Gale came out of the shower, rubbing herself all over with a towel. She let her wet hair hang there, enjoying the feel of it drying naturally. Looking over at the bed, Nik laid there, working away on his phone.
"I'll be gone for a while once we're done with our business at the meeting. I'll need to return to Japan to personally oversee the restructuring of the organization," Gale said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Nik turned off the phone giving his wife all his attention.
"How long you think you'll be away for?" he asked.
"No clue. I'm hoping it is all bluff and bluster by the hardliners. It would make everything cleaner that way. If they decide they don't like taking orders from someone without a set of balls hanging from between her legs, I'll have to create some eunuchs."
Gale did not laugh at her statement. Nik knew when she joked around and when she meant business.
"Be careful. I don't want you to die over there too."
Nik shuffled over, giving him the range to caringly rub her shoulder.
"I don't intend to die, Nik. How did it feel when you killed your first person?" she asked.
"How did it feel? That is a scary thought. I try not to think about it anymore."
"But you still think about it? It follows you like a shadow, a ghost."
"Are we talking about mine or yours?"
"I want to know how you handle the guilt of killing each day? How does it not eat away at your soul?" Gale asked, solemnly.
Nik took a long moment to gather his thoughts before replying. The seriousness of the situation hung in the air. Gale rarely acted this serious, always putting up the tough chick, burnout aire to keep people off guard.
"I can live with the guilt because there is no guilt, Gale. I made a vow with my own blood, while recovering in a hospital bed, that I'd avenge Anri. I sold my soul to the devil to accomplish that task. Systematically killing off every member of the Ueno clan until mentioning the name in whispers would elicit people believing me to be an unrelenting Halloween trope brought me joy. I did what needed to be done to accomplish my crusade. Now I live with the consequences of that crusade but I feel no guilt over it," Nik spoke, softly.
"I remember the first time a hit squad attacked me. This was after you saved me. Hard to believe how our lives intersected and changed that day. I know for me it was for the best. I can still smell the blood on my hands, hear the sound of skull bone and brains splattering against tile, and the potent rush of adrenaline that felt better than any toy I played with. Kaze Yamato died when they sent their first hitmen after me. After that Kelly Gale rose from their dead bodies."
Many Years Ago
Keishu waited outside the lecture hall for Gale, managing a slew of text messages on her phone. They had a small commute back to their house, located a few blocks from the school. They found a place near the college, and secretly had bought it under an alias to try and keep Gale better hidden.
The twenty year old walked out of the classroom, bag slung over her shoulder and a bored look on her face. She walked past Keishu, prompting the older sister to follow along.
"Class is too easy, sis," Gale commented without looking back. "I could ace this in my sleep. I took harder classes at my cram school back home."
"More time for you to train in the gym then. You have ten months until the national amateurs back in Japan. I'd still advise you against going back to attend the event but you better start training now."
"Hear anything from my brother or yours?" Gale asked.
"Nothing, life seems to be going on normal."
"What about...you know...him?" Gale blushed, too shy to say his name.
"He is doing well."
"That is all, just doing well?"
"I'll tell you when we get home. You know we should not talk about this in public," Keishu reminded Gale.
"Fine, back to nationals. My physique has been coming along these past couple months but I don't know, I don't have the pop that the other girls have. Do you think I'm training enough?"
"I'm more worried you'd be overtraining. You've kept to a strict schedule this past year, never deviating from it, and have seen remarkable improvements. You'll do fine."
"Fine? Fine is more losers, sis, I want to dominate. I want to be the best there is in the sport."
"One tournament at a time, one at a time," Keishu advised.
"Can you hold on for a second? I need to take a piss."
Keishu waved her hand.
"I'll be out here waiting."
Gale walked into the girl's washroom, heading straight to the mirrors. Going to the farthest mirror, she looked into it, observing how her right eye healed. It looked black and blue from a previous sparring session, taking a kick to the socket when a deflection failed.
"Fuck, I look like shit. I'll need to get better or else I'll lose my good looks," she commented, running her hands under the water.
The cold water felt good, refreshing, especially after splashing it against her face. The boring class almost put her to sleep, so she needed the natural pick-me-up for the walk home.
"One of these days I'll land a solid blow on Keishu. I cannot believe we've been practicing over a year. She is either a savant or I suck at understanding her instructions."
Gale shook her head and splashed more water on her face. As she grabbed some paper towel to dry off, the bathroom door opened up and a white man, dressed as a student, walked in.
"Hey, pervert, this is the girls washroom," Gale chided him, looking over.
