The icy rain lashed her flawless cheeks, drowning the world to a grave-like hush.
Water streamed from Gion's high black ponytail and slid cold down her spine. Blood salted the rain at the corner of her mouth. Facing the sinister figure before her, her hands trembled; her grip on the hilt faltered.
His sword was sharp and treacherous, each cut aimed for the kill without a glance at rank. She had seen blade work this terrifying only once before.
Not a man—a boy.
The hawk-eyed youth who claimed Darren had taken his arm.
"Tch, tch, tch… who would've thought I'd be blessed to personally kill the Marine's Flower?" CP0's chuckle was a slick rasp. Predatory green light flared in his eyes; his gaze crawled with greedy heat over the Rear Admiral's rain-slick figure. He licked cracked lips. "You're near your limit, aren't you?"
"Why struggle? Drop the sword. I'll make it quick."
"I'll use the fastest cut of my life—just a kiss across your smooth, delicate throat…"
"You won't feel a thing."
"Your perfect face will stay perfect… hahahahaha!"
Pervert. Madman.
Gion's eyes sharpened, the curses kept behind her teeth. She knew the Government's assassins—children ground by training and pain, starved of ordinary affection, minds warped by isolation. Obsessions bloomed where humanity withered.
Booze. Flesh. Paranoia. Compulsions. She'd even heard of those who fell in love with corpses.
And the man before her… one of the worst.
"What's wrong? Unwilling?" he barked, animal fury breaking through. "You think your protection means anything?"
"The woman in that mansion is Darren's lover!"
"If the intel's right, you love that bastard, don't you?"
"Aren't you jealous?"
"Rogers Darren is trash. He's not worth you!"
"Open your eyes, Rear Admiral Gion!"
"So what if she carries his child? He abandoned her here to rot!"
"If he had any spine, he'd be here himself—not shoving you lot in our way!"
He watched her face hungrily, waiting for grief, disappointment, despair.
He got none of them.
Instead, the woman whose beauty, figure, and talent had been the envy of Headquarters drew a slow breath. The corners of her mouth lifted.
In the rain-dark world, that smile bloomed like a rose.
"…What are you laughing at?" The mania drained from CP0's grin. "Am I wrong?"
"You're right about one thing," Gion said, exhaling. "I am jealous."
"Jealous that Sister Toki carries his child… and I don't."
"But you're wrong about the rest."
"He isn't absent because he lacks courage."
"He's likely facing enemies far stronger—and far filthier—than you."
"The most important thing is this: unlike you, he trusts us. His comrades."
She lifted her chin, gaze proud and clear, pinning him as his face slowly blanched.
"He believes we can protect his wife and child."
"More firmly than we believe it ourselves."
"And I have no intention of betraying that trust."
CP0's eyes thinned—then he bared his teeth. "Then there's no helping it…"
Whoosh.
He vanished like a pale ghost. A phantom flickered across the ground, scooping up sheets of rain. In the next blink he was there, face a blood-red snarl, knife lunging for her heart—
His grin froze.
Clang!!
Sparks spat. A hand—unmistakably inhuman—caught the blade bare.
Slender fingers ended in hooked, razor nails; soft, flowing fur mantled the back of the hand.
CP0's pupils shrank. He looked up—and went still.
Her high black ponytail spilled like a waterfall as a blush of peach-pink bled from the roots and raced through her hair. The Rear Admiral's fine-boned face lengthened; her mouth softened; her posture melted into sinuous grace. A fluff of rabbit tail puffed at her spine. Blood-red eyes smoldered with a heartrending allure, as if a world-enchanting fairy had opened her eyes.
"A Zoan… that kind of ability…" he whispered, stunned.
"My swordsmanship may be inferior to yours," Gion said, voice serene. "It's just that I don't plan to rely on it to win today."
And that smile—indescribably beautiful—nearly made him falter.
Her blade hand stopped trembling.
Konpira flashed. The night split with a rose-pink arc.
Shick.
Blood geysered from CP0's chest. He flew back, pupils blown wide, eyes clouded with disbelief.
Tonight, the Marine's Flower bloomed at last—showing the world the thorns hidden beneath her beauty.
To be continued...