Chapter 153: Ayane and Nozomi Meet.
The door closed behind them and they walked several meters where no one spoke.
Ayane kept her head held high, Misaki looked straight ahead, and Reina had her fists clenched.
Finally, when they turned a corner and were out of sight, Reina exploded.
"SEVENTY PERCENT!"
Ayane stopped.
"Keep your voice down."
"They took seventy percent from us!"
"I heard."
"They took our vehicles!"
"I heard that too."
"And they gave us money that’s barely enough to buy three and a half lunches!"
Misaki replied.
"Depends on the place."
Reina turned.
"That doesn’t help!"
Misaki pulled out her phone and Ayane looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
"Calculating."
Reina frowned.
"Calculating what?"
"The ammunition."
Ayane stayed quiet and Misaki began typing.
"If I cut live-fire practice by forty percent..."
Reina’s eyes went wide.
"You’re going to ration bullets?"
"Yes."
"That’s insane!"
"We can’t afford them."
Misaki continued.
"I’d also have to reuse some components."
Ayane raised a hand.
"Don’t use anything that compromises safety."
Misaki nodded.
"I know."
Reina put her hands on her head.
"How did we end up like this?"
Ayane looked at her and Reina answered herself.
"Yeah, yeah, Noah."
Ayane looked away, since she didn’t want to talk about it because she knew exactly why they had been punished.
They had received an order, they had disobeyed it, and, worse still, they had intentionally interfered with its completion.
From the organization’s point of view, there was no reasonable defense.
Ayane pressed her lips together.
’But I wasn’t going to let them take him either.’
Misaki put her phone away.
"We’ll also have to cut training."
Reina looked at her in horror.
"That too?"
"Private ranges cost money."
Ayane cut in.
"We’ll use free zones."
"Those are worse."
"We’ll adapt."
Reina looked at Ayane.
"How can you be so calm?"
Ayane looked at her.
"I’m not calm."
"You look calm."
"I’m trying to keep a minimum of dignity."
Reina pointed at her shoes.
"They’re going to make us walk and you talk about dignity."
Ayane frowned.
"Walk?"
Reina opened a door that led to the internal parking lot.
When the three of them stepped out and Ayane looked toward the spot where the vehicle that usually took them was normally parked, it was empty.
Misaki looked around.
"They already took it."
Ayane blinked.
"That was fast."
Reina threw her arms wide.
"THEY DIDN’T EVEN LET US GO BACK ONE LAST TIME!"
Ayane breathed slowly.
"We’ll take public transportation."
Misaki checked her phone, then fell silent, and Ayane looked at her.
"What?"
Misaki showed the screen.
"There’s an incident on the nearby line."
Reina frowned.
"And?"
"No service for the next two hours."
Silence returned.
Ayane looked toward the exit, then at her phone, then mentally calculated the distance, and Reina watched her.
"No."
Ayane didn’t answer.
"Ayane, no."
Misaki put her phone away.
"It’s about six kilometers."
Reina stepped back.
"Are you listening to me?"
Ayane started walking.
"Let’s go."
"AYANE!"
"We don’t have a vehicle."
"Call one!"
"Remember we’re level five now."
Reina went quiet while Misaki walked behind Ayane and Reina looked at both of them.
"I hate you both."
And she followed.
They still hadn’t reached the main exit when they heard a voice.
"What a sad scene."
Ayane stopped, since she recognized that voice, just as Reina and Misaki turned.
Several women were leaning near one of the access points and in the center was Nozomi Kurayami, dressed in her usual elegant and dark style.
She smiled at an Ayane who frowned at her.
"Nozomi."
Nozomi placed a hand on her chest.
"I’m glad you remember my name."
Ayane replied.
"It’s hard to forget."
"I’ll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn’t."
Nozomi smiled wider and behind her stood the members of her unit.
Reina moved closer to Ayane.
"So this is their group."
Misaki observed the others.
Nozomi looked at the three of them and then toward the empty parking lot.
"Where’s your vehicle?"
Reina clenched her teeth, but Ayane answered calmly.
"None of your business."
"Ah."
Nozomi smiled.
"So it’s true."
Ayane narrowed her eyes.
"What is?"
"That they took everything from you."
Reina took a step.
"They didn’t take everything!"
Nozomi looked at her.
"Do you still have your weapons?"
Reina went silent and Misaki answered.
"Yes."
Nozomi nodded.
"How generous of our superiors."
Reina clenched her fists, but Ayane raised a hand to stop her while Nozomi walked a little closer.
"I’ve heard your budget got cut pretty hard."
Ayane didn’t answer, so Nozomi continued.
"Also that you lost equipment priority."
Silence.
"And the vehicles."
Reina muttered.
"I’m going to hit her."
Misaki replied.
"We don’t have the budget to pay for medical damages."
Reina turned.
"Whose side are you on!?"
Nozomi started laughing and Ayane looked at her coldly.
"Are you finished?"
"No, not yet."
Nozomi crossed her arms.
"I find it interesting."
"What?"
"That the great Kuromiya unit has fallen so far."
Ayane took a step toward her, but Nozomi didn’t back away and the two of them ended up face to face.
"Be careful."
Ayane said, and Nozomi smiled.
"Was that a threat?"
"Take it as advice."
"How kind."
"You’re welcome."
Nozomi tilted her head slightly.
"Maybe you should save your energy."
Ayane frowned.
"Why?"
Nozomi looked toward the exit.
"I heard you’ll have to walk."
Reina raised her voice again.
"WHO’S LEAKING EVERYTHING?!"
Aoi let out a small laugh, so Reina turned.
"You think this is funny?"
Misaki grabbed her shoulder.
"Leave her."
Reina pushed her hand away and Nozomi looked back at Ayane.
"Anyway, I hope your unit recovers."
"I don’t need your pity."
"It wasn’t pity."
Ayane smiled for the first time, but very slightly.
"Then we agree on something."
Nozomi kept her smile.
"Maybe."
There was a brief silence and neither looked away.
Ayane already knew Nozomi by reputation and didn’t like the way she acted, nor did she like the way she spoke.
But above all, she didn’t like that she had tried to kidnap Noah and force him to accept a marriage.
Nozomi, for her part, didn’t seem to have a better opinion of her.
"I suppose now we’ll have less competition."
Nozomi said, to which Ayane replied immediately.
"Don’t count on it."
Nozomi raised an eyebrow.
"With a reduced budget?"
"We’re still operational."
Nozomi smiled.
"I like that."
Ayane frowned slightly.
"What?"
"That you still think you can compete."
Reina took another step.
"Believe us, we can."
Misaki added.
"And we will."
Ayane glanced briefly at both of them and then back at Nozomi.
"See?"
Nozomi held her gaze.
"We’ll see."
It was obvious they couldn’t stand each other and neither planned to yield.
Nozomi stepped back.
"See you around, poor unit."
Reina opened her mouth, but Ayane grabbed her arm before she could say anything.
Nozomi and her group started walking away while Reina struggled.
"Let go of me!"
"No."
"Let me answer her!"
"I already told you no."
"Just one thing!"
"Negative."
Misaki started walking.
"Don’t waste energy."
Reina looked at her and closed her eyes.
"This is going to be horrible."
Ayane finally let her go.
"Let’s go."
Reina pointed in the direction Nozomi had gone.
"Did you hear her?"
"Yes."
"She called us poor."
Ayane started walking.
"Because now we are."
Reina stood still and Misaki continued behind Ayane.
"At least she accepted it fast."
Reina shouted.
"DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT!"
Ayane kept walking, since there were still almost six kilometers left, so she kept her back straight.
’Keep your dignity.’
Reina caught up to her.
"Can we at least stop to eat?"
Misaki answered before Ayane.
"No."
"Why?"
"We don’t have the budget."
Reina fell silent and Ayane kept walking.
For the first time since she had joined the organization, her unit didn’t only have to worry about enemies, operations, and superior orders.
Now they also had to worry about something much simpler, which was making it to the end of the month.