11
"Us"

Shade had no idea what this new duty of hers was. The only thing about it was that she had no idea what the heck to do. She just had to protect this group of other people around her age along with Rutherford to be some sort of "Defender". If she did this correctly, she would also gain safety from this group, whatever it was. It sounded more like they just need a new bodyguard. But the only thing she didn't know was how was she going to do it?
Whatever Rutherford had in store for her was a mystery all by itself to Shade. Her trust was beginning to weaken every second he breathed or every time he looked at her. Even a slightly friendly look appeared to be an instant threat to be on her guard at all times around him. He was a lot more dangerous than what he came off to be.

He led her to the kitchen table where he spread across four photos with information attached to each one. The photos revealed a spiky, red-headed boy with hazel eyes and uniquely tinted glasses. Another showed a girl who looked to be around ten or twelve with silver hair and grey eyes. The third one showed another girl with short brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. Finally the last one was again another girl with light blonde hair and green eyes, who looked quite dazed.
Judging by what they were wearing in the photos, all four of them go to the same school that Ayumu, Hiyono and herself do.

"These are the people you must protect along with me." Rutherford told her. "Examine them and get to know the faces and names well. You may need that memory whenever you see even one of them in trouble." Shade nodded.
"Go on…"
"This is Kousuke Asazuki. Age: 17. He's a bit dodgy sometimes with our organization and of course Kiyotaka's plan, but while he usually handles himself well he can get boiled a bit too quickly. He can be a bit reckless." Rutherford explained. "He may seem nice and maybe even a flirt at first since you're a girl, but never take him lightly. He can be a bit… well… fun-loving when it comes to murder. Don't be afraid though. I doubt he would kill you if I kindly tell him not to."
"Gee, thanks for the warning…" Shade scoffed.
"Next is Rio Takeuchi. She appears to be like she's around 13, but she's actually 16. Her nature is usually playful and happy. You'd think she's like a little harmless school girl. When you see her, you'd probably think she's not all that bright, but with the right plans, she could make explosives as if they were nothing. She'll leave you with that jaw of yours dropping to the floor if you ever see what power those bombs have. Rio is most commonly known as our little "bomb pixie" because of this. She's a very thorough thinker so she has a thing for words. By the way, her favourite food is net-patterned melons." Rutherford continued.
"Uh… ok…?" Shade tilted her head.
"She's not fond to people outside of the organization that are creeping in to find more information. You may have to bribe her if needed."
"For what? Giving her a reason to like me."
"Exactly." Rutherford answered. Shade was stunned. "She's a bit childish but you'll get used to it, trust me. You learn to like her after about a minute or so. If you get her to like you, things will go by much more smoothly, but I wouldn't get my hopes up on any of the others."
"Do you like me?" Shade asked. Rutherford blankly stared at her.
"Back to where I was…" He ignored her completely and avoided her question. Shade straightened her posture.
"Ryoko Takamachi. Age: 17. She's a fine athlete with a powerful pair of legs to prove it. She can run pretty fast, but while she's also a genius about traps, killing's not exactly something she enjoys unlike Kousuke or Rio. She doesn't really like me all that much either to be honest."
"I can see why." Shade thought. Rutherford continued, "She may be difficult to keep up with if you don't have a keen eye, but even so Ryoko's still apart of our little organization. She is one of the least targeted out of us all."
"I can also see why." Shade thought again. Well it seemed that her and Ryoko already had one thing in common: They both hated Rutherford's guts with a burning passion.
"Finally, there's Sayoko Shiranagatani. Age: 17. She is under the care of her grandfather in a mansion in a downtown neighbourhood. She is currently undergoing amnesia, unfortunately. She is slowly recovering though. As one of us, she is clueless; she does not know she is cursed like us. Apparently she tried to kill herself at age 12 and hit her head very badly. She's been happier lately but the faint memory of being cursed may come around and haunt her one day. She has been targeted once and wasn't bothered with since. We're still skeptic whenever they may want to go after her still because she doesn't know the curse."
"So do you still want me to watch over her?" Shade asked.
"If you don't mind. Just an eye-out, nothing fancy."
"Ok…"
"And…" Rutherford stretched. "I'm sure you know well of who I am from our meeting last night."
"Of course. Eyes Rutherford, age: 17. You're a quarter-English piano prodigy who was born in Eastern Britain and raised in Japan. You've hit the music industry at age 14 and now you're touring all over the world and gained many fans across the globe, and you've recently did a cologne commercial, which I think is the same cologne you are wearing now." Shade quoted and crossed her arms. "How could I not know who you are?" Rutherford raised his eyebrows and then slowly dropped them.
"Someone's done their bit of the homework." he commented and leaned forward. "Now, how about we get to know a bit more about you?"
"You're the one who targeted me in the first place so I'm sure you're well known of my name."
"Seems to slip my mind." Rutherford snickered.
"I hate you…"
"No autographs please." He grinned. Shade sighed.
"My name is Shade Katsura. Age: 15. I was born in Spain on May 3rd. I've lived there since I was about 4 and then my family moved here to Japan. My mother's side of the family didn't really approve of my dad. I am a Taurus, which explains why I can be a bit stubborn. In any case you can't tell by my accent, I'm obviously Hispanic since half of my family is from Spain." Shade explained. "I'm also aspiring to be a fashion designer, and I make a living by going to gigs and performing since I live in a low-class family, which is a whopping one other person. I also play guitar."
"I see…" Rutherford seemed almost bored. "What about skills?"
"Meaning…?'
"Picking locks, speed, quick reflexes…? Those are only examples."
"I can aim well with pretty much anything and I can tip toe very quietly and quickly. But other than that I don't really have much to be proud of." Shade sat back in her chair. "I'm not as interesting as you think. What makes you believe I can really protect you, let alone 4 others if I can't make bombs or figure our traps?"
"You're forgetting that we have to protect you in return." Rutherford repeated. "There are people out there who target us by random. They are sent out to eliminate all of us no matter what it takes. We call them 'Hunters'." Shade sat and listened intently. "Fortunately, one of us, who is not with us at the moment, went and killed them all off."
"So if they're a concern now that means…"
"Correct. More recruits. What's worse is if they're after us and find out you are our little defender then we'll be in a lot of trouble. Not only would all 5 of our lives be endangered, but yours too."
"If that happens, what'll happen to you if I'm not around?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's obvious really. If I see a Hunter, of course I'm going to run. What happens if I ever get killed and then I'm not around to save any of you? Or if any of you get attacked and I'm not there to save you?"
"We have our skills, I'm sure we can handle a few Hunters, on our own. But that isn't the point of this ordeal." Rutherford narrowed his eyes mysteriously. Shade soon found herself to be suddenly uncomfortable as she uncrossed her arms. Just what exactly was this ordeal she got herself into? It just felt like Shade was trying to make sense of a scribble. She didn't even know these people that she had to protect, and she already agreed to this crazy pledge without knowing that outcomes, what she was headed for, the consequences, or if she was really going to contact Kiyotaka. Everything was starting to swirl in Shade's mind in a fog.
"The ordeal is to simply a guard for a guard. It's not rocket science. You protect us, we protect you. There's nothing to it. Unless…" Rutherford took in another breath. "…Unless you feel like you're not up to the task."
Shade looked at him suspiciously.
"What task?"
"There will be times where physical force, teamwork, quick thinking, maybe some possible last second decision making if you're lucky, may be involved." Rutherford sat back and crossed his arms. "The things you may get yourself into will be a bit dangerous in itself, but it's all to unravel more secrets about our mysterious little circle. Nobody knows what or who we really are and why we are cursed. Not even I know every single thing about us let alone myself."
"Funny. You seem to be a type who'd keep all the secrets to yourself and wait until everyone else figured it out." Shade mentioned. "You have a lot to keep out of the public face. Must be hard."
"Not really. You learn fast not to trust many people and how to keep your profile very low."
"If that's so then why did you choose me for this task?" Shade asked quickly. Rutherford's eyes lowered and let out a small, "Humph." while keeping a straight face.
"Your father's name… is it Arege Katsura?"
"How did you know that?!" Shade demanded. "Did he do something to inflict your group…?"
"No." Rutherford stretched his arms out and went back into the position he was in. "Your father knew bits and pieces about us. Still, we couldn't afford to have any 'rats'."
"Did you do it?! Did you kill my father?"
"No." Rutherford looked straight at Shade, "None of us in the circle did any sort as to kill off a lawyer if Kiyotaka knew him. Your father only knew a minor fraction of information about us compared to Kiyotaka. Instead, we were framed." Shade sat back in his seat in shock. Everything was coming together in a big clash. She couldn't figure anything out in a way that would make sense to her. Her mind was so cluttered that the overload of information was starting to bite at her brain.
"Wh-What?"
"See those purple irises over there?" Rutherford made a head nod in the direction he was referring to. Shade turned her head and saw a pale blue vase full of purple irises. "Irises are Kiyotaka's favourite flower. Little Narumi hates them with a burning passion. Do you know why?" Rutherford eyed Shade as a confused look came upon her face.
"They are the symbol of a certain joy. The joy of a believer."
"So… Señor Narumi doesn't believe in himself?"
"Exactly. The two brothers are polar opposites. Furthermore, the iris is also the symbol we leave behind whenever one of us kills someone."
"Yeah, so?"
"There were irises left at the crime scene of the AB-5 yes, but none of us would leave a corpse out in the open unless we had no choice." Rutherford explained.
"What do you mean by that?" Shade asked.
"The body of the victim showed a sense of struggle. There's no way we'd kill someone if our target knew they were in danger. We try to be very slick and clean about our murders." Rutherford claimed. "We usually don't leave a mess unless someone is trying to have a bit of fun doing it."
The last statement that Rutherford said sent Shade shivering.

"What am I supposed to do if one of you actually has to kill someone like that?" Shade asked.
"Your role does not enter in a situation such as that." Rutherford replied. "Depending on the situation, the police and detectives will arrive there, and the odds are that little Narumi and that Yuizaki girl will be there trying to piece together and identify what happened before they do. Then we test him of his wit, luck, and courage. Usually it's a test to get him to believe in himself. The test is mostly a little game or a puzzle that is a bit more than deadly."
"So that Russian roulette thing we did… you tried to kill me, but you were really testing me. Is that how…?"
"Exactly."
"I see…" Shade replied softly. "Well, I can only think of this thing to talk about other than this."
"What's that?"
"Who are you exactly?" Shade leaned forward before asking. Rutherford sighed and rubbed his forehead. He leaned forward like how Shade did and made a hand gesture for her to come closer. Shade stood out of her chair and leaned on the table. She turned her head and Rutherford softly whispered, "If I knew all the answers then you wouldn't be asking, now would you?" Shade paused and eyed him. "Besides, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." Rutherford sat back down and Shade did too. "We're all men of mysteries… even to ourselves. But I digress…" Rutherford said suddenly and rose from his chair. "You should put some new bandages on your arms and head back home. There isn't really anything I have left to tell you for now." he concluded.
Shade looked down on her arms. They were burning with irritation and they were dry and dark burgundy from the blood. She did need new bandages, but there were still a few things she was still unsure of. She decided to save it all for next time she had come to visit him… or would she?
"Oh, by the way," Rutherford started. "If you tell little Narumi or that Yuizaki girl about the ordeal, you're dead. Do you understand?" Shade jumped and slowly nodded nervously, not even bothering to ask anything else.
"Good." Rutherford coldly remarked. "We can't have you let the cat out of the bag. It's all for our survival… and now it shall be yours too." Shade nervously gulped down a pint of saliva that was gathering under her tongue. "Is there anything else?" Rutherford asked.
"Yes." Shade answered. "One more thing." She stood and came to Rutherford. She kneeled down so she wouldn't seem so tall and intimidating. "How do you feel about a small public social engagement?" Rutherford's face became suspicious and confused.
"Meaning…?"
"This is going to sound so wrong and maybe even a bit weird, but… could we start over?" she asked. He paused and tilted his head. "I know, I know. It could never happen in that way, but I'm not talking or thinking about taking this into that way of a relationship, you sicko." Shade said in one mouthful in a 'not that way' girl voice. Now Rutherford was really lost.
"What are you talking about?" He asked. Shade's face flushed a light pink.
"Uh, huh!? L-Look, j-just… never mind!" She stuttered. "Listen, I just… want to do this over. Me and you, I mean. We got off the wrong foot right away and I really can't blame either one of us for that. I mean, you tried to kill me but you didn't. So I guess this is kind of my… thanks?" She looked up at him with one of his eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I know… this is awkward… but, maybe… we can find a way to meet halfway. If not then that's fine, I just want to know if… we can start this whole thing over and try to put these things behind us."
Rutherford had a strange look on his face, but he still managed to keep his expression straight. He was thinking.
"Mmm… Possibly. Considering you did walk in here extremely angry."
"Where and when?"
"You're the one who asked." Rutherford eyed. Shade chuckled.
"True." She smirked. "In that case, meet me tomorrow night at this address at 8pm sharp. Got a pen?"