She looked around her filthy, run-down surroundings. God, she hated this place.

Growing up on the filth encrusted slums of Akihabara was not an easy experience. You grew up fast and learned to protect yourself early. Everyone used something as a gimmick, a shield to get themselves through to the next day alive. Some stayed hidden, some developed a valuable skill that made them (hopefully) indispensible.

And her? She kicked the crap out of anything that moved. Hey, it was a living.

She looked down at her best friend, lying asleep on the ground. She looked at the dark hair, streaked with red, tall, slim build, tight fitting black clothes. Then she examined her own reflection briefly in a nearby window. Ignoring the huge crack which split the glass jaggedly down the middle, she studied her own blue, silver streaked hair, shorter build, baggy black clothing and silver trenchcoat and the heavy gauntlets that encased her fists. Not for the first time Kodansha was struck by how different they were. In their personalities too, they were like opposite sides of a coin. Ayame was bright, optimistic and almost naive in her outlook on life, athough not greatly. She couldn't afford to be in the slums. Kodansha was darker. moodier, more cynical than her friend. If Ayame always said the glass was half full, Kodansha believed the glass to be smashed and the shards to be digging into her feet. Their outlooks and views were diametrically opposed too. Kodansha had never had time for relationships, believing the to be shallow, brief, pointless. Ayame however, believed in "Get some, get gone"-use them, have your fun, leave.

This had always been the case for Ayame. Get a guy, get what she wanted, leave him wanting more, find the next one. And while you're there, go through his pockets. Hey, no one said they were angels. But lately she'd lost interest in other guys (somewhat to Kodansha's annoyance-it brought their income down considerably.) However, this bothered her in a way she couldn't describe. She wasn't used to seeing her friend actually wanting a serious relationship. Saba had never been cold hearted, but her attitude towards guys was usually less than caring. The change was unusual, and made Kodansha uneasy.

Ayame stirred.

"Raven..." she moaned, barely above a whisper.

"What?" Kodansha said, puzzled. "What was that?" Her friend did not reply.

"'C'mon, get up." She sighed, kicking her friend somewhat roughly in the side. Ayame groaned.

"Kods, it's-" she checked her watch-"LATE! Shit!" She sprang to her feet, suddenly alert. "Why did you let me sleep in so long?" Kodansha just grinned.

"Why not?"

"That's not a reason!" Ayame sighed, irritatedly. "C'mon, let's go.

"Wait." Kodansha stopped her. "Raven?"

"What?" Ayame said, looking slightly shocked.

"You were talking in your sleep, mentioned "Raven" or something. What did it mean?"

"Um...I..." Ayame shifted uncomfortably. "It's a recurring dream, that's all."

"Really? What about?"

There was a pause. Ayame looked like she was about to say something, then she shut her mouth.

"...Nothing.

Every curious instinct in Kodansha's body told her to press the subject further, but they had business to attend to and neither of them had slept much. It could wait.

"Whatever," She sighed somewhat awkwardly. "Anyway, we've got an appointment to keep, right?" She brushed a strand of hair out of her vision. "We'd better not break it. Katsuro won't be happy if we do."

Katsuro. A local two-bit pimp that fancied himself as the new lord of the slums. The other gangleaders saw him as no threat, but his ambition was cause for concern. He'd hired Ayame and Kodansha to kill off two local pimps on his behalf for a small amount of gil. Of course, this paltry sum was worthless to trained killers such as them. Theirs was a greater purpose. They were to gain Katsuro's trust...and strike when he least expected it. Nobody would be lest alive. Katsuro and his gang would be liquidated.

"Not that I give a crap if he's happy or not," Kodansha said, stretching. . "He'll be dead within a few weeks." Ayame stretched too and flexed her fingers.

Yeah, I guess. We'd better get going anyway."

They'd had to sleep rough the night before because it was imperative that no-one knew that they were in the area. It had not been a pleasant experience for them at all. They'd had to take turns of staying awake and on guard, ensuring no-one spotted them. Luckily, no-one came down that particular alley except for junkies and winos and they were too out of it to know where they were, let alone notice them. But neither of Ayame or Kodansha had slept very well and they were both beginning to feel exhausted already. Kodansha pushed her blue and silver hair back and lifted her shades to rub her tired eyes.

"Where was the ambush point again?"

Ayame shook her head dazedly, squinting. She yawned.

"Um...this way?" She pointed in a random direction. Kodansha grinned.

"You're absolutely useless, you know that?"

"Hey! That's not true! I have a use, just ask any cute guy!"

"Whatever." Kodansha sniggered. "C'mon, I remember where it is now..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ambush point was juat a few blocks away. Two local pimps were meeting there in five minute's time to discuss business of some sort. However, their business was not Ayame and Kodansha's concern. Their imminent death was.

Together they slunk through the intertwining network of alleys and streets. Ayame's movements were predatory, graceful and smooth, her dark eyes darting left and right for any sign of movement, ready to pounce. Kodansha on the other hand walked confidently, not making a conscious effort to remain conspicious. Her eyes burned through the darkness like twin azure flames even beneath the protection of the shades. Her movements were firm, purposeful, aggressive. Their styles were different but their purposes identical.

Eventually they arrived at the ambush point, a tad late it seemed as the men were already there. They made their presence no secret, laughing and exchanging loud greetings. A nod was exchanged and twin streaks of black ad silver darted through the darkness.

Both men were dispatched in the same way-Kodansha used her heavy gauntleted fist while Ayame used her foot to drive home a single strike to the nose. This drove it into the skull, piercing their brains with fragments of bone and killing them instantly. Kodansha wiped the blood from her hands using one of the pimp's ties and straightened her silver trenchcoat.

"That was easy enough. Let's get goin-" she stopped when a movement to her right caught her attention. Both Ayame and Kodansha whirled around to see two members of The Guard turn the corner towards them.

The Guard were the elite police force of the land. They were no less corrupt than the criminals, but their badge ensured that they were operating on the right side of the law. However, there was one thing that everybody knew about the guard-killing one of their officers was a death penalty. The Guard were vengeful, powerful and brutal. It was not wise to cross them.

The two Guard officers near Ayame and Kodansha broke into a run upon spotting the corpses. The two women immediately dashed to meet the challenge head on before the Guards could draw their weapons.

Fighting Guard officers was a different situation than normal for Kodansha and Ayame, as they were used to killing all of their opponents without a second thought. However, Guard officers were off limits even for them, and it required full concentration and control to prevent themselves from killing them.

Kodansha and Ayame fought differently. Ayame moved with grace and skill, flowing around the enemy's defence like water, maddening them as they punched at the air where she had been miliseconds ago. She could easily finish her opponent quickly with a few swift blows to their weak spots, but she preferred to use her superior stamina and speed to wear them down before finishing them. Fighting was a game to her, and a chance to show off her skill.

Kodansha's style was very different. Swift, efficient, brutal. A few immensely powerful blows to the body, a few cracked ribs then a foot to the chin would knock them down, never to get up again. All before the enemy had time to react properly. It was all over within a few seconds.

Kodansha finished her opponent quickly as usual, the body hitting the floor in less than seven seconds. She leaned against the wall and admired her best friend's skill-the smoothness and beauty of her movement, almost dancelike in it's execution. She had to admit that it was hard to tell that they trained at the same dojo, under the same master. Their sensei had encouraged both girls to accentuate their strengths-Kodansha's power and Ayame's agility.

Ayame ducked under her opponent's clumsy attack, flowing behind him. Kodansha frowned slightly. It was still obvious that Ayame was leagues ahead of this Guard in terms of skill, but her trained eyes told her that her mind was not on the job at hand. This became apparent when Ayame straightened her palm and drove the tips of her fingers, along with sharpened black nails, straight into the man's neck-a killing blow.

"Shit." Kodansha exclaimed. "SHIT!" She ran over to her friend, who was staring at the body in shock. "What the FUCK did you do that for?" she yelled as she took the man's pulse and felt it fade into nothingness. "He's DEAD, you fucking moron!" Ayame pushed Kodansha off the man and began to administer CPR, pumping violently at his chest.

"Chill," she said breathlessly, though she didn't seem very chilled herself. "We can still revive him..." The man's response was to send more blood out of his mouth, flowing down the side of his face and pooling around his head on the ground. Kodansha pushed her away.

"You crushed his windpipe, you ditz! You can pound on his heart until his chest caves in if you like, it won't make any fucking difference! The guy can't fucking BREATHE!"

Ayame ignored Kodansha's outburst.

"Come on." She said calmly. "We've got to get out of here."

"Where to?"

"Aelia."

*~*~*~*~*~*

*Aelia?*

Kodansha could not see any reason to go to Aelia. It was a backwards, technologically untouched land with little to do with them at all. But due to their current hunted status, Kodansha had no arguments with Ayame's choice of destination. Anywhere was better than dead.

The ferry rocked sickeningly from side to side, the crates they were hiding behind shifting noisily destroying any hopes of sleep. They had to move constantly to avoid being crushed too. Ayame was the first to snap.

"That's it." She said, annoyed. "I'm going up on deck." Kodansha snorted.

"Yeah, whatever. "Hey there Mr. Captain, don't mind me. I'm just an illegal stowaway from below deck. Wanna throw me overboard yet?"

"They'd have to catch me first." Her eyes glinted dangerously. Kodansha grinned, warming to the idea.

"Yeah, you're right. I feel like snapping some spines. Let's go."

*~*~*~*~*~*~

"...Shit." Was the only word uttered by Ayame the second she got on board. The captain had spotted them. Luckily, the rest of the ferry seemed to be deserted. It was only a small vessel, so they were hoping that the captain would be the only person on board. It appeared that they were fortunate.

"Kods, wanna have some fun?" Ayame said, grinning at the captain who was shouting various profanities at us from his side of the boat.

"...Ayame, he's ugly."

"Not THAT kind of fun, you sickoid!" She reached over and tapped Kodansha's pendant. "THAT kind of fun."

Kodansha grinned and closed her hand around the cold metal of Acalagon. The dragon pulsed with energy in response. "I suppose he DOES need quietening..."

Inducing a trance without a battle was a difficult. Channeling the energy was hard work, and required a lot of concentration. Kodansha took off her glasses, revealing the glowing blue eyes.

"SHIT!!!!!" The captain swore loudly, "You're another one of those *()&ing freaks! What the ^(&*( are you doing here? I'll ^&(^ing kill ya!"

Kodansha ignored this and closed her eyes, concentrating further. An ethereal blue glow surrounded her.

"&*(&)(*&*()&)(*&!!!" The captain continued, too afraid to approach. He was still making a lot of noise though.

Kodansha glowed brighter and brighter, eventually with translucent blue flames that concentrated at her fists and around the dragon. Brighter and brighter...until an ear-shattering roar split the atmosphere.

The ocean parted and a massive silver dragon rushed out of the waves, hovering over the ship and engulfing it in it's majestic shadow. The sunlight glinted off it's shining, sea-drenched scales as it roared again, causing the captain to clutch his ears in agony. It reared it's head and more glowing blue flames shot from it's mouth, blinding the captain this time. Kodansha had her shades back on, and Ayame had the commom sense to look away. It stared down in a malevolent glare, it's steel blue eyes piercng the captain's gaze as it bared it's fangs, long and razor sharp. It's glare softened as it turned to Kodansha.

"So..." Kodansha smiled as the massive creature lowered it's head to allow her to pet his head, "Do you like my pet?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The captain ignored them for the rest of the journey, afraid that Ayame had a trance to show off too. The ride was peaceful from then on, until the ferry finally docked. Unfortunately...

"Hey! HEY!" The captain shouted. "HELP! I got a couple of those freaks over here! They tried to kill me! HELP!"

"Shit" Ayame and Kodansha said in unison, preparing for the battle as two Aelia soldiers leapt aboard to attack. They fought viciously, but the soldiers were surprisingly well trained. Still, it was an enjoyable challenge for them, used to fighting clumsy, poorly trained opponents. As Ayame ducked a well-aimed kick to the head, she became aware of a shadow over her. She glanced up.

Standing over her was a young man with wild, spikey black hair. His eyes glowed with the same irridescent shine as Kodansha's, and he was dressed all in black, a long trenchcoat flapping behind him in the breeze. She felt a flash of rememberence, and a feeling she could not define.

"...Raven?"