#this was probably sent in a hurry due to the extra space still remaining and the capital c being a sign of autocorrect though anon

[shingetsu-online]

Crying screaming throwing up how do you know people's typing styles so good?????

it's like recognizing bits of how they talk, or their tone of voice, or their artstyle, for example. sort of like a signature- it's distinct and somewhat identifying. some people type like they talk, and some don't! most identifying things that distinguish one person's typing style from another is usually their usage of things like punctuation and capitalization, as well as the expressions and sayings they use. certain things about how/what people type stick out to me more than others. my specific typing style changes from time to time, because on one hand i am a huge freak when it comes to grammar, but on the other, i am a very emotional and expressive person when it comes to my interests/friends.

[itsuki-minamy]

LIMITED KINGSHIP, WAR STORIES:

CHAPTER 2: HEKIREKI & SENDEN

* Mini Episodes KFCN (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Suddenly he realized that the enemy was gone.

The surroundings were full of the dead. Most of the folded corpses belonged to members of the "Purgatory" clan who wore black clothes. Fifteen minutes ago, a hasty force led by Gouki Zenjo raided that warehouse after being contacted by the intelligence department. And then the warehouse turned into a terrible battlefield.

With "Hekireki" bloody on his shoulder, Zenjo started looking for the next enemy to attack. But that no longer existed.

The battle was over and the remnants were hunting. There were still some in black who resisted, but it was only a matter of time before they were crushed or smashed. While he was thinking that, Bado's iron spear pierced one of the black ones, and Azuma's twin sword stabbed another. The "Purgatory" clan member, who had decent fighting ability, didn't seem to be staying anywhere.

"How boring."

He hit the field in an unsightly way and lowered "Hekireki" to the ground.

The next moment, the pile of corpses exploded.

"Zenjo!"

Fresh blood came out from the sword wound all over the body, and flames came from both feet, the one in black clothes was good at fighting. A deadly surprise attack that hid the corpse of a colleague. Long before he understood it, Zenjo tried to shake "Hekireki" with his own super reaction.

He could not.

According to a later investigation, it was an inadvertent collaboration between those in black. One in black that lay behind Zenjo was dying, but was still breathing. With the last of his strength, he grabbed the "outside" blade, regardless of whether his fingers fell.

That caused a delay of a few seconds. Zenjo was just looking at the flaming fingers approaching in front of him, holding "Hekireki's" fixed handle.

But he just grabbed Zenjo's nose.

"You need more than that..."

The one in black clothes who attacked Zenjo stopped in midair. Blood poured from the edge of his mouth which opened and closed with bloody eyes wide open. A thin saber protruded from his chest, and the saber that pierced his chest diagonally from below suddenly stopped the one in black clothing.

"Ah!"

A cheerful voice that did not seem to belong to the place, resounded behind the one in black clothes.

"I'm sorry I made a mistake! Zenjo-san, can you take care of it please?"

It was as easy as asking him to take the remote there. After blinking, Zenjo passed by "Hekireki" and frequently shook the ones in black clothes.

The flames that clung to both feet disappeared.

The body of the man in black, who had lost his neck, was thrown to the ground. A young man standing there waved his saber and wiped off the blood. The friendly look reminded him of a laughing dog.

"No, I made a mistake. If you tap it, it can't be the case, huh? Hahaha…"

"Kuze. You saved me."

Young Kuse laughed cheerfully and waved.

"I just did something extra. Zenjo-san, you could have handled it with a margin."

"No, I couldn't react now. I would have been 'without a nose' at best, because it was aiming at my head."

"Well, is that so? That's good. Soon it's new soba season!"

Zenjo smirked as he tapped on Kuze's shoulder, saying that he was out of focus.

"This season's buckwheat noodles are pretty good too. I'll use chopsticks when I get back to the barracks. Thanks for your help."

"Oh then, make it soba."

"What? Are you going to ask me to make arrangements again?"

Kuse was smiling. Zenjo saw the smile as if he was amazed. Not suitable for a bright appearance, this young man had a very persistent character.

"Well, I wish I could go home."

"Oh, thanks!"

As Kuze struck a gutsy pose, Zenjo shrugged and walked towards a group of hurrying troops who had begun to take care of the remaining work.

++++++++++

The war was escalating.

Kagutsu Detention Center "Red King" crackdown operation. The attack from "Scepter 4" intended to kill Kagutsu Genji was unsuccessful in retrospect. Although the force of "Purgatory" was greatly reduced, the original purpose of the operation was not finally achieved, and Kagutsu left his territory and fled, and the remaining clan members divided into thousands and went into hiding. The hive was destroyed, but the queen bee and the soldier bees were flying now.

The activities of the scattered members of the "Purgatory" clan were almost the same as before. Whenever something happened, there was a danger that they would explode. "Scepter 4" chased after them and they were incapacitated as soon as they were discovered, but "Purgatory" wasn't just silently hunted to death. The damage caused by a fierce counterattack who did not care about his own life was turning into a social problem that could not be covered even by "Tokijikuin".

There were two pressing issues.

One was the search and murder of Kagutsu as soon as possible. As long as that "King" will continue to exist on earth, this war would never end.

And the other was to increase the strength of "Scepter 4".

The battle with "Purgatory", who burned the people, burned the city and even burned themselves, was slowly shaving the staff of "Scepter 4". To make up for the loss, they touted that they had the cause of the war and recruited a large number of talented personnel from the relevant ministries.

Shuichiro Kuze was one of those supplemental staff members.

Originally a police officer, he achieved outstanding results on both his aptitude and skill tests, and joined the "Scepter 4" running unit at exceptional speed. He was a rare human resource who had already been dispatched several times and was not afraid to fight the deadly "Purgatory", but instead displayed a simulation as if he was enjoying it.

For some reason, Kuze teamed up with Zenjo.

Even now, Kuze and Zenjo were undergoing simulated one-on-one training in the training ground of the "Scepter 4" barracks. Except for the fact that the product was a bamboo sword, it was a form of training that came as close to the actual battle as possible. Even attacks on key points were tolerated wherever they were covered by armor.

Kuze raised the bamboo sword to eye level and turned its blade towards Zenjo.

Zenjo carried a large bamboo sword on his shoulder and was about to attack him.

Kuze's specialty was "pushing". His stab, fired by explosive acceleration with a different ability, was roughly equal to the speed of a bullet. It would be impossible to react if it were the perception of an ordinary person.

But, of course, Zenjo was not an ordinary person.

"Let's go!"

The next moment that Kuze said that, the figure disappeared.

An extraordinary light that glowed fluttering blue like the tail of a meteor. Before recognizing it, Zenjo's body was moving. The speed God's sword judgment darted into the void on the right.

Zenjo's bamboo sword touched Kuze's sword that jutted out without fail.

"Ah!"

As he wielded the sword of pursuit, Zenjo was impressed. Viewed from above, the location of the different abilities would have looked like a rank "nine". A blow from outside the field of vision due to explosive acceleration, but it did not exceed Zenjo's reaction speed.

"Che!"

Kuze sped up again, leaving a childish click of the tongue. As he repeated sharp turns ignoring the laws of physics, he jumped incessantly. He was like a spring-loaded toy that swept across the training ground.

Zenjo stopped chasing him with his eyes and closed his lids.

Behind.

Before he felt it, his body was still moving. He turns and cut the space behind him. The cut that was shot deflected Kuze's thrust horizontally upward and hit him like he was a face shield.

"Damn!"

With a stupid voice, Kuze struck and fell to the ground of the training ground. If he had been serious, he would have lost his nose.

"This is the ninth."

Carrying the bamboo sword on his shoulder again, Zenjo said that without pride. Kuze, who had stretched out into a large shape, lifted his upper body as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I thought I could pull it off now... Zenjo-san, do you have eyes behind you?"

"Well, it's clear. You can understand it even if you can't see it."

"Mm... Zenjo-san, another one! Please."

When Kuze lifted his index finger, Zenjo was truly astonished and showed the training ground clock with his chin.

"It's closing time. It will be tomorrow."

"Really? Absolutely tomorrow!"

"I wish they hadn't sent me."

Saying that, while he was a bit crowded, Zenjo headed for the exit. Kuze also put the bamboo sword in a bag and bounced after him.

After taking a shower together, they had dinner later.

The barracks cafeteria was quiet, probably because it was late. Zenjo ordered a hazaru soba and Kuze a kitsune udon, and they ate together.

Kuze talked to Zenjo all the time while he ate.

"Zenjo-san, are you attached to the army?"

"Hmm?"

" I belonged there. There are a lot of people like that in 'Scepter 4', right?"

Surely it was so. The personnel of "Scepter 4" came mainly from other security organizations. Unless they didn't lack combat training on a daily basis, they couldn't withstand the battle with "Purgatory."

However, the situation was different for Zenjo.

After slurping his soba, he said...

"I am from a mountain."

"Mountain?"

"When I was waving a stick in the mountains, I met Habari, so I followed him."

Kuze blinked twice as he pinched the fried food with chopsticks.

"Well, what was that? What kind of situation?"

"Thanks, like I said."

Answering only that, Zenjo took a sip of soba again.

Kuze stared at Zenjo for a while with a surprised face, and then...

"Fu…"

He shook his shoulders and started laughing.

"Hahahahahahahaha! What's wrong, did you meet the commander in the mountains and follow him? Hahaha, Zenjo-san, are you a youkai?"

Zenjo was disappointed in Kuze, who bent over his body and laughed like a child. It was surprising that he was laughed at, although it was not his intention to make him laugh.

"No, sorry, I'm not going to make a fool of myself. But that was very interesting."

"Is it interesting?"

"It's incredibly interesting! I've never met such a person!"

"Mmm...?"

He wondered if that was the case. Originally, Zenjo was a guy who didn't understand many things. If they told him it was interesting, it would be true.

"No, you're good at 'Scepter 4' after all. It's not boring."

As he cheerfully said that, Kuze drank the udon from him. As Zenjo ate the soba noodles, he looked at Kuze as if he was looking at something strange.

"Bored?"

"Yes. The workplace in front of me was already boring. Anyone can do it, such as document preparation, on-site verification and traffic control. More like this, a fierce car chase with the criminal! Fighting battle! Shooting! I was imagining it."

He lifted the bowl and drank the soup.

"So it's so boring that I shouldn't do it. When I was thinking about it, they asked me and I came to try it. I can do what I want every day! It's a lot of fun, right? That's why I think you adapt very well to "Scepter 4"!

Zenjo scratched his cheeks while Kuze drank, wiped his mouth and clasped his hands with a "Thanks for the food!"

"Uh..."

"Isn't that the case with Zenjo-san? Don't you do it because it's medicinal?"

"Eh?"

He wondered if that was the case. Was he enjoying the battle with "Purgatory"?

There was no doubt that he was elevated during the battle. On the battlefield where a momentary judgment divides life and death, that feeling that inspires all cells cannot be experienced anywhere else.

But he didn't think he was struggling to taste it.

When he swung his sword under Habari's command in "Scepter 4", he felt that he was breathing properly. It seemed natural to do so and it "fit." He didn't know if he could describe it as funny.

"Well, that's correct."

It became difficult to think of the way and Zenjo answered that.

"That's right! Well, I'm glad you feel the same way as me!"

Kuze laughed in a friendly way and then a mysterious light fell on his eyes.

"But lately, it's more fun practicing with Zenjo-san than interacting with 'Purgatory'."

"Really?"

"Yes, because Zenjo-san is much stronger than them, so it's fun to do it. Hey, Zenjo-san. Someday, with me…"

Kuze cut off the words when he suddenly remembered. After blinking several times, the mysterious light disappeared. Then suddenly he stood up and held the bowl of kitsune udon in his hands.

"Sorry, it's nothing! So, good night!"

With a smile, Kuze went to the place where the dishes were being returned.

As he drank his soba, Zenjo rebelled against Kuze's words.

(Well, I'm glad you feel the same way as me!)

Maybe it wasn't.

Although they belonged to the same "Scepter 4" and wielded a saber, he felt that something was decisively different between him and Kuze.

He didn't know what it was. He didn't want to think until he knew. Thinking again that he was okay, Zenjo dropped the green onion seasoning into crushed chunks.

++++++++++

Three days later, the hidden member of the "Purgatory" clan in Minari-cho, Fengze-ku, was discovered.

According to the information department report, there was only one member. However, the problem is that he was hiding in the houses of common people. They threatened the inhabitants and parasitized their lives themselves. A bully lurked in his house and behaved inattentive. The father of the family, who could not bear such a situation, rushed to a public institution and discovered his existence.

In response to this, "Scepter 4" quickly formed a unit that rushed over. They ran to the site to "exterminate" the abominable parasite.

However, this time, it was not possible to get through the gate with the transport vehicle and cut it randomly. After all, the other party was alone and the detained hostages were a mother and two young children, according to the father's information. If they took action inadvertently, it would have the worst consequences.

The operation required speed and stealth. "Scepter 4", the deputy director, Gen Shiotsu, selected the appropriate personnel and devised a strategy.

Shuichiro Kuse was included in the staff, but it was boring for him.

Kuze was toying with that idea while biting his yawn in the car.

It had already been three hours since they arrived at the place. Because "Scepter 4" stood out in a transport vehicle, they used an ordinary sedan type and stopped from hiding to blind spot. Kuze sighed softly, looking at him stagnant out the window.

He wished he could rush in and kill him.

It would be easy. He would jump out the door, go through the second floor and invade, and drive the saber into the heart of the guy in black. That was all that was needed.

Kuze understood why he was selected as a runner. The small body was suitable for infiltration, and the "Senden" saber he had was also a slim custom-made one, so it should work effectively in a small room.

So he wanted to do it as soon as possible.

Finally, the long-awaited command came from insiders.

"The target has taken the hostage. I enclose the location."

"Yes!"

He sprang to his feet, grabbed the saber, opened the passenger seat door, and Kuze broke into a run.

In seconds, the target house came into view. When he was hiding behind the wall of a neighbor's house and observing the situation, the transmitter spoke a voice again.

"The target is in the bathroom on the second floor. The children cannot confirm the whereabouts of their mother in the next room. Each member must pay the utmost attention and do everything in their power to secure the hostages."

"Kuze, ready!"

With a light tone, Kuze pulled "Senden" out of the scabbard.

He held his breath and waited for the moment. The plan of the house is engraved on his head. All the images of how he would move, what kind of path he would take and how he would kill the one in black clothes were created in Kuze's brain.

Kuze himself did not know that there were no hostages there.

"Fast!"

By the time Shiotsu's voice echoed, Kuze was jumping.

He jumped off the wall, landed on the ceiling, and ran. At the edge of the field of vision, he could see a blue trail that went through him in the same way. There were a total of four runners, all their own competitors, who aspired to the life of a single man in black. Kuze licked his lips and accelerated to the point where the shingles broke.

He jumped with the same impulse, he broke the second floor window with his body and ran inside.

"Eh?!"

He heard a high-pitched voice. Kuze invaded the children's room on the second floor. According to the information, two children who were less than elementary school students were shaking in a corner of the room.

Kuze ignored it.

The problem was that of black clothes. If he killed him, everything would be solved. So that should take precedence. Kuze thought that way and stepped out into the second floor hallway.

Their eyes met.

There was a figure in black clothes in the bathroom that was left open. However, when Kuze found him, he was strangling and using the children's mother as a shield.

"Stay away, blue clothes! This woman will die!"

He could barely see the one in black who was angry. Very firmly, he was hiding behind the woman. The scared woman shook her head, while she shook her head, he looked and disappeared his face burned in black.

Before thinking of anything, Kuze was kicking the ground.

If he killed him, that would be it. That was the only priority, and everything else was wiped from Kuze's head.

Many things happened at the same time.

"Kuze, stop!" One of the rushing staff members yelled.

"Damn it!" The man in black's burned face turned red, and the flame-filled woman screamed in tears.

Time seemed to flow slowly. He could feel precisely the extraordinary light of "Senden", the heat of the flames that sprouted from the face of the man in black and the smell of the flesh that enveloped her.

In the slowdown time, Kuze analyzed various factors and...

(Oh, this person can't be helped anymore.), he thought.

Too easily, he cut off the hostage's life.

This being the case, the hostage's body was no longer a problem. It was just a corpse, a wall of flesh less than 8 inches.

It did not hinder "Senden".

With a half-smile, Kuze stabbed hard forward.

A bright blue tip pierced the woman's chest, and the heart of the man in black was skewered and glued to the bathroom wall.

"......"

The woman opened and closed her mouth. Kuze tilted his head and looked at her face, thinking that she looks like a dying goldfish.

When Kuze drew the saber, the woman and the one in black fell one on top of the other. Their bloods mixed.

The bodies clung to each other and wet Kuze's shoes.

He takes a breath and inform the others.

"We have deactivated the objective. The mission is complete."

At the same time, an angry sound rang out from behind.

"Kuze! Damn! What did you do?!"

He thought, and looked at the owner of the voice as if he was confused. It was Shinohara, who belonged to the same group as him. He was yelling something when he flushed with anger, but Kuze couldn't understand the meaning of the word. He turned his neck and face away to keep them from flying off.

The frozen facial expressions of the two boys, looking through the door, were reflected in Kuze's field of vision.

++++++++++

"Do you know what you did?"

"Scepter 4", Shiotsu made a heavy voice in the barracks interview room.

Shuichiro Kuze, standing in front of him, replied as if nothing had happened.

"I killed the member of the 'Purgatory' clan. I think it was an unavoidable decision in that situation."

"Right now, 'Purgatory' is not the problem. The problem is Kuze, you stabbed the hostage and killed her."

"I did not murder her. At that time, the woman had already been killed by the one in black clothes. Should I be so reprimanded for damaging her corpse?"

Shiotsu had various reports in front of him.

"Shinohara's report is different. At that time, Shinohara said that the woman was still alive. However, he testified that you ignored the warning and approached the black-robed one and went through him."

"In my eyes, she looked dead."

Kuze spoke clearly.

"I think it would have been difficult to help her, even if she had a break. Is it the right decision to leave the dangerous clansman to help a dying woman? If the action was delayed, hers, two of her children and I could have been euthanized."

"It is not you who should judge whether the woman would be saved or not."

"The judgment of the site should be left to the members of the site."

Shiotsu groaned softly.

What Kuze said was correct in some respects. In the battle with "Purgatory", a momentary misjudgment could be fatal. And that moment came innumerably. It was not enough to have many lives if they were all compared with the regulations of the body and the current law. Above all, Kuze said that a certain amount of excessive acts should be allowed to protect one's life.

But…

Shiotsu watched Kuze's expression.

There was no expression floating there. Self-blame, regret, remorse. He couldn't read any of the emotions the one with the almost innocent human hands would have.

Shiotsu muttered to himself that that was the real problem.

"Kuze..."

At that moment, Shiotsu silently inhaled, and then...

"Where do you think the meaning of 'Scepter 4' is?"

"Eh…?"

"Answer it. What's 'Scepter 4' for?"

For the first time, the color of hesitation reached Kuze's expression.

As he listened to Shiotsu, Kuze replied.

"Kill the enemy. Annihilate "Purgatory" and bring peace to society."

Shiotsu sighed deeply and said.

"No. You are definitely misunderstanding."

"......"

"Our mission is to protect the general public. The sword to protect those who cannot resist the weapon of incompetence, that is 'Scepter 4'."

"It's the same as I said, right?"

In the words that Kuze muttered, unprecedented emotions appeared.

He was frustrated.

"Killing those in black clothes is to protect the general public. If they are left unattended, tens or even hundreds of people will die if they are not treated well. To avoid that, isn't it natural to leave two people alone?"

"Still, we should not be the ones to kill. We should be the ones to protect the people. If there is a defenseless civilian, that is why we have the power to protect ourselves."

"It's stupid."

Kuze laughed through his nose. His dark and bright gaze seemed harsher, as he generally had a friendly gaze.

"Why do we have to do that? It is so stupid for a good person to be sacrificed for an inferior person."

Shiotsu closed his eyes.

What swirled around his chest was not anger at Kuze, but responsibility for himself.

He may have been too impatient to make up for the personnel lost in the battle with "Purgatory". He had hired a person who lacked the most important qualities, distracted only by the ability to fight. He should have known well what would happen if that person had a different ability and special power.

People who cannot control themselves will eventually use their different abilities as they wish.

How is it different from "Purgatory"?

Shiotsu slowly opened his eyes and said in a low voice,

"Shuichiro Kuse. Say goodbye to "Scepter 4" from now on."

++++++++++

Kuze, who came out of the interview room, was looking vaguely at the ceiling of the hallway.

(I blew it.), he thought.

With that in mind, he sighs. This time, he looked down at the ground and started walking.

When he was called by Shiotsu, Kuze had decided what he should do. That was a field decision and he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He intended to stick to that statement.

It is the members of the field who exchange lives. However, it was not uncommon for him to be blamed for a later trial. It was a common feeling not only for Kuze but also for the ER personnel.

Shiotsu was smart and looked closely at the members. That is why he thought that he would not give such a severe punishment based on his thoughts.

"He was telling me something strange."

Kuze lied and looked at his hand. When he focused his consciousness there, the blue glow of the extraordinary shimmered.

It was proof that he was an excellent person and a chosen one.

Kuze couldn't respond well to Shiotsu's words asking the meaning of "Scepter 4". That was because Kuze didn't know. Therefore, he got a rag out of there. It didn't matter if the general public died or lived, he knew that his true intentions would probably not be forgiven within the organization, so he hid it.

The important thing for Kuze was to use that power in all directions to fight. Fight "Purgatory", bypass the momentary deadline and end the life of the enemy. Never in a dull life until now, was it a bright day.

That was stolen from him.

Because he took a boring life from a boring human.

Kuze sighed again and suddenly raised his face.

A familiar giant was walking down the hall. Kuze laughed and raised a hand.

"Hey, Zenjo-san."

"Oh, Kuze?"

Zenjo's eyebrows widened when he noticed that Kuze was there for the first time.

"What are you doing in a place like this? Is it training?"

"No."

Kuze laughed bitterly and...

"Hey, I've been preaching to the vice principal. I'm here for that."

"Oh, Shiotsu? It's loud."

Sympathy reached Zenjo's eyes. Seeing that, Kuze's smile changed to a natural one.

That person knew himself.

He had always felt that way. Zenjo, like himself, rejoiced in the fight. He was a person who should have the nature of killing people rather than helping people. So, Kuze was sure that if he talked about the situation, this person would be on his side.

"But you're almost right."

Zenjo simply denied the idea.

"Eh?"

"Shiotsu is loud, but he's always right. If he claims something from you, you're wrong. I wonder what he was. Apologize properly."

"......"

Kuze looked at his toes.

"Yes, what is that?"

"If that is all."

"I see."

Kuze scratched his head again with a bitter smile.

"In a way that's correct. I thought it was suitable for 'Scepter 4', but surprisingly, isn't it?"

"Eh?"

Zenjo mysteriously shook his head, thought for a moment and then nodded.

"That's right. You said you were the same as me, but I think you are different from me."

"......"

"I can't put it right. You might not be good at 'Scepter 4'. You should stop in time."

Zenjo said that in a wonderful and irresponsible way.

Kuze was about to start laughing. Interestingly, he didn't get mad at all. This was because it had been broadcast that Zenjo was saying that from the bottom of his heart without any malicious intent.

After all, Kuze didn't dislike Zenjo. He was clean, natural, and stronger than anyone. That's why he liked dealing with this person, because he could fight without shackles.

He regretted thinking that he couldn't do that from now on.

Then, Kuze suddenly glowed.

"Ah!"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Sorry Zenjo-san, I just remembered my errand now! I'm done!"

In a hurry, Kuze ran down the hall. Zenjo said, "Oh...?", and gave up, but Kuze suddenly stopped and looked back.

"Please help me again later!"

Zenjo laughed and nodded.

"Oh, I have to be sent."

"Still, please!"

Kuze ran away, saying just that with a smile.

It was that night that Shuichiro Kuze disappeared with "Senden".

++++++++++

When he got out of the transport car, a warm wind caressed Zenjo's cheeks.

The policeman raised his face and smelled a faint smell on the wind. He was delving into the battlefield with "Purgatory". He smelled like sticky, burnt blood.

According to the map, the back alley where the discovery of the men in black was reported was divided into T-shapes. The unit split into three hands, blocking all exits. The most important thing to prevent was that those in black clothes escaped. They had to make sure to capture or neutralize them, even if they took some risks.

At that moment, in front of Zenjo, the entrance to the back alley was black and open.

"Over there."

At random, Zenjo entered an alley.

The back alley was narrow and dark. Polyethylene buckets and outdoor units blocked the street, and the walls of the building that approached from the left and right blocked the sunlight. If one in black clothes came out of the shadows and emitted a flame of extraordinary skill, there would be no way around it. It could be said that this was also a dead place.

Still, Zenjo was not afraid and advanced slowly.

The process suddenly stopped.

Shinohara, who was following Zenjo, said groaning.

"What is the situation? What is this?"

One in black clothes was dead, as if his back was against the wall of the building.

Wide-eyed and in a pool of blood. The burned right hand was soaked in the blood clot, burning and producing black smoke. This was probably the cause of the smell.

In the first place, it was a mystery from the initial discovery report.

It was said that several of the black clothes were fighting. At the time, there were no "Scepter 4" units deployed nearby, and since the Hiiragi incident, the police had been told to stay away from the men in black. Most likely it was a fight between those in black, but in the current situation where they were hiding in a scattered way, he did not think they would do such an outstanding act.

So who was fighting the ones in black?

Zenjo, who was inspecting the corpse in black, said the answer.

"It's Kuze."

"What…?!"

"It is pierced all over the body. This is due to 'Senden'."

Saying that, Zenjo stood up.

Since that night, Kuze's whereabouts have been known to be uncertain. Kuze's legal status was the same as an "Illegal Strain" since he was fired from "Scepter 4". They had to capture him and put a skill suppressor on him, but there weren't enough personnel to track him down in "Scepter 4".

Kuze killed the ones in black and, perhaps, he was still hiding in that place.

"But why is Kuze here?"

Shinohara said that, and suddenly closed his mouth.

Someone slowly emerged from the darkness behind the alley.

It was also one of black clothes.

"Oh, fufu...!"

His face was distorted with anger and hatred, and blood was pouring from his entire body to the point that his black suit was still drenched in red and black. Legs wobbly, the one in black slowly approached.

"Gah!"

The tip of the saber protruded from his chest.

The saber was instantly pulled out and the one in black collapsed to his knees.

Zenjo spoke the name from behind him, standing there.

"Hekireki."

"Oh, Zenjo-san!"

Dressed in a dark green raincoat, Kuze smiled at his face, which had been bathed in blood, and called out to Zenjo cheerfully.

"No, I'm lucky! I can't get it all of a sudden!"

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

Eyes blinking, Kuze looked around him, and mysteriously at himself.

"What's wrong? It's not a job. I got fired from 'Scepter 4'."

He shook "Senden" to spill the blood.

"But if you look for the black clothes, 'Scepter 4' will come, right? Maybe Zenjo-san is there! I thought it was good."

While he smiled, Kuze,

"I never thought we could meet at once! I'm lucky! So…"

He crouched down and pointed the tip of "Senden".

"Let's go."

Before Zenjo thought of anything, Kuze was kicking the ground.

The glow of the blue genie was diffusely reflected in the narrow back alley. He bounced off the ground, scaled walls, emergency stairs, he went up, down, left and right, and hit everything, drawing an unpredictable trajectory like a pinball.

Shinohara, who was behind Zenjo, couldn't even follow Kuze with his eyes. But Zenjo reacted.

It was also an action before thinking. The thick blade of "Hekireki" flipped up as the wind scattered.

The dark green raincoat split in half.

Kuze was no longer there. He twisted in midair, tossed his raincoat, and landed on the ground.

Zenjo kept "Hekireki" jumping and stopped in an unprotected posture. Looking at his empty torso, a fierce smile appeared on Kuze's mouth.

(I caught you!), he thought.

With extraordinary power in his legs, Kuze tried to strike a stroke of luck.

He felt the shock in his chest.

"Eh?"

He lost the strength of his leg. His soles did not separate as if they were stuck to the ground. Interestingly, he looked under his feet and saw a saber thrust into his chest.

"Ah?"

When he coughed, a blood clot spilled from his lips.

Kuze slowly looked at Zenjo.

Zenjo was flipping "Hekireki", with just his right hand.

Before he knew it, he held another saber in his left hand. That pierced through Kuze's chest.

"Oh, wow...!"

Kuze distorted the edge of his mouth when he heard Shinohara make a panicky voice.

"Hey, Shinohara. It's a pay cut to have a saber stolen from you."

When Zenjo drew the saber, Kuze sank into place.

The blood was overflowing. The color of his face was white and transparent. It was clear to everyone that it was no longer useful.

Still, Kuze was somewhat satisfied. He looked at Zenjo and laughed weakly.

"After all... you are amazing, Zenjo-san. I couldn't get over you."

"Kuze."

There was no anger or sadness in Zenjo's expression, just confusion.

"What did you want to do?"

"What?"

Kuze shook his shoulders and laughed. Eventually the laughter turned into a cough and the exhaled blood created a series of stains in the alley.

"I wanted to. A real and potentially deadly battle with Zenjo-san."

Breathing out, Kuze fell onto his side.

"It was fun."

That was the last word from him.

Zenjo, holding a bloody saber, shot a confused look at Kuze's corpse.

[rosebloodcat]

Changeling Nelson Tethers

*Kicks in door* Alright! I’ve finally finished the short/story!

It’s not terribly long, and I tried to make the events of the two games (and the time between) seem a bit more stretched out. You know, to seem more realistic?

But the main focus was Nelson going through his transformations (and the build-up to each change) without too much focus on what happens in the games. As in, the story isn’t a play-by-play of what happened in them. So it doesn’t spoil anything for people who haven’t had the chance to play/watch the games.

I hope people like it, and if you have ideas for more stuff I could write for this, feel free to tell me. As either an ask or a comment/reply to this post.

If he had to pick a point where everything started, where the first signs had made themselves known, Nelson would say he had no idea. But, after thinking for a bit, he would say it started with a toothache.

It started just before (or maybe just after?) he was told about his field assignment in Scoggins, Minnesota. At first, it had been little more than a faint pressure in his back molars. Almost as if he’d been gritting his teeth for too long without knowing it. The sort where you’d stop letting your teeth press together for a while, and it would go away. But it didn’t.

Instead, the ache seemed to spread slowly. Until the whole of his mouth was throbbing dully. At that point, it wasn’t painful, but it was notable. Enough that he was planning to schedule a dentist’s appointment to figure what was going on in there. Chewing on gum made it easier to ignore, resulting in him working his way through packs at a much faster rate than he usually would. A habit that quickly became a problem when he arrived in Scoggins.

During his stay in the small town, his fingers began to ache as well. At first, the agent had thought it was due to the note-taking and snowmobile riding he’d been doing on the case and had dismissed it. (Nevermind that he would usually spend his entire day gripping a pencil while solving puzzles in his office.)

But, like the toothache, the ache got worse instead of better.

And then the Gnomes appeared, causing his annoying aches to shift into spikes of pain. Complete with a brand new pulse of pain from his lower back. The alarm (and pain) had almost driven Nelson from town then and there.

It probably would have sent him away, if the Innkeeper hadn’t mentioned that the Sheriff had told her to let him know when Nelson left. Not if he left, but when. He had no idea what had made the man think he would leave, and so soon after he’d arrived in town. Something didn’t feel right about that.

Something that the FBI agent found suspicious enough to change his mind.

So he swallowed back the aches and pains (along with some extra strength aspirin) and trooped back out into the cold, snow-covered town to solve the case and get the factory going again. Just like he was sent there to do.

And once he’d gotten the factory open and running again, Nelson returned home with notable pains and an unsatisfying end to his field mission. He couldn’t get his mind off of what had transpired, or what he had seen.

Yes, he’d succeeded as far as the FBI was concerned. But the factory foreman was missing, and now he knew of impossible things. He couldn’t just leave it at that.

That was when the first significant sign of change made itself known.

Nelson had been in his office, trying to solve a crossword puzzle and get his mind off of Scoggins, when he bit into his chicken sandwich and felt something hard in his mouth. Something that was not food. He froze mid-chew.

That was not part of his lunch.

He used his tongue to carefully shift the hard thing to the front of his mouth, and, lifting a hand, he pulled it out. He stared in disbelief when he pulled away enough for him to see.

That was a tooth. A back molar, if his memory was right.

He swallowed his mouthful of chicken, which suddenly didn’t taste as appetizing as it had before.

One of his teeth had just come out. His tooth had just fallen out.

He was too old for his teeth to be falling out. He was starting to shake.

He carefully slipped a pair of fingers into his mouth and brushed them along his gums, trying to find which molar had come out. It was the bottom, back molar, on the right side of his mouth. What bothered him more was the fact that the spot where the tooth had come out didn’t feel empty.

Nelson looked down at the tooth in his hand. It looked whole and didn’t seem chipped or damaged, so he couldn’t be feeling broken remains that were left behind.

Dropping the tooth on his desk, Nelson all but sprinted to the office bathrooms. He nearly stumbled outside the men’s room, but caught himself and hurried inside. He darted to the mirror hung over the sinks; he needed to see this. Not just feel it.

Hands shaking, Nelson hooked a finger into the corner of his mouth and pulled his lips back until he could see the space in question.

The molar was gone, and it looked like there was a new tooth growing in. One that definitely wasn’t a molar.

But that couldn’t be possible; Nelson was too old to be growing new teeth. And he was pretty sure he wasn’t old enough to be losing his adult teeth yet. That couldn’t be possible.

Except there was a very real tooth lying on his office desk that said otherwise.

He rubbed a finger over the surprisingly sharp tooth that was, apparently, growing in.

I guess it’s a good thing I hadn’t made that dentist’s appointment yet. I don’t think I could ever explain this. He thought dazedly, still rubbing a finger over the strange tooth. Is-is this why my teeth have been hurting? Because I’m growing a bunch of new teeth?

His heart froze at the thought. It seemed like a worryingly plausible idea.

But why? Why was he growing new teeth? How was it happening? And why was it happening now?!

He gripped the sink to steady himself. The cold, smooth surface under his hands helped steady his racing mind and cooled his aching hands. He couldn’t panic, panicking as a bad idea and could make him do something stupid.

“Okay, Nelson. Calm down; you’re okay. Everything’s okay. It’s just a tooth, one tooth. It’s come out, and it looks like a new one is growing in. Nothing to get frantic about.” Nelson muttered to himself, rubbing a hand over his head. “You just- you just need to calm down and think this through. Think of what to do about this.”

He couldn’t speak up about this; he needed to keep it to himself just until he could figure out what was going on.

There was no way he could explain the teeth-thing to his dentist. Not without the man thinking Nelson was trying to prank him (not that the agent ever would) or that he was crazy.

No, it was best if he kept quiet until he could come up with some explanation. And maybe confirm it was just one tooth and not all of them.

He would be okay. He just needed to be calm about all of this. If he stayed quiet, everything would be fine.

At least, that was the chant he kept in his head as he returned to his desk and bagged up the tooth to bring home with him.

As the week went on, at least one of his worries had proven right.

More teeth began falling out, from back to front — each one revealing a new, almost fang-like tooth growing in its place. Nelson started to tighten his smiles, letting his teeth show less and less as the new teeth made their way closer to the front of his mouth.

He started noticing other changes too.

His fingers, specifically his nails, didn’t look right anymore either. They seemed thicker and were changing shape ever so slightly from how he remembered them. He’d never paid a great deal of attention to his nails, beyond keeping them from splitting or chipping in ways that would hurt.

Except, now that his teeth were changing for reasons he didn’t know or understand, he found himself becoming hyper-aware of his body.

(He hadn’t felt this aware of his body since puberty, which was its own brand of internal terror.)

He’d gotten some help from one of his female coworkers, who’d given him a nail file when he mentioned that his nails were bothering him. She seemed to think he was having problems with splits catching on things. He had no plans of correcting her, but it wasn’t the root of the problem.

No, the problem was that his nails seemed less like nails and more like claws. Humans weren’t supposed to have claws. They could have nails that looked like claws if they got them specifically manicured that way. And Nelson had never done anything like that.

The man had no idea what was happening to his body, and it terrified him.

The anxiety was worse when he realized he could find a trend to the changes he was going through.

They were all in spots that had started with an ache that became progressively worse as time went on. And he remembered one other part of his body where he’d been feeling pain.

The lowest part of his back, close to his tailbone.

(Maybe even at his tailbone? He didn’t know exactly where that was on his body.)

He had no explanation for what was going on with him, but there was something that made him wonder.

Every time his mind wandered back to his assignment in Scoggins, he remembered the way his aches spiked into pain whenever he’d encountered the Hidden People.

Was there a connection of some kind? He knew it had started before he went there, but the way it seemed to accelerate while he was there.

It seemed like a crazy idea, but everything about Scoggins had been insane (and he appeared to be transforming), so it seemed like anything was possible at this point.

That left Nelson with few options.

He wanted, no, needed to find out what was going on and there was only one place he could go that seemed to have an answer.

The agent gathered up his supplies, submitted a request for vacation time, and headed back out, back to Scoggins, Minnesota.

When he arrived, he found the town just as still and unsettling as his first visit.

He felt terrible for poor Martha. It was clear the worry and stress were getting to her. He’d had to be very careful and persuasive to convince the woman to let him have a room there again, but he’d managed.

Once he was settled and finally had the chance to start combing the town for information, he learned about the disappearances from Darryl, who was hanging posters of his missing brother, Darrel. About how often and how many there had been over the years. To the point where the residents were barely phased by it anymore. Something that was incredibly worrying in its own right.

Nelson threw himself into his self-appointed investigation and ignoring every spike of pain that hit him on the way.

(But he remembered it. Every surge of pain that shot down his spine. Each one, coupled with the silent prayer that whatever was happening would wait just a bit longer before actually taking effect.)

That visit had been a whirlwind investigation and discovery, shock and fear, and danger and pain.

He’d met a few new people, agreed to help Glori get her husband back, broken into the Sheriff’s office to get more information, and met a fellow puzzle enthusiast. (Who was- Not crazy but most definitely misinformed. If he was polite). He’d had his investigation crashed by fellow FBI agents, was made temporarily mad by the Hidden People, fought the other agents, was his by an insanity-inducing raygun, and destroyed said ray.

Nelson had come out on top; He’d found the missing Issac Danvers, destroyed the Lunacy Ray, and helped the Hidden People finally return home.

And was mildly traumatized by everything and reasonably sure he wasn’t going to have his job for much longer.

He dragged his tired, slightly frostbitten body back to his hotel.

But he knew that once he got back to work, or at least back to his office, there was a chance he wouldn’t have a job anymore. If he was lucky. If he wasn’t, well, there would be a decently comfortable jail cell waiting for him.

But there, safe in his hotel room, having solved his case with no more mysteries dogging his mind, Nelson could rest. He could finally let go of the stress and tenseness that had sunk its claws into him the entire time he’d been in Scoggins. He could finally let himself relax.

And the wall hit him.

It was a sudden, blindside of pain that brought Nelson to his knees. It cut his perception to his body alone, leaving him on his hands and knees on the floor, gasping for breath. He coughed and wheezed, fighting to get his lungs back to their average pace. (Had he screamed? He didn’t think he’d screamed.)

What-what was that?! That wasn’t like anything I’ve felt before. Nelson thought in a pained daze. He vaguely registered something behind him move. Looking back, he felt his brain stalled.

That was a tail. A dark brown, fur-covered tail. A tail that looked like it was attached to him.

Stunned, he reached behind himself and rubbed a hand down his back, confirming that the tail was very real, and very much attached to him.

Laying on the floor of his room, all Nelson could think was that he was glad he’d asked for two weeks of vacation when he’d first set out. So, whether or not he still had a job, no one was expecting him back for a while.

And he needed all the time he could get to deal with this.

And that’s the end! I hope this came out well, and that you all like it. Feel free to leave comments or even give your own two cents on it.

[mycrofts-sword-gunbrella]

Prequel to The Syncode: Part 1

��                            First Meetings, Flights and Arrivals                                            

                     Joanne Hartwell had never flown in a private jet before. Julian had promised her a little adventure into his world of secrets, MI6 and its equivalent, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.

She wished more than anything that Julian could be here to share in the sumptuous surroundings of his luxury gulf stream. She missed him and their lively conversations they'd have when he'd return for a few weeks to his vacation home at Patos in the north Puget Sound - one of the many islands in the San Juan archipelago.

Due to the politics and intrigue Julian was currently embroiled in, he'd had to remain in Australia with ears on the ground as to who had infiltrated the top ranks of both the British and Australian Intelligence. He suspected it was more than one person, who was possibly working for a cabal or other secret network. True to form, he had made Joanne sign the Official Secrets Act; dear friend that she was, state secret knowledge of this magnitude needed to be in writing. He was quite the stickler for rules.

Still, the fact remained that nobody in the ASIS or the British SIS could be trusted. It was with her alone that he sent the top secret letter to give to his cousin Mycroft Holmes, head of British Security Services, and was now sending her across the Atlantic to meet him in London.

The trip would be a short one due to the potential danger Joanne could be in should she be found out. She was to meet Mycroft at The Langham hotel to hand off the letter.

   Settling down to lunch, she spread a fine linen napkin over her lap and tucked into the tasty salad, pasta marinara and fine wine. Joanne couldn't wrap her head around all this wealth. She had known Julian was well off, but not to this extent. Although a practical man, his tastes ran toward the elegant and refined. The polished table and sideboard gleamed, the scent of the freshly cut flowers sublime. Knowing she would probably never again be surrounded by such luxury, Joanne intended to enjoy this to the fullest.

           Savoring the exquisite cabernet sauvignon (over $2,000 a bottle!), she sank into the soft leather seat, her mind melting into sensory overload.

Diagnosed around age five with Synesthesia, life was an interesting, but not always a pleasant one. Some things, like the sweet, smooth wine she currently sipped, the colorful fragrance of the flowers, and the zesty full bodied pasta sauce, were wonderful to her senses. Colors and textures abounded.

When those senses crossed, colors were smelt and tasted, and impressions of everyday life were filtered and focused into her brain in ways she could not put into words. Touch was also affected, but to a lesser extent: Most objects could somehow be physically felt by only looking at them. Visually, letters and numbers were assigned their own various shades of color.

The auditory faculties gave her the most trouble. Sounds, as well as smells, had texture, weight and color, which could be hard to endure, especially in a city or large town. Joanne couldn't set foot in one without earphones and music to neutralize the noise and physical unpleasantness.           

It was this very curse, or, as it turned out, gift, that was the cause for her current trip to London. Looking out the window, Joanne’s mind drifted back to the first time she had met Julian, a little over a year ago. 

*****************************************************************

             The couple ahead of her paused, stopping to look at something on the man's phone. Joanne slowed, debating whether to venture into the street and pass them, or wait. The bus to work was due in 4 minutes, and she wasn't in the mood to watch their romantic antics. Love, or the lack of it, had been on Joanne's mind lately.

She would be 46 in less than five months, and sensed time for that kind of thing was running out. What decent looks she possessed were fading by the year. It really was true, that on reaching middle age and beyond, some women wanted to find a mate; someone to take care of them, to grow old with and to not be alone in their later years.  Being fiercely independent, Jo had scoffed at the idea. Yet lately on her brisk walks around the local trails, it seemed there was no avoiding couples and lovers, both young and old. Would she ever find someone? Considering she was a real homebody and never went out except for work, invigorating walks around the neighborhood and visits to the local park, it seemed unlikely.

    Most days, she sat under the pine tree at the park with the geese. They were her only friends. Jo preferred the company of the birds to humans, especially after interacting with patients and co workers for hours on end.

It was very calming to rub her cheek against their soft, smooth plumage while they were otherwise occupied eating out of the treat bag. Each one had a different scent. One smelled like creosote, another like Lilacs, yet another like sunscreen. Joanne figured it was her Synesthesia playing with her senses, but still, it was wonderful. On cold days, she would slip her hands under their wings to keep warm. It felt like being enveloped in a warm down coat, the colors in her mind soft and fuzzy, subdued and calming. She'd been coming to this park for years, and all the geese knew her. As far as Joanne could tell, she was the only one they would let pet and hug them. In spring, the parents would nudge their goslings over to her. How many generations were there, now? She'd lost count.

            Watching the parked cars across the small pond, Joanne wondered who sat inside them; it was usually the same cars day in and day out on their lunch breaks. Who were they? Possibly single and also looking for someone? Her hopes were dashed when the doors would open and a couple would emerge, or a family would tumble out, the kids running over to the nearby playground. The few men that were alone were either too old or too young.  Resigned to her fate, she squared her shoulders and checked for oncoming cars, quickly hurrying past the mincing couple. They barely glanced at her as she rushed by.  

   Arriving at work, she checked the schedule to see when the last patient would be. The list was short, the patients spaced out by half an hour or more. Still, if all went well, there would indeed be time for a few quick laps around the block.

The afternoon went by quickly, each patient needing something extra, it seemed. An xray here, a layered compression cast there. The doctor was beginning to run behind, when her boss, Dr. Packman’s wife, informed her of an end of the day walk in, and a new patient, no less. So much for that walk. Still, with the rent going up astronomically every year, Joanne wasn't complaining, and coveted any extra hours provided.  The Packman’s had been good to her for the five years she had worked there, had been spoiled in fact. She owed them much.  

   The last scheduled patient was leaving when the new one arrived. Joanne was cleaning and preparing the exam room when she heard a deep, booming voice come from the reception area. The accent was Australian, yet, there was a very definite underlying British one.

        She heard the patient retire to the waiting room to fill out the new patient paperwork. Burning curiosity brought Joanne out to the front desk, who peered over the counter at the new arrival. Another man sat with him as they quietly conversed. 

He was a big man; not fat in the conventional way, but large boned, and tall. She estimated him to be at least six five. He was elegance personified, impeccably dressed in a dark three piece suit, complete with a silk handkerchief and double Albert chain attached most likely to an old fashioned watch fob hidden inside the waistcoat pocket.

Dark hair thinning at the top and with slight jowls, the man looked to be in his early to mid sixties. Sensing her gaze, he glanced up at her. Piercing dark brown eyes bore into hers. Deep intelligence glittered in their depths, and something else, as though he could read her mind. There was something almost Middle Eastern about his features, yet his skin was as pale as an Englishman's. This was a new one for Jo, who could usually tell where a person was from, based on either accent or physical characteristics. He seemed to encompass both. She glanced down at the penciled in name on the schedule: Julian Holmes. 

His companion was also well dressed, but not as extravagant as her patient. His bearing and speech to Julian Holmes was as a subordinate or employee.

   Time seemed to stretch like melted taffy as she thought of something to say. Who was this man? No one of this caliber ever came to the clinic. Usually the clientele were Medicare patients, as well as the occasional retired doctor and everything in between. This was someone outside of normal social circles, and she couldn't wait to find out more about him. The reason for his visit never even crossed her mind, until she saw how he was holding his right foot. Even from across the room, she could tell it was painful for him.

Misinterpreting her curiosity for impatience, he stated drily, "Almost done. I am sorry to keep you so late this evening, I imagine you are ready to go home." His voice was deep and sonorous, cultured and refined.

The receptionist had left for the day an hour earlier,  and the boss had gone downstairs to her office after checking him in. Her co worker was long gone, having been the opening MA that day, and the doctor was in his back office typing away at chart notes. It was just Joanne, this intriguing man, and his companion.

    Signing the last of the paperwork, he slowly stood and came over to the desk. "Back in a tic, Henry", he called, looking over his shoulder to the seated man, who bowed his head curtly in acknowledgement and resumed texting.

"I believe you will find everything in order", Julian stated, sliding the papers across the counter. Considering how impeccably he was dressed and well groomed, she didn't doubt it. Just his attention to the smallest details of his wardrobe was astounding.

His expensive cologne also drifted over. Subtly spicy, the scent flashed colors and textures through her mind: A dark red with subtle indigo, smooth with small gritty points of yellow sprinkled throughout.  It was exquisite.

Barely glancing at the paperwork, she nodded, suddenly shy. "Yes, looks fine. Come on back." Opening the door, she was about to lead him down the hall to the exam room, when she paused. "Would you like to bring your friend back with you?", she asked.

He shook his massive head in the negative. "No need. That is my assistant Henry, who sees to my transportation needs." She nodded to Henry in greeting, who looked up and smiled briefly before returning to his phone. Joanne took her patient back.

Although clean, she realized the rooms and the small clinic in general, must have appeared very homely and economic compared to what he was normally used to. It was all somewhat daunting. How had he ended up here? 

Taking a deep breath, she was determined to stay focused. "How're you this evening? She gestured to the podiatric chair. "Go ahead and have a seat in the chair of honor!” Normally her attempt at humor would crack a smile on the face of even the most reticent of her patients. Not so with this taciturn man. His sense of humor was either nonexistent or very dry. “Also, please remove your shoes and socks. What brings you in tonight?"

Slowly, the man named Julian Cambridge lowered himself into the chair next to the one she had indicated. "I'll pop up there in one moment. It is difficult to bend down these days," he said, indicating his shoes.  She couldn't imagine this man 'popping' off anywhere.

"Do you need help removing them?" she asked. He impatiently shook his head, looking slightly affronted. "I may be getting on in years, but I've not reached that point yet. Tell me, do I look in need of assistance?" Although stated politely, there was an undercurrent of indignation. His dark eyes flashed.

Startled, Joanne backed away. "No offence meant, really! It's just, I always ask.. as a courtesy..", she faltered.

"To elderly persons, you mean?", he added somewhat testily.

"I.." She trailed off. What could she say? This was going sideways very fast. Focusing on his current problem, her mind went on autopilot as she peppered him with medical questions.

Shoes and socks removed, he settled his large frame into the exam chair. "Lift up for me?", she asked, indicating his long legs that stretched far beyond the chairs edge. Shifting a lever, the bottom half was pulled out to extend it. Tipping him back using the foot peddle, Joanne continued on. "Any history of gout?", she asked, noting the red, swollen first toe.

"As a matter of fact, yes. That is what brings me in tonight. As you can see, it is incredibly painful". He almost winced as Joanne lightly felt the heated skin with the back of her hand.  Scribbling down notes, she continued the obligatory questions while glancing at his paperwork.  Age of 61. Unmarried.  Local address on one of the San Juan islands up the Sound. Employment: Civil Servant. Hmm. Interesting.

Julian' sharp eyes missed nothing. He seemed to be studying her as much as she was him. Sensing what she was thinking, he said, "I live in Australia, but make my home on Patos Island during the summer months. As you can see, the heat does not agree with my condition."

"You live on Patos Island? I didn't know there were any homes there. It's all owned by the Bureau of Land Management, if I remember right. Nice island, but all wilderness."

"Ah. Well, some years ago, I purchased the island from your government. There is only one home there currently - mine. Of course, it's closed to the public now. It's private and quite suitable."

"No way! You OWN the entire island?!" Jo couldn't help gawping. Some of her patients did indeed live on the San Juan's, but none actually owned a whole island.

Julian smiled, amused by her reaction. "A man in my occupation likes a bit of peace and quiet. I obtained it at a discount. "

"How'd you do that? Our gov isn't exactly known for that kind of thing."

A rich, baritone laugh suddenly erupted from his expansive chest. "Connections my dear girl. I know many people in your government, and some of them owe me favors." His reserved demeanor returned once more. 

She could only stare wide eyed at him. His check in complete, it was time to let the doctor know he was ready. And yet, the more she learned of this mysterious man, the more she wanted to know.

One thing was certain: There was an authoritative and possibly dangerous air about him. Whatever position this man held, most likely a senior one, he was not one to be crossed. Julian Holmes was perhaps the most intimidating man she had ever met. And fascinating.

"How did you find out about us?  I would have thought there would be podiatrist somewhere nearby on one of the larger islands."

"There is not. The one on the nearest island retired, apparently. I met one of your prior patients in a small supermarket on Orcas Island. It's the nearest grocers to Patos. After noting my bothersome foot, he commented that I should see a podiatrist, and yours came highly recommended."

It was true, a few patient of theirs currently lived or had retired up to the various San Juan islands. It was a small world, indeed.

Joanne wondered about his 'connections' in the government. Civil Servant, it had said on his occupation description. Definitely Australian government. How had he even found Patos? Who exactly was he connected with, and how high up did they go? How high in the upper echelons was this man? She had to know.

"What is your job, if you don't mind my asking? What kind of work does a civil servant entail?” Joanne indicated the registration form. “You can tell me if I'm being too forward. It's just, you are unlike anyone that's ever come to our clinic before.." Afraid she had been too bold, she held her breath, praying his temporary good humor wouldn't evaporate. It didn't.

"Ah!", said he, still chuckling. "You know much more about me at the moment, and you've yet to tell me your name." The man was evasive, she gave him that!

"It's Joanne.."

He raised an eyebrow, silently entreating her to continue.

"Hartwell," she finished. "'The Average' Jo to my friends."

"Well, Miss 'Average Jo to my friends Hartwell', it is very nice to meet you. I assume you've surmised mine," he noted, glancing at the paper and back to her. 

 A wide grin spread across her face. "Why yes. Yes I did!" 

She liked this man. Reserved and dour at first, he slowly opened up to her. Joanne detected a certain loneliness about him. Having worked over twenty years in the medical field, she had come across many like him. No matter their job, they were usually loners outside of work, and not quick to trust people. Oh yes, she knew this kind quite well. It took one to know one. He seemed to sense this, and was possibly thinking the same.

           Not wanting to keep him here later than he needed to be, she went to inform Dr. Packman that he was ready. Still furiously typing out a prior patients' note, he barely nodded and indicated he would be in shortly. Joanne quickly rushed back to her patient.

"He's just finishing a chart note, and will be in shortly. Hey, I notice you seem to have both an Australian accent and a British one. I could be wrong.. I always like guessing where folks are from with their accents, but yours is different!"

Julian looked surprised and taken aback. At first she thought she had (again) offended him, but there was nothing but a keen interest on his face now.

"Really? You picked up on that?” Smoothly evading her question, he asked a few of his own. “Tell me, do you know any foreign languages? You appear have an ear for it".

"Well.. I learned Italian when I was stationed in Naples. Was in the Navy for 12 years before I had to get out for my back." (In truth she had gotten herself kicked out, having taken a drug that she shouldn't have, but her bad back had played a part in why she had had to take it. There was no way she would admit any of this to him). Joanne sensed he knew she was holding something of importance back. Luckily, he didn't press the issue.

"I also learned the Russian alphabet," she continued,  "and the Greek, as it's the parent to the Cyrillic, so it wasn't too hard. During my stay there, I'd gone to both Russia and Greece, and figured I should at least learn how to read it, even if I didn't know what I was actually reading. Unless it sounded like English phonetically, I had no clue!"

He looked at her, curious. "And how long did it take to learn them?"

"A few days."

Julian's eyes widened, studying her intently. "Yet you say you did not actually learn them. Only how to read the written texts."

"That's correct. I wanted to, but figured it wasn't worth my time as I'd only be in each place a week. Still, I liked the music, especially Greek. I still read it, and YouTube the videos with subtitles. Also the cursive."

"And Italian. You spoke the language, then?"

"Yes, it was easy once I learned how each letter or pair of them are pronounced. Like 'CH' is pronounced with a hard 'K' sound, not like CH in say, chips."

"And it took you how long?" The intensity of his gaze was unnerving. It was as though he were deeply considering something. What, she couldn't fathom.

"Ah, well, I didn't really apply myself too hard. I worked at the Naval Hospital, so everyone including the Italians spoke English there. It was only when I moved out into town that I really buckled down on it. Probably a month or so, and even then, it wasn't that good, but ok enough to get around. It’s only when totally immersed in a language that I can learn it fully, and since I wasn't, well.. it was a bit broken."

Julian's hands were steepled under his chin as he gazed at her, his thoughts turning inward. She remembered her earlier question.

"So, how is it that your accent both British and Australian? Or am I wrong?"

           He was about to reply, when the Podiatrist walked in, thus ending their engaging conversation. It would have to wait, but by then, the visit would be over and he would be wanting to get home.

It was this last thought that made her wonder how he was getting home. Patos Island was a good three or more hours by ferry, at least. She had taken the Victoria Clipper to British Columbia a few times; it was almost a two hour ride. This island was farther north than even Victoria. She needn't have worried, though.

"I have a marine vehicle waiting at the Edmond docks," he said, rapidly texting something into his phone.  "My assistant is calling a cab as we speak. "

Marine vehicle?  What kind? She couldn't imagine the man in a speed boat.

Reading the question in her eyes, he stated simply: "Just a small boat to get about around the islands."  Enigmatic indeed.

The diagnosis of gout was confirmed by ultrasound, as well as mild arthritis in the joints of the foot and ankle. A repeat visit would be required for the gout, as well as a cortisone injection for the ankle at a later date, after the gouty flare up subsided. A soft cast would be needed both today and again at his next visit to keep the swelling under control.

Joanne was applying the wrap when the doctor walked back in, telling her to schedule a follow up for Julian in a week. For some reason, this made her very happy. Julian hid a small smile as well.

Joanne led him out the connecting door to the waiting room. The assistant Henry was still texting on his phone.  She suspected he did more than just see to Julian's transportation.

About to hand him a reminder card, Julian waved a large but elegant hand, the cufflinks on his sleeve gleaming.  "No need for that. I've memorized it, as well as the phone number of this office, should I need it." She had memorized the date, too.

He looked pointedly at her. "I trust I will see you again?"

"Yes, I'll be here." With bells on, she thought.

"Very well. We will continue our earlier conversation at that time, and I shall endeavor to have an answer to your earlier question. Now! Henry! I believe that is our cab." Bright lights swept the small but otherwise empty parking lot outside as the cab parked and waited.

Julian extended his hand to her as he warmly shook it. "Thank you again Miss Hartwell for yours and Dr. Packman’s excellent service. It was a pleasure, I assure you. Ma'asalama. Hataa naltaqi mujadadaan."

With that, he turned and was followed out the door by Henry. "Goodnight, Miss Hartwell", he said, hurrying after his employer.

Julian's exotic cologne lingered in the room.

They were gone before she could ask for a translation of that last line, and what Arabic dialect it was that Julian had spoken. There was still the question regarding his mingled Australian and British accents.

Another mystery surrounding this fascinating man. One and more that Joanne hoped would be solved in one weeks time.

On their next encounter, however, she was to discover that Julian knew far more about her than she realized, and that his answers would lead to even more questions.

[jobsearchtips02]

Following unpleasant start, huge Income Defense Program reveals signs of upholding economy

However they also state things would be even worse without the huge business loan forgiveness program, which Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) shepherded through Congress and then assisted safeguard throughout chaotic weeks of application.

Getting to this point strained the federal government, the banking industry and small companies, with many bad moves and pivots along the way as they tried to build a program from scratch. And the Trump administration vacillated hugely in between trying to rush money out the door and after that attempting to tighten guidelines, enraging lawmakers such as Rubio, puzzling borrowers and nearly frustrating banks, even those with small business competence.

” It was like stating, ‘I desire my locally owned farmers market to work like Walmart or Amazon,'” stated Alicia Wade of Oklahoma City’s Valliance Bank, which processed 178 loans the very first weekend the fund opened. “It’s not feasible.”

A rocky start

Confusion swallowed up the program from the start.

One week prior to the program started, a bank lobbyist group composed to the Treasury Department caution of a major defect.

Treasury was not preparing to waive rigorous criminal charges for lenders who did not thoroughly vet their new customers. The banking group alerted that leaving the guidelines in place would require a level of vetting they could not rapidly offer. “As currently imagined, Cares Act financing will just be supplied to banks’ current legal entity consumers,” specified the letter, which was gotten by The Washington Post. The PPP was established as part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act.

When the PPP started accepting applications on April 3, the bank lobbyists’ forecast proved true. Instead of covering all organisations that qualified, much of the funding went initially to the clients the banks already understood and trusted– consisting of big corporations– firing up a public firestorm that outraged 10s of countless entrepreneur still desperately waiting for funding.

This developed a logistical and public relations nightmare, with numerous smaller sized business sidelined while larger firms found simple access to the cash. Treasury needed to make repetitive modifications to the program and ultimately ask Congress for more money prior to many of the problems were straightened out.

2 months later on, the PPP has actually directed more than $530 billion to 4.5 million business, and economic experts, magnate, White Home officials and lawmakers from both celebrations think it helped support the economy. Due to the fact that the federal government has launched no in-depth information about how many jobs the program has actually saved, it’s still unclear whether it attained its primary objective of assigning the lion’s share of the money to employees.

The program is about to enter a brand-new phase, as much of the business that received loans will begin applying for loan forgiveness to determine whether they have to repay the money. The program will also face its first congressional hearing on Wednesday, when Rubio will call Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who had appeared doubtful about producing the program while the legislation was being prepared, and Small company Association head Jovita Carranza to affirm.

Rubio stated in an interview that part of his inquiry will focus on “some early regulatory decisions, made or not made, that could have offered a little bit of clearness on the front end and sort of avoided some of the issues that took place.”

‘ If I had a time device … ‘

A Number Of the Income Defense Program’s preliminary issues can be traced to its hurried production in the frenzied days and nights of settlement that resulted in the passage of the Cares Act, which was rushed together at breakneck speed to jail the economy’s sudden free-fall.

Congress developed the program in March with really loose limitations, an effort to give the Trump administration flexibility to spray billions of dollars across the economy as rapidly as possible to try to consist of a tidal bore of layoffs.

The Small Company Administration, the government’s smallest Cabinet-level firm, didn’t post the rules for the program till the night before it went live, a day when 1,363 individuals passed away of covid-19 and the numbers were on the rise. At agency head offices on launch day, the SBA’s software for processing applications consistently malfunctioned, creating a massive stockpile. Big banks, hesitant of inadvertently misusing taxpayer money, awaited more clarity from the federal government prior to they started providing. Neighborhood lenders asked employee to work overtime, however even the most successful ones state it was no place near enough.

Although the program was created so business with 500 or less staff members might tap approximately $10 million in forgivable loans, it was soon clear much larger business could access the program, as big chains consisting of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse started revealing in securities filings that they had received millions in financing.

As one report after another came out about big, public firms getting cash, the National Federation of Independent Organisation asked policymakers to “put an immediate halt to this rubbish.”

” Openly traded business did not access this cash by themselves,” the group said April27 “The legislation did not have strong guardrails, leaving an opening for big business, and allowing large financial institutions to help their bigger customers gain access to cash planned for real small companies.”

Dealing with public reaction about concerns that big business were taking taxpayer money, Mnuchin prompted well-capitalized organisations to return the cash they had actually gotten and said all loans over $2 million would be examined.

The administration was likewise forced to ask Congress for more money, and legislators agreed to an additional $310 billion in April as part of a bigger bill that tried to make sure more of the money went to minority-owned businesses and underserved neighborhoods.

Rubio and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), two sponsors of the program, say there are things they would have done differently. Although the very first $349 billion designated was more than initial drafts of the legislation required, Rubio said that in retrospection, it’s clear the program ought to have been funded at a higher level to begin with. That first swimming pool of cash was pursued just 13 days, leaving countless small-business owners struggling and furious with policymakers. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed completely given that the start of the pandemic.

Cardin stated Congress’s intent was for big chains to be able to get just one loan totaling $10 million, not multiple loans surpassing that amount, as taken place in a some circumstances.

Rubio said, in hindsight, Congress should have given the administration more direct guidelines, including the percentage of the loan that had to go to payroll.

” If I had a time device and could have seen everything that took place, we probably would have been more specific, and a few of the things that there was regulatory uncertainty about, that ultimately we had to await assistance from Treasury to compose rules about, I believe in hindsight, we most likely would have been more specific about,” he stated.

The dash for money

After starting with insufficient cash, the PPP now appears to have too much, as more than $130 billion has gone unspent for more than a month. The slowdown in borrowing needed extra modifications to loosen the guidelines. Last week, President Trump signed into law a brand-new piece of legislation that extends the amount of time companies have to utilize the loans and have them forgiven from 8 weeks to 24 weeks, and might cause need for the program to choose back up.

When the program started, the nation’s tourism and entertainment sectors had been mostly closed down for three weeks, as sports arenas, museums and concert venues had actually closed en masse in mid-March.

Small-business owners logged into their banks’ sites from the backs of their darkened dining establishments and the empty lobbies of their hotels. A number of them had no income. Some had actually sent their workers home, unable to pay them any longer.

” We began seeing enormous cancellations being available in,” stated Katen Patel, who owns an Econolodge, Finest Western and other hotels in Oregon. He laid off 70 percent of his personnel, who entered into about 4 million hospitality workers in the country who lost their jobs.

In the 6 days between the finalizing of the $2 trillion Cares Act and the morning that lending started, Small company Administration leaders asked Robert Scott, Great Lakes regional administrator, to come to Washington to work as director of a “war space” overseeing the rollout.

The SBA is used to offering aid to businesses after localized natural catastrophes such as twisters and typhoons. The cross-country scale of the coronavirus crisis was a completely various sort of disaster.

For numerous nights as the program got underway, Scott said he and coworkers, including Carranza, an SBA veteran and former UPS executive, remained in the workplace till 3 or 4 a.m., consuming food they bought from Costco.

The strategy was to cede much of the underwriting and approval process to banks, which would accept applications from their consumers and then forward qualifying customers to SBA for processing. The agency’s E-Tran software was supposed to quickly vet the applications for duplicates or overdue SBA debts, then authorize them.

When the system is working, stated Steve Bulger, administrator of the SBA’s Atlantic Area and acting administrator for its Mid-Atlantic Region, “it refers a couple of seconds and ‘boom,’ that application returns out.”

However the rollout was anything but smooth. Headquarters team member, led by a crew of 10 to 15 socially distanced officials on the seventh floor of the firm’s Washington head office, didn’t finish the rules until the night prior to the program’s launch, sending out information to the public at 6: 40 p.m. Thursday.

The hold-up prompted numerous big banks not to accept applications for hours the next early morning, even as their customers rushed to get to the front of the line for cash they had actually been informed was to be given on a first-come, first-served basis.

In district SBA offices nationwide, the regular call volume rapidly quadrupled. C.J. Castro, who runs the SBA office in Tampa, said even his cellphone “began calling at 7 in the morning and it didn’t stop till 10 o’clock during the night” for weeks afterward.

” When you hear folks on the other line in tears, and they do not know where to go, it leaves an impression,” Castro stated.

Desperate pleas for help

E-Tran, which normally vets loans from about 1,700 agency-approved lending institutions, was suddenly being asked to veterinarian loans from close to 5,000 lending institutions (more than 5,400 are presently approved). Banks nationwide grumbled that E-Tran kept crashing, preventing all of the freshly signed up loan providers from getting in candidates into the federal government system for last approval.

After a long haul, some business owners got annoyed and applied with a smaller lender, only to be informed by E-Tran that they were currently in the system with an approved loan from the initial bank, which hadn’t yet informed them or disbursed the cash, Castro said.

Eric Terrell, senior supervisor at the SBA office in Memphis, began getting 120 calls a day, lots of from stressed business owners who hadn’t spoken with their banks after using.

” You get call from entrepreneur who are crying, all the savings they had have gone out,” Terrell said. “You get other people, they’re so upset they use profanity. And I comprehend.”

By April 16, the very first $349 billion was gone. For the SBA, it was a speed often times greater than it usually ran. In a normal year, the agency approves $25 billion in such loans; since April 3, it has actually approved about $530 billion.

Within days of the fund running dry, another issue emerged, as dozens of openly traded companies reported receiving money. AutoNation, a Fortune 500 network of car dealers, gotten lots of loans from its Florida head office and received a minimum of $77 million. Ashford Group, a Dallas-based owner of 130 hotels, received a minimum of $76 million.

It stays unclear how many big hotel and restaurant chains may have made the most of the program, but openly traded companies in all got more than $1 billion in funding. The government has actually mostly declined to disclose any recipients of the program and has actually not said how much has actually been returned.

In an interview, Carranza acknowledged the frustration from Rubio and Cardin with getting information about the performance of the program, however said the concern had been getting money out the door to companies.

” Senator Rubio and Senator Cardin wanted those funds in the hands of small companies rapidly. Therefore that was my focus,” Carranza stated, adding information stability was likewise crucial and she attempted to provide information to the Small Business Committee as fast as possible. “We have actually been supplying information. At this point, it’s not adequate enough. However, we’re working extremely closely with [Rubio’s] workplace to help them realize exactly what the performance level is.”

After the protest, it fell to Treasury authorities to fix the issue.

Legislators had initially prepared to authorize even less money for the program, with early drafts requiring $100 billion, according to 3 individuals knowledgeable about internal discussions who spoke on the condition of privacy to share information of the personal negotiations.

Mnuchin appeared either lukewarm or hesitant about the effort and was more concentrated on the loan programs for airline companies and big corporations throughout the drafting of the legislation, two of these people stated. Publicly, Mnuchin has actually declared the program as an effective answer to the nation’s biggest slump because the Great Anxiety.

After the problems started to arise, the Treasury Department released a stream of changing and often confusing brand-new guidelines.

Continuous pressure, constant modifications

Mnuchin was under consistent pressure from Capitol Hill to make modifications. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has actually complained to him in personal call about Treasury’s altering assistance on whether companies will deal with audits and potential sanctions if they abuse the money, stated two people aware of the conversations who spoke on the condition of privacy to share private conversations. (Collins decreased to comment about this through a spokesperson.)

The inadequate size of the financing produced additional problems. Fearful that the money would go out quickly, the administration had actually produced a new requirement– one not specified in the legislation Congress authorized– stipulating that firms could get loan forgiveness only if 75 percent of the help went to maintaining payrolls at precrisis levels. The rest needed to be spent on energies, lease or home loan interest. (Recently, this rule was altered and the new ratio is 60/40)

That suggested many firms could not take the loans with confidence that they would be forgiven. Restaurants that were still open for takeout and shipment needed money to pay food providers, but realized if they utilized PPP money for those costs, they would be forced to pay that part back, without knowing when they could go back to business as typical. And with their businesses closed for sit-down service, they didn’t require 100 percent of their staff back on the payroll, restaurateurs said.

Lobbyists for the dining establishments immediately took their problems to the White House and the Treasury Department, however without success. Now, about one third of food service and lodging organisations have less than one month of cash left, said Adam Ozimek, primary economic expert at Upwork, putting as numerous as 3 million restaurant tasks at risk.

” It was frankly mysterious, that they ‘d take that method since it straight opposes the program’s designated versatility,” said John Lettieri, president and president of the Economic Development Group, a nonpartisan public policy organization. “It works better for least-affected employers and worse for the most impacted, which is perverse.”

Some who were hesitant of the program early on have actually changed their tune. Regardless of criticizing the way public business used it, NFIB considers the program a “qualified success,” stated Kevin Kuhlman, the group’s vice president of federal government relations. He stated a recent NFIB study found 77 percent of small companies had looked for loans under the program, and 93 percent had been authorized.

Wade, the Oklahoma City lender, said her personnel worked 14- hour days when PPP began. She stated she was hoarse by the end of the first week, after going through applications with carpenters, specialists, restaurant owners and lots of others.

All in all, she stated, “I believe the program has actually worked, despite its ease of usage.”

%.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/following-unpleasant-start-huge-income-defense-program-reveals-signs-of-upholding-economy/

[karaandlenatether]

You learn a lot about your friends late at night part 3

Link to read it on ao3

Lena knew that tonight was the night that she was going to tell Kara how she really felt about her. It had been a week since Lena had learned that Kara Danvers, junior report for Catco world wide media, was in fact an alien superhero. Kara had been by her office a couple of times to see how she was doing and, each time she had Lena knew she couldn’t keep her feelings to herself anymore. No one had ever made her feel quite the way she did about Kara. That was why she’d invited Kara over to her apartment tonight, to finally clear away all the secrets that had been between them.

Lena had spent most of her day thinking on the best way of telling Kara, deciding on simply having the young Kryptonian over for a private dinner with as many of her favourite foods as she could get, not an easy feat as Lena quickly learned. Still Lena would do everything she could to ensure that nothing went wrong with tonight. Or at least that was her plan until she got a call from Alex.

 “Lena thank god, I need you to get down to the DEO as quickly as possible. It’s Kara, she blew out her powers fighting with a group of aliens. Two of them managed to escape so J’onn wants every agent he’s got out searching for them. I tried to stay by her side but she told me to go, and that she had dinner plans with you already. I really need someone to watch over her.” Lena could hear the panic in Alex’s voice. Lena’s heart was beating harder than she’d ever felt before. Kara was hurting.

 “I’ll be there as quick as I can, I’ll take care of her for as long as she needs.” Lena replied quickly as she grabbed her keys. She knew that right now she needed to push everything she thought tonight was going to be.

 “Thank you Lena, this means a lot.” Alex hung up the phone. Lena hurried her way down to her building and got in one of the cars she’d bought but hadn’t had enough time to drive, a Tesla model S. Lena’s mind was running wild about all the possible things that could have happened to Kara if the remaining aliens hadn’t run off.

 ------------------------------

 Lena arrived at the DEO and was brought to what looked like a cross between a lab and a medical center. Her eyes gravitated towards Kara who was asleep under strange looking lamps. She could see there were tears in Kara’s suit where whatever aliens the were must have hit her. There was no cuts as far as she could tell, but the telltale signs of bruises forming were all too apparent. Alex who was sat next to Kara nodded in Lena’s direction and motioned for her to come closer.

 “Thank you again Lena. Normally I would stay with her myself but J’onn needs my help catching these bastards before they figure out that Supergirl is out of commision for the time being.” Lena could hear the nervousness in Alex’s voice, it was clear she didn’t like the idea of not staying with Kara. Before Lena could stop herself she pulled Alex into a hug. Lena wasn’t used to comforting people but she knew this was what Alex needed at that moment.

 “You don’t need to thank me Alex, I’d do anything for her.” Lena knew all too well the truth in those words. Alex pulled back from the embrace and gave Lena a nod before heading off towards the door. She gave one last lingering look at her sister before rounding the corner leaving Lena and a sleeping Kara alone.  Lena moved to the seat Alex had been in and took Kara’s hand. Kara seemed more peaceful than Lena had ever seen her. The young reporter had occasionally fallen asleep on Lena’s office couch when she was waiting for Lena to finish up with an important call, but in all those times Kara had still seemed restless. It dawned on Lena that it was probably due to her super hearing picking up everything around her. She made a mental note to try and find something that would help Kara block out the extra stimulus and get a more peaceful sleep.

 Lena slowly tucked a piece of Kara’s hair behind her ear. She hoped one day this would be something she’d get to see under better circumstances. Lena laid her head down gently on Kara’s chest and listened to the beat of her heart. Even without her powers Kara’s heart seemed to beat more loudly and vibrantly than any heart should have the right to, but that was who Kara was. She was kind to every person she met regardless of if they deserved that kindness or not. The soothing rhythm of Kara’s heart was a comfort to Lena, and she soon found herself slipping into unconsciousness.

 Lena began to stir sometime later at the feeling of fingers being run through her hair. Opening her eyes she saw Kara smiling down at her. Lena’s heart leapt into her throat at the sight, it was what she wanted so badly even if Kara still didn’t know how she felt.

 “Hey there sleepy head.” Kara gave her one of smiles that sent Lena’s heart through the roof. She wondered how someone could still seem so perfect after all she’d been through.

 “Hey yourself.” Lena replied not moving her head from Kara’s chest. “How are you feeling?” Lena wanted to make sure that Kara wasn’t hurt before anything else.

 “I’ll be ok. It’s always very disorienting when I solar flare.” Kara looked around the room quickly before settling her eyes back on Lena’s face. “I’m sorry I kinda ruined our dinner plans, I’m glad you’re here though.” Lena couldn’t believe that after everything that Kara had gone through today she was still worried about not being able to have their dinner tonight. “I’d been hoping to talk to you about something tonight.”

 “You don’t have to apologize Kara, we can always do dinner another night. If you are feeling up to talking though we can still talk about what you wanted to talk about.” Lena sat up, never letting go of Kara’s hand.

 “Well it’s um… I was hoping that um…Oh Rao.” Lena watched as Kara leaned in and their lips met. It was like stepping out into the sun after being kept in the darkness for so long. Lena pushed to deepen the kiss never wanting it to end. It was confirmation of everything Lena had wanted for so long. When they both finally pulled apart they were breathing hard. “I’m sorry, I should have asked for your permission before I did that.”

 “It’s ok Kara please don’t apologize for that. That was actually the reason I wanted to have you over for dinner tonight. I was planning on telling you how I feel.” Lena couldn’t help but smile at how flustered Kara still looked.

 “Would you like to go on a date with me Lena Luthor?” Kara blushed and looked at her hands. Lena smiled and took Kara’s face in her hands and leaned part way in, waiting for Kara to close the distance between them. Their lips met again and it sent the spark of an idea through Lena’s brain.

 “Why wait?” Lena stood up and walked over to the light switch, flicking it off so that the only light was that of the lamps above Kara. She then pulled out her phone and put on some ambient music before settling back into the chair beside Kara. “I’m not going anywhere until you’re feeling better so we may as well have our first date right here.” Lena noticed the smile spread slowly across Kara’s face and her eyes start to sparkle under the light of the lamps.

 “How could I say no?” Kara laughed. “Would you be ok coming up here and laying with me Lena?” Lena nodded and help Kara shift her weight over to the side of the bed. She climbed up and put her arm behind Kara’s head so that Kara could lay against her.They lay together like that for a while enjoying each other’s silent company.

 “Kara would you tell me about Krypton? It’s ok if you don’t feel comfortable with that, I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose everything that way.” Lena turned her head to look at Kara. The girl was quiet and Lena thought maybe she had pushed things too far.

 “In some ways it was similar to Earth. Our technology was quite a bit more advanced though. I was really surprised when I first came to Earth that things like space travel weren’t commonplace. I remember going with my parents to see the near by planets and moons, then finding out that me landing here was a huge deal because that kind of thing didn’t really happen except for my cousin of course. Jobs were different there too, we had a guild system there. Every kryptonian would take a test when they were ten years old, Rao knows I was terrified of learning what I was destined to do at that age. I remember getting the results though, I was supposed to go into the science guild, like my father and my uncle. It had been exactly what I was hoping because that stuff was always so fascinating to me. When Alex and I were growing up she used to drag me to science fairs all the time, I would pretend that I was bored the entire time but I secretly loved going. Not because the science was all that interesting, we’d learned much more advanced things at a young age. It was because it was a small connection to everything I’d left behind.” Kara spoke softly but her voice was full of emotion. Lena felt tears splash against her hand.

 “Kara if it’s too painful to talk about you can stop.” Lena held Kara tight hoping that she was a comfort to the young kryptonian. The sadness Kara must have been feeling going through all of this again was breaking Lena’s heart.

 “No I’m ok, It’s just been a long time since I got to share all of this with someone. I remember when I was very young my grandmother passed away. My mother came to me and said that as long as we talk about them and keep them in our hearts they are never truly gone because we keep them in Rao’s light.” Kara continued on for a while explaining the different way things were done on Krypton. Lena could feel her heat swelling with every new thing Kara talked about. Occasionally Lena would ask a question about something and Kara would explain it more thoroughly. Lena listen to it all intently while her free hand absentmindedly made it’s way through Kara’s hair.

 “Also don’t even get me started on how difficult it was to learn English, do you know how little sense the rules of the english language make compared to Kryptonian?” Kara was starting to get some of her usual energy back in her. Lena couldn’t help but smile when an idea popped into her head.

 “I don’t unfortunately, but if you were willing I’d love to learn how to speak your native language.” Lena said softly hoping again that this wasn’t crossing a line. Kara sat and turned to look at her.

 “You want to learn Kryptonian?” Kara replied with a look of complete disbelief. There was the unmistakable sound of excitement in her voice.

 “If you’d be willing to teach me I’d be honored Kara.” Lena couldn’t help but smile at the look in Kara’s eyes. There was a spark of something Lena didn’t quite know how to put into words, it was like Kara was reliving all of her greatest memories from when she was a child back on Krypton all at once.

 “Ni-si khap khehth Lena.” Kara replied in Kryptonian. Lena couldn’t help but think that it was beautiful when it came from Kara. “That means I would be honored. The words of my house were El Mayarah, they mean Stronger Together.” Lena couldn’t believe how amazing the words she was hearing were. She was learning the native language of the person who meant the most to her.

“El Mayarah.” Lena said knowing in her heart that they truly would be stronger together.