The Divided

Miho and Maho

"Maho, will things ever return to normal?" Miho asks her sister as they sit in their living room.

"I don't know Miho, things are... out of control right now." Maho says with a sigh. "You're lucky our mother is able to afford things for us."

Miho stays silent for a few moments. "I miss my friends." Thoughts of Hana, Saori, Yukari and Mako fill her head."

"I know Miho, but with our carrier heavily damaged by that hurricane, things won't return to normal until then." Maho says and turns towards the bookshelf.

"But why did we have to come to America?" Miho asks. "Why did we have to come to this place called 'New York City'."

"Miho. It's better not to question it. Our problem is Green Poison, not why your friends are living in a different part of this city." Maho says. She walks over to the bookshelf and pulls out a book.

"Maho! Miho! I'm home! Help me with the groceries!"

Miho jumps up and runs to help her mother. Maho gets up and walks over.

"Mother, why are we here in America, and not back in Japan?" Miho asks. Maho glares at her, as if to tell her she's stupid.

"Well Miho, if you want to know so dearly, this is currently the only place we can get the carrier fixed, but with the outbreak that won't happen for a long while." Shiho Nishizumi says to her daughter. "Plus, we have a tournament here! I couldn't ever miss it. Your sister is skipping some of her university to be here!"

"Oh. Ok." Miho says in a very disappointed tone. After she helps put away the groceries, she walks upstairs to her room.

It was a small room, and if it weren't for a lot of posters, it would look like a jail cell. It had dull white walls. A small boko bed in the corner, a small desk with stacks of paper. In the other corner opposite of the bed was the bookshelf full of books, many about tanks. A small photo in the corner showed the five girls in a photo right outside their tank.

Miho flops down on her bed and pulls out her phone. As she opens up messages she see her friends have been talking for a bit.

Hey Guys! Miho texts How's it going for everyone? It's pretty boring up here. Nothing much to do.

Nothing much Miho. Hana's talking about her ikebana experience. Actually more like a ramble or a rant, I can't even tell at this point Yukari texts back

Well for one, I've been doing nothing, and my boyfriend isn't even in America! Saori texts

Wait, Saori has a boyfriend. Since when? Miho asks, with sudden surprise. Congrats!

Maho walks up the stairs and into the room next to Miho's. Miho sits there for the next 30 minutes chatting to her friends.

Not soon after a loud noise of glass breaking explodes up to Miho room. She jumps up and begins to run ahead. Maho, already in front of her, grabs the M1911 hiding on a shelf next to the stairwell. Maho hops over the railing and hits the ground running. She looks outside the broken window to see her mother being taken away by two armed men wearing blue tactical army wear.

"Miho! Stay back!" Maho says turning to Miho, and with that, she jumps out the broken window, and fires the gun. The deafening crack of the gun and a bright light. The bullet hits the nearby building. Maho continues to run forward, still firing the gun at a calm rate.

The armed man looks behind and fires an M9. Maho twirls around the bullet and fires back, hitting the man in the wrist, making him drop his gun. He yells in surprise but doesn't let go of Shiho.