Okumura Syndicate

Chapter 60: Looking forward to the future

As soon as the witch had exited the room, Fleur emerged from underneath the heap of cushions Aster had placed on her bed. "Was Viper here just now? I thought I heard a conversation.", she yawned. Aster smiled awkwardly, "Yes, there was, but if you heard any of it, I want you to forget it.", he states clearly.

"I was asleep, I only heard the end of it. She said not to give it away to anyone, right?", Fleur reassures Aster. With the black haired boy's anxiety averted, she hastily tries to leave the room. "You're not going back to fighting are you?", Aster asks worriedly. "What else am I supposed to do?", she responds desperately.

Aster simply sighed and held up his hand. "Edward won't force you to do anything next time we battle Lin, Fleur. Let's go for a walk, we can discuss this in the garden", he suggests. Fleur was taken aback by his answer, "Y-your injuries, are you sure you're okay to walk?". Aster nods, "There's only 2 days left of my treatment, Viper advised to get some fresh air late in my recovery, she said it was good for me.".

They leave the infirmary and head to the mansion gardens, where many flowers blossomed in the early summer conditions. "Aster, why are you worried about me? Are you trying to stop me or something?", Fleur asks anxiously. Aster turns to the elf girl and gave the most genuine face he could, "We need more fighters out there, fighting Lin alone just wasn't possible for me. What if Lin isn't our main enemy? What if he has a superior? You learning to fight is exactly what we need. Sure, we might not be the best of friends, which I blame my sudden entrance into the world for, but for the good of the syndicate, we need you Fleur."

"I'll do it.", she declares with slight conviction. Aster could notice the boost in her confidence and smiled at her again. "You know, if you get this confident about your life, I might have to challenge you to a duel sometime. I think it'll be fun.", he chuckled. Fleur brushed off all signs the comment could be sarcastic and became shocked in amazement.

"You really think I could fight you? I doubted everything when Rou gave the same comment five days ago, but it seems more people believe in me than I thought, I need to think this over; go back to the infirmary, you'll see me at the meeting!", the pink haired girl rushed off with thoughts to ponder, and Aster did as she said, returning to the infirmary. As soon as he'd got back in his bed, Demitris entered the room.

"Oh, Demitris, didn't expect to see you here so early. Don't you have a job to do?", Aster remarks. "Rou just wanted me to give you this note, a formal invitation to the meeting tomorrow, it'll be you, Craaq, the soldiers that were in Rou's group, as well as all the higher ranking members.". Aster felt nervous at the though of it, "It's that formal then, I guess I better start getting ready in advance.", he said, seemingly in a rush.

"The five soldiers due to attend the meeting must be in the uniforms provided by the consigliere and bruglione, at least that's what I heard from Rou. Capos already dress pretty formal, so they're okay, it's just us that need to smarten up a little.", Demitris informs. Aster rolls his eyes, "Typical rich people, and to think they could be arranging something even more formal. I just don't get it!".

"I fully understand you Aster, I was shocked in my first meeting too, it's just a custom that Edward came up with when he became boss 15 years ago, someone had to teach me about it too.", Demitris declared. "Tch, of course it was that damn bastard looking superior. I can't wait to argue with him in a couple days.", Aster laughs jokingly.

"Maybe don't do that...", Demitris warns with a smirk. "Why not? He's no different from any other mass murderer, surely there's something we can do to put him down, even if it's just a minor inconvenience.". Demitris giggled with him and waved at the door, "I'll see you later, Aster, sometimes your craziness goes over my head.", he shuts the door and leaves Aster to think. The meeting was fast approaching, and he was sure he'd be ready for it.