"That accent of yours...are you mocking me?"
The Blonds accusation was laughable, understandable, because I did sound like some posh British lad while looking nothing like one. I got this often enough, even back in London.
I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. "It's natural, should I apologize for it?"
"Oh no, please don't feel the need to. William here is on edge today...I do apologize for his...well, gruff reaction." The lady chimed in, her accent posh, but friendly enough. She gave William a firm look, to which he yielded, his grip on my wrist loosened, his weight shifting as he got off of me, but his hands were still firm on my shoulder, keeping me in place.
"Thank you for...speaking some sense, Miss" I retorted sarcastically, ignoring the hole I had just dug for myself.
"You should be grateful. If it were me, I'd have cut your hand off, and tossed it in a gutter." William growled, his grip on my shoulder becoming crushing. I clenched my jaw, glancing down at my inky black and clawed hands, flexing them, my mind in turmoil as I was forced to accept their existence, at least in part.
"William, don't be ridiculous, that's barbaric." The lady snapped, crossing her arms. She was of equal, if not higher standing, from the look of her intricately embroidered dress, casual enough in design but very obviously expensive. What stood out more than that however was her ash colored hair, and the faint trail of dark hair that were woven into the braided style, as if to hide it. The first non white hair I had seen, besides the blond nutcase, and that black haired guy.
The unsettling man with gold eyes, multiple more than human, witness to my crime.
Jun's crime.
Not mine.
Not mine.
I snapped out of the vacuum of panic as the lady spoke again.
"We needn't stir up more trouble, not with the Shogun's men roaming about." She shot a warning look at the officer, the same one that had chased me, who was approaching us now with an polite smile on his face.
I bristled, my first instinct being to take a step back, before I realized I couldn't.
She said...shogun's men? The...military...?
"Madam, I do apologize. I will handle the situation." The official stepped forward, a bow of respect aimed at the two. His accent was thickly Japanese, but his words were clear. William let go, and the pressure on my shoulder dissipated, and for a moment, I contemplated bolting. But instead, I took a deep breath, and turned around, staring up at the official with a strained smile.
"There is nothing to handle, Sir. Just a simple misunderstanding."
The military officer narrowed his eyes, a scowl twisting his lips as he took a step forward.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, Sir. I bumped into these...lovely folk purely accidently." I kept my smile firm, my hands flicked, the claws disappearing like a misty mirage. The official did not seem to take notice. And I refused to take notice, out of fear of drawing attention to it, as well as overwhelming confusion.
"Then why exactly did you run, Jun?"
My heart sank. The uttering of that name giving me whiplash.
How does he know that name...? Why is he addressing me with it...I'm not...
Am I..?
"I was running late to a meeting, you see." I forced a laugh, lieing on the spot, my palms clammy, as if sweating, despite the fact that it had started to rain again. A faint drizzle, hitting my eyelashes am I struggled to keep my eye from twitching.
"Best we continue this conversation somewhere else, preferably with a roof over our heads?" The lady chimed in, giving a glance towards the sky.
"William, stop glowering, lets hurry up."
"..." I grit my teeth, keeping my smile firmly in place as William muttered a 'yes ma'am'. The official gave a curt nod, conceding with the seemingly high class lady's suggestion. He then grabbed my shoulder, pulling me along, his grip stiff, painful.
...Bloody hells...damn it...
I couldn't help feeling a sense of dread, the feeling that I had gotten myself into something much deeper than I had anticipated. I was stupid enough to run, now I was trapped, like a mouse caught from its own desire for cheese. My captors were worse than any cat who would have snapped a poor rodents neck in half. My gut told me they could do far worse.
***
The ornate border of a clock, the pendulum swinging back and forth, every tick of the gears moving the minute hand further, counting down my time as a free man. My eyes flicked from the wall mounted clock to the window next to our table. The rain clouds had persisted, although at a lesser degree, joining the smog that hung over the rows and rows of buildings, expanding out into a compact cobweb of streets and alleyways.
I could glimpse the outline of the inn from where we were, on the second floor of a café, as if our seating was chosen specifically for such a view. I could discern the clock tower, but the inn itself was hidden by narrow lines of buildings, parts reminiscent of old London, while others followed the structural properties of historic landmarks in Kyoto. The fog which had had wrapped the city in an opaque mystery, had given way to a light drizzle, a dripping faucet from the earlier downpour.
As I sat there, felt like I was being watched, like some sort of animal. I was being scrutinized, by the official who sat beside me, his cap neatly on the table, sleek, black, and government issued by the look of the insignia that matched vaguely with the stamp in Jun's ID. It sat rather innocently next to his tea cup, while blonde man named William sitting across from me did quit the opposite. His gaze flitting to and fro, as if expecting trouble to appear, from any and every shadow. It seemed to him that every worker and customer was suspect in his plight to guard his charge: the ash haired lady Annabeth of the Montgomery estate, as she had put it.
I swirled the cup of tea in my own hand, glancing away from Annabeth who smiled as she caught my gaze, opting instead to watch the golden brown liquid in the porcelain cup. My fidgeting movements created a miniature whirlpool within it, matching the state of my mind to a certain degree. Steam plumed form it, whirling about before vanishing into the cold air.
It was chilly, and I couldn't help the shivers that went down my spine, the dampness of my clothing doing me no favors.
"So...Let me apologize for the inconvenience, and continue on my way perhaps? " I tried, looking up at the bemused lady Annabeth with a smile, to push for my innocence in the thievery accusations. "I did not steal from you. I wouldn't have had the time to, even if we assume that my intentions were to steal, and that your...friend's reaction was justified. It's an unfair assumption. This whole incident was purely accidental. Uh... and for my lack of spatial awareness, I apologize. I didn't mean to bump into you, Ms. Annabeth" I rambled on, cringing internally as my mouth ran on by itself. Even my cards were against me, quickly draining that false bravado that kept me afloat most of my life.
I felt the officers gaze burning into me. I couldn't read him, his expression, or what his deal was, other than the fact that he knew the name 'Jun'. And that I would likely get arrested at the end of this conversation. My fingers clamped around the porcelain cup, normal, human, but what confused me was why.
Why it changed back randomly. The question of whether I could control it, or if it was a figment of my tired imagination.
"Ah, please, just Anna is fine. You don't need to address me so formally." Annabeth chuckled, her fingers tracing the rim of her teacup, her tone light, yet I felt a slight unease. She glanced at William, the look they exchanged going over my head.
"Well...I suppose we could just let this whole ordeal slide...but, we should have a bit of discussion beforehand." She smiled, as if her company was not comprised of a police officer and a man her bodyguard wannabe had tackled to the ground, then dragged here for a light dose of interrogation.
"Jun, Right?" She continued, sending a waitress off to fetch her something from the breakfast menu, from the look of it, it was a modified version of a 'Real English breakfast': Bacon, eggs, sausages, bread maybe. My stomach grumbled at the thought of even a basic meal, the stomach acids screaming for something to burn other than the walls of my own stomach.
I tried to ignore the embarrassment as I responded cautiously, holding in the impulse to just blurt out my own name. " Yes...It's Jun. Jun Watanabe."
"Oh." Annabeth's eyebrows rose slightly, a faint grin gracing her lips as she glanced at the officer, who nodded in response. She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table as her eyes locked with mine, the pale green hue reminding me of vomit.
Maybe because I felt queasy.
"Uh...what is it?" I leaned back, trying my best not to frown.
"Oh nothing, you just don't really have the typical...look." She smiled, her gaze darting between my face and hands. "And...your accent, did you always have it? Have you visited Avalon perhaps?"
"Avalon...?" I repeated, my eyebrows furrowing. It didn't ring a bell, although I it was a word familiar enough to tug at my brain matter.
"The island in the mist? The Greater Isles? " She clarified, her smile faltering. "My homeland, the empire for which the sun never sets."
"I'm...afraid I haven't." I smiled politely, ignoring the look the official was giving me. She was clearly talking about Britain, although I didn't know what the Avalon was about. It took all my self control not to blurt out that I was born there, considering the fact that Jun very clearly wasn't.
"Hm.." She pursed her lips, tapping her fingers on the table. The waitress returned, with a plate, steaming hot. Eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, all topped off with a sprig of parsley, the classic English breakfast. The savory scent hit my nose, another grumble of complaint leaving my stomach.
"I...picked up the accent from a friend of mine." I lied, to distract from the awkward attention my growling stomach had gotten.
A small laugh came from William " A mutt trying to sound sophisticated? Funny."
I laughed as well, resisting the urge to accidently stomp on his foot under the table. "Sounding sophisticated? I wouldn't dream of it."
"William, leave him be." Annabeth sighed, waving a fork at him. She cut a piece of the bacon, eating it daintily as the officer sipped his tea. "The laws are different here. You can't just call a mutt a mutt, remember that."
William frowned, turning his gaze away. "I'm just saying, they're no better than animals."
"But they're no worse than them either." She retorted, and then turned her gaze to me. "So, Jun, you're acquainted with the officer here, I presume?"
Wow. The hell did they just say?
I nodded stiffly, not knowing what to think or say as I took a sip of my tea, then sat it back down, holding back the wince from by brunt tongue. It was bitter, but I wasn't one to complain.
"Yes. A colleague of sorts"
I gave a side glance at the man who finally spoke, having had ordered some sort of soup, or stew. It had arrived in a large bowl, and it had smelled of miso and pork, from where I sat. The savory sent wafted towards me, making the growls of my stomach more insistent.
Colleague?? Wasn't I about to be arrested?
"He's an associate of mine. A troublesome one." The man added, taking a sip of his tea, shifting a firm look in my direction.
Annabeth looked surprised, the expression on her face telling me she didn't quite expect that answer.
"A bleak spawn, in the police force? I didn't count the new shogun to be so...lax." She commented, earning a snort from William, and a disapproving frown from the officer.
Bleak. I heard the term used by the officer before, towards the jester boy. Something about the magic trick that made no sense in practice...
What do they mean? My claws..? Is that it? The word for monsters?
"That, is not for a foreigner to question." The officer set down his tea cup with a clink. His voice was even, unemotional, adding to the hostile atmosphere. "Much less a young lady. You are a Foreign student, correct?"
Annabeth's eyes narrowed, but she let out a sigh, giving a polite nod. " Yes. I am studying here, at Arashi University. Under the recommendation of my father."
"Then it is only fair to be cautious of the law. I would advise you not to concern yourself with our methods, or our Bleak population."
"Your...methods are questionable, Sir." William interjected, leaning forward, his gaze flicking from the officer to the window.
"I can't imagine why you would recruit someone like...that." He gave a pointed look at me, earning a scowl from the officer, and an exasperated sigh from Annabeth.
"We recruit whoever is capable. And Watanabe here is is an exceptional student, graduated from the same university you attend, Mr. William." The officer snapped, a sharp edge in his tone. "And his abilities, are very much welcomed in the force."
"I have heard rumors..." Annabeth murmured, a slight smile on her lips. "The alchemy department of Arashi University was very secretive about the matter, even to us students of that department."
"Yes, the alchemists are very...proud of their work." The officer agreed, his tone a little forced, as if he was annoyed. He glanced at me, and a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Proud of the fact that they have official support for the program! My professor was ecstatic, to say the least." Annabeth added, her gaze drifting towards the clock. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she took a quick sip of her tea. "She thought it was a shame, that all their prior funding was going towards the military."
My eyes twitched as I tried to keep my mouth shut, a variety of questions buzzing in my head. I stared Annabeth who was still smiling, as if this was a pleasant exchange. She casually dismissed the waitress that nervously placed down a slice of cake, an expensive dessert that she had ordered. Her gaze shifting to me as the waitress came back around to place a plate of crisp fried eggs and bacon in front of me.
"Go on." Annabeth smiled, grabbing a fork and poking her own sunnyside egg, sprinkled with the slightest of pepper. "As an apology for the inconvenience, and for the rude behavior of my companion here."
"Oh. Just...tell him to put a hold on the 'cutting off arms' threats next time?" I chuckled a bit, laughing off the tension that could easily be cut with a knife, eyeing the offered meal, then the volatile blond. "I'd say I need em, my arms."
"I would be careful of how you speak to Miss Annabeth, mutt." William snarled, the edge of the silverware glinting as he held it. His hand had a death grip on it, as if ready to impale someone.
I look a slow breath, my jaw clenching as I tried to keep the smile on my face.
"You know what? Piss off. And shut up."
"Do I look like a bloody dog to you?" My smile strained as I snapped back, holding in the urge to punch him. But of course, I had to play it civil. If a fight were to break out, the one who'll be getting the short end of the stick was me.
"A mutt is a mutt. What else could you possibly be, other than a filthy cross breed?" He spat, leaning forward, the silverware clattering onto the table as he gripped the collar of my damp coat, a murderous glare on his face.
"Your bloodline is clearly tainted, bleached."