Cap 2: Meeting the snakes
Every light casts a shadow.
That is the basic principle of Yin and Yang.
And yet, even within the depths of shadow, there is still both darkness and light.
There are those who call themselves "evil shinobi."
Among the shinobi who sustain the world from the shadow, they are the yin.
Evil shinobi accept work from corporations and politicians, including assassination, subversión, and other illegal acts.
"Good shinobi," on the other hand, are sponsored by the government.
Some would say evil shinobi are an absolute negative.
But… when it come to good and evil shinobi… are the the differences between them truly so great?
The evil shinobi do what the good cannot, and vice versa.
Both exist in the shadows, and both support the world's inner workings in their own way.
Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy…
Founded upon the principle that "where good favors few, evil accepts all"… the school is singly devoted to raising evil shinobi.
The training is harsh, and not all students make it through alive.
Despite this, never lacks for new recruits.
For those who turn their backs to yang… have nowhere else to go.
The story you are about to witness… is a record of those who study in the name of evil.
What drives these girls to fight? What thoughts and dreams flash behind their eyes?
What binds them on their crimson-stained path?
That is still yet to be knowk.
(Two years ago…)
(?: Hebijo Academy)
You can see a girl with short green hair and golden eyes with pupils equal to those of a snake (it is worth saying that she is incredibly beautiful) and on her face you see a noticeable face of disinterest.
She was also wearing a torn black sailor uniform with red details that allowed her beautiful body to be appreciated.
This girl's name is Hikage and today is the beginning of her new life as a shinobi.
"So, this is Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy. Pretty big place." Hikage said when she saw the installation.
"Oh, are you an Elite as well?" asked a girl who was passing by where Hikage was.
"Looks like it." replied Hikage.
"I see… You may call me Haruka. A pleasure to meet you." the girl said kindly as she introduced herself to Hikage.
Haruka wore the same uniform as Hikage (although hers didn't seem to be torn unlike Hikage's), had light brown hair tied up in a big pink bow, was quite tall, and had a cute tone of voice.
"Hikage. Nice to meet you too." Hikage said with the kindest tone he could (it was hardly noticeable but it was clear that he had that intention).
"You don't look very cheerful. Aren't you a 1st-Year? Where's your enthusiasm?" asked Haruka quite confused by Hikage's attitude.
"Emm…"Cheerful"? I don't follow." Hikage replied even more confused than Haruka.
"See, I don't have any emotions." Hikage said to Haruka with a very noticeable expressionless face.
"No emotions at all?" Haruka asked quite surprised, she thought that Hikage was just bored or something like that but she didn't expect that answer.
"That makes you soud more like a doll tan human." Haruka said with a rather bored expression on her face.
"Yeah. I guess if you want top ut it that way, sure." Hikage replied to Haruka, though she didn't know if he was ignoring her or trying to be rude or just didn't care.
"That's quite intriguing. Still, maybe we have a little something in common." Haruka said kindly.
Hikage just nodded at that.
"I think we'll be good friends, Hikage-chan." Haruka state confidently.
"Friends…" Hikage muttered to herself with quite a few doubts.
"I don't really understand you, but if you say so. Of course we can be friends." Hikage said once more with the kindest tone he could.
"Hee hee. Lovely." Haruka said with a huge smile on her face.
Neither of the two girls wanted to get in trouble with the other, now that they are shinobi they will need someone to help them when things get ugly in the future, so making friends was convenient for both of them, besides... it seemed that the girls two were going to hit it off.
Later, Hikage was standing in the courtyard looking at the horizon a little thoughtful.
"I've heard the training here's really tough… but it's nothing to me." Hikage said to herself.
"Hikage, what are you doing?" a purple haired woman said to Hikage.
"Oh, Suzune-sensei. Not goofing off, if that's what you're thiking." Hikage replied quickly.
Suzune was a tall woman, wore glasses, a long-sleeved white shirt, a rather tight short skirt, black stockings, and had her hair up (and seemed a bit... too strict).
"I've completed my assigned training for today." Hikage said.
"How naive, Utterly naive." said Suzune automatically.
Hikage was quite confused by that.
"Completing the assigned work is just the warm-up for a Hebijo student. Challenge yourself!" Suzune said strictly.
"You're harsh, Suzune-sensei." replied Hikage.
"Of course. My dictionary doesn't contain the word "mercy"." Suzune replied to Hikage.
"Sounds scary, but… well. Maybe it's good that you're so strict." Hikage said with a very flat tone.
"All right. I want you to sharpen your combat technique against some mannequins. But if you drop your guard, even the mannequins can hurt you." Suzune told Hikage to start her training.
"I wouldn't have any other way." Hikage said to herself as she got into a fighting position.
(Cue: Shinobi Training For Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal)
"I will sacrifice myself for our cause." Hikage said before launching herself at his targets.
Hikage immediately took out his weapon: a knife, and with it began to destroy the mannequins.
She kicked, punched and slashed at many but more were arriving, yet she remained calm.
At one point, she felt one of them brushing against her, so she decided to increase the power.
"All right! Shinobi… Tenshin!" Hikage said and at that moment her body began to glow.
Her uniform disappeared and was changed for another outfit, now she was wearing a very short yellow shirt with black details and snake-shaped patterns that showed a lot of her neckline, one of her shoulders and her waist on which she had snakes tattooed, a few thin necklaces on her neck, very tight long jeans unbuttoned and with a few cuts, dark brown dress shoes and a few straps tied on the lower parts of her legs and on her wrists.
As soon as she finished changing his outfit, Hikage licked his lips and in the blink of an eye he finished off dozens of them.
She cut them at high speed and with great precision, it was a complete spectacle how she finished off so many in such a short time and in such an amazing way.
But above all, she remained completely calm and focused without losing sight of her objective, demonstrating a great level of discipline.
And finally... she finished off everyone, without even losing her composure for a second.
(Stop Music)
"Easy enough." Hikage said with a slightly satisfied tone.
"Well done… Next." Suzune said immediately.
"Huh? There's more?" Hikage asked slightly surprised by that.
"Of course. I'll keep you at it until you drop." Suzune answered strictly.
"Ok." Hikage she answered a bit discouraged (although again it hardly showed in her tone).
"Next, you'll practice the water escape technique. You'll be underwater for 300 hours." Suzune ordered Hikage.
"As in, nonstop?" Hikage asked a little nervously.
"Of course." Suzune replied.
"What about bathing or going to the bathroom?" Hikage asked even more nervous (although it didn't show on her face or in her tone she was scared to hear the answer).
"Take care of it underwater." Suzune said to Hikage dryly.
"Guess Hebijo's training really is as harsh a they say…" Hikage said to herself with a slight tone of resignation.
Although her life was going to be more difficult from now on, it was better than nothing, it was only the first day after all, so she just had to keep going, she had nothing to lose anyway.
(One year ago...)
(?: Hebijo Academy)
It had already been a year since Hikage and Haruka had started their training in Hebijo so they both felt that they had done things well up to that point.
One day as Hikage was walking through the courtyard, she saw a strange figure.
She was a girl with very long blonde hair with a small green brooch that adorned it, her face was very adorable and she had beautiful blue eyes, she was also humming the lyrics of a song in a very happy way.
"Hm? Is that a new Elite?" Hikage asked curiously.
"Past will tell you when to make yourself a hero." the blonde hummed in a very happy way.
"Why is she pulling up all the flowers in the flowerbed? Hey you, what are you doing?" Hikage asked the girl.
"Stop! There's no entry beyond this point!" the girl said firmly to Hikage.
"No entry…? What are you doing to the flowerbed?" Hikage asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm making a vegetable garden." the girl responded kindly.
"Vegetable garden?" Hikage asked curiously.
"I'm pulling up these pretty-but-impractical flowers and planting some vegetables in their place. Then we can eat them for lunch." the girl explained to Hikage.
"Oh. Seems kind of excessive, though." Hikage said with all the sincerity in the world.
"My stomach has needs. I will do what it takes to fill them." replied the girl.
"Hmm. I guess you're pretty pretty bold, too." Hikage said to the girl.
"Hee hee hee. Well, you know what they say. You don't go to festivals for the flowers, you go for the dumplings. Or for the bean sprouts!" replied the girl.
"I've never heard anyone mention bean sprouts in that context before. Dumplings i can see, through." Hikage asked the girl.
"You're absolutely wrong! Bean sprouts are the best! Bean sprouts are the greatest thing ever!" said the blonde totally and completely outraged and offended.
"All right, if you say so. I still don't get it." Hikage said a little beside herself.
"Oh! How rude of me. My name is Yomi. A 1st-Year in Elite class." the girl said as she introduced herself.
"Hikage, 2nd-Year. Nice to meet you." Hikage said with she characteristic respect (which is hardly noticeable again).
"Likewise." Yomi replied very kindly.
Maybe this girl was the sweetest, kindest, most respectful person in the entire world and you only had to get to know her to fall in love with her.
"Now, why don't we sit down and talk about the beauty of bean sprouts?!" Yomi said frantically.
Or maybe she was just crazy.
"Um… I'm not that into bean sprouts…" Hikage said a little unsure.
"Ah, did you know that bean sprouts can be boiled, roasted, AND sautéed? You have three options…!" Yomi said with a fangirl tone.
"You don't really listen to people, do you…? Well, guess we've got another weirdo in the class." Hikage muttered to herself.
Some days after.
"Hikage-san… What are you doing?" Yomi asked when she saw Hikage asleep in a corner.
"Hm? Oh, Yomi-san. Can't you tell? I'm sunbathing." Hikage replied when she woke up.
"But… you're lying in the shade. How do you tan with no sunlight?" Yomi asked confused.
"I prefer the shade. It suits me better." Hikage replied.
"Wow. Well, our school animal IS the snake. I suppose you might as well act like one." Yomi thought aloud.
"So, what's going on? You need me for something?" Hikage asked.
"Would you be willing to wager lunch on a match?" asked Yomi kindly and casually.
"A match? That's fine by me, but why lunch?" Hikage asked.
"Wh-Why lunch…?" Yomi said a little flustered.
"Yeah, why would i bet lunch? C'mon, tell me." Hikage insisted.
"Well…" Yomi began to explain a little more nervously.
"Seriously, Yomi-san, why?" Hikage said as he started to lose interest.
"O-Oh! Just humor me, please!" Yomi said with even more nerves.
"It's hard for me to tell what you're getting at. I don't do subtext very well. No emotions, remember?" Hikage replied.
"Then i'll speak more plainly. I-I haven't had lunch in three days! I'm rather short on money this month…" Yomi finally said.
"What happened to your vegetable garden?" Hikage asked a little worried.
"…The crows ate it all." Yomi replied while having a few tears in her eyes.
And at that moment there was silence... a lot of silence.
"Oh… Ok, then… Let's fight. Winner gets lunch." Hikage said as he got into a fighting stance.
Yomi smiled happily at that.
(Cue: A Silent Fury For Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal)
"I will sacrifice myself for our cause." both girls said for a second before launching at each other.
Both summoned their weapons, while Hikage had her knife, Yomi summoned his weapon: a large sword.
Hikage quickly approached Yomi to attack her, but she blocked her attack precisely, then Yomi throws some bombs at Hikage who manages to jump to safety, at that moment Hikage activates her Shinobi Tenshin and manages to get close to Yomi, her make several attacks but Yomi counterattacks her in the last blow, managing to push Hikage away momentarily.
Yomi seizes the advantage and starts shooting arrows at Hokage with her crossbow, but Hikage dodges them all and gets close enough to attack Yomi, who tries to block her attacks but misses.
Before Hikage can attack her further, Yomi stops for a second.
"Shinobi… Tenshin!" Yomi said as she spread her arms out and her body began to glow.
Her uniform was changed to a (quite revealing) teal and white dress comprised of a wrap top, long skirt, a pair of long white gloves, a neck bow, a beret, and white tights.
A split second after finishing her transformation, she managed to land a full blow on Hikage.
Hikage flew away, but quickly recovered, so she began to approach Yomi to attack her, but Yomi also began to attack her, the next thing they both did was start dodging or blocking each other's attacks at high speed.
Hikage took advantage of a single second of distraction from Yomi to gain the upper hand and eventually deliver the coup de grace.
Yomi could no longer keep up with Hikage and began taking all of she's attacks.
Hikage kicked Yomi, making her drop her sword and leaving her on the ground.
(Stop Music)
"Urk… I've lost… Ooh… I was so hungry i had no strength…" Yomi said heartbroken and crying a little.
"Ok, let's go get some lunch. Just let me know what you want." Hikage said in a slightly friendly way.
Yomi was surprised to hear her.
"Winner gets lunch, remember?" Hikage said in the friendliest tone she could manage.
"…H-Hikage-san… You´re such a good person… Waaahhh!" Yomi said crying with happiness and feeling that it was the beginning of a beautiful and lasting friendship.
(Spoiler alert: she wasn't wrong.)
"So why are you crying? I don't get that. Emotions really don't make sense to me." Hikage said quite confused.
(That same year)
You can see a girl with tanned skin and blue eyes, this was neither more nor less than Homura, although there was something different about her, she looks slightly younger, instead of the uniform she had in the interrogation room she was wearing Hebijo's uniform (although she kept her white ribbon) and... she looked infinitely more unhappy.
She did not carry the same passion in her eyes as when she was in the casino, not even in the interrogation room did she seem as miserable as at this moment.
"Hmph. I thought Hebijo upper class women were supposed to be tough. If you want to challenge me, you've get to bring more tan that." said the heroine with an arrogant and mocking tone.
"Oh, my. Are you the new girl who defeatd all those upper class women?" Homura heard someone ask her from behind and the one who did it was Haruka.
"You must be every bit the untamable shrew they say you are, Homura-chan." Haruka said very casually.
"You want to fight me too? Fine. I'll take you on. Maybe you'll be a Little more fun." Homura said with an aggressive tone.
"…Hee hee. You have enthusiasm. Keep in mind that all students at Hebijo Academy are comrades, and personal grudges are frowned upon, to say the least." Haruka warned Homura.
"No fighting in school, eh? What a bunch of cowards…" Homura complained.
"Oh dear, no. Don´t get me wrong. No grudge matches in school. Call it 'independent training', however, and you're good as gold. Even if one should die, it´s not an issue. Accidents happen, after all." Haruka explained in a friendly (and chillingly happy) manner.
"Interesting… Well then, how about a little 'independent training'? You and me." Homura asked in a challenging and threatening manner.
"Nop. I must decline." Haruka said with a bitter tone.
The heroine was surprised at that.
"I do my independent training with puppets. Now, if you'd like to be one of my puppets, that would be a different story." Haruka said playfully.
"Don't fuck with me." Homura said very aggressively.
"Oh, please don't take it so harshly. We really should try and be friends." Haruka said as she walked away smiling.
"So that must be Haruka from the Elite class. What a bitch." Homura said to herself quite irritated.
Although she had only been in Hebijo for a few days, no one had decided to speak to her in as friendly a way as Haruka, although she was annoying at least she had manners.
"Haruka, huh? Well, with her around, this place is gonna get real entertaining real fast." Homura thought aloud.
"Turning misery into meaningfulnesschanging day after day." Hikage and Yomi sang at the same time as they passed into the background without Homura noticing.
Some moments later.
Homura was walking around without messing with anyone, but I feel something strange.
"Someone's watching me. Who's there?" Homura asked flatly.
"No need for that frightening face, Homura-chan. It's only me." Haruka said softly as she came out from where she was hiding.
"Haruka. What do you want?" Homura asked rudely.
"The upper class women tell me you've been looking for trouble among them." Haruka said.
"I haven't challenged anyone. They keep attacking me." Homura declared.
"If some from the Elite class were to, say, drop out, a regular student would to take their place. Everyone here wants that, and they all see a 1st-Year like you as an easy mark." Haruka warned.
"Heh. So much for 'no personal grudges'." Homura said, quite annoyed by that.
"It´s really nothing personal. Everyone here has the drive to be stronger. Wanting to be Elite is merely part of that." Haruka explained comfortingly.
"You´re pretty glib, you know." Homura said tiredly.
A second later both girls heard something, it was a woman taller than them staring at Homura.
"Well, speak of the devil. Here come some ambitious upperclasswomen now." Haruka said smiling evilly (even so she looked quite sweet).
"Jeez. Alright, guess I'll just have to fight fire with fire." the heroine said as she cracked her neck and got into a fighting stance.
(Cue: The Crimson Warrior! For Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal)
Suddenly a bunch of women appeared behind the tall woman out of nowhere and charged at Homura.
"I will sacrifice myself for our cause." Homura said before summoning her weapons: six katanas that she used at the same time.
Just a second later Homura began to attack all her enemies, so fast that no one could follow her with their eyes, her attacks were extremely powerful, she dodged the attacks they gave her as if they were nothing.
She was abysmally superior to anyone who dared to attack her, she quickly approached a group of them and tore them apart with her katanas, with another handful she kicked them in the shins hard enough to break them and finished off another group quickly but they looked like them had just been burned alive.
It was a complete massacre, although it didn't kill anyone, it left everyone wanting to die as they suffered and writhed in pain.
"Not even a challenge…" Homura said with a slight smile of satisfaction.
(Stop Music)
"Phew. That should be all of them." Homura said with a more relaxed tone.
"Impressive. You're quite strong. Are you really only a 1st-year?" Haruka said genuinely impressed by what she had just seen.
Haruka was left in disbelief at Homura's ability, she didn't even have the need to use her Shinobi Tenshin.
"I'm starting to get it now. Everyone at this place besides me is an enemy." Homura said with an aggressive tone.
"Hmmm… I don't think "enemy" is quite the right word." Haruka said.
"No?" Homura asked confused.
"Hebijo students are essentially comrades who can't afford to get close to one another." Haruka explained.
"Comrades?" Homura asked just as confused.
"Yes and since they can't friendly, they can fight, but comrades are still comrades." Haruka said.
"I see… Comrades who sometimes kill each other. That's fine by me." Homura said with a slightly intellectual tone.
"Emmm… You might not quite have it just yet." Haruka said as a small drop of sweat fell from his head as a sign of ageless embarrassment.
This girl may be a combat genius and also be quite lethal but apparently she is an idiot when it comes to other things.
"But no matter. Well, until pother 1st-years get here, I can give you all the lessons you need." Haruka said kindly as she extended her hand to the heroine.
Homura had her doubts but accepted Haruka's offer with a handshake anyway.
Neither girl imagined that they would both be the most important thing in their lives to the other that Haruka would be one of the people Homura would love with all her heart and one of the main reasons why she would end up doing what she did.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves, let's go to the next important point.
(Monday 07/03)
(?: Hebijo Academy)
Coming to more recent times, you can see a very short girl, her hair is long black, her body is not that developed but her face is very beautiful and adorable, on the right side of her face she showed a nice red eye and on the left side a black patch with red magatamas.
This adorable little girl is called Mirai and today, after having demonstrated her talent, she has finally been promoted to Elite.
She was very excited about it, but she was too nervous too.
After doubting her worth for a few seconds, she gave herself a little encouragement and decided to go to the area where she had been ordered to go so she could make herself known to the rest of the Elites.
Although she was very nervous, she wanted to make a statement good impression.
After arriving at the area that had been assigned to her, she was still quite nervous but she still wanted to prove herself so she had no choice but to breathe and relax…
"You must be the new student, Mirai." Homura said appearing out of nowhere and scaring Mirai.
"Y-Yes… I-I'm Mirai." Mirai said still scared.
Mirai was too scared at that moment but she did everything she could not to look like it, trying to stay still and strong (or at least that's what she wanted to appear like).
When she felt her world collapsing, she saw Homura smiling kindly.
She seemed much more sociable than before, not as happy as in the present (not counting when she was tortured in the interrogation room) but definitely less unhappy than in the past.
"Good on you for not opening up to a stranger. Only a dumbass would do that." Homura said genuinely kindly.
While Mirai saw Homura still unsure, Haruka arrived in the room.
"Oh, and who is this newcomer? I'm Haruka, 3rd-Year student. Nice to meet you." Haruka said when she saw Mirai.
Mirai was scared by Haruka's presence so she tried to look intimidating again.
"You look too adorable with that look. How would you like to be one of my dolls?" Haruka said sinisterly.
Mirai felt PRETTY small (And scared).
"I'll encase you in wax so you can't move. You will make a lovely pet for my room." Haruka said with even more malice.
That didn't sound like a joke.
"I-I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Mirai said trembling shyly.
"Call me… Haruka-sama." Haruka said coldly while smiling evilly.
"H-Haruka-sama?" Mirai asked.
"Call me Haruka-sama and I will consider forgiving you." Haruka said.
Mirai nodded her head quickly.
"There are two more Elites. Come on. I'll introduce you." Homura said.
After a little talk Homura and Haruka took Mirai to a secret room on the upper floor.
Inside there were Hikage and Yomi talking about their things (while Yomi seemed to force Hikage to eat some bean sprouts).
"I'll only ask you once! Have you been avoiding your bean sprouts?!" Yomi asked frantically.
"Yeah, because you keep forcing them on me." Hikage said with an annoyed face.
"You blame ME for your avoidance of the sacred bean sprouts?!" Yomi asked quite offended.
Mirai looked at both girls and seemed confused, while Homura and Haruka looked embarrassed.
"Hey crazy couple, here we have a new student." Homura said getting Yomi and Hikage's attention.
"Oh hello." Yomi and Hikage said at the same time when they saw Mirai.
"Hello... I'm Mirai, nice to meet you." Mirai said timidly.
"Well let me introduce them to you, the blonde is Yomi and the other is Hikage." Homura said to Mirai.
"It's a real pleasure to meet you." Yomi said politely.
"I hope you enjoy our company." Hikage said.
Mirai still had her doubts about moving forward, but she was aware that there were no other alternatives for her at that moment.
"Just take it easy little friend." the heroine advised Mirai with a relaxing tone.
During the night of that day Homura had a horrible headache while she was sleeping.
(Wednesday 06/04)
(?: Hebijo Academy)
A month after Mirai's arrival she and Homura were training together, but Mirai was constantly losing focus.
"Mirai, be careful!" Homura exclaimed.
A dagger came towards Mirai, but she narrowly managed to avoid it.
Haruka who was there started laughing a lot.
"Hey, Mirai, your "bear" butt is exposed." Haruka said trying to contain her laughter.
Due to the dagger that she could not dodge in time, her skirt was torn and Mirai's panties were completely visible, the design of a bear with blue and gold head parts could be seen on them.
Mirai blushed a lot and was very embarrassed, she felt like her heart was beating faster due to embarrassment.
"Oh my god... o-oh my god..." Mirai murmured with great embarrassment.
"Oh Mirai-chan, you are so cute and adorable when you are embarrassed." Haruka said.
"Y-Yes, look at me! I'm so "adorable", aren't I?!" Mirai shouted very angry.
Homura was surprised by Mirai's reaction.
"Wh-What's wrong with having bear panties, anyway?!" Mirai asked very sharply as tears began to come out of her eyes.
The next second Mirai ran away while crying.
"Hey Mirai, wait!" Homura shouted as Mirai ran.
After a while of looking for Mirai, the heroine found her up a tree while she was still crying, she seemed very sad for some reason.
Homura waited for her to calm down to talk to her, after a few seconds Mirai finally calmed down.
"If only my boobs were bigger, i'd fit with everybody..." Mirai said depressed.
"It has nothing to do with your boobs." Homura said appearing out of nowhere and scaring Mirai (again).
"Your appearance does not affect your strength as a shinobi." Homura said trying to cheer Mirai up.
"W-Well… maybe so, but…" Mirai tried to explain, but she didn't know what to say.
"You don't look convinced." Homura said frankly.
Homura couldn't leave her like this, she needed something to cheer her up or else the two of them would be in this tree all day like a couple of idiots, and speaking of idiots, now the heroine would feel like one because of what she was about to do.
"All right, take a good look at me!" Homura said... before taking off her clothes.
You can see that under her clothes, Homura was wearing pink pajamas.
"How about this?" Homura asked with her dignity in tatters.
"How about… what? What do you mean?" Mirai asked, shocked.
"I have a childish side too. So you shouldn't be embarrassed about your boob or your panties." Homura said with a sympathetic tone.
"Precisely! Look at me!" Yomi said appearing out of nowhere and scaring Mirai.
Yomi showed her stomach and it was seen that she had a thermal band around her.
"I always put it on before I go to bed, because I can't have my stomach getting cold." Yomi explained smiling.
"Here, take this." Haruka said.
She also scared Mirai.
The next second Haruka gives a negligee with string-thin panties to Mirai.
"That negligee is a present from me. Wear those, and you'll look every bit the mature young lady." Haruka said with a rather gentle tone.
"If you like my panties, feel to borrow them." Hikage said.
Why do these girls like to scare Mirai so much?
After the atmosphere was less tense and Mirai seemed calmer, Homura took the opportunity to speak.
"I'll be honest with you, Mirai. I don't remember a single time that I treated you like a child." Homura said very directly.
At that moment Mirai saw Homura.
"All of us present here are comrades, I mean we are all equal here, it would be somewhat unfair for us to treat you like a child when your value is obvious." Homura said smiling at Mirai.
Then Homura saw that Mirai was starting to cry again, but this time for completely different reasons.
"Homura… Thank you, Homura…" Mirai said with a few small tears in her eyes as she hugged Homura.
For some reason unknown to her, Homura felt good about the hug.
"No formalities here. We're equals, all of us." Hikage said.
"Oh! But you could call me sis, though. I've always wanted an obedient little sister!" Yomi said kindly.
This was a very pleasant moment for all of them.
In the end it was a pretty good day, but during the night Homura had a horrible headache again, even worse than before.
How these girls see, despite the fact that they want to act tough, despite their unusual and extreme personalities, despite the fact that they are completely crazy, that they all need therapy and are VERY traumatized, all of them are actually good people.
Unfortunately for them, despite being good people and despite the fact that they do not wish anyone harm, these girls have a disgusting life for reasons beyond their control and because of shitty people who live in a shitty society.
But that would be about to change tomorrow.
(Thursday 07/04)
(?: Hebijo Academy)
The group was called by R... I mean, Suzune quite early in the morning since she was going to entrust them with a rather important mission.
"What do you need us for today, Suzune-sensei?" Haruka asked.
"We have something big to take care of my girls, it's a pretty important mission for Dogen." Suzune said to the group.
"The school's main investor? This thing must be very serious." Homura said.
"Indeed, that's how it is, last night we sent a group of shinobi from the barracks to steal the Scroll of Chou Hidden Ninpo from Hanzō Academy and this morning we found the entire team dead and empty-handed." Suzune said.
"Wow, that's very unfortunate." Hikage said.
"Fortunately, our investigations at the scene have given us a clue as to where the scroll may be kept at this time." Suzune said.
"And where is that? Suzune-sensei." Yomi asked.
"It is somewhere in the city of Tokyo, it is a fairly large place so searching for it without raising suspicions will take a long time, we will send the five of you there to find it and bring it." Suzune said.
"W-We? Why us?" Mirai asked in panic.
"You are the Elite, which is why you are the most reliable and qualified for this mission." Suzune replied.
"No problem for me, this sounds easy enough for us." the heroine said confidently.
"This mission has a time limit of one year, so don't get complacent." Suzune warned.
"And now it's even easier." Homura said with even more confidence.
"Why do they give us so much time to look for it?" Yomi asked.
"They didn't give me the details, but it's none of our concern, anyway, they will go tomorrow to the Yongen-Jaya neighborhood to infiltrate the civilians to look for the scroll, they will stay in the Hitoshura apartment building." Suzune explained to the group.
"Yes, sensei!" the group said at the same time.
During the rest of the day the girls were packing the things they were going to take on their trip to Yongen-Jaya.
Homura only packed a few clothes and cleaning supplies.
While she was packing her things she saw two girls in the hallway.
One looked a few years older than her, she had short white hair, beautiful golden eyes and her face was a complete beauty, but she also seems dull and was in a wheelchair.
The other one also looked older than her, her hair was light brown that was tied with two pigtails, she wore glasses on her dark green eyes and she was just as beautiful as her companion.
"It seems like your friend had a very bad time." Homura said to the green eyed girl.
"You have no idea, but it doesn't matter, she will be fine soon." The girl said as she looked sad at her friend's condition.
"I hope so, but anyway I have a mission to accomplish tomorrow." Homura said as she went back to preparing for tomorrow.
"Yes, it's okay, I also have to go back to my business and take care of her again, good luck on your mission." The girl said as she took her partner out of there.
"Thank you, I hope your friend recovers soon." Homura said saying goodbye to both girls.
During the night the heroine once again had a horrible headache that was stronger than the previous ones, but in the end she managed to sleep.
(Friday 08/04)
(Asakusa: Train station)
The next day the girls were waiting for the train that would take them to Yongen-Jaya, luckily they arrived early so they were able to catch the train just in time.
Homura only saw the train window as if it were empty, this is just another mission where she and her companions will do the dirty work and so she only thought about what would happen to her after her stay in Yongen-Jaya ended.
(Shibuya: Crossing)
After a while the girls arrived at the iconic Shibuya Crossing where they got off to take another train that would arrive at Yongen-Jaya and at that moment something very VERY strange happened.
Homura was looking at her phone to see where the train station to Yongen-Jaya was when she saw all the people passing by, the next second she saw something that wasn't supposed to be there.
It was a red icon with a very strange logo that looked like an eye with a star in the center.
The heroine tried to remove it from the screen of her phone but she couldn't do it and she noticed that people began to walk more slowly until they all froze completely; it was as if time had stopped around her.
No one, not even her companions moved an inch and when she thought that nothing could be more strange, she saw a huge blue flame in the middle of the crowd that was taking on a humanoid shape.
A penetrating and terrifying mouth appeared on said humanoid figure and while the blue flame disappeared, her face appeared with a huge smile and strange yellow eyes, as if her reflection were looking at her.
"…RA… …MURA… …HOMURA…" she began to hear a voice calling her.
"Homura, Is something wrong with you?" Hikage asked.
The next second she realized that everyone around her was already moving normally.
"Out of nowhere you stood still and it seemed like you had seen something horrible." Yomi said.
Apparently none of them seemed to have realized what happened to the icon and the people.
"Didn't any of you see it?" Homura asked confused.
"I have no idea what you're saying, but we don't have time to waste, come on." Haruka said as the group continued on their way.
Homura immediately looked back at her phone and saw the strange icon again.
Without wasting a second, she deleted the icon from her phone and went with her friends to the train.
(Yongen-Jaya: Streets)
Upon getting off the train, the girls had finally reached their destination: the Yongen-Jaya neighborhood. Which was quite calm and with very few people passing around, there were several stores that covered many basic needs such as a second-hand store, a clinic, a food store, there was even a cafe and community bathrooms.
Also for some reason there was background music (quite good and pleasant by the way).
"Wow, that doesn't sound bad at all." Homura said.
"Meh, I like more Your Affection, is better." Yomi said casually.
The group walked for a while until they reached a gray building with a door in the center that was next to a clinic that looked abandoned.
"Here it is: the Hitoshura apartment building." Haruka said.
"Alright girls, let's unpack and make a plan to start looking for the scroll tomorrow." Homura said.
All the girls nodded their heads and together they entered the building.
The corridors were narrow and short, there were four rooms per floor.
The room where the group would stay during this year will be 301.
The girls entered the apartment and saw that it was big enough for the five of them with a living room, three bedrooms and a bathroom, it also had facilities for basic household items: stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, a shower, a small table, a desk, a sofa for three people, a television, and two beds for two people.
Left their luggage by the beds and sat down on the sofa to discuss their plans.
"Alright, here's the situation: the scroll is somewhere in the city, thanks to the incompetents who tried to steal it in the first place it will now be highly protected and those protectors know we're looking for it." Haruka explained to the rest of the group.
"So what will we do so they don't discover us? We are not exactly people who do not stand out." Mirai asked.
"Suzune-sensei gave us false identities to facilitate our infiltration, Hikage-chan and I are going to work at the Yongen-Jaya market, you three will pretend to be ordinary students, Yomi-chan and Mirai-chan will go to Kousei high school and Homura-chan is going to Shujin high school." Haruka said.
"Well, that's fine, I suggest we see how we split up to search for the scroll." Hikage said.
Homura saw the map of the city on her cell phone and in a matter of seconds it occurred to her how they were going to organize themselves.
"Hikage will stay here in Yongen-Jaya, Yomi will go to Kichijoji, Haruka will go to Shinjuku, Mirai will go to Akihabara and I will go to Shibuya." said the heroine to her companions.
"Every week we will change places with each other until we find it, as soon as one does, the others will go there." Haruka said.
"Alright, just one thing left before we start." Yomi said.
"And what would that be?" Homura asked.
"Food, we need food to last the week." Yomi said.
"Right, just give me money and I'll go myself." Homura said.
After her teammates gave her money and made her go shopping, Homura returned with everything she needed to endure her and her teammates' first week in Yongen-Jaya and by pure chance she ran into someone who would be quite important to her in the future.
"Ouch!" said Homura and a girl she had bumped into at the same time.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't see where I was going." the girl said very embarrassed.
"Nah, don't worry, nothing happened." Homura said as she and the girl stood up.
When they got up Homura could see the girl better, she had a red scarf around her neck, her eyes were brown, her hair was brown and short and like her she wore a white ribbon in her hair.
"Well... but still..." the girl tried to say before being interrupted.
"Seriously, don't worry, I'm fine, by the way, you dropped this." said Homura.
Homura picked up a coin and handed it back to the girl.
"If you say so... I'm Asuka, by the way." said the girl introducing herself.
"Homura." said Homura introducing herself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Homura-chan, I hope we can see each other more often." Asuka said smiling.
"Pff... whatever you say, take care." Homura said before leaving.
"Of course, take care of yourself too." Asuka said saying goodbye to Homura.
"I don't know why, but I really want to punch that girl in the face." the heroine thought to herself as she returned to the base.
Back at the base, Homura handed out the groceries to her teammates and saw that they had something to give her.
"Homura-chan, I forgot to give you something, Suzune-sensei sent it to you, it's Shujin uniform" Haruka said.
This uniform consisted of a black jacket with red buttons, a turtleneck polo shirt, and a red plaid skirt.
That's right, it's the same uniform she was wearing in the interrogation room.
"Hey, it looks pretty good." said the heroine when she saw her uniform.
"Alright, it's getting late, we should go to sleep so we can be ready tomorrow." Haruka said.
"Alright, let's go to our bed together Hikage-san." Yomi said as she and Hikage went to the same bed.
"Why did you say that like it was a completely normal sentence?" Hikage said confused.
"Very well, we are also going to our bed Mirai-chan." Haruka said.
"Ok, thank you very much Haruka-sama." Mirai said.
"And that leaves the couch free... for me... thanks girls... damn." the heroine said with a frustrated tone.
Homura lay down on the couch with the only desire to not have another headache before going to sleep so she could rest as well as possible.
What she didn't know is that she was going to live an experience that would change her life and the world forever as soon as she fell asleep.
(Present)
(?: Interrogation room)
Back in the present, Homura can be seen continuing her conversation with Sae.
"So you're telling me that you're actually a ninja girl who came to downtown Tokyo on an undercover mission? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" Sae said with her eyebrow raised.
"I know it sounds absurd and stupid, but that's the truth and believe me when I tell you that that's not the craziest part." said the heroine trying to convince Sae.
"It rather sounds like you are trying to evade the consequences of your actions with absurd lies. You better tell me the truth once and for all!" Sae demanded of the heroine.
"Damn it Sae-san, I'm here saying things that no one should know because I trust you to believe me! And instead I just keep getting shit from you! While I'm here my friends and my brother are outside at risk of being arrested by the police, I don't have enough damn time for this." Homura said quite annoyed.
Sae could see the determination in Homura's eyes, but at no time did she see signs of any lie or deception to get her way, so she decided to give her a chance to listen to her.
"Okay, for now I'll assume that you're telling the truth and all those things you tell me are true. Is there anything else that's supposed to be secret?" Sae asked.
"That's right, what I'm going to tell you is the crazy part of the story, that part has to do with our appearance as the Phantom Thieves and our powers." Homura said.
Sae began to feel curious about what Homura had to say.
"As soon as I went to sleep I had a very strange dream, the strangest thing is that it wasn't even a dream and there I met two very peculiar beings." Homura said before continuing with her story.
Hello beautiful people, once again the great yonamikaze854 arrives with a new chapter of my tribute to the legend of the sexiest and most charismatic girls in videogames and the epic story of the best game in history called Kagura 5: Shinovi Phantom (route Burst)… ONE YEAR LATE.
Dude, a billion things have happened this year since I published the first chapter of this fanfic (which didn't do as well as I thought it would hehe...) among them that I graduated from technical high school and now I'm one week before finishing the first semester of university.
Also here among us, I started writing said first chapter in December 2022 to release it in January 2023 and, as everyone knows, I ended up uploading it in March 2023.
I have been writing this chapter since the day I published the first one and look, I ended up releasing it in December 2023.
But hey, now that I have a second chapter uploaded, I'm going to take the opportunity to establish a few rules for this.
Taking advantage of the fact that I read a few Persona fanfics, among them Senran Persona: Ninjas of Hearts by the author UknowHero, which was not only the first Pesona x Senran Kagura fanfic, but it is also the longest and best of all and Persona 4: Snowy Spring by the author Lyall the Werewolf which came out almost at the same time as Kagura 5 (I just update it more constantly) I know what I should do.
Number 1: there is a certain character from Persona 5 that I HATE who is supposedly a main character but is super irrelevant to the plot and to the group besides the fact that he only says stupid things every time he speaks, is going to appear but will not participate in history and don't worry, the majority will not miss it.
Number 2: Ren Amamiya, the original protagonist of Persona 5 will appear and be part of the team, but he will not be the protagonist at least not for now since I have big plans for him in the future, so here the protagonist will be Homura with everything that it entails (wild card, social links, leadership, etc.).
Number 3: this story is going to be completed, I don't care how successful it is or how many years it takes to make it, I am going to complete it.
Number 4: in addition to Burst I am also going to update at the same time the other route of this story: Ultimate Shadow, which will have several changes with respect to Burst and after these two routes I will make a third where now Ren will be the protagonist, I can't do it right now since the plan is for the three routes to be combined, which makes Burst and Ultimate Shadow necessary so that it doesn't feel strange.
Number 5: even after finishing the three routes I am going to do more things from Kagura 5, Re:Newal Royal, Esteval Strikers, Wave X, Link Tactica, the dance game, a version of Q2 where there will also be Persona 3 and 4 fanfics what I'm planning, many possibilities and yes I know it sounds very ambitious but I want to do it or die trying.
And don't worry, I'm not going to dedicate myself only to this, there are going to be other crossover fanfics of both Persona 5 and Senran Kagura and other fanfics crossover that are not going to have to do with these two franchises, including my new fanfic that will be released in February 2024 The Amazing Spider-Clover.
And well, there is nothing more to say, thank you for taking the time to read this and see you in the year 3408 when the third chapter comes out.
Next chapter: The place between mind and matter.