Rogue

Chapter 25

She sat twiddling her fingers around a piece of plastic. The light from outside poured through the windows, illuminating the carpet she stared at. Akira sat alone in the quiet and empty Tamakoma branch. She'd heard people exiting the building and assumed the worst. Yet, she was still unsure of her next move.

Akira had her civilian trigger activated, listening to the signals and commands given by Director Shinoda. She simply sat and waited for them to call out to her and beg for her help. She wanted them to admit it. However, she was becoming impatient. Her skin crawled as the small sounds of explosions and crashes rang out in the distance. She tightly bit her lip. No one was gonna reach out to her. Commander Kido would rather rot than ask a Neighbor for help.

Quite a predicament.

The girl groaned and stood from her bed and sauntered up to the roof where she would assess the damage. She leered in the direction of Headquarters and watched as plumes of smoke and debris were flying, most likely from damaged buildings in the Forbidden Zone.

"Commander," she mumbled. She didn't continue after that. She wanted to hear him ask for her help.

"Akira..." The monotonous tone of his voice made her realize that what she wanted was no more than a fantasy. "Are you finally done pouting?" Her eyes narrowed on the large building that was HQ and attempted to burn holes directly into their commanding room with her gaze alone.

"What's the damage?"

"As of right now, we have combatants fighting a new type of Trion soldier and four humanoid Neighbors." Shinoda was right to the point. He knew that the girl didn't care for their civilians or anyone for that matter. He'd put that focus onto someone more capable in that aspect. He knew she was looking for a fight.

"How many Black Triggers?"

"Two." Akira sighed. She wasn't absolutely thrilled about helping them quite yet but she also didn't want to miss out on the fun. "The new type Trion Soldier has also managed to capture a sum of our combatants as well." At least Shinoda was smart enough to hint that he wanted her assistance.

"I have one condition." She waited for a response on the other end but heard silence. So maybe they did need her help after all, otherwise, they would have objected on the spot. "I'll be using the weapon I engineered in the lab. I'll need it to go head-to-head against their Black Trigger users." Her eyes narrowed mischievously. "Unless you want me to take matters into my own hands..."

Akira had no intention of asking for permission to use her Black Trigger since she knew they'd deny her request. However, by offering the option, they'd automatically accept the other, safer option.

"Fine," the Commander grumbled. "Any use of your Black Trigger is still prohibited and will have consequences." She didn't respond any further and deactivated her trigger, shoving it deep in her pocket. With a small, excited smile, she held out her Tachikawa Squad trigger in a tight grip.

"Trigger on!" Akira felt her body being replaced by her team attire which she had only worn a handful of times up until this point. "Reporting for duty," she murmured to herself. "Kunichika!"

The teen on the other end of the call jumped at the sound of Akira's voice but was responsive nonetheless.

"Yes!"

"Where are we having the most trouble?"

"I have a group of A and B Ranks struggling against a humanoid Neighbor. I'll pinpoint it for you." Akira jumped off the building and began sprinting with Grasshopper to the other side of the Forbidden Zone.