Eroge? Bad Ends? Betrayal? I’m Just Here to Suplex Monsters through Buildings.

Suplexes are Supreme (4.2).

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Neo San Kyoto, Cathay Drive, 5PM PST.

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Interlude: Helena Horner

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I got back home to find a titan of a woman on my balcony munching on hamburgers with Kay.

She sat cross-legged and practically took up half of the space.

Just because it was meant to be a smoking area with some tables and chairs, that didn’t mean one person should take up half of it.

“Kay, what the fuck.” He was normal. Still covered up from head to toe and chugging down sugar-filled soda and going through pounds of ground meat and vegetables. I didn’t have to assist in feeding him anymore, but he still went through food like crazy. “Why is there a woman with wolf ears on my porch?”

“She’s a bounty hunter who sniffed us out and thought that I was a monster. We talked it out instead of fighting, and she’s willing to help with a big bounty so we can finish up faster.” The giant of a woman clad in shiny black leather raised a hand at the introduction before taking something from her side and extending her hand my way. She put a wood-stocked, semi-automatic carbine in my hands. “I don’t know what that’s about.”

“She’s running around with a peashooter. You need rifle rounds to make idiots think twice nowadays.” She turned her gaze at me and gave a smile. A smile that didn’t show any teeth. Beside the red-furred tail and the tall wolf ears, I guessed that she had a mouth full of fangs instead of normal molars. “The name’s Kine. Heard about your folks. You have my condolences, even if they were bastards.”

“Thanks.” I realized that she was the first one to offer condolences about my parents. I didn’t say a word during my classes, and no one paid me any attention. Kay hadn’t given a shit at all, probably because I didn’t. “For the condolences and the gun.”

I did my best to push down the weird feeling of appreciation welling up in my gut by forcing myself to look at Kay.

“So, there’s a change of plan?”

“Not tonight. She’s shadowing us and seeing if we’re who we say we are.” That… made a lot of sense. I was quickly figuring out why Kay decided to listen and extend a hand out towards her. Despite looking like a warrior goddess chiseled into being, she was being prudent. “She even offered to get the bounties, so you don’t have to dress up. All you need to do is drive.”

I only had one question about that statement.

“When do we start?”

That earned me a chuckle from Kine, while Kay gave a nod.

“I’ve already had a talk with this guy, so it’s your turn. Can I come in?” She was courteous, despite how she looked. I gave her a nod and let her into my house. A few days of airing it out got most of the food smell out, but she sniffed the air as I closed the door. “Why does it smell like a restaurant?”

“Kay needed a lot of food after I found him. He was basically burnt and had just two limbs. Don’t know what he is, but after a couple hundred pounds of food, he’s fine.” That information got Kine to raise an eyebrow while she moved in. She took off her boots at the sliding door to the porch and sat on the floor, while I took a seat on my bed. We were almost eye level. “Well, what questions do you have for me?”

“Not many, honestly. My nose picked up that you’re just a regular person. No drugs keeping you in check or anything. And, you’re afraid of him and me, so you’re just out of the loop.” Kine tilted her head to one side and the other, while her tail faintly wagged behind her. “Do you even know that you’re dealing with a real ninja right there? He and his people have stopped the world from ending a dozen times over in the last century alone. Hundreds of times the last couple of centuries.”

“He told me something along those lines, but I didn’t believe him. I just believed in what I saw. He’s fast, strong, eats a lot, and regenerates limbs, and he knows how to fight.” I told Kine bluntly. “Words are just words. I try to figure out what I see. I know he’s on my side, and he’s working to help me. Besides that, I don’t know anything else.”

“Huh. That sounds good. Really good.” Kine replied with a thoughtful nod. She held her chin between her forefinger and thumb while considering my words a bit more. “Well, if you’re fine with working with him with just that, then I guess you’re desperate.”

“Extremely.” I told her flatly. “My parents gambled enough to be taken away. The rest of what they couldn’t cover fell on me. I owe half a million dollars, and there’s interest.”

“Debts shouldn’t fall on children, but those are for normal debts. I’m guessing your parents went to criminals and gangs for their money.” I nodded at her observation, and she scowled and scratched the back of her head. “So, you either pay it all back fast, or you get chopped up or worse.”

Her reaction surprised me.

“Kay didn’t tell you all this?”

“He did, but he could’ve been lying. I wanted to hear it from you.” Kine told me bluntly. “Damn, I thought most of those guys were taken out.”

“Why would they get taken out? Isn’t that how gangs do things?” I raised an eyebrow without thinking. “Are there rules about what they can do illegally?”

“If they want to stay out of the sights of corporations, there are. Corps just love handing out high-interest loans and taking on people’s debts. Sure, there are protections for kids, but for the most part it’s an easy way to get desperate people to work for them.” Kine informed me. “They see gangs chopping up or selling off people they can potentially use for a couple decades before doing the same. That’s why gangs who do it get wiped out.”

It made sense, and it made me sick.

“So… maybe I can wait things out until they get cleaned up?” I did my best to get something out of the situation only for my hopes to be dashed. The wolf-eared woman shook her head. “Why not?”

“Corps work slowly. They must, since they put money behind their kill teams. They want to make sure they win, and gangs don’t start stepping on their toes unless they’ve got enough firepower.” Kine leaned back and sighed. She didn’t look happy with the information she was providing me. I didn’t need to. “They’ll gather info, see what’s going on, and move in after crippling the gang by taking down officers and causing infighting. That’ll take a year, and you don’t have that.”

“They probably know that they’re on the clock, too. That’s why they went for me right after taking my parents.” Kine nodded at my statement. Losing a potential out soured my mood, but having all this information validating my current plans made up for it. It sucked to lose out on possible outs, but everything I was hearing got rid of my anxiety regarding all my plans. “Alright, then. Looks like I really don’t have any options.”

Kine had the decency to look consoling even while she nodded in agreement.

At the very least, I didn’t have to dress up and act like a slut-in-training.

I just jinxed myself, didn’t I?

…

“I knew this was going to end up happening.” The words felt like acid on my tongue. I glared at the slinky silver dress I had to put on with disdain. It was sideless and backless, and the skirt was more a curtain that barely reached a third down the thigh while leaving my hips out. Every step I took flashed the matching silver thong I wore. The front barely covered the middle of my breasts with two straps before curtaining off and it didn’t converge until the waist. With the white purse and shoes, I felt like some high-school trophy wife dressed to be handed off to executives. “There’s always something that has me needing to do shit like this.”

Kay was nice enough to notice how much I hated my current situation.

“I can still just go into the club and rip his head off.” He offered, but it was shot down.

“Don’t do that. There are civilians everywhere, and there are corporate bodyguards on every corner. If anything goes wrong, a sledgehammer goes through all our heads.” Kine responded through the small, enchanted earring I wore. Kay had a lot more tricks than I thought. Disguises were in his wheelhouse too, which allowed him to change my facial features to an amalgam of a couple starlets in a magazine. “Just find which room the target is in. Kay can abduct them through the window.”

I patched a smile on my face at the bouncer, making sure my hips swayed with every step, and attracted more than enough attention at the line I passed.

Skipping the line while looking like a lingerie model with a bit more clothes than usual wasn’t enough, but putting up five hundred dollars got the bouncer to close his mouth before he even spoke.

Another five hundred and a wink followed after that, along with a gesture for him to lean close.

“Tell the manager a messenger is here.” I hadn’t known what the phrase meant an hour ago, but Kine was nice enough to inform me. It meant that I was coming in to deliver something to the owner of the place while looking nice and pretty, while pretending to be a guest to slip under everyone else’s radars. This was how a few underground crime families poached some guests out of everyone’s notice or peddled large shipments of drugs. Typically, the messenger was also a gift, but I didn’t plan on going that far. “Thank you~.”

The bouncer blushed a little, and his gaze went straight down my cleavage, meaning he got a good look at the top of my panties.

This outfit is fucking ridiculous.

He spoke to his boss while I entered the club, and I immediately reached my hand out, and a server gave me earbuds.

I put them on so that even as I went past the second set of doors, my eardrums wouldn’t be blown apart.

The flashing lights almost made me wince.

The club was exactly what I imagined it to be. Girls with just flashing tape covering their crotches and nipples dancing in cages all over the ceiling. Some were suspended on wires and gliding through the air. Others still were in tanks with breathable water and undulating through movements. Each one had vacant, lustful expressions, and if they were harnessed, caged, or trapped, they’d be giving out ‘favors’ to anyone willing to give them attention.

The dance floor had multicolored screens flashing images on the bottom; some had words flash for a moment, a form of subliminal suggestion. Serving girls wearing fake gold chains and fake gems as swimsuits walked around with drinks. Most were carrying trays stacked with complimentary shot glasses. They had little pouches on their belts and bar codes just above their crotches for anyone interested in skilled, professional service.

I had to smile and wave as I got all the attention I never wanted upon entry.

Just a minx in a glittery silver getup with cash.

The perfect target.

“Already found him.” There were a bunch of rooms with one-way mirrors looking onto the dance floor. Dens were where people with cash to burn were serviced. They had their own bouncers that fished for particularly pretty partygoers. We investigated the target’s ‘type.’ He liked finding working girls that looked good and were on a mission and charming them before hurting them and scarring them up after they’re done with their work. If there was anything good about this outfit, it was the fact that a pair of thugs started moving my way instantly. “ Northwestern room. You better do something quick since his thugs are already—

Kay’s voice rang through my head in an instant.

“Done.”

Both thugs heading my way suddenly turned around and ran back to their room. For a second a high-pitched scream went across the club, but barely anyone noticed. A girl ran out of the room with her upper torso covered in blood. That elicited a bigger reaction, and there were more screams. I turned around immediately and ran with the sudden crowd, making a beeline out.

Kine plucked me out of the crowd, and there was a brief series of movements, and suddenly we were on the opposite street of the club on an overlooking rooftop.

Kay landed beside us, cement and brick dust covering his raincoat, and the head of our target in a black bag.

“Features matched. It was also the only room with only two occupants, so I was ready. The girl sounded young, too. His type.” How he heard through brick walls, I didn’t know, but I didn’t ask any questions. He tossed the bag to Kine, and she opened it. The scent of fresh blood hit me for a second, but Kine’s nod calmed me down. “Confirmed?”

“Confirmed. Let’s move.”

Kine picked me up with one hand, and we split up, running across rooftops, with the two of them dipping into alleyways before we eventually met together again.

In just under five minutes, we were in another neighborhood with the building almost too far for me to see.

“Damn, you’re fast.” Kine was out of breath and put me down with a grunt. Sweat covered her brow, and she almost seemed haggard. Her tail was wagging, and a faint, satisfied smile played on her face. Kay stood unbothered and not even short of breath. “Anyone follow you?”

“Didn’t sense anyone on my side.” Kay shook his head. “You?”

“Nothing.” Kine grunted before closing her eyes and looking at him. I suddenly became aware that she had a hand on the massive gun she had on her side. It was at least 6 gauge and double-barreled. “Is this the part where you suddenly take me down and betray me? Right when I’m tired and you’re within five meters?”

Kay snorted in reply.

“No, it isn’t. I’ve told you the truth. I’m here to get her out of trouble and make money. That’s all.”

Kine let loose a sigh of relief, and a more genuine smile formed on her face while she suddenly gave a thumbs up.

“Great. Let’s tuck in. Five bounties in one night… is insane. Whoever you end up with is in for a rough time.”

I blinked at her words, especially since she suddenly flirted with Kay.

What surprised me, though, was his reply.

“If you’re not taken in four years, I’ll take you.”

I blinked at his statement while Kine’s jaw suddenly dropped and a blush came on her face.

Kay was… 12!?