Husks, Mercy

Despite herself, Sayako looked at Mangchi incredulously. She was the one who tied him up and nearly killed him, so why was he holding back his Captain's wrist?

"You may speak."

Mangchi cleared his throat, ignoring the sputters of his companions behind him.

"I believe that she has suffered enough." The boy did not explain further.

But Pete and Aiko were too baffled to keep their mouths shut. Why was he suddenly acting like this, when he should have been the most level-headed of them all?

"Mangchi! She's just going to take revenge if we let her go! Hell, you were the one who spared Chris that time; you should know better than anyone-"

The boy blocked Pete with the palm of his hand, preventing his friend from speaking further.

"This time is different. Captain, I think you understand." After Sophie's display of power, Mangchi subconsciously increased his expectation of his Captain.

Asher chuckled in his mind; he did not understand either. He could only gesture to Aiko, who seemed to have something to say herself.

Before anyone could react, Aiko stepped up to Mangchi, slapping the boy on the face. Judging from the crisp sound of flesh on flesh, she did not hold back.

"Don't you get it?! This bitch," she spat out fervently, "wanted to kill you! And you feel like sparing her life??"

Aiko walked to Pete's side, glaring at Mangchi.

Mangchi looked at his Captain for her to explain. Seeing Sophie's passive face, he was forced to explain himself.

"She was the one that came here, leading her comrades to their death. Just living with the guilt that you caused those, with the fact that you could h-have-" Mangchi's voice cracked with emotion. He sat heavily on the ground.

As his friends rushed to him, their animosity already forgotten, even Sayako held a glimmer of empathy in her gaze.

Mangchi calmed down after a few deep breaths, having remembered something he would have rather forgotten.

"I am not sparing her by letting her go. That hand will remind her of the deaths she caused, forever. The guilt will be a prison, a poison that eats away at the mind..." Mangchi's voice trailed away. He buried his head in his arms. It was almost like he wasn't talking about Sayako at all.

Hearing Mangchi's emotional words, Sayako teared up. She had felt that pain for her entire life, every time she slept, ever since she was seven years old.

Even though the boy essentially wanted to inflict the worst fate on her, she wasn't angry. By surviving the Fragment's song, she realized something within herself. An enlightenment, so to speak.

If she had the System, it would have notified her Temperance shooting upward. The Fragment's song was a sort of 'punishment mission', and surviving it allowed one to grow beyond their limits.

As Aiko desperately consoled Mangchi, Pete's curiosity forced a question out of his mouth.

"We've been by your side for... who knows how long? When did this happen?"

Only silence answered him.

Asher and Sayako sat together by the sidelines. Sayako's hatred toward Sophie had dissipated as the last maternal instinct inside of her focused her sole attention on Mangchi.

'Such a pitiful boy...' a weak drawl escaped her lips.

Just as Pete was about to apologize for asking, Mangchi opened his mouth.

"You know that time, just after we finally dealt with Chris? I said I would tell you two why I was like that sometime in the future?"

Both Aiko and Pete nodded their heads. They remembered it, crystal clear. It was the day that they learned the first rule of the Backstreets. Blind kindness is only rewarded with betrayal.

"I thought I could make things different... N-Not like..."

A period of silence descended. Mangchi's face slowly froze once more.

"Sorry, I don't think I can say it today." Pete and Aiko pulled him into a group hug. Mangchi stiffened. Then he relaxed.

Sayako sniffled. It was like Mangchi was a child-like version of her. She could see her own pain so clearly in his eyes.

Asher held out his hand, which Mangchi gladly took, pulling himself to his feet.

"That's why she should be spared. Captain?"

Asher looked at Pete and Aiko for their opinion.

"Tch. Mangchi... I mean, don't regret it." Pete smiled wryly, shooting a look at Sayako as he did.

It was as if he was warning her that if she betrayed Mangchi's trust... Not him, but his Captain would make sure she died.

Aiko was still unhappy, but she grumbled in agreement as well. Mangchi nodded gratefully.

And so the decision had switched unanimously, in such a way that none of them could have predicted.

Sayako stepped toward the three of them before bowing, deeper than she ever had before.

"I know you three did not spare me through kind intention, but thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you." She bowed once again, this time toward Sophie. Her hatred was gone. The [Echoes from Beyond] had cowed her into submission, as well as given her some insight into her own trauma.

Before Sayako could leave, Asher stopped her.

"Could we exchange contacts?"

Sayako blinked as a phone was forced into her normal hand. Soon, Sophie's contact list had expanded to six.

"Then you are free to go. I expect a nice cooperation between us."

Sayako's mouth twitched before she flitted away. Cooperation, with this demon?

Asher could barely follow her with his eyes as she disappeared in an instant.

And so the four of them were left with an empty room, save for fourteen creepy husks that stared into the ceiling.

"Well... Cough, we should get back to work." Pete pulled Mangchi to the side to finish their work on the first floor.

Pete and his friends reached an unspoken agreement to never speak of what happened. Just pretend like it didn't exist, that the husks were there to begin with, and perhaps things would return to normal.

Instead of taking her upstairs, Asher took Aiko outside.

He texted Pete that they would be gone for a bit, and if the boy finished, he should work on the fourth floor ahead of them.

"Want to buy some new clothes? Specifically pants?" That wet stain on Aiko's pants would take hours to dry.

Aiko reddened as she nodded with timid agreement. They turned into the alleys, heading straight to the Neon district. Asher patted his pocket, sighing in relief as the bills from part of Bellecote's stash Mei gave him yesterday were still in there.

As they walked, Asher noticed how worn out Aiko's clothes were. They were almost rags, and the stench did not hint at cleanliness in the slightest.

They only needed a cursory sweep of the neon-lit streets before a clothes shop made themselves apparent to them, flashing outlines of jackets and accessories in eye-grabbing green and purple toward the street below.

For the next few hours, they shopped for clothes in the vast mall. What used to be only buying clothes for Aiko to change into quickly widened in scope, until they were buying jackets, shirts, and even socks for everyone.

Through the process of changing into different clothes together, Aiko's friendship with her Captain seemed to have repaired itself, and perhaps even deepened.

Even a perfectly straight female couldn't resist admiring Sophie's bare beauty and shapely form... is what Aiko tried to convince herself with.

Asher had no sexual desire in his synchronous form, so he had no problem humoring Aiko's requests. He even found it kind of fun. Of course, who knew how he would feel when he desynchronized.

As Aiko handed him a slender corset for him to try on, his phone rang with a notification. Pete had finished searching the entire building, reporting back to him. He and Mangchi had found two thousand Ahn, more than enough for some starting capital.

'Wait, if they're already done with... It's three already!'

Asher quickly took off his corset, leaving Aiko with a blank, gaping expression as he shoved the lingerie into her arms.

"We have to go." He wore his dress in a flash, packing up all the clothes they planned to buy in three separate bags, one for each rag-worn Fixer.

He waited as Aiko carefully placed the corset into her own bag, a strange glint in her eyes. Then they were off to the register.

'Phew, just enough money.' The portion of Bellecote's savings that Mei gave Asher was all spent on a single shopping spree, which only showed just how poor most residents of the Backstreets were.

The tiny piece of guilt that he felt in the back of his mind was washed away by the two thousand Ahn that awaited him back home. He and Mei could live off that for quite a while.

Asher texted Pete, notifying him that he would arrive soon. He pulled on Aiko's hand as they sped back home.

Aiko found that she didn't mind getting her hand pulled.

Minutes passed, and they were back.

Mei's building loomed ahead, and the only light that shined through the windows was the room he and Mei lived in, the only living souls in the apartment.

Speaking of, it wouldn't be wise to advertise their location to the world like that. He and Mei would probably have to go dark for a couple of weeks as the chaos died down.

The pair climbed the steps, hand in hand. It was only when Asher knocked on the door did Aiko tear her hand away from her Captain.

As the door swung open, a beautiful sight greeted them.

Money, money everywhere. Money overflowing to the floor, even. Still, most of them were single bills, so the amount didn't reach staggering levels. Just shocking levels.

Asher lifted the bags in his hand as Aiko rushed forward to hug the pile of cash. Mangchi and Pete smirked beside her; they had done the exact same.

"You all need a bath. I bought some clothes for you. Go to the neighboring room with the broken door and wash there. You three are stinking up the place." Indeed, they were.

Pete coughed with embarrassment as the three of them shuffled next door.

As his Fixers took care of their hygiene, Asher thought of another plan.

He texted Pete yet again, telling him that when they were done, they should bring all the cash into the neighbor's room that was filled with trash and gunk.

The smell would act as a sort of deterrent for would-be looters. Well, technically they were the real looters, but that mattered little. Finders keepers.

'And Mei would be really confused if a pile of cash suddenly appeared on her kitchen table.'

He put his phone away, jumping down to the first floor with a thud. The ghost street was devoid of people. It would take a few weeks before it was fully populated. And during that time, Asher planned to make this building his 'Office'.

Asher entered the main room from the outside, and he was greeted by the fourteen husks he created.

'System, are these things still alive? Sophie might be more coldhearted than me, but even she wouldn't use these if they are alive.'

[No. Their consciousnesses are too fragmented to form proper thoughts, at least. If I know you sufficiently, you wish to use these to scare away unwanted individuals from nesting in your building?]

'Yeah.' Just staring at them gave Asher a headache comparable to when he first heard the Fragment's melody from afar in the last punishment mission.

Before he could plan where to set the 'scarecrows' at, a thought struck his mind.

"Right. Mei's going to do a funeral today. I shouldn't mess up the mood by setting these up right now."

He sent Mei a series of messages, slightly worried now. She had been gone for the entire day, yet she didn't have a job anymore. What was she doing out there?

Her reply was a single word: 'Stuff'.

But sensing his worry, she followed up, also telling him she would be home soon.

Asher grabbed the husks, storing twelve of them inside the maintenance closet next to the main room. If anyone came in there, they would probably faint in shock.

The remaining two husks he brought with him, hugging one in each hand as he leapt upward. They were surprisingly light, probably due to being stripped of all their biological molecules.

Pete and his friends had just finished moving the money to the neighbor's room.

As Asher leapt onto the railing, hugging his two adorable body pillows, they nearly went into shock.

"These fellows helpfully agreed to protect our money. Don't worry, they won't move. Maybe." Asher added in a last remark, giggling under his breath as his Fixers recoiled a step back.

"And wow..." Asher looked over Pete, Mangchi, and Aiko's new appearances. They had changed magnificently. Just as he guessed, each of their faces was considered handsome or beautiful in their own right after a nice wash.

Mangchi, with broad shoulders and skin the color of polished teakwood. Pete, with dirty blonde hair and snarky, sharp features. And Aiko, probably on par with Yan's beauty with natural dark red hair and a mischievous smile.

They would make a good team. But for now, it was time for them to leave. Bellecote's funeral would start as soon as Mei got home, and he wanted to prepare himself.

"Sorry for the short notice, but my roommate's coming in a few minutes. Can you three sleep in another building for one day longer? Take some money with you."

The three Fixers nodded. A shower, clean clothes, money. Their Captain had already done so much for them. Although they feared her, they realized that she was a kind person at heart.

"Yes, Captain!" As they left, Aiko glanced back a few times more than necessary to wave him goodbye.

After they were gone, Asher went into the neighbor's room with his nose plugged shut. Pete and his friends had put the money into the plastic shopping bags from the clothes store, placing them beside the door.

Asher stuck the two husks upright so that the bags were in the middle of the two, like they were actually guarding the money. Then he closed the door, taking in a deep breath of fresh air as he dusted his hands.

Today had been a busy and exciting day. He got some money, Sayako seemed to not hate him anymore, and he had a few husks to strategically position tomorrow.

As he desynchronized, all the memories of undressing Sophie came rushing back to him. Strangely enough, the memories didn't faze him like he expected. Sophie was just another one of his synchronizations, one of his other forms. And for Aiko's body... his Temperance was enough to hold those memories at bay.

And now it was time to wait for Mei. He wondered what she prepared for this night, to commemorate her best friend's death.

Asher could hear Mei's footsteps down the hall.

He gulped, unnaturally nervous. This would be the first funeral he ever attended after his memories were sealed.