Masanori lay there on his bed. Kiba had been seen chasing Inuko into the woods, and both had been missing for 5 hours. Okuri had knocked out his son without leaving a mark on him, and then proceeded to his usual intimidation process. Because of Akamaru, the Bushin Geisha had been useless that night. His wife lay next to him, just as worried, just as helpless. Their real concern was Inuko; Daichi was a tough guy, the Geisha were unharmed, but nobody knew where she was. She could be dead, or worse…
“I can’t believe we all failed like this.” Hoshi spat. “We are called in to kill 3 brothers-3 of them-and what happens? One of them blackmails our boss, one of them runs into the woods with one of our teammates, while we’re all kept in a corner by the third one!” She shook her head in dismay.
“WE? You missed with every damn arrow you shot!” said Naoki.
“I didn’t miss! He moved too quickly, that’s all!”
“Well, either way, Inuko’s out there with one of those things after her….. Who knows what he’s done to her in the time….”
The massive steel gate opened the second time that night, and all conversation stopped. Hoshi nocked her bow, and Naoki grabbed her naginata. They shouted at their comrades, who came running out from the building. “Where the Hell is Jun?!?!”
“She’s with Daichi.” Maiko answered shortly. A large dark figure walked through the door. He shrunk in size as another figure, distinctly female, jumped off his back. They seemed to say goodbye to each other, but in a way that suggested they would soon meet again. The male figure ran back into the woods from which he came. As the female came closer, the Geisha recognized her as Inuko. “Inuko! There you are! Where have you been?”
“Running.” Inuko was still breathing heavily, but she had enough energy to walk. “I need to talk.”
