Kill my Pride

The red masks all stepped to the side as the large black mask came forward. He quickly grabbed Aoi by her hair and pulled her towards him. Aoi yelped. He took off his mask and sniffed her. Under his black mask was a young face, he had azure blue eyes and golden blond messy hair.

Aoi’s eyes widened, his eyes as well.

He then put his mask back on and turned around. He suddenly sprang, moving at inhuman speeds as he knocked down each red mask. The red masks all opened fire and shot at him. Many bullets pierced through his body, blood was spurting everywhere, however, he didn’t even slow down one bit. The man’s arms suddenly got much larger, and his nails became claws, his black kitsune mask broke as his face twisted into that of a half man half lion. His hair drooped down long, becoming his mane. His azure blue eyes were the only things that remained recognizable.

We all stood there, stunned. This was the power of the black masks, he was a monster. However, for some reason, he seemed to be on our side now. With each swipe of his massive claws, a head thumped onto the ground.

All of the Red-Masks had been killed. The man returned back to a human, his face flattened, his claws retracted and his mane shortened. Aoi rushed over and jumped in his arms, she nuzzled her head against his wide chest, and he held onto her.

I was surprised, and a little jealous. Who is he?

Meanwhile, Hiro rushed over to iota and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Please don’t throw me away! Please! I’m still useful! I can still be useful!!! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!!” Wailed iota.

“Don’t worry. Knowing Gray, he won’t do that.” Said Hiro as he tried to reassure her, however, iota kept crying.

“Look Hiro, you made the girl cry. I’m disappointed.” I said as I pulled iota into my arms, she rested her head against my chest and I stroked her blood covered pink hair. It was rough and tangled, however, she felt extremely fragile against my body.

“After your brave actions, anyone would be stupid to throw you away.” I said. Iota looked at me.

“本当に?” R-really? Asked iota.

“本当に” I replied.

“本当に 本当に?!”

“本当に 本当に.”

Iota looked at me with teary eyes and sniffed. She had stopped wailing.

“Let’s go on that date I promised you, you more than deserved it” I told her. Iota suddenly started wailing really loud.

“Look at you two buffoons, making a girl cry.” Said Aoi with a smile as she pulled iota into her embrace.

Aoi then leaned in and kissed Iota on the forehead, then, she pressed Iota’s head on her lap, she leaned in to whisper something to iota. Iota then smiled, and fell asleep on Aoi’s lap.

Hiro and I both stared at those two, our faces were red.

“Boys can never understand girls.” Said Aoi.

“You stole her first kiss!” Complained Hiro.

We all laughed.

“Alright, Aoi can you explain who this hooligan is?” I said as I walked up and gave the large man my alpha wolf stare. It wasn’t working too well since my head was up to his shoulders. He’s way too big!

Big or not, that hooligan only appeared for a couple minutes and already had Aoi jumping into his arms!

“He’s Shinpei, my long lost little brother.” Said Aoi, her eyes were beaming proudly.

“Yo” He replied as he waved at us.

Hiro and I both fell over from the ridiculousness.

“Seriously? Your long lost little brother? This sounds like something out of a cheesy novel.” I said as I bent over laughing.

“It’s true! And once you get to know our past, you will be weeping just like you did for Hiro’s tragic backstory!” Said Aoi as she made a pouty face and puffed her cheeks up. She does this often now, her pouty and puffed face, I bet it was iota who had influence that. She does look so cute though!

Hiro had his mouth wide open, obviously expressing the offense he took. “It wasn’t just a tragic backstory! I had happy moments too!” Said Hiro.

“Alright. The mission was a success! Let’s head back home!” I declared.

“Oi!” Said everyone in response.

We had our injuries checked out when we got back, luckily, aside from some cuts and bruises, none of us had anything serious. The government came to collect the bodies of their officers, and also of all the others who had died.

The bodies of the 15 officers who died during our mission were, by our request, paraded around in our solemn ceremony of heroes. It was a large gathering of both mafia and government officers alike. Everyone wore black, and it seemed like our hearts were the same.

All the dead Red-Foxes were cremated, some of them were sent to labs for further investigations. However, we had requested that Itsuka’s body be taken in by us. We brought back her headless body and buried her in our graveyard.

Itsuka’s body was carried around while Aoi, Hiro and I spoke of her brave sacrifice and tragic story. Her story and Hiro’s touched everyone's heart, setting it ablaze and fueling our hatred and wariness of the Red-Foxes. The fires in everyone’s eyes burned brightly that night.

Meanwhile, Aoi’s little brother Shinpei was brought back to headquarters. We agreed with Aoi to keep him a secret from government officials. By Shinpei’s request, we kept him locked up in our prison room, since he already has a mind control chip installed inside of him, he can go berserk at any time.

“I had destroyed their remotes that controlled me, however, it won’t be long until they create another one. Once they start controlling me, I want you to kill me.” Said Shinpei.

Damn, this was so wrong. The Red-Foxes had completely turned Shinpei into their slave. Without so much as his own free will, is he still human? Moreover, is he still even considered to be alive?

Despite his looming doom, Shinpei kept a cheerful attitude, and Aoi would visit him everyday to chat with him. I guess he really is her precious long lost little brother since Aoi looks at him with such protective eyes.

Investigator Taki also visited Shinpei regularly, getting as much information about the Red-Foxes as he can, and sharing it with us and the government. However, it seems Shinpei’s memories have been tampered with since he doesn’t remember much about the mafia. Fortunately, his memories seemed to have been slowly coming back, so everyday we are making progress.

Investigator Taki was promoted and heavily rewarded by the government for his lead in this project. Taki is now officially responsible for maintaining ties between both the mafia and government.

“Woo! This is the best! My reputation has never been better, and you mafia guys are money bags! Money bags!” Said Taki as he did a little dance.

“Daad, I thought you do your job for justice, not money!” Scolded Asuna.

“Ahem, as a bringer of justice, it makes sense for me to be rewarded heavily.” Taki declared proudly.

I walked away from the chaos, and found Aoi doing the same. I thumped my chest twice, so did Aoi.

“Good job Aoi, you were amazing on the mission.” I told her.

Aoi blushed. “So were you Gray.”

“Well… do you have a moment? Come with me to the dandelion field, I have something I need to confess to.” I said as I looked at my feet.

“A-AH! Sure!” Stammered Aoi, she looked surprised yet pleased.

We headed over to the dandelion field. Aoi skipped in it, her face was full of delight, then she flopped onto a large blanket of dandelions, laughing. I followed her and flopped next to her. The dandelions were soft, and it smelled of pollen and grass.

I took a large breath, my heart was beating fast. Alright Gray, time to kill your pride.

“So Aoi, I’m sorry for what I’ve done before, hurting you so badly.” I started, and Aoi turned over to look at me.

“I’m sorry too Gray, I shouldn’t have kept things to myself.” Replied Aoi.

“N..Not only that! When you were hurt and unconscious, I lusted after your body. My mind was thinking of how exposed you were from your ripped and wet clothes. Showing so much skin had me wanting to do all sorts of things to you. I even went so far as to lick your blood!” I was panting after saying it all.

Aoi’s eyes remained fixed onto mine, they were wide and surprised, her chest was rising up and down rapidly as her breathing intensified. She blushed?!

“So you see, I’m just a dirty minded beast inside!” I said. I clenched my fists and squeezed my eyes shut.

My eyes shot wide open as I was kneed in the guts. Aoi looked at me with a stern gaze.

“After hearing you confess to me that day, I was so happy! I thought we would be getting closer, yet all this time you’ve been keeping your distance! Whenever you speak to me or are close to me, my mind goes blank! My heart starts racing as I anticipate your love, yet it never comes! I’ve waited all this time for you to basically tell me not to love you anymore?! You idiot!” Cried Aoi, her face was red as tears slid down and she kicked me in the guts again.

This time I stared at her with wide eyes.

“But I’m a pervert…”

“So what?! I’m a pervert too! During the plane ride I spied on you a bit while you were in the bath, I even dressed you up in Evan’s dress! I’ve got pictures of you that I secretly took and one of them is even the wallpaper! I think it’s fine you have these thoughts about me, in fact I’m happy that you lust after me!! ” Cried Aoi as she rolled closer towards me and I embraced her.

“Wow, I didn’t notice.” Was all I said.

“That doesn’t mean I want you ogling me 24/7, just a bit is fine.” Replied Aoi.

“Oh really? I feel like the luckiest man alive.” I said as I laughed. I had confessed, and Aoi still accepts me. I felt happy and light.

“Say that you love me again.” Said Aoi.

“Why?” I asked.

“Just say it!”

“No”

“Why”

“It’s embarrassing“

” I don’t care, I wanna hear it”

“Never”

“Please”

“I love you“

”Come on just… whaaaaaaaaa!!?” Exclaimed Aoi as she rolled everywhere in the dandelions from excitement.

“Let’s go on a date for once.” I said. “As a reward for your hard work, and a display of our affection.” I smiled.

Aoi’s eyes got wider, and she rammed her body against mine. I got the air knocked out of me as she squealed in delight. Aoi is an aggressive woman, but can also be timid in other areas. I smiled as I thought about how she’s the opposite of iota.

“Next Sunday at 9 am then? We can go explore the Tokyo shopping districts.” I told Aoi.

“I’ll look forward to it, you better not disappoint me again Gray.” Replied Aoi as she jabbed me in my sides with her elbows.

“Of course, when I’m serious about something, I never disappoint.” I said, little did I know that the date would turn out a mess…

Later in the afternoon, Aoi and I visited the government officials, and brought back our compensation. It wasn’t much money, that makes sense since we are still a mafia. But the bulk of the compensation was in the contract that we had signed.

The contract was for another temporary alliance between us and the government. We vowed to not do anything without the permission of the government, while the government vowed to not hunt us down, which was fine with us. We can do everything we always do, just with the permission of the government now.

The government also told us of a plan in the works to destroy the Red-Foxes’ main headquarters in America, which is to be an international collaboration between the Japanese, Chinese, and American governments. We had agreed to be one of Japan’s main forces in this mission. Hiro was especially happy to hear of this, for he was eager to bring them down.

Though the GrayWolves have become busy now, everyone was so full of life. We have dedicated a large portion of our mafia to training, preparing to launch our final attack against the Red-Foxes. Aoi and I were busy spearheading an education system, where we can give the kids born in the mafia an education. We hope that one day they are able to go to real schools and be able to integrate into society.

The mafia is probably the worst place to grow up, all of us had agreed on that. Meanwhile iota was promoted up the ranks after our previous mission, and she keeps on climbing them. Being already one of our strongest fighters, it won’t be long before she is promoted to an elite.

I headed over to the school and saw iota teaching the kids self defense at the dandelion fields. Both the kids and iota were laughing together. I sat down and watched them from a distance.

“Haii Bawse!” Screamed Shinji as he clumsily bounded towards me, which garnered the attention of everyone.

“Uhh Hi Shinji, I see you’re learning to fight.” I replied.

“Yay bawse! Iota onee-san is so strong!” Declared Shinji as he gave me a punch on my stomach, I bent over and pretended to be hurt, Shinji laughed.

“Grayfish!!!” Cried iota as she lept on top of me. She landed on my chest and crushed all the air out of me. I bent over, and was actually hurting. After being kicked by Aoi a couple times there, it couldn’t take anymore abuse.

“Hey there iota, everything is fine?” I said as I patted her head.

“My date with you! You promised me a date!” Cried iota as she leaned in closer to my face.

“Wat’s a date?” Asuna asked, she had ran over and stood beside Shinji.

“Iota please don’t make these moves in front of the kids!” I said as I tried pushing her off me.

“My date…. Date! Date! Date! Date!!” Chanted iota as she pumped her fist into the air while on top of me.

“Date! Date! Date! Date!” Chanted all the children as they did the same. I noticed a couple passerbys stare at the commotion they were making.

“Fine! I will go on a date with you. Is this Sunday at 9 am fine? We can explore the Tokyo shopping districts.”

“やった!” (Yay!) Cried iota.

“やった!” (Yay!) Cried the kids.

まったく! (sheesh!)

Iota was sneaky as usual, this time using the kids to pressure me into this, and she wasn’t shy about making moves in front of them either! She was still on top of me, I looked up and could clearly see her chest, it seemed to have grown… I should scold her about being more careful, especially around men, since with her looks she is bound to attract all sorts of trouble.

Suddenly, iota lost her balance and I found my face buried in her chest. It was soft yet firm, squishy and comfy. And it's hard to breathe. I motioned for iota to get off of me, however, her chest seemed to press harder against my face. After what seemed like eternity, iota finally got off of me. And I saw Aoi looking pretty disappointed with me.

“It’s not what it looks like!!” I stammered.

“Seriously Gray, making passes at minors in front of the kids!” Said Aoi as she walked away.

Iota turned around and gave me a raspberry and a wink.

The lunch bell rang, I left chasing after Aoi while iota was herding the kids towards the cafeteria.

A few days later and Sunday came, it was the day of my date with Aoi! I told Aoi to meet me at the dandelion field, and we’d walk to the shopping district together. I had thought together of a date plan, and knew the best places to take Aoi. I've also loaded myself up with some money.

It was mid-august and still summer’s hell, so I couldn’t wear anything extravagant for our date. I was in a cool blue t-shirt which was complemented by my red cargo shorts. I thought the contrast of bright colors looked good. I made sure to shave my beard, comb my hair, and sprayed some men’s perfume. I also popped a mint in my mouth, keeping my breath cool and fresh.

I came over to the dandelion field and waited. I waited for a long time and no one came. I looked at my watch, it was still 6 am. My stomach growled, however I shall not eat! I was saving stomach space for the food we will eat on our date.

Over the course of 2 and a half hours, I counted up to 2000 dandelions before losing count. I had run to the washroom 5 times, twice to actually use it, and three times to check myself in the mirror. I then came up with a bunch of smooth pick up lines and scenarios I can use.

It was 8:30 am now. My heart started pounding as I saw Aoi coming, I waved at her, and she sped up, waving back at me.

“Grayfish!!!!” Called iota as she came running from the other side.

I froze.

Crap. I had accidentally asked those two to come on the same date.

“HEY! WHY IS SHE HERE?!” Cried iota and Aoi as they pointed at each other, then they glared at me.

I looked back at them with sheepish eyes and a silly smile.

“I can explain.” I stammered.