Laying Low No Longer

[Yukki Kazuto]

Yukki lays on top of the sheets on his bed in his base, as restless as one might expect a trained killer to be after laying low for so long he doesn’t remember how long he’s been doing it. The room around him is littered with spare bullets, empty magazines, rifle cleaning kits, and various pieces of experimental weapons. Yukki sighs, and walks across the room to the door, opening it and heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

In it, he is greeted by a secondary he summoned a few weeks ago in an attempt to keep him company named Sky. Sky flashed him a smile. “Hey Yukki!” Yukki waved back, with no particular emotion. Sky was used to this, and just slid him a plate of bagels as he sat down at the table. Sky then sat down next to him, with her own plate of something she called corn beef hash.

Sky was five foot seven, as pale as Yukki, with royal blue hair that reached her shoulderblades. On this particular morning, she had on blue jeans and a pink t-shirt with a white apron covering her clothing. Her pale blue eyes were focused solely on her meal, which seemed to resemble dogfood to Yukki. The pair ate in silence, as they had done for most mornings since Sky had been summoned.

When they were finished, Sky picked up the plates and loaded them in the dishwasher, which she would set to run after dinner when there were even more dishes to clean. She turned to Yukki. “So. What exactly is our plan for today?” She asked with a smile. Yukki smirked, and threw a knife at her, pinning the side of her apron to the wall and ripping it off of her body. Sky smiled. “Oh, so it’s that today.” she said as she picked up a carving knife off the counter and began to attack Yukki with it.

The sound of steel clashing with steel can be heard through the kitchen as the two circle around each other, both attacking with their assorted blades. Sky attempts to slide over the island, but is caught by Yukki, who sits on her, wrestling the blade from her hand, forcing her to surrender. Sky giggles like one would expect a schoolgirl to. “Looks like I lost!”

Yukki smiled. “Again. What’s the score now?” Sky giggled and leaned up, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss.
 
“Fifty seven… to zero. One day, I’m going to get you.”

Yukki laughed. “Not going to happen.” He got off of her, jumping down onto the floor, and helped her down from the island. As Sky turned to walk away, Yukki grabbed her wrist. “Sky… I’m going to have to leave soon...”

Sky titled her head to the left. “What do you mean?”

“It’s time.”

Sky nodded slowly, a frown forming on her face. “You miss it, don’t you? The dangerous life? I thought you had decided to settle down.”

“Look, even if I tried to settle down, this world wouldn’t let me. Eventually someone would find us here, and it probably wouldn’t be pretty.” 

Sky formed a pout on her face, desperately trying to keep him with her. Yukki had learned to resist the temptations of that face. “I’m sorry. But I have to go back to them.”

Sky’s pout became a glare. “You mean you have to go back to her.” she said as she walked away into her bedroom. Yukki sat down and a stool, staring blankly at the emerald colored knife in his hand. “Hey.” Sky called from across the room. Yukki looked up to see that he had removed her shirt. “If you’re serious about leaving, get in here. Leave me with a happy memory.”

Yukki placed the blade on the counter, and followed her into the room.

---

As the sun began to collide with the bright colored sea of the Vasty Deep, Yukki left the island on his purple jet ski, fully loaded with his weapons, and in his old travelling gear. Sky waved from the beach until she couldn’t see him anymore, and then returned to the building that had always been her home.

The waves crash against the jet ski as Yukki handles it with the skill of a professional, steering along the path that he recalled would lead him back to Costa del Sol. A strong wind blows in from the south, chilling Yukki down to his bones, and soaking him with saltwater. The sun goes down and the moon comes up, illuminating the sea with the glow of the moon’s reflected light. Yukki rides on, wondering if this journey is taking much longer than he thought it should.

As Yukki begins to drift away in thought, the smell of cherries fills his lungs. Confused by the smell, Yukki stops the jet ski, and begins examining the area around him for the smell. Nothing but open sea can be seen for miles around. Yukki looks over his shoulder to check for followers, and is hit by a giant wave from the front, knocking him off the jet ski and into the water, where he finds it hard to differentiate up from down. Logic becomes confusion and sense becomes insanity. The light begins to fade, and all the while Yukki sinks through the water, before finally blacking out due to a lack of oxygen.

[Yukki Kazuto]

Yukki wakes slowly to the feeling of something dragging him across a grainy surface on his back. Immediately he begins coughing violently, forcing the seawater out of his lungs. Whoever, or whatever, is dragging him stops, allowing him to roll onto his side and cough water up onto the golden sand that he is on. The coughing continues for a few moments before it eventually stops, and Yukki continues to breath heavily. 

A high pitched voice pierces the air. “Welcome back to the land of the living.” Yukki sees through blurry eyes as someone sits down on his right side and watches him. After a moment of silence they ask “Have you nothing to say?”

Yukki, slowly becoming more aware of what his body is feeling, is agitated by the soreness of his throat caused by the hacking and coughing that comes with nearly drowning. “Wa… ter…”

The person, who is now recognizable as a redheaded female, chuckles a little. “Survives a drowning, first thing he wants is water. I’ll be right back.” She returns a few moments later with a dark green canteen in her hands. “Here, drink slowly.” She said as she gently poures the clean liquid into Yukki’s throat. “There. Feel any better?”

Yukki finishes swallowing before answering. “A little.” As he sits up, he asks the woman next to him “Who are you, exactly? And where are we?” The woman stands up, and helps him to his feet.

“My name is Morello. It’s a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances.” Morello runs a hand through her hair. “As for where we are, I’m as lost as you are I’m concerned. In fact I had only been awake for a few minutes before you washed up on shore.”

Yukki begins looking around as he introduces himself “I’m Yukki.” The beach that he and is on stretches a round a hundred to two hundred meters before being lost behind the trees that occupy the middle of the island. “So Morello, how did you get here?”

Morello shrugs. “I was out sailing and came across a bad storm. I woke up on this beach.” She points into the forest. “In the trees there is a freshwater stream, if you want me to show you.” Yukki agrees, and follows her lead into the forest. The brush is dense, but there is a clear path that has been travelled a few times.

“Hey…” Yukki says as they walk through the forest. “What do you think we should do about this situation?” Morello stops in a clearing in the woods and turns to Yukki.

“The stream is right over here.” she says as she points to the other side of the clearing. As Yukki steps past her to go drink from it, he hears her give a small chuckle. Turning back, he’s grabbed quickly by Morello, who puts a damp cloth over his mouth and nose as he gasps. Yukki attempts to hold his breath, but the chloroform has already entered his respiratory system, and the world fades to black, leaving him with only the faint smell of cherries.