There's the sound of air rapidly being displaced, followed by the clack of dress shoes hitting pavement. The I-C crosses the street towards the alleyway. Daisuko stands up to greet her. "Good afternoon, officer. How can we help you?"
"My name is officer Ryukko Saoka. Are you two responsible for this?"
「Ryukko Saoka」- ICMG Officer.
"For what, officer?"
"For all this." She gestures in the general direction of the massacre.
"You misunderstand." Daisuko holds up a wad of bills and stuffs it into Ryukko's pocket. "For what, officer?"
"..." The I-C adjusts her sunglasses.
"Oh, oh, oh, what's this?" Daisuko reaches behind Ryukko's ear and seemingly conjures another wad of bills out of nowhere. She stuffs it into her other pocket. "Huh, where'd that come from?"
"..."
"You're really bleeding me dry here, man." Daisuko raises both her hands, shows that they're empty, makes a 'flicking' motion with her right hand and suddenly, another wad of bills appears. She stuffs it into Ryukko's pocket, with the others.
"...have a good day, ladies." Ryukko gives them both a curt nod before walking away.
"You too, officer." She gives Ryukko a pat on the shoulder as she leaves. Neither Daisuko nor Shosuko dare move an inch until the I-C is out of earshot.
"Yeesh." Daisuko spits on the ground. "When'd the I-C's in this city get so picky?"
Shosuko coughs. "This could all have been avoided if you didn't go on a killing spree in the first place."
"Let's not forget that you're the newbie here, Shosuko. And besides..." Daisuko takes out three wads of cash out of her pocket. "We didn't lose anything."
"How did you–"
"I've been wanting to try out that Ninjutsu Oka taught me."
「Ninjutsu」- Assassin Techniques. In spite of the intimidating name, Ninjutsu is just a colloquial term to refer to any Jutsu specialized in Subterfuge. Typically, most Ninjutsu are too niche to be of any use to the average magical girl, but some choose to learn a few just in case. There are a few magical girls that even specialize in Ninjutsu, though such cases are exceedingly rare and their services are typically unneeded. Use of ninjutsu can be used subtly, not even requiring an incantation.
"Ninjutsu - Substitution." Daisuko smirks as she explains "A technique that lets me swap two objects at a close range. I swapped out the cash for some loose change I had in my pocket."
"Disgusting." Shosuko turns her nose up at Daisuko's use of Ninjutsu. Some girls like Shosuko shun Ninjutsu entirely, considering it to be dishonorable.
"Hey, you do whatever you have to to get ahead in these streets." Daisuko dusts herself off and starts walking back to the car. "You wanna try driving?"
"I have a motorcycle but I've never driven a car before."
"Basically the same thing. Give it a try."
"Fine, fine." Shosuko gets in the driver's seat and Daisuko in the front seat.
"Hey!" Ryukko's voice echoes in the distance. There's the sound of footsteps getting closer.
"FLOOR IT, SHOSUKO! I JUST GAVE THAT BITCH 6 YEN!"
"What?! How do I even–"
"THE RIGHT PEDAL!"
"Okay! Okay!" Shosuko slams her foot down and the car swerves into gear.
"Drive, Shosuko, Drive!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?!"
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"I think that went rather well."
"Ugh…" Shosuko groans as she crawls out of the car crash. The once proud Chevrolet Impala has been reduced to little more than scrap metal, smashed against a telephone pole. "Did we lose her?"
"Yeah…" Daisuko cranes her neck all around to check for any sign of Ryukko. "I think we're in the clear."
"Great." Shosuko's pretty sure she drove pretty damn badly, even for a first-timer. She'll stick to motorcycles. "Sorry about the car."
"No sweat. It was my third favorite anyway." Daisuko looks up at the setting sun disappearing over the horizon. "It's getting kind of late. Why don't we get some dinner? My treat."
"Are we out of Umi Alliance territory?"
"Nope. But I'm starving." As if on cue, Daisuko's stomach starts to growl. "Plus, it's as much of a power move as it gets, eating in your sworn enemy's home."
"We should get out of here. Preferably before a real threat knows where we are."
"Sure, right after dinner."
"You're not even listening, are you?"
Daisuko, still a little dizzy from Shosuko's sub-beginner level driving, stumbles into a nearby family diner. Shosuko follows close behind. The staff turn and stare as they walk in. Makes sense, they both look like they just walked away from a car crash, mostly because they literally just walked away from a car crash, but also because it's been a pretty long day. The stall cushions feel like heaven on Shosuko's spine as she sits. Daisuko waves a waiter over as she lowers herself onto her seat.
"The Kid's Plate, please. And don't forget the toy."
"A cola and two Over-The-Moon Burgers with extra sauce. If the sauce costs extra, it's fine." Shosuko nods her head towards Daisuko. "She'll cover it."
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"Oh you've gotta be kidding me." Daisuko throws her hands into the air.
"They forgot the toy?" Shosuko raises an eyebrow as she takes a bite from her burger. Mushrooms, bacon, gravy and melted cheese spread themselves on her tongue.
"Yep!" Daisuko stands up. "I'm going to go talk to management."
"Just ask the cashier for a toy."
"No, I have to make sure this injustice never happens again. To me or to anyone else." Daisuko has a determined expression on her face as she pulls out her handgun from her coat. "It's the right thing to do."
"Put that thing away, there are kids here." At this point, Shosuko's not even surprised. After spending a day with Daisuko, she's concluded that there's really nothing she can do but roll with whatever Daisuko does.
"Oh yeah." Daisuko puts away the gun and takes out a bowie knife the size of Shosuko's forearm.
Shosuko sighs. "Good enough, I guess."
"Wait here. I'll be back." Daisuko promptly leaves to do god-knows-what. Leaving Shosuko plenty of time to enjoy her burgers.
It's getting dark out. But not quite dark enough for the streetlights to be on. If Shosuko had a watch, she'd check it. How long has it been? Twelve hours since she's got mixed into this mess? Less? More? Either way, she's exhausted, thoroughly and absolutely. When she closes her eyes, she can still see those girls, smoking and laughing. Then Daisuko gunned them down, like they were blades of grass being blown away in the wind. Just like that. And Shosuko only watched. She did nothing to stop it. The world of yakuza… it's not like how she hoped it would be. She can't tell who's prey and who's predator here. It's a dirty world. So very dirty.
"Shosuko Kuze?" A young-sounding voice calls out to her.
Shosuko sighs. More trouble. Whatever, might as well get it over with. "Yeah?"
"Yuki Ryusei, of the Umi Alliance"
「Yuki Ryusei」- Umi Alliance Lieutenant A small girl no older than fifteen or sixteen. She has bright blue eyes and blue hair that wears in two voluminous pigtails. It's as though she just got off school, based on her prim and proper black blazer.
"I don't suppose you're here for a delicious Over-The-Moon burger?"
"No."
"Then let's get this over with." Shosuko cracks her knuckles and starts to stand.
"I'm only here to talk."
"I don't want to hear it."
"The Umi Alliance knows the Kuze Clan has no intentions of killing you."
Shosuko takes a sip from her cola. "How'd you figure that one out?"
"We knew from the beginning. It just isn't in the Kuze blood to kill one of their own." Yuki places her hand on the table. "In other words, The Batter's coming for you herself."
Shosuko takes another bite of her burger. "That all?"
"..." Yuki stares at her for a long, long time, trying to get a gauge for what's going on inside Shosuko's head. She sighs, gets up, and turns away. "Yes. That's all."
"Thanks." Shosuko takes another swig of her cola.
"Good luck." Yuki leaves with those words hanging in the air. Chimes jingle as the door opens and shuts. Shosuko wipes her mouth on the table napkins, because she's a lady, before moving on to her second burger.
"Based on how you haven't killed me yet, I'm going to assume that you're at least letting me finish my dinner?"
"..."
Shosuko can't see her, but she can smell Jutsu-laden blood coming from behind her. This particular scent smells of slightly burned leather and popcorn. There's no one else it can be. No one but The Batter. She hears her breathing in the stall behind her.
"So…" The Batter's low voice rumbles through Shosuko's bones. "You're the one who killed Shiki."