The Hinomoto Rebellion (47 page)

Foxfire stared down into Andrea’s blue eyes for a moment, and in that brief instant an understanding passed between the two that neither could really explain. He conceded with a nod. “Don’t die, okay? I’m going to have her bake a huge cake to celebrate the freedom of the
ronin
when this is over.” He turned and headed out of the room, turning toward the stairwell at the end of the hall.

“You ready?” D asked, looking at Andrea from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah,” Andrea grunted as she pulled her arm off D’s shoulder, standing unsteadily on her own legs. “But first... I owe you another apology, Wakame.”

“Apologize later, lives are at stake right now.” D grabbed Andrea’s wrist and ran from the room with her in tow, heading toward Yasakuto’s office.

Chapter Seventeen Confrontation

Aki swung her bo at Fushi’s head, causing the red-head to dive to the floor as Roni ducked under the weapon. The pig-tailed youth let out a yell as she dove for Aki’s stomach, her fist pulled back. Aki jumped back as the fist came at her gut, already well aware of the deceptively powerful punches the girl could dish out.

Fushicho popped up from the floor and headed to the left, hoping to flank Aki between herself and Roni and make it harder to concentrate on both of them. Unfortunately, the black-haired traitor had a serious advantage over both of them so long as she still had her weapon, and Fushi knew this.

As Aki landed from her backwards leap, she spun to face Fushicho, her staff coming around at a frightening speed. The redhead barely got her arm up to block the blow from hitting her in the face, and the speed at which it hit her was enough to cause an instant welt across her forearm. She winced and braced herself, reaching up and grabbing the staff with her free hand before Aki could spin back toward Roni.

Aki jerked on the staff for a moment before Fushicho stepped forward with a side kick that was aimed for Aki’s chest. Maintaining her grip on the bo, Aki leaned and let the kick go by just inches from her body. Before Fushicho could pull her leg back, Aki elbowed her in the back of the knee, causing her to wobble off balance and lose her grip on the staff. A quick pull on the bo made it smack into Fushicho’s supporting leg, sending her tumbling back to the floor as Aki turned to face Roni.

“Eep!” exclaimed the pig-tailed girl as the staff came arcing toward her. Roni leaned back, letting the bo fly over merely inches from her face. As the staff passed over, she put her hands on the floor and back-flipped, springing up to her feet. Aki tightened her grip on the bo as she stepped forward, wielding the staff with intent to impale the pig-tailed girl on it.

Roni quickly leaped backwards, allowing the weapon to swing past her and smash into the floor. The small girl landed on an accent table in the hallway. “Whoa!”she exclaimed as the table wobbled under her feet. She quickly shifted her weight over so that the table wouldn’t tip, then looked up just in time to see Aki coming at her again.

Her swing went across the top of the table as Roni leaped into the air again. The little girl let out a yell as she spun while in mid-air, smashing her shoe into Aki’s cheek and sending her spinning off to the side, blood flying from her mouth. Aki hit the ground on her side as Roni landed back on the table in a crouch, her arms out for balance.

The black-haired girl groaned and rolled onto her back, blood spreading across her face from the split lip she now had. Her eyes came into focus just in time to see the youngster leap off the table, her feet aimed at her chest. Aki let out a shout and raised her staff, getting a two-handed grip on it and putting it in the way of Roni’s fall.

The violet-eyed girl saw the staff coming up at her, but knew she couldn’t redirect her fall. The staff came up, and she had just enough time to move her feet so that her shoes landed on the bo. As Aki pushed up on her feet, Roni leaped up, rocketing herself away from her enemy. She landed in a crouch down the hall, facing away from Aki.

Aki wiped her face on the back of her hand and looked down at the blood. “Well struck, little girl,” she said.

“There’s plenty more where that came from!” shouted Roni with a growl as she turned. Behind Aki, she could see Fushicho still lying on the ground, facing away from her and very still.
Hang on, Fushi! I’m doing my best!

“Are we going where I think we’re going?” the Shogun asked as Kanjou dragged him through the halls.

 

The brunet looked back. “If you were Daimyo Yasakuto, would you think to look in your own office?” he said with a smile.

The two ran around a corner and almost directly into a contingent of police. Kanjou skidded to a stop, the Shogun behind him, as the officers suddenly raised their guns. “Wait! Don’t shoot!” Kunota yelled.

It was too late. Kanjou was already half-way across the distance between himself and the officers, and they had their guns trained on him.

Outside, the
Kemono
and
ronin
had managed to take over the steps of the Capitol building. , forming a rough semi-circle on it and knocking back anyone foolish enough to try to break through. 26 and Deuce held a steady command over the assembled warriors, barking out orders as they were needed and making sure that the line stayed together.

26 flared her wings out and roared at a pair of policemen that had charged her, sending the two racing back down the stairs. She fell back into line with Deuce. “How long do you think it will take them to get a TK Squad down here?” she muttered to him.

Deuce’s reptilian tail swished with agitation. “Shouldn’t be long now.” he grumbled.

 

“Do you think we stand a chance against a bunch of lasers?” “Only if your friend Andrea taught you how to dodge them.”

Andrea came skidding to a stop at a hallway junction, nearly making D crash into the back of her. She held her hand out and put her finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. She stuck her head around the corner, then quickly shoved D, moving them both down the hall and into an alcove four meters back that was just big enough for them both to fit into.

“Hey! What-!” protested D.

“Shhhh!” Andrea hissed. She motioned with her head to the hallway they had almost gone in to. D looked over a little just in time to see Daimyo Yasakuto walk by with his police officers. He quickly pressed himself back into the alcove, where the two
ronin
were quiet for a few moments.

“Where do you think they’re heading?” D whispered. “Probably to the exact place we don’t want them to go.” muttered Andrea sourly.

 

“Aki knew what we planned to do, she probably told them.” “I’m sure she did,” Andrea grimaced, “Dammit, we’ll have to come up with a better plan now.”

 

The spiky-haired
ronin
shoved Kunota into Yasakuto’s office before stepping in himself and closing the door, putting his back against it as he breathed deeply. Blood was seeping from his left shoulder, staining his shirt as the bullet wound wept.

“Are you going to be okay?” the Shogun asked.

Kanjou put his hand up and pressed it against the bloody hole, smiling painfully. “Yeah. They just got lucky is all.” He winced as pain shot down his arm. “We’re going to stay here until the other Aka Ryuu get here, then we’ll get you out of the building.”

Shogun Kunota nodded. “I’m glad Andrea was right.” he said. “I wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds if it wasn’t for you
ronin
.” Kanjou raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. “You know her?” The Shogun nodded. “We met last night. She made me promise to reveal Yasakuto.”

 

The Aka Ryuu blinked. “That explains the books then. Have you seen her today? Is she alright?”

 

“She was in my office, alive but beaten up, when I saw her last.”

Kanjou let out a sigh of relief. “Good. We were worried about her.” He tightened his grip on his shoulder, hoping that the others got there soon.

“They haven’t sent anyone up here in awhile,” said 26. “Which means they probably have reinforcements on the way.”

 

“Speaking of,” Deuce inclined his head down the street.

After the army of
Kemono
and
ronin
had taken over the steps, what was left of the civilians had scattered, falling back behind the line of reporters that had stayed around to record the events. In front of the journalists was a sea of police that were trying to disperse the remaining bystanders. Between that line of police and the line of martial artists were several dozen dead or dying people from both sides. Officers in dark uniforms lay prostrate over the bodies of halfhuman and half-animal monsters, and both
Kemono
and government corpses intermingled with those of the underground martial artists. Some civilians even lay in the street or across the sidewalks- they’d been caught in the crossfire when the police opened fire.