Chapter Text
Kogasa walked forward through the darkened graveyard, leading the way for the small party following behind her. Up ahead was the distinctive entrance to a cave, sealed behind two large, decorated doors.
Behind Kogasa, four other people followed in a line. Right behind her was Shou, who had a frown on her face, and kept scanning the group's surroundings. Behind Shou was Ichirin, who was relaxed and happy. Nue followed Ichirin. She was openly excited, and moved at a faster clip than the others. Only Shou's instructions to stay in line kept her from moving to the front. Kyouko was last in line. She hummed happily to herself as she walked. She had a bucket full of dye packs tucked away in her arms.
The dye packs had been provided by Nue. Kogasa didn’t really understand what they were for originally, or how they really worked. All she knew was that they’d spray paint everywhere when set off.
"The door's unguarded," Shou said.
"See? I told you their security sucked," Nue said.
"We can't be certain of that. Remember, in and out, as quickly as possible."
Shou initially hadn't wanted to come along, but when Kogasa had explained where they were going, she'd decided to accompany the group to look after everyone.
Beyond the door, in the cave, was the mausoleum the Taosists called home. Kogasa and the others wouldn't be well received if they were found there. Especially at this hour.
The group marched into the cave. At first they moved slowly and cautiously, then they sped up to a more normal pace.
The cave led out to a large tower. This was the group's destination. The plan was simple. They would go to the front door, set a trap that would shower the next person to open it with colored dye, and leave. Kogasa was sure they wouldn’t run into anyone. It was way too late at night for anybody to still be up.
"Alright, Kyouko, you know what to do," Kogasa said.
Kyouko nodded, handed her bucket off to Nue, and split off from the rest of the group. She headed over to the cave's entrance, and kept watch for anyone coming in. Everyone else continued on to the tower. There was a large, front door that served as the main entrance.
"Alright, let's set up," Kogasa said.
"Wait, maybe it's unlocked. It’ll be better if we do it inside," Nue suggested.
"It couldn't be," Ichirin said.
Shou reached forward and pulled on the door. It opened slightly. "Unbelievable," she whispered.
"Library voices everyone," Nue whispered.
The group walked inside, as silently as they could. They moved into some sort of entryway. The room was dominated by a large stairway leading upwards. The stairs were decorated with some sort of ornament on the railing. It was about halfway up the first flight, and hard to see in the darkness.
Several doorways led off to other parts of the ground floor. Kogasa was only concerned with the front entrance for now. She took a dye pack out of Nue's bucket, and began setting up her trap.
Ichirin and Nue watched Kogasa work. Ichirin held up a paper lantern. Nue held the bucket. Shou watched the stairs.
Kogasa's work was a bit noisier than she'd have liked. The floorboards creaked under her, as did the door next to her. She grunted and exhaled as she worked. It shouldn't have been too loud. In a big, old building like this, all sorts of strange noises must have occurred late at night. More creaking sounds came from up the stairs, Kogasa ignored them.
"Everyone! We've got trouble!" Shou hissed.
Kogasa, Nue, and Ichirin turned and looked up the stairs. A single person looked back at them.
The person was holding some sort of pole or staff. It was concealed by the shadows. Everyone froze up for a moment.
Shou was the first to move, she stepped forward and placed herself between the person on the top of the stairs and everyone else.
Ichirin stepped closer to the stairs, allowing a bit of light to reach them. The woman at the top of the stairs was Monobe no Futo. The object in her hand had a metallic glint to it.
"What the devil?" Futo said.
Kogasa stared at Futo. Something seemed off to her. Futo had an odd way of speaking, but the way she spoke now was different somehow, it was almost like she was acting. She couldn't identify the pole arm Futo was carrying either.
"Everyone, clear out! I'll keep her busy with danmaku while you escape!" Shou said.
Futo took a few steps down the stairs and raised her pole arm. Kogasa realized what she was looking at.
"En garde!" she yelled.
"Shou, look out!" Kogasa screamed.
An explosion rang through the tower as Futo fired her musket. The flash was enough to blind Kogasa, along with presumably everyone else. Smoke filled the air around Futo.
Shou was knocked backwards. She clutched at her chest, and stumbled several steps towards one of the doorways, before falling over.
"Shou!" Kogasa screamed.
"Are you alright?!" Nue yelled, dropping her bucket.
Kogasa separated from the group and ran towards Shou. Her eyes darted between Shou and Futo.
Futo had pulled out a handgun. It was a single shot musket, like the first. It wasn't a tanegashima, like Kogasa had seen before, but some other type of firearm.
Futo fired the pistol. The shot whizzed by at least several feet overhead, a clear miss. It must have gone out the open front door, as Kogasa didn’t hear it ricochet off any of her surroundings.
Kogasa froze up. She thought she heard some sort of yelping sound from outside, but she didn't have enough time to process it.
There was too much smoke on the stairs for Kogasa to see what Futo was doing now. She was just a silhouette in the hazy air. Ichirin had dropped her lantern, and it rolled along the floor before coming to a rest against a dye pack.
"We have to get out of here!" Ichirin screamed.
"What about Shou?!" Nue yelled.
Futo was running back up the stairs. "Damnation! Well, tallyho regardless!" She ran over to the ornament on the railing, and began to move it around.
Kogasa couldn't understand what she was seeing. The smoke and the darkness and her own shock obfuscated everything.
The decoration exploded in the same way the other guns had. Dozens, if not hundreds of projectiles struck the walls and floor. Dust shot up from a hundred different points, dye packs exploded, the lantern was perforated and went out.
Kogasa was outside of the cone of fire. Futo had been aiming at the front door. Nue and Ichirin disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Kogasa couched as she choked on the dust and smoke that completely filled the air. Her clothes were covered in splashes of red... and green, and purple, and pink, and a few other colors. She fell to her knees.
Futo was fiddling with her musket again. Kogasa had no idea what was going on.
Kogasa slowly began to get up. She shakily rose to her feet.
"Hurrah!" Futo yelled, charging down the stairs. There was a knife fixed to the end of her musket. A bayonet.
Kogasa screamed. She felt herself get very dizzy, and she fainted from fear.