The Boss watched her carefully seeing how hard she was fighting the exhaustion that overwhelmed her. Akutagawa was describing the details of their mission, how everything went. The operative was deemed inoperable, she had been slaughtered. Keomi had been the one to do it, per Akutagawa's command.
Keomi was glad that Akutagawa had given her those gloves, she no longer had to feel the life force of another on her body. She didn't have to feel the warm red on her cracked hands. She had stared into the lifeless eyes of the operative and all she could think is that is how the port mafia treated their operatives. They were expendable.
She had used her ability a total of four more times after she had shown up at the rooftop. By the time she had dealt the killing blow her ability was sloppy. Her mind was weak from using her ability so often. Her crystal whips hadn't been strong enough, instead only shredding her skin. Keeping her alive.
Akutagawa had told her to hurry up and end it.
Keomi had looked into two brown orbs that were welling up with tears. Keomi mouthed that she was sorry to the girl and resisted the urge to close her eyes. She had focused all of her concentration to a single point on two of her fingers. She bent down and stabbed the girl right in the jugular. Finally, the death was peaceful.
Akutagawa explained that they would not have been able to retrieve the girl and bring her back safely. He told the boss that he had planned to kill the girl himself, but Keomi told him she wanted to do it. The Boss's eyes lit up in delight.
"Keomi-Chan, explain please. In detail." The Boss's eyes hadn't left Keomi for a single second, a sadistic smile on his face. She looked like an Amazonian warrior.
"It was my first mission and I needed the practice. If I am going to get stronger I need to be able to kill even when I'm on the brink of exhaustion myself." Keomi didn't want to think about how much easier Rashomon would've been able to kill the girl. She had hoped to give her a swift death and instead ended up prolonging it.
"Very good Keomi-Chan!" The Boss clapped his hands together his eyes glancing back and forth from Akutagawa and Keomi.
"You are dismissed Akutagawa." The Boss spoke his eyes falling back onto Keomi as Akutagawa walked away. She looked him in the eyes, wishing for nothing more than sleep.
"I see you're wearing Chuuya's coat, Keomi-Chan. Should I expect a happy announcement soon?" The Boss's eyes seemed to twinkle in mischief to the girl.
"No, Chuuya simply allowed me to borrow his while I washed my own. I will be returning it after I leave here, Sir." Keomi spoke lightly though her voice was hard and sure. She was not dating Chuuya, right now she could barely stomach to look at the man. The executive.
"Ah, very well then," The Boss paused stepping towards Keomi. He placed his hand on her head, a smile on his face, "You did a good job Keomi-Chan, I'm so proud of you."
Keomi's eyes widened as she looked into his eyes, which were the softest she had ever seen them. She licked her lips nervously, she wasn't used to this kind of praise. Especially not for... killing someone.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Alright, you best go give that back to Chuuya and then get some rest. I'm sure Akutagawa plans to have you continue you're training tomorrow." Mori spoke and Keomi nodded once giving the man a half smile of her own.
"Yes Sir." Keomi made her way out of the Boss's office, her eyes unconsciously going to the spot where she had killed a man for the first time. There were no drips of blood, no stains of red, absolutely nothing that showed what had happened there.
How many people had met their end in this office?
Keomi trudged her way wondering how she was going to find Chuuya to give him back his coat. She didn't need anyone thinking she was compromised because of the coat. She didn't care for Chuuya. That was just idiotic, she was here for one reason and one reason only.
"You know, I didn't expect you to wear the jacket forever." She heard a voice behind her, she sighed inaudibly and then turned. Chuuya was leaned on the wall just outside of the Boss's office. Had he been waiting for her?
"Well I didn't expect you to be an insufferable ass, but oops here we are." She snarked, though if she wasn't on the brink of passing out she may just have remembered that she was talking to an executive. A superior. Her eyes were watering and she just didn't think she had any energy left.
"You know not many people can get away with talking to me like that and live to tell the tale." Chuuya kicked off from the wall walking towards the girl.
She looked horrible, though he imagined the Boss liked her this way. Chuuya let his own sigh slip out, this was what he had been afraid off. She reminded him so much of himself. The Boss had taken a special liking to her, for whatever reason, and if she couldn't handle the pressure she would be crushed.
"Here, just take the coat I need to go-" Keomi's eye sight shook and she lost her balance, her head dropping towards the floor. Chuuya quickly enveloped her in his arms his hand going to her head.
"You don't have a fever that's not good, Sparks." Keomi's head lifted just a tiny bit at the nickname, her eyebrows knitting together as she looked at him.
"I suspect you just overused your ability Sparks, even if it's been a few months you're not trained fully. Akutagawa shouldn't have left you in this condition." Chuuya muttered the last bit to himself shaking his head. He would have to have a small discussion with the hound.
"Chu-" Keomi's shoulders sagged, she couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore. Her head fell onto Chuuya's shoulders, her hair covering most of her face.
"I mean really, look at her. She worked herself to falling asleep on someone she doesn't even like." Chuuya spoke, knowing no one was around to hear it. He placed one arm under her knees and scooped her up into his arms. She was only a little bit taller than him, still his ability could help should he need it.
Chuuya took a glance down at her face as he walked towards her room, "I wonder how long it'll take before you realize you don't belong on this side, Sparks."
"Sparks. Fitting." Chuuya spoke the nickname out loud trying it against his tongue, he had said it before without thinking about it. No matter how long she happened to stay here, he would help her...
Because as much as he hated to admit it... he had wished there had been someone looking out for him.
Keomi woke up the next morning on her own bed wondering how she had gotten there. She still felt so drained, her eyes were fuzzy and her mouth was dry. She lifted up her head squinting her eyes to look at the red glowing numbers on her clock... 10:05 am. She blinked the numbers not really processing in her head yet.
"Ten in the mor— Akutagawa is going to kill me!" Keomi jumped from the bed almost tripping over her sheets panic striking through her body.
"How could I have missed training," She rambled honestly wondering how Aku hadn't already knocked down her door and dragged her to practice, "How did I even get to bed-"
She stopped seeing that Chuuya's jacket was draped casually over her coat rack along with the coat the Boss had given her. The events from the day before flooded her brain as she touched the soft material... She let out a small laugh.
"I suppose I made a fool out of myself." Keomi mumbled while taking her own coat off glancing at where there had been blood on it the day before. All traces of that day were gone, both on her coat and in the Boss's office.
It never happened.
"I suppose I best go face the music." Keomi left her room heading towards the practice area where Akutagawa would surely kill her. Rashomon would be her end, unlike the girl from yesterday. What would it feel like for it to pierce her and spill her blood onto the ground?
"Oi, finally I wondered when you would wake up." Akutagawa was leaning on one of the crates reading a book of some sort. He had been waiting for her?
"You're not going to kill me then?" Keomi asked him hesitantly, as if voicing it would cause him to remember what she had done and cause him to kill her.
"Shizu- Keomi. Do you really think I would kill you?" Akutagawa vaulted off of the crate his eyes unusually soft as he looked at her. Keomi couldn't look away, he had called her by her first name.
"I mean... I overslept. I thought you would be furious." Keomi walked closer towards her mentor, ready to summon Kurisutaru if necessary.
"Chuuya told me that you passed out." Akutagawa said, though told would be an understatement. Akutagawa had almost fallen asleep in his own room with the short red head had broken down his door. Berating him for not making sure his protege had gotten back safely to her room. He had felt guilty for once in his life. He could have proven Dazai right, just because he had been trying not to care so hard.
Akutagawa wondered how anyone kept feelings out of training someone. The typically become like a partner to you for so many months and you're responsible for keeping each other alive. How did they keep from becoming friends?
"Oh um-" Keomi mumbled breaking the eye contact between them trying to figure out what to say. She didn't want him to think she was weak. What if he stopped training her then.
"Next time tell me if you're not doing good, Shizuka. I'm here for you, you know?" Akutagawa, the mighty hound of the port mafia, seemed more like a hurt puppy in Keomi's eyes. He always seemed so much older than her, sometimes it was hard to imagine that he was only a year older than her.
"I-" Keomi looked at him with a soft smile, "Thank you Akutagawa-kun."
Akutagawa's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up at the name. Akutagawa... Kun? Her soft smile warmed his heart slowly, he couldn't look away. Was there anyone else like this in the mafia? So... Kind? Could someone like him be a friend to someone like her?
"Oi. Don't make a big deal out of it. What kind of mentor would I be if I let my protege die from exhaustion." Akutagawa deflected shaking his previous thoughts out of his head, "Come on we're just going to do light training today."
"No!" Keomi quickly said rushing towards him, "I want to work on longevity."
"Longevity?" Akutagawa questioned not understanding fully what the girl meant.
"I want to be able to use my ability for longer and not get as exhausted." She explained to him, looking at him with blazing eyes. He smirked at her, his hair falling slightly as he tilted his head.
"Alright then, put on you're armor." Akutagawa commanded watching the purple rings come around her as she activated her ability. Pale purple crystals swarmed her body creating a thick, dense armor around her.
"Now, I want you to keep this one all day. Our next mission isn't for another two days, if you can keep it on till then you will be rewarded." Keomi widened her eyes, Aku's smirk still residing on his face. She would have to keep up her armor for two days?
"Akutagawa-" Keomi began but Akutagawa cut her off.
"I believe in you, Keomi." Akutagawa placed his hand on the top of her head, regardless of the cool armor on top of her head, and gave her a smile.
"Thank you... Aku." Keomi smiled back at him, dark grey orbs meeting light brown. Clashing against each other, light and dark.
"I'll see you in two days, make sure you don't let the armor fall." Akutagawa retracted his hand from her head and began to walk off. The Boss had given them another mission for today, an execution. But he didn't think she would be up for that right now and he didn't want her to over exert herself.
Controlling an ability was still new to his protege and it was a daunting task that she had taken in stride. So, as he walked the streets of Yokohama, he tried to think of other ways he could teach her. The execution could happen anytime today. Akutagawa was in no rush.
He stood in front of the ocean watching the waves go back and forth. Hypnotic. The foot steps were what took him out of his trance with the sea. He could tell who they belonged to even if there had been a hundred pairs of footsteps on the pier. Dazai-San.
"How's the girl?" Dazai walked to stand next to his old protege, his face blank though not harsh. Akutagawa didn't turn to meet his ex-mentor's eyes.
"She's..." Akutagawa fought to find a word to describe his protege, "you would get along with her, I imagine."
It was true, if the agency had taken in Keomi instead of the Port Mafia Akutagawa imagined she would have gotten on his nerves. Though, he also thought she would be able to even annoy Dazai, if she had the opportunity.
"You think she'll make it, working there?" Dazai asked and only then did Akutagawa turn his eyes to the traitor.
"She won't defect, she's not like you Dazai-San." Akutagawa's voice harden along with his eyes not liking what he was implying about his friend.
"Can you really be so certain? I imagine the Boss never thought I would defect and yet-"
"She's nothing like you, she wouldn't leave-" Akutagawa had cut off Dazai only to stop speaking himself, blinking in surprise at his outburst. That's why he thought she wouldn't defect from the mafia? Because she wouldn't leave him? What kind of a ridiculous reasoning was that.
"Oi! I've got work to do." Akutagawa began to strut away but Dazai called after him.
"Why isn't she with you then? If you're on a mission then she should be with you because of the training program." Dazai knew this all too well, especially considering the man had trained Akutagawa the very same way.
Akutagawa stood silently thinking about what Chuuya had told him. How the blood had frozen in his veins when he had heard she had passed out last night. He had told himself it was because he didn't want the traitor to be right. But the truth, the truth was that she was his friend. An annoying one, but a friend nonetheless. He had been worried about her safety.
"She exhausted herself yesterday, her ability is powerful but it drains her right now. She is currently practicing to fix that." Akutagawa revealed hoping that his mentor would say something that might help him help her.
"She grew up not knowing she had an ability right? Shizuka, Keomi, up till five months ago she was on her way to joining the police." Dazai rattled off continuing to speak facts about the girl, "She arrived here mysteriously, the rest of her family disappeared."
"I would suggest you not talk about things you know nothing about, traitor." Akutagawa's eyes widened as he quickly turned to see his protege standing a few feet away clad in armor.
"And you," She rushed him before he could blink and threw a punch at his jaw, he deflected just in time still shocked that she was here, "How dare you try to go out on a mission without me!"
"Oi! I can do what I want, if I don't want you on the mission then you don't have to go." Akutagawa spoke heavily still blocking her punch as she stayed put unwilling to stop her punch.
Dazai watched from the side looking closely at the pair. They were close, he could tell that much, but then again he had never really seen his previous protege with a true friend.
"Then what will the Boss think, huh? I'm not some weak doll, I can handle the missions." Keomi growled in anger, once more paying no mind to the traitor watching them.
She threw another punch, which Akutagawa dodged jumping back elegantly from her. She stood ready to attack again but Akutagawa growled, though the anger didn't seem to be targeted to her but to himself.
"You passed out in Chuuya's arms last night Keomi, I-"
"That's not you're fault, if I need help I should ask you but I didn't. It's no one's fault but my own, Aku." Keomi was staring harshly at him, her hands balled into fists at her sides.
"Is this how you train her Akutagawa? Seems like she's the one with the power- You know you're rather beautiful how would you feel about committing a double suicide with me?" Dazai cut in his eyes going from serious to playful in seconds. His hand held out, like she would take it, asking her to die with him.
"I have too much to live for to do that, traitor." Keomi barely glanced at the hand that he held out to her not even paying attention to the fact that he had called her beautiful. Her eyes stayed trained on Akutagawa before she finally spoke to him again.
"I'll do the mission, alone. If I have to prove to you that I can kill then so be it, Akutagawa." Keomi spoke her voice turning cold and calculating. Dazai watched her carefully, the way her body flickered when she had spoken about killing someone. She was pushing herself hard, she would break soon if Akutagawa didn't do better.
"Well then, I'm off. Hope you succeed in proving that, Key-o-mi-Chan!" He drew out her name obnoxiously, his voice laced with honey sweet. She only then turned to glare at him, but he was already turned and walking away. He could feel her glare at the back of his head.
"I'm not letting you go on this mission alone, Shizuka." Akutagawa explained his eyes sharp against hers their wills battling against each other.
"You were going alone, are you saying I am too weak to do this." She growled trying to bate him, she needed to do this. To she Akutagawa, Chuuya, The Boss... even herself and that idiotic traitor that she could do it.
"Fine. But if you fail The Boss will probably kill you himself."