-Break-
Location: Chronicle Nimbus Molstoria Hideout 37
ΦWith one foot after the other, I walk through the tights soundless corridors with a basket over my shoulder, and say, "This place really is an assassin's hideout; it feels like my mind is going to go crazy from all the silence."
Reaching the door, I grab it and open it, then, looking inside, I see lumped over a desk, Ai Kumo. Taking a few seconds to walk up to her, I stare at her sleeping body and shining face.
Her hair is messy, and her clothes are ruffled; in many ways, she reminds me of how Genius used to look when he was taking a name. A messy, unkept, stinky fox, but somehow still so adorable.I rest my head against the desk and take a few moments to stare at her. She really is a freak of nature. Her hair gets oily, she sweats like no other, and when she dresses casually, you would wonder if she were really a woman. Her skills with makeup are so intense that when she takes it off, she looks like someone has bashed her face with a hammer a couple of times.
But she is unnecessarily cute, in a really distracting way, and reminds me of my mother's beauty at times. Kind of makes me want to pick her up and give her a hug, you know what, it's not like anyone could stop me.
Grabbing her, I pick up her body and take her to her seat on the chair as I place her in my lap and give her a tight hug. She really is hard, I can feel the toned up muscles beneath her flesh, not the best for a hug, and up this close I can actually smell the sweat.
Staring at her face, I say, "But she happens to be adorable."
Her eyes open up and glare at me in confusion for a moment, until I say, "Good morning, beautiful," with a smile.
In that very instant, I find myself on the ground with my head in a choke hold as she says, "I knew you were a scummy fuckboy who flirts with me then takes another woman back to her quarters each night, but I thought at least you valued a woman's consent!"
"I didn't touch you sexually! I just sniffed your stinky, sweaty body!"
The hold tightens, and she says, "YOU THINK THAT'S BETTER! AND I DON'T STINK!"
I feel like my soul is mere moments away from being forcibly ripped from my body, is this where I die?
Her belly rumbles, sending shockwaves through the area, and her grip loosens as her hunger overtakes her. Using this moment, I break free, tasting the sweetness of the air that I had long taken for granted. Turning around, I stare at the beast lying on the ground and say, "I knew you were hungry fool. Luckily, I have brought some lunch for you!"
Sitting up, she rushes forward and grabs the basket, then, with drool bursting forth from her mouth, she asks, "Can I have this!"
"Yep, just make sure to give me some tongue afterwards!"
Her foot slams into my face, and she rips open the basket, takes out one of my freshly made sandwiches, and slowly starts nibbling on it like a squirrel, forcing laughter to burst out of my mouth.
"Hey, why are you laughing!"
"I am sorry, but after all that voracious hunger just for you to start nibbling on it like it's some form of fruit is just far too funny. You really are a hoot."
Sitting down, she says, "You're so annoying all the time. Why did I invite you back to my hideout?"
"Well, if you didn't, I would be dead by now, so I thank you."
"What the hell were you thinking writing against Cario and Warwick, you know they're your employers."
"No, they are not. They were business partners I worked with, but they should know I am not any idiot who they can just use, I am the one steering the ship, and if they try to weaponise themselves against my goals, I will do the same to them, and reward those who understand my greatest. I will not be devoured by Warwick."
"You say that, but I remember how you looked like you were going to crap your pants the first time you felt that boy's bloodlust."
"I WASN'T! It was just freaky how intense his hatred was, like he held contempt for humans in their entirety. I was worried he would have done something like kill the most annoying person in the room."
"So yourself."
"If only I could ever reach the 9th-dimensional levels of stupidity you exude in each and every moment of your life."
"You're right, I should change that. Get the hell out of here."
"Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?"
"Kill yourself."
"I am sorry. I love you very, very much for allowing me to stay here. That's why, like a good house husband, I made you those tasty sandwiches."
"All you're good for. And you're not my husband, and this isn't my house, it's a hideout."
Staring all around, I say, "I have always heard CN was all but undetectable, and here I sit in one of those invisible fortresses that the world all around searches for."
"It's not that impressive, and neither is CN in the current day."
"You say that, but internationally you all have the pull to destroy any person, organisation or country's credibility with just a gaggle of butterflies."
"That sounds fun, but it isn't true anymore. Haven't you noticed that CN in the last few decades have been rather silent? They don't really tackle any intense stories any longer and just focus on community or day-to-day things. The reason for this is that the current leader of CN is scared."
"For what reason you talk as if they can catch yo-."
"They can, and they did."
"What?"
"It happened around a century ago, but leaders from all across the world, aided by the bastards in Amurdjustia, launched a strike against multiple of our hideouts. They tracked down where everyone was and kidnapped, tortured and killed multiple of our members. Slaughtering many, even our current head was kidnapped, but we were lucky he managed to escape.
Many of the people who were kidnapped lived horrific lives of pain that could only be ended by ratting out the locations of our other members. Even their deaths must have felt bittersweet, knowing they could only die due to the pain and suffering of another. The few who managed to escape were permanently scared, and all eventually became the oldest ninjas within our organisation, eventually making laws to keep them from attacking and arguing with the most powerful so that a situation like this would happen ever again."
As she speaks, I see the frustration overtaking her face, causing me to say, "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise. It's merely an inevitability. Chronicle Nimbus members had immense levels of skills in the past, but over generations, we got lax and stopped taking the ways that built our organisation up to the way it was, seriously leading to weakness inside our group. It was our own fault."
"Still, I am surprised you'd be doing what you're doing if it actively goes against your organisation's rules. You're not that strong, so I think not becoming too much of a problem would be a good idea."
"I guess no one else knows this, but Chronicle Nimbus is an organisation that got its start in a weird way. Due to the names we use, many think we have some kind of origin or relation tied to Enotita or Seirei, but it's merely a mask.
From the end of the 2nd cycle to the beginning of the 3rd, there were many different assassinations committed by all of the great powers within and outside of their countries for the sake of consolidating power. They trained shadowy figures to move through the night and take the lives of all who wished to stand against them, but then disposed of all those same figures when they had reached the ends of their usefulness.
Those figures were abandoned and left to rot. The world they had given everything for was something they weren't allowed to see, and they accepted that, until a figure whose eyes could see through the dark gave their life meaning, whose wings could guide them up to the heavens. A divine being who could see the true value of their soul showed it to their eyes, and little by little, they no longer saw themselves as tools but as people and realised that many existed in this world who only saw themselves as pawns for a greater plan.
So in their hatred, they stood against this. Constantly researching and looking into all the chaos and hatred that stood all throughout the world, and making great efforts to reveal the lies spread by those who wished to bend the world to their will. Through heroes united from all the corners of the world who stood against tyrants. That's who Chronicle Nimbus is, that's the legacy I have inherited, and I refuse to allow nonsense like fear and hesitation to break me down, and push the world I wish forward."
Pointing her finger in my face, she says, "So watch as all the tyrants who try to control this world will be exposed by my pen and paper. And that includes would be ones like you got that!"
She cutely waddles up and over to her chair before taking a seat, as she starts to get back to her work, and following her I place my head on her table, and say, "You always change write your pen name in different language all the time, you do know that causes the common person to not be able to identify the author, inherently hurting your credibility."
"Shut up. I know that's kind of an issue, but right now I haven't made enough connections or haven't become powerful enough to defend myself from CN or any would-be kings, so I have to pretend I am different people so I don't get too popular yet. I will reveal it all one day."
"Liar."
"If you have nothing better to do than annoy me, get out of here."
This weirdo really is a strange person. I guess I thought she was just annoying, but it turns out she is one of them, one of those idiots who glows brighter than any normal person should. Her eyes are fixated on a destiny that is going to change the world itself if it comes through, but they would be better put on something else.
Grabbing her chin, I say, "Hey, how about we enter into an official relationship?"
Her eyes send one message to mine: You must think I am stupid, don't you?
"Yes, I do," I say, right before she smashes her forehead into my diaphragm, knocking me down onto the ground.
"Get out of here, you dog!"
Wrapping my arms around her, I say, "Come on, it would be so fun, besides, we are both technically hiding from enemies who wish to destroy us for our words. Wouldn't it be fun to do it together?"
I pick her up, and take her seat, placing her on my lap, and bring my forehead against her own, as I say, "Besides, it would be so fun to see your smile every day. Since you are so bright, it will help me with sun deficiency."
Blushing, she says, "This is what you always do, flirt, then I see you waking up with another girl in your bed. As far as I am concerned your just doing this since no other women are around for you to seduce."
"I see, then if that's what you believe, I promise you until we leave here, I won't sleep with you at all."
"Lie-."
I glare into her eyes searching for the light that attracts itself towards the future, and embarrassed by the contact, she says, "Fine, but you must make me food each day, and give me massages whenever I want."
Hugging her close, I say, "Yippee," then pull back for a second, and in that moment that I take in her presence, an understanding dawns on me.
So, is this how you felt Wèilái?