Disclaimer: The following is a fan-written fiction, the views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, and Five Pound Gospel are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi, property of their respective rights holders and publishers. Please support the official releases.

CW: This story will contain violence, strong language, sexual humor and situations, drug use, Moroboshi Ataru, and Happosai. You've been warned.

|Back in Black|

The rest of Golden Week passed without incident, but with a building sense of tension that made the remainder of the days off from school uneasy. In spite of Kaori's best efforts, she had seen no sign of Ucchan after he had run off, and Ryūnosuke had disappeared completely after her run in with Kamaitachi in the park. Must troubling of all though, was that there was no report of any unusual activity after dark in the SAD. No fights, no muggings, nothing. Like all the troubles in Nerima had taken the three days off like everyone else.

Leaving her apartment, Katie headed downstairs to the front, and found Anya sweeping the front steps of the building. An unusual sight at such an early part of the day. "Huh… I don't normally get to say goodbye."

Anya grumbled. "That is because last night I closed early. Business has been shit all week and it's on my nerves."

Katie could understand why. "Yeah, I don't blame people none for stayin' in. There's a bad moon on the rise 'round here. Ain't nowhere feelin' safe."

Anya let out a dark chuckle. "So, your Uncle must be visiting, then?"

That won a frown from Katie. "Really, now?"

"I am just saying," Anya said with a mysterious tune to her amusement.

"Hopefully this tension in the air'll blow over or blow up soon."

The old woman eyed her tenant. "Either way you'll be there when it does?"

"Ayup!" Katie said before bowing to Anya and heading off. "Don't break a hip now, granny!"

"Call me granny again and I'll break yours," Anya called after her.

Laughing and throwing a final wave her way, Katie picked up the pace and began a long stride sprint towards Furinkan–more hopping from one foot to the other rather than actually running. It was slower going than roof hopping–and there was a risk of running into someone outright, but it was still fast and a lot less conspicuous than jumping across the neighborhood's rooftops–especially if she wanted to avoid being spotted by any drones.

Ain't no sign of the freak squad since our last scrap, and not for tryin' either. She thought as she dashed along. Two nights straight of duckin' us after bein' a right menace to the community. What are they up to?

The chime of her phone's default ringtone caught her attention as she neared Furinkan, and she slowed down to a jog to grab it from her pocket. It was Curly; him calling out of the blue this early sent a spike of worry through her as she answered it.

"Hey Curly, what's up?" She asked.

"We got problems!" Curly said quickly. Katie could hear shouting and the unmistakable thuds and clangs of combat in the background. "A whole bunch of those Sickle Gang weirdos just rolled up and they're attackin' everybodY they see!"

Her fears confirmed. "Shit, you guys good?"

"No, we ain't! Everybody's freakin' out because these guys are straight up pervs!" Curly answered as on his end of the line numerous delinquents cautiously defended themselves against the lurid gesticulations of Sickle Gang members attacking them.

"They're what?!" Katie took a moment to quickly reason. "Oh, okay yeah, shit of course nobody's gonna wanna fight THAT in broad daylight!"

The sound of fighting ahead of her made Katie stop in her tracks to better hear it–but only for a second when she realized that the yelling and fighting was coming from Furinkan High School's courtyard. Immediately her vision went red.

"Curly, we're gettin' hit, too! We'll try to get ourselves sorted out and get to you as fast as we can!" Katie yelled.

Curly understood. "Try to get here quick, that weasel punk's here and he's squaring up with the boss!"

In front of Curly, Sōban swiped with all of his might at Kamaitachi who smartly flipped to escape the blow and the air it displaced. Landing gracefully, Kamaitachi smirked up at Sōban while twirling a pair of sickles.

"I'll do what I can." Ending the call, Katie forgot all about trying to be discreet and turned on the afterburner, breaking into a mad rush towards the school. From the sidewalk she jumped onto the school's wall and ran along it to get a good view of what was going on. Sure enough, what she saw made her blood boil and her pale face redden with her building fury.

The courtyard was chaotic, with students running left and right, chased around by more members of the Sickle Gang. In their hands, the men wielded their usual weapons but also cutting shears and electric razors–brandishing these implements at the girls while cackling and lunging to grab the hair of any girl that was too close.

Akane's friend Yuka, screaming, had been caught by one such Sickle Gang member, and was holding her long brown hair out as he positioned a pair of shears to lop it off. He didn't get to finish, as an enraged Akane flew into him right foot first, her kick connecting with his jaw and sending him tumbling end over end into the school's wall. Landing, Akane turned towards two more Sickle Gang members who fell on her with their iconic blades raised.

Moving much faster, Akane uppercut the first one to enter her range, then spin kicked the other in the side of the head before he could turn to attack her.

"Get inside the school!" Akane yelled at Yuka, before four more Sickle Gang men ran at her from the front.

Katie jumped from the top of the wall to a telephone pole and then kicked off it, ascending high enough to spin five whole times before she fell into the path of the charging Sickle Gang members. Her right fist hit the ground with such force that a shockwave directed at the men sent them flying backward, their weapons and hats flung even further.

"You must be out your GOD DAMNED minds!" Katie roared at them, before moving with great speed and force around Akane to jump and slam her fist into the jaw of another Sickle Gang member, dropping him to the ground like a sack of rice where he stood.

Akane turned and threw herself into a run, jumping onto the head of another leather boy berserker and kicking him into the ground as she jumped and kicked another Sickle Gang member advancing on a group of girls that included Nabiki and Sayuri. Jumping from that man, she spin-kicked a second leather enjoyer across the face.

"You okay?" Akane asked them.

Sayuri was weeping, holding her severed ponytail in hand. "… One… one of them got me…!"

Akane turned to the remaining Sickle Gang members, of which there was a little over a dozen of them. When they saw Katie arrived an both she and Akane were taking names, they dropped everything they were doing and regrouped, leaving the other girls alone.

"Nabiki, Sayuri, Akaneko!" Katie said as she joined them.

Seeing Sayuri bawling her eyes out as she held her ruined hair, she joined Akane in glaring death at the group. "HEY! You pieces of shit got a problem with us, then you take it up with us! This ain't involve anyone else!"

Akane prepared to throw herself at them. "Don't even bother, Senpai! We're just going to make them regret squeezing into their short shorts and coming out here!"

She assumed her front stance. "Don't show 'em ANY MERCY!"

The remaining Sickle Gangsters didn't attack, however. Instead the group slowly backed up, with one pulling out a portable speaker while another pulled out his phone and began going through his playlist.

Suddenly, Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca" began blaring from the speaker, and the group parted evenly to reveal two men standing side by side. Unlike the rest who were dressed in black leather, these two were decked in much shinier PVC. One man was dressed little differently from the rest of the Sickle Gang, though instead of a mask he wore a pair of aviator sunglasses and a studded pvc collar. His companion however just had a pair of boots and PVC wrestling tights.

Together both men held out their arms and leaned back towards one another, letting out a "Hoooooooooo!" as their battle cry as they began to pelvic thrust in a provocative manner.

"I am… HG!" The more dressed man said while pelvic thrusting.

"I! Am! RG!" The tights and boots wearer said while also rhythmically working his hips.

They changed the directions of their pelvic thrusting, now towards one another, as they pointed at the strongest girls of Furinkan High School, HG shouting as they did. "And we are the champions of the Sickle Gang, hoooooooooooooooo!"

Nabiki, on the sidelines, tilted her head to one side. "Why are Hard Gay and Real Gay here?"

She looked around. "Wait, is this some kind of bit?"

Katie's expression strained. "What's wrong with these guys?"

"Don't know." Akane launched herself at them. "Don't care!"

The man known as RG's eyes gleamed, and he took off, rushing like a raging bull to meet her charge straight on. "HOOOOOOOOOO!"

As Akane reached RG, she easily read the lariat he lunged at her neck with. Turning to face him, she ducked under a roundhouse kick, then blocked the even faster wheel kick he followed it up with. RG moved in off his kick throwing fast jabs for Akane's face that her quicker hands blocked and parried away.

"You think this is a joke?!" Akane demanded as she stopped another punch, a right, then rotated her wrist out of his grip when he tried to grab it. Flinging his arm away in the same motion, she swung her leg in a roundhouse kick that connected with the right side of his head. The blow sent the man flying, his body performing a full rotation before he hit the ground.

"Wait," Akane said, as something didn't feel right about that hit.

Then without warning he was up, and the heel of his shoe was connecting with Akane's chin, lifting her off her feet. The jolt to her head was a surprise, but not enough to knock her out as she caught herself and curled herself backward to land on her feet. She looked up at her target to see RG come at her with a left hook she blocked and directed away before jabbing him twice in the liver.

Only the first connected, and RG doubled over. Quickly and smoothly she turned the second blow into an uppercut, connecting with his face and he snapped upright lightning fast. But again it felt surprisingly empty, even as the man seemed to–

"Oh no!" Akane managed to blurt out as she barely blocked the sledgehammer blow brought down by her foe. Moving to capitalize, Akane was once again caught off guard as RG suddenly brought his leg up in a super kick that she blocked.

It hit hard, enough to actually move Akane off her footing and allow another spinning kick to connect to her shoulder and throw her off her feet completely.

While Akane rolled along the ground and got up to face RG, HG came at Katie spinning with his arms held low like it was some weird flamboyantly awkward dance until he suddenly lashed out with a backhand aimed for her face that she blocked. She struck low, catching her left foot down around his as she weaved under the spinning heel kick he followed the first strike with.

Katie capitalized, sweeping HG's foot from under him and sending him off his feet. As he fell, she brought her leg up and swung it down, but the surprisingly nimble HG curled his body up to avoid the stomp, then kicked back onto his feet. Side on on to her, he began striking with incredibly quick flicker jabs, Katie backing up and blocking the first few blows before she began to work her head and shoulders to narrowly bob and weave the punches.

When HG stopped Katie stopped, the two martial artists standing stone still and staring at each other. Both feinted towards one another, half-motions stopped when neither took the bait, before another explosion of movement ensued, both trying to strike each other in the face–trading offense and defense in narrow alternating margins. HG parried away a left from her, then Katie directed a right from him upward. Aiming for HG's feet, Katie stomped forward while jabbing for HG's face, forcing him on the defensive until she feinted catching his arms up near his face while driving her knee into his gut simultaneously.

The blow did not send HG flying, but he did stagger backward–to the shocked cries of the remaining Sickle Gangsters.

Katie did not relent, running up and using her height to jump and bring her elbow down atop HG's head, as he was bowed by the force of the blow. Katie surged and shot her knee upward to meet his face. But only struck his crossed arms, the blow throwing him backward from her again.

Staggering, he shook his head and sidestepped to her left, moving like he was dancing with each step. Katie moved in the opposite direction, keeping her guard up as she assessed the situation.

This guy's entirely different from the chumps last night, Sōban and Curly were right. She realized.

HG stopped pacing and began to pelvic thrust again. "You're a strong girl! Right on…!" He struck his pose again and let out a "Hoooooo!"

Katie didn't give him the courtesy of a reply, she rushed him. Once more she caught him in a loop of blocking and parrying her machine gun like blows, but this time he began to have fun with it. Shimmying his hips as he dodged her punches left and right, before she punched wide to his right that he exaggeratedly swayed his whole body to his left.

He was immediately kicked in the face. In a feat of flexibility Katie brough her left leg and hooked it back to slam it into HG's mug. As her foot came down and his head came back, Katie brought her right arm over and elbowed HG in the jaw, sending him spinning through the air away from her.

Accepting that this wasn't a bit was hard for Nabiki, but she managed. That did not end her suspicion that shenanigans were afoot as she watched the fight continue to spiral. While Katie and Akane were matching up well enough with their opponents, there was something that even the pacifistic middle Tendo–who didn't even pay much attention to the fighting her sister got into–noticed.

Akane was getting frustrated as she pummeled RG with a deluge of punches and kicks, the blows connecting and allowing her to walk the scantily clad Sickle Ganger about while he stumbled backward with each forward blow, or to the sides with her horizontal strikes. As soon as she connected a spinning front kick to RG's face, he took two steps back then woke right up with a counterattack.

"FOOOOOO!" He yelled as he struck with three fast spin kicks, that she ducked under. When the scantily clad Sickle Ganger mixed it up with another wheel kick, Akane capitalized, blocking and catching his leg before pulling him in and bringing her elbow down on his leg.

"Ahn!" RG suddenly moaned out. "So good!"

Akane immediately let go of his leg and recoiled, pale as a sheet. "Ew, what?!"

She realized the foolishness of her error just as RG's southpaw haymaker connected with her jaw. His next punch wasn't pulled in the slightest, the right smashing into her face and sending her off her feet and tumbling.

The first blow however had sobered her of her fear response enough to anticipate the second hit. As she moved with the punch, lessening the force of the blow–another epiphany had hit her. By the time she stopped rolling and got back onto her feet, she understood it.

RG, seeing her get back up, hugged himself and shivered. "You are the strongest I have fought in years! You hit so hard, and it hurts so good!"

Akane shuddered. "Hey! Don't make this weird!"

His hands roaming down his sides, he grinned with every intention to. "For you, I will show you the true power of R! G!"

He grabbed his skimpy tights. "PANTSU! PURGE!"

Hearing and seeing what RG was doing, Nabiki cringed in horror. "Oh no."

Akane went pale again, as RG snatched off the PVC tights and she looked away for a half second. Quickly remembering to not take her eyes off her opponent like she had before, she held her gaze on him–and immediately regretted it.

Underneath the already embarrassing wrestling tights was a bright red fundoshi.

Nope, she was not fighting this guy, this was too much. "Ew, ew, ew, EWW!"

Akane's sudden change of tone alerted Katie and she looked in her direction. "… The fresh fuck…?!"

Out the corner of her eye, she saw HG recover and suddenly turn hard to come straight for her. When Katie raised her arm and blocked his punch, she felt the force of the blow travel through her arm and hit her face neck, and chest, knocking her back. "Eh?!"

She caught herself. "… That was…!"

"Prepare yourself…!" HG said as he rapidly pelvic thrust. "You just got a taste of the secret technique of H! G!"

Arms spread out, he approached Katie, spinning around in tight, quick circles to close the distance. Katie readied herself, more focused than ever, to meet his attack.

Instead of lashing out with a kick or a punch, however, the moment HG entered just outside of Katie's standing reach he brought his hands behind his head and faced her fully.

Katie's first instinct was to shoot forward and end the fight with a punch, but it was as she inched forward to do that she realized that she was the one wide open, not him.

HG performed his mightiest pelvic thrust yet. "HP MAGNUM!"

To everyone watching, Katie was moving forward to punch HG, and then she was blasted back, lifted off her feet and flying away from him–her body straight and stiff as a log. Hitting the ground she tumbled end over end backwards, stopping on her back, staring blankly at the sky.

She laid there for a second, blinked once, and spoke.

"… Did… did this dude…" She quietly and calmly asked the sky. "Did man just air slap me… with his junk?"

HG, the other Sickle Gang members behind him cheering, struck his favorite pose and humped the air. "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Well, Katie had liked it here in Nerima, but even a place that was lax on the laws like it was still frowned upon murder. "… The bae's gonna kill me, but… it can't be helped."

The shape of a very large craft passing over the school, however, interrupted her horrifically murderous thoughts. It filled the air silently, without warning, a massive craft painted a matte black, and easily the size of the school building itself. Looking across the width of the machine, she realized that it was a broad-winged air ship, like a few that she'd seen puttering about the SAD and Japan in general.

Numerous lines, over four dozen, streamed down from the airship as it came to a halt, as all combatants involved stopped and looked up at it. Then down the ropes came just as many men in white suits with matching ties and sunglasses. They egressed from the ship rapidly, touching down around Katie, Akane, all the other girls, and surrounding the Sickle gang members in half circles.

Nabiki looked up at the ship. "Giant airship… mass produced goons in matching suits and sunglasses…" She paused. "Oh no, don't tell me…"

A final line slowly descended from the ship. but unlike the others there were two handholds at the end of the line. Holding onto the higher hold with his right hand and his right foot firmly secured in the lower, a young man in a sharp, black double-breasted uniform with a matching black cap and a long flowing black cape that was red underneath. His handsome, immediately recognizable face sported a new addition besides the black getup: an eyepatch over his right eye.

Setting down, the young man stepped forward from the line, and drew forth from his hip in his left hand a black-sheathed katana. He held it forward, looking pointedly at the Sickle Gang members.

Nabiki looked at his face and she lifted her right eyebrow. "… Okay?"

"For whatever reason you have come here, it ends now," Mendō Shūtaro, A Fallen Scion, ordered the Sickle Gang members. "Disperse from this place or feel the full wrath of the Mendō Clan."

The men staring at Mendō began to balk, both HG and RG together backing up nervously with the rest of them to back from the young man's presence. As Mendō's glare bore into them, the formerly belligerent men grew pale, then outright terrified.

Soft footsteps behind Mendō alerted Nabiki to someone she didn't notice was there until he was. Seeing the former Vice Principal Okamada Kamoyo walk up to join Mendō's side caused her eyes to narrow and her blood to simmer beneath her otherwise nonplussed façade.

"Gentleman," the ex-authority of the school said, "This is a place of learning. You are not supposed to be here."

And with that gentle insistence, the Sickle Gang was in a full rout, once more gathering their wounded and fleeing for their lives.

Katie joined Akane's side. "Akaneko, are you all right?"

Akane shook her head. "No, I'm gonna be sick."

"We gotta get going," she said. "The guys over at Butsumetsu are being attacked, too."

That jolted Akane from her daze. "What? Oh no!"

They were about to turn to leave, when Nabiki spoke up as she walked up to Mendō. "Hey, what's are you doing here?"

Returning his undrawn blade to his hip, Mendō turned to Nabiki and was momentarily taken aback by the young woman. He then gestured to his chest. "Pardon my rudeness for not introducing myself; I am Mendō Shūtaro–"

Nabiki cut him off. "Yeah, I know who you are. Unless there's some other guy who flies around town with his own personal airship and protection detail. The question was what are you doing here?"

Mendō bowed his head. "It is unfortunate, but due to circumstances beyond even my control, I have been forced to make a transfer. I am now a student of this Furinkan High school, I leave myself in your care."

Nabiki stared a Mendō, Akane and Katie as well. All the other girls, relieved that they were safe from weird men in strange clothes, began murmuring among themselves in disbelief.

"Mendō Shūtaro has transferred here?"

"What happened that made him want to leave Tomobiki…?"

"Is he the only one? Did Moroboshi transfer, too?"

"I hope he didn't, that pervert's such a bad influence on him."

"He's so handsome, and he's dressed so cool, too!

"He usually wears white…"

Akane's voice rose over the yammering. "Oh, absolutely NOT!"

She marched over. "Kuno hasn't even been gone two whole weeks! We are not replacing him with THIS moron!"

Seeing Akane, Mendō immediately averted his eyes from her; that put him right in line of sight of Nabiki.

"Exactly," she continued, "Under whose authority are you even here?"

As she eyed the former Vice-Principal, a voice they all needed to hear right now called out. "An astute question, Tendo Nabiki!"

Radiating fury, Kuno Kodachi entered the school grounds, her eyes locked upon Mendō and Okamada. "I do not recall permitting you to set foot on my school as a guest, leave alone as a student!"

To Okamada she snarled. "And I believe that I had relieved you of your duties days ago, former Vice Principal!"

Without any of the stiffness he moved with before, almost a swagger even, the former Vice-Principal reached up and adjusted his tie. "As a matter of fact you did, Kodachi-kun. I am no longer the Vice Principal of this school, but contrary to your assessment–I was never one to shirk my duties within the position."

Hands still on the tie, he answered Kodachi's glower with an even sharper glare. "Namely, you brainless twit, who do you think handled admissions around here?"

Kodachi's expression softened slightly. "That's…"

Katie spoke up. "Now hold your horses, when did Mendō enroll at this school?"

"As it so happened. The very evening before Golden Week began, I was contacted by the Mendō family regarding an emergency transfer of their son from Tomobiki. Recognizing the urgency of the matter and the importance of the enrollee, I personally entered Mendō-sama into the school's attendance with his classes to begin on the first day after Golden Week."

Okamada lowered his hands from his tie and nodded to Mendō, before addressing Kodachi. "I would have informed you of this prior–but you were very preoccupied with your pageantry and tossing your power around like it were a brand new toy."

Kodachi bristled. "You are joking!"

"Nonsense, Kodachi-kun, for I'm not paid to humor you anymore." With that, former Vice-Principal Okamada began walking. "If you wish to rescind the action, I recommend you find an administrator with the qualifications and clearances to make such alterations to academic records. Until such a time…"

Passing Kodachi he spoke in a much lower voice. "Now that a man is here, remember your place and go back to where you belong."

Kodachi turned to face him, her teeth clenched. "Okamada Kamoyo…!"

The former Vice Principal ignored her and passed through the gate, leaving the school. Seething, her eyes were wide with fury, she pointed her wrath at Mendō.

"Mendō Shūtaro, I will not permit you to attend this school!" She ordered him.

"WAIT!" A great chorus rose at once, and numerous girls all quickly crowded around Mendō, to the shock of Kodachi, the annoyance of Nabiki, and the disbelief of both Katie and akane.

"What in tarnation…?" Katie asked.

Akane only let out a confused "Eh?"

One of the girls shielding Mendō from Kodachi quickly spoke. "Hold on a second! Mendō-sama isn't a bad guy!"

"Yeah! He came here and helped drive off all those perverts!" Another girl said.

Nabiki, who keeps her finger on the pulse of the goings on in Tomobiki, lifted an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

Katie agreed. "Yeah, last I checked; he wasn't the one gettin' into a fist fight to save yer scalps…"

Mendō spoke. "True, while I was not here to defend my school this day… from henceforth that changes. As a student of Furinkan, and scion of the Mendō family, I will dedicate myself to the protection of this school and its students."

Akane turned to Mendō. "We've seen how you 'protect your school' and we'll be safer without it."

At her words, Mendō immediately averted his eyes away from her, refraining from speaking. For a brief instant, Akane wondered why he wasn't trying to make eye contact with her–then she remembered.

"Kodachi-san," Mendō said calmly to the head of House Kuno. "Though we are of different houses, let us set whatever bad blood exists between us aside. The wealth of the Mendō exists to serve the fair Black Rose, now that I am a humble student of your esteemed institution."

Katie knew exactly where he could shove that flowery speech–sideways, no less. Akane was keen to actually show everyone where those words could be shoved, though using Mendō's airship instead of his words, when Nabiki cleared her throat.

"Nee, Kodachi, I think we're being a bit hasty here," she said–more to Katie's surprise than Akane's. She gave Kodachi a pointed look, then briefly darted her gaze over to indicate Mendō.

"Nabiki, I swear…" The younger martial artist girl growled.

Whatever thought Nabiki appeared to have, Kodachi was suddenly of it as well as her eyebrows rose, and she nodded in concession. With an expression akin to one being forced to smell the interior of an overloaded fishing boat beached and left in the sun for a month, Kodachi turned back to Mendō.

"If your fealty to me is true, scion of the Mendō, then kneel before me and declare as such," she ordered.

Practically melting through the crowd, Mendō dropped to one knee and looked up reverently at the slender gymnast, his uncovered eye shimmering as he beheld her breathtaking beauty. "Whatever you command, I will cater to your whims."

Akane seethed and prepared to say something, when Katie held her arm out. "Hol' up, let her cook."

"Very well then, Mendō Shūtaro. I accept your admission to Furinkan High School–but know that your continued attendance will depend on your use to me," Kodachi declared.

And with that, Katie fully understood what was going on. Akane did, too, but the reluctance to accept it was written on her face–especially when she noticed how all the other girls brightened in response to the decision.

"Senpai, don't we have places to be?" She asked Katie.

Katie nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

To Kodachi she called. "We gotta run real quick over to Butsumetsu. We'll prolly be back in a class period or so."

Kodachi turned to both girls. "Shall I accompany you?"

Katie held up her hand to wave away her offer of assistance as she bowed slightly towards her. "No need, we've got this."

As they turned and headed towards the exit, her phone rang, Curly was reaching out to her again. "Hey, everything's settled on our end and we're on our way."

Curly answered. "There's no need, the situation's calmed down…"

This was good news. "Really?"

On his end of the line, Curly and the rest of the bruised, bloodied, and generally banged up Butsumetsu boys were watching as a bloodied up but still standing Sōban faced Kamaitachi, who was no longer paying any attention to him or the rest of the delinquent gang. The Sickle Gang's leader's attention was locked upon Ucchan, his large spatula stopping the sickles he'd been wielding against the much larger Sōban.

"Yo, what's good?" Ucchan asked before sharply parrying the sickles up with such force that they left Kamaitachi's hands.

Kamaitachi quickly leaped back as Ucchan quickly followed up the parry with a wide horizontal slash, the thin edge of the massive kitchen utensil nearly bisecting him.

Curly offered the play by play to Katie. "This pretty boy dude with a spatula just showed up out of nowhere and started taking names–now he's scrappin' with that weasel punk."

Katie recognized the description. "Ucchan…"

Akane perked up. "Ucchan's there?"

Katie nodded back to Akane before responding to Curly. "Whatever happens, when they bolt, try to capture one of 'em!"

Reliable guys were few and far between in Katie's experience of the SAD, but Curly was one of the real ones. "I was thinkin' the same thing. We got one of 'em now, and we're just waiting for the rest of these weirdos to scram."

That's what she loved to hear. "Well, we're gonna be over anyway. I have some questions to ask."

What's this? My protagonists taking Ls? I can't believe I did that!