Descending Darkness

Pained groans and heavy breathing came from Okamura. Miho took some extra pleasure from inflicting a little more than necessary. A little payback wouldn’t hurt that badly. Or perhaps it should. But she refocused from her base instincts to the mission’s objective. Shiori was in danger. She couldn’t waste any more time. “Tell us what ye know.”

A yelp came from the man. “That’s not a great way to start asking questions!” She twisted a little with his attitude. “A-ask, your question, dammit!”

Yori knelt down, looking directly at him. The blood coming from his shoulder had to be bothering him, but he didn’t even seem to flinch from it. “Why’d you run? What are you so scared of?”

There wasn’t an immediate answer, so she encouraged some more prompt responses. “Seven Lotus, Section 14, take your pick! You’re too much trouble.”

“The government? What are those corrupt bastards doing? They never get off their fat asses.”

“Don’t con me anymore. You’re pretty clever hiding your employer, but after Lotus sorcerers started showing up on my door, I looked a little deeper.”

“You know I take jobs from anyone. That includes the government. 14 may be lazy pricks, but they still pay money like anyone else.”

“Drop the act. I know you’re the Guardian.”

A sudden clap from Yori surprised Miho. A sword appeared in his hand. It struck the ground just a little off from Okamura’s nose, not quite skinning him. “And who’s spreading those lies?”

“Hey! Hey! Hey! You’re the ones that pissed off the Lotus!” He tried and failed to scoot away from the edge of the weapon. “I don’t want anything to do with either of you ever again! The Lotus are bad for business!”

Yori dragged the blade through the earth up to Okamura’s nose. Another yelp of pain came from him. She couldn’t tell from her angle if it drew blood, but it was rare to see him lose his temper, especially after how often he complained about her. ‘There’s more goin’ on than just his cover bein’ blown. Why is he so heated?’

“Then if you don’t want any more business, you’ll give me one last deal.”

“They’ll kill me! And that’ll be the last thing they do to me!”

“Who said they’d be the ones to have the pleasure?” Darkness spilled over Yori’s face. She had seen that edge before in him. But this went far deeper than she had expected. It was like he was ready to go over the edge. Morals no longer matter, just the goal. What was wrong with him?

Miho grabbed Okamura and pulled him away from Yori. She made sure to keep his hands restrained, but put him into a body lock that would also protect the coward. “What are ye doin’ Yori?”

“Getting answers. I thought that’s what you wanted. Don’t tell me you’re going to have cold feet over a little bottom feeder.” The void consuming him was unnerving, almost frightening for her to see. She squeezed a little hard on Okamura even if it wasn’t necessary.

“This isn’t how ye get answers!”

“I thought you said you were used to roughing up people for intel. Evil requires evil.”

“That’s not how it works! This isn’t ye!”

“You don’t even know who I am. We’re strangers who met a few days ago. We don’t know shit about each other, Miho.” He looked completely lost. Emotions swallowed everything about him. Like shadow was the only thing that could even touch his skin. Yori blackened to pitch with each word. Cold and ruthless. This wasn’t the man she knew.

Miho looked down at Okamura and back at Yori, questioning her choices. She couldn’t change his course. But she needed to try anyway. “Shadow snakes constrict your prey!” A green glow emanated from her arm. Freeing one arm, she stretched out towards Yori as black and white snakes lunged from her sleeve.

It caught him by surprise, but with a weapon already drawn, he still managed to react. She kicked Okamura down, putting some of her snakes to tie him up as she focused on Yori. The spell normally only would spawn a dozen snakes, but his skill sliced through them quickly. Channeling more of her mana through the catalyst, she forced it to remain active, creating more and more against its programming. The recoil on her body stung, but she just bit through it.

While he was focused on the snakes, she took her opening to charge up to him and deal a palm strike. His defenses were even tougher than when she crossed blows with him before. But it still worked. Snakes flooded from her sleeve, wrapping around him and tying him down before he could cut through. It helped that she stood in his way, and part of him clearly still wasn’t going to try to hurt her. He wasn’t wholly lost, just dragged down.

With the two men restrained, she crossed her arms. “Now, Okamura, if ye don’t want any more trouble from us, answer one simple question.”

“What the hell do you want?” He sounded completely defeated. That worked for her.

“Where is the auction happening?”

Unfortunately, that restored some of the man’s vitality as he looked up at her in shock. He genuinely started to sweat. “No. That’s suicide. For all of us!”

“No, just ye. Because while I am holdin’ back, Yori really wants to know. I think he’s resourceful enough to get free of me in time. Make it easy and just answer, or you’re gonna have to pick between Lotus or him on who’ll give you peace.”

There was still resistance from the broker, but it was definitely breaking him. She was pretty certain, much like her, the man had never seen Yori act like that. Yori had only cold certainty in his eyes. She didn’t know he had that in him. How much had he done before? Who was this man, the Shinobi of Japan?

“Dammit…shit…I don’t have that sort of info, but I know where to dig it up. It’s the most public secret event in all of Japan. You two are insane! They’re going to kill you, and you’re going to wish that was first!”

“We know the stakes. That’s why we’re doin’ it.”

“You’re gonna make enemies of everyone. Just leave me alone after this.”

“Don’t betray us, and ye won’t have to worry. Right?”

She released the snakes, seeing that a deal was struck. Yori stood up properly and let the sword return. “I don’t need anything more than that.”

Okamura just shook his head, still completely lost by their actions. But such a man wouldn’t understand them. However, it became clear that even she didn’t understand Yori as well as she thought. There was more that she needed to ask him about.