An Unlucky mistake
Sept 15, 2016 19:12:31 GMT -5
Post by Fujiko Mine on Sept 15, 2016 19:12:31 GMT -5
Forgive me if I find myself distracted.
I am preparing to face off against the Usual Suspects, the men who have stolen the tag team championships from their rightful owners…
...and I have Johnny Karma as my partner.
Yet on that same card, I will find out who my next challenger will be in a few short weeks.
I cannot discount the ability of the two men that will stand across the ring from me in a few short days. Despite their dastardly action of stealing belts that don’t belong to them, they can hold their own in a tag team match. There were several instances, in fact, in which they could have legitimately won the gold away from Status Quo and RubyWay. Add on to the fact that they are former tag team champions, and tag team specialists?
I have every right to be cautious.
My days as a tag team specialist are long behind me, after all. For those who don’t know, your friendly, resident Goddess of the Pride division once was a tag team champion, so she knows how to get things done in tag team competition.
But before we get more into the Usual Suspects, let's look at the side of the good guy and gal, shall we?
On one hand, you have the perennially great Johnny Karma, a man who made his way to the finals of the Frontier Lions Cup, falling short. He’s a two time Pride champion. He is one of my biggest challenges to date. There are few people who I would rather go into battle with.
He is Johnny Karma.
The Usual Suspects and their manager, Mr. Rother, might try and focus on the fact that Karma wasn’t able to secure victory back at Above and Beyond. That may be, but Karma has proven that he can overcome obstacles that are placed in his path. I have no problem placing my faith in him being able to rebound back from that and achieve what his goals.
That goal at present? Defeating the two of the Usual Suspects.
And me? You know who I am. The hero of the story. The Goddess that doesn’t quit. If the Usual Suspects don’t know what I’m capable of? This Saturday night is going to be their introductory lesson in why messing with Fujiko isn’t a good idea.
But this isn’t just about me or Johnny Karma. This isn’t just some sort of chance for me to showcase my abilities.
This is about a promise.
A promise that I gave some months ago to right the wrongs that were rampant in FGA. A promise to showcase that I could turn things around…
Chris Tryon and Jason Marx are going to learn firsthand that I haven’t forgotten about that promise.
I’ve watched as Rother has attempted to defend your blatant theft of the FGA tag team championships. I’ve listened to the insults that you have hurled at RubyWay and Status Quo, all the while parading around with titles that don’t belong to you.
Unfortunately, you find yourselves now in my crosshairs.
This may seem like an empty threat to the two of you, but believe me when I tell you that things are changing around here.
I have gone through and brought myself back from the abyss. You have all watched as I went from slump to star in the span of a few months. I’ve proven, with my performance that I am one to be reckoned with here in FGA. Regardless of what my detractors want to say about me, I am one of the best in Frontier Grappling Arts.
Try and deny it all you like, but the facts are there. I’ve cemented a legacy here that no one, and I mean no one can take from me.
Call me a fraud? I’ll prove you wrong and not think twice about it. Tell me I can’t do something? I’ll prove you wrong. Say I’ve done nothing? I’ll hit you with a list of my accomplishments.
The ‘go-to’ list of insults against Fujiko Mine have lost all their punch, and I know it’s only a matter of time before even my detractors have to give in to the one simple truth:
You Can’t Stop Fujiko.
So what does that have to do with the Usual Suspects?
That’s easy. I’m going to start the next chapter with them. When one has reached a plateau, there is nothing to do but climb the next mountain. So I am going to show the Usual Suspects what happens when you anger a Goddess. Karma and I am going to make the both of you regret trying to take the easy road; regret stealing titles that you aren’t able to win, and regret coming into this match thinking that you are going to have it easy facing off against us.
The Karmic Lion and the Pride Champion are walking into Vertigo on Saturday, and making the two of you reconsider coming into this match quicker than Trump should’ve reconsidered going to Flint without any bottled water.
Tryon, Marx?
Prepare yourselves. You may consider yourselves the best that the tag team division has to offer, but you’re going to have your vision cleared in a vicious performance by Fujiko Mine and Johnny Karma.
And to think, I was going to give you a gift.
Mercy.
Mercy was something I was willing to grant the team of Chris Tryon and Jason Marx.
The keyword in that sentence being “was”.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I wasn’t going to pull any physical punches. I wasn’t going to give any less than my usual one-hundred and ten percent like I do for every match. I wasn’t about to let them leave Vertigo with a victory.
But I wasn’t going to make this personal. Keyword there being ‘wasn’t’. But then, as Mr. Rother is wont to do, he had to open his mouth and make a mistake.
The manager of the Usual Suspects had to go on and mock my purpose.
Your boys are going to find out first hand about the resiliency of Fujiko Mine when she kicks off their heads at Vertigo.
You think that you’re better than everyone else because you don’t care what the fans think. You don’t care how you get a win, as long as you get it. But the records aren’t the only way history is kept.
History is kept in those very same fans you don’t care much about. They are responsible for your image long after you’re gone. The Usual Suspects are poisoned, tainted, cancerous.The addiction that you claim that Fujiko Mine and Johnny Karma have is really the medicine. You may hold onto the championship belts now, but the fans who will tell your story know that you had to steal them in order in order to validate your self- adequacies. To know that you couldn’t own them with your own abilities and thus are just holding onto them...but aren’t their true owners? That’s the poison that you have so willingly drunk. To know that you aren’t good enough to get the job done, and so you need to go beyond your own natural abilities to get it. That’s the poison.
You see, WE are stronger because we can get done what you can’t. You claim the “real” Fujiko was the one from back then? That Fujiko couldn’t even lace up the boots of the woman I am now.
This Fujiko stands before you, not as a ‘girl-scout’, a woman who needs to adhere to the rules. I stand before you a FREAKING GODDESS, an infinite engine of ability and influence.
THIS is the real Fujiko Mine. I give the fans a reason to react to me the way that they do, and they in turn push me forever forward. So when the Usual Suspects find that they have once again stalled; that they once again can’t get it done, they will look into the telescope and see the juggernaut that is Lady Luck still speeding forward like Sonic the hedgehog with a backpack full of pixie sticks, never stopping.
So come at us, Usual Suspects. Your manager has made the mistake of forcing my hand. You two are going to pay the price of it. No, scratch that.
Anyone else in my way is going to pay the price for Rother’s mistake.
Call it it Karma, or call it Luck.
It won’t matter. You’ll still lose.
Off Camera
?? years ago.
Hiro Nagashima sat upright, his eyes trained forward. His face remained stoic as he did so. Outside of the occasional blink and shallow movement of his blazer, an observer might think that the man who sat in the chair was a mannequin, or dead.
"Um…"The meek voice caught him off guard. He inched closer to the edge of the chair, his eyes trained on the source of the sound. For a split second, his nerves were on edge. He was ready to spring into action...but it was unnecessary.
A small brunette girl stood in the threshold of the door. She posed no threat to him. In fact, she was dependant on him. He studied her face as she stood there, her lips turned down in a frown. Her left cheek was tinged purple and red, the leftovers from a nasty bruise. Taking a closer look into it, he worried that if someone saw them together that he would be accused of child abuse. But then again, that would be the least of his worries if he was spotted in public.
On a table to his right sat an oversized grey and black flip phone. He guided his attention over to it, despite the fact that he ensured that it would never ring again. The image of him tossing out the battery and then stomping the remainder of the phone onto the pavement was his reminder. It was how the Yamaguchi-gumi would be able to reach him, when he was compliant and willing to follow orders. However, that accursed cellular device helped deliver an order that he wasn’t willing to follow.
To the right of the phone sat a Walther P99QA, Hiro’s weapon of choice. The holster in which it normally sat in was also placed there, rather than on his hip. He felt disgusted knowing what he was asked to do with it, and so chose to distance himself from the weapon.
"Mister?"
Hiro blinked and brought himself back from his introspection. The young girl looked as if she was on the verge of tears. It broke his heart, watching her like that. She was clad in only an orchid colored dress and a pair of black converse shoes. It was what she was wearing when her found her, and was likely going to be her only outfit for a few days.
"Yes, child?"
She stepped into the room. Her gait telegraphed her timidness. With good reason, considering the circumstances.
"I’m ...hungry. Where’s my mommy?"
A strange feeling washed over him as her question hit his ears. The young girls creamy brown eyes searched his for some sort of comfort. He wasn’t sure if she could ever find something like that inside of him. He put on a facade for her. It was the only thing he could think to do. His business was in putting an end to the lives of those he was ordered to do so. Nurturing the life of someone was so far out of his repertoire. The best he could do was fake it.
"I will find you food. Perhaps some miso soup, or some okonomiyaki?" Hiro thanked his diligence with the English language, else the already uncomfortable situation of attempting to converse with the girl would have been even worse.
She hesitated, an act that Hiro associated with unfamiliarity. "O-kon…" She struggled with the rest of the word. "It’s...um, something like a pancake." Her head shook. "I know what it is. Mommy makes them all the time. I just can’t say it right." He noted the defiance in her voice as he simultaneously felt some embarrassment for underestimating the girl. The moment for her didn’t last, as she seemed to remind herself of her primary concern.
"Mommy…" She whispered, her voice shaking. He felt a twinge of guilt, unable to give her a convincing false answer, much less a truthful one.
"Ah yes. Your mother…" He couldn’t think fast enough to splice together a natural sounding sentence. There was a pause in which he rifled through his brain for an answer.
"I am unsure where she is, child." The best answer he could think of was the truth. He wasn’t aware of the answer. As expected, she began to cry in front of him. She covered her face with her hands and cried heavily. It made him uncomfortable to watch her tears seep out from under her palms, and to hear her almost unintelligible moans for her mother. He sat watching her until she chose to stop using her hands to shield her face. She looked at him, her red irritated eyes the final nail in the coffin. Before she could say anything, he pushed himself out of the chair and to his full height.
"Please stop." She still sniffled, and a few rogue tears tumbled over her rosy cheeks. It really began to tug at his heart.
"I am unsure of where she is, but I promise you that we will find her." The words seemed to roll off her like rain on a windshield. She responded to his promise with a question.
"I miss her…when can we find her?" She wiped away the moisture from her face, and sniffled.
Hiro didn’t give her an answer. He had no idea. He didn’t even know if he was going to be able to keep his promise. He thought of assuring her, but decided to continue with his rounds of honesty.
"Child, what is your name?"She blinked, and looked at him awkwardly. "My name?" Hiro nodded. They’d been in each other’s presence for not a long time, yet They did not know each other at all. And yet, Hiro was going to tell her all he knew.
"Mommy calls me Katharine." Hiro took that in. That name would not stand. He’d made a mistake even bringing her to his home. He’d made a larger mistake rescuing her in the first place.
"You may call me Hiro. However, little Katharine...I must ask you a favor." She looked at him, confusion on her face. "Uh...what?" Hiro took in a deep breath.
"Please, listen. I will tell you all I know. And once I do that, perhaps you will understand why I cannot answer your question."
Hiro gestured to the couch, and after a moment of translation, Katharine took a seat there. She seemed ready to cry again, but she kept her emotions in check. He was thankful that the young girl seemed more mature than her age would have let on.
"The building that I pulled you out of, where you were left...is no longer there. I don’t know why you were left in that building, but it no longer stands. I searched it as best I could while you slept, but I found no one in it." He rushed the last part of his explanation, trying to give her reason to believe her mother still lived. He visualized the building again, and how much of a risk it was for him to go back to that space.
"It will be...difficult for us to search for her, as I was not meant to ...ahem...I was not meant to let either of you live." It was something that was difficult for him to say. The young girl tensed up, fear evident on her face. He cursed the blunt honesty that he had to display, but it was a necessary evil.
"That is no longer the case. I refuse to harm either of you." He thought back to the conversation that he had with Mr. Shurizaka, the man he directly reported to. ‘Kill them. Leave their bodies in the rubble. Simple.’ He said with all the calmness of asking Hiro to bring him a bottle of sake. Hiro had taken many orders from Diamond Shurizaka. He’d followed the man into obvious traps and came out on the other side unscathed. He trusted Shurizaka’s orders; treated them as gospel.
But that one? He could not handle. He could not follow it. He stared blankly at the phone, and then removed the battery pack. He tossed it into the rubble, where the bodies of Katharine and her mother were meant to go. He then let the thick plastic device fall to the ground, before stomping hard on it a few times. He then picked up the broken mess and put in his pocket. He was going to need the head start.
"I tell you this in the hope that you will trust me. In sparing you, I have set a target on myself. So I am unsure as to when I will be able to find your mother. But I will do my best. Until then though, we must depart. Those who gave me the orders will wonder why I am no longer responding. They will come looking for me...and when they find me...they will find you. That is...a less than pleasant option for the both of us."
Hiro didn’t expect the young girl to understand. He worried she was going to give him away in some manner. But it was a chance he was going to take. He was making many decisions out of character, ones that he was sure would end in his demise. But he could not follow through with the orders he was given.
"That is all for that."
There was a tense silence between the old assassin and the young brunette. He kept his eyes forward, but his vision was focused on the weapon on the table. The clip was empty, but she didn’t know that. Surprisingly, she didn’t begin to cry again. Hiro took that as a positive sign.
"I think that if I am to care for you, we must give you something else to go by." Hiro still found himself unsure. He would have access to his normal funds for a few more days, until his accounts would be frozen. He figured that he and the girl would be safe for the night. After that, he was going to try and take what he needed, sell what he could, and make moves to get the both of them out of the city.
"Fujiko."Hiro looked at her strangely. A few more tears emerged from the inner corners of her eyes, but she stood there, unmoving. How did she know that name? "Fujiko? That is quite an interesting choice." He realized it as he looked her over.
"Mother told me it’s a Japanese name...and well, I like Orchids."
Hiro raised an eyebrow, and then cracked a smile. She could not return it, but she seemed oddly calm.
"I will call you that then. Fujiko it is. Now, perhaps we shall go out and secure you food?"
The newly christened child gave a small, sad smile.
"...Okonomiyaki, please."
I am preparing to face off against the Usual Suspects, the men who have stolen the tag team championships from their rightful owners…
...and I have Johnny Karma as my partner.
Yet on that same card, I will find out who my next challenger will be in a few short weeks.
I cannot discount the ability of the two men that will stand across the ring from me in a few short days. Despite their dastardly action of stealing belts that don’t belong to them, they can hold their own in a tag team match. There were several instances, in fact, in which they could have legitimately won the gold away from Status Quo and RubyWay. Add on to the fact that they are former tag team champions, and tag team specialists?
I have every right to be cautious.
My days as a tag team specialist are long behind me, after all. For those who don’t know, your friendly, resident Goddess of the Pride division once was a tag team champion, so she knows how to get things done in tag team competition.
But before we get more into the Usual Suspects, let's look at the side of the good guy and gal, shall we?
On one hand, you have the perennially great Johnny Karma, a man who made his way to the finals of the Frontier Lions Cup, falling short. He’s a two time Pride champion. He is one of my biggest challenges to date. There are few people who I would rather go into battle with.
He is Johnny Karma.
The Usual Suspects and their manager, Mr. Rother, might try and focus on the fact that Karma wasn’t able to secure victory back at Above and Beyond. That may be, but Karma has proven that he can overcome obstacles that are placed in his path. I have no problem placing my faith in him being able to rebound back from that and achieve what his goals.
That goal at present? Defeating the two of the Usual Suspects.
And me? You know who I am. The hero of the story. The Goddess that doesn’t quit. If the Usual Suspects don’t know what I’m capable of? This Saturday night is going to be their introductory lesson in why messing with Fujiko isn’t a good idea.
But this isn’t just about me or Johnny Karma. This isn’t just some sort of chance for me to showcase my abilities.
This is about a promise.
A promise that I gave some months ago to right the wrongs that were rampant in FGA. A promise to showcase that I could turn things around…
Chris Tryon and Jason Marx are going to learn firsthand that I haven’t forgotten about that promise.
I’ve watched as Rother has attempted to defend your blatant theft of the FGA tag team championships. I’ve listened to the insults that you have hurled at RubyWay and Status Quo, all the while parading around with titles that don’t belong to you.
Unfortunately, you find yourselves now in my crosshairs.
This may seem like an empty threat to the two of you, but believe me when I tell you that things are changing around here.
I have gone through and brought myself back from the abyss. You have all watched as I went from slump to star in the span of a few months. I’ve proven, with my performance that I am one to be reckoned with here in FGA. Regardless of what my detractors want to say about me, I am one of the best in Frontier Grappling Arts.
Try and deny it all you like, but the facts are there. I’ve cemented a legacy here that no one, and I mean no one can take from me.
Call me a fraud? I’ll prove you wrong and not think twice about it. Tell me I can’t do something? I’ll prove you wrong. Say I’ve done nothing? I’ll hit you with a list of my accomplishments.
The ‘go-to’ list of insults against Fujiko Mine have lost all their punch, and I know it’s only a matter of time before even my detractors have to give in to the one simple truth:
You Can’t Stop Fujiko.
So what does that have to do with the Usual Suspects?
That’s easy. I’m going to start the next chapter with them. When one has reached a plateau, there is nothing to do but climb the next mountain. So I am going to show the Usual Suspects what happens when you anger a Goddess. Karma and I am going to make the both of you regret trying to take the easy road; regret stealing titles that you aren’t able to win, and regret coming into this match thinking that you are going to have it easy facing off against us.
The Karmic Lion and the Pride Champion are walking into Vertigo on Saturday, and making the two of you reconsider coming into this match quicker than Trump should’ve reconsidered going to Flint without any bottled water.
Tryon, Marx?
Prepare yourselves. You may consider yourselves the best that the tag team division has to offer, but you’re going to have your vision cleared in a vicious performance by Fujiko Mine and Johnny Karma.
And to think, I was going to give you a gift.
Mercy.
Mercy was something I was willing to grant the team of Chris Tryon and Jason Marx.
The keyword in that sentence being “was”.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I wasn’t going to pull any physical punches. I wasn’t going to give any less than my usual one-hundred and ten percent like I do for every match. I wasn’t about to let them leave Vertigo with a victory.
But I wasn’t going to make this personal. Keyword there being ‘wasn’t’. But then, as Mr. Rother is wont to do, he had to open his mouth and make a mistake.
The manager of the Usual Suspects had to go on and mock my purpose.
Your boys are going to find out first hand about the resiliency of Fujiko Mine when she kicks off their heads at Vertigo.
You think that you’re better than everyone else because you don’t care what the fans think. You don’t care how you get a win, as long as you get it. But the records aren’t the only way history is kept.
History is kept in those very same fans you don’t care much about. They are responsible for your image long after you’re gone. The Usual Suspects are poisoned, tainted, cancerous.The addiction that you claim that Fujiko Mine and Johnny Karma have is really the medicine. You may hold onto the championship belts now, but the fans who will tell your story know that you had to steal them in order in order to validate your self- adequacies. To know that you couldn’t own them with your own abilities and thus are just holding onto them...but aren’t their true owners? That’s the poison that you have so willingly drunk. To know that you aren’t good enough to get the job done, and so you need to go beyond your own natural abilities to get it. That’s the poison.
You see, WE are stronger because we can get done what you can’t. You claim the “real” Fujiko was the one from back then? That Fujiko couldn’t even lace up the boots of the woman I am now.
This Fujiko stands before you, not as a ‘girl-scout’, a woman who needs to adhere to the rules. I stand before you a FREAKING GODDESS, an infinite engine of ability and influence.
THIS is the real Fujiko Mine. I give the fans a reason to react to me the way that they do, and they in turn push me forever forward. So when the Usual Suspects find that they have once again stalled; that they once again can’t get it done, they will look into the telescope and see the juggernaut that is Lady Luck still speeding forward like Sonic the hedgehog with a backpack full of pixie sticks, never stopping.
So come at us, Usual Suspects. Your manager has made the mistake of forcing my hand. You two are going to pay the price of it. No, scratch that.
Anyone else in my way is going to pay the price for Rother’s mistake.
Call it it Karma, or call it Luck.
It won’t matter. You’ll still lose.
Off Camera
?? years ago.
Hiro Nagashima sat upright, his eyes trained forward. His face remained stoic as he did so. Outside of the occasional blink and shallow movement of his blazer, an observer might think that the man who sat in the chair was a mannequin, or dead.
"Um…"The meek voice caught him off guard. He inched closer to the edge of the chair, his eyes trained on the source of the sound. For a split second, his nerves were on edge. He was ready to spring into action...but it was unnecessary.
A small brunette girl stood in the threshold of the door. She posed no threat to him. In fact, she was dependant on him. He studied her face as she stood there, her lips turned down in a frown. Her left cheek was tinged purple and red, the leftovers from a nasty bruise. Taking a closer look into it, he worried that if someone saw them together that he would be accused of child abuse. But then again, that would be the least of his worries if he was spotted in public.
On a table to his right sat an oversized grey and black flip phone. He guided his attention over to it, despite the fact that he ensured that it would never ring again. The image of him tossing out the battery and then stomping the remainder of the phone onto the pavement was his reminder. It was how the Yamaguchi-gumi would be able to reach him, when he was compliant and willing to follow orders. However, that accursed cellular device helped deliver an order that he wasn’t willing to follow.
To the right of the phone sat a Walther P99QA, Hiro’s weapon of choice. The holster in which it normally sat in was also placed there, rather than on his hip. He felt disgusted knowing what he was asked to do with it, and so chose to distance himself from the weapon.
"Mister?"
Hiro blinked and brought himself back from his introspection. The young girl looked as if she was on the verge of tears. It broke his heart, watching her like that. She was clad in only an orchid colored dress and a pair of black converse shoes. It was what she was wearing when her found her, and was likely going to be her only outfit for a few days.
"Yes, child?"
She stepped into the room. Her gait telegraphed her timidness. With good reason, considering the circumstances.
"I’m ...hungry. Where’s my mommy?"
A strange feeling washed over him as her question hit his ears. The young girls creamy brown eyes searched his for some sort of comfort. He wasn’t sure if she could ever find something like that inside of him. He put on a facade for her. It was the only thing he could think to do. His business was in putting an end to the lives of those he was ordered to do so. Nurturing the life of someone was so far out of his repertoire. The best he could do was fake it.
"I will find you food. Perhaps some miso soup, or some okonomiyaki?" Hiro thanked his diligence with the English language, else the already uncomfortable situation of attempting to converse with the girl would have been even worse.
She hesitated, an act that Hiro associated with unfamiliarity. "O-kon…" She struggled with the rest of the word. "It’s...um, something like a pancake." Her head shook. "I know what it is. Mommy makes them all the time. I just can’t say it right." He noted the defiance in her voice as he simultaneously felt some embarrassment for underestimating the girl. The moment for her didn’t last, as she seemed to remind herself of her primary concern.
"Mommy…" She whispered, her voice shaking. He felt a twinge of guilt, unable to give her a convincing false answer, much less a truthful one.
"Ah yes. Your mother…" He couldn’t think fast enough to splice together a natural sounding sentence. There was a pause in which he rifled through his brain for an answer.
"I am unsure where she is, child." The best answer he could think of was the truth. He wasn’t aware of the answer. As expected, she began to cry in front of him. She covered her face with her hands and cried heavily. It made him uncomfortable to watch her tears seep out from under her palms, and to hear her almost unintelligible moans for her mother. He sat watching her until she chose to stop using her hands to shield her face. She looked at him, her red irritated eyes the final nail in the coffin. Before she could say anything, he pushed himself out of the chair and to his full height.
"Please stop." She still sniffled, and a few rogue tears tumbled over her rosy cheeks. It really began to tug at his heart.
"I am unsure of where she is, but I promise you that we will find her." The words seemed to roll off her like rain on a windshield. She responded to his promise with a question.
"I miss her…when can we find her?" She wiped away the moisture from her face, and sniffled.
Hiro didn’t give her an answer. He had no idea. He didn’t even know if he was going to be able to keep his promise. He thought of assuring her, but decided to continue with his rounds of honesty.
"Child, what is your name?"She blinked, and looked at him awkwardly. "My name?" Hiro nodded. They’d been in each other’s presence for not a long time, yet They did not know each other at all. And yet, Hiro was going to tell her all he knew.
"Mommy calls me Katharine." Hiro took that in. That name would not stand. He’d made a mistake even bringing her to his home. He’d made a larger mistake rescuing her in the first place.
"You may call me Hiro. However, little Katharine...I must ask you a favor." She looked at him, confusion on her face. "Uh...what?" Hiro took in a deep breath.
"Please, listen. I will tell you all I know. And once I do that, perhaps you will understand why I cannot answer your question."
Hiro gestured to the couch, and after a moment of translation, Katharine took a seat there. She seemed ready to cry again, but she kept her emotions in check. He was thankful that the young girl seemed more mature than her age would have let on.
"The building that I pulled you out of, where you were left...is no longer there. I don’t know why you were left in that building, but it no longer stands. I searched it as best I could while you slept, but I found no one in it." He rushed the last part of his explanation, trying to give her reason to believe her mother still lived. He visualized the building again, and how much of a risk it was for him to go back to that space.
"It will be...difficult for us to search for her, as I was not meant to ...ahem...I was not meant to let either of you live." It was something that was difficult for him to say. The young girl tensed up, fear evident on her face. He cursed the blunt honesty that he had to display, but it was a necessary evil.
"That is no longer the case. I refuse to harm either of you." He thought back to the conversation that he had with Mr. Shurizaka, the man he directly reported to. ‘Kill them. Leave their bodies in the rubble. Simple.’ He said with all the calmness of asking Hiro to bring him a bottle of sake. Hiro had taken many orders from Diamond Shurizaka. He’d followed the man into obvious traps and came out on the other side unscathed. He trusted Shurizaka’s orders; treated them as gospel.
But that one? He could not handle. He could not follow it. He stared blankly at the phone, and then removed the battery pack. He tossed it into the rubble, where the bodies of Katharine and her mother were meant to go. He then let the thick plastic device fall to the ground, before stomping hard on it a few times. He then picked up the broken mess and put in his pocket. He was going to need the head start.
"I tell you this in the hope that you will trust me. In sparing you, I have set a target on myself. So I am unsure as to when I will be able to find your mother. But I will do my best. Until then though, we must depart. Those who gave me the orders will wonder why I am no longer responding. They will come looking for me...and when they find me...they will find you. That is...a less than pleasant option for the both of us."
Hiro didn’t expect the young girl to understand. He worried she was going to give him away in some manner. But it was a chance he was going to take. He was making many decisions out of character, ones that he was sure would end in his demise. But he could not follow through with the orders he was given.
"That is all for that."
There was a tense silence between the old assassin and the young brunette. He kept his eyes forward, but his vision was focused on the weapon on the table. The clip was empty, but she didn’t know that. Surprisingly, she didn’t begin to cry again. Hiro took that as a positive sign.
"I think that if I am to care for you, we must give you something else to go by." Hiro still found himself unsure. He would have access to his normal funds for a few more days, until his accounts would be frozen. He figured that he and the girl would be safe for the night. After that, he was going to try and take what he needed, sell what he could, and make moves to get the both of them out of the city.
"Fujiko."Hiro looked at her strangely. A few more tears emerged from the inner corners of her eyes, but she stood there, unmoving. How did she know that name? "Fujiko? That is quite an interesting choice." He realized it as he looked her over.
"Mother told me it’s a Japanese name...and well, I like Orchids."
Hiro raised an eyebrow, and then cracked a smile. She could not return it, but she seemed oddly calm.
"I will call you that then. Fujiko it is. Now, perhaps we shall go out and secure you food?"
The newly christened child gave a small, sad smile.
"...Okonomiyaki, please."
