2023-01-03 16:52:43Another day, another beating. Kazuko limps out of the hospital in crutches. The crescent moon above reminds her of the Girls Won’t Cry gangsters’ faces while they beat the lights out of her. It was bad enough that they broke her leg, but hearing them laugh at her took away something that she can never get back.
She offers a short prayer to whoever might be listening, thanking them. The fact she’s still alive is a miracle. Kazuko’s heard hushed stories of Girls’ Won’t Cry outright killing people who can’t pay their protection money. Well, ‘protection money’. It always just sounded like ‘extortion’ to Kazuko. She spits on the ground to get the distaste out of her mouth.
It’s hard to take the train when your leg is broken. Especially when your leg is broken and the train is full and no one bothers giving you their seat and your armpits ache from the crutches and–. She supposes that this is all just the icing on the cake of a very bad day. The train comes to a screeching halt, one that Kazuko’s too lost in thought to notice in advance.
The momentum pulls her off-balance. Her whole body hits the ground. It hurts. It hurts so much that she considers going right back to the hospital. But she keeps it in. Someone tries to help her up but she shrugs them off. She has to be strong. She has to be able to stand up on her own, even when she's in this state. Little by little, she pulls herself back up and walks onto the platform.
Right as she climbs the stairs leading out of the train station, she hears someone in the distance shouting into what sounds like a megaphone. Much to her surprise, there seems to be a blockade surrounding the school right outside the station. Not police, mercenaries. Which means their protection money actually is being put to good use. Somehow, that just makes Kazuko feel worse.
“LET GO OF THE HOSTAGE AND NO ONE GETS HURT!”
A girl who looks to be about Kazuko’s age, fourteen or fifteen, yells into a megaphone. Based on where she’s pointing that thing, the hostage taker seems to be on the roof of the school building. The girl rolls her eyes. She seems to be somewhere between being bored and tired which is not exactly the kind of attitude you want in a hostage negotiator.
Suddenly, she turns towards Kazuko. “What’s your name?”
“H-huh? Me?”
“Who the fuck else? Of course I’m talking to you.” The girl closes her eyes, takes a breath, and continues. “Go talk to her or something. I can’t be bothered to deal with this shit right now.”“...me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Oh, no, I’m not a mercenary. I’m just a middle schooler–”“Let me make myself perfectly clear. I’m in a real bad mood and unless you wanna get reeeaaaal intimate with my friend KANNIBAL, I suggest you get going.” She palms a wicked looking hunk of metal in her left hand and brings the edge right under Kazuko's chin.“But– but what if they shoot the hostages?”
“Then that’s on you.” She folds her arms and shrugs.Oh. Kazuko gets it now. This is just more Girls’ Won’t Cry bullshit. Thinking about it like that, all of her fear evaporates and is replaced by a seething anger.
“Name’s Haru, by the way. Haru Hamamoto. Adventurer Musician.” She begrudgingly holds out her hand for Kazuko to shake, as though she isn’t even worth her time.
“Kazuko.” She takes her hand and tries to give her the firmest handshake humanly possible to spite her but it’s like trying to squeeze a statue’s hand.
“Now get in there.”
Haru gives Kazuko a firm pat on the back like she’s giddyupping her. Making slow movements, she enters the school. She curses Haru, Girls’ Won’t Cry, and every single mercenary in existence with every step she takes. When she reaches the top floor, she gives the blockade one last look, as if to say “Do I really have to do this?” And in response, Haru gives her a bored thumbs-up as she takes a bite out of a donut that a lanky girl in a suit brought her.
Kazuko stands before the rooftop door, hesitating. What does she even say? What can she say? How in the hell do you talk someone down? Every time she tries to reach for the doorknob, her courage fails her. She supposes that’s why fate decides for her.
There’s a strange ‘POING’ sound. It takes her a moment to realize that there’s a hole in the door where there wasn’t before. Holy shit she’s being shot at.
“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”
What does she say? What does she say? What does she say? What does she do? What does she do? What does she do?
“COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, JUST DON’T SHOOT, JESUS CHRIST!”
Kazuko opens the door, a nighttime breeze immediately blows strands of hair into her mouth. Across the roof, at the very edge, stands a girl maybe a year or two older than her. She stares at Kazuko through her glasses. She has a gun in her hand but it’s not pointed at a hostage, she’s pointing it at her own head. And as for the hostage, Kazuko assumes that’s him on the ground, two bullet holes in his head.
Her heart beat reaches her ears. That's a dead person. That was someone who had a heartbeat, family, warm blood, was no different from Kazuko and now there's nothing. Just cold blood and two holes.
“Wh– what’s your name?” The words stumble out of Kazuko’s mouth. She has no idea what she’s saying. It’s like the words were just there, slipped into her mind by some movie she watched at some point, and they chose right now to come bursting out.
“I… I’m Kazumi.”
“How old are you?” Keep her talking, keep her distracted.
“I’m sixteen.” One year older than her. “Are you with them?”
“Them?” Kazuko puts the pieces together. “You mean the mercenaries?”Kazumi nods.
“No. I just got roped into all this.”
“This is so fucked. This is so fucked. This is just so FUCKED!” Kazuko didn’t realize it before but there are tears in her eyes. They tumble down her cheeks in fat drops. “I didn’t want… any of THIS!”“Slow down.” Steady now. Steady. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I just killed someone, what the hell do you think happened?”“I mean, from the start. Why… Why did you kill him?”“CAUSE HE FUCKING DESERVED IT THAT’S WHY!” Kazumi turns the gun from herself to Kazuko.“C-c-c-c-” Staring down the muzzle of the gun sends Kazuko’s nerves into overdrive. “Calm down–”
“NO! IT’S EVERYONE ELSE WHO NEEDS TO CALM DOWN! NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THEY JUST FUCKING LISTENED!”
“What d-did he do?” Her voice is barely audible above the nighttime air rushing past.
“He… he stalked me.” Kazumi’s finger hovers over the gun’s trigger. “He harassed me every day. He wouldn’t stop calling me. No matter what I said, he just wouldn’t stop. After that, he left letters in my desk… in my locker… in my mailbox, everywhere. He would take photos of me. When I was in the bathroom, when I was in my bedroom, when I was with my friends...”
Kazumi runs her hand through her hair. “He was fucking everywhere. The– the– fucking police wouldn’t help. They wouldn’t fucking help. They said that ‘until something happened, their hands were tied’, can you fucking believe it? I had evidence. I had the letters, the photos, recordings, all of it, and just… nothing. Absolutely nothing. I tried the school and you know what they said?”
She looks at Kazuko expectantly. “Wh–what did they say?”
“Just suck it up. Give him a chance, you might like him. But he’s such a sweet boy, he would never do such a thing. You’re being hysterical. AND LOOK AT ME NOW! WOULD SOMEONE HYSTERICAL DO THIS?”“l-let’s just relax.”
“NO! ENOUGH TALKING, THERE’S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME! I ALREADY KILLED MY ONE HOSTAGE, I’M A DEAD GIRL WALKING!”Kazumi points the gun back at her head and closes her eyes. For an instant, there is peace. Then, she lets out a gut-wrenching scream. If there was a time to act, that time would be now.
“WAIT!” Kazuko involuntarily takes a step forward. “I’LL– I’LL BUY YOU A COLA!”
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“It seems we’re not welcome here anymore. You’ve been exiled.” Haru relays Gleam’s speech to Tsumugi. “What do we do?” Florence asks. “Nothing has changed. Let’s keep moving.” Haru waves her hand out the car window at the other Elites to follow close behind. They comply, mostly out of fear. They know that their duty is to Lady Kentomi first, Takakumo second, and Haru third, but the thought of going against Haru is just too much. The streets are empty, nearly everyone’s attending Gleam’s speech. What few people are left behind smile and wave at them as they pass, blissfully unaware of what Tsumugi’s become. They know not what she knows. “Where are we going exactly?” “To the forest on the edge of Takakumo’s borders. I’ve arranged for a meeting there.” Ah, to where it all began. The memories of a month or two ago come flooding back to Haru. It felt like a lifetime ago they were on that train and came crashing into Takakumo, completely unwelcome. “This is nostalgic.” Haru rests he
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As soon as the door closes behind her, Tsumugi immediately breaks down into tears as everything she’s done and everything that happened to her comes crashing down in a terrible wave. She starts to run, as though she might be able to outrun her guilt. “What have I done?!”She keeps running. Further and further away from Gleam. Further and further away from the best friend that she threw away. Further and further away from any chance of going back. More than once, she considers turning around and apologizing, telling Gleam that she was foolish, begging for her forgiveness. But no matter how much she wants to, she knows she can’t. Tsuki believed in Tsumugi to be able to turn her own dream into a reality. This is the only way. Her dream was always incompatible with Gleam’s. From the very beginning, she knew that. It’s only natural that they would both eventually come into conflict with one another. But even then, her heart aches so much she fears it might shrivel up and die. She slowly
Chapter 63 Preparations
As soon as the door closes behind her, Tsumugi immediately breaks down into tears as everything she’s done and everything that happened to her comes crashing down in a terrible wave. She starts to run, as though she might be able to outrun her guilt. “What have I done?!”She keeps running. Further and further away from Gleam. Further and further away from the best friend that she threw away. Further and further away from any chance of going back. More than once, she considers turning around and apologizing, telling Gleam that she was foolish, begging for her forgiveness. But no matter how much she wants to, she knows she can’t. Tsuki believed in Tsumugi to be able to turn her own dream into a reality. This is the only way. Her dream was always incompatible with Gleam’s. From the very beginning, she knew that. It’s only natural that they would both eventually come into conflict with one another. But even then, her heart aches so much she fears it might shrivel up and die. She slowly
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“Kikimi faltered.” Kazuko takes a deep breath just to check if her lung is still punctured. Surprisingly enough, it seems that the damage Tsuki dealt her just a few hours ago has already healed. Usually, it takes a few more hours.“That’s fine. She’s more useful to us dead.” Florence stares out the window at the full moon hanging in the sky. “Now that she’s out of the picture, Gleam’s a legitimate threat to both Tsumugi and Tomoe. But now that they’ve already severed their alliance, it’s going to be that much more difficult to stop her.” “Yeah, whatever. I don’t care about any of that stuff.” Kazuko slowly lifts herself off the chair she was sitting in. “You’re on your own from now on.” “Wait, hold on, what happened to owing me your life?” “A life for a life. My debt has been paid in full.” Florence saved her, and she killed Kikimi. Fair’s fair.“How do I know you won’t just rat me out?” “You don’t. But you don’t have any other choice.” Florence looks on as Kazuko slings her cape
