The Hinomoto Rebellion (52 page)

A groan came from the
ronin
woman and the Daimyo. There was movement, and then Andrea sat up, pushing Yasakuto off of her. “What...?” she said, looking down at herself in search of a bullet wound. “Oh my god. Ran!”

She was quickly on her knees, pulling the Daimyo to lay on his back. The front of his shirt and jacket were quickly becoming saturated with blood from the gaping hole in his chest. He looked up at Andrea, his eyes dull and his smile weak.

“Idiot!” she yelled. “What did you do that for!?”

 

He just continued to stare up at the
ronin
. “I couldn’t... let you die...” he wheezed. “I love you, Andrea.”

 

She looked like she had been slapped across the face with a brick. “Ran... you moron,” the
ronin
whispered.

Ryoku snarled, aiming at Andrea again. He quickly pulled the trigger back on the gun, but was only rewarded with the hollow click of an empty pistol. “Dammit!” he cursed, angrily throwing the weapon at the floor. It bounced and clattered away from Ryoku.

Daimyo Yasakuto’s eyes rolled back in his head as his skin became pale. “Andrea... forgive me...”

 

She angrily shook her head. “How can I forgive you for all the death you’ve caused, Ran?”

 

“By remembering... that I loved you... I wanted to give you... everything...”

Andrea wrapped her fingers into his jacket and shook him. “You
took
everything from me! Now you’re taking away my closure! How dare you!” she screamed, her brows furrowed in fury.

“Look out...”
“What?”
“ Look out!”

Andrea turned to look over her shoulder just in time to see Ryoku rushing at her with his spear. She quickly dove to her right, rolling out of the way as the head of the spear disappeared into Daimyo Yasakuto’s chest. He gurgled, blood spilling out of his mouth as his eyes rolled back in his head. Ryoku pulled the spear out of Yasakuto’s chest and glared at Andrea. “Stop moving so I can kill you,” he snarled.

The Tiger watched Yasakuto’s lips move as he breathed his last, his body going limp on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

“You keep it, Ran. So you have me near you even when I’m training and can’t be with you.”
The memory hit Andrea so hard it almost made her black out. Her vision went red as she jumped up from the floor, her hand racing to her hip and unsheathing the katana so quickly she nearly broke the ancient saya. She rushed at Ryoku, screaming in rage.

He turned and ran from the room. “Follow me, Tiger!” he called over his shoulder, taunting the enraged
ronin
as she skidded out into the hallway.

“Find D!” Andrea shouted over her shoulder in the general direction of Roni and Fushicho as she pounded down the hall, her katana gripped firmly in her hand.

Outside of the Capitol building, medical personnel and a fresh team of police had been trying to sort out what had happened, and while most of the
ronin
and
Kemono
had slipped back off into the darkness after the battle was won, several still stayed, including 26 and Deuce. Both the
Kemono
were being checked by the paramedics while a young officer attempted to question them.

“Listen, I already told you...” 26’s words trailed off as two figures coming out of the building caught her eye. She watched as two men came hobbling out of the doorway. One was much larger than the other, although he was clearly being supported by the smaller man. 26’s green eyes widened as Deuce and the policeman both followed her gaze. “Kanjou!” she shouted, jumping to her feet and breaking into a run. The paramedic that had been bandaging her arm shouted a protest, but 26 didn’t listen. She nimbly leaped over fallen bodies and bits of rubble, the half-wrapped gauze on her arm fluttering after her.

Shogun Kunota’s eyes were wide in horror as the creature came running at him. He was trying to decide whether he should run back into the building or try to fight it off when Kanjou weakly raised his head. “It’s okay, Shogun,” he said, his voice hoarse, “She’s with me.”

26 flapped her wings and flew up the last flight of steps, landing on the opposite side of Kanjou from the Shogun. “Kanjou! My god, what happened to you!?” She quickly grabbed his arm and slung it around her shoulder, putting her arm around his back and helping to support him.

“It’s a long story,” Kanjou chuckled softly. “Hey, 26? You mind getting me to that nice paramedic over there? I’ll introduce you to the Shogun of Hinomoto if you do.”

26 laughed. “You’re such a goof sometimes. Come on, let’s go before you bleed to death and then Fushi blames me for it.”

The Shogun and the
Kemono
helped Kanjou walk over to the ambulance, where they handed him over to the capable hands of the technician. As soon as Kanjou and 26 were clear, a few cops that had gathered wedged themselves between Kunota and 26.

“Alright, stand back! Don’t worry, Shogun Kunota, we’ll make sure you’re safe.” one of the cops said as he reached for his gun.

26 didn’t have time for a retort before the Shogun had shoved his way through the cops and was standing beside her. “You’ll do no such thing, as I’ve given you no orders to do so.” he said, the sunlight glinting off his glasses.

“But sir... these
ochiudo
are criminals...”

“No, they’re not, actually,” he reached into the pocket of his tattered suit and pulled out the envelope containing the voting results from earlier. “
Former
Daimyo Ran Yasakuto blackmailed me into lying about the voting results. You can see here that the ban of Martial Arts has been lifted. As for any other charges these
ronin
may be facing, I’m pardoning them and anyone that worked with them right now. They all saved my life, and the lives of thousands.” He ignored the surprised stammering of the officers. “Now, if you will please get me a few reporters and the chief of police over here, I will explain what happened today– no, what has been happening for years.” The look in the Shogun’s eyes caused the police to scramble. He turned to 26.

“Now,” he said as he tugged at the bottom of his coat, straightening it despite the fact that it was horribly ruined from the day’s events, “if you will excuse my unintended rudeness earlier and please explain to me who you are,” he eyed Deuce with thinly veiled shock, “Okay, who all of you are, so I can explain it to the bloodsucking reporters that are about to show up, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Deuce and 26 exchanged glances, looked back to the Shogun, exchanged glances again, and then both let out a hearty laugh for a few moments before holding out their hands to the Shogun and introducing themselves.

D leaned heavily on an outstretched arm against the wall, gasping for air. He’d run through the halls in pursuit of Ryoku, but had lost him on the opposite side of the building from where he’d begun the chase. How his other half had managed to slip away D wasn’t sure, but now he was out of breath and tired.

As he leaned against the wall for support he tried to think. There was something wrong, it seemed. Something a little out of place. But what?

Then it hit him. It was quiet. The entire time he’d been running through the building he’d heard the sounds of distant battle. He searched his memory and found that he’d heard sirens a few minutes ago, and then the silence.
The fight must be over...

He leaned his back against the wall and wrangled his breath back under control.
Guess I’d better get headed back to where Andrea was.

Just as D turned to head back the way he came, he saw a small shape running down the hall toward him. He squinted and recognized the figure as Roni. Panic suddenly gripped at his heart. He ran forward a few steps just as Roni called his name.

He dropped to one knee to look her in the eye as she skidded to a stop in front of him. “Roni! What’s wrong? Where’s Andrea?”

The pig-tailed girl gasped a few times. “She’s fighting Ryoku! D! You have to go help her! Ryoku tried to kill her so that you’d come fight him and he killed Daimyo Yasakuto instead and Andrea ran after him!” The girl was babbling as she tried to get the most information to D in the shortest amount of time possible.

“Which way?” D said, his expression serious.

 

Roni pointed. D stood and stared down at her. “Roni, go back to the others. I’ll go find Andrea and Ryoku.”

 

“No! I want to come too!”

“No, Roni. This is my fight. I’ve been waiting for this for years. Go find the others and stay with them!” He took off down the hall, leaving Roni behind.

Chapter Nineteen Fighting an Angel

Andrea pushed through a door marked “Roof Access” and pounded up the stairs. As she approached the top she could hear thunder from outside, and saw a flash of lightning through the open door. Just as she ran out onto the roof, the sky that had been steadily graying all day suddenly opened up with a shower of rain.

The
ronin
turned to her right just in time to see a fist coming toward her face. She quickly jerked her head back to try to avoid the blow, but all she accomplished was getting her jaw punched instead of her nose. She tumbled backwards across the soaked roof as colors exploded in her head and her jaw rang with pain.

Andrea found herself looking up into the gray sky with water dripping into her eyes and rolling down her face. Ryoku suddenly leaped into her line of sight, a spear brandished in front of him to stab her. Andrea quickly kicked her legs up, rolling her hips above her head and spinning out of Ryoku’s reach on her knees. She was up on her feet, her hands going to her sword as she leaped toward the blackhaired man with the dark wings. She yanked the katana from its sheath while she was at face-level with him, causing the end of the tsuba to smash into his forehead, sending him careening back as Andrea landed in a crouch and slashed the sword the rest of the way out, missing Ryoku’s legs by mere centimeters.

Blood trickled down the exposed half of Ryoku’s face, running into his piercing green eye as he steadied himself and pulled his spear up to hip level. Andrea narrowed her eyes at him as she stood, moving her free hand to sit behind its mate on her sword handle. They glared at each other for a moment, their muscles tightening in anticipation. Rain sluiced down over Shibasaki, making the two fighter’s clothes stick to their bodies as it washed away blood and dust, causing little pools of pink to form at their feet.

Lightning flashed through the sky, catching Andrea’s gaze for a second. Ryoku saw her eyes twitch to the left for that instant, and he leaped forward. She looked back just in time to get her sword up and slash at the spear, embedding her blade into the wooden handle as she parried the shot. Ryoku yanked his spear back, causing a few wood splinters to separate from the handle as the katana was ripped from it. He quickly adjusted his grip and jabbed, aiming for Andrea’s belt knot.

The silver-haired girl side-stepped, her wet sneakers squishing on the roof as she kicked up sprays of water. She knocked the spear to the side with the flat of her blade before slashing upwards, catching him in his left shoulder with the razor point of her sword. Ryoku let out a scream and stepped back, lashing out with the spear to make Andrea retreat. Crimson seeped out onto his jeans jacket as he glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes.