Chapter 42: Raid
No POV
In the dead of the night, Yuri sat atop a rooftop, cemetery in sight.
His tendrils swaying gently in the wind as he stared into the distance.
"You’ve been standing there for quite some time. You do know that we won’t be moving till tomorrow right?" Nightmare spoke as he walked up to him. He had deduced that Yuri’s pride was injured in their last encounter.
He knew... it was to be expected...
Who would be their selves after taking such a beating from someone thought to be inferior?
Receiving no response from him, Nightmare sighed...
"Just so you know, the objective hasn’t changed. You’re to bring him to me alive. You can kill him after."
Yuri replied, without looking toward him: "As long as I get to kill him..."
Then, turning towards the night sky, Nightmare’s expression tightened.
"This time we’ll bring back the king... No matter the cost."
~~~~~
Axel talked out the bathroom. He had just woken up a few hours ago.
"Jeez, I might as well get my room moved..." He said whilst scratching the back of his head.
The amount of times he found himself at that infirmary was piling up.
He passed out the day before and spent the rest of the day and night blacked out.
He had just woken up not too long ago and immediately left when he realized it was morning...
The personnel present even escorted him with a "See you next time" greeting.
He had unwillingly become a regular to that accursed place.
"Ugh..." Rubbing his sore ribs, he grabbed a fresh pair of clothes: another black T-shirt with a jacket hoodie and a pair of black jeans.
Sure it was plain, but he liked it that way.
He never had the luxury of getting new clothes and he most certainly had no one to gift him one.
Therefore, whenever he had little cash on him he’d just buy himself a new hoodie. Not only were they affordable, they were also stylish.
Ever since he found himself at the academy, these were the clothes he chose. Not because he didn’t have money to change his wardrobe now — devil hunting fetched him a lot of money anyway — he just didn’t feel the need to do so.
It was something he grew up with and it wasn’t hurting anyone so there really wasn’t any need to change anything...
"Good morning."
Materializing on his bed, Hades greeted with a smile. "You’re still alive. That’s good."
"Morning Hades. And yes, I’m still alive. Why wouldn’t I be?"
"Well with the way your captain handled you I thought you’d die from blood loss or something..."
Axel could see it. She was obviously teasing him.
"Don’t you think it’s a lil bit early for all this?" With a tired sigh, he said.
"Oh?~" Hades appeared next to him and brought her face very close to his.
"Gh—!"
"If you won’t less me tease you, would you rather let me do another thing?"
Her breath was hot against his ear. His face was heating up, his heart racing.
"You do know I wouldn’t mind, right?" She placed her hand on his chest. Then, slowly traced it downward towards his toned midsection.
She was slow and deliberate. Making sure to get as much reaction from him as possible...
At this point, he was breathing hard. He wasn’t prepared for this. He never was...
**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**
Axel couldn’t be more thankful than he was right now.
Leaning on the wardrobe door, he clenched his chest. Trying desperately to calm himself.
**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**
The knocking came again.
"C—come in..."
When the door opened, Hayley walked in.
"Uhhh.. did I interrupt something?" Taking one look at Axel and Hades, she spoke.
"Obviousl—"
"What? No! Of course not!" Axel immediately cut Hades off. He knew that if he let her finish that sentence it would only make things worse...
"Ahh. Well, I came to check on you but the nurse said you had already left..."
"Oh uh yeah. I left as soon as I woke up." Then, rubbing his neck nervously, he added: "You really let me have it..."
Hayley replied, her head hung low. "I— I’m sorry. I was actually worried when you... when you passed out."
"Well there’s only so much one person can bare y’know."
"Mhm." Came an awkward reply.
In all honesty, the fact of having to train him left a burning fire in her. One of pure frustration.
Why did she have to be responsible for a weak person like him?
Why did she have to be tasked with taking care of a weak person like him?
And more importantly, why did she have to be saddled with training a weak person like him?
Those were the thoughts that had gone through her head for the past four days.
She used their sparing match yesterday to somewhat eased the frustration but looking at him now— a bandage on his left cheek, both bandages still wrapped on both his arms, and possibly one wrapped around his torso, it occurred to her that she may have gone a little too far.
Just a little...
"Sorry about that. Guess I was too hard on you yesterday..."
Of course, she wasn’t going to tell him that...
Axel blinked. "Ohh no need to apologize. It was part of the training. Beside no one said I’d walk out without a few injuries...."
"Like c’mon, I was paralyzed by a bullet on my first day..."
"Well that is true." Hayley said.
"Besides," Hearing this Hayley looked at him as he continued. "If I can succeed, I’ll be in control of my power and I’ll be able to understand it. Even if it’s just a little bit..."
Hayley stayed silent for a moment, processing what he just said. Axel however, knew exactly what he meant.
"I have power, Hayley. Lots of ’em. It’s scary as fuck... each time I transform, I can feel it like it’s another person. Shit’s intense."
Even though it felt like that, technically there was another entity present whenever he transformed.
He was contracted with two devils after all...
"So I want to keep training with you. Sorry you’re stuck with someone like me but you’re the only one I can ask this." He spoke with a firm tone, determination bleeding from it.
"I’m scared. Like really, really scared... scared that I’ll one day loose control and like you said, never come back. I don’t wanna hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt Milley. I don’t wanna hurt you."
Her eyes widened as Axel said this. The seriousness and determination coming from his was almost admirable...
Then after a light laugh, she said: "I see. Well if that’s what you want, I’ll do that for you..." She was walking out by now.
Then, stopping just outside the door, she added right before leaving: "I am your caretaker after all..."
"Now she accepts it." Hades snorted as the door closed.
"At least she hates me a lot less now" Axel chuckled dryly.
"If anyone tries to take you from me, there will be blood. I assure you..."
Hearing Hades declear this made Axel laugh.
"Honestly, you’re the third person to care about me this much. It’s funny actually..."
"Really?~" She smirked. "But you seem deserving of it..."
Axel stayed silent. He wasn’t used to this.
Whether he wanted or not, he had to get used to this...
~~~~~
"Big brother hurry!"
Dragging him by the hand, Milley pulled him towards the school gates.
"Oof! Take it easy... my hands still hurt."
They were currently going out to spend some time together...
Apparently, Milley had complained bitterly about the neglect of her big brother for the past few days.
"Big brother left Milley by herself for a long time. Now he’s going to make up for it!"
With a chuckle, he replied: "Alright alright. But we have to get back soon. I still got training today..."
[Prioritizing that babaric training over your little sister now huh?]
"Wha— this was your idea!"
After they left, they just spent time at the park, ate some ice cream and soon they started walking around the city.
They were getting farther and farther away from the academy and before they knew it, they had strolled past the centre of town.
Just a little further, and they would make it to the border to the next city.
The walk was quiet and peaceful. He was with his little sister after all so he couldn’t help but enjoy himself.
People would occasionally stop and look, occasionally going
"Aww" or "she’s so cute."
Some even stopped to play with her after exchanging a small awkward greeting with her big brother...
"Hmmm... we’re pretty far from home huh?" Axel pondered. He was enjoying the little stroll that he had lost track of time.
[Yeah... ’little’ stroll...]
Turning, he began heading back.
"C’mon Milley, let’s go."
’If we get back now, I could still squeeze in a lil bit of training...’
However, when he didn’t feel that familiar tiny presence, he turned.
There, Milley stood, staring at the sky with blank eyes.
"Milley! Let’s go!" Apparently, she didn’t hear him. She was just too busy staring at the sky.
[Weird...]
Walking back to her, he said: "What’re doing? C’mon it’s getting late. Let’s go."
When he still didn’t get a response, he got worried.
"Milley? What’s wrong?" He asked in a worried tone, lightly shaking her in place.
Then, without saying a word, she pointed upward...
Axel directed his gaze and stared into the sky.
For a moment, he couldn’t see anything...
Then, adjusting his eyes, he finally saw what he had been looking for.
And what he saw made his eyes widen in horror...
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