36: To the rescue [pt1]

The team that kidnapped Yoko Tsugugi drove their way out of the Lyco forest as fast as possible. They could not afford to be found out with their hostage or things would get difficult for them.

However, unknown to them, a shadow was following after them.

The wind ruffled her short brown hair as her grey eyes locked on the next target. The girl hopped from one tree to the next, never losing sight of the moving car.

Aqua snatched the branch with her hands as she pulled her body up the thin tree. It should not have been able to take her weight but somehow she managed to stay intact on that branch.

All this time Aqua made sure she did not let out the moving truck out of her vision. It was carrying an important cargo after all.

"Calm your tits down girl, I am following after that cargo. Oh for fucks sake, can you not have chosen a better target to get obsessed over than Yoko Tsurugi? Even I can tell that she is nothing but trouble."

Aqua hissed out those words as she felt the branch beneath her feet crack.

She resumed her chase as soon as the branch gave way. And then the chase continued like before.

The impassive look on her face changed into a blood-chilling smile in a single second. One could not even tell that it was the same person who has said those calm words before.

"You're asking me to stop? How can you ask me to stop being obsessed just after I found such a delicious target? Just smelling her makes my hunger worsen. And that bitch needs to pay me back for interrupting my meal. How dare she do that to me."

Aqua's voice sounded high-pitched and crazy. No sane person sounded like that, much less laughed like that in the dead of the night.

Sun had not yet broken over at the horizon and the forest was dead quiet right now.

That insane face twisted into an impassive one for a single second before going quiet and withdrawn.

And then it changed into an annoyed expression.

"I told you not to come out like that. You will get us into trouble."

"No, I won't. But you will if you ignore what is going on. And look sharp or you'll lose the truck."

Aqua opened her mouth to rebut her other self's claim before realizing that she was indeed losing the truck. It was already past the threshold and was getting further away by the second.

"Fuck. Can't you be quiet and let me work in peace? It was your idea to follow after her in the first place. I am just being dragged along for the ride."

"If you don't like me then just hand this body over to me and go to sleep forever. You being here is a hindrance for me as well."

Had anyone else seen it, it would have looked weird to see someone talking to themselves like that.

But the forest was deadly quiet right now and people were sleeping. No one noticed the jumping teenager that was following after thr truck.

"Man, I am going to be in so much trouble tomorrow once it's discovered that I'm missing. I better think up an excuse and fast. Will they accept it if I said that I kidnapped as well?"

Aqua sighed, hating her other half's insensitive decision-making process. But what was done was done anyway.

She followed after the car through the city streets and until it entered the security basement of one of the well-reputed research labs.

As soon as Aqua realized where the kidnappers were headed she quickly turned around to go back but it was too late.

Her other self had seen where they were headed and she seemed to have recognized the research facility as well.

"Look, I know you hate this place for what it did to us but you need to be rational right now. Revenge would not solve anything for-"

Aqua felt her other half take control of her body and jump down. It was truly over for her now and she could only pray that she would get to see the sun tomorrow.

"Hey, just remember. If you kill someone then clean after yourself. I will end both of our lives if you screwed it up."

Aqua threatened but it went unnoticed. Her other half had always done what it wanted to. It was the reason Aqua was often roped up in weird and sexual situations she wanted nothing to do with.

But she also knew that her other half was not really at fault. It was stuck inside her because of these darn research labs and their experiments.

Had it not been for them, Aqua and her other half would have had decent lives.

"Hey girly, what are you doing here? This is not an authorized area for you to be-"

The man made the mistake of underestimating Aqua and he lost his life for that. It was a relatively clean cut right across the throat and the blood splatter was minimum.

The last thing he saw was slit amber eyes that did not belong to any human-like creature. And they were glowing in the darkness as well.

As soon as the kill was made, the amber in Aqua's iris retreated into the usual grey of her eyes and she made a disgusted expression.

"Ewww, you made me messy as well. But you are far from done, right?"

Aqua knew that tonight was going to be messy but she had accepted her fate.

"Hey, you-"

She let her alternate self draw the guard close and snap his neck. And then another, and another, until the entire area had been cleaned out. These poor people had never stood a chance against her, but it was strange to feel their blood on her hands.

___________________________

"Oi, the sleeping beauty is finally up. What are we supposed to do with her- ouch, stop biting. How are you? A dog?"

The man rubbed his hand over the area Amane had bit right then. It had a bite-mark visible there but the man had pulled away before he could start bleeding.

However, just his mere presence this close to herself made Amane want to hurt him even worse.

She could not believe that she had allowed herself to be knocked out like that by someone.

"Wow, she's really feisty. Are you sure I cannot play with her? I really want to."

That voice belonged to grunt no #3. Now that Amane's blindfold had been taken off, she could finally make out what kind of people she was dealing with.

And she had to say that Grunt #3 was not bad looking. He could pass off as a pretty boy for sure.

'Maybe that is why he is so insecure and makes sexual passes every chance he gets. I bet he takes it up his ass as well. He just screams as the 'bottom' type. Does he not even realize it himself?'

"Hey, what are you staring at? Just because I look like this doesn't mean I take it up my ass. I am perfectly normal."

"I am sure you are. But can you call someone who kidnapped another person normal? Isn't that an insult to all the normal people out there?"

Grunt #3 went silent before his face went red. Amane could see his temper hitting the roof and reaching his breaking point.

"I am completely normal, alright? And take me seriously, darn it."

"Whatever you say."

The man fumed at Amane's casual reply. He was really easy to tease and get a raise out of which likely meant that he had not been here for long.

'And he'll likely not last long in here either. This man is too green for gang life.'

The man (boy really) did not look like someone who should be involved in a kidnapping attempt so maybe he had a debt or something similar to Nadia.

Not that it mattered to Amane. She would not think twice before screwing him up over twice if it came down to it.

"Hey bro, when did the boss say he will be here? I am getting bored sitting around and doing nothing."

Grunt #1 asked. He looked vaguely amused at grunt #3's expressions and explosive display. He looked like bad news to Amane now.

He was relatively young as well but his aura screamed experience and bad decisions. He looked like he belonged in the darkness and he enjoyed it a lot.

And then there was grunt #2 who looked significantly older. He might be even older than Yoko's uncle and had a well-built body.

But he had a calm and relaxed nature which was a contrast to the energetic other two.

In short, there was nothing that connected these three but there seemed to be similar energy emitting out of their body that seemed familiar to Amane.

But since her access to her core had been cut off, it made it difficult for Amane to tell what that link was.

'It won't have bothered me half as much if this feeling did not feel familiar. I feel like I've known these kids before but they're too young for me to know them.'

Amane yanked her brain around but nothing came to mind. Maybe she was getting too old now and forgetting things in the meantime.

"Time to chit-chat is over. It seems like we have a familiar guest here with us today. I wonder what we did to attract her attention."

That was Grunt #1 who spoke. His mood seemed to have changed from teasing to alert in the span of a few seconds.

The inhuman ears on his head that Amane had just noticed were standing at alert as a grown build-up in his throat.

That sounded more bestial than any human had any right sounding as. That frequency was not something a humanoid throat was able to produce and it jolted Amane's brain in surprise.

But he was not the only one growling at that threatening low frequency. The other two had started growling at the door with a threatening expression as well.

They looked like a bunch of dogs defending something they were ordered to by their master but there was intense air inside the room.

'I should look for a way to let free now. If only I could reach my hair tie, I would take out the small blade and cut myself free.'

The real problem was not Amane's lack of freedom but her inability to access her core. She had been drugged too strongly so it would take some time for her system to work the drug out.

That left Amane unable to defend herself for some time.

Or so would everyone assume but it could not be further away from the truth. Amane had not lived through so many situations entirely reliant on her core. She would have a few tricks up her sleeve as well.

'A little more and I will grasp it. Fuck, finally.'

Amane had to thrash around a little to get her braid in her hand. It was only possible to do because her three kidnappers were busy growling out in the direction of the main gate right now.

Had their attention been on Amane, she would have been discovered.

"Kevin, look out."

Amane cut open her ropes just in time to see grunt no #3 be pushed back by something slamming into him.

The two bodies trembled before grunt no#3 tried to take a bite out of the other. His sharp claws tried to get the smaller figure but he missed and got clawed instead.

Grunt no#1 tried to tackle the shadow but he missed his mark as the nimble body moved out of the way.

"I knew it was you, you fucking maniac? Are you here to finish what you started all that time back?"

Grunt #1 spat those words out but the smaller figure seemed not to be concerned about his words.

Instead, her amber eyes looked at Amane from a familiar face. But it was difficult for Amane to connect that face to a name.

After all, Amane was sure she had never paid much attention to that face. But still, it did look familiar to her.

"You-"