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Kepler opened his door to see Jacobi standing there, blood on his hands and fear in his eyes.
“Major, oh God,” Jacobi started talking, mouth going a million miles a minute and walks past Kepler, sitting on the couch, “I- there was this guy and this alley and he pinned me and I tried to get out, I really did but he was too good and he kept hitting me again and again and I tried to remember what you’ve taught me but I couldn’t an–”
“Is this blood yours, Jacobi?” Kepler asks, sitting down next to Jacobi and messing with his jacket.
“What? No, I’m getting there. So my hands went to my pockets and I felt your knife and I panicked and I took it out and he didn’t get off me so I freaked out more and I stabbed him. Over and over and oh God, what am I going to do? I’ve never killed anybody before, will I go to jail? Oh no, I can’t go to jai–”
“Jacobi. Slow down. Say it again, slower this time, okay? Tell me what happened.”
“Okay, so I was at this bar, right? Just getting a drink and there was this guy, okay, you know, he was pretty hot, right, and he started flirting with me and I flirted back and things were escalating and he took my hand and pulled me outside to this alley, okay, and he [enter words] and it started to get more, well, you know, and then the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and he was hitting me over and over and and I freaked out and my hand closed around that knife you gave me. ‘You have to be more careful, Jacobi’ you said, remember that? So I took out the knife and I was panicking and I stabbed him in the arm. And then in the neck. And then in the chest. And he fell off me and I just ran. I ran to the only place I could think of which was here, and the only thing in my head was ‘Am I going to get fired?’ and ‘Oh, Major Kepler is gonna kill me’ and oh God, was that a mistake? Should I have stayed or called the police or something?” Jacobi pauses, “Oh my God, I killed someone. I kille–”
“Jacobi. Calm down.”
“Oh, Major, how mad are you?”
“I’m not mad at all. A little worried but I’m not mad.”
“You’re not?”
“No, of course I’m not mad. What happened with that guy, that wasn’t your fault, and stabbing him, well, that was just self-defense, right?”
“Yeah. Just self-defense.” Jacobi said, nodding. Kepler wasn’t going to lie, he was a little sad by the fact that Jaocbi wasn’t such a monster as he was.
“Where did this all happen? I’ll go take care of it,” Kepler asks.
“No, sir, you can’t,”
“You’re really going to tell your commanding officer what to do?” Jacobi’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head vigorously.
“No, no, that’s not what I mea–”
“Great. Then I’ll ask you one more time. Where did this happen?”
“A couple blocks away, the alley next to Neon Nights.” Jacobi says and Kepler raises an eyebrow.
“You went to Neon Nights? Really?”
“Yeah… The drinks are cheap there, okay?” And by ‘cheap’, Jacobi meant ‘so cheap that Kepler wouldn’t step foot in there even if there was a gun pointed at his head’.
“Okay then,” Kepler said, standing up, “I’ll be back in an hour, just stay here, okay? And for God’s sake, dispose of the knife, Jacobi.” And with that, he walks out, leaving Jacobi alone in Kepler’s apartment.