Episode 24

**Earnest Desire** (冀う, *Koinegau*) is the 24th episode of *No Guns Life*.

## Synopsis

Pepper wakes up at the Reconstruction Agency hospital without her Hands device. Juzo meets with her to finish things up after taking a job from Seven. Yet again, Berühren has managed to slip away and Juzo continues his days with Tetsuro.

## Summary

Pepper, Karen and other children are held in a Beruhren facility. Pepper have been moved from to different cells multiple times and her only friend is a spider named Seven. She was soon to be discarded, but was found compatible and Hugh Cunningham came to take her. She sees her spider in a different cells and jumps in to get it. She is then taken to Seven and explained that if she survives the Hands transplant procedure she can have him. Hugh explains that Seven is powerful, but his mental state is unstable and no matter how powerful he is, if they don't find a Hands operator for him, they will dispose of him. He also explains that Pepper is not compatible for extensions, she is compatible with a Hands technology. Pepper approaches Seven, but he instantly attacks her, cutting her face. She gets excited stating that she really wants him and approaches again and kisses him. She promises she will get him out and be hers, but if he ever becomes someone else, she will break him. In that moment, she pulls out the spider from her mouth and crushes him on the ground.

Juzo had taken in Shimazu and Mary was providing her with medical help. Mary gives Juzo's his coat, saying that Rosa had patched it up. Juzo then goes out and meets with Olivier and they go into Reconstruction Agency hospital. She allows him to meet the witness, but she will listen to everything they talk and Juzo will have to tell her everything he knows about the extend. Olivier explains that after the Beruhren cover-up, they only found victims, the body of Andy Wachowski and a single witness, but they cannot identify her. Reaching her room, they see a dead guard and the witness gone. They wonder how she managed to escape and Juzo sees a broken window and goes to the rooftop, where he sees a man chasing Pepper and blaming her for his family death from the terrorist attack. Before he is able to shoot her, Juzo stops him and knocks him out. Seeing him, Pepper wonders why he survived and not Seven and if he allowed someone else to pull his trigger. She gets angry and runs at him, but slips and falls, however Juzo manages to catch her. She is angry that Seven left her, but Juzo comments he is just doing the job he asked him to.

Juzo recalls what happened. Seven used the Devil's Backbone to patch himself and threw Pepper at Juzo, stating that she doesn't have anything to do with him and no matter what she says, he decided to do it himself. Mathilda and Imelda then show up and take him as he asks Juzo to take care of Pepper. Hearing about the twin extends, Pepper confirms she saw them once and that they are Beruhren secretaries. Juzo comments that Gun Slave Units are tools, but are not mentally controlled and that Seven has decided by himself to stay with her. Pepper tells Juzo that since he beat Seven and she promised, she will tell him where his partner is. Olivier listened to their conversation and is not sure how big of a monster Beruhren is. She then comments Juzo is quite a womanizer, pointing out a love patch on his coat left by Rosa.

Going out of the hospital, Juzo recalls a time with his partner and how he tells him to find friends to laugh with. Tetsuro and Mary then come to get Juzo and Mary jokes about his love patch and that a young girl likes him, making Juzo realize she saw it but didn't tell him earlier.

## Characters

* Pepper
* Karen
* Hugh Cunningham
* Seven
* Mary Steinberg
* Shimazu
* Tetsuro Arahabaki
* Lefty
* Christina Matsuzaki
* Juzo Inui
* Olivier Vandeberme
* Mathilda and Imelda