Reborn Online

Inability

Xia He wasn't completely sure of why her Don had asked her to walk with him. Nor was she fully recovered from the huge amount of New information she'd just received from the said man. She felt angry for the fate that had been bestowed upon him, she felt sad for knowing how much he'd gone through, she felt amazed by seeing how much one of the kindest hearts she'd met had suffered in the past and yet stayed kind. She felt guilty for not knowing earlier.

The two walked down to the dungeon level, passing through the old prison cells that had been turned into private training rooms, cells that had been made into normal rooms and the actual prison cell floor. It was all to quiet. It wasn't sure what the Don was planning, not even his thoughts were known by the rest, though they could always guess. Naoki made a turn to his right, his hand glowing with a thin layer of flames that he used to unlock hidden door in the back of the hall.

Behind the door was a classy looking apartment, styled after the Arthurian legends up to the point of having only round tables everywhere, tapestries of knights and daring swords fights and in middle of it all sat an English man drinking tea from a large cup. "Gallahad", Naoki said as a greeting, being greeted by the man in return. The Don sat down and tea was poured into two more cups, red Ceylon from the looks of it. "What brings thee here, heavenly shield?" Naoki snorted at the attempt of Shakespearean English and the ridiculous nickname his underling was now using of him. "I used the flame projected shield only once Gallahad, and I am sure that it's nothing compared to yours", he stated as he dropped slice of lemon into his tea. There was a certain script that had to be followed when communicating with the man in question, properly following the "rite" known as teatime (Gallahad's words, not mine) was one of them.

The English teatime wasn't really that big of a deal, sure there were certain things to be done and etiquette to be followed, but it was nowhere near to the level of Asian ones. Naoki chose a sandwich carefully from the tray, making sure to not choose ham. His virtual body could technically digest it, but he didn't want to take any chances. He bit into his prey like a lion to a carcass, still somewhat gracefully. Gallahad's eyes followed his movements, judging everything he did.
So far, so good.
More tea was served, now it was the time for the cake, Naoki's face turned blank. He didn't really like cake, most of them were too sweet for his tastes, but he needed to be polite to the point of nearly being impolite. All because of Gallahad having a certain image of how this had to play out.

Finally, the dreadful part was over and Naoki thanked heavens for having very strict grandmother who'd made sure to have the etiquette fixed into the man's brain from the early age.

Business time.

"Gallahad. A new letter arrived earlier today and I need you to take a wing. Go to China and find out what the Triads are doing. I believe that your abilities are needed", Gallahad perked from his seat, his yellow eyes moving to look at the huge shield that was leaning on the wall, dusty from not being used. "Yes.. My King", Naoki bit his tongue, wanting to tell the extreme roleplayer not to use the nick name when referring to him. He was no King nor did he kneel to one, but decided not to say it out loud.
Gallahad had an ideal he held, Naoki needed to play along to prevent the illusion from shattering.

They'd spent around an hour or two in the hidden room before they'd returned to the higher levels. Upon reaching the ground level of the huge castle like building, Naoki was contacted by Valentino, who'd been also contacted recently by their contract holders. The talk soon went from business to the regular and their next Cake Saturday was marked in the calendar all the while Xia He kept observing her friend in slight worry.
"Hey Nao?" she said carefully, "From your speech... How much of it was true?" Naoki came to halt. He looked at his right hand woman with grief struck eyes, fully understanding how and why she was asking this question. "I despise lies and try my best not to lie to anyone if I can avoid it. How much of my story was true? 100%. The real question here is... How much I left out, and the answer is a lot. Not because I don't trust you and the others, it's the opposite, I love you too much to give you the full detail of what went down and how much I was affected. But I've also forgotten a lot", Xia He nodded to herself, she'd noticed this about Naoki a long while ago. "In several countries, I'd be thought to be autistic based on how I am naturally, introvertism isn't very common in those countries and my behaviour wouldn't be viewed as normal. Oh! I also can't lie. Or well... I have to eventually expose myself and my lie in one way or another, otherwise I'll feel horrible and disgusted in myself, half truths and withholding information I'm alright with, sometimes you have to do it for the sake of others and sometimes... People won't believe you even if you did tell them the truth because of how bent up they are wihh their own thoughts and ideologies".