Chapter Text
Prologue
4 Years ago..
Crowd of demonstrators have already surrounded the Earth and Space Headquarters with the military on guard at the gate, ready to charge if necessary. Writing boards are raised as their voices demand justice that has been trampled upon.
Earthians always experience violence and never receive proper human rights. They are constantly discriminated against by Spacians and often tortured to death. This includes the parents of her and her friends, who died after being shot and captured during a protest against the government.
Voices come at first, nothing works and conditions change fast to become something that is deeply rooted in human instincts when it comes to their stomach matters.
Violence.
"Charge!!"
"Woogh!!!"
The clash happened, conditions were going to chaos and messed up when the sound of gunshots. It's not just bare hands fighting anymore now that this thing has been unleashed.
"Things getting worse than it seems.." Short blonde haired, letting out smokes from it cigarettes with her other hand holding an iron pipe.
"Demonstrating aren't a good way to do a negotiation, Masuki-san." Scarlet haired with double knives on her hands and wiping the sweats on her head.
"Not after you're against Spacian." Teal haired, Sayo throw out the cigarettes she had before. Rolled her gaze to the other girl, "Is there any news from Minato and Mitake, Aoba-san?"
The other girl, wearing croppy ivory hair, with a red lollipop in her mouth, had her hands sliding through the laptop she was using, portraying her as an informant. "Nor Ran-chan or Yukina-san haven't sent me anything yet~" She took out the lollipop and looked at the three girls.
"Seems like two of them busy, Sayo-san!"
"I hope their choice joined military aren't wrong.." Tomoe looked at Sayo, who was putting her bow in position with the arrow.
"I hope so." Sayo pulled the string up as she aimed with her eyes and measuring the right spot for the arrow to hit. "The war just started again, let's go." She released the arrow, the beginning of the war they had joined.
"Yossha! Let's go, Masuki!" Tomoe jumped out from the roof and joined the close combat.
"Yeah! Tomoe!" Duet of Scarlet and Gold happened. Where there is them, there will be a duet of Kaminari beating the military soldiers easily with the weapon they had and throwing the civilians to go further after opening the way for them.
"Soi-ya!"
After the main way cleared, Sayo joins them. She changes from using a bow and arrow to mercenary blade quickly and keeps interacting closely with her friends, also known as partners. Killing has become commonplace since tensions between Earthians and Spacians erupted hundreds of years ago. How are the children spending their childhood fighting to continue their lives, racing against time, never knowing when they will lose their loved ones as a result of the war.
"Why Hina not coming to join us like usual, Sayo-san!?" Tomoe performs fast knife slashes, executing a triple strike that leaves scars on the enemy. Blood splatters everywhere, but they need to keep going.
"She is sick today, so she said she wouldn't join us." Sayo stabbed the soldier behind her and pulled her blade back.
"How about Ako, Tomoe-san!?" The blonde-haired character did a spinning attack with the pipe she had and threw the enemy out of her sight.
"She said she wanted to bought a stuff of Snappy today." Tomoe put the knives back to their positions and looked at the surveillance camera that had been watching them directly. "Looks like we will got an increase to our bounty for our head, Sayo-san."
"Looks like we will.." Sayo shot an arrow at it, destroying it directly on the lens.
"Even the Earthian's Military Agency already built, nothing changed. Well that's right, They do not care and only seeing war as their profit."
"What you can expect from Spacian's plan, Masuki-san."
"We only can only depend to ourself." Sayo put her blade back and left the office before the bounty hunter could find them. Moca was already waiting for them with the laptop, waving her hands as she replied to Tomoe. "Thank you for your hardwork!"
Fourth of them are walking back to their base quarter, how their friendships were already built since they were kids and never got cracked even though their other friends already joined the military after being recruited specially. They are titled as Outlaws, rebelling against the governments of Earthian and Spacian after their parents were killed by the government's military. This conflict has been ongoing for a long time, nurturing the hatred between Earthians and Spacians. Earthians always get a negative reputation while Spacians always get a positive one. Earthians mostly don't come from wealthy or prestigious clans, which often leads to discrimination from Spacians who mostly come from wealthy and prestigious backgrounds.
"Maaya-san seems already making some upgradements on our stuffs and maybe an update for you, Moca-san." Masuki put the pipe on her shoulder and starts to smoking again. Sayo borrowed the lighter and joined her to smoke together. "Hina also saying something about upgradements, I think she will have a good news after her fever gone." Sayo emits smoke into the sky.
Her eyes did not shine bright, but there is a will of life inside her to take care of her sister, fulfilling her promise to their parents before they left her and Hina forever.
They arrived at the base quarter. Three of them pulled their weapons as they could see the door already opened forcefully, leaving suspicious signs. Tomoe and Masuki, who had taller bodies than the other girls, entered first and opened the way for them. Seeing the mess and the fresh trail, they were supposed to have arrived not long ago. Step by step, they got closer and saw the mess at their friends.
"Ako! Himari!" Tomoe looked at them, they are unconscious. Upon seeing the cause, she realized it was from the sleeping gas that had been thrown near them after the can rolled to Tomoe's foot.
"Kh! Rokka! Maaya-san!" Masuki rushed to another room and saw that Maaya was injured on her arms, with a wrench stained with blood lying near her palm. It was clear she had been in a fight. Upon checking Maaya's vital signs, Masuki noticed she did not have any fatal injuries. She then looked for Rokka, searched around until she found Rokka had fainted in Hina's room with a bruise on her temple.
"Rokka!" She shouted and rush.
"Hina!" The tealette is also entering her sister's room, but she found nothing there.
Only a letter is written on the desk.
"We have Hikawa Hina. Stop your act for persuading people or she will be captured and never returned."
Sayo's face turns to anger as she walks back in rage steps. When she is like this, she is more like a beast in rage who would never listen or think with presence of mind.
"Wait! Sayo-san! If you go alone, this can be a trap!" Masuki catches her arm and stops Sayo's steps, making the tealette look back at her.
"If I'm failed to save Hina, atleast you two aren't stopped for what we have done here."
"But still! We need to face this in calm mind!"
"How can I calm!? Hina's the only thing I had! If I lost her, My promise is futile!"
Masuki's grip is weakened, and she let go of the tealette's arm. "Just promise you will comeback. We are also your family, so no matter what.. You need to comeback."
"Yeah. I will."
Sayo left the base and met someone. Peach-colored hair with a white and blue raincoat covered her, giving Sayo a torn paper with an address written on it for future reference.
"Your sister are taken to a security post at the west, not far from this around 8 km from here."
"Thank you, Hiromachi-san." Sayo takes it and exchanges it with four cans of bean peas and three cans of sardines.
She leaves the base and rushes alone to the coordinate location that had been written on the letter. Sayo has the ability to read coordinates since they're a kid and has been trained well for incoming situations like this.
She fights the guards there, a place that is more like a security post but bigger than usual she has ever seen before. It's raining, also pouring on the ground, soaking everything under it as Sayo keeps slashing the guards mercilessly like a killing machine. Blood splatters everywhere around her and fuses with the puddle of water. The sound of blades clanking many times and the sound of flesh torn apart is like music to this teal-haired girl without her knowing it was a trap to capture her.
Hikawa Sayo
Age 20, Earthian.
"She had the potential we need sir!"
"Drag her down here, she will come for her beloved sister."
"Understood!"
Sayo entered a dark room with some wide boxes and heavy equipment tools around. The sound of a blade dragged on the floor as she walked closer and stopped in one place. She looked back and slashed at a bullet that had been shot. Instincts from her training with childhood friends and parents, when they were still alive, are giving her an idea of how sharp it is for someone like her. The blade slashing fleshes and bullets many times, creating clanking noises every time it touched the bullets.
"Just this what you've got-"
A bullet of soporific shot was directed directly at her vein from far away without making any sounds. "Damn.. What you're.. Ugh.."
Making the tealette collapsed in second and cannot see anything except a blank page of black. She captured that day along with her sister, which she wanted to save before, made her become a subject of experiment of Spacian's military plan for years. How much they wanted to make a good weapon of destruction prototype from a living human after seeing Sayo's potential for killing.
She had been sent to the Spacian's military base laboratory on the Spacian's spaceship after being captured.
She opened her eyes slowly after a dizziness struck her before, looking at herself now. Her hands and legs are chained like a beast in a cage. There's no blade, bow, or arrow bag around her now. She had nothing except the tights attached to her now and the trousers she used before. Sayo tried to fight, but it's not giving her any use. The cuffs holding her now are made from something different than she has ever seen in her place.
"Hina.. I need to find her!" Sayo pulled herself once again, but that only left her with hurts on her wrist and no progress in her escape.
A door opened, and she saw a man with black hair and a white lab coat walking toward her.
"So this is Hikawa Sayo.. I'd never thinking that she will be here because of catching her sister."
Sayo's eyes stare sharply with rage burning in the orbs. "Who the hell are you.."
"Oh me? I'm not that important! You didn't have to know me."
"How dare you touch Hina!" Sayo growled, and her face was banging against the glass. Her huffs came out with her angry tone. "Spacian.. I will kill you.. If you dare hurt her.. I will make sure to slit every flesh you had alive.."
"Look at that! She made an intimidation!"
Her eyes are still staring in anger, always burning to get away from this place that is imprisoning her. Years have passed, and she has become an experimental subject of the crazy scientist. Her body has been injected with lots of strange fluids many times, and she always wonders why she hasn't died yet after having different substances injected into her body so many times. At that moment, she can dimly see someone who stops the scientist from injecting those fluids into Sayo.
4 Years passed.
She is still at the tube, chained and locked in it. Hina is still alive inside her heart. Sayo always has the intention to save her if she can escape this crazy scientist and take back her blade to kill them all.
Most people must be thinking that she might already be dead. Sayo never counts how many days she has spent in this rotten tube since she got captured. How many injections have already penetrated her flesh and given her strange fluids. She has looked at the dailies this place has, seeing their activities is the only thing she can remember. She also remembers that her back isn't something they have watched on patrol often, so she will try to loosen it with her own effort. It takes time, but they made a mistake about it.
They never change new handcuffs for her since 4 years ago.
Sayo can feel it loosening. Try it many times and wait at the right moment to get away. She is not a normal human anymore, not after they gave her something weird to be injected into her body. Hands still on its effort, just a little more before it opens and she can escape.
The situation is the same as she has ever seen before, not many people giving eyes on her so she has nothing to be worried about. The only thing she can see now is a girl coming closer to Sayo. Sayo stopped her movement and looked at her, remembered that the girl was the one who told the scientists not to let Sayo be injected with the fluids. Sayo is staring at her now. Her eyes still showing rage and hatred towards the spacian.
The girl is making hand movements, more like sign language that is often used by Earthians like Sayo when talking with people with disabilities. Sayo's eyes widened, why is a spacian like her able to fluently do something that is used by Earthians.
No need to be worry, I give you a suppressant of the effect. So you wouldn't felt hurt after the doctor giving you before.
Sayo replied with her hands, not much, but she hopes it can help to communicate.
"Why you help me?"
That girl is only leaving a thin smile.
Is there any reason to not helping you?
Sayo stopped for a moment. Why would a Spacian like her want to save an Earthian who had been disgraced for many years? After the conflicts between Earthians and Spacians, which made them hate each other and it led to a war.
"I am earthian. I'm not deserve to be helped by Spacian."
That girl replied again with the smile still on her face.
Just because you're an earthian, So you thinking that You're not deserve to be helped?
That was a dead end for Sayo. She gave up with this girl. How insistent she is, and that makes the tealette go speechless. Sayo will remember the appearance this girl had, how much this girl really made her ache on the head to think what she had just done.
Black haired, amethyst eyes.
"I have a plan to escape from here."
For your sister?
"You know?"
I did.
"Is she still alive?"
She is. I have taken care of her for 4 years. She is safe don't worry, I didn't give her anything.
"I see."
I can help you if you want me to help.
"What can make me trust you?"
You can kill me at first place if I had betray you.
Sayo took a long time staring at the raven-haired person. The chain on her hands is now broken, gaining her freedom on her hands and then her legs.
"Then deal."
Sayo did a hand signal and told her plan to Rinko to make her act out a charade to divert attention, ensuring Rinko wouldn't be caught and stopped in the lab after Sayo's plan was carried out.
Rinko moved back as the glass tube broke from Tealette's strength. Sayo didn't expect her to be that strong, initially not trusting herself to break the glass and opting to run out of the tube opener instead.
"Okay.. Now where is Hina's place.."
Sayo looked at her arms now, as if something traced a circuit on her body, making her body feel enhanced. She cracked her stiffened neck after 4 years of waiting and looked at the raven-haired person.
"You should tell me why you can learnt those hand language and your motives to help earthian."
"Okay-okay. After this done, of course. We need do something firstly, right?" Raven haired raised her hands up and walk forward to play the charade Sayo's plan before and walked at Hina's place through the hallway.