Do you know what they call someone driven to destroy the peace of society with malicious intent? A terrorist.
Whilst the rest of the world had to constantly grapple with horrible acts on their soil, Japan had remained remarkably clean about that particular issue for the past eight years, and you could thank the tireless efforts of the elusive Direct Attack for that. Oh yes, they exist to protect the public from the malice of the world, but you wouldn't find any military-aged men in its ranks any time soon. There's only orphaned children raised from the ground up to become the cogs of a well-oiled machine. How they got these children exactly, that remains a touchy subject in the organization.
Lycoris, the girls' branch of the DA. Their espionage and other covert ops keep the wheels of society turning in bliss. LilyBell, the boys' branch, called up for tougher ops or when things started getting out of hand. Both never ask for a thanks, but the results of their work spoke for themselves.
Lycoris and LilyBell. Separate entities, yet achieving the same harmony.
But it only takes a special cat set amongst the pigeons to throw everyone for a loop.
Miyazaki Offices, Tokyo Prefecture
An hour past midnight typically hosted scenes of quiet across the city. Businesses closed, minimal public transit service, and most of the population in slumber. Quarrels, resolutions, and hearsay could all wait until the morning light.
Or so one would think if they didn't look hard enough.
As usual, some illegal arms dealing was happening in a closed off office building. The dealer, his customers, and a few guards were in one of the upper stories enjoying their own little world of paradise. To them, "paradise" meant running the city on their terms. Not something that the majority of society would like to agree with.
But they hadn't gone unnoticed. Like clockwork, the DA was on point with these kinds of problems, having dispatched a pair of Lycoris agents to observe from the building across the street. Orders remained strict to the letter, "observe the targets, gather intel, and remain out of sight." To be honest, reconnaissance was one of the most boring assignments Lycoris girls could get, but it was expected for lower tier agents. The two operatives were certainly having a laugh about what they were seeing, mostly just to pass the time.
"What do guys buy with their money anyway?" the lead asked. She was a 2nd Class, practically here just to show her 3rd Class partner the ropes. If she had a choice, she probably would have just let her partner go solo on this op.
"I don't want to know," her partner giggled. She was still in the "putting your foot in the door" phase, barely a year of frontline duty under her belt.
All in all, this looked to be just another night on the job. Until it wasn't.
The lead girl sensed it first, as if instincts were suddenly on high alert. Something caught her eye down below. Scanning quickly, she caught it amongst a row of trees. A dark shape was moving fast on the sidewalk. How'd that get there? As far as she knew, it was just the two of them plus the surveillance drone whirring about. The surrounding block itself should have been closed off by other Lycoris agents posted on the perimeter.
"Who's that?" she asked her partner, but she was just as incredulous. Needing more, she tapped into her headset. "Control, request the drone get a visual of the street level. There's an unknown person down there."
The drone descended down, its faint flashing red light the only indication of its whereabouts. Seconds passed, and the pair could only wait tensely for an analysis. Except what they got back from HQ only furthered confusion.
"They're not one of ours. No matches on our Radiata database, either."
"What about that other branch in the DA?" her partner asked.
The lead girl scoffed. "Pretty sure that's just rumors thrown around like the boogeyman or something."
She looked down at the street again. Emerging from behind the line of trees, the figure showed itself even if only for a few seconds. Illuminated by the occasional streetlight, she could make out the silhouette of a slim figure. Probably a guy, unless it was a girl with…suboptimal chest deflation. Worse, they were making a beeline to the building in question. And then they entered said building.
"Unknown has entered the building. Follow if able. Drone will remain on overwatch," HQ radioed urgently.
"Got it." She bolted up from her post. "Let's move!"
They ran like the wind down the stairs, across the street, and into the target building. The whirlwind of commotion upstairs sounded like pandemonium at this point. Gunshots, probably AKs, periodically going off, men barking orders to defend their spaces, but in the end they were fruitless efforts. One by one, the voices grew quieter after the occasional gurgle from a telltale stabbing or even the poor fellow crashing into a pile of junk.
Then came the one that briefly halted the pair to a stutter. One particular sound that went far above every other so far. It was the bang of a handgun that commanded attention. Suppressed, yet still loud. Every time it went off, the air froze as if punctuated by the crack of a whip, only this whip was likely dropping bodies.
The pair hurried as fast as they could (who put so many stairs in this building?), until finally the sounds of combat matched the floor they were on. But they seemed to have arrived late, for the uneasy silence was the only major sound left.
Quietly, they made their way to the open door and took their places on either side of it. Her partner, tense on the trigger, seemed poised to come out and put an end to whatever had transpired, until her leader gestured to her to stay in cover. Even with this unknown entity, they couldn't stray off the mission objective and risk exposing themselves. The DA wouldn't forgive it.
Whoever it was, they didn't operate like any Lycoris agent. They were quick, quick enough that they likely ignored nearly every room clearing procedure the DA taught just to get to the punch. You could call it reckless, but it seemed to have paid off tonight.
Peeking past the doorway, the lead agent bore witness to the finale of the carnage. Clutching his bloodied shoulder, the scrawny dealer had his back to the wall now. No weaseling out of this particular deal.
Leaning out just a smidge more, a stupid column just had to inconveniently prevent getting a clear sight of the mystery figure. At least she could see their hands and what they were wielding, but even here she had a double take. A handgun with a suppressor mounted, but it looked comically large to use a 9mm round.
"W-wait!" The dealer pleaded, desperately searching his pockets and handing up wherever he found. "Money? Weapons?"
The gun didn't deviate from his face. They weren't listening.
"Look, I'm just a dealer! I'll give you anything! I-I don't deserve this! Please!"
The only response was a suppressed crack of a gunshot and a splash of red across the wall. The girl quickly snapped her head away in disgust. Certainly a bit more than she'd ever seen a handgun do.
For a brief moment, silence. As if the space being occupied finally had a chance to take a breath. Then it happened. The lone figure actually said something.
"'Deserve' has got nothing to do with it."
The two girls looked at each other with befuddlement. Well, that settled it. Definitely a guy.
Unfortunately for the lead girl, her own exhalation came out slightly too loud. In an instant, the figure bolted towards the other end of the room whilst the pair leapt up from cover to assess the damage. By the time they got there, too late. He'd already disappeared, and the only traces left behind was the grotesque aftermath. Four henchmen, the dealer, and two customers all reduced to bleeding corpses. The dealer…well, he was definitely mind-blown.
Yeah, try not looking in his direction if you would.
"Control, unknown's fled. Request visual from the drone," the lead girl radioed. Maybe they could still find this person.
"Scanning," HQ acknowledged, the drone going high looking for any signs of the mystery man. Seconds drew into minutes, and she was beginning to suspect the worst. Unsurprisingly, she was right. "Negative. No visual on the unknown. They must have escaped."
She breathed a heavy sigh before giving HQ the bad news. "Recon target is dead. Send in cleaner teams at these coordinates."
A brief silence followed, probably the girls back at base taking in the information. "Director Kusunoki is not going to be pleased about this. She likely wanted this dealer captured eventually. Remain on standby until the cleaner crews arrive."
"I understand. Out." She quietly stowed her radio away, its duty done for the night.
"Dammit!" her partner cursed in frustration, something that she could share wholeheartedly. They were having such a great time eavesdropping this deal, and then this mystery figure just had to crash the party.
With nothing better to do, she started scavenging around. Perhaps there were clues around to identify this person. Some of the bodies had bloodied slit marks, probably some knifework. One looked as if their neck had been crushed in by a heavy object. There had to be something more. She continued her search until she saw them. There glistening amongst the bodies and blood, expended rounds. She picked one up, her brows furrowing at the unusual cartridge design. It was much larger than anything a Lycoris was issued, and on the bottom rim was etched .50 AE. Whatever that meant.
All told, nothing substantial. So much for any possible leads.
Who was this person? What was their business being here? How did they get past the blockade? All this rushed about with no answers in sight. Yet nothing was going to prepare them for the myriad of questions once they got back to headquarters.
AN: Greetings, fellow reader! If you've made it this far, congratulations! You've just received the taste of my first endeavor into Lycoris Recoil. I hadn't given much thought about actually watching the show until about a week ago, but after the final episode I can definitely see why it's gotten the popularity it so well deserves. Also baffling how a second season hasn't been greenlit yet. Regardless, I hope you've enjoyed the first of many chapters to come!
Take care.