"I'm gonna count to three," Makoto said. "After that, one way or the other… no more meatshield. Get the hint?" She held up her index finger. "One…" Her middle finger followed. "Two…"

Mikuru wasn't even sure if she'd hear a three before her shaky legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor. But standing in the way was all she could do, and that thought allowed her feet to stay rooted in place.

Because of this, hearing the distinctive taps of Yuki's crutches filled her with a greater dread than any threat to her own safety could. Mikuru didn't need to open her eyes to confirm that Yuki had just stepped in front of her, both mirroring and invalidating Mikuru's prior act of self-sacrifice.

"Once again, I must apologize," Yuki said. "But I still intend to listen to the advice you gave, and consider my own safety."

Makoto struggled not to laugh. "You're off to a pretty lousy start! I can't think of anyone else who'd put themself in front of me and say 'I'm gonna be safe here!' In fact…" All signs of amusement abruptly disappeared from her face. "...looking at it that way's starting to piss me off."

Having abandoned her countdown, Makoto didn't wait for any sign of readiness before swinging the bat, and Yuki certainly didn't look ready for it.

But there was only a split second gap between Yuki not looking at all ready and her holding one of her crutches horizontally just in time for the bat to collide with it.

Of course, this wasn't what crutches were built for. Already, that one blow had bent it beyond any hope of it being used as intended again. Another hit would surely…

SNAP

…break it in two. Makoto was apparently quite eager to test that, and she looked very satisfied indeed to see the lower half of the crutch rolling uselessly away from them.

"What are you hoping to accomplish here?" Makoto's mirth had evidently returned. "Like, even if we pretend they won't have to bury you in a lunchbox when I'm done with you, how are the people at the hospital gonna react when they find out you've been treating their supplies like this?

"If there's anyone you don't want to mess with, besides me of course, it's people who know all the best ways of taking you apart. Compared to that, leaving it to me is doing you a favor. Is that the idea?"

As much as Yuki hated to admit it, she had a point. Keeping both herself and Mikuru safe while not revealing anything about her true nature was a lot to juggle, even for her.

But really, it was that last part that served as the biggest obstacle. Without it, the other two would have been trivial, but protecting those secrets was a factor that always had to complicate things. Not just for her, but for the others in the SOS Brigade, not to mention her fellow Interfaces. She dreaded to think what the Data Overmind might arrange if it was in danger of being discov…

"Oh," Yuki said. She suspected that somebody else, had they just come to the same realization she had, would have added some form of profanity to that 'oh'.

"Is that all you have to say?!" Even Makoto couldn't tell if she was amused or angered by all this. "I'm pretty sure if anyone else was stupid enough to risk their neck like this, finding out it'd only get them under the knife would…" She suddenly felt a cold line approach her throat, and a brief glimpse downward only made her realize how poorly she'd chosen her last words.

Where that cold line had been, there was now a red line, and it happened to match another red line on a combat knife that was all too familiar to Yuki. Both red lines dripped steadily onto the floor, but the one on Makoto's neck was quickly covered by her hands as she fell to her knees, the rest of her body toppling forward after a quick second.

"Y-Yuki…" Mikuru said. "What's going on?"

"Do not open your eyes," Yuki said, hoping she hadn't already and was only asking based on what she'd been hearing.

In front of the two, Ryoko Asakura seemed to be admiring her handiwork just before it faded into nothing. "You really should be more careful," she said. "But she was a convenient target. A person so widely feared, and known to provoke dangerous opponents… People won't be too surprised if she disappears, nor will they be eager for her return.

"And nobody will suspect your involvement!" Her usual fake smile came through. "Of course, it might be better if they did. You wouldn't have to worry about anyone else challenging you or your group. Speaking of which…" She quickly switched to what might have been a comical frown under very different circumstances. "...it doesn't look like I'm getting a 'thank you' any time soon… I'm guessing you want me gone?"

Yuki nodded. With nothing to hide from anyone present, she didn't imagine she'd have any trouble ensuring such an outcome by force if it came to that.

Ryoko was evidently thinking the same as she faded away just as Makoto's body and the knife already had. "Until next time then!"

Yuki couldn't help but wonder if Ryoko was deliberately trying to get under her skin with some of her mannerisms and phrasing. The callous disregard for a human life was to be expected, but the implication that people coming to fear the SOS Brigade would be a desirable outcome, or her confidence that there'd be a 'next time'... Either something had happened in her absence that had made her grow spiteful in a frighteningly human way… or she was always like this, and other factors such as Yuki's stress had made it seem so much worse.

"Yuki…?"

Whatever it was she was feeling, the realization that she was now alone with Mikuru again did quite a lot to calm her down. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of Mikuru putting an arm around Yuki's to support her in place of the crutch she'd lost.

If not for what they'd just been through, Yuki might have pointed out it wasn't necessary. With no one else to see them, it didn't really matter how she walked. But she had no reason to deny the comfort given after what she'd seen.

Yuki didn't know how much Mikuru might have seen, or inferred through other means. And she didn't really want to ask her, either.

Author's note: Originally that "the day is saved without the need for action" resolution seemed more right to me, and I think Yuki's realization that there still isn't much she can do was a sign of that mentality refusing to leave me.

I don't think I'd want this to replace the original completely, especially with the contrast between "they lose but it's fine" and "they win but it's horrible" I ended up with. The Data Overmind having Makoto killed to protect its secret was one of the ideas for a follow-up I mentioned in the previous author's note, but it didn't really make as much sense following that ending.

The main inspiration for this was how the line about Yuki being "surprisingly graceful with crutches" started to feel to me like foreshadowing that hadn't gone anywhere, and then realizing Mikuru standing in for one of them would demonstrate the kind of care and intimacy I was hoping to have in this story to begin with.