Book 1: Simplicitatem
Chapter 5: Our Survival of the Fittest
"Time flows constantly; it doesn't care about the people who are struggling."
- Unknown
"Why are you doing this?" Screams erupted from the citizens of Ryuuseigai, angry and desperate. "There are children here!"
Three hundred feet away, Aika pointedly kept her gaze averted from the scene unfolding before her. Instead she tried to zero in on the form of Kuroro's speeding figure and attempted to match pace with him.
"Is this your first time seeing bloodshed?" Franklin asked, voice kinder than Aika would have anticipated for a member of the Phantom Brigade.
"Second." She chuckled bitterly. "It's the second time."
Kuroro made no indication of having been provoked. Aika cleared her throat and quieted herself.
"Hey!" A rough voice accompanied the sound of footsteps behind them. "What are you-"
The earth-shattering sound of gunshot so nearby cut the blissfully ignorant Mafioso off as it found it's pathway through the center of his forehead, leaving a bloody and gaping trail in its wake. Pakunoda put away her gun.
Aika almost stated that that scale of ruthlessness was not necessitated, but as she was not yet entirely sure of who –or what- she was dealing with, she yielded to her nearly nonexistent rational side, opting to simply grit her teeth and continue running.
"There's a lot of them running around."
"Then we just need to get rid of them." Pakunoda said matter-of-factly.
"Are we going to meet up with the others?" She asked, making sure her voice was kept at a quiet level.
Kuroro shot a glance over his shoulder toward her. "Spiders work alone. And we don't interfere in one another's fight. It's almost doctrine."
"Shouldn't we split up then?" She asked.
Kuroro looked toward Pakunoda and Franklin who nodded once before they moved to spread out and find more poor unfortunate souls to filch.
"Are you sure you want to stick with me?" The Leader asked quietly, beginning to slow his pace. Aika gratefully thanked the gods.
"I don't see any other alternative."
"Our methods are unsightly."
"As the woman just generously demonstrated for me a few minutes ago," she responded pointedly.
Kuroro opened his mouth to reply back but a nearby scene drew his attention. A young girl of perhaps twelve or thirteen was pressed up against the face of building, clutching a book, obviously frightened to death of the Mafioso currently looming over her.
"It won't even hurt little gi-"
Aika didn't even hear the rest of the sentence, body moving of its own accord. Kuroro tsked and rushed in after her.
"NO!" Screamed the adolescent, shutting her eyes and falling to the floor to curl up into a ball.
For someone who had yet to discover the wonderful and slightly disorienting properties of nen, Kuroro figured that Aika moved relatively quickly.
She has the brunt of her strength in her legs, Kuroro realized dimly as he saw her drop-kick the man. His body hit the floor hard and flat and air escaped his lungs with an audible choking sound.
The Leader of the Geneiryodan had fully intended her to rush toward the girl and leave him to incapacitate the man but she viciously kicked the Mafioso in the stomach one more time and proceeded to sit on him. Had the situation differed, Kuroro was sure he would have difficultly restraining laughter.
"Get going little girl." Aika said, voice positively dripping with malice. She didn't need to be told twice and the adolescent stumbled over her feet twice in her hurry to scramble away. Kuroro watched Aika curiously.
Her left hand roughly shoved the man's face into the dirt, and a low groan came from the figure beneath her.
"What were you gonna do to that girl huh?" Aika hissed in his ear.
Kuroro narrowed his eyes and observed.
"Can't do what you want if two-thirds of your dick has already been shoved into your personality though, am I right?"
She slammed his face into the ground again and all of a sudden he stopped squirming. A full minute later Aika stood up with a handful of his hair, letting it drop and wisp to the ground.
"Did you do the thing?" Kuroro stepped beside her.
"Yes I did the thing," Aika replied as she hissed again. The thing, the innate power to suck life energy from living things.
Interesting events had transpired during the course of the past two years. Aika had found that she was always very acute of Kuroro Lucifer's emotions, which was unsettling to say the least because the goddamn man never felt anything deeply. Perhaps a touch of humor, curiosity, and then blank. She figured it was because she had a part of him running around her body since she had taken part of his own life energy to spare him the pain and blood loss of cutting off a poisoned forearm.
So right know she understood that he was feeling quite bewildered.
She also realized that whenever she saw children, something brittle inside of her broke; it bent and twisted and snapped, splintered cruelly.
"Was he good or bad?" Kuroro inquired.
"I'm not a vampire or something!" She snapped, getting up, gritting her teeth. "I wish I had stopped a few more." She added more quietly. "I wish I could have killed a few more."
"All in good time." A samurai came walking up behind her; Nobunaga. "But for now, we've basically taken care of the job."
Aika's knees just gave out on her, buckled and failed to support her weight. She slowly slid to the ground and closed her eyes, tired and confused. That was so fast. How quickly did they work?
The sun was beginning to rise.
Rubicund blood dyed Meteor City Red.
Several moments later, the very last gunshot was heard.
"You cannot lose humanity if it is already lost."
- Ryougi Shiki (The Garden of Sinners)
"Aika Brehznev." She tasted the feel of the name on her tongue and cringed. "Ew."
"It's a sophisticated sounding name." Kuroro said, tone consoling. "Your mother was Japanese and your father was Russian. That your first and last name don't fit together perfectly is understandable."
"I don't like it." She said bluntly, frowning. "I'll just be Aika from now on."
Nobunaga laughed heartily, setting his sword down beside him. "Dancho, I like this one." He said good-naturedly.
Aika wasn't too sure what she had been expecting from the Phantom Troupe but it certainly was not this. They were all people –which was definitely a shocker- with feelings and lives and terrible senses of humor.
"It's alright kid. None of us have last names except for the Boss." The samurai pointed out.
She almost asked why it mattered at all that they had anything in common. She disliked half of them anyways.
"Your first kill?" Macchi asked, arms crossed and expression neutral, as always.
"Unfortunately." Aika answered, "though I prefer not to think of it that way. I was just helping a little kid out."
Kuroro subtly cleared his throat but the effect was instantaneous. All the members and even Aika herself brought their attention to him.
"Status?" He asked smoothly.
"I took down eleven." Nobunaga reported. "I think."
Pakunoda brushed her fingers through her hair. "Eight."
"Fourteen." Feitan hissed.
"I don't remember." Franklin answered honestly.
Macchi simply shrugged as well.
"They're either dead, gone, or hiding." Paku started. "Unfortunately, we've garnered the unadulterated animosity of an entire faction in the Mafia. We should expect the worst."
"True." Kuroro nodded.
"Uvo was drunk as hell last night so he's hungover right now." Nobunaga noted.
The Leader frowned. The large man had quite the tolerance for alcohol. Exactly how much had he drunk to be unable to engage in one of his favorite hobbies?
"Kuroro," Aika called out, seeking his attention.
Other Troupe members' eyes narrowed at such a casual approach, but he didn't seem to mind. "Hmm?" He answered.
"Let me join." She crossed her arms. "Let me join the Troupe."
She was met first with dead silence, and then eventually the rising laughter of Nobunaga.
Feitan's aura doubled in size and irritability. "Little girl, don't insult us." He hissed.
"I'm being serious," she insisted, taking a deep breath in and out.
"I thought you detested us." The Leader brought his hands to his mouth as he scrutinized her.
"I do." She answered frankly, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. "I do, but I think I dislike…" she paused, looking for the right words. "I think I dislike being unable to fend for myself more."
"We aren't going to train you." Kuroro pointed out.
"Experience is the best teacher anyways." She countered. "That alone should be enough."
Kuroro dwelled and entertained the idea for a solid thirty seconds before making this decision. "We're looking to fill our group anyways. You'll be the eighth member."
"Is this temporary?" Macchi blurted out, demeanor shattered.
He blinked at her once, twice, and sighed.
"You don't like me?" Aika asked, asking the question on Kuroro's behalf.
"You just said that you aren't able to fend for yourself." She said accusingly.
"That's why I'm looking to learn." The other female growled.
"We don't have room for-"
"For weaklings?" Aika cut her off, bristling. "I'm not weak; I'm inexperienced. Study a bit more why don't you, instead of severing heads and whatnot."
"Oi, oi," Franklin butted in, separating the felines. "No fighting between members."
Macchi glared at him. Traitor.
"When we have a dispute-"
"We flip a coin." She growled. "Heads," Macchi hissed, diverting her gaze.
Franklin flicked a zenny and caught it in his hand, placing it on the back of his hand.
"Tails." Aika shrugged.
Slowly removing his massive hand, Franklin declared "tails," before putting the coin away.
"And that's that," Pakunoda finished. "But Macchi's right you know. We won't baby you."
"I won't ask you to." Aika crossed her arms, huffing.
"Well, you're all dismissed." Kuroro sighed, tired.
After the other five had gone, Aika stood with her back to him, debating.
"Does this mean that the chess-" She started.
"Ten o' clock tonight." Kuroro cut her off. "You're dismissed as well."
Smiling, Aika made her way out of the junkyard.
Didn't look back.
"Because if the king falls, this game is over."
- Sebastian Michaelis (Kuroshitsuji)
"Can I ask you something?"
Kuroro had taken all of three steps into the alleyway to arrive for their nightly game of chess before the girl threw a question at him.
"I'm not sure about you but where I come from a 'hello how are you' is customary before jumping to idle chatter." He sighed, hands in his pockets; as usual.
"Hello, I'm great." Aika scoffed. "Can I ask you a question?"
Kuroro crossed his arms. "You just did."
The orange-haired teen bit back a 'fuck you' and glared at him.
Sighing, Kuroro sat down in front of her, undoing his crossed arms and motioning for her to ask whatever was so important.
Given his undivided attention, Aika realized she had no idea how to phrase the question; it was awkward and undesirable to remember. Swallowing once, she cast a sideways glance at him before asking: "Can you tell me more about Mike?"
Kuroro blinked, as he so often did, before processing the question. "Why?"
Groaning, Aika readjusted her posture to a more comfortable position and pulled herself up to the chess board. "I figured you'd ask why." She paused for a moment. "I guess, if I want to get stronger, I should try to strengthen myself in everything, not just raw power. Including mentality I suppose." The girl scratched the back of her head. "What the heck, it sounded so much better in my head."
Kuroro laughed once and quickly proceeded to cover it up with a clearing of his throat. He had recently become aware of how being around the girl influenced his persona, or perhaps, lack thereof.
"I understand what you mean, I think." He also pulled himself up to the board. "Okay, I'll tell you everything I know." He moved his pawn. "Pawn to C6."
"I'm listening. Pawn to D6."
Aika soon found that Mike was not all that great of a guy.
"Mike Alabaster was one of sixteen caporegimes in the Mafia Family. He had fifty men under his control and was personally responsible for twenty-six murders; and those are only the ones the police could find evidence for."
She also found that Kuroro's capability to constantly improve was limitless, especially in their little game of chess.
"He had a wife whom he treasured very much, or that's how the story goes, and his own faction often made fun of him; endearingly of course." Kuroro rolled his eyes, a rare sight. "He trusted her more than his own faction members-" He suddenly cut himself off. "I forgot to mention, she was also in the Mafia as another caporegime."
Aika did a double-take.
Kuroro looked at her curiously. "Was it that shocking? I seem to remember having told you this at our first meeting."
"I- I just," she spluttered. "I just wasn't expecting her to have, I mean, I just forgot,." She composed herself. "Continue?" She asked, moving her rook, taking a knight.
"He trusted his wife deeply, and for good reason too. They were both mid-twentyish at the height of their Mafia careers and so the two were very close, especially since they could sympathize with the work the other was doing." He sighed. "One day two other caporegimes decided to raid another family's headquarters. Along with them and their underdogs, roughly 120 men were dispatched."
Aika narrowed her eyes as her own knight was taken.
"One caporegime escaped. The only twenty-two live remaining Mafia men were all imprisoned. Everyone else was killed."
She sighed, biting the inside of her lip. "Must have been some massacre."
"It was." He agreed. "But Mike and his wife were accused with the raid. The police needed someone to blame and since the two main perps were either dead or gone, they chose them, since their statuses were the same."
Kuroro's queen traveled all the way across the board to check her king.
"The Code of Honor states that you remain silent to others' crimes; you don't snitch and you don't rat each other out, even if it means taking their sentence for them. This doctrine of Omerta has made the camaraderie among Mafiosos notorious and envied."
Chuckling, Aika took his queen with her king.
"And Mike's wife broke that code. She sold out the escaped Mafioso and revealed where she knew he would be hiding. He was captured and given two-hundred and sixty years in prison for the deaths of almost one hundred people. In return Mike and his wife were set free. Of course, however, rats were punished by death and nothing less at the time, so Mike was ordered to kill his own wife."
Kuroro's rook which had been lying inconspicuously in wait also traveled across the board to make it checkmate in a record time of seven and a half minutes.
"Fuck!" She hissed. "Go on."
"So he did." He shrugged. "A week later he tried to commit suicide by pouring gas on himself and setting himself on fire but unfortunately he was saved by his neighbors."
"And that explains his face." Aika murmured. "How depressing."
"Three months later the Mafia did the same thing, tried to imprison him for something he didn't do. This particular fiasco wasn't documented in great detail, probably because it contained classified information. This time, Mike himself broke the Code of Silence and proved himself innocent. After garnering the hatred of the Mafia, he broke away along with fifteen or so others who shared his ideals and fled here to Meteor City."
"Ryuuseigai really is a dumping ground for the undesirables…" Aika sighed. "Is that everything?"
"Everything I know." He replied.
"Do you always research your targets so extensively before ruthlessly murdering them?"
He shot her a look. "For the record, most of my kills are painless."
"How would you know?" She shot back.
"Science."
She hmphed.
"But no, I usually don't. This information was all intel that the Mafia voluntarily gave to us to justify the necessity of their deaths. As laden with crime as they are, the Mafia still have moral standards."
Aika began to clean up the chess board. "The Phantom Troupe is a paid mercenary group, is it?" She inquired.
"For now, yes it is." Kuroro answered. "That will probably be changing in the near future."
"Why?"
"We made this group because we are all outcasts of a different breed. Not outcasts in the sense that nobody talks to us –which is true as well, unfortunately- but in the sense that nobody can understand us."
"I'm not sure I follow." She tilted her head to the side.
"Nobunaga has a peculiar sense of humor but there's nothing that his sword can't cut. Pakunoda has the ability to extract information by touch and share intel by gun. Macchi suturing skills are unheard of, so she doubles as a healer –though she charges far too much- and as a long distance fighter. Franklin can shoot bullets from his hands. Uvogin is just-"
"So in short you're all fucking weird." Aika shuddered.
"You could think of it that way, yes. But we're probably going to break away from the Mafia and become bandits soon. There are too many limitations to being a mercenary group. None of us like having to kiss up to Mafia men."
Aika put the chess board away. "What's your ability?"
Kuroro thought about this for a moment. "You'll find out eventually"
She huffed again. "Do I call you Dancho or Kuroro?"
"Just Kuroro is fine but around the rest of them, Dancho would be better if you hope to gain their favor." He stood up. The time was nearing two in the morning.
"Why did you let me join?"
"Why so many questions little girl?" He smirked.
"I'm like two years younger than you." She glared at him. "And because I'm curious."
"That's an interesting question. Why did I let you join?" He asked himself softly, eyes bright and searching. "I suppose I think I'm a good judge of character. Though the Troupe doesn't quite match your demeanor, you can benefit it."
"I'm not sure what I was thinking." She admitted quietly.
"Your legs are naturally built from the amount of running you used to do as child. I would take advantage of that." He said thoughtfully, ignoring her. "You are spurred to fight when there's something to protect. That usually does yield a better power output, but it does mean that your usual level of fighting is much lower when there's nothing to guard."
"What the hell are you going on about?"
"It's helpful advice from what I figure out about you. Your loss if you don't take it to heart." He shrugged.
"Can you put it in language I can understand?"
"Unlike us, you can only fight if you have a specific motive that is heavier than your dislike of killing." He crossed his arms. "Better?"
It's true, Aika realized.
"And your power is more defensive and not too handy for fighting. Finding something offensive is in your best interests."
Aika understood that there was a reason all these sociopathic murderers were following someone as strange as Kuroro. He was intelligent, ridiculously so; insightful, perceptive, and he knew how to make parts work and churn together. He possessed a frightful type of charisma, and a level-headedness that she envied.
"I know I'm great but staring is rude Mrs. Brehznev."
"Aika!" She snapped back. "My name is Aika!" And then she flushed.
"It means love song." Kuroro said softly.
"It translates to dirge." She answered stubbornly, face red.
"What am I to do with you." He sighed. "We have a meeting in three days time at the junkyard. Just a heads up."
Kuroro Lucifer turned around swiftly and began to make his way out of the alley. In three more hours the sun would wake and the day would begin again.
END
"Our names are given to us by God. I have betrayed God, and so, I no longer have a name."
- Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist)
A/N: What do you guys make of my updating speed? I'm try as hard as I can ^.^ So I've been getting a lot of favorites and follows, but please drop some reviews. :/ I'm not really sure what you guys make of my work if you don't!
Also, I'm back to past tense. Did you guys like the present tense more, or this more? Like I said, read and review! Thanks for your time!