Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Fears That Keep Us Down

A handful of sparks fired out from the cracked frontal part of the bounty hunter's helmet. The man covered his face before realizing that his interface was broken and that Mana's card penetrating the thing made it more of a hindrance than an asset. The large fingers of the man clicked at a pair of switches on the helmet releasing a trio of thick cords, he then carefully removed the helmet allowing his face to be seen.

Inside the advanced partially armored set of technology that'd probably have made Meiko swoon all over it for an hour was a strong and bulky man. That much could've been told by parts of his limbs that weren't restrained by the heavy and bulky armor. His dreadlocks fell out from under the helmet, the sides of the man's head looked freshly shaved allowing a more professional look for the bounty hunter as compared to a wild hobo-esque appearance he'd have had if his sides were allowed to overgrow his head with hair like his top and back did. The man's face was covered with scars and one of his eyes was cut grievously and closed forever.

"It's you!" Kiyomi shrieked out in surprise, Mana looked at her friend in confusion. The magician had expected there to be more fear in her friend's voice if she recognized this man. From the tech he carried and the skill, he had he certainly deserved some respectful fear.

"That's right..." the man admitted with a slow affirming nod before throwing his helmet away aside. As the techy sphere hit the dirt the visors shattered to pieces. The man reached behind him and pulled out the trio of cords that were still spitting some sort of gas throwing them aside as well.

"Can I get a little bit inclusion into the conversation, maybe?" Mana squinted at her friend feeling a bit offended that the blonde didn't bother explaining it.

"What? You mean you don't remember this guy?" Kiyomi snapped back at her friend, "He almost killed me twice! You're just the worst, seriously!" the Yamanaka crossed her arms over her chest.

"Nekomata Roe, one of the unlucky souls tangled in Yellow's plan, one of the insignificant pawns you've trampled over in order to subdue the monster that ruined my and my sister's lives." The man finally reminded Mana. He then stared at her with his single functional eye trying to see if the sudden realization would somehow make her feel a bit apologetic at the least.

"Well, I barely even met you... I've only really seen your figure in the dark, really..." Mana blushed a little after a shrug, "Kiyomi fought you both times, didn't she?"

"So you came here why exactly? Do you wish to restore your pride? Do you somehow hold me responsible for your sister's death? That was Hisako's doing, not mine." Kiyomi began defensively question this man, his presence did apparently affect her, Mana wasn't sure if it was fear or some sort of mental scars, however.

"Pride? No. I've moved past those things. My pride was torn to shreds, just like my flesh after I escaped your trap by tearing chunks of my body off. Even if the order that trained me sewn my flesh back together like a jigsaw puzzle, my pride was always left behind in that bunker. Pride is something an assassin gives up on, a hunter leaves such petty things aside. I am also fully aware you didn't kill my sister, I also don't care much about vengeance for her life. She was your enemy, the nature of combat is to destroy the enemy." Roe grunted out, it was clear that it wasn't easy for him to speak, whatever grueling training he went through with this order of assassins he spoke of, whatever injuries he had sustained by forcing out of Kiyomi's trap in the bunker must've damaged his throat and made it harder for him to speak. The cybernetic voicebox now made more sense.

"So then why? Why are you here? Is the bounty it? Are you now so pitiful as to fight for a bunch of money? If so I can pay you more, you know..." Kiyomi asked again. Mana looked at her friend with a bit of confusion, she had never expected to see her friend try to compromise with someone who was essentially a criminal. Her friend was very adamant about ending the lives of criminals. Maybe the two had some shared feelings of respect hailing from their battle in the bunker before?