บท 25: Artifact Heist: Part Two

Finally, after considering all available options and possibilities, Kimika devised the final plan. Sharing it with Toga, she received approval after a brief thought. Toga acknowledged it as good and agreed. So, without delay, they immediately set about executing it.

First, they headed to one of the remote rooms, where there were plenty of blind spots. Toga hid behind a large exhibit near the entrance to this room, while Kimika took a position by the door to a neighboring, even more remote room, accessible only through the first.

When both girls were ready, Kimika carefully pushed a vase with a flower. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, shattering into small pieces. The guards, hearing the noise, quickly reacted and approached the cameras to figure out what had happened.

On the screen, they saw only the broken vase and no signs of any intruders. Although something seemed suspicious, they still decided it was likely an accident and, after a few moments of hesitation, sent Ren to check the situation.

Still on edge, Ren began cautiously moving through each room. He was prepared to raise the alarm or defend himself if anything suspicious happened. The bitter experience he'd had at the café made him stay constantly alert.

Walking from room to room without noticing anything threatening and receiving signals from his partners that nothing was amiss, they even teased him to hurry up and deal with it so he could get back to playing cards before they started without him. Gradually, he began to relax. Entering the room with the vase and seeing nothing suspicious, his vigilance completely faded.

And at that very moment, Toga, who had been waiting for her chance, quickly sneaked up behind him and struck him on the head. Ren didn't even have time to react — he fell instantly and lost consciousness.

These actions were crucial to Kimika's plan, though Toga had started to doubt whether any of the guards would even bother checking a broken vase. But luck was on their side.

The girls quickly moved the unconscious Ren into one of the "blind spots" where he would be out of the camera's view. They took his radio and other useful items, tying him up with his own clothing. Though it wasn't very secure, if he suddenly came to, they would at least buy a little time.

While Toga initially suggested injuring him in certain areas to have greater control over the situation, and later even suggested killing him, Kimika was adamantly opposed. She once again emphasized that their goal was to avoid deaths and serious injuries.

"We don't need blood on our hands, Toga," Kimika whispered, kneeling beside the tied-up Ren. "You know I won't allow it. And if he wakes up, we'll still have time to escape before he does anything. Plus, we've already taken his radio."

Toga looked at Kimika with displeasure but then sighed, realizing she wouldn't be able to persuade her. She didn't want to escalate the situation or do anything that could negatively affect their relationship, though she made a mental note that something would need to be done about this.

"Fine," Toga muttered, frowning. "But we can't afford to wait long. If anything goes wrong, I'll act on my own judgment."

Kimika gave a short nod, understanding that their views on methods differed, but hoping they could manage without unnecessary violence.

The next step was the least pleasant for Toga — she would have to drink a bit of his blood to transform into him. She had tasted his blood once before, and the memory of that taste left her with a horrible impression. Overcoming her disgust, she asked Kimika again:

"Are you sure this is necessary? Maybe there are other options… His blood…" Toga said with distaste.

"Yes, it's necessary! You agreed to the plan yourself. Hurry up, before the other guards suspect anything," Kimika replied firmly.

After a moment's hesitation, Toga reluctantly drank a few drops of blood. Her body then began to transform, covering itself in a thick, paste-like substance, and within seconds, she became an exact copy of Ren — with the same voice and clothes.

The girls acted quickly and in sync. Toga, now in Ren's form, grabbed Kimika by the arm like a guard escorting a troublemaker. Kimika played her part, keeping her head down to avoid drawing extra attention.

They approached the room where the two guards remained. As soon as they entered, Kimika began lightly pulling away, adding realism to her role.

"Hey, look who I found!" Toga declared in Ren's voice. "Seems like this is the one who broke the vase."

The guards turned and saw the rookie with a hooded teenager. They immediately guessed it was a girl from her silhouette, though her face remained hidden under the hood.

"A teenager?" one of the guards smirked, giving her a relaxed once-over. "Bring her over here; we'll call her parents."

The guards were already imagining how easily they could scare the girl and call her parents, reveling in the thought as if it were the most satisfying part of their routine work. As the pair got closer, the female guard raised her hand to pull back Kimika's hood.

"Hey, why's she in a hood?" she asked. "Let me pull it off."

But just as she touched the hood, Kimika suddenly raised her head, revealing a mask covering the lower part of her face and a pair of mismatched eyes.

The woman had no time to react as Kimika's left eye lit up with a bright blue glow, causing her movements to slow as if in a slow-motion video. In that instant, Kimika's right eye flashed red, and the guard received a swift blow to the stomach, doubling over in pain.

The second guard immediately activated his quirk, and a yellowish shield appeared around Kimika. But at that moment, Toga — still in Ren's form — stabbed a knife into his arm and shoved him back. He stumbled, causing his shield to deactivate and freeing Kimika.

Released, Kimika, moving at incredible speed, pounced on the female guard who was still holding her stomach in pain. She delivered several quick strikes to the arms, legs, and back.

The woman couldn't resist — her movements were too slow due to Kimika's quirk. With a final blow to the head, she fell, after which she was quickly tied up and had a rag shoved into her mouth.

Meanwhile, Toga, without hesitation, continued delivering cutting knife strikes to the second guard. When he tried to activate his shield for protection, she relentlessly struck him with precise knife blows until the shield shattered from the force of the hits. After that, Toga delivered a final strong punch to his nose, knocking the guard unconscious.

It all happened so quickly that less than a minute had passed since the fight started. Both guards were already tied up with rags in their mouths. The girls took everything necessary from them — radios and weapons.

They tied them up not too tightly, as they didn't have the proper materials, other than the clothes taken from the guards. Therefore, they could easily free themselves in a few minutes if they tried.

However, one of them was unconscious, and the other guard was writhing in pain all over her body. "Is that it? I thought it would be harder. Though, what was I expecting from guards?" Toga said, still inside the first guard's body.

At her words, the conscious guard, writhing in pain, looked at her colleague, who was speaking in a feminine voice and saying things that were unlike him.

"Huh? You still think I'm your colleague? No, he's somewhere over there, lying in the same state as you," Toga said, pointing into the distance.

"Well, enough, Tsukima. Let's finish this and go," Kimika said, feeling a hint of anxiety. It seemed to her that they had overdone it with the guards: one was completely cut up, though mostly with light cuts, since she had asked Toga not to go overboard, and the other guard was writhing in pain all over her body. Kimika just hoped she hadn't broken anything.

"Ugh, fine, fine. Go, disable the alarm, and I'll finish up here," she said, sending her friend off while she began tasting the blood of each guard, feeling an incredible thirst. Her friend's blood was off-limits due to her plan, but the guards' blood was still better than nothing.

Kimika, not knowing what to say, did exactly that. She entered the guard room, where she saw a black-and-white sign reading "Alarm Disable" under a large red button.

It seemed a bit dubious, but she couldn't imagine anyone setting up a trap in a museum. Why would they? So, she just pressed the button. Not noticing anything unusual, she turned back to Toga, only to see her filling glasses with the guards' blood using a syringe.

Not knowing what to say, Kimika asked. "What are you doing?"

"Huh? Making reserves, what's the big deal? Their blood, especially the girl's, is pretty tasty. Not like yours, but still better than nothing…"

At these words, Kimika felt a mix of emotions: slight indignation at Toga's actions, a question of whether she had done this before, and a strange new feeling that gnawed at her — the urge to go over and throw the blood bottles away.

She thought that, instead of stockpiling the guards' blood, she could offer Toga her own blood as she always did, but instead, she just made a displeased expression, grabbed Toga by the hand, and started going through all the rooms, collecting the necessary artifacts.

Various thoughts swirled in her mind, along with a slight sense of unease that pushed her to act quickly. Kimika also hoped that, after drinking the guards' blood, Toga would realize it wasn't as tasty as her own and would ask for her blood, which Kimika would gladly give.

She hurriedly began collecting the artifacts from the list: a musket, the costume of a past hero that resembled the Omnipotent in some way, several vials with plants and small animal and insect skeletons.

After placing everything in the bag, she started moving toward the back exit, calling for Toga to join her. But suddenly, she saw something that heightened her anxiety to the maximum: the first guard they had tied up was talking on the phone with someone, which they had apparently forgotten to take.

Seeing this, she immediately activated her Quirk at full power and, running to the guard, snatched the phone from his hands. Without hesitation, she struck him on the head with all her strength, causing him to lose consciousness instantly. And in that moment, from the phone, she heard: "We've already set off, find a safe place and hide there!"

At these words, Kimika's heart sank to her stomach.

She immediately began shouting for Toga with all her might. Toga, now transformed back into her own self and wearing a spare set of clothes, came to her cries moments later, with the same smiling face as always — until she saw the guard in a different position.

In her partner's hands was another phone, and her face was filled with fear. Without asking what had happened, Toga ran to her, grabbed her hand, and started pulling her towards the exit at incredible speed.

"Shit, shit, shit! I knew I should have slit his throat. See what's happening now?"— Toga muttered, though her smile still didn't leave her face. But inside, she wasn't worried about herself, because she knew that after drinking someone's blood, she could easily escape into the crowd. But for her friend, who was in such a situation for the first time...

Running out through the back doors, they heard the sound of police cars. Toga ordered Kimika to accelerate them both with her quirk to full power, even if it meant losing all the energy from her right horn and the vision in her right eye. It would be far better than falling into the hands of the police and heroes.

Without hesitation, Kimika instantly obeyed the order, and they began running from the museum at maximum speed, but to their misfortune, they heard behind them:

"There they are! The heroes, they're here!" — shouted one of the, apparently, police officers."

At that moment, fear flooded Kimika's body. However, not losing speed, she intensified the effect of the quirk, causing them to only accelerate and run with all their might towards the nearest houses, trying to shake off the chase.

However, enhancing the quirk required even more energy from her, and Kimika felt the tension building in her muscles, her heart pounding faster, as if trying to tear itself out of her chest.

She knew that the energy spent on such an effect would run out incredibly quickly, and it became more and more obvious with every step as her body began to suffer: a sharp pain developed in her right eye, as though something sharp were piercing it, followed by temporary blindness that enveloped her consciousness.

Breathing became increasingly difficult, and Kimika felt the endurance of the horn fading before her eyes. She realized that if she didn't stop, she would soon lack the strength to maintain the effect.

But she didn't stop because she knew that would lead to serious consequences, and all that was left for her to do was pray that they would find a safe place where she and Togaa could hide from the pursuers.

They kept running, reaching the first houses, and already hearing the shouts of their pursuers: "Stop! We'll catch you anyway!"

But not a single thought of stopping crossed their minds — only to keep running. All of Kimika's recent thoughts about the consequences of using the quirk faded away and were replaced by fear.

After starting to run between the houses through narrow alleys, they finally thought they had shaken off their pursuers, as they hadn't heard the shouts of the heroes or the police for a while. Slowing their pace a little, they began walking more slowly in the silence to catch their breath and figure out what to do next. The silence was eventually broken by Kimika:

"Did we lose them?..." she said, constantly inhaling and exhaling heavily. She knew that if it hadn't been for her training, they would have been caught back there.

She was also aware that she was dragging Toga down, as her friend could have easily escaped, but she couldn't do it because of her. Kimika felt she was hindering Toga, and that only added to the fear in her heart.

And Toga, not having time to open her mouth to respond, saw a figure jumping from roof to roof. All she could say at that moment was: "DAMN IT! WHY HIM?!" — Toga shouted, grabbing the stunned Kimika by the hand, who had never heard such words from Toga before.

A flurry of questions spun in her head: Who is this? Could it be All Might? The thought of possibly encountering him took Kimika's breath away, and fear overwhelmed her heart.

"All Might?" — the girl managed to squeeze out, running faster, as the fear of meeting the one she both admired and feared consumed her thoughts.

"EVEN WORSE!" — Toga screamed, feeling the tension rise within her. She knew who was chasing them, and deep down, she wished it were at least All Might. It would be better to face someone who could defeat them with one blow than this hero, who instilled far more fear.

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Poor Ren... he found a new job, and here again, Kimika and Toga beat him up... Well, at least they didn't kill him... The author isn't that cruel to let that happen... But I promise, by the end of the fanfic, he will find his happiness!

I also want to inform you that two chapters come out every day on my Patreon! Here, only one is released, but on my Patreon — there are two a day, hee-hee-hee. Come by so you don't miss new chapters and can read them faster than anyone else! patreon.com/Zoi4erom

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