"Everyone alright?"
Fuki was sitting down. Sakura was attempting to bust down the metal walls, but to no avail, as Erika and the rest of the squad settled down as well. Very miniscule casualties suffered.
"Yeah.."
"So…what now? Sakura asked in the very empty-like room.
"...I think we continue upwards. Majima must've had this as a diversion, and god knows where Takina ran off to."
"She said something about saving Chisato, yeah? Those two…"
"I…! I don't think it matters much anymore," Erika showed her opinion, "we just need to stop Majima."
"I guess so.."
"Well then, let's get moving. The other squads must've gotten out by now, if they were ambushed."
—
Kurumi was working fast and furiously to make work of her solution idea, which was a massive cover up of the Lycoris identity. However, to do so, she needed to plug a small usb flash drive into a station at the radio tower-which was basically a small war zone at the moment.
"Argh…Mizuki!"
"What is it now?"
"I need Chisato, Takina, one of the Lycoris at the tower! They have to plug this thing in for me to work my magic!" Kurumi showed her the usb in her hand.
"I got it! Use the telephone in front of you, just hope that they have their phones!"
Chisato did not have her phone as it was lost in her bag which fell, and although Takina still had hers, the situation was too intense to answer.
"Chisato!"
Chisato ignored Takina's yell as she charged right at the hysterical Majima.
"One final showdown, Alan Lycoris!"
Taking a few initial shots, Majima faltered his movement for a bit, but Chisato had come close enough for him to go hand-to-hand combat. He started by attempting to disarm her, although Takina shot him in the leg before he could. Then, hobbling in pain, Majima was vulnerable to Chisato's shots once again as she could aim much better now that she had come in close. However, instead of shooting him, she shot around his extremely sensitive ear that had helped him all too much. With him hindered, Takina reached into her vibrating backpack and pulled out a different weapon, which tied Majima up to the handrails with ease.
"Why-" Majima started, before receiving a kick to his leg by Takina. He winced.
"Stay quiet, can you?"
"Takina…"
"Yes? What is it?"
"Er…nothing! Just don't be so rough handling him, you could create another wound…"
"I would not. I know when to hold back my punch."
"Alright then."
"Heh…that was really, really bad. You two certainly kicked my ass. Shouldn't you be worried about something else though? I'm sure there's trouble within your headquarters."
"First and foremost, capturing you is our objective," Takina told him.
"Well…how do you think Lilybell will react to this? With your relationship not being the best?"
Chisato gasped in realization as she put pieces together. However, she could not explain the potential danger to the rest of her squad now.
Outside the windows, meanwhile, the weather started to change a slight bit. Clouds covered the sky and small things fell from it. It had started to snow, a rarity within the city.
—
"Neither of them are picking up!"
"Calm down, kid! There's not much we can do if that's the case…"
Kurumi started panicking and consistently called Chisato. After a few failures, she started to spam Takina again. However, this time, it was different.
"What is it? We just beat Majima."
"Hey, who are you calling now of all times, Takina?"
"I didn't call anyone. Kurumi is trying to contact me."
"Ah! Kurumi!" Chisato called in surprise.
"Chisato, Takina! There isn't time to waste! I need one of you, or anyone to grab this usb I have! It'll let me work something out, with your situation and Radiata."
"Really? Is it that bad? Are you able to fix it up?" Chisato asked.
"Of course I can. Who do you think I am?"
"A little kid who can type quickly," Mizuki remarked.
"Hey! Don't answer with your own views!"
"Do you think you can land somewhere nearby? We can go pick your usb up and put it wherever you need it," Takina asked.
"Can we?" Kurumi asked Mizuki like a child asking her mother for permission.
"Yes…" she groaned in response.
"Alright! How about…by that old-looking building a few blocks away from the tower? Oh, and don't be too hasty about it. If people see your uniform right now, things might get a little heated.
"I got it. Stealth mission, here we go!" Chisato yelled, forgetting that the big boss himself was basically next to her.
"Tch. If you do manage to get yourself out of this situation, it'll cost quite a bit. Not just some Lycoris lives, thanks to LilyBell, but this whole tower too! Credits go to yours truly. Oh! And my gang, too."
"Why don't you shut it, Majima?" This time, it was Chisato who snapped back towards the man. She even shot his shoulder with her pistol.
"Damn…Hey, this is all very interesting to me," he defended as he struggled to move. "You got yourself into a real sticky situation now, don'cha?"
"I learn from my mistakes. It must be hard for those who don't," Chisato stared coldly at the man, before taking her leave and nabbing Takina's phone to call other Lycoris.
"What is it, girl?" A very sharp voice came from the other end.
Typically, only the squad leader carried their personal phone on them-as headquarters found it potentially distracting, however still wanted some form of contact in emergency cases. Takina started to carry hers as well, however, due to Chisato's demands.
"Hey, hey! Chisato here! Fuki, we've already captured Majima! But I need you all to come over here instead-we have to do something important, but I promise we'll come right back!"
"Ugh, it's Chisato. What's more important to you than capturing Majima right now?"
"Um…maybe the coverup of Lycoris' existence?" Chisato smirked, and Fuki could practically see it on her face.
"You…Headquarters is unavailable as of now. With elevators shut down, it might be a struggle backing out. How do you plan to cover it up?"
"Just trust me on this one, ok?"
"How…you know what," Fuki said, sighing, "fine."
"Thank you very much! Be sure to get here quickly! This guy might try something."
"Acknowledged," Fuki responded simply.
"Alright! Takina, let's-"
"We should wait here instead," Takina interrupted, "it's best not to let him any window of escape-literally."
Looking at Majima, it seemed she was right on the nail as he smirked.
"If I can escape you or not, it doesn't really matter too much. As long as I achieve my goal in the end, of course."
"Tell the others, alright Fuki?"
"It all ends up on me again…" she muttered as the call ended. Despite her negative tone, Fuki went straight to contacting the other two leaders-one of which was picked up by a squad member as their leader was dead.
—
Yoshimatsu was dropped off near the new radio tower. However, he didn't exactly know what to do next as he hadn't planned ahead. Even then, he knew Takina was a big problem that kept interfering. There wasn't much time for Chisato, but Shinji had something up his sleeve. A new heart, one that would at least extend her life. He looked down at his own chest, where he had surgically placed the heart. The snow fell down on his head as he reminisced, though he did not mind.
"That little girl…I agreed that until adulthood would be enough. Heh, now look at me. How much I've gotten attached."
Then, with his rifle and suitcase, the man started to walk into the tower, unaware of the soldiers that were coming in on the other side.
"Hasty now! Don't let the cold weather slow us down!"
LilyBell was already breaking into the building, and quickly started to go up the stairs and elevators as if they had absolutely no time to lose.
"Don't hesitate when you see them, either! Some can be just as good as you, and might kill you before you can kill them!"
—
By the time Fuki had gotten to Majima, regrouped with everyone else, and Takina as well as Chisato left, LilyBell started to reach the heights. A few shots upon sight, and with that the Lycoris knew that they weren't there for friendly conversation.
When Chisato got near the bottom of the stairs, however, it wasn't LilyBell that she found. Instead, it was Shinji hiding behind cover, with Mika on the center of the floor, shotgun in hand, and behind a pole. When trying to hide from the Lilybell who stormed the tower, Shinji must've encountered Mika as he followed his tracks.
Mika suddenly then peeked around the corner, and suddenly flinched backwards as Shinji shot a few rounds. Stuck, Mika resorted to a do-or-die maneuver. He sprinted out from behind the pole, making Shinji too slow to shoot at him quickly enough, and then threw his cane at the man, knocking his rifle away, and shot Shinji repetitively with his non-lethal shotgun, pushing him to the ground. However, Mika then picked up Shinji's rifle, and to Chisato's shock, shot Shinji in the leg. Then, he aimed it at his head.
Immediately, Chisato jumped down from the stairs, causing a clutter of the miscellaneous cans that had been knocked over as a shelf fell over, and she started to run as fast as she could to the two. Hearing the sudden sound, Mika and Shinji turned to the source as they saw the person they wished to see last. Takina, however, was conflicted between helping her and completing the mission given to them by Kurumi.
I don't want to let her out of my sight again…but I don't know if I should be in the middle of her situation.
Hesitating, Takina chose to get Kurumi's USB-by herself. She then fled without any notice.
"TEACHER! YOU CAN'T!"
Chisato yelled louder than either had ever heard from her before, and before they knew it, Chisato was in front of Mika, arms spread out to get in between the two. Mika knew what he had to do, and Chisato did not make the decision any better for himself. A cold breeze came into the room, as Takina had left the door she took open by mistake.
"I have to.. For your sake."
"What do you mean my sake?! If you dare lay harm on Mr. Yoshi…I'll…shoot you with my gun!" Chisato found words as she pulled out her pistol. Due to her bag being pushed away, only one magazine was left. 3 bullets. She aimed it at the man in front of her, hands shaking despite it being nonlethal.
"Heh…he's gone insane, too," Shinji said. His blood started to spread. Had he fought Mika outdoors, the snow would have turned red quite easily.
"Why..? Why were you two fighting?"
"Chisato," Mika said, ignoring her question.
"...Yes?"
"When is your next birthday again?"
"Like a few weeks. Why?"
"That. That's when your artificial heart starts to deteriorate. I had already told Kurumi that you didn't have long left, but she believed that the Alan Institute had a second heart. And she was right. Mr. Yoshi has it, right here. In his own body. He probably had some plans to get you to kill him for it in mind. Before I came around."
Chisato was terrified by both men whom she found to be her own father figures. One saved her, but now wants her to kill him for her own survival. The other wants to kill the other father figure for her survival.
"You're not killing Mr. Yoshi, and I'm not killing Mr. Yoshi! Everyone can just chill out, alright?"
"I can't let you die. Not when there's something that can save you."
"You just have to take the rifle, Chisato. I have something that can save you. Do what you have proved you can do best. Start killing again."
"Teach…" Chisato stared at the floor. Then, suddenly, she attempted to take his rifle-which his grip prevented.
"Surrender…the…weapon!"
"I will not."
"Then…!" Chisato yelled, shooting her remaining bullets into the man's chest and then his face, which proved greatly effective. Mika fell from the impact, and Chisato took the weapon.
"Wonderful! Now-"
"I'm not killing you, Mr. Yoshi. I once thought that this piece symbolized something great. That it worked to bring the best out of people," she pulled out her Alan necklace.
"I will not go on living in your place."
Chisato then removed the necklace, and gave it back to the man. She also sat down, and ripped apart some of the man's pants in order to create a bandage for his wound.
"Teach, if I ever find that you killed Mr Yoshi…I won't forgive you. I might even run away."
"Truth is…I never minded the short time I have left, anyways."
Chisato then left the room, as she'd known Takina had gone ahead without her.