“Miss Haerin, got a sec?” Asked the maid, darting by with a box of magazines in her arms. “Do you want anything specific done?” Stopping what she was working on to give her full attention to the black-haired maid, pulling a spoon from her mouth. “Sure thing! Where’d they come from?” Lowering the box so Haerin could look inside, she pushed up her glasses and tapped each magazine. “Condense the ammo and make sets. Appropriate mags with appropriate firearms. Also, you got a haircut. I like it!” The maid beamed, turning her head aside and letting her leporine features fall perfectly over her face. “Ah…H-hehe, yeah! My partner is trying to be a stylist so–” In that moment, Haerin’s excitement shot up like a rocket. “No way!” She blared! “Are they taking appointments?” As the maid nodded to the request, Haerin’s face lit up. “Perfeeect~! I’ve been wanting to get a new stylist.”
“I will confess, though, I’m making pretty good ones, hey? Not my style, but–” Putting the newest weapon on the wall, she took in the newly renovated display. A special corner of the store dedicated to rapiers, broadswords, karambits, and whatever else the bushika were insisting were to be the best in show for their particular style. As was often the case, only the masters of a style would impact sales. “We’re at least moving the katana and the jian.” Brushing her hand mindlessly through her short pink tresses, a sigh escaped as she placed a hand on her stomach. “Hm…I should go to Missus Yi’s place.”
“Hmm,” she hummed to herself. Bending her fingers in count with how many hours she’d been working. With a sharp inhalation, the gunsmith looked up at the wall of swords, down at her pair of one and a half fists, then gingerly around at the people in the store. These days, with so many maids picking up moonlight jobs shortly after the shop closed, staffing the morning shift had started to get harder. As such, Haerin worked from the start of the first shift until the end of the second. Calling out to her staff, the chipmunk proclaimed, “I’m gonna head to Missus Yi’s. Call me if you need me~!” The chorus of maids offered up reassuring send-offs and insistences that she stay gone, with a final cutting request for a pastry as she made it out the door.
“How’d I turn out, huh?” Haerin sang, catching herself in the reflection of a window as she walked to the cafe. “Oversized crew neck, house glasses, messy pink mop of hair, and the brightest green eyes you’ve ever seen~!” Lifting up the hem of the sweater that hung well down to her knees, she had a holster for a small firearm on her hip. Looking down at both of her legs, bending them one knee at a time, wearing a massive grin on her face, all the while. “Haerin, you’re a ten outta ten. It’s not even a competition.” Pushing up her glasses, she continued down the street from her boutique to the cafe at the end of the street. “I have a feeling that today’s gonna be one of those good days? Let’s see.”
Fantasizing about the day as it could be, Haerin walked into the cafe of her neighbor. Known only to her as Missus Yi. Waving her hand to the staff and guests, the pinkette was shown to her typical seat. Passing by those who had all manner of feelings towards her. With the distinct scent of blade wax on her hands and gunmetal residue on her clothes, she looked every bit of the part she insisted.
“Hey there, lady.” Said the server who came to meet Haerin. “How’s it going?” Haerin replied with a lazy wave and a comfortable posture. As if once she’d sat down, she’d lost whatever tension had been holding her together. Melting cheek first into the cool cherrywood table. “I’ve had harder days, but I’ve never been more in love.” With a cup of black coffee and its trimmings set down in front of her, Haerin was left to her own devices in one of her last refuges in a rapidly changing landscape.
Looking around from her low vantage point at the familiar place. A classic cafe, in every facet. A counter filled with baked goods from end to end. Bags of roasted beans, lined up neatly behind the counter. Each of them loudly grinding in the background as ordered rolled in. The low simmer of pots of coffee being brewed both in large batches and to the cup. Walls of artwork from people around the forest. “At least, not yet. I’m sure people younger than me have one, heheh…” While she started to wander off into thoughts of nostalgia, she was eventually interrupted by the proprietor of the establishment. An older vixen with dulled red hair that was riddled with stark streaks of white, deep copper skin, and a pair of brilliant chartreuse eyes. “They do, it’s that place you refuse to fuckin’ name. After like two sieges? If it’s not dead yet, it’s not gonna die.” Haerin sat up, shaking her head and tapping the cheek she’d been lying on.
“Ah, just one siege, Missus Yi. The first thing was closer to a raid. That hardly counts as a meaningful metric of a place.” The fox laughed, sitting in the booth across from the young woman. “Sure sure, if you don’t wanna, that’s fine. But you can’t keep pretending that you’re lucky anymore.” In return, Haerin offered up a wry smile and a shrug. Dressing her coffee while looking around the cafe, and down to the floor. “Or maybe my luck’s just not run out yet, could be that…”
The vixen sighed, looking over at the chipmunk, rolling her eyes, and reaching into her breast pocket to take out a cigarette, which Haerin readily lit once it was in place. “Not that I wanna pressure you, of course. It’s just…I can’t retire til there’s somewhere else to go, y’know?” Missus Yi laughed, and Haerin smiled right along with her, even failing to hold down a giggle. “I understand, ma’am. I totally do. It’s just…Well, clearly I’m not on this level yet. I mean, hell, this is mostly a cafe, right?” The vixen erupted in a howl of laughter at the question, “Well, yeah, I suppose we are mostly doing B2B stuff these days. But no, we still made the odd sale once or twice a week. Mostly to old folks and myth chasers. Not a proper shop anymore. That’s your job.” As soon as she heard that, Haerin couldn’t help but feel a chill running down her back and to her toes.
“So, what’s the plan for you today, young lady?” Missus Yi asked, tapping her cigarette off into the potted plant on the table. “I hear you’re doing consultations now? You know how, don’t bother asking. What’s the deal with that?” Haerin rolled her eyes, annoyed with how loose the lips of prospective clients tended to be. “I know, I know. But if I’m gonna make a difference in this space, I need to be willing to do things my competition isn’t. Part of that,” she exalted, clearly tired from this particular line. “Part of that is letting people know that I’m not working in the shadows. My stuff is open to the people who can afford it. No disrespect, ma’am.” Missus Yi laughed, waving her hand as Haerin nursed her coffee and pecked at her cake. “Nope, I get it. It’s not the world it used to be. Not when I opened this place, sure. But eleven after the Fang pulled out, people knew to rally around you. It’s been almost a year since that happened. I just don’t want you to get caught up on the technicals. Maybe you’re lucky, maybe you’re not. What difference does it make?”
Haerin sighed, pushing aside her fifth cake plate and rolling her eyes with a grin. “Missus Yi, my client today is looking to arm a small unit. Less than ten, but only the head of this unit is coming to see me.” The older vixen dragged on her cigarette and nodded, filling the table with smoke. Englufing Haerin’s empty dishes and half-filled ‘bottomless’ cup of coffee. “Ah, okay. Then I take back what I said. Steady your breath.” Haerin stood up from her seat and bowed, the corner of her mouth wearing a bit of whipped cream as she did so.“Thank you, Missus Yi.” She said, picking up a bag of pastries from the counter before she left the cafe. “Steady your breath.”
As she moved out the door and onto the street, the chipmunk wiped her mouth with her sleeve, then exposed her watch to check the time. “I think I know what I wanna do?” In some way, she did know how. Now, she was heading back to the market square. Knocking on the door to her own shop, she handed off the bag and called into the building. “I got danishes,” she sang. “Status report, puh-lease~!” By now, the shop had been bustling for a bit. Passing off the back to one of the maids, Haerin skipped into the shop. Just to show a little bit of face, as it were.
Walking through the shop, Haerin waved to guests who were getting an early start on their shopping. The day had barely started, after all. Some restocking of munitions was most of what she saw. Except for Aliya, who was checking out a customer at the register in the center of the room. Based on the shape of the body and the way they stood, this was a regular. Slipping next to them as quietly as she could, Haerin offered a gentle hip check to the young woman. “Hi there, Miss Sade!” What’d you get?” Sade jumped a bit, sighing as she looked over to Haerin and relaxing at the sight. “Oh, Hi! Miss Park! Didn’t see you there. Ahh, I got a machine gun!” She sang, her down feathers tucked back on top of her head. “A bit nervous it might be too heavy? But I think I got it…” Haerin looked at the machine gun, then the rest of the order. Without too much to do about it, she snapped her fingers. With special effort to snap in Aliya’s direction, as she was the one who’d been finishing Sade’s order. “Hey Alii,” Haerin chimed. “C’mere a sec. I wanna know what’s going on here.”
“Sure thing, boss lady. What’s the deal?”
“Miss Sade’s order, run it down to me?”
“Oh, fur sure. We’ve got a Z&M mg6k with a semi-auto mod. Couple cases of grenades, extra mags. Can’t upsell her on the HF combat knife, for some reason. Despite her having the poly!”
Aliya shouted, sticking her tongue out at Sade, who laughed in reply. “I would love to buy one, but as I understand it, I’ll need more munitions than typical for my next assignment.” The feline behind the counter hissed under her breath, “Sure thing! You’re just buying more ammo than anyone’s gonna–” Haerin poked Aliya in the stomach, causing her to flinch as she went on. “Sade, take a knife. You’ll be glad Aliya pushed it on you. Remember that run we did on The Overgrowth? Woulda helped~!” Sade tapped her chin and conceded, giving Haerin the nod and allowing Aliya to add the final bit of equipment. “And since you’re probably gonna go see Ji-ho soon, here! Get yourself an upgrade on me.” Haerin’s grin was wide, and as she scurried away from the register and back towards the door, she was stopped by another one of her employees, holding the report she called for upon entry.
“Oh! Right, thanks so much, hon. Love the talons, by the way. What’d you get?”
“Thanks for noticing!” Said the bright blue dread-headed maid as she handed off a slate to Haerin. “Tungston alloy with oldworld runework.” The chipmunk whistled in awe, then took the slate and softly scrolled through its contents. “I think about getting talons sometimes. Too much of a shooter, I think.” Said the gunsmith, handing the slate back over to the maid, who nodded with the assertion. “Inventory’s fine, and there’s a couple of pick-ups…I was gonna go down into the Yoyushi and study, do you think I’m good to go?” Looking over her shoulder, the maid shrugged. “Probably? We’re not due a rush. And besides, I know a couple girls were looking to pick up some extra jobs, so they’d be willing to come mill around if we need? But what good’s the Yoyushi?” Haerin rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth, “Market research, if we’re honest. Don’t stay at the top by eating cake all day. Despite my insisting as much.” Giving the maid a big hug, Haerin stuck her tongue out and waved as she headed out.
Wandering through the Yoyushi was always a little weird for Haerin. A bustling market of seemingly endless vendors, taking up slots in the long-abandoned tunnels under the forest floor. She could feel the air grow stale as she sauntered down the corridor. By now, she’d found herself consumed with her slate. Passively whittling away time by checking up on things. Customer orders, guest appointments, approaching birthdays. Just the sort of things that would occupy her weeks. The world around her, churned on. With a careful step, she’d duck and slip between lanes where it made sense. The made a point to move around, she didn’t seem any more hurried. Her strides seemed more therapeutic than hastened. She’d even choose to skip where the path gave her enough clearance to do so. Burning as much energy as she could before eventually entering a small glass elevator with a few other patrons.
As the air to her destination changed, and she could feel the rush of commerce again, she beamed ear to ear. “Ahh, wow! It’s been a bit!” She squeaked to herself. Her bright eyes scanned the seemingly endless market she descended into with a brilliant and infectious wonder. As she and the rest of the patrons stepped out of the elevator, Haerin’s ears twitched as she heard her name spoken in hushed tones. It wasn’t uncommon, of course. Just unwelcome. Her shoulders locked into place, and her joy beamed on. At least for the few minutes she was observed. As she broke from the crowd, and on towards her destination, her body shifted. Her posture dropped, her eyelids fell, and her bright smile faded into a less sanitized satisfaction. “Ahh, I hate the jog here. But I like that I always get a few followers from it.”
To tell the truth, navigating the Yoyushi was a lot easier once you were in it. From the sky and riding down, but once you’re on the floor, it feels almost impossible to get lost despite its ever-unfolding corridors. “Oookay!” Haerin said, nibbling at a cookie that she’d picked up on the way to the central gateway. Leaning over the hard plastic tablet, she started to dictate her requirements. “I want firearms, sorted by popular stores, and with a focus on both quality and quantity.” As she snacked away, the machine spun up her coordinates. After about a minute, the machine presented Haerin with a glass door that would open on her approach. “It’s local, huh? Cool, I don’t like walking through those service rooms or whatever Kazuko calls them.” Stepping through the door, Haerin appeared on the other side of the Yuyoshi, where she’d been dropped into a sort of artisan’s alley area where gunsmiths seemed to be meeting up to do more direct trading. An old stomping ground, where the echo of her steps were drowned out by the people chasing after her seat.
“Ah, Miss Haerin! Molo!” Asked the woman standing at the store closest to the entryway. A small corner storefront of small arms, side weapons, and restoratives. Neatly dubbed ‘C.Y.K.’ with bright neon signage. “Hi, Gulama!!” The pinkette said, bowing softly to her as she approached and held up her slate to the woman. Bending over to meet Haerin on her tiptoes, she adjusted the frames on her nose and nodded with a scuffed chortle. “We appreciate your business, Miss Haerin.” As the woman started to make a drink for the pinkette, she herself rested against the icy display of sandwiches, bagss of healthier snacks, hand grenades, knives, and retractable gun barrels. “Gulama,” Haerin asked as she handed a bright purple and pink drink with whipped cream, sprinkles, and syrups latticed on its interior. “Who’s got the best stuff for small teams? I wanna spoil the girls primed to be Aces.” The large-bodied mountain lioness rose a brow after handing over the drink, then folded her arms in thought. After a moment, she said with a gesture of her head, “Ah! Izzetore Armory! They’re maybe the best for unit arms. Hear they do good blade care. Sen’i often going in and out, I see.” Sipping on her drink, the pinkette nodded and moved on to head towards the direction she was sent in, both of them parting with a casual wave.
Stopping here and there along the way. Sometimes she’d get something, sometimes she wouldn’t. No matter what, she’d always manage to chat up the employee. Not always to the same degree, but always enough that she could end each conversation knowing more than she entered. Either about the store, its employees, or its culture. All of which she’d squirrled away in the back of her mind. Tossing her cup into a nearby trash can, she walked with her bags into the small building that was the Izzetore Armory.
“Oooh, okay. Art-deco circa…2020’s? We love a retro commitment.” Walking into the armory, she was stunned by its reverence. Vaulted ceilings, angular patterns in the carpet, guns under glass display cases. Even the lighting was more in service of the experience it offered than any real business being done. No one shopping here needed anything Haerin offered. With some amusement, the pink-haired chipmunk took one hand full of bags and the other with her slate walked through the boutique. “I like that it’s like…Not fun to shop here. And I’m not being coy, I think it’s clever. Security in the staff? I like it.” Deftly, the chipmunk took in the space as much as she could. The particular scent of vanilla and cashmere as opposed to steel and ammunition. Stiff lounge seating, but plush barstools. Even its bar was well stocked. And its bartender, a purple-haired young man with the face of a cherub and stroking eyes that locked Haerin in place once they met hers.
“Hiii~!” She chirped, sitting at the bar and looking at the bartender. “Do I shop with you, or was I supposed to have my people call a person? I wanna buy something, but tee-be-ach, I feel like this isn’t a ‘I’m on a roll and wanna do something fun’ place, hm?” The young man’s odd-colored eyes turned upon her with a stern hollowness. Each of them a jewel of brilliant ultramarine and pearlescent black that, when they fixed upon Haerin, glinted with the softest of light that signifiged their activation. There was a hanging beat as the light faded. Haerin looked on with some confusion before eventually starting to talk to her again.
“Ah, I see, no reservation. My apologies. Yes, we do have a limited selection of arms. Do you know what the user might prefer?” Haerin smiled, nodding. “I do! I wanna get it for my Aces. Or, they will be, I’m pretty sure. Looking for something in the DMR world. Also, if you have some scalpels? Top shelf! I wanna get my sen’i a gift.” The young man nodded, gesturing to the wall of drinks, to which Haerin nodded. “And could I have them delivered? Obvs I’m–” She raised her little arms that were clearly at capacity, and the royal young man offered up perhaps the first genuine giggle of his shift. “Yes, miss Park. We can certainly do that for you.”
After a short respite and some soft chatter with the bartender, Haerin was talked into, in addition to her fully dressed designated marksman rifles for a unit of five, matching sidearms, and OTF knives. The smaller of which, she carried in yet another bag that she took with her. It was nothing for Haerin now to simply leave the Yoyushi. As she started to make her way out of the infinitely folding shopping center, she found herself crashing against unique roadblocks. Maintenance, cut off halls, and in one case, Witches to stand guard. Even the hallway that she’d skipped through hurriedly was full of people, and had been largely welcomed by those she went into the elevator with. On exit, she readily noticed that her elevator mates this time were happy to crowd her. Even with her bags, she found herself packed tightly amongst frames of people that stood well over a foot past her head.
“Is this a duel?” Haerin asked, looking at one of the people as they all reached the desired floor, apparently. “No, ma’am. It’s either a brawl or a slaughter. With all due respect to who you are.” The pinkette smiled, hearing that at the very least, her assailants were at least aware that there was danger in this act. Even if they didn’t seem to grasp the totality of that danger.
The brightly lit corridor that she exited into was clear of most things that would suggest it was even used. She looked at the halls, then at the people who poured out to either side of her. “Oh, okay…We know who I am; to whom do I owe this pleasure?”
At the end of the corridor stood…someone? Someone, definitely. Haerin’s days were full of someone’s. This someone, his head held high over hers. A figure that stood both tall and wide. A massive man with a square head, his limbs were nearly as thick around as Haerin was, causing her to whistle as she drank him in from top to bottom.
“Right…So! What’s this about?”
“Do you believe in luck, Miss Park?”
“Oh! Nononono, is it a fight or not?”
“You’re in no position to–”
She didn’t seem to be particularly concerned by this though, and so started to leave. As she did, a shot rang out that whizzed by her head. With the intent to scratch her, but her adjustment wouldn’t allow such pressure. Nor did the shot slow her pace at all. Instead, she crossed into the center of this little unit. Tilting her head softly as she tried to make sense of the event. “I don’t know you, but you know me. You have a monologue, I do not care. So I’m asking nicely, because the sweet one who didn’t crush my bags was nice enough to tell me the score. Is this a fight or not?”
This was the difference between her and her company. People liked to see Haerin as something soft, small, and quick. She was clever, but she wasn’t tough. The pink-haired chipmunk who sold guns and talked her way out of everything. That’s who Haerin was to these people, and that’s who she was to a lot of people. The man, however, didn’t seem to receive her the way she was presenting. While she was pleased enough to smirk as she heard the elevator chime and hiss as it slithered down the line. “Been watching you, Miss Park. And I’m convinced now that the rumors are true. Slick tongue, fast thinker. But when it comes time to get in the mud…Well, one of us just wrapped up a shopping spree, and one of us is still on a hunting –” She dropped her bag and reached for her holster, pulling up a small black rod and holding it out in her hands, having it expand to about five feet. From there, she moved as quickly as she could to settle the torrid affair.
“You dumb piece of garbage.” She hissed, the ebon rod slamming forcefully against the helmeted head of one of her escorts. Then she drove her foot into the chest of another, sending them into the overgrown wall. The massive attacker fired still, moving to hit the chipmunk and put an end to this blitz. Her staff slammed into another attacker’s prosthetic arm, and her bare fist connected perfectly on the chin of the nearest body. Carefully and perhaps without much notice, she’d dropped each of the people who thought to attack her. When all but the largest of her enemies stood, Haerin picked up her bags and started again on her exit.
“I do,” she replied. “I’m quite lucky. Lucky enough to be in the right rooms with the right people.” She kept her stride steady, and she never left being down range of his firearm. “I’m so lucky that you won’t shoot. I’m so lucky that you’ll hit the floor soon. I’m so lucky, I think you might just leave me alone completely! What do you think?”
The massive beast of a man held his firearm out towards Haerin, his firearm operating as something of a runway for her. “I’m not afraid of a rat with a lucky streak.” But he didn’t pull his trigger, which felt fair. His eyes were filled with an unsure rage, her steps soft and light against the concrete. “If you’re gonna be this kind of person, you need to be more violent,” Haerin insisted. “Luck has very little to do with it.” Before she closed the gap entirely, he was able to get off a shot that she sidestepped effortlessly. Onto the off-foot from her dodging, she pivoted into a low kick. Haerin’s leg crashed into his own. Shattering everything under his knee, and scraping the dermal layer off of her own leg. His head bounced once, maybe before she raised her leg and sent it through his skull. Whistling before rapidly shaking her body, as if to burn off the energy she couldn’t exert in this ‘attack on her life’. “And I look forward to your business.”
Haerin hummed happily as she walked out of the corridor and up onto the forest pathways. There she met with the light of the sun for the first time in some hours. “Alright! I think I got everything I needed? Didn’t realize we had boutiques Down Range. Plus…” she sighed, looking down at her leg. “I gotta go see Ji-ho after this, I guess. She can do a reapplication.” The deep fuchsia limb poking out from under the shredded dermal layer. “I didn’t think I’d be landing real hits today.” Catching a glimpse of herself completely in a nearby mirror, she held up her bags with a massive grin on her face. “Still doing damn good though.”
The strut back to the boutique was a leisurely one. Stopping by here and there. Chatting away as she had on the way out. This time, going on about her shopping spree and the store she found. As she doled out the little things she’d learned. Where to find things, who to see, and how to see them; she felt a familiar warmth. Handing out bits of intel as she saw fit, making a point to tease what seemed notable to the right people. Saying as much as she could for free without saying anything she didn’t want to. As her store came into view, she felt the gravity of eyes on her. With a soft sigh, her shoulders slumped, and she kept about her stride. Her ears twitched as the belabored growls of a dying sentinel trailed behind her. Metres from her shop’s front door, she set down her bags and put her hands firmly on her hips.
“I was so sure I–” Another shot rang out, and again she almost gently tilted her head in response to the act. If only slightly annoyed at the repeated attempt to shoot her in the head. “The worst part is, I would have preferred that. This is embarrassing…” A crowd of people started to stir around them, but Haerin’s first instinct was to disincentivise such gawking. “You’ve been following me since I went to the Yoyushi, seriously! What’s your problem!?” No one had seen what Haerin did before this, of course. The systematic dismantling of his unit, and the clear damage he’d taken on, she was responsible for all of it. Moreover, the optics of a petite, round young woman, loved by everyone in her immediate vicinity, shouting angrily at a battered monolith of a man? It painted him no kinder than reality. ‘Is this luck?’ she said with a look. ‘I wouldn’t waste it.’ And it was there that she shouted again at the bruiser, “Like, I don’t know who you are? But PLEASE, just go? I don’t want any trouble.”
From this bloody and battered man’s view, it was clear. She’d routed him soundly. No version of this could possibly ever be spun in his favor. It was only then, when he realized he was totally out of moves to make, that he did the only thing he thought he could: attack. Another shot rang out, and another fired back to match it. Through the attacker’s heart, lungs, and throat. Turning to the supporting fire, she saw Aliya on the crow’s nest of her shop. Waving down, the feline’s voice was sent into Haerin’s ears, “Boss lady~! Client called! ETA’s forty-five minutes. Cool bags, by the way. Get me anything?”
Haerin smiled, waving back to the crow’s nest. Replying to her savior as she walked onward towards the shop. “If you’re lucky.”