Emerald pov
" Will you stop looking at me like that my pink mouse . I rested , as I promised you . Now all is well with me . I am well slept and nothing hurts me . "
Said Kurumi putting the red two card on the pile of cards . Neo continued looking at Kurumi and squinted her mismatched eyes . Despite the displeasure written on her face , Neo silently laid out her red four card .
" You know very well that it's not that I don't trust you with this task . It's just that this task is really specific . Only by cooperating all together we can have a 100% success rate without any risk . Besides , there are things we can only do with my clones and shadow manipulation . "
Said Kurumi , while I meanwhile put out my plus two card , causing Kurumi to stop talking to Neo for a moment and look at me . Looking into my eyes , Kurumi smiled while laying out her plus two forcing Neo to draw four cards . Or at least it should be , because Neo laid down another plus two , forcing me to draw as many as six cards .
' Fuck '.
I think , pulling six cards from the other pile . My hope of forcing others to draw cards ended in my failure , now it is me who must draw . My misfortune caused both Neo and Kurumi to get that , shit-eating grin on their faces , with which they continued their conversation .
" The task came urgently so we did not have time to gather more accurate information . We only have old plans of the building . So when the target gets into the building we will have to look for him there , which means for us that we will have to poke around the interior of the building . And that will increase the risk of our detection ."
Said Kurumi tapping with her finger on the photo of our target , which is lying next to her crossed legs .
" And speaking of our target ... "
Said Kurumi turning her head to the edge of the roof on which we sit . Putting down her two remaining cards , which turned out to be just a plus two and plus four cards . Kurumi gets up from her place on the roof and slowly approaches the edge . Neo follows right behind her leaving me with the responsibility of collecting the cards .
" My clone just saw our target entering the building through the main entrance . He entered together with six of his men , four of his men remained outside with their cars . Unfortunately the clone couldn't enter his shadow unnoticed so we have to find him inside ourselves . "
Said Kurumi walking towards the fire stairs . As she walked , the hem of her black gothic style dress , blew in the wind along with her black hair .
' She really looks good in black ' .
I think , looking at how her beautiful red eyestand out in black . Of course Neo was no worse when it came to her appearance . White tight pants , brown non-tight corset and pink shirt . Everything matched perfectly in her color scheme . With an open umbrella resting on her shoulder , she walked down the stairs in perfect balance despite the fact that she wore those black and white high shoes with low heels .
Who wears such shoes for possible fight or flight ?! While the sheer balance required to walk in them should not be such a big problem for any of us. After all, we are practicing our balance . Unfortunately, the problem is the possibility of twisting an ankle due to poor foot placement and the strength of the heels themselves . They could break during a fight or run , leaving Neo without shoes .
Admittedly , these are low and thick heels which makes it maybe not so delicate or dangerous . Also , they are low and thick enough that they probably make no difference to her as to the balance . But still , not only does it look odd on someone as young as Neo , it looks even worse just in the context of a fight where stumbling at the wrong moment can result in death . Even Kurumi despite wearing a dress , which also doesn't seem like the best choice for such tasks , at least is wearing high military boots that provide ankle stability and protection .
' But it's not that I don't see the reasons as well as the advantages of what Neo did .'
I think , looking at Neo's now at least three centimeters taller figure . It may not seem like much , and yet standing in front of Kurumi , Neo has to look down to look into her eyes . And adding to that , Neo's characteristically shit-eating grin and mocking look . Let's just say that this already strange tension between them becomes thick as concrete .
' Maybe I should also start wearing shoes with high heels ? '
I think , knowing that I am already the highest in our group anyway . However , I do not know for how long it will remain like that . But that's not important , what's important is the idea of standing in front of them both and being tall enough that they both have to look up .
' I have always heard that girls like tall boys ? Well if a girl likes a girl , do they still like tall girls ? '
Thinking about this useless question , I follow Kurumi and Neo to the rusty fire stairs . Despite their creaking , neither of us is concerned about it . Even if they collapse , so what ? I doubt that any of us will get hurt because of it . We already have our ways to soften the falls . As for the noise that might draw attention to us ?
Nothing like that will happen . In this city , on such forgotten street , things fall apart all the time . No one will be alarmed by the collapse of the stairs of a building two streets away from our destination. People will hear the noise but at most , someone will come to see what collapsed .
' We would no longer be here by that time of course, so who cares ? '
I think , jumping off the last platform of the fire stairs , where the ladder has long since falle off . The three of us move through the alleys already under the cover of the Neo illusion . Our only concern now is to avoid puddles , mud and any other crap that may leave footprints . Besides we try not to make any sounds .
Which again must be difficult for Neo , who has decided to wear her low heels . But I say no more and try not to laugh looking at the awkwardness of Neo , who walks with extreme caution .
' If you're stupid then suffer . Next time you will think to wear other shoes or do something to mute the current ones . '
I think , remembering how I put cotton wool in my own shoes . It's not great however it works to some extent so I stick to it . Kurumi also apparently has her own ways because although her shoes don't seem great for the task either , they are quite quiet .
After our momentary walk , we arrive at the street in front of the club . Although it should be abandoned , there are several expensive cars in front , with a few people talking near them . It is obvious that these are not random passersby . None of them looks like that and besides this , the whole street , as well as several others around it is strangely empty .
However, not paying attention to this , we go to the alley behind the building . There in addition to the dirt , trash and rats we find , a steel door with a sliding peephole . This door according to the building plans was to be our entry point . But before we use it , Kurumi will make sure that the way is clear for us . After all , we do not want to go inside and immediately get caught like some idiots .
To prevent this , Kurumi walks directly up to the door and lets her shadow penetrate inside through the crack under the door . Normally nothing would get in there that way , after all , even though it's just a steel door on the back entrance of the club , it's still a door so it has a normal seal to block heat loss . This means that the door gap is very minimal . However , the shadows lying flat also do not have their physical thickness .
This means that no matter how tiny the gap , as long as ther is clearance , Kurumi's shadow will slip in there without a problem . With her eye closed Kurumi is silent for a moment , then she opens her single red eye uncovered by the eye patch , and whispers in my ear .
" One person right at the door . "
Whispers Kurumi in her soft voice . Her breath irritates my skin and ear , however it no longer affects me . So is the proximity of her face and gentle scent . After so much time living with them , my heart , weak to both of them , has already become accustomed to this kind of thing . Therefore , continuing to be focused on the current task , I close my eyes and try to sense the mind of the person Kurumi is talking about .
And well I detected him without any problem . Then I modify the sensory information in his head while his brain is processing it and done . Now we can easily go inside unnoticed , even though we will open the door right next to him . I signaled my readiness to Kurumi by nodding my head to her .
Kurumi answering did the same to me , showing me that she understands . Then Kurumi looked at Neo , who also showed her readiness . Now with everyone prepared , Kurumi probably with the help of shadowy hands emerging from the shadows penetrating under the door , began to open the door locks .
The lack of commotion on the other side of the door made it clear to me that my hallucination was working well which relaxed me a little . Of course not so much that I would let go too much of my control over the senses of the guy outside the door . If I did he might notice that something is wrong . This also unfortunately shows the imperfections of my semblance .
Unlike Neo I have to control the hallucinations of the people I control all the time . I can't like Neo put up a physical illusion and just go do something else . No , I have to focus all the time on the mind of the person I control . This also limits me to controlling a maximum of one person at a time . But unlike Neo my hallucinations will not be shattered by a random poke . When I have someone in my control , breaking out will be impossible . Well as long as no one gets in my way and destroy my concentration.
After opening the door , which opened inward . We go inside cautiously and slowly because of my focus on maintaining control . Then we gather in front of a deer faunus in a white T-shirt , which I keep my senses under control . Neo immediately closes the door and leaves it as we found it . After becoming invisible again thanks to Neo , I stop using my semblance .
The guy did not even notice the loss of his senses . He continued to stand leaning against the wall like some fool . That is , completely as expected . Wasting no time and thus Neo's aura , as she must hold the illusion , we move slowly and as quietly as possible so as not to betray our presence . Kurumi remembers the plan of the place by heart , so we do not waste time visiting the kitchen or warehouse .
We will visit the more likely places first . Places like the VIP rooms or the main office of the club . The corridors themselves were quite quiet , so we had be especially careful to watch out for our footsteps . If we put our feet wrong , we could be heard. But fortunately, the corridors were empty. The first sounds associated with human presence were the moment when we bypassed the staff toilets . And well based on the sounds from inside we don't want to know or smell what is going on there .