[h2]A Lost Foreign Girl(And Nothing More?)[/h2]

The foreign girl folded her arms as she Aryu explained to her. At the very least, she didn't seem annoyed at the younger girl's attempt to speak English. Rather, she seemed simply generically annoyed, albeit in a rather subdued manner. Perhaps she had been struggling to find the Kusakabe inn for a long period of time? Regardless of what the cause of her irritation was, she sighed and gave a small nod when Aryu asked her to follow.

For a while she was quiet. Or perhaps it only seemed like a while, the old building and as a result the inn couldn't have been that far. In any case, eventually the finely-dressed girl decided to speak.

"Do you know anything about the Matsuoka family?" she asked. Her tone was sharp and inquisitive. "I'm supposed to be meeting with their daughter soon, and I guess I'm just a little curious if I have to be honest."

[hr]

[h2]Shi, the Quiet Killer[/h2]

Moving covertly was one of the things that came naturally to Shi. Some would argue that 'naturally' was an incorrect way to refer to it, but regardless she knew how to do so from birth. It was less of a skill and more of an instinct, it came to her just as breathing did. It was all part of being the existence known as Shi. Scaling the building covertly, too, was not simple, but was also not an insurmountable task. It was mostly a matter of speed, and when she came to a good window, well, she whispered a displacement spell, moving it into the air roughly a meter away before climbing quietly inside and canceling the spell before anyone could notice. The building was condemned, but there was still the matter of people noticing from the outside. If she had attempted to come in through the front, someone may have seen her, as well.

Shi made her way up the stairs to the roof. The door was already open, the person she was assigned to meet was already there, she knew. Hesitating for a few moments, she stepped out onto the roof. She could feel her heartbeat growing faster when she saw him. [url=http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=669586]The tall brown-haired man was a familiar sight[/url], one of Shi's creator's associates who served as one of her handlers.

"... S... Soran-sama..." began Shi, hesitatingly. She took a deep breath. She was supposed to refer to him, and all her other handlers, in a respectful fashion...

Nathaniel R. Soran's red-brown eyes fixed on her. His mouth fixed in a severe frown. His right hand, which gripped a dark suitcase, lowered to place it down as he approached. "Tch. Late, then?"

Shi hesitated, then nodded. She was late, but... there was a reason. She'd been held up, running away from that girl while they were walking home would have been suspicious...

He was on her in an instant. His hand raised up, and he brought it down, the back of his hand crashing into Shi's pale cheek. Pain seared through her face and she let out a yelp, stumbling and hitting the ground. Before she could process what had happened, she felt the sole of his boot pressing into her stomach, forcing her to roll onto her back. But it didn't stop there. Nathaniel pressed down, a small smile coming to his lips as he looked down on her. The pressure on her belly... it hurt. It felt like he was squeezing down on her insides, like he didn't care if he damaged them at all.

Shi knew that he didn't.

The white-haired homunculus shuddered under her handler, her crimson eyes staring up at him. She couldn't speak.

"... I wonder how hard I'd have to press down to make you lose your lunch," he idly wondered, "... I'll never figure out why you even need to eat. This is a taste of what will happen if you're late again. After all, what use is a weapon that doesn't work properly?"

All Shi could do was nod. The memories flashed through her mind. The absolute terror of seeing it. The pain now. She couldn't begin to speak.

"... Good."

Nathaniel raised his foot from Shi's stomach. The small girl trembled as she rose, and looked away before quickly hurrying to the nearby suitcase. She felt sick, not only from what he had done but from the memories of what they had shown her. Sick and terrified, Shi buried herself in the contents of the suitcase. The components of her rifle.

"Remember, Number Four," Nathaniel said as he walked away. "Kill any witnesses. Any of them."

With that, he was gone.

Moments later, Shi had assembled her rifle. It was almost time.