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Tsuno sat in the kitchen, watching her teammates chat over the strategy for tomorrow. She smiled at the view, flipping over the pork loin in the pan.
She was cooking Miso Katsu as a special treat for her teammates. They’d finally accomplished their mission of infiltrating Nagoya, on their quest to slay the infamous phantom thief. Tsuno, along with her teammates Wada, Isono and Okazaki, had just defeated the incredibly evil doctor-turned-supervillain, Toranosuke Kan. They’d been on an insane mission until this point, every villain a difficult fight. Tsuno, with her magical sword, was always concerned about her teammates and about her own abilities.
She looked over at them, now. Isono, with her headphones over her pigtails, was engaging in a very lively discussion with Wada, seemingly casting some sort of spell with her magic staff. Tsuno just hoped that it wouldn’t ruin her food. Wada, less enthusiastically nodding along, adjusted the straps of her dress and scribbled in the pages of her book for a counter to whatever Isono was doing.
Okazaki was sitting alone, drawing something with watercolour paint. Tsuno was watching from a distance, but she could make out a fox mask, lying in the grass, covered by something red. As soon as they sensed Tsuno watching, they winked through their mask. Tsuno blushed and turned around. Okazaki’s suit had recently been embellished with red fur, an addition that Tsuno was a fan of. It added an… atmosphere to their look.
They’d started their journey around a year ago. The group had begun with Tsuno. She’d decided to fight crime after leaving rehab, gaining inspiration from the shows she’d seen on television. Soon after, a monster had attacked the town she was staying in, and she met Isono. At the time, she’d known her as MikiMiki, the crime-fighting internet idol in the most beautiful orange and black dress she’d ever seen. After seeing her skill, Tsuno had to recruit her immediately.
A few months later, Isono and Tsuno moved in together. They were on their way to the supermarket when a young girl shyly walked up to them in a slightly faded MikiMiki hoodie. She was a fan who recently became a magical girl from the inspiration behind Isono’s streams. Isono and Tsuno locked eyes and decided to recruit Wada as their apprentice on the spot. While she wasn’t very confident, she was incredible with the magical book.
They’d met Okazaki at the start of this mission, searching for a weapon for Wada and stumbling across their store. They were selling all sorts of weapons, such as the book that Wada was now using. Tsuno had begun chatting with them, becoming incredibly flustered at their attempts to flirt with her, and ended up recruiting them that way.
She snapped out of her thoughts, assembling the Miso Katsu on the four plates. Putting the plates in front of each member, she sat down at the table with them. They talked while they ate, talking about the terrifying phantom thief of Nagoya. According to Okazaki, they were a fearsome villain, dressed in blood-red. They’d been a villain for years, known for their disguises, skilled at traps and fighting. When they’d asked Okazaki how they knew that, they smiled and said, “I have my ways.”
“Tsuno!”
Tsuno snapped out of her daze.
“Hm? What’s up, Wada?”
Wada smiled softly, looking up from his plate.
“Thank you for cooking for us! We love you, Tsuno!”
Isono and Okazaki both nodded in agreement, offering warm smiles to Tsuno. She was almost in tears. This team was her whole world; she did everything so they could be happy.
She wiped her eyes, glinting with a new determination.
“Thanks, guys! We need to be prepared to take down the phantom thief of Nagoya!”
She saw Okazaki stiffen slightly at those words. They opened their mouth behind the mask, but ultimately decided to stay silent.
For the rest of the night, they discussed strategy. They had a plan to infiltrate the tower, banish them with Wada’s book, and save Nagoya. The plan was finalized, so they decided to head to bed.
To keep the costs down, they only had two beds. Isono was sharing with Wada for the time being, so Tsuno climbed into her side of the bed with Okazaki. Turning around so that they could change into their sleeping mask, Tsuno turned the lights off. She vaguely felt Okazaki climb into bed beside her, sleeping with their face to the wall.
A few minutes passed before she heard a whisper.
“Tsuno.”
She rolled over, making out Okazaki’s figure in the darkness.
“Okazaki? What’s up?”
Okazaki hesitated. They were fidgeting with something under the sheet.
“...Good luck.”
Tsuno smiled.
“You too, Oka.”
-
The morning came, and they stood at the foot of the tower. Tsuno stood in front, cape swaying, sword out beside her. She turned her head, letting her black hair fan over her shoulder, and spoke to her teammates.
“Are you ready?”
They nodded at her, Isono and Wada on either side of her with Okazaki behind. Isono steps forward, casts a lock-picking spell, and moves forward into the tower.
The tower is filled with incredibly low-level enemies, letting Tsuno slash them incredibly easily. Maybe the phantom thief wasn’t as hard to beat as she’d thought. Whilst Isono was smiting another enemy, she retrieved the key for the top of the tower from Wada. Apparently, he’s managed to duplicate the key perfectly. Thanking him, she moved to the door and unlocked it.
Stepping into the room, Tsuno spotted the trap immediately. She jumped into a backflip immediately, shouting words of warning to her friends. They dodged it, but it was incredibly close.
“Huh. I really thought that would work.”
Tsuno spotted the figure on the stage. The figure, facing away, had a mop of brown hair. They were wearing a red suit, similar to the one that Okazaki had described. Speaking of, where was?-
She didn’t have time to finish her thought before the figure turned around. They had a masquerade mask on, obscuring the top half of their face. In their arms, however, was an AK-47.
“Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way then, huh?”
Wada screamed.
“HOLY SHIT! THEY HAVE A GUN!”
The phantom thief pressed play on their cassette tape, throwing it to the side. A theme started playing, a song that Tsuno had heard before, as the firing started.
Isono, reckless as she was, rushed quickly at the thief.
The sound of a bullet hitting its target echoed through the tower, as Isono dropped to the floor with a cry. Wada ran over immediately, crouching down next to her.
“Isono! Oh my god, are you okay?”
She immediately started jotting down a healing spell. Seeing Wada preoccupied, Tsuno focused on the phantom thief.
She dodged bullets, practically flying through the air. She eventually got close enough to knock their gun out of their hands with her sword, catching it in one hand and holding the sword to their throat.
“Okazaki. Give it up.”
The person in her arms laughed, a free, villainous laugh.
“Of course you knew! We have such a rivalry, after all!”
They took off their mask, turning around. For the first time, Tsuno saw their eyes. The hatred, terror, and insanity in their eyes were jarring, to say the least.
“You’re smarter than you look, Tsuno. So, what now? You're gonna banish me?”
She glanced at Wada. She’d managed to get Isono back on her feet, although she was currently resting in the corner.
“Yeah, actually. That sounds pretty good.”
Okazaki laughed again.
“Stupid girl! Did you really think it would be that easy?”
With a snap of her fingers, the book crumbled. The look in their eyes gleamed.
“Did you forget who made that book?”
Fuck. Tsuno had completely forgotten about that.
“So, you do have a power after all. The power to create weapons, I assume?”
Okazaki smiled, clapping their hands together.
“Right on the money, again! Wow, Tsuno, you’re almost as good as that one quiz show guy-”
Tsuno pushed her sword against their throat.
Okazaki leaned back. Before Tsuno could react, she saw something poke out of their pocket.
“Tsuno! They have a knife!”
She was too late. She could feel the blood seeping from her stomach. Staggering backwards, she dropped against the wall.
“Not so fucking tough are you now, Manami?”
Okazaki laughed, walking towards their gun.
Then, they stopped. The gun was nowhere to be found.
Turning slowly, Tsuno spotted Wada, standing, nearly bent over from the weight of the gun strapped around her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Okazaki.”
Closing her eyes, she fired the gun. Okazaki kneeled over, blood pouring out of every gunshot wound, and lay still on the floor.
Wada peeked out of an eye, checking the body.
“Holy shit, holy shit, oh my god.”
By this point, Isono had made her way over to Tsuno, healing her wound.
“Wada.”
She opened her eyes fully.
“Huh?”
“They weren’t human. They were a monster.”
Wada closed her eyes and breathed out. She nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. Yeah!”
She spun around, grinning at them.
“We defeated the monster!”
They ran towards Isono, hugging each other tightly. They kneeled next to Tsuno, hugging her as well.
-
They stood in the garden of the tower, crouched by a grave they had dug a few minutes before. Tsuno held a body in her arms, the body of a monster they had known as a friend.
She put them in the grave, sealing it with the dirt from the hole.
On the tombstone, they engraved some words.
‘To Okazaki. We wish we knew you.”