Chapter 83 - You should treasure yourself more

His words stung in more ways than one. Akito, a dog? Him? Even though he works so hard and is so passionate about his job? How can somebody like him be a dog?

Setsura knows how much he loves and enjoys his work. Unlike all those other people working for the military police. In her eyes, Akito is the only one who truly deserves that title. For him to be saying such words, it's painful for her to hear. Still, Setsura knew that she could not say something to him now, so instead, she remained quiet and waited for him to speak.

The nighttime air in the Meiji era was truly mysterious; it is the same night sky as the one in the present day and yet... What is so different? Setsura recalled something she read from a book once. The sky connects people, no matter how far apart they are. Does this apply to the past too? The sky does it connect those even thousands of years away from each other. Logically this is the same sky she has always known, thousands of years later, this place will be the Japan she grew up in. But for now, this is the Meiji era, a place she has barely lived in for around a month or so.

After a while, Akito pulled her away from him. "What do you think of the law, Setsura?"

"The law?"

"At some point, I slowly became a dog for the military police. After so many years in service, it was hard for me not to get corrupted. I tried to stick with my values, tried to continue working with a sense of justice. But before I knew it, my eyes were exactly like my companions. I started to shoot not to protect others but to obey orders. The recent case you were caught in. If it were me, I would have killed every single person there. I would ensure that there was no trace left and write the report as a disappearing case. Sometimes there are things you ought to conceal. A case like that, handled by anyone, would do as I just said."

"Then, how come .."

Akito laughed lightly, "It was because of you. You made me change my mind."

"Me?" Setsura repeated puzzled.

"Yes, and the words you said about people's lives just now. You resemble the past me, the person I lost."

Setsura could not handle the amount of praise he was giving her. Her entire life, she was used to causing problems for people. No matter what she does or puts effort in, she is still treated as trash regardless. A person, sc.u.m like her does not deserve such words. But since she arrived here, Akito and everybody she has met has showered her with such compliments. "Please," Setsura mumbled. "Don't say any more than this, if you do…"

If he says anymore, then she really will cry. For the longest time, she held it back. She held back all those painful feelings. It is okay; they are saying those words because they are right. She is sc.u.m and trash - somebody who is worthless to society.

Akito sighs but smiled, "You know Setsura, I thought about this before, but you need to treasure yourself more."

"Akito?"

"You're fine being alone? You don't deserve happiness; everything you do is useless? Don't mess around," he looked angry for a moment before his gaze softened and he walked over to her. Soon he stood only a few steps away from her. "There is nobody alive who deserves such misfortune, nobody who deserves to be alone. Setsura, I will be honest with you. I want you to stay here, with me, with everybody else."

"I.."

"Well, I don't expect an answer right away. You just came here a month or so ago, but think it through. I will help you with your mission, too, and afterwards, you can decide."

Setsura could only dumbly nod her head; she was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything. But still, there was one thing she understood. Akito must have been thinking these things for a long time now. But he held himself back from telling her. He did not say these words without giving it much thought.

"It's getting late, I think we should head back inside."

Akito smiled, "Hm, do you think so? I think this is the perfect night for a waltz."

Setsura blinked in confusion as she registered the words he just said. "You want to dance now? It's the middle of the night!"

He only laughed at her reaction and bowed. He extended his hand out, "Will this fair maiden care to have a dance with me?"

Is he serious? Right now? Setsura took a deep breath. But then again, Akito's random actions shouldn't surprise her too much. She accepted Akito's hand, and in seconds, one of Akito's hands is around her waist. Even though there was no music, it felt like there was, and she followed Akitos lead.

"So, you can dance?"

Setsura sighed, "If you haven't figured it out by now, I would be surprised. I'm from a good family. I learned things like good manners and useless skills as learning ballroom dancing is something I know all too well."

"Useless skills?"

"You don't think so? You don't need to know ballroom dancing skills to survive."

Akito chuckled. "Is that how things are in your time? Here you will find this useless dancing skill to be useful. I'm glad you can dance, I was thinking of bringing you with me to scout for information."

"Another case?" Setsura hesitated. The recent one just ended, and yet there is another one already? While she understood that life in the military police was hectic. Cases would occur every single day. But after what she experienced, she wanted nothing more than peace for awhile. Setsura was even going to suggest to Akito if they could take a short trip. So much for that idea.

"No, actually, it's something nice. Apparently, somebody found a nice jewel. I was thinking of buying it for you, but I need to know when the auction takes place. That's why we're going to a ball first, and then we will go to the event."

A rare jewel? Setsura was about to tell Akito that there was no need for him to do something like that when something came to mind.

'Once you've successfully dealt with a case related to the shard case. A jewel, no one of the shards will appear.'

Katakura's words…

Could the beautiful jewel Akito mentioned be the shard?