A Kat and Her Man Ch. 4

AN: So I'm really enjoying writing this fanfiction. It's always nice to kind of play around with older characters to see how they'd change in the face of trauma. I had to do a lot of research for this chapter, so don't say I've never done anything for you guys. :P I hope you enjoy, please feel free to review, favorite, or follow. If I haven't replied to your reviews, I'm sorry. The website is currently bugged and who knows how long it will take to fix it. Thanks again for all of your support. -Kiba

As I opened the door to the chamber, the rowdy noises came to a slow as the heads of many of the League's champions all swiveled to regard me and the new blood at my side. I swept past most of the other factions, Kal trailing along behind me and looking around in awe at what to him must have felt like celebrities.

It was a shame he didn't realize that the looks they were giving him were all ones of scorn and irritation. Demacians didn't like that he was with a Noxian, Ionians didn't like he was with a Noxian, Piltoverians...well the idea isn't difficult to grasp. When, finally, we reached Noxus' designated area, I grinned brightly at my comrades. "Hey everyone," I called, moving to sit beside Darius.

"Kat," Draven smirked, "where the hell have you been? We all thought the Council was giving you a royal reaming."

Darius, far more stoic than his brother nodded in agreement. "Indeed. It seems the only thing you got out of it was a small pest," his eyes focused on Kal fiercely as the kid just stood there, unsure of what to do or say.

Morgana, ever the flirt leaned closer some with a wry smile. "Hey there, cutie. Are you lost? Got separated from the school field trip, did we?" She gave him a sultry wink. "That's alright, we won't say a word. We like ourselves a rebel here."

"Guys, kid. Kid, guys," I introduced lazily, before the tapping of a cane caused us all to cease talking. All eyes turned their attention from Kal to the High General as he stood up, offering his hand politely to him.

"Apologies for my compatriots disrespect," he said. "I am High General Jericho Swain, at your service, Summoner."

"No way!" Draven cried, examining him more closely. "This puny brat is a Summoner? Since when did they start pulling mages out of daycare centers?"

"Hold your tongue, Draven," Swain commanded coldly, "or else, I will feed it to the crows." His threatening tone was not an empty one, and so the executioner leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest with an impatient 'hmmph'. "Anyway, I have given you my name Summoner. Would you be so kind as to offer your own?"

The kid swallowed nervously, his hand reaching out to grasp his. Despite the fear in the kid's eyes, his grip was a tight one, causing Swain to smile beneath his mask. "My name is Kal'adamsul Midori-hi. But just Kal is fine."

"Very well, Kal. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. The Council has already informed me that you are being paired with Lady Du Couteau, is that not correct?"

"Lady?" he asked in surprise, looking at me in confusion. "You're a noble?"

"In name only, kid," I quickly shot back. "But he asked you a question. Don't be a brat."

"Oh, sorry. Yes sir, that's correct."

Swain nodded in his head, as if affirming to himself that he had been right all along. "Well, she is a wonderful choice for a first Summon, I must say. I cannot think of another whom I'd offer to you that could mentor you as well in the ways of the League as she."

"Thank you sir, I appreciate that," I interjected. "But the Council is the one who assigned me to him. In fact, he was just saying the most interesting thing about Noxus not even an hour ago."

Kal froze, his hand now slowly trailing from the High General's to his side looking like a deer between head lights. "Oh? Do tell?" Swain asked, his eyes narrowing on the young person.

The kid just stood there, almost petrified as the Noxian military all seemed to rise around him. I simply smirked flipping my knife. "I...I said…" he stammered, trying to find a way to spit it out. Just as I thought he was about to break, he paused and took a breath. "I feel like the way that Noxus handled the Ionian invasion was cruel and unfair. It's one thing to fight against our military, it's another thing entirely to use an unliving army of machines to kill every man, woman, and child in sight. To be frank, you should be ashamed of yourselves." Everyone was stunned speechless as the knife clattered from my fingers to the ground.

Grabbing him I roughly tugged him so his face was just inches from mine. "Are you out of your damned mind?" I hissed. "Do you want to be killed?" That was when that kid smirked at me.

In his eyes I saw a cunning I hadn't noticed there before. "In the Institute, a champion may not harm a summoner," he replied, quoting one of the many rules. "Any attempt to do so results in a painful electric shock that will render the champion unable to strike."

"You've got guts, kid," I finally sighed.

Swain tapped his cane upon the ground thoughtfully. "I'm afraid, young Summoner, that even if we did feel remorse for our actions in the war, it does not change what has already happened. Ionia will be ours, though I look forward to facing you and whomever your champion may be at that time."

Even I doubted the sincerity of those words, but still I nodded in agreement. Standing from the table, I picked up my knife before tugging on the back of the kid's jacket to pull him behind me. "You heard him, kid. Water under the bridge."

As the others all waved their farewells, Draven looked to the rest of the group. "What do you think she has planned? I wish I could watch. For a moment there, I thought he was gonna piss himself." He laughed until Darius elbowed him in the side to silence him.

"That kid had some balls," he commented, watching as the two of them left. "He's either stupid, brave, or both."

"My money is on the first," Morgana yawned. "That kid is going to wish he hadn't crossed her. To be honest, if I was her, I'd tease him until his tiny pubescent mind melts out of his ears."

"We all know that," Draven cackled before Morgana slapped him upside the head.

"Even still," Swain commented, causing the rest of them to fall silent, "he is not to be touched." Looking to Morgana, he added, "Good or bad. I think Noxus will have use for him."

"We're seriously letting him get away with mouthing off like that?!" Draven protested. "What in the Hells, Jericho?"

There was a resounding thud as Swain's cane came down on Draven's arm, pinning it to the table just as he was lifting his drink to his mouth. "You will address me as either 'sir' or 'High General', Draven." To accent his lecture, his raven, Beatrice, hopped down to the executioner's arm, glaring up at him with her six eyes. As her talons dug into his flesh, black tendrils began to spread, causing him to grit his teeth in agony. As his flesh began to decay before his eyes, he had to resist all urges to cry out, until at last, Swain removed his cane and whistled for Beatrice to return to her perch.

Draven grasped his arm, watching as the flesh slowly lost its necrotic appearance. "Yes, sir," he mumbled under his breath, nursing his painful injury.

"If not that I need you for the League, I'd have broken your arm. Do not forget this lesson." With that, Swain slipped past the three, leaving them to look at one another in intimidated silence.

As soon as Kal and I had rounded the corner, I pinned him against the wall glaring him in the eye. "Let's get one thing straight here, kid. When you're in the presence of your betters, you keep your mouth shut. You don't speak unless spoken to, and you sure as shit don't mouth off to them the way you just did. You're lucky because Swain let it go, but otherwise, you'd be a dead man walking, do I make myself clear?"

He just smirked at me again. This little shit-eating grin of his was about to get wiped off bloodily. "A champion can't hurt a …"

"In the Institute," I interrupted. "You forgot that tiny little detail, didn't you? You can't stay here forever, kid. Some day, you're going to have to walk out those doors, and as the point stands, you're lucky that you don't have a target on your back."

It was obvious from his stupefied expression that the realization hadn't even occurred to him. Thanks to that little oversight on his part, now he was even further indebted to me. He just kept making my job easier and easier.


The next morning, I awoke to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. I blinked in confusion, rolling over to see that it was still early: around seven in the morning. Not even Talon was up this early. Curious as to who could be using my kitchen at this time of day, I cracked open my door and came downstairs.

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, I had to cover my mouth to stifle a laugh. Standing in an apron over a frying pan, in which a few slabs of bacon were hissing, was Kal, his normally long hair tied up in a ponytail and covered by a bandana. He looked almost like a maid. "What in Gods' names are you wearing?" I giggled, causing him to turn in surprise.

"Oh! Good morning, Kat," he greeted as I came closer. "I felt bad for last night...so I thought I'd make breakfast for you."

"Well, it smells wonderful," I admitted, leaning against the counter and watching him work. "So does this mean you've changed your mind?"

"No," he answered, causing my heart to sink. "But I did promise that I'd think about it, right? The way I see it we still have a day before I have to make a decision." Flipping the bacon, he reached for a nearby carton. "How would you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled like your brain," I teased. "Thank you, for at least considering it. I know that this isn't easy for you and I wish you'd take a bit more time to mourn and relax in peace. But, I know you, and I know that you're not the 'sit still' kind of guy."

With a well-timed 'crack', Kal broke the eggs into the skillet, agitating the yolks with the whites just as it began to sizzle. Lowering the heat, he turned to face me, wiping his hands on the apron. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind a longer break, but it's not about whether I'm ready for work or not. This is about Magnus and making sure he gets what he deserves. Despite what they preach, the League is a heartless organization. They won't wait for me to recover before charging him. I need to be ready."

Black smoke began to rise from the bacon, but I quickly moved to his side, taking the frying pan from the heat to place the food onto a plate. I had to admit, it was nice being in the kitchen for once. "I know what you mean. If we wait too long, the greater the odds are they will just pretend this whole thing never happened and we can't have that. Even still, after the trial, I think you need to take some time away from the world. Stay in our library, read some books, distract yourself from the world. It's good to get away every now and then."

"Yes, because that's what you do," he retorted sarcastically.

"Do as I say, not as I do," I shot back flashing him a warm smile. "I'm not a good example to follow Kal, you should know that by now." He didn't say anything in reply, but even still, he was smiling, and that was definitely a victory. It felt like everything was starting to settle down again, finally. These last few days had been crucial, and for a while, I feared that I was losing Kal. "You know," I finally suggested, "maybe it'd be good for the two of us to get out of the house. What if we did something fun for a change? We could bring Annie, Cass, and Talon if you wanted, or it could be just us, but we should do something."

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, applying a motley of seasonings to the eggs as they cooked.

"I think the Fleshing is happening today," I replied. He turned towards me with a quizzical look. "Just kidding," I chuckled nervously. Ugh, being good was hard to do. A lot of the things in Noxus didn't have much in the way of moral entertainment. "We could go to a club. Do some dancing. Maybe some light drinking." I enunciated the 'light' heavily and Kal nodded to gesture that he understood.

"You know what? That doesn't sound too bad, actually. Let's go later this afternoon. We can get back at a reasonable time and turn in early so we have more energy tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Perfect. So...four o'clock?"

"Sure."

I beamed, excited for the opportunity to get Kal out of the house. Taking my breakfast the two of us ate in relative silence, but the mood had once again shifted in the manor. Things certainly felt more at ease, anyway.

Later that day, I went to Cass' room before knocking politely on the door. It swung open, and I smiled to see her looking at her picture of Brett that she kept on her vanity. "Oh, hi Kat. Sorry...I know you don't approve."

"It's okay, Cass. So long as you're not screwing him, I don't care," I paused before adding, "That didn't come out right. But that's not why I'm here, I need your help."

"My help? Did Kal hurt himself?"

"No! No, nothing like that," I quickly assured her, causing her to visibly relax. For a moment, I just stood there awkwardly, shifting from one foot to another.

"Well? What do you need my help with?"

I timidly bit my lip, nudging the ground with my foot. "I...need you to help me with my makeup."

Cass' eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Could you repeat that?"

"I need your help with my makeup," I repeated through gritted teeth, my cheeks already starting to flush in embarrassment.

My younger sister covered her mouth as she began to giggle uncontrollably. "Oh my goodness, this is hilarious! I thought you knew how to put on makeup. You wear eyeliner during League matches."

"It's grease paint to protect my eyes from the glare," I protested, frowning. "Cass, please? I'm new to this whole...girly thing. This is the first time I'm able to get Kal out of the house and he's starting to finally put himself back together."

"Ohhhhh," she replied with a even bigger grin. "So you're doing this for Kal? You totally have a thing for him!"

"I do not," I quickly snapped, my eyes becoming stormy.

"You totally do!"

"Cass...stop, now." My tone immediately made her fall silent. "His wife just died Cass. Her body isn't even cold. You can't make jokes like that, understand? Even if I did have feelings for him, this is not the time to tell him so. Understand?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't," I agreed. "But let's just be grateful he didn't hear us. Consider it water under the bridge, Cass. Will you help me?"

The sullen expression brightened again. "But of course! You came to the right person, dear sister." She patted the small chair in front of the vanity, slithering into her personal bathroom in order to retrieve her makeup kit. It had been a while since it'd last seen use, but she swore it'd still be good. "First," she instructed, "we need to apply the foundation primer. I'm not sure how long you intend to be out, but it's always good to have because it smoothes out the pores and makes it look nicer. Now then, for your skin tone…" she began rummaging through the box, going through multiple vials. "No...no...no...maybe...no...ah this will work." Pulling out a small bottle of a beige gel, she took my hand and put a small amount of it in there.

"So…?"

"Just apply that to your face. Everywhere." I nodded and began rubbing it in before she quickly grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "No! It's not sunscreen Kat, Gods. Be gentle with it. Make sure it's spread nice and evenly." I frowned, redoing it as she instructed me. Soon, my face had a youthful sheen to it. You couldn't even see the tiredness of having to take over Kal in my eyes.

"Wow."

Cass just smiled, grabbing a wide brush and a small round tin. "Hold on. You don't want your face looking like it's made of plastic," she teased, dipping the brush into the tin before dabbing it on my face. I quickly jerked away from her, coughing in surprise as the powder that erupted from the small thing. "Oh just relax, Kat. It's a face powder. It sets the foundation."

"So this is what completes it?"

Cass let out another laugh. "Oh, honey...no. This is barely the beginning." I let out an irritated groan. "I know," she empathized, "but this is how it is. Guys never appreciate the effort that we put into making ourselves look nice. Now, we're going to apply a bit of rouge to your cheeks to give them some color."

She hummed to herself as she dipped a small brush into a different box of powder, applying it to my cheeks. As she promised, they gave me a much more lively appearance. I spent much of my time in the dark, as all assassins should, so my skin was rather pale.

"You've been doing all of this since we were ten?" I asked skeptically.

"Since before. When you and Dad were off training, Mom and I would…" her words trailed off before she cleared her throat. "Anyway, yes. I've been doing this for a long time. Now, your lips are already pretty toned, so we're just going to apply gloss instead of lipstick. Now pout your lips like you're kissing someone." When I didn't move, she looked at me in surprise. "Really? Never?"

"Shut up," I sighed, pushing my lips slightly forward. "Like this?"

"Perfect," she said. Taking the small brush she applied it carefully to my skin, making it appear more brightly in the light. I was grateful she did not continue her line of questioning. Assassins didn't have time for romance, and it was honestly better that way. Having a target for someone else to use against you was a mistake that could cost your life. "There, done." I went to stand, but she quickly snagged my arm sitting me back down. "With the lip gloss," she lectured. "Next we're going to put on some eyeliner. You know how this works right?"

"Is it like grease paint?"

"No."

"Then no."

With a tsk of disappointment, Cass took out a variety of small colored pencils and held them up to compare them to my skin. "I think a darker color would make your eyes pop, but we don't want black…"

"Why not?"

"You'd look like a raccoon. We want Kal to take an interest in you, not an animal, right?" I gave her a glare to urge her to drop it. She held up a hand in surrender before selecting a darker violet color. "We're picking purple," she explained, "because it is a contrast color to green. This means when you're wearing it, your eyes will seem brighter and more vivid."

"You're the expert," I sighed, closing my eyes tightly.

"Relax your eyes Kat."

"I just really don't want to be poked in the eye with a pencil," I explained, but I still did as she asked. It was so odd, feeling the dyed kohl rubbing off on my skin. They made my eyelids feel almost a little heavier, but even still once she had finished, I found that she was right. My eyes sparkled like emeralds, and I began to wonder if maybe Kal wore eye liner the way his eyes shimmered. I chuckled at the thought. If he did wear eyeliner with his eyes, they'd probably be so bright that they glowed. "Now are we finished?"

"Still, no. Next comes mascara."

"We already put on eye liner."

"Just stop talking Kat, you're embarrassing yourself," she teased. Removing a small tube from the kit, she unscrewed the lid and pulled out a thin wiry brush. "Mascara," she explained, "is for your eye lashes, not your eyelids. They make them look thicker and longer. Now the key is to not go too overboard. We don't want it to look like you've never trimmed your eyelashes."

"I haven't ever trimmed my eyelashes."

"That was a joke, sweetie. You don't actually trim those. Close." I obeyed, my eyes falling shut again while she brushed out my lashes. "There."

"Now?" I whined.

"Nope, one last thing," she pulled out a bright pink glass vial and I quickly jerked away from her.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Oh come on Kat, they'll look great!"

"No, I need my fingernails normal colored and able to claw my way out of trouble without having to worry about messing up some paint job," I protested, but she just grabbed my hand.

"Don't be such a baby."

"No, Cass! I don't want it."

"Do you want to impress him or not?"

"I do, but…"

"A-ha! I knew it!" she exclaimed, releasing my hand. My eyes shot daggers at her as she grinned triumphantly. "You do have a thing for Kal! It makes so much sense! Is that why you want him to move on so quickly?"

"Of course, not!" I snapped, my wrath building. "Before anything else, he is my friend Cass and I refuse to let my friend suffer alone in agony like all of the rest of the world has!"

"Kat, calm down."

"No, you calm down!"

She placed her hand gently on mine. "Kat," she stated plainly. "I'm not going to tell anyone, okay? Your secret is safe with me. Besides, I know you wouldn't do something like that. You're better than that now." My chest rose and fell. I was still frustrated from her annoying insistence, but her words did provide a small level of comfort. "We'll skip the nail polish, but at least let me buff them."

"Fine," I grumbled as she began rubbing the rubber buffer across the keratinous nails. Soon, she'd finished with them completely. I sat there, looking at her expectantly as she packed everything up.

"Done," she grinned. "For real this time. What do you think?"

Looking in the mirror, I was hardly able to recognize the reflection staring back. It looked just like me, but at the same time, the woman in the glass was absolutely breath-taking. "Wow," I whispered again, unable to find words to describe my amazement.

"Oh, there is one last thing," Cass realized.

"What?"

"Your wardrobe."

"What do you mean?"

"Kat, you're not going to wear leather armor to a club. I absolutely forbid it. You need something more casual. You're going on a date, not to a war."

"It's not a date."

"Outing. Whatever. The point still stands. Come on, I think I have some clothes you can borrow."

"From when you were ten?"

She scoffed. "I will have you know that I was both taller and more developed at ten than you were at eighteen. Don't even." She snapped her fingers, before pushing me towards her closet. Pulling open the doors, she began rummaging through shirts and pants, trying to find something before she finally had selected a black cotton tank top and a pair of denim jeans. "There. That should work. Shows off a bit of cleavage, but not too much. It's plain, so you're not attracting too much attention to yourself. He should remain completely oblivious."

I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat. "I'm not changing my pants."

"Oh, come on!"

"No, absolutely not. My butt was made for only one material and that material is leather."

"Kat."

"No. I'm set on this Cass. Now in addition to my leather pants and tank top, what else should I wear?"

"Accessories," she agreed, pulling me after her. "Stay here, I'll be right back." Leaving, she came back with a sharp pin and a lighter. Holding the pin over the flames, she smiled at me. "We have to sterilize it," she explained.

"What do you intend on doing with it?" I asked cautiously as she crept closer to me. "Cass?"

"Hold still, okay? This is going to sting a bit. I'll make it fast though."

"No Cass, wait, don't...arrgh!" A burning pain lanced through my ear as she pierced its lobe.

"Suck it up, buttercup. We have to pay the price for beauty in blood." Keeping the needle there, she grabbed an earring she'd selected before hand. They were small studs, each with a glimmering amethyst gem in their center. "Ready for number two?" she asked, moving to my other side. As the pain subsided from my first ear, I nodded, taking a deep breath. Another stabbing pain later and I now had two pierced ears.

"This feels so weird," I commented as she dabbed at the blood with a cotton ball. The hydrogen peroxide it was soaked in bubbled as she dabbed it. "Do you think he'll notice?"

"I thought you weren't concerned about him noticing, Kat," she teased. "If he doesn't notice, tell him that I'm going to claw his eyes out. Now you're going to want to leave these in for four to six weeks."

"FOUR TO SIX WEEKS?! Cass, I have a meeting with the Council tomorrow, I can't go in there with pierced ears!"

"Sure you can," she assured me. "Just use your hair to cover them. But for the club, you're going to want to show them off."

"O...kay?"

Grabbing a brush, she began to stroke my hair before pulling it back and placing a band around it to keep it tied together. Now I had a crimson pony tail that matched Kal's, with two long bangs that framed either side of my face. Cass clapped her hands as she leaned back to examine her handywork.

"How does it look?"

"You look absolutely adorable. If this doesn't cheer him up, nothing will."

I sighed. "I hope you're not right about that." Standing up, I slipped into the top that Cass had chosen for me, and straightening it, I smiled at her. "Thanks again, Cass. I really appreciate this. If you ever need me to teach you how to throw a knife or something, let me know, okay?"

The two of us embraced tightly before parting. Slipping outside, I found that Kal was already waiting for me by the door. He didn't look too different, though I noted he'd shaved his stubble away. "Hey, are you ready to…" When he turned to look at me, his eyes went so wide I thought they would pop out of their sockets.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but to smile as he just stood there in awe. "Yeah, I'm ready to go," I answered nonchalantly, pretending that nothing was different. He was completely speechless the entire ride there. Every time he'd open his mouth to say something, he would immediately fall quiet again.

I just smiled kindly at him before gazing out the window at the shifting scenery. I couldn't help but to admit to myself that I wished he would be smitten with me, but at the same time, I stood by what I told Cass. I was a friend first.

The club would be good for him. He'd enjoy himself for a night at least before going back to work the next day, then we'd start to make progress on this whole Noxus Summoner issue. It felt like things were finally looking up as we pulled into the parking lot.

As we both stepped out, the music could easily be heard inside and when I opened the door, I was absolutely stunned. This, I knew, would probably wreck Kal's heart even more than it already was.

To be continued...