Bullet XXI

"Oh, look at this mess!" -Rowan exclaimed, clutching his head with both hands. "My poor precious club... The smell of blood and gunpowder won't go away for days!"

Revy ignored the man's wail, and instead, she focused on Rock. "Did you just knock the big guy out with a fucking chair?"

Rock did not answer. He held his makeshift weapon aloft, a chair, or what was left of it after hitting the big guy right in the head, waiting for the other man to get up. But fortunately, the psychopath with the sword remained on the ground, unconscious. After a moment, Rock finally lowered his chair and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes."

"What, no witty repartee?"

Rock looked at her. "Everyone knows that chairs are the only weakness of big guys who use swords."

Revy rolled her eyes. "Ah, there it is..."

"You asked... by the way, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm more than okay. That bastard almost killed me about three times." -Revy smiled. The adrenaline still wasn't leaving her body. She could still feel the pulse in her throat, her heart pounding in her chest. There was nothing quite like surviving a fight to the death. "That hadn't happened to me in a long time, that was fun."

Now, it was Rock's turn to roll his eyes. "Of course, having a psycho with a sword try to cut your head off is the most fun thing in the world."

"To make it short, let's just call him Sicko."

"It's the same thing."

"Whatever. Help me up, will you?" -Revy extended her hand toward him. "I'm lying on top of a fucking broken bottle.". -Rock nodded and offered her...his chair. Revy looked at him blankly for a few moments, then slapped the object away, sending it somewhere in the club. "What the fuck, Rock?"

"Hey, you asked me to help you."

"Yeah, but not with that shit, what's your problem?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you supposed to not like being touched?"

Oh, ohh. Well, she couldn't argue with that, because it was true. However, it wasn't exactly the way he thought it was. But Revy wasn't in the mood to explain all that shit that was going through her head, which wasn't at all easy to do. Besides, she didn't want to talk about it either.

The fucking broken bottle on her back was her priority. So Revy decided to be simple and direct, as always. "I'll only say this once, asshole, it's okay if it's you."

Again, Rock raised an eyebrow.

For a moment, she thought he was going to come out with another one of his bullshit, and she prepared to tell him to go fuck himself. But fortunately, Rock realized she was serious and simply held out his hand silently. With a little effort, Revy finally stood up and shook free of the discomfort in his back.

But now, she had another discomfort right in front of her. "So..." -Said Rock. "With this we confirm that you're the one attracting the shit storms."

"... What?"

"Do I really need to explain myself?" -She opened her mouth to answer, but he interrupted her by raising his finger. "We came here to talk to some guys, and for some reason, Rowan's club ended up trashed, full of bullet holes all over the place and a good amount of dead people."

"And what did you expect me to do, let that son of a bitch cut my head off?" -Revy folded her arms, indignant. "Besides, I didn't start the fight, the psycho with the sword did. I don't see how that makes me responsible for all of this."

"I thought you'd just call him Sicko."

"Don't push me." -She warned.

"In any case, literally the guy just showed up and pounced on you." -insisted Rock, then averted his gaze. "I mean, you're attractive enough for all of us to want to do that, but-"

"Fuck you, Rock."

After the fight, Revy forced Rowan and Chaka to move the unconscious sword-wielding psychopath, now identified as Ginji Matsuzaki, thanks to Chaka, to one of the private rooms. Afterwards, she kindly woke him up by throwing a glass of water in his face.

Then, after a few minutes, she dragged a chair to the middle of the room and sat Ginji there. The man dropped heavily, putting up no resistance. But of course, being held with a gun pointed directly at his head, and having his hands and feet bound with tape, helped quite a bit to cooperate.

She had even put a gag, also made of tape, in his mouth.

Meanwhile, behind them, Gretel was keeping the other man, Chaka, restrained by pointing her gun directly at his testicles. That seemed an effective method, because Chaka had not moved from his spot since.

As she finished her work, Revy nodded with satisfaction. "What?" -She asked, after seeing the expressionless look Rock was giving her.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to have a little chat, you know." -Said Rock.

"This is a security measure.". -Replied Revy seriously, however, he noticed that she was having fun with all this.

But Revy was also right there. Ginji appeared to be a serious and calm man, but from his earlier demonstration during his short but intense fight with Revy, he was also a man who could erupt in unpredictable violence. Somehow, Rock found him similar to Revy.

Still, knowing how dangerous Ginji was, that didn't stop Rock from feeling a little guilty about keeping the man like this. "He looks like a prisoner of war. We already took away his sword, I don't think it's necessary to keep him tied up."

"He doesn't need his sword to be able to kill us, Rock."

"Well, that's true, but could you at least take the gag off?". -She looked at him sternly for a few moments, then clicked her tongue and obeyed his request. " Thanks."

"Yeah, whatever.". -She glanced at Ginji, but the man simply looked at her in silence. "But he doesn't seem to be very talkative, I'd better kill him and use the other one."

"Yeah, you can use me all you want, baby!". -interjected Chaka with a smile.

"See, that idiot sure is a talker.". -Revy stroked Ginji's head, more like a couple of slow pats by way of warning. "So you'd better open your mouth, big guy, or I'll put a bullet in your head."

However, the man continued in silence. And as Revy began to grind her teeth, Rock quickly turned to Chaka before she ran out of patience and shot Ginji. "Does he know how to speak English?"

"No, that moron only knows how to speak Japanese.". -Chaka replied. "All the more reason to kill him and talk to me instead."

"The man is right.". -Said Revy agreeing.

"Exactly, why don't you and I talk alone, baby? I'll answer every question you ask me, in return, you just go take your clothes off."

She rolled her eyes. "Or...we can also kill that idiot and let Balalaika take out all the rest of his group."

"You two, what rank do you hold in the Washimine group?" -Rock asked, before Revy actually complied with his suggestions.

"Rank?" -Chaka snorted. "We're Yakuzas, son, not some fucking military."

"Okay. What are you two, other than being a hitman and an idiot?"

Chaka scowled at him, wondering which of the two he had called an idiot. But Chaka let it go and shrugged. "So that's it, we're hitmen. The difference is that I use a gun, you know, like a normal person. And that asshole uses a sword, because... I don't know? The psycho must find it fun to cut people into little pieces, I guess."

"Other than that, what's obvious to everyone?"

Chaka frowned again. "Don't try to get funny with me, stupid."

Gretel then jabbed her pistol deeper into the man's crotch, much to the man's discomfort. "Better answer Boss." -she said, then removed the safety from her gun. "Or say goodbye to your balls."

"I'm just a simple hitman, he's the underboss of our group!". -Chaka replied immediately. "Fuck, get that out of there, you goddamn brat!"

"I like it where it is." -Replied Gretel.

Satisfied, and ignoring the man's pleading look, Rock turned to look at Revy. "You do realize you were about to kill someone very important?"

"Bah, I've killed a lot of important people.". -She replied, and he didn't know if she was joking or not. "So, is it necessary that this bastard is still alive? Because I still feel like killing him."

"Very necessary...so please don't kill him?" -Revy clicked her tongue in annoyance, but lowered her gun anyway. He smiled at her. "Again, thanks."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever.".

Then Rowan, who had left the room as soon as he left Ginji's body, let out an exclamation. "Fuck, Jaws, you're alive! You're one lucky son of a bitch!".

"Okay." -Said Revy with her eyes rolling. "Is it that only unnecessary fucking side characters will die today?"

"Yeah."

"How boring."

Ronnie was breathing heavily, staring at the ceiling of Rowan's fucking club. He had a pounding headache, nausea and the urge to piss.

He could see out of the corner of his eye another body lying next to him, but he was too sore to look. Like when he rolled over to lie on his back and check out the near fatal wound that Japanese fucker gave him.

His expensive custom-made suit, and equally expensive white shirt, had a bullet hole in it and was a little singed. He could feel that the skin underneath, at the level of his ribs, where he had been shot, was swollen. And the cold wetness he also felt was probably his own blood.

The bullet had gone through his clothes, skin and muscle, but, by sheer luck, it ended up embedding itself in one of his ribs and that was what saved his life. But the force of the impact hit him like a sledgehammer and had spun him around. The throbbing Ronnie felt in his skull told him that he had also hit his head when he fell.

Rowan's voice increased his headache, and for some reason, that also increased his nausea and urge to pee. But that was okay, probably, because that meant he was alive enough. "I guess someone up there likes me." -Said Ronnie, forcing a smile.

"No, my friend, the people in that neighborhood don't like any of us. And apparently not in hell either, because he didn't explain to me how you're still alive."

"Fuck you." -Ronnie said, then coughed a couple of times. "What happened to the others?"

"You shouldn't talk, Jaws, that's a nasty wound you've got there..."

"Answer my fucking question."

Rowan looked at him for a few moments and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Ronald. All your friends are dead, well, almost all of them. There's one who survived because he hid when the fight started."

Ronnie wiped away his smile and closed his eyes. 'Fuck.'

Five men, he'd lost five men because of that slit-eyed son of a bitch. No, it was also the fault of his motherfucking boss, who sent them there in the first place. And all because of some fucking junkies.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's why I told you to get your fucking Italian ass out of here." -Ronnie opened his eyes again, meeting Two Hands. Great. "Maybe this will teach you a lesson to keep your nose out of other people's business, Jaws."

"Revy, you're still alive."

"More than you." -She replied, raising an eyebrow as she noticed the bloodstain on his clothes.

"Very funny." -Said Ronnie then blinked. If that that motherfucker was here, did that mean the big guy with the sword was dead? "I want the sword guy's head, Two Hands."

"Sorry, baby. Rock needs the last samurai and his friend alive, so it's a 'no' for you."

Ronnie clicked his tongue in annoyance. Rowan, on the other hand, looked at her in surprise. "What's wrong with you? Leaving someone alive who's trying to kill you isn't like you." -he said. "I mean, that hasn't happened since... never?"

"Yes, I seem to have a weakness for Japanese men. All it takes is for one of them to say 'please' and 'thanks' to change my mind.". -She shook her head, but didn't seem upset. In fact, she was smiling." What a damn shame..."

"Every day you're a cruel and ruthless killer, and just now you decide to go soft.". -Ronnie spat. "Fucking great."

Revy shrugged, playing it down. "If it makes you feel any better, once that guy stops being useful to Rock, and if I'm in the mood, I'll kill him. Until then, Sicko will stay alive." -She pointed her finger at him. "And you'll stay here, with your literally cadaverous friends so you won't fuck it up."

"Do I have a choice?"

She offered him a dangerous smile. "Well, I can kill you right now."

Again, Ronnie blinked. Dying at Revy's hands would be much quicker, and less painful, than dying at Verrocchio's hands. But, on the other hand, there was still a small chance that bitch would kill the big, slant-eyed guy later, and then he could deliver that guy's head to Verrocchio and save his own skin.

"I'll take the first option then."

"As you wish, Jaws." -She turned and started walking. "Rowan, make sure this jerk doesn't get up and try to do something stupid, will you?"

"Hold on a second! I'm not a fucking paramedic, what do I do if he dies?" -Rowan looked him up and down. "Other than take away that nice gold watch he's got."

Ronnie raised an eyebrow. That watch was a gift from his mother, dead or alive, no one would take it from him. "Suck my dick, Rowan."

"Oh, don't get like that, it was just a joke."

"I don't know, man, throw it in an alley or in the ocean." -Said Revy, walking away. "The seagulls or the rats will take care of the rest."

Feeling exhaustion take over his body again, Ronnie closed his eyes. He just hoped that, when he woke up, the seagulls or the rats wouldn't be chewing him up.

Rock finished making a makeshift bandage for Ginji using some pieces of a curtain in the room, and the same tape that Revy had used moments before to bind the man's hands and feet. He wasn't an expert at this, but he thought that with that makeshift bandage he could help a little to stop the bleeding.

After finishing, Rock straightened up, satisfied. It was amazing how a bit of tape could be so practical.

"And don't ask me to tuck you in and read you a story." -Said Rock, pointing his finger at him. Ginji stared at him silently. But something told Rock that, behind those sunglasses, the man had rolled his eyes. That only added to his amusement. "They never have a happy ending."

"Why don't you just finish up already and shoot me while I'm still tied up?"

Rock blinked and withdrew his finger. Those were the man's first words since waking up. And as Chaka had said, he did it in Japanese. Rock felt a small pang of nostalgia at hearing his native language after so long. "No one's going to shoot you."

Ginji raised an eyebrow. "Well that hound of yours looked like she was itching to shoot me." -Rock cocked his head, confused. "Not the little hound, I mean the other one."

Rock finally understood and frowned. "They're not my hounds! Gretel is my... um, it's hard to explain. And Revy is my... um, also hard to explain."

"It sure is."

"In any case, the original idea was simply to have a civilized talk with you and your friend...this wasn't supposed to happen."

Ginji snorted. "Yeah, because bringing in a group armed and ready to kill is a good way to have a civilized talk."

"First of all, they didn't come with us. And you were the one who started running around, chopping heads off."

"Actually, it was only one head." -Ginji smiled fiercely at him. "This time."

Rock just looked at him blankly. If the man thought he could intimidate him with that, he would have a long, long road ahead of him. Seeing that it didn't get the effect he desired, Ginji stopped smiling. Then Rock asked another question.

"Why did you attack Revy first? I understand that she pointed her guns at you, but everyone else did the same. And yet you jumped on her first."

"You noticed that?"

"I witnessed the start of the fight from the front row, though everything else happened too fast for me."

"I see. When the vulgar owner of this vulgar establishment suddenly came looking for Chaka, I was naturally suspicious of his intentions, so I hid when he and Chaka weren't looking at me." -Responded Ginji. "And I was right, because moments later, Chaka encountered those men in suits who threatened to kill him."

"Hold on a second!" -Chaka exclaimed, pointing accusingly at him. "Does that mean you were watching everything from the beginning and didn't help me?"

"Exactly." -Ginji acknowledged. "In fact, I was waiting for them to kill you."

"You're a motherfucker."

"You would have done the same.". -Ginji replied, returning his attention to Rock. "In any case, I was bored of killing useless people who presented no challenge in this rotten town. So when one of those men mentioned Levy Tsu Hando, I couldn't resist approaching to check if it was really her." -Again, Ginji smiled again. "And fortunately, it was."

Levy Tsu...? Oh. "And where the hell do you know Revy from?" -Rock asked.

"Every criminal in the underworld has heard about Levy Tsu Hando; the most feared gunwoman in all of Asia."

"Hold on a second!" -Chaka exclaimed again. "Who the fuck is Levy, you mean the sexy baby?"

"Everyone, except Chaka." -Ginji corrected himself, expressionless.

Rock blinked a couple of times. He knew Revy was very skilled and what she was capable of, the fight a few minutes ago was just a small demonstration of that, however, he hadn't expected Revy to be so... popular.

'The most feared gunwoman in all of Asia.' -Rock thought. 'Wow... Isn't that cool?'

But Rock was hesitant to tell Revy about his discovery, because she probably already knew. And if she didn't know, she would become extremely arrogant... Ah, but what the hell, he would tell her anyway. Revy's reaction in case he didn't know would be worth it.

"All right, wait here for a second."

Ginji made an attempt to pull his feet and hands apart, but obviously couldn't because of his restraints. "I can't move, remember?"

"I know, I'm just messing with you." -Said Rock, ignoring the man's expressionless stare, then approached Gretel. He extended a hand towards her. "Lend me one of your knives."

But the girl raised one of her eyebrows. "I don't have one. I mean, I have a gun here, so I didn't see the need to bring a knife."

"Yeah, I don't buy that shit. Of course you must have a knife lying around."

"...Who do you think I am, Boss?"

"Hansel's twin." -Rock replied. The girl rolled her eyes, but in the end, she actually pulled out a knife. A big one, one of those military ones. "See?"

The girl ignored him and instead, hesitantly handed him the knife. "Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"I plan to release him and have a little chat in private, yes. So you, our new hitman friend and Revy will have to wait outside."

"Oh, you're really thinking about that.". -said Gretel, incredulous. "That's a bad, bad idea. Did spending so much time with Anego turn you into a reckless bastard too?"

Rock chuckled. "Funny, I've been wondering the same thing myself."

"I'm not kidding, Boss."

Rock crouched down to the girl's height. "Listen, I know this seems like a bad idea. But the next step I mentioned to you and Revy before this whole thing went to shit starts right now. And for that, I can't have that man tied up like a prisoner of war about to be tortured. That's not the way business works..." -Rock cocked his head to the side as he remembered something. "Except in Roanapur, of course, but I don't like to do it that way."

Gretel looked at him with pursed lips, clearly disgusted. "You're asking me to let you do something stupid that might put you in danger, again."

"I'm asking you to trust me and let me do this my way, okay?" -Rock held up a finger before she could say anything else. "And no, this is not an order."

She looked away for a moment, as if she had taken a sudden interest in the painting on the wall of the room. Then she let out a resigned sigh and handed the knife to Rock. "Anego was right, you have a damn silver tongue that will kill you someday."

" Thanks.". -Said Rock, smiling and taking the knife.

"It wasn't a compliment, it was a warning."

"Double thanks then."

"Tsk!"

Chaka cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt this touching moment of trust between you and the goddamn brat..." -He said, smiling. "But could you ask her to stop aiming for my balls?"

Rock pretended to consider it for a few moments. "No."

"Come on man, I'm not going to help that asshole.". -Chaka insisted." In fact, I'd rather have him killed. Besides, the brat already took my gun and I feel like taking a piss."

"You can piss on yourself."

"You could do the same?". -Replied Chaka, raising an eyebrow, defiantly.

Rock blinked. "If someone was pointing a gun at my balls, yeah."

"You're a motherfucker."

Rock ignored him and again walked over to Ginji. He crouched down to face him, and for a moment, expected to be head-butted by the man. But Ginji simply looked at him with a raised eyebrow. That seemed to be his favorite gesture. "This is the moment you start torturing me?"

"No, mate, you're wrong. What I'm about to do, is to release you to have a civilized talk as comrades about the Washimine group. You know, about that little problem they have in Japan with the Kousa."

"You can swallow your comradeship. ". -Ginji replied. "I have no idea how you know that, but I don't intend to blurt out any information that might compromise my group."

"If I wanted that, don't you think you'd be dead and I'd be torturing your talkative friend right now?"

"...Maybe."

"Put another way, are you willing to listen to the offer I have for your group?". -Again, there was another moment of silence, until Ginji finally shrugged. Rock nodded, that should do it. "Don't make me regret this.". -He said, then cut the tape that held the man's hands and feet.

Ginji rubbed his wrists. "What kind of offer do you have?"

"One that involves the help of the Hotel Moscow."

"This is a bad, bad idea!". -Revy stated.

"That's what I told him, but he insisted.". -Said Gretel.

Behind Rock, the psycho with the sword stood, free of his restraints and with his arms crossed. While the blond idiot, Gretel and Revy were in the hallway. Revy had arrived a few moments ago after checking to see if this Jaws guy was really alive, and found herself in this ridiculous situation. The explanation Rock offered her didn't reassure her at all.

However, Gretel couldn't blame her. It was hard enough for her to let Revy be hanging around Rock, allowing him to be locked in a small room with that dangerous man was something she was having a hard time doing. But Rock had asked her to trust him, and that's what Gretel would do.

And in case that guy killed Rock, well, Hansel wasn't the only one who knew how to skin a person and keep them alive for the entire procedure.

"This is a-"

"If you dare to tell me it's one of your bets, I'll beat you.". -Rock wisely shut his mouth. Revy nodded in satisfaction and then turned to Gretel with her pointed finger pointed in her face and ready to unleash her fury. "And you, you're supposed to be the one with the most sense out of all of us, what the hell were you thinking listening to this asshole?"

Gretel snorted. "Bah, if Boss had asked you to jump out of a ninth story window, the same way he asked me to go along with his idea, right now you'd be a stain embedded in the ground."

"...What did he tell you?"

"I won't tell you."

"Fucking brat."

"In any case." -interjected Rock, pointing his thumb at the psycho with the sword "Matsuzaki-san and I will have a little private Japonski-a-Japonski talk about varieties of raw fish or something. You two will stay with Chaka in the hallway, so entertain him so he doesn't get into trouble."

"It's still a bad idea." -insisted Revy. "What's the big deal about us being in there?"

"Other than you and him trying to kill each other like ten minutes ago?"

"So what?"

"I'm going to explain it to you in little pictures, okay?"

Rock tried to lighten the mood, but his bad jokes only made Revy more pissed off. But, Gretel remembered, he liked to do that deliberately. Meanwhile, Revy was making a great effort to restrain herself from hitting him, even though, by the way she was opening and closing her hands, she was clearly very tempted to do so.

Revy finally backed up a step, but growling like a dog that's had its bone taken away. "I just don't trust that guy."

"Neither do I, but if he wanted to kill me, he would have done it the instant I cut his bonds.". -Rock replied." Instead, Matsuzaki-san is patiently waiting for you to let me go. I think he, like me, just wants to get this shit over with for good."

Revy looked like a granite monument to disapproval. But in the end, she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Do whatever you want, asshole."

"Thanks, Revy."

"Yeah, whatever." -Revy turned away from him, scratching her head. "I just hope you're aware that I won't help you if he tries to cut your head off."

"Okay, but in return, I'll be expecting a dance from you. Whips included."

"Fuck you, Rock."