Jinguuji Family Office.
A building reserved for the small-time yakuza of the Jinguuji family. Inside the office lay a stunning and elegant woman wearing a traditional yukata bearing patterns of Ryūsuimon (Flowing Water).
Peaceful and tranquil.
Mitani Hana the boss was doing her usual work when a knocking at the door was heard, pausing her work, she told the person to come in.
The door of the office opened. Her subordinate comes in telling, her guest has arrived.
Hana mused, then ordered her subordinate to fetch the guest. The subordinate bowed before leaving and closed the door behind him.
Soon after the door opens again and in comes a gorgeous and alluring woman wearing a sunhat and a red dress that fits her figure nicely.
"Pretty puny office. Can't you rent out a bigger one." The lady in red said.
"Eesh, rude!" Hana shot back. "If we had the scratch for that, we'd've done it by now."
The lady in red set her sunhat aside and sat at a sofa, then asked listlessly. "What? aren't you making a tidy profit?"
Hana stood up from her seat as she shouted. "You kiddin' me?! Where'd you heard that crap from?!"
"Oh stop playing dumb." The lady scoffed.
"You got that massive arena from the Niwa clan didn't you? And you've only gotten bigger and bigger crowds at each show."
Sitting back down, Hana sighed as she leaned back. "They didn't give it to us, They're renting it to us for cheap. But still... and yeah, we've been gettin' more and more customers.."
Hana then proceeds to explain in detail the hardship of running a crowd venue business.
More fighters = More salary, more hospital bills.
Bigger venue = More staff, more models, more promotion, and higher labor costs.
"Then there's the nutso utility costs. Water, electricity. Our current audience size is just enough to break even. We've really gotta pump up our numbers or we're never gonna rake in any profit." Hana slumped forward, translucent souls drifting from her slack mouth like she'd aged ten years in ten seconds.
A bead of sweat rolled down the lady's temple as she muttered. "...Uh. Sounds rough."
Finally coming back to life, Hana regained her posture. "You didn't come here to listen to me bellyache. What've you found out Karen?"
Watanabe Karen. A former assassin sent by the slaughter colosseum to destroy Valkyria. In the attempt to kill Hana at the showers of the arena, she found herself out maneuvered. She's currently working to gather information for Hana.
"Right, I've looked into your 'Intruder' and Ying Zheng." Taking a picture from her bag, she slid it across the table to Hana.
"This is the army of god ain't it?!" Looking over the picture was a man wearing a full-body white robe with a black cross at the center.
Looking more closely she saw two girls at the back. "It's the intruder and that's Hina right next to her!" Sweat poured over her back as she remembered something.
'That's right... Nozomi told me that Ying said he had sisters, plural.'
Karen then slid more photos. "Her name was Shinonome Rei, but with no records of that name existing, I'm more inclined that it's an alias."
"'Course it is... she wouldn't use her real name would she...?
Karen exhaled. "Gathering info on someone isn't easy with just their face to go off of."
"...But I didn't come here with nothing." Pulling out another picture from her bag she held it high over so that Hana could see. "I came across this."
Standing from her seat, Hana moved over and took the picture from Karen's hand.
"They're a lot younger but this is definitely Ying, Hina, and Shinonome Rei!"
"Right. If she was close to the supreme leader's heir and daughter, she must be the daughter of some other high ranking cult staff. But I can't find info on anyone who might fit the bill."
"This girl was deliberate about vanishing completely. This photo was her only oversight."
"Damn... I guess there's no use lookin' into Shinonome Rei anymore." Hana started pondering. 'Next, then... we should start looking at the so-called star children that Rei mentioned and the crown of eve that Ying told Nozomi.'
Taking a deep breath, she composed herself once more. "Then how about Ying, you told me you also had information on him."
This time Karen didn't take out a photo but she did put down a bunch of vhs tapes. "I'm sure that in your line of work, you know about kengan matches, right?" Hana nodded.
"While digging, I found out that he once represented his cult and fought in these matches. His most recent fight is against someone called Bear Fighter, he did end the fight quickly. Look at the tapes yourself and you'll see his strength."
"But... this is just the surface, the more I look the harder it is to find anything before he was adopted and after the leader's death. It was as if... the government themselves wants to hide something massive, even bigger than the cult's terrorism."
With that Mitani Hana's expression sharpened.
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"Sheesh, you actually work in this dump?" Looking around, a building with decaying paints drooping over can be seen around the neighborhood, adding the smell of rotten sewage water. Iori Ichika couldn't help but question her friend.
The other person stayed silent, opening a door with a sign that say's clinic. She gestured for Iori to come over.
Now inside, the other person turned on the lights and put on a lab coat over her brown dress.
She then ran her fingers along the table, patting it like an old friend.. "This is sufficient. It's better to not stand out."
Iori, now sitting down on a swivel bar stool, spoke. "Are back-alley docs really that hard up? I figured you'd be with more crazy stuff An"
"Oh, I would love to! but if you do, you'll survive less in this world... and I don't want that." An hugged herself, clutching her coat as she began to shake uncontrollably. Until. "An!" Iori called her loudly, toppling the stool as she bolted upright in a hurry. Snapping An, out of her anxiety tremors, coming close to a panic attack.
Due to not seeing each other for so long, only now did Iori remembered why Sakurai An vanished from their quartet.
Sakurai An was the smartest of the group, but a dramatic fear of Death has gripped her for her whole life, ever since she was just a kid. Thanatophobia, the intense fear of death.
She has always been smart. Maybe even a bit too smart. To try and escape that fear... she studied to become a doctor and research immortality. She even made it into Japan's top med school. But things took a turn.
It came to light that she had been body snatching, trying to revive the stolen corpses. Now branded as Japan's very own Ed Gein, she was permanently cut off from working in legitimate medicine. She then vanished from public view, later on rumors about her winding up as a back-alley doctor reached their group's ear.
"Sorry." Iori then shifted the conversation. "...Finished my investigation. Figured I'd give you the skinny."
"Your investigation into... Nozomi's opponent?" An smiled gently, her eyes locking onto Iori's with quiet reassurance.
Iori looked away. "Right. Morisaki Natsumi. That bitch is a real piece of work. The whole time, she's been a double agent sent in to sabotage us from the inside."
Iori put the fallen stool back up and sat at it. "Morisaki's underground org is the Ise Dragons based in Nagoya. So I didn't see what they'd get out of fucking with us."
Agitated, she began spinning around the swivel bar stool. "However. I picked up some info that she's gonna be transferring to a Tokyo-based underground fighting organization, Love Psycho Girls."
"As you might expect, it's another female-only org. They're still setting up, not in active operation just yet. But they're being bankrolled by Ise Dragons."
Finally stopping her spinning. She leaned back facing An in an upside-down look. "The two orgs trace back to the same root. The Boyu group, one of Japan's big three crime syndicates."
"Could they be after us to get to the Niwa clan?" An questioned.
It was afterall well known that tensions between the Boyu group and the Niwa clan who's currently affiliated with Valkyria was high. Things between could escalate into an all-out war any day now.
"Yep." Iori agreed. "But... there seems to be more in play." Iori sighed.
Iori sat straight back up and questioned "Do you know Ying Zheng?"
"Ying Zheng, ah yes. Nozomi mentioned him when she visited me. Told me that it's due to him and another me doctor helped fix her eye. Yeah, I would love to meet that doctor sometimes, hehehe." An began grinning widely whilst laughing maniacally.
"Er..." Iori began looking strangely at her for a moment before shaking her head. "Anyways! Somehow somewhy, he's connected or at least part of a reason why they targeted us."
Finally out of her deranged state, An then asked. "Is talking to this Ying Zheng guy and figuring out his position in all this not an option? After all, he's an investor... making him another member of Valkyria."
"Yeah no, while it would be nice. I don't think talking to him will solve anything now. The other problem involves him too. Hina and the intruder." Iori said while clasping her hands together.
"Besides, I have a gut feeling that he would shrug anything unless we deal with this. On our own." Iori then grinned with anger, veins popping up on her head. "Bring it on fucker."
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Ding Dong, Bing Bong.
The class bell echoed through the hallways of the school.
Classrooms emptied in waves, with clusters of female students spilling out, chatting, laughing, bags slung over shoulders.
While exiting the school grounds, one particular girl stood out from the rest. Someone who clearly wasn't a student.
Tight-fitting hoodie and pants hugged her slender yet muscular figure, a simple cap pulled low. Leaning back against the outside wall of the gate, she'd been quietly scanning the crowd, searching for one face.
Finally spotting her target, she called out.
"Hina."
Hina blinked, startled for a split second. Her star-shaped pupils flaring wide, then the surprise melted away, replaced by that ever-present bright smile that somehow managed to feel both innocent and faintly unsettling.
"Nozomi!" she chirped, voice light and melodic as she quickened her step toward the wall where Nozomi leaned. "Sorry for the wait!"
Nozomi pushed off the concrete with a casual shrug, hands slipping into her hoodie pockets. "You're good. Let's bounce."
They stepped away from the gate together, merging into the flow of students heading toward the main street.
They talked for a while, nothing serious, just small talk. Until, only the two of them were walking together. "So? What is it? Something happened?"
Hina hopping on her step, deflected the question cheerfully. "Um, first! Nozomi, you're also gonna be fighting in the next show?"
A short, involuntary huff escaped Nozomi. "And how did you know that? Someone tell you?"
"Heard it from Ichika." Hina drew out the name with a teasing lilt. "Buuuut, she doesn't seem totally on board."
She pauses, noticing something before continuing. "She really wants you to withdraw before the match. She even said she'd take your place. That's nice of her."
"Ah..." Nozomi let out a soft, realizing breath. "Huh. Yeah. Despite how she might look, she's a very considerate person. Nosy, even."
Hina slowed her step. "Friendship is just sooo beautiful!"
Then Hina stopped walking entirely. Making Nozomi look back. "Ah, okay. On to what I wanted to talk about..."
Nozomi's eye dilated as another girl stepped into view, the very one who had intruded on Valkyria.
Hina gestured toward the girl with an open palm. "I just wanted to introduce you two. This is Shinonome Rei."
Shinonome Rei bowed her head politely. "Hi there."
"YOU?! The Hell?! HUH?!" Nozomi's voice cracked with confusion.
"Sorry for the trouble before!" Rei responded.
Still reeling, Nozomi forced herself steady. "...Okay, well... I've got hundreds of questions, but I'll start with... why are you siblings fighting each other?"
Hina perked up. "I guess 'cause we're enemies?" She glanced toward Rei. "Right?"
"Yep." Rei nodded. "Only one of us gets chosen while the other gets discarded."
"Rei," Hina corrected gently. "It just means only one gets chosen as Eve. Not that we'll be away from brother."
"Oh right. I'm just ready to win, sooo..." Rei perked up, a wide smile spreading across her face as a suffocating wave of killing intent arose from her.
"I really want to be Eve, Hina. And the fact that brother seems to adore you means I'm not going to hold back. I'll kill you, Hina!"
Unexpectedly, Hina reached out and took both of Rei's hands. "Mhm. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Looking at the contradicting yet harmonious scene before her, Nozomi felt her confusion deepen.
"Hey... wait." Nozomi took a step back. "Slow down. I'm not following a word of this. Tell me... what really is this Crown of Eve?"
"..." Silence hung for a moment.
Hina released her hold over Rei's hands. "Should we tell her?"
Rei nodded rapidly. "Sure, sure. Not like it's a secret."
Hina started. "This is what we were raised to do."
Rei picked up seamlessly. "To fight, and crush each other."
"'Cause we're the star children." Hina added.
"Representing his eyes." Rei finished.
"And once Eve is decided." Hina said softly. "The original sin will be committed."
Nozomi's eyes widened further. Shock flooded in as the gravity of her deal with Ying finally clicked. "The star children...? Original sin...? Is that your doctrine...?"
"Right." Rei gave a small shrug. "That's all you need to know. If you want more, well... look into it yourself."
"But that's what we're gonna do, Nozomi." Hina's voice stayed bright. "We're gonna have a showdown."
Rei leaned in slightly. "Pleeease don't get in the way, okay? I'd hate to have to tear everything down."
Then, perfectly in sync, the two girls finished together. "Adam Kadmon awaits his Eve. Adam Kadmon awaits his Eve." The words came out calm and even. But the air felt thick and heavy, almost hard to breathe, with a faint metallic taste that made Nozomi's stomach twist.
It's Death.
Then suddenly, as if nothing happened, they smiled brightly again.
Hina waved casually. "'Kay, Nozomi! See ya at the show!"
Rei waved too, grinning wide. "Ooh, set me up with a cute costume, okay? I wanna leave a cute corpse." She laughed lightly. "I'll pay for it!"
They turned and walked off together, talking quietly between themselves as they disappeared around the corner.
Nozomi stood there on the sidewalk, unable to move. She didn't try to stop it. She couldn't. None of this made sense.
Or maybe… part of it did.
She finally understood one thing.
The price for her eye was far heavier than she ever imagined.
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AN: If you couldn't tell, yes this was an imitation from Star Strike It Rich with some bit's from me. Ngl, It's hard to imitate. I thought it'll make things easier for me because while imitation may be seen as bad, to me it's a necessary move to improve. But just taking things apart and creating it is more tiresome, It saps my energy through and through.
Basically Imitation is Taxing. Skip the Valkyria fight scene if you want to, I'm going to use imitation to weigh how to properly make a fight scene.
Word Count: 2,614