37: Contact

"It's good to see that everyone is fine" - Cloud said as he smiled in the direction of the children, who were happy to see the young blond after everything that had happened during the last few days - "Everything is ready for your rest, although you guys are going to need to keep fighting."

"We understand, though we would like to take a break before we continue" - Seiya replied as he looked at his subordinates who were stretched out on the ground.

Cloud gave them a glance before nodding - "Understood, you have one hour."

With that said, Cloud took the soldiers to continue scouting the terrain as he gave his second in command a few last orders.

"Come on kids, we have to go to our new home to get something to eat" - Lucia said with a smile while stroking the hair of all the children within reach.

The children let out a shout of excitement before following the orphanage matron.

* * * * *

"I think this is a good time to talk" - said Kohta as he cleared his throat at the sight of the confused blonde-haired policewoman, who seemed to be a bit tense, though this was only outwardly because she, like the black-haired young man, was a bit nervous.

"Sure" - nodded Asami as she coughed to try to calm down - "Please speak..."

Kohta was silent for a few seconds before starting a quiet conversation with the policewoman, who quickly began to answer the doubts the boy had. Without realizing it, the two had been conversing for more than two hours non-stop.

* * * * *

"Are you saying we should send out a signal to let the survivors know we're here?" - Yuriko asked as she looked at her daughter with a frown - "I understand what you're trying to do, but this is dangerous, at least for now."

"Why?" - Saya asked as she looked at her mother with annoyance.

"Because we're not ready yet" - Yuriko replied as she shook her head - "First, we have to fortify our defenses, second, we have to improve our position in the hearts of our survivors, and make sure our armed soldiers don't try anything stupid, only then we can worry about external issues."

Saya was silent before nodding because honestly she hadn't thought of this.

"I know you want to help, daughter, but you have to think about us first" - Yuriko said as she started to think - "Other than that, your proposal is perfect, you even created a security protocol..."

Saya blushed at the praise, though she quickly let out a snort of disdain to hide the blush on her cheeks.

Yuriko smiled slightly, though after a few seconds a huge sense of guilt washed over her.

"Is something wrong, Mom?" - Saya asked as she looked at the older woman.

"No, it's nothing" - Yuriko answered while shaking her head.

Saya frowned slightly because the more she talked to her mother, the greater the feeling grew that she was keeping something extremely important from her.

* * * * *

"This was simpler than I thought" - Rika said as she stretched.

Cloud shot her an annoyed look.

"What?" - Rika asked with a frown as she noticed the blond boy's expression - "Did I say something weird?"

"Yeah, the moment someone says those words, everything goes to shit" - Cloud replied as he folded his arms.

"Are you seriously pulling that shit?" - Rika asked with annoyance, though her expression changed when she heard the soldiers shout that an armed group was heading in their direction - ". . ."

"Anything to say?" - Cloud asked with disdain.

"Just prepare for combat" - Rika snorted as she grabbed a pair of binoculars to see who it was that was going to attack them, though her expression changed to one of surprise when she saw the uniforms they were wearing - "Don't attack, they're soldiers!"

"That doesn't change anything, not with all the shit they've been doing lately" - Cloud said with disdain, though he quickly kept silent when he saw the annoyed expression of the tan-skinned woman - "Ok, ok, you don't have to get mad, it was just simple joking around"

Rika said nothing more, she simply walked in the direction of the militia soldiers with a calm expression on her face.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Captain Rika" - said a decorated soldier while looking at the purple haired woman.

"Surprised to see me alive?" - Rika asked disdainfully as she looked at the "enemy" soldiers, who were pointing their guns at her - "Really?"

"Put your guns down, idiots, she's one of us" - said the leader of the group while frowning slightly - "Sorry if my words sounded like I don't like seeing you alive, it's just that we received a report that hundreds of civilians and your group died at the airport..."

"That would have happened if I hadn't arranged something with the Takagi group" - Rika answered honestly.

"Takagi? Why you didn't call us?" - asked the decorated soldier as he frowned.

"Because I didn't know if you were going to help us or not" - replied Rika with disdain - "The last orders we received were to die while sacrificing the civilians at the airport."

The soldier leading the group fell silent before letting out a sigh - "I see... leaving that aside, I'd like to know if you have civilians under your command, and if so, how many..."

"They are many, though they are not under my command, but under the command of the Takagi and Strife clan" - Rika replied as she shrugged - "Currently, I am a simple soldier."

The leader of the military group frowned slightly before nodding - "And where are you currently?"

"Taiei, the area is clear" - Rika replied as she shrugged.

"Oh, this is bad" - muttered the leader as he let out a sigh - "We were planning on raiding Taiei to get its supplies, but I guess we're too late..."

Rika again shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you think you can hand over the supplies to us?" - asked the leader of the military group, only to be answered by a laugh full of disdain, which made her a bit upset - "I'm serious, we can help the civilians to be in a safer place."

"I don't think they would agree with your idea, mostly because the military has done nothing but fuck up their lives" - Cloud replied as he walked over to where the purple haired woman was standing - "They only trust Rika's group because they saved them from certain death at the airport"

"Who are you?" - asked the leader of the military group with a frown.

"My name is not important, the only thing you need to know is that I am the current leader of this small group" - Cloud replied while shrugging his shoulders - "Back to the initial point, we have no plans on delivering our supplies to you, unless you pay a proper price."

"A proper price?" - repeated the leader of the military group as he frowned slightly - "And how much would that adequate price be?"

"That you have to discuss with Yuriko-san" - Cloud replied while shaking his head. He quickly turned around and announced that they would return to the base - "You may follow us, though I recommend you not to do anything stupid when you receive the "warm welcome" from our survivors."

The leader of the military group frowned slightly before nodding.

The group quickly grabbed their things and returned to the Taiei shopping town, only to be greeted with booing.

The soldiers seemed to shrink back in the face of such hostility, after all, there were too many civilians in one building.

The militia leader was about to say something, when he saw a woman walk out of the Taiei shopping city.

"I didn't expect you to come back together with the military, Cloud" - Yuriko said as she folded her arms - "Although if you did, I guess it has to be important."

"Obviously" - Cloud replied as he explained the situation.

Yuriko frowned slightly, though she had to admit that this was good for them, I mean, there was a lot of food that would soon go bad, and even with all the survivors, they would end up unable to finish them, so this was a good way to get rid of them.

"I understand, come, follow me to negotiate" - Yuriko said as she motioned for the military leader and Cloud to follow her.

Cloud simply shrugged his shoulders before following his boss, while the military leader simply remained silent before following the duo.

"What do you plan on asking for?" - Cloud asked, completely ignoring the military leader.

"I haven't thought about it, though it's likely to be materials to fix appliances, or maybe ammunition" - Yuriko replied calmly.

"I don't think that's possible, ammunition is much more valuable than food" - said the military leader, though he frowned when he saw that his words were being ignored by the duo.

"Well, it sounds like a reasonable thing to say, I mean, yes, ammunition is important, but we have the address of the weapons smugglers' warehouses" - nodded Cloud with a huge smile.

The military leader was silent as he remembered how this duo in front of him were the leaders of the two strongest Yakuza gangs in the region.