The Hinomoto Rebellion (11 page)

Asanagi leaped up from the crumbling sofa. “Do you know where he is? I heard about the fire and... I just kept hoping that he’d come home on his own. I thought maybe he needed to hide out for a day or two until the excitement died down” she choked, her expression one of worry.

“No,” admitted Andrea. “Monday night Bear was giving Tony a hard time and I... I got us all in trouble. The cops tried to arrest everybody.” She took a gulp of the milk, trying to delay the next part, working through the words in her head. Asanagi stared at Andrea, not even breathing. The family of every martial artist knew that the worst could happen any day, but nothing could ever truly prepare you for bad news. Andrea began to wish she’d never come here. She swallowed, feeling as though the milk was actually glue.

“Everyone started running and... The cops opened fire. I got away but when I went back, I didn’t see Foxfire there so, I was hoping he’d come home.” She looked at the floor, wondering how she had become the prime candidate for having to tell Foxfire’s wife that he was never going to be seen again.
That’s it. Next time, I get arrested, and Foxfire can break the news to...

Almost as though she could read the girl’s thoughts, Asanagi asked, “What about Tony? Where is he?”

“He’s dead.” the words nearly choked Andrea she spat them out so fast. Less than a second later she leaped up off the couch, pulling a small bag out of her pants pocket and dropping it on the coffee table. “I need someone to handle the arrangements since I’m still being looked for. It’s not a lot, but it should cover it. Tony had a plot over at Foreigner Cemetery in Yokohama. I really have to go.” she said, trying to leave before Asanagi asked any more questions.

“Andrea?”

 

She turned to glance at the dark-skinned woman who was giving her a look of hope. “Yes?”

“If you see Nobegane...?”
Andrea nodded. “I’ll send him home.”

She had to restrain herself to keep from slamming the door as she left. Had it not been ready to shatter, she might have done it just to alleviate some of the rage that was coursing through her right then, but she didn’t want to have to take Foxfire’s wife and children with her back to the temple. She took the steps two at a time and walked right past D.

Damn you, Tony! Damn you, your bar, your martial arts, and your stupid emotions!
Andrea launched a large rock into the air with her foot.
I wish you had left me to die! But no, you had to care! It’s your fault that I’m like this! Because of you, I’m being subjected to these bleeding-heart morons and their government conspiracy theories! And now I’m having to tell some woman she may never see her husband again! If you were here right now I’d-!

A hand seized Andrea’s arm, kicking in her instincts to seize it and flip whomever it was attached to. Luckily, D spoke up before she got past clutching his wrist.

“Everything okay?” he asked, looking at her with concern in his blue and gold eyes.

Andrea felt the urge to punch him rising in her. She was so angry right now that she wanted to take it out on anyone, and D was the closest available target. With her free arm she threw a punch at his face, which he quickly avoided while maintaining his grip.

“Dammit! Would you talk to me for once instead of trying to smash my teeth in!?” he yelled at her.

Andrea whipped her wrist out of his clutches, turning away from him with her bangs concealing her eyes. “There’s nothing to talk about.” she said.

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

Andrea turned and started walking back down the street. She wanted nothing more than to return to the temple and break some more training equipment to alleviate some of her rage. Tony was dead, the bar was a pile of ash, Foxfire was more than likely being tortured in a prison somewhere, and what had she done? Run away like a coward. Despite the guns, she knew that she should have rushed the police and defended her home. It was a well-known fact that police were trained to shoot first because if a martial artist got in close the cop would be down in no time. That was the problem with having almost no hand-tohand training.
What I wouldn’t give for that Ryoku bastard to attack me right now,
she thought.

D caught up to Andrea and was now following half a step behind her, his hands in his pants pockets. He watched her as they walked back the way they had come, noting that she was trembling. She kept clenching her fists until her knuckles were bright white, her breath coming in heaving gasps as though she were trying desperately to keep control of her own muscles.

Though he had no idea what Andrea had said inside the house, he had heard what was said before they’d gone in. Kanjou had told D some of the details of their initial meeting with Andrea, and he thought he remembered that Foxfire was the name of the man that Andrea had defeated in the ring that night. Why should she be telling anyone about him though?

Then it clicked in D’s head.
He must’ve been captured by the police,
D realized. His mouth gaped and his eyes widened a bit. So that’s why she’d come here– to tell his wife that he was a prisoner now.

She risked her own freedom and her life to come here, just to give them some answers and hope! I don’t know any other martial artists that would do that for someone, not with if they had the police looking for them specifically at least. So... she really does care about someone other than herself then.
D was trying to think of something to say to her when they heard shouting from around the next corner.

“Halt! Put down your weapon!”

 

Andrea stopped walking and put her arm out, making D stop in his tracks.

 

“I said, put down your weapon!”

 

Andrea moved closer to the corner of the building, peeking her head around it. “What’s going on?” D whispered.

 

“Six cops, armed with night sticks, surrounding a girl with a bo.” she replied.

Five meters away from the corner, six men in police uniforms formed a circle around a 1.6 meter tall woman with shoulder-length black hair. A teal headband the same color as her sleeveless shirt kept her bangs off her face. Her eyes were narrowed at the officers standing around her, her hands making tight fists around the wood of the bo that she carried. Her rock-solid stance communicated clearly that she had no intentions of going peacefully.

Once of the police officers closest to Andrea made a move to attack just as two more of the men also lunged forward. Before the Tiger’s mind knew what her body was doing, she had leaped around the corner and was barreling toward the fight.

Chapter Four
Fight of Pride

D’s arm whipped out, trying to grab Andrea before she went around the corner, but he came away empty handed. He heard her yell as she ran toward the police, and he sighed and shook his head. “She found something to take her anger out on,” he moaned, “This isn’t going to be good.”

Andrea’s feet pounded the pavement as she let out an earpiercing battle cry. The three cops closest to her all turned just as the girl with the bo knocked the legs out of one of the men that had been moving to attack her before Andrea had popped out from around the corner.

Poking his head around the corner, D watched the battle explode five meters away from him. Andrea dodged a night stick by ducking beneath it and swinging her leg out, breaking both of the police officer’s kneecaps with a single blow. She leaped back to her feet, slamming her fist into the underside of her second attacker’s jaw.

The black-haired girl used her bo to stop a night stick from colliding with her head, sliding her weapon down to the cop’s arm. She flicked the bo so fast that D didn’t even see where she hit the man before he tumbled over on to the ground. Four of the six policemen were lying on the concrete and both of the ones Andrea had dispatched were bleeding.

The last of the policemen attacking the black-haired girl swung wildly, his night stick no match for the length of her own weapon. In a few brief moments he too was lying on the ground, his right arm jutting at an odd angle to his body.

Andrea faced off with her last opponent, narrowly dodging some well-placed attacks. Finally she managed to seize the man’s wrist and squeeze, causing him to drop his weapon. The nightstick clattered to the pavement as Andrea stepped in and delivered one succinct blow to his ribs. She dropped his arm as he followed his weapon to the ground.

The black-haired girl grabbed Andrea’s arm. “Come on!” she yelled, turning and running down the street with Andrea in tow. D leaped around the corner and followed the two fleeing females, leaping over a few of the prostrate bodies they had left in their wake.

The trio ran ten blocks before finally stopping in a small, dark alley. They threw themselves down in three heaps behind a dumpster, breathing heavily and wiping sweat out of their eyes. Not a word was spoken for a few minutes as they struggled to catch their breaths, each ragged inhalation bringing them closer to calming their racing hearts.

Finally, the girl with the bo looked at Andrea. “Thank you so much.” she said with a small smile. Her face was oval-shaped, with a cute button nose and large blue-green eyes framed by thick eyelashes. Her eyebrows were high and shaped well. She carried herself like a trained fighter, and her exposed arms were lean and toned. The band of fabric circling her head was long in the back, hanging with trailing ends to her waist. She wore black skin-tight pants and brown kneehigh leather boots that carried the signs of being well worn. The wooden staff also had the look of years of use. The handgrip had been rewrapped several times and the wood was uneven, dented and cracked from practice with the weapon.

Andrea pointed to the bo. “You shouldn’t carry that thing unless you like to ask for trouble,” she replied.

 

The girl simply smiled, then her face changed to an expression halfway between shock and recognition. “Hey... you’re Andrea the Tiger, aren’t you!?” she exclaimed.

D and Andrea exchanged a glance, Andrea’s eyebrow raised a little. Then they both looked back at the girl with the headband. “Yeah,” Andrea answered. “Do I know you?”

“I’ve been looking for you for two days!”The girl jumped up and bowed, “Mezushi Aki,” she said, “I’ve come to help the
ronin
who are working to free Hinomoto.”

Andrea jumped up, D not far behind her. “How the hell did you find out about that?” snapped D.

Aki grinned at him. “Rumors travel quickly in the underground. A few people got away from Tony’s Place during the raid, one of them was talking about it at the Shark’s Den last night. Imagine my surprise when he said he’d overheard the Tiger talking to two rebels!” She stepped forward, her eyes pleading earnestly, “Please, allow me to help you! I can’t stand to watch this corruption any more!
Ronin
should have done something about this a long time ago!”

Once more, Andrea and D glanced at each other. Andrea’s muscles were tense, as though she were getting ready to attack Aki at any moment and leave her lying here in the alley. The three were silent for a few moments, and finally Andrea seemed to relax.

“It’s not really my decision. Tell you what, come back with us and you can talk to the ones that are in charge.”

 

D nudged Andrea gently with his elbow. “Are you sure that’s wise?” he muttered in her ear.

She turned to him. “What other choice do I have? I don’t make the calls in this thing. If she’s telling the truth, it could make the difference between winning or losing,” she whispered back. “Besides, you saw yourself that she’s not a half-bad fighter.”

Aki shifted back and forth on her feet nervously as Andrea and the green-haired man conversed briefly.
I hope this works...
she thought, gripping her bo a little tighter.

Andrea turned her blue eyes back to Aki finally. “Alright, let’s go, before they get worried.”

 

“We should send you out more often, Andrea. Every time you leave, you come back with someone new!”

Andrea crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall that separated the entrance hall from the dining area, a glare passing from her to Kanjou. He ignored the dirty look and smiled at her, then put a hand on Roni’s shoulder to keep her from running toward the newcomer and firing questions.