✔ Masquerade | England [EDITING]

t w e n t y - n i n e

-Continued-

As you were watching the mochi being pound, you were suddenly pulled into the darkness of the alley by unknown hands.

What's going on?!

Whoever it was, they pulled you aside, blindfolded, tied and hauled you over their shoulder brashly. After what seemed like five minutes, you were thrown on the ground. Just then, a hand untied your blindfold.

Everything was blurred when he removed it, but when everything was clear, you saw a man towering right over you. He had slightly long black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Even though his eyes were a pleasing color, they seemed scary.

"Hello, young lady." the guy started in English. Your eyes widened in response.

He knows English?

Noticing that you took a while to reply, he barked a laugh,

"Speechless, I can see." 

"You might be wondering what you're doing with me. But first, let me introduce myself." he bent down and looked at you in the eye, "My name is Arashi. Wakamatsu Arashi."

"Okay, back to my point..." he paused, "Ever heard of England's new king?"

You raised a quizzical eyebrow. Since when was a new king crowned in England? He clicked his tongue,

"Allistor Kirkland, he is the new king."

"What about him?" You managed to ask.

"He hired us to kidnap you and send you over to England for who- knows- what- reason." he explained, "He promised a large sum of money if we get you to him."

"You'd better cooperate, before we slit your throat." He spat out his threat as he harshly held your chin up to look at him.

"You can't harm me! Don't you have to send me to the King?" You shouted. He smirked and laughed loudly,

"We have permission to harm you if you aren't an obedient girl."

"Also, later tonight, I will interrogate you thoroughly regarding your Commander, Arthur Kirkland." He added, "Once again, let me make this clear to you, we have permission to harm you if you aren't obedient." 

----

Arthur's P.O.V

It was around ten in the morning when I woke up. I was sitting near the wheel, on the stairs, watching the bustle of the port. I heard that Antonio, Kiku and ____ went to town to look around.

Ah, I wanted to go too. As I stared at the clouds above, I heard Antonio's voice pierce the silence of the air.

"CODE RED!"

I stood up. If anybody on the ship shouted "Code Red", the situation was deemed terrible. I jumped down the elevation and met Antonio.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She's missing!"

"WHAT?! I must go find her!" I pushed Antonio aside, but he caught my shoulder.

"Don't." 

"WHY NOT?!" I asked with lots of impatience.

"You have just recovered. Don't go getting yourself worked up." His face had a calm demeanor but his hand was really shaky. Being so consumed in fear and anxiety, I didn't notice at all.

"Are you dumb, Antonio?! Who knows, at this very moment, she must have been lost, kidnapped or even killed!" I yelled at him as I grabbed his collar.

"I know. But you still need to take rest." he said as he shot a sharp glare at me. I grit my teeth and glared back.

"Are you thinking of me as a puny wimp?!"

"No, I am not. But I insist." he said, about to lose his calm.

"And I insist on finding her!" I retorted. Antonio finally lost all his patience and said quietly,

"What the f*ck do you know about this town, Arthur? Have you ever been here? How well do you know this f*cking place, huh?"

"Even if you knew where she was hidden, would you f*cking know how to get there? What if you have to fight people to get her back? Do you think you can do it when you'r so f*cking unhealthy now? You would be a burden if you came with us and then fall ill on the way."

I was silent. What he said was indeed correct, but I still wanted to save her. Something in me just pushed me to saving her with my own hands. 

"That might be true, but..." I whispered and looked at him in the eye, "Who cares if I'm sick? I want to save her. If I have to gamble my life for her safety, then so be it."

Antonio stared at me for a moment. Before he said anything, someone screeched in anger as he walked over to us.

Suddenly, someone took our heads and smashed them together.

Both of us fell down, writhing in pain. It was Lovino standing there, hands on hips.

"Stop bickering, you blockheads! If you want to save her, just hurry the f*ck up, already!"

I grumbled quietly as I stood up. Sighing, I slapped Lovino's head.

"Damn it! Kiku, Antonio, we're going!" I ordered and we jumped out of the ship onto the port.

----

While we ran like madmen around the town, Kiku explained to me what they were doing, where they were going and every single detail.

Before long, Kiku finally stopped at the mochi pounding shop.

"She must've been around here." said Antonio. Kiku was staring at the alleys behind the shop.

"Maybe-" he paused.

"Kiku?" I called.

"Let us assume that she was kidnapped. If she was, she would only be dragged away into these alleys." he said.

"So you're saying that she's hidden somewhere inside here?" Antonio asked and Kiku nodded.

"Let's check then!" I urged.

We entered the alleys and searched. It was like a maze. It was tough. We looked into the buildings and quietly searched everywhere but of no avail.

Before we knew it, it was twilight.  Night was about to fall and we still haven't found her. Even after literally running around the whole city. The three of us walked down the dark streets, exhausted.

"F*ck!" I cursed very quietly, but with lots of emotion.

"I've been hearing of something interesting/" Kiku spoke up. Antonio and I looked at him curiously.

"There are organizations in Japan. They take assassination and kidnapping orders from higher ups or people with lot of money."

"So?" Asked Antonio.

"There is, in fact, one based here in Nagasaki. ____ might have-" I cut him off and grabbed his shoulder,

"Who are they?!"

"Don't scream at night! You're going to disturb others!" Antonio covered my mouth. I pushed his hand away and looked at Kiku.

"They're called Satsujin." he said, "As their name implies--"

Kiku suddenly alerted up. He pulled out his katana and held it, facing a shop.

"Everybody, stop moving or talking." Kiku instructed seriously, "We've got guests."

"Come out, from wherever you are!!" He shouted.

Nothing stirred for a while, but all of a sudden, two men dressed in black attacked us.

To be continued

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