The Art of War

The Army on the March

Who would have thought that the hideout of their assassin was within walking distance from the precinct? Definitely not Yukine. He still didn't know the exact place, Yato refused to give more than a general direction. This uncertainty slowly drove him insane.

His thoughts were like a roller coaster while we walked next to Yato. They started with practical matters like the upcoming confrontation and ended with the thought how Yato could be so calm.

Of course he had more experience than Yukine, what honestly wasn't difficult to archive. A new cop compared to an experienced assassin? You don't had to be a genius to figure this one out.

Still. Yato moved toward this possible fight as if he was just going to grab bread at the bakery. Yukine on the other hand already felt jittery from his agitation. He didn't even had a gun with him and Yato was, as far as Yukine knew and hoped, unarmed, too. Overall they dashed into this fight completely unprepared, what was an additional burden on Yukine's nerves.

Just as the panic threatened to suffocate him, Yato offered an escape route. "Before you are starting to hyperventilate, I could offer you distraction in form of a conversation." It was a rescue offer for Yukine.

Until this moment Yukine hadn't realized how quick and excited his breathing was. He took a deliberate deep breath, concentrated on the relaxed movements of Yato. "You probably didn't receive the information about the assassin's hideout for free?"

"Of course," came the feared answer to his question.

It didn't surprise Yukine at all. How could it have been different? However this answer wasn't enough for Yukine. "How exactly did you pay for it?"

Yato's expression didn't give him the slightest clue. It had been obvious that this question will be asked eventually and thus he hadn't took Yato by surprise. But he had hoped for some kind of reaction. "I think you already have the right assumption how I paid for it."

Damn it, was he serious? "Of course I have an assumption. But I want to hear it from you. I don't want to hide behind my ignorance. I want to feel bad, because people were killed for this information." After all the secrets of the last few days Yukine was fed up with being left in the dark. He wanted Yato to stop trying to protect him.

Yato sighed and Yukine recognized from the sound that he had won this confrontation and Yato gave in. However the feeling of victory wasn't granted for a long time. "Yes, I killed for this information. 16 people died during my assignment. 11 were killed by me."

Yukine's blood froze in his veins, he barely avoided stumbling over his own feet. It hit him harder than expected, the certainty of how many people had died for this information. Could he have prevented their deaths if he had worked harder? How often had it happened in previous cases that someone had to die to gather information about a murderer? This couldn't be true. If it was true, how could the police announce proudly that they had solved the case? Wasn't this method betraying everything the police stood for?

"Yukine, stop blaming yourself. They were criminals that got on the bad side of the wrong person. They would have been killed eith-"

"That doesn't change the fact that the police accepts for someone to be killed as long as it gives them the wanted results," Yukine interrupted upset. He was trapped in a nearly unescapable moral dilemma.

In the corner of his vision Yukine saw Yato shaking his head. "You don't even have their blood on your hands and still behave as if you had killed them yourself."

Yukine didn't know why, but he knew that Yato's amused laugh after his words were an act. Probably an attempt to anger Yukine. An emotion more suited before a fight than guilt. He was grateful for Yato's attempt, but he didn't felt any anger due to the careless words of the assassin.