Chapter 19: You Shouldn't Be Here
Enatsu P.O.V., 1 minute following "Blood Runs Deep"; 3:58 A.M.
"Yumiko?" Marasu asked tentatively, unsure that he was truly seeing his girlfriend in front of him.
Said girl hung her head in shame, unwilling to look her beloved in the eye. Despite his best efforts, Enatsu realized that he would not be getting an explanation unless he was going to ask for one.
"Why?" He whispered, the question barely audible. He looked up to Yumiko, hurt and betrayal shining in his eyes. She finally met his gaze, eyes brimming with hurt, tears threatening to spill out. "We were sent on a mission. They told us that our client wanted someone, typical bag and tag; what they didn't tell us was the target, just the build, height, race, same as always. I thought that it was odd when I saw that it was the same room as ours, but I had assumed you had already moved out, into the bigger flat. I didn't know it was you until you used the Yokai. Marasu I'm so sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone through with the mission."
Marasu shook his head, unable to find it in himself to be angry. "It's too late for that now. We should find out more about your client, find out what he wants from us. For now though, I think a bath and sleep is in order."
The S.A.T. operator moved behind the mercenary, cutting her loose, rubbing her wrists gently to ensure that blood would flow normally back into her hands. Carefully lifting her up, Enatsu carried her to the bathroom, trusting her to be able to clean herself while he cleaned up the mess in the bedroom. Bandaging the first man, he lifted him up, bringing him outside, before calling an ambulance for him. Walking back inside, he found the man he had knocked out beginning to stir again, so he dragged him to the kitchen, sitting him in the same chair Yumiko had been not half an hour prior.
Quickly changing into cleaner clothes, Enatsu walked back to the bathroom, quietly opening the door, hoping to surprise the girl in the bathtub.
"I can hear you, you know." She called, a smirk on her face.
Defeated, Marasu walked over, sitting next to her by the tub. "How? I opened the door without a sound!"
Yumiko smiled at her boyfriend, amused by his antics. "I heard your footsteps. They aren't exactly very light, unless we were on a mission."
Enatsu sighed, bested once again. Glancing up, he noticed multiple bruises littered across Yumiko's body, some an angry purple, surrounded by a sickly yellow, others were older, already beginning to fade. Worried, he raised an eyebrow at her, an unspoken question shot towards her. He noticed the slump of her shoulders, followed by her leaning towards him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Who did this to you?" He asked, concern lacing his question.
"Some guys in my squad, they weren't exactly, well they weren't very fond of a woman joining their team."
Marasu's brows furrowed, reading his girlfriend's solemn expression, anger slowly simmering, threatening to make itself known. Forcing down the rage, he moved closer, gently beginning to massage the bruises that were beginning to fade, as rubbing newer ones could do more damage than it would heal. Moving across her body, one hand settled on a muscle knot on her shoulder, the other softly massaging her thigh. Sighing contentedly, Yumiko leaned further into Enatsu's shoulder while he worked on relaxing her tensed muscles.
Eventually, Marasu had finished, much to Yumiko's disappointment. After she had dressed, Marasu once again lifted her, carrying her to their bed. Kissing her forehead, he walked into the kitchen, providing his captive a sandwich and water, before slipping back into bed, a hand instinctively wrapping around Yumiko, protectively holding her closer.
Kenshi P.O.V., 1 hour, 3 minutes following "Blood Runs Deep"; 4:00 A.M.
Instead of the usual gong every morning, the ninja were awaken an hour early, to the sound of gunshots. All four ninja scrambled out onto the deck, barely awake and rushing to find the source of the noise. Once all the ninja were present, Kenshi cleared his throat, gaining their attention. Instantly, the four woke up, either wondering how and why he was out of bed so early, or what he was thinking waking them up with a gun, and how he even got the gun in the first place.
"Listen up, boys!" He shouted, his voice booming across the deck. "Your sensei has given me permission to train you, and to beat the shit out of you if you refuse to obey or keep up. Today, we'll be working on swordsmanship, and practicing our blade stances.
Both Kai and Lloyd cheered quietly, while Cole and Jay groaned. Snapping his head towards them, Kenshi chuckled. "What's wrong? Can't duel?"
Both boys hesitated, but it was Cole to speak up. "Well, we're good enough with the wakizashi (short sword) to survive, but we aren't trained with the katana like Kai and Lloyd."
Kenshi smiled warmly. "Great! This just means that I can perfect your skills with the wakizashi and teach you how to wield a katana!"
Earth and Lightning glanced at each other, trading nervous glances, before turning back to Kenshi, shrugging. "Sure. What's the worst that could happen?"
Half an hour later, the two boys had learned the hard way that things could go very wrong. Panting, Cole could barely keep up with Kai's attacks, his movements becoming more and more sluggish, despite being wheelchair-bound. Damn, Kai has really been working on being able to fight, even without his legs. Gotta give him credit for that.
Across the court, Jay was having similar troubles. Despite still being able to keep up, the lightning elemental was finding it increasingly difficult to find an opening in Lloyd's attack pattern, forcing him to play extremely defensively.
Swiftly dashing back, Lloyd run his hand across his wakizashi, coating the dull blade with a layer of ice, before lunging back in, hitting Jay in the shoulder. Shards of ice flew everywhere, with Jay hobbling back, clutching his shoulder. "Ouch! That hurt, Lloyd, seriously! Hey, hey Kenshi! Lloyd cheated!"
Kenshi spared him a glance, before shrugging and turning his attention back to Kai and Cole. "He wasn't cheating; he was improvising."
Shocked, Jay turned back to Lloyd, who shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have swung so aggressively."
"Damn right, you shouldn't have! Whatever, I'm going inside for an icepack." Jay began walking towards the door, when Kenshi grabbed him by the injured arm, causing him to hiss.
"What the hell, Kenshi? I'm trying to get an icepack."
Kenshi shook his head. "That's the problem. If you can't handle a dull blade's swing without whining, how are you supposed to be a valuable asset to your team when you get hit with a real sword?"
Stifling a groan, Jay trudged back towards Lloyd, picking up his blade and electrifying it. Steadying himself in a battle-ready stance, Jay began dueling with Lloyd once again, this time with renewed vigor.
No P.O.V., 3 hours, 15 minutes following "Blood Runs Deep"; 7:12 A.M.
"What do you mean, 'Alpha Team couldn't capture the boy'? Your men had one job, ONE, and you can't even do that? Pathetic."
The lieutenant said nothing, trembling as he kept his head down.
The Overlord sneered. "Speak."
The soldier snapped his head up, fear shining in his eyes. "S-sir, we had little to no information on the man, except for that one of the women was in a relationship with him, and the rest in files, which are kept in the Cap– former captain's room."
The Overlord growled. "Then why don't you just open the damn room?"
"Well sir, the room is enforced with a mixed layer of titanium and vengestone, making it practically impossible to break."
The Overlord sighed, beckoning for the man to leave. Right before he reached the door, the Overlord focused on the man, before flicking his wrist, snapping the unsuspecting lieutenant's neck, his head nearly twisted all the way back. Two nindroids quickly rushed in, carrying the body away, likely to the incinerator, where all his possessions on base would be burnt alongside him.
Turning to his trusted general, the dark entity sighed once more. "Cryptor, send a team out, and go with them. Ensure that you capture that boy and his little girlfriend at once!"
Nodding, the nindroid general nodded, rushing out to assemble his own hand-picked team.
What did I say, folks, double upload! Note that I wrote this at 2 A.M., so the quality may be sub-par.
Quick note just in case. This story WILL NOT have ANY sexual content. I let a few friends read this before posting, and they thought that Enatsu was rubbing Yumiko's thigh in a sexual manner (curse their dirty minds), however this is not the case. He is just trying to get her to relax, so don't worry. Sorry if this put some of y'all off, I just didn't want any confusion.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please review if it's convenient, it really helps me churn out chapters faster.
Have a good day/night!
~The Titan's Shadow