91 The Pound

"Alright, stop!"

Sayako whistled, signalling Sophie's Fixers to cease their actions.

Break of dawn; yet another day of training. This time, Sophie and Asher had left to do their own things, leaving Sayako to train Mangchi and his friends to her heart's content.

They were still training on the roof of their apartment - it was truly a convenient location to work with.

Mangchi looked at her for more instructions.

"Hmm... How do y'all feel about some real combat?"

Aiko especially needed some real world combat experience. A hammer and stake was not an easy weapon to master.

Pete and Aiko instinctively shied away. Despite their many years in the Backstreets, they had honestly never faced a true fight. As good members of society, they only preyed on the weak and helpless for their profits, scattering away at the slightest hint of confrontation.

So their aversion to combat was understandable.

Mangchi didn't have such aversion. He nodded his head, recognizing Sayako's intention.

"Human combat? And assuming we need opponents of our level, how do we get them?"

Sayako shook her head, tutting beneath her breath.

"I got perks! I'm the Dark Cloud Blade, remember?"

"B-But, aren't we Fixers?"

Aiko blurted out, but Sayako shut her down with a careless wave of her hand.

"C'mon, Fixers work with Syndicates *all* the time. Makes for a confusing alliance system."

"Wait, what 'perks' do you have so you can easily get human practice dummies? Is this sketchy shit?"

Pete paled as his imagination took him to a wild set of conclusions, from kidnapping to slavery.

"Nah, nah! We're actually not doing human practice for today. Follow me!"

Sayako shot up, her voice excited.

And they could only follow.

...

(The Pound)

The dingy sign was attached to a large, dilapidated building, five stories tall and a little less wide.

"Welcome to the Pound!" She spread her hands out. "Here's the place most of our Kurokumo acolytes use to train. There shouldn't be any reservations right now."

A man guarding the door bowed to Sayako, opening the door for them. The inside of the building was clean, lined with sparkling white tile.

Sayako stepped up to the front counter, where a grey robed man sat behind the desk.

"I've got three kids. I'd like to make a reservation from now until... whenever we're done."

In a rapid-fire conversation, Sayako and the attendant scheduled everything she wanted.

Word after word poured out of Sayako's lips, none of which Pete and his friends could understand. What was a 'pound'? Why do they need a reservation? And what training could be found here?

Finally, the conversation between Sayako and the attendant seemed to come to a conclusion. Sayako lowered her kimono slightly, showing the attendant her cloud tattoo.

"Ah, the Dame. No payment, then."

A door leading deeper into the building swung open.

"Oop, right, I should probably explain to you guys what's going on. Y'all know what a pound is?"

No? They shook their heads as they stepped in.

"Well, a pound is a place with dogs. In the Kurokumo Clan, the Pound is filled to the brim with... I'll just show you."

The doors they walked through snapped shut, leaving Sayako and the Fixers inside a small waiting room, containing a large set of ominous double doors.

"So... what's in here, exactly?" Pete and his friends were still utterly confused, and rightfully so. Sayako really hadn't explained anything to them yet.

"Basically, dogs. It's the Pound! Let's jump straight in, you guys ready?" Sayako laughed as their faces filled with dread.

She swung open the doors leading deeper to the building.

Immediately, the smell of filth assaulted their noses, a pure animalistic stench. The white tiles faded to dirty brick and mortar hallway. Flickered lights completed the atmosphere as they were sealed inside.

"Alright, group up guys. I'll take the first room as a demonstration. Aiko, give me your spike and hammer, I came here to show you how to use it in actual combat."

Sayako deftly flipped the nail and hammer in each hand. The set of weapons consisted of a small, single-handed hammer and a crude black iron spike, nearly as long as an arm and razor sharp on its tip.

As the most talented Kurokumo in recent history, she had to know how to fight with every weapon in order to raise the favored clan Heirs.

It was quite ironic; instead of making her an Heir, Sayako was forced to waste her talent to foster the Patriarch's sons.

"Look at my form closely." Sayako approached the first door, labelled 'German Shepherd'. A chart underneath listed some random statistics: speed, strength, intelligence, and ferocity.

Sayako let out a breath as Aiko and the others hung behind her.

"This is all simple for me, so look closely! Let's go!" She swung open the door, her voice light and cheery.

But even Sayako's voice couldn't shine over the dark and dirty atmosphere of the building.

The woman slipped into the room, gripping the hammer in her left hand and the stake in her right, so the pointed end faced away from her thumb.

The Pound was previously a residential complex before it was repurposed by the Kurokumo. As such, the first sight Sayako was greeted to when she walked through the door was a dirty kitchen. Grey water dripped from the sink.

Atmosphere and surroundings were two aspects of combat. And an apartment complex like this was the best to practice combat for cramped spaces.

Sayako tutted as a rapid dog barked and gnashed its teeth in front of her. Yips and growls seeped from all around walls. She could feel the shivers from the Fixers behind her.

The dog's eyes were bloodshot and drug-crazed. Its fur was a patchwork of black and dirty white.

Soon, three of the biggest, most ferocious dogs of the group plodded forward, sizing her up. Sayako could see the glint of a dozen more eyes in the darkness down the hallway, watching her.

"In the right hands, the hammer and nail is one of the most versatile and lethal weapon combination. Most won't know how to deal with someone that uses them well."

Sayako grinned, lifting up the spike above her chest while leaving the hammer to dangle onto her thigh.

"Woah!" Sayako squeaked as she leaned back, slashing across one dog's eyes with a backhanded motion with her skewer as it rushed toward her.

She set her nail's point to the side of the dog's skull, using her hammer to nail the dog to the wall, killing it instantly.

Letting the dog's body dangle from the 'nail' that pinned it, she swung the hammer in her other hand. The attacking dog yelped as its chest burst into a haze of red blood.

Sayako yanked out the iron spike in the wall The body that was hung on it fell to the ground with a thump.

She stepped to the side, kicking it into the air as it rushed past her.

Before it could hit the ground, Sayako nailed it in the heart with the iron spike.

The entire exchange only lasted a scant few seconds. Pete and his friends didn't even have time to react.

"Alright, now I'll clear the rest of this place!" Sayako marched into the darkness beyond, a cutesy smile plastered on her face. An unexpected bout of nostalgia hit her as the stench of dog blood and feces assaulted her nose.

"Follow me, Aiko."

Aiko followed behind her as Mangchi and Pete stayed behind. After all, this was a private lesson for her.

...

Aiko and Sayako sat on the dirty bedsheets. The girl held her stomach, the sudden fit of nausea lightening somewhat as Sayako patted her back.

"Are you alright? We can change weapons for you if you're too squeamish to this stuff."

...Squeamish?

Dozens of bodies surrounded them, each either shattered to pulp or silenced with a clean, bloody hole running through their flesh.

Aiko suddenly stood up as the stench of blood finally brought her back to reality.

"Oh, do want these back?"

Aiko backed up a step as Sayako handed her back her weapons, now covered in blood and flesh.

Her fingers twitched and trembled. Reaching forward, she grabbed the weapons at last. Sayako's precise killing blows both frightened and captivated her.

Could she do that too?

She had never felt this type of connection to the knives she had used before.

Maybe Sayako was right when she said this was the best weapon for her.

"So, did you take a good look? For the hammer and nail, you have three main methods of attack. Of course, the attack combinations are endless, but practice makes perfect! Did you get the general idea?"

"Y-Yeah."

They stood up and walked back to the kitchen, where Pete and Mangchi were dutifully waiting.

"Mangchi, what's up? You have a question in your eyes."

"So you killed all the dogs in the room, right? How do you replenish their numbers?"

Sayako smirked, muttering "good question" beneath her breath.

"Our breeds are genetically modified. This allows for greater strength and ferocity, but also nearly one hundred times more growth and proliferation compared to a normal dog. A litter of dogs and be raised for 'practice' in a single day. Perks of being a Thumb subsidiary."

Mangchi made a moue of impressment.

"Okay. So what do we do now, go through all the rest of the rooms?"

Pete shivered as Sayako nodded her head enthusiastically. Not everyone was Mangchi and Sayako, he wanted to say.

But, in the end, Pete didn't say what was on his mind. Because what was this if not an opportunity to get stronger?

He had to bear with it for now.

So he put up a faltering grin, attempting to hide his uneasiness. Sayako seemed really happy nailing those pitiful, drugged dogs to the wall...

Was this normal to her? The taste of Syndicate life, was this what they were like?

They walked out the doorway, heading to the next room, with Sayako gently pushing Pete forward.

"Alright, next one's yours and Mangchi's! I suspect you two will do just fine, don't worry."

As Sayako prepared to open the door, Pete read the sign drilled onto it.

'Golden Retriever'