Yakuza | DISCONTINUED | 2023 VERSION AVAILABLE NOW

Akira: Stench of Death?

"Did you give Chrollo a reason to betray you?"

That was the response I got from Illumi when I protested in informing Chrollo I'm with him. I seem to have forgotten if I asked for a snarky companion criticizing my every decision. Can't a girl take the extra mile in wariness? Tough crowd.

By the time I sent Chrollo the message and put my phone on silent, Illumi, Kalluto and I have arrived in the establishment we were told the Ten Dons were staying in. I'd be lying if I said I welcome the apprehension a job always gives me, but I'm not about to ignore the speed my mood change has.

"Well," Illumi begins, a while after the car drove away, "I never thought I'd see the day Zoldycks and Yakuzas work together."

I glanced up at the darkened sky, feeling my stomach churn along with the rumbling of thunder in the distance, "You don't see a lot... Ironic really, with how big your eyes are."

He projects a half hostile Ren to my direction, whispering instructions to his brother before dismissing him. Meanwhile I, with how intrusive my thoughts suddenly became, made my way straight towards the front entrance, ready to use knives the second I get spotted. Frankly, it was amusing that Illumi took his time before taking me out of sight behind some bushes. It's always the composed ones that's so hilarious to see panic.

"What's gotten into you?" he silently spat, further irritated when I gave an indifferent shrug, "This is not a game. We are working, Akira, and what we do here will not only affect us, but our families as well."

A dry chuckle emerges through my lips while I absentmindedly fiddle with my necklace, "You're supposed to be a Zoldyck, but you suddenly sound like a Yakuza. Am I rubbing off on you?"

He clenches his jaw, "You could've endangered this job before it even began. Are you out of your mind?"

"Some assassins know they would live even if they don't complete one simple job." I smirk, standing once again, "Not my fault you're not one of them."

I start walking to the side of the building. Why now? Of all the time and place for this to occur, why did it have to be on the first mission I have with not one Zoldyck, but two? This is asking too much of me.

"I listened to your incessant persistence to come with," Illumi lowly says from behind me, "so don't make me regret my decision."

"Oh, you don't want to regret? How funny." I smile, eyeing the open window of the third floor, "I live to disappoint, my friend."

On the other hand, being compartmentalized is nice. I get a break from all... this.

"Well?" I face the assassin, still evidently cocky, "Get lost."

Illumi scoffs, walking away with suppressed irritation. My eyes glint, shining a bright crimson as my gaze fixes on the male's right ankle; a visible red force coils around it, outbalancing him the next time he steps forward. Before he could find me looking, even though I'm sure he knows, I look back up the window and brace myself to leap into it. My companion sighs, bitterly muttering to himself as he disappears from sight.

Finally, what I waited for came around. Propelling myself up and through the window, I push my good foot off the sill before kicking the nearest guard on the face. As he pummels to one side of the room, two guards nearby paused before attacking me. I focus on the left man first, sliding under his legs as I conjure a small blade to cut his heel with. To help me to my feet again, my hands catch on fire, and I slam my palms to the ground.

Stepping on a Nen surface, I use the injured man's back to elevate myself against the second guard as a katana materializes in my right hand. Without the flame completely extinguished, I plunge it into his chest and turned the handle for good measure. He falls to the carpeted ground, and the weapon disintegrates in a display of orange embers, and I turn on my heels to the interior of the building.

Illumi and Kalluto come around the fourth hall I've passed, "Aren't you having fun?"

I glance back at the burnt and writhing bodies of security behind me, before shooting the black haired assassin an innocent look, "One of us has to."

He rolls his eyes, leading the way to the Ten Dons location. Kalluto faces me, "You should respect him, Lady Yakuza."

"We can discuss it after you grasp the concept of mutualism, boy." I gently reply, pinning him where he stood with amiable hostility until I left the room and eventually kept up with Illumi.

The room we were looking for didn't require much effort, fortunately enough. Baby brother practiced pickpocketing and almost got us exposed, but us adults were able to survey the meeting room before someone got bored enough to pin one of them in the head. The obliviousness in this room was completely pitiful especially after the first victim's head fell on their table; panic ensued, and everyone scrambled for an exit. I wonder how that feels like, being ruled by fear and having no beacon of hope to cling to.

"Salve." I curtsy to the Italian male, just before he whipped out a Red Knife. Huh. When was the last time I saw one of those?

I zipped to his side, exactly out of his blindspot before hooking my arm under his to throw him off balance. My Nen worsened his impact to the ground as it came, and I was vaguely aware of the ancestral weapon sliding out of his reach. For this one, I decided to coil my body around his and choke him, simultaneously enhancing his response to pain. Once he started squealing, I yank my arm in an odd direction, quickly shoving his body off me when he went limp.

As things have always gone, my opponents take every chance they could get to attack with little to no validation of the circumstances. I barely got on my feet when an axe came swinging at me, forcing my upper body to stay bent and make me stumble the littlest bit. I plant my hands on the floor and create distance from this other fool, situating my stance for more balance before manipulating his hand to throw away the weapon. With both of our hands free, it was easy to find an opening in his left hip, left shoulder, right shoulder and nape; the sound of contorted bones and muscles cut off his screams.

"Father was right." Illumi's voice broke the silence, and I look back at him just as he turned away, "You are a reckless woman."

I click my tongue in feigned dismay, "My hair color didn't tell you that already?"

Both Zoldyck boys spare me no attention as they proceeded to set up the corpses around the table. I meanwhile decided to go to the nearest balcony, where the rain was quick to greet me. The thunder and lightning that accompanied it somehow reassured me, so I allowed myself to relax. In the process, I lost what little balance I had, and was thus forced to hold onto the railing.

I grit my teeth, hands balling into tight fists. I move my left hand to my right side, before raising it to my eye level. Has blood always looked this dark?

I stumble again, almost falling to the floor and alerting my company if I hadn't leaned on my arm and kept myself upright. A labored breath escapes my lips, but is fortunately muffled by the sounds and displays of brewing storm.

While I pinned down one of the Ten Dons, the Red Knife he had cut my neck. Afterwards, he let go of it and used the position I put him in to place it in his other hand, subsequently slashing my side quicker and deeper before it slid out of reach. Though he was an aged man, he had spunk, and used that to work with him in his final moments; my own preoccupation into making sure he suffers is the time he needed to produce another knife and continue the artwork he started on my side.