As soon as the small hut on the edge of Omi came into sight, Ryoichi slowed from a run to a careful walk. He was sure that Takamori-sama didn't [i]actually[/i] have a minefield set up around her little workshop, but there was no such thing as being too cautious, especially after what had happened to her last workshop. Thankfully, nobody had been hurt, but the crater was still smoldering. 

After he finished the heart-pounding ten meter walk, Ryoichi breathed a sigh of relief that he knew he shouldn't have been holding in the first place. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door, composing himself to meet one of the heroes who would save the village.

"It's open!" a young woman's voice called out from inside. Ryoichi steeled himself, and entered the hut.

Takamori-sama herself was hunched over a workbench on the other side of the hut, surrounded by jars of powder and sacks of materials that Ryoichi couldn't make out. The hut smelled atrocious, a mix of sulfur and ammonia that made Ryoichi want to retch. He covered his nose and mouth with his shirt. "Takamori-sama-" he started, but was cut off when the young woman raised a single finger at him.

"Hold that thought. I need a hand," she said, her voice muffled. Ryoichi gulped, and approached her, the horrible smell getting stronger the closer he got to the workbench. Takamori-sama was wearing a gas mask, probably to avoid the smell. Clever.

She pressed two items into Ryoichi's hands: a heavy metal ball the size of an apple, with a round opening on the top, and a funnel, which she guided Ryoichi into fitting into the metal ball's opening. "Hold that there, and don't move," she warned. "Unless you're feeling suicidal."

The bottom of Ryoichi's stomach dropped out as he realized what he was holding. A grenade.

He whimpered as Takamori-sama picked up a jar of a thickly-packed black powder, and began to pour it into the funnel. "Careful," she said, her voice low. "One wrong move, and we both go up."

When the grenade shell was filled to Takamori-sama's satisfaction, she replaced the jar on the workbench, and selected a mechanism attached to what Ryoichi recognized as the handle of a grenade. She slipped the mechanism - a fuse? - into the shell, and screwed the handle on tightly. She clapped Ryoichi on the shoulder so suddenly that he squeaked. "Good job. You didn't blow either of us up," she said, pulling off her gas mask. Her face was streaked with black stains and grease, and she added one more as she wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She took the grenade from Ryoichi and began to toss it back and forth from hand to hand; Ryoichi couldn't take his eyes off of it. "So, what's up? Ryoichi, right?"

"Ye-yes, ma'am," Ryochi said. "Uh, Ki-Kiwami-sama. Townhouse. Bastion. M-ma'am."

Takamori Saki grinned. "Perfect timing," she said. "Let me grab a few things and we'll head out."

Ryoichi waited as Takamori-sama gathered her things: a large backpack stuffed with several bricks of plastic explosives; a bandolier covered with grenades of all shapes and sizes, which she donned after attaching her new grenade; a submachine gun, which she quickly checked to confirm that the safety was on; and a set of dog tags, which she hung around her neck with more care than she'd given the grenades. "Alright, ready," she said. "Now, just gotta find the map of the mine field-"

"[i]Mine field?[/i]" Ryoichi shrieked. For some reason, Takamori-sama started to cackle.

"God no, I'm just messing with you. Lighten up, kid," she said, ruffling Ryoichi's hair as she passed him. Never mind that they were almost the same height, despite the difference between their ages. 

Once again, Ryoichi cursed his bad luck for drawing the short straw. 

--

Takamori Saki wasn't surprised when the young messenger made himself scarce as soon as they arrived in Omi proper. Teasing him so much had probably been unnecessary, but it had been impossible to resist. The kid had been as tightly-strung as a harp.

Despite herself, she had a spring in her step as she approached the town hall. With the Bastion completed, there would finally be some forward momentum. They would finally be able to do [i]something[/i], even if nobody knew what that something was yet. But regardless, it would be good to have a few inches of ceramic-composite armor between her and the wasteland.

The others were already waiting when she arrived. Sara was snatching a mug of coffee from Drake (the man seriously had a problem), Theo was being Theo, which meant 'quiet', and Hana looked like she had just taken a bath. Saki was reminded that it had been a week since she'd last taken a bath; she surreptitiously checked her own smell.

Eh. Probably fine. Hopefully.