Aster lands in a another world where he finds himself on the private property of a crime syndicate. Initially he isn't accepted, but it is his goal to rise up the ranks and get recognition within the syndicate as it's the only thing he has!
Side Not...
Rou and Fleur felt intense emotion toward each other, both so on edge that neither of them could speak. Aster was caught in the middle, clueless on what to do, but he had to do something before someone got hurt. The passage seemed to close in on him with the pressure, even though it was not moving at all, until finally, he spoke.
"Seriously? You two are concerned with each other? Look, you've both known each other longer than I've known the pair of you combines. You've been Okumuras for a long time. Why let something like this mess you both up?! You can do better, come on!", Aster yelled. "Why are you just letting history repeat itself like this?! Fleur, we would have still been really close friends with our ranks if you weren't so damn competitive!", Rou shouted out at Fleur, barely listening to Aster's response.
Fleur continued to sob, she didn't know how to control this, as if to her it was Edward or nothing. She stared her former right hand man square in the face before going into another crying fit. "Y-you betrayed me...", she blubbered, her eyes still full of tears.
Aster could see that this was his fault, he shouldn't have forced information out of Rou for his own investigation, though to his defense he believed he'd die if he didn't go through with it. With nothing else left to do, he unsheathed his sword out of his belt and placed it between them.
"Look, as much as neither of us wanted this interaction, you can't give up hope, especially with each other. Now I still don't completely know the concepts of this world, but I know damn well enough that you two especially are people who need to get along, don't let something like this stop either of you, you're Okumuras. This is nothing? Right?", Aster asked.
The two caporegime looked up at him, ashamed of what they'd done. "Fleur, I think I'm the one who needed to apologise for what happened last year. I should've talked more about what my goals were and not been so caught up in my own life..", Rou said, feeling guilty. "I-I'm sorry too, I assumed too fast that you'd stop being friends with me once you got promoted. I know now you never intended to be my rival, you were just really strong...", Fleur's hands dropped down in solidarity.
Aster let go of his sword as Rou and Fleur hugged to make up. "I didn't expect it to be that easy. Wow, I wasn't aware they were that close back then.", he thought. As Rou and Fleur let go from the embrace, Rou suggested they go back. "I think we better leave this passage now, don't want the boss wondering where we are.", he stated.
The way out of the passage had far less tension than the way in. This was the moment Aster felt the least like he would die that day. As they travelled down, Fleur and Rou caught up on what they missed in each other's lives, a pleasant sight for Aster to witness. "Seems like this investigation gave us more than just answers.", he thought.
Eventually, the trio arrived back in the library, where Edward was still writing notes. It was sundown by the time they returned and Edward immediately questioned them. "It seems you found the underground passage; very intriguing.", he remarked. "You better not punish us for this, ugly fangs!", Aster responded.
"Of course not, if I'm honest, this was part of my plan from the start, intruder. Why do you think I decided to investigate you myself? I didn't need that much time to write things down, I had the majority thanks to that interview with Catoria this afternoon.", Edward informed. "So you weren't trying to kill him like normal, eh boss?", Rou announced.
"And why would you think I'd do that?", Edward enquired. Suddenly it all made sense to Aster, "So the reason I couldn't use force on my investment is because of you?", asked the provoked boy. "That is a question I am unwilling to answer to intruders, and shouldn't you be returning to your dorm.", continued the vampire. "But...", Aster tried to ask again, but with no avail. "I think it's best to listen to the boss.", Rou explained. Aster gave in and left for bed.
"You used your ability on him, didn't you boss?", questioned Rou. Edward nodded, "It was the only way to prevent this library from breaking out into violence, I'm sure you understand.", he informed. Fleur reassured her reformed friend, "I think it was a good idea. Besides, isn't Aster a little uncontrollable otherwise?", she states, knowing the difficult time he had been giving Rou in training.
"I suppose you're right...", admitted Rou, he Fleur and Edward left the library upon ending the dispute. Was this all he had to do? Or were they still holding on by a thread? That was something he'd just have to wait out. Heading back to his dorm, Aster felt hope about the rest of his time in the organisation. With very little work left to do, he could help find key suspects out of his findings tomorrow, but what he was about to find would be extremely difficult to piece together.
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