Bullets fly through the air, bouncing off steel and concrete. The thud of boots echoes down the alleys. A student gasps for breath, their lungs burning as they pump their legs as fast as they'll go. A parcel is clutched tightly between her arms, its band flying in the wind.
Her pursuer, however, shows no sign of exhaustion. The blue-black mask covering half her face hides any sign of exertion, while her blue eyes hold nothing but violence. Another round of shots, striking squarely the back of the knee.
She stumbles, but her footing recovers. She zips out of the alleyway, sprinting into the open park. Shocked students dive out of the way, but her pursuer ignores them all. Another volley, straight to the back. The student collapses into the shrubbery, exhausted, her body giving out at last.
Without a word, the pursuer kicks off the arm of the student, yanking the parcel from her desperate grasp.
“Hey, Hifumi, you're finally here!”
A familiar voice draws the pursuer's interest. She turns her head, watching as a beige haired girl approaches a girl sitting on a bench, her arms clutching something behind her back.
A girl all too familiar to her. Her long white hair, neatly adorned with a flower hairpin. With matching light purple eyes, that always gave off the air of an airhead, which sparkly contrasts the no nonsense glare that normally rested on her face. The long black dress she wears standing out against the typical Trinity uniform worn by her friend.
“Azusa! You weren't waiting too long, were you?”
“I just got here myself, don't worry. Why did you call me out here?”
Hifumi lets out a light laugh, before thrusting forward the item she's holding.
“Tada! A brand new Peroroman plush! Limited edition!”
At the sight, Azusa's eyes light up. Stars sparkle in her eyes as she grips the plush of the strange looking bird, it's tongue lolling out in a barely appealing manner. It was dressed in an all red bodysuit, its bulging fish eyes underneath two yellow lenses.
“It's so cute! Is it for me?!”
“Yep!”
“But why?”
“Did you forget? It's your birthday!”
If it was even possible, Azusa’s eyes seem to glow even brighter. She snuggles her new plush tightly, kicking and squealing in excitement unbefitting a girl her age.
“C'mon, Hanako and Koharu are waiting for us!”
Hifumi tugs at Azusa's sleeve, practically dragging the other girl to her feet. Azusa quietly follows her, a smile as wide as the horizon plastered on her face.
“At least you were able to escape…”
The pursuer whispers as she watches the students walk off, transfixed. A weak and small tug on the parcel in her hand brings her back down to reality. She glances at the student trapped below her, before raising her pistol. Bang. The student falls to the ground, unconscious.
The small crowd of students around her part in fear, some opting to flee, shuffling away from her as she trudges back to the alleyway. Her knuckles are bone white, almost crushing whatever was inside the parcel.
The dorms of Trinity are always quiet at dusk. That doesn't mean that the streets are empty, though, far from it. Students mingle with their friends, ice cream and crepes and all sorts of other sweets in hand as they return back to their dorms, worn out from another day of studying and hanging out. But for Saori, it was another day of grueling work. She had gotten less money than she had anticipated from the parcel. A single minute late, and nearly half her pay was deducted. Another half because the contents were slightly damaged, even though there wasn't a single crack on the damn thing. That’s the problem when you work in the black market, though. Unreputable nobodies are nothing but fools to be exploited and scammed. But still, money was money. Even if it wasn't enough for tonight's dinner, it was enough for this.
Saori holds a small envelope gingerly between her fingers. She delicately turns it in her hands, as though any sudden movement might crease and ruin it. It was a bright pink, with a poorly tied ribbon sealing it together. It was covered with what might generously be called chicken scratch. Bright pink, light blue, golden yellow and warm red. All beautiful colors on their own, yet mixed together with Saori's technique, only a garish, unholy mix of colors was produced, only made worse by the eraser marks covering the entire thing. But how was she supposed to know that erasers don't work well on crayons? But still, a small smile laid underneath her mask. She didn't know what other students found cute, but she had spent a good chunk of the afternoon studying. Besides, the once-Arius student’s tastes of what’s cute were hard to describe as normal. On the letter, in shaky, nearly illegible handwriting, wrote “To Azusa.”
For an Arius student, it may as well have been the Mona Lisa. After all, that shoddy excuse of a school that she grew up in didn't teach her much. Only how to fight, and how to hate. They never had time for luxuries like writing, let alone drawing.
She walks up to a red brick building. A perfectly ordinary red brick building, like all the others lining the street. An ordinary dorm where ordinary students lived. No booby traps lined the sidewalk, no landmines underneath the grass. No barbed wires lined the low brick fence that circled the building. It even had wide, open windows, completely open save for the curtains that hung behind them. Saori's eyes scan the ground, double, triple checking. The Azusa she remembered would never have left her living space so unguarded. It was only a few months ago she was sprinting through that dilapidated building, bombs going off left and right as she dodged trap after trap.
With a sigh, she steps past the unlocked gate, stopping just before the front door. A name tag was on the door to the building. “Shirasu Azusa”. Saori let out a small sigh, relieved that her information brought her to the correct address. She lifts open the mailbox lid, slipping the envelope inside.
The thud of a bag hitting the ground sounds behind her, followed by the familiar click of a gun.
“What are you doing here?”
Saori spins around. She's greeted by Azusa, the bright purple eyes that were smiling so happily earlier, now twisted and distorted into a vicious snarl.
“What. Are you? Doing here?” She repeats, her teeth bared as she aims her rifle.
“Azusa, I-”
“How did you find me? Who told you?”
She doesn't give her a chance to explain.
“Azusa-”
“Leave!” A volley of bullets fly. Saori quickly jumps out of the way, as little chunks of brick fly into the air.
“Azusa-”
“Go away! Leave! Get out!”
Azusa empties an entire mag, her gun aiming wildly. Saori quickly moves to dodge the onslaught. Her hand moves for her pistol, but she stops herself.
Azusa’s sharp eyes notice though, and she quickly reloads.
“Why are you here? After everything you did?”
“Please Azusa, let me explain!”
“Shut up! Is it because I'm finally happy now? You just can't stand that I have actual friends now, ones that won't backstab and hurt me? That won't try and make a murderer out of me?”
Pure venom spews from Azusa's lips, months of repressed anger and frustration breaking loose, tearing apart dirt and brick as.
“Do you hate me that much? That hurting my friends and my school wasn't enough?”
Saori stops dead in her tracks.
“Your school? What about us, what about Arius? Were we not your school as well?”
Saori's brows furrow. She knows she shouldn't be speaking, these words weren't the words she wanted to say. But her mouth had a mind of its own.
“You abandoned us after mere weeks at Trinity! What happened to all those years in Squad? What happened to all those cold nights, all those desperate fights for scraps? All of that, you forgot and abandoned!”
Azusa's grip tightens. The barrel of her rifle trembles, her hands shaking so much that she can't properly aim.
“Shut up shut up shut up!” Azusa screams. “Leave! I never want to see your face again!”
Another volley of bullets, each striking Saori square on the forehead. Warm blood flows freely from her forehead, flowing around her eye and soaking into her mask. But Saori doesn’t even move a finger to wipe it off. She could've easily dodge them. Azusa's shots were wild, all over the place, full of anger. But her legs wouldn't budge.
“Fine.”
A single world. Saori turns on her heels, a solemn march from the one who was once family. She kicks the ajar gate off its hinges. Once she's sure Azusa is no longer watching, she starts sprinting. She sprints until her lungs are burning, and her legs are lead. She collapses behind a dumpster in a dark alleyway, her thin jacket useless against the chilling winds. The mask stifles her cries, but does nothing to hide the falling tears.
Azusa solemnly walks back to the gate. Saori is long gone by now. She watches as the gate swings, barely holding on to its mutilated hinges, the terrible screech of metal scratching metal drowning out the call of the early night insects. She dusts off the Peroro plush, squeezing it tightly between her bone white knuckles. She slowly approaches the mailbox, retrieving the garishly bright pink letter. She clutches it between her fingers, crumpling the edges as she does nothing but stare. “To Azusa.”
Without a second glance, she tears the tiny letter to a thousand pieces. She tosses the scraps, the tiny pieces of paper blowing away in the wind.