The Hinomoto Rebellion Read Online Free PDF Page B

could be the return of Hinomoto’s greatest age, instead of continuing to live in these dark times.”
    Andrea glanced back at the little girl. “And you actually believe you can pull this crazy idea off?” she said, disbelief in her voice.
Kanjou chimed in. “Believing in yourself is the greatest power anyone can have.”
    They walked along in silence for a few minutes. Rats squeaked in surprise as they came by, scurrying to get out of the way of the humans. In the center of the tunnel the rancid water and refuse slowly went by, trickling along to wherever its final destination was.
“Well... Why do you need me?” the Martial arts champion asked the two rebels finally.
    “Simple. We need someone strong to help us. Our current numbers aren’t enough, and none of us are as good as you are with ki attacks. So, we decided to go out and try to find someone that we can trust and that is powerful.”
Andrea guffawed. “Powerful? You came to the right place for that since I’m the strongest fighter in Hinomoto,” she smiled.
    By then they had reached the entrance back up to Tony’s Place, and Andrea led the way up a small rickety ladder, back through the hole in the floor and up into the storage room. Kanjou and Roni followed her up, waiting while Andrea peeked her head around the door and looked for the police. Once she moved out into the main area of the bar, they followed.
    The floor of the establishment now had a new carpet of blood, splintered wood, and broken glass. Dead bodies lay strewn everywhere, their faces twisted in terror and pain. Andrea stood in the middle of the carnage, looking down at the prostrate body of Tony. Kanjou, holding Roni in his arms, watched the silver-haired woman. If she was feeling any emotions at all she was hiding it well.
    “Tony, Tony, Tony.” she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in disapproval. “And we always thought I would go before you, huh? Guess we never took something like this into consideration.” She knelt down next to the body and stared into his lifeless eyes.
    There was a moment of silence before Kanjou took a step toward her and spoke softly. “Maybe now you see why we need this rebellion? Do you really like hiding in the shadows all the time? Is being hunted and watching the people you care about get shot down so fun? This is no way for anyone to live.”
    Andrea continued to stare at Tony with an emotionless expression. “He’s saved my life twice. Now he’s gone and the bar is ruined.” she looked around, “I don’t have any reason to stay here.”
Kanjou nodded. “We can give you a safe place to hide. The Aka Ryuu Headquarters is secure, no one will find you there.”
    Andrea stood. “I’m not saying I’m going to join your suicide mission or anything, but I guess I can give you the chance to convince me.” She walked around Kanjou, heading toward a small swinging door that lead behind the bar.
“That’s fair enough.” Kanjou had turned to continue looking at the young woman as she walked away from him.
    Andrea grabbed something from a shelf under the bar counter, then looked at Kanjou and made a motion with her head toward the door. Kanjou nodded in understanding, then stepped gingerly around the bodies and walked out the door. He looked up from the entrance slowly, noting that it was a little odd to have no cops lingering around to secure the scene. But the brunet also had heard stories that sometimes the police would get bored of one thing and go off to another raid without doing the official paperwork for the first one.
    Andrea walked back over to Tony’s body, listening to the silence around her. In her many years of being here, she’d never experienced this stillness before. To Andrea it seemed like more than these unlucky people had been killed tonight. It was Tony’s Place itself that was now dead.
    She stood over Tony and pulled a match from the box she had grabbed from behind the bar. “See ya, Tony.” she said as