Crime's Leader, Part 2

"Luna, don't!" Blaze's cry had snapped me out of my thoughts. She glared at Thorn. "What do you mean 'a fair exchange'?! You're just trying to use Luna's siblings as a bargaining chip to get her to join Crime!"

"That's not...!" Thorn turned his gaze towards Blaze, glaring at her furiously.

"For all we know, you could be lying that you have information on her siblings. You seem desperate enough to do that."

Thorn flinched, appearing to be offended by the accusation. "I-I wouldn't do that!"

"And where's the proof you wouldn't do that? Everything you've said to us points in that direction. You're suspiciously fixated on recruiting her."

"That's because I…!" Thorn stopped himself mid-sentence and clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Because you… what?" Blaze narrowed her eyes.

But Thorn didn't say anything. He continued to glare at Blaze and kept his mouth tightly shut.

If Blaze hadn't interrupted…

I quickly pulled my hand away, much to Thorn's shock, and mentally thanked Blaze for the interruption.

Thorn immediately turned his attention back to Blaze. "Youuu…! You just won't stop getting in my way, will you?!"

"If protecting my teammate is 'getting in your way', then yes, I won't stop." Blaze glared at Thorn, her red eyes piercing like daggers.

I decided to try asking again. "W-Why do you want to recruit me? I won't go with you if you won't tell me here."

"You heard her. Now, tell us the truth," Blaze demanded.

Thorn hummed. "Well, that's a problem." He put a finger to his chin and murmured to himself, "I'm not supposed to reveal anything to outsiders…"

…That was only more suspicious. So, he would only tell me once we were away from Regret?

"Neither of us are outsiders if it concerns one of our teammates." Blaze glared.

"Is that right? Well, not that I care. I see no reason to answer something that doesn't concern you," Thorn said coldly. "Your connection to Luna Ione has nothing to do with ours."

"And what connection does she have to Crime?"

Thorn only sneered. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Crime's connection to me…?

What did he mean by that?

But before I could ask, Thorn started speaking again. "This has become a real problem, though," he let out a tired sigh. "If only Regret didn't get involved, things wouldn't have gotten so complicated..."

Thorn turned his gaze towards me, narrowing his eyes as he muttered under his breath. "Should I just drag her with me by force?"

"W-What… did you say...?" In an instant, I felt paralyzed with fear. I couldn't move; my mind had gone into nothing but panic.

"...Oh," Thorn paused. "Oh, whoops! Did I say that out loud? My bad!" he laughed, taking a few steps closer. "You weren't supposed to hear that but since you did, there's no point in being discreet."

Thorn raised his hand, shadows manifesting from his glove. No matter how I looked at it, this was bad. This was definitely bad.

"You're coming with me, Luna Ione."

Crime's leader was going to capture me.

"You…!? Are you crazy?!" Flames emerged from Blaze's hands. "There's no way I'll let you do that!"

Blaze immediately dashed in front of me and put on a protective stance, spreading her arms out wide.

Though she was trying to act tough, I could notice her hands shaking. But I couldn't blame her. I was scared, too.

W-Why…? What does he want with me…?!

Everything about him was suspicious! I couldn't trust him at all!

Shadows whirled around Thorn. "Last chance. If you hand Luna Ione over to me, I won't fight you. We could go our separate ways… go back to pretending the other doesn't exist."

"I won't hand Luna over to you!" Blaze glared at Thorn, her stance firm.

"...That's a shame. I guess you leave me no other choice."

Thorn spun his finger in the air, even more shadows whirling around him as he did so, and then, he swung his hand down. Shadows rapidly headed in our direction.

"Stay behind me, okay?" Though Blaze was also scared, she spoke calmly.

I felt like I couldn't just hide and do nothing.

"Ungh…!" Still standing behind Blaze, I stretched my hand further and casted a water shield over us.

"You can do that…?!" Blaze gasped with shock, but she looked genuinely impressed.

"N-Not for long! I-I don't know how much longer it'll hold…!" I flinched.

Thorn's shadows were overwhelmingly powerful.

"Ahaha! You really are interesting!" Thorn clapped with an excitable grin. "Show me what you can do, Luna Ione!"

Thorn's shadows broke through the water shield, and it splashed to the ground, having been overpowered by them. I was knocked back by the blast with a shriek.

"Luna—! Aack!?" Before Blaze could run over to me, she was promptly knocked back by another shadow blast.

"Boss!! Luna!!" Ettie started to run towards us with Robin and Celine, but Blaze stood up from the grass and held her hand up to signal them to stop.

"Don't come over here!" she screamed.

"You should listen to your boss if you know what's good for you," Thorn laughed snarkily. "I really expected more from you, Blaze. Is this all the leader of Regret can do? How could you ever hope to protect Luna Ione with such weak power?"

"Shut up!!" Blaze lunged at Thorn and fired off several fire balls at him. "I'm not finished yet…!"

Thorn narrowed his eyes and hummed. "...Well, I am."

He raised his hand and swung it down—

But before we could act, a ringing sound reverberated around us.

Thorn stopped mid-attack.

"Of all the times?!" Thorn clicked his tongue before dismissing his shadows with a flick of his hand. Then, he rummaged through his cloak pocket and pulled out a cellphone. Once he saw the caller, he held the phone up to his ear.

"Yeah, hello, Lillia? Whatever it is, can it wait? I'm kind of busy right now," Thorn let out a frustrated sigh.

Lillia…?

I didn't recognize that name, but they must have been a Crime member.

"Yes, I know I've been gone since yesterday afternoon, but I'm fine, really! I've just been on an…" Thorn glanced over at me before turning his gaze away again. "...Important mission, that's all."

Thorn's gaze was eerie. So much so that my body was trembling just making eye contact with him again.

"Hey, don't get mad at me! If I knew this was going to happen, I would've brought everyone!" Thorn scrunched his face up. "Huh?! You seriously want me to head back now?! Can't I finish this up first?!"

Blaze and I exchanged glances. From the sounds of it, it seemed like Thorn was leaving…?

"Ugh… Yeah, yeah. I got it. I'll head back and we can discuss this incident with everyone. I'm hanging up now."

Thorn let out another frustrated sigh and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Unfortunately, I have to take my leave—"

"I can only hope you mean from this world."

Celine really doesn't mince words when it comes to Thorn!

I kind of felt bad for him, but with the way his eyes kept twitching, I could tell he was angry.

He's definitely pissed off…!

Thorn continued, "Sooo, we'll have to continue this at another time!"

"W-Wait! You're just leaving like that?!" Blaze's mouth was agape with shock.

"Unfortunately, yes! I'm needed back at the hideout, so I can't really stick around. A shame, really. I was planning on returning with Luna Ione…" Thorn looked at me with intense interest. "Buuut I'll have to put that on hold for next time."

"There won't be a next time."

Thorn only hummed and narrowed his eyes at that, choosing to ignore Blaze rather than answer her.

Then, Thorn opened his palm and aimed at a tree's shadow on the grass. What appeared to be a portal of some sorts opened up from the shadow. He skipped over to the portal and turned his head to face us.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Regret members finally! Despite our opposing positions, I would love to be friends with all of you! Though, the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual," Thorn laughed.

"Definitely not mutual!"

"I'd rather die, actually."

"I will end you."

Thorn laughed forcefully at the reactions from Ettie, Robin, and Celine. "Yeesh! Tough crowd, huh. Well, if you ever change your minds, you're always welcome to come join us in Crime— Aaand from the looks on your faces, I'm guessing that's a no."

The three of them stared at Thorn with complete and utter disgust.

"...Aw, well. Worth a shot, I guess." Thorn frowned before turning his attention back to me. "Well, it's fine. You're the one I'm most interested in, anyway!" he smiled cheerfully.

That smile again…

There was something odd about it, but I wasn't sure what.

"I look forward to our next meeting, Luna Ione! AhahAHA!" He laughed with a creepy smile.

I shivered, but I tried to move past my fear. "W-Wait…! You still haven't answered any of my—!"

I tried to run after Thorn, but he jumped through the portal. And with it, both he and the portal disappeared.

"Questions…"

Thorn was gone. I looked around, but there wasn't even a trace of him. Just the dissipating shadows still in the air.

I instinctively reached for a shadow, to have some sort of clue, and touched it. It was ticklish, but it didn't hurt.

"What are you doing?!" Blaze questioned. "It's dangerous to touch one of those things! He could've set up some sort of trap!"

Now that I was thinking about it, it was a pretty reckless thing to do. But that was the least of my concerns right now.

"...Was that guy really Thorn Shadows?"

I wasn't sure why I was even asking. I knew the answer already. But maybe I just wanted to hear it directly from Blaze herself.

"...." Blaze bit her lip and averted her gaze from mine.

"Blaze…?" I asked.

"....That was Thorn Shadows," she spoke in a murmur.

I wondered why she had such a mix of expressions on her face. Pain, fear, anger… And I felt like I could see a deep sadness lurking in her eyes.

…They both had it.

Blaze Winslow and Thorn Shadows. They were hiding a pain that I knew nothing about. But neither did the other three, judging from their confusion. Just what happened between them…?

"W-What was he talking about…?" I asked.

"....I don't know," Blaze answered after a long pause.

"And why was he after me specifically…?"

"....I said I don't know."

"But don't you know him? He acted like you two knew each othe—"

"Didn't I say I don't fucking know?! Quit pestering me!"

I was taken aback by Blaze's sudden outburst.

"I… I didn't mean to pester you…" I mumbled.

Ettie put her hand on my shoulder. "C-C'mon, Boss, you don't have to yell at her!"

Blaze's face was pale. "....I'm sorry," she muttered after a long pause.

"A-Ah, wait…!"

Before I could say anything, Blaze ran back into the hideout and slammed the door.

Ettie ran over to open the door and jumped back once she placed her hand on the doorknob. "Yeowch!? That's hot!"

Robin put a finger on the doorknob and flinched. "Ugh! You weren't kidding! She must've used her ability without realizing."

"Did I… say something I shouldn't have…?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Miss Luna." Celine patted my head. "Boss must have been understandably shaken up after our encounter with that man. I'm sure she just needs some space for now."

Ettie chimed in. "Yeah, don't worry about it! It's nothing against you!"

"I've never seen Boss that angry, though."

"Robin! We're trying to cheer her up, not make her feel worse!"

"I wasn't trying to make her feel worse; I was just saying it was weird how angry Boss got."

The three of them chatted amongst themselves, but my mind was already wandering.

Blaze felt so strongly that she must have activated her ability when she opened the door. I didn't mean to make things worse by cornering her, but I still had a lot of unanswered questions.

Should I really have let Thorn Shadows leave like that…?

I was starting to wonder if I should have accepted his offer, after all.

"—Luna?" Ettie waved her hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I gasped a little. "Huh? Um, I… There's just a lot on my mind."

"Well, don't take it all on yourself! We're here, too!"

Hearing Ettie's encouragement, and seeing the three of them look at me with concern in their own ways made the guilt churn in my stomach.

I was thinking of leaving them…

But I couldn't say I wouldn't for sure. I still hadn't decided what I wanted to do. I felt like I was both so close and yet so far from finding my siblings…

Either way, it didn't seem like we would be searching for them today like Blaze had promised me. I wouldn't blame her when I didn't know the first thing about her feelings, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated doing nothing. But I knew I couldn't search for them on my own, so I begrudgingly went back inside the hideout with the three of them.

I thought about what I should say to Blaze, but Blaze didn't come out of her room for the rest of the day.