Akali threw her kamas across the room and let out a loud sigh, unmoved by the loud clank made by its force against the wall. She waited three long seconds before recollecting her emotions, walking over to where her kamas lay and a dent in the wall as evidence of her blinding rage. She picked them up and neatly laid them against the wall before taking a seat in the uncomfortably plush chair of a hotel room in Piltover.
Ripping the rugged elastic out of her long black hair, she pressed her fingers against her temples deep in thought, reminding herself to control her emotions. Lately, gruesome murder after murder had occurred within Ionia and Piltover. The bodies even made her, a senior member of the Kinkou Order, overly repulsed. The murders were inexplicable: doors locked from the inside, no witnesses, not a single footprint—except for lotuses left behind on the mutilated bodies as a sign of an artist signing his work. There was no coincidence.
Her thoughts were interrupted immediately by a familiar voice.
"I thought your training would've taught you better."
Akali did not need to turn to hear Shen come into the room. From the corner of her eye she could see his tall shadowy figure picking up her weapons to inspect any damage and felt mildly embarrassed at the thought of him having witnessed her silly outburst.
"Don't people knock before entering a woman's room" she curtly replied.
"Gender has no role in the Kinkou Order."
She did not respond, still embarrassed. Looking down at her hands folded across her lap, she braced herself for his lecture, but was surprised to hear him dive straight to the point.
"I did not ask you to chase Jhin here" said Shen, still inspecting her kama, running his thumb over a small golden scratch.
"I understand, but you are going after him alone." Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Akali was aware of Shen's rooted hatred for the man, immediately regretted having said that.
Of course Shen wasn't alone. Zed was sure to be close by chasing the same target and in her heart, she knew she was more afraid of how a meeting with Zed would go than with Jhin.
He clenched his fist for a brief moment and then placed the kama back against the wall where he had picked it up, calmly turning to face her unmasked pursed lips.
"You were not asked to be here" he said again with more sternness in his voice. "In fact, you were sloppy tonight."
She had not invited him as an audience to witness her poor tailing skills of the Virtuoso, but of course he would be watching from a distance. She felt even more ashamed at her failure tonight. Akali had sat through Jhin's theatrical performance in the center square. His face had branded a different mask from usual, but his style was still the same—a style only those who have studied him would be able to remember and ingrain. His love for performing did not die after being freed from jail, but she calculated there would be too much civilian causality if she were to deal a killing blow in the middle of his public show. After the wild crowd had dispersed, Akali had followed the masked murderer from the public square all the way across the city just to lose him in a dead end. If he could disappear from the honorary Fist of the Shadow that easily, then surely he was already aware of her presence during the performance, probably relishing in her frustration over her inability to act immediately in public. Furthermore, Akali knew she had jeopardized Shen's quest.
"I cannot say anything that will make up for my failure tonight" she said quietly. She immediately kneeled on the ground with her head hung, a sign of begging for forgiveness. Her back was slumped forward and her knees pressed against the soft red carpet.
Shen darted his eyes away from her pitiful appearance, unwilling to see his friend so rarely apologetic to him. "Get up."
She rose slowly, unsure of what to do from now on. Would it be right to return to the temple without him? What if he were to have a standoff against Zed? She shuddered, reliving the moment when she saw her friend for the first time lose so much of his control, descending into a terrible rage against Zed. For all his life, Shen was the idol of hundreds of students, including her, for never letting his emotions compromise his mission. To see his first wavering moment of resolve was shocking and uncomfortable. Yet, it was probably even worse for Shen himself, realizing his position in the Order and the failure of his discipline. Even now, he still felt a prickling of anger resurface every time Zed's name was mentioned.
She shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts immediately. Of course Shen was still powerful. He was the best.
Realizing her defeat, she picked up her weapons and bowed to him before disappearing in a wave of smoke out of the hotel room.
Shen stared into the wisps of smoke left behind by her spell. He sighed quietly. I just don't want you to be hurt by anyone.
He looked around the hotel room where she had been hiding alone: a flashy top floor room with ground to ceiling windows and pink flowy curtains. She had checked out a large king sized bed with soft satin blankets and a large pristine bathtub with golden knobs. This whole room was the very opposite of Akali which is why it made it the perfect place for her to stay, trying to hide from Shen's view, but he had found out immediately when she had checked into the hotel disguising herself as a nurse.
"At least change your alias, Akali," he whispered under his breath. He picked up her fake medical ID card that was still left on the coffee table. Despite her vigorous training and outstanding results back at the temple, she was still very new to disguise. She needed more training.
He closed his eyes, willing the impure thoughts that had started to gather in his mind. Having watched her grow up, she was a dear part of his family without being related. Yet, he had become increasingly aware of her femininity. Despite his comment on gender playing no part in her duties, even he could not ignore her beauty under her mask and the way her bright grey eyes stared into his during the night or even her soft black hair as it brushed against him when she walked past. Why don't you cut your hair, Akali?, he thought to himself. It's a hazard if your hair is used against you in combat.
Two weeks ago, he had worked furiously to track down Jhin, compiling lists of contacts and newspaper clippings. He had done extensive research into Jhin's tactics of murders, studying each body carefully, outlining the scrapes of bullets and slashes. He had become obsessed at the chance of capturing Jhin.
Not to mention his chance to meet with Zed as he surely would be back for Jhin as well.
As much as Shen did not want to admit it, his obsession had less to do with persecuting Jhin, but more to do with an open chance to meet with his greatest rival. He would never admit it to anyone.
Even so, Akali probably knew all of this and recognized both Jhin and Zed as completely powerful opponents. When word of a nurse had arrived into the luxury tourist hotel of Piltover, Shen automatically knew it was Akali and his focus became watching her movements to figure out what her plan was to make she was still safe by the end of the day.
His mission quickly shifted to protecting her. And he wanted her out of the city. She was lucky that Jhin was aware of Shen's lingering presence on the rooftop. Otherwise he might have turned around for Akali.
Did she even realize she matched the physical description of the last ten women Jhin had murdered?
Akali stumbled away from the glittering flashy hotel. She rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling the weight of all the work she had done today and regretted the big luxurious hotel room she had checked out. Akali was used to simple tatami mats, not luscious memory foam mattress. She felt more comfortable sleeping on a soft patch of grass than the unusual comforts of the city. Her thoughts were disturbed by a strong confident voice.
"It's dangerous at this time of night for a civilian."
A police officer pulled up her motorcycle beside Akali, her large metal fists held onto the handles, smiling warmly at her. She tipped her hat with an emblazed "Piltover Police" badge. "We've been getting a lot of murder reports of young women with black hair lately. I'd say—"
A large rifle smacked the back of Vi's head, and she yelped before recovering. She pouted rubbing the spot. "What the hell, Caitlyn. That actually hurt this time."
Caitlyn, another officer, stepped off her motorcycle and furrowed her eyebrows at her colleague. "Please stop scaring the civilian," she warned, her voice was tense. "We don't need another huge panic; we already have your sister for that." She turned to Akali, and took a few steps forward, her long legs gliding towards her. She looked her up and down suspiciously and frowned. "My colleague here is still correct. The streets have been very dangerous lately and we are looking for a known criminal. I am sure I can catch the them, but until then, you need to take more precaution. I suggest you retire tonight." She held out her hand. "May I see your ID?"
Akali took a moment to register the officer's demand, snapping out of her surprise and ruffled through her dress trying to find her nurse ID. Then she remembered: she had left it in the hotel room.
"I'm sorry, officer," she mumbled. "I left my ID back at the hotel."
Caitlyn dropped her hand to her side and rested her rifle on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but Piltover laws say those without proper identification must be taken down to the station for verification." She wrinkled her nose and added, "I assumed a nurse from out of the city would have been briefed about our laws."
Vi gave a disapproving look towards Caitlyn then shot a pitiful look at Akali, wringing her hands in defeat while motioning, can't argue with the boss.
Akali waited two seconds then unleashed a puff of grey smoke.
"W-what?!" blurted Caitlyn. She and Vi coughed up a storm as the smoke covered the entire street. The large full moon above the city was unable to penetrate the thick cloud. It only lasted for ten seconds, but by the time it cleared, Akali had already disappeared.
Caitlyn let out a loud irritated noise. "What kind of nurse knows disappearing techniques? I'm not letting any secret ninja-or-whatever operation run in this city right under my nose!" She got on her motorcycle and sped right down the street back towards the station.
Vi was left in a puff of smoke by the vehicle and coughed some more. "H-hey. Wait for me, Cait!" Her motorcycle rumbled beneath her and drove off following her direction.
Kennen had been sitting on the rooftop waiting for a few hours now. He stared into the moon, counting the stars with his tiny fingers. He let out a worried sigh while checking the time. Akali was late for their rendezvous. He could not help thinking of the worst case scenario.
"Kennen."
He let out a high pitched scream and pranced up in less than a second ready to strike. Then he recognized Akali's face.
"I almost just electrocuted you!" he said exasperated. "Why do you keep creeping up on me?"
"Why are you still surprised?" she retorted. She folded her arms across her chest and walked over to the edge to inspect the dimly lit street beneath them.
He gave a weak smile, grateful that his friend had come safely if not a little late.
"I was held back by some police officers. They seemed to know a lot about Jhin. It seems that he has been targeting females with black hair." She paced back and forth and gently ran her fingers through her own hair which was already touching her tailbone. She was considering their options. "We could infiltrate their station and learn what they know."
Kennen watched her walk in circles with hopeful eyes, getting excited at the idea for another infiltration. It had been awhile since he had done any information gathering and he had been grounded at the base for so long he had missed working on the outside. "Yeah, those officers are pretty big jokes compared to the Demacian base we finished before. Is Shen gonna meet us there?"
Akali stopped, completely forgetting the direct orders given to her by him. Kennen noticed and frowned. He sighed in defeat. "He said we had to go home, didn't he?"
Akali bit her lip, looking down at her worn out shoes. "He already knew we were here as soon as we got here. He will definitely find out if we break into a Piltover police station no doubt."
"Look Akali," started Kennen slyly. "He's technically not higher rank than us yet. I mean..." She shot him a blistering look and he shut up immediately.
She then turned her gaze towards the moon, letting the light bathe her, but almost snorted at the dusty air filled with metal and chemicals. Piltover was the center of engineering and creation. The city was filled with bright intellectuals creating new inventions to change the city. Everything about Piltover was new to Akali who was used to candlelight for electricity, blankets for a heater, and campfires for stoves. Despite the luxuries that the city had to offer, she felt very out of place and could feel her training at the Kinkou temle would not be nearly enough to prepare her for this.
Meanwhile, Kennen felt right at home, happy at the loud bustles of car honks and machinery. It reminded him of Bandle City, minus the yordles. He was ready to get a move on and explore more of the streets. "I know you're worried about him" said Kennen, covering his yawn. "But honestly, it's Shen we're talking about. He's gonna be a-okay with or without us, but it certainly would be more fun with us."
Kennen had not been there to witness Zed and his meeting. He wouldn't know what an encounter between those two would mean for the order. Thinking about Zed, she gritted her teeth, then quickly snapped out of her anger, flooding with worry. Ever since stepping into this city, her emotions had become haywire. Where could Jhin be—
A piercing shot whizzed right past her ear right into the middle of Kennen's forehead. With wide eyes, he fell backward collapsing down the side of the building.
"Kennen!" yelled Akali. She turned around to see where the shot had come from, but then felt a cold piece of metal press against her back.
"You're very lovely." Jhin whispered an inch away from her ear, a hand cupping her chin. She felt disgusted by his big cool hands touching her face. His mask was always contorted into a smile, but she could feel his widening grin underneath. "You'll be my next muse."