My claws slicing through the training dummy like it were paper is satisfying. Nodding to myself, I turn to look at the girls, I see they’ve finished their training manuals and grab my pistol- just a standard issue pistol, chambered in 9mm, an LRS-9.

  “Isn’t this super old?” Smiling at Lumi, I nod. “It is, but old doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s the standard issue handgun for all police, simple, works, and will put regular citizens down.”

  “But… we’re not worried about a regular person, right?” Sighing, I place the gun on the table pointing away from anyone. “Yes, true, but I can’t get you started on a high caliber weapon, or you’ll risk hurting yourself. For now, you need simple skills and knowledge. So, first test, pick up the gun.”

  Both of them look at each other, then at the armament, before Yuna picks it up and the barrel sweeps past Lumi, where I snatch it from her. “Failed.” “What?! How?!” Ignoring her confusion, I place it down and gestured to Lumi. “Your turn.” Reaching over and picking it up, she has her finger on the trigger, though doesn’t point it at us, but I still snatch it and place it on the table.

  “You both failed basic firearm handling. Yuna, you flagged Lumi, aka, you pointed the barrel at her. Even if your hand is off the trigger, you always treat a firearm like it’s loaded and can shoot at random. Only point it at what you’re willing to destroy.”

  “But I wasn’t going to shoot it!” “Be that as it may, there are cases of guns discharging without any hands on the weapon. Unless you want to be that one percent who shot someone for not following muzzle awareness, listen.” Paling a bit, she nods, quickly taking me seriously at the thought of hurting Lumi.

  Lumi protests, her hands on her hips, back to the kind of stubborn look that I honestly find cute, if only it weren’t playing with weapons. “I didn’t do that though!” “No, but you had your finger on the trigger.” Picking it up, my finger is off the trigger, and I keep it pointed at the floor. “Because one flinch reaction or jolt, and you’ll shoot. You turn to face someone, and you’re that much more likely to kill. You see how I hold it? Two hands? Finger off the trigger? Pointed away from anyone or anything I want to destroy? That’s how you do it.” Placing it back down, they both nod quietly.

  “Now then… now I wonder how the hell you two have gone so long without handling a gun. Yuna makes sense, but you Lumi?”

  Crossing her arms, she looks away nervously. “W-well, I just never needed one. Mom had one but never had time to teach us.”

  Nodding, I pick up the gun and point it down range, taking a proper stance that I was taught in training, my legs spread a bit apart and the gun held in both hands, not tensing up too much to let the recoil move me a bit. “Watch how I do it, both of you. I’ll fire a few shots, then you both will do so.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Spotting their nods, and feeling their gaze on me, I focus down range. Luckily, I found a shooting range that was clear to be used for the early day, so I could take them out. So, there’s little risk of anyone interfering.

  Lining up the sights, I fire three shots in a rhythm, each right on target. But my ears do ring painfully- these cat ears are so sensitive, damnit.

  Turning, I see both of their ears flat to their heads, and Yuna is massaging her own. Placing the gun down, and knowing they won’t hear me yet, I put a hand up to wait for me before I run up to the front of the range where they sell equipment and ammo. Buying some earplugs, I head back down and offer both of them a pair, made specifically for their ears.

  “Sorry, forgot how loud these could be, my old ears were sorta damaged enough to not notice.”

  Putting in one earplug, Yuna grumbles a bit. “It’s fine… wait, old ears?” “What? Thought I kept my normal ears? They got rid of them and redirected the nerves to the cat ear implants.”

  “What?! Why?!” “Because this way, you can’t EMP my ears. It’s not tech based, it’s organic for the most part.” At her confused blinking, I just decide it’s not worth explaining the intricacies of implants to Yuna of all people.

  “Now then, who wants to go first?” Lumi shies away a bit, while Yuna seems excited by her tail, so I carefully offer the weapon to her.

  Quickly, she takes up my position, standing ready. Correcting her posture a bit, she is only holding it a bit too stiff, but that’s self correcting. Once her body hurts from shooting, she’ll realize the problem. “Now, go ahead and line up those sights. The middle dot should be between the two back ones, and the target should be behind it.”

  Seeing a slight nod, I spot her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in focus, making me smile a little. Glancing back at Lumi, I briefly notice her tail swaying lower than usual, but I don’t allow myself to be distracted from the armed exotic.

  A shot rings out, before Yuna flinches and places the gun down, but she did hit near the center of the target. “Good job, your arms hurt?” “Yeah…” “That’s why you don’t tense up too much. Being stiff like a board will just make you break like one.” “Oh…”

  Shaking my head with a small grin, I look to the bluenette. “You’re up Lumi, any questions?”

  With a quiet denial, she grabs the gun and quickly copies my stance near perfectly, to the point I make no corrections. Quickly, she fires and hits the target dead center, placing it down after. “Good job, you’re a natural.” “Just copied you.” “So did Yuna, it’s not usually as easy as copying for most first times.”

  Nodding a bit, she steps back for Yuna to take her turn.

  Honestly, this is somewhat enjoyable… the smell of spent rounds and the sight of the targets reminds me of when Dad brought me out shooting. Just this time, it’s so they can defend themselves against some code skull who can eat 9mil for breakfast… Kos, it can never be simple, can it?