Innocence Lost
by Aimless
He hid at the mouth of the alley heavily cloaked in shadows. The weapon he bore looking hideously out of place for one so small to wield. A modified scythe glinted in the small amount of light that penetrated the darkness. The hands of a teenager nervously gripped the hilt and waited.
He didn’t expect any trouble. He didn’t expect to have to use his gruesome weapon. But that was all about to change.
Loud footsteps and labored breathing startled the teen and he anxiously peered out into the darkness. The tiny communicator in his ear crackled to life.
“Where did he go? Fuck I lost him!” Ken hissed angrily.
“Did you see him Chloe?” Aya’s calm voice flowed over the com.
“No it’s quiet here. I have no idea where he went. Free how about you?” Chloe questioned.
“Neither Michel nor I have encountered the target. We’ll continue to look.” Free spoke as he helped Michel navigate the rain slick fire escape.
“He’s coming towards me.” Yuki replied in a monotone voice.
“What? Do not engage. I repeat do not engage him Yuki. I’ll come to you.” Aya ordered.
The com went silent and Yuki sank further back into the gloom. Rain seeped down the neck of his black jacket and he shivered.
A sudden explosive sneeze and he was discovered.
Yuki’s eyes widened as the target froze in the dim alley and looked right at his hiding place.
He raised his gun.
Given no choice Yuki flung himself out of the alcove. Just as the gun went off Yuki brought his scythe down in a broad sweep. His arms shook with the impact of razor sharp steel meeting flesh. The bullet scored the handle deeply and imbedded itself in the brick wall behind.
Blood sprayed out in an arc liberally splattering the teen. The weapon imbedded itself in the man’s torso. The gun lay in the alley still grasped by the hand severed from his attack.
To Yuki’s horror the man lay screaming on the wet pavement. His hands slipped off the gruesomely slick handle and he backed away.
The target’s eyes bore into his beseechingly. The man’s arm deflected enough of the attack that the scythe imbedded itself in the target’s ribcage. Blood loss would eventually kill him but for now he was reduced to moaning and crying as his life flowed away to mix with the other debris scattered over the cracked asphalt.
Transfixed Yuki just stared in shock at the damage he’d done.
It was his first kill. Something the others had been protecting him from.
Yuki had no idea it would make him feel so sick. To take the life of another. He wasn’t ready…he wasn’t…
“D…die…why can’t you just die? Oh god I c…can’t…I…” Yuki sank to his knees as the target’s remaining hand reached out to him.
“Yuki?”
Aya came upon this gruesome scene and his heart broke. The devastation on Yuki’s face was plain to see. Tears streamed down the teen’s cheeks unnoticed as he knelt in the filthy alley. The blood pooling around the target soaking into the fabric of his pants.
The red haired assassin wanted so badly to protect Yuki from this. From having to deal such punishment to those that KR deemed evil.
“Aya…he, he didn’t die. I didn’t want to but he had a gun. I…I.” Yuki covered his face with his arm which did nothing to drown out his muffled sobs.
Aya wanted to badly to comfort the young man but he had to put the target out of his misery. With cold precision he unsheathed his katana and delivered a killing blow. A few gurgles and breathy exhalations and the target was dead.
Yuki stared for a moment before flinging himself to his feet and running.
“Chloe head to the mouth of the alley. Clean up needed. Yuki struck first. The target is down. He ran. I need to go after him. He’s in a bad way.” Aya yelled into the com as he chased after the distraught teen.
“Got it Aya and please take care of him.” Chloe’s worried voice came through loud and clear.
Aya raced off the direction Yuki went. He did not have to run very far before he spotted Yuki slumped over a small retaining wall on the next street. Seeing no one at this time of night Aya rushed to his side.
Yuki braced himself on the wall as his stomach heaved. He lost what food was there and continued to retch painfully.
“Yuki?” Aya said quietly as he approached. He really did not want to spook the young man.
The red head stopped next to Yuki and soothingly rubbed his back as the teen gagged and choked. Finally Yuki was able to straighten up. Aya wordlessly handed him a handkerchief to wipe his face.
“I thought I could handle it. But when he was lying there dying…he looked at me. I couldn’t bear it. I have his blood all over me…I did this. Me!” Yuki stared at his red tinted hands. He scrubbed them against his pant legs.
“It won’t come off. It won’t ever come off.” Yuki brokenly remarked.
Aya bit his lip in an effort not to scream out his pain at the loss of the young man’s innocence. He was tainted now just like the rest of them. He’d tried to protect Yuki for so long. To save him from this. This soiling of his soul by another dying at his hands.
The red haired assassin took a deep breath.
“You did what you had to do. What you knew you would have to do when you joined us. I’m sorry I could not keep you from this pain.” Aya pulled the still crying young man into his arms and urged him to walk. They needed to get off the main street and away from possibly prying eyes.
“I didn’t know Aya. I didn’t know.” Yuki’s sadly soft voice was like a punch to Aya’s gut.
“It can’t be helped. You have to get past this and move on. Don’t let it taint you.” Aya’s words help little reassurance but it was all he had to offer.
The harsh reality of the situation was that Yuki chose to be an assassin.
“Does it get any easier?” Yuki clung tightly to Aya’s side.
Aya could feel the young man trembling. He opened his coat and wrapped one side and his arm around Yuki to offer some warmth.
“Yes it gets easier.” It was better to tell the young man the truth.
“Do you…do you still regret it?” Yuki asked hesitatingly.
“You never stop regretting it Yuki. If we did we’d be no better than those we mete out justice to.”
“Ok…I’m ok.” Yuki sighed. But he did not ease his tight grip on Aya.
Aya could not help the wave of sorrow that overtook him at Yuki’s resigned tone. Nor could he stop the tears that trickled down his cheeks.
“Let’s go home Yuki.” Aya pulled the teen closer and rested his head on top of Yuki’s damp hair.
“Yeah let’s go home.” Yuki softly replied.