A pair of snipers

[ACMI: Academy City]

They strolled down the street, Iruka was on her way to meet them.

"Huh." Joule glanced up to their right "We're near seventh mist."

"Yeah." Frenda noted "I heard there was a bombing there actually."

Saten nodded "There was."

"It was to do with the level upper." Joule agreed.

Frenda made an "Ah" sound before looking back "Hmm. It seems almost a pity I never got to try it."

"It's better you didn't." Saten responded quickly "It had a heavy cost."

Frenda shrugged, her mind changing back to food.

"Oh yeah-"

As she talked to Saten about what Frenda would ask her to cook, Joule gave Iruka a mental poke.

"When will you get there?"

"I'm here already." the wave controller noted "Want me to make my way towards you?"

Joule offered a mental shrug "Sure, if you don't-"

Bang. A gunshot.

[ACSRS: Search]

Frenda's shoulder burst, blood flying out ahead of her as she staggered.

"What happened?" Saten went to go down to care for her but Frenda righted herself quickly and dragged the girls with her.

"Joule, is something wrong?" Iruka asked through the still open mental link.

Joule frowned, trying to think of the best way to report it. Frenda dragged them behind cover and checked on her own wounds as she did so.

"We're under attack, F- our Dark Sider, helper has been shot in the shoulder."

"Damn it." Iruka cursed "I'm speeding up."

Hopefully she'd get there soon.

As Frenda pulled out her phone, it was shot. Cracks spred across the screen as Frenda pushed everyone back a bit further.

"Lumen, can you find the shooter?" Joule asked softly.

After a moment, Lumen responded "I'll begin looking."

The butterfly flapped down and out of cover. Luckily she was invisible and impossible to harm through normal weapons.

"I'm not seeing any strange AIM fields." Lumen reported.

As this was going on, Saten was looking around, worried about what was going on.

"Are you alright?" She asked Frenda. Frenda didn't directly answer, only called to say they were going inside and running past them towards Seventh Mist's entrance. As they ran, Joule kept Iruka informed of where she should go.

They quickly made their way to some elevators and rode up to a higher floor.

"Do you think they came after me?" Saten asked as they ran.

Frenda didn't look back, using her hand to put pressure on her wound. She did answer the question though.

"Probably."

She quickly reached into a pocket and pulled out some medical paste.

"Okay?" Saten said, hoping for good news.

"Joule, ETA on help?" Frenda asked.

Joule quickly checked "She's just outside. She's looking through the big window over there." Joule pointed as Frenda began to put the paste on her wound.

Frenda nodded "We're going to have to try and meet up with her. We'll take-"

Another hole was blasted in Frenda's arm, the other arm this time, and she held back a cry of pain.

"Run." Frenda called, running towards the side of the building that Iruka was looking at "Joule, she'll need to come up to us!"

Joule nodded and outside, Iruka ran for the front door.

The three of them ran together.

"We should ask someone else to help!" Saten called.

Frenda didn't take the time to look back "No, if we ask anyone around here, we'll just create a panic. That would just limit our movement. We're up against an enemy hiding in the crowd, asking for help could be a fatal move!"

"Then Joule could phone someone?"

"Do you want her head blown off?" Frenda noted "No, we need to deal with this ourselves."

As they ran, Iruka reported she had made it to the same floor as them. As they ducked into an empty clothing shop, Joule quietly whispered that to Frenda. They had their counter-sniper.

"Have her follow us from a distance." Frenda noted, pulling a doll out from a pocket. She quickly she shooed the two girls to the otherside as she set up a tripwire. then stepped over it.

"Do not, I repeat, Do Not, break this."

Saten and Joule nodded as she handed Saten her hat and mimed for her to hold it up like they were both stepping carefully around the display together. As a man came round the display, she ambushed him, thinking he was the sniper. He wasn't.

"Sorry about that!" Saten called to the man as they left quickly, he was probably in quite a lot of pain thanks to Frenda's repeated stomping on his groin.

As they continued to run, Frenda took a shot that skimmed her ear. There was something good that came out of it though.

"I've spotted your sniper." Iruka noted over the link.

Joule quickly glanced back but she didn't see anyone as they continued to run.

"What does she look like?" Joule asked.

Iruka paused for a moment, as if looking for the right words.

"A schoolgirl, Dark hair, twintails."

Lots of people fit that description though!

"Anything else?"

Again, Iruka paused. Was she... was she hesitating?

As Frenda needed to stop, blood dripping from below her hairline, Iruka finally answered.

"Her name is Rakko. She goes to Private Shidarezakura Academy."

Good, a uniform. But...

Joule glanced to the side. She couldn't see Iruka but she could sense she was in roughly that direction. She likely had eyes on the sniper.

"Why do you know her name?"

Iruka answered softly.

"She's my sister."

End of chapter.

This, this is what I meant last chapter with "So, you can all see where I'm going with this, right?"

Yumiya Iruka, the girl from Astral Buddy, is the sister of Yumiya Rakko, the dark side assassin sent after Frenda and Saten. And I'm disappointed that, as far as I know, a point is never made of it in canon.