2.15: 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 was very much asleep, “(Time for my part of the plan…)”

Making her way around the base, she wasn’t sure if she could really exact this felony without being spotted. She was quite adept at stealth, a skill which was only accentuated by the gray cloak she wore over the pajamas a kind boy bought for her as a gift. Over the course of their meetings, the boy showed more and more of his reliable side, leading to her slowly falling for him. The pajamas were not only a kind gest, but also reminded her of the first time her heart thumped for him.

As she clutched the front of the nightly garments, she had stopped to ask herself 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’ Bro about this part of the plan, otherwise he’d spill the beans for sure.)” she remarked.

Her brother was someone dear to her, and he would gladly give his life for her happiness. What she said about him just now wasn’t meant to be a critique, it was just the plain old truth. Her brother had a bit of a habit of not being able to keep his mouth shut, and she would often feel that he would get in the way between herself and the boy she liked, judging by all the jeers the two lovebirds get from him, so she made sure to act as if she harbored no feelings of love towards said boy when they were all together, but she also thinks that he probably found out.

“(He probably wouldn’t care if he found out I did this. He’d probably just say something along the lines of It can’t be helped and move on.)” she tried to imagine what her brother would say in that situation.

Then there was the other boy, a younger fellow who always insisted on peace to solve any and all problems that arose. She never really liked him all too much, but he accompanied the boy she fancied, and those two friends were inseparable. She considered the youthful boy naïve in his approach, stating that 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 of his goddamned reprimanding speech about peace…)” she grumbled just thinking about the encounter.

After weighing down the potential risks with the guaranteed reward, she subtly (but still a bit hesitantly) made it to her first victim, who was at this time still sleeping peacefully, unaware of the fact he is scheduled to die in just a few minutes.

***

The person in question was a coward by nature, but bulky in size. The newbies 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 regular basis. As it turns out, the gang members who were a bit more experienced than their underclassmen knew this Cowardly General’s true colors all too well…

This was good, she thought, as this leaves a smaller chance of me being found out, plus the gang won’t take it so hard, as he doesn’t hold that well of a reputation.

These logical thoughts were also rationed by a personal grudge she harbored for the Cowardly General. As it turns out, this very General constantly badmouthed the boy she harbored feelings for, even going so far as to indirectly insult her by stating “No girl would like that backstabbing son of a bitch! And if she even hypothetically existed in this world, then she’s probably the epitome of blindness!”

She considered the boy’s appearance to be more than handsome, he would always make sure to dress appropriately for any and all occasions, but he would always stand out from a crowd, what with his Iro telling him to try out something new every day. His hair flowed naturally, and she found his choice to grow it out more appealing than anyone else, who would simply scoff at him for not being afraid to try it out. He would at times tie his hair in a short little ponytail, which she found absolutely adorable, but he hasn’t worn it in quite some time now, as he would often get made fun of by others, who stated he looked like a girl.

“(Oop, I got sidetracked.)” she stated as she quickly shook his image out of her head.

She entered the Cowardly General’s room without making so much as a single sound, and as she skillfully made her way in front of the General’s bed, she froze upon seeing him sleeping so calmly.

This person, who makes fun of people every day, DARES to show such an unsightly face as he snored his way from one night to the next? And to think he sleeps so nicely at night, not even feeling a tinge of regret for his cowardice? Pathetic.

These horrid thoughts ran rampant in her brain as she noticed her vision slowly going red. Before she realized it, her hand was already covering his mouth, 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 no more...

***

Quickly running back to her bed, her heart thumping with every step, she laid under 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 a dream.

“(I’ve... killed enemies before, but that was in duels, it was fair game.)” she recalled, “(But this guy… He was barely even awake before his heart stopped. We didn’t fight, it wasn’t fair.)”

Quivering, be it from the shock of taking another’s life, or simply the fear of what awaits her if she is found out, she steeled her resolve once again as she reminded herself that her job still isn’t done.

Waking up in the morning, she was greeted with a chaotic sight. Everyone in the sleeping quarters was abruptly woken up and told by the Childish General to attend an emergency meeting.

She stood idly next to everyone else, making sure to remain as inconspicuous as humanly possible as the Capable General spoke up.

“Members of The Third Battalion, you will from here on out be a part of The Second Battalion, your General has been assassinated in his sleep last night.”

This news made the entire audience gasp and shriek in horror. If he was slain, 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 co-leader’s body, and warning the gang members of any suspicious activity in the 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 General was killed from inside his base, right? They can’t be THIS trusting of their fellow 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, but decided 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 asleep in fear of being the next victim. She cowered in fear on her bed, if not to purely 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 even sharper reflexes. She was extra scared of this encounter, as having him wake up 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 he shared with both The Capable General and The Annoying General. They believe this is due to their Iros being gray, but that is nothing more than a hypothesis.

This one was a bit difficult to assassinate cleanly, as he laid on his side, his back facing the wall. This was essentially a natural defense mechanism against her antics, which made her even more nervous about this whole operation. She frantically looked around for anything that could be used instead 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 with the act. He struggled with all his might, trying to get out of the situation. For a mere millisecond, the top part of his face broke free, leading to him making direct eye contact with her. The shock and pain of her betrayal was apparent on his face, which all but made her question stopping this nonsense. But she was already far too deep to back out now.

As his strength left his body, she made sure he was completely dead by cleanly slicing the carotid artery on his neck. After this, she quietly made her way back to her bed, without anyone noticing that the Elegant General’s eloquence was forever lost to time…

***

The next General on the agenda was none other than hers. A General she considered to be the definition of annoying. The constant catcalls she would get from him, mixed with his annoying face and gesticulations earned him the nickname Annoying General. Of course, this was only her opinion of him, as none of the other gang members ever had to deal with these negative aspects as 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 the door.

“Visiting my room at this hour? Mademoiselle, you’re quite naughty…” he stated, 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 out of the situation.

“Now hold it there,” he said, stopping her from leaving the room, “have a seat 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 her out somehow. What she didn’t expect, though, was that he would sit on the bed right next to her.

“Y’know, I’ve always found those pajamas of yours quite cute, where did you get them?” he asked, slowly creeping his hands closer to her.

She inched back, quickly shooting back, “Someone dear to me bought them as a gift!”

“Y’know, having you on my bed really does make for a sweet sight.” He said, 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 to stop his advances.

“Don’t fear this, Mademoiselle, it’s simply a part of life. You’ll see, it’ll be over 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 and shoved 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!” he shouted out to his dying co-leader, “YOU MAKE ME SICK! ALL OF YOU MENTAL LUNATICS WHO PREY ON YOUNGER WOMEN DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL!”

The Childish General’s reaction was surprising to the girl, as she had never even seen him get angry, much less to this degree. Who knows what past traumas lie behind this reaction of his…

He spit on The Annoying General’s corpse before calming the crying girl down and telling her to go back to bed. I’ll take care of this freak… He said as he sent her out of the room.

And just like that, she returned back to bed, feeling like she just barely made it out of the situation.

It’s over… That Annoying General’s catcalling… That Annoying General’s unsolicited flirting… That Annoying General’s harassment… It’s over.

***

After waking up, the third emergency meeting of the week was called up. The Capable General stood there as he explained the situation with a face that suggested 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 The Childish General, who then winked at her, mouthing something like Told you it’ll be okay…

After the speech, she ran up to hug her savior, before being tasked with seeking help from the neighboring gang. As she ran out through the gates, she overheard the gatekeeper suspect her three friends to be the men behind the slaughter…

After explaining the situation to them, the quartet (plus the neighboring gang’s previous 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 she quickly 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 an unbelievably 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 the base.

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 scuffle with that horrible man.

This time was different, though. She knew that the boy she liked would never attack her like that scum did. She felt safe in his embrace, and wanted him to feel safe as well, so she returned the favor.

After they both calmed down, the boy suddenly stopped hugging her out of embarrassment, which made the girl a bit sad. They decided to change topics to 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 as he 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.