The Language I Spoke Yesterday

Surname

"Yo-you!" He choked out as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. "Can't ma-ake me talk!"

"That's too bad." I kept him pinned while I poked a hole in his gut. "Have you ever seen someone die of a gut wound?" His face was contorted with pain. "It's a slow, shitty way to die. Only gets a one star death rating." I stabbed him with another Finger Pistol and left my finger in the wound. "But for torture?" It curled between the two bullet holes and stuck out the original one. He looked like he might faint. "Five stars. So. I take it you haven't found her yet?"

He swallowed spit and blood. I ripped the skin and sank another hole on the other side of his stomach. "Giovanni doesn't give two shits about you, you know. Your pals out there won't even come looking for you. So do yourself a favor and stop." Stab. "Wasting." Rip. "My." Stab. "Time." Stab.

He moaned. His hands fell to his sides, bouncing off the brick. "We don't. Know. She was. Supposed to. At the. Cafe!"

"Thanks." I dropped him. His breath trailed from his mouth as he panted. He held his shredded belly together with both hands. The blood that streamed from between fat fingers steamed in the cold air. The snow stuck to his fur and skin. "For what it's worth, I do hope someone finds you before you die." I stepped out of the alley without a backwards glance. I couldn't afford one. If that one was following me, then who else had noticed me?

The answer, I discovered as I approached 20th and R, was plenty of Black Antlers. Most of them appeared to be Sheep and Goat variations, which explained them being found in a herd.

I gave a hard sigh. They cracked knuckles and snickered as if they thought they would intimidate me. There were only ten of them, but I was out of Kairoseki cuffs. The unanticipated visit by Trafalgar Law had unfortunately required their use.

"Xander the Skink." The brawny man towards the middle with two sets of curling ram's horns bared crooked teeth. "Or should we call yeh Yellow Belly?"

I felt my face twitch into an awful smile. "Try Roronoa." I kicked the ground, activating my Soru technique. I appeared behind him, appearing to hover just over his shoulders. I gave the group about half a second to respond before peppering the Big Ram's shoulder full of holes with Shigan. Expertly placed shots severed most of his connective tissues, rendering his arms useless. It didn't put him out of the fight entirely, but it brought down his difficulty level from four to maybe two stars. "Do your homework, class."

An impossibly small goat knocked me out of the air. The top of her head knocked the air from my lungs and I barely managed to stay on my feet. "Roronoa is a sword guy!" she piped in a tiny, sweet voice. Her yellow eyes were deep and vibrant, and she looked overall too fragile to be a part of this burly crew. Her horns were even tiny and barely curved.

I kept my eyes trained on her as the group closed in behind me. "I haven't used a sword in sixteen years. Gave mine to my little brother." Now I couldn't help but feel nostalgic and affectionate. I had a feeling of hiraeth, a longing to return to a home that never existed. "Seems he put it to good use."

The air behind me shifted. Three herdmates lunged at the same time, thinking they were taking advantage of my sentimentality. I jumped back into the air. My feet cleared their horns at the last second, but the small one was in my face again. I crossed my arms over my face and neck, blackening them with Haki. Her foot nearly sent me flying again.

"You just don't have the power of my last partner." I lamented with a sarcastic grin. "About the same size, but... Disappointing."

I watched a shudder of anger go through her. "Listen here, you dumb shit." Her voice was too cute for the words she was using. I had to suppress a giggle. "I may be little, but I'll send my foot so far up your ass you'll-"