Night Hunters

Chapter Four: How Much Are You Willing to Sacrifice?

"How much can you take away from someone...who already has nothing?" - Ogiwara Shigehiro

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The entire base was extremely silent; almost as silent as a graveyard, even as the rebels watched their unofficial leader flipping through the pages of the recent Bingo Book that Imayoshi Shoichi had managed to steal from a member of the Royal Army in one of the larger cities when he and a few others have gone on 'Robin Hood' duty.

Shigehiro sighed even as Tamaki placed the book down onto the table, with two of the pages that they could see containing photos of Shigehiro himself and Tamaki—with a ridiculously high bounty amount on Tamaki's page.

"Well, the fat's in the fire now." Haizaki grunted, looking from face to face. "Truth be told, it is only a matter of time before they place us in the Bingo Book. Those guys aren't idiots. They should know full well that Tamaki and the rest of us are still alive."

Takao agreed. "After all, we worked for them once upon a time," he nodded. "They know what we're capable of."

"And if so, there is only one thing left here for us to do." Imayoshi noted, picking under his nails with the tip of his dagger. He then glanced at the surrounding faces. "If they come after us, then they shouldn't expect to return alive, if at all." There is a steely glint visible in his eyes that made Seirin shiver.

It is easy to forget, but once upon a time, nearly half of these guys here are former Royal Guard members; former soldiers. They were the best of the best; the kingdom's top killers. Particularly the former members of the Intelligence Unit that Kuroko Tamaki had once headed.

Tsuchida fidgeted, feeling really uncomfortable. "...If we do fight and kill those soldiers though..." He trailed off uneasily at the mere thought of killing fellow citizens.

True, they might call themselves 'rebels', but up until now, none of them have ever killed another person before. Even nearly a half month ago when they have gone to help Meiko Village, none of Seirin had ever killed a fellow human being. The killings have been done by the others.

"We won't be the good guys anymore, is that it?" Susa Yoshinari cracked opened an eye, understanding visible in his expression.

"Right from the start, there isn't any difference between the definitions of 'good' and 'bad' in a war." Otsubo Taisuke said solemnly. Only a soldier like themselves would understand it better than anyone else. "The difference between us and the kingdom's soldiers are the ways that we take to do what we believe is right."

Tamaki looked at Seirin. "The only thing that we're allowed to do...is to believe that we won't regret the choice that we made," she said. For a moment, Seirin almost thought that Tamaki seemed to be somewhere else. "After all, there are no victors in a war. The true victors are merely those that survive. Noting more than that. When both sides step out onto the battlefield, the lines between good and evil are blurred—thus making both sides evil." She closed her eyes briefly as if remembering something painful. "The last war taught us that." She murmured. Some of the others have similar expressions on their faces too.

"The last war?" Hyuuga echoed. "You shouldn't be old enough to fight in the last war." He pointed out. Hell, even Hyuuga himself isn't old enough to fight in the war, and he is quite easily amongst the oldest here.

The last war between the Teiko Kingdom and the Kamata West Kingdom had taken place more than a decade ago, and had lasted for nearly five years. As with every war, Teiko had taken a long time to recover after it had ended, but they did. It is Kamata West that is still a shadow of their former self, having initiated a war that had almost destroyed their economy and the lives of their people.