When she was sure Hisa had fallen asleep, Piyumi made her move. 

She hadn’t realised it until then, but Hisa actually went to bed a lot later than she did. After excusing herself, Piyumi had checked every hour or so to see if Hisa had finally decided to hit the hay. The lieutenant had been glued to that damn schedule of hers every single time, muttering under her breath as she used the array of colourful stationary strewn over the dining table to no doubt add to the long list of things Piyumi had to master. When she’d noticed the lights to the living room had flickered off, Piyumi had thought she finally had a chance to leave but then she'd heard the unmistakable sound of breathing from the other side of her door. Whether Hisa had been sleeping outside her bedroom everyday, or was only doing so that night because of the locks Leo had broken, Piyumi didn’t know. Either way, it meant she was forced to make her escape through the bedroom window.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she stripped away bits of the fly screen she'd torn through from her clothes before making her way to Morrell. After rolling the motorbike to the far end of the street as quietly as she could, she climbed on and the engine roared to life.

It was a couple of hours after midnight when she finally reached her destination. It wasn’t as if she had a hard on for dark alleyways or anything, but she found them to be the perfect place for secret meetings and illicit deals. Morrell skidded to a stop in front of a woman, the headlights of the motorbike illuminating the deep scowl on her face.

“You’re late,” she snapped as Piyumi disembarked. 

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“I could’ve left.” 

“I knew you wouldn’t.” 

“How?” 

“You’ve come this far. What were you gonna do? Turn back?” 

The woman narrowed her eyes, unamused by Piyumi’s knowing grin. “I hope you know how much I’m putting on the line for you. If they find out about this…” 

“Well, thankyou for your service. I hope this more than compensates for your trouble.” 

Piyumi rolled her eyes as the woman tried not to look too excited at what lay upon her outstretched hand. The bulk of her life savings, reduced to three modest bundles. Her father had worked himself half to death for this money. Hell, she had committed crimes for some of it. But that didn’t matter. She didn’t need it anymore. 

She was going to be a queen soon enough. 

“Do you have the passes?” 

The woman nodded, reaching into her handbag to give Piyumi a pair of lanyards. The redhead held the attached cards to the sky, squinting as she tried to get a better look at them in the moonlight. They looked legitimate enough, as expected of one of the gang's top forgers. She was planning to only use one, but if Hisa… 

“And you’re sure this will get me to the Commish?” 

“It will get you in the building. Whether or not it’ll get you to the Commissioner is up to you.” 

And with that, the woman grabbed the cash from Piyumi and walked away. Piyumi watched her retreating form disappear around the corner before turning her gaze back to the passes in her hand. They really did look authentic, but she had to make sure. 

Reaching into the pocket of her coat, Piyumi pulled out a third lanyard. She felt a twinge of guilt as Waliyha’s face stared up at her from the card, but seeing how identical the fakes were to the real deal dispelled any reservations she had about swiping it from her friend. It couldn’t be helped. It had to be done. 

A clap of thunder broke Piyumi out of her thoughts. Rain began to fall as she stuffed the passes into her pocket and took a step towards Morrell. 

And that’s when she noticed it. The unmistakable feeling of being watched. 

Piyumi considered her options as Hisa’s lessons ran through her mind. She probably didn’t have enough time to make it to Morrell, and it would be a stupid move anyway. Any indication that she planned to bolt from the scene would guarantee a knife in her back. No, she had to stand her ground. Land the first strike. She knew an attack was coming. She could at least do that much.

Piyumi pressed her back against the wall of the alleyway, eyes scanning the surrounding area. There wasn’t anywhere to hide in the narrow path, and while whoever was watching her could be around the bend, she sensed they were far closer than that. And if that was the case… 

Stepping away from the wall, Piyumi reached under the flaps of her coat and pulled out the sword sheathed to her hip. Just as the man who had launched himself from the top of the building behind her was about to hit the ground, Piyumi thrust her blade straight through his upper thigh. He gasped as she used her sword to push his into the brickwall, and then screeched again when she dug a knee directly into his nethers. 

“There’s more where that came from,” she snarled. She reached out to grab the sabre the man had in his hands, but he got over his initial shock and took a swing of the blade. She jumped back just before he cut the tips of her fingers cleanly off, pulling her own sword out of the man’s thigh as she did so. 

For a moment, the two sized each other up. Raindrops pelted their skin like tiny bullets, matting hair to foreheads, diluting dark red to something pinker. If Piyumi had any doubts as to the identity of her attacker, the man’s white and teal uniform — identical to the one worn by the woman who had tried to kill her a few weeks back — did away with them immediately. She eyed the wound marring the man’s thigh. He did his best to appear unaffected, but she didn’t miss the slight gasps he took every so often, the slightly quickened rise and fall of his chest. He wouldn’t be recovering any time soon, that was for certain. 

Kicking off the ground, Piyumi lunged towards the Orionese soldier with her sword held high. He blocked Piyumi’s attack with his sabre, letting out a guttural cry as he pushed against her blade and forced her a few steps back. Blood went flying into her face as he attempted to land a roundhouse kick with his injured leg, but she quickly dove under the limb. Before he could regain his footing, she lurched her sword up to sever his leg from his body completely. He saw through her plans, however, as he quickly pulled back his leg, placing it down on the ground before his other foot slammed into Piyumi’s cheek with such a loud crack, she feared her head would fly off of her neck. 

Piyumi clicked her tongue as she staggered back. Biting back the pain of the swell already forming underneath her eye, she leapt forward again to strike the Orionese soldier with her sword once more. Her efforts were intercepted by his sabre again and, for a while, her ears rang with the harsh clang of metal on metal rocketing around the narrow path as the two tried to run the other with their respective blades. Twisting, ducking, dodging, Piyumi felt herself run out of breath as she was pushed further and further down the alleyway. Soon, it took all that she had to just block the Orionese soldier’s attacks, let alone land a blow herself. 

Piyumi felt her irritation mount. How was this happening?! The man was letting blood out of his thigh like a showerhead at full velocity, and yet here she was, bogged down by nothing more than burning lungs and screaming joints. He seemed to know it too, a smug smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he looked at her mocking eyes. Piyumi’s anger heightened tenfold. A frustrated cry tore through her throat as she pumped every ounce of her remaining strength into her arms before drawing her blade back over her shoulder.

“Be aware of your environment, Your Highness. It can be your greatest asset…”

Piyumi felt her grip slip in the rainwater.

“…Or your worst enemy.”

And then her sword went airborne. 

For a moment, Piyumi and her attacker froze, their eyes following her blade as it soared down the alleyway before disappearing into the darkness behind her. She didn’t see her weapon’s flight come to a stop so much as she heard it — a rather pathetic clank as it clattered against the ground.

Piyumi turned back to the Orionese soldier, who still seemed stunned at the sudden turn of events. Now that she no longer had her sword, Piyumi made a perfectly sound and swift decision. It was an impeccable strategy, really.

She fucking booked it. 

“Hey! Wait!” 

“Fat chance,” Piyumi thought, her feet pounding against the concrete as she tried to ignore the agonising strain in her chest. She thought she saw her sword glint somewhere in the shadows ahead but the sound of the Orionese soldier nipping at her heels made it clear she’d only end up with a sabre in her spine if she took the time to retrieve it. Taking a sharp turn around the upcoming bend, she raced down the path only to skid to a stop when she realised she was about to faceplant into a wall. 

Piyumi whipped around and was met with the sight of the Orionese soldier sprinting around the corner himself. His injured leg made a horrible squelch as he dragged it through the puddles, the man seemingly unbothered that the limb seemed to only be hanging on by a thread.

An almost-hysterical laugh bubbled up Piyumi’s throat. Talk about coming to a literal dead end. Alleyway Attack 2: Electric Boogaloo, except, this time, Hisa wasn’t coming to save her. She had made sure she wouldn’t. 

“There are many ways for one’s affinity to manifest. Sometimes it’s by accident, other times, with the guidance of a teacher. For an unlucky few, it appears in times of great danger, as a last resort when all hope seems lost…”

But maybe there was something else that could. If there was something Piyumi could count on, it was being lucky enough to be part of an “unlucky few”. 

Time seemed to slow as Piyumi tried to steady her breath and closed her eyes. She stilled her mind, pushing away the throbbing ache in her bones, the raindrops splattering against her skin, the sound of her attacker rapidly approaching. Pulling strength from the deepest crevices of her body, from places she didn’t even know she had, Piyumi made her last stand. 

Chakra. Energy. Lifeforce. Stream. Rope. Points. Grab. 

And that’s when she felt it. Finally, she felt it — there, thrumming just below her skin, circulating her body with the electrifying buzz of a current. It was exhilarating but comforting all at once, like she was returning to a home she never knew she had. 

FUCK. YES.

Piyumi’s eyes flashed open. She let out a bark of confident laughter as she held out a hand in the same way she had seen Hisa do a million times before. Her heart thudded a storm against her chest when she spied the crimson glow of a glyph flare once, then twice, and then…

Then nothing. 

“No,” she whispered. Her hand trembled as she tried calling for a spark, a flash, anything. But try as she might, it wasn’t enough. Her desperation wasn’t enough. The tears streaming down her cheeks weren’t enough. Her impending death at the hands of the sabre flying towards her throat wasn’t enough. 

She wasn’t enough. 

And she would never be enough.