Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 38: Unforeseen Consequences

For Tsao, the relocation up to the northern countryside had been one of his greater decisions in recent years. Between the pleasant temperatures from late spring to early fall and the ability to bundle up once the frost came, there was almost a year-round feeling of being soothed by the natural elements. In addition to that, Tsao's daughter, Little Nian, was able to quickly make friends at the local school and his wife, Chitoge, was able to find a part-time job as a bartender to keep herself busy. At the end of the day, once he finished his work as a dark web consultant for anyone within a violently illegal line of work, the family would come together and would find contentment in one another's company.

If Tsao didn't have to set out, he would have been able to enjoy that little paradise on Earth for a bit longer. But, between the news' multiple broadcasts and the calls that he managed to make, he couldn't let himself be at ease. How could he when evidence was mounting and screaming the words, "Your youngest brother is in trouble! How can you sit there!?" Thus, he got onto the nearest train and rode off.

Of course, Tsao wrapped up the two loves of his life into his arms before leaving and told them that he had to go save Uncle. Just the thought of that final scene reminded him of how pure Little Nian was. While Tsao's middle brother was simply called Uncle Haruo or just plain Haruo with little regard, since even a child could tell how unlikeable that man was, the young man was always referred to as Uncle, an affectionate name to label him as the head of all uncles. So, when Little Nian pointed up to her daddy and ordered in her squeaky voice, "Save Uncle," while throwing her arms into the air, "and win against the bad people!" to send him off, who was Tsao to disobey?

Amidst his pondering, the tall man received a phone call from one of his contacts. Grunting out a bit of frustration for having his precious memory cut off, Tsao clicked open his cheap flip phone and answered, "Lajos?"

"Yessir," came a man with a distinct European accent, though nobody shamed him since he came extremely far in the few years that he'd been learning Japanese.

Of course, Tsao had no issues with making the man comfortable by speaking his Hungarian tongue, "You were able to make the arrangements then?"

"Yup. I've managed to sort out an apartment." There was some shuffling on the other end, "Uh hold on. And I've got confirmation that we'll have thirteen of our people, you and Haruo included, there within thirty-six hours."

"Thirteen may not be enough, considering how many dignitaries we'll probably be going up against." Tsao sighed loudly before adding, "And that's before we consider the shinobi…"

"I tried to get Rico's team together. Unfortunately, he was on vacation with his mother and father." Lajos tittered halfheartedly and said, "Of course, with your history-"

"That's what he's calling it now?"

"-he's leaving early and is getting a flight back to the US. From there, he'll get connecting flights to Osaka and ride the trains to us."

"Keep me posted then," grunted Tsao, wondering what kind of challenge would likely be awaiting the infiltrators. If they had the usual group together, there wouldn't be an issue. But, as with anyone, they had their own lives and even the sudden news that the young man was likely in danger couldn't put everything on hold.

"Will do, Boss," came Lajos' voice before Tsao clicked the phone shut.

He reached to the large suitcase resting by his legs and dared to briefly pop it open so that he could check the components of his equipment. However, upon seeing the metallic glint waiting for him inside, Tsao decided against an in-depth investigation. Both he and his wife had already doublechecked everything. At that point, he knew he was just being overcautious in the face of the coming struggle. But there was no need to worry. Even if some people were unable to come help, he still had the same tools which had not even once failed him in the past… If he could only get ahold of Haruo, everything would be together. Though, by the sound of it, Lajos had better luck than he did on that matter.

Taking his thoughts off his middle brother, who was likely getting wasted in a bar or sexed up with his fellow degenerates, Tsao dwelled on the TV broadcast he'd watched earlier that day. But just remembering the footage of a young girl, who was certainly a dignitary if her equipment and lackluster fighting had anything to say, was enough to bring anxiety to the tall man. Never mind her flying around and the fact that, by the news' words, "her mask was ripped off by a strong updraft of sorts, exposing her to be a student named Hazuki Sato," Tsao wasn't able to stop thinking about the fact that she had apparently been shooting at someone. Between suspicious updrafts that had the internet debating what actually happened and targets that witnesses said were two young men who had yet to be located, it wasn't very hard to know what was going on in the city where his youngest brother was working to correct a mass of shinobi. The only question, in regards to those shadowy killers who were hidden away from the lens of every camera, was whether or not they were hostile.

Clenching his teeth together and swearing death on anyone who could even be associated with danger to anyone he loved, Tsao continued to ride the train in complete silence. His time would come soon. All his little brother had to do was wait. From there, he would be safe and suffer no more harm.

Meanwhile, the young man was groaning loudly into the air as he continued to press his hands into his forehead. Voices continued to scatter around him, between Yumi saying something to Asuka before leaving him with the brunette to Homura threatening Sato, ordering her to not even blink. He could discern and understand it all. It just really blew his head into a world of pain to think about any of it.

During that little bit of chaos, Yozakura was kneeling in front of a blinking Murakumo while snapping her fingers, "Hey! Hey, hey, hey… are you alright!?" before rubbing a gentle hand along the girl's head, "You're okay now, right?"

Fatigued and visibly tired, Murakumo could only murmur, "Yeah… good enough…" before tiredly slumping over. Not allowing her to rest against the ground, Minori and Shiki caught the girl in their arms and pulled her into a hug while Yumi oversaw them. Once she was sure that her sister was fine, exhibiting the same traits as she did after her own correction, she turned back to the young man with a visible air of worry.

Though Asuka was rubbing the top of his head, offering comforting whispers after comforting whispers, "It is-, it's all over now… You're okay, you're okay…" it became apparent that his pain wasn't subsiding at all.

Fully aware the young man's suffering and how little pain Sato appeared to be in, Homura and Miyabi already had their weapons drawn on the dignitary, with the latter holding her wounded arm, and were asking, "What'd you do!?"

Of course, not having any knowledge on the process of tethering or any of its potential consequences, Sato couldn't even begin to guess about what had happened. All she could really do was frightfully stammer, "I didn't-, I swear I didn't do this! This isn't me!"

Seething through his teeth, the young man adjusted himself and kept taking heavy breath after heavy breath. The pain he felt could only be labeled as a severe headache. Through all of the throbbing in the front of his dome, the straining sensation behind his eyes, the ringing within his pulsing eardrums, and a sore feeling in the back of his neck, the only thing he could truly dwell on was how insufferable all of the noise was.

"Too loud," grunted the boy as he pulled a bit from Asuka's gentle hold.

She rubbed another gentle hand across the top of his head while murmuring, "Please, just rest for now…"

The young man didn't even regard her on that and pulled himself up to growl, "I am fine…!" before launching himself out of Asuka's grip and onto his feet. While he wasn't fast enough to get out of her reach, as the brunette quickly stood up and grasped the boy's shoulders, he was able to get the attention of Miyabi and Homura with his brash act. The two shinobi turned their attention away from Sato and toward him and, just as they were about to say something, he gave a hoarse cry, "It's as I said before…! …just a headache…"

Seeing the young man's unsteady wobble, which left him dependent on Asuka to continue standing, Homura was the first to question, "After all your yelling, you'd call that a headache?" and sheathed her blades, "It sounded like you were on your deathbed a moment ago."

Waving his hand dismissively while trying to ignore the pain in the back of his eyes, the young man spouted, "I won't say it doesn't hurt but, as I said before correcting Murakumo, it's just a headache and nothing more…"

Miyabi turned a suspicious eye back to Sato, who was quivering in fear, before sighing, "If it's just that… fine-, but still," and quickly approached the boy, "you should be resting. We'll get you home."

"What about Sato?" came Oda's voice from above. Mostly everyone's eyes went up to find the massive shinobi slowly clambering down a fire escape, with only the young man clenching his eyes shut to give them a brief moment of relief. Once he was close enough to the ground, Oda leaped over the railing and landed before the dignitary.

Before anyone could offer any potential threats her way, Sato looked up to Oda and folded her hands together to beg, "Please… I don't want to die-," but was cut off.

"It isn't about what you want," answered Oda in a cold voice before he turned to the girls, glancing his eyes toward Murakumo more than once, "By law, I should be arresting her and bringing her in," and then locked his eyes onto Miki, "You too."

Feeling his heart stop, Miki turned pale as he faced the prospect of being arrested and facing the consequences for being a dignitary. But, before he could say anything to his defense, the young man already groaned out for him, "He never chose to be a one of them…"

Oda narrowed his eyes back onto the infiltrator, "What do you mean?"

Shutting his eyes to breath in and letting out a loud exhale, the young man locked to Oda and asked, "You made an exception for me because of my circumstances, right…? It's because you knew I had no choice in being an infiltrator that we made our deal…?"

Seeing where the boy was going, Oda was about to defend his actions before taking in the young man's exhausted form. Even though he had no idea what kind of struggles the infiltrator had gone through up to that point, the shinobi still had sympathy. Thus, when it came time to reply, Oda could only murmur, "You're correct."

"Miki's the same way…" said the young man, "Though he's a dignitary, he had no choice in the matter… Yet, despite his background, he's as normal as any other person… Even as one who was born into a higherup's family, he still looks and behaves like an airheaded high schooler…" After a moment, the boy continued with a voice that grew heavier with every word, "If you think that he's a threat, I'll point you to what happened yesterday, when he admitted to my face despite knowing that I'd probably react violently… And, when I did exactly that, he still warned me of a coming attack on Sato's part…" The young man's voice descended into a groan and he had to hold his head for a moment. Yet, once Oda moved to talk, he held up a finger to quiet him before continuing, "If you'll have mercy on me, then show some on him… or feel free to give me back the resources I gave you to hunt Tsao and take the both of us."

Turning to face Miki, who was breathing heavily with uncertainty at that point, the shinobi sucked in a breath and pondered his options. He remembered his disciplines and beliefs that brought about the deal with the young man and considered doing the same with Miki. Yet, there was still a defining difference between the two. While the young man was actively working to leave his life behind, there was no sign of that from Miki. Oda sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Once again, his principle to uphold the law conflicted with the order his grandfather bestowed to him. Yet, how could he be a liberator of sheep on their way to the slaughter if it meant that he was continually playing loose with strict directives?

There was only one way for Oda to properly test his own resolve. He approached Miki and kneeled down to look him dead in the eye. Then the shinobi asked himself whether or not he'd be able or even willing to kill the boy by his own hand. After all, if an executioner couldn't look into the eyes of those he was killing and find peace with what he was doing, what right did he have to take that life in the first place? As it so happened, Oda found his answer not long after. It only took a small bit of observation into Miki's wide and frightful eyes to realize he was as harmless as a garter snake hiding his tiny head within some coils. If he intended to remain that way and stay out of shinobi business, unlike the young man, then what harm was he?

"I suppose…" Oda clicked his tongue, stood back up, "I never saw this boy today… and, with our limited knowledge of dignitaries, neither I nor any of my subordinates are very sure that he's aware of his father's activities… We can't even confirm he's a dignitary after all, so long as he carries on with his," and emphasized the next word, "legal activities."

At first, Miki didn't catch on, "No, wait-, that's code for… something?"

The young man quickly groaned, "He's saying that you're good to go…"

The brunette's eyes practically beamed once he realized that he was being set free. He stood up, bowed profusely to Oda while stuttering, "Thank you! Thank you, thank you so much!" and faced the young man, "Thank you too! Bless you and thank you!" He began to turn away towards the alley's exit before a thought occurred to him. After hesitating with a few steps, Miki turned around and faced Sato, who had an expression of jealous resignation on her face. It became extremely apparent that she believed her death was coming quickly. There was an upset bounce in Miki's heart that told him he couldn't leave right then. Thus, he turned back to Oda and asked, "What about Sato…?"

Oda shook his head, "After today, there's no way I can make an exception."

"Make one," came Murakumo's voice after making sure that her mask was secured onto her face, "She helped correct me."

There was a split-second pause throughout the group before everyone faced the girl with a shocked expression. Even the young man, who was a one-sided witness to the correction, tightened up his mouth and looked to Murakumo with narrowed eyes in alarm. Thankfully, it was Yozakura who raised the most immediate question, "She's the one who shattered your head in the first place! You can't be serious!"

"I am," replied Murakumo who pulled up her tired body from where she was sitting to approach Sato.

The spectacled dignitary was still shaking in fear, still believing that she'd be killed despite the objection. Yet, when she considered the defense that she was receiving from Murakumo, the key victim of her actions from that day… there just weren't enough words to describe how she felt. On one hand, Sato was immediately thankful and felt her eyes begin to glisten with hope. On another, she felt it was still a useless effort and wanted to urge the girl to quiet herself before she faced rebuttal. A third feeling came about a few seconds later when she believed Murakumo might have just been toying with her in some sadistic way. Just as Sato was about to beg Murakumo to ease her supposed sarcasm, not at all believing that her advocative words were true, a fourth feeling came about in the form of a twisted gratitude. The dignitary had not one defender through her entire ordeal and, at that point when the shinobi stood up for her, felt she wasn't at all deserving of the defense. Thus, she was almost tempted to accept her fate.

As all of those emotions swamped down onto Sato, Murakumo fell onto her knees and grasped the girl's shoulders, "Everything that you said in there was true… After you slapped me, you were being truthful?"

Pulled from her thoughts, Sato hesitated to answer before giving an unsure nod, "I was…"

"You're being honest?"

With a bit more firmness, Sato nodded again, "I was."

"Your experiences, the fact that you're a loner, all of those… empathetic words…" Murakumo looked away for a moment before facing the dignitary again, "All of that?"

"It was the truth."

Miki awkwardly piped up, "I can attest…" but recoiled when the masked shinobi turned to him, "…to that… the part about her being a loner, that is…" and proceeded to grind his shoes into the ground, "She doesn't talk to people at school-, I mean, I was supposed to talk to her because I was supposed to train her but then I dilly-dallied and-, not that she needed training! She seems better than me-," before turning away, "I'll shut up. I'm not helping."

"You are," assured Murakumo, who stood straight and faced Oda, "Let her go. She wanted no part of the dignitaries either. It's only because everything turned out complicated after a poor decision that she winded up here."

"Unless I'm mistaken…" chimed the young man, who was leaning his head into one hand and still being held up by Asuka, "that poor decision was her trying to kill me…" His eyes were deathly serious and critical as they tried to pierce through Murakumo, who remained undeterred, "In case you've almost forgotten, that decision of hers would have killed me. Hell, it has Jasmine and Hanzō laying around right now…" Dropping his hand away from his head, the young man stood straight, "But that was just a poor decision?"

"I believe so," said Murakumo before she gave a slight nod, "One that almost led to serious repercussions, I won't deny… but we handled it…" She then looked to her fellow shinobi, "And, if our past experiences can be learned from, we've forgiven each other for attempted murder before…"

"Yeah, that's you guys. I'm not so forgiving…!" growled the young man before he stood from Asuka's arms, gestured to some of the girls around him, "Or, if we're going to ignore the fact she tried to kill me, look to everyone else! Miyabi's got some bloody bandages on her arm! Asuka, Hibari, and Imu are all bruised up! And that's before we consider how many people that she must have almost shot with her theatrics today!" and spat, "That's also if no civilians got shot in the crossfire…"

"She hurt people, yes," replied Murakumo before gesturing to all of Sato's wounds, "but we've gotten her just as bad, by the looks of it. Plus, if she had accidentally shot someone, I'm sure that would have been mentioned by now."

"And the attempted murder!?" boomed the young man, "It's the second time she's tried that! You think she won't come back for a third round!? Who'll be at risk next time…!?" He huffed a few times and continued, "Besides me, who's going to wind up getting killed because of her antics!?"

A huff of air came out from the underside of Murakumo's mask before she shrugged and drew her cleaver. At first, the young man believed she was going to get combative over the matter and jumped into a defensive stance, with multiple girls standing beside him while others shouted at the shinobi to lower her weapon. Then, much to everyone's surprise, she said, "If you believe we should kill her," before planting the blade against the wall, "do it yourself."

The young man stood straight and defiant, "I never said kill her," ignoring the screaming pain behind his eyes and across his skull, "I'm not playing your game." He crossed his arms, "Arresting her would be just as good and warrantable."

"If you can't do it yourself, shut up and back off," declared Murakumo.

"Is that what you'd tell the victim of a-, of an attempted murder?" stammered the young man before balling up his fists, "Would you go up to someone suffering some trauma, give them your blade, and order them to execute the criminal in question unless they want them to be released!?" Stomping one foot forward and getting close to Murakumo, he bellowed, "Is that the sick way you want to do this!?"

Craning her head forward, Murakumo said in a low voice, "Knowing Sato's circumstances, I wouldn't feel at peace if I just let her get killed…"

Contorting up his face with repulsed confusion, the young man pointed up to the shinobi and stated, "You know, I thought you one of the more levelheaded people I've come to know here… But, by wanting to spare this girl from the consequences of the actions she took-," and proceeded to scream, "Of the actions that she willingly took…! What, just because you're feeling a bit sympathetic…?" before jabbing his finger to Murakumo, "You're an idiot!"

In response, Murakumo shoved him back and was about to advance forward. Fortunately, keeping the two separated, nearly everyone else jumped in and pulled the girl away while also distancing the young man. Over all of the resulting shouts, Murakumo's voice rang as the loudest, "If you wanted an exception to be made for yourself, way back when, and for Miki, then you should be willing to extend the same to Sato!"

In response, the young man screamed back, "I never tried to kill anyone! Nor did Miki!"

Getting the best over a few of the shinobi holding her back, Murakumo was able to pull away with just enough time to yell, "SATO WAS THE ONE WHO CORRECTED ME BACK THERE! MAKE NO MISTAKE!" before she got shoved back by her own sisters. Yet, even as Yumi was loudly ushering the girl to be quiet, the shinobi continued to yell, "While you were sitting there, looking down on me for wanting to change myself for the better-, let go, Yumi! While you were doing all that, Sato was the one who offered me some real empathy! She laid it out and understood my circumstances!" Nearly kicking a few people as she continued to resist, Murakumo finished, "If you want her killed after that, all the more shame on you!"

With his face beet red and twisted with anger, the young man was about to offer an equally loud rebuttal. Yet, when considering all of the words that Murakumo threw at him, he could only force a furious snort out of his nose.

Then the alley went quiet. Murakumo's body relaxed and her mask craned back a bit, as though she were expressing shock. All of the girls holding her back had their eyes glued onto the young man, with some wide and others narrow. Dropping the hand that she was pressing forward to keep her sister back, Shiki fully turned her body to the boy and quietly stuttered, "Hey… are you okay…?"

The young man blinked and turned to the girls who had been keeping him back. Miyabi's jaw was tightened together while her eyes narrowed and focused onto a spot underneath his eyes. With an equally shocked look, Homura patted at his shoulder and slowly asked, "Say something. Are you okay?"

Holding him from behind, Asuka zipped around the young man and pulled up her red scarf to wipe at the bottom of his face. Once she pulled the fabric back, he noticed a blotch of sickening crimson staining it. The young man began to breath heavily, becoming a bit more aware of the headache that had been screaming all that time and felt at his nose. Just as he pulled up his fingers, Murasaki's quiet voice echoed from behind him, "Your nose is bleeding…"

Looking down to his fingers and gray school uniform, the young man could see the little dark red mark and a small splash where the blood had splattered from his nose when it snorted. He turned to the purple-haired girl, whose body was rising up and down with strained breaths as she maintained a straight face, before facing his front again. Yumi was looking at him, eyes wide and with a slack jaw, before his focus went back to Murakumo. The girl in question took a few steps forward, with none resisting against her since their focus went to the young man, and quietly asked, "Are you okay?" As furious as she was a moment before, her body language had dropped all forms of aggression.

Just as the young man finally realized that he had to say something, his vision began to blur as the pain within his head continued its onslaught. He took a few breaths and even adopted a defiant smirk for a moment before murmuring, "It's just a headache…" and turned to the people around him. Even in the face of his delusional smile, the looks he received only reflected pure concern. Even Sato, who'd dropped her gaze during the argument, was looking to him like he had just been murdered. Feeling his body temperature rise to a feverish warmth, the young man's smirk fell away and he held his head for a moment. Then his arm dropped as he said, "But… gods…" and slumped forward, "…what a headache…"

The young man was caught and held gently as his nose was plugged by a couple of handkerchiefs on hand. Even as he began to lose his consciousness to the hammering pain in his head, the uncomfortable heat that began to weigh him down was attended to by a different kind of warmth. While he couldn't name it at that moment, he did recognize it as the same kind which was felt during an affectionate hug. With that on mind, the young man closed his eyes and rested peacefully without any dreams, unaware of the surrounding panic.

From his perspective, it felt like seconds had passed when he woke up on his futon. Sitting atop his head was a wetted towel, taped down by an excessive number of bandages. Uncomfortably hot with the blanket placed over him, the young man threw it off of him and gave his body some apparent relief from the feverish heat that continued to plague him. The only kind of warmth that he wanted was what he had when he'd gone under.

"You'll get a cold," came a voice that distinctly belonged to Jasmine as the blanket was thrown back onto him, "Keep that on."

The young man groaned in disapproval as he finally opened his eyes and looked up to the woman, Hanzō, and Oda. He blinked once after a few seconds and slowly stated in a hoarse voice, "You foolish cripple, you," before he threw the blanket off again, "A cold is caused by a virus… And, with this kind of heat, I'd rather be shivering than not."

"By his mouth," Hanzō chimed with a bit of grim cheeriness while resting his back against the chair he sat on, "we can say that he's alright."

The young man felt at his head for any lingering pain while swiping away the blanket that Jasmine threw back over him again. After confirming that his headache was, thankfully, gone for the moment, he turned to Oda and gave a curt nod. The large shinobi straightened himself and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Warm," came the immediate answer before the young man swatted Jasmine's hand as she reached for the blanket. He blinked a few more times as he raised his other hand up to his face, "The backs of my eyes are killing me too…"

Oda gave a few sympathetic nods before continuing his line of questioning, "Do you remember what happened?"

"As though it were just a minute ago," answered the young man. He sat himself up a bit more and looked into the shinobi's eyes, "Answer me quickly. What happened to Sato…? And Takatsukasa… what happened to him too."

Sucking in a breath of air, Oda briefly lowered his head and looked into the young man's eyes, "I interrogated Takatsukasa and found out what he was doing there. Turns out, he spotted you and Miki carrying Murakumo into the alley but decided to keep walking so he could get to work." Clicking his tongue, he added, "He only came back to investigate when the trains were shut down in response to the shooting… and, in his words, due to a morbid curiosity." He gave his hands a single clap and stated, "A hefty check that made his eyes jump out and a few indirect threats have scared him into secrecy. He won't be approaching nor questioning you about what happened, especially once I make the call to keep an eye on him. If he even tries to talk, my subordinates will be on him."

"Let's hope your watchers are faster than you, if the situation with Sato is anything to go on," remarked the young man before his face turned deathly serious, "What happened to her…?"

Oda's reply was slow but immediate, "She's gone for now."

There was an immediate spike of pain that echoed through the young man's head while he dwelled on the implications. As Hanzō and Jasmine both reached over to press him back down into the futon, he managed to get a grip on Oda's shirt with two of his fingers before growling, "Tell me that, at the very least, means you've arrested her…" When the large shinobi shook his head, the young man scrunched up his face while muttering incoherently. But just as he was about to shout, a spike of pain across his forehead tore his focus from the subject, "God… what a headache…"

"You and I feel the same way," said Jasmine as she rested the blanket back over the young man, briefly glancing over to Oda, "It was idiotic to let that girl get away. Even for what you said earlier, an arrest was more than warrantable."

Even Hanzō let out a gruff, "I'm not one to call for the death of another," before he also turned toward his old friend, "but just letting her off when you know she'll be back is a large problem. It'll bite us hard when it comes down to it."

Clenching his eyes shut, Oda shamefully nodded along, "I know… I know…" before turning his gaze away.

"How'd it happen?" asked the young man as he adjusted the towel on his head to cover over his eyes, "How did she get away when there were twenty-one shinobi right next to here? Even if Murakumo-," but was cut off.

"Murakumo was minimal in the decision," stated Oda as he faced the young man again, "It was… it is all on me."

"Ah…" breathed the young man before he seethed, "Truly, back when I called you a worthless cretin… I wasn't entirely off the mark…"

"Easy there," called Hanzō in a quiet voice while Oda tensed up.

But, after a brief moment of consideration, the larger shinobi just shook his head and said, "After everything, he has the right to let out his frustration," and slumped his head forward with evident shame, "Between that vote and Miki-," but was promptly cut off.

"YOU LET HER GO BECAUSE OF A VOTE!?" cried the young man, who shot his body up into a seated position before he pried the towel from his head and flung it into Oda's face. Through his teeth, the boy growled, "ARE YOU A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER OR A GOVERNMENT ENFORCER OF THE LAW!?" He moved his mouth to say more but proceeded ball up his hands as he leaned back onto the futon, "Gods… my fucking head…"

"What happened to you?" questioned Jasmine as she took the towel back from Oda to place it back onto the young man's head, "From what I saw, you didn't take a blow in that last fight."

"A botched tethering process," growled the young man before he let out a strained groan, "To correct Murakumo, I had to tether myself to Sato's mind while she initiated a correction." After taking a few seconds to calm down, he took a breath and murmured, "We stuck around too long… Sato wasn't used to extended corrections, so I suppose her connection must have collapsed in the end. After that, my consciousness got dragged along with hers and I had to bounce around in her head before finding my way back…" He let out an hiss of pain and grumbled, "Somewhere along the way, something must have gotten screwed up…"

"Ah," came Hanzō's hushed voice before an approving grunt could be heard, "Well, just rest until you get better."

"You don't get better from these kinds of things," said the young man in a quietly defeated tone.

There were a few sudden huffs of air from the adults' noses before they began to exchange looks. After a moment, Oda asked, "Hey… hey, hey. What do you mean by that?"

"Straining one's mind is about as bad as straining one's body…" mumbled the young man as he reached up and moved the towel over his eyes again, "But, when you pull or tear a physical muscle, it needs time to heal… while, with your mind, there's no healing. Just like with any mental disease, there may be medicine or practices to treat or work around it… but it's always there…" As if to prove his point, he raised up his arm into the air and lifted finger for every point he listed, "You cannot cure depression. You cannot cure schizophrenia. You cannot cure psychological disorders," before thumping his limb back onto the futon, "You can treat them all… you can treat whatever I have… But it will never go away…"

A guilty exhale blew out of Oda's mouth. He pondered what to say for a few moments before offering, "I'm sorry… If I'd been more wary of Sato-," but was interrupted.

"None of this would have happened… I know…" breathed the young man before clenching up his fists, "Yet, you decided to release Sato on the basis of a vote…!"

"It wasn't the vote," interjected Oda in a loud voice before remembering the situation and calming down. Biting his teeth together to quiet himself, he took a breath and slowly said, "While Minori suggested the vote and the girls participated, that didn't make me release Sato…" With a forcefully humorous snort, he added, "Actually, it wouldn't have done anything at all. The results were half and half. Nine for Sato and nine against."

"If you think that's funny or if you're trying to make me laugh with that," groaned the young man, "just stop. You're not helping the situation… in fact, hearing those results stresses me out even more."

Dropping his façade, Oda nodded his head and mumbled, "We're of the same mind then." He clasped his hands together and said, "Fortunately, it doesn't mean that half of them were… supportive of her. They just didn't want her die in that alleyway or after her trial." After a moment, Oda added, "And, you ought to know this, a dignitary on trial will likely be sentenced to death… just like any infiltrator, provided there isn't some kind of deal with that person… Like you and I."

"I get it," grunted the young man, "but how did Sato get released then?"

After taking a breath, Oda stated, "Miki threw himself onto the table." Watching as the young man raised the towel up from his eyes, the shinobi waited a moment before explaining, "While the girls were arguing over the vote… of which, I should note that Murakumo and Imu had gotten physical…"

The young man blinked before a new question popped into his head, "Well, that sounds right but now I'm a bit concerned. Were you guys taking votes and arguing with one another while I was just laying down on the pavement, drenched in my own blood and suffering a horrible headache?"

"A dramatic way to say you were unconscious with a nosebleed," said Oda before giving a shrug and raising up some reassuring hands, "but don't worry. Asuka and Homura carried you home… hence why the vote was nine and nine."

On the verge of making a sarcastic retort, the young man froze for a moment and asked, "You said Asuka and Homura?"

"Yes," replied Oda, visibly confused by the tone of worry in the boy's voice.

Turning toward Hanzō and Jasmine, the young man quickly asked, "Did I… was there anything visibly wrong or different about me?"

"You were bleeding from your nose," mumbled Jasmine before nodding her head, "So… yes."

"Smartass," grunted the boy before he gave a light shake of his head, "I meant, did I have anything like… I don't know, kissy marks on me or anything that would imply I was… taken advantage of?"

"Good lord…" grumbled Jasmine as Hanzō laughed.

"Oh~, is that what you want?"

"No," came the young man's serious voice.

"Oh," the old man's face fell before he shrugged, "Nah, you seemed fine…" but waited until the boy let out a breath of relief to say, "…however, you weren't wearing any pants or underwear… There was a strange smell too-," but was interrupted by a cry of alarm from the young man. Immediately, he put up his palms to ease the boy down, "Kidding! KIDDING! I was kidding!"

Quivering a bit and pulling up the blanket to wrap up his body, the young man asked in a squeaky voice, "Am I still pure…?"

"I wouldn't say pure," retorted Jasmine as her eyelids drooped, "but there hasn't been any inappropriate touching, so… you're good." She took a moment to think and then began to ask, "Wait, are you seriously worried about-," just before she was cut off.

"To get back on track," annunciated Oda, who had no idea how the conversation had shifted into such a silly exchange, "while the girls were arguing about the vote, Miki approached me, explained a few things, and made an offer." Upon hearing his friend's name again, the young man's ears perked up and he turned his full attention onto the shinobi and the explanation continued, "To summarize, he told me that Sato is likely going to be killed anyways… if not worse. By the sound of it, the dignitaries aren't pleased with the fact that she hadn't given away your name yet. As such, they'll likely be making an example out of her within the next few nights." After a moment, Oda paused and stated, "So… Miki explained that, since she was going to likely be killed anyways, we might as well let her go."

"But then they'll be getting my information," said the young man, straightening himself a bit, "Regardless of whether or not they're going to kill Sato in the end, they'll do whatever they need for her to reveal what she knows-," but was quieted by an assured hand from Oda.

"Which will give us an opportunity, I believe," assured the shinobi before he continued, "See, Miki offered himself up for Sato. He stated that, with no signs of a lie or deception on his face, he would be willing to warn me when the dignitaries plan to go on the offense. He'll give numbers, positions, and everything we'd need to know to win an engagement." Oda smiled and raised a finger, "He said, with no uncertainty, that he'd be able to get these details due to his father's position in the organization… All in exchange for Sato's temporary safety." After a moment he breathed and reluctantly admitted, "Looking back, it was certainly a foolhardy decision of mine but…" before shrugging his shoulders, "…you cannot deny that there's an advantage to be had with it."

Narrowing his eyes, the young man asked, "What about after?" He held up a finger and said, "Let's just assume that Sato knows where I live-, no, I could actually believe that. How else did she track me down for that first attack of hers. What do we do when she brings her infiltrators to my door?" With a raised voice, he emphasized, "In case you forgot, said door can't even be locked since it was broken out of the wall by one of you bozos!"

"Actually-, sorry to interrupt," chimed Hanzō before holding up a finger, "the door was actually replaced today. We figured it'd be a nice gift for getting around Sato today…" before meekly shrugging his shoulders, "Plus, when you and Sayuri were arguing last night, I believe that point came up."

"That along with all of the hundred things that're my fault…" grumbled Jasmine, turning her head away in hopes that the young man wouldn't hear.

His reputable ears didn't fail him, "I'm not wrong."

Oda raised up a hand, "Alright, alright… Timeout," and thumped it against his thigh, "I can read the mood and can tell that there's some beef between the two of you. I know your circumstances and I'm going to assume that's probably the center of it-," before he was interrupted by the young man.

"Me being… conscripted to help the girls isn't so much the problem anymore," came a low growl before he whipped his head to Jasmine, "It's more or less the fact that I'm dealing with things that weren't in the job description. You know," before reading off the situation in a mocking sing-song voice, "dignitary issues, awkward situations, shinobi attacks, shinobi attacks with unwanted kissing~…! And~… then there's physical trauma, physical trauma, physical trauma, with a new dash of psychological trauma ~…!" After his next pause, the young man slumped his head and murmured in a quiet voice, "The only thing we're missing is dismemberment, asphyxiation, an alien blowing out of my chest, with full blown sexual assault on top… because, if we're trying to get life to tell me to go fuck myself, why stop halfway?"

Taking in the low sight of the young man, the three adults looked to one another, blinked and looked back at the teenager. After a moment, Oda dryly added, "Well, if everything goes wrong, we could also add getting shot in there…"

With his head still slumped down, the young man grumbled, "Can't hear you. I'm already visualizing how I'm going to get skinned and buried alive tomorrow."

"But, if everything goes right with this plan of ours," said Oda, trying to cut down the boy's self-pity, "then there won't be anything else to worry about. And, if Sato does give away this apartment's location, I'll be happy to accommodate another residence. One which the dignitaries wouldn't think to find you."

"Yet, in the meantime," grumbled the young man before yelling, "I don't even have a proper door!"

Hanzō poked his finger into the side of the infiltrator's head, "Hey, are you deaf? I already said that we got the door fixed."

There was a brief silence before the young man blinked his eyes and looked up to the elder, "Did you? Sorry. I must have missed that."

"Look," called Oda as he raised his hands and stood up, "I understand that this isn't ideal. But the dignitaries won't be backing off anytime soon. The only thing we can hope for is that, when they come, we'll be able to hit them hard enough to set them back a few months…" Briefly adding some optimism to his voice, he added, "Plus, if we're lucky enough, we may be able to uproot the entire cell and cut them out entirely."

"Ah, yes," replied the young man with a quiet voice and drooped eyelids, "With my luck, the best results will surely come…"

"However it goes," continued Oda as he began to make for the apartment's exit, "I'll have your back. Plus, we have an advanced shinobi group coming back in from Taiwan. I'll introduce you to their leader, Onoda, tomorrow." Snorting a bit under his breath, the large man turned back and added, "She'll be a bit of a character but I stand by her. I believe she can stand up to Tsao… so what're some dignitary bumpkins?" before offering a confident wave and making his exit. Before the young man, Hanzō, or Jasmine could make conversation, his voice rang back, "Oh, you've got visitors."

Peeking around one of the apartment's corners, five heads appeared in unison with scrutinizing eyes. Since they had an idea of what was about to come, Hanzō and Jasmine nodded to each other and simultaneously said, "Good luck," before turning their eyes onto the girls to add, "Be gentle and stay calm. He's frail right now."

Not a second later, they were up after a bit of struggling and waddled out of the way, expecting an energetic tackle to surprise the young man. Instead, Asuka, Homura, Miyabi, Murasaki, and Yumi came around the corner and kneeled beside the futon without a hint of overexcitement. Hanzō and Jasmine offered looks of admiration, lightly praising the fact that the girls would be able to read the mood and not combat one another during an already tiresome situation. Thus, as silently as they could, the two creeped around the corner and out the door.

There was an awkward silence between the six teenagers and Bebeby before the young man sucked in a breath and decided to break the ice with an extremely dry, "The doctors said I may never be able to walk again, my Ping-Pong career is in shambles, and the terrorists are going to get to the rainbow-bear treasure first." While the girls processed his nonsense, he turned toward Asuka in particular and extended a hand onto her shoulder, "You must uphold my legacy. Take my sword and plant it into the heart of the-, that guy-, I don't know that star's name-," before dropping his head, "Fuck, there's goes the punchline."

The brunette blinked a few times, sucking her lips in with great confusion, before commenting, "I… don't know what I'm supposed to say to that."

"Which means you're mentally stable," replied the young man, who was still angry with himself for botching the joke, "Very good."

Bebeby loudly commented while rocking back and forth, "The same cannot be said for you. We must commence the man-whore's surgery. Someone, get the scalpel."

While the young man flicked his middle finger to the bear, Murasaki wrapped her hand around Bebeby's mouth and proceeded to hush her. In the meantime, Miyabi leaned forward and spoke with evident concern, "Considering everything, that was a bit… random."

The young man shrugged, "Yeah, but with the six of us-," before he was cut off.

"Seven," chimed Bebeby between Murasaki's struggling fingers.

"You're not a legal Japanese citizen," declared the young man while pointing at the bear, "You're not even a person. You don't get rights."

"Alas, his hypocritical colors have been shown!" cried Bebeby as she bounced from out of Murasaki's arms and onto the bed, "Show him the consequences for toying with the hearts of six maidens!"

Without a hint of hesitation, the young man straightened himself up and whacked the bear over the top of her head with his pillow. The other five girls paused and watched as Bebeby remained frozen in place for a moment before falling backwards into Murasaki's arms, fully unconscious. After a brief moment, the young man continued, "Anyways, I figure that the six of us, specifically, all being in one room is a recipe that will stress me the hell out…" He gestured up to his nose and added, "Considering earlier… can you blame me for offering a stupid joke at a time like this?"

"Not at all," replied Yumi with a smile that had some hints of force to it.

Reading her expression, the young man sighed to himself, "Well… let's get straight into it then…" and quietly mumbled, "I suppose you probably want to talk about my arguing with Murakumo."

"She already filled us in about her correction," said Homura, her face straight and without any critical judgement. After a moment, she raised her hand, "You should know that we're all in agreement with you correcting her… and so is she, for the most part."

"Oh?" breathed the young man with a joyless smile, "I'm not sure if she lied or if you misinterpreted her wrong, but she was completely resistant to the whole idea of being corrected."

"Yet, you corrected her anyway?" asked Yumi.

"I did," stated the young man without any hesitation, "Murakumo is not Murakumo if even one part of her is changed by abnormal means." In the face of the girls' unexpressive looks, he raised a hand defensively, "Now, if she'd come to that point by changing-, wrong word… by growing into such a person…" He took a moment to think and then explained, "If she'd gone through the process of… growing by herself, fully deciding and agreeing every step of the way that she wanted to be that kind of person, I wouldn't have a problem with that." Finally, the young man shook his head, "But she didn't want to do that. She wanted a quick-fix easy solution, damn all the consequences that came with it," before looking all five of the girls in their eyes, "and I can't accept that. Not when I'm in control of the situation and have to leave my stamp of approval on the finished personality."

"And I'm glad you did what you did," replied Yumi, offering a much more genuine smile. She gestured to the other girls and said, "We all are-, nearly everyone is."

"Nearly?" questioned the young man before thumping his head back into his pillow, "Who're the outliers…?"

"There's no one that disagrees with the fact that the correction was needed," stated Asuka, offering a gentle pat to the boy's wrist, "It's just that some of us-, that is Yomi and Ikaruga in particular… and me, I won't lie, felt you were… We felt you could have handled it better."

"Oh?" the young man let out a grunt of interest and asked, "Please, speak frankly. What could I have done better?"

"Remember how you were during my correction?" asked Miyabi, who jutted her head close to the young man.

Easing his head away with evident discomfort, the boy responded, "Yes…"

Noting how uneasy he came off as when she got close, Miyabi backed off a bit as she explained, "Well… you were much more calm and explanatory about it. Even when I was punching you in the face and crying that I didn't want my rage back, you were just so patient…" Caught within her reminiscing, the woman continued, "Even after we chased you around the academy, you were quick to forgive and continued like nothing happened."

"With me too," Homura spoke and raised a hand, "During my correction, you were slow, receptive, and spoke frankly but gently… Even apologetic at one point."

Once the tanned girl remained quiet for a moment, the young man spun his hand around and stated, "It looks like there's more you want to say," and added, "Go ahead."

Having been given the reigns to speak her mind, Homura spoke out the words, "To be frank, I was a little shocked when I heard how heated you two had apparently gotten… As a matter of fact, I almost couldn't believe it when you two were arguing in that alley." She dropped her eyes away before fixing them back onto the young man, "It just didn't seem like you…"

The boy sucked in a breath and closed his eyes for a brief moment, not at all liking the prospect of giving a poor impression. While he was still combating against the girls' feelings and also desired to speak freely, the young man still hated the fact that he came off as such an ass after giving such fair impressions in the past. Yet, it was warrantable. Since everything was said and done, he could look back in retrospect and see how he'd bent to the pressure of the surrounding situations. Between the attempted assassination, the threat of the tethering, and the blatant combativeness from Murakumo, he had steamed up until he couldn't take anymore and exploded. That, without a doubt, didn't paint the picture of a patient man.

Noticing the conflict within the young man first, Murasaki set down Bebeby and grabbed onto his hand, "We aren't angry with you for it." When he looked to her, she gave a soft nod and a small smile.

With a more neutral expression, Yumi also began to rub at the back of the young man's head as she said, "And I'd wager no one, not even Murakumo, will have hard feelings for it by the end of tomorrow…" She paused for a moment and added, "Well, I should say that Murakumo may continue to be steamed if you don't talk to her."

Unwilling to combat the pleasing sensations as the girls began to offer him more physical comfort, the young man grunted, "I'll talk to her then."

"Rest for now," ordered Yumi as the boy meagerly tried to straighten himself up, "but do talk to her sometime soon." A more prominent smile popped onto her face as she announced, "Besides, it'll be harder to win your heart if one of my sisters disapproves of you."

"Nobody is going to win this heart," murmured the young man as he tried to muster a resistance against all of the pats and caresses. He failed with little misery.

Asuka threw in the comment, "We'll be fighting for you anyway," and was followed by Homura.

"For all you know, we may surprise you."

Feeling the pleasant warmth that he felt when he'd gone under earlier that day, the young man could only mutter, "Perhaps…" as he began to get lulled back into sleep. He was fully aware and wouldn't voice it then, but his heart was opening up… For better or worse, it was opening up to the girls despite all of his past objections.