Kanade had never slept deeply since leaving the apartment - there were just too many outside noises for her to fully relax. Which is why she came out of sleep so quickly as the disturbances began, eyes popping open and brain starting to take stock of what was going on, even as she remained perfectly still, arms wrapped around Yukino's belly.
The noise started as distant yelling, voices rising and falling, getting closer all the time. Their neighborhood was no stranger to drunks making a ruckus at odd hours, but this was different - more coherent, more people involved. Some of the voices sounded like women.
Kanade didn't move to get up, but gently shook Yukino's shoulder, and whispered in her ear. "Yukino... Yukino, wake up. I think something's happening..."
Yukino stirred, eyes still closed with sleep, and murmured, "Kana-chan? What's... it's too early, I want to keep sleeping..."
Kanade put her hand over Yukino's mouth, shushing her, as the sides of their tent begain to shake from someone tapping on them.
"Hello? Hello? Who's there, homeless people? Don't you want to come out and play?" The voice was young, male, and clearly drunk, but there was an undercurrent of menace between the drunken silliness.
There was suddenly a tearing sound coming from the wall, and a knife point appeared through the tarp, followed by a large gash through which they could see the outside streetlight, partially blocked by their attacker. There was another stab, and suddenly Kanade was on her feet, racing for the entrance.
"Stop it! Stop that! Who do you think you are, this is our home-"
Another man, not the stabber, suddenly appeared in front of the entrance, and Kanade stepped back, pulling the sides of the tarp together to block most of the view of inside. A fleeting thought crossed her mind, that she was glad their winter pajamas weren't particularly revealing.
The second man was completely drunk, she smelled the reek of alcohol on him before she even heard his words. "Well, hello! Who are you? We thought it was just trash old people here, didn't realize there were hot girls here too!" He turned back to address someone else. "Hey Chiba-san, check this out! There's hot girls in this one..."
Kanade felt herself pushed aside, and before she could react Yukino had pushed her aside and was outside of the tent, yelling with an intensity she'd never heard before.
"GET OUT! Get out of here RIGHT NOW! You are NOT WELCOME, and you are bothering us! GO HOME!"
She was stunned for a moment to hear the ferocity in her sister's voice, but then looked around and grabbed a small knife from their cooking area, hoping in the dark that it would look bigger and sharper.
Their attacker looked momentarily confused, then smiled and reached out to grab Yukino's shoulders. "Well, hey, you just don't know us that well yet." He dragged her closer. "Come here and give me a kiss and you'll like me a lot better..."
Yukino squirmed, and he brought his face closer, but then grimaced in pain as Kanade lunged at him with the knife, stabbing him in the arm. "Aaah, damn it!" he yelled, lashing out and pushing them both away. Kanade landed on her back deeper inside the tent, while Yukino landed against the outer tarp, leaving her only partially fallen and knocking the tarp and rope out of alignment.
"God DAMN IT!" The attacker screamed, starting to advance, hand to his harm where he'd been hurt. "That hurts! You are going to pay for that-"
"Yatsuya! Chiba! The police are here! We need to go!" One of the attackers was calling from the edge of the park, and elsewhere in the park men started running away, yelling and whooping as they went. Their attacker paused then started to advance again as the sisters got to their feet, Kanade desperately searching for the knife.
"Yatsuya! The cops are here! The cops are coming!" One of Yatsuya's friends had come up behind him, and was pulling at his arm. Yatsuya shook him off and stepped forward.
"I don't care, man, one of these bitches stabbed me and I'm gonna..."
"HELP! HELP US, PLEASE!" Yukino started yelling. "POLICE, HELP, WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!"
An expression of uncertainty spread over Yatsuya's face, and he spat at Yukino, then turned and started to run. "BITCHES!" He yelled. "WE'LL BE BACK!"
And, almost as quickly as it began, it was over. Kanade ran to Yukino and hugged her.
"Yukino, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, Kana-chan. Are you?"
"Yes, fine, just fine, that was-"
"Hello! Are you ok? Were you yelling? Who was-" A uniformed police officer came running through the dark, flashlight swinging side to side. But he slowed down as soon as he came close to them, squinting and shining his beam directly into their faces.
"Ah, more homeless..." he said, his voice dropping and becoming less excited.
"We live here," Kanade said as Yukino blinked in confusion. "We were attacked in the middle of the night. Isn't that what matters?"
"Of course," the officer said mechanically. "And after any such assault we would send a follow-up officer to your home address to take a follow-up statement. If you would care to provide me with an official address, I can certainly schedule such an appointment. In the meantime, I am afraid I will have to ask you to clear this illegal and unsanitary encampment immediately."
"That... that's not... I mean, we can't..." Kanade stuttered.
"I can of course offer you an immediate escort out of the area, and direct you to some local shelters. However, they are likely to be fairly busy tonight, as police operations in this area are removing all homeless from this park. Is there anything else I may do to assist you?"
Kanade stood there with her mouth open, and felt shame and confusion begin to turn into burning tears. Yukino swiftly stepped in. "No, thank you officer. We fully understand and will vacate the area in just a few minutes, as soon as we can gather our necessary possessions. Is that acceptable?"
The officer nodded, and walked off without another word.
Yukino came over and hugged Kanade for a moment before releasing and looking her directly in the face. "Kana? Kana-chan? Listen to me... I know this was scary and upsetting, but we need to leave soon. I think we can afford a hotel for one night while we figure out what's going on, but we need to pack. So look," she said, leading her back into the tent, "I need you to gather the most important things: money, valuables, clothes, toiletries, ok? Just put them in a bag, and hopefully we'll be able to come back later. In the meantime, I need to go check on some people."
She walked out of the tent, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back. Just get started!"
Kanade started to work mechanically, the anger that would make her hands shake suppressed by the task at hand. The regular, day-to-day mess of their home quickly turned into a pair of tightly-packed bags, with all the valuables collected in her purse.
Meanwhile, Yukino quickly walked through the park, nodding and exchanging brief words with the other residents, who were also rushing to pack and leave. She stopped by Kyoko's tent, which was unmoving and silent, except for a faint whining.
She called out Kyoko's name, tapped lightly on the tarp, and, after a moment, stepped in.
A few seconds later she ran out, Yu following at her heels, and started calling for help.
The police arrived within a few moments, walking slowly, with looks of suspicion on their faces, but they quickly called for EMTs after looking in the tent. And after the EMT came, he left the tent after a minute, shaking his head. By that point, Kanade had caught up to Yukino, and had the situation explained.
"Does she have any relatives that you know of?"
Yukino shook her head. "None that we know of. Everyone here keeps to themselves about such things. Is she really...?"
The nearest officer nodded, and the EMT offered up, "Looks like a heart attack."
"A heart attack brought on by those maniacs tonight!" Kanade interjected angrily. "She was fine just this morning, she must have been frighted, literally, to death by those-"
"We can't prove any such thing, and if you're not relatives you should leave the area now," the policeman said, coldly.
"Just because she was homeless doesn't mean she didn't matter! You can't..."
"If you would like to be arrested tonight, we can make that happen-"
Yukino cut through the crosstalk by pulling Kanade back and quickly facing her, holding up Yu and putting him in her arms. "I know, I know," she whispered, "But we can't make everything right all at once. Let me do what I can, just please calm down, Kana!" She turned back to the officer.
"Officer, we understand," she said, bowing slightly. "We'll go and stop bothering you. But her little dog needs looking after, and I believe she'd want us to do that. Can I go back in the tent for a few of his things, and then we'll leave immediately?"
The policeman rolled his eyes, then waved his hand towards the tent and walked away. Yukino went inside, and emerged a minute later with dried food, bowls, a collar, and a leash, both of which went on Yu.
Then they walked out of the park, gear on their backs, dog following behind, headed for the nearest love motel.