Captain Kuro sat hunched on the wide stone steps of the mansion, his hands pressed against his temples.
"Why are they late...?"
He stood, his tall frame now able to see past the estate's manicured grounds and over the ornate iron gates to the village spread across the valley below.
His crew should've arrived by now. Every minute that passed put his carefully planned charade further behind schedule.
"Those idiots... should know what it means to ruin my plans. And still they dare not arrive on time..."
Kuro descended the steps and grabbed his travel bag by its two reddish-brown straps, lifting it smoothly from the ground before proceeding through the gates.
"If they dare forget my plans..."
Three years. He had endured this humiliating charade for three long years.
His brilliant escape, the faked death that had erased the infamous Captain Kuro from the world's memory, felt like a lifetime past. That had been the simple part. The genuine test of his will? Playing the devoted servant to a frail, naïve, melancholy heiress. Every moment of feigned kindness grated against him. Every gentle word served as a constant reminder of the peace owed to him.
But now, the ultimate act was at hand. His old crew – those disposable pawns – would soon arrive to stage the tragedy. Their chaotic attack would provide the perfect cover to silence the girl after she was hypnotized into writing him into her will, leaving him to inherit her fortune and disappear into a peaceful life.
And there was no chance his plans wouldn't prove successful. Especially considering the good luck he'd had. Her parents' deaths in that accident, then that moronic Merry's alternative travel method down the stairway. Good fortune had cleared his path at every turn.
"...I will kill them all."
☠ ☠ ☠
Kaya awoke in a coughing fit, scaring away the birds that had been singing in the tree outside her open window.
"I awoke again... Maybe tomorrow, I suppose," she said as she slipped out of bed and into her slippers. "Is Klahadore okay? He didn't wake me by knocking on my door today."
Making her way across her room, she lifted her tan overcoat from the chair by her dresser and pulled it on over her long nightgown. She also retrieved another item from her drawer and slipped it into the coat's inner pocket.
How she would've loved to stay in bed, to remain asleep, avoiding those two questions the stranger had asked that kept repeating in her head.
But last night brought a promise to that peculiar stranger – to hold on to the cloth sack he'd left behind and would return for at dawn.
She knew the request was odd, but it was too much effort to say no, so she just nodded her head when asked.
He'd also said her world would change today. Maybe he planned to take her life after all? How thoughtful of him.
Kaya glanced at the cloth sack resting beside her bed. There was a small part of her that remained curious about what lay inside, though she'd been too weary to investigate when he'd first tossed it through her window.
Just a little peek wouldn't hurt, right?
She bent down toward the sack, her hand extending tentatively toward the rough fabric.
"Ready?"
"Ah!" Kaya jerked upright at the unexpected voice. The cloaked man she'd been waiting for sat perched on the branch outside.
"You nearly stopped my heart. Thank you."
Before she could blink, he stood beside her. The cloth sack at her feet vanished without a trace.
Kaya stared at the empty spot below. "How did you..." She looked up at him, then back to the branch. "That was unexpected."
He turned and crouched with his back toward her. "Hop on."
Kaya blinked at the offer. A piggyback ride? After years of Klahadore's stern refusals, every request dismissed with lectures about propriety, this stranger was offering what she'd been denied. "Why would you..."
"Klahadore is in trouble."
"Oh." She studied his crouched form. "That does indeed explain things."
There were no downsides to getting on his back. One, she gets a piggyback ride. Two, if he's telling the truth, she gets to save Klahadore. Three, if he's lying and plans to kill her, well, she didn't need to explain that upside.
"Okay."
She placed her hands on his shoulders, surprised by the solid strength beneath the fabric. As she climbed onto his back, his warmth was noticeable through her thin nightgown and cardigan. He smelled of sea salt and something else; something that reminded her of the candles in the dining room, though not quite the same. It was... pleasant.
As he stood, his arms wrapped securely under her legs while she instinctively looped her own around his neck for balance. The way he lifted her without effort, the steadiness of it all – it differed from what she was used to. Reassuring in a way she hadn't expected.
"Hold tight."
"Hn."
☠ ☠ ☠
"W-What is this?!" one of his men screamed.
"Nobody said the village had a woman like this guarding it!" another pirate shouted.
From where he lay bound in rope off to the side, Jango watched in complete disbelief as his pirate crew charging up from the shore got launched through the air by some crazy woman with swords. She fought with three blades: two in her hands and one clenched between her teeth like some kind of freak! What kind of ridiculous fighting style was that?
This wasn't part of the plan! Though Jango couldn't fight or hypnotize while tied up like this, he could still give orders.
"Sham! Buchi!" he bellowed. "What are you waiting around for?! Get off that ship and crush this green-haired gorilla! Now!"
Jango knew there wasn't any time left. Dawn had long passed, and if Kuro arrived here, there was a near definite he'd slaughter them all.
Two shadows leaped off the bow of the Bezan Black and landed on the ground.
"Captain Jango? We wondered what had happened to you."
"What's up?"
"Sham..."
"...and Buchi!"
"Together, we are the Nyaban Brothers!" the two announced in unison.
Jango tried to wriggle free from his ropes once more, but the only effect was chafed skin. "Get rid of her!"
Sham raised his claws. "T-There's no way we can—"
"Do you see what time it is? What do you think will happen when Kuro gets here?"
Buchi spoke up. "We're not afraid of—"
"Go!" Jango thrashed on the ground.
"Fine!" The Nyaban Brothers sprinted toward the woman.
She stood alone among the scattered bodies of their defeated crewmates. Of all the Black Cat pirates who had charged the shore, only Sham and Buchi were left standing.
This was it – the combined assault of their dual 'Cat Attack.' She wouldn't be able to stand against it, no matter how strong she was.
Jango's belief shattered upon hearing her next words.
"'Tora Gari."