N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

16.7 - Stormbringer

"Then it's settled. Let's get out of here. The mafia's on their way. They're persistent, and it's not like some simple headstrong attack will work on you. If it does, then it's not an attack of strength."

Chuuya pointed behind Verlaine with his chin.

"It's a surprise attack. Something you can't predict or imagine no matter what, kind of like attacking with a joke. —Or something like that."

Immediately after that, someone tapped on Verlaine's shoulder.

Verlaine quickly turned around, searching for the attack, but it was to no avail.

You sent a blinding flash of light in his direction, one only a machine would be able to see through.

A pointer finger hit against Verlaine's cheek as he turned around.

"Ah—"

"Would you like to hear an android joke?"

A thin injection needle was installed on the tip of the pointer finger.

Using only the upper half of his body, Adam had put his hand on Verlaine's shoulder. The medicine from the needle on his finger entered Verlaine's skin, instantly entering his blood stream and caused a hypotensive nerve reflex.

Verlaine swayed heavily to one side before lurching towards the other side and falling over, losing consciousness. Adam, with only his right arm, shrugged his upper body off his shoulder and smiled mischievously.

"The assassin king was defeated by the poke from a childish prank. That's the android joke." 

Excerpt from Rimbaud's notes:

------ day of the ------ year

Log of a DGSS agent from the tactics team of the Counter Terrorists Unit

Clear weather, right before dawn, new moon

I'll leave a slightly longer entry since it's the day before I infiltrate the military base of an enemy nation.

This mission won't have any backup, logistical support, or internal collaborators. Our target is a new model of gifted weaponry. Although it's said to be in the shape of a boy, it's a hidden calamity that has enough power to destroy the world. It's a dangerous mission, and I very well might not come back alive.

But if there's anyone out there who can successfully steal a global disaster from an enemy nation, it's me and my partner Verlaine.

I've been thinking for a while now on what I could do for my reliable partner, Verlaine. The answer only came to me yesterday.

We'll celebrate his birthday.

Of course, he technically doesn't have a birthday. But I considered it to be yesterday, for on that day four years ago, he killed Faunus and attained his freedom.

I ordered a small pudding from a pâtissier in Paris and went to Verlaine's hideout with wine underneath my arm. Verlaine was more suspicious than surprised, so I explained it to him. Celebrating your birthday gives off one simple message. "Your birth is worth celebrating". No matter what anybody says, there is value in you being born.

And there is something absolutely vital you have on birthdays. A birthday without this is like the night sky without a moon.

A birthday present.

I gave him a black bowler hat that had a visor on it. It wasn't particularly expensive, and it wasn't made by a well known craftsman. But the sweatband that wrapped around the inside of the hat was made from a very special material.