Finally got this chapter out. To those who don't follow my other fic Favor Trade, I mentioned it there, but back in January I ended up catching Covid. The result of which was me bedridden for about 2 weeks and while that doesn't sound all bad, in regards to this fic, it ended up having this chapter delayed. I couldn't muster the strength to focus enough to write things. As of now I'm 100% fine. Me and my family (as my mother and sister had caught it too). Sorry about that, but I had to focus on my health for a time both during and after the whole ordeal. Anyways, enough of that, enjoy reading!
It was the day of the mission and Yuji had to admit that he was nervous. It was his first time going on any kind of mission, but Asuka had been kind enough in talking with him to help calm his nerves. She'd mentioned that she had been nervous on her first mission as well and that was nothing but 8 hours of recon. It had done wonders for Yuji and he and Asuka had ended up laughing about some old stories of hers. Such as when she and Ikaruga had gone on a mission together and while the mission had gone off without a hitch, Ikaruga had flubbed some parting words with the enemy shinobi due to her having tripped.
The day had continued on like that during their lessons, and at the end of the day Kiriya had called Katsuragi, Asuka, and Yuji into his office.
"Now then, I'm sure you all know why you're here." Kiriya said in an authoritative tone "Your mission is to infiltrate this government branch office. On the 20th floor is the office of our target, who through our contacts has been suspected of embezzling money and possibly several other illegal actions. We suspect that there is information on his office computer that will help in prosecuting him for his crimes. You are to extract the information and then meet at a local restaurant to hand the information off to our contact."
"Seems easy enough, you sure you need all three of us?" Katsuragi asked
"We do. This is a government building after all, it pays to have more than a single pair hands in this kind of scenario. You'll all be needed and I've gone the extra mile and gotten Muramasa to act as your mission support. She'll be instrumental in dealing with the security system as well as giving your general directions on what to do for a proper extraction."
"Muramasa…?" Yuji muttered "Whose she?"
Asuka was the one to answer his question. "One of the girls from the cadet class. You know, the girl with the big fists that we sparred with?"
"Oh her! Well, I don't mind having any help." Yuji said with a shrug "This is my first mission, so the more the merrier."
Kiriya nodded "Very well, if there are no objections then you are free to prepare. You are to arrive at the office at 9PM in the business district of the city."
"Yes sir!" The three of them shouted in unison, they proceeded to bow and then leave the office heading down to the supply room to get ready. One of the good things about being with Hanzo was that Yuji was able to easily requisition items he'd need for his missions. Because of that, he'd been given several stocks of ammo for his pistol. One for normal bullets and one with poison tipped bullets along with several kunai, smoke bombs, and best of all (in his mind at least) a grappling hook! Really, that was all Yuji needed and his mission preparations were complete, and he made sure to stow them away on his person so that they weren't noticeable, another trick they were meant to learn from all their classes. Afterwards he'd was on his way home to relax, not wanting to bother Asuka or Katsuragi while they were preparing themselves.
That would change as Katsuragi caught up with him with her usual wide smile plastered on her face. "Hey Yuji I came to get ya!"
"Get me? Is the mission starting already?" Yuji asked
Kat shook her head "No, but we are gonna grab some ramen before we head out. Can't do a mission on an empty stomach. So let's go!"
Yuji shrugged, he wasn't exactly hungry, but some ramen couldn't hurt. "Alright, let's get going then."
"Atta boy!"
After grouping up with Asuka, the three made their way down to the area of town where all the restaurants were located. The sun was already dipping below the horizon and it wouldn't be long before it was dark entirely. Walking into Katsuragi's favorite shop, she quickly ordered up some ramen for them all.
"Come on, eat up you two!"
Asuka and Yuji sighed, doing as told, they could both already tell by Kat's look in her eyes that she was probably going to go overboard and eat more than she should...
It was about 2 hours later, that Yuji sighed as he was proven right. Kat had gone and eaten at least a dozen bowls of ramen while Asuka and Yuji had had only two each. Yuji had to wonder how on earth a girl could put away so much food and still keep a figure which most average girls would die to have.
SLAP
Yuji's thoughts were interrupted as he was brought back to reality by a stinging sensation on the back of his head.
"Ow, what was that for?!"
"You were thinking I was fat." Kat said with a glare
"No I wasn't! Well...not exactly?"
"Doesn't matter, just watch it, you don't fool around about a lady's weight."
"I'll keep that in mind when I'm around an actual lady."
SLAP SLAP
This time he was slapped not by just Katsuragi, but also Asuka, who was looking at him with a pout.
"Asuka, why?!"
"I very much consider myself a lady you know." she replied curtly
Wha-but I-oh forget it." He sighed while throwing up his hands. This would be one of those moments where he just didn't understand women.
The rest of their free time was spent just wandering the area, killing time until they were to move out for the mission. By the time it was 8:30PM the three of them had made their way to the business district of the city. Ducking into an alleyway a few blocks away, the three of them effortlessly made their way to the rooftops and continued to the target location. By now, the entire sky was blanketed in darkness and the trio were now officially in their element.
They continued along the rooftops until they were across the street from the building in question.
"Okay people, we're almost ready. Before we head in, take these ear pieces I got. They'll be for keeping in contact with Muramasa while we're on the mission!" Katsuragi said, handing them off to Asuka and Yuji.
Fixing it into his ear, Yuji spoke up "Uh, hello? Muramasa?"
"Hello Yuji, Muramasa here, I'll be acting as your mission support!"
Her voice was cute and yet...metallic in a way? It was almost as if she were speaking through a filter of some kind. It was strange and Yuji wasn't sure how he didn't notice it during the joint training session, but for now he'd just chalk it up as another weird quirk one of the girls had.
"Alright Muramasa, what's our entry point?" Asuka asked
"Head for the roof of the building, there's a door there that'll lead to the 25th floor. The target's office is on the 20th, but we'll need to kill the security cameras and to do that one of you will need to go to the 15th floor. I'll be able to override security for about 5 minutes to give you a bit of leeway. Katsuragi should have a usb with a virus that'll allow me full access to the systems at which point I can shut them down entirely."
"Got it right here! Catch Yuji!" Katsuragi said tossing him the usb.
"Guess that means I'm heading to the 15th floor then." He murmured pocketing the usb
"Alright, lastly is your part Asuka, you'll have to head down to the 1st floor. At the front desk you'll be able to shut off the extra security measures. It's a simple as flicking a switch, but you can't go for it until after the security is down. Understand?"
"Got it." Asuka responded
"Okay everyone, just follow big sis Kat and we'll be in and out in no time!"
With that, three of them leapt from one building, across the street to another building, before tossing their grappling hooks to the office building and making their way up. Once there they transformed before Kat opened the door allowing them all to get inside. The stairwell, wasn't anything special just a dull gray with dozens of stairs leading to their respective floors. Once they reached the 20th floor, Katsuragi gave her two underclassmen a wave with her hand "This is my stop, I'll be waiting for you to do what you gotta do Yuji!"
With a nod Yuji and Asuka continued downwards. Down another five flights of stairs and Yuji nodded to Asuka "I'll get the cameras down as quick as I can."
Watching as Asuka continued down to the first floor, Muramasa came in through his ear piece.
"Okay Yuji, I'm going to override the security cameras. You've got five minutes before they kick back in, so you've got to hurry. Go through the door leading the offices, run down the hall, make a left, then go to the end of that, make a right and then a left, head halfway down that hallway it'll be the third door to your right."
"Got it."
"Okay, cameras are going down in 5...4...3...2..1! Go Yuji, the clock is ticking!"
Not saying another word, Yuji opened the door that led to the floor proper and dashed down the hall, passing several cubicles on the way, once he reached the end of the hall, he made a left, going down another hall with doors to offices. He continued running, feeling annoyed at just how long the hallway was before reaching the end and making the right and then left and getting to yet another hallway before finding the door to the security room.
"Muramasa, what's my time?" Yuji asked
"Two minutes left! Hurry!"
It hadn't even felt like three minutes, but regardless, Yuji took out a lockpick and began attempting to pick the lock to the office. Thankfully, Yuji had picked up on this pretty well from his classes and the lock in question was pretty rudimentary. Getting the door open, he stepped into the security room, making sure the door behind him was closed. Looking around he could see three of monitors that had static playing on them all. No doubt thanks to Muramasa, on the table sat a keyboard and below that, the computer tower itself.
"Alright, I'm inside Muramasa. What now?"
"Stick the usb into the port and then run ! I'll handle the rest from there!"
Doing as told, Yuji shoved the usb into the port on the tower and once it was recognized by the computer he ran the program in question. What followed next was Muramasa's face appearing on all the screens before each one turned completely black.
"And that should be that! Now it's all on Asuka and Katsuragi!"
"Cool, What should I do now?"
"You can head back to the roof I guess? Your part in this should be over. And you should wait to rendezvous with the others."
"Fine by me. Say, mind answering a question?"
"Sure."
"Why is the security room on the 15th floor?"
-000-
Asuka had finally made it to the first floor of the building. Really, despite what was said, running down a bunch of stairs became just as tiring as going up them. After a few minutes of catching her breath, Asuka got the go-ahead from Muramasa to continue on with her part of the mission. Opening the door she was greeted with the foyer area...that had laser sensors all over the area.
"Okay, can't say I expected that…" Asuka muttered
"Head for the front desk, there should be a switch there to turn off the laser grids." Muramasa said
"Okay...avoiding these should be easy...I hope."
Asuka took a look at the lasers, noting that they were shooting all over the place in extremely awkward directions, going from the ceiling to the floor, the floor to the wall, the wall to another wall, and some crisscrossing with each other. Taking a deep breathe, she leapt forward twisting her body almost as if she were a snake in order to dodge the lasers. Landing on one foot at a safe spot among the sea of lasers before pushing off and doing another complex motion to land on another safe spot near the front desk. Going from there, she jumped to the wall, pushing off of it and allowing her to land at the front desk. "And here we go!" Asuka muttered, flipping the switch that in return slowly caused all the lasers to disappear from the room, Asuka letting out a long sigh once it was finished.
"Why is the security in here so weird? Muramasa, I've turned off the laser grid here!"
"Great! Your part should be done in this operation as well."
"Alright, I'll link up with the others once things are done."
-000-
"Alright Katsuragi-senpai! You're up! Asuka-senpai and Yuji-senpai have disabled the security, so you're free to move. It's actually not as bad as what Yuji-senpai had to do, our target is right at the end of the hall, take that other usb and run the program! I'll handle the rest from here."
Smirking to herself, Katsuragi leisurely walked down the hallway, the entire area being lined with doors to different offices. With security down, she had the easiest job of all. She did feel a bit bad about it, but Asuka and Yuji were her underclassmen and as such, having them do the tougher parts would ultimately be good for them in the long run. Sliding into the target's office, Katsuragi turned on the computer. There was just one issue: It was password protected.
"Hey Muramasa we got a problem, this computer is locked and I don't know the password." Katsuragi spoke into her comms.
"Not to worry, I can hack that from here. Now let's see...and…there!"
The computer was now on the desktop, and a small whistle, Katsuragi stuck the usb into the port and ran the program.
"Alright good, this will let me bypass the systems a lot more easily and find what we need! I'll start copying over the files now. It should only take a few minutes."
"Take your time Muramasa-chan~! I got nothin' but time!" Katsuragi said with a chuckle.
About a minute or so passed before Muramasa spoke again. "You-what?! You're not serious! But why?! H-hang on, don't do anything!"
"Muramasa, what's wrong? Is something up with the computer?!" Katsuragi exclaimed
"N-no! Yuji-senpai...he's fighting a yoma!"
-000-
Yuji had been sitting on the roof for a short while now. He didn't really have much else to do and he had to admit that for a mission it was kind of boring now that he had played his part. Then again, he had been told that it wasn't going to be anything too difficult. All he had to do was wait for Muramasa to give the word that everything was done and then they could go and meet the contact and the mission would be officially over.
That changed as he felt the presence of someone on the rooftop with him. Bringing his hand to his sword, Yuji was ready to draw it...and then he saw it: A beautiful woman who literally crawled up from the other side of the roof, she had red hair, with a top that covered her breasts, then traveled down the sides of her torso, leaving her stomach bare. The most striking part was the bottom half of her body...which was entirely that of a spider. Her eyes had a dangerous glow to them, it being especially notable as her back was against the moonlight. The woman advanced towards him slowly, almost as if she were a predator that had cornered her prey, However, as he got closer, Yuji could feel the danger leave him as she stopped just out of arm's reach of him.
"Okaaaay...gimme a moment here." Yuji said backing up a bit more "Hey Muramasa...I don't want to alarm you, but I'm face to face with a spider woman and I am not sure what to do right now.
"You-what?! You're not serious! But why?! H-hang on, don't do anything!"
"I am way too weirded out to really do anything right now." Yuji replied
No response came as the spider woman continued to stare at Yuji. Every time she took a step forward, he'd take an instinctive one back. Still, his sense of danger was dropping, in fact, the spider woman seemed to be...relaxed? While he didn't let his hand leave the hilt of his sword just in case she suddenly lashed out, he felt he needed to say something to at least lower the tension, even if said tension was mostly just all him at this point.
"So uh...come here often?" He said jokingly
To his shock, the woman shook her head at him.
"You can understand me?"
This time she nodded at him.
"Can you speak?"
"gwar gah nagyah."
"Gonna take that as a no...so why are you here?"
The Spider Woman brought a finger to her chin before shrugging.
"You don't know? Well I wish I could help but I'm on a mission right now. Maybe we could meet later or something?"
The spider woman looked contemplative for a moment, but whatever she was about to do was cut short as Asuka appeared rushing towards the spider woman, slashing at her side and knocking her away.
"Yuji are you okay?! I got the news from Muramasa, Kat is on her way, but she has to wait for the data to finish transferring."
"Wait I Asuka I think she's-"
Yuji's words were cutoff by a ghastly scream. One that could cause a person's skin to leap off of their body. Craning his head towards the spider woman, he could see that whatever remained of her relaxed calm nature was gone as it was replaced with pure unbridled rage. The two shinobi quickly jumped out of the way as she shot webbing at them from her backside.
"N-never mind, guess we're fighting now!"
The Spider Woman charged the two using the front two of her spider legs to slash at Yuji and Asuka, who both managed to block it with their weapons while being pushed back.
"S-she's a lot stronger than she looks!" Yuji said "Asuka what do we do?"
"Pincer attack!"
"R-right!"
Yuji moved to right and Asuka to the left, the two of them moving towards the Spider Woman, dodging more of her webs as they did. Yuji brought his sword up, while Asuka slashed both of hers downward each on the opposite side of the spider woman. Blood gushed from her wounds as Yuji pulled his sword from out of her side, Asuka doing the same.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!"
The scream….god the scream. Yuji had retreat a bit as he felt his eardrums being ripped apart by the screech that the spider woman had let out.
"Are you okay Yuji?" Asuka said retreating to his side.
"Yeah, I'm fine...and she looks pretty okay herself, even after that attack."
"Yoma are pretty hardy. We've just gotta keep up the momentum, Kat should be here soon to help us out."
"Right, let's keep it up!"
With a nod Asuka once more moved in close to the enemy however, instead of attacking right away, which caught the spider woman off guard, she instead knelt down for a moment, grabbing both of her weapons before engulfing them in green energy, she then slashed at the Spider Woman several time, each hit causing her to scream in pain before she finished it off by causing several jagged pillars of earth to appear from the ground.
"Yuji follow up. Use one of your ninpo!"
"Ninpo? I only know one and you told me not to use it!"
"Change of plans use it now! I'll hold it off."
"Alright, you got it!" Yuji said brandishing his blade and channeling the power of the wind into it. Realizing that he had to stop and focus, one thing he needed to train for sure was being able to use the Wind Ripper more quickly, something he could definitely bring up with Hanzo at another time. He continued charging up, keeping his eyes closed as he heard the clang of Asuka's blades connect with the legs of the Spider Woman. He could feel the power traveling throughout his broadsword all the way until it reached the tip.
"Kyaah!" Asuka yelped as she was knocked back from an attack by the Spider Woman, her stop having been shredded and leaving her stomach exposed to the elements. Thankfully(or not, Yuji wasn't too sure) her breasts were still covered. Pushing that thought away, he brandished his sword towards the Yoma.
"Take this, Wind Ripper!"
The blast of cutting wind flew towards the Spider Woman, cutting her in several places as she let out another scream before falling over, twitching from the pain.
"Whew, think she's dead?" Yuji asked
His answer came when the Yoma got back to her feet. It was shaky, but she still clearly had some fight left in her.
"Damn, she really is tough." Yuji muttered
"I told you, come on, we're not done yet!"
The two got ready to fight yet again, but this time the yoma woman did something that he didn't expect, turning around and pointing her back end at the two shinobi, she laid several eggs...that instantly hatched into at least several dozen small spiders.
Yuji couldn't help but feel a little disgusted at the sight, but he had no time to really react as the baby spiders began attacking him and Asuka along with their mother. As one of them got close, Yuji moved to slash it, only for a blast of web from the Spider Woman to hit his hand, knocking his sword away.
"Tch, dammit!" Yuji growled taking out his gun and opening fire on the small spiders coming towards him. He'd managed to hit a couple, but they were smart and they were making an active attempt to dodge his fire. One got close, managing to bite his side, causing some of his clothing to tear away.
"Gah, get off!" Yuji roared tossing the thing off with his free hand and blasting it, only for another to come from the other side and bite him. He repeated the same motion, throwing it away and opening fire before retreating across some way across the roof. Looking down at his outfit, he had lost the bottom half of his shirt.
"Goddammit…" He muttered, reloading. He had to get to his sword, he was much more better in a fight with it.
Asuka, was holding up better than Yuji, while the spiders had gotten some hits on her, she was more experienced in dealing with yoma and as such, she was having a far better time of dealing with everything. Twirling out of the way of another bite from a spider, Asuka easily cleaved it in two before dodging another strike from the Spider Woman.
"With this many close, I know just what to do." Asuka murmured. She leaned down low to the ground again, grasping her blades at her side.
"Now, take this!"
This time instead of the attack she'd done before, this time she dashed towards her enemies, attacking them in a cross shaped attack from her wakizashi. In the blink of an eye, Asuka was on the other side of the group of enemies, the smaller spiders having been killed from the attack, while the Spider Woman remained, managing to tank the attack well enough.
"You okay Asuka?" Yuji said rushing back to her after having dealt with his group of enemies.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I wish she'd go down already." The female shinobi sighed
"No worries, I'll finish it!" Yuji said charging at the Spider Woman, who dodged his attack and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck tossed him to the other side of the roof causing him to skid and go over the edge, nearly falling.
"Gyah unh daha!" The yoma exclaimed looking at what she'd done and reacting in shock, she began moving towards Yuji.
"Oh no you don't! Take this!"
The Yoma was kicked square in the head as Katsuragi had finally appeared, causing her to fly back a few feet before she caught herself. "Sorry about that Asuka, Hit a bit of a snag, but I got the data, now let's beat this thing's ass."
"Right, you hold it off, I'll get Yuji!"
With a nod, Katsuragi went to engage the enemy, while Asuka rushed over to the edge of the roof and helped Yuji back up.
"Thanks Asuka. Don't know how long I could have held on."
"Don't worry about it, Kat needs our help, now come on."
Nodding, the two rejoined Katsuragi who was delivering a flurry of kicks to the Spider Woman, who managed to block some of the attacks, but the sheer power behind Katsuragi's bracers was causing her stumble with each hit, leaving her unable to counterattack or dodge without leaving her open.
"Come on, that all ya got?!" Katsuragi jeered as she continued her attacks, dodging out of the way of a bit of web that the Spider Woman shot in attempt to slow her down. "Hehe, too slow!" she laughed, landing another hit on the yoma.
"Asuka, Yuji, you're up!" Katsuragi said getting out of the way, as her two underclassmen attacked the Spider Woman. Dodging more of the webbing shot their way, Yuji and Asuka got in close, this time, Yuji bringing his blade from below and slicing straight up her torso. The Spider Woman backed away, enough so that she wouldn't be gutted, but she still had a thin slash across her front. This left her open for Asuka who slammed her blade into the ground, causing an earth spike to jut out of the ground and send the yoma woman flying into the air.
"Great work you two! Now for the kill shot!" Katsuragi said with a smug grin as she called forth wind in her leg bracers, running forward she did a somersault using the force to push her self off into the air, spinning until her legs became a literal wind-infused drill. As the youkai continued to soar upwards from Asuka's attack, Yuji could see where this was going. However, as he watched, he could see something akin to fear on the Spider Woman's face. She knew what was coming and she knew she had no way to survive it. But what really sent a shiver down Yuji's spine wasn't that look on her face, but the words that came out of her mouth just a few moments before the impact was made. It was small and weak, but even so, he was able to hear two words.
"I'm scared…"
The words came out completely human to him, and for a split second he wanted to shout at Katsuragi to not go through with her attack. But it was too late, Katsuragi's attack literally tore through the Spider Woman, ripping her in half as the two parts of her body fell into the alley below. Yuji couldn't bring himself to look over the edge at what remained of her body, instead falling to his knees and just...taking the entire situation in.
"Shit…" Katsuragi muttered landing on the ground and taking notice of Yuji, she quickly moved towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, her voice dropping it's usual jovial tone and taking on a more caring tint to it.
"Hey...Yuji...are you okay? It's alright, it's gone now alright?"
"Huh...y-yeah...I guess it is. What was that thing anyway…?" Yuji asked getting back to his feet.
"It's a long story…" Asuka said putting her weapons away "Come on Yuji, let's get out of here and we'll explain later. We still have a mission to complete."
"Yeah...right."
The three spent a few minutes to gather their thoughts before heading off to meet with their contact. All the while, Yuji had several thoughts running through his mind...but at the moment the mission was a success. But even so, there was one nagging question that rung throughout his mind, and kept creeping up on him: Why did he feel so bad about it?
-000-
A figure in a black hood had watched the battle from a rooftop a fair distance, not too far away but not too close either, they had binoculars on their face, keeping close eye on the building on the government building. They had received information that the one who herald a new age for the world would be going on a shinobi mission tonight. It wasn't their place to disrupt the mission, the people the figure answered to did not care if a corrupt government worker was made to suffer for their hubris. Instead, what they had been sent for was for confirmation if the boy was truly who they he was believed to be. There had always been suspicion, but according to the higher ups nothing had happened in the 16 years since the boy had been born and no oddities stood out with him as far as they knew...at least until now. The figure had done as was told: Wait until the target was alone and summon a yoma and simply watch at what would occur. They'd done as such, using a yoma summoning technique that was passed down through the order. The only problem was that using said technique had a high chance of the yoma going mad in anger at being forcefully called into their world.
Still, when the figure saw the boy alone, it was their chance to complete their mission. They went into the alley next to the building in question summoning the yoma and leaving it to engage with the boy all while they retreated to their original location with ease. When they got back to their little perch overlooking the entire building, they were surprised to see that the yoma that had appeared initially agitated and ready to kill the boy instead...became calm. It was interesting to see such an immediate change. The boy spoke to the yoma, what he said the person did not know, but by all accounts they were having a casual conversation.
And then the female shinobi arrived. Whatever connection the boy and the yoma had was broken as she flew into a rage and began attacking them both. Well, the figure said that, but to be honest the yoma attacked the girl more than the boy, at one point even attempting to save him when he went over the edge of the roof.
How interesting.
It was clear that this is what the figure's superiors had wanted to see. The boy...could he control yoma? Pacify them and make them obedient? If so, then this opened up so many possibilities! Perhaps things could finally progress to the order's ultimate goal. The figure watched as the yoma died, feeling a least a small bit of regret for her having to die, but it'd ultimately be for the greater good. They would need to report back to the higher ups about this. This mission was a success, and they barely had to do anything. In fact, they were glad that they had gotten this mission as it gave them a form of elation that they'd not felt in many years.
The one who had the ability to lead them was present among the Hanzo Academy elites. Though he wasn't among their ranks, it was still a time for celebration.
The embodiment of Shin had finally graced this world.
And so Yuji has his first run in with a yoma. And needless to say the entire thing has left him a bit shaken up and with several questions. The life of a shinobi isn't all fun and games after all. Also for those of you who don't know Muramasa is actually a character from the Senran Kagura mobile game. Or well...one of them at least. I thought having some of the New Wave girls be present would be an interesting idea, since I think in the current mobile game (New Link I believe it's called) actually doesn't have too many of them present. There's been a few others mentioned such as Hijikata and Fuma in earlier chapters. Enough rambling from me though, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one!