Chapter Three - Tsuruko Arc: Unraveling

"Tell me what you did to the Duchess!" said Keitaro.

"It seems you've forgotten who I am, Keitaro." Tsuruko responded. Keitaro had pushed Tsuruko against the wall. His hands were firmly on her shoulders. "Shall I remind you?"

"Motoko? No... I know your face, Tsuruko?" Keitaro reduced the strength of his grip, but he didn't fully let go.

"I'm glad that you've remembered me. Will you let me go?" Tsuruko could easily overpower Keitaro, but she wanted him to be sensible on his own accord.

"Tell me where the Duchess is! Please!" Keitaro looked as if he were on the edge of insanity. He gripped Tsuruko tighter, but his entire body seemed to shake more than just his hands.

"I will take you to her," Keitaro's face instantly lit up "but only if you answer my questions." And just as quickly, he coated a masklike expression.

"Let me warn you, Tsuruko. I am not the man I once was. When it concerns the Duchess, I'm not known for my patience." Keitaro let go of Tsuruko and stepped back a few paces. She wanted to ask many questions, but she wasn't sure where to start. He obviously wasn't the easygoing man she was introduced to. In fact, he has a sinister aura than she rather didn't care for. It rubs her the wrong way.

"I'll get straight to the point then. Why did you leave the Hinata Apartments?"

"Betrayal." Tsuruko waited a few seconds for an explanation, but it never came. He wasn't going to make this easy.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Which one?" He chided.

"I don't quite understand. Are you suggesting that there was more than one?"

"Yes."

"Did Motoko betray you?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"In many ways."

"Can you give me one?"

"She took Naru's side over mine."

"Is that the reason why you left?"

"One of them."

"Was Naru the main reason?"

"Yes."

"How did she betray you?"

"By being romantically involved with another man."

"I see..." Tsuruko stopped from asking anymore. For one, she didn't like this rapid fire Q&A. Second, she wasn't getting anything more than facts. She would've expected as least some specification on his part, a little bit of justification on why he left. He wasn't showing any clear emotion and she wasn't getting much of a reading on his chi. Radiating an orange color was a mix of emotions, a disquiet mood.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"Answer me honestly, Keitaro. What happened to the man I met at the Hinata Apartments? He was much different than the person standing here before me. Serene, friendly, compassionate... these were things that easily described you. Now you're agitated, hostile, and reserved. That bothers me. I'm no stranger to betrayal. I can relate to what you've been through."

"Good for you, but I'm not about to spill my guts out to my enemy's sister."

"Is that how you see me as?"

"I would be lying if I said I didn't. There's a lot of things you don't know about me, swordswoman. But I'm not the sharing type. I've answered your questions, bring me to the Duchess."

Tsuruko took a moment to swallow those words. If any other human being, much less a man, commanded her the way Keitaro has, they would quickly learn the meaning of respect. But she also realized his words were from bitterness and not out of anger. "Very well, Keitaro. I'll take you to that woman, but a word of caution. If you take any action that is remotely suspicious, I will take you out."

Keitaro huffed in acknowledgement. Tsuruko led him through the Shinmeiryuu compound. The main household is embedded deep within a mountaintop and the structure inside was complex to someone who never lived there. This was so that any enemy that infiltrated the organization won't have an easy time recognizing the edifice, which also gave the Shinmeiryuu time for a counter attack.

"What are you planning to do to her?" Keitaro asked.

"That is official Shinmeiryuu business. You don't need to be on a need to know basis." Tsuruko rejoined.

"Payback huh?"

"No, I'm not as spiteful as you are."

"Really? You know that I would do anything for the Duchess. If anything has happened to her-"

"Quiet yourself... or you'll end up half-dead in front of the Hinata Apartments." Keitaro could only grumble. A slight smile inched on Tsuruko's lips. They arrived in a long stone hallway. Tsuruko opened the door at the end.

"Duchess..." Keitaro said breathlessly.

"Avert your eyes, Sir Galahad, or I shall do it for you." The Duchess was wearing a traditional hakama. Keitaro could only stare in disbelief.

"It suits you."

"It was not by choice, I assure you."

"Alright you love birds, we'll give you some time." Reina exited the room with Tsuruko. "So, were you able to get anything out of him?"

"It's nothing worth mentioning." Tsuruko sighed. "It's like he's a different person. I can only imagine that the malfeasance within that city had corrupted his moral fiber. But there is no doubt that something at the Hinata Apartments was the trigger that set him off."

"You say that's nothing, but I think that's a lot to go on."

"It really isn't. It's like trying to build a bridge with just wood. The little aspects that hold the bridge together are missing... but that isn't pertinent right now, were you able to get anything out of that woman?"

"A lot more than I expected. Our target declared that she isn't just a crime lord, but in fact the third princess of the Estonian Empire and the true heir to the crown."

"Honestly, that's the best she could come up with? Everyone knows that the third princess, the crown princess at that time, committed suicide after being raped." Tsuruko tried to wave it off, but the Reina's troubled face caught her off guard. "You don't actually think-"

"That she's part of the royal family? Maybe not, but it's not easy to call her a liar either. I've been with the Violet Swords longer that you have, Tsuruko. When I know somebody's lying, I'd feel it." Tsuruko contemplated the notion.

"Let's say she in fact is who she says she is. Does that change our mission?"

"It does for me."

"What do you suggest we do? The people that employed us will expect to hear our results. This can't because of your conscious, Reina. Why do you feel the need to protect that woman?"

"Because she's in love."

"Now-" Tsuruko stopped herself. That was not the answer she was expecting.

"Call me a romantic, but the first thing she said was to not hurt the man we brought in with us. She said she would forgo her life to protect his... and I felt her sincerity."

"That could just be talk, Reina." I sighed. "What do you recommend we do?"

"You're asking the wrong person. Maybe you should ask your friend."

Tsuruko cringed at the idea of asking Keitaro for help, but he would probably be more willing to cooperate with the Duchess's life on the line.