Chapter Four: A Bleak Start
"Geh..." Minato rolled her eyes. It was around 8.30 in the morning and
the blonde Ikatsuji girl proceeded to stuff wave after wave of her
schoolbooks into her book bag. Breakfast was already underway, and
since today was western day (a day of the month where purely western
foods were served) there would be huge lines in the cafeteria to
contend with. Normally she would have just gone straight there by
herself or with Natsumi, but since she was away in Osaka, Minato had
been eating breakfast with Rinako. Therefore, Minato could not leave
Rinako behind.
Unfortunately, Rinako was tossing and turning in her bed, revelling in
the joy of one of her many dreams about a certain leader of a certain
gang called the Spring Breeze Assassins...
"...Mmmm...Ayane..."
Minato sighed. "Wake up, Rinako..."
"...Heh, heh, heh... Oh, Ayane... don't put your... hand there..."
Then her cheeks turned blood red. "Geez, Rinako!"
That got her up. The girl's head jerked up quickly with Minato's loud
call to her. "Huh? Whazat?"
Just then, Minato finished packing her book bag, turning her attention
to her unmade bed. Dormitory inspections were taking place this week.
Everything had to be kept in good shape or the room could be given to
someone else with better standards. While Minato rose to the task,
Rinako raggedly ran a hand through her tousled hair.
"Oh man..." Rinako said tiredly. "What... time is it?"
Minato peered at her clock. "8.32 I think. You better hurry up, Rinako.
Why do I always have to wake you up in the morning?"
"That's 'cause I'm not a morning gal." She retorted, her voice devoid
of energy. "You know that... and you can expect me not to be sleepy
when my dreams are like *that*..."
Minato preferred not to think about the dreams situation. Not because
Rinako's sexually active brain bothered her, but because her own dreams
were so troubling. That was the last thing she needed to think about
right now.
"Well, I don't think I need the details." Minato was just about
finished with her bed when she added, "But classes start in half an
hour. And you have maths first, right? The guy who teaches it is..."
Rinako growled, her eyes narrowing a bit. "Principle Yagami."
"He's teaching your maths class?" The younger sister said surprised.
"Yup. I swear that guy enjoys watching me suffer. You know he once gave
me a weekend detention for being two minutes late for an assembly? I
swear, when I graduate..." Rinako socked her fist into her palm. "I'm
gonna swing for Yagami."
"Well until then, you'd better get out of bed."
Rinako sighed miserably from hearing that, but she knew her sister was
right. Principle Daisuke Yagami was one tough taskmaster when he wanted
to be. He didn't tolerate lateness and she would be late if she didn't
get something to eat then go to class quickly. The leader of the Cross
Blade Lancers whipped the blanket off her bed and placed both her feet
on the ground, letting out a slight yawn.
"...Hey, Minato." She said. "You better head to the cafeteria without
me. I'm probably going to take a while here. Mishizu's probably down
there too."
The younger girl nodded. "Okay. If you want it like that. You want me
to save you some food till you get there?"
"Yup! Thanks, Minato."
With a quick smile, Minato grabbed her book bag and walked towards the
door. With the opening and shutting of the door she was gone. And
Rinako was left to dwell on her own private thoughts. Even though she
had quite a bit to think about (Her relationship with Ayane, Minato,
her schoolwork) she was mostly centred on the Cross Blade Lancers and
the peace talks with the Spring Breeze Assassins.
They would start tomorrow. The CBL was set, and so were the SBA,
hopefully all would go down well. And then once the peace came, she and
Ayane could announce their relationship to everyone and they would
never have to sneak around again. Smiling sweetly with that appealing
idea in her head, the Cross Blade Lancer set about to dress herself. In
five short minutes, Rinako was dressed and ready to go. As soon as
breakfast was over, she'd dash back to the bathroom and take a shower.
She had enough time before math class.
Then, a knock came at the door.
{Who could that be?} Rinako decided to find her own answers and walked
over to the door. She opened it swiftly and was greeted by a quiet yet
curious young girl.
"Good morning, Rinako." She said.
Rinako smiled. "Morning, Rei. Are you alright? You need anything? If
you're looking for Minato, she just left to go to breakfast."
Rei shook her head. "No, actually... I came here to talk... to you."
"Well sure." Rinako just shrugged. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Actually... it's more of a... request." She said shyly. "I have heard
about your reputation here in Tomeishuu, you're considered to be the
greatest fighter this school has ever had. And I was wondering if...
you'd consider accepting me as your pupil?"
That shocked Rinako to limitless ends. "You want me to teach you...? To
train you into becoming a martial artist?"
Rei bowed for respect. "Y-Yes. If you'll have me."
Rinako eyed Reikibu up and down. She was so cute and petite for her
age. She looked even more innocent than Minato. You wouldn't have
expected a girl this timid to even think of such a thing. But she was
serious. You could see it in Rei's eyes. She was deathly serious in her
request.
Not that Rinako had a problem with that. She tried teaching Minato some
Rai shou en ken skills to defend herself, but the young Ikatsuji girl
didn't take well to it. Could she do that again? Rinako felt like she
could. But to be truthful, Rinako (and Ayane) were still beginners in
Rai shou en ken. Sure they were powerful, but there were many mysteries
within the style that were hidden to them. Rai shou en ken was like the
heart of a woman. An ocean of secrets. And not just that, but Rai shou
en ken was illegal in Japan. The only people allowed to use it were
bloodline Ikatsuji members. If someone ever discovered that Rei (and
again, Ayane for that matter) were using this style, she could be in
very hot water. But the idea of having a pupil was sort of... thrilling
the brown-eyed girl.
Rinako continued to think this through. Maybe she *could* teach her
style to Rei. There was nothing stopping her since Rei didn't belong to
any gang quite yet.
Rinako smiled. "Y'know what kid? I'll do it! I'll teach you how to
fight."
The smile Rei had could blind anyone. "Oh thank you!"
"One question though," Rinako began. "Why do want to learn how to fight
with Rai shou en ken? Is it to defend yourself or for something else? I
don't mean to be nosy or anything, but I'd like to know before we get
started."
Rei suddenly got all clamed up. "...It's... just that... there is
someone out there... and he... he's close to me. And he won't stop
worrying about me. He thinks... that I'm a little mouse who can't
protect herself. I want to prove to him that I can take care of myself.
And more than that... I want to defeat him. To show him that he is not
as good as he makes himself out to be... he can be so egotistical..."
"This guy your boyfriend?" Rinako wondered.
"...No... he is a member of my family. I just need to show him, Rinako.
I need to show him that I'm not a little girl anymore."
The elder Ikatsuji sister understood that better than Rei might have
thought. She was constantly under the shadow of her father, Genzo
Ikatsuji, a seasoned martial artist. And argued by some to be one of
the strongest fighters in Japan. From the day she found out that Genzo
was the chief reason behind her splitting with Ayane, Rinako swore that
she would surpass her father.
"I understand where you're coming from." Rinako rested a hand on the
shorter girl's shoulder. "Believe me. You don't have to worry. I'll
teach you how to fight. I guess we'll start with some basic lessons.
Meet me at the abandoned gym down the road after school, first thing.
It's my private training area. We can get to work there."
"Thank you so much, Rinako..."
*********
"Hmmm... whatever that is over there, can I have some of that?"
Minato held up her tray and the plate on it as the lunch lady at the
cafeteria line served her. She wasn't a big fan of western foods (quite
frankly she preferred Okonomiyaki and fried rice) but some of it did
look appetizing. Soon as she was served, the younger Ikatsuji sister
walked over to see if a table was free. Like usual, the tables were
packed. The only difference between now and other days was that there
were no verbal fights between the Cross Blade Lancer tables and Spring
Breeze Assassin tables. Everything was calm.
{Rinako and Ayane were serious about this peace thing. I swear, they
just may end this thing...}
Soon enough, the sky blue eyes of Minato saw Mishizu sitting at a table
on her own. {She must have been waiting for Rinako and me.} Minato
thought.
Quickly she walked over to the table, and greeted her friend with a
smile. "Morning, Mishizu!"
"Good morning, Minato." The genius responded. "Where's Rinako? Still
having her usual case of I-can't-get-out-of-bed-so-don't-disturb-me?"
Minato smiled. "Something like that. Like she says, she's not a morning
gal. Oh well, I'm sure she'll come when she's ready to. Anyways, how
are things going with you?"
"Not too badly, to say the least. I have all my coursework out of the
way, I'm up-to-date with my studies and the talks begin tomorrow.
Everything seems great with my life right now."
"You're in a cheery mood." Said Minato. "You've been like this for the
past month or so."
Mishizu took a bite from her food. "Have I been? I hadn't noticed."
"I'll bet."
"So what about you?" Mishizu asked between bites. "You are awfully
'cheery' this morning, too. I thought that Rinako said something about
you missing Natsumi?"
Minato's eyes turned to glass with thoughts of her girlfriend, Natsumi.
"Oh I'm missing her alright. But I know she'll be back soon. She needs
to visit her family. I haven't seen my dad in nearly three years. I
know how tough it must be for her."
Then Minato's eyes looked across the cafeteria to see someone. "Oh hey,
look, it's Izumi."
Mishizu clicked into focus. "Izumi?"
Over on the other side of the room, Izumi sat down by the main SBA
table and began to chow down with Ayane and the other girls. While
Minato just left her attention go back to her breakfast, Mishizu peered
at the SBA's second in command from the corner of her eye. Strangely
enough, she was having trouble simply taking her eyes off Izumi.
{God, why am I feeling this?} She questioned mentally. {Just three
months ago, Izumi was just some girl from the SBA who wouldn't stop
pestering me... now she's...she is...}
"Hey Mishizu!"
The aquamarine haired girl gave her head a mental shake. "Huh?"
"You spaced out there for a second." Minato declared. "Is something
wrong with Izumi?"
Mishizu blushed lightly. "What? W-Why would you ask me something like
that? H-How would I know?"
"Well, you were staring at her from across the room."
As hard as it was, Mishizu ignored that pounding in her chest. "I-I do
not know what you are talking about, Minato."
"And you two have been pretty close lately. Four months ago you'd have
sooner spit on Izumi than help her with her history report."
"You saw that?" Mishizu gasped. Was she that obvious?
Minato just smiled. "Heck yeah. So... is there anything you wanna tell
me about? I can keep a secret..."
Mishizu just gave up. There was no way she could keep this a secret
from people forever. But there were still things that needed to be
taken care of before it all came out.
The Yakagi girl gave in. "Okay... It goes like this... I think... I may
have... feelings for Izumi."
"OH MY G-"
Minato was cut off as soon as Mishizu put her hand around the other
girl's mouth. "Keep it down!" Mishizu whispered silently. "I don't want
people to know yet! Especially not Izumi."
Minato's voice was muffled by Mishizu's hand, but she still spoke,
almost out of reflex to this news. "Guy bont do yeel her bow do heel?"
"What?"
Minato peeled Mishizu's hand off her face. "I said, why don't you tell
her how you feel? What's to hide? The war will be over soon, and Izumi
a nice girl. Well, most of the time."
"I know that. But you're just assuming that everything will go to plan.
It might not. Then where will we be? I just do not want to say anything
yet. Not until I'm sure of what I feel... I do not want to screw this
up... Izumi is..."
Minato grinned that silly grin of hers. "Your love bunny?"
"Be serious, Minato!" Mishizu spluttered.
"But I am serious." She responded. "She's your love bunny. Admit it,
what you feel for Izumi is serious. This is so cool! Now we can start
triple dating! You, Rinako and me will be seeing Izumi, Natsumi and
Ayane at the same time!"
Mishizu let Minato babble on as she looked across the tables over to
Izumi. She had matured so much in the past few months. It was drawing
Mishizu in like a moth to the flame. {I just hope she still has some
form of feelings for me...}
**********
"Okay, Ikatsuji-sensei. How do we begin?"
Rinako sweatdropped. Rei was taking this really seriously. It was 4.00,
around a half hour since classes had ended. Rinako and Rei had met each
other in front of the abandoned gym that Rinako trained in on a regular
basis. Rei was right on time, the sign of a good student at least. But
still...
'Ikatsuji-sensei?'
"Y'know, Rei." Rinako started slowly. "You don't have to call me that.
Rinako will do just fine."
Rei bowed politely. "I know that. But it would make me feel more...
stable about this situation, Ikatsuji-sensei. I really want to take
this seriously."
Rinako just scratched her head. "Well, okay. Whatever you want. Then
lets begin. First things first. Lets see your strength there. Try and
punch me across the face with everything you got."
That had Rei surprised. "Huh...? P-Punch you?"
"Yup, that's what I said. With all you got. It's okay, I won't get
angry or anything. I just need to have a fair idea of the level of
strength you currently possess before I start teaching you anything."
{Well, if it's for the training... then... I guess I have to...} The
dark-haired girl timidly clutched her fist. "O-Okay..."
Rinako smiled at Rei's bashfulness. It was kinda cute in a way. But, if
she wanted to whip this girl into fighting shape, she would have to
pound that shyness out of her. This initial exercise would be the first
step toward that goal. While Rinako just waited, Rei steeled herself to
do this. In some way, it did not feel right to punch her newly founded
'master' across the face. Still, this was what the younger woman
wanted. To be taught the ways of the martial artist. The Tsukuji girl
spread her legs apart by a quarter of a metre, and narrowed her eyes on
Rinako. She didn't know *anything* about fighting right now so she
would do what came naturally. With no warning, Reikibu thrust her fist
across Rinako's crystalline yet firm jaw line in a sloppy punch. The
instant she felt Rinako's jaw head jerk to one side, Rei recoiled her
fist and bowed apologetically, a trail of sweat passing down her silky
face.
"I-I'm sorry, Ikatsuji-sensei..." Rei fumbled to get that out.
And Rinako slowly held a hand to her jaw. "Hmmm... you're a little
stronger than I expected you to be. But still, we seriously need to
work on that power you pack. Not only that, but your form too. You're
far too tense, Rei. And even though I'm not too sure about your speed,
that's for the future, something we'll work on later."
Rei blinked. "Huh? You mean... you're not hurt?"
"Please, kid!" Rinako jested playfully. "You really think that bothers
me? No way. But one day, if we work hard enough, you might just be
stronger than me."
A small blush appeared on Rei's cheeks. She could never handle
compliments. They always made her red in the face. "I-I doubt it.
You're one of the best fighters in Tokyo, right?"
Rinako just shrugged. "I guess so. But whatever. Anyways, lets get back
to business. Before I teach you any real skills, I'm gonna need to
strengthen your body so you can handle my *real* training. So every
morning from tomorrow, I want you to run laps around the school. At
least ten or so. Then add another lap every day. Do it as early as you
can, the colder the better. I also want you to start eating salad at
lunch hour too. None of that fatty junk they usually serve us. And I
want you to come here first thing after school every weekday and
Saturday. Sundays you can rest and eat whatever you like. Is that
okay?"
Rei was too overwhelmed to really question any of this. "Uh...sure."
"Once I've toughened you up a little, we're gonna have to work on your
knowledge of the Rai shou en ken art. I can have my... father ship over
some of the old books that talk about my style. It'll be easier for you
to learn if you have an understanding of it. Then, I'll work on
teaching you some actual techniques. But you won't be learning any
Chi-related ones... I'm not too sure if you're quite ready for the
Atsuryokuken (Pressure Fist). That should take us about three weeks.
After that, we'll review your progress with a test or something. Now,
for your first day of strength training, we're gonna work on your
endurance."
Rei nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
Rinako just sweatdropped. {Geez, now I really do feel like a teacher.}
Then, she took on a relaxed fighting stance. "Okay, Rei. I'm going to
attack you."
"Wha? But-"
"Now, now..." Rinako cut in, "I'm not going to try to hurt you, I'm
just starting the training with work on your impact tolerance. If you
get knocked out in the first blow then you're not going to make a great
fighter."
"...Okay..." Rei accepted this, reluctantly. "W-What do you want me to
do?"
Rinako clenched her fist in preparation. "Nothing. Just stand still,
okay? I'm going to try to do this as best as I can without hurting you.
But I will have to increase the tempo over time."
Rei shut her eyes to wait. And Rinako took that as a signal to indicate
that she was ready. The young Reikibu Somenosuke Tsukuji clamped her
eyes shut and waited anxiously for Rinako's blow. She got the distinct
impression that no matter how much Rinako sugarcoated it; the blow
would hurt like hell. And it did. Rei's eyes shot back open and her
lungs were robbed of their oxygen as Rinako's iron-like fist rammed
into her stomach. The young girl wheezed in breath, shutting one of her
eyes and lowering herself to one knee to get a grip on her ribs. Rinako
watched Rei topple over. Her fortitude was as lacking as her strength.
And it could only get harder.
"Uh, Rei?" Rinako said awkwardly. "...Maybe this isn't-"
Rei managed to look up. "N-No..." And as quickly as she went down, the
younger girl was back on her feet. Wobbly, but still standing. "I-I...
can... handle this... Ikatsuji... sensei..."
Rinako smiled at her student. {Well, at least she's got some
determination. That's the best possible thing she could use now.}
**********
{This is it...}
Rinako took a deep, deep breath. This was what all her efforts with
Ayane had come to. The peace talks. The beginning of the peace talks
between the Cross Blade Lancers and the Spring Breeze Assassins. Over
40-something girls gathered together secretly in the lower gyms of the
school, and took seats on the plastic chairs laid out for them by a few
CBL girl earlier on in the day. As the groups of women filed out into
two sections (SBA and CBL) an air of tension fell across the gyms.
Harsh looks were traded between both gangs, along with a few hidden
whispers. It was easy to tell that there was no love lost between these
two gangs. But so far, no one at all had acted on their misgivings.
True to their word, the Cross Blade Lancers and the Spring Breeze
Assassins were keeping their personal animosities to themselves. Rinako
could quite easily tell that her girls were trying their best for her.
That was all the honey-eyed girl could ask for.
Rinako was leaning up against the wall of the gym, with Mishizu
standing next to her, completely upright. The Yakagi girl looked over
to her leader. "I think everyone is here, Rinako."
"Good. At least my girls are all here. I can't speak for Ayane though."
Mishizu looked around. "She's not here yet...?"
"Don't think so." Rinako saw no sign of her girlfriend either. "She is
probably on her way though. We can count on her to be here."
At that moment, the double doors to the gyms swung open slowly as
Konoko Shizuma, the most arrogant member of the Spring Breeze Assassins
strolled in with her two cronies, Chisato and Honami. The moment she
locked eyes with Rinako, the CBL leader saw that Konoko was here to
make trouble. You could see it in her walk and her contemptuous smile.
{Maybe Ayane hasn't completely got the support of the SBA after all.
Come on, sweetie... hurry up and get here...}
**********
Ayane dashed hard through the streets of the suburban area. Tomeishuu
was down the road. It was a Sunday night, so the young woman had just
quickly snuck out to visit a friend of hers at Tokyo Central. Tokyo
Central was similar to Kyoto Central in that it was the main school in
the city, and it was also mixed gender. A friend of Ayane's had been
hassled by some members of their chief gang, the Hotsuma Boys. After
getting a description for the guy that was bothering her, Ayane swore
that she and the SBA would take care of it as soon as the peace was
established in Tomeishuu.
{I'm close... I just hope I can get there in time for the talks.} Ayane
thought as she ran.
Then her gold eyes saw a couple men standing in the road in front of
her. Both were 18 years of age, just like Ayane, and she felt mild
traces of Chi from them. They were serious fighters. Even though she
was running, neither of them moved a muscle, forcing Ayane to stop in
her tracks before she collided with them. If there were two things that
Ayane Yosukube could safely say that she absolutely hated it would be
men, and men that got in her way. And what bothered Ayane even more was
that these men were acting as if they were on top of the world...
staring at her with dark glares... as if to say that *she* was the scum
here.
Ayane growled, trying hard not to get angry. "Do you mind removing
yourself from my way? I have places I need to get to."
One of the men looked Ayane up and down. "You're Ayane Yosukube?"
"That would be me." She replied.
The other man cracked his knuckles. "Well, well, well. So you are the
famous leader of the Spring Breeze Assassins. Y'know, us Hotsuma boys
have never had an actual confrontation with you guys, mostly because
Tokyo Central is so far away from this side of town. So I'm gonna enjoy
seeing your power."
Ayane just sighed. These men meant to fight her. "As much as I would
love to snap your necks in two, I have business to attend to. Now get
yourselves out of my way."
A third voice sounded out behind Ayane as two new boys appear, both
just as willing to do some damage to the Spring Breeze Assassin.
"You're gonna have to get through us by force. Y'see, our boss, the one
you know as Ryuko Hitsujiko has ordered us to send you a warning. Stay
out of our business."
Ayane's eyes widened. Ryuko Hitsujiko? Who the heck was that? Since
when did a woman lead the Hotsuma Boys? Though Ayane didn't know much
about Tokyo Central, she knew that its main gang, the Hotsuma boys,
were a bunch of roughneck, honourless thugs. Why would a woman
associate with people like that? ...Well, none the less...
Ayane balled her hand into a fist. "I do not take kindly to people who
would bully a young girl, especially a girl who cannot defend herself.
So if you care about your bodily health, you'll step out of my way."
"I knew it." Said one of the Hotsuma Boys. "The Yosukube chick is just
that. A chick. A chick with spunk, but a chick all the same. From what
we've heard about you, I expected a good fight. But all you're doing is
running away."
{Now you've gone and done it...} Ayane thought. Never let it be said
that Ayane Yosukube was a coward. With an indifferent sigh, the Frozen
Dragon rolled up her sleeves. "Okay, boys. You wish to play it like
this? By all means, lets do it. I just hope you've taken out some good
medical insurance."
**********
Rinako scanned the whole gym with her eyes. Ayane was still not here.
What was keeping her? All she said she was doing was to check up on a
friend of hers at a ramen shop. Why would that take so long? Just then,
Izumi walked up to she and Mishizu from the SBA side of the gym.
"We better get this started, Ikatsuji." Izumi said. "I don't know why,
but Ayane is probably not going to be here in time."
Rinako sighed in defeat. Ayane wasn't coming. "I guess so. Lets just
start these talks and get a move on. You'll have to fill in for Ayane
then."
Izumi nodded. "Gotcha."
With another disappointed sigh, Rinako walked over to the bulk of the
crowds, standing before them, trying hard not to make it seem like
there was a problem. "Hey, everyone. We're going to start these talks
right now. We can't wait any longer."
One of the SBA girls called out. "What about Ayane? Where's she?"
{I wish I damn well knew.} Rinako thought harshly. But her voice didn't
reflect her annoyance or her disappointment. "She's probably tied up
with something she can't get out of. We can handle this... without her.
First... I just want to thank you all for coming to these peace
talks... I know how hard it must be for all of you to have to bury
these hatreds you feel for one and another. I know this because I felt
the very same thing. But then I came to realize how important peace is.
I came to understand the fact that peace is required. Not because we
need to love each or even like each other. This is about Tomeishuu
High. Though we all might not be able to like each other, there is one
thing we all love, and that is this school. And the fighting between us
all divides this school, stripping away its honour and respect...The
amount of friendships and companionships that have been destroyed in
these walls is all a result of *our* fighting. I have two years left in
this school. I just wanted to make sure that when I leave, nobody else
would have to go through the same things I did. As the current students
of this school, we have a responsibility to protect and care for
Tomeishuu, so that the future girls who are blessed enough to come to
this school will be able to enjoy it for what it is. The first step to
that is to bury our resentments toward each other. It'll be hard, I
know, but we can do it... and I look forward to the day when I can look
a Spring Breeze Assassin in the eye and say 'I don't hate you'. It all
begins here."
Mishizu was the first to start clapping, followed by Ayaka and then
Izumi, and soon most of the crowds began to show their appreciation to
the young leader of the CBL. Soon she walked over to Izumi and quickly
shook her hand, as a sign of good will to the SBA. These talks were
about peace, but also a division of power.
The Cross Blade Lancers would have to give some leeway to the Spring
Breeze Assassins in terms of territory. That was one of the main
issues. While Izumi and Rinako stood before both of their respective
gangs, Mishizu walked up to a whiteboard at the front wall of the gym,
spreading out a map of Tomeishuu over it. Some areas of the school were
dotted with lilac that was the CBL territories; other areas were dotted
in the same respect as light blue. Those were the locations in
Tomeishuu High that were commonly known as 'Spring Breeze Assassin'
territory.
"This..." Mishizu started. "Is a map of the school. It is the current
division of power in Tomeishuu High. We need to organize a way for
which we can all co-exist in these areas. But that is for the future.
Right now, all we need to do is agree to the peace charter on the desk
just over there."
Mishizu pointed over to the desk between the SBA and CBL groups; it had
a paper of agreement on it. The idea was to let both leaders read it
out and swear not to re-ignite the war. Then both gangs would swear an
oath never to fight internally again. After that, there would no longer
be any war between the CBL and the SBA. Slowly, Mishizu walked over to
Rinako placed a hand of support on her shoulder. It would all be over
soon... But then, just when peace was finally within reach of both
gangs...
"Hey!" Konoko yelled. "We can't agree to anything without our 'great
and noble' leader, Yosukube, here."
Rinako sighed. "We don't need her here, as I have said before. Izumi is
her second in command, she's fine with this."
And naturally, one of the Cross Blade Lancer girls just had to offer up
her ten cents... "Yeah! And if Ayane Yosukube cared about any of this,
she'd be here right now!"
As you can expect, the Spring Breeze Assassins didn't take likely to
that kind of a remark. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You
trying to say something about the boss? Why don't you come over here
and say it with your fists?"
"Just try me!"
Then, as fast as the two groups got there, the peace talks degenerated
into an all-out brawl. Chairs and other items were thrown across the
gyms as the two groups got up off their seats and charged at each
other, causing more damage and screaming more kinds of profanity than
drunk sailors. Rinako, Mishizu, Izumi and Ayaka all took cover as a
40-woman slugfest got underway. And across the gyms, walking away to
the back exit was Konoko, Chisato and Honami. Konoko smiled deceitfully
as the CBL and SBA in all their entirety tore into each other.
{Son of a...!} Rinako thought angrily. {That little... she wanted to
have this happen... and we were so close... damn her...}
**********
A half hour later.
Ayane stepped towards the gyms, as fast as she could. The battle with
those four thugs from the Hotsuma Boys was a lot more challenging than
she thought it would be. Still, Ayane didn't have to go to a lot of
effort to whip their cans. Aside from the tiny bruise she had on her
leg, the white-haired girl came out of that little scuffle without any
damage. Ayane heard a deceptive quietness as she pushed open the doors
to the gyms. She walked past the changing rooms and into the gym hall,
to see all the chairs strewn across the floor, one of the windows at
the fire door was broken, and the only person left there was Rinako.
Ayane was almost speechless. "Rinako... what happened?"
Rinako glared at Ayane from across the room, then walked over to her.
Noiselessly, she passed by Ayane, speaking only a short statement as
she stormed off in anger.
"Thanks a lot, Ayane."
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