Three's Company [P]

“The fuck you mean, no?” Levi asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew Kirito was going to be hard to work with, but this didn’t seem like he was asking too much. “I don’t want you to kill her sparky, you don’t even have to hurt her, just tie her up and bring her here. With your speed, it should be a cake-walk.” Levi was referring to the daughter of the black claw yakuza, Levi’s biggest and only rival to date. This operation was critical to ending their war once and for all, so of course Kirito would be complicating it.

“Look. This is going to happen. If you back out the only thing that will change is that you won’t get paid this month, and Bri will do it instead. Somehow, I don’t think Bri will be as nice about it as you would.” Levi pointed out with his usual devious smirk. Brianna knew the girl personally. They had gone to school together, and had more than one personal confrontation. Usually over boys.

“We had a deal, Kirigaya.” Levi said darkly. “I agreed not to make you HURT anyone innocent, and I’m holding up that part of the bargain. As a matter of fact, you would probably be saving her from getting hurt, so I really don’t see what the problem~.” At that moment, Leve was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Who in the world could that~ wait...” Levi recognized the reiatsu behind that door. It was the person he least wanted to come in right now. The one person that he really did not want to meet Kirito under uncontrolled circumstances.

So of course, Kirito went and opened the door before Levi could stop him.

“OK, guys, let’s not do anything reckless now.” Levi said quickly, trying to beat back the feeling of dread that was weighing on his stomach.

WC: 314

Okay, so maybe he WAS overreacting a bit. But, could you blame a guy for not wanting to kidnap the daughter of a Yakuza Boss who controlled almost half of the city? I mean, sure, it wasn't a big deal in terms of difficulty, and in all honesty, Levi wasn't asking for much. He didn't have to lay a finger on the girl, but simply pluck her out of her home like a piece of sashimi off of a plate. The threat of sending Brianna in his place was rather shallow, as well, considering that even with her abilities, which were at the forefront of the Yakuza power-wise, she would still have issues with the sheer amount of guards the girl would have around her. Something about the situation just felt sort of... wrong. There was no real way to put it other than that: the situation was challenging Kirito's morals, and he didn't want to deal with that. Rolling his eyes as Levi retorted while trying to scare him, Kirito quickly replying, getting a few sentences in before standing up, having heard the knock.

"Yeah, I assumed you and your genius-tier calculating brain would have started to see past the idea of practical difficulty being the thing holding me back here. I just don't want to kidnap the girl because, oh, I don't know, it's sort of wrong? I mean, I run drugs and essentially commit grand theft for you, so why have me kidnap some stupid girl? You could just send me to kill the entirety of the black claw's upper rung of leadership: that, I wouldn't have an issue with. Mostly because they're all menial sleazebags who think of nothing but themselves and money. Anyway, you know how I feel about it, and I could care less if you drop my paycheck this month: I can just make some money another way. Right now, it appears we have a guest to address."

Standing up, Kirito felt no need to turn on his reiatsu perception, as he was used to having his meetings interrupted by Rex or Bri, or really just any of the assorted members of Levi's yakuza, because it appeared that they were always in need of information or something alike it. Levi clearly didn't tell them much, so that threw the train of things off a good bit. Luckily for them, Kirito was happy to inform the displaced spiritualists of the nuances and specifics of the ghostly world that they had been pulled into. However, this time, it would have been a good idea for him to activate his sensing abilities, as the person behind the door now had a very different opinion of him that he did of her. Opening the door, he looked down, only to find his surprised eyes meeting with those of Ai Shirai. His mouth falling open, Kirito tried to suppress the slowly resurfacing murderous urges directed at Levi, and in an effort to do so, he focused on the positives of the situation.

Ai Shirai was here: he wasn't really sure what she thought of him now, as he had kind of stabbed the dude who was basically her evil big brother, but hey, conversation was worth a shot. Glancing towards Levi, Kirito gave the man a death glare before facing back towards the young girl, his face melting into a softer, more neutral look.

"Miss Ai! It's been a rather good while, hasn't it? Oh, and apologies in advance for stabbing Levi, but as you probably now know, he did end up being the kidnapper of my ex-girlfriend... but on the bright side, I didn't kill him."



Words: 609

"Lev—" Ai's words died in her throat and her jaw slacked as the door swung inwards.

Instead of the tall lanky brown haired arrancar she expected to be in the doorway there stood an equally tall man with unforgettable light blue hair. It was the shinigami. The man who had been so nice and promised not to hurt anyone only to go back on his word and attack poor Levi. A thousand questions ran through the little arrancar's mind at once, but one dominated the rest: was Levi ok? Surely, the shinigami had come to finish the job he failed to do before and cut down one of Ai's few friends from Hueco Mundo. 

Then she heard his voice from deeper in the room that changed the glare that had developed on her face into a thin smile. Levi was still alive! However, it didn't make any sense; Levi would not let a shinigami just waltz into his office without protest. Unless...It all clicked for the little arrancar. Clearly, the shinigami intended to hold Levi hostage like the dragons of old. Now, Ai couldn't be sure what the shingami hoped to achieve through such an act, but she was sure that she couldn't let Levi become the prisoner of the treacherous shinigami.

Leveraging her smaller stature, Ai tried to duck past the talking shinigami and into Levi's office—she didn't really much care what lies the shinigami had to tell this time. Not even the title of 'Miss' she had been so taken with when she first met the shinigami would deter her now. If she did happen to slip past the reaper she'd scamper to Levi's side as quickly as her feet could take her. Once there she wasted no time in raising an open palm in the direction of the door and where the shinigami stood. This time she wouldn't allow herself to be made a fool of.

"Levi," her brow furrowed and voice cracked. "What's he doing here? That's the shingami from before."

As she spoke an orb of brilliant violet sprang to life in front of her palm. In her experience, even shinigami were susceptible to cero. All Levi had to do was say the word; a sizable hole in the warehouse would be a worthwhile tradeoff for one less shinigami in the world.
---------------
WC: 382
TWC: 919

All things considered, Ai’s surprise entrance was going much better than Levi would have expected. In other words Ai hadn’t tried to shoot Kirito in the face with a cero, which Kirito hadn’t dodged and allowed to blow up his office. So, pretty well.

“Relax Ai.” Levi put a hand on her shoulder as he spoke, the universal sign for ‘everything is ok.’ “Kirito is here because I told him to come here. He works for me now. Isn’t that right, Sparky?” He added, throwing a smug glance at the shinigami. Or would he be an ex-shinigami now? What would that make him though? Just a pure soul with power and a zanpakuto? Meh, he would stick with shinigami.

“Apparently, his shinigami bosses didn’t actually approve of him attacking our castle all by his lonesome, so they fired him. So now he needs a bran-new life, far away from the reaches of the other shinigami, and he was willing to settle for our life of crime here. So now, Kirito is the Desenmascarado top enforcer. I meant to tell you earlier, but things got busy.” Planning the attack on the black claw, if a series of kidnappings with little or no bloodshed necessary could be called an attack, had taken a lot of time and effort. There was information to gather, guards to bribe and blackmail, roles to be assigned, it was a hassle.

“Bottom line is, he’s one of us now, so you two are going to need to get along. You may even have to work together, at... some point.” Even as the words left his mouth, Levi realized he was not going to let that actually happen. Ai had proven to me too impressionable, and he could hardly claim to actually trust Kirito either. If he ever got any bright ideas, he might try to kidnap Ai and hold her hostage. Not that it would actually work of course... but it should still be prevented.

“Anyway, since you’re here, we should talk about your part in our big operation.” He said thoughtfully, hoping that the subject was done with. “Sparky here doesn’t seem to like his job, maybe you should take it over. You think you could pluck a girl out of a hotel without killing her?”

WC: 380
TWC: 694

Contorting her face into a sneer, Ai listened to the shinigami without moving from Levi's side. Her only response to the reaper's words—and the only correct response in her opinion—came as her cero waxed in size and went from flickering weakness to unwavering strength. Another word and the shinigami would cease to exist, another word and she'd act on her inclination to avenge someone she considered a friend.

Another word and she'd...

The pressure on her shoulder broke her concentration as if she were startled out of a bad dream. The pinkish orb blinked out of existence and her arm dropped as she directed her attention to Levi, but what he said sounded like nonsense.  Why would he invite a shinigami to work with them? Why would he invite THIS shinigami to work with them? And why was this shinigami the 'top enforcer'? The many questions immobilized little Ai's mind for a moment, but just for a moment.

The next moment she was nodding along with Levi as if she would have done the same thing herself were she in the taller arrancar's position. Truthfully, she still didn't really understand the logic behind inviting the shinigami, who Levi called Kirito and Sparky interchangeably, to work within the tight-knit group of miscreants. However, Levi always knew best, so she accepted that the shinigami would be, at the very least, a temporary inconvenience.

"Hotel..." she paused trying to recall what exactly a hotel was. "Yeah, yeah, I could do that!"

She affirmed her ability as if she were announcing it to the world and didn't bother to ask for any details. Then, for good measure, she pursed her pale lips and stuck out her tongue at the shinigami in childish mockery. She would show Levi that they didn't need the boy in black and things could go back to the way they were supposed to be.
---------------
WC: 314
TWC: 1233

Levi’s jaw dropped at Kirito’s brazen excuse. His contorted into a wavy, jagged smile as he tried to let Kirito finish speaking, and then finally he burst into laughter.

“I got you fired!? Are you serious Kirito? That’s a hell of a twist on, oh how did it go again? Oh, right, you broke into my home, intent on assassinating me without permission from your superiors, and they canned your ass!” With another burst of laughter, Levi started clapping. “I commend you Kirito, really! To twist something like that and make yourself sound like the victim? You’re learning, Sparky!”

Levi took a deep breath and swallowed down his laughing fits. “Furthermore, the way I heard the story...” Levi glanced at Ai as he spoke “you promised not to hurt anyone.” He looked back at Kirito, eyes narrowing accusingly. “That doesn’t quite sound like saying you would kill me if I was guilty.” Levi tapped his chin thoughtfully, as if he was trying to figure out a mystery.

“Let me guess...” He held up a finger in front of his face, clearly motioning for Kirito to let him speak, and then jerked the finger down so that it was pointing at him. “You told her that you wouldn’t kill me if I was innocent, right? Because then it was more convenient to emphasize that possibility and make yourself sound merciful. But now it’s more convenient to emphasize the other side of the coin, to make yourself sound honest. Isn’t that right, Kirito?” He gave his enforcer a little grin as he let his words sink in. “I think I underestimated your skills at... manipulation.”

The word was both a compliment and a slap in the face. A compliment to what Levi knew Kirito could be. A slap in the face to what the shinigami thought he was.

“Anyway, as for ‘what’s happening here?’ I think that would be pretty obvious, don’t you?” He shrugged back into his easy-going demeanor, leaning back in his chair and interlacing his fingers. He looked as if Kirito had never accused him of anything. As if he had never insinuated that Kirito was a hypocrite. “Ai is also one of my enforcers. My newest, in fact, though with her power I’m sure she’ll rocket up the ranks in no time.”

Levi ruffled the girl’s hair a bit as he complimented her. It was true. Her power was more than almost anyone else in Desenmascarado. “This job alone will put her in the top ten.” Levi said as he spread out some pictures on his desk; different rooms of the hotel in question, the girl she was to kidnap, and a number of bodyguards. “Speaking of which. Let’s go over the details...”

WC: 455
TWC: 1,149

Kirito's fist slammed down onto the table, a fissure appearing in the wood and slowly making it's way up the right side of the object until it stopped about halfway up the whole thing. Anger spread throughout his features very quickly, and as you would expect, the words that followed this expression were... less than happily spoken. 

"Let me be clear: you kidnapped my then GIRLFRIEND! Pretty sure I had a fucking right to attack you. The others were... well, they attacked me and I defended myself. I promised not to hurt you if it turned out that you weren't the person who had kidnapped her! On top of that... well, the other reasons for me being there don't matter! The point is, you're alive, and maybe, just maybe, the fact that Ai has some kind of attachment to you is part of that reason! Hell, Ai can even tell you exactly what I said!"

Kirito's disregard for the true reasoning behind his presence in Hueco Mundo, whether it be a death wish, a desire to be noticed, an expression of personal hatred for hollows, or all of the above, was rather unfortunate. Unfortunate in that, a certain somebody decided it was a good idea to interrupt in this rather less than perfect moment.

"I suppose you're just not going to admit to your sins? Going to let them crawl throughout your consciousness and conscience until they take over, ruling over your mind and driving you insane? I'll love to see this. After all, it took you a whole genocide campaign and killing yourself to figure out that you were a hateful maniac, so I wonder what'll take for you to admit that much another person? Ooh, and maybe even apologize after that. No, that's probably a stretch for scum like you."

Kirito instantly winced, doubling over and grabbing onto his head in pain. His spiritual energy spiked alongside this, any semblance of control being briefly lost in this one moment. Murderous intent filled the air, and as much as Kirito wanted to keep this situation civil, The voice of that monster was like nails running along a chalkboard to him: each word drove him closer and closer to the edge of his sanity, and these days, that stuff was already lacking in his life. 

"Get out of my head, asshole!"

"I don't remember you ever being able to kick yourself out of your brain."

"Please, you're a far cry from being me. The sooner I can get you out of here, the better off I'll be. Hana, ward him off please?"

But nobody came. The sound of his cry for help seemingly ran upon deaf ears, so he tried again.

"Hana?"

And still, nobody came. The only response was from... that thing.

"Took you this long to notice? Damn, you really are an idiot. She's been gone for days. I just keep quiet... y'know... waiting for the opportune moment or whatever. Anyway, doubt she'll be back until you "get rid" of me, or whatever that fallacy of yours is. Just know this: I'm here to stay. The sooner you accept that, the better. For you or me... well, that's not something I feel like telling you."

Kazuto went silent for a moment, this brief moment of pain seeming to prolong itself forever. When he replied, the fury in his voice was evident, yet it was a silent kind of fury, much like the eye of a storm.

"When I figure out however it is I can get in there and deal with you, I'm going to crush your throat with such force that any sort of meddling you've been up to inside my soul is undone. My steel will NOT be silent, and neither will I."

He was replied to with a disinterested sigh, and then, suddenly, the pressure vanished. The conversation appeared to have taken place in all of a moment, if that, but the impact of his pressure was evident. It would be a surprise to him if he hadn't knocked some of the weaker members unconscious and rattled all of the others in the least. With this in mind, Kirito stood up and straightened his back, speaking with a renewed sense of distaste for both whatever was inside him, and Levi's rather heinous plans here. However, unlike before, this little speech of his wasn't ridden with rage. It was just spoken pridefully, and without any hesitation behind any of the words.

"...Now that that's out of the way, and I do apologize for the table and the interruption, I'm going to reitterate my statement. Ai Shirai, you have no business kidnapping an innocent girl, regardless of whether her father is innocent or not. Have me dirty my hands for her: I won't kidnap the girl, Levi, but I'll bring this Yakuza enemy of yours down before the evening is through, no questions asked. I promised I wouldn't hurt an innocent, and I hold by that. Maybe that helps my credibility in both of your eyes, and maybe not: either way, I could care less, as my morals are my morals, and I'm entirely aware of what my promises in the past have entailed. Whether you two choose to have selective memories over them is your own choice."

Prideful certainly was the word I'd use to describe his tone, to say the least: how ELSE could you describe it?


Words: 901 

Pride swelled in the Ai’s chest and she stood up a bit straighter under Levi’s kind words. Initially, she’d joined the taller arrancar’s group for fun, a diversion at best. However, the novelty of committing crimes against unwitting mortals soon lost its charm. No, she didn’t stay because it was fun, but rather because it was fulfilling. The Desenmascarado—and Levi in particular—recognized her, praised her, and, though she could not put her finger on it, satiated a hunger for attention that she thrived on.

The loud crack of the shinigami’s fist on the desk sent the little arrancar out from under Levi’s hand to cowering behind his back. Hiding behind her seated friend, Ai plugged her ears as Kirito swore and ranted. Another quirk she’d picked up in the mortal world was a vastly expanded vocabulary and while she was no stranger to such words working as what was essentially a criminal she preferred to remove herself from them when possible. After all, in her limited experience, people who swore and shouted every other word normally said nothing worth listening to.

When the muted shouting disappeared she unplugged her ears, took a breath and poked her head out from behind Levi. The sight of the doubled over shinigami made her heart race and breath quicken—clearly, Levi had dealt with him appropriately. Glancing up at the other arrancar, however, she saw no signs of ill intent on his face.

“Is he ok?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

Then, almost as a response to her question, the shingami regained his composure and, of course, continued his lecture. This time Ai did not hide behind Levi, but rather listened intently and as she listened her normally snow-like complexion flushed red as color rose in her cheeks. No, she wasn’t embarrassed, she was angry.

“Pretty sure you said something like, ‘I’m here to find both of those people, and kill them’” Ai made air quotes trying her best to imitate what the shinigami sounded like when she had first met him, context be damned. “Either way, there is no way I’m letting you take my job—you can’t be trusted!”

She spat out the last words, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared darkly at the man across from her. She couldn’t really say if Kirito was to be trusted or not, but she was certain that she couldn’t let him steal her glory, steal her praise.
---------------
WC: 407
TWC: 1640