Suikoden Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Just a Form of Insanity ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Sorry it’s been so long! I’ve been really busy!
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Chapter 10

Curiosity killed the Winger, or so went the popular saying. Granted, most wingers tended not to believe this until much later in life, unless they were Landis, in which case, they never learned. And when he got into trouble because of his curiosity, he never associated the danger with his actions. Like when Watari stopped being surprised and opted to grab the winger’s throat with one glove clad hand.

Anyone else would have panicked, too frightened to realize the ninja was not applying enough pressure to cause any harm. The hand was merely a threat, one that Landis scoffed at. “Oh come on. Be nice, like Ayame!” Now the hand squeezed a little, indicated that the winger had stepped a little out of his bounds. No that it deterred him any. “It’s not like I’m the only one who has some guesses as to who you are. So you might as well spill. Better than spilling your guts anyways…”

In truth, Landis had now expected that he would be suffocated to death. Ninja’s tended to be unreasonable like that. Instead, he was surprised to feel the hand let go and to see the ninja turn his back to him. The winger was about to smirk in victory, when Watari spoke. “If you really care about Ayame, you will give up on this game, winger.” And with that, the ninja was gone, Koruko barking at Landis before he chased after Watari.

Which left Landis to puzzle out just how odd the encounter had been. Watari had not only spoken, but it had been to him, Landis of all people. Urging him to do something for the sake of Ayame. Or rather not do something, but that was beside the point. Then, to add to the weirdness factor, Watari had left his back to a potential enemy, something very stupid for a ninja to do. “Hmmm, silent boy has really lost touch it seems.” The winger began to chuckle darkly. “So the plot thickens.”
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The basement floor of the castle wasn’t a necessity as far as Fred was concerned. Being easily accessed by the elevator meant that there was a good chance that someone could accidentally get stuck down there or worse, that a monster could ride to one of the higher floors. Of course, even though Shizu insisted that no such thing could happen, Fred still had his doubts. He would have liked to have a whole group of warriors come down and slaughter all the creatures that lurked down there.

Yet, Eike, the mysterious librarian had insisted that such a thing wasn’t possible. There was also the fact that many other warriors in the castle thought the lower floors provided excellent training and seemed to be against out and out extermination. And normally, such training was fine when you were in a group. Fred was not enjoying this though. He would never admit it out loud to anyone, but the knight was getting a little tired. He had assumed that he would have been able to find Watari by now and settle this whole humiliating little series of incidents.

Instead, he’d been wandering around for hours, getting covered in monster gook. Of course, the thought hadn’t crossed Fred’s mind that he should give up. He did intend to set this matter right, no matter the cost. Even at the cost of getting jumped at by monsters all day long. Was it still day?

He was beginning to contemplate going back, not out of cowardice mind you, but because he was wondering how Rico was doing. She was probably worried about him being gone for so long anyways. As he turned though, he nearly jumped. A ninja was standing right in front of him. Finally… Only she was the wrong gender. “Lady Ayame?”
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Meanwhile, it seemed a certain squire had also sighted a ninja, the one her master would have liked to have met up with. Rico was actually pretty disturbed seeing the ninja, considering her conversation with Percival. There were plenty of women who had fancied him in the past, regardless of what the knight may have believed, but she had never been aware of any men, let alone a man like Watari.

Nor had she expected a man like Watari to allow a dog to be following him. She was about to call out to him, but found her voice freezing up.

/H-how am I supposed to approach him of all people?/

She stood there, watching him walk off, feeling dumbstruck. Then she slapped her cheeks with both hands.

/Snap out of it, Rico! You have to do this for the sake of Master Fred!/

Summoning up her courage, she called out. “Wait a moment Master Watari! Wait!” When he stopped, she nearly had to resist the urge to bolt.

/He’s so scary! No! No! Don’t freak out now!/

Taking a breath, she walked over towards the puzzled ninja and the equally puzzled canine, mustering a smile. “I just wanted to ask you something?”

The ninja crossed his arms and looked bored, well maybe it was boredom. The mask made it really hard to tell for sure. Rico swallowed, feeling as if a rock had just passed down her throat. “Do you uh, are you in l-l…” What had to be really doing Rico in was the fact that the ninja’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He was scaring her quite a bit in fact. She stopped herself a moment, gathering her strength before she was finally able to continue. “Are you in love with Sir Fred?”

Not only was she able to get it out, but Rico was also able to relax a little. Well, until she saw a look on Watari’s face that she couldn’t quite name. The squire clasped her hands behind her back and began to back up slightly. “I guess it’s really none of my business though. So, I’ll just leave you alone. Bye!” She turned around as if to run and would have if the ninja hadn’t spoken.

“Depends on why you want to know.” She looked back at him, suddenly regretting her curiosity.
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As Fred continued to stare at the rather silent ninja in front of him, it occurred to him that while she wasn’t the person he had been looking for, she could still forseeably help him out. “Say, you haven’t seen Watari by any chance, have you?” She shrugged. “Is that a no?”

“I would have no clue where he is or what company he keeps. My only concern is that I be the one to kill him. Outside of that goal, he means nothing to me.” It was said coldly and sincerely. Fred found himself strangely appalled, considering that he had wanted to hurt Watari a few moments ago himself.

“But, you two are friends, right? Or you were. How can you just kill him?” The knight couldn’t comprehend the situation, not at all.

“Friends? We were never friends. Comrades is more like it. And as for why, it’s really none of your business.”

He clamed up, knowing that what she said was the truth. As terrible as it was, it was really none of his business, was it? He was so lost in thought that he didn’t realize she had gotten closer to him. So close that she was practically sharing his air. The knight jumped back a few feet, ready to draw his sword. “What?”

“What’s so special about you? How can someone like you make someone like him change so much?” Before he could respond, she had vanished, as if into thin air. The knight slowly paused to catch his breath.

/That’s it, I’m out of here!/
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Rico found herself getting rather shy at the question. “Well, because I’m worried about Master Fred. He’s been acting really weird. And after some careful investigation, me and a friend came to the conclusion that it had something to do with you.” Rico figured that it would be better not to mention Percival’s name, in case it turned out that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

The ninja was silent and appeared to be thinking. In fact, it appeared that the thinking was going to go on for a while. Koruko, seeming to sense this, tugged on Watari’s pant’s leg, growling slightly. He glared down at the dog in annoyance then looked back at Rico. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. He’s the one being stupid.”

While she could agree with that sentiment, Rico was nonetheless becoming infuriated that Watari had not answered the question. “Well, just out of curiosity, how do you feel?” Now Watari really was glaring at her. Rico shrunk a little, but decided that she would not back down. “As his squire, I have a right to know if anyone has a more than platonic interest in him!”

The moment she was done speaking, Rico wanted to go hide in a small hole. In fact, the only reason she didn’t was because the ninja had such a stupefied look on his face. She suddenly felt more confidant and decided to press her advantage. “I’m guessing that you really do love him, since you have yet to deny it. I do hope you know what you’re getting into. Master Fred is very stubborn and based on how angry he is, I doubt he’ll forgive you anytime soon, let alone even think about you in a fond way.”

The ninja had been shaken out of his shock by now. “Just because I haven’t denied doesn’t mean I actually love him.” The squire leaned forward and grinned.

“Well then, are you denying it?” There was a playful tone to her voice now. Watari wasn’t a liar by nature. Not about anything that wasn’t related to a mission or his work anyways. Yet, to tell someone else the truth, especially someone so close to his ‘problem.’

He would have to resort to his only option. He turned on his heel and left. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for him to realize that not only did he have the dog following him, but now he had the squire following him as well. “Listen, can we talk about this? Please? I didn’t mean to offend you. I can help you out!” Now this caused him to stop.

He glanced back at her. “Alright, I’ll listen.”
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To Be Continued…

Fred runs into Lily, who is not in the best temper to begin with. Meanwhile, Rico ‘helps’ Watari out. Also, Mike makes yet another appearance.