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"Courier? Why?" was the last thing Swindler uttered before passing out.
It hadn't dawned on her until now what hectic day it was for her. She flew up into the air with a spaceship only to crash back down to earth somewhere in far north Kansai, in the middle of a wasteland full of muck and big long pipes that went on forever. Her old purpose was gone. She hoped to deliver the special kids to a spaceship for them to fly away, but ultimately that ended in failure. The kids didn't fly to the moon and instead got separated. So she realized she must find herself a new purpose. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she would find it if she was with Sister.
It was a long and tiresome day. It had also dawned on her that she was a full blown akudama like the rest of her departed "companions". She wasn't going to return to a normal life anytime soon and reality struck the moment everyone, all of Kansai, saw her with fear and disgust along with Sister. She ran, she wanted to escape the harsh reality that would await her if she got caught. At the end of the day, she knew she had to adapt to this way of living. Her only saving grace is that she wasn't alone and she could find a new purpose for herself and Sister.
This was Swindler's most taxing day of her life to say the least. She lived without a home now and needed a shelter from the sudden rain that struck on this forsaken day. She thought she couldn't get any more unlucky this day but she finally was able to find what she was looking for. A shelter with food, a way to clean herself and Sister up and more importantly, a new goal for herself. She wanted to become the Big Sister for her. It was mutually beneficial since both of them knew they didn't want to feel alone, but Swindler knew Sister wanted to be reunited with her older brother no matter what. He was her only family and after hearing their tragic past, she knew she couldn't leave her alone. Not for a second.
She was put to the ultimate test as 3 thugs came into the same room the both of them were having their sisterly moment. It was a deciding moment in her life, she knew things could've turned ugly if she didn't play her cards right. Unfortunately, it had to turn ugly. She was forced to kill because her little sister was in danger. It was a huge adrenaline rush. As one of them had her pinned down, she knew she could rely on another unintentional skill she had picked up over the course of this crazy adventure. To swindle. Deception. Trickery. She was surprised how almost easy it was, but didn't think hard on it as she had her chance to strike the other thug with a knife she secretly picked up. She generally thought she was unlucky this entire day, but it felt like luck was guiding her to victory as she was able to to kill the third guy with a gunshot that instantly killed him.
At last, she thought it was over, she breathed in and out with desperation, not fully grasping what she had done. It was all so quick, it was like time had stopped, but she came to her senses quickly when her Sister called her out by her new given nickname "Big Sis". As she turned around she was met with the realisation that the guy she had stabbed was not fully dead and he was now coming at her with the same, now bloodied knife. She tried to shoot him but nothing came out as she ran out of bullets, so she braced for the worst, thinking it might be her final moments. She was willing to die if it meant protecting her little sister from harm.
She heard another voice coming over from behind her, one she had grown accustomed to over the past few days. Maybe it wasn’t her final moments after all.
She looked up and found her ears weren't deceiving her. It was Courier and he just knocked out the guy she stabbed with an apathetic look he always has. It was all too much for her. This day was way too much for her to handle and she couldn't handle it anymore. She didn't want to pass out in such a crucial moment but her body and mind said otherwise. She hit the ground, luckily for her again not hitting her head on anything. Sister called out to her again, but this time in worry as she shook her new found sister to wake up. Courier finally looked over to see the young girl crouched over Swindler. It was almost a sad sight, but he knew he had to say something.
"It's alright, she just passed out." Courier said matter-of-factly. Sister looked at him with a curious look as she always had. He walked towards them. Sister didn't feel frightened by Courier but she was on edge after what happened. He needed to do one thing. He came here to deliver that little sack her Brother gave to him to give to her. He didn't have any other business.
"Is...is she gonna be alright?" Sister asked with worry, tears welling up in her eyes. He stopped for a second. He continued to walk towards them and kneeled down. He took hold of Swindler's hand, checking for her pulse and to see if she was breathing normally. Her breathing seemed steady and her pulse was at a moderate pace.
"Don't worry, she'll be okay. She just needs a rest." Courier said, his tone even and devoid of emotion. He wasn't a Doctor, like a certain notorious Akudama he came to forcefully work with over the past few days, but he knew the basics. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this though. All he needed to do was give Sister that little bag her Brother gave him. Sister however had other plans in mind.
"Mister Courier, can you please carry Big Sis over somewhere she can rest comfortably? Please?" Sister pleaded. It was a sight to behold. The young girl had said it so innocently, yet earnestly and it took Courier by surprise. He didn't feel like he wanted to bother himself with this at all, but he looked over to Swindler’s unconscious form and memories flooded his head. He remembered everything, back from when they first met to the last time he told her about not bringing feelings into work. He didn't know why, but he couldn’t help but pity her. He realized that he would feel guilty if he just left her like this with Sister all alone to fend for herself. He didn't like it, but he couldn't deny it either. He knew he needed a bit of time to think, and felt like it was as good a time as any for a smoke break.
"Alright. I know a place. Come with me." Was all that Courier said as he picked Swindler up carefully, bridal style. He made sure she wouldn't hit her head on something as he walked over the bleeding out body he knocked out. Sister followed behind him, with a pleased look on her face. They got over to the hallway and walked down to the place he set as their destination. It was another messy room but he saw it had a futon in it where Swindler could rest and was quiet enough for him to think things over a cigarette.
Both Courier and Sister stayed silent as they walked through the building. All that could be heard was the rain hitting the windows. He knew he had to explain what he was doing here, but he decided he would do so later. It didn't look like Sister was concerned with that at the moment, which was good enough for him for now.
When they arrived at the room, no one was inside and the place looked the same as how he first saw it. He entered and quickly headed over to the futon to lay Swindler down carefully. Sister quickly came over and knelt down to her side.
Courier stood up and backed away a little. He looked at both of them for a moment and he only now noticed that Swindler cut her hair very short. He didn't understand why, but he had his guesses. As he thought this, he decided to sit down on a nearby chair to finally grab a smoke. He took out a cigarette from his inner breast pocket and a zip lighter from his pocket in his pants to light it up. After lighting up his cigarette, he finally felt at peace. Smoking always calmed him down. It felt like it was the only time he could relax between jobs and think about everything there is to think about. He felt like he had to think about a lot right now. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, why he was helping them and going through the trouble to wait for someone he barely knows to wake up. His job was to just deliver the little bag for Sister, yet it turned into something else.
Just like that other job that started this whole mess between him and the other Akudama. The job that made him into an S-class Akudama according to the executioners.
He looked over to Swindler again. He had never met an Akudama like her. When he first saw her, he didn't think she was an Akudama to begin with as he came to believe almost all Akudama knew each other, in some way or another. This one, however, stood out by all levels. Perhaps it was her talent to swindle people. He was starting to question whether she even had been an Akudama in the first place, or if she just took the name of Swindler in the heat of the moment when they all came together. Perhaps, she's swindling everyone at this very moment. Her talent was not to be underestimated by any means, but in the end he couldn’t care less and it wasn't his business in dealing with other Akudama. He took a puff of smoke.
He wasn't sure why he remembered the times he was with her conversing, after Sister asked him to carry her somewhere else. The last thing he wanted to admit was that he was developing feelings of actual comradery. He always preferred to be alone, but then he saw how she kept everyone working together. He didn't consider himself the best judge of character, but this wasn't hard to figure out. However, was Swindler who she said she was? It was mystifying and he felt like he could never know. Maybe that's what kept drawing him to her. He took another puff of smoke.
He was breaking his own rules and he knew it. His motto was to never bring feelings into work, and yet it felt like he's thinking about doing just that right now.
He looked over to Sister and it looked like she held some kind of cloth with her. The young girl applied it to Swindler’s face with care. As he kept looking, his mind drifted off to thoughts about Swindler again. He thought about how she wanted to return a 500 yen coin to him. He fully believed that dropped money was bad luck, but never thought someone would go through the trouble of bringing it back to the owner, especially an Akudama no less. Was this some kind of Swindler tactic he wasn't aware of? Yet another puff of smoke.
He had a lot of thoughts swirling in his mind and couldn't help it was mostly about her. Given the circumstances, it's obvious why it was her but was there something he felt like he wasn't getting? Is it simply that he found her...relatable to him in some way? As he asked himself that, he heard Swindler wince and say "Sister" out loud.
It was time, he thought. He dropped his thoughts for a later time when the chance came around again. He knew he couldn't wait any longer before taking on another job.
However, he did feel inclined to give credit where credit was due...
"You're quite the Akudama to kill two."