Act VII: The Agreement Aritsune walks briskly out of the building. She walks and soon finds herself standing outside a dealership for spacecraft. She glances over to see a B-class ship ready for takeoff. She slips into the darkness and sneaks into the facility. She climbs on to the structure that the ship rests on. The area appears to be vacant of people. Aritsune walks towards the door and starts looking around her. Using the ship for balance she climbs on to a beam from the structure next to the entrance to the ship. She waits there. After a short while, two people walk towards the ship. Aritsune observes them as they unknowingly walk beneath where she waits and opens the entrance. Aritsune jumps down with a small thud against the metal walkway. The two, startled, turn to face her. Aritsune landed on one knee and slowly makes her way to a standing position. The two stare at her. "What do you want?" one of them asks. Aritsune says nothing. "Speak!" the other commands. Aritsune raises her hand and sends a bolt ripping through the second one's heart. "I will not be commanded," Aritsune says sternly. The other cringes slightly at what has happened to his partner. He turns to look at Aritsune. "Again, what is it that you want?" "I never reveal my plans," Aritsune states as she walks over to the man. The man steps backwards, back against the ship. Aritsune says to him, "And you should have known better not to ask." Aritsune grabs the man by the throat and sends powerful electrical currents through his body. It starts shaking wildly, banging against the ship. After a minute, Aritsune tosses the lifeless body to the side and enters the ship. She closes the door behind her and prepares to launch the small ship. A short time passes and Aritsune's stolen ship nears Venus. "Attention incoming ship," a voice announces over the ship's speakers. "State your name, registration number, and business." "This ship has no name, the number is 981-4578-219, and my business is none of your concern," Aritsune abruptly states. "You will not be given clearance if you do not tell us your business." "I refuse to." "Then you will not....hold on. Our computers report that ship 981-4578-219 has been stolen from the Europa colony," the operator says alarmed. "And what if it was?" Aritsune questions mockingly. "We order you to land your ship and surrender without subordination." "No one orders me." "If you give us trouble, we will not hesitate to take action to remedy the situation. Land on pad 7534." "Thanks." "Do not think you will get away." Aritsune closes the communication and makes her way to pad 7534. Akari lies on her bed, Yamaneko resting quietly on the floor next to her. She has her eyes closed and her hand resting on her stomach. She begins to dream. She finds herself in a large green field. She is a little girl again. Acting the same as she had when she was young. Energetic, talkative, and always wanting to play. She is running through the tall grass of the field. She sees a figure off in the distance. She playfully runs towards it. As she nears she can sense a feeling of coldness amongst the figure. The land around her is brightly lighted by the Sun but this figure remains dark-colored. Soon she is only a few feet away. By this point, the little girl Akari is scared to even see who this person is. She can see it is of masculine build. She just stares at the ground in front of her, not willing to look up. The cold figure reaches out to her and places its hand on her shoulder. She finally looks up to see who it is. She can make out the face of Naitsuu, full grown with a fatherly love in his touch. Suddenly the coldness surrounding the figure dissipates and the little girl Akari is excited. She jumps up and wraps her arms around the neck of Naitsuu as he kneels to give her a kiss on the cheek. She slowly lets him go and takes a step back whilst Naitsuu has a hand on each of her shoulders. He looks into her eyes and sternly talks to her. "Don't be dismayed by my absence. I will always be with you." Akari speaks, "But I can't do this. I need help. I feel as if I will never see this kind of happiness again." "Leave, Akari. Leave the dreary, icy region of this forsaken colony." "But, what about the others? Munenori, Aritsune..." The figure of Naitsuu shudders upon hearing the name Aritsune. "They have their own destiny to fulfill, and you have yours." Naitsuu places his hand by her stomach and she finds that she is in her grown form as she is in reality. Akari looks down and places her hand on top of Naitsuu's. She then looks up to him again. He is smiling and it comforts her disheartened spirit. She bows her head slightly and closes her eyes as if to think, when she opens them again she finds herself back in her room, Yamaneko still quietly resting on the floor beside her, and she does not know what to think. She is too tired to think anymore, and falls into a dreamless sleep. The doors exiting the landing pad open and Aritsune walks through leaving a trail or electricity scorched officers behind her. A sly grin appears across her face as she continues down the hallway and enters the colony of Transmuted Venus. Aritsune soon finds a bar and enters it readily. Cloak draped over her to hide herself from the others, she walks up to the bar and sits down on a stool. She orders a drink. A shabby looking man walks up to her. "Hey there, pretty lady. Want me to buy that drink for you?" Aritsune turns slightly, so only her small smile can be seen from underneath her hood. "Thank you kind sir, but I would prefer it if you could tell me where I could find someone." The man feels lucky and continues. "Who is it that you are looking for?" the man questions. "Someone by the name of Ennosuke Kano." The bar acts like she said nothing and the man says, "Why do you wan to get involved with him for?" "Don't ask about what I plan to do," Aritsune says coldly. "Sorry, I was just wondering..." "Well don't." "Fine. Well, last I heard he was with that gang of his. I heard they have been getting rather bored with the mundane tasks set before them by this new imperial government." "What do you mean?" "What do I mean?" the man asks surprised. "They haven't been able to do anything destructive, and that's what they want to do. If you know Kano-san, then you know his gang worked with the resistance causing trouble for the empire." "That I do know," Aritsune responds. "They reportedly worked hand in hand with Hitoshi." "That they did," the man continues. "Now that Hitoshi and his new government are in control, they can do nothing but sit around. They want some action." "Perfect." The man is startled by this response. "What do you mean?" the man asks. "It is none of your concern. Now where can I find him?" "He is usually with his group around their two ships at pads 6343 and 6344 that they have registered for their own use." "Thank you. You wanted to buy me the drink? Well, go ahead." Aritsune gets up and leaves her small tab to the man. He just stares confused as she leaves. Aritsune calmly walks around the landing station of the colony until she nears pad 6343. As she gets closer she can hear men speaking. "I'm getting really bored of this," one man says. "Well, maybe something interesting will happen," another says. "Like what?" another asks. "Did you hear what happened earlier today?" "No." A man steps out from the shadows and the group quiets down. "Kano-sama..." one stutters. "Indeed something interesting did happen today." "And what was that?" one of the men ask. "A multitude of officers were killed when trying to apprehend a suspect who had apparently murdered two people from Europa and stole their ship." The men listen more closely. "Not tat it concerns us, but at least something happened to shake up the local law enforcement." Aritsune steps out from the shadows, "Excuse me." The group turns apprehensively towards her. "What do you want?" one of the men ask. "I wanted to speak to the one known as Ennosuke Kano," Aritsune answers. "Well, he doesn't want to speak with you-" "Quiet, Baiko," the leader says. "Yes, sir." The one referred to as Baiko backs off and the leader steps forward. "Who are you?" "Does it really make that much difference to you who I am?" Aritsune asks. "Well, you come here, interrupt our little conversation, I just wanted to know who you are that dares do so." "Are you so tough that you would do anything to a woman just because she wants to talk with you and that stops whatever thing of no concern that you were talking about?" "Are you trying to say that nothing we talk about matters?" "Perhaps." The group perks up angrily. The leader puts his hand up to hold them back. "Well, I am Ennosuke Kano. What is it you want to talk about?" "Hitoshi." The group listens intently. "What about him?" "The two of you worked together in disrupting the empire, right?" "That is true. We even joined in the battle that saw the emperor destroyed. We committed acts of great valor in that battle," Kano says proudly. "And so did the group I was with." "A feeble-looking woman as yourself was involved in such a violent battle?" Kano asks unbelieving. "I was personal friends with Naitsuu Hachimonguu, who would have been emperor had it not been for his unfortunate incident." The group is stunned. "Then what is it you want?" Kano asks. "I want Hitoshi out of power." "What?" "He is in my way. You have ties with him, if your group were do wildly disrupt this colony, formerly under his control, it would bring outrage to Hitoshi." "You want us to betray our friend?" "I want you to do as I say. The acts your group would commit would make Hitoshi suspicious. Let's just say, I don't know, perhaps the authorities came across something that made our temporary ruler look as if he were planning to bring all control to him. At this time I know that the meetings going on within Europa are aimed at democracy. Or some form of limited monarchy. But what if this great leader who would most likely end up are elected ruler wanted to be absolute?" "What do you gain from this?" "I gain everything. I know what must be done to get what I want, power. And I can give power to you too." "What if we are caught?" Kano asks worried. "Fear not, if you caused the trouble needed, I will take care of the rest," Aritsune reassures. "How can we be so sure?" "Why? Know my name. It is Aritsune Sugai." "Sugai?" Kano asks unknowingly. "Do you know not of the group that broke the chains of the former emperor?" Aritsune questions. "We know somewhat." one of the men speaks. "Well, what were there names?" Aritsune asks. Kano stares at her coldly, "Hachimonguu, the cousins Jemu, and...Sugai." "I am the fourth of that party who survived to see the demise of the emperor." "So what if you are? You can't order us to do anything. What power do you have over us?" various men question. "You were talking about the officers killed earlier. Kano-san, what pad was it? 7534?" The group looks at Kano, "Yes it was." "Wounds appearing to be from electrical shock?" "Yes." "Eight officers, right?" "Yes." The group is stunned to see how much she knows. One man speaks, "Information like that could only be known by the police forces or by the most underground individuals like Kano-sama. How does someone like you know?" Aritsune stays silent, but Kano speaks up, "Because she is the culprit." The group stares at Kano confused. The same man speaks, "She?" Aritsune says to Kano, "You are quite the perceptive one, aren't you?" "You wouldn't have stalked up to us so boldly and spoke so indignant unless you had some kind of strength. I see you carry no weapon, clearly have not the physical strength, but I can see in your eyes that something runs deeper." "So we have a deal?" Aritsune asks. "What? We cause trouble, you get power?" "Partly, and then I make sure you get what you deserve. Power within the government, pardons from your deeds, and luxury as you have not known." "Well..." Kano stalls. "Have I not proven to you the truth of my words. What more proof do you need, Must I demonstrate for you?" Aritsune lifts her arm and currents of electricity course around it visible to the group. "No, I accept." The group becomes even more dumbfounded by Kano's willingness. Aritsune drops her arm and they can see electricity leave her arm and wrap around the fences and other metallic objects in the area before dissipating. "I am overjoyed to hear that." "We need to break the monotony of our livelihood as it exists now." "That is how I knew you would be willing to work for me." "We shall, anything else we can do for you?" Kano asks. "As a matter of fact, there is. I would rather not have to steal my way onto another ship. I'm sure there is heightened security now, but I need to get back to Europa." Kano calls out, "Baiko, Masu, take a ship and bring this young lady home." "Yes, sir," they both answer. Kano looks at Aritsune with a glimpse of respect for her scheming. Aritsune returns it with pride as she walks away with Baiko and Masu to one of the group's ships.