"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Akio Takahashi. He's the guy with the stealing ability. He'll be very useful in battle", Katsuko introduced him to the rest of the organization, while smoking a cigarette once again.
To put it nicely, they all looked like misfits.
Akio suddenly realized what Katsuko said.
"Wait- battle!? I'll have to fight!? Whom!?"
Katsuko sighed before taking a drag.
"Calm down, little ability thief. We won't force you to fight yet. You have to be trained first."
"I will take care of that."
A well-dressed man made his appearance. He was thin and taller than Akio, that was certain. He had beautiful, long, golden hair and silver eyes. To say he looked like an angel was a total understatement. He had a strict expression on his face. He seemed intimidating, to say the least.
The man bowed down politely.
"Pleasure to meet you, Akio. I am Kaelis Morland."
"Eh-" Akio did NOT expect this guy to be polite at all. He seemed arrogant and scary, but who was he to judge. "Uhm... Yes, it's nice to meet you too... Kaelis? You are not Japanese then, are you?"
"No. I'm certainly not. Most members here are Japanese, but some of us are not from around here", Kaelis explained.
"I see..."
Before Akio could ask any further, Katsuko interrupted.
"So, Kaelis, you'll train him? Wonderful! By the way, Akio, Kaelis here is a professional assassin."
Akio turned to Katsuko with wide eyes.
"Huh!? Wait, this is going a bit fast, what!?"
Katsuko yawned.
"Anyways, I think we're done here, right? Good, I'll take a nap."
"Wait, won't you introduce me to the other members first?", Akio panicked.
"Do it yourself. Bye."
She then proceeded to walk away nonchalantly, leaving Akio alone with the group of criminals.
Then most members of the group left the hall as well.
Everything was silent for a moment.
Before Kaelis decided to break said silence.
"Wanna see a picture of my daughter?"
Akio looked at him dumbfoundedly.
"*You* have a daughter!?"
"Can you not talk about your daughter for one damn second?"
It was the voice of another man. He was shorter than the others and seemed rather annoyed. He had a... stoat on his shoulder..?
Kaelis turned to the shorter man.
"No need to be so pissy, Mr. I-am-lonely-so-I-won't-let-others-have-fun. How about you introduce yourself to the new recruit instead?"
The short man sighed, annoyed, but then turned to Akio, softening his expression a bit to seem less intimidating.
"I am Kouya Kotsuzui. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The stoat made a small chirping sound, almost as if it wanted to say hello.
Akio was surprised at Kouya's sudden politeness, but gave him a small smile.
"I am Akio Takahashi, but you probably already know that. It's nice to meet you too."
Kouya smiled back at him but then turned to Kaelis with a frown.
"Now, don't pester him with a monologue about your adopted daughter, I'm sure Akio doesn't wanna hear it."
Kaelis scowled at Kouya, but shrugged afterwards, acting unbothered.
"Fine", he started, then turned to Akio. "I'll talk to you about her when Kou isn't here."
"Don't call me that! It's Kouya, not Kou!", Kouya exclaimed.
Kaelis put on a confused expression, trying to act oblivious.
"Why can your girlfriend call you Kou, but I can't?"
Kouya started blushing.
"She's- She's not- I-", he began to stutter, but stopped talking to save the little amount of dignity he had left. He turned around awkwardly and quickly walked out of the room, still blushing. The stoat was still clinging to him.
Akio blinked.
"Whats up with him?"
Kaelis shrugged, disinterested.
"Oh nothing, he just gets flustered when you mention the girl he has a crush on."
"Ah..."
The two watched Kouya disappear down the corridor.
The Akio turned to Kaelis.
"So... You're going to train me?"
Kaelis turned to Akio, before leaving the hall, expecting him to follow.
"Yes. Tomorrow you'll get your first assignment. But today I'll only show you where the training room is."
Akio simply nodded, and followed Kaelis out of the room, walking past a lot of closed metal doors. They seem to have a lot of rooms here. What for?
After about two minutes of walking down the hallway and turning corners, they finally arrived at - once again - another metal door.
Kaelis stopped in front of it, spinning around to look at Akio.
"The training room is here. I hope you memorized the way here, because I won't show you a second time."
"But-"
Before Akio could say anything, a new person made themselves known behind the two of them. It was a woman who seemed a bit on the heavier side, but nonetheless quite friendly. At least her expression made one believe that.
"Hello! You must be Akio. I am Viola Celiz. One of the healers here. Katsuko sent me to you, so I can show you your room. Follow me, please."
"Uhm alright...", Akio hesitantly followed Viola, after saying goodbye to Kaelis, not sure how to feel about the fast pace of all of this happening.
After another while of walking and turning corners, they arrived at a rather narrow hallway. This time the doors were made of wood instead of metal. They all had a number on it. This must be the place where the members of The Hollow Hand sleep at night.
Viola stopped at one of the wooden doors. Its number was 000.
"Uhm... Why is it the number 000?", Akio asked cautiously.
"New recruits usually get sent into the room 000 for the first few days. It's a tradition. Don't ask me why." Viola started, before remembering something. "Oh by the way, you'll have a roommate!"
Akio paused.
"A roommate? Are they also a new recruit?"
Viola smiled at him.
"My my, you catch on quickly. Why, yes, he's a new recruit too. He's been here for about a week now. His ability allows him to see the truth in everything. If you lie to him, he won't be very happy about it."
Akio stared into the distance.
"I see... Remind me to never lie to him then."
"Yeah, you better don't."
Akio turns to the source of the new voice, being met with a man. Though, he seems rather young in comparison to the other few he's met so far. Maybe he's about his age?
"Ah, are you the guy who'll be my roommate?"
"Unfortunately."
He turned to Viola.
"Tell me again, why do I have to share a room with someone? What if things escalate? My ability isn't very useful in combat."
"Ah, don't worry about that, Makoto. This little newbie here is completely out of shape."
Viola started.
"Besides, you could just ask him what his intentions are and then you'll see whether he lied or not, no?"
"Intentions can change though."
Silence.
Makoto sighed, annoyed.
"Whatever. Come in, Aku or whatever your name is."
"It's Akio-"
Makoto interrupted rudely with a scoff.
"Don't care, just come in."
Then he vanished into the room.
Akio looked uneasily to where Viola was, but she wasn't there anymore.
"Huh!?"