From the Shadows

Ori who was tailing the tails of Benjiro noticed they still hadn't made their move and was probably waiting for Benjiro and his companion to leave the crowded streets. Thankfully Benjiro wasn't stupid and realised what they were waiting for and only stuck to crowded roads.

As Ori was watching how the situation played out, he noticed that the crowds were slowly thinning. He then realised that there were other marines hidden in the shadows slowly getting the civilians off the streets and doing it in a manner that Benjiro wouldn't notice.

About 20 minutes later Benjiro noticed that their was virtually no one on the streets and realised that he had been cornered.

He removed his hood and stepped in front of the blonde protecting her from the rugged marine and his men that had chased him down.

The rugged looking Marine Commander looked at the handsome man before him viciously as if he wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb.

"Benjiro, you've finally stopped running like the little rat you are?"

Benjiro didn't reply he just looked calmly at the man in front of him. Even though he was cornered he didn't seem worried in the slightest. He had an air of tranquillity to him that the other marines found slightly surprising considering the position he was in.

"Haha I can see from the calmness in your eyes that you've finally given up resisting fate. Not that I blame you. You took my wife from me and even tried to run away together. Now I'll kill you and that little slut."

When Benjiro heard the man call the blonde behind him a 'slut' his eyes turned cold but he didn't let the rage consume him. He looked indifferently at the man with the scar on his cheek and said icily.

"Hallorian, you of all people should know better than to try and kill me. You know who my father is! If you do this you'll be sentencing yourself to an early death!"

Marine Commander Hallorian looked at Benjiro with a mocking smile as he said.

"You idiot! Do you really think I'd dare kill the son of an Admiral if I didn't have some sort of insurance that my life wouldn't be threatened?!

Admiral Akainu was the one who gave the greenlight for me to kill you. His exact words were "My son is a complete and utter disgrace, having him was my biggest regret in life. The only way to clear the stain on my name and the marines is for that piece of trash to die!" Do you understand now? Not only do I want to kill you but so too does your father.

I can't blame him though, he had to pull a load of strings to get you into Special Instructor Zephyr's training camp with the Navy's Empyrean Trinity and the rest of us actual genius' but as expected you were graded 100th out of 100 finishing dead last!"

When he heard that his own father wanted him dead he couldn't help but laugh at himself. He didn't doubt the words of Hallorian for even one moment.

"Haha so the old man actually wants me dead and got you to do his dirty work. I knew that he felt embarrassed about having a son as weak as I am, but I didn't think the day would come where he'd actually get another marine to come for my life. What a father he is!"

When he spoke everyone could hear the pain in his voice but where Hallorian and the other marines seemed to take pleasure in his circumstances, the blonde behind him felt her heart ache. She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"Benji even if you are forsaken by the rest of the world you'll still have me!"

As he heard those words the pain he felt in his heart eased. He turned to face the blonde haired woman and gently removed the hair from her face and said gently.

"Thank y…"

As he was going to finish his sentence he saw something sharp darting towards him from the corner of his eye. He instinctively moved back to evade but he wasn't fast enough.

"Aahhhh!"

He covered his eyes with his hands, but blood was still dripping from his face.

"Stussy, you…"

The blonde haired woman let out a little chuckle as she said.

"I didn't expect you to actually be able to dodge that from such close range. I guess you're not as pathetic as we thought."

Hallorian who was watching everything from the side keeled over in laughter.

"HAHAHAHA. How pathetic, I can't believe you actually fell for it. You thought that my wife would ever leave me for a piece of trash like you! The way you stroked her hair back as if she was the love of your life, and the look on your face just now as you realised that your love betrayed you."

Ori who was watching from an alleyway hidden from sight was about to step in when he realised that Benjiro was betrayed but he saw something from Benjiro that made him falter. It was the lack of shock on his face, it was as if he was expecting to be betrayed and then the way he dodged, Ori realised that Benjiro could've dodged that attack completely but allowed his eyes to be slashed.

[What's he thinking.]

Just as Ori was lost in thought he was woken by the sound of Benjiro's voice.

"Haha, to think you were able to hide your emotions from me so well and even genuinely lead me to believe you loved me as much as I did you…]

Stussy smiled indifferently at the now blinded yet still handsome man before her.

"You say it like it's some sort of challenge."

As she said that, Benjiro smiled self mockingly. Only Ori knew that his smile was mocking the fact that he was an empath but still ended up being played emotionally for a fool. Benjiro faced the sky and sighed.

"I guess you were right. She really was playing me!"

Everyone was confused who he was talking to and automatically assumed he was going insane when the sound indifferent sound of a female replied.

"She's CP0, she was trained from a young age to be able to hide her emotions perfectly. Even you would struggle to see through her."

Everyone looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the voice when a slender female figure emerged from Benjiro's shadow and stabbed forth with what appeared to be a dagger, aiming to pierce the head of Stussy.

"Soru!"

Even though the attack was exceedingly fast, Stussy was still able to barely dodge the attack. She moved to where her husband Hallorian was stood and glared icily at the woman who just stepped out from Benjiro's shadow.

She was dressed in tight fitted black outfit and a black face mask. Despite being covered, from what the little she had visible it was clear to everyone present that the woman dressed like an assassin was definitely a beauty. In each hand she held a curved pitch black dagger that was clearly coated in haki.

When Ori saw her he instantly remembered her as the woman who also seemed to enjoy Benjiro's performance at Khaylee's the night of his performance.

Stussy who had just managed to escape death by the skin of her teeth glared at the assassin looking woman and raised her finger to the point just between her eyebrows and felt a drop of blood.

[If I was any slower, I would've lost my life!]

Just as she was she was recovering from the fact that she almost lost her life, Benjiro sat down with his legs crossed and removed the cloth bag from his shoulder and took out a plain zither laying it across his lap.

He then faced the direction of Stussy and Hallorian. Even though his eyes were shut, and blood was still dripping from his eyes, they felt as if Benjiro was staring straight into the deepest parts of their soul.

He then bent his neck facing the zither in his lap and began to play. The sound of his music sent all the marines present bar Hallorian and Stussy into a lulled state.

The music started off slow, but each note struck at the hearts of those listening. Even Hallorian and Stussy weren't completely immune. At first the music was slow and sorrowful, but the tempo started to speed up and each note played struck fear into the majority of those listening.

Despite not succumbing to the fearful sound of the music, Hallorian was shocked when he heard him play. He looked at Stussy beside him and said.

"It's hard to believe but you were right, he really has reached the Master Musician boundary."

Stussy looked indifferently at the man sat on the floor as she replied.

"When I heard him play at my mother's bar, I was just as shocked as you. If he had revealed his talents with the zither sooner, even Akainu would've less inclined to kill him."

Suddenly the tempo of the music slowed down but each note seemed to attack the soul of those listening. The weaker of the marines present fell to their knees coughing blood. Even Stussy and Hallorian somewhat struggled to resist the attack.

Seeing how dangerous Benjiro could potentially be in the future, neither of the duo felt like waiting anymore. Just as they were about to take action the music changed, it was no longer violent, but oddly tranquil.

They didn't understand why Benjiro stopped his attack, but they didn't care. Just when they were about to attack the female assassin moved darting towards the duo thrusting her daggers forth.

The speed of her stab was far faster then the speed she attacked Stussy at before almost catching them off guard they were forced to end their pursuit before it began.

Hallorian drew his saber and blocked both the attack aimed at him and his wife. Even though he successfully blocked her stabs he was still forced two steps back. He looked at the slender woman in front of him in shock.

[She's just at the Knivesman boundary, how is she able to force me back?! I'm at the Saber Master boundary!]

Ori was able to instantly tell what happened.

[Benjiro's using his inspiration fruit through his music to increase her strength.]