The New Crew

-POV: 3rd-

As soon as Natsuru arrived at Sakura's house, she was greeted by the sight of a bloodied Shizuku and four terrified girls. She figured the rest were dead and sent a small wish of condolences to whoever cared for them before she set Akane and Mikoto down on the floor with Shizuku. Sakura was on her couch, looking at her phone with her leg crossed over the other. As soon as Akane and Mikoto were set down, she smiled and looked up at the approaching Natsuru, who bent down and stole Sakura's lips.

"What the.." Mikoto seemed aggravated as she watched her crush so brazenly kiss another girl.

"Oh my~ Are you jealous, Mikoto?" Sakura grinned.

Seeing as a glare was her only response, Sakura shrugged dramatically. "Maybe if everything works out for you here, you can get a kiss too. Though that depends on how well your choices and performance here"

"What... are you going to do, Kaede..?" Shizuku coughed up a small amount of blood and asked.

"Me? I'm going to give you all a chance. Not only to walk out of here alive but the chance to shape the world with me" Sakura answered, tracing her finger across Natsuru's flushed and smiling face.

"Nngh.. fucking bitch..." Akane began to wake up, head bleeding as she looked up at Sakura.

"And now we can begin" Sakura stood up, looking at the three defeated yet determined girls and the four terrified and obedient girls.

"Ryoka Yamakawa, Hitomi Minagawa, Rika Ueda and Sayaka Nakao. You four were drafted by Shizuku along with the rest of the now deceased Kampfer, to kill me. You wisely chose not to. Though for what reasons I'll soon find out. You will be fighting Akane Mishima, Mikoto Kondo and Shizuku Sango to the death. Whoever lives, can choose to simply walk away and let bygones be bygones, attempt to kill me again and die as a consequence or join myself and Natsuru in shaping the future of this world. Of course, the last option has quite a few perks" Sakura stated, paying attention to the determination in Shizuku's eyes and the fear of the four girls who were to be her minions in another life.

"I accept.." Shizuku stood up and summoned her chained blades, much to Mikoto and Akane's shock.

"I need to find out what you're doing and why, Kaede. I won't roll over and perish until-" Shizuku was cut off as a rapier blade just missed her face.

Shizuku moved back and saw the blonde girl Sayaka Nakao with her rapier poised to strike again. Before it could, she was intercepted by Mikoto Kondo, who blocked it with her katana.

"I got your back, Prez!" Mikoto exclaimed confidently before seeing the machine pistol aimed at her by Ryoka Yamakawa.

"DODGE!" Akane screamed before Ryoka sprayed her pistol at the two, who ducked behind a couch.

"Ahh.. I had intended you to fight outside but it really escalated too quickly hm?" Sakura sighed.

"Would you like me to escort them outside?" Natsuru asked, observing the unfolding violence take place in Sakura's house as Shizuku's team fought with the four girls.

"A bit too late for that. I'll make the winners clean up" Sakura replied, rubbing her hand along Natsuru's bare thigh as she watched Shizuku struggle.

Shizuku wasn't doing well but she was determined to survive. Her chains got wrapped up in Rika Ueda's Kusarigama chains and it quickly became a tug of war to gain the advantage. On top of that, Hitomi Minagawa was rearing up her claymore while Rika kept her busy. Shizuku ducked to the side and stumbled away from a swing that cracked the hardwood floor. Rika capitalized on this and pulled Shizuku again, making her trip over the claymore, cutting into her shins in the process. Hitomi pulled her blade out, all too eager to end Shizuku before she tried anything.

"Sorry but you have nobody to blame here but yourself. You created me after all. You gave us the entrails animals!" Hitomi yelled, taking another swing as Shizuku's eyes widened in terror.

The fear of death pushed her beyond her limits and she quickly tried to jump away to avoid the lethal swing. Key word being: tried. Shizuku felt an agonizing pain mid jump. She looked back and saw her leg severed at the thigh. Her blood gushing out of the wound already made her feel light headed and sick. She resisted the urge to pass out or scream in pain with all her might and tightly gripped the handle of her blade.

"I won't.. I won't die... I can't die.. What would Shinomiya Senpai do..?" She said to herself as she quickly moved away from the shocked and afraid faces of Rika and Hitomi.

"What would she do? Hehe.. Hahahaha! She would die, of course? She would insist on not fighting. She would try to reason with them and help them. And she would simply perish here. She lacks the heart and instincts you have. The ones that pushed you on even as you killed other Kampfer and searched for answers as to why you were forced to fight. I'll throw you a bone, Shizuku. This world is an experiment for some bored Gods. Recently, it came under the jurisdiction of new, better Gods. Ones that gave me the tools to free this world. You want more? You know what you have to do" Sakura spoke casually to Shizuku while still relaxed on her couch, looking down at the pale beauty.

Shizuku grit her teeth and looked at her bleeding stump. Her eyes losing any fear and softness as she focused on killing the two girls in front of her. They were still afraid, clutching their weapons as they watched Shizuku pick herself up. She looked more dead than alive but the murderous expression they saw on her face made them hesitate to attack. Until it was too late.

Shizuku couldn't move around too much but with ranged weapons like hers, she didn't need to. She quickly swung her blade in an arc and caught Rika's Kusarigama and pulled her and the blade to the side, where an unsuspecting Hitomi was. It quickly cut deeply into the side of her neck and severed her artery. The blood spray quickly blinded Rika, who screamed in fear as soon as it happened. She dropped her weapon and started running towards the door.

Sakura smiled and summoned a .45 ACP 1911 pistol, shooting the fleeing Rika in the back of the head as she reached the front door. She was dead on the spot, though neither Shizuku or Natsuru looked particularly perturbed. Akane was having a gunfight with Ryoka while Mikoto was parrying Sayaka's frantic rapier thrusts.

"Well done, Shizuku. You proved yourself a survivor. It'd be a shame if you died here from bloodloss. With that much blood I'm thinking you likely have a minute until you pass out and die. Maybe less. Whatever should I do?" Sakura asked, seeing Shizuku leaning on the wall to stabilize herself.

"I'll.. serve.. I just need to... Need answers.. Kaede.. Please..." Shizuku sputtered out before being scooped up by Sakura and placed on her lap.

"Oho? So you agree to be mine?" Sakura asked with a malicious grin.

"Yes... Cannot.. die here.. anything you want.." Shizuku replied before feeling pain far more intense than having her leg severed.

Natsuru had placed her flaming hand onto the bleeding stump and quickly cauterized the wound. Seeing Shizuku so close to her lover made her annoyed so she thoroughly enjoyed the scream Shizuku made as soon as she seared her flesh closed. Shizuku was now breathing quickly, eyes open as she clenched her fists tight from the pain.

"Then worry not, Shizuku. I'll take good care of you. For now, sleep. When you wake up, all will be better" Sakura assured, rubbing her face softly.

Shizuku was exhausted from the physical strain and losing quite a lot of blood. She closed her eyes slowly, watching her childhood friend smile at her tenderly.

~Maybe it won't be.. so bad~ Shizuku thought briefly before completely passing out on Sakura's lap.

Akane was still fighting with Ryoka throughout the Manor, having ended up in the kitchen. Their fight was by far the most destructive. Bullet holes riddled the walls, ceiling and windows and quite a few furniture were destroyed thanks to their fight. A fight in which Akane was losing. Her head wound wasn't helping her aim and her battered body wasn't doing as best it could. But she persisted. While fear drove Ryoka and Akane, only one of them wasn't overwhelmed by it.

"Fuck!!" Akane hissed as she dove under a table and knocked it on its side, taking a bullet in the arm.

"Just give up.. Please.. I'll make it quick.." The timid Ryoka said while aiming at the table and slowly walking over.

Akane grit her teeth and cursed under her breath. She waited and listened to Ryoka's footsteps as she approached. As soon as she heard Ryoka right behind her, she quickly lifted the table up, hitting Ryoka's arms and narrowly avoiding the spray of bullets coming from her machine pistol. Akane flipped the table over and kicked the bottom of it into Ryoka, causing her to stumble back. Seeing an opportunity while Ryoka couldn't see her, Akane grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and hid behind a wall while tossing the plate out into the opposite direction, towards the hall. It shattered, making a loud noise Ryoka locked onto. As soon as she got the table off her, she fired in the direction of the hall, seeing only the remnants of a shattered plate.

Before she could turn around, she felt the barrel of Akane's gun pressed to the back of her head. Ryoka slowly put her hands up fearfully.

"Give up. We can take that bitch together. Don't throw your life away, dumbass" Akane growled out with an angry tone.

"No.. you don't understand. She's too strong.. She killed them so easily.." Ryoka felt the tears building up in her eyes as she shook.

"So we'll surprise her-" Akane stopped, hearing Sakura laugh from the other room.

"As cute as this bonding session is.. I'll have to put it to an end. I said it was a battle to the death, did I not? What are you waiting for?" Sakura's words hung heavily in the air.

"I ain't killing her. She surrendered. It's done. Shit I'll join ya if it spares her" Akane replied.

"An interesting bargain. Some people could call you nice, Akane. I call that foolishness. She was so eager to kill you to save her life. And you'd just let her live after that? So inconsistent.. Didn't you try killing Natsuru upon first contact? Where'd that Akane go?" Sakura asked in a mocking tone.

Akane opened her mouth to answer, only to see Ryoka move quickly. She was halfway into aiming her machine pistol at Akane when Akane pulled the trigger and shot her in the head. She stared at the dead body and took a shuddering breath as the realization hit her.

"She was a coward, Akane. Taking advantage of your good nature and trying to kill you as you were arguing to save her life. Imagine if she succeeded? That she won, not because of skill or ability.. but because she took advantage of your naivete. Doesn't that just make you angry?" Sakura asked playfully, seeing Akane walk in from the kitchen and drop her gun in defeat.

She didn't say anything and simply sat down with a deep scowl on her face. She looked up after hearing a wet noise. Mikoto having just killed Sayaka with a stab through the heart. She wasn't as hurt as Shizuku or Akane and had been wrestling with her own doubts until she realized Akane and Shizuku killed their opponents. Seeing the almost insane fervor on her opponent's face made her decision to kill easier. She wasn't going to stop. And even if she could, Sakura and Natsuru would not let her leave alive. So she settled it as painlessly as she thought was possible.

At the end, she staggered back into the living room, unsure about her decision. Until she saw Natsuru's gentle smile she sent her way. She decided that if Natsuru was there for her, that it would be okay. That any change would be worth it, if Natsuru was there with her.

Sakura simply smiled and looked at her new subordinates. The first step of breaking them down was done and all she had to do was talk after their victory was all but assured.