Near was tired, really tired. He opened his heavy eyes. Wondering why he felt like this, he recalled last night's events. He knew there were going to be some heavy consequences.
Perhaps that's why he didn't want to wake up. Or maybe he moved too much, his physical durability is not his best trait.
He sat up and looked at his surroundings. It was a room, his room. He was lucky to be here. But maybe it will all be taken from him. With the stunt he pulled last night, the General would not be happy. And she was the sole reason he was here. She wasn't one to accept disobedience from her subordinates. He was probably screwed, either way. However, punishment would be way better than having to leave.
But Near prepared for the worst, anyway. Raising his hopes only for them to be crushed would be bad.
However there was still a chance he could stay. Knowing the white-haired boy, he considered every possibility. Maybe he could convince her to listen to him. He solved the case, after all. And the Three Beast and Esdeath herself seemed to have taken a liking to him.
But there was still something that made him worry. Even if Near previously lived far away from the Capital, he still heard of Esdeath's actions. Her achiements were very impressive, her powers, too. However, one thing made him slightly terrified of failing her. He didn't know the exact details, but her torture sessions were apparently extremely gruesome and inappropiate. And he really, REALLY didn't want to be the next victim of it.
She acted normal around him. Maybe getting angry at him or the Three Beasts and one time she squeezed Near' shoulder. But that was just about it. She hadn't shown her true nature, yet. The poor souls in her torture chambers had seen it and were VERY lucky if they even lived to tell the tale.
And the white-haired boy wasn't really somebody to underestimate another, especially a person with a reputation like Esdeath's. But what where the chances he was actually going to get tortured? He didn't have that much info about Esdeath, so deciding her actions was pretty difficult.
But hey, atleast they came back alive, right?
Near's eyes widened. That thought reminded him of Nyau! How was he?! Would he get punished because one of her Three Beasts was injured because of him?!
You know what, just thinking made him anxious, he should probably stop...
Through the entire ordeal, the white-haired boy didn't notice the General, who he was so worried about, watching him.
She was certainly...amused. Near's expression seemed to change from worry to his normal, neutral one in a split second.
A grin found its way onto her lips. If anything, this meant he was afraid. And who else would he be afraid of?
This was probably one of the few times she will see him in this state. She couldn't let this chance slip away. So a bit of playing couldn't hurt.
"Near," she spoke out loud. Her voice strong and clear.
He, in response, looked up with widened eyes.
It was like he had a tiny heart attack when he saw her standing at the doorway.
How didn't he even notice her? Being this worried even reduced his awareness. Normally, he wouldn't even miss a thing. These feelings were really hard to deal with. He wished this fear would just go away. Guess he just can't forget everything. It'll come back later to get haunt him.
Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for what's about to come.
"General."
He was really surprised that he still had the composure not to stutter.
Her face suddenly got serious, "what happened the other day?"
Near hesitated to respond. He needed to voice his words very carefully. He didn't want her to get even angrier. This wasn't the time to test her. The only thing he could tell at the moment was the truth.
The white-haired boy looked down to his hands, "I went to Gamal, the oil merchant's mansion to look deeper into the case."
He looked back at the General to see her staring back with her piercing eyes. That stare...it almost made him flinch. However, this wasn't the time to show any weakness. If this was a test, he sure as hell had to pass it. So he mustered up all of his courage and stared back at her with his neutral gaze.
"And I solved this mistery."
Esdeath looked genuinely curious and a small smile crossed her lips.
"Enlighten me."
"First of all, I found it strange how the vicitim's brother was blamed without any real evidence. So I started asking him some questions. I found out the victim and the brother were both working for an oil merchant. It may not be real evidence, but I could tell the man was being honest. I couldn't tell the culprit with the info I had back then. And I was scared that you would be disappointed. The only thing that came to my mind was to go investigate Gamal's mansion.
However, while I was examining the victim's body, I knew she was a victim of rape. From what I could tell, this person was quite inexperienced. I assumed it may have been someone rich. Rich people usually have everything they need other than a partner in life.
But one of the strangest things was that I found a bullet in the victim's chest. Who would use a gun? Wouldn't it make too much sound? It would be fine in a secluded place like a mansion. It only supported my idea to go to the mansion to investigate for myself.
Nyau came along, but that was unplanned.
While we were in the mansion, I found a literal pair of eyes in a box that were identical to that of the suspect's. They were brother and sister, so it wouldn't be strange. However, this made me really suspicious of Gamal. Not to mention his frog-like appearance wouldn't charm most people.
Anyway, while we were investigating, Captain Ogre from the Imperial Police and Gamal came to the office where we were looking. Their conversation proved they worked together. Not to mention, only this recent case was the one who had a suspect. They didn't have any evidence to support that claim, though. While I was looking at the body it is important to note that the bullet in the victim was not stated in the report. Which leads me to believe the Imperial Police is incompetent or they just didn't bother.
And that's why I believe Gamal is the culprit and Ogre covered for him with his influence in the Imperial Police."
Esdeath was quite impressed. Not only was this his first real mission, he also solved it and saw through the smaller details. Who knows what he could be capable of when he grows older?
A smirk passed her lips with that thought.
Near didn't miss that. "General, were you playing with me?"
"Maybe," she said while walking towards him, a small, playful smile on her face. "You really don't miss a thing, do you? But I now know I was right about you, after all."
Despite her words, his eyes still held a small tinge of fear as they followed her figure until she sat on the bed. His fear made her frown without her being even aware of it.
"I want you to write a report. But there is still a question that I want an answer to now, why were the both of you injured?"
Near scratched the back of his head, "oh, that? Gamal and Ogre discovered us. And well, Ogre wasn't too happy to see us."
"I see," Esdeath muttered. "I'm curious, now. How did you escape, anyway?"
Near's eyes widened as he couldn't believe what he was going to say. "I played Nyau's flute and they all fell asleep..."
The white-haired boy looked up to the female. "General, is that flute-" he stopped when he saw her bewildered expression.
The blue-haired woman couldn't think of the last time she was caught off guard this much. This boy, this 13 year old boy actually used a Teigu? How is that even possible?
She just met him the other day, but he kept surprising her.
"General?"
She looked at him, his curious gaze stared back at her.
"Judging from your expression, it really was a Teigu, huh?" He put his hand under his chin, "not sure what I should make of that."
After a deep sigh, Esdeath finally regained her composure. "You keep impressing me, don't you?"
"Well," she adjusted her cap and stood up. "I have a lot to think about. So I'm leaving you to rest."
She opened the door to leave, but a voice stopped her.
"General, you were the one who saved us, right?" He continued when he saw her nod from behind, "how did you know we were even there?"
"That was quite easy," she started without looking back. "The both of you were lucky I was returning from some things I had to take care of. I sensed your auras, too. Which made finding you only easier."
A hand rose to his chin, signaling he was deep in thought. "So you can sense people, too? Interesting..."
"I can tell you more about, since I know you're a curious one. But those questions should be answered later. Now it's important to rest. We'll talk more later."
"You're right," he mumbled as a small smile came upon his face. He was happy he could stay. Maybe he shouldn't have been so worried. After all, why would she even bother to save him if she was going to get rid of him? He scolded himself to let his emotions cloud his judgement.
But still, he didn't know Esdeath very well and seeing this side of her, was reassuring. Maybe a day had passed since they have know each other. But day by day, he was knowing more of her. From the stories he heard she was cruel, very cruel. However, she can be forgiving to the people she deems worthy. And apparently, the white-haired was one of them.
Near wanted to go to sleep before his mind went back to his companion. His eyes widened as Esdeath was about to close the door.
"One second, General! How's Nyau?!"
Esdeath paused as a small smile graced her lips because of his concern. "He still hasn't woken up yet. But don't worry, he's fine." With that, she closed the door.
A sigh left the mouth of the white-haired boy. Finally his nerves had calmed down. At the moment he doesn't have to worry about Nyau or Esdeath's wrath.
With a clear mind, he drifted back to dreamland...
Back with Esdeath, she certainly did not...expect this outcome. Near using a Teigu? Was this good or bad for her? Either way, the boy certainly proved to be interesting.
As far as she knew, his intentions were still unclear. You couldn't say he was just some commoner lucky enough to get her attention.
Esdeath knew better. His intelligence and observational skills were out of this world. And she didn't hate his company, neither would the Three Beasts. In fact, with him things got much more livelier. Maybe half the time it was bickering, but you could have interesting conversation with him, too.
And she just knew him for a day... No doubt things would get much more hectic from here on out.
A smirk came to her face as she decided not to tell Honest about a thing that had happened.
After all, he was her subordinate. And she wouldn't want Honest to stick his fat nose into her business. Not to mention he'd probably do something unfortunate if he heard about this.
Her smirk soon turned into a grin as her more dominating side took over. She wondered how it would be like if Near would just follow her without any questions. He would probably be able to track down any enemy she so desired. In what way, she did not know. However, his tricky mind would be able to come with a solution somehow.
Her live had gotten so much more interesting and livelier with Near... She was quite fond of that fact.
Inside Near's room, the white-haired boy twisted and turned his body quite violently because of his dream. It's definitely more like a nightmare, actually.
He soon forcefully woke himself up. Once again, sweat rolled down his forehead and his body shook. He couldn't control it, and he hated that.
His hand subconsciously moved to scratch a bruise on his collarbone. His dream had contained much...hitting.
He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Why did he have to have these nightmares every time he awoke? It annoyed him immensely that he always had to experience this.
You'd think he would get used to it. But no, every nightmare still shook his very being.
He sighed as he was calmer now. The nap had really helped. The white-haired boy had no idea for how long he was out. The sun still shine outsode, though. Which meant it was around noon.
Near tried tp go backt to sleep, but to no avail. The young boy kept turning around. He was restless, definitely because of his nightmare.
There was one big issue, though. What was he supposed to do now? Obviously, he had no duties for the day because of the previous night. However, since he couldn't even sleep that meant he had nothing to do!
Did anyone actually suspect being a subordinate of General Esdeath could actually become boring? Yeah, neither did I.
As if on cue, a giant man came bursting through the door and into the room.
None other than Daidara grinned at the younger at the younger male.
"Glad to see you're fine!"
Well, in the least he has somebody. Daidara could definitely cure his boredom.
"Wanna go and annoy Nyau?"
And now, Near was happy.
VERY IMPORTANT A/N: Well, it's been a while. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I seriously say this every freaking chapter, but sorry for the long wait! Once again... But I decided to get my act together. Since school is gonna murder me, I think the best way to write is simply to write an amount of words every day. How much, I don't know yet. But it depends on my schedule, too. I'd really like to at least release a chapter once a month. However, that depends on how long the chapter will be too. Which leads me to a VERY IMPORTANT question. Would you guys rather have short chapters which I can publish faster or long chapters which will take more time? I think it's best to listen to the readers for this one. You can PM or post a review with your answer.
And if you think I'm taking a bit too long or slacking off, you're always free to tell me. PM or review, doesn't matter. I don't mind such things because it gives me motivation to write. One of my readers asked me about it and it is completely fine. It also tells me there are people waiting for my dumb*ss to publish a chapter. It's really nice to see people like this story despite my horrible uploading schedule (which is nonexistent.
And the last important is that I'm working on a VERY late Christmas special. Yeah, I know I'm dumb. I'm late with that but it shouldn't take too long. It isn't the longest chapter.
Well, those were all the important. Now I'm gonna continue rambling on about random stuff XD. Call me a dumb*ss but I think Minecraft is actually pretty fun. The mulitplayer games are the greatest. I'm not a big fan of survival, though. And I LOVE Kid Icarus Uprising! Especially some of the characters. Kinda tempted to make a story of that, haha.
Anyway, I don't want to bother you guys with my rambling for too much (since there may be people who don't know the games and may think what the hell I'm talking about.) As always reviews and feedback are always appreciated. And tell me what you'd like to see in the story. Maybe I'll do something with it. One reviewer gave me a pretty good idea. Anyways,
Later!
