After her meeting with Mai, Kara made her way to Suraja Assurance. She was in desperate need of some muscle, or rather a muscle bound idiot that was just smart enough to protect her and just dumb enough to overlook anything untoward that she might get up to. As a general rule the Sun Security did not allow people quite that stupid to join. But sometimes they leaked through. And if she was being totally fair, ‘idiot’ was how she would describe most people. Compared to her. She almost felt bad for them, it wasn’t even their fault.
She had sent word ahead that she would be doing interviews for the position of personal security and had been informed that there were several candidates lined up. Kara loathed doing interviews, she found the process entirely unnecessary as she had discovered that most of what a person was capable of was easily determined just by glancing at them. Walking into the security office she was met with several guards who nodded deferentially and escorted her to a conference room. On the way she saw a row of chairs with what looked to be potential applicants sitting and waiting. But one in particular caught her eye, and just for a second her blood ran cold.
“Damien. . .”
She whispered the name as she paused mid stride to take in the vision of the man seated in the hallway. Dark hair and silver eyes. . . well, eye as one was covered by an eyepatch. He had a similar build and as his gaze turned to look at his employer she saw the same wicked twinkle in the silver orb. Pointing directly at him and kept walking as she issued her command.
“You. Follow me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She could hardly breathe as emotions that she was not prepared to face that day washed over her. She didn’t turn to look as she entered the room and issued another command. “Close the door.” There was no room for questioning her commands, and like a reasonably intelligent person, he did not question her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she turned to face the man who looked so much like her fallen love. He was strong looking, and carried a sword at his side, walking up to him she gave him a more thorough examination. The way one might examine a show horse. She circled him and poked and prodded, finally stopping once she was satisfied that he was adequate. She was second guessing herself due to her emotional reaction, and she wanted to be sure that he was combat ready, as much as she could be sure of such a thing.
“Did you ever meet Damien Darhk?”
The man shook his head ‘no’ and offered a rueful smile. “No ma’am. Never travelled that direction myself. Heard of him though, and. . . I’m sorry for your loss ma’am.” Her mouth twitched with annoyance at the word ‘ma’am’. And before she could focus too long on the offered condolences, she allowed herself to snap briefly at the unasked for title. “Stop calling me that. I appreciate the respect, however I’m not a fan of the honorific. You may call me Ms. Darhk or Mistress. In private you may call me Kara, though do not abuse that privilege.” He would grin sheepishly, a large gloved hand coming up to sweep at his dark hair in embarrassment. “Yes, Mistress. My apologies.”
She would look down at the pile of folders on the table and rifle through them until she found one with a picture that looked like him. Opening the folder she would read through his history, taking note of his more colourful past. “You look like him. It’s uncanny. And I won’t lie to you, the reason I pulled you into this room ahead of the others is because of the resemblance. I do not consider myself a combatant, and as such am unfamiliar with the intricacies of choosing a combatant to aid me. You seem strong enough, and your file is. . . interesting. I’m not here to judge your past, just your future. I need someone who is willing to do anything I ask of them. Who will go so far as to put themselves in harm's way in order to protect me.” She held out her right arm and slid the silk glove off of it, revealing the adamantine prosthetic. His eye showed curiosity and interest, though he said nothing. “I have already had one attempt made on my life, and lost my arm for it. I am unwilling to lose any more limbs. So, Tetsuya Yoshida, are you willing to defend me with your life? I will absolutely make it worth the risk. There is no price too high to ensure my safety. Money, custom made weaponry, anything you want.”
This one she wasn’t sure of, not like she had been with Mai. Inspiring this kind of loyalty was slightly more complicated than simply offering money. Money was useless if you were dead, and it did nothing to help keep you alive. Tetsuya stood and casually rested his palm on the pommel of his sword as he appeared to be considering Kara’s offer. “Money and whatnot sounds real nice and all. But that’s not really what I want. I came here, joined your company to make a new start for myself. Keep my demons at bay, you know? So that’s what I want. You keep my past from catching up with me and my life is yours.”
Her eyebrow would raise slightly as she moved closer to him, her neck craning as she looked up at him. “That’s it? That’s all you want? I could give you anything, and you’re only asking for a ‘new start’? I have recently become a more suspicious person, and I must say that your answer is concerning.” The file she held did not go into details, but it was clear that he used to at least be a mercenary. She knew little of that, though she imagined that being a sword for hire did not make many friends. “So tell me, this past of yours, what am I protecting you from? Gambling debts? Slighted lovers? Embarrassing in-laws? I need specifics.” Tetsuya chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Nothing so mundane. I used to be a hired killer, was pretty good at it too. Sometimes though, people don’t like that so much. When you’ve killed their family members and the like. Blood vendettas and all that. I’ll give you all the specifics you like in a more secure location, you never know who could be listening. Specifically though, I need a new life, a new name. And in return for this new life, I’ll keep yours safe. You have my word.” His hand had moved from the top of her shoulder to just under her chin, keeping her gaze securely fixed on his. That was all it took for Kara to decide that she believed him. She’d seen that look before, and his ask was not that big. A new name and a new life was easy enough for her to do.
“Fine.” she said quietly, “A new name is simple, I’ll have any previous records of you erased. You will accompany wherever I go, unless I specifically order you not to. You will keep me alive and in one piece. And this. . .” She pointed at the closeness between them and the man’s hand on her face. “. . .while I am not opposed, will not be done in public. Understood?” The man grinned mischievously and nodded again, leaning in to whisper into her ear. “Yes, Mistress.”
Kara spent the next several hours finalizing the hiring process, as well as burying and destroying all mention of her new bodyguard’s past. She had the paperwork drawn up to hire Kaito Masamune - Code Name: Doku as her personal bodyguard and new head of security. The choices she made that day were definitely self serving and egotistical, but she didn’t care. She’d been suffering for too long, and it was time she took at least one step to end it.
[Exit]
She had sent word ahead that she would be doing interviews for the position of personal security and had been informed that there were several candidates lined up. Kara loathed doing interviews, she found the process entirely unnecessary as she had discovered that most of what a person was capable of was easily determined just by glancing at them. Walking into the security office she was met with several guards who nodded deferentially and escorted her to a conference room. On the way she saw a row of chairs with what looked to be potential applicants sitting and waiting. But one in particular caught her eye, and just for a second her blood ran cold.
“Damien. . .”
She whispered the name as she paused mid stride to take in the vision of the man seated in the hallway. Dark hair and silver eyes. . . well, eye as one was covered by an eyepatch. He had a similar build and as his gaze turned to look at his employer she saw the same wicked twinkle in the silver orb. Pointing directly at him and kept walking as she issued her command.
“You. Follow me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She could hardly breathe as emotions that she was not prepared to face that day washed over her. She didn’t turn to look as she entered the room and issued another command. “Close the door.” There was no room for questioning her commands, and like a reasonably intelligent person, he did not question her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she turned to face the man who looked so much like her fallen love. He was strong looking, and carried a sword at his side, walking up to him she gave him a more thorough examination. The way one might examine a show horse. She circled him and poked and prodded, finally stopping once she was satisfied that he was adequate. She was second guessing herself due to her emotional reaction, and she wanted to be sure that he was combat ready, as much as she could be sure of such a thing.
“Did you ever meet Damien Darhk?”
The man shook his head ‘no’ and offered a rueful smile. “No ma’am. Never travelled that direction myself. Heard of him though, and. . . I’m sorry for your loss ma’am.” Her mouth twitched with annoyance at the word ‘ma’am’. And before she could focus too long on the offered condolences, she allowed herself to snap briefly at the unasked for title. “Stop calling me that. I appreciate the respect, however I’m not a fan of the honorific. You may call me Ms. Darhk or Mistress. In private you may call me Kara, though do not abuse that privilege.” He would grin sheepishly, a large gloved hand coming up to sweep at his dark hair in embarrassment. “Yes, Mistress. My apologies.”
She would look down at the pile of folders on the table and rifle through them until she found one with a picture that looked like him. Opening the folder she would read through his history, taking note of his more colourful past. “You look like him. It’s uncanny. And I won’t lie to you, the reason I pulled you into this room ahead of the others is because of the resemblance. I do not consider myself a combatant, and as such am unfamiliar with the intricacies of choosing a combatant to aid me. You seem strong enough, and your file is. . . interesting. I’m not here to judge your past, just your future. I need someone who is willing to do anything I ask of them. Who will go so far as to put themselves in harm's way in order to protect me.” She held out her right arm and slid the silk glove off of it, revealing the adamantine prosthetic. His eye showed curiosity and interest, though he said nothing. “I have already had one attempt made on my life, and lost my arm for it. I am unwilling to lose any more limbs. So, Tetsuya Yoshida, are you willing to defend me with your life? I will absolutely make it worth the risk. There is no price too high to ensure my safety. Money, custom made weaponry, anything you want.”
This one she wasn’t sure of, not like she had been with Mai. Inspiring this kind of loyalty was slightly more complicated than simply offering money. Money was useless if you were dead, and it did nothing to help keep you alive. Tetsuya stood and casually rested his palm on the pommel of his sword as he appeared to be considering Kara’s offer. “Money and whatnot sounds real nice and all. But that’s not really what I want. I came here, joined your company to make a new start for myself. Keep my demons at bay, you know? So that’s what I want. You keep my past from catching up with me and my life is yours.”
Her eyebrow would raise slightly as she moved closer to him, her neck craning as she looked up at him. “That’s it? That’s all you want? I could give you anything, and you’re only asking for a ‘new start’? I have recently become a more suspicious person, and I must say that your answer is concerning.” The file she held did not go into details, but it was clear that he used to at least be a mercenary. She knew little of that, though she imagined that being a sword for hire did not make many friends. “So tell me, this past of yours, what am I protecting you from? Gambling debts? Slighted lovers? Embarrassing in-laws? I need specifics.” Tetsuya chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Nothing so mundane. I used to be a hired killer, was pretty good at it too. Sometimes though, people don’t like that so much. When you’ve killed their family members and the like. Blood vendettas and all that. I’ll give you all the specifics you like in a more secure location, you never know who could be listening. Specifically though, I need a new life, a new name. And in return for this new life, I’ll keep yours safe. You have my word.” His hand had moved from the top of her shoulder to just under her chin, keeping her gaze securely fixed on his. That was all it took for Kara to decide that she believed him. She’d seen that look before, and his ask was not that big. A new name and a new life was easy enough for her to do.
“Fine.” she said quietly, “A new name is simple, I’ll have any previous records of you erased. You will accompany wherever I go, unless I specifically order you not to. You will keep me alive and in one piece. And this. . .” She pointed at the closeness between them and the man’s hand on her face. “. . .while I am not opposed, will not be done in public. Understood?” The man grinned mischievously and nodded again, leaning in to whisper into her ear. “Yes, Mistress.”
Kara spent the next several hours finalizing the hiring process, as well as burying and destroying all mention of her new bodyguard’s past. She had the paperwork drawn up to hire Kaito Masamune - Code Name: Doku as her personal bodyguard and new head of security. The choices she made that day were definitely self serving and egotistical, but she didn’t care. She’d been suffering for too long, and it was time she took at least one step to end it.
[Exit]
