The Night Corps

Chapter 2 - kill the dealer (2)

Glen let out a groan, as if this exact thing had happened a thousand times before. "I swear. You are the worst assassin in the world sometimes."

"Hmm?" Hikari had zoned out and missed Glen's insult. Not. "Did you say something? Please repeat exactly what you said."

Glen had retreated to the trunk by this point. "Nothing. Just talking to mys-"

"Thought so." Hikari cut him off. "Oh look! Someone suspicious for a change."

Glen pulled a pair of binoculars out from within a green overcoat and raised them to his eyes. Indeed, a man wearing all black, including a hood, was weaving his way through the unguarded bars of the gate at that moment. If you didn't have the deadly precise eyes of an assassin, you would've missed him completely. He was skilled, that much was obvious.

"Can you take this one?" Hikari asked, leaning his chin on his hand. "My imperial arms is back at the base."

Glen stood up and took off his coat, revealing a gleaming chest plate underneath. "Ok, I'll make it quick. Wait- why would you leave your weapon back at the base?"

Hikari rubbed his chin. "I forgot it."

------

"He snores like a freaking truck!" Kaiyo complained. "Seriously, how long are we keeping him here?"

A girl with long blonde hair that tumbled past her shoulders and mysterious grey eyes answered him. "I don't know. I'll talk to Hikari when he gets back but we can't keep him in the dark for much longer."

Kaiyo flopped onto the couch in the main room, which didn't consist of much. Just a couch, a TV, a couple of draws and a table to eat at. The kitchen was separated by a bench and a door on the right led to the rest of the house.

"Sometimes, I hate this job." He groaned. "Why didn't I get any recon missions today, Kotori?"

Kotori removed her denim jacket, revealing a white t-shirt underneath. "None of the missions were suited specifically for your talents. You don't see me flying at every opportunity for some action, do you? Sometimes, we just need to do what we can."

Kyuo glared at the roof. "I hate it when you're right."

Kotori sat down beside him, crossing her legs. "Perhaps you should see if our friend is awake again?"

"Or I could disappear to my room and watch anime..." Kaiyo mumbled to himself.

One look at Kotori's face and Kaiyo pushed himself onto his feet. "Fine, I'm going."

Kaiyo rounded the corner, scowling behind Kotori's back. She wasn't like, the leader or anything, but she was most fitted to making the groups final decisions and motives. Kaiyo was all for someone else making the decisions and leaving the killing part to him, but the downsides were annoying. Apparently, being the team half-leader meant you could boss the other members around...

Shoving the door open, Kaiyo clenched his fists tightly and suppressed a sudden temper tantrum. "Come on, you lazy idiot. Time to-"

The bed was empty. The window was open. Keanu was gone.

"Shit." Kaiyo muttered, sprinting to the window.

Far ahead through the trees, Kaiyo could make out Keanu's figure darting from shadow to shadow. He was quick, for an non-assassin, but he wouldn't get far.

"Kotori!" He shouted back through the house. "Alert Glen and Hikari! Keanu's out!"

"On it!" Kotori shouted back. "Go after him!"

Enough with the orders! Kaiyo mentally shouted before vaulting the windowsill and darting off after the fading figure in the distance.

------

Keanu was far enough away from the cabin that surely that boy or girl couldn't see him anymore. He or she would just think he'd gone to the bathroom or something, right? Either way, he knew they wouldn't catch him.

With that thought in mind, he threw himself effortlessly into a grassy patch of ground and groaned.

It had taken an enormous amount of strength and resilience to get this far so quickly and now Keanu needed a rest.

"Hey!" A slightly high-pitched but definitely male voice sounded from above him.

A suit of armour crashed into the ground a few metres away from Keanu. It slowly stood up and brandished a large sword with an emerald in the hilt.

"Return to the cabin." It said, trying to sound intimidating but failing miserably. "Or we will use deadly force. Wait, why are you on the ground? Did Hikari beat me to it?"

"Nope." Another voice came from the branches somewhere up above. "I've been watching him since he left the base."

The suit of armour shrugged and lowered its sword. "And why didn't you stop him?"

Hikari was silent for a few seconds. "No weapon?"

"Useless." The suit of armour muttered.

Hikari sprang from his perch and almost landed on Keanu's feet. He was facing the suit of armour, but Keanu recognised the white hair from last night in the alleyway.

"What?" He asked, a calm but deadly tone to his voice. "Did I hear, useless? Glen?"

"Probably." The suit of armour, apparently Glen, spat.

The two of them started arguing and in the distraction, Keanu slipped silently behind a tree trunk. He looked up and determined from the position of the sun that it was around four o'clock in the afternoon and that the city was to his right. He stepped out to creep behind another trunk but an invisible wall knocked him backwards.

Glen's armoured body materialised from thin air and he held out his metal palm. "Just because captain doofus over here forgets his imperial arms and doesn't stop you from running, it doesn't mean you can just roam freely in the forest! Do you know what's out here? We could be attacked any minute!"

Keanu struggled to his feet and assumed a fighting stance. He wasn't about to be taken back to a random house with a bunch of random people. There were still drug dealers and thieves in the city that needed to be put to justice.

He was about to attack Glen when a burst of white hot pain flared through his spine. He cried out and fell forward but was caught by Glen and hoisted up onto his plated shoulder.

"Let's go." Glen said. "And this time, you're not leaving until you've healed."

It was at that moment that Kaiyo decided to showed up, skidding to a stop in front of Hikari. "Where is he!? Lemme at 'im!"

Hikari pointed to Keanu's body flopped over Glen's shoulder and Kaiyo groaned. "Can he at least sleep in someone else's room this time?"