54 Dark Heart

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At District 7, there is a particular building or perhaps a mall where girls in Academy City would mostly venture to when they feel the need to change their styles and look better.

It was the paradise for girls as it had all their necessities from makeup, lipsticks, nail polish, manicure, pedicure, or even a simple massage.

This building had all of it.

Seventh Mist.

The girl in a pink frilly dress wandered around the mall looking at the new dresses from her favorite store, 'Áureo'.

The brand itself consists of dresses and products from Portuguese which were shipped to Academy City.

The fancy name matches the prices of their products as well so students hardly go there to buy anything and it's more suited towards the adults of Academy City. However, to the girl in a frilly dress, the price didn't matter as she cared about her appearance more.

She was sparkling wherever she went.

Maybe it was because of her flawless skin mixed with the golden bangles and necklaces that she wears which makes her quite the easy target to spot in a crowd.

"Hmm...it doesn't seem like blue would be the perfect color for me, but if I wear this with that, maybe it could work..."

It had only been two days since her previous mission which she recovered from her meet with the Accelerator and she was already in a good mood thanks to a certain someone.

She had bags of dresses and cosmetics around her wrists and she was starting to feel tired from carrying them around.

"Maybe I'll come back another day. These are not limited editions, are they?"

Suddenly, she felt a vibration from her side dress pocket. She received a notification from someone.

It was Kakine Teitoku and his message read: Come to the roof of HQ at 21:00. Don't be late.

"(If you put it like that, it sounds pretty serious. But if it was a mission he would've told Yobou-san to inform us about it. I wonder what it's about.)"

Her reply to him was merely a thumbs up emoji. Afterwards he went offline.

"(Well I guess I better head back first to put all these back.)"

Their HQ was the hotel where they had that gathering, but they received special treatment there because of the title and presence of Kakine Teitoku so they could do whatever they wanted inside and not get kicked out.

That is why Kaibi usually conducts her side gig at the hotel because the staffs there would not question the guests she invited. They could walk in freely when mentioning her name and be guided to another room separate from hers. The clients wouldn't feel embarrassed and anxious before talking to her.

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By the time she had put everything back in her room, it was already 8p.m.

"(Fortunately I made it back on time. I just happened to catch the last bus at the right time. Guess I'll wait at the roof for him.)"

She took the lift to the top floor and from there, she walked down the hallway and used her access card to enter the 'Roof Access' twin doors.

The doors opened up and she walked up the stairs as her heels clicked with every step. It didn't take her long to climb up two flights of stairs before she finally reached the top. She pushed open another set of doors only to find out that Kakine was already waiting for her while sitting at the ledge.

"Oh my, isn't someone pretty early."

"I had nothing else to do for the day and I'd prefer to get this outta the way."

"You only called for me? Is it a mission of some sort?"

"Take this."

Kakine took a brown cash envelope from beside him and tossed it straight to her chest.

She just barely managed to grab it as it almost slipped out of her hand. But it landed right exactly at the seal.

When she opened it up, there were notes of 10,000 yen inside.

"Money? But the payment from the previous mission was already enough."

"For one hour of your time to talk to you. If I'm not wrong it's that much right?"

When she realized he was talking about her side gig, her mouth curled into a smile. It was rare for him to ask of such services because he never needed one.

"That's right. But I thought you weren't interested in these types of things? Why the sudden change?"

"It's to hear your story. So I should pay to give you advice and hear your concerns correct?"

Kakine looked to the side as he continued, "So I'll hear you out. No matter what you have or how weird it is, just say it. We didn't get to talk during the previous mission so let's get this over with."

"(...Well it was true that I started acting weird after my encounter with the Accelerator and I started to doubt my abilities...)"

She thought for a while as she started to relax her shoulders and pressed her index finger to her lip.

"Could it be that...you're worried about me?"

Kakine's eyes twitched as his brows furrowed and his lips pressed into a tight line.

"Don't be dumb. I can't work properly if I don't have you at your 100%. You are the core of the next few missions. I can't overlook another failure just because you weren't 'feeling well'."

Then his face relaxes as he points to the bag in her hands.

"I'm paying to listen to your concerns, so start talking."

"Ah well. That's how you are, isn't it?"

"(I don't think it's something you would normally say to a heartbroken woman...But as of now, I feel comfortable with his unwavering distance. Even if we have to fight that monster someday...)"

She started to grip the cash envelope tightly as she looked at him as the moon started to rise up.

"Thanks, but I'm fine now. Even though my ability was unstable a few days ago, I managed to stabilize it. So you don't have to worry about it anymore."

"What? So you managed to stand back up. Tch...was that a waste of money?"

"Yes. And there's one more thing about that. I think there's been some misunderstanding."

Her smile grew slightly wider as she spoke.

"I'm supposed to get paid to lsiten to your concerns, I'm not supposed to talk."

Kakine raised one eyebrow in disbelief as a single sweat started to drip from the side of his forehead. His cheeks started grow slightly red. Just a slight bit but it was so dark that it was hard to see it.

"There's such a rule? No matter how you look at it they're both similar...what a bother."

"Everything comes with a tacit understanding and rules. It's a system created by humans, you know? But it is a bit surprising. Do you know that you may have a hidden talent for being a host?"

There came a brief silence for Kakine to process what he had just heard as well as everything that led up to that point.

Kakine had to take a deep breath before he could answer her.

"I have a hidden talent for...being a...host...??"

"That's right. You have decent looks, if we could just fix the way you speak..." Kaibi walked closer towards him as she bent over to talk to him but he pulled back just as she was closing in. "How about I teach you the ropes? I'm sure you can attract a lot of women."

Kakine slowly pushed her chest back with one hand as he replied, "Capture an annoying woman? Memorize complicated rules? Don't joke around with me. Tell that to your unpopular customers, I'm sure they would cry with joy."

Kaibi pouted as he stood back up this time looking down at her.

"Anyway, since you're much better now, our conversation is over. I'm going back."

As soon as he took one step forward, her thin pale arm blocked his path.

"Oh no, unfortunately I can't let you go back yet."

"Huh? W-What do you mean?"

She started waving the cash envelope in front of him as she teased him even more.

"You paid for an hour to talk to me right? There's a lot of things I want to talk about. Regarding hosts and hostess related things."

Then she pulled him back to where he was sitting previously as she sat down beside him this time.

"We still have about 50 minutes left, let's use this time to talk."

"N-No...way..."

Kakine tilted his head down in despair as she started her lecture. Kakine had gone to a proper school before, but once the business with School started intensifying he had skipped out on his school lessons and even if he did attended, there wasn't much for him to learn. So he knew this lesson she was about to give was going to be boring and tedious to follow.

"You have nothing on for the night as well, isn't that right? So we can slowly talk about this."

"(Th-This woman is crazy...)"

That was the only thing he could think of to describe her at that moment.

---The Next Evening----

"(This woman is seriously crazy...This time she called me out to come to this type of place. What the hell is up with her head?)"

"Hmmm..."

Right now, the place they were in was a place he had never expected to go to. He was not a picky eater as he would usually go to the nearest place in the hotel vicinity to grab a bite be it local or foreign if he craved it, he would go and eat it. Sometimes, he would also call for hotel food if he was feeling lazy.

With that being said, he would not spend a lot of money when it came to his living expenses. One would say, he was a simple guy who was solely focused on his goals.

But he didn't know about his teammates. More specifically, Gokusai Kaibi.

He only knew she liked to shop around branded clothing stores while looking the best she could. She was more like an indecisive person than anything when it came to shopping.

But he never knew her taste buds were also expensive.

Around him were tables draped with a while cloth with the table set with forks and knives with a spoon at the side. The chairs were also not the wooden type of chairs from outside. It had a more refine feeling to it, suited for people with lavish tastes. There were banquettes made out of leather that had almost no scratches or fluff coming out of it.

The ambience of the place was soothing as jazz music played in the background and whether it was lucky or not, the place was half packed with adults in tuxedos and fancy dresses while he was just wearing his uniform unbuttoned with a single T-Shirt underneath.

Unfortunately, the place didn't have a dress code so he could not be rejected from going in. The both of them were seated in front of each other with a picture window which illuminated the streets of the district they were in. And if they desired, they could have translucent blinds closed for a bit of privacy.

Everything in that restaurant screamed out fancy.

"Oi, I happen to be a busy man."

"For now just sit back and relax, if you make a ruckus Anti-Skill will start charging in here."

Kakine sat back on the banquette as he folded his arms like a child.

"Goddamnit. There, you satisfied now? In the first place, why call me out to a place like this. If you wanted to talk we could have done it back at the hotel."

While he looked out at the streets below, he started to process the situation he was in. Alone with a girl and brought out to a fancy restaurant like this. It was all starting to make sense to him now.

"It's just you and me only, in a place like this. Don't tell me...you're planning to propose your love to me?"

Kaibi placed down the menu she was looking at as her shoulders slumped.

"If that was a joke, it was a bad one. I wanted to test how far can I increase my distance to it's maximum."

"Ha?!"

"Also, you've been feeling stressed lately, haven't you? Ever since hearing the name 'Kihara'. And with the money that I earned from a client yesterday, I thought I might use it to pay you back for injuring your shoulder as well as lighten up your mood."

When she mentioned 'client' a cheeky smile was formed on her face while Kakine felt slightly annoyed by that notion.

"Lighten up my mood? Me?"

"Yes. You will continue to be frustrated because you can't find their base of operations, right?"

When she mentioned it, he could see where she was coming from and for once it could be a change of pace for him as he still had to wait for Yobou to report back with any findings of the Kihara.

So he relaxed his shoulders and arms as he placed his arms on the arm rest. There was no real reason to get frustrated over finding nothing. He just had to wait and if the Kihara's decided to fight back, it would make it more easier for him.

"Well would you look at that. It may be true that finding nothing might make me more agitated. Even if they have the information, they would still destroy it and run away. And if that process keeps happening, it does make me quite tired."

"And you might not know when you might finally explode which is why I've arranged this meeting to lighten up your mood."

"Ha, that's surprising. You're worried about me."

"That's nothing, it's not like I'm worried about you. What happens if you suddenly get violent and destroy our hideout with everyone in it?"

"Ha, you don't need to worry about me getting violent. Who do you think I am?"

"Academy City's 2nd ranked Level 5 and SCHOOL's leader. But who knows? Visually speaking, you could also be an 'Angel'."

Kakine's eyebrow twitched slightly just as he heard that.

"I'm guessing you're talking about me when I'm using my ability. Are you...making fun of me?"

Kaibi leaned her weight against the table as she gave a sly grin, with one corner of her mouth turned up in a cheeky smile.

"That was not my intention. I'm simply just talking about what I see."

"Shut up. Even I'm aware that it doesn't suit me."

Kakine looked away as his lips started to twist down.

"Oh my, you're aware of it too. I was starting to think it was a fairy tale hobby."

This time he closed his eyes as he silently gritted his teeth as a vein was about to pop inside his head. He was about to rip the perfectly looking fine arm rest which he had his arms on but decided against it.

"Are you trying to agitate me? I thought this was supposed to lighten up my mood."

Although other people would have been afraid to talk so impolitely to him. Well actually he would have killed anyone who spoke up against him. She was a special case to him. She was the only person in SCHOOL to receive special treatment like that.

"That was just revenge for telling such a bad joke earlier about how I 'love' you."

"Don't bring that up. In the first place--"

"Ahhh all that bickering has left me hungry. Since we're already at this restaurant let's order something."

Kaibi picked up the menu from before as she placed it upright in front of her to block her face. To even cut him off mid-sentence would have been a death sentence to anyone except her.

"Even though I'm talking, you have the audacity to focus on your appetite. That's some courage right there..."

Kakine decided to drop it as he took the menu on his side as well since talking to her would only go full circle. Despite taking the menu, he did not actually open it up to look at it. He'd just go with whatever she wanted.

"The atmosphere here is nice, but I wonder how the food is. One of my clients recommended this place to me a while back."

"Is it one of those guys from your side job?"

She placed the menu flat down again as she looked at him.

"That's right. I thought I might as well visit it once and if I liked it, I'd come back again."

Then as she flipped through the menu, she saw one of the options was an 8 course meal as her eyes brimmed with curiousity.

"Hm...what should we have. Maybe the standard would be to go for the 8 course meal since it's our first time visiting?"

"Now the activity to 'lighten up my mood' has been completely thrown out the window and forgotten...well whatever, do as you wish."

"Would you like the course as well? I heard that this restaurant uses natural ingredients in Academy City."

"I told you to do as you wish. In the first place, I haven't even opened up the menu don't go deciding on it for me. Geez, talking to you makes me feel like an idiot for getting irritated."

"Well, isn't that great? Won't you say that the lightening of your mood is going swimmingly?"

"Don't be an idiot. I wonder if this can even lighten up my mood."

He finally opened up the menu to a random page of the menu and stumbled across a picture of a bowl with carrots, garlic, mushrooms and beef bits that had a brown looking sauce poured all over it.

The picture itself was already difficult to describe and it would be embarrassing to point at it so he decided he would use the name.

Although that would prove to be difficult even for the 2nd Ranked Level 5.

"By the way, what is this dish here bobo...boeuf...boeuf bourguignon."

Kaibi tilted her head to the side as she tried to understand him but also mock him for the way he pronounced it.

"Boboboeuf?"

Kakine's turned to look at the scenery outside again as he felt his cheeks burning a little.

"Tch, I didn't stutter."

She smiled as she teased him even more.

"Are you sure you didn't stutter?"

To avoid the embarrassment, he looked down at his phone.

"Ah that's right I forgot I had to make a call to someone regarding our next mission. I'll take my leave for a while, I'll leave the ordering to you."

As Kakine took his leave, he exhaled a sigh of relief after escaping that clinch. No doubt she would bring it up again, but the chances of that are slim and if she did, he would act as if he had heard nothing.

That was the plan.

Kaibi followed his movements with her eyes before turning back to the menus. She took his still opened menu and took a look at what he was pointing at.

"If he had just asked I could have told him the boeuf bourguignon is just beef stew cooked in red wine with a bunch of vegetables."

She lets out an exasperated sigh before calling for the waiter.

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Kakine stood outside the restaurant but he made sure to stay out of sight from her otherwise she would find out he was lying.

Of course she already knew he was lying but he had to keep his proud stature up.

"Geez, even the name of this restaurant is unreadable."

The name of the restaurant they were in was called 'La Trésor Délice'.

Every minute as he stood outside he peeked his head out a bit to see if the food arrived yet. And every second he would tap his foot on the ground.

"This is ridiculous. No one takes five minutes just to make a call. So much for lightening up my mood, this is just stressing me out especially with the way that idiot talks."

At that moment he received a tap on his shoulder and it made him straighten his back from the wall.

"I hope you weren't referring to me. I'm here to tell you that the appetizers are here."

"You could have just sat there and I thought I only ordered that bo..."

"Boeuf Bourguignon. It's cooked using red wine and Charolais beef. It's mostly like a stew thus the carrots and mushrooms."

Even as she was explaining it to him, he could tell she was more of teasing him.

"...Tch, I was about to say that. Anyway, I thought I told you I only wanted that one singular dish?"

"You expect me to finish it all by myself?"

Kaibi said as she pressed her index finger to her cheek as she showed him her puppy eyes.

"If you can't finish it by yourself, then why order it in the first place?"

"I didn't expect the portion to be so big. Like I said, it's my first time here."

"..."

"Anyway, a guy like you has to eat more to grow stronger, am I wrong?"

"...Fine let's go."

"That's the spirit."

Before they even sat down, Kakine could see a plate of bread topped with chunks of tomato with a bit of basil sprinkled on top and when he got closer, the scent of garlic was strong. 

"This is bruschetta. Grilled Tuscan bread with tomato and topped with basil leaves. Smells good, doesn't it?"

"Well I guess."

The both of them took a slice from the plate and although to Kakine, it tasted 'good'. To Kaibi's taste buds, they were immaculate. Well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Crunchy mixed with the tomato, it was perfection for her.

"This is pretty good, don't you think?" Kaibi said as she elegantly licked the crumbs of bread around her lips.

"Yeah, I mean it's food."

"That's not what I mean. When you eat something like this for the first time, you have to understand the flavor. Calling it 'food' and 'good' is not understanding the food. It's more of an experience is what I would call it." With her sense of style and lifestyle, she was more particular about these types of things compared to Kakine whose life solely focused on killing and himself.

As Kakine bit down on the bread, he lets his annoyance show by eating slightly louder. Soon after he swallowed that piece, he told her, "Oi, I'm here to eat and lighten my mood. This isn't lightening up my mood if I have to focus on the taste as if my life depended on it."

"But it does take your mind off the mission, no?"

"Haaaaa...talking to you is already difficult enough."

A glint of mischief sparkled in her eyes as she continued smiling at him.

"So that means you care about me?"

"There you go with your dumb assumptions again."

Kaibi chuckled as she wiped the crust off her hands with the napkin provided by the restaurant.

"I'm full now."

Kakine was about to grab another slice but as soon as he heard that, his hand stopped as it twitched ever so slightly.

"Ha? You only ate two slices and you're already full?"

"I'm saving space for the other courses. I need to maintain my looks and weight, you know?"

"Is it really that important?"

This time, it was Kaibi who was more annoyed by his comment as her smile faded away.

"Kakine, as a host I have to look good in order to attract customers. If I don't look presentable, I'll run out of income eventually."

"Aren't the missions already paying enough?"

"It's not enough to cover my monthly expenses of manicure, pedicure, makeup, clothing, facial and massages. A girl wants to look their best at all times. You have to remember that if you ever get a girlfriend."

When he heard the amount of things she had to do just to live every month, he felt like he had been insulted as a man.

"That's why I don't plan on getting one. It's too troublesome to keep up with them."

"Don't tell me you plan on staying a virgin while living like an old man in Academy City."

Kakine closed his eyes as he forced a smile while his eyebrows twitched yet again as he asked her a simple question, "You...how old are you again?"

"If you'd like, I can introduce you to my older sister. I don't mind if you dated my sister just not the younger one."

"Sounds like a pain in the ass. You're already bad as it is if I have to deal with three...I think I might really become violent..."

After every single course, Kaibi would take about two to three bites before leaving the rest to Kakine. It seems like the waiters and chefs were in no hurry to push out the course meals as they patiently waited for Kakine to finish the dish before going on to the next one.

At one point, because of the way Kaibi conducted herself, the waiters and waitresses had assumed she was of age to drink alcohol as there were cases of smaller people being older than the age of 40.

So they asked her if she wanted to sample a glass of Barbaresco wine.

Which she replied, "Sure."

"Oi, aren't you just 14 years old?"

"Oh, what's the harm in trying a bit of alcohol?"

At that point, Kakine could barely even sit upright as he spoke to her. Every bite of that course felt like hell to him and he could not even take the time to enjoy the taste of the food despite the amount of time he had to eat it.

But even with that pain spreading across him, he knew what she was doing was wrong.

"As much as you want to 'experience' it. We're still walking back home. I'm not going to carry you back when I'm eating this much."

"If you like, I can have them bring you a glass as well."

"You're really dumb, you know that right?"

"It's just one glass. How bad can one glass be?"

"...Whatever, do as you please. Just know I'm not carrying you back."

When the initial waiter arrived, he brought a glass of Barbaresco wine for her which was filled to a quarter of the glass.

"Here you go madam. For you sir?"

"Water is fine."

"Sanpellegrino?"

Kakine raised one eyebrow as he sat back in his chair.

"What the hell is that? Water is water, isn't it?"

Upon hearing his aggression, the waiter nodded as he scurried back to the kitchen.

He turned his head to Kaibi who was twirling the glass around.

The wine itself was red in color but it was more of a lighter red which gave it a vibrant look as the light from the moon outside shone on it.

It produced a wonderful garnet color and it had a type of transparent look to it as she faced the glass at Kakine and could still see him through the wine.

"If I'm not wrong, I'm supposed to..."

She sipped on the wine and let it rest on her tongue as she rolled the wine around with her tongue, fully embracing the flavor.

"Mmm..."

The moment she swallowed it, she nodded her head as she set the glass down.

"It's pretty nice. It tastes like cherry and raspberry initially before a tinge of sweetness takes over followed by the acidity of alcohol. You should try it, Kakine."

"No thanks. I want to be able to wake up in my own room tomorrow."

"Come on, it can help to lighten your mood as well."

Kakine tightened his grip on the fork in his hand even more as he grit his teeth.

"I think that plan had already been thrown out of the window by now. Maybe I should throw myself out with it."

"Hm? Why would you say that?"

"...It's whatever. Forget about it."

As he took his last bite from the fish course, the waiter came back with his glass of cold water. The moment the glass was placed down on a coaster, he turned to Kaibi.

"So, what do you think? Would you like a bottle?"

Before she answered, she looked at Kakine who was just staring out the window already. She could tell he didn't want her to drink anymore, but it was not like he really cared.

"(He did say I could do as I please. But he doesn't really mean that, does he?)"

So she decided with...

"Just another glass will do."

"Wonderful choice madam. I will be back soon."

The waiter grabbed the empty plate on Kakine's side as he walked back to the kitchen.

There was a moment of silence between them as Kaibi finished the red wine on her table.

"You're thinking about Kihara again, aren't you?"

"Wow, you must be a mind reader. Is that a secret ability of yours?"

"..."

Kaibi was still looking at him but she soon turned her head to face the window as well.

"It's nice when we can enjoy these types of little things every once in a while since SCHOOL has been quite busy recently."

"What do you mean? We're living life normally everyday."

"I don't mean that. I mean spending time like this together instead of going around and killing people."

"...Heh, for once I can agree with you on that."

Kakine faced her as he sat back on the banquette. He held the knife which was supposed to be used for cutting tough meat as he inspected it before Kaibi gazed at him again.

"...I've been meaning to ask. Once you reach the top of Academy City, what will you do then?"

Kakine placed down the knife as he answered, "Isn't it obvious? I'll wipe out the dark side of this city once and for all, burn down all the projects and rid the city of it's leveling system."

"Is it because you don't want to be called the 2nd ranked anymore?"

"That's not it. In this wretched city's eyes, I'm merely an object, a plan for them to use. They think they can just refer to me as a second plan. To be used as a test subject..."

His eyes furrowed as he stared down at the table with his fists clenched up with rage, as his anger welled up inside of him.

"Just like before. And just when I thought I had someone to protect to at least redeem myself."

"...You're talking about her, aren't you? Yuzuriha Ringo."

"Yeah, those researchers whose heads are just filled with experimenting on esper powers, creating the 'strongest esper' even if it means using a fucking kid. They're wretched to the core."

When their main course finally arrived, Kaibi was served Tournedos Rossini with the strong smell of truffles around it. It was quite the small serving, but for someone like her, it was just perfect. It was pan-friend beef on a crouton finished with a madeira demi-glace sauce. However, before she dug in, she cut it in half before pushing her plate to him.

"That's why we'll have to take things slow, for now let's just forget about those things and focus on enjoying this dinner."

"You...Don't tell me you're already full just from smelling it."

"You're not funny. Here take the other half, I don't think I can finish it by myself." She picked up the piece using the tablespoon as she placed it on his bowl. Kakine looked at the piece of meat on his bowl as if he knew it was poisoned it was like paranoia to him.

Just as Kaibi was about to bring her plate back to her side, Kakine held the other end of it in a tight grip as he faced the floor.

"My bowl..."

"Hm?"

"Take some of mine as well."

"Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?" Kaibi smiled gently as she let him pull the plate closer to him. "I've never seen you so sincere before."

"Tch I take back what I say."

"Hehe I'm just kidding. But you're not expecting a woman to take it for herself, are you?"

Kakine looked up at her as he clicked his tongue again, "If I grab too much you're just going to pass it back to me, aren't you?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because it's you."

"I'm fine with any amount you give me."

In the same way that she did, he used a spoon and fork to dig up half of the boeuf bourguignon.

It seems like in a way, he was returning the gesture. To him, there was no one he would ever do this to unless they were a little kid. 

The mood lightening activity seemed to have worked out in the end.