Into the Future A Black Bullet RP

[Hexed]

It's been awhile hasn't it?

My name is Akari Fujimori and I am the weapons expert and doctor for Mirai Investigations. We are part of the Civil Security Cooperation. You haven't heard of us? Oh well that's no surprise, we're a very small cooperation, we only have one promoter and one initiator. Let me tell you a little more about us and my colleagues.

We are stationed in the Outer Area of the Tokyo District, boss says that it's easier for us to intercept the Gastrea this way, I believe it's just because he's almost broke.

Oh yes! Let me tell you a bit about my boss!

This is Ise Makoto, my boss and the founder of MI. He's a pain but he always means well, I guess you could say that the MI is his mark in history. Well, that's what he hopes it will be, I hope to make that happen for him! He's an honest guy but can be a bit of a coward, not for much longer hopefully! I believe he took up marksmanship classes and fencing classes in order to become stronger! Well he's an amazing guy anyway! He keeps this place running after all and does all the difficult paperwork, sometimes he drags me into that too..

Now! Onto my little friend here, she's our resident initiator here at MI.

"I've got it all figured out!"

This is Riko Hinata, she's a dolphin model initiator and known for her intelligence. This girl's intellect is way above anyone else of her age but unfortunately she can be a bit of a pain. She constantly like to make jabs at our promoter and well..all of us. She's a nice girl really though, when she's not making jabs at you she's actually quite nice to talk with. With this girl it's her way or no way. The other problem is that she's very independent and doesn't like working in a team all that much, I think she thinks they hold her back... I wish she wasn't like that...Don't you Jiro?

Jiro was Riko's last promoter. Unfortunately he died in an incident that occurred near headquarters.. She never was that nice to him..

Oh my! I'm making myself upset now, I shouldn't do that!

She wants to prove herself to the world but she doesn't need to do that! She's already proved herself to us, she really is an amazing child.

Now, here's our newest member.

"Don't get in my way and I won't get in yours."

This boy here is Kaiko Fuzen,

he's the fifteen year old promoter that has just joined us. Now, the good thing about this kid is he doesn't get annoyed easy. That means he wont be snappy with Riko, she's always making jabs at the boy...some of them seem a little more...personal...than others.

I can't say I know that much about him yet, usually he does his own thing and stays out of everyone else's way, but the boy is very street smart and he's not a bad fighter I have to say. I really do wonder where he learnt it all.

What else can I say.....

Oh! I know!

He's pretty good at analysing situations instead of jumping in and making rash decisions.

I believe that's everyone.....right?

Yes, yes it is.

I think I've wasted enough of your time, shall we start our story?

​

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[Hexed]

There's not much you can do but stand there... It's quite unnerving to see one of those things..never mind five of them.


It was early autumn in the Tokyo Area but still quite warm, the sky was a rather light blue and there were few clouds blocking the sun's rays from shining down onto the paths below. The air smelt...off. There had been better days, but there had been worse too. You could hear the faint voices of people in the distance, talking, chatting, playing, all around you. Except for where Kaiko was.. You could say the streets were silent. There were no people around, all had run away in fright, no laughing, no talking, no playing..so it was silent. No, the things that replaced the humans voices were strange beast of gigantic size. They were wrecking havoc in the Outer Area of Tokyo. Around five stage one Gastrea were walking around with no one to stop them, they may only be stage ones but they were still an issue. Especially in a group.


Kaiko stood around the corner from the Gastrea he had been set to exterminate that morning. That was fine with him, he'd signed up for this but the thing that he didn't quite like was the fact that his initiator was yet to show up. Riko... He'd only known her for a short amount of time and already he'd realised she came when she wanted to, which left him on his own... The boy sighed and made himself move, if only slightly, towards where the Gastrea were. He'd have to go in eventually...there was no other choice. Speaking of Riko, apparently she'd been around this morning so where the hell was she now? Was the girl really going to leave him to do this by himself? He hadn't upset her or anything. Not that he remembered anyway...

That morning.​

Kaiko walked to the MI building through back alleys and slightly smaller streets, he never liked taking the straight paths to the place. No, it wasn't in case he saw Gastrea, he wasn't scared of them, why would he sign up for this kind of work if he was afraid? It was because a lot of people roamed the main streets and Kaiko didn't like being around big groups of people. That's the only thing that made him uncomfortable....No! Not scared! Uncomfortable, all right? In large groups he always felt like all eyes were on him. The building approached rapidly, unconsciously Kaiko had quickened his snail-like pace. It was a building about the height of a two story house, very dreary looking. There were no windows on what looked to be the first floor but on the second floor there were around five on each side. It seemed Ise liked to be in the light whilst he worked then. The paint was a boring grey all around with a white rim at the bottom of the building, it really was not the best looking building he'd come across.


The dark blue door of the building stood out against its otherwise boring exterior, it brought a little colour to the whole thing. Kaiko placed a hand on the door and pushed it open. With a creak the door swung open revealing a dark hallway. Small lights attached to the ceiling illuminated the oak wood floor below them. There were no doors along the hallway, only a spiralled black staircase at the end. His footsteps echoed off of the wooden walls and bounced back to him. Once at the end of the hallway Kaiko placed a hand on the railing of the staircase and quickly made his way up the painted metal.


Coming to the top the young boy could hear voices. He emerged into a well lit corridor with birch wood walls and flooring. Several doors circled the exit of the staircase, from one of them he could hear two people talking. That was the one he had entered. This door had swung open easier than the last, it had made Kaiko just just slightly when it hit the wall. The room was made fully of acacia wood and light streamed in from the large windows on one side of the room. A lady in a lab coat and red top with messily tied up pink hair turned to look at him. “Oh you must be Kaiko.” She said with a smile. The lady walked over and shook the boy's hand. “My name is Akari Fujimori, I'm the doctor and weapons specialist here at MI. Sorry I wasn't here to meet you yesterday, I was collecting some weaponry from an armoury quite far from here.”


Kaiko nodded at her, “Hi.” He replied before both of the two turned to a man sitting at a desk. He stood up and looked out of the window, “Now, I wonder where Riko is.. She was here just before you came.” He turned to look at Kaiko with a slight smile. “Now, your second day here may be a little more exciting that the first was. I have a job for you.” This man's name was Ise Makoto, the owner of MI.


“A job?” Kaiko asked, “Already?”


Ise nodded, “Yes.” He replied, “A group of level one Gastrea have been spotted not far from here. I'd like you and Riko to go and exterminate them. Don't worry, Riko already knows the mission and the times. She should be there before you.” Ise moved away from his desk and handed Kaiko a piece of paper.


“What's this?” Kaiko looked up with inquisitive green eyes.


“This is the details of your job. Time, description, cautions you should take. I wrote it up for you since it's only your second day and all that.”


“Thanks.” Kaiko put the paper in his pocket.


Just then the door opened and closed, it was Akari.. He hadn't even noticed the woman had left.


“Here.” Aikari handed Kaiko a gun and a wide sword, “I don't know which you like best so try them both okay?”


Ise nodded at Aikari and then turned Kaiko around to face the door, “You might want to get going, Riko may already be there by now!”


Kaiko nodded and grabbed the door handle to exit.


'Riko may already be there by now.' Kaiko snorted, well where was she then? She should be here. There was a crash as a lamppost fell to the ground. Kaiko sighed, “Fine.. You're gonna pay for this Riko.” He muttered and ran out from around the corner. There was only one Gastrea here, a spider type, he'd have to find the rest after taking out this one. Once the Gastrea saw him it immediately went to attack him. The boy looked around, there was a lot he could use. Fences, houses' windows...other things...maybe. A large leg struck out at the ground in front of Kaiko, “Concentrate.” He muttered as he moved out of the way and shot out at the Gastrea a few times. He was a pretty accurate shot and managed to hit the top of the Gastrea's leg. “What about the eyes?” He asked himself as again he was attack by the Gastrea. Kaiko rolled out of the way just in time, he needed to get higher up. He couldn't take out its vision from down here. The boy looked around, his eyes stopped on a low window of a nearby house. Turning away from the Gastrea Kaiko ran and jumped, he grabbed the window ledge and hoisted himself onto it. There was a small platform above the door of this house that he could jump on. He jumped to it and held the gun out in front of him.


Crash! The platform shattered and Kaiko was throw to the ground, he turned to see a second Gastrea had come up behind him when he wasn't looking. “Well done for not pay attention dufus.” He muttered to himself, scrambling behind the house just as the first Gastrea struck out at him. “How am I supposed to deal with two of these things with out an initiator?” Kaiko exclaimed. He shook his head and sighed, he'd got himself into this situation so he'd get himself out of it. He shot at the second Gastrea just as it was bringing down one of its legs to hit him. It pulled back its leg and Kaiko grinned but he'd let down his guard yet again. The original Gastrea smashed the ground Kaiko was standing on flinging the boy to the side. That was too close. It seems they'd decided to work together now, both of them decided to simultaneously..throwing Kaiko off.

 

[Pierrot]

"One...two..three..four..five. Five Spiders. Easy enough to deal with but Ise did say that I had to wait for Gayko to arrive."


A sigh escaped Riko's lips as she surveyed the Gastrea strolling around the neighborhood as if they owned the place. She was perched atop an unused Radio tower, or well what's was left of the radio tower. A good fourth from the top of the tower was sheared off. No doubt the work of some Gastrea as well. Her weapons, a varanium spear and a varanium blade were bundled up on the rung below her while she turned two rungs of the ladders as her perch.


The Tokyo area police seem to have already evacuated the area and cordoned it off. There was no sense in feeding those things idiots, as much as it would be a benefit to the world.


"And there is little Gayko. Right on time. Better watch out though, one of the spiders is smidge too close to you."


Riko dropped the binoculars and let it fall as the strap around her neck went taut, stopping the binoculars from hitting the ground or even falling a fair distance away from her. She gathered the bundle below her and proceeded to descend the tower. Of course, how she descended the tower was far from normal for any human being. She simply let go and hopped off, right before another spider appeared where she was seconds ago. The old steel creaked and bent against the sheer of force of the monster's landing. It seems the information fed to Ise was off again. There were definitely more than five spiders roaming around.


She turned her body mid air to gaze back at her would be assailant. It wasn't any different from a normal spider Gastrea. A huge eight legged freak. Riko adjusted her positioning and landed on a crouch and rolling away just before the spider landed in the spot she was. Before her roll was complete, she already launched herself toward the spider, leading with her spear. In the space of a few seconds the encounter was over as her would be assailant let out a pained, dying screech. Riko was impressed it could even do so since she was sure she targeted a fatal spot and only half of the spear's shaft was visible as the rest of the weapon was lodged in what would pass as its skull. She had to brace herself against the corpse to even pull the spear out.


"Ewww..."


Even though Gayko was in a danger already priorities should always be first. She wiped off the blood and brain of the spider on its own carcass. and then borrowed a shirt of the clothesline of nearby house to thoroughly wipe it down and then discarded the shirt. As she finished her cleaning, she took off in the last known area where she saw Gayko. It was fairly easy to track him since the neighborhood wasn't that big and a spiders were making a lot of noise. She traversed the rooftops, jumping from house to house until she found her target. She squatted on the tiled roof of the house and watched Gayko. It was funny because he was nowhere near the group of Gastrea she found roaming around. He rounded the corner and began to fight the spider. It was entertaining to watch, to say the least. Ms. Fujimori seemed to cover all bases by giving Gayko a gun AND a sword. At this point she was sitting on the edge of the roof, with her hands gripping the tiles and her legs kicking the air.


It seemed Gayko was the one who looked for a terrain advantage, too bad that those advantages rarely ever count against a spider which was adaptable and agile to say the least. Being on the second floor balcony of a house didn't matter since a spider had powerful legs that could easily propel itself upwards. If anything Gayko just cornered himself and that was proven when a second spider propped itself to attack Gayko from behind. It was perched on the house's roof and would have easily ended his life in an instant if she didn't think of chucking one of the loose tiles from the roof to "adjust" its trajectory and demolish the platform Gayko was standing on.


Perhaps it was time she showed her face and even the odds.


Riko stood up and went all the way to the other end of the roof and took off running. She had already calculated the distance in her head and knew that she would land where she predicted the first spider would be in. As she reached the end of the roof, she jumped and had pulled her sword out. She landed on top of the first spider and quickly buried her sword on it's head. She kept repeatedly stabbing it and stabbing it as geysers of blood spewed out of its skull and soon the first spider was dead. The second spider sensing a greater threat turned to face Riko but found itself skewered by her spear. Not exactly caring about keeping clean anymore, Riko thrust the spear as hard she could and the shaft buried itself far into the spider. She made sure her thrust was like a corkscrew to maximize the pain. it was trying to claw at the spear and succeeded in only creating a tear in the fabric of Riko's shirt as well as her skin. It created a shallow flesh wound that would no doubt heal before the hour was done, regardless of the fact that it ran the length of her flank. She turned to face her promoter, wearing a very triumphant smile. Perhaps the sight was a bit more creepy due to the fact that Riko's smile was always that of a predator and she was somewhat soaked with blood.


"Rule one, Gayko, grow eyes on the back of your head! Rule two, don't assume Ise's information is always reliable. We have five more to deal with and I've already killed three. Bottomline: You suck at this. I was watching the fight the entire time."

 

[Hexed]

"There's this thing called moving your legs.. Do it."


Kaiko mumbled to himself as the two Gastrea came in for another attack. He did move after all, over a fence to be exact. It put them off a bit since it took them a little awhile to realise where he'd jumped to. Again he shot at the second Gastrea, making it pull back for the second time, there was no way he was ever beating these things alone. Initiators were like super humans, much more able and capable than he would probably every be in his entire life.


Talking of Initiators, here came his now. The young girl had already dug her weapon into the first Gastrea before he could speak a word, although Kaiko didn't want to admit it she was much better at this than he would ever be. She had been doing it for longer though and well, she was super human. The air smelt like blood, fresh blood and rotting things. Gastrea corpses did rot that quick did they? Kaiko shrugged and ran around the fence he'd jumped over just to come to where Riko had slain the first Gastrea. He kicked the corpse once to get a better look at it, straight through the skull of the beast. Well, it does make sense to fatally wound it straight away.


"She likes this too much.."


Kaiko shook his head and turned to face where Riko was already onto the second Gastrea, she took them out with ease but he couldn't even take out one. It really showed you the difference in their power level. The boy sighed and jumped onto the corpse of the dead Gastrea in order to get across it. Slippery, not too slippery though, easy enough to run across. Jumping down off of the corpse, Kaiko face toward Riko and the Gastrea again. Oh well look at that! She was almost done with killing that one as well. Was she trying to make it feel pain by using that spear like a corkscrew, well that was an inventive way of doing things. She really was enjoying this all too much, it may have been scary to someone else but not to Kaiko. It didn't bother him all that much, as long as she did well she could act how she liked.


"Sorry, I'm not super human like you. Well then why are we standing here?"


With a sigh her looked at Riko, he sucked at this did he? Well it was his second day and he was using this stupid thing... Kaiko held up the gun and looked at it, why did he still have this? Shaking it for a second he threw the gun over his head, it landed on the other side of the fence in the grass. Why did he need to carry around a useless weapon that would never benefit him? Aikari had given him the gun so he thought he should at least try and use it but he'd realised now that that weapon was not the one for him. Next time he'd just use what he was comfortable with. Well, it was always good to be able to use all weapons.. One thing he had done was show himself up in front of Riko, she'd watched that entire thing. Kaiko took the sword off of his back and looked at it for awhile before finally nodding to himself. It was an okay sword, there were better but there were worse too.


"You know have a giant cut on you right?"


Riko looked weird, she was smiling like a mad man. Usually someone would have asked her to stop but Kaiko just grinned. The Gastrea had cut her but she didn't seem all that worried about it, if she wasn't then why should he be. A loud cry could be heard from off in the distance, did that mean the other Gastrea were getting close? How many did Riko say she'd taken out? Three? So there were two more to take out. Shouldn't be that hard since Riko took out five on her own already. The most he'll do today is stand there probably. Turning to the way he heard the cry from Kaiko started to walk, this was going to be over a lot faster than he'd thought it would be.


"C'mon then. Yes, I know you can run a lot faster than me, take them out yourself, blah blah blah, but y'know, I'm not super human."


With another grin Kaiko set off into a run down the street, in no way was he slow but to Riko he probably was. There were a few things that Kaiko wanted to learn about Riko, like what exactly it took to make her work as part of a team instead of doing everything by herself. Sure she could but what if she came up against a higher level Gastrea that she couldn't handle on her own one day? Then what would she do? She was a dolphin model right? More intelligent than the others so why hadn't she realised that? Was it just because she was always fighting the stage ones or did she know... Shaking his head Kaiko looked ahead to see if he could spot any of the Gastrea up ahead. After hearing another cry from the Gastrea he looked to see if Riko had actually stuck with him or decided that he was just a burden to her and gone off on her own to defeat the two remaining Gastrea. She had the right weapons and the skills to take out a lot of Gastrea and her own but being in a team wasn't just about skill... Why was he thinking of all this now? Oh well, it's not like it really mattered all that much, the Gastrea were only up ahead he'd get to them pretty soon.

 

[Pierrot]

Riko kept the sword slung across her back while she gripped the spear with one hand. It didn't weigh much at all to be honest and she could easily throw this spear with just one hand. Not that she'd like to lose her advantage of reach.


Kaiko was right, he wasn't superhuman and he didn't need to be superhuman to fight the Gastrea. If someone like Jiro had survived for as long as he did, then it was evidence enough that humans can fight them as well. Kaiko would be no exception and he seemed to be moving as though he was familiar with combat at least. Which was more than she could ever say about Jiro, may his soul rest in peace. She wanted to just do this job on her own and not expose Kaiko or anyone else to danger but she had to gauge just how capable the boy was in a fight. They would be facing five Gastrea now, which meant that she couldn't just sit back and watch Kaiko duel with the monster.


In fact, she'd gotten a good feel on Kaiko's abilities in his previous fight. She'd spar him to death until she the day she would actually think him to be ready for the Gastrea. Until then, she would carry out these missions on her own shoulders and imparting whatever knowledge she gleamed from her studies. Despite their gap in age, she would be his mentor. Riko kept pace with Kaiko as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop to avoid any unpleasant surprises. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the Gastrea rushing toward them. Thankfully, there were only eight Gastrea so these last five should be what's left. She leaped off the rooftop and landed in front of Kaiko, she held a hand in front of her as a gesture to stop Kaiko.


"Well then, I've seen what you can do. So let me handle this. I'll be sure to get Ise's approval to train you. You have potential in you..."


She could hear the screeching become louder and louder.


"...much more than my previous partner!"


She could feel the vibrations coming from the heavy movements of the spiders and every landing they made, possibly because they were alternating between running and jumping.


"So I spy..."


She could smell them now.


"...with my little eye..."


Her grip tightened around the spear's shaft and the sword's handle.


"....something DEAD!"


Riko thrust her spear upward and it pierced through the underbelly of the spider. She used the momentum of the spider's jump to pin it to the ground and quickly delivered a slash right across its body. Effectively cutting it in half. Even as the slash was finished, Riko kept twirling her sword in her hands. Her next victim came at her from the roof of a house, it angled then launched itself on the sloped roof but was soon stopped in mid air when a spear shaft suddenly protruded from its skull. It dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Victim number 3 and 4 came at her from both sides, rushing her and raising their forelegs. No doubt it was to pin her down so they could easily chew her insides. She kept twirling the sword in her hands and then slashed upward that was accompanied by a sidestep when victim number three leapt at her. It cut cleanly through the head and most of the abdomen while victim number 4 only managed to graze Riko and draw inflict another wound on her, this time across her stomach. Like the one on her flanks, this too was just another flesh wound but it she would have to do something about her clothes at the end of all this. Victim number 4 wasted no time in pressing the attack and kept wildly swiping at her a few times before it lost both its forelegs and cried out in pain. The cries were silenced after she lunged forward and split the spider's head diagonally.


Victim 5 was nowhere to be found but Riko could sense it was still nearby. It still reeked of spiders after all, not dead ones. It turned out that Victim 5 was a cleverer one and had aimed to attack Kaiko first. Going as far as to circle around Riko's slaughter field. It pounced on an unwary Kaiko Fuzen but once again had its direction changed mid-air as a sword lodged itself in its flanks. The writing body skidded to a halt underneath a nearby house. Riko was already moving to retrieve her spear from Victim 2.


"I'll give you that kill, Gayko."


_____


She had spent most of her money on the ingredients to make this bento for a very special friend. Today wasn't a class day which meant that she knew exactly where that special friend would be. After all, she was the only one privy to such a development. It made her feel trusted. She had woken up earlier than usual to carefully craft and cook the food. Of course, being the girl that she is, she made enough servings for a large party in hopes that she could buy the good graces of her special friend's coworkers. She had asked for directions on where he was working and who he was working for. With a name like "Mirai Investigations" they would probably be a big civil security firm.


Ritsuko Fujisaki followed the directions on the handwritten note and found herself in front of a very nondescript building. She was sure that the headquarters of Mirai Investigations would be a tall gleaming structure, not this squat box among a collection of other squat boxes. It was grey all around with a dirty white rim and a dark blue door. The first floor had absolutely no windows but the second story seemed to have windows though they looked quite dirty to be honest.


A thought crossed her mind. What if Mirai Investigations was only using this as a front and actually had an awesome underground facility. The very possibility excited her and renewed her will. She hefted the backpack of food on her back and proceeded through the dark blue doors...


Only to find out it, it was a hallway with bad lighting and a spiral staircase that was on the far end of the hall. Ritsu walked along the hallway and tried to imagine this place as a setting for a horror movie or a horror game. Like the lights would suddenly go out and someone suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway right in front of the stairs. This would be some good exposure if she were to ever go about having to write a horror scene. She almost lost her balance but quickly regained it.


The lights suddenly went out and she found herself in pitch darkness, she literally froze in place as she listened for the footsteps or something. Some of the lights flickered and she glimpsed a silhouette on the far side of the hallway before the stairwell.


Why did I wish for this to happen? Kaiko, save me! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.


The lights flickered again and it was as though the silhouette warped closer to her, but it looked hunched over and it was as though something was growing trying to break from its back. The silhouette itself was spasming. Ritsu squeezed her eyes shut and began wishing away this nightmare.


Kaikokaikokaikokaikokaiko.


"Excuse me, miss? Are you alright? I heard screaming and went to check."


She could hear a low voice and assumed that she was being addressed. She opened her eyes to see that the hallway was once again lit and found herself staring down a sweat-stained blue button up shirt. She craned her neck to look up at the speaker, a bespectacled man with short light brown hair. He looked very much concerned.


"I-I-I saw some..thing down that hallway. I d-didn't know what it was."


Ritsuko pointed down the hallway toward the stairs. She peeped over the man's shoulder to glance at the stairwell and found it to be empty. The man himself, however, let out a small chuckle.


"What's so funny? I swear, I saw something! This place is haunted, why is Kaiko working here?!"


"Okay, so first of all, this place is not haunted but I still need to do something about the lingering hallucinogenic gas that seems to be only on the first floor. What you did, young lady, was unplug the ventilation fans."


The man pointed to a cord that was now plugged to a wall socket that ran along the floor and up the walls to a vent with a fan in it.


"I got this place off a bargain, I just didn't know it was an addict's den. Somehow their drugs are still here in the walls, stowed away on the first floor. I'd also like to know what you're affiliation is with my newest employee and what brings you out here."


"You're Kaiko's boss?!"


"Steady now, it isn't that surprising. Kaiko is out on a contract right now. I'll assume you're his girlfriend since I doubt anyone would venture out into the Outer Area. You can wait for him upstairs, he should be coming back anytime soon. C'mon, I'll show you the way...and please don't trip on the vent's power cord again. Oh yeah, I'm Ise Makoto and somewhere in this building is Akari Fujimori. Welcome to Mirai Investigations."


"R-right."


Ritsu turned a shade red at the thought of being Kaiko's girlfriend. She followed Ise up the stairs and into one of the rooms that encircled the stairwell. She didn't seem at all bothered with the weight of the food in her pack as well as a fresh change of clothes that were Kaiko's size. She did drop by his place before she went over to the Outer Area. The fact that someone actually mistook her for his girlfriend meant that she might actually have a chance. Ritsu couldn't wait for Christmas to come.


Ise told her where she could deposit her bag and then exited where they entered.


Ritsu kept her hands on her lap and surveyed the area. There really wasn't much to look at, just a picture of a man hung on one side of the wall and some basic kitchen equipment on the far end of the room. She was facing an old TV set that sat on a coffee table but the remote was nowhere to be found. Other than that, there was nothing else remarkable about the room she was in. She ran a another check on the contents of her bag just so she had something to do.


All Ritsuko Fujisaki could do was to anxiously wait for the arrival of her very special friend.

 

[Hexed]

Kaiko kept pace with Riko better than he'd expected at least, the howls of the Gastrea out in front of them made him run just a little faster. He'd have to show her that he was worthy of working with her one way or another, he didn't care if it was now or later but he had to at some point. At least he wasn't left behind whilst running, that was one thing. The Gastrea were loud, a little too loud for his liking, that meant they were close now. Soon the pair would be confronted with by the monsters. Great, more of a chance from him to get beaten to a pulp by giant, man eating spiders. The thought of that made the teen grin just slightly, he wasn't about to die on his first day. Scratch that, he wasn't going to ever die fighting these things.


The Gastrea were in view now, it seems they'd spotted the pair as well, before he could do anything he saw Riko's hand go up. He stopped and looked at her, she wanted to handle this on her own huh? Just as he'd thought. He nodded and stood to watch her fight the Gastrea. The girl was good, even against a lot of enemies. As expected of a cursed child. One thing he was happy with was that she'd said he had potential, well if he had that then maybe all hope wasn't lost. The boy crossed his arms, he'd heard a little on her previous partner but he hadn't been here and didn't know what happened properly. All he really knew was that the building was attacked by a level two Gastrea and her partner happened to die in this incident, she still could respect him..even after he was dead? What problem did she have with him?


Without Kaiko realising a Gastrea had snuck up on him, he turned to see the thing jump to attack him. A sword went through it and he turned to see Riko had attacked the monster.


"Gayko huh? Second day and I've already acquired a nickname. I'd say I'm doing pretty well."


He grinned and twirled the sword in his hand before walking over to the Gastrea and plunging his sword into its skull. He hadn't expected it to be so hard to get it out but it took a bit more of a pull than he'd first expect.


"Oh great, now there's blood and brains on the sword."


Kaiko took another look at the sword before wiping it off on the corpse of the Gastrea he then proceeded to walk over and join up with Riko. The girl seemed done.


"Time to go."


Now time to go back and report that they were done, if Riko was going to train him he'd be up for it. Kaiko walked out of the marked off area with no word to Riko or any of the police around the area. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk to anyone at the moment. Again the boy decided to take back alleys to get towards MI, he made the excuse that it was quicker and easier. Of course that wasn't completely true but it wasn't a complete lie, it could be quicker...If you ran... Today he'd seen the ability of his initiator and she'd seen his ability, first she'd said he sucked but then she'd said he had potential. That was some improvement, it wasn't great but it was better than sucking. Coming out of a back alley he saw some people look in his and Riko's direction then walk off, he wondered what that was all about.. Ah, maybe it was the fact that Riko's clothes were all ripped and the two of them had just walked out of an alley... Well that was awkward.. Kaiko sighed and turned away from those people to walk the opposite way, that was nothing short of idiotic and embarrassing.


Not long after that did the MI building come into view, Kaiko sighed in relief and quickened his pace towards the building. Again, the outside was not a pleasant sight be the inside was a little nicer. He opened the bule door and stepped into the hallway, you could hear people talking from down here but it didn't sound like Ise and Akari since they both sounded female. Turning to Riko he sighed.


"You need to change."


-------------------------------------------------------


6


There was hesitation to go, she wanted to be really didn't know if she should.. He might be busy or something, or maybe he wont want to talk to her. No, that wasn't the way to think. She should just go, if he wasn't there then she'd wait for him for awhile. There had to be someone there right? Akemi Chyoko was thinking about going to see Kaiko at his new job, he'd told her that he was becoming a promoter the day before so she wanted to make sure he was okay. What if he was hurt or something? That wouldn't do, she'd go in and protect him.


Akemi didn't work anywhere since her parent were pretty well off, so she had a free day all to herself. Most of it had been spent working on project or training or something along the lines or that. She had said to herself that she would visit Kaiko's work place in the afternoon. She'd done a little research on the place and found out where it was, she had no problem travelling to the Outer Area as long as Kaiko was there. The two had been friends a long time ago but they'd drifted apart and Akemi had met Kaiko again a year back. He didn't seem to recognise her as his previous best friend which made her sad. Now she was doing everything in her power to re make her old friendship with him.


Since they were only small children she'd always had a crush on him but never wanted to say, now that they were older she had more courage, eventually she'd work up enough to tell him.


Akemi had made her way to the Mirai Investigations building a little earlier than she'd first planned to, as she'd got there she'd seen it was a very dull building. All grey with a white rim around the bottom, she'd expected it to be nicer than this. Inside would be much nicer, she already knew it! She'd pushed open the blue door and made her way through the very eerie passageway that was the bottom floor, it didn't make her nervous but she thought it was a little bit of a weird passage way. There were no door, just lightly.


Then it was the staircase, as she was going up and lady with pink hair tied back came down.


"Oh hello, who may you be?"


The woman smiled at her and moved back up the staircase so they could talk in a better environment. It was definitely nicer upstairs, Akemi had been right.


"M-My name is Akemi Chyoko. I was just wondering where Kaiko Fuzen was.."





"Oh! He's out on a contract right now but you're welcome to wait for him if you want."


Akemi had nodded at the suggestion, she would wait for Kaiko to come back and then speak to him.


"My name is Akari Fujimori. I will ahppily show you a little of this place before your friend? boyfriend? Gets back."





"You would? Yeah, I'd like that."


Wow She'd just been offered to have a tour of the place Kaiko worked?! What an honour! Akemi followed Akari into another room and started to show her around. It was a very intersting tour and the place really was amazing, she loved every bit of it.


Not long after the two had heard a scream from downstairs, it sounded like a girl. Akemi wondered who it could be. Could it possibly be Kaiko with his initiator. At that thought Akemi's eyes lit up and she turned to go and see what the noise was. She wished so much that Kaiko was back, she could talk to him then. Akari led Akemi back through the doors and hallways of the floor and onto the main staircase again, the two walked down but at the bottom they found nothing..


"Well that was weird... I should probably go and see Ise about it."


Akari looked around quite confused, the woman didn't seem to know what was going on any more than Akemi did. She turned to Akemi and smiled.


"Feel free to roam around for the time being, Kaiko will be back soon."


With that Akari headed back up the stairs.


Akemi sighed and also walk up the staircase, she had really hoped that that was Kaiko but it hadn't been.. Once upstairs she grabbed the door handle to one of the rooms she hadn't been in and entered it. Inside she saw a girl with brown hair sitting down. It took her a second but she suddenly realised who it was, Ritsuko Fujisaki? What was she doing here. Why was she here too?


"You're here too?"


She looked at the girl for a second, about to speak again when she heard the door downstairs open and close yet again. Someone else was coming in? Well Akari had said she had gone to speak to someone called Ise and then she was here...so was Ritsuko. What is possible that who just came in was her friend? The one she'd been waiting for? A smile broke out on Akemi's face.


Kaiko.

 

[Pierrot]

"I need to change? I'll have you know that I will wear whatever I want in my own home!"


Riko heard a new pair of voices. It wasn't Ise or Akari since she could hear them as well. Well it wasn't as though she could hear what they say and to be honest everything was muffled but she could hear something. Two new voices and female at that. Well it didn't matter in any case, it was probably another job that was dumped on Ise's lap. She would have to change but then if she kept changing whenever she came home from a contract only to be sent out again, she'd have nothing to wear in no time.


"It's probably another job, Gayko. No sense in changing if my clothes will end up tattered when I get back later in the day. Besides, I bet you like how I look right now."


A confident smile despite the wounds, Riko planted her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out. It wasn't every day that a guy would get to look at her like this. She was deadly and beautiful. Hell, she put the cute in execute. Kaiko could deny it all he wants but there was no resisting her in the end.


Still, a blood stained outfit needed changing and Kaiko was right on that account. People were staring at her and Kaiko when they were headed back to the office. Even in the Outer Area, cursed children still get stared at like they the people were wary of them, they even went out of their way to avoid them but there wasn't anything Riko could do to change their minds. Despite all those efforts of that Seitenshi chick, children like her were still discriminated. No doubt those people thought that she murdered someone but couldn't exactly prove it. She did have the ability to assume the worst in everything.


She heard a thud and at the end of the stairwell, Riko saw two girls. A blonde with an obviously huge rack and a brunette with a concealed huge rack. They were younger than most of the people coming in MI to file for a contract. It seemed their goal was not to file a job but rather visit Kaiko. As evidenced when they immediately made a beeline toward him the moment they caught sight of him and began crowding around him. Those two were possibly his friends so she left them be and made her way to Ise's office.


___


The seconds stretched to minutes and the minutes stretched to hours as she waited.


Ritsuko was overcome with boredom. What Kaiko was doing could not be rushed but Ritsu herself forgot that she could barely stay put for more than five minutes. She wanted him to return already so they could celebrate the completion of his first job. There was no way in hell that she'd ever imagine that possibility of him failing. He is Kaiko Fuzen and there is no way he would ever fail at anything. She began unpacking the food in her bag when the door to the room suddenly opened. She turned to see just was in the doorway, hoping the Kaiko was back.


Instead she found cow tits Akemi Chyoko. An old friend of Kaiko's as far she could tell. That girl was her classmate in school and as classmate of Kaiko's as well. Ever since she was "reunited" with Kaiko she's done nothing but hog him and his every waking moment. She was sure that she was the only one Kaiko ever gave the office's address too. Which led to the question, how did cow tits Akemi get here? It looked like he needed some away time from her and Ritsu was glad that she was given full details of his job. She would keep an eye on this girl.


Before she could open her mouth to respond, she heard a door click open and a pair of voices echo throughout the building. This building needs better sound proofing but that wasn't the case. The case was that Kaiko was back, there was no way she could ever mistake the voice of her very special friend. It seemed that cow tits Akemi was here for that same reason. The smile on her face was just too hard not to notice. Ritsu had to do something to keep cow tits away from Kaiko, it was what she was entrusted with after all. A plan already formulated in her head as she slowly stood from her spot and made her way to the door. No sudden movements because it might just startle the cow tits.


"I should go answer see what's what. I mean I do work here now. So if you'll excuse me."


Ritsu got closer to Akemi and quickly shoved the blonde girl out of the way. She had a few seconds to make it downstairs. If this building was a squat box, then hopefully her legs can survive the fall. Ristu bolted toward the railings and vaulted over them. The building wasn't high and so her legs were spared from getting broken and only suffered some slight ringing numbness she willed away through sheer adrenaline. This was a race against time and time suddenly had cow tits. If that huge pair ever showed itself Ristu was just about ready to shove it away again.


"KAIKO! I'm so glad you're alright! I knew you could do it so I brought some food to celebrate!"


Ritsuko was possessed by the spur of the moment and unwittingly wrapped her arms around Kaiko in a tight hug. Tight, because there was just no way she'd let the cow easily peel her off him. Not in the slightest. If she was to be his future girlfriend she'd have to get used to doing this like this every now and then. It was very cool, to say the least, that he came back without so much as a scratch. She brought some first aid in case of that scenario, which just made her bag heavier. Games taught her that events like those are sure to boost her points with him. Still she'd just have to make do with what she's given.


Ritsuko Fujisaki had more than enough time to be embarrassed later when she was alone.

 

[Hexed]

The girl with the unusually big gap between her eyes and extraordinarily wide face, why her? Akemi had met her about a year ago, she was classmates with her and Kaiko. Apparently this girl had taken her place, she could accept that! She would get Kaiko back, no matter what it too. Wide face would take him from her. After all who could love a girl like that? She had no physical skill, they best thing the girl could do was cook. Akemi could cook too! Well...she was learning to. The girl was no smarter than her either, they both got really good grades in class, Akemi was her and more! So why chose a girl like that when you can have the improved version of her.


Wide face seemed a little too comfortable here, what was she doing here anyway? Did she have the same plan as Akemi or had the girl just come to ignore her future boyfriend. That was it, she'd come to irritate her and try and steal Kaiko away from her. No way was a wide faced girl like her getting any affection from Kaiko, not whilst Akemi was around. Obviously Kaiko needed a little time away from this girl, she'd been with him none stop, giving him no time at all was not good. That must have been why he took this job, yes, to get away from her. But she'd followed him, how despicable.


That eye gap worked here now? But she wouldn't be able to get a job here, after all the girl could only ever get a job in the local shop. She wasn't even very good. This would be an easy win for Akemi, no problems lay ahead whilst facing this wide faced freak. If this girl worked here then Akemi would just have to get a job here too, she was thinking of getting a job here anyway. It was her style of work and she didn't have a job yet, plus she'd be able to work with and provide for Kaiko! It would be great.


"No no, let me. After all I am applying for a job here."


Wide face had already pushed her out of the way, what a little- No, she needed to compose herself, Kaiko was down there after all. She had to be calm for him. Akemi could easily get down those stairs by jumping, after all she was trained in martial arts and she knew how to land properly. She'd get down there before eye gap and secure her place with Kaiko. Without a second thought the girl leaped over the railing of the staircase and landed silently on the floor just behind wide face. If that girl dared to even touch her Kaiko, Akemi would swat her like the fly she was.


"Kaiko! Hi, I came to see how your day had gone. I'm glad you're back okay!"


What was she doing clinging to Kaiko like that?! She was probably hurting him, what a cow. Akemi wasn't about to let eye gap ruin her chances with Kaiko. She wasn't about to let her cling to him like a parasite, she'd killed her like the parasite she was. Akemi did have some strength on her. She ran up to Kaiko and smiled before bringing a hand behind his back where wide face's hand was and grabbing hold of her thumb, bending it back. The thumb was always the weakest point. After this she attempted to fling the girl's arm off of Kaiko. Whether it worked or not Akemi wrapped her arms around Kaiko's knock and hugged him, attempting to push wide face out of the way.


This girl had no shame so none of this was embarrassing to her.


---------------------------


"Yeah, on your own. Around other people you should get changed."


Kaiko really did wonder who was upstairs, it sounded like a pair of girls and they sounded pretty young. Would girls really need a job completing? He didn't think they'd come here if they did. So who exactly was it, as he listened more he thought he started to recognise the voices but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying or hear them too well. He sighed and shrugged if off before looking back at Riko and shaking his head.


"I like you a lot better when your clothes aren't ripped."


It was cute that she was trying to be all grown up. He almost laughed as Riko puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips. Still, he didn't need to see a little child with half ripped clothes on, did she have no shame whatsoever? The sooner she got changed the better.


Suddenly he saw two people rush down the stairs, no...they jumped the stairs and rushed towards him. He had no time to react, in seconds both girls had their arms around him and were holding on for all they were worth. Akemi and Ritsuko?! What were they doing here? Kaiko attempted to move, an impossible job... The two had hold of him like pythons squeezing their prey to death. Still, he stayed calm and grinned just slightly. It was kind of sweet that they were excited to see him back. Still he wished they wouldn't kept hold of him like it.


"Ritsuko? Akemi? What are you two doing here? And could you please let go of me..I'm dying here."


He'd looked to see if Riko was around but she'd disappeared. Damn, why could she be here to help him?! These two had pretty firm grips and with both of them keeping hold like their lives depended on it it was even harder to try and get them off. Both of the girls were nice, when they weren't stopping him from breathing, it was nice of them to have come to see him. Akemi was a girl he'd met around a year ago, the two of them had become friends pretty quickly. He'd known Ritsuko a little longer, it was around four or five years ago that he met her. She'd stuck with him ever since.

 

[Pierrot]

Riko had to play it cool. She could laugh as long as she wants when she got to her room, which was also where most of the training equipment was kept as well as a hastily thrown together computer database compiled by Riko herself as spent the past few months researching the Gastrea. Perhaps she didn't need to make Kaiko feel good about himself after all, he had two beautiful girls willing to claw at each other for his affection. If he played his cards right, he might even get both girls. Riko had never seen it happen but she was sure that it was possible and made it a note to research on people with harems and how they made it work.


Through some strange miracle she was able to scale the stairs to the second floors despite her teetering caused by stifling her laughter. The entire scenario was just too novel and a very refreshing change of pace which might just grow to be very annoying given time. It would be very inconvenient if either of those two lacked the common sense of staying put instead of following Kaiko out on his job, the possibility existed though. Which means she'd just be saddled with extra work that doesn't exactly get her paid.


In any case, reporting to Ise took priority and then stowing away her weapons. Strangely enough there was blood on the tip of the spear, but Riko was sure she wiped it all down before they even left the scene. What made it even stranger was the fact that the blood was human. It probably grazed something it shouldn't. With a knock on the door, Riko went barging into Ise's office. There she found Ise and Akari having a chat.


"I'm just checking in. We're done and your information was inaccurate again Ise, there were eight of those spiders roaming around, not five. Now as for Gayko, I mean Kaiko, he is nowhere near the word prepared. I would request that we go back to our usual routine of just me only until I can train him to become a little bit better than trash-tier. If Jiro.....if he couldn't survive then this boy will fare no better."


The thought and novelty of Kaiko's situation was lost when Riko began to get down to business. She needed Ise to know her evaluation of Kaiko on his first job. The little girl was not laughing anymore and no trace of a smile could been seen on her lips.


"I'll think about it, Riko. What would your opinion this matter be, Akari? Should we keep sending Kaiko to the field or will we bench him until Riko says he's good enough."


____


Pain flared from her thumb as it was being bent somewhere it wasn't supposed to bend.


It wasn't fair that Ristuko had to be pit against someone who knew her way around a fight. Akemi had been successful peeling her off, much to Ritsu dismay. Ritsu's grip weakened and cow tits capitalized on it by completely throwing her off Kaiko and then hogging him for herself. Ritsu would just have to concede defeat for now and it seemed to be in her best interest. Kaiko was pleading them to let go and who knows what kind of injuries he may have sustained, the cow would only be digging her own hole by making those injuries worse.


Ritsu massaged her thumb to make the pain go away at least. That's when she saw it, her forearm was bleeding. However, she couldn't exactly figure out why it was bleeding and how she only noticed it now. There was no way she may have injured herself on the way to MI. Ritsuko was simply too careful for that. She could get to the bottom of that mystery after she could properly welcome Kaiko and explain why she was really here. Hopefully the food she brought hadn't gone cold yet.


Ritsuko realize that she couldn't get a word in or jump right back into the fray. The cow's presence was too huge not to be overlooked and Ritsu did concede defeat for now. She turned back to make her way up the stairs and find dig the first aid kit out of her bag. Not two steps forward that she tripped again but quickly regained her balance. She wondered what caused her to trip and saw that a power cord was unplugged from its socket. She turned to face the stairwell and saw that silhouette again.


Nopenopenopenopenopenope


Ristuko quickly replugged the power cord in the wall socket and took several deep breaths to calm herself down and then proceeded up the stairs. She could hear voices come from one of the other rooms at the top of the stairwell but it wasn't her business to intrude. Ritsuko went back to the room Ise showed her and then rummaged through her bag. The food she brought was a mixed assortment since she wasn't exactly sure about the tastes of Kaiko's coworkers. There was some seafood, chicken, beef and vegetables as well as a large container of rice. In the end she brought more than what was needed, assuming there wouldn't be any other people walking through the front door. These plastic containers weren't what she was looking for.


Finally at the bottom of her bag was an old shoe box and in it was some alcohol, bandages, scissors, some general medicine as well. She put the shoe box on an empty spot on the table and took out the alcohol. She prepared herself and then squeezed a generous amount of it on the wound on her forearm. For a while there was nothing but the sensation of cold water then it began to sting out of nowhere and Ritsu winced at the pain but it was necessary. She'd couldn't wait for the stinging to subside and quickly cut a length of the cloth bandage and wrapped it around her arm, tucking the last section in the bandage since she had nothing to use to keep it from falling off.


Ritsuko was feeling generous because by the time Christmas comes she was sure that she could make Kaiko her's. She'd let the cow have her alone time with Kaiko.


Alone time.


Ritsu's grip tightened around the armrest of the chair she was seated on. Surely Kaiko wouldn't just easily submit. Surely that cow wouldn't dare do it. It was just all in her head. There was no way it could happen. Right?

 

[Hexed]

In all honestly Kaiko was glad to see the both of them, they were people he could talk. Maybe just not both at the same. Once the two girls had gotten off of him he'd talk a step back and sighed. That was better, now he could breath. It seemed that Ritsu was heading upstairs, he'd go join her in a minute but first he should probably speak to Akemi. She was the one standing right in front if him after all. Still he wondered why Riko had left him so quickly, probably because she wanted him to die or something stupid like that. He sighed and looked around, it wasn't nice down in this hallway maybe they should go up to again. Yeah, that would be a lot better than staying down here.


Kaiko turned to look at Akemi and smiled, she smiled back. He remembered when he'd first met Akemi. It had been around a year ago when the girl joined their school, she'd made friends with quite a few people quickly and even before he introduced himself she'd known Kaiko's name. It was a little strange but at the same time someone else could have easily told her. The two of them became friends quickly after that and they spent some time together now and again.


After talking to Akemi for awhile the two of them headed back up the stairs, Kaiko heard voices in one of the other rooms but he left it. If he wasn't called up there then it was probably nothing to do with him anyway. He wondered which room Ritsu was in. As he looked around he saw that one of the doors was slightly ajar, Ritsu must be in that one. Kaiko smiled and pushed open the door, Akemi following after him.


"Hey you okay?"


Kaiko had noticed the bandage on Ritsu's arm, had that been there before? He was a little worried about her now. Had someone tried to hurt her?


"Ritsu, did someone hurt you? What happened?"


He looked at her arm then at her waiting for a reply, if someone had hurt her...


-----------


Akari sighed and crossed her arms, the woman seemed like she was debating in her head what to say. On one hand it was good for him to get experience in the field but Riko did have a point. She wasn't thinking about just safety like Riko was here, she was thinking about the whole thing.


"I don't know. It's his second day right. Let me look up a few things on him see if I can find anything out about him. Oh yes, Riko, what weapon did he have to use? Or did he use both?"


Riko and Ise may not see the point in looking up things about Kaiko but Akari did, she'd gather information before making her decision.


----------------


Akemi felt very proud of herself, she'd managed to push that pig off and gain Kaiko's attention. When he asked her to let go she immediately did so. She smiled at him and placed her hands behind her back. He was so cute! She would claim him as her own, no way was that pig going to even lay once finger on her beloved Kaiko. This was war, there was no way that that girl could really love Kaiko like she could. Not with her wide face and eye gap. Akemi would be a much better girl friend than that girl could even be in her life.


Was it just her or for a second had this hallway been a bit strange, she thought for a moment that she'd seen a shadow on the wall but it had soon disappeared.


As Ritsuko started to head upstairs and leave Kaiko and her alone Akemi felt even more proud of herself. She'd won, but only for the time being..that pig would be back sooner or later. For now though she had her time alone with Kaiko, something she'd come here for, that was her proof that she'd won. Why could that girl just accept that she wasn't right for Kaiko? It wasn't fair, the amount of attention she got normally compared to Akemi. It was because he'd 'known her longer', she just had to wait a little longer then she'd be able to tell him.


With a smiled Akemi took a step back from Kaiko.


"Well how did your first mission go?"


"Let's just say I suck with a gun, but Riko is amazing she's really skilled."


Riko must have been the little girl that Akemi had gotten a glimpse of earlier, so that was his initiator. She didn't look it but if Kaiko said so then the girl must be pretty strong. Kaiko had tried to use a gun? Had he abandoned everything she'd taught him?


"You shouldn't use a gun when you know you can't use it! That could be a danger to you and whoever is with you, pay attention next time okay?!"


"Okay, Okay. I'm sorry."


Akemi smiled, she cared about his safety. It was good that Kaiko had smiled whilst saying sorry but hopefully the information had sunk in and he wouldn't be so stupid next time.


"Well I'm glad you're safe. Still you may not be in the future and you still have so much to learn y'know. I was thinking of applying for a job here but....."


Akemi didn't want to say that she didn't want a job here because of Ritsuko, she was his friend and it may hurt his feelings.


"You should, it'd be good to have someone I've known for awhile around here plus I do think you could help this place."


"You really think so?"


Kaiko nodded. No way! He wanted her to work here? Close to him? She nodded back and smiled happily.


"In that case how could I say no?"


She laughed and looked up at him. If he wanted her here then she would work here as long as she had to, in all honesty she did kind of want a job here anyway. It seemed more interesting than any normal job, Akemi didn't do normal.


"I think I should go see where Ritsu is... You coming?"


Ritsu. She couldn't say no, that would look bad. Akemi nodded and the two moved up the black staircase. Upstairs Akemi stayed next to Kaiko and they walked towards a room, that pig must be there. Did she really have to stand in the same room as that girl and pretend that she wasn't bothered? If that girl was trying to steal her guy then of course she was bothered! She didn't know how long she'd be able to keep it up for. But she should give the girl at least a chance to talk to Kaiko since once he was Akemi's that pig would be able to steal him away from her. She'd make sure it didn't happen. He wouldn't be drawn in so easily by her would he? The thought of it made Akemi's hands turn into fists, she couldn't bare the thought of him being deluded by her.


As they walked in the room she saw that eye gap had a bandage on around her arm. Since when had she cut her arm? Akemi didn't remember seeing that before when she'd seen the girl in here. What was she attempting to do? Akemi moved into the room and looked over at Ritsu, Kaiko seemed genuinely worried about her. Now Akemi really hoped that Ritsuko wasn't lying about her arm, if she was then that was an awful thing to do just to get Kaiko's attention. She would despise the girl if she was deceiving and manipulating Kaiko. Akemi relaxed and came up behind Kaiko in order to hear what Ritsuko had done to her arm. She must have done it in the build, had anyone been carrying a weapon? Akemi hadn't and she didn't think Ritsuko had had anything on her.

 

[Pierrot]

"I don't really know, Kaiko. I mean I don't know who could have caused this wound. Anyway, I'm fine...I think. More importantly are you alright, Kaiko?"


The origin of the wound was a mystery and one she tried to solve up until a few moments ago. Maybe getting wounded every now and then wasn't such a bad thing. It meant that Kaiko would have to worry about her more than Akemi, which means she doesn't have to directly deal with her either. If this kept up, Ritsuko would make it a habit to piss off those who make it their business to bully her. It was a dangerous path but maybe masochism might be the answer to her problems.


As that thought entered her brain she instantly regretted what she said. She could have easily pinned it on Akemi or one of the people who keep bullying her at school. Instead she brushed it off like it was nothing, which was a shame, there could have been a whole lot more she could have done to maximize her time with him. Four years is a long time but nothing developed over those four years despite all that outside encouragement.


Her arm was aching again and she spared a small glance downward to find a small patch of red blossom on the bandage. Then again, she was stingy with the and only had like one layer over it. It wasn't that big or deep of a cut at least that's what it looked like to her. Clutching the armrest with a death grip must have forced some more blood out. It was another blessing in its own right. Maybe Kaiko would notice or maybe he wouldn't, she'd known him long enough to be oblivious to a lot of things in life. Like her.


"So you were the reason there was blood all over my spear...heehee. Should teach you not to run in the hallways."


_____


"Well it is not like I need an answer right now. I'll go stow the weapons and then check on Kaiko and his guests. He was using a pistol and he was absolute shit. I didn't give him a chance to use that sword."


Akari still had to do their research when the facts were right there. Kaiko needed some time to get ready for actual combat. Riko left the room and made her way to the armory to wipe down and stow away the spear she brought along with her. She heard voices coming from the other room but would investigate later. The armory which was filled from top to bottom with all sorts of weapons wasn't a place a little girl should be in but it was like home.


Riko made her way to where she heard Kaiko and the others and opened the door to check on them. One of girls seemed to have a bandage on her arm and Kaiko was all over her. It didn't take much for Riko to put two and two together to find out that that girl was the cause of the blood all over her spear. She'd just casually point it out, not that Kaiko could ever do anything about it. She was better than him in every sense of the word.


"So you were the reason there was blood all over my spear...heehee. Should teach you not to run in the hallways. I see my promoter has quite the harem."


_____


"Akari. Can you tell me how much of corruption is in Riko?"


Kaiko wasn't the only problem in Ise's mind.

 

[Hexed]

"Well be careful okay, look it's bleed. I'm fine, like I said to Akemi, Riko did most of the work."


Kaiko really did wonder what had happened to cause that wound, it looked like she'd bandaged it with only one layer as well. He sighed, Ritsu, she should be less stingy with the bandages. Blood was already showing on the bandage. He'd been fine because of Riko, she did basically everything...because she could. Maybe it would be good if she trained him, although Akemi may feel a little offended if she did. Akemi was a really good fighter, he could see Riko and her going head to head in a fight no problem. That would be interesting to watch.


"He used a gun."


Kaiko turned to see Akemi shake her head at him, she was still annoyed about that? Great. He just grinned at her and walked over to Ritsu, taking her arm. He looked around to see if he could find the first aid kit she had used to patch it up, there might be more bandage in there. You could see the small patch of vivid red against the white bandage clearly.


"Where's the first aid kit you used? You need to put another layer of bandage or something on that."


Turning to the door, Kaiko sat Riko come in. What had she said? Something about a spear with blood on.. Ritsu must have caught her arm on it when running to him. He shook his head and grinned slightly, how had she not noticed that earlier. Harem? What was she on about? He didn't have a harem. Was Riko taking the piss again? He could see that he was going to get a lot of jabs from her in the future.


"I don't have a harem. Anyway, where have you been?"


Riko had abandoned him when he was getting squeezed by these girls but suddenly when everything was fine the girl had appeared again. Smiling, he looked at Ritsu.


"You need to be careful, you're lucky that spear didn't hit you badly."


------------------


Why was she getting so much attention from him?! It was only a little cut. Akemi seethed with anger but didn't let it show on her face. She did feel a little bad for the girl since she'd got hurt but not much, she was still just a pig! A pig who was trying to steal Kaiko away from her.


"He used a gun."


Akemi shook her head as she spoke the words, she was still annoyed at him for using a gun. It put everything she'd ever taught to waste, well..not everything but most things. It especially annoyed her since he didn't even know how to use the weapon, Akemi picked up how to use weapons pretty quickly. She loved to look at new weapons and learn their functions, it was something that really did fascinate her.


So it was that little girl who had hit her with a spear by accidently. It did serve Ritsu right for running. Akemi grinned and looked down at the girl who'd just come in. This must the Riko, the famous initiator that Kaiko had kept mentioning. At first glance the girl didn't look like much but Akemi knew that she must be good, if she wasn't then she didn't deserve to be partners with Kaiko.


"So you're Riko huh? You don't look like much."





Akemi decided it was time to tease the girl a little bit.


---------


"Okay then, I'll get back to you as soon as possible Riko."


Akari sighed and watched as Riko left the room, obviously the girl did not agree with her what so ever. She then turned to Ise.


"Oh... I believe last time I checked it was a seventeen percent corrosion rate but that could have gone up or down."

 

[Pierrot]

While they were talking Ise was busy touching up on the report of the completed job to their client. Surely the pay would be bigger this time around, the information was completely off and the operation could have easily gone south in the blink of an eye. He took a sip out of the mug of coffee on his desk, it wasn't anything special, just a cheap brew that tasted like shit but hit strong.


He finished up the report and mailed it to the client. Unfortunately the client was a busy individual which meant he'd not get a reply until later in the day when work would probably die down. Hopefully they weren't cheated on the funds, not that he could do anything about it but Riko needed something good to reward her efforts up until now. Well all three of them did, Ise was fortunate to keep Akari for this long, she did have a bit of a reputation to uphold and being in some small shot company meant that she was being held back.


"Seventeen percent. Not that bad I suppose. Should we join the kids in the other room? Not that I'm any older or anything...you know Riko's just agitated right? I don't think she got over Jiro yet, I think she still blames herself. Then again, I'm in the same boat."


____


"Shush, Gayko, I know what I'm looking at. In any case, I was reporting in with Ise, something YOU should have been doing."


Thought it seemed reaching out to him was a futile attempt. He seemed absorbed with the other girl who must have cut herself on the spear, not that it mattered, Riko already gave her warning and everything. She could smell an aroma wafting from the bag that probably came with the other girl, Concealtits. It was faint but it was there, food was in the bag and Riko simply wanted to dig in, however there was still one more issue to deal with.


Now the interesting part was the girl with an obviously huge rack. It wasn't every day Riko met someone with an ego as huge as her own and it was interesting to hear someone talk down to her. Sizing her up, it was possible that Gigantits knew her way around a fight but was she even enough of a fighter to square off against the Gastrea though? In any case the challenge was clear, Gigantits wanted Riko to prove herself. A stupidly easy task to be honest, it was probably profitable to toy around with her first, make her know her place. The MI only has room for one giant ego.


"Hey, Gigantits. You mind repeating that? I'm pretty sure I can make you not look like much. Right here. Right now. I could use a warm up."


Riko's body was still high on the fight with the eight spiders, she was still in the mood to fight and a little workout before breakfast was always welcoming. Of course she'd have Gigantits for breakfast and Concealtits's food for second breakfast. She was ready, all she needed was for Gigantits to make the first move. It's not like Gigantits ever knew what she went through, in fact she looked like she was living the pampered life, even if she knew her way around a fight.


____


Ritsuko was sure she wasn't dreaming. It was just too good to be true, she'd never seen Kaiko so worked up about something as minor as a cut on her arm. He was completely fussing over her and she welcomed the attention, it just meant that she triumphed over cow tits, who was preoccupied with who she assumed was Riko. Kaiko had mentioned her a few times last night when she was able to work up the courage to text him.


Honestly, Ritsu had no idea what to do with all this attention but it was clear Kaiko was focused on her. He gave her that smile that would probably make any girl melt. She found her head gradually bowing down and grinning like an idiot. It was all she could do to stop herself from making happy noises.


"O-of course...Kaiko...could you apply the second layer? I'm not really good with treating wounds..."


Ritsuko made sure to tug at his sleeve to get his attention since she was probably blind to everything but the floor with her head down. She managed to squeak that out and hopefully Kaiko could hear her.


She worried that the food would probably get cold in her bag but she didn't want to bring it out unless Ise and other person he mentioned was with them. It was just common courtesy after all, she didn't want to be rude and eating was always fun with friends. She was able to spare a glance over at her opened bag with the plastic containers peeping out of the top. She brought so much food because she thought it was big company when in fact there were only four members in a run down building that was in a very dangerous spot. Perhaps they really did need the additional manpower, Ritsu had already earned a somewhat substantial amount working at Makudonards. She would check in with Ise later.


For now, she was just going to have to enjoy Kaiko treating her wounds. The bandage fell off her arm as it wasn't wound securely enough, then again, a few folds and then tucking it in never really screamed "secure" to begin with.

 

[Hexed]

Akari tapped her foot on the floor as she started thinking about a few things, she'd seen one of Kaiko's friends come in and had found some of the information she had gotten off of her quite interesting. Her name was what again....ah! It was Akemi Chyoko, Chyoko...now where did Akari recognise that from? He woman sighed and looked out of one of the large, dusty windows that occupied the wall to her left.


She turned to Ise with a nod, they should go see the children but first she wanted to ask him something about that girl's name. She also wanted to see the other girl that had come into the building earlier whilst she was showing Akemi around. The girl knew a lot about weapons, being a friend of Kaiko's and a girl she didn't expect that grok such a youngster but it was good to see her taking an interest. Akari turned back to Ise and smiled, she liked working here even though it was only a small business. It was more fun that a bigger company, here she could get to know everyone properly.


"I don't think you are to blame for the death of Jiro, neither do I think that Riko was. Mistakes are made and unfortunately those mistakes sometimes cost lives, it was a very unfortunate situation and you didn't realise what you were up against so don't be too hard on yourself okay? We should go join the children in a minute but first I would like to ask you something... It's about one of Kaiko's friends, have you ever heard of the name Chyoko before?"


----------------


"Oh my, harem eh?"


Akemi laughed, her attention was now away form Kaiko and that wide faced pig for once in her life. In fact right now she was more interested in this little girl with the big ego, unfortunately Akemi would not allow her to continue with the 'big I am' act since there was only room for one girl with a big ego in Kaiko's life and that was her. She would not let pipsqueak here take her place, no that was not happening.


She laughed and turned to look out of the window as if Riko was of no importance what so ever, she knew how to deal with people like herself and Riko. Pipsqueak seemed to like to try and annoy people didn't she? Unfortunately nothing like that annoyed Akemi if just made her more pumped up for a fight, she was itching to get moving anyway since standing here and watching Kaiko take care of that pig was doing her head in. She didn't know how much of that she could take before she broke so it would be good to get herself busy. Akemi leaned down to Riko's level and grinned.


"I'm sorry, I didn't realise a pipsqueak like you had such bad hearing as well as being short. Y'know what, I've got training later so a small warm up to loosen my muscles might do some good. I accept, I'm guessing you want me to make the first move correct? It's a shame you can't do it yourself."


There was something no one knew about Akemi, she didn't just go around picking fights with anyone. If she accepted your fight it meant she thought you were worthy of fighting her, but she didn't just know her way around a fight. She knew what it meant to be in a life or death situation so every time she fought she fought with everything she had, nothing was done half heartedly by her. Now she didn't for a second doubt this child's abilities but she also didn't doubt her own.


------------


"Yeah, sorry... I forgot."


Kaiko laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head before turning back to Ritsu. Though just as he turned back he heard Akemi make another comment, those two were going to get into a fight right here right now? Now he knew Akemi's skills and he knew how amazing Riko was but he couldn't tell which one would win if they did go head to head. They really were both amazing, he was showing Akemi up by not doing good out on his missions.


"You two are just like each other.."


He managed to mutter that sentence before going back to focusing on Ritsu, those two really were like each other. It was like Akemi had found the mini her, both intelligent, both great fighters. Honestly he wondered what else they may have in common...they were both girls? No, that didn't count...did it?


"Yeah okay, I'll apply it for you but you should learn how to do it properly in case you hurt yourself again."


Kaiko grinned and shook his head, really Ritsu was the best at things like cooking and she was very intelligent but she didn't know how to tie a bandage properly? It was a little weird.


Turing to pick up the first aid kit Kaiko took a quick glance towards Akemi and Riko, squaring each other up it seemed. It was almost funny to watch the two of them. He turned back to Ritsu and took out a bandage to put on her arm, the first one had already slid off now due to not being tied very securely. Kaiko grabbed it and placed it on the floor, he'd put two new layers on her arm. He gently lifted her arm and started to wrap the thin , white bandage around it until he was satisfied. There was a lot more on Ritsu's arm now than she had originally put on but at the same time it wasn't too much. He found some small scissors in the first aid kit and cut the end of the bandage in half before wrapping one half around her arm again and tying it up.


Kaiko smiled at her and stood up properly, hopefully that would sort it all for her.


"There we are, it's all sorted. You okay now?"

 

[Pierrot]

"No. I don't think I've heard of the Chyoko name before. Should I know about them?"


Ise may not have heard about the Chyokos but Akari looked like she was convinced he knew them. Why would he though? The name did not ring any bells but it did sound vaguely familiar, as if he'd heard it mentioned once or twice before in several meetings. He wanted to know what Akari was thinking, though six months is barely any time to really get to know a person. He was lucky he managed to snag her when he did.


Ise stood from his seat and walk toward the door, he held it open for Akari. Just because the world changed doesn't mean that common courtesy is dead. He took a quick glance at his desk, he'd deal with the paperwork on it later. Right now, curiosity had the better of him. He wanted to know what kind of person would go all the way out here just to visit someone else.


"After you, Akari."


_____


Gigantits was definitely getting on her nerves. First calling her short, next calling her deaf and then implying that she was incompetent. It was plainly obvious that she was being goaded into action and Riko was having a hard time reigning herself in. It'd be a pleasure to introduce her fists to that face but not acknowledging her would probably sting even more. Still it might feel really good to throw in a few good punches and kicks at her, she was definitely poised to strike and she her small frame was basically shaking from bottling up all this will to fight.


"I'm disappointed. I never knew you were blind, Gigantits. Then again, I guess you can't see anything past your own rack! Hey, I can hear your back complaining."


Riko addressed her with the most mocking tone she could muster. Her face contorted to show a very shit eating expression and a wide grin plastered on her lips. After her moment of gloating she walked past the blonde girl and followed her nose to the aroma that was wafting from the Concealtits' bag. She wasn't sure she could hold back in the fight, she was hungry after all and no one cooked breakfast for her. She heard what Kaiko had said and wasn't about to let that slide.


"I'm not like her. I know I'll be waaaaay more beautiful when I grow up. For one, I wouldn't look like a cow, Gayko. Now I need to inspect this bag."


Looming over the bag, Riko ducked in and began rummaging through it. Plastic containers of different sizes with different kinds of food in it. The sheer variety was enough to make her mouth water. Never has there been this much food in front of her in her entire life. Her stomach grumbled in agreement and her breathing just became heavier.


____


Strange how roses would just bloom in the background whenever Kaiko was talking to her. Not that Ritsuko would even complain about it, he looked cool that way. Perhaps it was just because this was the first time he's tended to her wounds. She couldn't rightly explain the tightening in her chest as he changed her bandages. Ritsu was sure that she felt very happy with what's happening. There were more layers on her arm now but it didn't seem intrusive at all.


When he asked whether or not she was okay she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat and a lump form on her throat.She ended up nodding in response. There was just no way she'd be washing that arm any time soon.


The self-contained atmosphere shattered when Ritsu heard a stomach grumbling. She tried to find source of it and saw that Riko had already took the food out of her bag and just stood there staring intently at the food. The grumbling noise was there again and it was clear that Riko was very much hungry. As if the intent gaze and the thin line of drool running down the side of her grinning mouth wasn't a clear enough indicator.


"L-let's eat everyone. I brought some food. Because I thought Kaiko would be hungry."


As if on cue, Riko perked up at the announcement of food while Ritsu went over to the table and laid the food out, removing the lids of the plastic containers one by one. At the very least she wouldn't need to bring this much food in such a disorganized manner, MI wasn't that huge and a few bento boxes would be more than enough. Still though she didn't know what she'd do with the left overs, this was clearly too much food.


After removing the lid on the last container, Ritsu almost yelped when Riko darted forward toward the food. She looked very ravenous but was soon flailing about mid-air. Ise arrived and was holding Riko up by the collar of her shirt. Her shirt, it occurred to Ritsuko that Riko's shirt was torn in several places and it looked like she had wounds over her body or so Ritsu glimpsed, a far cry from Kaiko who seemed to be in pristine condition. Something wasn't right about that at all. She'd confront him about it later in the day.


"Honestly, you'd do anything for food."


"Ise-san!"


Ise nodded back at her while Riko was busy flailing about in his grasp like a wild animal struggling to break free.


"Let me go, the food is calling! asdhaklsjlafiawhjiadj"


Ritsu was nothing short of awe struck at how quickly Riko resorted to gibberish, then after a few seconds the girl went limp in his hands. Ise set her down and Riko proceeded to sit down quietly. As if none of that flailing ever happened.


"Well then, Ritsuko-san, you seemed to have brought quite the feast with you. Is it alright if we can begin eating, Little Riko is getting hungry after all."


Ritsuko pulled out some paper plates and a set of disposable chopsticks from her bag. She set the table and then gave the first serving to Riko.

 

[Hexed]

"I seem to recognise the name from somewhere, I thought you may too..."


Akari shook her head with a sighed, she'd have to look up the name later on but she was sure that she'd heard it somewhere before. Chyoko, it was an interesting name indeed, maybe there was an initiator with the name that she'd met before or something... It was all very confusing but she could get on researching it after they had gone it to see the kids. That wasn't her top priority right now anyway.


"Thank you."


Smiling Akari excited through the door and out into the small hallway circled by doors, at least not everyone had lost their manners in this world. Akari had worked at many big businesses but never had it felt so much like a home to her, this small business was more comfortable and more fun than all of them combined. Everyone always seemed to be so serious in bigger businesses.


------------


Akemi could see that this pipsqueak was starting to get annoyed by the girl's taunting, of course she was, no one had ever managed to stay calm when Akemi had started mouthing off. That was probably because she was very quick witted and always thought of comebacks that could potentially annoy or aggravate her opponent. Although this girl was trying to annoy Akemi by calling her Giantits she only felt complimented by it. What was the problem with it? She honestly did not see one.


"Jealous? Pipsqueak."


A wide grin appeared on Akemi's face and she again leaned down to Riko's height. The girl's would probably be equal in a fight but doing this Akemi seemed to have the upper edge, as clever as this kid seemed she still had a lot to learn. Honestly she liked Riko, she reminded her of herself when she was that age. As if she would tell Riko that, she'd continue to tease the girl to no end or until she got a good response back at least. Riko had to pick up a few things from her right?


"Cow? Ouch that's a little harsh now isn't it?"


Akemi's voice was full of mocking and sarcasm. She saw Riko head for the food and smiled at the child. Then Akari came in with a man, she assumed this one was Ise. The two didn't seem to notice her as they entered. Akemi looked towards a nearby window and opened it silently, she hoisted herself onto the window and out of it before anyone spotted her. There were a few things she wanted to look at.


-------------


Kaiko took his hands away from her arm and smiled, he could smell food somewhere but he didn't quite know where it was. There was a lot that he wanted to talk about to Akemi and Ritsu but he'd do it later on when he was at home or something. The two girls never seemed to talk to one another when they were around eachother, he didn't know why but he found it a little odd. Did they not get along or something? Maybe it was because the two were so different they couldn't find common ground.


"You brought food? That was nice of you Ritsu."


Riko seemed to already be digging through the bag of food, this made Kaiko laugh. She seemed like she'd do anything for food from the way she was acting right now. She seemed to have ended her spat with Akemi because the food was a more interesting subject that the girl. Riko was drooling as if she hadn't eaten in months.


Kaiko noticed as the door opened and two figures came into the room, Ise and Akari. Akari gave the group a large smile and then looked over to Ritsu, she hadn't seen the girl yet, and waved at her. Ise grabbed Riko by the shirt to stop the girl downing all of the food before anyone else could have any, by the time he let go she was calm and sat quietly. That was funny, all Ise had to do was lift the girl up and she'd calm down.


"Well, this all seems nice."





Akari made her way past Riko to look around, she seemed a little confused for a few seconds but then wiped the look off of her face and looked at the children.


The food was being served now and suddenly Kaiko was just as hungry as Riko had been before, of course he didn't dive for the food like she did. He had some manners at least. Everyone was here around the food that Ritsu had brought now, well...at least Kaiko thought everyone had been. It felt like someone was missing though, someone who had been here before was now gone... Akemi! Kaiko stood up and looked around the room with the same expression Akari had had a few seconds ago.


"Akem- Did anyone see where Akemi went?"


She was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't have gone out of the door that silently without anyone realising it, someone would have heard the door shut behind her but no. Kaiko had seen no one leave the room and the door was still close. As his eyes scanned the room they stopped on a window close to where Akemi had been standing. He walked over to the window and sighed, it was open and big enough for Akemi to easily slip out of. He leaned over the ledge and looked out onto the street below, no one... Where had Akemi vanished so quickly to?

 

[Pierrot]

"Kaiko? Did you find her?"


Ritsuko never really thought she'd worry about Akemi at all. She should be happy that Akemi was gone and she had Kaiko all to herself. It wasn't for long but it was better than nothing at all. She had her golden opportunity, all that was left was for her to take it.


It was nothing short of bliss when she heard him praise her. Of course she was nice, she was everything he needed after all.


She had heard Kaiko's question and was expecting Akemi to show up and then brag about how much Kaiko worries about her. There was just no way Ritsu could ever attempt to beat her without a plan, going up against Akemi who was more used to world was challenge in itself. So she focused on just putting the servings on the plates until the food was distributed and rationed accordingly. There was still a surplus of rice if anyone was unsatisfied with the meal. Ritsu wasn't one to come in unprepared after all. The fact that she wasn't prepared for Akemi was just a slight hiccup.


Ritsu glanced back at Kaiko who was peering out a window. Honestly, dragging it out didn't serve any purpose. Akemi got what she wanted, which was probably hearing Kaiko worry about her. This was a joke in bad taste, even for someone like Akemi.


____


Though Riko was busy wolfing down the food, she had heard Kaiko ask to no one in particular whether or not they had seen Gigantits. It was probably worth telling him that Gigantits did jump out the window or so it felt and then ran down the street. Perhaps the girl had finally accepted defeat and recognized Riko as the victor. Of course, she was the victor! She was a dolphin class initiator and the best MI had to offer to the world. Yes, her ambitions weren't just in Japan, she wanted to be recognized throughout the world as a fearless Gastrea slayer.


In any case she'd tell him AFTER she was finished eating her food. Though she could still smell Gigantits' scent which meant that she was nearby.


____


Ise entered a very lively room indeed. Again he held the door open for Akari, it was common courtesy and she was a very instrumental part of the group. She didn't thank him this time but at least the first attempt didn't go unnoticed. It had only been six months, but six months or six years didn't matter since she was part of the family and family needed to be treated right.


He quietly scooped up Riko who was probably on the verge of demolishing the food before anyone could even get a serving. The last time he had left her unchecked, the three of them had nothing to eat except a quarter of a loaf of bread. It was a hard effort and they were desperate for a job, Jiro was the most desperate out of the trio. The man had an appetite that could rival Riko's. The fridge was gone in an instant if Ise left those two unchecked. Jiro, it brought back plenty of memories that just stung at him.


Ise waited for Ritsuko to finish serving the food in her bag. Maybe it was possible he could hire on the girl to help maintain the building and possibly make something out of the ingredients in the fridge. Though he'd have to ask her how much per hour before he would consider hiring her on. Akari was the only one with a payroll and it was pricey keeping her around though he wouldn't make mention of it. Riko didn't need money and any money Ise got was directed to making MI a better place.


Ise handed over his serving to Akari, since it looked a bit bigger than the others. He got the next one Ritsu was shelling out and picked some fish from the motley assortment of meats on. One bite was enough for him to realize that this was good food.


"This is definitely delicious, thank you for the food, Ritsuko-chan."

 

[Hexed]

"No...She's just...gone..."


Kaiko shook his head and sighed as he looked down at the street for a little longer. It wasn't like Akemi to vanish so suddenly, he did hope she was okay. But then again this was Akemi he was talking about, she wouldn't mindlessly jump out of windows. She knew exactly what she was doing when she left, whether she was still around he didn't know. She just wouldn't leave so suddenly unless something had upset her... He wondered if she was okay.


After another quick glance around Kaiko brought his head back inside of the window and looked down at the floor.


"I wonder where she's gone..."





He walked back over to the group, who were now all sitting down to have Ritsu's food, and sat with them. Akemi would contact him sooner or later he could ask her what she did that for when she did, for now he had food to enjoy and it was time to enjoy it.


Taking the plate Kaiko stared down at the food in awe, it looked delicious! He couldn't wait to eat this! Kaiko quickly took some chopsticks and dug into the meal in front of him, Riko also looked to be enjoying the food. As did Akari and Ise. Ritsu really was a great cook and he was happy that she was here, mostly because of her food...but also because she was his friend! Still her food was amazing! Ritsu and Akemi both had such different talents that fitted them perfectly.


-------------


"Oh my, Kaiko seems to be worried...Meh, I'll tell him later."





Akemi giggled and sat on the outside window ledge of the room Akari and Ise were in not too long ago, of course she was totally out of sight to Kaiko. She didn't want to worry him but the girl was too intent on looking around to tell anyone where she was or what she was doing. She moved herself off the window ledge and grabbed another around another side of the building. Crouching on the ledge Akemi took a hair pin out of hair and jammed it into one of the windows locks. She twisted it a few times and the window unlocked. She found herself in a room filled with weapons and equipment.


Quickly shutting the window behind her she kept down a squeal of excitement at all the equipment around her, this was great!


------------


Akari walked through the door into the room the children were in and smiled, they all seemed to be having a good time in here. One seemed to have hurt her arm, that must have been the girl she hadn't met yet. She seemed nice enough. She felt old in this room, even thought the woman was only in her early twenties she felt extremely old with all these younger people around.


"Well, This all seems nice."





She had said that as she'd looked around the room and her eyes rested on the girl she hadn't met again. She smiled at her and gave her a small wave as a greeting before looking at Ise holding up Riko and laughing. Riko really would do anything for food it was true, the child love food. She'd clear out the fridge in no time if left alone in this place, Akari had seen it happen before. The girl Akemi that Akari had liked didn't seem to be around at the moment, she wondered where the girl had gone off to.


The food the other girl had brought looked really good as it was set out, even Akari was hungry and wanted to have some. Of course she stood there patiently until they sat down. Kaiko got up and started to look around for Akemi, it looked like he hadn't realised the girl had gone either... Where exactly could she have gone off to so quickly then? If even her close friend was surprised by her disappearance it must have been something serious or the girl was playing a joke on them.


Akari thanked Ise as he handed her a plate and then she tucked in, it really was amazing food. This girl would be very useful to have around for meals, maybe Ise would hire her? Well, that depended..he was almost broke after all.


"Yes, I agree. This is very good, thank you."

 

[Pierrot]

"I'm sure she's alright Kaiko. Akemi can take care of herself. Just enjoy the food for now yeah?"


It seemed like Ritsuko would need to have a word with both of them after this. Akemi went too far with her prank and she needed to know why Riko was injured and scratched up so badly, just what was Kaiko doing in that time?


The last person she needed to give the food to was Kaiko. Akemi's serving was waiting for her on the table, if she even thought of joining them at all. No doubt Riko would probably gobble it all up if the cow didn't swing by to take her share. The food was good or so everyone said, it wasn't really any different from what she usually had at home or what she brings along with her to school.


"Thank you both, I really just do my best. It seems even Riko likes it."


It did feel nice to have people praise her for her cooking though. Ise and Akari were both vocal about the praise while Riko was simply to absorbed in the eating to care about anything or anyone else. That little girl didn't just eat food, she probably inhaled it more than she inhales air. Still, it was nice that none of this would go to waste.


Ritsu kept glancing over at the opened window while she ate her own share of the food. Waiting for the telltale sign of Akemi coming back, that girl needed to learn how to reign herself in. Still, it must be nice to have the world revolve around you.


_______


"So tell me, Kaiko, how was your first encounter with the Gastrea? I'd like to know your thoughts about Riko."


A little first hand assessment coming from both his employees would probably go a long way. Ise did consider Riko's words and how Kaiko wasn't ready for the Gastrea at all, not without proper training. He didn't need the boy's blood on his hands nor on his conscience, if Riko said that he wasn't ready then that was a good indicator as it is. Still Akari's opinion also carries weight, she'd probably have been in the presence of more seasoned promoter and initiator pairs. Riko may be smart and skilled but she lacks the finesse and technique, the little girl was always aggressive and relentless.


He just didn't know what to do yet, but it was probably worth asking Kaiko his opinion too. Riko sometimes has that natural tendency to lie or exaggerate things.


_______


Riko had already finished eating and was about to say where Gigantits was or where her gut told her Gigantits was. There was no mistake that she was still on the second floor but it was hard to pinpoint where in the second floor. It would probably make Gayko worry less once he knew where she was. Instead Ise beat her to Gayko and was already casually questioning him about his thoughts on the events that happened a few minutes ago. She perked up at the mention of her name.


She felt that Ise needed a good glaring. Riko was offended that he didn't trust her opinion at all. Now Gayko would probably exaggerate his nonexistent feats just to impress the girls. They'd get into more dangerous jobs and keeping him alive would probably get harder exponentially. Stage I gastrea already gave him trouble, Stage II would probably kill him outright. She kept quiet and just let the two continue their discussion.

 

[Hexed]

"Yeah, you're probably right..."


Kaiko kept looking over at the window. He hoped that Akemi was okay but he remembered when she jumped from the second story of the school and was fine, she should be good. She probably just when home or something and would call him later.


Akemi should come eat with them though, it wasn't like her to leave at all never mind when there was food around. Maybe her parents called her? No, she left too silently.. Oh he shouldn't worry about her, the girl was a lot more capable than he'd ever be. The food was great and soon Kaiko had almost finished the whole plate.


"Huh? Oh that. Well, I sucked but Riko is pretty amazing to be honest."





Kaiko turned to Ise and grinned as he spoke, he wasn't going to lie about how good he was. He'd already told Akemi that he'd used a gun which was enough to tell her that he'd done no good what so ever, if he didn't tell them, when she came back, she would. As much as he didn't want to show himself up when Ritsu was here he'd have to tell her at some point, plus the difference in Riko and Kaiko's clothes was unmissable.


"I-"


"I didn't realise such a small cooperation would have such a great armoury."





Kaiko raised his eyebrows and saw Akemi standing there with a spear in her and left hand and a gun in the other. Akemi! She was back! Where the hell had she gone off to and- Wait...She'd come back through the door? What the-


-----------


Akemi had entered the room and immediately she had gone to look at the varanium weaponry. With a smile and a small squeal the girl took some of the weapons out of their holders and started to examine them in her hands. Only once before had Akemi ever held a varanium sword, it was really a weapon you didn't see every day. Since only initiators and promoters could use these weapons Akemi had never been able to use one but she'd held one once a few years ago. Putting the sword back, Akemi picked up a spear it was perfectly name and quite light. This was a weapon that Akemi would want to use. She better get back, before people started looking for her.


"I didn't realise such a small cooperation would have such a great armoury."


Akemi booted the door open to the room the others were in and walked in. The girl had a varanium spear in one hand and in the other she had a gun. She flipped and twirled the spear over her head before throwing it and catching it then continuing to twirl it without even looking at the weapon.


"Varanium metal spear. The perfect weapon for striking a Gastrea right through the head with, after all Gastrea are weakened by these weapons. They are the only types of weapons that are capable of killing them easily. Light weight, easy to carry, the perfect fit for anyone who doesn't have enough strength to handle big, heavy weaponry and if you're on the move this will be easier to run with than some bulky thing."


She laughed and then brought the gun up to eye level and held a bullet in one of her fingers.


"Black bullets. Varanium also, quite dense but light enough to travel in the air for quite awhile. If you have good aim you could kill a Gastrea with one shot."


She threw the bullet in the air and caught it again with one finger.


------------


Akari ate quietly whilst looking around at everyone, it was quite nice to just sit here and have a meal like this with everyone. When Kaiko said he'd sucked on his first encounter with the Gastrea Akari raised an eyebrow, so the boyw ould admit it. After this the woman did need to get on some work...she had quite a lot that she wanted to research.


The door was kicked open and Akari turned quickly to see Akemi standing in the doorway with...a varanium spear and a gun!? How had she gotten into the armoury? It was locked... If she had been able to get in there the girl knew a few tricks. Akari smiled, impressed as Akemi started to talk about varanium weaponry. How did she know all of this? She really did know her stuff and it didn't look like she was too shabby with a weapon the way she was twirling that spear. This had just become very interesting.


"Oh my."

 

[Pierrot]

"Honesty, huh? A rare angle. Te-"


Ise was glad that Kaiko was honest at least. The evidence was clear to see, he was unharmed and Riko was covered in wounds and bruises. He was about to tell the boy to go on before their other guest simply barged in. She was rude, that much was apparent. Though what she said next hinted at her capabilities, but she was still a rude girl. It wasn't any of Ise's business how spoiled brats are raised though as he sipped a cup of tea from the thermos Ritsuko brought out.


"Impressive work, Ms. Chyoko. You've manged to break into the armory of a poor corporation. How we acquired those weapons? Well me and Riko agreed that we'd need a varied armory to fight the different kinds of Gastrea. Before one of our own died, we were so focused on trying to keep everything afloat but now, we've been given some....leeway in terms of expenses and a percentage of our pay always goes to maintaining the armory. Now please put those weapons back, they don't make very good eating utensils."


Ise was already poised to grab Riko again. The little girl was very particular about her spear and seeing someone else hold it would probably not end well at all. True enough his caution paid off as Riko turned back and tried to lunge at Akemi who was holding her spear. Once again, he had held her up by the collar of her shirt while she flailed around in the air.


"But they make good utensils, remember how we had to eat with just that spear? Huh?! Huh?! LETMEGOIMMASCRAPHERMYSPEARSKJdlafjalwejdalksufahslj"


He let the girl have her few seconds of venting before he finally set her down again. She was calm but it was clear she was upset. There wasn't much he could do for her and letting her loose would probably just result in payments repairing the building. Worse comes to worse, this building's walls might end up as nothing more than tarps tacked to the floor and the frames.


____


Riko knew that Gigantits was nearby. She already had that notion and was about to say it when Ise began to question Gayko on the first job. Thankfully enough, the boy told the truth.


He did suck and she was amazing. Of course she didn't need anyone to tell her that, it was gift given to her to compensate for being cursed. She had the Gastrea virus in her but she was the very definition of amazing as well. A large grin formed on her lips and she felt the need to puff her chest out as she ate.


Then Gigantits interrupted Gayko's story of her awesomeness. He was just about to get to the good part too. Ise began talking to Gigantits about whatever. It wasn't any of Riko's concern as she downed the cup of tea that was part of her meal.


Ise mentioned something about a eating utensil and how it wasn't supposed to be used like that. There was only one thing that Ise would refer to if he said that. Riko turned back to see Gigantits playing around her spear. It wasn't fair, no one was supposed to touch that. It had her name scribbled on it. Ise knew and so did Titantits(Akari). She was supposed to ask permission first.


"But they make good utensils, remember how we had to eat with just that spear? Huh?! Huh?! LETMEGOIMMASCRAPHERMYSPEARSKJdlafjalwejdalksufahslj"


Riko lunged at Gigantits only to be hold back and then dangling mid-air. She struggled to break free but she knew just how few clothes she had left and how her shirt would only get more tears if she did. She tried her best all the same to wriggle free but found it hopeless as she gave up and was promptly put down by Ise. Riko turned her back to Gigantits and just ate her food. There was nothing more to say.


___


Ritsuko feared for her life at that very moment. The cow had burst through the door brandishing a spear and a gun, and Ritsu tried her best to stifle a scream. It wasn't too far fetched that the Cow had given up on fighting for Kaiko properly and resolved to kill her in some strange ritual that probably signified that she was the alpha female and that Kaiko, as the beta, should be her little bitch.


Her mind seemed to blur out the events that followed only snapped out of her stupor when Riko was flailing in the air again. It was very likely that that something happened to make Riko that way and Ise having to interfere again. Riko was put down but she was definitely frowning. Ritsu wanted to ask what was wrong but would probably just sound rude and may not exactly earn points with Kaiko due to obliviousness.


Instead she let everything just unfold. Sipping from the cup of tea she brought, this was clearly none of her business. Too much strangeness for an ordinary girl but she had to get used to strangeness if she ever wanted to stay by Kaiko's side. Though a break every now and then wasn't always that bad.

 

[Hexed]

Akemi narrowed her eyes, she didn't usually do this sort of stuff. Well, she'd broken into armouries before but she'd never taken the weapons out of it. It was strange for such a small corporation to have these weapons and that was all Akemi wanted to know, how they acquired the weapons. She could tell that the man, Ise, was a little pissed off by her. He definitely thought she was rude, Akemi was used to it by now. She'd made herself look like a rich brat too many times to care, sometimes it was necessary to be a brat.


"I see. Well, this weaponry you have is very impressive, in fact it's better than the last varanium weaponry I saw. They were heavy and hard to carry, these are much lighter. Specially designed for a certain someone I guess."


Akemi made eye contact with Ise, whilst the man may be older than her this girl knew a lot about the weaponry that she held. It was expensive definitely, maybe if she asked Akari later she might get a little more information on it than this guy couldn't give her. He may run this place but he didn't look like a weapons expert, he may know a bit about them but it probably wasn't his speciality.


"Calm down kid."





When Riko jumped at her Akemi didn't even make an attempt to move, she knew the girl would be caught. With a sigh she looked at the spear in her hand, obviously this was Riko's spear. Well, she didn't need any more so Riko could take it back. All she wanted to know was where it had come from, everything else she could ask Akari for. Akemi walked over to Riko and placed the spear next to her.


"Here. I'm not gonna break it or anything."





-----------


Kaiko looked at the weapons Akemi was holding and then his eyes widened when she started spouting facts about the varanium weaponry. How did she know all of this? He never knew that she'd looked into all of this stuff, she was also holding the gun he'd used not long ago.


Whilst Kaiko was happy Ise appreciated his honesty he wished he'd done better on the mission but obviously he needed some training in order to get better.


The next thing Kaiko knew Riko was flying through the air at Akemi but was quickly grabbed by Ise, Akemi had known Ise was going to grab her since she didn't move. She seemed pretty calm and even when Ise was slightly annoyed with how rude she had been she didn't seem to let it get to her. By the look on the girl's face Akemi was probably wondering where they got the weapons but that question was answered, then she passed the spear back to Riko.


"And for you."


Akemi turned to Kaiko and put the black bullet in the gun then threw the gun over to him, he caught it and then saw the teasing look in her eyes. Now she was just trying to annoy him with the fact that he'd used the gun. She hadn't chose the weapons by accident, she'd chose them on purpose.


----------


Akari laughed slightly and smiled, this girl really was something. By the sounds of it she knew all about varanium weaponry and, even though she had been slightly rude, Akari was very impressed. She also didn't seem to quite trust how a corporation this small got the weapons. Akari couldn't deny that they were expensive weapons, if she didn't work here she'd probably be quite suspicious as well.


That spear was Riko's spear and it looked like she'd picked up the gun Kaiko had been using too. She hadn't taken these weapons by accident, she'd chose these certain weapons on purpose. This girl may just be a little too smart for her own good, she reminded Akari of Riko just the slightest bit.


"Well, I am impressed by your knowledge Akemi. Where would a child like you learn all of that stuff?"


Akari had finished her food now and she stood up after watching Akemi place the spear next to Riko and throw the gun to Kaiko. Since the door to the armoury was locked how did she get in? Especially when she left through the window. Did she climb around the side of the building? She may not be your average girl if she could scale a building.

 

[Pierrot]

"Of course they were bought with a specific wielder in mind. Since the death of her promoter, Riko has been tackling missions on her own. It would only make sense that we get the weapons that would suit her. No one wanted to be a promoter for a small outfit like ours, I suppose it kinda killed the glamour of it what with living so close to the outer area. That is, until Kaiko came along."


It was a tough and dangerous spot for the first month or so. Ise couldn't help but worry about Riko whenever he sent her off on a job. It wasn't like he had any say in the little girl's actions either. The first time they got contracted after Jiro's death, Ise wanted to decline the offer but Riko barged in and accepted the job anyway. It was dangerous on her own, despite what skill she may think she possessed. Over time, however, Ise decided to just let her. It was probably her own way of dealing with Jiro's death, she needed to do something rather than just sit down.


Speaking of doing something, Ise still had his training later on in the day and the paperwork still had to be filed. He quickly finished up what was left of his food and set the plate down on the counter by the sink. He turned to face Ritsuko who was simply seated and eating, although very tense in that regard. He couldn't blame her though, she was probably out of her league with all this craziness happening. He placed a hand on her shoulder to snap her out of it.


"Thank you for the food."


He turned to face everyone else.


"I'll be heading back to my office. I still need to file the paper work and see if the funds got wired into our account. I expect those weapons back in the armory when you're all finished here. Now if you will excuse me."


Ise stepped out of the "lounge" and headed for his office. Once inside he was buried in his work again.


A few notifications popped up on the screen of his computer. One of them was about the payment for their job and probably about the funds successfully transferred. The other one came from an old contact since his days in the university. It was strange since he hadn't seen nor contacted that particular person before. It was made all the more stranger with the word *IMPORTANT* as the heading. He clicked on it and began reading through the contents.


_______


Riko was done eating. The food was delicious but the fact that someone else touched her spear killed her appetite. It was made worse because they were playing with it like it was a toy and Ise had to step in again. It wasn't fair, people had to learn the consequences of their actions. All she could do was be upset over it.


She took her plate and set it down right on top of Ise's as well. Someone would get around to washing those dishes sooner or later. Of course, she'd do it but she'd do it later on, maybe by the evening or the next day. She gathered up the spear placed next to her seat and stalked off toward the armory. It was filled from top to bottom with a variety of light weapons. Ise was correct, all of these were what she could use. All of these weapons were acquired just for her.


Riko left the armory and went toward her room. There were four rooms at the top of the stairwell. One was the office, the one Ise disappeared to. The other was the armory, which was where she came from. Next was the lounge, where everyone else was and finally there was Riko's own room. She did live here after all. Ise had an apartment to go back to and Titantits likely had one as well. It would have been nice if there was some way they could open the rest of the walled first floor and then clean it up. That way Ise might move in and so would Akari and she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. After all, Jiro and Ise were responsible for boarding up the other rooms with some spare wood. There were a total of 4 more rooms on the first floor, not counting the hallway, before one could come up on the second floor. Ise and Jiro nailed the wood over it and just painted it the same color as the walls.


Making her way to her room, Riko began thinking how best to train Gayko. It wasn't set in stone yet but she would train him in a more brutal method. A regimen that would sharpen his instincts and make him see the value of very dirty tricks. Because the Gastrea aren't afraid of being dirty, the ones who fight them must use any and every advantage whenever they can. Worse comes to worst and Gayko ends up being more incompetent than Jiro was, she would forcibly insist that Gayko be benched until she was sure he could handle it.


She opened the door to her room and just collapsed onto her bed. Riko wasn't exactly the kind of girl who easily got used to strangers. She'd had enough exposure to both Gigantits, the Food Lady and Gayko. She buried her head on her pillow which was nothing but a white square of comfort, made from the down of some bird she couldn't exactly remember.


Riko's room wasn't anything remarkable. She had one window that was stained and dirty, she said she'd clean it but always put it off. There was a desk and a desk lamp, which was probably the only source of light that wasn't the window. On the desk in question was a small flat screen TV and a DVD player. Stacked next to the TV were a bunch of DVD's of Mahou Shoujo Sayaka and Rainbow Brigade, two shows that she never seems to ever get sick of. On the shelf of the desk was a collection of trinkets and baubles that caught her eye whenever she was out in the field. The only remarkable part of her bed was the blue blanket with the dolphin patterns all over it.


Gayko said that she needed to change and he was probably right. She opened up her closet and slipped out of her torn shirt and get a fresh new one from the dwindling pile. It was just a red shirt with a dolphin print on it. She took a look at her self on the mirror that was nailed on to the closet door and found herself looking like hammered shit. Her face was still dirty and her hair probably resembled a rat's nest.


Time to get to fixing.


____


Ritsuko is still out of her element so no Ritsuko post.