Faint Clue: Chapter I

Saya stopped the engine. Night had already fallen. It was pitch black, except for the glowing screen of Kiyomi's laptop on the passenger's seat, immersing her face in an eerie blue light. It would have been completely silent if it wasn't for the heavy raindrops hitting the car.

Saya reached for her black face mask out of habit, but on second thought she rather left it dangling around her neck. Covering her face wouldn't get any trust from whoever she was about to meet. She checked again if her phone was really set to speaker, so Kiyomi could observe anything that would be said.


"Again, you stay in!" she reminded her sister before opening the door and getting out of the car. Kiyomi just pouted.


It only took seconds for the young Shinobi to be soaking wet. She wiped some strains of wet hair out of her face and looked at her phone. She was just a bit off the coordinates. After looking around, barely being able to see anything through the dark, rainy night, she spotted a brigde.


Quickly she hurried through the beastly weather and got cover under the bridge, careful not to slip on her way down. Upon her arrival she took some time to catch her breath and focus.

Saya couldn't see anybody else. She got nervous. Would someone sneak up to her from behind? In this darkness she could barely recognize the bridge's structure, nothing but a darker blackness in the shadows.

Then there was something: A tiny light flashing up for a second. A small, glowing red dot remained. It moved up some inches and then it went down about an arm's length. Then it got closer.


"So you arrived…" The man in front of Saya said, still walking towards her puffing out a cloud of smoke. She still couldn't see his face, it remained hidden in the shadows.

"It seems so." She answered, not letting her guard down.

"Indeed it does." The mysterious man said, moving the cigarette to his lips and blowing out some smoke.

"And it's not the only thing that seems to be…" he continued.


Saya shifted her legs into battle stance. She didn't have any weapons with her, the risk of being searched had been too high. She'd have to talk her way out of any arising trouble – and maybe she'd have to talk with her fists.


The man took another pull on his cigarette. "We believed in your reputation as an A-class Shinobi…Kagehime, princess of the shadows."

"That's flattering." Saya responded, trying to figure out where he was getting at.

"I said 'believed' - past tense. But now I fear you're not good enough for our mission." her contact corrected her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Saya demanded to know, now honestly confused.

The man in the shadows dropped his cigarette and put it out with his foot. "You've been followed…"

"WHAT? That's impossible, I didn't notice anything, I've been as careful as always!"

"Apparently not careful enough…" The man snipped his fingers.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then Saya saw the glint of flashlights moving around the corner. She couldn't believe what she saw next:

Two men, both moving in the shadows, brought in a captive, pointing the flashlights at her face. She struggled against the grip with all her might, but it was obvious that it were pointless attempts.

"HMMMPH!" Kiyomi screamed into her tapegag, "HMMMPH! NNNNMMM-HWHHNNN!" Then she spotted her sister.


Instantly the bound girl went silent. She just looked at Saya, breathing heavily through her nose.

There was so much to read in her eyes: She was scared, begging for release…but most of all she was sorry. Sorry for insisting to come with her sister just to get into trouble like this.

Saya didn't say anything. She just couldn't. She only watched in silence as one of the guards blindfolded her sister, bound her legs and threw her over his shoulder.


Their superior lit up another cigarette. "Don't worry, we'll take care of her."

"NNNNGG!" Kiyomi screamed into her gag, thrashing about desperately.

That was the moment Saya got a hold of herself again:

"WAIT!" she screamed, on the verge of tears, not wanting to imagine what might happen to her little sister, "Wait…she's with me…"


The contact man blew out another cloud of smoke.


"If that's the case…" he said, with a different, more dangerous tone in his voice, "It is obvious that we can't trust you. You should come alone. That was the deal!"

"No, wait! I can explain this, just let me expl-hhnn!" Saya started to plead but a gloved hand quickly covered her mouth.

"I'm sure you can…once we arrived at our headquarters." The smoking man said. Then he just nodded at the subordinate that had just grabbed Saya.


The ninja girl felt the pressure of a hand pushing her down on her knees. She didn't resist as they crossed her wrists behind her back and bound them tightly. She couldn't risk it. She didn't know how many there were, if they were armed…she didn't know anything about those men she had so foolishly decided to meet. She couldn't risk any resistance – it might cost Kiyomi's life…

After binding her hands the henchmen replaced the handgag with a balled-up cloth being shoved into her mouth and a strip of duct tape to seal the gag.

Once that job was done they quickly blindfolded her and pinned her arms to her back, wrapping some coils of rope around her body, both above and below her breasts. To finish off, they wrapped rope around her ankles, calves and thighs, making escape anything but easy.

All that wouldn't have been necessary, Saya didn't resist in any way. Even when they picked her up, carried her through the rain and threw her into a car, she never even moved a finger.

As the engine was started Saya just curled up on the backseat she was lying on. She had been so naïve – and now she and her sister would have to bear the consequences…