Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (3 page)

“Hmm?” She looked back at her. “Oh! My nickname? That would be Bella.”

Haruka nodded. She looked around, then back to the woman. “Why?” She gestured around them. “Here?”

“Why am I here?” She turned around to lean back against the wooden railing. “Do you mean in the town or in the gazebo?
Never mind, I’ll answer both. I’m in this town because of the festival; someone told me it was something to see. I’m in the gazebo because it looked colorful,” she said with a shrug and a smile.

Haruka returned the smile
, appreciating that this woman simply seemed to accept her manner of speech; most people became annoyed with her short, terse responses, and the fact that they had to discern what she said. It frustrated her because it wasn’t like she could do anything about it; she’d been born with very weak vocal chords. Using them too much was both difficult and painful; she couldn’t really manage more than one or two words at a time without her voice just cutting out. But with Isabella it didn’t feel frustrating; it felt simple, even amusing, because for whatever reason the other woman seemed to like it.

The other woman’s smile disappeare
d as her hand went to her chest; she began coughing, the sound Haruka had heard earlier, nearly losing her balance. Fortunately Haruka was fast, able to catch her as she fell. She helped her sit on a bench and Bella smiled weakly. “Thank you, Ruka,” she said a little breathlessly.

Haruka looked at her in concern, making sure she didn’t fall over before taking a seat beside her. “Sick?”

“Unfortunately. It can be a little annoying,” Isabella said with a soft smile of acceptance. Something in her eyes told Haruka that she believed she deserved the illness, but she didn’t comment on it. She gave Haruka an appreciative look. “No need to look so worried… I’ve been sick for years.”

Haruka shrugged. “Unfair.”

To her surprise, Isabella laughed and shook her head. “Don’t be so sure. It’s pretty much as fair as it can get.”

Haruka frowned. “Why?”

Isabella looked away. “I’d… rather not talk about that.” Both were silent for a few moments before Isabella looked back at her. “The festival proper is supposed to take place in two days. I know you hadn’t planned on it, but would you maybe want to go to the festival with me?”

Haruka blinked. Was she…? The invitation was unexpected; unnecessary, really. Besides, there was the fact that Haruka had a mission in a few hours and really needed to leave after that. Staying longer for the festival wasn’t planned. So of course, the answer was, “Yes.” S
he blinked again. Yes? Why had she answered yes? She was supposed to say no!

Isabella smiled brightly
, the sadness in her eyes replaced with excitement. “Really? I mean, great! It’ll be so much fun!”

Haruka found herself unable to dash the new happiness that had just appeared in her companion. Judging by her surprise at the acceptance, she probably didn’t have any friends, which was strange considering her friend
ly and endearing demeanor. In addition to that, for some reason Haruka found herself actually wanting to go. Well, why not? Why shouldn’t she enjoy something for once?

She smiled at Isabella, nodding. “Fun… Rare.”

“Fun shouldn’t be rare. You just need to learn how to do it right, I think.” She looked down, closing her eyes for a moment as a wave of fatigue washed over her. “I’m sorry… I… should probably sleep soon.”

Haruka stood up, offering a hand. “Walk?”

“You want to walk me to my room?” Isabella smiled gratefully. “Such a gentleman,” she said, laughing softly at Haruka’s new blush as she took the offered hand.

Haruka pulled her up and steadied her with a firm grip on her shoulder; it turned out to be a good idea considering the woman’s weakening state. They began walking slowly back towards the inn Bella was staying at. “I’m
usually
not this bad,” she said as if in apology. “I’m lucky you were here tonight. Imagine me crawling back to my room like a drunkard.”

Haruka smirked. She admired the woman for accepting and joking about her condition like she did; many people would whine, complain or curse
their god, but Isabella seemed to believe it was simply her situation. “Graceful,” she said in response to the joke.

“Maybe I am, but not enough to make crawling look good,” Isabella said, grinning as she heard Haruka’s chuckle. “That was the first time I’ve heard you laugh.”

Haruka shook her head, putting a hand to her throat. “Coughing,” she lied with a grin of her own.

“Sure, fine, make me feel worse,” Isabella sighed dramatically. “I’m not funny, nobody likes me,
woe is me.”

“Depressing.”

“Life is depressing, my dear. Haven’t you read any poetry? The world is sad, life is sad and there’s no way out.”

“Suicide?”

“Now
that
is a dark joke. Though true. I always wondered why people would complain about life so much and do nothing about it.”

“Fear.”

“You’re very wise and aware, Ruki.”

Haruka smiled a bit at the nickname. They reached the inn (a different one from Haruka’s) and went all the way to Isabella’s room, where Haruka opened her door and watched her go in. Isabella paused in the doorway, looking at her. “Thank you for spending your time with me tonight, Haruka. And for walking me.” Her words and expression were sincere as she tilted her head, studying her closely. “No matter what you think about yourself, I think very highly of you.”

Haruka forced herself to pay attention to the words and take them in, smiling appreciatively at Isabella. “Thanks.” She held her gaze for a few seconds more before pointing into the room. “Sleep.”

Isabella grinned. “You’re a stern caretaker.” She backed away, closing the door with a wave. “Goodnight, Ruki.”

Haruka sighed after the door closed, a smile still on her face as she exited the inn. This certainly wasn’t an event she had expected, but was it unwanted…? No. No, she actually felt happy. Perhaps this could be a long-term happiness. She wasn’t sure how that would work, considering her job, but she knew she was looking forward to the festival. And more importantly, she already knew that the festival wasn’t the last time she wanted to see Isabella.

Fortunately her partner Sa
rya didn’t question her about her different mood when she returned. For once she went to sleep that night with other things on her mind than the job.

IXH

Early the next morning, Haruka and Sarya sat on a rooftop waiting for their target. He took an early-morning walk each day, the perfect time to strike since his guards would be sleepy and less attentive. The man, a wiry type with glasses and a simple robe, was humming to himself as he walked along, not a care in the world. Good; it looked like this would be easy. That was fortunate considering that Haruka herself was somewhat distracted this morning, a fact that Sarya had noticed but had refrained from commenting on.

The two dropped from their rooftop position, striking quickly. Two of the six guards were down before they knew anything was happening
, each hit by a knife-hand to the throat; another two were down before they could react, solid strikes to the head from each monk knocking them out. The last two were able to get their weapons out and put up a bit of a fight, allowing the target to run. Haruka called out a command and took off after him as Sarya stayed to put down the remaining two guards.

Haruka was far, far faster, so even though he had a good head start she was catching up quickly. After she saw the man round a corner she heard him calling out to someone for help, and that was unfortunate. Haruka hoped she wouldn’t have to kill them as well; perhaps she could just put them down. She rounded the corner and skidded to a halt, her eyes going wide in surprise.

Between her and her target stood Isabella, clad in dimmed golden plate armor that was almost bronze in color and paired with a blood-red cape, holding her broadsword – still tied into its scabbard – out before her. She, too, seemed shocked at the situation, and appeared to have no idea how to react. “Ruki…?”

Any further c
onversation was cut off as Sarya rounded the corner, spotting the woman defending their target. Before Haruka could say anything Sarya charged, moving with incredible speed into a spin that would take her around the woman’s guard. Or at least it should have. Isabella moved with a fluid grace that seemed slower than it was, her sheathed sword taking the normally perfectly-balanced Sarya’s legs out from under her.

Sa
rya cried out in shock but Bella caught the back of her shirt before she hit the ground, hauling her back towards Haruka who managed to catch her. Sarya glared as Haruka helped her stand. “Okay, looks like we’ll have to take her out first.”

Those words caused
pain to Haruka, especially because she knew they were true. She looked at Isabella and attempted to push emotion out of the picture and focus on her job. In that moment Isabella looked incredibly sad and disappointed, enough so that Haruka almost reassured her, but she bit her tongue and charged instead.

She went for a leg sweep and Isabella slid her foot back just enough to avoid it. She threw a knife-hand strike at the woman’s neck, which was blocked by the sheathed sword. She leapt into a spinning kick, but to her surprise Isabella ducked it and brought her sword up, striking
Haruka in the back and leveraging her into a throw to the side.

As Har
uka flipped and landed she saw Sarya rush Isabella next, going into an attack routine. The blue-haired woman flowed around half the attacks and blocked the rest before hooking her sword against Sarya’s thigh and yanking it up as she shoved her shoulder, flipping her to the ground.

The two monks recovered and attacked again. Haruka knew Isabella was sick, weak, and couldn’t keep this up forever, but somehow she was holding them off for now. She moved in a manner that implied incredible experience, though it was clear she wasn’t perfect against unarmed attackers as she began taking a few hits. Haruka felt a pang of guilt every time a hit
connected, but she forced herself to go on; she’d only met this woman the night before, after all, while she’d been a Black Sun Monk her entire life. Who really deserved her loyalty?

A sudden quick attack knocked both monks’ arms up; a swipe of the sword hit both of their stomachs, stumbling them back a bit. They were lucky her sword was sheathed or
they would’ve been dead minutes ago. That was another surprise for Haruka; Isabella could have ended this fight early on if she had simply drawn her sword. Her strikes even seemed designed to cause no permanent damage. Case in point, she performed a rapid spin, slinging out a powerful burst of wind that blew both off-balanced monks off their feet.

Isabella moved quickly, drawing the simple iron sword from her belt as she d
arted forward, sliding to a stop with the point touching Sarya’s neck. Sarya stared up at her in surprise and a bit of fear, but the woman quickly changed it to anger as she glared at Bella. “So you won. Finish it then, what do I care?”

Isabella was panting heavily now; it was obvious her sickness was taking a heavy toll by the amount of
sweat visible and the sound of her ragged breathing. Ending this as quickly as she could was a necessity for her. But she stepped back and lowered the sword, watching Sarya carefully. “I don’t kill anymore. Get out of here. Your target is gone, I’m not important, and the guards will be here soon.”

Sa
rya looked confused, but she wasn’t stupid enough to not take advantage of this. She darted her eyes towards Haruka before standing and running off, presumably to find their target. Isabella watched her go, distracted; this was the chance. Haruka had held herself back for the entire fight, unwilling to do what she had to, but this was her last chance to do her duty, her purpose, instead of continuing to ignore it for this random person, this stranger.

She moved with all her considerable speed, virtually appearing just to Isabella’s side. The armor-clad woman had just enough time to notice her, to widen her eyes, as Haruka’s hand slammed into her stomach open-palmed. The impact sent her off her feet, sent her iron sword spinning to land a few feet away. One of Haruka’s Death Marks appeared on the front of Isabella’s armor
, a black symbol of a striking snake, and exploded as she was in mid-air a few seconds later, propelling her with even more force into the side of a building several meters away.

Isabella hit it with a cry of pain, falling to the ground against it. Haruka followed her, racing at her, her open palm aimed straight for Bella’s head. This was it, the finish, the final strike; it was over. But she stopped. Her hand froze inches from the other woman’s face as her entire body came to a stop.

Isabella raised her head, grey eyes looking from the hand to Haruka’s green ones. Haruka wanted to move her hand forward, she did, but as she stared into those grey eyes she found that she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Refused to. Her hand fell to her side before she fell to her knees, looking at the scorch mark on the front of Isabella’s armor and feeling relief at seeing her Death Touch hadn’t managed to pierce it.

“Hurt?” she managed softly, regret and worry noticeable in her voice and eyes.

To her surprise Isabella smiled as if nothing bad had just happened between them, as if she only thought of Haruka as the one she’d had a conversation with the night before. “Just bruised a bit. Not enough to worry about.”