Senran Kagura: Heart of Fire

Chapter 6: Fujino Sumiko/ Himeko Yoichi

On a rainy night in the streets of Asakusa, was the other girl who attacked Shizuku and Tokei, sitting in an alley holding her arm. She looks at her hand and sees that it's full of blood.

-Girl: Fuck, he got me bad, it hasn't stopped bleeding. It's a miracle I haven't collapsed or died of blood loss yet. *Sigh*

She puts her head back against the wall and looks up at the rain. Just then a girl with pale white skin and hair goes up to her and says:

-Other girl: Hey, you, you were with that other one right? The one that failed to bring Kuroyoshi back to the boss.
-Girl: Who are you?
-Other girl: I'm the boss' right hand girl, and I was asking so I can kill you.
-Girl: Kill me? Hah. I was, now try your best.
-Other girl: I'd like to know your name so I can kill you with pleasure and take your head back to the BOSS and tell him who you were!
-Fujino: My name is Sumiko Fujino, and I'm telling you so your boss knows who killed you.

The girl with white hair swings to scratch, but Fujino dodges it and swings back with her sword. The other girl swoops down to dodge and Fujino hits the girl's face with her knee. The other girl falls back with her hand on her face. She lifts up her hand to see it full of blood from her nose.

-Other girl: Well, it's time to get serious then.

After that she launches forward at a blinding speed, but she is stopped by a woman wearing a coat with a hood up and a scarf covering her face from her eyes down.

-Other girl: (Thinking) She stopped my blow with her bare hand?

The hooded woman then proceeds to twist the other girl's arm and brings it down to hit the elbow with her knee, breaking the other girl's arm.

-Other girl: AGHHH MY ARM!! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!

The hooded woman shushes the other girl and punches Fujino in the stomach to knock her out and takes her away.

-Other girl: Tch, I'll get you back someday.

The hooded woman puts Fujino down on a tree in a hill and watches her wake up.

-Fujino: (gasp) Who the fuck are you?! Why did you save me?!

The hooded girl takes off the hood and the scarf and she shows Fujino that she is Rei.

-Fujino: Rei? Why did you do that?
-Rei: I... well... I don't know.
-Fujino: You should've just left me to die. I'll probably die from this wound in my arm anyway.
-Rei: How did you even get that?
-Fujino: Why do you care, you just left me there that day and didn't come back.
-Rei: ...I couldn't move.
-Fujino: So? Why didn't you just leave after they healed you up, why didn't you take their good will for granted?
-Rei: BECAUSE I WANTED TO CHANGE!! THE LIFE I WAS LIVING WAS HELL, ALL I DID WAS KILL, I HAD NO FRIENDS, NO FAMILY!! (Sobs) I just wanted to change...
-Fujino: You are weak now, friends, family, emotions, you don't need any of that. And you think you escaped hell by getting out of the Dark Zone? It's a living hell anywhere you go in this fucking world, it will never stop. You and I had a deal, we failed, you are going to die to my hand.
-Rei: (Tears stream down from her eyes) Before I would've just said "Go ahead", but now I'm afraid I can't say that.
-Fujino: I'll just kill you with the rest of your makeshift family.
-Rei: You can't even defeat someone as easy as that woman back there, you can't beat me.
-Fujino: Yeah well, life has many surprises.
-Rei: I'm looking forward to your challenge then, don't die 'til we fight

Rei says that as she turns around and walks away. When she returns to Hanzō Academy and goes in her room she is greeted by Shizuku. She was sitting down, drinking a cup of coffee on a table, looking at the door.

-Shizuku: Where were you?
-Rei: U-uh, what are you doing here?
-Shizuku: I wanted to talk to you and I knocked, called, messaged, but nothing, so I came in. I wondered this whole time where you were.
-Rei: Well, I was out.
-Shizuku: This late? Anyone would've thought you ran away. Thank goodness I stayed.
-Rei: No... I had some... business to take care of.
-Shizuku: Well now, anyway I'm just glad to see you're okay.
-Rei: Thank you, you know, it kinda feels nice to have someone worry about you for once.
-Shizuku: Listen, we all worry about you, we all care, you have friends now, know that. I'm not the only one. Goodnight Rei.

She says as she walks out of the room.

-Rei: Goodnight Shizuku...

As Shizuku walks home she feels Tokei's energy from afar, but she also feels another really heavy energy in the same direction so she heads towards it.
Meanwhile, Tokei is walking and he is being watched in the shadows by a woman covered in black. Her body has a small frame, she has blonde bangs going to the left coming out of her mask, red eyes and big breasts.
She jumps down slowly, trying to not make noise and approaches Tokei.

-Tokei: You're not hiding from me, what do you want?
-Woman: So you noticed me, huh?
-Tokei: Was I not supposed to? I noticed you easily.
-Woman: Well, I was hiding my energy and I tried my best to not make noise, good job Kuroyoshi.
-Tokei: Thanks for the compliments but you haven't answered my question, what do you want with me?
-Woman: I want you... More specifically your powers.
-Tokei: So you're one of those women that want to take me to that guy in the "Dark Zone".
-Woman: Not quite, I want your powers because you cannot use these. Listen up, this man you speak of, his name is Kagami, and he doesn't want you, he wants your powers, see Tokei, you have the powers to open a gate, a gate he wishes to use to bring and take power over the one they call "The Destroyer of Worlds". You don't know how to harness or control these powers, so I will just... take these.

The woman says as she appears in front of Tokei, stabbing him with a sword and removing it, then seemingly teleporting behind him. The sword she stabbed Tokei with is glowing a very bright red. Tokei looks down to his abdomen and sees that he is not wounded, nor bleeding. He looks behind him and reaches to his back to call out his sword.

-Woman: Do not do this Tokei, you WILL lose this fight.
-Tokei: (breathing heavily) What did you do? Why is that thing glowing red?
-Woman: Like I said, these are some powers you can not use, so I will take them until you are ready. You still have some left. Fight it, suppress it, take control of it, and find me, once you show me you have done this, I will return you your powers. Remember me, my name is Himeko Yoichi.

Yoichi says that and drops a smoke bomb to make a getaway. Tokei coughs a few times and when the smoke clears he sees Shizuku standing in front of him looking scared.
Tokei looks down, with an angry expression on his face. He puts his sword away and keeps walking without saying a word.
The next morning Shizuku wakes up and walks down the hallway next to the bedrooms and the bathroom, and she sees Tokei sitting in the kitchen table with his hands joined as if he were thinking something thoroughly.
Shizuku gets in the bathroom and starts to brush her teeth, but she looks in the mirror and stops. After some time, she looks down and continues to brush her teeth.

--End of Chapter 6--