Kusanagi backed away shaking and in shock. “You...but why? ”
Haruka looked around the main entrance hall, “That guard dog is no longer here to save you Kusanagi. I saw him go off with Orihime. They’re probably on a date together or something right now. And I know how much of a chatterbox Orihime can be. He’ll probably be there for hours. ” He could tell that Bitch 237
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Kusanagi was trying to buy some time. “He won’t make it.”
“He’s a fox.” Kusanagi automatically corrected him. Haruka frowned back at her. “He was a very irritating obstacle that I didn’t think I’d be able to get rid of. I can’t believe this opportunity actually presented itself to me. It’s just too perfect really - a sick Kusanagi all alone and without her Samurai Butler to protect her from the big bad wolf. I don’t intend to let this opportunity go to waste.” He raised his daggers to attack. Kusanagi ran.
She dodged the daggers that were thrown at her but since she was feeling slightly dizzy and her battle instincts were a bit off the daggers ended up grazing her on her arms and legs painfully. She stumbled down the hallway realizing it was almost as if Haruka was playing with her before he was going to finish her off. Just like a cat playing with a lizard before it decided to rip its guts out and eat them. She was no match for him now - not like this. And she hated it – hated that she had to admit this to herself. That at that moment she was completely helpless. How could I have let this happen? I shouldn’t have let my guard down…shit…
She could hear Haruka laughing behind her and all Kusanagi could do was continue to force her legs to run. Shit. How the hell did I end up in some kind of bad slasher movie?
This totally sucks! Dammit! Where’s a grenade when you need one huh? She had somehow managed to lose Haruka around a corner, and was running down the hall when a wave of dizziness overcame her. But she stubbornly continued on, however, using the wall for support now. She wouldn’t give up so easily. She would fight until the very end. No...not like this...Ranmaru!
Kusanagi wished that she hadn’t sent him away. She was going to die at the hands of a fruitcake ninja like Haruka! Uso! Now way!
What a lousy and pathetic way to go really. Kusanagi had at least wanted to go in a real fight to the death against HIM. To die while trying to avenge her parents and Mamoru’s death…
Where the hell was that stoic, idiot Samurai Butler when she needed him? Dammit! She sensed something behind her and 238
quickly turned around - it was Haruka. He was standing there and licking one of his daggers. Creepy bastard. Before she could even blink he had thrown one of his daggers towards her. Kusanagi concentrated on her combat senses and somehow she had managed to catch the dagger in midair. She then sent the dagger flying back at Haruka but her aim was off and it went whizzing by his head to imbed itself in the wall directly behind him. Haruka clapped his hands together. “Not bad, but definitely not good enough.”
Oh shit. Kusanagi was panting for breath now, dizzy, and flushed all over. She turned to take off into a run again, but Haruka shot out some kind of wire towards her and it wrapped around her arms and legs stopping her. She was caught in his deadly web.
“I would just give up if I were you.” Haruka began in a singsong voice, “You can’t run away from me forever...you’ll have to face me eventually, Kusanagi- chan. And then you’ll have to die...”
Kusanagi laughed brokenly, “Stop running? ‘Stop’ isn’t in my vocabulary...” Kusanagi started moving forward and the wires began to cut into her arms and legs. “I will keep moving forward because...I have a reason to continue living. I must defeat HIM!”
Haruka appeared startled as he watched Kusanagi continue forward so that the wires began to cut deeply into her flesh and she began to bleed – blood trailing down her arms and legs. “Oi! Baka! Stop that! You’ll cut your own arms or legs off if you continue to do that!”
“I don’t care...I can’t die...! Not here...not like this...not until I have faced HIM and made him pay for what he did to me!
You can have an arm or a leg. I don’t give a damn, but at least leave me my head! Even if I only have my head then I can at least bite out HIS throat! I will continue to move forward no matter what, Haruka! It’s what I promised at their graves!
Ahhhh!” Kusanagi cried out as she continued to move forward, slowly and painfully moving one of her feet forward until one of the wires snapped from the force she had been placing on it. Haruka’s eyes widened in surprise at this since those wires were supposed to be indestructible. But the other wires still dug deeply
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into her flesh.
“He?” Haruka couldn’t help but question.
“The man who killed my parents.”
Haruka shook his head. “I’m sorry but you’ll have to kiss your plans for revenge goodbye.” Haruka rushed forward and hit Kusanagi swiftly on the back of her neck. Kusanagi’s mouth opened in pain and surprise before she fell forward onto the floor unconscious. He looked down at her still form in surprise. “So, I couldn’t bring myself to kill you after all. They won’t be too pleased.” Haruka ran a hand through his blonde hair. He then leaned over and picked up Kusanagi’s limp and flushed body into his arms. “Well, we better get going, princess. There are some very important people that have been dying to see you. Sucks to be popular doesn’t it?” Haruka looked down at Kusanagi’s face and a twisted smile formed on his lips. “You really are quite beautiful, Kusanagi- chan. No matter how much you try to hide it. I finally get to hold you in my arms, but funny, this isn’t quite how I imagined it.” Haruka shrugged. “Well, what can I say, life’s a bitch huh?” He looked down at the silent Kusanagi.
***
Ranmaru saw that the front door of the mansion was wide open and immediately rushed inside. He took a whiff of the air and smelled...Haruka’s scent...and...Kusanagi’s blood! Ranmaru took off running up the stairs and down the hallway following the scent of Kusanagi’s blood and finally reached a trail of blood on the floor. He continued to follow this until he reached a large puddle of blood in the center of the hallway, but there was no sign of Kusanagi. Though Ranmaru’s nose told him that this was Kusanagi’s blood.
Ranmaru clenched his fists at his sides. Someone had hurt Kusanagi. Someone had drawn her blood. Someone was going to pay. Dammit! Ranmaru turned and angrily punched the nearby wall causing a large hole. He must have taken her. Ranmaru realized as he caught Haruka’s scent by a nearby window that was open. Ranmaru then realized Haruka had escaped from there and had taken Kusanagi along with him. Ranmaru followed suit and leapt out of the window to land on the ground below. Haruka’s scent was faint but mixed with the scent of Kusanagi’s blood, and so it was more than a strong enough trail for Ranmaru Bitch 241
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to follow. Kusanagi...wait for me. Don’t do anything crazy. Ranmaru took off into the forest hot on their trail. Ranmaru was out for blood and his sword Kuroki Ryu was pulsing happily in response to what it was sensing from Ranmaru... It’s been a while since I sensed this much bloodlust in you Ranmaru-kun. This is going to be fun! Wheee~ The manic spirit of his sword declared.
***
Haruka brought the unconscious Kusanagi into the hospital room where he knew the yakuza would be waiting for him. Haruka’s sister, Keiko, was lying comatose in a hospital bed that was in the room, and there were several yakuza gathered there along with her – men with missing fingers, gouged-out eyes, dyed hair, sunglasses, matching tattoos, mean expressions, and expensive suits. As soon as Haruka had entered all eyes turned to him and Kusanagi.
“I’ve brought her.” Haruka declared as he continued his way into the room confidently.
One of the yakuza smiled revealing that he was missing a few teeth. There was an odd tattoo of a black skull surrounded by white camellia petals in the middle of his forehead as well that was quite visible due to his shaved he
ad. “Good, give her here.”
Haruka suddenly hesitated, “The money?” He looked over to the sleeping figure of his sister on the bed. The yakuza all looked at each other and laughed.
“Money? You still owe us a great deal of debt to think that it would all be canceled out just by bringing The Bitch to us. Your sister’s medicine has become even more expensive. You may have made a dent but...you are nowhere close to having your debt ended with us. Now hand her over-”
Kusanagi had awakened during this confrontation and her eyes snapped open. “So this is why you tried to kill me...you’re in deep with the yakuza and you need money for medicine for your sister.” Kusanagi declared, as everything was suddenly made clear to her.
“You brought her back alive...?” A yakuza man with an 242
eye patch was suddenly looking at Kusanagi a bit worriedly.
“You said I could bring her back either dead or alive - that it didn’t really matter...” Haruka began to say petulantly. The yakuza with the shaved head nodded, “That’s true but...this one has already given our men a lot of trouble.”
“She won’t be any trouble now. She has a cold.” Haruka informed them simply.
“A cold?” The man with the shaved head repeated slowly, mockingly, and then looked over towards his fellow comrades, who all shared a look before they simultaneously burst out laughing. “A cold has reduced The Bitch to this? Ha!”
“Oh shut up.” Kusanagi groused, blushing slightly. One of the yakuza thugs walked over to take Kusanagi from Haruka’s arms and she immediately began to struggle in his grasp. “I can stand by myself! Thank you very much! Hmph!”
Once Kusanagi was standing on the floor, however, two yakuza grabbed hold of one of her arms, just in case, in order to restrain her. Kusanagi turned to glare at the yakuza and that’s when she noticed the all too familiar tattoo that was on the forehead of that one yakuza thug with the shaved head. It was a black, art decostyled skull, with white camellia petals surrounding it. They must be a part of the Shiro Tsubaki (White Camellia) yakuza clan, the very same clan that HE came from, and the very same clan that HIS puppet Master was the head of. Oh man, not these guys again. Kusanagi moaned in her mind. Great, just great. Today is so not my day.
The yakuza man sighed and shook his head at Haruka,
“You never do take your missions seriously enough, Haruka. This isn’t the first time you’ve failed to eliminate a target. You’re always making excuses - either the target is a kid...or the man has a family...excuses, excuses. But this time you have no excuse. I want you to be the one to finish The Bitch off.”
Haruka’s eyes widened in surprise, “What? But you said I could bring her back alive.”
“I merely said that it didn’t matter either way. The Boss says he’ll need her dead for whatever it is he has planned for her anyways...” The yakuza paused thoughtfully.
“Oi? The Boss is into necrophilia?” One yakuza whispered to another curiously.
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The man with the shaved head turned to glare at the two idiots and shook his head at them. They both immediately shut up.
Haruka appeared aghast. “Dead? So he’s really going to kill her? But you said the Boss was obsessed with her...so I thought…”
“He is.” The yakuza thug shrugged, “Don’t ask me how his mind works. The Boss is a strange guy. He knows what he’s doing. Now...finish her off Haruka. Or else...”
Kusanagi glared at Haruka, emerald green eyes full of hate.
Haruka took out a dagger and approached Kusanagi, an emotionless expression on his face. She struggled in the yakuzas’
grasp as Haruka raised his dagger-But-He just couldn’t do it. Haruka lowered his hand and shook his head. “I can’t...I can’t do it.” He turned to face the man with the tattoo on his forehead. “Please...maybe you misheard Oyabun. It doesn’t make any sense that he would go through all this trouble to get his hands on her just to kill her!” He put his hands out in a beseeching gesture as he gave the yakuza a frantic look.
The yakuza thug punched Haruka hard across the face in response. Haruka’s lavender-tinted sunglasses cracked and fell to the floor. “Konoyaro! Asshole! You ungrateful piece of shit. You’re still too soft to be a real yakuza member. To truly be one of us. But someone’s got to pay the price. Hold him.”
Two of the yakuza thugs suddenly grabbed a hold of Haruka, who struggled in their grasp. He was starting to look fearful. “What are you going to do?”
“You need to start taking your jobs more seriously. We didn’t train you as a ninja assassin and give you high-tech, heatseeking daggers for all the time and money we’ve put into you to go to waste. That’s why I’ve come up with a new policy - every time you fail to kill a target...” The thug took out a switchblade knife and walked over to Keiko’s sleeping form. “Your dear 244
sweet sister is going to lose something important...an eye...an ear...her nose maybe...I think for now we’ll start with an ear.”
Haruka saw red and began to go berserk struggling violently in their grasp. “No! Don’t you dare harm my sister!
Don’t you dare touch her! Get away from her, you fucking bastards!”
The yakuza thug was bringing the switchblade knife closer to Keiko’s ear-“What’s with you yakuza and losing body parts?” Came Kusanagi’s snide voice. “That’s just so disgusting and stupid. You guys really are a bunch of idiots.” Kusanagi looked up and her sharp green eyes narrowed at them. “And stupid people need to have some sense knocked into them!” Kusanagi brought her elbow back into the solar plexus of the man behind her. He grunted in pain and unconsciously let her go. Kusanagi then turned and delivered a hard upper cut to the other thug, who was still holding her.
It was Kusanagi’s turn to go berserk. Really, it was one of her favorite things to do. “Kora! Asshole!” She rushed at the man with the switchblade and executed a flying sidekick in his direction. She managed to kick the yakuza man in his side causing him to be pushed away from Haruka’s sister. Then Kusanagi grabbed the IV pole, and disconnected it from Keiko’s body before she began to brandish it like a sword. She let loose a battle cry and rushed forward to attack the remaining yakuza.
“Hooryah! ”
Haruka used this moment of distraction to attack his captors as well and then side-by-side, together; they began to kick some serious ass. Back to back, Kusanagi and Haruka began to take out the yakuza, and one by one the yakuza were being defeated and falling to the floor unconscious. Kusanagi smirked, “Hey, you’re not half bad for a fruitcake.”
Haruka smiled lopsidedly back at her, “Thanks, right back at ya, bitch.”
The yakuza, to say the least, were pissed, “Haruka! Get her! Get The Bitch dammit! Kill her!”
“No!” Haruka yelled back at them forcibly and seemed surprised at himself, “I won’t be your pawn any longer!”
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“You’re going to live to regret that kora! Asshole!” The yakuza thug took out a gun and pointed it at Keiko. “Say goodbye to your sweet little sister, traitor.”
“No!” Haruka shouted but realized he was too far away to do anything. His expression fell and his heart shattered. Keiko…
Kusanagi, however, was closer and rushed to stand in front of Haruka’s sister, arms out at her sides, ready to take the bullet for Keiko.
Haruka’s eyes widened in shock and he called out,
“Kusanagi!”
BANG
The shot was fired and went speeding through the air towards Kusanagi. Kusanagi watched and then everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. She watched as the bullet approached her eerily-And then-
CRASH
The window next to Keiko’s bedside shattered, glass shards exploding into the air, and a shadowy figure was flying through the window he had just broken. And that someone turned out to be:
“Ranmaru!” Kusanagi cried
out, her voice tinged with relief.
Ranmaru unsheathed his sword as he was crashing through the window, leaping through the air and over the hospital bed to stand in front of Kusanagi. And in one fluid motion he brought his sword Kuroki Ryu down and cut through the approaching bullet - slicing it neatly in half. Whoa.
Haruka was wide-eyed by this display of skill and power.
“Oi! He just sliced through a bullet! Did anyone else see that?”
“Yea, that was totally awesome man.” One yakuza thug agreed heartily while nodding his head vigorously - only to be hit hard over the head by one of his comrades in reprimand.
“Shut up Taki you moron! This is no time to be impressed by the enemy!” The other yakuza member spat.
“Oh, yea, right, sorry about that, Yoshi.” The yakuza thug scratched the back of his neck abashed.
But Ranmaru didn’t stop there. He immediately moved in Bitch 247
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to attack. He was now in ‘kill mode’ after all. Kusanagi opened her mouth to tell Ranmaru not to kill the yakuza, but a coughing fit unluckily overcame her at that moment, and one that was so bad that it sent her to her knees, as the coughs wracked her petite frame. Ugh, she felt so sick.
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