Aikou Hateshiganai

This story is mine. Thus, don't steal it. If for some reason you want it on your site, contact me through e-mail and ask.
For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, this story contains adult situations and violence... the brutality of one particular scene may even go as far as disgusting some readers, and thus you are now warned.
This fic isn't edited as of yet, and seeing as how i have no one to help me, when i do get around to editing it, it'll prolly still have mistakes and typos. Let me know about any glaring faults please.
Now to get to it....
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Kaylie frowned as she looked on. Well… at least she’d found a job so recently out of basic schooling… having a family like hers had some advantages. They’d even given her somewhere to live and money to buy food, clothing, and other supplies. The perks weren’t necessarily worth it though. Brushing dust and dirt accumulated through travel and wait, she lifted the small blow-pipe and sucked breath in through her nose, then blew. The man across the square seemed to stiffen in shock, making what probably sounded like a muted choking sounds to his companions, then dropped to the ground. He’d likely be dead within seconds.

Kaylie was already gone from what view they might have caught of her, though she’d been careful to make sure that wasn’t possible. “Faith… what would you think of me if you knew about this…” she grumbled to herself, integrating herself, covered in a thick cloak as many were and weaving through the throng of people. She managed to stay enough on the outskirts to hear people making a fuss over the recently dead body yet stay out of reach of their accusing and begging eyes. Someone was calling for a healer, they couldn’t rouse Master Quinnelle. “Hmm… I wonder if that could possibly be because he’s dead you damned fools.” She grumbled even more softly. They wouldn’t even know that it was her assassin persona. ‘Lee’ always left her mark, a bloody thorn and rose petal upon the heart, if that particular location was appropriate for whatever she’d been hired to do.

~

“Master Domick asks the presence of Lee…” a bland, professional looking messenger said from behind the screen in her rooms. She had a home here, complete with anything she absolutely needed to survive. Her earnings would pay for luxuries they seemed to believe. They certainly paid for her private home. Everyone knew that the assassin Lee came in at very irregular hours, for her own safety and the safety of her employer’s business with her. It was rare that any messenger was able to keep as straight a face as she saw through the screen. Even the other assassins seemed to be afraid of her for some reason.

Her curling dark hair, cropped short, but still remaining long enough to pull back in a ponytail, swung behind her head as she stood from an overstuffed gray couch, the only luxury she’d put into this dull home aside from the barely translucent, woven straw screens. The black leather jerkin, metal clasps and broach gleaming with a fresh shining, made no sound as she strode toward the screen and pushed it out of the way. The matching black shirt and trousers, as well as special made boots, generally made for a bit of an intimidating appearance she was told. One man had confided in her, in a drunken stupor, that it wasn’t the clothing or her expression and attitude that frightened everyone so. It was simply that she was the best and most accurate under their boss, having never failed a job within its allotted time, yet she looked like a scrawny, unimpressive girl no older than 19 summers old. She smiled down at the messenger, tall enough for a girl that the boy was at least a head or two below her. As with every other messenger, the professional mask disappeared to reveal fear and uncertainty. “Well then, we mustn’t keep Master Domick waiting, must we?”

“N… n… no…” he stammered out, then turned on his heel and walked quickly toward the door. She had no clue as to why the messengers and servants about the building were so afraid of her. Yes, her profession was daunting and intimidating, and her fellows found her something to be feared, but she’d never so much as raised her voice to the staff, must less a hand. They seemed to act professional enough around the other assassins and the like.

The fat man named Domick, head of this section of the circuit that worked throughout this part of the country, was sitting behind his desk, sweating like a pig in the early spring chill. She couldn’t remember a time the man didn’t seem to have some sheen of sweat on his brow, not since their first meeting. However, she’d seen him move, and big as he was, like a bear once he got moving he was fast, and strong. That she respected him for. She feared him for the power he held over her and the rest of this area of the circuit. He’d told her a few times since her rise to high position that he felt she was like a daughter to him, and would gladly employ her personally if she wasn’t in need by his “family.” She smiled as the boy ran out as fast as he could without being seen as disrespectful, then bowed graciously to Domick.

“I’ve told you before, Kaylie, nothing of the sort is needed here.” He said in a deep, rumbling voice. “Two things really, my dear. Business, and social. Business first, as usual?”

“Of course papa.” She answered, calling him the name she’d dubbed him with jokingly when he’d called her his daughter the first time. He’d insisted she call him that from then on, in each other’s presence. She plopped unceremoniously down in a chair, her crossed legs hanging over the side. “What would you have me do for you?”

“A true job, not passing time like last week.” He said, tossing her a rolled up parchment. “The address. Someone who’s been nosing in on the business of the circuit, aneds eds to learn better. I’ll expect to hear from my sources that the infamous Lee has struck again.”

“Of course sir.” She answered with a smile, bowing her head. “Then the information I need is in this?”

“As always…” his expression became a bit more serious, and sad, at that. “Now… the social call isn’t quite on as light a note. I’m afraid that I have something for you. We’re not quite sure what’s been going on, but the messenger heard a few whispers from sources that it’s not good.” Kaylie was confused, and not liking it already. Then, catching the message scroll he tossed at her, she glanced at the seal. “Your school’s town… where that friend of yours is staying. She remembered to look for the marking on the messenger rider’s shoulder badge apparently, because she approached him and whispered the request that this be delivered to you. However, being as how no one knows who Kaylie is, it was given to me to find out who to give it to. I hope your friend is alright.”

“She wouldn’t have written me if she was… I hope it’s just that she misses me…. It’s been three years, yes?” She asked, looking up at him with worry. He nodded, then waved toward the door. “I expect that I may be calling in a favor soon.”

“Think nothing of it, no favors to waste. She’s kin to you, thus kin to me.” He nodded, then gestured the door again. “Go see to your business.”

“Thank-you papa.” She nodded again and left the room, walking briskly and with purpose down the hallway. No one was ever stupid enough to interrupt her when she had that gait. The only time she wasn’t languid and relaxed in her walk was when something important was going on. She slid into her apartment and slipped the locks, checking around for any spies quickly before dropping onto her couch and tossing the assignment parchment away. That would be dealt with easily soon enough. “Faith, you’d better be alright…” She grumbled at the message scroll as she broke the seal and unrolled it.

Domick was in the middle of ordering his lunch from a meek servant when Kaylie burst through his doors unannounced, a scowl across her face. The servant took one look at her and yelped loudly before running for all he was worth. Most likely a traumatic experience. He said nothing, though he didn’t approve of the manners, and picked up the already opened message scroll she’d thrown angrily in his lap before starting to pace. “So… her husband is causing problems…” He said calmly.

“Causing problems?!” she snarled in as close to a feral growl as he’d ever seen on her. “He’s beating her! She’s been to the healer twice a month since it started! Do something or I’ll call one of those favors in and do something myself.”

“Calm down now darling. We don’t want you getting too worked up.” He said in an even, unworried tone. “We’ll send him a message… a very distinct message. A man beating his wife isn’t so rare a thing as to punish it by death. I don’t approve of such myself, and will not have it happen to family… but we’ll not jump to such a brash measure so soon. Obviously she does want help… but your little friend most likely married him for a reason. She may be upset if he just disappeared suddenly. Who would provide for her?”

“Don’t you mean who would provide her with injury after injury…” Kaylie said in a heated tone, though she was considerably less bloodthirsty. “Your message better work…”

“You just calm yourself down. I’ll arrange for him to get the message and for a more… adept… healer to take care of her. Someone we trust our own with.” He nodded to her. Kaylie nodded, grunting out another growl as she left. It would simply have to do for now. She had a job to get done.

~

Faith brushed her hair very carefully. The poultice she’d been given wasn’t working fast enough for the giant bruise on her cheek. She made careful consideration in arranging her hair so that it seemed to fall freely, but also covered the bruise. Her long-sleeve dress doing well enough for the rest of the marks. He hadn’t broken anything this time at least… hopefully Kaylie would somehow get that letter and come to whisk her away. She’d always sworn that should anything terrible ever happen she’d show up and bring her away from the misery. He was working right now, or should be, which gave her time to retrieve a few things for that night’s dinner that usually kept him sedate enough.

“I’ll assume that you’re Faith?” Someone asked from her bedroom doorway. The small mirror didn’t cover enough area to show who it was, and luckily she was already dressed, but she turned with a startled shriek nevertheless. “Sorry. So I shall assume that you are indeed Faith?”

“Y… y…” she stammered, unable to get the word out.

“I have been sent to fetch you to a proper healer.” He looked calm, professional, and completely without a care for what he was doing at all. She swallowed and glanced around the room. Erik had chosen the healer she saw himself, which meant she was to see no other. “He’ll not be complaining. Don’t worry about your husband. Someone is having a talk with him right now.”

Faith was too afraid to refuse, and as she walked out with him, she wondered what exactly was happening. The kind man in dull green clothing welcomed her with a gentle voice an hand when they’d arrived, dismissing her deliverer with a wave. Apparently a friend in high places had arranged for her injuries to be properly taken care of. “That is quite a nasty one,” the kind old man said with a sad frown, clicking his tongue at it. Then, deftly, he smothered a cold paste over it and the throbbing she’d felt since waking vanished. “It’ll be gone soon enough though. Well, Faith… what a wonderful name by the way… you’ve a choice now. You may stay with me at this clinic until you’ve found a way to survive on your own… or you may go back to Erik. He’ll have been… spoken with… and understand that he is not to hurt you… however I’ve never been able to forgive abusers myself…”

Faith looked confused, then looked at the door. She was being offered a sanctuary. Maybe Kaylie had made some connections and pulled something after all. She had so wished to see her old friend, however, she supposed that being saved indirectly was good enough. “Then… I’ll be safe from him if I stay here until I can… I can work on my own…”

“Of course you will my dear. I’ll of course have you running a few errands until you’ve decided what you want to attempt to do…” He said with a gentle smile, gesturing to a loose shirt and pants, the sleeves detachable, and a changing screen. “I’ll need to look at the rest now…”

“I… I’ll stay…” she said… and a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders.

~

Kaylie looked at the man laying on the floor… or rather what was left of his body. Domick had told her that it need not be immediate, but not to take too much time. She’d tracked him to this city… only a short ride from where Faith should live actually, and she was struggling against the temptation of seeing her old friend. However, that may only anger her into killing that bastard husband of Faith’s. The head was already on it’s way to Domick, as her proof of the job done, eyes scent to the address provided for her, his bosses supposedly, as a message. What message she didn’t know, she was only the assassin. She knelt and pinned a rose petal to the skin of the man’s chest over his heart with a sharp thorn.

Only an hour later, as she was glancing at a few of the wares at a merchant stand, the messenger that ran this part of the circuit crept up to her. “You do realize I’m much better at sneaking than you and thus knew you were approaching?”

“Of course, ma’am.” He said with an almost quavering voice. She turned to look at him, raising her brows. She’d been in the middle of picking out a gift for Faith. Even if she couldn’t be there, she could send something that meant she knew and cared. He shook and shivered. “I… I… I was informed that you… you were the… the one to go to… when… when I had news… about the… about the Faith girl… that sent a letter to the Kaylie person…” he stammered out, shaking in his boots, the red-brown tights and matching tunic ruffling as he attempted to face his duty. She nodded, frowning. “And… that… that you would know… know she was staying with the healer….”

“Yes boy, out with it.” She snapped. This was not sounding good. At all. She scowled at him and crossed her arms.

“S… s… s…. something’s happened…” He stammered, turning pale. “She… she… she’s been knocked cold…. She’s coma… won’t… won’t wake…. Ter… ter… terribly hurt…”


TBC
>> Okay, so review the fic and maybe i'll give you more. I do have more written *cackles evilly* and if you speak a certain language, you might even understand the name of the fic.