MafiA's Gamble

TWENTY

Eleyne and Dark Knight

     Eleyne was roughly thrown into a cell deep within the Assassin's Guild's sleek headquarters. The Dark Knight locked the door, and after ensuring everything was in place, started to walk away. She watched, annoyance written into her face, as he left. Tch. How very kind. Eleyne quickly got a bearing of her surroundings. White, pristine walls shone around her, much too clean and glistening for it to be much of a gloomy cell. She was alone in the room, one bed in the corner, and a camera in the top right, surveilling her every move. Eleyne frowned at the camera, as she tried to make the best of her situation. She might as well learn as much as she could about AG while she was there. Having made up her mind, Eleyne looked back up at the camera and called out a wish that sounded like an authoritative demand. "I request an audience with the Dark Knight." When she received no response, Eleyne, immensely irritated, shot one of her infamous glares at the camera. "I know you can hear me. Don't play dumb and pretend you didn't hear anything. I'm talking to you, surveillance team." Silence. once again flashing an irritated look, a shaky voice gave in, responding through a speaker by the ceiling. "I- ... ugh fine. Give me a moment." 

     Eleyne, satisfied though the annoyance wasn't all gone, had only needed to wait a few seconds before the Dark Knight's voice reverberated through the room. "What do you want? State it clearly, and can you please stop harassing the surveillance team?" Eleyne folded her arms. "I'm afraid I wasn't so clear the first time. I requested a private conversation." The Dark Knight answered with a frown on his face. "No. There's absolutely no reason for you to be able to command us as if we work under you. Just because you're a strategist doesn't mean you have the right to boss around whoever you want." Eleyne glared back at the camera, irritation pulling at the corners of her eyes. "Then kill me." The Dark Knight replied, stunned. "What?" "Kill me, or I'll kill myself. If I do, you will lose the advantage you just painstakingly brought back. Your efforts become quite pointless, no?" The Dark Knight stood in surprised silence. He had initially thought that she would be the type to sacrifice others for her own personal gain, yet here she was, ready to die. 

     Eleyne swooped down to the innocently lying bed and forcefully broke off one of its legs, holding up the jagged edge and displaying it clearly for the camera to capture. "All I ask for is cooperation and agreement to my proposal, at least two hours of private discussion per day whenever I call for it, as long as I am captured here I also wish to be treated as a guest during these discussions. In return, I will not attempt any escapes of my own free will, nor will I kill myself. In terms of the former, however, I cannot guarantee my course of action should someone come to save me." She narrowed her eyes at the camera, and on the other side, the Dark Knight shivered. It felt as if she was staring right into his soul. "You have five seconds to accept my terms before I injure myself beyond repair. Five... Four... Three-" The Dark Knight gave in, throwing his hands up in frustrated defeat. "FINE. I have no idea why you want to talk to me so badly, but just so you know, you won't gain anything from it." Eleyne smiled slyly as she brought the sharp edge away from her neck. "I'm glad we have come to an agreement." The Dark Knight snorted. "Hah, it's not like I had a choice."

     Eleyne sat on a chair as the Dark Knight walked in, who was now dressed in casual clothes, though he still had his gun on his hip. Eleyne noticed the weapon, but didn't mind, leisurely sipping her tea and taking her time before starting up a conversation. The Dark Knight sat with his arms crossed, annoyed at the way things were going, and slightly wary of what the strange girl was scheming. Finally setting her tea down on the small coffee table, she looked at him and smiled innocently. "Say, I think I plan on looking forward to these daily conversations, but first things first. I would like to know your name." The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes, sensing something suspicious. "There's literally no need for you to know my name. In fact, I'd rather not disclose it." Eleyne pouted with disappointment. "But I can't just keep calling you 'Dark Knight'. That sounds so weird... Mr. Dark Knight... It sounds unnecessarily formal. Besides it's only fair, since you probably already know my name." The Dark Knight stayed silent. Unable to exactly refute her points, he decided to simply not respond. "Heyyy don't ignore me! That's just mean!" As an avid watcher of anime, Eleyne could almost see the classic angry red irk marks appearing on the Dark Knight's forehead, as he slowly grew increasingly irritated. "Don't just sit there! Ughh you're so rude." Seeing as he was still unresponsive, Eleyne tossed in a little something to ensure she won't be talking to a wall. "Fine. I guess I won't be telling you about what Yuki thinks about you." She stared at her fingernails, slightly frowning when they were a little longer than she would have liked. 

     Looking up to see the startled Dark Knight flinch, she smirked. Gotcha. She sighed dramatically, reaching for her tea as she sounded rather disappointed. "Since you refuse to talk and entertain me during my limited hours of... hmm I guess you can say, 'freedom', I guess I'll keep to myself and enjoy the tea." The Dark Knight suddenly grasped her wrist, preventing her from taking the teacup. A sly smile passed over Eleyne's face. "Oh, are you curious now? Do you want to know~~?" He grimaced and grudgingly uttered his response. "How do you even know about my relation to Yuki?" At this point, Eleyne didn't even try to mask her satisfied expression. "Why, I just lured you into my trap. All I did was confirm that you are none other than Raito Kurugiri, the 'most popular guy in my grade'." Eleyne quoted, immensely entertained as she watched Raito's expression change from impassive to extreme internal conflict. Removing his hand from her wrist, she took the cup and sipped her tea as she watched him slowly crumble at her words. 

      Raito shuddered as he watched the girl casually sip her tea, a smirk forming at her lips. He was definitely being played. He sat back down and sighed in defeat, as the girl watched on with a calculating gaze, one he was all too familiar with. It was at this moment when he knew, there was a shift in power, and he didn't like it. It felt like he was the one being interrogated, when it really should have been the other way around. Looking up at her with a slightly distressed expression, he asked a question he knew she wanted to hear. "What do you want from me?" "I'm glad you asked. Very straight to the point." She took a sip from her almost empty cup. "You see, I want a lot of things, and I will get what I want." Her sharp gaze travelled over the now slightly-intimidated boy's face. "And you will be the one to provide what I want. For now though, in today's discussion, I just want to know the reason why I'm here. Of course, your efforts will not go to waste. Depending on how well you respond, I shall reward you with some... Ahem. Notable snippets from Yuki's journal. Regarding you, of course. If that's not enough to satisfy you, perhaps I'll give you some secret info only MafiA has access to." Raito grit his teeth. "Is that how you figured out my name?" She stared nonchalantly. "Hmm? Well, perhaps. I simply matched the description of Raito to the Dark Knight. You just happened to fit the description, that's all." Raito groaned internally. "And you set that up as bait to see my reaction?" He was really hating the shift of power. "Do I really need to answer that?" Raito sat silently and mulled over Eleyne's words. "So, are you going to answer my question? Why was I kidnapped?" Raito paused, thinking it over once more before he sighed with reluctance. "You are... a bigger advantage for us than you realize. Not only are you a key strategist at MafiA, you are also one of the only, if not, the only thing that we can use as leverage over K Tech." Eleyne raised her eyebrow curiously. "Is that so." Raito frowned and crossed his arms, sighing as he finally stopped evading the question. "I wasn't planning on telling you this, but the 'Puppeteer'... He's none other than your brother, Ley."