26In the darkness of a traditional Japanese house, resembling more of a temple than a familial home, with only the moonlight showing the outlines of its sheer size, its frail-looking but notably dangerous master sat on the futon with a slight frown. Yet to those with knowledge of her...such a frown, different from her normal mild annoyance, meant dangerous things.
"What do you mean she's not at the academy?" Her old, irritated voice spoke over the telephone. The venom in her words was audible. "With the target, hmm? ... I see. Thank you for the information." She hung up the phone and sighed. "Tokaku... And here I thought you wouldn't be a disappointment." The woman shook her head before calling to someone into her room.
"Gather the branch families. A meeting is in order. We must deal with this at once."
Warmth. That was the first sensation Tokaku felt as she woke up. It was an alien sensation, but a welcome one. Her eyes fluttered open and instantly gazed upon the red haired girl, no, her girlfriend, who was snuggled against her. Tokaku briefly wondered why exactly Haru was in her bed, but remembered last night.
Haru had begged Tokaku to let her sleep in the same bed with her. They'd been living together for three months, and that had blossomed into the two of them dating. However, they had not done much together other than go on innocent dates and exchange the occasional kiss.
Tokaku thought it was kind of nice, waking up next to someone she loved. She wasn't exactly used to that. Maybe she'd sleep with Haru more often. She smiled a little and tried to get out of bed without waking Haru up, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Haru sat up with a groan and rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning, Tokaku…." she yawned.
"Morning, Haru." Tokaku replied.
"You going to take shower right now?"
Tokaku nodded, heading towards the bathroom.
"Want me to come with~?" Haru asked in a slightly teasing manner.
"No thanks, I'm good." Tokaku denied the offer with a small but flustered smile on her face.
"Here you go! One hot breakfast for Tokaku!" Haru exclaimed with a grin as she set a plate on the table for Tokaku. Curry and toast. It wasn't a rare thing for Haru to make in the morning, she knew how much Tokaku liked curry and the toast just gave it more of a breakfasty feel.
Tokaku gave a small nod of thanks before beginning to eat, Haru quickly joining her at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. "Soo, Tokaku, want to go to the park today?"
"The park?"
"Yeah! You can do some workouts, if you'd like."
"Hmmm… Alright…"
Though Tokaku was no longer an assassin and no longer needed training, she still liked working out. Her goal to protect Haru had not changed since Black Class ended. Even if Haru would no longer have people after her life, Tokaku always wanted to be prepared.
After breakfast, the two immediately left for the park.
"So, Tokaku, what should we do first?" Haru cheerfully asked the blue haired girl as they walked into the park.
"I don't care, go swing or something."
Haru felt something bump into her leg. Looking down, she noticed it was a blue ball. She reached down and picked it up before she noticed two kids running over to get it.
"Is this your ball?" She asked, "Mind if I play with you?"
"Sure!" One of the kids exclaimed, grinning.
Haru waved to Tokaku and ran off with the kids.
Tokaku decided to train nearby so she could keep an eye on Haru and her newfound "friends". Tokaku's mind was filled with nothing but the thought of protecting Haru. Tokaku looked over towards Haru and noticed something hurtling towards the girl. Her eyes widened, "Haru!" she cried out, tackling the girl to the ground as something flew of their heads.
"Tokaku? What's wrong?" Haru asked, worried at how Tokaku had so quickly tackled her to the ground.
Tokaku got up a little bit, now unintentionally straddling Haru, "Something was flying towards you." she replied, looking down at Haru before realizing their positions and getting up to inspect what had flown at Haru with a slightly flustered look on her face
"What is it?" Haru asked, getting up.
"Baseball." Tokaku replied, picking it up with a relieved sigh.
Suddenly, Tokaku was tackled down to the ground by what seemed to be a man, holding a knife in his right hand. Another figure dashed into the area, this one appearing to be a female around the man's age. Tokaku quickly threw the man off and landed a series of quick punches to his face, then knocked him to the floor with a heel kick.
"That's enough!" yelled a voice. Tokaku turned to see her other opponent holding Haru, a knife pointed at the red haired girl's throat. Haru struggled to break free but wasn't able to gain enough leverage. The red haired girl cursed herself mentally for having been caught off guard, as she was busy watching Tokaku fend her assailant off.
Tokaku gave the woman holding Haru a steel glare, looking as if she would assassinate the girl with her gaze alone. In the blink of an eye, Tokaku threw a knife with ruthless precision into the woman's hand, causing her to scream and drop her knife, releasing Haru. Haru scrambled away as the woman who had been previously holding her clutched her hand in pain and ran off.
Tokaku prepared to pursue her, but the man she knocked down had gotten to his feet, and attempted another tackle. Tokaku sighed and easily dodged it. She pinned him to the ground with a simple martial arts maneuver, reaching for her knife to go in for the kill if needed.
"Tokaku! Wait!" Haru exclaimed, "Don't hurt him!"
Tokaku glanced over at Haru then back at the man, who now looked terrified. He looked to be in his middle ages, black eyes, what was left of his hair was the same shade of blue as Tokaku's.
"What do you want?" Tokaku asked the man.
"Please! Spare me!" The man begged, having noticed the knife Tokaku's hand was hovering over.
"Then answer me." Tokaku replied, pulling the knife from its sheath.
"I-I was sent here to assassinate you!" The man cried out.
"By who?"
"I-I can't say!" He said, "Please, Tokaku! Just let me go!"
"Tokaku… Please let him go. He won't do it again, I'm sure." Haru told Tokaku, who hesitated for a moment.
"... Fine, have it your way. But, next time he attacks, he's dead." Tokaku replied, standing up and not putting her knife away quite yet.
The man quickly ran off, still scared of what Tokaku might do.
"Haru, we're going home."
"Maaaan! Can those two ever stay out of trouble?" Nio giggled, standing before the chairwoman.
"It does seem like they've been through a lot lately. Black Class, and now this." The chairwoman agreed, a small smirk playing at her lips. "But this time, the roles have been changed. Tokaku is their target, not Haru."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if they attacked Haru too." Nio stated, "I mean, she is a part of why they're so angry with Tokaku."
The chairwoman nodded, "Indeed. Why don't you go meet up with them?"
Nio was caught off guard, "What? Really?"
"Of course, someone needs to warn them of what is to come."
Nio gave a nod and a salute, "Yes, ma'am! I'll get going!"
"Excellent." The chairwoman replied, watching Nio run off before turning her chair around to face the massive screens that spanned around her office. "I think things will turn out quite interesting. I look forward to seeing how those two handle it." She dialed up a number on her phone and awaited a response.
"Perhaps I should throw in another piece...make the game even more interesting than it already is."
In a drab gray room that gave off a sterile atmosphere, a certain white-haired instructor was sitting at his desk, idly rolling a couple of dice in his hand. Kaiba smirked with his signature carefree attitude as he heard the phone ring.
"Ah, Mrs. Azuma. Just exactly why have you contacted one as humble as me?"
"Kaiba. As I recall, you were the one in charge of instructing my Tokaku. Just what exactly did you do to her? Why is she rejecting her destiny as the clan's heir? Answer me!"
Kaiba gave a long exaggerated sigh.
"Mrs. Azuma, you assume far too much. I did nothing to Tokaku. She's simply found the answer to what she wants...on her own. Did you think I had messed with her mind or something? I'm not one of those Kuzunoha shamans, you know."
An angered growl was heard over the phone. "Don't play games with me, Kaiba. Do you understand just how important the Azuma lineage is? I will not let centuries of our clan's blood go to waste over one rebellious girl's treachery!"
"Sounds like you need to figure out how to deal with her yourself, then. I'm just a mere teacher, in a classroom full of morons. Nothing more than that, and nothing of use to you. Have a good day!"
"Just don't forget. Inform her about Tokaku's betrayal...and exactly what that means. I have nothing else to say."
Another growl could be heard before the caller hung up. Kaiba chuckled to himself and rolled his dice. Double 6s.
"Good luck, Tokaku. You'll need it for what's coming ahead…"
A tall, well built boy was kissing his girlfriend in a hotel room, away from the sight of the world. The girl was a full head shorter than him and had blonde hair, but seemed to be just as dangerous as her lover- any trained assassin could detect the deadly aura these two had. They passionately made out with the same intensity that they had in their first time doing so.
"Love you," whispered the boy under his breath, "and don't you forget it." The girl responded with a light chuckle as she broke the kiss. Just then, the boy's phone buzzed. He opened it...and a wicked grin crossed his face. His girlfriend gave him a knowing look, just as sinister as his.
In another hotel, far more luxurious yet dirty in its clientele, a rich man whose gluttony clearly showed on his body's frame lead someone who seemed to be a young, beautiful girl onto the pristine white bed. He licked his lips as she smiled in anticipation.
"Oh, finally…" she drawled in a seductive tone…
"I've got you right where I want you."
She fired a bullet straight through the man's head, revealing a hidden pistol concealed within the fabric of her skirt. She brushed off her clothes as she smirked at the man's corpse...before her phone began to buzz.
Bottles were smashed, shouts were heard, and fists were thrown as the bar had descended into full chaos. It started with one punch and had escalated into a full on brawl. In the center of the melee, two girls stood aside each other, one with spiky hair, clad in a kimono that contrasted with the atmosphere, while her partner wore a biker gang's overcoat and had wild black hair with green streaks that fell over one eye. They fended off whichever unlucky opponents happened to stumble into their path, or even worse, attack them directly.
"Stay on your guard." the coated one said, throwing a large girl wielding a switchblade right through a table, and kicking a man over the bar counter.
"Am I the one you should be worrying about?" her partner replied, tossing two needles into the shoulders of a duo approaching the other girl from behind. The pair stopped in their tracks as venom overtook them, and they fell unconscious to the ground.
Eventually, the dust cleared, and the two girls were left standing. The spiky haired girl kissed her lover on the cheek, only stopping to check her buzzing phone. The coated girl's phone buzzed as well.
Kaiba whistled as he walked down the corridor, entering a room at the end. A blue-haired girl with crimson eyes, wearing a uniform with a black armband, was seated at the end of a long discussion table, with multiple other girls occupying the other seats. Kaiba cleared his throat and spoke.
"Hello, Ms. Student Council President. How might you be doing today?"
The blue-haired girl, apparently the president, nodded at him. "Fine. Just cut to the chase. Why are you here?"
Kaiba smirked. "It's about your dear cousin Tokaku. I'm sure you know exactly what she's been up to. Well...now's the time for your clan to go deal with her, apparently. What do you say to that?"
The girl sighed.
"Just shut up."
END