Here we go! On to the next chapter! Hope you're all enjoying!
Chapter 4-Are You Leaving?...
"So, mind telling me how you ended up like this after your challenge?" Ayane inquired as she slowly lowered herself onto Senji's couch, careful of her healing wound. Her friend sat across from her on the other couch with a concerned look in his eye. Well, he did stop her from stabbing the Mockingbird all the way through.
"Why don't you tell me your relationship with that sick bastard?" Senji retorted, using a bitter tone.
The brunette lifted her head slightly and glanced over at the Crow to see a skeptical glint in his eye. He's actually serious...come to think of it, I've never seen him mad before...Ayane thought for a split second about not telling him, but after realizing the pact they made a few days ago, she decided to comply. So, she leaned her head back into the couch and let out a small sigh.
"Sure, I'll tell you." A surprised noise came from the Crow. Seemed he didn't expect her to agree so quickly.
"Y-you don't need to if it'll-"
"I'm telling you and only you. Got it?" Ayane interrupted, her tone sharp as she met her piercing gaze with his. There was an astonished expression on Senji's face. "I'll tell you my story as long as you tell me yours, okay?" Seeing the Crow's nod, Ayane shut her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly.
"...The Mockingbird and I...we fought as opponents in a Carnival Corpse a long time ago. Before we crossed blades, I never really knew of him and he never knew of me. But after that battle...we wouldn't be able to forget each other's faces. That round...I lost, not because I was weak or because he had enough strength to beat me, but because the entire round was rigged. The damn bastard already knew he was going to win, even if it didn't seem like it. And because I wasn't as strong as I am today, Toto made sure to pound it in my head that he was stronger than me. So..." The Hawk trailed off as her free arm went to her prosthetic one, catching Senji's attention.
"...So?" Senji gently prompted, leaning forward slightly.
"So the Mockingbird beat me and in the penalty game, I lost both my left arm and leg. That too was his plan." Ayane bluntly said.
"The moment we stepped on that stage, he knew he would win." she finished as she let out a long soft sigh, a wistful expression on her face.
Senji was quiet for a moment, his head tilted down, face unreadable. Ayane refocused her attention on to him and noticed his fists clenched together, the knuckles almost white. The brunette woman raised an eyebrow as the Crow lifted his head after the silence.
"That's..."
"What?"
"I can't..."
"Seem to fathom how completely screwed up and downright dirty that is?"
Senji blinked at her immediately response, surprised. She had voiced his thoughts exactly. Ayane was smirking at him, seeming to have already read his thoughts. He remained quiet again, a bit numb by his companion's story till she spoke again.
"So what, did your opponent chain you to the floor and just give you a beating?" There was a slight look of concern in Ayane's eyes as she eyed the bandages wrapped in various places along the Crow's body.
"Tch, no."
"Come on, spit it out. I told you mine. Now, your turn."
"I...fine. I stepped on to the stage, fought like I usually did, and then somehow ended up on the floor." Senji explained, keeping it short and sweet. Ayane, discontented with his answer, straightened herself on the couch and furrowed her brow.
"Oi, don't clip it short. Give me details."
"Those were the details."
"...seriously?" Ayane drawled out, rolling her eyes. She couldn't believe this guy.
Keeping it short just to have his pride in check. Unbelievable.
Letting Senji chuckle fill the silence, Ayane shut her eyes as a wave of pain suddenly overcame her. Damn hole in her stomach. And she had a match with a damn Undertaker in a few days too!
"How's the wound holding up?"
Wait. Hold on. His voice was so close. Wasn't he just—
Ayane opened her eyes to see him kneeling in front of her, his gaze on her torso where the bandages were. Out of reflex and pure shock, she lashed a foot out to his face, only to feel a spike of pain and a big hand catch her foot just in time. Letting out a howl of pain, Ayane clutched her stomach as she heard Senji suddenly stand up, surprised.
"Uh—hold on! I'll get something!" he exclaimed, already heading for the door.
"Some painkillers would be nice!" Ayane hollered over her shoulder before she let out another groan of pain.
"Got it!" came Senji's response as he exited his room, the door closing shut behind him.
"I can't believe this...damn Mockingbird. You probably did this so I would lose, huh? Well screw that. I'm gonna win, dammit."
The two of them were standing in the training room in front of a rack weapons.
"So you've got a match against an Undertaker in 3 days."
"Yeah, and? Gonna tell me something inspirational? Maybe something like: 'oh you'll be fine. It's just an Undertaker!'" Ayane mimicked his voice as low as she could, matching her expression with his.
Senji slapped the back of Ayane's head and received a slap in return to the stomach. "I don't talk like that."
"Like what, a prissy little teenager? Because that's what it sounds like to me." Ayane teased as she walked away from the rack with a pair of knives in her hands.
"Anyway. You've got a match in 3 days." Senji continued, taking a practice sword. He stood in front of her as he practiced wielding it, cracking his neck.
"I know that. Try not to rub it in, okay? I'm either gonna die in three days or come out barely alive."
"No. What we're gonna do is make sure you come out on top."
"Oh? And how are you gonna do that?" Ayane inquired with a raised brow, a mischievous glare in her eyes.
Senji suddenly appeared in front of her with a deadly smirk on his lips. He noticed the surprised look in her eyes. "Like this." he stated as he made a move to slash at her. Ayane ducked under the swing and leaped out of the way from an incoming kick, whirling around just as his blade crashed into her knives.
"G-Go a little easy, would ya?" Ayane growled out as a patch of red was appearing from her wound. Senji noticed already, but put it to the side, only pushing harder. "I guess not." she clipped out as she attacked, moving quick on her feet as she maneuvered behind him to make a move.
"The Undertaker will give no mercy to you if you act like this."
"Shut up, I know!" She exclaimed in return as she swerved away from another swipe, barely missing it. Senji was quick to react and extended his foot out, successfully making her stumble. "Dammit Senji!" Ayane growled as she twisted around with a vaguely pissed off look in her eyes.
He grinned at her reaction, recognizing the warmth that spread throughout his body whenever he was around her. He was also aware that she could disappear in three days. Hence the last minute sparring session. It didn't make him feel great in the slightest.
There was a tugging at his gut. A painful one. One that he didn't like one bit.
He was hoping that having this last session would provide him with assurance that Ayane would do what she could to win during the match. But the tugging didn't end. And it still lingered as the two of them finally decided to call it quits and take a break.
Ayane let out a pained sigh as she sat down on one of the benches, pulling out a piece of purple candy and plucking it into her mouth. Senji took note of the blood still on her shirt and wondered how she was holding up. And whether she was putting up a front to the pain or not.
Taking a seat next to her, he handed her a water bottle and opened his own, taking a long swig.
"Thanks,"
They sat there in a comfortable silence.
"...Listen, Senji."
He blinked as he heard Ayane begin speaking and glanced over to her to see her hands clenching the water bottle tightly. There was a slight shake to her hands.
"I know this isn't something to discuss but..."
"...What do you mean it isn't something to discuss?"
"Huh?" It was her turn to look over at him with wide eyes.
"You might die in three days, Ayane. How can that not be something to talk about?" Senji said in a serious tone, fully turning his head to look at her. Her face was pale and there was a nervous look in her eyes that was never there.
"Let's skip the 'might' shall we?" she whispered, an empty laugh escaping her lips. "That Undertaker, whoever it is, is gonna rip me to pieces. All because of that Mockingbird."
"You can't—"
"Of course, I'm not gonna go down without a fight." Senji let his words die out in his throat as he heard her words, seeing the resolved look in her expression.
"...I'll do something." He didn't know what compelled him to suddenly say that but whatever it was, he was grateful. He didn't just want to watch her disappear right before him. He had to at least try to change up the game.
"What do you mean?" Ayane quietly uttered, her brow raised in confusion. Senji took a breath before meeting her gaze wholly, as if searching for something. She probably was the best thing that had ever happened in this hellhole.
He put a hand on her shoulder and let out a chuckle, trying to comfort his own nerves.
"Just leave it to me. You do the fighting, got it?"
Two days left. That was all the time she had left before she either died or kept on barely living.
Ayane figured she would spend it trying to hunt down the Mockingbird for the last time and tearing him to shreds. However, she scoured the entire G Block twice and couldn't find a single hair of the bastard. She promised to herself that if she died, she would come back to this place and haunt the hell out of the man.
Maybe Senji too. That would be fun.
She ended up walking around the halls instead, trying to look for her buddy. Her stomach was healing little by little, but it would only be opened again soon. Turning a corner, she paused in her steps when she caught Senji come out of a room stuffing something into his pockets. He had a guarded look in his eye.
What was he doing?
Ayane thought of leaving him alone and walking away, but something made her think again.
"...I'll do something."
That's what Senji said yesterday, but she couldn't understand what he meant by that. Was he going to do something to the Undertaker? Biting her lip for a moment, Ayane watched the Crow's back continue to walk away from her before she decided to walk after him.
"Hey Crow," she called out, stopping a few feet behind him. She saw his back stiffen as he heard his name and pursed her lips as he turned around slowly. There was an embarrassed look on his face.
How cute.
"Ah, Hawk." he simply replied in return. It was kind of in an awkward tone. His hands were out of his pockets.
"Watcha got there?" Ayane carefully inquired, approaching him slowly. Senji instantly appeared cautious and took a step back.
"Nothing that you need to worry about. Really."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"...Come on, Senji. I saw you just come out of that room over there."
"Did you?"
"Yeah, and you—" she stopped and closed the distance, leaning up towards his ear. "—took something, didn't you?"
There was silence for a few moments before his big hand grabbed hold of her wrist suddenly.
"Wha—"
"Just come on." he grumbled as he pulled her along to his room once again, the door hissing shut behind them. Heading to the usual spot by the couches, he flopped down into one of them and dragged down Ayane next to him. When he let go of her wrist, she inwardly felt a twinge of sadness as the warmth faded away.
"Alright you caught me. Here." Senji reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of syringes. It seemed a bit familiar. Her mind went back to when she got plugged with stuff before her match against the Owl.
"You're gonna put this into one of the Undertakers?" She asked as she turned her head to him, noticing him look away.
"That...was the plan."
"How are you gonna manage that?"
"I'll come up with something before your match." His reply was hesitant, as if he was unsure himself.
"They can hurt you too, you know."
"Yeah, I know Ayane! But not as much as you will be!" He suddenly burst out, surprising her. There was an astonished look in his eye. The way he said it...it was as if there was something else under those words. It made her think about them for a second.
"Look, I don't wanna do it as much as the next person but I can't just run away, can I? This place is tight with security."
"Even that is fine."
"What?"
"I just..." Senji trailed off, making Ayane glance towards him in concern. The way he was acting...she was slowly beginning to see.
"You disappearing right when I found you...that's just not fair at all. Weren't you gonna bust the Mockingjay's head in? What about those red bean buns of yours? They'll be gone too."
His voice...it was like it was slowly chipping and breaking. Ayane knew what this was about.
"Senji, I'm not gonna go down so quick. With your help, whatever you do, I'm sure I've got a big fighting chance."
He was quiet. So she decided to say one more thing.
"I'm not going to go away."
He looked up at her then, the most trusting look in his eye. They stared at each other for a few moments before Ayane cracked a smile and lunged for his torso, wrapping her arms around him. She chuckled when he let out an astonished sound.
"You're such a softy," she whispered as she relished the warmth around her. She felt his arm come around her and pull her closer, which made her grin even wider.
"No way am I leaving you here, dumbo."
eh. this is more of pairing moments. real fight begins next chapter! sorry its been so long everyone. I'll probably make a new update after I finish summer assignments. Ugh. Anyway, thanks for reading!
