Dark Kingdom 44

It felt like her body was freezing bit by bit. Even breathing was difficult.

Diamond looked blankly at her. The corners of his mouth twitched.

"That was fun." , he finally giggled.

Usagi's heart seemed to slip into her pants. For a brief moment she didn't know what to do. She had taken him really seriously.

"That's not funny.", she replied, gritting her teeth.

"You should have seen your face."

He pushed away from the door and went to one of the bookshelves.

Usagi was still feeling queasy. What would she have done if it wasn't a stupid joke? Nobody knew where she was. Nobody could have helped her.

But would Diamond really have gone that far? Did she trust him to do such a thing?

"Don't worry. I didn't bring you here to sleep with you."

He reassured her again, turned to face her and added:" The table is too uncomfortable for that."

Usagi didn't say anything. What should she have answered?

Instead, she contented herself with continuing to look around the room. The colors gray and black were repeated here as well.

Her gaze fell on the shelf in front of which Diamond was standing.

Only now did she notice that it was not filled with books, but with CD cases.

Usagi walked cautiously towards the shelf, always careful to keep enough distance from Diamond. He might have been joking, but she didn't want him to feel like she'd accepted his offer despite everything.

Or rather, she would still obey his request.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he was frowning to be looking for something.

Each one of the covers was neatly labeled. With a date and a name.

Mamoru's name was on almost every cover. In between she kept reading a different word.

"Who or what is Himitsu?", Usagi finally asked.

Diamond winced. Had she ripped him out of his thoughts?

"Nobody." , he replied quickly.

Ah, so it was a person.

"I found what I was looking for.",

he said finally, holding up one of the covers. It almost seemed as if he wanted to distract from the subject.

"What's that?" , asked Usagi. But she would not forget this Himitsu that quickly.

Something seemed to be wrong with this person, apparently upsetting Diamond.

"Mamoru works for me. That means, I have the extraordinary pleasure every now and then of checking his activities." , he explained with a smile. Apparently he had caught himself again, but he was moving again with the security and certain arrogance she already knew.

"I don't understand.", Usagi admitted honestly.

"I've known Mamoru for a very long time. Almost since the beginning.",

He turned the case in his hands. "He has always been extremely introverted and hated to talk about his private life. But he has a really remarkable gift. Mamoru manages to transform himself into a completely different person when he does his job. You have been able to experience that to some extent today."

Usagi remembered. His cold eyes, the expressionless face, the hard precision when shooting. A shiver ran down her spine.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Diamond's gaze was piercing, almost provocative. In a low voice he replied: "Are you sure that you can love this side of him too?"

She froze.

Who was talking about love? It was the first time that she associated this word with Mamoru.

She liked him, yes. She was interested in him, that was right too. But did she love him too? How should she know? She didn't even have a comparison, after all, she had never had a relationship before. Crushing was normal, but nothing profound. So what the hell should she answer such a question except: "I don't know."

"Shall I show you?" , Diamond whispered even more quietly and clearly more provocatively.

Usagi just nodded silently.

There seemed to be a lump the size of a peach in her throat. And it just didn't want to be swallowed down.

"He follows strict rules with regard to his assignments."

Diamond opened the cover, revealing a reflective round disc that he carefully grasped and held between his fingers while he pressed a button on the huge screen behind him.

"Only one person at a time, whom he has carefully observed beforehand and considers to be justified.", he continued. With a whirring noise, a thin drawer popped out of the wall below the screen, into which he put the CD and closed it with a tap of his finger. "No women, no children, no spectators."

"That was an assignment today?", Usagi asked haltingly. It was strange to find out all these things about Mamoru.

"So to speak. Even if he came quite spontaneously, Mamoru has left his personal signature. One .."

"Red rose." , she interrupted him, looking past him at the screen, which was now brightly lit.

"Right." , he said, amazed. "May I ask .."

"My father. Journalist."She raised her hand, made a gesture that meant Diamond that she didn't want to talk about it now. She was too busy processing the images in front of her.

The recording appeared to be a surveillance camera. The setting was unknown to Usagi, some backyard, but not the people involved. She knew one of them all too well.

It was Mamoru. At least that's what he looked like. Same stature, same hairstyle, same style of clothing. And yet it wasn't the one she had met.

This Mamoru was cold, calculating, and inhuman. Briefly angry.

The other person on the video was a short, chubby glasses wearer in a suit that was way too tight. And he was scared. Such fear that he fell to his knees, clasped his hands in front of his face. He prayed. No, he pleaded. He pleaded with Mamoru, this completely different Mamoru, seemed close to tears.

Usagi held her breath when she saw that the Mamoru on the video didn't even pull a face as he pointed his gun at the man.

Her eyes widened, not daring to blink.

The video had no sound and so Usagi only winced when the man was thrown backwards by the shot.

She looked away in disgust, but the image of an exploding skull had already burned into her brain.

That and that expressionless and at the same time so diabolical face of Mamoru.

"The victim was a member of a girl trafficking ring. A really disgusting man.", Diamond explained.

Usagi only heard his voice from afar. She didn't say anything either. She could only look at the screen. Could only see this Mamoru just standing there, looking down at his victim and completely calmly throwing a rose at the dead person.

There was a click. She turned to the door.

There he was.

Mamoru looked at her first, then at the screen, then at her again.

Usagi breathed in and out shallowly.

Mamoru. The man who had helped her so often. Who had saved her life. The man she'd kissed and who'd made her feel that she didn't even know she had.

And the man who could be freezing cold. Who killed people. Without conscience, without remorse, without feeling.

She saw the image of the exploding skull again. Her mouth filled with bitter bile. She looked at Mamoru. And ran.

Ran past him, almost bumped into him. She threw open the ajar door and ran into the corridor.

"Why did you do that?"

She heard Mamoru's voice. He seemed angry, maybe even desperate.

Usagi stopped, leaning on the rough wall.

"Do you mean by paying attention?"

Mamoru seemed to be yelling at Diamond. Strange. She wouldn't have believed him capable of such an outburst of emotion. Otherwise he was always the silent, fully controlled type.

She closed her eyes, slowly took a deep breath in and out. Her heartbeat calmed down. The taste in her mouth returned to normal too.

"She doesn't have to be dragged into it anymore."

Usagi twisted her mouth when she heard these words. Wasn't it too late for that already? Hadn't he warned her enough? That he's dangerous. That she should stay away from him.

She turned to the open door.

He was standing in there.

Mamoru.

Her Mamoru. Her dark knight.

And a murderer at the same time. A killer.

She should be running. Just away. Away from him, away from danger. Away from the darkness that surrounded him.

And yet she noticed that her legs had simply developed a life of their own. That she was getting closer and closer to the door.

"Today was bad enough. You won't do it better with that.", Mamoru pointed to the now dark screen. "What are you aiming for?"

Instead of answering the other person, Diamond looked at the door, at her. The corners of his mouth twitched.

Mamoru turned around questioningly. And saw her. He was surprised.

Because she came back?

Why was she that anyway? Now here she was. And just looked at him.

This was the Mamoru she knew. The Mamoru she fell in love with.

He might have that other side too, that evil and dark.

Still, it didn't scare her, he didn't scare her. She trusted her feelings. Her feelings for him, her Mamoru.

With two long strides she stood in front of him, grabbed his shirt, pulled him down and kissed him.

She didn't care how many sides he had. She didn't care which of them was his real side. She liked him. No, not only that. She loved him. It might be stupid, irresponsible, or masochistic. But what mattered was that she was with him.