The Jewel Thief

Too easy, thought Irezumi gleefully, as she finally stopped to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding from the excitement of the heist, and as she replayed it in her head it felt like a blur of motion: rappelling though the skylight, grabbing the diamonds her clan had scoped out, back onto the roof, charging across the tops of several buildings and leaping a few alleyways. With her athleticism, sheâ€d crossed several city blocks without touching the ground. The ninja finished her escape by sliding down an inclined roof and using her rope to descend into the quiet alley behind a warehouse.

She stood there in the dark, panting, listening to the police sirens as they faded into the distance. The fools had been wrong-footed by her acrobatic escape and were headed downtown, in completely the wrong direction. Theyâ€d be able to review the camera footage later, but all they would see was a mysterious masked ninja clad all in black. Chuckling to herself, Irezumi patted the ill-gotten pouch of diamonds on her waist, then began to reel in her grappling hook from the side of the warehouse.

Irezumi frowed, her head snapping round sharply as she was called from across the alley. She wasnâ€t used to being snuck up on like that, and hadnâ€t believed that anyone would have been able to follow her. She silently cursed her own arrogance.

Still, the other girlâ€s kunai was raised in defence, not agression, and there was a telltale tremor of uncertainty in her young voice. Irezumi had been wrong-footed, but as she stared at the other girl her natural confidence began to return.

“Nothing ugly here, honey,” Irezumi purred, unashamedly fluttering her eyelashes as she analysed her slim, pretty accuser.

“And I agree, they donâ€t belong to me… they belong to my clan. Weâ€ll make good use of them, I promise,” she said pleasantly.

As she spoke, her hand slowly reached down for her own kunai, curling a finger through its handle, letting it dangle in her hand as she decided how to play this tense situation. She sure as hell wasnâ€t giving the diamonds back, that much was clear.

“Clan, gang, sisterhood… weâ€re kinda flexible, you know?” Irezumi replied sweetly, noting that the girl had stalled and wondering how much force would be necessary. Any chance of a pleasant chat, though, was scuppered by Akiâ€s headlong charge.

“Guess again!” retorted Irezumi. The narrow alley did not allow much room for manoeuvre, and although the older girl was skilled at weapon use, she didnâ€t want to engage in a toe-to-toe fight with an unknown stranger unless she had to.

But with walls on either side, Irezumiâ€s only escape route was up. Fortunately, her grappling hook was still dangling from the warehouse roof. As Aki charged at her, Irezumi would jump and scramble up the rope, hopefully letting the smaller girl charge right under her as she clung onto the wall.

“Ack!” Irezumi gasped as the shurikens flew quickly up at her. Her right hand let go of the rope, shielding her face from the incoming projectiles. One whipped into her torso, slashing her outfit, stinging her skin. It was only then she realised that the blades were dulled, and this mystery girl was looking to incapacitate, not kill. Something that this ninja also had in common with Irezumi.

“You scratched me!” she said with mock concern, eyeing her exposed skin. “Okay, my turn…. Dodge this!!”

No tools for Irezumi, though - she would kick off from the wall and simply jump down at Akiko, looking to nail her with a flying dropkick that would have a lot of gravity behind it.

Irezumi was pleased to see her dramatic drop-kick hit home, sending her opponent and her weapon sprawling onto the floor.

She recovered her balance and turned, finding that the smaller girl had sprung back up into a fighting stance. Impressively quick, Irezumi thought, and not short of courage, either.

“Act like we never met?” Irezumi responded, raising her arms and positioning herself into a fighting stance also. “But you seem quite interesting. What are you, some kind of vigilante?”

She advanced slowly, padding cat-like toward the smaller girl. “Trust me, you donâ€t want to be acting out your superhero fantasies with me. But if you insist, then give me your best shot,” she purred, readying herself for a fight.