Gigantic thanks to Andrew Glasco for giving me a hell of a lot of ideas for this chapter.
Chapter 4
Igniting Fiery Emotions
Initially when she laid her eyes on his face, Uriko's memory failed to tell her his identity and she had to resort to staring at him for a few moments, trying to match his looks with people she had seen before in the past. If he was at all uncomfortable with the rudeness of her actions, he certainly did not show any signs of it, just remained stationary in his position. A quick glance at his steely eyes told that he most likely felt the opposite and as if to confirm her thoughts, a small serpentine grin creased his lips as an unholy light ignited in his dark, brooding pupils. She shifted nervously, unconsciously tweaking the ends of her hair with her fingers as she willed her mind to reveal his name; he had an up on her for knowing who she was and she did not care for that disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the entity of carefully controlled calmness was laughing inside his head and he briefly wondered to himself why he was bothering to shade his mockery of this meaningless girl. Surely in her condition she would not be foolish enough to allow her passions to reign and try to attack him from anger… but she certainly had proved herself to be a rather rash thinker. Though his captive appeared vulnerable and weak, sitting on the cot with her face pale and her body presumably aching from her injuries, he knew not to underestimate her. That understood, if she dared to make a move against him, he would be ready at any time to take her on in battle, and when she failed to defeat him, the right to punish her would belong to him.
As expected, it was Uriko who first broke the silence, sounding rather timid as she asked, "Who…who are you?" He looks… kinda familiar? But why, and from where would I know him…?
His first response was to laugh and make her feel even more the fool, but he restrained himself from such pleasure; "Uriko Nonomura… I granted you a look at me to answer your question and now that has failed, you wish for me to reward you further?"
"Reward me!" She repeated, indignant. "All you've given me was a kidnapping - which, might I remind you, is against the law! - and several severe beatings that have painted a whole bunch of nasty bruises on my body! You call me wanting information a reward? I think it should be your duty after what you've done to me!"
He brushed off her accusations with a careless wave of his hand. "You are wasting your breath, little girl, preaching when there is no audience present. But perhaps your words have touched a chord in me…" his grin turned a bit more malicious, "For that, I will give you a hint, fair enough? It has been three years since I last left you lying on the ground in shameful defeat, staring into darkness as you tried to comprehend my existence and our chance meeting…"
"Three years?" She exclaimed, surprised that he not only gave in a little to her, but by the information he just released that to her, was useless; after all, who said she was supposed to keep a close account of every tedious detail of what had occurred around her before? "What, you expect me to remember everything that happened to me when I was thirteen?"
"…So young, so foolish," he murmured softly, as if to himself but his true intention was for her to hear and gain irritation from his rude remark, "Why your worthlessness must be bothered is beyond my capability of understanding…"
"H-hey, you shut your mouth!" The brunette jumped to her feet in an effort to rid him of his condescending position; having her captor stand over her head and look down was very likely feeding his own thoughts of superiority. But her mind still whirled with memories, pulling up the events of said three years ago, trying to remember the significance around that time of her life. Geez, I can't recall anything special happening when I was thirteen… so I was in my second year of junior high, big deal! But I do remember that a year later… oh, how could I forget the formation of the ZLF, those horrible terrorists… She could not help shuddering.
"Your face informs me you seem to have acquired new knowledge…" he taunted her, not bothering to hide the growing smile on his expression.
"Are you from the ZLF?" Uriko blurted aloud all of a sudden, chewing her lip after the inquiry; if he was indeed a member of that group, then according to Alice, danger had latched onto her ankles and she needed to escape as soon as possible.
There was no need to deny it. "Yes." She responded to his answer and naturally he relished in her gasp of horror.
"So you're… you're an…"
"Assassin." He helpfully finished for her with a nefarious grin.
"This isn't funny!"
"You do not think so, little girl? Hmm, what a shame, for I find great amusement in this topic…"
"You don't have a heart…" she shot at him bitterly, a pout making its way to her lips.
"And you possess little to no intelligence, but would you really want to get involved in a barrage of verbal insults right now when you could be using this time more productively?"
Uriko sent him an annoyed glare but merely asked, "…What's your name?"
"You really should consider a career as a reporter." Her questions were beginning to annoy him, but he would rather have her pinned him down in battle before he showed evidence of this inferior girl getting underneath his skin.
"Quit dancing around it, tell me your name! You know mine, somehow, so it's only fair that I know yours…"
He released a small sigh; anything that would get her trap to be shut, he supposed… "I am Bakuryu," he started to speak, shifting the position of his body as he did so, raising two fingers and stiffly placing them close to his face, centimeters away from his nose. "…Master of the ancient art of ninja and stealth, user of the Dark."
"A ninja!" She squeaked, feeling a little intimidated by his class; only a fighter with rather significant knowledge of martial arts like her Master Long could defeat someone trained in the ways of ninjutsu. The youth herself was shamefully only a beginner, not even at the intermediate level after three years had passed since she had first started learning from her teacher. He had insisted she observe him longer before dashing off on a possible kamikaze mission, but her intuition told her that the rescue could not be delayed any longer than necessary. Yet she could hardly be blamed for her inexperience, considering she had received just a month of dedicated training in haste to save her mother, which she failed at and that had cost a life…
"So have you finally realized your fragile situation now?" He interrupted her thoughts with that condescending question.
"Sh…shut up…" Uriko murmured rather quietly, not wanting to show signs of obedience but she was truly at a loss for words and was unsure of how to respond without receiving a harsh reprisal.
The killer's eyes flashed with his first indication of emotion: ire, just as his arms fell and his fists clenched to show white on his knuckles and he took a threatening step toward her. "You… never order me around again." With those words, he turned away from her and started fumbling with something on the table, the roll of gauze, she presumed, but she wondered why he would bother bandaging her up considering his feelings toward her…
The girl knew that provoking him further could definitely prove hazardous to her health but she was tired of him being so bossy and trying to make her feel inferior and could not help speaking so. "You can't tell me what to do just because your ego is bigger than a house…"
All at once his head whipped around and his icy eyes held hers captive, the dangerous red in them having an almost hypnotizing effect on her; she found herself unable to move even as he started closing in on her. When he was within striking distance, his hand lashed out and grabbed a hold of the front of her tank top, retracting his arm to pull her toward him at an alarming speed. Uriko pushed her palms forward to prevent herself from colliding with his body but he brushed them away and soon they were both violating each other's personal space. Her eyelids slammed down shut so that all she could feel of his presence was his heat breathing upon her cheek and she felt as if he had marked her with his insignia of death.
The imprisoned one clearly detected malice in his voice as he hissed at her, "You play a dangerous game, Uriko Nonomura… If you cannot control your tongue, I will take the utmost pleasure in removing it."
She was unable to conceal the shiver that ran through her body and seeing her reaction, he seemed to intend on releasing her, but in a rather abrupt and forceful way, she soon discovered. Her face met the bed sitting behind her very quickly as the smaller teenager was thrown on top of it and she heard shuffling movements followed by weight suddenly landing on her back. Naturally, she felt uncomfortable with the mattress pressing so hard against her cheek but her mouth was covered, preventing her from voicing this concern. What she was expecting from him was actions that would cause her pain but to her surprise, she heard a distinct, fast rip and then rough material was placed onto her shoulder, over the injury she had received from him earlier.
He got off of her after that and Uriko sat up as soon as she could, sending him a curious look; she could not help asking him another question, "How come you're so insistent on bandaging me? Wouldn't you rather I die from an infection or something?"
The assassin had been walking toward the table to replace the roll of gauze onto it, but he stopped to grant her a harsh laugh yet he refused to turn and look her in the face. "If I wanted you dead, I would have taken care of that problem myself countless hours ago."
She scrunched her face up in distaste and grasped for a response, blurting the first thing that came to mind, "You're mean."
He snorted carelessly in reply, then added; "If that was a shot intended for my pride, unfortunately for you, it did not have its desired effect."
Uriko lowered her head and gripped the sides, twisting her body in tune with the emotions whirling inside her mind, fighting to decide which one should surface and take control. "You're driving me crazy! No, this whole stupid place is! Let me go outside before I suffocate in here!"
"I am afraid that is not an option for you. I am not your servant, Uriko Nonomura, so unless you have the force to back up your words, there is no motivation or gain for me to grant your wishes."
"I'll beat you to the ground if I had to!" She growled.
His nature surfaced when he nodded, an almost satisfied smile on his lips as he extended an arm toward her, crooking his fingers in a deadly invitation to his side of the arena. "I welcome you to try."
The youth actually considered his offer and shifted her body to her usual fighting stance, but as she moved, pain lanced through her shoulder and hips and she could barely conceal her small groan. Uriko looked up at him and saw no emotion in his eyes, only blankness that scared her; his stony expression proved his carelessness of her well being, a sharp contrast to the way he was acting before. A man who would easily fight to the death with no regrets or obligations holding him back was the most dangerous kind of opponent because even the end of his life was not as important as her defeat. She quickly glanced around the room for additional options and spied a couple of windows, but only one was close to her position and she immediately dashed toward it.
The adversary responded instantaneously, running after her with an agility that matched hers and his hand reached over to grab the girl's braid, jerking it back and bringing unshed tears to her eyes.
This guy lives to fight…
she thought fearfully but was also annoyed at the repeated act of pulling on her hair and quickly thrust her foot behind her, applying considerable force to the kick.Her attack connected squarely with the side of his right leg and he unwillingly grimaced, but did not let go, merely threw his free arm forward, meaning to arch it around her neck in a chokehold. Uriko squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember the training her master had given her years ago, one of which she recalled was: go with the force, not against it. She went willingly with the motion of her attacker but then stopped and shoved her weight into his body, using her hand to yank her braid out of his grip with a hard wrench, falling back away from him and teetering slightly off-balance. She shook her head to rid of the dizziness and the rigid killer took that precious time to rush forward and with the force of his focused energy into both of his palms, he pushed her to the ground.
The girl was really starting to hate being in this position but she was helpless to witness his arm wrench back as if he was preparing to strike and deliver the final, fatal blow. Sitting on her rear, she scooted back quickly, only thinking of how much distance would bring her safety as she ignored the pricking of her delicate skin with the hard wood of the floor. To her surprise, he did not follow through with the attack, merely stood straight up and looked down at her with clear amusement on his face, silent laughter at her over-precaution. For the first time ever, the arrogant captor smiled widely, but she presumed only for the purpose of confirming her hypothesis to show his power and dominance over her.
"To my own surprise, I find you to be quite entertaining, little girl… I do hope I get to keep you for a considerable duration of time so you can continue to bring me the amusement you have shown today."
Her eyes narrowed irritably as she spat at him, "I'm not a hired clown and this isn't your birthday party, you… you jerk!"
"Your petty insults bore me as much as the disgust I feel toward your filthy condition."
Insulted, Uriko shook her finger at him, playing the role of a teacher reprimanding her student for mouthing off and disrespecting her position of authority over him. "It's your fault I'm all dirt-covered! Who was the one that attacked me when I was walking along, minding my own business, huh?? Who was the one that got me on the ground and rolling around to defend and fight for my own life? Who got me thinking that I was gonna die today and never say good-bye to my friends and family, who would be worried sick from thinking that I was missing?!"
"Your passion is admirable to a degree but repetition will certainly deplete that amount of respect." He folded his arms over his chest and his expression was emotionless, as usual, adding to her frustration, which he knew and felt great strength for disrupting her disgustingly elated personality.
"Uuullll…" she growled, clenching her free fist tightly, not bothering to hide her fiery emotions from him. "…!!! Forget it!" She exclaimed finally, whirling around to face the wall, wishing to focus on beating up a mental picture of him inside her head than demonstrate that with real actions. After taking a moment to calm herself down, Uriko turned back to glare at him as she declared, "I'm going to go take a shower!"
He waved his hand in the direction of a door a short distance away, just across the room from where they were both standing, and she presumed that was the location of the lavatory. "No one is stopping you."
She hobbled toward where he pointed, surprised at the severity of her condition that only allowed her to walk slowly and paused midway to inquire, "…Um, where's my stuff?"
He let out a sigh of exasperation and gestured quickly, "Over there, behind that dresser."
Grumbling to herself, Uriko made her way over to the said object and looked around its backside, spotting her dark blue duffel bag sitting on the floor, which she picked up curtly. She continued on her intended path to the bathroom and made it there with cold amber eyes watching her the entire time, not wanting to take any chances of giving her the opportunity of escape. The girl felt his gaze on her but decided not to comment, as she wanted to avoid yet another disagreement with him for fear that it could lead to a worse conclusion than before. The silence hung over both of the cottage's inhabitants and only noises coming from animals outside could be heard as well as the shuffling of the female teenager's feet.
The aforementioned figure peeked inside the smaller room and searched for the shower stall while a clearly audible snicker was heard behind her but she figured he was just mocking her need for cleanliness. But she thought that anyone with half a brain would want to rid the dirtiness on her body after everything that she had just experienced, all thanks to her cold-hearted captor. He himself was probably filthy also, what with the business he did everyday, staining his hands with the blood of the innocent, ending far more lives than just one by destroying a single existence… More than anything else, she hated the way he seemed to have judged her beforehand and prepared a backlash for every statement she was thinking of or planning to speak.
"…Where's the stall?"
"What do you mean?" He asked in reply, sounding almost innocent so much that his tone would have made her laugh if she were in a different situation.
"There's only a toilet and sink in here, that's what I mean," Uriko fired back, retracting her head from within the doorway of the lavatory. "Tell me where it is already, unless you'd like me to stink up this place even more, or maybe rub some of this dirt in your face… This joke isn't funny, trust me."
He gave her a warning glare but only responded with, "Your opinion is meaningless to me, but nonetheless, I suppose I will admit that I am absolutely serious."
"What do you mean?" She repeated his earlier question with a slight mocking edge in her voice.
"There is no stall."
"…What?!"
"Interesting, you never showed any difficulty in hearing before…" he grinned rather crudely.
"Stop that! What the heck do you mean 'there is no stall'??"
"Pretending to be unhearing will not change facts, Uriko Nonomura."
The girl looked like she was more than ready and willing to plant her fist into his face, yet of course, she could do nothing but inhibit that feeling and try to crush it in the dark corners of her mind. "…Just tell me what you meant by what you said earlier."
"I meant exactly as I said," he answered simply, then suggested with a grand smirk, "You can try to fit yourself into the sink if you prefer it."
She shuddered from frustration. "Oooh, you SO don't want to know what I'd 'prefer' to do right now, you…"
"Enough with the insults." He cut her off coolly, continuing with, "There is a lake located a quarter of a mile away from here. You can use that to bathe in, and if you choose not to, you are out of options, little girl."
"Stop calling me that!" Uriko shrieked suddenly, stomping her feet, creating a wave of heat from the anger that had building up inside her, and the hand she used to hold onto her bag trembled with further evidence. The corresponding arm raised as if to hurl the object at him, the intent clear in her otherwise clouded eyes, clogged with ire and her body shuddered along with it. Her feet shifted to give her a more balanced stance and the heel of her back foot lifted off the ground to assist in the throwing motion should she initiate it. The calm assassin made no move to defend himself but he set his nerves to a hair trigger, prepared for a counterattack just in case she was actually foolish enough to aggravate him.
"Your anger is delicious…" he cackled lowly after a few minutes, realizing that indeed her threat was utterly empty as she moved a couple of steps away from him uncertainly.
Realizing that nothing she did could deter him from his emotionless stature, the girl released her pent-up frustration with a harsh sigh that burned her throat on the way out. She turned her face away from his line of sight before muttering, "Show me where the lake is…"
"Smart choice, Uriko Nonomura. This must be a memorable first for you." He laughed mockingly as he started for the door of the cottage and opened it, leaving it in the same position while he strolled outside and waited for her to follow him.
She trailed slowly, treating the occasion like it was her walk to death, and the closer she approached his dark expression of amusement, the more suffocated her lungs felt. As he led her through the twisting and winding paths of the forest around them, Uriko mused over her options of escape, knowing that she had to construct a careful plan to her victory. The killer showed very little, if any at all, signs of weaknesses and there was no way for her to get what she wanted without exposing a vulnerability in his stony character. But suddenly, she remembered when he had lost a little bit of his cool during her endless inquiries and had moved with the intention to harm her with his hand grasping the front of her tank top, almost ruining the cotton material.
Earlier he had shown evidence proving that his tough exterior could be pricked through the way that he threatened her previously, so perhaps if she annoyed him long enough, he would let her go; the alternative was death, but she had to take her chances…
