Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

You Bomb The Show, You Bomb In Real Life

"Okay, are they just not going to talk to one another?" Endo pointed at Mana and Asuka. The two were staying behind the moving party with their arms crossed. "What's even the plan at this point? Everyone freaks out when I pull my sword out to kill the assassin that infiltrated our squad but like... What are we doing if not that?"

"For the last time, Endo, we need Asuka on our side to complete this mission. We don't have enough people otherwise. If those Land of Earth terrorists decided to kidnap the Tsuchikage, they probably are a formidable bunch and we can't just assume we'll stop them. Not just the three of us," Shige-H raised her voice more than it was usual for her.

"I get that but... The new girl just tagged along with us as if she didn't just try to kill Mana yesterday, twice, apparently. How do we even know we can trust her? With someone like her watching our backs, I'd rather just stick her like a pig, leave her to bleed out in the ditch, and take our chances," Endo sneered back at the blond kunoichi who just pouted right back at him, matching the swordsman's disdain.

"You heard Mana, she thinks we can trust Asuka," Shige-H shrugged after stuffing her hands inside of her fur coat. It was tough to assess just how much faith the leader of Stars had in her declaration after she just shut down and turned to admire the sights of rice fields and farmland hills at the outer edges of Sound Country.

"No, I haven't, actually..." Endo squinted. "That's my point! Besides telling us the girl's name, she has said very little. If anything, she actually looks like she hates that bitch's guts just as much as Asuka hates hers. For fuck's sake, Mana looks like she likes this bitch less than when she literally tried to kill her twice. What did she even see in there?"

Shige-H sighed. For a little while, the Stars strolled across ceaseless farmland, admiring golden wheat farmlands and the moist and green rice fields filled with lively workers with their hands wrist-deep in the moist soil. Something had been boiling inside the Stars leader and it was only a matter of time until it flipped the lid. The curly-haired woman turned around and stopped in front of Mana, blocking the magician's path.

Mana tried stepping around the squad leader at first. It was only when Shige-H answered it by moving alongside her that Mana looked up into Shige's eyes with a grumpy, challenging glare, inviting the squad leader to spit it out. Spit it out Shige did.

"Okay, Mana... I consider you a friend and a trusted teammate. I'd trust my life in your hands but... When Endo becomes the voice of reason and when his rambling starts making sense... We need to know. Can we trust Asuka or not? I've tried asking her and I don't think her middle finger is a viable answer to this question. It definitely isn't one I'm willing to bet this team and the fate of the entire continent on. Do we do this or are we way in over our heads here?" Shige-H spread her arms out to form a living fence in front of Mana.

"She has everything to gain from the continent devolving into a bloody war and slashing itself to pieces," Mana shrugged. "But she has an ulterior motive that won't let her get killed. She's not willing to die alongside me. She wants to survive this, so that's what you should focus on."

"Okay..." Shige-H breathed out. From the easing looks of the woman, the way how the color returned to her face, and how her chest deflated and her shoulders lowered by a few inches, it became apparent that she shed a massive boulder of worry off her shoulders. "So she's not a suicidal fanatic. We can work with that."

"This explains nothing though," Endo squinted at Mana. "Before you entered her mind, you looked like you were almost going to become besties. Like she was your little bloody murderer pet project you wanted to fix. After you left, it's like you hate her as much as she despises you. Do we need to be worried that you'll send her to a coma or something just out of the blue?"