The Crime of Loving You

5: Testing

"Guren," Kureto greets as he takes a seat in front of him, "I am pleased to see that you've agreed to merge.

He looks around the room cautiously, despite the size of the room, Guren felt trapped and claustrophobic. What in the hell is he planning? He eyes the men against the wall, doubting that they normally stood there while Kureto worked.

He looks behind Kureto where the other Hiiragi children stood, Shinya smiles and gives a small wave, beside him is who he believes to be, Aoi, and judging by the glare she was giving him, he wasn't unjustified to guess it is her.

Guren musters a confident smirk, "cut the crap Hiiragi, tell me why I'm here."

"Straight to the point," Kureto chuckles, "that'll be annoying to deal with."

Guren merely scoffs, "you're one to talk-,"

Kureto snaps his fingers and before Guren could react, guns and blades are pointed toward him.

Guren keeps himself composed, "what's this? You plan on killing me?"

Kureto scoffs, "we aren't unfair, Ichinose. We'll give you a fighting chance," Kureto pulls out a gun and a sword, placing them on his desk, "as soon as you pick these up from my desk, we will attack. Act fast."

Guren sighs, surveying the room again. There were three men against the left and right walls of the room, and then Aoi, Shinya, Seishiro, a small purple-haired 'brat' and then Kureto...

He picks them up, dragging them against the desk if only to prolong the grace period. He quickly swipes them off the desk, bolting to distance himself from the Hiiragi.

"He's armed! Shoot!" Kureto shouts.

Guren doesn't hesitate to shoot at the men against the walls, he slides under a table, tipping it over to use as a barricade, shooting down the gunmen that ran toward him.

"Bang!" He whips around to see Shinya pulling the trigger and something within him flares up, he hurriedly moves to the side, the bullet barely misses, nicking his cheek as it hits one of the men coming up to him.

"Damn it Shinya!" Seishiro growls from behind, running up to Guren with a sword in hand, "what have I told you about shouting out your dumb catchphrase before pulling the trigger?!"

Guren brings his given sword up, blocking the hit.

"To not do it because it alerts the targets?"

"EXACTLY!" He growls out as he takes his sword back, going for another hit immediately after.

Guren grins, this was his game they were playing now. He blocks Seishiro's hit, he forces the sword out Seishiro's hand by pressing force onto it, making it twist out of his grasp. Seishiro scrambles to get his sword back.

He brings his sword down, aiming for Seishiro's shoulder.

"Bang!"

He has no time to react as the bullet forces the sword out his hand.

He grits his teeth, turning to shoot at Shinya, who easily evades all his shots. He sees Seishiro going for his sword, and deciding that he could deal with Shinya later, he stomps down on Seishiro's hand, swooping down to pick up his sword and hitting Seishiro's neck with the hilt of his sword. The seventeen-year-old collapses, and Guren runs after Shinya, swinging his sword.

Shinya jumps to the side, blocking hits with his rifle's bayonet. Clearly of the Hiiragi's, Shinya was the least experienced in close combat, not that he was bad at it, but he wasn't going as hard for hits.

He nearly lands a hit on Shinya, but the man side steps, causing Guren to lose his balance for a brief moment.

Shinya tries to roundhouse kick him, not expecting Guren's reflexes to kick in, whipping around and catching him by the boot, he proceeds to pull him forward, punching him in the stomach and dropping his foot. Shinya falls to the ground, an impressed grin forming as Guren kicks him in the side.

"How disappointing," Kureto says, walking over to them, drawing his own sword.

Guren chuckles, "I thought you Hiiragi bastards were supposed to be unbeatable?"

"Damn your arrogance," Kureto says with a brief chuckle of his own, "it'll be your downfall."

"Surely you would know of arrogance." Guren quips.

He thrusts forward, Guren pushes the sword down with his own in time, "you played with the useless fake and the dumb one, now you're fighting against the real deal!" Kureto shouts.

"Aw don't be so mean to us, brother Kureto!" Shinya remarks from the sidelines.

"Truth hurts!" A small and girlish voice giggles.

"Aw not you too little Shinoa!"

Guren directs his attention back on Kureto, he takes his sword back, ducking from a swing and coming back up to press his sword against his neck.

"What was that about fighting the real deal?" Guren retorts, his grin growing wider.

"Master Kureto!" Aoi shouts.

"Shoot!" Kureto shouts. Guren gives him a look of confusion, Aoi's pulling the trigger as soon as he looks over to her. His eyes widen as he sees the bullet barrel toward him.

There's another shot, and a bullet hits Aoi's, taking it out before it can reach him.

"Shinya! The fuck are you doing you idiot!" Kureto growls out.

"We can't just kill him, Kureto!" Shinya says, "doesn't father want him alive?"

Kureto glares at Shinya, he drops his stance, and Guren looks between the two, slightly confused.

"Test over," Kureto sighs, "Aoi, go fetch some of the maids to clean up the bodies."

She nods purposefully shoving Guren out her way as she exits, "shall I get a nurse for Seishiro as well?" She asks before closing the doors.

"I suppose that would be the right thing to do." Kureto responds, sitting at his desk. He beckons for Guren to sit in front of him.

Guren walks over to the desk, doing as told, "what fucking kind of test was that?"

"A test of strength," Kureto responds, "of both mental and physical. You managed to gun down men with no hesitation, a good trait to have in this kind of business, unreluctant to take a life. Physical in the sense to see your fighting in action and what you excel at. From my observations, you're a close combat extraordinaire."

Guren smirks, "definitely better with a sword than a gun."

"Yes, it would appear so, judging by all the bullet holes in my office," Kureto agrees, "we will order a specially crafted sword for you. We would like to test your mens' abilities as well, perhaps get them custom weapons they can use, would that be acceptable?"

Guren searches his face for any hints and traces that would give away any bluff, after realizing that there was none -or were well hidden-, he nods, "but remember, if you hurt a single one of them, expect hell to pay."

Kureto nods, "it's a displeasure to work with you, but it will come out in the Hiiragi's favor." He extends his hand for a handshake.

Guren takes it, giving it a firm handshake.

"Welcome to the company, pawn." Kureto says.