Ah... another heartfelt moment with Aoi. But who's this person who keeps showing up around here. *Sniffs the air* Smells like trouble.
Chapter 6: Who's the Traitor
There was a pause between us as Aoi glared at me. I guess I got my answer. I thought with a shake of my head. Without taking her eyes of me, she grabs for her shot of tequila. Grabbing the collar of my t-shirt she pulls me so that I am leaning over the table and empties the glass into her mouth. With Aoi's hand still holding me above the table she puts her lips to my own. As our mouths open the tequila she held in her mouth mixes with the natural taste of her lips and the residual rum in my mouth.
My drunken mind began sobering up somewhat now that I had something to concentrate on. With the mix we had just created sliding down my throat, I started to kiss her back before the bartender walked over to us. He put a hand on my shoulder and broke the lustful session between Aoi and I. "If I had a dollar for every time someone tried to get 'closer' back here..."
"Then what?" Aoi asked with a giggle.
The bartender only smiled and shook his head. "Then I wouldn't care what people did in here because I would be retired." He said with a sigh. "Just try to keep it calm over here."
"That's fine," Aoi smiled. "We'll be on our way." She stood and I followed, eager to get somewhere more private.
Then as we pass the bartender he clears his throat. "Ahem. Aren't you two forgetting something?"
I felt my eyes widen. We haven't paid. "Uh-"
Reacting quickly, Aoi puts her hand into my shirt and pulls out the Fleur De Lis chain from behind the fabric. "Just put it on the Saints tab. He's the new guy." The Saints are rich why would they have need a t-
"In that case, don't worry about it. Even when Monica Hughes was trying to take the Saints apart they still came here for drinks." He states. "Good luck, kid."
With a nod I thanked him, making sure to remember to come back here. When Aoi and I walked out of the Broken Shillelagh we were both glad to see a hotel across the street. "So Damian, are you convinced I'm on your side now?"
"If I say no, will you convince me some more?" I asked with a grin.
"If I was that easy, I'd still be with the Ronin." Aoi says, before turning to a member of the hotel staff. "One bed."
The receptionist looks at Aoi then me then at the Saints chain, before handing Aoi a keycard. "Are the Saint's paying for this too?" I chuckled. She did a light glare at me as we headed to the room listed on the keycard.
After two sets of stairs and half a hallway we reached our room. With a scan of the card the door clicked unlocked. The two of us walked into the room and without even waiting for the door to close I wrap an arm around Aoi's waist, pinning her to the wall. Before she could object I put my hungry lips to hers while moving my hand down her spine. Though I couldn't perfectly remember all the weak spots on her body, I did manage to get a good reaction from her. She moved her hands away from the wall and to my chest.
As her breathing grew heavy I pulled back from the kiss and moved toward her neck. "You're not... Making this easy... are you?" Aoi asks pausing and gasping between breaths.
"It only gets better from here." I answer. Spinning, I turn so her back is to the bed and I begin moving forward. With my arm around her waist and the other at the side of her head, supporting the kiss, we continue blindly towards the bed until she falls in and I topple on top of her. "So I've got all night... what do you wanna do first?" I ask less than an inch away from her mouth.
"Sleep, if we're not too hung-over in the morning..." Aoi says prior to changing into a seductive voice. "I'll treat you to heaven." Taking it as a promise, I roll off her and to my own side of the bed. Knowing us, we couldn't be too fucked up in the morning. Heaven. I thought with a chuckle. I got out of the bed and picked up my shirt. "What, you're leaving because I said no sex?"
"You really think I'm that type of nigga?" I answer, before raising the room's ice bucket. "I'm going to get some ice to help me cool down, otherwise this 'just sleep' thing is gonna be difficult." I said, closing the door. I began walking down the hallway, searching to find an ice machine. After reaching the end of the hall I find the machine. I place the under the machine and press the button, causing the noise to start up. Taking advantage of the noise I take out my phone and call Kinzie.
"Did you do what I asked?" Kinzie asked. She sounds busy, I think to myself with my eyes wandering the hall until I spot a clock. Especially considering it's almost two in the morning.
"What, no hello?" I reply.
"Hi. Is the guy dead or not?" She asked, more aggressively.
"Yeah," I answer. "then I stole his car and dumped it in the ocean. So when am I gettin' paid?"
"You already were. I transferred the money to your account a few seconds ago." Kinzie replies.
"But my bank accounts not even in my name." I state. Well I guess that's simple if you can rival some punk Cyber God. "Whatever, tell you friends to call me if they want to make some bodies."
I hear a sigh from Kinzie then more typing. "Fine, I'll see if I can find anything else for you to do."
"Th-"
"But you'd better be careful," The hacker warns. "There's more than one Assassin in Steelport."
"Yeah right. Look nobody's a better gun for hire than me." I replied a split second after the ice stops. I had thought (more like hoped) no one was there but I heard the click of a pair of heels. Clearly not Aoi. If she can't fight in it, she won't wear it. I thought wishing I hadn't been caught. I raised the phone back up. "Kinzie, I'll talk to you later. And thanks, I'll be careful."
"Wha-" I hung the phone up and took the ice, hearing a gasp as the ice rattled.
I sighed and calmly say, "Don't try to run." I walked out the side area of the hall and saw a nervous woman leaned up against the near wall. The same woman from the Rim Jobs, Aoi and I had been to. She was now wearing what seemed to be a small amount of makeup and had her hair styled in a pompadour. But that wasn't the only thing that was different, compared to hours ago, her clothes were a lot more interesting. The woman was wearing a pair of near skintight black pants, a dark purple long sleeve jacket that ends just below her bust and under that a dark grey tank-top with the words 'Impressive, I Know' written in purple splatter, all in exchange for the mechanic suit she was in when I last saw her. "How much of that call did you hear?"
"Did you kill Clovis?" The woman asked. There was no fear in her voice, or at least not of me, she was once again staring into her watch.
Clovis? "I have no idea who that is?"
"That wasn't a no." The woman said.
"I know." I reply. "But I'm not gonna say I didn't because I might have. You got a picture of him or something?"
"No, but I know you've seen him, assassin. He was the one who owned that Rim Jobs, the guy you gave the keys to that Torch."
"In that case no, I didn't kill him. My first time going back there was to pick up the Torch." I answer. With an obvious distaste for my answer, the woman turns away from me and walks towards the elevator. I place the ice down and follow her to the elevator. Should I be letting her walk away if she knows that's what I do? I wonder as she presses the button.
"Don't worry, I don't care who you kill." The elevator dings and she steps in. I'm not sure why, but I decide to trust her on that and allow her to press the button of her desired floor. "Be careful this hotel isn't 'protected' by the Saints. That means a lot of things can go wrong." She adds, not in a threatening tone, but one of genuine concern. I wanted to ask what she meant but it was obvious she didn't want me to.
I continued standing there for moments after the elevator left, thinking. Fuck, maybe becoming a merc wasn't such a good idea. Though having people constantly think I'm the bad guy is way better than being homeless. Snapping me out of my thoughts the ice resettles. "I think I've cooled off enough already." I said to myself, leaving the bucket on the floor. I headed back to our room. Weird day. I thought unlocking the door. Walking into the dark hotel room I take my place in the bed, beside Aoi. This is going to be the longest sleep in my life.
Following the shifting of weight on the bed, I woke up though kept my eyes closed, preferring not to blind myself in the abundant sunlight. "So is this heaven?" I asked, feeling her move over my waist.
"Not quite, when you get there say hi to your boss." Confused on why Aoi would bring her up in a situation like this I open my eyes, seeing a short sword in her hands. "You are dead."
"Fuck!" I instinctively tried to dodge the blade, finding it difficult to move with her on top of me I end up with a cut on my face barely missing my neck.
I slowly try to move my hand to the bedside table where I believe I placed my gun before making eye contact with Aoi. Her brown eyes were piercingly cold and emotionless. The eyes of the Ronin Queen. "Don't bother. I already put them away for you, Damian." She orders, moving the cold blade closer to my throat. "Now tell me, why do this?"
Mustering a controlled voice I rerun her question. "Shouldn't that be my question?"
Aoi merely rolled her eyes. "I mean with Dex. Why kill him?"
"Why? Because he fuckin' set me up!"
"Did you ever bother asking why he tried to have you killed?" She asked. You've gotta be kidding. Taking my silence as my answer, Aoi sighs. "It's because you were a liability. You manage to kill the people Dex kept you for, but not without drawing attention to us."
Her explanation hit me heavy, probably because she led me to believe she liked the way I did things. And people wonder why I have trouble trusting others. "What're you talking about, Aoi? The last thing I did for Dex was take out some Ultor guys looking for him." I argued, though my sited reference wasn't my best work.
"You don't understand. Dex is like a brother to me." Aoi adds before putting the short sword closer to my face. "Damian, you brought him so much trouble after all he did for us. That's why when Dex asked me a week ago if I was with him or you I proudly chose him!" She yells. As she attempts to finish me off I grab the closest thing and toss it in to her. As the soft material of the pillow flies at her face, Aoi blindly swings the blade, just missing me. Unfortunately the fact that it was a pillow probably made it more annoying than painful, though it did give me enough time to force her off of me. After pushing Aoi to the side I jump out from the bed, instinctively raised my fist. I really don't wanna kill you. She stands in the bed, taking the high ground of the room. "What, do you want to have a pillow fight with me?" She sarcastically coos.
I laugh at her reaction to my move, as my eyes scan the room for my guns. "Actually the plan was to have you moaning into it," I wink. "But that's probably not gonna happen." The Ronin Queen does a fake smile while tilting her head to the side. This is gonna suck. She brings the short blade up in a rising slash, catching the sheet on the edge of the blade blocking my view like a curtain. Assuming she would bring the sword down while I was distracted I grab a bedside lamp, holding it above my head to block. As usual I was wrong, Aoi jumped and dive/drop-kicked me just below my ribs. Taking the impact I stumble back and drop the lamp. While narrowly avoiding her crazed slashes, I managed to keep my fist up the entire time. I'm really not a fan of killing women, but you're really pushing it, Aoi.
I allow Aoi to take a large horizontal swing, as I take another step closer to the door. Immediately she slashes once again. I instinctively jump back, hitting my back on the door. Aoi's sword had hit the wall, stopping the momentum and saving my life. But something was strange; as soon as my back hit the door I felt a recoil, as if someone had mirrored my movement on the other side. What the hell was that? I was even able to hear shallow breathing against the door. "Got'cha!" Aoi calls, blade now in a spearing position. Fuck. This. In a swift motion I duck down and prepare to tighten my fist, my mind finally putting my safety over being chivalrous. The blade hits and begins to slide through the wooden door, which puts the Ex-Ronin in the perfect position for me to land my punch. However as the blade moves a gunshot echoes. Matching the blade a bullet comes through the door, grazing my right and hitting Aoi about two inches away from her heart just as I hit her stomach with a side-swipe.
My eyes widen as Aoi begins to fall backwards. With her sword left sticking out of the door I stop seeing her as a threat, and instead envision her more like an ex-wife. I stretch my arm out and stop her from hitting the ground as hard as she could have. "What the fuck?" Aoi asks, trying to yell. "So you called the Saints? Guess they're not as stupid as the color would make you think." But I didn't call an- I was so concentrated on her words that I could barely think and the sound of a man howling in pain just outside the door wasn't helping either. "And I thought you didn't hit women?"
"I don't, but what can I say? This is a city of sin." I reply. I gave a fake smile, still trying to put things together in my mind.
Aoi sucks her teeth and looks away from me. "Get out of here with that cliché 'you'll-make-it' grin. We're not friends here."
"Fine." I answer, dropping her head to the carpet. She winced in pain, which I forced myself to ignore as I stood up. "Since you lost, tell me where Dex is hiding."
"Right... like you beat me." Aoi says. It was obvious she was having trouble speaking. The bullet probably pierced one of her lungs. "How about this... I'll tell you were your guns are... if you kill whoever shot me, and admit... I played you."
"Oh, you definitely played me." She's one of the few people I trusted after the incident with the Morning Star. "I actually thought you were gonna treat me to heaven." I joked. "But seriously, whoever's responsible for this is dead."
Aoi only shook her head before silently raising her hand and pointing to the TV. "Liars. Both you and De-" As I got to the TV and grab my guns from behind it, Aoi's voice fades. She can't talk anymore. I thought to myself. I quickly check my guns and walk back to the door, not even bothering to look at Aoi. The blade Aoi left sticking out of the door was dripping blood. More than any of the light scratches I received could produce. Planning to administer as much pain as possible I whip the door open, tearing the sword from whatever was on the other end of it. I hear a gasp and a shout as a woman's body falls to the floor below me.
You!? I thought looking down to the coughing body. It was the woman I had spoken to last night, panting and grasping her neck. She'd been chocked. Looking up I see an eye, at the tip of The Ronin Queen's blade. "Who are you?" A man asks covering his left eye, or at least where it should've been. He looked like a member of one of the biker gangs I've seen around. The Chain Sinners or some shit. I recall looking at his leather jacket and bloody fingerless glove. I chuckled slightly and darklly as the blood poured between his fingers. Suddenly his right hand goes to my throat, stopping my laugh as he yells. "I said who the fuck are you!? Was this your sword!?" Ignoring him I look down, seeing an empty GDHC .50 just below him. So you killed her.
Staring him in his eye, I raise my gun to his wrist and pull the trigger. The gun discharges and I feel the grip around my throat tighten shortly before letting go completely. "I'll kill you!" I hear him scream as he looks at his hand, now dangling by stands of skin and tendons.
"How?" I ask, putting my right Sheaperd to his chest. I pull the trigger causing him to fall backwards against the hallway wall. A pain rushed up my arm, probably due to his bullet grazing me earlier. It hurt, but not enough to be serious, just annoying.
"You killed him?" The woman asks from the floor. She crawls back, away from the body, stopping only after hitting Aoi's corpse. The woman gasped.
I walk towards the man. For a moment I stare at his chest watching the blood pour out of his jacket. "Yeah," I said, kicking his boot and watching his limp leg fall back into place. "He killed her so..."
"There's going to be more, you know?" The woman says crying slightly. "They're already in the hotel looking for me. Now they'll be after you." She stands and takes a look at Aoi, the man then me. "You can't kill all of them."
I sigh looking at the body. "I don't appreciate that kind of negativity." I reply turning to her and handing her one of my guns. "You know how to shoot?" The woman shakes her head. Great...
Saints, Mercs, Saints again, Deckers, ninja girls and now Bikers. This has to be one of the most diverse Gangsta resumes you've ever seen.
