Liu Assoc. South Section 4 Director Rodion/Identity Story

Speaker	Dialogue

Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	C'mon, Ishy! This way, this way~
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Whew… Director, we've been running from one restaurant to another for the last four hours.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Not 'Director', 'Rodya'. RODYA. C'mon, are ya gonna keep giving me the cold shoulder?
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	R-Rody… Rodion.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Haah… well, that's an improvement, I guess. I'll take it!
	The child sighed with a pleasant smile on her face. She produced a snack from one of her paper bags and popped it into her mouth.
	It was quite obvious from the rows upon rows of shopping bags and food wrappings hanging from her arms that the child has been on this gastro-adventure for a good while.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Woo eeen—
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Rodion, please chew first before speaking.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Mmh… Hah. So… then!
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	So how long are we going to be doing this?
	Tap.
	The other child stopped dead in her tracks, her hands deep in her pockets. She exhaled loudly with audible irritation…
	… then glared at the child.
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	You stopped by this corner's HamHamPangPang for their time-limited dumplings. You picked up a big pack of twenty or so of their freshly-fried menbosha. And—
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Green grapes, tangerines, or strawberries?
	The child very quietly, yet casually, muttered these three words as the other child looked like she was about to go on a rant.
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	… I'm sorry?
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Pick one, Ishy. Green grapes, tangerines, or strawberries?
	The child's eyes flashed as she lightly shook the white paper bag.
	That flash in her eyes were that of confidence.
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Seriously, if you think you can bribe me with food—
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	I've known all along, Ishy.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	… that you've been watching this bag of tanghulu all along.
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Hup…
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	C'mon, I'll let you have the first dibs.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Oh, and we'll stop by a beef bowl place later… how's that?
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	… I'll take the tangerine.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Well, then~ Here it is! Enjoy!
	… The child's wit could always be relied upon to appease her fellows.
	Not just in situations like these… but in many other possibly contentious situations as well. Even in situations when a fight would've broken out under a less capable director, she always managed to calm things down between members of Section 4.
	Maybe the Liu Association is known to be more family-like because they tend to assign directorial positions to children like her.
	Of course, Liu's Directors may fall slightly short behind Directors of other Associations who have been picked solely for their combat prowess…
	But her sociable nature wasn't her only merit that gave her the position of a Director.

Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Hup!
	She stands alone, facing off against the enemy leader one-on-one. She intends to impale him with the tip of her open hand.
	This indicates two things.
	One: the enemy's lackeys won't get in her way.
	Two: her subordinates were shaping the battlefield as per her orders to ensure that she gets a one-on-one against the enemy leader.
Liu Section 4 Ryōshū	T.A.D.^[1]
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Director! No need to worry about the lackeys, we're handling them as we usually do!
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Haah~ Didn't I tell ya to call me by my name? Girl, seriously…
	The child does not avert her eyes from the Syndicate leader, even as she banters with her teammates.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion	Well, if you're gonna call me director, I guess I gotta pull my own weight, huh?
	The child struck the leader's solar plexus—which had long been weakened after series of strikes—with the tip of her fingers, and cleanly pierced right through his torso.
Liu Section 4 Ishmael	Well… your boss is dead. Now what? Wanna keep going?
??? ???	Gah… Dammit!
	In a large-scale battle involving multiple combatants, the death of the leader often means the death of morale.
	The enemies began slowly backing away… until scattering and fleeing the battlefield.
Liu Section 4 Director Rodion
	Whew~ Another job done!
	This is how Liu Association handles their larger scale tasks. The members hold down the enemy grunts and isolate their leader… while the Director or a Director equivalent takes them on one-on-one.
	This, however, also means that they may not have a plan B when the Director is defeated.
	If that happens, then… well, let's not get into that just yet.
	I suppose we will find out when we look into a world with one such tale.