Vol.2 Ch.33 - To backstab

Roughly a week ago, before any of the Generals were killed…“(I think it’s time.)” she said in the middle of the night, while everyone wasvery much asleep, “(Time for my part of the plan…)”Making her way around the base, she wasn’t sure if she could really exactthis felony without being spotted. She was quite adept at stealth, a skillwhich was only accentuated by the gray cloak she wore over the pajamas akind boy bought for her as a gift. Over the course of their meetings, the boyshowed more and more of his reliable side, leading to her slowly falling forhim. The pajamas were not only a kind gest, but also reminded her of the firsttime her heart thumped for him.As she clutched the front of the nightly garments, she had stopped to askherself what he would think of a girl who would commit this crime.“(He certainly wouldn’t be too pleased… I’m glad I didn’t tell Lil’ Broabout this part of the plan, otherwise he’d spill the beans for sure.)” sheremarked.Her brother was someone dear to her, and he would gladly give his life forher happiness. What she said about him just now wasn’t meant to be acritique, it was just the plain old truth. Her brother had a bit of a habit of notbeing able to keep his mouth shut, and she would often feel that he would getin the way between herself and the boy she liked, judging by all the jeers thetwo lovebirds get from him, so she made sure to act as if she harbored nofeelings of love towards said boy when they were all together, but she alsothinks that he probably found out.“(He probably wouldn’t care if he found out I did this. He’d probably justsay something along the lines of It can’t be helped and move on.)” she triedto imagine what her brother would say in that situation.Then there was the other boy, a younger fellow who always insisted on peaceto solve any and all problems that arose. She never really liked him all toomuch, but he accompanied the boy she fancied, and those two friends wereinseparable. She considered the youthful boy naïve in his approach, statingthat the world will eat him alive if he doesn’t grow a spine soon.“(He’s the worst person to find this out. If he did, I wouldn’t hear the end ofhis goddamned reprimanding speech about peace…)” she grumbled justthinking about the encounter.After weighing down the potential risks with the guaranteed reward, shesubtly (but still a bit hesitantly) made it to her first victim, who was at thistime still sleeping peacefully, unaware of the fact he is scheduled to die injust a few minutes.***The person in question was a coward by nature, but bulky in size. Thenewbies of the gang flocked to him, thinking he’s the most dependable one,what with all the proud laughter and mocking he would get up to on a regularbasis. As it turns out, the gang members who were a bit more experiencedthan their underclassmen knew this Cowardly General’s true colors all toowell…This was good, she thought, as this leaves a smaller chance of me beingfound out, plus the gang won’t take it so hard, as he doesn’t hold that wellof a reputation.These logical thoughts were also rationed by a personal grudge she harboredfor the Cowardly General. As it turns out, this very General constantlybadmouthed the boy she harbored feelings for, even going so far as toindirectly insult her by stating “No girl would like that backstabbing son of abitch! And if she even hypothetically existed in this world, then she’sprobably the epitome of blindness!”She considered the boy’s appearance to be more than handsome, he wouldalways make sure to dress appropriately for any and all occasions, but hewould always stand out from a crowd, what with his Iro telling him to try outsomething new every day. His hair flowed naturally, and she found his choiceto grow it out more appealing than anyone else, who would simply scoff athim for not being afraid to try it out. He would at times tie his hair in a shortlittle ponytail, which she found absolutely adorable, but he hasn’t worn it inquite some time now, as he would often get made fun of by others, who statedhe looked like a girl.“(Oop, I got sidetracked.)” she stated as she quickly shook his image out ofher head.She entered the Cowardly General’s room without making so much as asingle sound, and as she skillfully made her way in front of the General’sbed, she froze upon seeing him sleeping so calmly.This person, who makes fun of people every day, DARES to show such anunsightly face as he snored his way from one night to the next? And tothink he sleeps so nicely at night, not even feeling a tinge of regret for hiscowardice? Pathetic.These horrid thoughts ran rampant in her brain as she noticed her visionslowly going red. Before she realized it, her hand was already covering hismouth, and the knife she hid in her thigh-strap already slit his throat.………..The deed was done, and the Cowardly General’s jeers and mockery were nomore...***Quickly running back to her bed, her heart thumping with every step, she laidunder the covers in fear of what she has done.“(I… did it.)” She looked at her hands in terror, as if to reaffirm this wasn’t adream.“(I’ve... killed enemies before, but that was in duels, it was fair game.)” sherecalled, “(But this guy… He was barely even awake before his heartstopped. We didn’t fight, it wasn’t fair.)”Quivering, be it from the shock of taking another’s life, or simply the fear ofwhat awaits her if she is found out, she steeled her resolve once again as shereminded herself that her job still isn’t done.Waking up in the morning, she was greeted with a chaotic sight. Everyone inthe sleeping quarters was abruptly woken up and told by the ChildishGeneral to attend an emergency meeting.She stood idly next to everyone else, making sure to remain as inconspicuousas humanly possible as the Capable General spoke up.“Members of The Third Battalion, you will from here on out be a part of TheSecond Battalion, your General has been assassinated in his sleep last night.”This news made the entire audience gasp and shriek in horror. If he wasslain, they thought, then who’s next?With the dead man’s battalion being officially reassigned to their new post,the meeting went on with the Generals explaining how they found their coleader’s body, and warning the gang members of any suspicious activity inthe base.“(They’re not… suspecting a spy killed him?)” the girl asked herself.Surely, she thought, they would at least be suspicious of the fact a Generalwas killed from inside his base, right? They can’t be THIS trusting of theirfellow gang members to not even suspect one of us killed him!She heaved a sigh of relief upon finding out she might be in the clear, butdecided to not let her guard up just yet. After all, that’s how they getcha’!She decided not to do anything that night, as no one was really falling asleepin fear of being the next victim. She cowered in fear on her bed, if not topurely boost her credibility as Innocent.The night after though, she was already in front of the next General’s room.This General was elegant in nature, but he had a sharp sword and evensharper reflexes. She was extra scared of this encounter, as having him wakeup would spell trouble not only for her plan, but for herself as well.The Elegant General was adept with the sword more than anything, a trait heshared with both The Capable General and The Annoying General. Theybelieve this is due to their Iros being gray, but that is nothing more than ahypothesis.This one was a bit difficult to assassinate cleanly, as he laid on his side, hisback facing the wall. This was essentially a natural defense mechanismagainst her antics, which made her even more nervous about this wholeoperation. She frantically looked around for anything that could be usedinstead of her knife, and lo and behold, there it was.A pillow that he threw on the ground in his sleep. It was rectangular, fluffy,and thick. Perfect for suffocating a person to death.She gulped the uneasiness and fear down her throat, before proceeding withthe act. He struggled with all his might, trying to get out of the situation. For amere millisecond, the top part of his face broke free, leading to him makingdirect eye contact with her. The shock and pain of her betrayal was apparenton his face, which all but made her question stopping this nonsense. But shewas already far too deep to back out now.As his strength left his body, she made sure he was completely dead bycleanly slicing the carotid artery on his neck. After this, she quietly made herway back to her bed, without anyone noticing that the Elegant General’seloquence was forever lost to time…***The next General on the agenda was none other than hers. A General sheconsidered to be the definition of annoying. The constant catcalls she wouldget from him, mixed with his annoying face and gesticulations earned him thenickname Annoying General. Of course, this was only her opinion of him, asnone of the other gang members ever had to deal with these negative aspectsas much as she did. Even her three friends had nothing bad to say about him,which was surprising to her in more ways than one.She once again got out of her bed, made her way to his room, and shut thedoor.“Visiting my room at this hour? Mademoiselle, you’re quite naughty…” hestated, shocking her.“N-No, I was just going to the toilet and made a wrong turn! Y-Yeah, that’s it.It’s quite dark out, y’know?” she scrambled to find the right words to get outof the situation.“Now hold it there,” he said, stopping her from leaving the room, “have aseat on my bed, would you? I want someone to talk to.”She obliged while hiding her knife as best as she could, fearing he’ll find herout somehow. What she didn’t expect, though, was that he would sit on thebed right next to her.“Y’know, I’ve always found those pajamas of yours quite cute, where didyou get them?” he asked, slowly creeping his hands closer to her.She inched back, quickly shooting back, “Someone dear to me bought them asa gift!”“Y’know, having you on my bed really does make for a sweet sight.” Hesaid, before grabbing her by the arm and tossing her back.“W-What are you doing? Get off, this isn’t funny!” she pleaded for him tostop his advances.“Don’t fear this, Mademoiselle, it’s simply a part of life. You’ll see, it’ll beover before you know it.” He said, rubbing her thighs in all sorts of ways.“Stop!!” she screamed out, trying to shake him off, “Somebody help!!!”Right as he was about to unbuckle his pants, she grabbed her knife andshoved it in his stomach point blank.She pushed him off of her and watched as he bled out on the floor. Just then,the door opened, and The Childish General entered.“What’s going on? I heard a commotio-…!!!” he stopped mid-sentence,seeing The Annoying General lying on the floor with a knife in his stomach,with the girl covered in blood on his bed.“He… He tried to assault me… I… I had no choice but to take his knife…and… and…” she started sobbing before she could continue her statement.“That scum… To think he would treat you like this… DESPICABLE!” heshouted out to his dying co-leader, “YOU MAKE ME SICK! ALL OF YOUMENTAL LUNATICS WHO PREY ON YOUNGER WOMEN DESERVETO ROT IN HELL!”The Childish General’s reaction was surprising to the girl, as she had nevereven seen him get angry, much less to this degree. Who knows what pasttraumas lie behind this reaction of his…He spit on The Annoying General’s corpse before calming the crying girldown and telling her to go back to bed. I’ll take care of this freak… He saidas he sent her out of the room.And just like that, she returned back to bed, feeling like she just barely madeit out of the situation.It’s over… That Annoying General’s catcalling… That Annoying General’sunsolicited flirting… That Annoying General’s harassment… It’s over.***After waking up, the third emergency meeting of the week was called up. TheCapable General stood there as he explained the situation with a face thatsuggested he was done with everything at this point.“General Julian was assassinated last night. Only Max and I stand.”She stood shocked upon realizing she wasn’t outed, looking over at TheChildish General, who then winked at her, mouthing something like Told youit’ll be okay…After the speech, she ran up to hug her savior, before being tasked withseeking help from the neighboring gang. As she ran out through the gates, sheoverheard the gatekeeper suspect her three friends to be the men behind theslaughter…After explaining the situation to them, the quartet (plus the neighboring gang’sprevious General) all ran back to help. After the two gangs made amends,they were told to sleep over, as it was getting late.Of course, she wasn’t going to let her guests get in the way of her plan, so shequickly got up to go to The Capable General’s room. What she didn’t expect,was for the boy who she liked to follow her all the way there.He inquired about her being all the way there, to which she made anunbelievably distasteful bathroom joke. He of course saw through her lie,and asked again what she was doing there.She thought the situation was right, so she lied (this time more believably)and told him she wants to catch the assassin that’s running rampant in thebase.He started crying after thinking about losing her, so she went to comfort him.He surprised her by hugging her outright. This made her blush uncontrollably,but she was also a bit weak mentally against skinship from last night’s scufflewith that horrible man.This time was different, though. She knew that the boy she liked would neverattack her like that scum did. She felt safe in his embrace, and wanted him tofeel safe as well, so she returned the favor.After they both calmed down, the boy suddenly stopped hugging her out ofembarrassment, which made the girl a bit sad. They decided to change topicsto something more lighthearted, and before he knew it, the boy fell asleep,murmuring about the hero of his favorite book.“(Teehee!)” The girl giggled to herself upon seeing the boy's sleeping face ashe laid on the hardwood floor. She quickly laid beside him to sleep as well,but not before secretly giving him a peck on the lips.