Scrap - Chihiru

I'm not sure what inspired me to create this one.  Definitely has a dark anime vibe with a few extra bits.  There are places I could go with this one, but I haven't really thought them through, yet.

Chihiru stood high up above the city, standing on an empty floor of an unfinished building. Her school uniform swayed in the breeze, her brown dress shoes resting half off the edge, easily more than twenty stories above the ground. And down below, she could see the chaos. Monsters had entered the city and were tearing through the masses like starving dogs at a buffet. It was disgusting to watch.

She hated waiting, knowing that she could be doing something, but couldn’t because of The Rules. How she hated The Rules! They did nothing but hold her back. And yet, she knew the consequences of breaking them, and so she kept her peace, gritting her teeth at the destruction below.

“You’re only stressing yourself out,” a low, strong voice called from behind her. She knew it belonged to Douglas. When she reached this floor of the building to wait, he was already here, sitting on the ground and leaning against one of the support pillars. She imagined him still sitting there, with his stupid cowboy hat, not having a care in the world.

“Don’t bother with her, you know better than that,” another voice behind her spoke, this one more nasal and obnoxious. Ryunosuke. This annoying jerk, who happened to be the heir of some renowned ninja clan, had been assigned to her team for causing trouble on his own. Sure, she could handle him, but his tongue seemed to have endless unpleasant remarks, no matter how she punished him. “That’s just how she is,” the ninja continued, “She can’t get anything done until she gets her panties in a twist.” A few of the others chuckled in response.

“I CAN HEAR YOU!” she yelled, not turning around. Between the tragedy below and the remarks from behind, she was getting quite angry. In a way, though, it was a good thing, because she was at her best when she was angry. Perhaps that’s why he had been put on her team. She couldn’t deny that Ryunosuke did put her in her best angry moods for the job, but the idea that her higher ups might have put them together for that purpose only made her sulk.

Suddenly, a small jingle rang out across the floor. While everyone had their own way of dealing with the waiting, the anticipation was beginning to build, and now that this sound had been heard, the air became thick with tension. By the second time the jingle started, Chihiru had pulled the phone out of her skirt pocket and answered the call.

“It’s about damn time!” she answered.

“We appreciate your patience,” the caller answered, her low alto voice smooth and mature. “I assume you’ve already gathered?”

Chihiru turned around to see the rest of her team. They were all staring at her, anticipating the call to action. “Yeah,” she said impatiently. She pulled her dirty-blonde ponytail around to the front of her body to give her spare hand something to do.

“As usual, the national guard wasn’t able to put up a fight, and I’m afraid they’ve scattered the monsters all over,” the caller informed.

“Typical,” Chihiru spat in frustration. “So are you going to send us in, or were you planning on a higher body count for the newspapers?”

The caller lightly chuckled like it was a meaningless joke. “I’m sending the monsters’ positions to your retinal screens now. Operation begins sixty seconds. Go get them!”

The call ended and Chihiru turned and walked up to her team. “We split up into two groups,” she ordered, the rest of the team paying strict attention. “Ryunosuke, Pierre, and I will go down and clean up the streets below.”

“Aw, man,” groaned Ryunosuke, putting a hand over his face.

“Tough to be the teacher’s pet, no?” Pierre joked, and a few laughed.

“Why do I gotta be teamed up with you all the time?” the ninja complained, his hands out in pleading.

“You. Know. Why.” Chihiru breathed through her teeth, looking down at the squatting man in black. After glaring at him for a moment, she then turned to the other members. “Douglas, Pearl, and Izem. Go to the park where most of the monsters have spread. We need to minimize casualties. Between the two teams, we can box them in against the national guard’s defense line. We can pick up the stragglers later.”

The team nodded as the new information entered their retinal screens, Chihiru’s tactics coming to life on a map that, for the moment, dominated their views.

“You have forty seconds to get ready. On my mark, we separate. Understand?” she continued, and got “Yes, ma’am!” in return, some more animated than others. Chihiru watched them as they all moved from their resting positions, except for Ryunosuke, who continued to squat and mumble to himself. Douglas checked the ammo for his pistols. Pearl tightened the large, robotic gauntlets on her hands, the rest of her body clad in a black spy outfit. Pierre checked his sword one last time before sheathing it and dusting off the backside of his tracksuit. Izem, the only other member on the team that was as young as their leader, was meditating on the ground, and Chihiru could see the little dust devils building around him.

“Five seconds,” Chihiru stated, and turned back toward the edge she was looking down before. The rest of the team followed, and they all stood with her, looking down at the carnage below.

“Mark,” she said, and all of them jumped off.