"Once upon a time, a City Mouse went on a visit to his cousin, the Country Mouse. The Country Mouse welcomed him as best as he could with beans, bacon, cheese and bread. It was not much, but he offered them freely. The City Mouse turned up his nose at the food and said 'Come with me to the city and I will show you how to live. When you have been in the city for a week, you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life.' The two mice set off for the city and when they arrived, they found the remains of a fine feast and dined on jellies, cakes, and all that was nice. But it was then that two huge dogs suddenly entered the hall, their noses having smelled their rodent blood. The two mice, scuppered, scampered down and ran off. 'Goodbye, Cousin.' said the Country Mouse as he left for the country. 'Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.'"
"Cool story." Klara replies in broken Japanese before continuing to eat her ramen. The first bowl she's ever had in her life. It has a fascinating flavor. Salty, savory, rich with umami. 'Miso', it's called, apparently.
"Which would you rather be?" A girl wearing thin-rimmed glasses looks at her curiously.
Klara stares at her face for a moment. "I suppose I would rather be the country mouse."
"And yet here you are, risking life and limb in Tokyo for a chance at living a better life over living in squalor in Ozawa."
"...I suppose you're right."
"And who do you think the dogs would be?"
"Rogue magical girls, I suppose."
"Has it ever occurred to you that to the rogue magical girls, we're the dogs?" The bespectacled girl toys with one of her two braids. "And to them, they're the city mice risking life and limb for a chance at living a better life?"
"..."
The girl extends a hand towards Klara. "My name's Kirika Namatame, I'm your new partner. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yeah. Pleasure." Klara shakes her hand as she sits down in the chair next to her. "I'd offer to buy you dinner but I'm flat broke at the moment."
"Budget cuts?"
"Yeah."
"Same here." As if on cue, Kirika's stomach grumbles.
"...You can't have any." Klara pulls the half-empty bowl towards her chest.
"O… okay." Tears well up in Kirika's eyes.
"Are you… Crying?"
"N-no! Shut up!" Kirika wipes her tears on her sleeve. "I'm sensitive, alright?"
"Whatever you say, crybaby." Klara rolls her eyes before finishing her ramen. "The name's Klara Anatolyovna Volkova by the way. It's a mouthful so just call me Klara."
"If you insist, Miss Klara." Kirika blows her nose on some tissues. The sound echoes through the nearly empty ramen shop. The only ones here are the two I-C's and the person who runs this place. "How long have you been an active I-C for?"
"Six months."
"Ha. Seven months for me. That makes me your senior."
"You can keep the cute title." Klara shrugs before finishing the rest of her meal. "It's not like you're getting paid any more than I am."
"Give it a month or two and we might all be getting paid more."
"Oh?"
"New hire. They call her a genius. She's on a fast track to becoming an ICMG Major. Rumors are that she's going to be taking over management of the Tokyo Department as The Lady of Tokyo." Kirika rubs her index finger and thumb together. "Which means big money for all of us city mice. And just between you and me… I think she's kind of cute."
"You planning on marrying your boss?"
"Oh God no. Just getting her to step on me is enough for me."
"You're really just… hm…" Klara squints at Kirika, trying to get a gauge for what's going on inside that head of hers. "You're a strange one."
"Yeah. I get that a lot."
"Once upon a time, a City Mouse went on a visit to his cousin, the Country Mouse. The Country Mouse welcomed him as best as he could with beans, bacon, cheese and bread. It was not much, but he offered them freely. The City Mouse turned up his nose at the food and said 'Come with me to the city and I will show you how to live. When you have been in the city for a week, you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life.' The two mice set off for the city and when they arrived, they found the remains of a fine feast and dined on jellies, cakes, and all that was nice. But it was then that two huge dogs suddenly entered the hall, their noses having smelled their rodent blood. The two mice, scuppered, scampered down and ran off. 'Goodbye, Cousin.' said the Country Mouse as he left for the country. 'Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.'" Kirika claps her hands together. "Which would you rather be?"
"The dogs." Oe answers without hesitation.
"Good answer. Our mission for today is scorched earth. Eliminate both the country mice as well as the city mice, even if they run to the country." Kirika raises her hand. "Spread out. Hunt down the enemy and execute them with impunity. Spread out so they don't smell you."
"Let's spread out. If we all stick together, they'll smell us and we're as good as dead." Klara rolls her shoulders. "Judging by how I can't smell any single source, they're also spread out. Our best bet is to try and catch them one-on-one. Hit them as fast as you can before they can regroup."
"Yes, ma'am." Oka and Iko salute Klara.
"Sure, I guess." Valeriya gives her a cross-armed shrug.
"And if you get overwhelmed or you manage to kill your enemy, retreat back to the dojo. That way we can find each other easily." She claps her hands together. "Worse comes to worst, I'll see you ladies in hell."
Kirika walks along the stone path cutting through the bamboo forest with a furious gait. Her temperament is split. On the one hand, it's a sin to even doubt her master. But on the other, how could she have chosen to bestow that girl with the ultimate blessing when she was far more deserving? Perhaps her understanding is skewed? Yes, yes, surely that is the issue. Surely, an even greater reward awaits her success today. Though, there is the problem of succeeding in the first place. Her doubts are not born from her insecurity of her own skills, but rather out of respect for the woman standing in front of her.
"It's so like you to take the main path." Klara stares at Kirika's face for a moment. "Always supremely confident, aren't we?"
"You say that and yet here you are, taking the same path." Kirika toys with one of her braids. "You never know when to quit, do you, City mouse?"
"You're the one who stood and did nothing as innocents were sacrificed."
"Through the master's grace, I have ascended beyond a mouse." Kirika snaps at Klara. "Those 'innocents' were volunteers."
"They were indoctrinated, city mice who knew nothing more than to serve the lady of Tokyo."
"And you betrayed us. How many of your former comrades have you killed now? Three?"
"Four. Going five."
The two start to flex their fingers, ready to snapcast. Compared to their duel from before, they're not just comparing their strengths anymore. All there is is a sheer urge to do battle. The two stand there, silent, suspended in that calm that always precedes extreme violence. Then, without another word, the spark of bloodlust ignites into an inferno. A magic circle spreads outwards from Kirika's feet while a vortex of pure pink and blue flame coalesces in Klara's hand.
"JUST TRY AND TOUCH ME!" Kirika jabs a finger crackling with black lightning at Klara. "LET ME SHOW YOU THE POWER OF A DOG OF WAR!"
"I didn't expect to stumble across two of you." Iko pinches her chin as she stares at the two girls standing on the bamboo trees high above. Checking the scents floating through the air, the exact same smell radiates from both of them.
"We are under orders to allow you one chance to surrender." The masked red-haired girl draws her blade and points it downwards at her. Iko remembers her only as the girl she and Klara were sent to protect.
"Otherwise, we are authorized to use lethal force." The significantly shorter blue-haired girl next to her draws her rapiers. Blue cinders lick the tip of her swords.
"Sorry, but I intend to see my family again." She takes her anger and turns it into power. The greater her hatred, the more it is amplified. The more power she accumulates, the more her reason is eroded. The sound of snarling fills her ears. It takes her a moment to realize that she's the one snarling. Eventually, the ability to form coherent sentences escapes her. "Grghhhh…"
"Then we will grant you death." Red lands on the ground, her knees buckling slightly to accommodate her weight. She sweeps her sword around her at just shy the speed of sound, cutting down a swathe of bamboo trees and forming a clearing– an impromptu battleground.
"It shall be swift." Blue remains on the top of the bamboo trees.
"Grrgh… GRRGH–! GRAAAAAAAAAGH–!!!" Iko explodes into action, moving so fast that she disappears.
Red's eyes go wide. Not because she's surprised, but because that's how wide she has to open her eyes for her peripheral vision to catch sight of the beast. There is only the tiniest blur of a shadow above her before a kick descends onto her head. She just barely manages to raise her sheathe upwards in a desperate bid to defend herself. Though her strength is unbreakable, her defense is not. It shatters into a thousand fragments. But it bought her an inch of space.
She jumps back, it's just enough to dodge her strike. For an instant, she believes herself to be safe. Only to be immediately disproven as the beast disappears once more. She blinks in and out of sight, reappearing and disappearing all around Red. Her eyes flash left and right, robotically tracking her movements. Her brain works at full capacity to catch up with her. As much as the human brain tries, it can never be truly random. With a deep enough analysis, a pattern always emerges. In the next instant, the beast will reappear… there!
Red whirls around, stabbing her sword at the exact area she predicted her to reappear. Sure enough, the beast is precisely where she predicted, but what she didn't anticipate is her sheer toughness. Her sword only pierces her flesh an inch before coming to a complete halt. It grinds furiously against bone. The strength of that strike should have been enough to pierce a mountain, and yet all it earns her is a pathetic flesh wound. The beast raises an arm before bringing it down onto Red's blade, snapping it in half. The most Red can muster is a swift kick to the beast's abdomen, and even that feels like she's placing her leg directly in front of a bullet train. The two skid in opposite directions, their feet kicking up dust.
"What's wrong?" Blue asks Red, her voice barely above a whisper but her words reach Red's ears nonetheless.
"I need a new sword." She throws the shattered blade aside and catches the rapier Blue throws at her. "This will suffice."
"GRAGH–!" The beast, hunched over from sheer rage, roars at the two girls but they do not so much as flinch.
Red places her hand on her mask and begins to pry it from her face.
"We were instructed not to reveal our true abilities unless in sufficiently unfavorable circumstances–" Blue begins to protest.
"I deem the current circumstances sufficiently unfavorable." As Red undoes her mask her hair begins to turn black from scalp to tip and her skin turns from flush to deathly pale. She stops just shy of taking her mask off. "Do you think I'm pretty?"
"Grrgh…?" The beast tilts its head, confused, but Red does not need her to answer, she instead peers into her heart and reveals that she does deem her to be beautiful.
"How about now?" She rips off the mask with a flourish, revealing that her mouth has been slit from ear-to-ear and stitched back together.
「Kasai Ryusei」- Slit-Mouthed Sister
The instant the answer within the beast's heart reveals itself to be 'no,' her fate is sealed. That beast will most definitely die. Fate has folded in on itself to make it so. Regardless if she runs, fights, or gives up, she will most definitely be bisected. A wave of bloodlust radiates from Red. Helplessness overtakes the beast's anger for just the smallest of instants. Then her anger gets the best of her and she blazes headlong. She disappears from sight.
"Foolishness." But the instant she reappears, Red's blade is already waiting for her. She draws a line across her stomach.
"You hear that?" Oe cups her hand to her ear and listens to the sounds of battle erupting in the forest of death. "Sounds like the others are having fun." She turns towards Oka, the chainsaws sticking out of her arm starting to rev, thirsty for blood.
"Please. Have a seat." Oka gestures to the table in the middle of the dojo. "Have some tea with me."
"Agh, you're no fun." Oe sighs but relents. She sits cross-legged across Oka, who begins pouring tea into two teacups. "Fine, I'll at least hear you out. I did kill your sister, after all."
"..." Oka freezes but brushes off the comment like dust on her lapel.
"I suppose hearing you out is the least I can do after what I did."
"I have just one thing to ask." Oka cradles her fingers. "Why?"
"She was an enemy. Simple as that." Oe crosses her arms. "The strong thrive, the weak die."
"You seek power for the sake of power?"
"Is there a more pure pursuit? I don't seek vengeance, I don't seek righteousness, I don't seek luxury. No, my intentions are far more noble, immune to defilement or abuse. I simply wish to hold all the world's glory in my hand, knowing full well I could crush it and yet, choose not to." Oe grins wickedly. "From someone who saw the world from the very bottom, I simply wish to see the world from its very top."
"What is it you think you're going to find there?"
"Absolutely nothing." Oe waves away the notion. "Nobody will ever disturb my peace ever again."
"Hm." Oka forms a claw with her fingers and runs them down her chin. "Kirika said you all were altered. What did she mean?"
"Their brains were rewired and their free wills overwritten to serve the Lady of Tokyo. Right now, they're no better than robots."
"'They're?'"
Oe spreads her arms. "I'm the same ol' me I've always been."
"I see." Oka grips her teacup tightly. "So you made the conscious choice to kill my sister?"
"If it makes you feel any better, it's not as though I enjoyed it. Nor did I particularly hate it. I just… did it." Oe nods. "It was no different from a leaf falling from a tree. It was just what had to happen."
"Would you say the same if I raised my hand against you?" Oka stares at Oe from behind her thin-rimmed glasses. The glare of the sun on her glasses hide her eyes.
"Of course. I wouldn't blame you for killing me, it's only fair. Though, not that you would know anything about fairness."
"What do you mean?"
"I know what the Kuze Clan, you so-called 'protectors of the peace', have really been up to. I know that the status quo you benefit from so much needs some… sacrifices to be maintained. Like how hell needs devils, Ozawa city needs the long arm of the Kuze Clan." She points at Oka. "Ozawa city needs people like you and your sister."
"You're… right." Oka gazes into the leftover leaves in her teacup.
"Oh?"
"The Ozawa city I know needs killers to thrive… But I've finally realized that I can't run from my sins. And neither can Ozawa." Oka stands up to her full, imposing height. "Nobody needs killers like me. Nobody needs a phony peace like that. That's why… That's why…!" Oka clenches her fist so tightly that her nails pierce her palm. "I've finally decided, I won't give up on fighting to make things right. The old Oka is dead."
"Is that so?" Oe stands up as well, her smile slowly disappearing. Soft clicking noises begin to emit from within her. "You know… I really really really hate your type. The type who thinks they can get away with a slap on the wrist because they cried about it and 'tried their best.' I really really hate that kind of thinking."
"I know that what I've done can't ever be forgiven. But as long as I can say that I did my best to make things right, I can at least go to hell with a smile on my face."
"So you're just admitting you're doing this for your own self-satisfaction?"
"I won't deny that. I've always fought for something I believed to be higher than myself. For the first time in my life, I'm selfishly taking a stand for something that I believe in. Is that so wrong?"
"Don't be ridiculous." A chainsaw blade bursts from Oe's arm. "Whether you're smiling like you are or laughing like I am, we're both on the highway to hell."
"The only one who can laugh in the face of hell is the devil himself." Oka cracks her knuckles. "At the very least, even if I am a monster, I refuse to degenerate into a devil."
"And that's why you'll never be at peace with yourself."
"I've made peace with that resolution." Letter openers slip out from within Oka's sleeves before landing between her fingers. "You know… at first, I made up my mind to not kill you. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like Daisuko would want me to take revenge for her sake. I think… just this once… I feel like listening to my older sister."
"Come and try, bitchass!" Oe tries to slice her chainsaw across Oka's chest but it's deflected with a quick swipe of Oka's letter openers. Her arm goes wild.
Oe takes a step back, the smallest hint of frustration on her face. Though, she quickly shrugs it off with a self-satisfied smirk. "Ahhh shit… you're not half bad."
"When it comes to speed, I won't lose." Oka clenches the letter openers between her fingers even more tightly.
"Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing." Oe flexes her chainsaw blades. Their ominous revving fills the otherwise empty air. "Shall we compare the strength of our rush attacks?"
"Bring it."
Oe and Oka both disappear from view, moving at speeds human eyes could not hope to match. There is a fragile instant of silence that is immediately shattered by the sound of metal clashing against metal. Sparks appear out of seemingly nowhere. In the next instant, Oe and Oka both reappear, having seemingly switched places. Blood and oil trickle onto the ground.
Oka clutches her left arm. It's nearly been completely severed from her body. And yet it stubbornly hangs on to her shoulder by a single uncut ligament.
"You protected yourself with one hand and attacked me with the other." Oe's right arm falls to the floor, cut into a thousand slices. Its stray parts writhe, trying to make itself whole again. "Though I bet you didn't expect me to go for the arm, did you?"
"I took a calculated risk." Oka severs the last connection between herself and her left arm. It's just dead weight at this point.
"Let's see if it pays off." Oe lowers herself, as though she were a swordswoman drawing her sword. "Ready?"
Oka kneels like a sprinter at the starting line– instants from breaking the speed of sound. She nods. "Come at me, Oe."
Those words are the gunshot that begins the test of speed. They both disappear from sight before reappearing once again, having swapped places.
Oka's breathing is labored. Hemorrhage flows from the stump where her right arm used to be onto the floor. She needs to close this out. Now.
"Seems like we're both out of options." Oe smiles in spite of the fact that her other arm has been reduced to stray bits of flesh. Or rather, stray bits of scrap, masked by a glamor to look like flesh. "Unfortunately for you, it only seems that way for me." A chainsaw blade bursts from Oe's forehead.
"Speak for yourself." A letter opener manifests between Oka's teeth. "I'm not done just yet."
"I like that spirit." Oe's eyes widen. "I can't wait to crush it–!"
Once again, the two disappear as they surpass the speed of sight. There's an instant of silence that's immediately broken by the sound of rushing air. The two reappear, having switched places once more. Oka has to kneel at an awkward angle because of the letter opener protruding from the sole of her shoe. It's a simple bait and switch. Present an obvious attack angle before subverting it.
"Dammit…" Oka has a smile on her face as she speaks. "I really… thought that… would work." A red line appears along her legs as they detach from her body. She falls to the ground, completely dismembered but still alive.
"Did you really think I'd fall for that trick?" Oe cracks her neck before picking up both of her reformed arms and slotting them back into her shoulders.. "You must be even more naive than you seem."
"Maybe… so." Oka feels her strength leaving her body, but in spite of that, she forces her eyes to swivel to look at Oe as she approaches.
"Take what solace you can knowing I'm going to kill you the same way I killed your sister." She raises her leg, prompting a chainsaw to burst through the sole of her foot. "Goodbye, Oka. I'd say it was nice knowing you but it wasn't."
Oka grits her teeth, trying not to think about the electric pains running through the limbs she no longer has. Well, she tried her best. In spite of everything, she isn't too upset at this outcome. At the very least, win or lose, she can greet Daisuko in hell with a smile.
She hears her sister's footsteps. There's no doubt about it. That slow self-assured style of walking is definitely Daisuko approaching with a smile on her face. From Oka's perspective, it's a near-death hallucination. From Oe's perspective, it's an opportunity to satisfy her sadism.
"Ah, perfect timing." Oe smacks Daisuko upside the head. "I was just about to finish off your sister."
Daisuko looks at Oka with a distant, calculated, dissecting gaze.
"Though, now that you're here…" Oe leans in and whispers into the woman's ear. "Why don't you do it yourself?"
Without missing a beat, Daisuko raises her handgun and points it at Oka's head.
「Daisuko Kuze」- The Deathless