in the shade of trees ; n. chuuya

.douze

Ineko kneels before Mori, whose lips are stretched into a smirk that reeks of ulterior motives.

"Ineko-chan," his amused voice makes her flinch. She has only felt this scared twice in her entire life; her first battle against other pirates, who happen to be the feared crew of the Skül, a Norwegian gang who had already sunk two navy ships. The other time when this pit in her stomach appeared was when the Interrogator sunk.

Ineko's dainty nose can already pick up the scent of danger; danger that isn't good for her. The sickening black hole that swamps her doesn't help her maintain her composure; she's had this feeling for some time now. Call it a sixth sense, but Ineko can tell that Mori may be the harbinger of this darkening storm.

It's worse that Chuuya isn't here; he's off settling squabbles somewhere else in Japan. She should have taken the offer to go with him.

"Yes, Boss?" She tries not to spit out each word.

"Nakahara doesn't speak very highly of you," he begins, cackling to himself when she flinches and her eyes burn holes into his shoes, "and he complains how you never listen."

"I'm aware of that, Boss," but it still doesn't help that pang she gets.

"But he does say you have potential," Mori sighs as he distractedly looks at Elise, the little girl who lies on top of the red-draped table, scribbling on a piece of paper with crayons that smear across her hands.

"That's new," she says before she can stop herself. Mori only raises an eyebrow at her snappy attitude.

"So I have decided to give you a task, that will either redeem you or break you." Mori doesn't need her to redeem herself; he quite likes the ruthless, bloody attitude she has developed. His favourite executives hate it, though frankly, Mori doesn't care. But the mafia boss does love games after all, and Ineko would make quite an interesting piece.

"Oh?"

"Ineko Sata, I want you to spy on Ango Sakaguchi," his eyes darken with twisted happiness, "and eliminate him."