*Slaps*
"Ooooooiiiiii~"
Another 2 slaps to the smooth cheeks of the partially unconscious body. It was working to an extent. A slow process that the masked man allowed because he was not in a hurry.
His Boss had lost interest in their one-sided interaction, so he ordered one of his subordinates to take care of the headless corpse that was leaning its back against a concrete pillar.
Needless to say, it was the Boss himself that led this man to death.
Without any hesitation, another masked man carried out the Boss' order quickly. He dumped the body like some kind of trash, away from the hostages' sights.
The dripping blood which was stuck on the white concrete pillar, left out by the corpse, lingered an ominous feeling that wafted amongst the hostages.
'How are they so heartless?' 'Those savages' 'Oh my god! Please, someone, help me!' 'Will I be.....next?'
Thoughts that befitted this preposterous situation occupied the feared civilians' minds. They had not yet seen a worst day than this, so they were rambling fearfully in their minds.
Their fates lied in the hands of those terrorists now. Or more precisely, in the hands of that unpredictable Boss. In a sense, they had to maintain a proper manner in front of this short-tempered individual.
"...Mnn..."
An unintelligible moan exited the girl's mouth. She tried to lift her eyelids slowly and she only succeeded in doing so after multiple times. What came into her sight was a masked man looking at her directly.
Confusion.
That is what she felt. She lifted her upper body sluggishly. The masked man did not help a bit, only observing her slow movements. She gripped her head then ruffled her black hair lightly.
"Ojou-chan. How was your sleep?"
The masked man talked to her for the first time when she was conscious.
".....O...Ojou-chan?"
"Would you like some tea?"
"...Eh?"
Uncomprehending of what that masked man was blabbering, she looked around her surrounding to gather as much information as possible.
Rubbles everywhere. The place was inside the shopping mall. In front, she could see about a 100 people kneeling on the floor.
Then she saw multiple masked men carrying guns and patrolling near the knelt people. She understood right away that she was in a bad situation.
"How about some snacks? Would you like some?"
The girl reinstated her sight on the masked man closest to him, who was still doing some charades. In doing so, she could smell some metal scent wafting into her nose.
She checked and she confirmed that she was indeed bleeding from her head.
"...Umm...Do you have some cloth and water?"
The masked man was slightly astounded at the girl's response. Despite being in a dire situation, she cared about the injury first and foremost. Furthermore, she requested for help from the terrorist themselves.
But soon, the masked man regained his playful attitude. He did not think about it that too much because he thought that it was an obvious thing to do. Caring about ourselves first, then comes the others.
He replied to her.
"Unfortunately we do not have any water Ojou-chan. As for the cloth, there may be some around here where they sell garments."
".....Umm.....Thank you very much."
"You are welcome, Ojou-chan."
Such a kind interaction between those two individual that seems out of place. Who would have seen a day like this? A terrorist talking to a hostage and the hostage replying politely.
This seems inappropriate enough.
"I'm sorry but.....why do you keep calling me 'Ojou-chan'?"
Seeing that the girl was getting up slowly without the masked man's help, she raised a question to him.
"You see, I am a gentleman that treats a lady respectfully. So I'm addressing you with respect."
The playfulness in his words was not hidden as he continued to behave that way.
"...Respectful or not, in my perspective, I still think that you are being rude. Even if you are the nicest guy that treats women very well, to me, you are just bad-mannered."
"Oh?"
One of his eyebrows raised due to the curiosity that swam through his mind. He was kind of intrigued at what was the reason that this girl was playing so hard to get even in this position.
"And why do you say that, Ojou-chan?"
"You see-"
She lifted her shirt up to her chest and that really surprised the terrorist. But what was really surprising was what she showed.
"- I am a boy, Sir."
A long pause caused the previously presumed girl, to fully cover his chest area with his t-shirt.
*Cough*
A fake cough that the terrorist produced, that cut off the small silence.
A tomboy, he thought previously. He was fully a boy with such a cute face. Really, such unique facial features on a boy's face are the rarest that you could find in the world.
The skin tone too was as white as a female one who wears makeup, and the height of this misunderstood boy is normally ideal for a girl. No one would blame the terrorist to make such an 'obvious' guess on his gender at first glance.
"Well, enough chatting."
The terrorist pulled out a pistol from the holster attached to his waist. Then, he pointed the muzzle lazily to the boy's head.
"Time to be a hostage now, boy."
"...."
His eyes were worried as he focused on the gun pointed at him. He conceded to the masked man's order reluctantly and gloomily. He was forced to walk with the help of just a push by the barrel of the pistol.
"Such an obedient and relatively calm hostage. I have never seen someone who complied to us so easily."
"...I am just increasing the probability of my survival." The boy replied while wryly smiling due to the nervousness he felt.
"What's your name?"
"...Fukuyama....Harue.....A-And you?"
"I don't know."
"O-Okay..."
He still had a kind of a joyful tone when conversing with Fukuyama. He was enjoying all of this so to say, or he was quite intrigued in this boy named Fukuyama.
Upon approaching all the hostages, the masked man made Fukuyama sit down next to them, far away from the Boss.
When he was about to leave him there, Fukuyama gestured towards him, pointing at his blood that flowed down his cheek.
The terrorist shrugged him off which made Fukuyama slightly disappointed. It was understandable as he was in no position to be making any requests. So, he kept his silence.
"Boss, a new addition to the group, or should I say the replacement of that other dead hostage."
Informing his Boss and striking fear in the hostages, he passed off the comment so that everyone could hear.
"Yea."
But the Boss did not care less about that as he replied to his close subordinate half-heartedly.
The sirens outside the mall increased in volume. As guessed by the terrorists and the hostages, more police officers were gathering outside.
A total of exactly 127 people were kneeling down in fear of those masked men.
Waiting for a saviour was the only hope that these innocent civilians held.
....
A special armoured car which was coloured dark blue. Anyone would have mistaken it for a vehicle that transported normal soldiers if it wasn't for the unique and elaborate logo printed on the side of the armoured car.
A red flower crossed over a golden gun which seemed high tech. The petals and the bullets surrounded the symbol in a circular manner.
The police and even the JSDF soldiers gave way to that vehicle. When it came to a stop, several muscular men came out with a special type of gun. They also carried some kind of device on their back like a bag. Judging from the heavy material and size of the device, the assumed weight can easily reach from 40 kg to 50 kg.
Their dark blue uniform was firmly packed with their body, that seemed like it would tear at any second due to their muscle size. Their bare hands were covered by black leather gloves that held the gun. On their left breast pocket, the logo was embroidered neatly. And below the logo, golden letters in capitals could also be seen.
'SMF'
The abbreviation for 'Special Magus Force'.
They were here now.
That group lined up perfectly in line as the leader of this force approached both Senior Inspector Shiraishi and the head of the JSDF. He also looked very muscular, a light-dark brown skin tone
All three of them saluted to each other but the disparity in the level of strength could be perceived.
"Sir. Can we have information on the layout of the mall?"
"Of course, we already set it up in the tent." Said the official for the JSDF.
A tent was quickly set up by the JSDF so as to strategize their moves and gather as much information on the situation as possible.
The three of them entered the tent as they all reviewed the blueprint of the mall, the location of the hostages and the terrorist judging by the firemen's statements.
"I get the gist of it. From where I see it, we are going to have to do it stealthily. It is highly probable that the terrorist has blocked the entrance so we need to find another way."
The sound of a helicopter hovering near their area did not interrupt the Magus Soldier's conclusion.
He continued, "Since they are that merciless with the hostages' lives, we need to strike them at once."
The other 2 agreed upon this plan.
"When are you planning to carry out this rescue mission?"
A question raised by the slightly worried Shiraishi.
"Not yet, because we don't know other factors about this terrorist group. The right time to strike would be a decisive moment so we need to be prepared completely."
"I understand."
They exited the tent after having any of their questions answered properly. Still, it was not guaranteed that this operation would be casualty free. The stress that all of the police and JSDF had lingered on their mind.
But the Special Magus Force is different. Those Magus Soldiers were standing still with no sign of tension that could affect their performance.
Shiraishi himself was impressed with this squad. Only the best can enter this force.
"W-What is that?"
Atsui, one of the police officers who came near Shiraishi, pointed out an oddity that caught his eyes. In the process, Shiraishi also directed his sight.
A pool of water was floating above the mall. More specifically, above the fire that was still not extinguished. It was just about 10 to 12 minutes that this raging blaze has not been put to an end. A slight decrease in intensity was noticed but other than that, there was no progress.
Everyone also noticed the big pool of water hovering over the fire. At once, that small ocean splashed on the violent flames.
The result?
The only things left were remnants of burnt garments, rubbles and the smoke that rose through the air. The firemen were happy and relieved at the consequence.
On their small celebration, a few firemen detected an individual who was standing near the extinguished rubbles.
The firemen were about to keep him out the site but that said individual turned around and walked quickly in the direction of the tent.
The onlookers were spectating that individual's action from start to end. And it was clear to them on who he was. He wore a blue mask and a blue attire that seemed futuristic.
He is a Hero.
The audience cheered for this person. The police too considered him to be one of those Heroes as he came near the officials that focused on him.
He did not appear to be so muscular but he still had a well-built body. His gait makes him look strong. A charismatic figure that walked to the tent where the 3 important people were assembled.
"Good morning gentlemen."
His deep voice transversed from his mask as he bowed slightly.
"Do you mind if I help?