25 Yami

"You pervert!" Yami screamed out in embarrassment. Her hair suddenly transformed into a large fist and landed an uppercut square on Batu's chin.

"Goh~!" Batu helplessly spun like a roly-poly and fell face first, ass up. His eyes swirled with dizziness, having been knocked senseless.

Yami couldn't help but tremble in anger. It was her first kiss, and it had been taken away by some fiend.

Batu shook his head, snapping out of his daze and stood back up.

"You... how are you still alive?" Yami spoke through clenched teeth. She wanted to slice him apart, but she needed to know what sort of trickery he had pulled off again.

"Oh, you must be talking about [Illusion]," Batu answered, wiping the dirt off from his clothes. "Hey, Louise, you can come out now!" He yelled out to the surrounding woodlands.

Louise suddenly appeared out from behind the trees. She carefully approached them while her eyes stayed vigilant on Yami.

She had been hiding there, waiting for the right moment for Yami to let her guard down.

Although, she felt slightly jealous with Batu kissing Yami, it had to be done to complete the ritual. Of course, Louise wouldn't let him know that.

"While you were distracted with Batu, I casted an [Illusion] spell on you," Louise explained. "What you saw before was a fake."

"Tch, so you were behind it," the space assassin frowned. "I can't believe I would fall into such an obvious trap."

"So, how about we end it here and talk it out?" Batu asked.

"Not a chance," Yami's hair transformed into a storm of blades, all aimed at Batu. After he stole her first kiss, she needed to end his life.

Batu gulped nervously, but he had confidence that Yami wouldn't be able to kill him due to the pact made between them.

Then, the blades shot toward him, aiming to pierce through soft flesh. Batu still stood there, allowing Yami to strike him. He was willing to bet on his life.

Suddenly the blades stopped inches away from his face.

It was like an invisible barrier was erected between Batu and her blades.

"What's going on?" Yami couldn't control her body anymore. She tried her hardest to cut Batu down, but her body won't listen to her. "What did you do to me?"

"When we kissed, a pact was formed between us," Batu explained. "You won't be able to kill me because of it."

"You..." Yami collapsed to her knees. She had lost. Not through a battle of strength and skills, but through wits. "W-what do you plan to do with me?"

A blush formed across her face.

What if Batu was one of those certain types of masters? Yami physically shuddered. Lord knew how much she hated perverts.

Yami suddenly moved back as Batu walked towards her.

Out of her expectations, he held a hand out to her, "I know this is going to sound selfish, but I really need your help."

"My help?" She asked. "You mean... to get you out of this so called death game?"

"Ideally, yeah."

"I'm an assassin," she stated plainly. "I don't work exactly for free. Besides, what if I say no? What can you do?"

"You're right, I won't be able to do anything to you, but you're still going to be stuck here with us. Not exactly an ideal situation."

"Tch," Yami clicked her tongue. She really has no way out of this now.

"I know I don't have any money to compensate you, but what if I can pay you in another way?"

"In another way?"

"Taiyaki," Batu raised a finger up. There was no way that she wouldn't refuse this offer. It was practically her favorite thing.

"Tai...yaki?" She slowly repeated.

"Mmhm, and all the sweets and desserts that you can have."

Yami's stomach began to growl. No! Bad! Get a hold of yourself! However, Yami could vividly remember the sweet, red bean deliciousness that made her mouth water.

She wanted to refuse his offer, but it sounded just too good to give up.

But, what if this was all just an elaborate trick to reel her in, so he could commit all sorts of evil acts upon her?

"Your deception won't work on me, pervert," Yami said, edging away from him.

Louise had enough of this exchange, so she decided to step in for Batu.

"Look here, blondie," Louise suddenly pointed a finger at her. "This guy might be stupid and useless, but I can assure you that he's not that type of person. Well, at least not yet, but still!"

Batu didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. Was Louise really vouching for his character? It felt more like a verbal beating more than anything.

Louise continued, "Besides, you're an assassin, right? Then, how about this: let us hire you instead. Once Batu finds a way to get you back home, you're free to go. How does that sound?"

Yami thought over it for a moment. If Louise put it that way, then it should be fine, right? She was stuck here, so she had no choice but to accept.

"And the Taiyaki?" Yami asked.

"Right, I wouldn't forget about the Tai...yaki," Louise said. She never heard of this Taiyaki before, but if it had gotten an assassin like her to drool, then it must be good.

"So, how about it?" Batu asked with a hand out. "Can you help us?"

Yami stared at his hand then back at his obsidian eyes again. She found that his eyes didn't have any malice behind them.

Finally, Yami reached her hand out to his. With a quick pull, Batu helped her off from the ground.

"Alright, I'll accept this job," the assassin finally agreed. "But, if you try to pull anything on me, then I'll let you suffer a fate worse than death."

Batu couldn't help but gulp. It didn't sound like she was joking at all.

"Haha... not a problem," Batu chuckled nervously. Better not get on her bad side.

"What's your name, if I may ask?" Louise asked.

"Golden Darkness," she answered.

"Golden Darkness? That's sounds a little strange."

"It's my alias as an assassin," Yami clarified.

"Then, you have a real name, right?"

The assassin suddenly recalled some memories from the past. They were memories that still hurt her to this day.

"I-I prefer that you call me by Golden Darkness," she answered. However, Louise wanted to know more, but she knew not to pry any deeper into Yami's personal life.

"Then... what about Yami?" Batu asked.

"Yami?" The blonde titled her head in confusion.

"Yeah! It means Darkness," Batu said. "I think the name suits you perfectly."

"Mmm~ Yami doesn't sound too bad," Louise nodded her head.

It was a simple and rolled off the tongue quite nicely. At least it was better than the names of some nobles that were longer than a damn sentence.

"Y-you can call me whatever you want. I don't care," Yami shyly averted her eyes away them.

'Damn, she's cute,' Batu thought to herself. Even when Yami was dangerous, she still had her moe moments.

"Awesome! Then, welcome to the gang, Yami!" Batu grinned at her.

"Hmph, I guess I'm okay with it," Louise crossed her arms in her usual tsundere manner.

Although she didn't want to admit, she felt relieve that she wasn't the only girl anymore. She had no qualms against Chin and Batu, but Louise wanted another girl she could relate to.

Batu was just glad that he finally had a cute and strong girl on his team.