Saikō no Chitsujo

Chapter 18 part 2

"We won’t be expecting any customers?" Mine asked, scanning the supposed staff room.
"You’d be surprised at the effect of a thunderstorm and a closed sign," Lubbock chortled.
"Works like magic, right?" Hijiri commented with a smirk.
"A simple spell, but quite unbreakable."
The two shared a brief chuckle, much to Mine’s surprise. "Since when did you two start to get along?"
"Shh, Mine, you’ll ruin the moment," Lubbock teased, holding up his index finger while he crouched to move aside a large mat and open a trap door.

"Yo! Welcome, you guys!" Leone hollered cheerily from the couch where she sat crossed-legged, papers of a huge variety littered all over the coffee table before her.
"You’re done already?" Hijiri asked, slumping on the right side of the sofa that Leone sat on.
"Yeah, the capital’s a mess now, and thanks to the attack and rebuilding, rumours and information are pretty easy to get." Leone reached for some papers and handed them over to Hijiri, who sat upright to inspect them.
"So? What’d you get for us?" Lubbock asked, and he and Mine took their seats on a sofa opposite Hijiri and Leone.
Hijiri sighed and recounted the information from his meeting to the two, the air in the room growing so thick with tension that his claymore was sure to slice through.
"The last thing I want is to fight more people like that silver-haired bastard," Leone commented, a violent shudder running through her, a reaction Hijiri noted. He had assumed she had gotten over the experience, but it seemed the incident was not simply forgotten. He clasped his palms tightly together while he pondered. Hijiri blamed no one but himself for her state; after all, he felt it was because of his incompetence that Leone, Akame, Tatsumi, and Kanae went through their horrible experiences. He chuckled dryly and sat back, his lips twitching, when he noticed the worried gazes of Mine and Lubbock.

"And you?" Hijiri playfully bumped his shoulder into Leone’s, successfully gaining her attention. "What’s the news?"
"Well, it matches what you said. The capital was devastated by a terror attack, so it’s in a bit of a difficult spot now; from what I heard, even the Yeagers are in no position to mobilize," Leone explained, picking some papers from the bunch she handed to Hijiri and rolling it before placing it in a container.

"Pretty good opportunity to jump them, don’t y’all think?" Lubbock questioned, brow raised.
"Not really," Hijiri lifted his right arm and watched the light dance off his obsidian gauntlet. "I’m definitely not in the best condition physically, so if this third party does exist and they’ve got aces like that Haruma bastard, they could get us while we’re attacking the empire and we all die." Hijiri sat up, meeting Lubbock’s inquisitive gaze while he relayed his proposition, "So here’s what I thought: we use this time to recover, get stronger, and do some digging into these asshats."

                                 …
"That’s definitely something we can work with." Najenda sat back, scanning the room and its members while Hijiri updated them on his mission.
"Pssh, you should be happy you’ve got a genius strategist like me." He shrugged with a simper, a few of the Night Raiders sighing at his antics.
"Glad to see your brooding phase has passed." Hijiri rolled his eyes lightheartedly at her earnest smile, inwardly satisfied at the cheeriness he sensed from the group at his actions. "So what’s up with Tatsumi?" His colleagues went quiet, with Najenda and Tatsumi stealing a glance at themselves before the latter spoke up. He explained what the doctor had told him, and unlike Mine, Leone, and Lubbock, who was also just hearing it for the first time, Hijiri betrayed no emotions.

The room went still for some time, Najenda’s question cutting through the awkward silence, "I’m guessing this place you want us to go will certainly improve the team?"
"Yes, on an island to the south resides the only other surviving Hono clan member."
"That you know of?"
"...that I know of. She was my teacher."
"Nii-san, you don’t mean? How are you sure she’s still alive?" Kanae interjected, her tone dripping with concern.
"Yeah, my aunt, and the former candidate to wield this bastard," Hijiri said, lifting his right hand at the end of his statement. Turning to Kanae, he continued, "Call it a hunch. Ain’t no way that hag is dying easily."
"Wait, wait, wait, time out," Lubbock waved frantically, "what do you mean by a former candidate?"
His silver-haired companion faced him with a frown, groaning as he covered his face with his hand. He glanced at Kanae, brow quirked, and she nodded quietly, an action he exhaled audibly in response to. "While I can’t say everything because of oaths and how stressful it’ll be to explain my family’s history, I’ll just say this; Every generation, a Hono with high affinity is trained to wield the world-class danger beast. The lucky ones have their turn skipped since their predecessor is still kicking, while the not-so-lucky ones get to fuse with him." A humourless laugh escaped him while he eyed the others and sensed the tense atmosphere he had created.

Exhaling audibly, he spoke up in an attempt to ease the tension, "On the bright side, she’s probably going to pummel new techniques into us, but we’ll be unstoppable then. So Najenda," she raised her brows at him, "field trip time."

"Aren’t you going to send a message ahead of your arrival?"

Hijiri stared at Najenda like she had suddenly sprouted a third arm. "Who sends a letter to the family to prepare them?"

"...normal people."