Free and Unfettered 99 So? Who Do You Want To Bully This Time?

Nine made sure to visibly relax, feeling her tense muscles loosen as she reassured herself that this was nothing. They had prepared as much as possible, but one could never know for certain. That was just how life worked.

Even the best laid out plans never survived upon contact. Fate was fickle, and life was never static. Even if this was a 'game world'. Just her presence alone was enough to destabilize everything.

Nine was relaxing as she casually experimented when Nocturne came in. Smiling, she closed the book she was writing in as she took in her partner for the day.

He looked radiant, in a way that suited him very much. She enjoyed seeing him like this, free and unhindered by anything else. It was much better than when she first freed him from the Red Spider Lily mark. She could tell that he had been repressing himself, holding himself back on every single interaction, and that was part of the reason why he had rubbed her the wrong way, if only ever so slightly.

"Nine," Nocturne breathed out, excitement coating his features. He didn't usually let it show on his face so blatantly, but Nine couldn't help but adore him all the more for it, because it meant that he was allowing himself to be vulnerable with her.

Nine reached forward and picked him up, spinning the both of them in a circle. Nocturne let out a startled laugh, before she put him down again.

"What has you in such a good mood?" Nine questioned, smiling at his infectious joy.

"You remember that Wererabbit? The little shota who keeps hanging around you?"

Nine looked at her wife dryly. "Of course I do. He only keeps trying to kill me every other day." Nine paused. "Honestly, I'm surprised he still hasn't given up trying to kill me. Not to mention, he still thinks he's being very slick disguising as a little girl."

"Right. Well, it seems like his last big stunt was the last-ditch attempt, and he's going to head home in tears."

Nine let out a low laugh, seeing that smile that she wore so often hanging on Nocturne's lips. "So, you want to stalk him back to the Assassin's Guild?"

Her darling Nox let out a laugh. "Ooh, husband, should I be worried that you know me so well?"

Nine smirked and leaned in close, whispering into his ear. "Aren't you very happy I know you so well?" she teased, running a hand up his side.

Nocturne swallowed a gasp that threatened to come out, surprised at the sudden show of affection that was usually reserved for their bedroom. "Mm. Maybe I am… but if you keep doing that, then maybe I won't be?"

Nine growled, teleporting the both of them back to their shared bedroom even though it was still in the middle of the day.

Piece by piece, articles of clothing landed on the floor…

X

Nocturne woke up from his short nap after their… strenuous activity, only to find Nine playing with strands of his hair. He flushed before he could stop himself, eyes tracing the gentle curve on Nine's lips.

He pressed closer to her, only for his flush to darken as previously closed eyes popped open when he realized that Nine had clearly put the multi-purpose interspatial bracelet back on.

Nine ignored Nocturne's sudden swallow and dry throat, content to continue running fingers on his smooth hair.

"Oh," Nocturne said, alarmed. He sat up suddenly, dislodging Nine's hand. "Ah, I wanted to follow after that little kid," he said, clearly disappointed.

Nine lazily put on the clothes they had previously discarded on the floor, conveniently taking her time to dress Nocturne as well. "Relax. Do you think I don't have my ways of tracking down that little brat? How else could I so effectively schedule play times when wants to play?"

"Oh, are we going now, then?"

"Mmh," Nine murmured, putting on a simple looking silver necklace, with a drop that contained a jewel the same shade as her eyes.

"What's this?" Nocturne asked, putting a hand on the necklace.

"It's so we can directly communicate without leaving 'messages' like on the interspatial bracelet."

Nine put flicked the earring that Nocturne had made for her a few years ago, allowing her presence to fade. She silently excluded Nocturne from the effects of her faded presence.

She held out a hand to him. "Shall we?"

Nocturne grasped her hand in his, his eyes warm, rippling with emotion that he didn't bother to hide. "We shall."

Nine teleported the both of them around a kilometre away from Justin, suddenly falling through the air as the flying ship continued on. The sudden sense of vertigo and falling sensation took them by surprise. Unlike others who would have panicked had they landed in a similar situation, the two Vampires calmly and silently cast a spell, allowing them to 'walk on air' so to speak. It was actually the condensation of air currents under their feet.

"It would be rather inefficient to run, so let's just get on that ship as well."

Nocturne nodded, and the two of them sped up, leaping onto the ship with no one the wiser. The timely application of a stealth spell hid their presence from the onboard crew as well as passengers.

They spotted the morose looking Wererabbit, his ears drooping sadly as he leaned on the guardrail of the flying ship. But the one thing that had changed the most was his attire. Gone was the lolita style clothing, and instead, he donned a simple black outfit with a hoodie that was clearly designed specially and suited for assassins. Since it didn't overtly scream 'assassin', he looked more like a young boy out on an adventure.

Justin was drawing circles on the railing as he looked blankly into the sky. What was he going to tell his Master? He had failed his first mission! He was going back empty-handed, but he really couldn't do anything to that blasted Crown Prince!

If his face flushed slightly at the thought of that valiant and imposing figure the other cut at a glance whenever he saw him, no one would ever know.

Nocturne and Nine stared, curious why the young boy was suddenly red in the face, wondering just what he was thinking about so intently out in the open.

Justin pulled his ears in frustration. Ugh, this was going to leave a black mark on his record! His first ever mission was a failure, but the Assassin's Guild should have their information source checked!

Did they dare tell him that was an incompetent and useless Crown Prince? Clearly, each and every one of his assassination attempts were thwarted, and even when he overtly attacked, he always lost the fight within a minute. It wasn't like he didn't grow stronger or learn anything from those fights too, so the other was clearly just humouring him!

Another half an hour passed before the flying ship landed, and Justin sighed. He pulled himself together as he got rid of any lingering emotions that he might have gained or developed during the mission.

Slowly, he exited the ship, with each step, he cast away a burden from his shoulders.

Nocturne raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that little brat is thinking about how he lost to you in every exchange?"

Nine laughed softly. "Most likely. Seems like it might have had a bigger impact on him than I thought."

The two Vampires trailed after the dejected Wererabbit, tailing him every step of the way.

Nine tutted. "He's still too green. How shameful, for an assassin not to realize he's being followed."

"Well, we are using a pretty highly tiered spell for stealth."

Nine shook her head. "Can't you see that people still go around us unconsciously. But he doesn't take notice of the surroundings that much, since he's not in 'mission mode'. Fail! If he was my student, he would be having a very long remedial training session right about now."

Nocturne silently sweated for the boy. Why did he feel like Nine was actually secretly fond of him? Was she going to take him under her wings as well? Nocturne paused to think about it. Then again, he was pretty fond as well, as well as the rest of Nine's students. They sometimes snuck him sweets and candy.

Nine and Nocturne followed the young assassin, only three steps behind him, entering together with him as he walked into the Assassin's Guild without any further ado.

Chapter end