Noble Madness

While leaving the scum alone wasn’t the first thought in her head, there wasn’t a lot of choice. Miho left one of her snakes to track him, if he bolted again, but there were more important matters. She pulled Yori out of the immediate area.

Yori looked back over their shoulders as Okamura went through his phone frantically. “Remember, my hearing is perfect. I’ll know before you move that you’re trying to escape!”

“I think ye scared him enough. And ye complain about my attitude.” For two who seemed to have a good working relationship on business, it tore apart shockingly fast for Miho. She didn’t think he had it in him.

Miho tried to get some eye contact from Yori by pulling him away from staring at Okamura still. For as much as the situation was resolved, she could still see fire in his eye and anger shaking him. It was almost like he was feral. But she finally got his attention. “What the hell was all that back there?”

“I got the job done.”

“No, I did. I had to restrain ye from killin’ our only lead!”

He crossed his arms, looking away from her. “I wasn’t going to kill him. Just needed it to look convincing. He’s used to cruel people; an ordinary bluff wasn’t gonna work.”

“Bullshit!” Miho shifted a little to return to his vision. “I’ve seen plenty of murderers in my time. I know that look and energy. Ye wanted to kill him. Why? It’s not because he ran or to scare him. Answer me!”

Silence. He wasn’t turning away again, just staring at her. There wasn’t much reaction on his face. The anger still dominated everything. At least most of the darkness drew back, but he looked rougher, harsher than she had ever seen him before.

Miho looked over in the distance at Okamura, still working. An exasperated sigh came out of her. “Look, I told ye about my sister. What is this?”

There was a deep groan from him, which seemed like a positive change. Though he still didn't reply. She figured it was something difficult or deeply buried. Before his outburst, she had only experienced small hints of that something.

“Ryota Hyata, Noriko Kaminaga, Juro Shizuma, Hiromi Kataoka, Shiori Ebisawa.”

Hearing her sister’s name dropped with others confused her, but also made her flare a little. Bringing up her sister for no reason. She grabbed his collar. “What about my sister? What are those names?”

“My reason.”

“Reason, huh?”

Yori brushed her hand off him as her grip loosened. He touched his covered eye. “The reason I accept this. The reason I wake up. The reason I take a step. This world is awful, and they don’t deserve this.” His words weighed heavily. Even releasing them seemed to change the lingering gloom over him. In fact, Miho could have sworn it only got worse after he exposed those names.

He still didn't speak directly. And that made it difficult for her. Though she felt certain of a burden and trauma that he only alluded to by his answer. The hint of a darker reality. But one thing lined up that worried her. “Is that why ye seem so damn death seekin’?”

She almost expected him to deny it. There wasn’t confusion in his eye, rather annoyance and anger flaring up again. Was it a trap? “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not blind. We’ve been teamed up for three days and taken hits to protect me four times. I’m not defenseless. And this time ye intentionally took those ice shards because ye saw them comin’ at me even though I could have blocked or evaded them. You’re injured because ye had to protect me!”

“That’s my job! I protect the innocent! It’s what it demands of me!”

“I’m not innocent, I’m your partner. And I need ye alive and in shape!”

“They must remain safe! It’s the only balance I can give this world!”

Miho reached out again and grabbed his forearm this time. He wasn’t hysterical, but there was definitely madness that found taking root. The darkness that was his fuel that burned, his fire drafted these ideas. This was worse than she imagined. There was a self-reinforcing doctrine being held up. “Do ye hear yourself? Ye are one person!”

“I’m the only one! I was chosen! I must do this.”

“Akasha picks others around the world. Ye aren’t alone!”

“No, I’m the only one that stands against this evil! Whatever must be done.”

She reflexively just slapped him. It wasn’t even a thought. Her hand acted on its own. Though two seconds later, she didn’t really think it was the wrong thing. Part of Miho worried if she only made it worse. Her mind questioned if there was a better course to take. He was twisted so tightly that she didn’t know the right answer.

That definitely cracked the fragile balance on his emotions. His face darkened again and grew thin in rage. And faster than she had ever known him to move, his hand clutched her neck. “You know…nothing! Nothing!” Once more, the look she saw with Okamura returned.

She gasped and choked on air. The grip was already crushing. Miho clawed at his hand to try and make him let go. The mana strength continued to surprise her. But that was just a distraction. He was actually strangling her. Coughing, she met his eye with as much determination as he brought. “I know ye..are tryin’ to silence…me! Because I might…be right! Ye can’t look at…yourself! So kill me. Kill me! And prove yourself right!”

Yori’s face twisted, mixing emotions from anger to annoyance into frustration and confusion. In the end, he released her with a bit of a shove. He stepped away, turning around.

She rubbed her neck as she gasped, bringing air back into her lungs. What little fortification she provided her body wasn’t enough. The threat was real. “I didn’t figure ye were more of a loose cannon than me.” He needed the right trigger, she realized. That made him far more dangerous than expected. It made for a corrupting fuel.

“Sorry.”

“Eh?” It had been soft, but she heard him. Though the change came far more abruptly than she expected. Had she managed to reach the rational part of him?

Yori brushed back his hair, turning to look at her once more. “Seems I lost sight of myself. Sorry.”

“Ye want to explain some of that?”

“It’s more than I want to get into here. Just know that my focus is to protect the innocent. To see them returned to their homes and loved ones. It's all I want.”

“I didn’t expect such a noble goal to cause such violence.”

“I’m repeating myself at this point, but as I said before. The world’s a terrible place, I’m just trying to see that they don’t have to experience any more than they already have. Leave that to the people who choose this life.”

Complicated as her feelings on what happened were, she could agree with his sentiment. They both wanted the same thing. Though he was willing to be evil itself to see it through. She didn’t know if that was right. Or if she had the right to judge him.

It left her one question for him. “Did ye choose?”

Yori didn’t answer and walked back towards Okamura. Their conversation ended. She had managed to cool him down at least. She never would have believed that she would have to do that. He had always been so collected. He annoyed her and the like, but that had been it.

Reality was different from expectations. No greater truth.

Miho followed after him. They had two days before the auction. A plan had to be put together for their mad course, as Okamura put it. They were insane, but it seemed that Yori was more than up to that challenge.

They both were, frighteningly.