It's Bokken, not a Katana...

Warning: Dialogue heavy(◉_◉).

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"You both have gone crazy!" yelled the Chief at Priest and Maguire, in his cabin.

"You have falsely... publicly... announced that one of our valuable officers as a double-agent, and that too, with me as the witness—"

"I know, sir. But Mr. Pr... this guy says he has a plan, which I personally think is trash, but it's not the first time he won with trash plans, so..." Maguire gave his answer- but unsure, shaking his head.

Chief inhaled a deep breath, trying to calm himself from his bothering blood pressure. But seeing Priest eating his shawarma with no seriousness riled him up again. However, Chief knew it was an useless emotion, anyway.

"I want to smash your face by pinning you against this table with that shawarma stuffed into your mouth... but you could easily rip off my hands, if you want to, so just say that bloody plan," Chief gave up.

"First! the team... Second is the plan," Priest answered.

"Well, well, well... So, you have some candidates in mind," Maguire asked Priest sarcastically.

"Well, well, well... I don't. I said 'Assemble a team' not 'I am assembling a team'. Come on, I already have my plate filled with the night duty... just like that dark and broody vigilante in the comics. What was his name again? Hmm... I forgot."

"So, Priest will not select... Okay, then... No, it's not okay! Somebody has to take care of this responsibility! At least tell me who the fuck should I choose to select the person who will carry the responsibility. Responsibility. Responsibility. Fucking responsibility. Do you guys know my blood pressure level? Idiots!" Chief quickly riled up again.

"Maguire! Mr. Maguire!" Priest calmed down the Chief. "He will shoulder the responsibility to choose the person who should handle the responsibility of... choosing responsible candidates. Can't you Maggie?"

"Guess, I have to."

"That's quick," Priest relieved at Maguire's quick answer.

"Okay! It's time to take my pills. Officer Maguire will—"

"Don't worry, sir. Maggie is a force to reckon—"

"Just shut up and get out... before my blood vessel bursts open," Chief angrily pleaded the Priest.

Both of them stepped out of the room. Maguire lit his cigar and Priest was munching the shawarma.

"It's afternoon, now. Don't you have a rule... like a necessity to sleep at least 20 minutes a day, to make your power work?" Maguire questioned as he puffed out a smoke.

"Oh, expositions! Well, it's not a power-up... It's just... a meditation, an exercise... or any other bullshit you guys do to keep yourselves fit. I can relax and rejuvenate my body, faster... that's it. Like any other normal human being, I too get weaker, if I abstain from sleep."

"At least, I sleep every night. Not like you... sleeping for 10 minutes and that's worth 10 hours..." Maguire dropped the cigarette and rubbed it with his foot, " And I received a call from the prison... they have washed your blood-soaked clothes. Do you want to send someone to fetch it for you?"

Priest raised his eyebrows and quickly swallowed the bite of shawarma, he was chewing. A sense of urgency and panic was clear in his action.

"Don't... Just instruct all the officers to abstain from Rotten Casket. No matter what, strictly order them... Inform the chief, too. I rushed out of there, for a reason... Ask the staff of Casket to send the reports, we've asked... the clothes can wait," Priest informed Maguire, finishing the last bite of the shawarma.

"Hmm...That was a good shawarma. And do you have someone in mind... for the selector role?"

"Yeah, I think I do. But it's definitely gonna piss off the higher-ups and the Cult for sure," replied Maguire, looking back towards a janitor's room.

"Oh...Good luck, with that. I'm leaving..." Priest patted on Maguire's back and left.

Maguire walked towards the janitor's room and an old man came out of it, with a mop and bucket. Maguire waved at him.

"Mr. Rishi! Could you spare a moment for me?"

The old man avoided him and moved away to

Priest hopped into a taxi and went straight to 'Halina Fried Chicken', entering with his red umbrella.

"Hey, father!" Diana waved at him as her eyes immediately caught the red umbrella.

"Hey, uh..."

"Milkshake and fried chicken burger. Just ten minutes. Fridge got into a problem today," she chuckled and moved towards the kitchen.

Priest nodded and turned his sight towards the glass walls to see the rain and the people toiling in the streets.

"Hey brother, what was the rain acidity, today?" he asked the nearby customer, who was eating his Dosa.

"It's medium, I guess... Wait! I saw you somewhere, aren't you the... Devil," the customer identified Priest. Unfortunately, the word was loud enough to reach others. Suddenly, a small commotion burst out.

"What? Why is he here?"

"What's the freak, doing here? Hey, waitress! Tell him to leave!"

"Should we bow? He saved our children, once."

"That's the guy sprouting the equality nonsense... Let's leave."

People murmured, yelled, complained, delighted by Priest's presence evoking a tense atmosphere, while Priest just simply closed his eyes and relaxed by the cool air blown directly at him by the fan.

"Shut the fuck up!" Diana snapped. The customers immediately silenced their voices, as they knew very well that she was not someone to mess with.

"Why should we—"

"Shhh... Just obey her. She single-handedly dealt with a gang of local thugs, once. They are still in the hospital," one of the customers warned the other.

"This is my fucking restaurant. If you are not comfortable with him, get the fuck out. Don't fucking disturb my customer, he's a regular," Diana growled.

"Oh... okay, just parcel those... I think I came at a wrong time—"

Diana placed the burger and milkshake fiercely on the table. She brought her face close to Priest.

"Come on... Burger will not be crispy if it was not eaten at the right time..." she winked at him, smiling.

"Oh... Wow, no... of course, yeah... whatever you say, Ahem..." Priest's words trembled as he blushed hard and covered his forehead, feeling uneasy to look at her directly.

Diana chuckled at Priest and went back to the kitchen with a full smile.

"Are they a thing? I have never heard the Devil could blush this hard," a waitress asked her colleague in wonder.

"It's one of the long lists of never-ending mysteries, we have in our city... It's not for human understanding"

As the time went by, the restaurant reached its one-hour interval break. The waitresses left and, as usual, Diana ironed her waitress uniform to serve the evening customers. Since most of them order only alcoholic beverages, she doesn't hire a lot of second shift workers and kept it under two or one extra assistant.

"Okay, now tell me. What was the real reason, you came to meet me?" Diana walked towards Priest, right out of the shower wearing a silky silver robe.

"Hmm... well. I don't know how to say, but you know what happened last time, right?" Priest replied with eyes fixed directly to her face. Diana noticed it.

"Hey, you don't have to be so uncomfortable with my cloth—"

"What? No! I've been around for centuries and long... I've grown out of these silly physical desires... it's just flesh, doesn't make any difference"

"So, I'm just a flesh. Is that—"

"I'm saying your presence is enough... you being here... being a good-hearted person who can make me smile... oh! Ahem," Priest let the words slip a little too far. Diana jumped in joy internally. She inhaled a deep breath.

"Oh! kay! Say it. What you came for? Of course, Father," she giggled.

"Don't add 'father' with every sentence... It only makes it weird. Well, I came for... um"

"Why are you hesitating, so much? It's not like, I'm gonna get offended and yell—"

"We'll see... My Katana—"

"It's Bokken, not a Katana, okay?"

"I want you to make one. From the 'Portura' black oak," Priest's eyes avoided Diana's eyes, and he turned aside.

The cheerful face of Diana quickly dimmed. The smile descended to anger and frustration.

"You want me to follow in my dad's footsteps—"

"No! no! not at all... I'm using too many no's today. But the katana is a one-off thing... I just need your help."

Diana slammed her fist hard on the table. Her eyes welled up, and she shed a few tears before wiping them away.

Priest felt really bad for her, so he picked up the coat, he hung over the chair, and got up to leave.

"I shouldn't have asked... I'll just find another way—"

"I'm doing it." she rubbed her hands together and clenched her fists.

"You... really—" Diana interrupted Priest, punching hard on his face, breaking his nose - again.

"Yeah. It's not like for war or supplying it for thugs... it's for you, right? I'll do it... if it's for you," Diana gave a soft smile and tied her loose hair and walked fast towards her room to change clothes, "The sun is already set... we don't have enough time, you know the place to get the oak... and you know it's not easy."

Priest wiped the blood off his nose and adjusted the bone.

"Yeah, it's been a long time, since I met them... The Ghouls."