Chapter 112: A Plan to Kidnap Noah [2].
After listening to Misaki’s plan, Reina started laughing and Misaki looked at her.
"What?"
"Your plan."
"What about it?"
"You want to kidnap a person by doing network maintenance."
"No."
"From what I heard, that’s exactly how it’s going to be."
"It’s a surveillance reduction operation."
"It’s a boring operation."
Misaki frowned.
"It doesn’t have to entertain you."
Reina looked at the map.
"And when do we grab him?"
"After."
"After what?"
"Creating a traffic diversion."
"Another one?"
"We need to secure a route."
Reina looked at Ayane.
"How many steps does this have?"
Misaki answered.
"Currently, twenty-seven."
Reina went still and Ayane blinked.
"Twenty-seven?"
"Not counting contingencies."
Reina started laughing openly, at which Misaki tightened her grip on the tablet.
"What’s so funny?"
"Twenty-seven!"
"It’s a serious operation."
"To kidnap one person!"
"A target protected by two magical girls."
"I can appear behind him, hit him..."
Ayane looked at her and Reina corrected herself.
"Not hit him."
"Continue."
"Grab him and run."
Misaki shook her head.
"Your plan is absurd."
"Yours needs a manual."
"That’s called preparation."
"That’s called not knowing how to improvise."
"Improvising is what you do when you failed to plan."
"Planning twenty-seven steps guarantees that one of them will fail."
"That’s why contingencies exist."
"How many!?"
"Twelve main ones."
Reina’s eyes widened.
"Thirty-nine things!?"
"They don’t add up like that."
"Of course they do."
"No they don’t."
"Yes they do."
"Stop talking about something you don’t understand."
"Stop treating a kidnapping like we’re invading a country."
"We’re not..."
"Enough!"
Ayane raised her voice, so the two fell silent and Ayane regarded them seriously.
"Listen."
Reina sat down while Misaki locked the tablet.
Ayane continued.
"I don’t care if we use a simple plan or a complex one."
She looked at Reina.
"You will not go in hitting anyone."
Then she looked at Misaki.
"And you will not shoot anything."
Misaki nodded.
"Understood."
Ayane rested both hands on the table.
"Is there a rule?"
The two waited and Ayane answered.
"Noah cannot get hurt."
Reina raised an eyebrow.
"That was already in the order."
"I’m not referring only to the order."
Ayane spoke in a much more serious tone.
"If I see a scratch, a mark, a bruise, or any injury caused by either of you..."
Reina stopped smiling when Ayane finished the sentence.
"I myself will take care of punishing you."
There was a silence that showed the impact of those words.
Reina looked at Misaki and Misaki looked at Reina.
Neither made a comment, at which Ayane nodded.
"Understood?"
"Yes."
Said Reina.
"Yes."
Responded Misaki.
Several seconds passed and then Misaki spoke again.
"Although..."
Ayane looked at her and Misaki hesitated.
"What?"
"There’s a detail."
"Speak."
Misaki adjusted her glasses.
"Considering his recovery capacity, a minor injury probably wouldn’t be an operational problem."
Ayane frowned.
"There will be no minor injuries."
"Understood."
Misaki paused.
"I only mentioned it because he survived one of my shots."
Ayane went completely still and Reina slowly turned toward Misaki, who realized too late.
"What did you what?"
Asked Ayane in a calm voice, far too calm, at which Misaki blinked.
"Shot...?"
Ayane didn’t move, so Reina looked at Misaki, then at Ayane, and then back at Misaki.
"I think you just made a mistake."
Misaki swallowed while Ayane took a step.
"You shot Noah?"
Misaki tried to keep her expression serious.
"It was during the previous confrontation."
Ayane took another step.
"You shot him?"
"Y-Yes."
"With what?"
Misaki remained silent and Ayane looked at her.
"Misaki."
"M-My rifle."
Ayane stared at her and the atmosphere changed immediately, at which Misaki felt a chill.
’I’m going to die!’
Reina began slowly sliding her chair away, but Misaki looked at her and Reina shook her head.
’Don’t drag me into this.’
Misaki looked back at Ayane.
"I didn’t know you were interested in him at the time!"
Ayane’s eyes widened.
"Does that make the situation better?"
"No."
"Where did you shoot him?"
"In the torso."
Ayane didn’t respond and Misaki continued, with less and less confidence.
"I-It was a clean shot."
Silence.
"That sounded worse."
Reina covered her mouth to keep from laughing, but Ayane took another step.
"You went through his torso?"
"Yes."
"Noah?"
"Yes."
"The same Noah Reed?"
Misaki looked confused.
"There’s only one."
Ayane raised a hand and Reina closed her eyes.
"Wait!"
Misaki barely had time to react.
"Ow!"
A sharp smack sounded in the park.
Misaki dropped onto the bench and clutched both hands to her head.
"Why?!"
Ayane remained in front of her.
"For shooting him."
"It was a mission!"
"You almost killed him!"
"But he survived."
"You didn’t know that when you pulled the trigger!"
Misaki clenched her teeth.
"He was a hostile target."
"It was Noah!"
Reina couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, but Ayane turned toward her, at which Reina immediately straightened up.
"I didn’t do anything."
Ayane looked back at Misaki, who was still holding her head as a small bump began to form.
"This is abuse of authority."
Said Misaki.
"I’d shoot you if it weren’t prohibited."
Ayane took a step toward her and Misaki raised both hands.
"I take it back."
Reina started laughing again.
"You look ridiculous."
Misaki looked at her.
"At least I proposed a real plan."
"Of thirty-nine steps."
"Twenty-seven."
"Plus twelve."
"I already told you it doesn’t work like that!"
Ayane slammed a hand down on the table.
"Enough!"
The two fell silent again.
Ayane breathed slowly, needing to regain control.
If they didn’t act, another unit would capture him, and if they did act, she would have to find a way to keep him safe even after capturing him.
It was a far worse situation than either of her companions understood.
Ayane picked up the device.
"We will capture him."
Reina smiled.
"Perfect."
"But under my conditions."
Misaki nodded and Ayane raised one finger.
"Noah receives no damage."
Second.
"There will be no direct attacks inside the auditorium."
Third.
"We will not use lethal force."
Fourth.
"If any other unit tries to take him, we intervene."
Reina raised an eyebrow.
"Even if they’re allies?"
"Yes."
Misaki looked at her closely.
"That could be interpreted as insubordination."
Ayane remained silent because she knew it, but she also knew something else: she was not going to allow Noah to end up in the hands of someone who might hurt him.
"I don’t care."
Reina smiled.
"Now I actually like this plan."
Ayane ignored her while Misaki carefully touched the bump on her head.
"Can I at least use a secondary weapon?"
Ayane looked at her.
"No."
"A pistol?"
"No."
"Non-lethal ammunition?"
"No."
"A knife?"
"No."
Reina started laughing again and Misaki sighed.
"Then I’ll bring binoculars."
"That you can."
Ayane put the device away.
"We have little time."
The student debate would be the next major opportunity, and now it would also be a battle among several units that wanted to capture the same target.
Ayane knew she could no longer keep operating from the shadows.
She would have to choose whether to obey the Great Mother, protect Noah, or try to do both at the same time.
She looked at Reina, then at Misaki, who was still touching the bump, and Ayane narrowed her eyes.
"And never shoot him again."
Misaki lowered her hand.
"Understood."
Reina smiled.
"Can I make fun of her for this?"
"No."
"Later?"
"Not later either."
"So strict."
Ayane sighed.
The debate hadn’t even started yet and she was already convinced the operation was going to be a problem.