before she passed. Even though he had only known Hime for a few years, as they had met when he moved to the city looking for work after his previous job fell through in Tokyo, he had come to admire and respect the young woman for who she was. She had promised to be the best she could be and had done a lot for the town. Albeit, a few mistakes and such were made along the way but such things were expected.

She has done a better job than I could ever do. He commented to himself once, meaning every single word of it.

As he knelt down next to the wall inside the main room of the building opposite the gate, he took a moment to glance around at the mats that made up the floor, the sliding door that led into a changing room to his left and the insignia of the Yarizakura family handing on the wall near the right side of the room. The simple design was nothing new in terms of architecture, yet it always made him feel a little more at peace on a personal level. Maybe it's her grandmother's spirit.

What really drew his attention, however, was the glad case mounted on the wall directly ahead of him. Inside it was a large spear with a jade green, crystal formed into the tip of said weapon. Across the side of it were several ancient characters and a small carving of the family insignia. This was what he knew only as the 'Dragon Spear', something that was very precious to Hime and her family, and was what she had been working to achieve her entire life. Below it were three phrases written in perfect Kanji calligraphy.

"Be loved by the people,"

"Be loved by the town,"

"Be loved by the Dragon,"

Those words he had read many times before when he had come here to maintain the place in Hime's absence. He had heard them too; one morning when he had come to fix a hole in the roof, he had watched Hime's grandmother teach her how to be patient and to let the power of the dragon flow through her. With it, she would be powerful, and yet at peace and calm as well. Rio smiled to himself as he started to wipe the cloth against the wall.

She was always a wise woman he thought to himself, pausing to clear his throat. I know that Hime misses her, and I do as well.

SNAP! He jerked his head in the direction of the entrance a few feet from him, the noise having been like a loud clap of the hands right next to his ear. What was that?

"Hello?" he called, expecting a reply but none came.

What should he do? Should he go and see who was out there, if anyone was? Obviously! He was the caretaker of this place after all; he could not just let someone waltz around here as if they owned the place. Plus, what would Hime say? He did not want to upset her and disrespect his duty or job in looking after this place as he had done for so many years now.

Yet, somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he felt he was in danger like a wildebeest picking up the scent of a lion on the plains of Africa. He pondered over what to do. Should he just run? It was the most logical thing to do as he was not equipped with anything to defend himself with, except a bucket and a cloth! As if they would scare away an intruder. Confront them? Again, he had nothing to use and if there was more than one person here, then he was a goner, especially if they were armed. But he felt a sense of responsibility within him. This was his mayor's temple after all, and he was going to look after it; hooligans, vandals or not, he was going to stand his ground.

He got up and walked over to the door and looked out into the courtyard, the light of the evening just being enough for him to see everything. Nothing.

He glanced left … nothing there. He looked to his right. Nothing there either. Maybe he was just imagining it all.

Something fell from above and struck him on the back of the head. With a quick groan and a thud, he fell to the floor, out cold, dropping the cloth on the floor beside him, a trickle of blood running from the point of impact and staining the inside of his top.

A figure jumped down to the floor beside Rio and gave him a sad look. It was Akiro. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the person by the legs and pulled him into the room, gently setting him on the floor by the bucket. He did not want to do that. He was hoping that nobody would be here and that it would be a simple case of grabbing the spear and leaving before anyone saw him. That had, obviously, not been the case but it was too late to worry about that now. What was done was done, and he had a mission to get on with.

Please, don't let me regret this he mentally said to no-one in particular as he headed over to the spear.

"Okay, now!"

With a rush from the corner of the street, Kyosuke lunged out and fired an energy blast from his hand, his red horns glaring menacingly in the dim light from the street lights up and down the road. The car skidded sideways as it swerved to avoid the blast and only just missed it by a few centimetres. Yet, as if desperate to prove its worth, it careered on, turning left down another street. Kyosuke smiled. They were heading right into the trap.

Further down said street, Hime and Kotoha stood at the ready behind two trees placed opposite each other. The former gave the latter a nod and poked her head out to see the vehicle speeding towards them.

"On my mark!" Hime called, holding up three fingers to emphasise the countdown. "Three-" (she put down one finger) "… Two …" (the second) "… NOW!"

"Brick wall!" Kotoha exclaimed, her hand pointing out to the street.

On command, a thick brick wall shot up out of the ground like a plant and stood firmly rooted to the spot, waiting for the inevitable crash. The driver(s) must have been too surprised to do anything because it carried on for a moment at its high speed. Then, having probably snapped out of their trance, the tires screeched loudly.

CRASH! Metal bent, glass shattered, lights were vaporised and the sound of the shockwave travelled right through the two as they dove for cover behind the trees to avoid any flying projectiles launched from the wreckage. One of the tires rolled away past them as if trying to continuing escaping before falling flat on its side a few metres down the road. The huge lump of now shattered metal slumped to the ground with a thud. Two of the doors and bits of metal broken loose from the crash littered the ground.

Hime looked out from behind her tree and exhaled a sigh of relief. They had done it! They had been chasing the car for about ten minutes after pursuing it from the place where the attack had occurred. A few other traps had been laid but the car either took a different route or out-right evaded them. Luckily, Kotoha had suggested leading them down this way not only because of the trees but because, if they had carried on, they would have run into a dead end. Either way, with or without this brick wall trick, they would have gotten them.

And now, as the two cautiously approached the wreckage, fearful that someone was going to start shooting at them at any moment, they were ready to find out who was responsible exactly. And, more importantly, why this happened. It had to be because of Gin, it just had to be! If this was his plan, then he had really stooped to a new level! It made Hime's heart burn with anger and fuelled her determination to find him and stop him, regardless of whatever Ao thought.

A crowd had begun to gather on the streets around them; some people were even looking out of their windows from their apartments above the various shops, cafes and restaurants around them on the ground.

Suddenly, somebody groaned and a body fell from inside the car onto the ground. Kotoha paused for a brief second, as if unsure what to do. Somebody gasped nearby and murmuring broke out throughout the crowd.

"Alright, everyone stay back!" Hime ordered, relief filling her face as Akina, Ao and Kyosuke joined them, having set up various traps at other locations across the city as well as making sure those affected by the attackers were okay. She ordered them to help maintain crowd control whilst she rushed over to the side other side of the car and wrenched the badly bent door open. "Alright, come out!" She grunted, grabbing hold of the driver and pulled them out.

He was a roughly thirty year old looking man with messy black hair, which she was sure was not because of the crash, a torn coat, an old pair of jeans and a pair of shoes that looked so torn and worn she thought he must have grabbed them from a bin or a dump. She could smell him, something which was unpleasant, and she coughed briefly before pushing him against the car. Kotoha grabbed the other man, the waiter who had a huge gash across his forehead and was struggling to stand. Luckily, two men ran over to help her.

"What were you doing?!" Hime snarled at the driver, her red eyes glowing like a fire as she stared at the man. "Did Gin send you?"

He just let out a series of weak giggles and coughs, a trickle of blood running from a cut in his cheek. "Can you think of anyone else?!" he said, laughing more.

That's answered that question! Hime mentally said to herself and pushed him against the car more, determination pushing her on to find out more.

"Why?! Why did you attack a public place? Do you know what you've done?!" She barked at him. "Where is he? Where is Gin?"

He laughed again, coughing a little more as he weakly said: "You'll see, 'Mayor'," he added a mocking word on her title before he passed out into unconsciousness.