Hotaru no Haka

[Eppy]

One of the crewman lay unresponsive in his bed, a spot of red growing fast upon his chest. Tanto looked around silently; there was a stack of dirty schoolgirl magazines in one corner. On the other was a picture of a young barmaid. Tanto felt no regret; why should he? That man's head was worth more than both him and his mistress would ever have made in their lives. After all, where was the point in that kind of a life? You died faceless and nameless. Tanto? He was a king among assassins, rich and well-respected. He would be known forever. This bilge? No one would even notice. He pulled a pure white cloth out of a pouch on the side of his EVA and wiped the blue blade clean, dropping the bloodstained cloth across his nameless victim's face as he went for the door.

He glided down the narrow hallway, completely silent. There was a brief muttering up ahead; he peered around the corner into the cramped kitchen, where a rather chubby spacer of about forty was rummaging blindly around in the cupboards; his eyes were not open. Tanto quickly slid up behind him and placed a hand over his mouth as the knife slid in between the second nameless truckers' ribs. He slid to the floor with a slight *thud* as Tanto cringed. That could have been done with more finesse. He must keep that in mind. He wiped the blade again, once more leaving the kerchief resting on the deceased man's face.

Now, just to get Mishima and the on-duty crewman. He slid into the hallway and keyed the door to the last unopened room. This must be it.

*****

Hotaru tiptoed down the cramped corridor towards the kitchen and living quarters. Stupid Hachi-kun. Probably binge-sleeping again.

She felt a draft and looked right. Father's door was open...that was unusual...

"Agh! Help! Now!"

*****

Tanto glided across the room once more, blade held above his head. He stood over Mishima; this head was worth enough for him to retire and live in luxury for the rest of his life. Not that he couldn't do that already; it would just make life so much less interesting.

He hesitated for a moment to consider the victim's face. A strong chin; good eyes, somewhere in between blue and green. Unusual. What a shame.

He propelled the blue blade downwards...

...it never arrived. A hand shot upwards and caught his wrist at almost lightning speeds as Mishima sprang out from underneath him. Dammit! The man knew Jujitsu! Oh, it was rusty, though...he could tell by the sloppy stance. Wait...

Mishima's hand darted behind the bureau, bringing back a decent-sized handgun. Not one of those .45s that were popular with the military right now, but a decent-sized round, probably a nine-mil. He didn't know, nor did he care. Guns were such an impersonal way of dealing with business, not to mention so messy. He darted forward as Mishima fired; the round grazed his left shoulder, as he expected. No loss. It had missed, and the wound would heal, as would the suit patch itself. He batted the gun out of Mishima's hand as he went into a roll, coming up under Tanto as he was turning. It went flying and landed in some obscure corner. He came at Mishima again, who parried him again. Mishima tried to put him into a throw, but failed. They carried on; he was decent, and Tanto was a bit more out of practice than he'd thought...this operation was quickly becoming more worrisome...

*****

Hotaru stared as her father and the black-suited man danced all over the room. Her father pulled the gun he kept taped behind the bureau; it fired once and came flying in her direction as the. She just stared. Dad would win. He always wins.

Kyosuke lost his balance; the assassin's blue knife buried itself into his ribcage.

Hotaru saw things in slow motion. Kyosuke fell to the floor, a shocked expression on his face. The Assassin turned to face her.

*****

Tanto finally found his mark. He relished the victory, then promised himself he'd start training once he got off this crate.

He didn't have to look far for the fourth crew. It was a girl; no more than sixteen. He spotted her in the doorway as he turned from the corpse after wiping his blade. She was standing there, shocked. To be expected. Children were always unprepared. He stalked towards her, and didn't stop when she went for the gun. They never had the guts to fire them anyways.

How wrong he was. His eyes went wide in the millisecond between the time he saw her pull the trigger and when a nine-millimeter round ripped through his brain.

*****

Hotaru watched without emotion as he fell forward, head landing a scant foot from hers. The gun had flown out of her hand; it was lying somewhere in the hall behind her. Her wrists hurt, but she barely noticed it. She walked forward over the body and proceeded to her father's side.

He was not breathing. His nightshirt was covered in red.

She strode out of the room, back up to the bridge. She was halfway to her chair as she finally realized what had happened and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

//Critique me! Critique me!\\

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Quick comment - we thought that Panzer was the Leader, Swift. -Agmen

Which Dreadnought was that?

One of your nine.