Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
"Alright, let's call it for the day." Tatsuo said while the final note of the last song he played with Kaori lingered in the air. "Things are looking good for the performance. If we can play like we did today when we're on that stage. You're sure to be a hit."
Though it was true Tatsuo thought the practice went well, the real reason that he called an end to the practice was for Kaori's sake.
Despite the fact that Tatsuo's [Pianist Skill] was helping Kaori keep her stamina up while dampening the effects of her case of Friedreich's Ataxia, there was only so much that could be done by treating the symptoms.
"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Kaori replied, the fatigue evident in her tone. Even so, she continued with a bright smile. "Still, I don't know what it is about playing with you, Soramoto-Kun. But I feel like I'm full of energy. I don't remember the last time I played for this long at one time. It's almost like you have some kind of magic in your music. Hahaha!"
As she laughed Kaori threw her head back and pressed the hand holding the violin bow to her stomach. Unfortunately, because of that, she missed the awkward smile on Tatsuo's face.
'If I didn't know she thought what she said was a joke, I'd say this girl is really sharp.' Tatsuo thought to himself while glancing at Tio, who wore a similar smile. 'Oh, well. She'll probably find out that it's not such a joke on Friday. Though, I'd rather she didn't' have to. Well, whatever. If she does, I'll leave the choice to erase her memory or not to Mom. She's her artist, after all.'
*Growl!*
The sound of a stomach growling caused Kaori's laughter to stop. Then, with a blush on her face, she pressed her hand on her stomach even harder.
"Looks like someone is hungry, huh?" Tatsuo said with a smile. "Well, I'm getting hungry, too. Wanna join Tio and I for something to eat?"
"I don't know..." Kaori, blushing even harder at the fact that Tatsuo heard her stomach growl, said in an uncertain tone. "It's pretty late. And I don't wanna get home too late."
"If you don't want to, it's fine." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "But we'll be driving. So, we can drop you off at your place after we're done if you want."
Hearing that Tatsuo and Tio were traveling by car softened Kaori's uncertainty. Still, after a moment of contemplation, she shook her head.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass." Kaori replied. "Maybe next time. I really should get home. I don't want my parents to worry since I've already been out for a while."
"Your call." Tatsuo replied nonchalantly. "Well then, be careful on your way home. I'll see you at the same time tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Kaori replied with a wide smile.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo stood up from the piano, closed the keylid, and made his way to the door where Tio was waiting. Then, just as he reached the door, he waved over his shoulder before stepping outside.
Waving back softly, Kaori continued to smile until Tatsuo disappeared from the small window in the door. She then carefully put her violin and bow away before resting her face in her hands.
"What are you doing, Kaori?" Kaori asked herself, her voice muffled by her hands. "It's not like he was asking me out on a date. He asked me to join him and his manager, for goodness sake. But why did Kosei-Kun's face pop up in my head when I thought about saying yes?"
Meanwhile, Kasumi, having left the apartment even before Tatsuo and Tio, was watching the runway at a private runway owned by a wealthy businessman not far from Tokyo from a secluded location through a monocular.
{"Have you seen anything yet?"} Mai asked through the earbud in Kasumi's ear.
"Not yet." Kasumi replied quietly, her tone much firmer than usual. "But with all the movement I can see around the air strip, there's definitely something big coming in."
{"Same here."} Mai said, her tone also free of its usual playful nature. {"There are too many people running around here to be a normal incoming flight. And since we have confirmation that these two scumbags are in bed with DOATEC, I'd bet all the fans Tatsu-Chan made for me that at least some of what we're expecting to see is on its way to at least one of these runways."
"I agree." Kasumi replied. "Unfortunately, I doubt these are the only two places they'll have their people land."
{"I know."} Mai replied. {"But we're not here to engage this time, remember? And with that being the case, we can leave overseeing the rest of the locations to Sumire-Sama's other subordinates."}
"Yes, I know." Kasumi said "*Sigh* It's too bad Sumire-Sama's informant was unable to get a concrete number for us, though. I just hope the others don't miss anyone."
{"The others, huh?"} Mai asked in a playful tone. {"Are you that confident that you won't miss anyone?"}
"If they're sending who I think they will, then no, I won't." Kasumi replied, her tone much sharper than Mai expected.
{"I see."] Mai replied solemnly after understanding why Kasumi sounded so harsh. {"Well, if they sent who you think they did, then, we'll have to make sure they never make it back to DOATEC, won't we?"}
"We will." Kasumi replied quietly. "Honestly, I hope it never comes---"
*Vroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
"A plane is coming." Kasumi said, cutting off her previous sentence as she turned her monocular upwards. "There are no identifying markings, either. I think we might have found our target."
{"Then, it looks like your stake out is about to end."} Mai said. {"I'll leave you to your job. Contact me when you're on your way back to the apartment."}
"Understood." Kasumi replied solemnly as she stared through her monocular, tracking the plane's descent. "I'll check in once I've confirmed all the new arrivals."
With that, Kasumi heard the earbud in her ear go silent. Meanwhile, she continued to watch the plane as it landed. And now that the aircraft was closer, she realized that it was not a normal plane, as the plane landed vertically instead of touching down and rolling to a stop.
After a while, the aircraft, painted black with no markings that would give away who it belonged to, settled at the end of the airstrip between two more common private jets. Then, Kasumi watched as what appeared to be a door lowered from the side of the plane, revealing stairs on the inner side of the door.
A moment later, a number of swift figures darted out of the plane, taking up defensive positions around the aircraft. And because of their speed, Kasumi had a tough time seeing any identifying features. However, when they come to a stop, hands placed on the wakizashi on their backs while scanning the surroundings with their amber eyes peeking out of the masks they wore, eyes that were so familiar to her, as she saw them every day when she looked in the mirror, Kasumi's grip around her monocular tightened.
"Of course they're using them." Kasumi hissed quietly. "The Alphas... My clones."
With the anger boiling inside of her, it took all Kasumi had to not rush down to the airstrip and begin a slaughter. But because she knew that would not accomplish anything of note, as Donavan would only create more to replace the ones that were lost, she put a lid on her anger and returned to her mission.
Unfortunately, the ones monitoring the parameter were not the only ones to leave the aircraft. Many of the shadows that seemed as though they would never end ran away from the airstrip and continued to run, eventually disappearing into the distance. However, the last person to leave the aircraft did not run. Instead, he stepped out leisurely, almost lazily, as he walked down the stairs.
"Is that him?" Kasumi asked herself as she focused on the man slowly walking down the stairs.
As she asked herself, Kasumi, with the monocular still held up to her left eye, reached into a pouch on her right hip and pulled out a small tablet. She then glanced down at the picture displayed on the tablet before quickly looking back to the man, who was now talking on some kind of communications device.
"Yes, that's him." Kasumi muttered as she put the small tablet away.
Although she was unable to make a positive match on the hair color, as the man she was looking at wore a black hood, his light brown eyes and most of his other facial features were clearly visible. On top of that, based on the way he moved, Kasumi could tell that he was a skilled martial artist, which also matched the information about the man that Sumire's organization had collected.
"That is definitely Rig." Kasumi said quietly as she turned her attention away from the man, Rig, and turned her attention towards the road leading to the airstrip. "No, because he is on a mission for Donavan, he should be going by… Victor Donavan Jr., now."
Seeing the figure of the man leading the operation, Kasumi subconsciously reached behind her and gripped the hilt of her wakizashi. However, after taking a deep breath, she slowly released it. Although she knew that taking out Rig would hinder DOATEC's, or more precisely, Donavan's plans, she also knew that getting to him while fighting off eight of her clones would be too much, even for her.
So, instead of engaging, as she wanted to, Kasumi, after releasing her wakizashi, reached up to her earbud and reconnected to the comms channel.
"I've confirmed the number and identity of the people who landed at this location." Kasumi said quietly, the quiet anger in her tone clear for everyone on the channel to hear. "Rig is at this location. Also, he traveled with twenty-four Alpha clones, eight of which stayed behind to guard him while the other sixteen dashed off into the surroundings."
{"We have eyes on the other sixteen."} A male voice said over the earbud. {"They've all dashed past the hidden cameras we set up around the area. Though, several cameras were destroyed, as well."}
{"Good."} Mai's voice followed up. {"Then, it's time for you to get out of there, Kasumi-Chan. The rest of the team will do what they can to keep track of them."}
"Underst---" Kasumi began to say. However, the voice of another operative interrupted her response.
{"There is a vehicle inbound on the road accessing the airstrip."} A female voice said. {"It looks to be a black stretch limousine. However, there is no match to the license plate in the data base."}
{"That makes sense."} Mai replied. {"There's no way they would make it that easy for us to find out where they are or where they're going, right?"}
"Mai's right." Kasumi replied. "Anyway, I'll leave soon. After they board the vehicle, I'm going to take a look in the plane if possible."
*Vroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
At the same time, the limousine that was mentioned earlier came into view. When it did, as if to mock Kasumi's plan, the engines of the aircraft once again roared to life, leaving Kasumi feeling a bit helpless. Then, as soon as the limousine pulled up in front of Rig, the aircraft rose straight up into the air, reoriented its heading, and flew off in the direction it came from.
"Well, it looks like I'll be heading back without searching the aircraft." Kasumi muttered as she glanced in the aircraft's direction. "It just left the area."
{"Like I said, there's no way they were going to make it that easy for us."} Mai reiterated.
"I know." Kasumi replied. "I'll head back now."
{"Be safe."} Mai said.
"I will." Kasumi replied as she turned around.
Meanwhile, one of the Alpha Clones was opening the limousine's door for Rig to enter the vehicle. However, before Rig, four of the eight remaining clones entered first to make sure that there were no traps inside while three others checked the outside of the vehicle. Yet, just before Rig stepped inside, he looked in the direction where Kasumi was hiding.
"Four of you, there's a little rat watching us." Rig said calmly as he placed one foot inside the car. "Take care of it."
"Understood." The four Alpha Clones outside of the limousine replied in unison.
Nodding in response, Rig stepped the rest of the way into the limousine while three of the Alpha clones rushed off in Kasumi's direction. The fourth followed shortly afterwards after closing the door behind Rig.
*Vroom!*
Then, as soon as the last clone left, the limousine turned around before leaving the airstrip, as well.
"Oh, it looks like I'm being followed." Kasumi said as she looked over her shoulder. Though, she could not see any signs of her pursuers, thanks to her years of training as a kunoichi and the nearly a year of Sumire's training, tracking them was no issue. "Should I deal with them or just lose them?"
{"If you can deal with them without injury, do it."} Mai instructed. {"Otherwise, just get out of there. We don't want to leave them anything that would give away your identity."
"Understood." Kasumi replied while slightly slowing down her running speed.
'Well then, reducing their numbers won't be a problem, right?' Kasumi thought to herself as she could sense the fastest of the four pursuers getting closer. 'The fewer we have to deal with on the night of the concert, the better. That way, we'll have fewer of them to protect the civilians against.'
*Cling!*
As that thought ran through her head, Kasumi reached back to the hilt of her wakizashi. Then, faster than the naked eye could follow, she drew her short sword and deflected an incoming kunai with enough force that it sank into a nearby tree up to its handle.
Kasumi then stepped to her right, avoiding a second kunai, before ducking under a flurry of shuriken.
*Shing!*
In the next instant, Kasumi vanished from where she stood, replaced by a flurry of pink rose petals. At the same time, two Alpha Clones, dressed in all black with only their eyes showing, appeared on either side of where she once stood, one swiping a kunai at where her throat used to be while the second swept towards her waist
However, neither clone was able to land their strikes. Instead, the second to attack ended up being pinned to the ground when Kasumi fell from above and stabbed her wakizashi through the back of its neck and out of its throat from behind.
Unbothered by the death of its companion, the first Alpha Clone stabbed down at the back of Kasumi's head. Kasumi, on the other hand, released the hilt of her wakizashi and somersaulted backwards to avoid the thrust,
*Bang!*
As she did, Kasumi clipped the clone's chin with her left foot, staggering her enemy momentarily. Unfortunately, she was unable to take advantage of the clone's staggered state, as she was forced to quickly pivot to avoid an attack from behind.
*Cling!*
As she turned, avoiding the slashing kunai, Kasumi grabbed the attacking wrist, dragging her attacker along with her as she spun on her heel. She then directed the kunai in the clone's hand to block the final clones' attack.
Following the momentum of her spin, Kasumi dropped down before sweeping the legs of the third clone out from under it. Then, she vanished into another cloud of rose petals to avoid a lunge from the first clone.
As the first clone's kunai sank into the ground after passing through the rose petals, Kasumi reappeared above the fourth clone, sitting on its shoulders, her abdomen pressed against the back of its head with her legs wrapped around its neck.
*Crack!*
Kasumi then twisted her entire body, ending up on the other side of the clone's head and breaking its neck in the process. She then flung her upper body backwards, legs still clamped around the clone's broken neck, before using her legs to fling the corpse at the first clone to attack.
*Thud!*
Reacting quickly, the first clone kicked away the flying corpse while Kasumi sprung off her hands to regain her footing before hopping lightly to avoid a sweep from the third clone as it rose to its feet.
*Bang!*
Lashing out with her right foot while midair, Kasumi landed a kick on the third clone's face, sending it flying a short distance…
*Shing!*
… before once again vanishing in a burst of rose petals to avoid a volley of shuriken. A moment later, she reappeared next to the corpse of the second clone and pulled her wakizashi from its neck and the ground. She then lowered her stance while sheathing the blade before kicking off the ground and rushing past the third clone, which was still midair.
*Splatter!*
As she passed, Kasumi drew her wakizashi and cut the third clone across the chest, slashing apart its heart in the process.
As blood fountained from the fatally wounded clone's chest, the first clone, the only one still alive, quickly spun on its heels and sprinted away from Kasumi. Understanding there was no chance of victory after three of its companions had been defeated so quickly.
Unfortunately for the final clone, Kasumi had no intention of allowing it to leave. Although she was sure that Rig would be able to figure out what organization she belonged to, as no one in Japan had a bigger interest in DOATEC than those commanded by Sumire, she did not want any information about her, specifically, to reach him.
So, at a speed much greater than the clone's, Kasumi kicked off the ground and followed after it. Then, in only a few seconds, she caught up to the fleeing clone.
Realizing that her chances of escaping while Kasumi was uninjured were slim at the very best, the final clone charged towards a nearby tree, intending to use it as a spring board to change directions. However, before she could even leap to put her feet on the tree's trunk…
*Thunk!*
… Kasumi thrusted her wakizashi through the clone's heart from behind, pinning it to the tree.
"All targets eliminated." Kasumi reported into her earbud. "I need a cleanup crew at my location, immediately."
{"Understood."} A male voice replied. {"ETA seven minutes."}
{"Good job, Kasumi-Chan~."} Mai said in a sing-song tone. {"Looks like you're done for the day. If you're lucky, you'll get home in time for Tatsu-Kun's dinner. Damn… You're so lucky… I really wanna see Tatsu-Kun in an apron again."}
The sound of Mai biting her fingernails was audible to everyone on the channel. However, after working with her for so long, they all learned to ignore her when she got like that. Especially since, despite how she acted, Mai never let it get in the way of her work.
"Okay, I'm heading back." Kasumi, also ignoring Mai, though she had a smile on her face at the thought of eating Tatsuo's cooking, said as she pulled her wakizashi from the tree and the dead clone. She then continued while sheathing the blade. "I'll see you at home, Mai-San."
With that, Kasumi vanished from where she stood. This time, however, her disappearance was not accompanied by the fluttering of rose petals, signifying that even though she had dominated a one against four fight with clones from the time she was in DOATEC's captivity during the second Dead or Alive Tournament, she had been holding back significantly.