Love and Soba

Episode 7


"Slow down, you bastard, so I can kill you!"

Goz was surprisingly fast. Of course, Yuu supposed, running away was one thing finders needed to be good at. Damn finders. How was he supposed to kill Goz if he couldn't catch up.

Yuu rounded a corner, and there he was, just three steps ahead. A little closer and he'd be able to swing Mugen. The sharp blade would bite into his soft flesh. There'd be blood. Yuu would regret the loss of a friend, but sometimes it just couldn't be helped.

Two and a half steps behind now. Two steps. Goz rounded another corner and Yuu shifted his weight. If he could time this right, he could catch the finder as soon as he rounded the turn.

And then something tugged at his ankle and Yuu felt himself tumbling forward. Mugen skittered away across the cobbled stone of the fortress floor. Yuu screamed in frustration, rolling to his feet with one hand planted on the floor, the other extended to the side to help him balance.

Winters Socalo leaned against the wall, his foot carelessly extended into the hallway where Yuu had been running. Behind him, Cross Marian sat in a wicker chair smoking a cigarette. Yuu wasn't sure why there was a wicker chair in the middle of the hallway. Maybe one of the generals had put it there.

"Huh. I'm not sure I'm willing to wait for you to finish with him, Cross. He's just so pretty. It's a shame not to be the one to break him myself." Winters twined his fingers and stretched forward, cracking his knuckles.

"No, Winters, you're going to have to wait your turn. This one is all mine. I'll let you have first dibs on the next one we hear about. Anyway, they're just no fun after you finish with them. Too bruised and beaten to be pretty anymore. And I do hate it when they cower." Cross Marian sighed dramatically.

Yuu stood and retrieved his sword from the floor, eyeing the generals warily. He hadn't quite followed their conversation, but he didn't think it meant anything good for him. His knuckles whitened around Mugen's hilt.

Cross Marian crooked a finger, beckoning him closer. Yuu frowned, but stepped forward reluctantly. He walked past Winters, who trailed a hand lazily through his hair. Yuu stiffened, and the burly general chuckled quietly.

Cross bent his finger again, and Yuu felt like he was being tugged forward. As much as Yuu might dislike Tiedoll, the old man was probably the least offensive of all the Black Order's generals. Cross Marian made his skin crawl.

When Yuu stopped in front of the wicker chair, General Cross smiled malevolently. "If I can make you come with just one finger," he breathed, "Just think what I can do with my whole hand."

"I don't know, wave at me from across the hall? Sir." Yuu had no idea what the man was talking about, but he didn't like the way Cross Marian laughed at his retort.

"Oh, much more than that I think. Boy. Winters, remove his pants."

"My pleasure," the other general grated.

Yuu felt a large hand reach around and grab his groin. He growled and tried to lash out with Mugen, but another hand squeezed his wrist. There was pain, and his hand spasmed. Mugen fell to the floor. Something tugged at his waist, and then he felt the tip of a blade splitting the seam of his pants. No, this couldn't be happening. Unexpectedly, Yuu found himself wishing he'd never left Lenalee's room. Surely whatever games she made him play, they would have been better than this. He tried again to lash out, but the hand on his groin constricted and he felt pain and an unfamiliar, desperate warmth.

Then an explosion seemed to shake the corridor around him. Smoke filled the hallway, and he could hear the two generals coughing. Winters' hands released him, and a different hand – smaller – took his own and tugged. Yuu heard a voice whispering in his ear.

"Quick, follow me!"