Your Labour is not in Vain
Sally is being held in handcuffs in the security room of an airport. They'd already dosed her with suppressants that made the ballistic part of her quirk fail to function. They being some faceless Agent Smith types, CIA or FBI probably. They weren't the kind of feds who needed to wear badges and she knew them when she saw them. Her wrists were tightly cuffed behind her back, so no shooting. She couldn't curve her barrels, so no breaking the cuff chain with a bullet and taking her chance. She tries to extend a barrel out and slams it into one of the agent's legs and then thrusts the improvised weapon against his head as she throws herself against the other one and tries to bite his throat. There wasn't mercy in her eyes, just the look of a mad dog taking its chance while it still had one to use.
She fishes through the dead men's pockets blindly, feeling for the key to her cuffs before someone comes looking for them. Right as she finds it and frees her hands two more agents burst in. She already had her plan of action made, undoing the cuff on her right wrist and drawing one of the fallen agent's concealed guns and aiming two shot for center mass on the first before switching targets and getting one shot off before rolling forward and landing a shot in the forehead on the remaining agent. The shots were loud. She had could already hear the rent-a-cops shuffling over. She throws the cuffs off and grabs a new gun, positioning herself around the corner in wait for the new guests. They weren't as stupid as she expected, immediately calling in the bodies and alerting the whole airport to her being at armed and dangerous while they backed off.
She could wait in this tiny room to get tear-gassed or worse, or peek out and gamble on if her aim with a pistol at mid-range was any good. She makes her choice because she wants to end this quickly.
Sally wakes up in a cold sweat and tightly cuddles a rabbit plush to muffle her heavy breathing. She had a rotation of nightmares now, it was either being sent home as a failure and trying to fight back, her classmates reacting with horror to her past, or that God-forsaken night that caused all of this. She looks over Kaylee as she sleeps, the massive girl dwarfing her in height, and her spartan living space. Sally had thought she was conservative with how she packed for the dorms but given she'd heard Kaylee was living in a locker at Shiketsu for the first year it made some sense she'd have almost nothing to her name.
She places her plushy down and checks the time on her phone. It read 2:00 AM, about 4 hours before she needed to be getting ready for classes. Sally gets up and quietly heads toward the girl's side bathrooms while rubbing her eyes and hoping to avoid talking to anyone while she looked like a bed-headed mess. She takes solace in being alone as she cups her hands under the faucet and gulps down the clean Japanese tap water. She looks to the side and sees Hoge leaning on a wall behind her.
"[Barbarian]" Hoge says with tired irritation.
"[Lapdog]" Sally says with a mirrored tone.
"We need you for something after club activities end tomorrow. I've found something we'll need your talent for making noise on" Hoge says as she washes her hands.
"Fine, but how the hell are we getting out and back in then?"
"I have a plan, rest assured. They can't listen to us in here anyways."
"There's always an eye watching or an ear listening. I don't trust whatever plan you have." Sally says with a scowl.
"Normally I'd tell you to not show up then, but I'm afraid this is very important, Sally."
Sally turns around to face Hoge, her eyes sharp as razor blades: "[Fine,]" Sally growls as she leaves the bathroom. Her cute nightgown contrasting a combative stance which sent the same message as a rattlesnakes tail.
6:00 AM was the time Sally usually made for the bathrooms to claim a shower before the Koreans colonized the place. Today at least wasn't a day where she needed to wash her hair so she could get a few extra minutes to get put together today. It was a big day since Noah's idea to expand their study group to try and help the new first years with Japanese that had turned into the Japanese Culture Club was getting its first meeting so she had to find a smile at least by then. The American girl slips on athletic shorts and a sports bra before grabbing her shower supplies as she fast-walks over to the bathroom and breathes a sigh of relief to finding an open one.
Shampooing her long hair was at least a 15 minute process that gave a certain degree of a normalcy to everything afterward. Almost as if she could say with a straight face that she wasn't a vigilante and wasn't going to a meeting of a whole group of them tonight. Her preferred scent for her hair was whatever was cheapest at the store, but she always got mint body wash because it stuck longer when exposed to gunpowder. She didn't like it when people wrinkled their noses at her because she smelled like smoke after some combat practice. She tended to do short showers as a habit, at most 20 minutes of hot water usage otherwise your using too much. She rubs the body wash down her waist and runs her razor over a hair on her right leg that she felt out, swinging her hair around her left shoulder to feel for anything on her back.
If only she could just stay here under the warm water forever...
She stops herself from dozing off by putting the shower colder, snapping her awake as she hears other girls entering. Sally dries herself off and drapes the towel around her shoulders and lays her hair on it to dry while she slips back into her shorts and bra. Before her stood Kaylee, buck naked with just a towel and deodorant in a floral scent in hand. The Gun Nun looks away as a fight or flight response and tries to pass by the titanic girl with a beet red face.
"Sally-chan? How do you get your hair looking so... pretty?" Kaylee asks, self-consciously placing towel to cover her breasts and groin.
"I-It's just the same thing we did on you for the pageant: use a shampoo and conditioner and let it air dry down," Sally says as she finds refuge in staring at the floor.
"Is my hair that bad...?"
"No! I just... your..."
"[You really should bring some clothes for showering! If somebody else walks in-]"
The two are interrupted by Orochi traipsing in wearing her pajamas and sighing: "Guess me and Kaylee are sharing the mutant's shower, are we?" she jokes, though Sally just goes to the sinks and start brushing her hair.
"Do we have to?" Kaylee says
"It was a joke, Suzuki, relax" Orochi in a soothing yet husky voice. "The noodles aren't big fans of keeping to themselves sometimes, especially when naked flesh is involved. Just don't take forever, okay?"
"Got it!" Kaylee says as she hops into the bigger, stain resistant, and more powerful shower. Sally could see Orochi looking her over and tried not to look too uncomfortable through the mirror.
"[Sally, are you ok?]"
"[I'm not used to people seeing me like this, ok?]"
"[You don't look bad, you've got nothing to worry about]"
"[Then why do keep checking me out!?]"
Orochi looks away with a sigh: "[Because I think your pretty of course~]"
Sally blushes and looks into the sink to get away from her teasing smile: "[I...I just never had to change in front of people when I was in school back home. After some bitch in middle school riled me up enough to accidentally fire a round that ricocheted around the locker room it broke a window and the gym teacher made me stand outside and change after all the other girls were gone]"
Orochi gives a pained nod as she looks away from Sally. She could see Kaylee's face as she crouched to wet her hair, recognizing the same pained expression on her face. Its no surprising, they were all dangerous in some way and stripping down in front of someone required some trust.
"Hey Sally-chan?" Orochi says.
"Yeah?"
"Does it help knowing that I'm not scared of your bullets?"
"I'm not either... if that helps," Kaylee adds.
Sally rubs her arm: "It does, actually. Though I'd hope its because you trust I won't shoot and not that it won't hurt you badly. It's not fun being an object of fear. I'm pretty sure theirs a famous quote about that."
"It is better to be feared than loved, Sally-chan. From Machiavelli's The Prince. You have the quote wrong. Fear in his view controls people much better than love and admiration does, but one cannot rely solely on either," Hoge says as she steps into the bathroom with a smug smile.
Sally gives her an angry side-eye and hustles out with her things.
Noah goes to check on Sally in 2-D's homeroom so they could get to the library early. He'd done all the paperwork with a senior supervising to reserve a room for daily meetings for their little club. He finds her packing her bag up and singing a hymn to herself softly.
He realizes its not a hymn as he gets closer. [ https://youtu.be/imK4sUveCrU?si=C9tyuuyfFaVblCKX ]
"Keep your eyes... on the prize..." she sings in a quiet, breathy voice to herself. She seems to stop herself from speaking the rest of the song, even when she just seems to stare at clean desk for a moment.
Noah waits for her by the door, waving and sharing greetings and goodbyes with old classmates before Sally is last to dawdle out.
"Are you okay?" he asks while looking up at her and blocking the hall from viewing her face with one of his wings. She was more comfortable when she wasn't being watched after all.
"I'm just nervous, lets go before we're late," She says, trying to shake the mood away.
"Noah is-"
"I wanted to help with this, I'm fine."
Noah looks into her eyes, filled with fiery determination despite the mundanity of the task ahead of her.
"Noah understands, lets go!" he says with a look of cheer, glad to see Sally try a smile despite her clearly damaged mood.
Lixdite was glad there was a club to help with his issues with the Japanese language. He wanted to come off better and this also would help with his grades. He may have overshot things, arriving 30 minutes early to the study room in the library. To his surprise, someone was already here, another boy who struck a much more normal look than the one Lixdite had.
"Hello, this is... room for Culture Club? Right?"
The average looking boy nods: "Yeah: Shimada Shinji from the Support Course. And you are?"
"Aquila Lixdite, Hero Course, Class 1-D," he says as he carefully steps closer. Despite his best efforts, Shimada starts to stand and narrows his eyes like a fighter focusing on an opponent.
The winged serpent takes a deep breath: "It's... It is a quirk effect, please don't let it control your actions toward me that much," he says in awkward but clear Japanese. "I mean no harm of any kind."
Shimada takes a second to assess the scenario. This wasn't how it would go if he was actually under threat, chairs and tables would already be thrown if that was the case. Lixdite just seemed like a student with a particularly scary mutation.
"Sorry, Aquila-san. Nasty luck you must have...."
"In hero work it might save lives.... is my hope, Shimada-san."
The two speak in formal tones, with the air being cleared by the arrival of an elegant and stately girl with purple hair going down her back and the look of a conquering queen: "Good afternoon, Aquila-San and-"
Her look intensifies into a glare squarely focused on Lixdite. Her pointer finger turns into a gently curving blade of shining steel as it points toward him.
"Have you come to make trouble? I'll happily be the one to escort you away," she says with a cold tone.
Lixdite puts his hands up and meets her glare: "It is a quirk effect: I mean no harm to any persons in this place."
"I am not afraid of you, but I am not in the habit of attacking the surrendered."
The girl clears throat as she re-centers herself: "My name Amahagane Takako or Fukukiri for my Hero Name, the Secretary of his club and your senior. While I appreciate your interest in sharpening your Japanese and learning more of our culture, I have my eyes on you and one other student in this club," she says in a tone that attempts to sounds like a leader.
A group of three enters, unenviable figures that had rumors flying around through all corners of the school about them.
Rob Williams, AKA Velvet Worm was the first. His mutant insectoid features were the most immediately noticeable thing about him as he has an early and brief reaction to Lixdite's aura of fear. His fists tighten, but he breathes deeply and checks his surroundings. He sees no cause for concern, so he doesn't let his anxiety show too much.
The second is Noah Abrams, immediately recognizable by their angelic wings and red eyes. Popular rumor stated he was a European princess in disguise as a boy. His wings tuck closer to him as they feels the fear aura, and seems unfazed while waving to everyone with a big smile and putting their things down by the digital drawing display at the head of the room.
The last is a tired looking girl, clearly American and with a reputation for threatening others and breaking school property. Apparently her quirk is so dangerous that school didn't want it showcased at the last tournament, and she may also be Princess Noah's bodyguard. Her long brown hair frames her attempt to seem pleasant and normal, which lasts for a solid second before the fear aura hits her.
Her natural response kicks in as she dashes around Lixdite to get between him and Noah. The boy finds himself facing a barrel with a bullet visible inside, Takako leaping over a desk to grab her arm and direct it toward the wall. The American girl grits her teeth and readies another barrel to knock the wind out of Takako's stomach while the other girl holds the blunted end of a wrist-bound katana coming to the side of her head.
"[Sally, Sally, Its a part of his quirk, there is nobody trying to hurt you right now,]" Noah says as he touches her elbow gently. Shinji had already gone for a chair to use as an improvised weapon, but slowly puts it down as the situation seems to ease. Lixdite merely tries to avoid the gun girl's shifting death stares while keeping his hands up.
"[Noah's right, just relax, deep breaths, okay?]" the bug mutant says in English as he slowly approaches her.
Takako stares right into Sally's soul: "Well met, McCathy-san. I see your reputation precedes you."
An old man walks through the door, white hair and moustache with big glasses over his eyes. He eyes the scene ahead of him and processes the combination of the fear aura: It seems to affect the man little.
"[Alright kids, lets settle down. Don't want to get kicked out of the room on day 1, right?]" he says in somewhat labored English with a humorous edge to try and disarm the two girls.
"[Ishizawa Sentaro, I'm the advisor for the Japanese culture club. Wrong room?]" he says with a chuckle
Takako immediately recognizes the man. Her mood sours.
"Then speak proper Japanese at least. I'm told even the rabid gun nun is capable of understanding it spoken."
"You've got a point Amahagane-chan, so lets draw those barrels and blades back...."
"Ishizawa-sensei is right, Noah only really started to get Japanese once he was immersed in it fully. So... lets stop fighting, okay?"
The two girls slowly withdraw their chosen implements of destruction and sit at opposite sides of the room.
Noah stands at the head of the room by the drawing display, choosing to go over some basic mistakes with writing in Japanese that he learned when he was young. Sally patrolled around the room offering her own advice, thanking her good eyesight for allowing to have some use in all of this since she could at least tell when mistakes were being made. Takako is more succinct with her critique than Sally's attempt at talking like Rosethorn when she finds a correction.
"Shimada-kun, that character is off by a significant margin. It reads very poorly," Takako says as she looms over him with her severe eyes.
A brief look up is all the boy can manage before her sharp look makes him quickly correct the mistake. Her face says that she expects better out of someone who is a Japanese native. The foreigners should be making mistakes after all.
Sally couldn't stand Takako's attitude toward the students who were just here to learn. She saw it in Takako's eyes when they were in a standoff that she was ready to bash her skull in if things escalated. All Sally could see in her was an older, smugger Hoge who's quirk made her a way bigger threat. It made her blood boil as she can only think of how her quirk is probably celebrated as a peacekeeping tool while still being a sword. She's just dangerous as Sally, just at a closer range and with the same concealment properties that make Sally go through a special TSA inspections.
"McCathy-senpai my uhm... sheet..." Lixdite says as he looks her in the eyes.
Her expression sinks as she uncrumples it out of her hand: "Sorry, I'll get you a new one" she says with a disheartened voice. Noah gives a her a thumbs up, so that at least lets her walk without avoiding everyone's eyes.
Sentaro sits at the back of the room watching the students, and he's seen a lot of their types before. He didn't even need to look at Noah's school file to know he was headed down a rescue track, the kid seemed to look at difficult problems with an eye to fix things. He knew Takako since she was Himeko's granddaughter, like her grandmother in a lot of ways except she still had that pitiless glare when she glanced toward Sally in particular. He was glad Lixdite was in a hero program rather than trying to just manage his quirk in daily life or got stuck into criminality young. Behavior altering quirks will always be the fastest way to get marked as an undesirable. Shinji seemed almost too normal, someone so generic looking he must be trying to blend in as much as possible.
The two Americans were strict contrast between each other. Rob was nice and outgoing despite his mutant features, he had lots of confidence and wasn't afraid to let it show but could still ask for help when he knew he was out of his depth. He'll make a good role model some day if the hero system doesn't sour him too much. Sally was on edge and he couldn't forget the killer look she had when had had barrel pointed toward Takako's stomach. He knew she had a vigilantism charge prior and had a reputation for breaking things around campus with "accidental" discharges of her quirk. Even her movements reminded him more of a hitman blending in while their guard is up than a high schooler, every step considered to not break a stance while standing straight up. The kind of skills she must have to carry herself like that must be formidable...
He shakes his head before his compulsive side gets any ideas: he had a good thing going right now, he had to set a good example even if he didn't have an ankle monitor on.
Noah clears his throat to bring attention back to him.
"Now, Noah wants end today by going over a common and easy mistake to make when using double consonants."
"Lets take the word Kappa" he says as he uses the display to draw the katakana for Kappa: かっぱ
He circles the middle character: "This is called a double consonant, it makes up the two P's if your thinking in English"
"The common mistake is to write it too large, as it turns the word into something else entirely. This applies to a lot of other cases with double consonants so its important to draw it at the proper size so it can be read correctly" he says as the group nods and takes notes, practicing the strokes a few times on the margins of the sheets they were working on.
Sally nods, remembering this as one of the first lessons he gave her last year. She smiles a bit as she rubs her elbow shyly, feeling conflicted. A terrible part of her didn't like that the lessons she always treasured are being given to others so freely even as she knows its important help the other students who need these hints. She did feel a bit of warmth knowing she was helpful today, but the standoff still stuck in her mind like a thorn. She'd immediately blown her chance of being seen like she's supposed to as a upperclassmen: wise, strong, gracious, and skilled. All she showed as that she was a jumpy psycho who's response to getting scared to threaten people.
As the students pack up there things, Noah turns to Sally and Takako.
"Noah can handle cleaning up with Ishizawa-Sensei, you two are free to go"
Sally smiled a bit, glad she wouldn't get any grief from Hoge at least. Takako's glare lands on her as she leaves, causing the purple-haired girl to sigh.
"I must insist on staying to help. McCathy-san should be staying in the future as well" Takako says as she starts pushing all the chairs in.
"Sally-chan has a lot on her mind, Noah can handle something like cleanup for her"
"Your enabling her" Takako says with a sigh.
"She's not a child. She has the eyes of rabid animal and a record just short of it. She needs discipline and structure most"
Noah maintains a pleasant smile despite his inner turmoil. He was doing the right thing, right? Jesus would give even the most heinous murderers nothing but kindness and peace... right? According to the Trinity, Jesus spoke for God directly so that can't be. At the same time his interpretation could be off and if he's making a mistake and making Sally worse he needs to stop now or...
Takako and Sentaro watch as Noah seems to go autopilot as his eyes betray an intense internal struggle.
"Looks like you broke him" The man says.
"He's fine. Its a quirk compulsion, some kind of Messianic savior complex" Takako says with a dismissive sigh as she sweeps.
Noah's self and his compulsion fight against each other in discussing what is right and what is wrong in a moral context, and how to express it to a senior.
"Maybe she's right! We should have listened to Hoge and talked her out of taking the Vice President Role while we still had the chance!" his panicked self mentally screams.
"Worry not, she would have felt inadequate being stuck with people newer to the language than her. As leadership she gains authority and confidence as somewhat more experienced in speaking Japanese. This is the course of affirmation so she can keep smiling~" his compulsive side mentally says in a calming, angelic tone.
"What if she hurts someone here because of that fear aura?! What if she can't actually keep up with the work of planning trips out?! Then all of this falls apart!"
"Do not despair, for all she requires is faith from others in her abilities. She is willing to open the gate of trust slightly to others as long as we help her with the weight of her sins"
Takako looks toward the stunlocked boy as she finishes dusting off the desks: "Ishizawa-sensei, I do have other duties to attend to. Please make sure Abrams-San isn't still in the library past curfew" she says as she gathers her things.
"Wanted to stay and chat to him anyways, you have a good night and thanks for being willing to help out with all of this" the old man says with smile toward the regal girl.
Takako nods as she tries to hide her smug smile: these foreigners at least will sully her language and culture less with her supervision and guidance. She walks with confidence and grace as she smooths her skirt out and leaves the room.
[Music: https://youtu.be/W9hmGBlPGu8?si=rgCXPwQxuAhw7dJn ]
Noah still battles against himself, though who is in control is questionable as he fidgets slightly and stares at the floor with a haunted look. All both sides agree on is that he can't fail in his duties to help this soul in particular. Both ignored how selfish and small-minded that was despite his usual allergy to selfishness. Both warring sides allow that desire to stay, since if he can't save Sally, then that means he has a limit on his abilities. That God's love does fail in some extreme cases. And if God's love wasn't as impossibly powerful as he had faithfully though it was then he wasn't anything special: just a boy with wings who can control light.
"Hey, Abrams" Sentaro says in a more serious tone, trying to break the boy out of his mental breakdown.
Noah blushes beet red for a moment as he gathers his wits and notices the room is spotless. He'd just been stuck in his own head for over 5 minutes while his senior did all the work. Some president he was...
"Yes... Ishizawa-sensei?" he says, barely holding a smile together.
"Relax, take a deep breath. You've still got time before the world expects you be a messiah"
"Even Jesus didn't walk alone"
Noah looks away, he usually avoided bringing up theology with anyone he didn't know was Christian.
"Noah doesn't need to burden others with the problems Noah takes on, Noah just... God will guide Noah, like he always does"
"Then what first guided you to being Sally's boyfriend?" Sentaro says with a toothy smile.
Noah stammers and looks around for some excuse to leave: "N-N-No.... were just... study partners!" he says biting his tongue before it can spoil the rehearsed half truth.
"I'm not gonna report you for it, don't worry. Your good kids for the most part, McCathy-san just has that look in her eye..."
Noah gulps: "W-What kind of look?"
"While I was inside, I-"
"Inside where?"
"Prison" Sentaro says with a dead serious look, like when he used to give scared straight talks.
"Had a guy a cell across from me, had the same look as her when she ready to blow Takako to kingdom come when he looked at his fingers. Every week, he'd find some way to break his fingers. sometimes it was a rock he'd smash against them, other times he tried to get them mangled in the machine shop. After long enough the prison doctors had to lock them in steel gloves"
"So I ask him one time at lunch: 'Are you that lazy? To keep breaking your hands to avoid work?'. He looks at me with that same killer look that she had: like their was nothing but survival instinct behind his eyes as he raised metal-wrapped hands to eat. He wasn't strong or violent, in fact I'd never even seen him even look bad at the guards who looked at us like filth everyday. His eyes were always on his hands like he couldn't trust them.
"We keep talking, and I ask him the usual: 'what are you in for?'. He looks at his hands and stares me dead in the eyes, 'I killed the two men who took my son away from me. Then I turned myself in and resisted enough that they'd stick me in here. I belong in two places: here, or the ground' "
Sentaro pauses checking on Noah: he's pulled up a desk to listen better to the old man's story.
"He said he'd always had a dangerous quirk: He could fire hardened bone pellets out of fingers fast enough to kill a man. The only way he saw to make sure his hands never hurt anyone again was to keep breaking them until they were too malformed to be a threat to anyone. He started getting desperate for more extreme measures to be put on him, started fights, spit on the guards, and worse to get himself put in solitary confinement. I never saw him again."
Noah is quiet for a moment as Sentaro finishes his story: "So you... already know..."
"Its a miracle the whole school doesn't know, something to keep praying about. I just guessed and did some on American News sites" Sentaro as he tries to lighten the mood.
"I know you want to save her, and I think Takako is wrong. McCathy's quirk or her being busy isn't whats going to make her into a monster. Its if she feels cornered, like theirs nowhere left for her to run that will make her a monster. And she'll hate herself until the day she dies for letting herself snap, especially if she hurts her friends"
"At least that's what her eyes said. Not a cry for help, but warning to stay away or risk being hurt."
The angel boy nods sadly: "Is it wrong to love someone like that? Because their so close to breaking and need help that they won't ask for?"
"No: the man I met inside didn't have any love left to give, and none coming in. McCathy still some love left in her and if your willing to trust an old man's relationship advice, needs as much as she can get to keep staying on the right path"
"Is... it really even love if she just needs a confessor and a therapist?"
"I don't know, would you love her if she was happy?" the old man asks in a serious tone.
Noah feels his two side bickering again, trying to argue who was right. His compulsion says his love is to heal her, and his self wonders if love can even heal her. Why was he a doubting Thomas now of all times! He had to be better: for Shiketsu, for 2-E, for God, for his Parents, for the rest of the congregation, for all his friends...
For Sally.
"Yes, Noah will stay with her"
"Even when she's healed, Noah still wants to be with her. She's not just a problem to be solved and scratched off a list after all. Its some of the stuff others see as problems that are what Noah... admires: her stupid sense of rigidity, the way she rushes into danger without any fear, how she rarely minces words. Noah wants to be with her as long as Noah can, even if its just for a another year or two..."
A smile plays at Noah's lips as the turmoil in his head calms for a moment, like the sun breaking through dark clouds over a blood-soaked battlefield.
Sentaro smiles: "I think were good here, about time I get back to my cave and leave you youngsters to your free time!"
Noah smiles as he holds the door for him. Just this year and the next before she goes home to face the US Supreme court. Until the laws of man decided whether she proved herself capable of controlling herself or if she was still a rabid animal in need of a cage. The boy puts the ugliness of her situation out of his mind, preferring to focus on how what he'll make her for lunch tomorrow on the rooftop.
In the streets of a crowded commercial street in downtown Kyoto, five Shiketsu students hauled refrigerated push carts in the bike lane. They reach an Xpresso Cafe and stop to catch their breath, but do not all head inside at the same time. Three girls go in first, two of them being quite distinct looking. The taller of the two was a fiery-eyed American brunette with her long hair braided and laid over her shoulder while the shorter one was a distinctly Japanese girl with stoic red eyes and short black hair. The third was indistinct, but the observers could just barely identify her.
"Nyoro Hoge... what the hell is Sally doing with her?" Agent Waver says as he munches on some beef jerky and observes the three heading for the ladies restroom.
"Ms. Teel already told us their delivering meals to a retirement on the edge of town. Besides, Myoga's with them. Probably best if we avoid him-" Agent Law says before the blonde boys eyes scan over them. He excuses himself and leaves watching the carts to Junichi Takagi, AKA Marrow.
"Damnit you caught his eye Law!" Waver says hurriedly.
"Come on, we'll catch up with them after feigning retreat: something stinks about this..."
Law hops in the drivers seat and keeps a firm hand on the keys to keep them still.
"Relax, as long as Sally doesn't know were here we can get this done and have our report filed before dinner"
Inigo approaches them with a fake smile: "Sooo... what are you two doing here?"
"Keeping an eye on McCathy-san" Law says as Waver tries to not let his impatience get the better of him.
"Well you don't have to worry, I'll make sure she doesn't hop on any planes or take any bullets today, okay?"
"Just put down in your report that Ryu-Kishi was on the case and you'll be fine"
"We got the route you were planning on using from your dorm manager: seems like your passing through some rough streets... sure you don't us watching?" Law asks with genuine concern.
"We can handle ourselves: Me and Hoge-chan can handle an army of street thugs!"
"And Sally? Well its just a matter of if she even needs to hand out any rubber candy before they start running if you get what I mean"
"That's not what we're worried about, Myoga" Waver says.
"Why not take a van? Shiketsu has drivers they can hook you up with and you have to still have your own people."
"Nope," Inigo says.
"Probably gonna need to pick up a part time job on the sly to make ends meet..."
"And its not exactly charitable to take up road space with a fat van like the one your driving."
"Kid's got a point, there's a car circling us for our spot, Waver," Law says
"What?" he says, seeing an irate driver desperate for a quick parking spot lock eyes with him.
"Well fuck them, we've got a job to do."
"That's your cue to leave. Sally's a really fast pisser..." Inigo mentions as Gigan bonks him.
"Oh come on, it's only natural to time that kind of stuff! Especially for emergencies!"
"Last thing we need Little Miss Rebel getting our faces. We'll catch up with you later," Law says as ignores a glare from his partner and pulls out of the parking spot.
Inigo sighs as he returns to Junichi. "We need to change quick. We've got a limited window of time now. They know our route."
"So what did not popping their tires accomplish?" says Junichi with a growl.
"I'd be fine baking in this fucking uniform if I at least got to screw over some feds..."
"Just be a bit patient, Hoge insisted on the extra layers of secrecy here," Inigo says as he spies Sally stepping out in a knee length floral skirt and a puffy white blouse with a paisley print, her hair retied into thin but long low ponytail. Her uniform is in a backpack Hoge had brought.
"Heh. Not a bad look, McCathy."
Sally rolls her eyes: "Save the ogling for Hoge. She smuggled an entire fucking makeup kit out."
Chihiro exits the cafe and returns to the group in a more modern out fit that she usually wears, a pair of black cargo pants that bunch up around her ankles, some sneakers, below them, and a grey T-shirt which brings out her red eyes.
Junichi heads in to get changed into a casual wear disguise in the men's room as Hoge exits, wearing a pair of jean shorts and cute blouse with a well-practiced "no-makeup" look. Inigo is entranced by her as she stands in front of him: "You can look more later, Inigo. Get changed so we can get a move on"
"Yes, ma'am!" he says eagerly.
Inigo dons a suit with a yellow tie to throw off an suspicions it might be him under it, while Junichi just packed in a pair of ripped jean, a light black jacket, and red t-shirt. The group keeps pushing their payload of food into quieter street, making a few turns down before Hoge puts a little GPS tracker on the carts and covers them with small tarp.
Hoge and Inigo face their comrades in the DDI and begin the briefing.
"We only have 15 minutes until we need to be in position so I'll keep things brief" Hoge starts
"Were here for whatever kind of case the dealer has. Once I give the signal in the form of this" she says as she says presses down on a white noise emitter that slowly winds up.
"...In the form of white noise, scatter and change back into your uniform wherever possible because it means I've received it. We meet 2 streets away from the retirement home, I'll have the carts in position by then"
Inigo clears his throat, the fun in his voice gone: "Don't risk yourselves for this. If you get caught, I coerced you into doing this" he says with eyes specifically on Sally and Hoge.
"Me and Joon are blocking the alleyway the dealer and buyer are meeting in. Sally opens with stunning or scattering security, Chihiro swoops down, grabs the case and hands it off to Hoge. We leave as soon as we hear the signal or if a minutes passed"
"You still won't say where you got this tip from" Sally says with crossed arms
"Its not important right now: one more question and then we need to move" Hoge says sharply as she stares the shorter stubborn girl down.
"Your serious about scaling back?" Junichi says to Inigo
"All the shit we've done and a few cameras makes you pussy out of making some real change?"
"The short version is we need to figure out a way we can do this without all getting expelled: Its just a temporary hiatus. But still, give this the energy of one last good score, okay?"
Junichi begrudgingly sighs as he gets moving to his spot at the dark end of the alley, pulling his hood up.
Sally climbs up a fire escape to find a good nest to shoot from, hoping this was kind of neighborhood where nobody really questioned what was happening on the fire escape.
Inigo takes a fast-walking stroll around to the outward facing end of the alleyway, a master at acting natural.
Hoge keeps an eye out from around the corner, looking around with steeled nerves as she taps on her phone to look inconspicuous.
Chihiro silently nods follows Sally's route, though being much faster as she readies the blunt end of her blade.
Koji Kusuda was a mess today, but he was going to make a far bigger one if these pills actually did what the dealer said they'd do.
He'd had enough of paying off the parole officer every month. He had nothing left to sell and kicked himself for not just beating his ass earlier and running to Taiwan or something. He had until the end of the month to either scrounge up enough hours at the warehouse to not get put back inside prison for a "lack of work ethic", or to rip the fuckers throat out.
He was on the edge of Kyoto, a few streets down the from where the nice part of town ended at an old folks home and where all the signs got faded and sun bleached and the windows had grating behind them to stop the bums from breaking in selling the copper in the walls. Maybe mutants more fucked up than him would shank him for the 100 yen in his wallet and his clothes and end this whole stunt before it even begins. Why something this strong was so cheap was something he'd be more concerned about if he had any plans for life after this.
Walking by a dusty storefront, Koji looks at himself: He was a forever slimy, forever ugly frog mutant that lost big on the genetic lottery. Even his hands stuck to everything and if somehow there was a way to make him normal and acceptable his parents worked their souls away on their own problems. At least he was lucky to have parents, a lot of the kids and bums out here just got dumped off somewhere or broke out of being latch-key kids. His reptilian eyes focus back on his misshapen, slimy face. He can't remember a point in his life where he had dreams beyond winning the lottery and fucking off to South America.
It helped not feeling like he was leaving others behind. No wife, no lover, no kids, dead parents, and no future. His one good gig was helping to lift security key cards from buildings for some burglars cause he could climb on walls and was quiet as a dead rat. All they did was steal trucks in the night from their depots, nobody got hurt until Ren got greedy and beat a security guard over the head with a rock instead of just bailing when they did get caught.
They all got branded violent criminals, barely avoided a life sentence by selling Ren out. But of course it didn't end there, the parole officer he got was fully willing to get him sent back inside if he wasn't paid more and more. Koji was reduced to living in a rat hole of an apartment and worked in a warehouse since a menial job like that is all mutie freaks like him get if their not good weapons.
He takes a deep breath. Fuck the consequences, it ends today one way or the other.
[Music: https://youtu.be/yOEmuh8Kg_c?si=P78WU7pJhvEobYqQ ]
The alleyway was dark and secluded. None of the stores it was cutting around were open and might never open again. A woman who looked far too nice for this part of town leans on a wall with two rough looking guys standing nearby as muscle.
The woman was quick to look the short frogman in the eyes: "Just take the junk" she says as telekinesis brings a dull grey suitcase upward.
Then all hell broke loose.
There's a wall of green light on one end, and a wall of bones on the other end of the alleyway without warning. The woman looks just as surprised as he is while her henchman draw knives form their pockets. The Telekinesis wavers, and dies when somebody starts shooting. The two guards fall like sacks of bricks and Koji makes his move for the case, diving to grab it. A black haired girl with a fox mask over her face looks at him and offers him a moment of hesitation to surrender the case after she leaps down from a rooftop with wooden sword in hand.
Koji uses his pads to keep a strong grip as he tries to run, only to see a faint dash out of the corner of his vision. The back end of the wooden sword slams into face and he falls over. The case unlatches and a bottle of unmarked pills alongside some of other concealed narcotics fly out. A third gunshot rings out and hits the telekinetic dealer hard in the stomach and knocks her down before another thwack to the head makes Koji's world go black.
Chihiro thinks fast as she hears the white noise, scooping up a handful of the unmarked pills and some of the other baggies that didn't break on the ground. Sally moves with her, unwilling to let her get caught alone seemingly. Sally must have seen the telekinetically lifted chunk of tile silently heading for her head and chosen to deal with the attacker rather than the attack.
It was no matter. She had some kind of success, she could only hope she grabbed the right things as she gets ready to leap away the opposite way Sally went as she see's Junichi had booked it already. Inigo was sticking to the ground for now as he made like a panicked civilian and fled the area. Chihiro double checks she's not being chased several times, eventually taking solace in a public restroom. She changes quickly, taking mental note to come pick her clothes and the wooden sword up after class tomorrow as she made her way back to the meeting spot with pockets full of powders, herbs, and pills.
Agent Waver watches over the clusterfuck of a crime scene in front of him: not the most violent one he's ever seen but his gut told him their was way more to this than what the cops thought, that this was just an interception made to grab a bunch of drugs. He looks at the clock as it reads 6:30 PM and his stomach growls.
Law knocks on the door to the van and Waver opens it to grab his paper bag of WcDonaolds impatiently.
"They got testimony out of the Frog Mutant: Said he was being forced into flipping narcotics by his parole officer. He might get off on a plea deal if the financials check out" Law says as he eats some extra salted fries
"So all that stuff is real, but how pure is it?" Waver asks as he goes straight for his Big Wac
"Is all mixed heavily" Law says.
"And she's not talking, got some Lawyer that needs to travel from Kobe to talk to her, and she's not getting rattled"
Waver sighs in between bites: "I counted 3 gunshots: that doesn't account for how the Frog got knocked out".
"And the only criminal I know who shoots less-than-lethal rounds is Last Rite" he snarls.
"What if their rivals wanted them to get caught? Only reason the Frog talked is because he wanted to report his Parole Officer's scheme before he got sent back to prison" Law says.
"The woman isn't going to be opening up, so we can't get the other side of the story."
Waver looks away. He'd already gotten out and looked all over for shell casings and found none, even borrowed a spray for finding gunshot residue and found that someone shot from the rooftops. It had to have been premeditated, and Law was clearly insane for pushing his theory.
"Oh, there was one thing..." Law says
"Those pills they found are avoiding being studied like its life or death"
"...What? As in the pill is a construct?"
"The lab couldn't narrow it down yet, but if any part of this stinks its those pills. She'd had a bunch of watered-down junk on her, so where did she get something as strange as those pills?"
The two sit in silence for a moment as they eat, law pausing before he gets to his Big Wac.
"And besides, we saw Sally, Myoga, and the whole lot of them dropping with their carts on the route they had set when Kyoto PD questioned them. In Uniform too, I think our froggy friend would have mentioned that that he saw a Shiketsu uniform on one of the attackers if they were responsible"
"Myoga's got connections. Maybe he got to him before we did and made him change his story" Waver says spitefully.
"I don't think that's the case. The shooting isn't the important part right now anyways, those pills are what we need info on. If its resisting study then God knows what it does if someone took it..."
Waver gives up: "Fuck it, fine, lets just go home and see if the lab has anything tomorrow then!"
Waver catches the slightest gesture of satisfaction in the rear view mirror of the van on Law's face as balls up the paper bag for disposal. Smug prick just liked being right way too much.
Sally tries to act all noble and proud as she walks back into the dorms after a coffee at Nocti's place on the way home. The Dorm Manager gives her a nod as she's in position to make sure nobody tries just walking out the front for the night. She had instructions, ones she didn't like at all.
As she takes the elevator up to 2nd year girls dorms, she sighs when Inigo and Hoge are what meets her and joins her. Inigo taps the buttons for the boys floor.
"Remind me why I'm needed for this?" Sally says to them both.
"Come on, want you to tell that one story about the news station to Hiro. He thinks I do stupid shit a lot, and your escapades make me look downright divine" he says in a joking tone. That doesn't stop Sally from concealing her anger with tilting her uniform cap down. Of course, Sally and Inigo knew Hoge was there, but not the cameras or listening devices. Sally squints in front of her, seeing Hoge hold up a note
[Performing hand off. Need your testimony] is what Sally's sharp eyes can make out before the elevator reaches the boys floor. It was just highly discouraged for girls to be here, not banned. After all Co-ed study sessions like what she had with Noah were pretty common. It was more the smell of the floor that got to her, not as bad as the choking perfumes the Korean's sometimes spray around, but bad enough that she'd rather meet Noah outside or on the girls floor.
They find Hiro where Inigo said he would be, waiting for an elevator up to the roof. Probably the only place they could speak in peace since Sally already got Tame to sweep it for listening devices. The android girl herself sits and studies with Satoru, who is explaining Philosophy 101 to her in his own warped view. Sally chooses to just tune back in to Inigo's cover story.
"Yeah! I hear you can see stars on the roof without a telescope!"
"Really? Well I guess that sounds nice..." Hiro says
"Maybe you can even take Orochi up there, the danger noodles have to be distracted by the stars so you can really make that move" Inigo says as Gigan looks at him with disappointment.
The crippled boy just gets on the elevator with everyone else, the ride upward being quiet as Inigo manages to act natural while Sally fidgets with her hands and Hiro tapping his hands against his crutch. The roof is cold and quiet, and reaching the destination was like all the pressure in the room had evaporated.
Hoge presses the illicit substances into his pockets: "I can just take them you know..." Hiro says
"They must be properly concealed" Hoge insists as much as her voice can with how blurry she is.
Hiro takes a look at a baggy of white powder: "...Junk, way too soft to be cocaine..."
"And this is a tiny amount of marijuana mixed with literal weeds"
"If this is all they had on them then I don't know what to tell you Myoga-san"
An unmarked pill gives him pause. He stares at in the moonlight, like he's looking at a secret text only readable under it. "Tis is something custom. The work on the pill case is hand-done"
"Some blonde telekinetic girl was trying to dump it off for free on a Frog man who looked ready to become the next big terrorist on the news" Sally says
"Guessing that's not the way something like this usually goes, right?"
Hiro shakes his head: "No, catch any names?"
Sally shakes her head: "It is beautiful out... maybe Noah and I should go for a flight before curfew hits"
"Want to make that a flight for fo-" Inigo starts before his ear gets pulled by the near invisible Hoge.
"We have some things to discuss. You may leave and do whatever you like with your angel" Hoge says
"And I heard about the meeting. If you dare touch a hair on the head of one of Princess Blade's grandchildren then I will make sure you feel the consequences." the invisable says with a threatening tone.
"...Noted" Sally says with narrowed eyes as she eyes the place where Hoge roughly was until the elevator closed shut.
A nice evening flight with her angel is just what she needed to keep the wrathful bile out of her mouth.