Chapter 5- Break Free of Your Limits

"Well, I can't say they all look the same." Matako thought humorously. Each pirate seemed different from the last, though she thought they all shared bad taste in haircuts. The leader of the pirates was an Amanto with blue skin and a green Mohawk.

"You're one of Shinsuke Takasugi's?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's right." Matako said.

"He sent a little girl to guard us? Is he trying to mock us?" a bird-like pirate asked.

She said, "Damn chicken, just who are you calling 'a little girl'?!"

"What was that?" he said, fittingly his voice resembling a squawk.

"If Shinsuke hadn't ordered me to protect you, I'd have your feathers plucked, that's what."

The pirate leader began to laugh at the two's quarrel.

"I see he sent us an interesting one."

Matako stopped her grimacing and looked at him.

"You're the boss right?" she asked.

"That's right." he said, "Call me Grump."

"Matako Kijima." she said.

"The Crimson Bullet?" his awestruck crew began to ask.

Matako said, "From here on out, you listen to me. Do as I say and we'll both get out of this in one piece."

"You think we're incapable of handling ourselves? We know who we're up against and we have ways to deal with them." said Grump.

"My way is better." Matako said.

She turned around and said, "Let's go."

A small caravan of cars was waiting for the pirates. A Kiheitai driver was present for each one. Matako disliked using cars during missions. She felt far too restricted in them. If something were to go wrong, what could she do? But she hoped it wouldn't come to that. Then again, if nothing happened would Takasugi just send her on another assignment?

Matako scooted onto the seat of her motorbike. To its side was a holster for her submachine gun. Its spraying fire was more useful than pistols on a moving bike.

She grabbed her radio. "All right boys, let's roll." she said over the frequency. Her bike roared with enthusiasm as it took off down the road. Matako glanced at her mirror. The train of cars was directly behind her.

Matako carefully surveyed each roof top and window up ahead. There was only so much her eyes could see at her present speed. She noticed several cars up ahead had hit their breaks. Matako immediately called on her radio.

"Something's wrong." she said.

"Should we take the right lane?" asked a driver.

"And fall into their ambush? Hell no! We'll switch to the second route."

Matako spun her bike completely around and blasted down the highway. They began to enter a darker street. The buildings around here were growing closer together. Soon enough there was only one lane. Matako hit the breaks and parked her bike beside a dumpster. It wasn't hers after all.

Soon the other cars had pulled over and the pirates were released. The caravan slowly disappeared, leaving them puzzled.

"What's going on? Why did you take us here? Don't tell me this was a trap?" asked Grump. He and his pirates began to draw weapons.

Matako inspected her machine gun and said, "As if. We'll be traveling by foot from now on."

She began to lead them forward. The dark alleys seemed strangely comforting to her. She now preferred them to the public roads. Matako kept her ears completely attuned to her environment the entire time. Unfortunately for her, the pirates had begun to bicker. She tried to tune out their noise, but it just increased. She felt a vein on her head begin to bulge.


An hour had passed. They had walked nearly twenty blocks now. Only four more remained to the safe house. The pirates continued to argue nonchalantly, but Grump was quiet.

"Anything yet?" he asked.

Matako shook her head. "No. But stay frosty."

"We're lost aren't we? Admit it, we're lost!" a pirate said.

"Shut up! Goddamn, your annoying." said Matako. She struggled to keep her voice low. Matako suddenly stopped in her steps and spun her head.

"Get down!" she said. She kicked Grump to the curb. The wall he had been beside now had an arrow between its blocks.

"Should we run for it?" asked Grump. He suddenly had lost all desire to command.

"It's no good. Our only chance is to kill them all." said Matako.

Damn. If one of them dies fighting, I'm fucked. I'll have to leave them here.

This brought up a similar problem. But Matako had already made her decision.

"You guys stay here for a moment." she said.

Before Grump could protest, Matako shouted, "Come and get me!"

She flew out from her cover, her machine gun held tightly in her arms. She fired it off into the air as she ran. She planned to use the noise to lure out her foes. Using such a unique weapon was sure to gain their attention.

An arrow darted past her. Matako charged down the alley, checking her left and right. She spotted two sword-wielding foes up ahead. Matako quickly dispatched them, but she was running out of ammo. More enemies were on the roof tops. She fired into their skulls before they could send her more arrows. Now she was fresh out of ammunition. Having far too little time to reload cartridges, she switched to her pistols.

Matako charged past a small intersection. As she did, she met the cutting edge of a katana. Having anticipated it, she knocked it to the side with her pistol. As both weapons swerved to the side, her other pistol appeared directly at her attacker's throat. Matako fired off the round and moved on. More foes were waiting for her. She leapt to the side and unleashed both pistols on one of her attackers. She put a foot out to allow for a graceful landing. A katana plunged into her position. Matako instinctively jumped clear over the man. As her body twisted over her foe, she extended her left arm and aimed between his eyes.

The glint of her revolver. That woman's two cold eyes. This was his last memory of the living world.


All of Takasugi's guests were accounted for. Shinsuke tilted his head to the side as he stared at Matako. She was coated with fresh blood.

"You all seem to have faired well. How wonderful." said Takasugi.

Grump groaned deeply.

"You have a hell of a woman in your service Shinsuke." he said.

"I've already arranged a hefty barter. I have no intention of trading one of my finest Kiheitai as well." Shinsuke smirked as he said it.

" 'Finest Kiheitai?' " thought Kajima. She was overcome with a sense of pride. Matako wanted to run over to Takasugi and bashfully praise him in return.

"You're dismissed Kijima."

"Yes Shinsuke-sama." she said.

She started to walk away, feeling exiled from his presence.

"If you would accompany me this evening…" he added, "There are matters I wish to discuss with you."

Matako turned around and smiled. Takasugi held out a folded piece of paper. Matako walked up and gently grabbed it from his slender fingers. She opened it and read it word by word. It appeared to be an address of some sort.

Shinsuke-sama's hotel room? Just the two of us?

Her heart pounded at the thought of another private meeting between the two of them. Nothing seemed to compare to the memory aboard his vessel, but she was delighted with their rendezvous. To boot, it would be another sunset adorned evening.


Around seven, Matako arrived at his hotel. She was wearing a beautiful red kimono and her most expensive perfume. She spoke to a man waiting near the front desk. He informed her that Takasugi was expecting her and had asked her to meet him on the rooftop. She thanked him and proceeded to the elevator. She felt somewhat disappointed that they wouldn't be meeting inside his room. Matako wanted very much to learn Shinsuke's tastes.

Matako looked out the glass elevator at the city. It was a magnificent sight and feeling. Shinsuke seemed to share with her a taste for fine living.

At last, she reached the top floor. She walked carefully up the flight of stairs. She opened the door and found him there. She soaked in the sight of Shinsuke standing against an orange backdrop. Her earlier disappointment had vanished with the glorious sunset.

Shinsuke was looking down at the spread of Edo. Where people would see a beautiful thriving city, he saw a nest of ants devouring themselves. How he wished to crush them. But it was too soon. He breathed in his tobacco, easing him from his surroundings.

"Shinsuke-sama" Matako said at last. She bowed and stood up again.

Takasugi said, "You've done well."

"Thank you Shinsuke-sama. I'm glad I was able to be useful to you." As usual, her words were controlled around him.

"I have no reason to continue testing you Matako. I see you are ready to join the inner circle. From now on you are a true member of the Kiheitai. The true test will be how you perform in this environment."

Matako's face slowly began to glow. The corners of her mouth inched their way up her cheeks. She couldn't help but open her mouth wide in excitement.

"Shinsuke-sama… thank you! Thank you so much!" she said.

He smiled back, his far more enigmatic than hers. The wind blew her fragrance into his nostrils. The sweet aroma of flowers was to his liking. The same wind caused Matako to shiver. She stiffened her body to cease the trembling, but as she expected, Takasugi had already noticed.

"Show we go inside?" he asked. Matako's eyes lit up again. She found her heart had skipped a beat.

"Why am I like this?" she wondered. Takasugi wasn't the first man she had ever been interested in. But he was the first to command her interest. Still, she had never expected to fall for him so hard and so quickly too. Takasugi hadn't even given her solid proof of his ambitious plight yet. Matako knew to be weary of these feelings. But perhaps because of her immaturity, she was unable or simply unwilling to dismiss her crush on him.

Shinsuke's hotel room was all she had expected. It was well designed with a traditional Japanese style, with a few western touches for comfort. She knew such an apartment ran a high price.

Takasugi sat down on a low white couch. Matako began to move to the mat on the ground. Shinsuke put his hand onto the cushion of his seat, instructing her to sit beside him. Her cheeks blushed madly. He was being so seductive. Takasugi's eyes analyzed her every tell. He was manipulating her obvious feelings for him. He would tease her with a taste, leaving her wanting more. For the moment, she wasn't fully aware. She believed he was a man who simply needed time to reciprocate. Not just any woman could satisfy him was her thinking. She couldn't imagine that inside, Takasugi hadn't the faintest desire to have a relationship with a human being. His heart ran colder than she could fathom. He saw people no differently than cattle. She was little different, perhaps only of a higher breed to him…

Author's Note: In the next chapter, Matako meets the rest of the Kiheitai. Let's find out how that will go for her. ^_^