Chapter 109 – Fulfilling the Contract.

Chapter 109 – Fulfilling the Contract.

"Alright." Akagi stood near the front door with Hishya. "Let's go do the fun thing. I've been looking forward to today."

{I'm gonna have so much fun with this. Not to mention killing Hoshino tonight. I've been planning that out and rewatching some horror movies for inspiration. She's going to love it! Well, not really, but I will and that's all that matters.} (Akagi)

Hishya sighed. "I don't have the best feeling about this. Please don't go doing anything crazy, Akagi." She was going with to hopefully diffuse any conflict and prevent a massive escalation between the RRT and the Demon.

"Please don't go getting into a fight." Kana asked. She knew what Akagi was heading to Tokyo for and was worried. “There's no reason to turn their HQ into a blood bath...”

{Please don't go acting all crazy again.} (Kana)

“As long as they don't do anything stupid, there shouldn't be any issue.” Akagi shrugged. “Whether they agree to my terms is irrelevant anyway, as anyone who gets in my way will be crushed.” This trip was basically a formality, since Akagi could just do whatever she wanted anyway.RêAd lateSt chapters at novelhall.com Only

{Do these two think I'm some kind of loose cannon that goes off at the drop of a hat or something?} Akagi's prior actions had no exactly inspired confidence.

“I'll deal with the RRT business first, then I'll move to deal with more official business afterwards.” She would handle Hoshino later once she'd gone home alone. Akagi snapped her fingers and switched into Demon Lord mode. "We'll be back. I suspect that there will be much to discuss, so it may take a bit."

Kana ran up and hugged Hishya. "Please try and keep things from getting out of hand, ok?"

Hishya became slightly embarrassed at the hug. "I'll try, but no promises." Kana kissed her on the cheek.

{DON'T ASK THE IMPOSSIBLE OF ME!} (Hishya)

“Go get em Mama!” Alice cheered her on, which caused everyone to laugh.

{Show them the true meaning of fear!} Alice's internal comments were markedly less cute.

"Are you ready to go, Yumi?" Akagi looked at the priestess, who nodded.

"Anytime." (Yumi)

"Then, let's go." Akagi, Yumi, and Hishya stood in front of the doorway, as Yumi summoned her staff and teleported them to the top of a building in Tokyo.

Upon arriving, Yumi turned to Akagi and asked "Shall I return to the estate?" She usually didn't accompany Akagi on such outings, and was unsure what to do.

"No, I want you by my side. If you don't mind sticking around." Akagi smiled. "As my [Bonded Soul] you have the right to stand next to me at such occasions and I just kind of want you around." Akagi have a wry smile.

"I would be more than happy to come." Yumi smiled, and the three girls headed towards the RRT headquarters. They reached it quite quickly, and were swiftly taken up the elevator and into the main conference room, where the six RRT members plus Aoi were gathered.

"It's good to see you all again." Akagi smiled. "I hope all is well with the mopping up of Libra." She'd seen some movement and wanted to check in on the status of the surrendering members.

Aoi spoke. "Yes, we've detained the rest of Libra's members. It would seem your request for them to surrender worked. Libra as an organization no longer exists and things have calmed down considerably. Though we're having a bit of trouble containing people, but luckily it seems they fear you killing them if they break out. So no one has tried anything." That fear was what allowed them to all gather for this meeting, plus the Libra members were being held in a special area below this building, so if anything happened they were close-by.

"Good, I'd rather not chase them across the country .Playing Japan wide manhunt sounds awful. Though Chloe would probably love the chance to hunt some live prey." Akagi smirked. "Though I'm sad none decided to go it alone, more snacks would have been nice.”

"So why did you want to speak to all of us?" Minazawa asked.

{I hope this isn't about to be a whole, under new management thing.} (Minazawa)

"A few reasons, actually." Akagi walked over and took a seat, pulling out her Kiseru, which Yumi lit. "First, as Libra is dealt with, my restrictions on your movement are finished. You are all free to traverse Kansai as you please without fear of getting detained. Second, I wanted to discuss giving you a new member. Finally, I'd like to come to an understanding on our relationship going forward.”

"Well, it's good that moving through Kansai won't get us killed. It's been annoying have to deal with that restriction on our movements." Minazawa sighed. "So what's this about a new member?"

"I'd like you to take in Birdy." Akagi grinned. "I'm sure your all aware that she's my agent, but I want her in the RRT as my eyes and ears."

"You want us to willingly take in a spy?" Minazawa was confused. "Why would we agree to that?" It was crazy to expect them to take in someone they knew had loyalty elsewhere, so Minazawa couldn't understand why Akagi would even make that offer.

{She can't be serious. Her skill aside, Birdy is literally your slave. Why would we agree to take on someone who could turn on us at the drop of a hat?} (Minazawa)

"Because spy or not, Birdy is quite strong, and she'd make a good addition." Akagi explained. "Ever since I took her under my wing in FWO, I've specially trained her, and her build is quite powerful. She's easily in the upper tier of players, and definitely on par with the rest of you." Akagi continued. "You're free to decline of course, but know that I will make this same offer to the Americans if you do."

"You would actually give over Birdy to the Americans?!?" Mixu was surprised. "What reason could you possibly have for doing that?" A returnee working for a foreign nation was not desirable.

"Leverage and influence." Akagi grinned. "Won't they be more inclined to work with me if my agent is helping them? Also, having Birdy working for the States would allow me even more access to intelligence. So it's a win-win. Besides, even if she works for the Americans, her loyalty is to me, not them." Birdy would never betray Akagi, as that would be both suicidal and a violation of the girls sense of honor.

Aoi thought for a moment. "Further expansion of the team must be approved by the higher-ups. I can't make that call on my own, but I suspect having one of your agents embedded in our system is gonna be a hard sell." Aoi gave a wry smile. Expecting them to willingly take in a known spy who would be actively giving intel to Akagi, was going to be a lot to ask.

"As I said, you're free to decline." Akagi chuckled. "Not like I need Birdy to get intel on what goes on in the Japanese government or military." She could get that information regardless.

"So your third point?" Minazawa moved the conversation forward not wanting to get bogged down on the Birdy issue. "What do you want with us?"

"Simple," Akagi took a puff of her pipe. "I don't want to kill you and I have no desire for conflict with Japan or the RRT. So stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours. This isn't negotiable and I will not tolerate interference in my work or affairs." Akagi glared at them. "I have no interest in causing chaos, and right now, I wish to enjoy myself with Yumi and all the people I care about by my side. As long as you don't threaten them, then we won't have a problem."

"So you'd just expect us to turn a blind eye to your activities? We can't just let your people do whatever they want!" Minazawa exclaimed. That would put Akagi's followers above the law and allow them free reign. Though in fairness, they were effectively already above the law by this point anyway.

"As I said, non-negotiable. Though I think you're misunderstanding what I'm talking about." Akagi sat her pipe down on the table. "I have no intention of sending my people out to cause chaos and havoc throughout the country. Rather, I want you to leave them in peace. My family does engage in illegal activity, but nothing so major that it would cause instability." Her people did a great number of criminal activities as part of their usual activity, though mostly extortion, theft, and contract killings; along with other assorted things. If anything, the Dumetor clan was basically a Yakuza family and operated like a criminal organization. "My family has already taken work from domestic clients and foreign governments, so its already too late to stop me."

"So basically, you're saying if we come across one of your operations, we should just ignore it." Aoi sighed.

Akagi nodded.

"Not like we have a choice." Aoi shook her head. "Fighting you isn't an option."

The moment she heard Akagi's voice, Hoshino's eyes snapped open and she turned towards where the voice came from, seeing nothing.

“What the fuck?!?” Hoshino exclaimed.

{Am I hearing shit?!?} She started to panic.

“Akagi!” Hoshino called out. “Are you fucking with me! Is this another one of your pranks?!? Because its not fucking funny!”

“Really? Because I'm having a blast.” Akagi laughed.

Hoshino spun around, trying to find where she was, but couldn't.

{I gotta get the fuck out of here!} Hoshino tried to open the bathroom door, but found that it was locked. Annoyed, she punched it full power, intending to break it, but it didn't budge.

“What the fuck?!?” She pushed on the door, trying to open it, but to no avail. “I'm trapped!” She pounded on the door. “Someone! Can anyone hear me? I'm stuck in here!”

“I can hear you.” Akagu chuckled. “But I suspect that I'm not the one you wish to have help you. Not like I would anyway.”

“Listen, you had your fun of freaking me out and scaring me with the whole horror movie shtick! So please let me go now...” Hoshino sighed, still thinking this was a prank.

“I'm afraid that I've got some bad news for you Hoshino, this little room will be your final resting place.” Kaori appeared within the bathroom, seeming to form out of the walls themselves.

“What! K-Kaori! Why are you here?!? How did you just do that?” Hoshino was thoroughly confused.

“Kaori isn't here you fool. Its still Akagi, your friendly neighborhood Demon, did you forget that I can transform into other people?” Akagi chuckled.

“What the hell is going on?!?” Hoshino screamed.

“You really are stupid, aren't you?” Akagi sighed. “I'm here to kill you, Hoshino.”

Akagi's words caused Hoshino to freeze. “K-kill? Don't screw with me! Why would you kill me! I've never done anything to you!”

“True, but you've done plenty to your sister.” Akagi smiled. “And she wanted to ensure you got paid back in full for everything you did to her over the years.”

“K-Kaori sent you?!? That stupid toy dared to send you after me?!?” Hoshino backed up towards the door. “Y-you have to be lying! She wouldn't dare, and how could she anyway! There's no way she could-” Hoshino's eyes went wide as she realized how her sister could have gotten Akagi's help.

“Now then.” Akagi stepped forward. “I think its time to get started. Kaori gave me a very long list detailing exactly what she wanted me to do, and its going to take a while.” She snapped her fingers and Hoshino fell to the floor, paralyzed. “Lucky for you, she didn't request your soul to be consumed or even tormented for all eternity like Armalthy, so you'll get to die. Well, eventually.” Akagi shrugged. “I can make the flow of time go as I please in here, so we've got all the time in the world, Hoshino.” Akagi's face reflected in the mirror as she spoke. But rather than show the innocent face of the young Kaori, it was contorted into a Demonic smile and showed her true eyes.

{N-no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.} (Hoshino)

Akagi spent an extraordinary amount of time torturing Hoshino that night. How long? Only she knows, but it wasn't quick. That was for certain.

______________________________________________________________________________

<Minazawa POV>

The next morning Minazawa went over to Hoshino's apartment. She hadn't show up at HQ that morning and wasn't answering her phone, so Minazawa decided to check in on her.

“I swear if she got drunk again, I'm going to kick her ass.” She swore as she walked up the steps to Hoshino's apartment.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

She knocked on the door. “Hoshino get the hell out here now!” Minazawa waited for a moment.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

“Hoshino!” Minazawa got annoyed. “Fine I'm coming in anyway!” She had a key from a prior incident so she could get in.

She slowly opened the door and walked inside. “Hoshino!” Minazawa called out for her. “Where the hell are you?!?” She closed the door behind her and walked into the living room where she could hear the sound of the shower.

{Is that idiot in the shower?} Minazawa growled as she walked over to the bathroom door.

“Hoshino! Are you in there you idiot!” Minazawa banged on the door. “Why didn't you show up this morning?!? Aoi's going to kick your ass!”

There was no answer.

“Hoshino!” Minazawa banged on the door, the shower was still running.

{Did she get hurt in the bathroom?} Minazawa decided to open up the bathroom door, which wasn't locked. “I'm coming in!” She said.

“Are you alr-” Minazawa froze as she opened the bathroom door. Inside the shower was a mutilated Hoshino, whose body was almost unrecognizable. The shower was still going, and seemed to have washed a way a majority of the blood. However, above her body, on the shower wall, painted in blood was a single sentence which said: Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Minazawa turned her head slightly and saw that the bathroom mirror was similarly painted with blood, though this time in the shape of a hand-print. Something she recognized instantly.

In a state of shock, Minazawa stumbled backwards out of the bathroom as the smell overwhelmed her, nearly causing her to puke. In a panic she called Aoi.

“Aoi, send someone over to Hoshino's apartment.” She held back the urge to scream and was struggling to speak without vomiting.

“What's going on?!? Is Hoshino ok?” Aoi asked, concerned.

“Our friendly neighborhood assassin completed another job...” Minazawa put her head in her hands as she waited for emergency services to arrive. “Who the fuck wanted Hoshino dead so bad they'd get Akagi to do it?!?” She had no idea who or why, but she honestly didn't care since she was just glad it wasn't her.

{What the absolute fuck?!? Was Akagi always this twisted?} (Minazawa)