It has to get ugly

With his kind of precision and off the chart reaction speed, he could have headshot him too but shot the hand and the legs to disable him. He had tried to keep them alive for interrogation but was forced to kill them.

Some or all of the enemy might have exceptional speed and strength so he couldn't go easy on them. He would be dead if he did.

There were 5 other bodies in the van.

"The victims?"

Jackpot.

"GRAHHHHH!"

The guy he shot in the legs and the hand lunged at him from below as if the bullet holes were just cosmetic effects. He grabbed Arata's arm and pointed it down so he wouldn't get shot. Arata dropped the gun which put a grin on the parasite. He dropped his guard. This was what Arata was aiming for.

The parasite lobbed his neck in for a bite but Arata hurled his whole body into the air and kneed him in the side of his face. This put Arata on top of him with his knee on the parasites neck, subduing his movements.

He pulled out a JSDF standard issue combat knife from his other ankle holster and swiftly slit the parasite's wrists. The tendons were cut so he could no longer grip or hold anything. Only his legs were banging against the bottom of the van.

Arata was about to sever the muscles supplying movement to his legs when the parasite below him roared and suddenly got up. Arata held on to the top of his back. The parasite jumped and smashed him against the top of the van.

"Agh!"

Arata let go and stabbed the parasite's leg as he got down. The parasite kneeled and he used this moment to grab his gun and hopped out of the van. The parasite began standing up but Arata shot him in the kneecap, seeing that even the knife couldn't keep him down.

The zombie-like man fell on his knees but shakily got up again.

*Bang*

His other kneecap was shot and the zombie fell from the van and onto the concrete. It twitched and writhed trying to get up but finally stayed down. Arata then noticed the sirens in the distance.

'The ambulance probably arrived.'

A police car found Arata and stopped in front of him. Hiromichi stepped out of the car with his gun out. He had a frightened look on his face.

"Arata! What's going on!" He called out from behind the car with his gun pointing at the van.

"I just took care of it. Call the paramedics, we have a wounded."

Hiromichi slowly got up and holstered his gun.

"Keep your gun out."

He flinched, unholstered the gun and then noticed a guy bleeding on the ground.

"Huh? Who's that guy? Did you shoot him?"

"There are bodies of victims in the van. These guys were driving off with them."

"You found them!"

Irritated, Arata pressed the talk button on his remote speaker microphone and called for the paramedics.

***

While scavenging through her drawer for makeup that she never used, she found a couple of facemasks that Aimi gave her. All of them were expired except for one that was due tomorrow.

"How could you ask him out if you didn't try your best! Here, try these facemasks. When you get good skincare, try again!"

...

..

.

The nostalgic memory of Aimi warmed her heart but then she felt a pang in her chest. She looked at her phone for messages. Aimi still didn't reply.

She had kept Aimi updated about her days as she used to when Aimi was depressed or angry at her, but she didn't mention about Hikaru.

Aimi wouldn't give up on being best friends no matter what, but she didn't want to test that. She would tell her when the time was right.

She went to the bathroom sink and washed her face before applying the face mask on. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked ridiculous.

'Well, it has to get ugly before it gets pretty...'

She never wanted to bother with makeup or pretty dresses. Just wearing jeans and a shirt was good enough. It's a bit shocking to her that she was going through these changes because of him.

'It's just skincare.'

She wasn't changing her lifestyle much. She was just making her skin - her natural beauty - look better.

She set a timer for 20 minutes on her phone and laid her back flat on the bed.

*Knock Knock*

She heard her mother's footsteps downstairs. The door lock opened.

"Ohh! What a surprise! How are you, Aki?"

'Aki?' Chiho thought.

Aki was her mom's old friend who used to bring her daughter over to play with Chiho when she was little. Aki was attached to Chiho but she didn't feel the same way. Aki was just a friend whereas Aimi was her best friend.

"I'm good! May we come in?"

"Yes of course!"

"Aki! It's been a while, how's uh, your-" Chiho's father said.

"Wait a moment, I have a gift for you!"

"Ahh, a bat... I don't play anymore these-"

*Bang* A metallic sound came from downstairs after which her father was quiet. Chiho wondered if they were doing a demonstration or something.

*Thud*

*Thump*

*Tatatata*

It sounded like someone's legs were rattling on the floor.

Chiho started getting nervous. Something weird was going on.

*Bang*

"Muffle, muffle"

They started speaking quietly, she couldn't hear what was going on. That was the last straw. She couldn't believe it... Did they just attack her parents? Are they seriously raiding the house?

'What the f***!'

She got up from her bed and looked for a weapon around the room. There was a computer screen which could be strong but fragile, an ironing board which was difficult to swing, a bed...

*Dun dun dun dun*

Footsteps ran upstairs as if they knew where she was. She quickly pushed the bed to the door and picked up her makeup cabinet which was filled with unused makeup but mostly random accessories and items for storage.