(Alright, this is the continuation of Thicker than water since it seemed like people enjoyed the first. There is a third part, but I'm still working on it.))
No Amount of Fury
When I was told as a child that Hell has amount no fury like a woman who has been scorned, I believed it was true. I had seen some could defeat their opponents with this anger. But I had never met a Yakuza assassin then. And while the saying does hold some truth, it fails to mention that the Yakuza surpass even women in revenge.
Is this what an assassin can do? Are they all able to fearlessly stare at those who hold power and bring them to their knees? For a captive who is under my control, she has caused enough fear among my men to be an unchained lioness, prowling back and forth as she eyes us, her soon to be prey. After watching my spineless grunts flinch at her gaze, I believe it is so. Which is why I have used her brother to complete my goals; it saves me her wrath, and insures his is held in check.
Jozoboro stared at the dark haired girl before him coolly, watching her as she paced as far as her bonds would allow, her furious eyes never leaving his. Eyes narrowing critically at the girl's night colored eyes flicked away for a moment, the gang boss checked his watch. There was still five minutes until the deadline.
With a small grunt of annoyance, he returned to watching his restless prisoner. Of all the young women and men he had caught, she was the only on who had managed to hold her lethal front. Something about the way she moved, watched, and simply stood gave her an unnerving presence. And she had proved that presence was a warning to those who were foolish enough to consider tormenting her.
Snorting, he recalled the incident the first day he had held her captive. Some of his grunts weren't as sharp as he was, and they had decided to try and have a little fun with her. If he had not witnessed it, Jozoboro would never have believed a captive could catch one of his fighters in a death grip. But she had, using her lead bonds to wrap around the lackey's neck and strangle him to death.
Some claimed that she had simply appeared on their companions back, but Jozoboro knew better. She was just quick to an abnormal level, able to exploit openings in her enemies guard as all assassins were. But she was not as good as her brother, Quixotic, who was the reason for this 'arrangement'.
While it was true that the girl held a prescience of lethality, her brother took it to another level. He seemed to be the embodiment of the word danger and was known as the best assassin in Shohou. However, Quix had an irritating characteristic known as 'gentlemanliness' that the gang boss had never been able to break. Quixotic would not accept his mission to assassinate the Ryka royalty. So, Jozoboro found a way to force him into agreeing.
With a chilling smile, Jozoboro fingered his long dagger, testing its edge. A thin line of chrisom appeared; he sheathed it in satisfaction. Things would be getting messy in a few minutes. With a jackal's smile, he stared at her blue eyes with his own black depths, challenging the hurricane.
~
Whoever created the saying that girls were "sugar, spice, and everything nice" has clearly not met a Yakuza kunoichi. I have been called worse than a demon of darkness, the very epitome of evil. Pain, blood, and darkness hold little impact to me. I am an assassin of Shohou; I have no fear of the things I bring or of the things I can do. There are limitless possibilities, even bound as I am.
Staring at Jozoboro, I can see his resentment. The fear he holds over his men is not enough to breach the terror I give them. Quixotic once told me that my prescience would be my greatest strength. But I doubt even he realized what I could do with it. That is my way, and as I look in Jozoboro's black depths, I know that exploiting an enemy's emotions against him has its uses. Tonight, I know my brother will not be able to complete the task which Jozoboro has given him. He will not be able to kill the woman he loves. So I must take care of my own revenge. ~
"Am I only eye candy to you?" Litany asked scathingly, flicking her raven hair from her eyes.
His staring had become irritating to her. For the past three minutes he had done nothing else but watch her prowling through the light and shadows of the room. Her bonds kept her from attacking him, but that did not mean she couldn't wound him with her words. Watching Jozoboro glare at her, she glared back as he replied, "Not at all… You are more of a toy."
Taking the flames of her anger and turning them to ice, Litany matched her captor's gaze with ease. Tension was crackling through the air like small bolts of lightning, and it seemed there would be a storm. "Only adults are aloud to play with this 'toy'. You wouldn't want to get hurt..." she said with a smirk.
That was a blow to his ego, and a one of his men who was sitting outside the door sniggered slightly. Knowing that she had hit hard, Litany turned her eyes disinterestedly to a corner, studying its crumbling features as she twisted her bound wrists. "All toys are breakable," Jozoboro neatly returned with a soft, dark chuckle. Turning as a small commotion could be heard in the next room, he locked her in as he left to investigate.
Litany closed her eyes as she settled against the door, working the ever loosening knots on her wrists. The storm in her eyes cooled as it built power, lending strength to her arms as she continued to loosen the rope loops with her persistence and listened to the conversation outside. Not even her fury, though, could prepare her for the first voice she heard. And even then, she didn't expect him to say those two words.
"Mission Complete."
~
I can read it in Jozoboro's eyes. He was not expecting for me to accomplish what he demanded. Rain drips to the floor from my clothes and hair, and outside, thunder crackles. Kaltara, the princess of Ryka who I was assigned to kill and my former love, lies still in my arms. She is not the only royalty he had me strike down. I hold the responsibility for her brother Martin as well, even if it was Rileana who struck the killing blow.
While I was required to make a choice between my sister and my lover, Jozoboro did not realize that he left a third option open for the taking. And now that option is about to be his down fall. Litany isn't the only one who can inspire terror in her targets.
Quixotic's cold blue eyes stared down the gang boss mercilessly as he laid his burden on the table, careful to keep Kaltara's red hair from tangling in his jacket. She was cold to the touch, deathly pale. The pale hue of her skin seemed to add a gleam in the assassins eyes that was cause for reckoning as he stood impatiently, tossing one of his blades up and down. Catching it by the hilt, he pointed it between Jozoboro's eyes. "I did as you asked. Now give me my sister."
Watching the man critically as Jozoboro checked Kaltara's form for a pulse. Finding none, as well as the fact that her skin was cold, he could find no other explanation except that Quixotic had completed his mission. Reading a glint in his enemies' eyes, Quixotic allowed his irritation to show through a bit more, making his aura go from dark concern to malevolent as he walked to the corner room where he had last seen her.
Eyes warning the grunts who had the ability to stop him, the assassin's blade never left aiming at Jozoboro's throat as he opened the door. However, his eyes met only an empty room. Two orbs of ice swung to the gang boss as his fingers tightened on the hilt. "Where is she?" he growled lowly, eyes slits.
Jozoboro smiled coldly. "You didn't expect me just to let you take her did you?" the gang boss asked with a smirk that hid his nervousness. A cold feeling was creeping through Jozoboro, one that he couldn't identify under the eyes of Quixotic. If he had been a man to believe in such things, he would have placed it as fear.
Boiling with energy borne of rage, Quixotic shot forward to seize the rotund man by the collar and slam him into the nearest wall. Blade pressing against the other mans throat, Quix's grip held tight promising murder if the body guards interfered. When his sister was involved, there were no reservations. If necessary, he was willing to kill. With a voice that was deadly soft, but clearly heard throughout the room, the assassin asked a final time. "Where is my sister Jozoboro?"
Fear was beginning to show in the beady black eyes as Jozoboro motioned to one of his grunts, who left the room. Giving no slack, Quixotic stared until the man returned, looking pale. "S-s-sir…" the man stuttered, blood rapidly draining from his face. "She's not there."
Quixotic turned to the gang leader, his eyes reflecting voids. There was no emotion but that emptiness was more intimidating than the assassin's anger. "Then it seems I have no reason to hold back. You made a very serious mistake when you chose to force me into killing a person I loved with all my soul while threatening my sister. There is no second chance Jozoboro. You will not be taking over the Ryka throne with your fools." Quix spat dark hair shading his face.
Yakuza Demons. There was no question as to their name, but few could understand how well it fit. A black air set about the room, thick with tension and crackling with rage that came from one source. Drawing back his navy blade for the killing stroke, Quix put his weight into it when a white hilted blade shot through the air to strike it from his hand.
"I believe I have claim over you."
~
When I woke to the sharp, burning pain in my chest, I knew that my 'killer' had missed. The damage, though it was critical enough to knock me unconscious for three days, was not fatal. She had hit the wrong side of my chest, piercing only the muscles and lung. It is assumable that my heart stopped beating from shock for she was no where in sight when I woke and gathered my blades from the alley.
I dragged myself back to our manor to find the country in chaos. The servants informed me that Mother had gone mad with grief and left the country to find solitude in the monastery. Our nurse told me of the note left behind, but no one would admit that Kaltara was gone. I did not want to violate my sister's privacy by reading a letter addressed to her, but everything made sense as I did. It was not the Yakuza who wanted our family dead. It was Jozoboro.
Perhaps I am too late to save Kaltara, but one way or another, this monster of a gang leader will pay. And it will be at my hand, the same as my sisters death was at his.
“What’s the matter Jozoboro? Surprised to see me alive?” Martin asked scathingly, her cool silvery eyes boring into the boss. “You shouldn’t be considering the people you sent to kill me couldn’t do it properly. Couldn’t tell right from left. And now you kill my sister….”
Watching with some satisfaction as Quix’s eyes narrowed, he tossed a second blade up and down through the air. It’s silvery light glittered eerily in the shadows across Kaltara’s silent form. “You will pay, starting right now.”
The blade suddenly changed directions to embed in the bosses throat before an eye could blink. A second hissed to take him through the heart. With a strangled gurgle, Jozoboro slowly sank to his knees before falling forward to remain motionless.
Without an ounce of pity, Martin flipped the corpse to pull out the blades and clean them on the former boss’s jacket. His silvery eyes reflected with grim satisfaction as he turned to Quix, gesturing towards the other grunts. “Do you want to deal with them or should I?” he asked.
"There's no need…" Quixotic said without breaking gaze. Tension was thick between him and Martin; neither could trust the other fully after all the events that had taken place. Casually drawing his blades, he glanced to the room. "There's no one left in the room besides us. My congratulations on staying alive so long…but I wouldn't suggest attacking me. I can read that you're still in pain from your chest."
Martin's stormy silver eyes darkened. Though he had managed to hide it from Jozoboro, it seemed Quix's senses were sharper. With a small chuckle, the older brother stared into the ice like eyes in front of him, observing their depths reflection. "I make no promises," he replied, eyes still searching Quixotic's for something before turning to the body of his sister. "How did you do it?"
Frowning Quix followed his gaze to the still form on the table. Wiping the rain from his face, he shook his head. "What do you mean?"
"How did you kill her," Marin rephrased bluntly. Though he stood tall, there was no mistaking the shaking which seemed to affect his body. It took strength to withhold the grief which was plaguing his mind, but he swore silently he would not cry before this man.
Litany answered as she appeared, her arms covered in blood and her midnight eyes satisfied. Walking over to the corpse she examined Kaltara's neck for a moment "He didn't."
