Editing Cute Kunoichis:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===5: Yukizasa and Oume===

They had agreed on 7 PM, but this was not the same as meeting your friends in front of the train station. Arriving right on time was like asking to be killed. The trick to winning and surviving was visiting the surrounding area and setting everything up before 7 PM.

Sugiyado Souha entered their makeshift jail cell with Murakami Michihiko.

“Yukizasa, Oume. We need to talk.”

The short-term apartment’s prefab bathroom was the exact opposite of a tourist destination’s hot spring. The cramped space was surrounded by artificial walls and had no windows, making it feel like a cell. Yukizasa was handcuffed to the bath’s accessibility railing and Oume to the toilet’s pipes, putting them too far apart to reach each other.

Their reactions were very different when he opened the door. Small Yukizasa showed him the raw hostility of a wild beast and sexy Oume cowered down in apparent fear.

“That’s some real basic emotional manipulation.” Murakami sounded exasperated. “Both sadism and a protective desire are based on reliance and possessiveness. If one of them isn’t to your liking, is the other one supposed to draw you in?”

“…”

An appraising silence followed.

But they had to already know that Murakami Michihiko was one of the questioners. That meant he was not on Princess Karin’s side and would not cover for those two.

(Then again, I wouldn’t put it past a ninja to pretend to cooperate with me to help the kunoichis escape.)

Those two were both pros.

No amount of soothing or coaxing from Sugiyado was going to shake them. The most effective move was not violence or kind words. The thick shield held out in front of them would not break. If you wanted them to speak, it was best to confuse them about who was on whose side, leaving them uncertain which way to hold their shield.

“We know everything,” said Sugiyado as if continuing for the young man. “Do you have a secondary and tertiary trap on top of the emotional manipulation? If not, you’ve failed. Give up now.”

That earned him a blatant tongue click.

But not from rough Yukizasa. This came from Oume who expertly used her sweet sex appeal.

She knew her techniques would not work on an instructor of kunoichis. She had probably only hoped her poor attempt would make him feel sorry for her.

Yukizasa and Oume’s top priority would be to determine what Murakami Michiko’s angle was.

But once they moved their shields in that direction, Sugiyado would stab for their exposed sides.

“What do you want?” asked Yukizasa while seated in the bathtub and not even looking his way. She had to know several ways to drag information out of trained ninjas using just the running water in here. And without leaving a single mark on their skin.

But Sugiyado only sighed.

He did not even step inside the bathroom, like he was respecting it as their territory.

Glancing over at Murakami Michihiko before talking would ''rattle'' and disconcert those kunoichis far more than any violence or threats.

“?”

Michihiko himself did not know how to respond and caused an unnatural silence, but it was still enough to affect Yukizasa and Oume since they were willing to read several layers too much into anything after being imprisoned like this.

After warming them up like that, Sugiyado got down to business.

Now that they were sufficiently rattled, he got right to the point.

“To be blunt, I don’t see much use in the two of you. We could see pretty much your entire hand from the moment we figured out your trick was using thermoelectric generation with the underground linear motor train network.”

“!”

This was working.

Sexy Oume glared over at small Yukizasa, telling her to mask her reactions better.

“That just leaves what exactly you plan to do with it, but we can figure that out by cornering Princess Karin and getting her to talk. Besides, she might not have even given you two the real reason. Better to get it from a trustworthy source than leave open the possibility of misinformation.”

Oume smiled in a self-deprecating way while bound to the toilet.

She may have decided to speak before Yukizasa could say too much.

“Then why are you even meeting with us? Hoping to distract yourself from your companion’s capture?”

“If it would get her back, I would dismember you in that tub and stuff you in bags. Should I send the bags to New Sapporo Castle? Is Princess Karin emotional enough to cover her face while watching the carnage on a monitor? I kind of doubt it.”

It all came so smoothly.

He was not trying to convince them of anything and he was not displaying any obvious anger or killer intent. He sounded so relaxed it might have passed in one ear and out the other if they were not paying attention. But that was what made it so bone-chilling.

He would do it if necessary.

As easily as he might chop a radish in two on the cutting board.

If he did not radiate that energy and make them hyperventilate, then this was entirely meaningless.

Someone’s life was riding on this.

Kuhou Ouka was a student left in his care. She had gone along with this plan even though she had nothing to gain from it. She was not here, but each of his words and each second that passed could influence whether she lived or died.

“Again, I don’t need anything from you. If I can return you, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

His tone remained unchanged.

Even a police officer aiming a gun at a criminal would have shown more emotion while explaining their right to remain silent.

“If I asked you to do something, you wouldn’t do it for me, would you? But keep that within reason, if you don’t mind.”

“…”

“Listen, if I can’t use you for anything, then I won’t. I have no reason to go out of my way to kill you, but I also have no reason to insist on your survival. If things go wrong at the exchange, I will kill you on the spot. The rails have been laid out, so now you either follow them or you intentionally derail. The choice is yours.”

What happened next would be the same either way. Whether they would obey or not, they would still want to know how things were supposed to go down.

“Creating the illusion of choice while guiding us toward the card you want?” Oume kept her voice low while handcuffed to the toilet pipes. “Is this supposed to be a form of mind control?”

“Interpret it however you like, but I’m not lying. You can choose to do what I say or not and that will determine what happens to you.”

“…”

Oume looked over at Murakami Michihiko with the look of a chained-up puppy, but he only sighed.

Sugiyado and Michihiko had not planned any of this out in advance, but that was why a single adlibbed comment could cause such a disturbance.

“I was tricked by the Stonewalls once already, so isn’t it a bit selfish to expect me to be honest with you now?”

“I should have ignored the princess and killed you sooner. An inspector who isn’t in our pocket only brings trouble.”

The traveling shrine maiden talked tough, but a real ninja did not make a show of their killer intent. If you were planning to kill, it was best to look like you would never hurt a fly.

The kunoichis had no ground to stand on here, so they may have hoped to draw out their own hostility this way.

To intentionally disillusion themselves.

To help give up on someone they had thought was on their side.

(How naïve. I won’t say it’s wrong to feel that way, but the more you care about something, the more carefully you have to protect it to avoid being hurt.)

“Now, then.” Sugiyado paused for a beat. “Those are some strong words, but which is it? Yes, or no. This isn’t a choice you can put off. I just hope you choose the card I think you will.”

With that said, he pulled out two stick-shaped digital voice recorders and threw them within arms’ reach of the two girls.

“Everything you need to know is on those. You can replay it as many times as you like. Whatever your intentions, you’re starved for information, right? I left out any maps or photos that require a visual, so do your best to memorize it all from the audio alone.”