Fool's World: Strength (ch. 8) (Patreon)

"What do you mean, what's a Grail War?" I questioned, my stunned surprise showing on my face. Part of me wanted to think that this was some tactic to trick me into lowering my guard, but the look of open confusion on Shirou's face convinced me otherwise. I still wanted it to be true to validate all the suspicions I had, to validate my caution, and justify my thoughts, but… I was wrong. I came in with preconceived notions of who Shirou would be, and I had been proven wrong.

I had to accept that.

Shirou looked at Sakura, who looked just as shocked at my blunt question. Then she looked at Shirou with what I could only describe was a fearful expression. "Sakura…?" He trailed off, and the girl seemed to shrink into herself. She gripped her tea with white knuckles. She had been uncomfortable the moment I mentioned magecraft.

And with how Shirou had also looked at her…

"The Grail War is what killed our parents," I said, forging on ahead. Shirou knew about magecraft and was hiding it from Sakura. Sakura knew about magecraft and she was hiding it from Shirou. I have no clue if both of them knew that the other was a magus, but that really wasn't important. Because, right now, we were sitting with someone that probably had a Servant. Or, at the very least, she knew someone that had a Servant. It was either Sakura, Shinji, or their parents that had a Servant, and a powerful one since they were of the founding families.

That got Shirou's attention, though just barely. And not even for long because a few seconds later, he was focused on Sakura again. "Sakura, are... you a magus?" He asked, treating the question like a landmine. Maybe it was, because it might as well have been an emotional one as Sakura's head dropped.

"I'm sorry, Senpai," she whispered, and that sounded like a loaded sorry if I had ever heard one. I shared a look with Nobara, who looked torn between inaction and comforting Sakura, and the only thing holding her back was the fact that this wasn't about us. It was about her and Shirou.

Surprising the three of us, Shirou bowed his head, "I'm sorry," he apologized, making Sakura's head snap up. Her mouth parted and she started to raise a hand, as if she wanted to force Shirou to stop bowing to her. "I always felt pretty bad about lying about what I was doing in the garage. But, Kiritsugu told me I couldn't tell anyone. You must have been in the same boat." He was giving her an out.

But, Sakura was determined not to take it. She shook her head, "No, I knew, Senpai. I was keeping a secret from you."

"Isn't that fine?" Nobara interjected with the grace of a wrecking ball, and when all eyes turned to her, she visibly looked like she wished she could take the words back. For all of a second, before she continued. "It doesn't change anything, does it?'

"No, it doesn't," Shriou stated firmly, looking at Sakura, leaving no room for argument, even if she wanted to. "It doesn't change anything. I guess we have something else to talk about instead of food around the house. Though, my magecraft is pretty boring, and I'm not any good at it."

Sakura smiled with evident relief, but her posture was wrong. Guarded. At least, that's how it appeared to me, because she was still gripping her tea with a tight grip. "It doesn't change anything," Sakura echoed the words, but if she believed them, only she knew. Shirou seemed to take her at face value because he nodded, and only then did he look at me.

I took a sip of my tea for the first time to find that it was pretty good. Then I told him from the start. The Holy Grail and the wish that it granted. How our parents had come to steal a Servant, only to die in the fire. How the fire was caused by the end of the Grail War, and for the entire time, Shirou had been silent until I mentioned who destroyed the Grail.

He looked stricken, "Kiritsugu caused the fire?" he asked, his hands clenched into fists. There was an odd note in his voice. Not quite anger, but not quite betrayal either.

"He destroyed the Grail. What came after is because of what spilled out of it," I offered as a comfort, and Shirou ran with it.

"There's no way he would have caused the fire on purpose. He wanted to be a Hero of Justice. He wouldn't have saved me if he caused the fire on purpose." Shirou stated firmly. I would give it to him that he stuck to his guns. Though, calling someone a Hero of Justice when they spent years bouncing around the most vicious battlefields on the planet…

I shrugged, "You knew him better than I did," I said, conceding the point to him. I could only guess about Kiritsugu's motivations and Shirou seemed confident in his idea of the man.

He looked at the table, "He told me that he didn't know who my parents were." Shirou voiced after a beat of silence. I could see him digesting that with some difficulty. "Do you think that's true?" he asked me, and I had absolutely no idea. What I did know was that Kiritsugu was a man of means.

I met Shirou's gaze and nodded, "Probably," I said, making his lips thin. "But, if that was the case, he would have known our parents were dead. And that they were trash."

"Then he would have known about you," Shriou pointed out, and that was true.

"Maybe he thought I was better off with the Yakuza," I said. "Shirou, I'm about a week old. Whoever I was before, I can't really speak for him. For all I know, Kiritsugu saw a kid that was determined to be a piece of shit, and thought you were better off not knowing about me. I can't speak for his motivations, but you knew him."

To that, Shirou let out a rather hollow sounding laugh, "I'm starting to wonder about that." He muttered to himself, before he shook his head, trying to move on from the subject. Or distract himself from it more likely. "And you plan to fight in the Grail War?" he asked me, earning a nod in response.

Nobara raised a hand, while my gaze slid to Sakura, who met my gaze for the briefest second before looking away. "I'm from a different reality, and Majima promised to take me home." she informed them, making both high schoolers blink at the admission.

"Are you fighting in the Grail War, Sakura?" I asked her bluntly, making her eyes dart to Shirou before she looked back at me.

She shook her head, "No, I'm not." Sakura said in a light voice. Meaning either Shinji or his parents were.

That was good. I got something out of this.

"How can I help?" Shirou questioned, looking between Sakura, me, and Nobara.

I pointed a finger at him, "Kiritsugu shoved a magical object into you. It's why you weren't injured after the fire. We think it's a catalyst to summon a Servant," I said, making Shirou look down at himself.

"...Oh. How do we get it out?" he asked me, and I opened my mouth to answer, before closing it.

I looked at Nobara, who shook her head. Then I looked at Sakura, who also shook her head.

Huh.

"That's a really good question. I have no clue," I admitted. I figured he would know how to take whatever that light was out of himself. Or, even better, it would already be out. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to leave foreign objects shoved in your body for ten years. Magical in nature or not. "I'll ask Touko. She might know." This was a problem I didn't foresee.

Nobara spoke up, "Could we just use Shirou as the catalyst? Whatever is inside of him would still register as the catalyst, right?" She put forward the idea, looking at Sakura in the hopes that she could give a solid answer.

Sakura shook her head slowly, "I don't know if something like that could work, so we shouldn't risk Senpai like that."

To that, Shirou offered a slight smile. "Whatever you need. I won't let something like the fire happen again. No matter what." he said, his gaze intense as he looked at me. Or, rather, through me at something only he could see.

The fire, I'm betting. My first memory was pretty jarring, but walking through that hell had my first memory beat. Sakura shot a worried glance at him but Shirou didn't seem to notice.

My phone rang, breaking the growing tension. I checked it to see it was an unknown number, so I silenced the call. "Sakura's right, we don't know what it would do to you. We don't even know if it's still inside of you. Let's not take a risk that we don't need to," I decided, much to Sakura's obvious relief.

As soon as the call ended, the phone rang again. I looked down at it for a moment, seeing that it was the same number as before. Shirou offered me a smile, "Feel free to take it." he said, willing to put a pin on the number of heavy topics. I'm guessing because he was already left reeling from the ones that we had discussed. He was holding it together pretty well, but I'm betting that the reveal about Kiritsugu hit him hard. And there were a few more blows coming if he wanted the full story.

"Thanks," I said, standing up. I glanced at Nobara, who nodded, to show that she was all good. Almost as soon as I got up from the table, she slid over to keep the conversation going. I spared the three a glance over my shoulder as I headed outside to take the call. It wasn't exactly a light atmosphere, but it was getting lighter as they exchanged small talk.

Shirou really wasn't anything like I expected. When I heard that he was adopted by Kiritsugu, I assumed he would be a cold bastard. It was what made sense. But, instead, Shirou seemed overwhelmingly normal and an overall decent guy.

That, I had a harder time with. If Shirou turned out to be a complete bastard, then it would be easy to write him off. I wouldn't have to bother forming any kind of bond with him. But, he turned out to be decent, which raised a question of what I actually wanted to do with him now.

I shoved away those questions as I slid the front door open and closed it behind me, flipping my phone open to answer. I didn't say anything, but as soon as I brought the phone to my ear, I heard a familiar voice through the speaker.

"Oi, brat," I heard Goro Majima speak to me, "Yer in some real deep shit, ya' know that, right?"

I tilted my head, looking at the gate of the Emiya household. "I figured. What did I do to piss off the entire Tojo Clan?" I asked him, and a better question would have been how he got this number. It was a fresh phone, the only one that should have it's number should be Touko.

Goro gave a dismissive huff through his nose, "Ya' made a right mess out of everything. Ya' made it this long because Shimano saw value in you. Now he wants you to disappear. Tha' same way I disappeared for a year." I had absolutely no clue what that meant, but based on his tone, it wasn't anything good.

"Oh. My bad," I offered a half hearted apology and Goro sucked his teeth in response.

"You've always been a real fucking stupid kid, but you could at least take this seriously," Goro growled, and I noticed that the accent I've always heard him speak with was suddenly gone. "You've been protected from your own dumb ass mistakes, but that's gone. It's not just Shimano that wants you to die screaming. Everyone in the Tojo Clan does."

I was silent for a moment, really wondering what in the hell past Majima did. "Could you pretend for a moment that I have absolutely no clue why the Tojo Clan wants me dead?" I requested, needing a straight answer. I needed to know what exactly happened to paint such a target on my back to the point that a card I had up my sleeve became the biggest threat to me.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Long enough that I started to think that I wouldn't get an answer. "The geases you've been throwin' around like fuckin' candy. Ya' tellin' me ya' just forgot about them?"

Uh… huh. So… this was my plan?

I guess it was going terribly then.

"Yeah, I did," I confirmed. "I lost all my memories a little bit before you picked me up from prison. It's retrograde amnesia caused by something my parents did, I think."

There was another long beat of silence. "No one's going to care, Lil' Majima."

"I know," I responded evenly. "I thought you should know. I have no clue what our relationship was like. I don't remember any of it. So, any sense of attachment you have to me is misplaced," I told him bluntly. This phone call was a hint that there was something there. Otherwise, he wouldn't be calling me.

To my surprise, Majima chuckled. "I hated your guts, brat. You were an annoying little shit coasting on your family's name, weren't even half as smart as you thought you were. You were pretty much everything I can't stand," he said. "Convinced me I shouldn't ever have kids. I barely raised you. So, there ain't a sense of attachment."

"Well, that's good. I'm guessing you know where I am, then?" I asked as I started walking towards the gate.

Another beat of silence. "Yeah, we do."

"I'll meet whoever you send in Fuyuki park," I decided, my tone even.

"Not gonna try to make a run for it?" he asked me, an odd note in his voice.

"No point in running or hiding. You'll find me eventually," I said, leaving Shirou's home. I spared a glance at a car parked at the corner, the driver and passenger openly watching me. "So why wait?"

"Ya' that eager to die?"

To that, I smirked. "Nah. Tiptoeing around Fuyuki with Yakuza on my tail sounds like a pain in the ass. I'll crush whoever you send and earn myself some breathing room."

"Heh," Goro Majima let out a breath of laughter. "Ya' know, fer the first time in your life… yer actually startin' to sound like a real Yakuza." he said, the praise sounding genuine. With that, the call ended and I snapped the phone shut as I threw a leg over my bike.

I looked at the car and gestured for them to follow as I revved up the engine. I spared one last look at the Emiya estate, trying to see through its walls to the people within. I offered them all a silent apology before I took off.

It was a shitty thing to do, I reflected as I drove off to the park, the sky above colored reds and oranges as the sun made its descent. To come into someone's life and immediately leave it.

All the more reason not to die.

…

I took a seat on a weathered-looking park bench, throwing my arms over the back and getting comfortable, my bike parked nearby in case I needed to make a quick escape. The sky was darkening by the minute as I waited for what I felt in my bones was to come. The air got chilly, each breath coming out as a puff of fog, though no snow fell from the sky. That was a little disappointing. I would have liked to see snow in person.

I had a moment to reflect. About all that I had learned. To fit the pieces together so I could get some answers. It seemed that past me had abused a magus' ability to put geases' on people. I think that might have been why I was in Mifune that night -- to place geases' on the thugs I beat up on Shimano's orders. I didn't know what geas he wanted me to give, but my bet was that it was something that would make it easy to take out Nishikiyama, whoever he was.

Nishikiyama found out, and he gave orders to capture me to undo what I did, only that I had actually never done it in the first place.

My bet, Shimano tried to enact his plan but I never did my part so it blew up in his face. All the while, I had been putting more geases' on people. Throughout the Tojo Clan, and even the Omi Alliance.

For… what? To be king of the underworld? Maybe?

I sighed, "What a shithead." I gave my verdict on past me. Because I had forgotten about the plan, whatever role I was supposed to play wasn't being played. So now the Yakuza were tearing each other apart at the seams.

I really wish he would have left a note or something. Then this wouldn't be biting me in the ass so hard.

Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes, enjoying the chill in the air, and let out a long sigh…

Then I opened my eyes and saw that the stars were in the sky. Blinking a few times, I lifted my head up, feeling a crick in my neck. Popping it, I let out a yawn as I looked around the park -- had I fallen asleep? Here? Now, of all times? Really? Did past me fuck me over with a medical condition of some kind?

"You finally woke up," I heard a girl's voice remark, her tone as dry as the Sahara desert. Looking over, I saw who could only be Rin Tohsaka standing next to the bench. She wore a bright red overcoat that went over what looked like her school uniform. Light brown vest with a red and white ribbon at the front that looped around the collar of her white dress shirt. Dark mini skirt and thigh-high stockings covered her legs. Her arms were crossed as she looked down at me through narrow blue eyes, her hair done up in pigtails that were tied off at the sides with a black ribbon.

I blinked, looking at her for a moment longer before I internally shrugged, "Yeah… thanks for not murdering me in my sleep. I appreciate it," I said, pushing myself up to get a better stretch. My back popped, and Rin's nose crinkled in disgust.

"You're making me regret it," Rin remarked, her lips pressed together in a thin line. "What were you thinking just falling asleep in a place like this?"

"I was sleepy,” I defended myself, deciding to leave out the fact I hadn't meant to fall asleep. "But, you picked a bad time. You should probably clear off." I said, sitting back down on the bench. A quick look around the park told me that the Yakuza still weren't here. Though, I did see the car of the Yakuza that had followed me. The driver was slumped forward in his car with this forehead resting against the steering wheel. Rin's handiwork?

In response to that, Rin leveled one of her arms at me, her other braced against it as if she was anticipating recoil of some kind, treating her fingertips as a deadly weapon. And for all I knew, they were.

Huh.

"Are you here to participate in the Grail War?" Rin questioned me, her tone serious. I met her steady gaze and I didn't doubt for a moment that she would kill me if the situation called for it. However, did the situation call for it? I should have anticipated this conversation when I caught the attention of the Second Owner. But, I had assumed she would be trying to kill me for being a rival master.

I met her gaze for a long few seconds, "Yeah," I answered shortly, deciding on the truth. Rin's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, walking around me so she was fully in my view, directly in front of me. "But… I don't have a Servant yet." I tacked on as I spread my arms out wide, hooking my elbows on the back of the bench. "And neither do you."

Rin's eyes narrowed further and I knew I was right. If she had a Servant, she would have sent them in her stead. If only because it would be a lot safer than confronting an unknown magus out in the open at the cusp of the Grail War.

"Is that a threat?" Rin questioned, hearing a warning that wasn't there. I could imagine what my words would sound like to her.

I shook my head, "No, just an observation. Just like how I noticed I didn't wake up with a slit throat. You aren't here to kill me," I pointed out, meeting her gaze evenly. If she was here to kill me, then I would be dead. Even if she was too squeamish to murder a man in his sleep, there was nothing stopping her from killing me now. If killing me was the goal, then I would be dead. Simple as that.

"I still might," Rin warned, her voice just as even as mine.

I met her gaze for a moment longer, cocking my head to the side. "Maybe. But, your words and actions aren't lining up. So, I'll listen to your actions instead. I would offer a seat, but I was serious about you clearing off. If you have something you want to talk about, we can talk after, if I'm still alive."

That seemed to put Rin through a loop, "If you're still alive?" she questioned me, hesitantly lowering her arm as her emotionless mask shifted more towards concern. And, almost on cue, I saw movement behind Rin. I stood up, making her arm snap up, only for it to lower again as I spoke.

"They're here to kill me," I said, nodding at what was behind her, making Rin look over her shoulder at a group of twenty Yakuza striding towards me. In their hands were a number of weapons -- bats, knives, pipes, bass knuckles… and a single chainsaw. No guns, strangely enough. All of them wore a familiar pin at their lapel -- the same pin I saw on everyone that bowed at the mansion in Mifune. They were Shimano's men.

Rin looked between me and them, "Then what are you doing? You can't seriously be planning on fighting them, right?" she questioned, looking at me with growing concern as I strode forward, heading for my bike.

"If I run or hide, the Yakuza will go after Shirou and Nobara," I voiced, walking forward. I couldn't see Rin anymore, but I knew she was listening. "Can't make them look for me. But, I'm enjoying life too much to just let them kill me. That just leaves one option as I see it." I said, matching the Yakuza's pace as they approached.

"There's a time for plans…," I said, unafraid as the Yakuza with the chainsaw revved his chainsaw to life with a pull. It roared, the sound echoing out in the near-silent park. My expression didn't change much, but I felt a small smile tugging at the edge of one of my lips as I grabbed hold of my bike by the back seat and the handlebars. "And there's a time for guts."

And it was time to show them exactly how gutsy I was.

With a heave, I lifted the motorbike up, my thighs straining with effort just as much as my arms were. I heard a muttered, "Wait, what the fuck--!" before I lifted the bike, holding it over my head for a brief moment. I could see it in their eyes, they weren't expecting that. The cocky smiles they wore were replaced with expressions of shock, their confident gait broken, and a few smart ones took a step back while some others started to move faster to stop me from doing what I was about to do. They expected me to be scared.

And I was anything but scared.

Gritting my teeth, I flung my bike at the group of Yakuza, aiming for the one with the chainsaw. He was the leader of the pack, and the biggest one of the group of twenty, and all he could do was stand there as I threw the bike right at him. The Yakuza were spread out enough that i didn’t get all of them with a single throw, but with pain filled screams, I managed to wipe out four of them. They hit the ground, the bike bouncing off of the men, landing behind them, and I knew my bike was dead. And maybe so were the guys I threw the bike at, but I was more concerned with my bike.

The remaining sixteen thugs looked at the fallen ones with shocked expressions, allowing me to rush forward unopposed. The closest one looked back to me a second too late, his eyes widening dramatically before I punched him in the face hard enough that his head snapped to the side and his feet left the ground, colliding with another. Both men hit the ground, yet I moved on before they had even settled. My foot dug into the dirt, before I leapt up, spinning sharply, and the back of my foot caught another dumbfounded Yakuza in the temple. He went down like a bag of bricks.

When I touched down in a crouch, that seemed to snap them all out of it. In the opening moves, I took out about half of their number. Sure, some of them were getting up again, but that didn’t change that all of a sudden there were a lot fewer Yakuza to deal with in my immediate surroundings.

I took in a deep breath, and it would be the last one I would get for the rest of the fight. I was hoping the shock would last a bit longer, but I heard a war cry from behind me, and while the others were still staring dumbfounded, one sprinted forward, a knife ready in his hands. He thrust the weapon out as he neared, intent on stabbing me in the gut. My hands lashed out as I angled myself to the side, shoulder checking him as one hand latched onto his wrist, while the other gripped into his elbow.

I slammed my forehead against him, stunning him while I pressed down with the hand on his wrist while lifting up on his elbow. With a tearing sound, I bent his arm in the wrong direction, stabbing him in the gut with his own knife. The entirety of the large, menacing looking kitchen knife sunk into his gut, but when he stumbled back, I threw a high knee, catching the handle of the knife, and forcing it to stab into the man to the hilt. He went down, and the moment he did so, and his friends saw that actual blood had been drawn, that seemed to break the spell on the others.

The others rushed in. It was impossible to keep track of them all. Fighting ten people at once was messy business, I went on the offensive and punched a guy in the nose with all of my strength. In a way, it was trading blows. Even if I fought three at once, it meant there were another two that got their licks in. I accepted the blows and the pain. After all, a fight like this was just like eating an elephant -- try to do it all at once, and you’ll never finish the meal. So, you took it one bite at a time.

Gritting my teeth, I launched myself at the closet one, a thug with a baseball bat. I caught a blow in the ribs by a led pipe the same moment I delivered a throat punch to the one with the baseball bat, ripping it free from his hands as they found themselves preoccupied with craddling his throat, and delivered a powerful blow to the hand of a thug that tried to stab me with a switchblade.

Knives were the most dangerous weapons they had, I thought, taking a swing that lost its steam when I took a blow to the side of the head. But the Yakuza that tried to stab me would still be picking his teeth up off the ground, as the baseball bat slammed into his lips.

Spinning the bat around, I took another blow to the stomach from the asshole witht he pipe in exchange for thrusting the bottom of the bat into another Yakuza's eye.

Blows rained down on me. Every single one of them fucking hurt. I caught another blow to the head, and the next thing I knew blood was dripping into my eye, messing up my vision. The adrenaline in my system wasn't doing enough to block out the fact that for every blow I delivered, I got about two in return.

But, I didn't stop. Because stopping meant I was dead.

Kicking upwards, ignoring my throbbing ribs, I caught a thug in the balls, the same one I had hit in the eye. He gasped and crumpled, even as I was punched in the face. A Yakuza tried to tackle me to the ground while another repeatedly wailed on my ribs. Grabbing the guy that tried to tackle me by the neck and his pants, I heaved him up before slamming him back down onto the ground. Hard. I'm pretty sure I broke his neck with how he landed but I didn't care.

Spitting blood in the face of another, I grabbed him by the tie and hurled him into the Yakuza that was deadset on tenderizing my ribs. I knocked the three of them down, and when they went down, I realized that the crowd had thinned out quite a bit.

There were still about four guys on their feet, not counting the ones that I just knocked down, but I suddenly had a lot more breathing room. I lashed out in every direction, catching one in the knee with a straight kick, and broke it, knocking the number down to three. One took a swing with a bat, and I took the blow with my forearms in exchange for kicking him in the chest.

Then I felt a pinch in my side, and I saw a red knife sticking out of me when I looked down. Red hot pain flashed when the Yakuza holding it twisted the switchblade, but I paid him back by elbowing him in the nose as hard as I could. Knocking him to the ground, I stomped hard on his head a few times.

Spitting out a mouth full of blood, I pulled the knife out of my side as I looked at the remaining Yakuza.

Again at all odds, as rough as I probably looked, they were starting to look scared.

One of them, unwilling to be cowed, ran forward, wielding a hammer. I side-stepped the blow he tried to land to stab him in the gut, sinking the blade as far as it would go. Then I yanked it out to stab him again under the shoulder, forcing him to drop the hammer, which I quickly scooped up when one guy with a katana, that I hadn't paid much attention to because the guy with the chainsaw had honestly stolen the spotlight, took a swing at me. I used the Yakuza that I had stabbed as a human shield to take the swipe, before I brought the claw of the hammer underneath the attacking thug’s jaw. It hooked in his jawbone, staining the head of the hammer with his blood and forcing him to go in whatever direction I wanted, and that was into the ground.

I rolled my shoulders afterward, and I could feel the bruises forming. My entire body was going to be colored black and blue. But, I'd rather be in pain than dead.

As I dropped the bloody hammer, I spotted a pair of brass knuckles with blood on them in front of me. My blood. Which more or less made them mine, as far as I was concerned, so I picked them up and put them on, eyeing the remaining Yakuza that were fanning out. They were a sorry looking bunch, but they were brave, given the amount of bodies they had to step over to get into position. Letting out the breath I took in before, I went on the attack again.

It was a flurry of blows, but with the brass knuckles, my already powerful punches had devastating effects. The guy that had been punching me with them had no clue how to throw a punch, I thought to myself, as I knocked every single tooth out of a man's head. If he did, then I would have gone down a lot earlier. The blows I took became fewer, until the point where we weren't even trading blows at all. Then the tides turned, and I wasn't participating in a fight so much as a one-sided beating. I felt the fire in my veins as I grabbed a man by his lapel, and headbutted him, before punching him in the jaw hard enough it broke beneath my knuckles.

Dropping him, I looked around to see who was next, only to find that I was the only one standing.

I took in another deep breath, my gaze shifting to Rin, who had watched the fight without interfering with an openly disturbed expression. I rested my body as I stepped on the groaning Yakuza, heading back to the bench. I'm pretty sure some of them were dead. And now that the fight was over, I found that I still didn't care.

Though, as the adrenaline wasn't constantly surging in my body, I was really starting to ache. But, instead of admitting to it, I pocketed the brass knuckles as I approached Rin. She watched me in silence as I reached into my mouth and pulled out a tooth. I eyed it for a second and ran my tongue over my teeth to see it wasn't a visible one, and tossed it to the side.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked her, spitting out another mouthful of blood. Rin searched my face, her lips parted as she tried to find something to say, but the words just wouldn't come.

But, it was a good thing that she didn't have anything to say. If I had been listening to her, I would have been distracted enough that I wouldn't have caught a flash of movement in the corner of my eye. My body moved on pure instinct, more adrenaline in my bloodstream than actual blood -- I shoved Rin, and in doing so, I felt pain in my forearm as a spike punched through flesh like it wasn't even there. Rin hit the ground while my hand went to the chain that the spike was connected to, and followed it back to the source.

A purple-haired woman in what looked like a black cocktail dress that barely came past her thighs, a mask covering her eyes and a red marking on her forehead. In her hand was the other end of the chain that was currently punched through my forearm.

"You have good instincts," the woman praised in a soft voice, sounding like she meant it as a compliment.

"Such a shame that my Master ordered me to kill you."