Chapter 3
"Ichihari? Where's Yuri?" Keisuke asked, opening the door. "Hmm? Oh, that scruffy girl. She borrowed some shoes and ran out." Ichihari answered, typing away. ". . .And you just happened to have shoes her size?" Keisuke muttered, raising an eyebrow. "Why, yes." Ichihari said. He turned to look at Keisuke, his eyes wide as if he was surprised Keisuke didn't know. "I have lots of pairs of shoes for both men and women. Because of experiments." he said. Keisuke rolled his eyes and started out the door to look for Yuri. "Oh, Ryuji, by the way." Ichihari said, picking an anime figurine up. "What?" Keisuke said darkly. "I forgot to mention. She ran out after I told her you were a Sweeper." Keisuke turned to stare at Ichihari. Ichihari smiled.
Keisuke slammed the door, angrily storming down the apartment steps. His cell rang. Keisuke picked up, biting his lip to keep from snapping. He listened, then almost dropped the phone. The person hung up. "So, you have to get your hands on those organs too, huh?" Ichihari said from a few floors up. "You knew." Keisuke said darkly. "Of course I did." Ichihari droned, tilting his head. Ichihari grinned. "When you take her guts, will you give me the body?" he asked. "You're disgusting!" Keisuke snapped, flinging his cell at him. Ichihari caught it. "Temper, temper." he scolded. Ichihari tossed the phone back down. "Give her my regards. And get the shoes back for me." he said. Keisuke caught the phone as well, gripping it.
Yuri was kneeling in front of her rosebushes, trimming the leaves. "There you are. . ." someone said behind her. "Those people were assassins, right, Keisuke-kun?" she said lowly. He was silent. "Uh-huh." he finally answered. "And you're one too." Yuri said. "Yup." he said. Yuri stood up, slowly. Then, quickly, she whirled on her heel, holding the gardening scissors in front of her. She plunged it straight at Keisuke's stomach. Kill or be killed! Keisuke looked as if he was expecting this, because he boredly grabbed her wrist, his hips swaying to the side so the blades missed him by an inch. He twirled her and clamped her hands behind her back.
"Now now, Ninomiya-san. That wasn't a good idea, was it?" he said into her hair. Yuri gritted her teeth, struggling. "Ninomiya, if you make one more movement, your arm will break." Keisuke cooed. "Let. Me. Go." she hissed. Keisuke laughed. "And here I was thinking you were shy. You're charmingly vicious." he said, nestling his chin onto her neck. She felt one of his hands release her arms, but then his other hand gripped both of hers.
With his free hand, he pulled out a syringe. Yuri's eyes widened, and she started to tremble. "How cute. You're scared." Keisuke said, smiling playfully. "N-No, let me go. . ." she said softly. He didn't answer. Instead, he put the syringe to his mouth and tore the cap off with his teeth. Spitting the cap out, he pressed a bit of liquid out, making sure it worked. "Have you ever heard of PandorE? It's one of the most powerful anesthetics out there. But it's also sold in black markets, because PandorE makes you higher than a kite. It feels great, believe me. And you can drink it, inject it, or even let it seep into your skin. Just touch the stuff and you get dizzy. However, this much of a dose will knock you clean out. You'll be catching Z's in no time." he explained.
Yuri's whole body was now shaking. "K-K-Keisuke-kun. . ." she said in a tiny voice. "Hey! Ryuji! She's ours!" someone shrieked. Keisuke looked up, unamused. Tomoki and Mari stood there angrily. "If we don't get her organs, the boss'll have ours." Mari said. "Cry me a river." Keisuke muttered. "This isn't a joke!!" Tomoki snapped. He angrily fixed his kimono, then pulled out money. Hard cash. And a lot. "We'll pay you for her." he said. Keisuke raised an eyebrow. "You aren't bound to anyone! You're free! We aren't. We need her to survive!" Mari pleaded. Keisuke examined the money. "I'm worth a lot more." he said, smiling. "We don't care how much you're worth!" Tomoki hissed. "You should. The point being, I can sell myself for a much higher price than that and kill the idiot later." Kesiuke said seriously. "Y-You—!" Mari barked.
I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm so scared. I'm going to die. Keisuke licked the syringe needle, contemplating their offer. He's selling me. And if not, he's killing me. Tears dripped from Yuri's chin, as she tried to cry silently. Make noise and he might kill her on the spot. I've seen something like this in a movie once. she thought, trying to block herself out. But then Yuri's body shuddered, and a sob escaped her throat. Keisuke looked down, startled. His eyes widened.
'Ryuji-kun! Ryuji-kun! H-Help, I'm falling—!'
Keisuke dropped Yuri's arms and stepped back, stunned. "Y-Yiru. . ." he murmured. Yuri looked up, her face wet with tears. Screw this, I'm getting the hell outta here. Yuri thought, grabbing the gardening scissors and throwing them at Mari and Tomoki, they both stepped aside, surprised. When they looked up, Yuri was already halfway down the block. "Get her!" Tomoki snapped, already after her himself. Keisuke realized what was going on and followed after. "Ninomiya-san!!" he snapped. Yuri didn't look back.
Keisuke gritted his teeth and used full-speed. He was in front of Yuri in a second. She ran straight into him. He wrapped his arm around her, and with his free one, grabbed a branch and hoisted himself up. "NO!! NO!! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Yuri was screaming. She felt something sharp poke her arm. She looked down, suddenly silent. The syringe was in her arm. The liquid was injected. She looked up into Keisuke's face, horrified. He was looking down at her seriously, his face tinted with a bit of sadness. Suddenly, he went kinda blurry around the edges. Whoa. . .Yuri thought, blinking rapidly. "Relax," he said. "Just fall asleep."
Yuri opened her eyes blearily. Huh? I'm not dead yet? She was in a familiar place. Ichihari peered down at her. "Well well. Good morning." he said. "I-Ichihari-san. . .?" she mumbled. He smiled. "You remembered my name? How nice of you." he said. Could that have been an awful dream? Just then, Keisuke walked into the room. "Ichihari, get out." he said coldly. "What? I was just about to—" Ichihari protested, but with one look from Keisuke, he swallowed his words and left silently.
Yuri suddenly felt a deep fear for the man she would have been ecstatic to see just a few hours ago. "Yuri," he said, dropping any polite formalities. "You want to live?" he asked. She nodded vigorously. "Then listen closely. You're mine now. You belong to me, and you will not answer to anyone but ME. You must do whatever I say, when I say it. If you hesitate, you'll die." he said. His voice no longer had any kindness or humour in it. It was flat and deadly. Yuri was pressed against the wall, trying to put as much space as she could between herself and the Sweeper. "Say it." he said. "W-What? Say what?" she said, slightly calmer. "What I just said." Keisuke murmured. "I-I'm yours now. I belong to you, and I will not answer to anyone but YOU. I must do whatever you say, when you say it. If I hesitate, I'll die." she recited. He smiled. "You said it perfectly." he mused. Her face flushed. He sat on the foot of the bed, then put his face in hers. "Delightful. I've always wanted a toy like you." he said coyly. Yuri bit her lip to keep from slapping him. "Just crawl into a hole and die," she said daringly. He blinked, then burst laughing. He fell onto his back, his arm covering his eyes. When he managed to quiet down, he said, "You're adorable." Yuri wondered what the appropriate reaction would be. "Why are the other Assassins acting as if killing people is nothing?" she asked. "Because it isn't." he said, puzzled. ". . .Why?" she echoed. He smiled. "Simple." He leaned closer, smoothing her hair down. "Because it's Law."
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