10
Changes

Shade paced Rutherford's living room for a while until she finally decided to slump onto his leather couch. "You do realize how much I really hate you right now, do you?"
"I think I can come up with a few things."
"The whole thing was rigged! What was that supposed to do?! What was the point?!"
"…You won that round."
"W-What?!" Shade became even more confused. This guy was just not getting into Shade's mind clearly enough to understand him let alone what he was thinking. "What do you mean I won? I ended up getting temporarily blinded, a burn to my forehead from the impact of the gun and some fake blood spattered onto me."
"I was testing you. I wanted to see how far you'd go, and your actions were far from my expectations." Shade narrowed her eyes.
"Alright, fine. I'll play along. What is it you want to talk to me about?"
Rutherford came to her on the couch, leaning over her. Shade smelled that nice, expensive-smelling cologne again. From what he was wearing, it looked like he didn't bother to change his clothes yet. She didn't blame him since their little "incident" last night ended up eating away about four, possibly five hours of Shade's well-deserved beauty sleep.
"In regards to your performance you showed excellent courage as you stated to sacrifice everything and stuck to it. Your wit and wisdom shows me that while it took you a bit of time to figure everything out, you still had a strange feeling about it all, am I right? Therefore it shows that you're good at being on your guard. Furthermore, you were consistently being observant and perceptive of what was happening. You had excellent timing because of it. As for luck," Rutherford paused and smirked. "Well, let's just say that you're lucky that the bullet I used was fake."
Shade breathed lightly. "But… why? What was the point?" she asked again.
"You'll see why much later." Rutherford replied, vaguely. "For now I'll tell you I am not going to kill you, nor do I plan to. I won't target you again, but instead, you're going to go under an ordeal I have."
"Ok… keep going." Shade encouraged. Rutherford leaned his face closer to hers. Shade could feel his light breath on her skin, which made a chill zip down her spine. She knew very well that he could felt her breath on his skin too, and that her heart was pounding sporadically. Shade could hardly hear because her heart was pounding so loudly.
"You are expected to be watched over by me and a few others I have with this organization we're in. The reason why I came after you was so that Kiyotaka could 'believe' I killed you, but in reality I let you slip by without having too much harm done." Rutherford continued. "The reason we are going to watch you is because you hold our survival in your hands along with Ayumu Narumi."
"Señor Narumi?!" Shade gasped.
"I take it you've met?" Rutherford asked. Shade narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want with him? He's got nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, but don't you know? He's been trying to unravel the secret about us for some time now. That secret was the reason why Kiyotaka was and is on such a long hiatus." Rutherford came closer and whispered in her ear. "He has a plan to save us all… and you're going to help us with it."
"Who's 'us'?"
"You'll find out, soon." He pulled away slightly to look at Shade eye-to-eye. "To the extent that we have to protect you at all times when you're with us. You'll be given the circumstances that while you're protection will be offered, you must protect us in return, and that this offer is quite mandatory." Rutherford got off the couch and stood in front of the window. Shade sighed of relief as she felt the blood circulating in her face to die down a bit. "There will be times when drastic situations call for drastic measures, so do not hesitate to kill on the spot."
"I am not going to kill anyone!" Shade shouted. "I won't!" Rutherford sighed.
"Such a bothersome child you are." Rutherford turned to face Shade. "Look, there will come a time where you will have no choice but to just do so. As long as no one finds out, we're safe. If not then we'll find a way to help you clean up the evidence and even teach you the secrets to concealing your identity if needed." he set his sight back at the window and flipped his hair backwards behind his shoulder. "It's all for survival."
"And if I refuse?" Shade inquired. Rutherford turned his head towards her. "I'm not saying that I don't want to, I'm just-"
"I'm afraid refusal won't be acceptable." He replied and stared out at the scenery. "You really don't have a choice."
"I could still leak the media I've collected to the press still." Shade suggested, "…but then that'd only make myself and not just you the center of attention. I'd end up being the person who dragged a star out of the sky, and also get just as a bad reputation as you."
"…So…?" Rutherford crossed his arms over his chest. "What'll it be?"
Shade thought about it. If she made a living with visiting Rutherford and being guarded while on top of that her sewing, gigs, and schoolwork, there would be no way she could possibly breathe normally. But she was also gambling with her life on the line. Whatever this "us" Rutherford was talking about, he made it come off as if this "us" was a group that was targeted often by law. Was Shade willing to do all this just find a way to find more about the AB-5? She'd be able to have contact with Kiyotaka after all. She would have it all. She could finally have the chances to avenge her father. There was only one thing she didn't want to resort to, and that was murder. The killing idea in general still struck to her as a red flag.
"It's only for a few months." Rutherford stated suddenly, giving Shade a jump. "Until we find the people who are targeting us."
"How many months is a few?"
"We're unsure."
"But how could y-"
"Listen, you just have to give us the reward of protection while we give it to you in return. In that time we have to keep you a secret from Kiyotaka and after all that, you'll be home free, and I'll even tell you how to contact him. Are you in?"
"It's not like I have a choice, like you said so…" Shade thought bitterly. She still had to think about it and paused. "…How do I know I can trust you?" Shade turned her head. "How do I know you're not just going to turn around and try to kill me again?" Rutherford didn't respond. "I won't join unless I know for sure that my safety is guaranteed." He stayed quiet for a while. The silence seemed to give Shade a tense feeling, but still have a hint of hope that maybe Rutherford was actually concentrating on something else other than her. She still wasn't completely sure if he wanted to kill her no matter if he said that he wouldn't.
"…Killing you is my last priority right now." Rutherford quoted. "…Have you made your decision yet?"

Shade could only answer in one way she could answer a celebrity she used to admire. She stood up and walked over to the window and saw the view. At that instant she set her eyes on the view, her breath was taken away by how far and wide she had seen the city. She could even see the ally where they had their little verbal battle.
"Nice, isn't it?" Rutherford asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Shade stood there in awe. How could this moment not be ruined? Even though it was just a view of the city, Shade was still amazed by it all as she stared out and examined everything she could see, from the other buildings, to the streets, and on the roads where the cars were honking and driving.
Looking out to the beautiful city felt like everything else around her was nearly erased, but reality shortly came back to hit Shade in the forehead. She shortly remembered her answer to Rutherford's request. Shade reluctantly tore away from the awesome scenery and stepped behind Rutherford, as she steadied her soft, firm hands. She began to rub his shoulders.
"Mmph?!" He turned his head and seen her doing exactly what he thought she was doing. "What in the world are-"
"What's the first thing do you want me to do, Rutherford?"