強い人と弱い人
The Strong and The Weak

Chapter 9 : Just a Thoughtー


"I'll consider it."

He added as if he was attempting to persuade her,"All the damages at the apartment will be paid off for you. You'd live in our dorms and you would receive a monthly paycheck. It's a job that requires passing a written examination, but with your wit and current intel, I believe that you won't have any trouble with it."

"I appreciate it, captain." She thanked him genuinely,"But, I don't think I'm ready to commit to something like... a job."

With her last statement, a pregnant silence filled the room. The air grew a bit uncomfortable and she swallowed before adding nervously,"I'm a very lazy person."

"I contacted your teachers at Ashinaka and they say you're different when you're obligated to do something."

"My... teachers?" She whispered to herself before addressing him with suspicion,"What makes you think I'd be obligated to Scepter 4 if I joined?"

"You were a part of the student council, were you not? Scepter 4 is no different when it comes to handling paper work and negotiating."

"Creep." She said under her breath.

"What was that, Aigasa-kun?"

"Nothing at all, sir." She lied as she stood up from her seat,"Was this a one time offer?"

"No, it wasn't. Although, I was disappointed with the answer you gave me today." He stood up and extended his hand to the girl who took it with a smile,"You're young, so take your time to really consider what you want to do."

She studied his face which lacked so much emotion and laughed,"Munakata, my god, you don't actually think that do you?" She laughed even harder with the inquisitive look he started to give her,"You're probably wondering how unbelievable I am to actually think about an offer that could've turned my life at this very moment."

"No, Aigasa-kun." He lifted his head from their handshake and flashed her a knowing smile that made her breath hitch,"I think that's just you."

Before she could deny it, there was a knock on the door and Awashima who stayed close to the door spoke out to the visitor,"Come in."

The door opened revealing another blue clansmen with hair like seaweed,"Sir, the Red King's aura seems to be intensifying within his cell."

"The Red King?" She breathed out with surprise.

"I see. I'll be there in a moment, Akiyama-kun." She looked to Munakata who started to leave his desk. Reflexively, she reached out for his sleeve and caught his attention.

"What happened to the Red King?" Her head hung down refusing to meet his eyes and her voice cracked with unintended desperateness. Why did her voice come out so despondent? She's never met the man. Was it because of HOMRA? The thought was pushed out of her mind when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid I cannot disclose that to you either, Aigasa-kun." He said before walking away and tearing from her grasp,"I hope to hear a more pleasing answer sometime. Awashima-kun."

His lieutenant nodded to her captain who had just left the room before approaching Haruna. She couldn't help but stare at the woman. The vice captain had a beautiful face and a very curvaceous figure. She wondered if all the men gazed at her longingly. She shook her head in shame.

"Aigasa-kun, I'll lead you out of the building."


Her right hand grasped the leather strap of her bag tightly as she followed the woman again. She could see her skirt riding up behind her legs as she walked and it made her feel uneasy. The male uniform looks much loose than what she's wearing. Does she not feel uncomfortable or conscious about how everything is more accentuated? Her thoughts wondered back to the lieutenant's uniform. She couldn't get it out of her head. Before she knew it, she began to splutter out as soon as they reached the exit outside,"D-Do all the women in Scepter 4 dress like you, A-Awashima-san?"

Awashima turned around and met the girl's flustered face,"Yes. We do, however there are some who prefer several acceptable variations of the uniform."

"Is the skirt you're wearing also a variation?"

"It's a mini dress, but yes it is. Since I am the captain's 'right hand man', I'm dressed much more formal than the rest of the other women. I believe it's more appropriate."

Haruna looked up at her with wide eyes at her last comment,

"How is that appropriate?" She couldn't hold it in anymore,"How could the captain allow this?!" She gasped and looked up into the cloudy sky as if she had a sudden revelation,"That's it! Munakata is a hentai!"

"Aigasa-kun-"

The girl grasped the strap of her bag even tighter and buried herself into her scarf,"AWASHIMA-SAN. YOU MUSTN'T FULFILL CAPTAIN MUNAKATA'S DESIRES. YOU NEED- NO. YOU HAVE TO WEAR A LONGER SKIRT."

The chilly air was filled with another silence comparable to the one back in the office and Haruna swore she heard the birds chirping and the cicadas. Wait. Cicadas only come during the summer. Ah. What the hell.

The lieutenant held a fist to herself as she cleared her throat with a light blush on her cheek,"Aigasa-kun. I appreciate your suggestion, but I find this the most comfortable amongst my uniform attire within my wardro-"

"That's some wardrobe."

Before another wave of awkward silence came about, Awashima stepped to the side and beckoned her,"Please make your way back home safely. The sidewalk will be icy." She added,"And if you become a part of Scepter 4, maybe you can be the one to make the reforms in our dress codes."

"Are you saying it can only happen if I join?"

Awashima gave her a puzzled look,"I never said anything like that. But if the captain had wished you to join, I would recommend that you really think this over."

"That I will do." She thanked the higher ranked officer,"I appreciate it, Awashima-san. Have a good evening and wear a longer skirt."


Before going back to her ruined abode, she decided to head to the convenience store for an instant dinner that she could prepare with one of the kitchen appliances that survived Yata's and Sashimi's fight. As she walked closer to and closer to her destination, a large outline of a familiar figure stood out at the store front with an overwhelming number of bags. As she drew even closer, there were about four plastic bags filled with an assortment of vegetables and four others; two on each arm with alcoholic beverages and ice packets.

"Kamamoto-san?"

The hooded man lifted up his head and looked at her through his pair of shades,"Do I know you, pretty lady?"

Okay. Really?

She decided to put on a humorous front,"Ah...! I was so sure you'd remember me, Kamamoto-san!" She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her hands into the air,"The wind was really knocked out of me! My stomach still needs to iced... I can't believe you'd hit a girl like that."

Even through his shades, Haruna watched his expression turn from confusion to mortification.

"A-Aigasa-chan!" He waved his arms out in front of him and frantically apologized,"I'm sorry! My deepest apologies! You gotta forgive me!" She watched him roughly set the bags down to the floor and started bending down to the ground. Before she realized the joke was going too far and she tried to stop him, he continued on humiliatingly,"My utmost apologize!"

Haruna looked at the streams of late afternoon shoppers who slowed down to observe a bowing man who looked like a Yakuza rookie ready to be scolded. She listened nervously to the susurration of the growing crowd.

"Kamamoto-san." She was feeling more embarrassed and softly addressed him,"Please get up, I was only kidding." Her hand began to sweat and she felt her eye twitch as she started to plead to him,

"Please?"

He didn't move an inch.

She pinched her nose and decided to take action. Haruna drew closer to the man and lightly kicked the top of his head with the tip of her boot. Frustrated, she kicked him a second time with more force. She heard a grunt in return and hissed,"K-Kamamoto-san, please get up...!"

Haruna felt him stir under her foot and heard the crowd leave.

He stood up and grabbed the plastic bags again. Two in each arm and four still on the ground. "I-I won't cause you anymore trouble. I must be going. Take care, Aigasa-chan." Despite saying that, he didn't budge and continued to look out in the distance. She simply stood there awkwardly staring from his face to the bags.

He turned to her and apologized again,"S-Sorry. Do you think you can help me out with these?"

Haruna sighed and gave out a laugh and took up the bags in her arms.

"Sure."


Yata tapped his fingers on his leg with annoyance at one of the tables of Bar HOMRA. He complained and lurched forward while clutching his stomach,"That fatty is taking forever."

"Fatty...?" Kusanagi lifted his head to think before scolding him,"Yata-chan! Kamamoto has dinner! Didn't I tell you to help him carry the load back?"

A man's shades glinted in the sunlight as he began to poke fun at the vanguard,"Can you do something useful with your life?"

"Bandou! Shut up! I-I was occupied!"

"Fighting over a girl!" A young man with a HOMRA cap over his brown hair chirped,"Ah. Young love."

"You're still young, Akagi. I'll murder you!"

"I feel sorry for whoever this chihuahua fell for." Another curled up on the couch mumbled in English with a packet of crackers in his mouth and a hand held video game console in his hands.

"What did you just say, you giant baby? Why do you always have to speak English to me, hah?! T-That girl was... was- she was ugly! Who'd fall for such an u-ugly hag! Some eyesight they would have!"

"Hag? She's a year younger than you. What are you talking about?" Kusanagi was behind the bar polishing his prized glasses and protested,"I thought that she was cute. You seem pretty idiotic to me."

Haruna entered the bar at the moment and stood there looking at the man at the counter,"I'm awfully flattered, but I don't think I would want to be hearing that from a twenty-six year old man who could be labeled as a pedophile."

"Aigasa-chan!"

"I-It's that woman!"

"Eh? The shorty knows a woman?"

"I didn't even know Yata and 'woman' could go in the same sentence..."

"YOU BASTARDS." He stood up from his chair and cracked his knuckled as he made his way towards Bandou and 'the big baby'. I CAN HEAR YOU!" Akagi and Kamamoto did their best to lock his arms behind his back and restrain him from wrecking havoc inside Kusanagi's precious bar.

Amongst all the uproar that her arrival had caused, the girl walked up towards Kusanagi who wiped his wine glasses and watched the scene unfold in front of him. He didn't seem to notice either when she took up a bar stool and placed the bags of vegetables in front of him.

"Kusanagi-san?"

She watched the bartender look out to the three men who continued to pester Yata. It was a forlorn look and for some reason the words that weren't meant to spill out of her mouth had made their way out,

"The Red King's aura is intensifying."

Snapping back from his sort of trance he looked over to her tiredly,"Is that so?"

She tapped her fingers on the bar and scanned the shelves filled with the variety of alcoholic beverages behind him,"You're not worried? He's locked up, right? Where's a king without his clansmen?"

Another one of those soft smiles that she had seen before appeared again,"I'm am." He placed the wine glass into a compartment below the bar and wiped his hands with the white cleaning cloth,"But our king had turned himself in to Scepter 4 willingly during one of our encounters."

She heard the loud quarrel that was ensuing behind her cease. It seemed this topic grabbed their attention quickly.

"Why?" She asked softly.

"Kings and auras. They have a price." His gaze went back out to Yata who was caught in a headlock by the man in glasses.

"The Sword of Damocles. A sword created from the very auras that each king possesses. When kings use their power, their Sword of Damocles hang in the sky above them; threatening to fall if their power become unstable."

Power comes with a price. She nodded her head lightly to show her understanding. The thought of a giant, floating sword above them seemed strange. It almost seemed funny to her, but if it was really capable of falling like Kusanagi said... Well, that's terrifying.

"I don't know if Mikoto will come back."

Yata was clearly growing pissed. "Kusanagi-san, are you doubting Mikoto-san too?" Yata's voice asked shakily. Haruna turned the bar stool and faced the boy wearing the beanie. His eyes narrowed to the floor and his hands her clenched into tight fists. She could see the blood draining from his knuckles and rushing up to his cheeks furiously.

"Mikoto-san..." He paused," Mikoto-san didn't abandon us!"

The HOMRA members stood in their places silently before Kusanagi spoke up again affirming the previous claim,"Mikoto didn't abandon any of us."

Beginning to feel like she was intruding, Haruna thought a bit reasons why the Red King had turned himself in.

'Sir, the Red King's aura seems to be intensifying within his cell.'

'...Their Sword of Damocles hang in the sky above them; threatening to fall if their power becomes unstable.'

The words that were said here and back at the office came back to her and her thoughts switched back to the Sword of Damocles.

"Kusanagi-san?" She gasped when a silly idea popped into her head. Without even thinking, it all came tumbling out,"Maybe his Sword of Damocles is about to fall."


A/N: Haruna knows how talk without using any active brain cells.

Guests, h0tan, and happyrice: Buahaha, I have made her... ta-da: CONSIDER!
What will be her ultimate decision? She won't be deciding by the next chapter, but she'll be contemplating it seriously. Fufufu-

Sesshylover978: Thank you, thank you! I really appreciate it! Her final answer has yet to come. C:

oXo Akino oXo: Thank you! ;)

pammazola: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

SmileRen: A twist it was indeed! Now... I wonder how Kusanagi will react to Haruna's comment.

My spring break has over for quite sometime, but I hope to update again over the weekend.

See you next time! C: