Chapter 42 – Ronin's Request (1)

Rain follows Ronin through the hallways of the Academy, watching her straight, blonde hair sway across her back in front of him. He notices when they enter the dormitory area of the Academy, and groans internally at the realization that she must be leading him to his own room. 

'Great, just another memory in the safety of my own room that I can be scarred by. Also, how did she even know where to find me that first time? Nick would have mentioned it if he'd told her where to find me...did someone at the school help her?'

As he's contemplating whether to voice his inner questions, she suddenly enters an unfamiliar hallway, diverging from the path to his room. Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he follows her for another minute before she stops outside the door to a different room. She quickly presses her omniwatch, and there's a whirring sound before she opens the door and walks inside the room, gesturing for him to follow. 

Realizing that this must be her room, he follows her inside apprehensively. He knows it's a little silly to be nervous under these circumstances, but...it's the first time he's been inside a girl's room. As he enters, she closes the door behind him, and he begins appraising the room. Looking around...he's a little shocked. 

Ronin's room is almost identical to his – devoid of personal touches. The only differences are whatever she has hidden in her closet and desk drawers, and a strange practice sword leaned against her desk. He turns to face Ronin, his expression incredulous. 

"Ronin, I seem to recall you criticizing my room for lacking any personal items. Yet, here you are with living quarters as bare as mine."

There's a slight shift in her expression that Rain vaguely identifies as confusion. 

"My comment on your room was not a criticism, just an unexpected observation. Also, our rooms are not the same...I have a sword. See..."

Ronin gestures humorlessly at the practice sword by her desk, her expression entirely serious. It takes every bit of self restraint Rain has not to laugh at her. 

'She...can't really think that sets us apart...right?'

He pushes aside thoughts about her...unique...personality, and looks at her with a sigh. 

"Uhm...sure. Anyway, we're alone now, Ronin, so let's hear this proposal of yours. What is it you hope to gain from an alliance with me?"

Ronin purses her lips thoughtfully as she studies him for several seconds. Eventually, both corners of her mouth turn up noticeably into a painfully forced smile. He swears that he can see her cheek muscles straining from the unfamiliar exertion. The smile also doesn't reach her cold eyes, leaving her looking more like a creepy doll than a human being experiencing genuine happiness. 

However, Ronin seems to think that she's being welcoming and polite.

"Thank you for asking, Rain. But...why don't we discuss that a bit later? As you said, there's no point in anything else until I can earn some of your trust, so we should focus on that for now. Please take a seat wherever you feel comfortable, and...uhm..."

Ronin's voice begins to trail off, less confident, as though she's struggling to remember what to say. After a moment, realization dawns on her face, and she continues in a satisfied tone. 

"...can I interest you in any tea?"

Rain just stares at Ronin's alter ego, uncomfortable and confused.

'Oh boy...I can already tell...this is going to be awkward as hell...'

*****

A few minutes later, Ronin is sitting on her bed, stiff as a board. Rain has strategically opted for sitting in her desk chair, facing the bed, and he declined her offer for tea. Seeing that he's settled, Ronin's face contorts into another one of her forced, dead smiles as she speaks in an unnaturally pleasant tone. 

"I hope you're feeling settled, Rain. Please ask me whatever you want until you feel like you trust me enough to discuss alliance terms seriously."

Rain presses his face into his hands, tryin to collect his thoughts. 

'Gods this is excruciating...is that really how she thinks this is going to work?'

Gathering his resolve, Rain nods at Ronin politely. 

"Okay...uhm, first of all, you can just behave like your normal self. This attempt at forced politeness from you is...unnerving...and there's no way it's comfortable for you either. If you answer all my questions honestly, and your answers don't have dangerous implications for me, then I'll be able to trust you enough to talk about an actual alliance."

Ronin's face immediately reverts to its cold default, but Rain thinks there's a trace of disappointment in her eyes. She looks off to the side, her blue eyes studying a piece of stray furniture in the room as though she's embarrassed. When she responds, it's in a subdued tone. 

"Okay. Sorry if I...made you uncomfortable. I'm not used to...this. That's part of why I wanted to talk alone."

His eyes widen in surprise, a pang of guilt hitting him as he watches her struggle with her own social awkwardness. However, he quickly tries to get it under control. 

'Don't feel sorry for her, you dumbass...'

Rain lets out a deep breath and gives her a polite smile. 

"Don't worry about it, just be yourself. Okay...I'll get started with questions. First, I'd like to know why you were so damn aggressive with me the first day of orientation? All I did was try to be polite and introduce myself to you, because I thought the other students' whispering might have made you uncomfortable. Next thing I knew, orientation was over, and I was in the middle of a cryptic interrogation where you seemed to doubt everything I said. What gives?"

He sees surprise flash across her face as she looks at him, right before she grimaces and glances away again. Her tone becomes...remorseful. 

"I'm sorry...I didn't know that was what you were trying to do. At first, I thought you were just trying to ingratiate yourself with the Fated Blade's daughter. During orientation, though, I became suspicious that you were sent by one of the major clans to gain my trust and...maybe kill me. That's why my questions were so, as you put it, aggressive. I was convinced that your answers were lies meant to maintain some kind of cover."

Rain directs an exasperated expression at her, his tone becoming borderline shrill. 

"Okay, now see...that raises a lot more questions. For one, what could I have possibly done during orientation to make you suspicious? After you ignored me at the beginning, I just shut up and sat there politely! I'm pretty sure I didn't even look at you once! Also, for the record, I didn't even know who your dad was until days later!"

Ronin lets out a rare sigh and directs an apologetic gaze at him. 

"You didn't really do anything to earn my suspicions. It's just that during orientation...I noticed that you're immune to all my abilities, even without a Relic. Rain, I've never even heard of someone with resistance to the Fate Lineage like that. Even now, nobody else in this entire Academy has a shred of resistance to my abilities. So, when you joined the Academy at the exact same time as me, then immediately tried to develop a rapport, and you just so happened to perfectly counter all of my abilities...well. I was convinced there was no way it was a coincidence. I assumed you'd been sent here by one of the clans to target me." 

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces fall into place in Rain's mind. 

'Of course...Chaotic Will...'

According to that Nature attribute's description, he's immune to anything that would allow someone to predict or understand his thoughts, actions, or circumstances. Of course that would seriously hinder the Fate Lineage...most of their abilities are related to future sight and revelations. In other words, prediction and insight. He doesn't know what Ronin's abilities are, but it's no surprise that they don't work on him. 

'Why did I never think about that!? Of course I'd freak her out! None of the gods' Lineages are known for natural resistances to the Fate Lineage like that!'

Rain directs a sympathetic gaze at Ronin. 

"Ronin, I'm very sorry...I should have realized that sooner. What you're describing is the result of my Nature. It makes sense to me now why I seemed so suspicious to you."

For once, surprise floods Ronin's face without subtlety. Her normally cold, blue eyes show a hint of lively confusion as they scan his face frantically. When she responds, her tone almost sounds...incredulous. 

"Y-...you're...apologizing? To me? But...you haven't done anything wrong, Rain."

'Hmm...that's probably a generous assessment of my actions. I did frame her for that combat strength ranking and throw her to the wolves.'

Rain purses his lips thoughtfully and shrugs. 

"Well...I seem to recall a certain incident with the impact machine. Hypothetically, if I were to blame for that, I might feel a little guilty. I'm sure something like that played right into your suspicions about me, too, and made you feel even more on edge. So...uhm, yeah...I'm sorry...hypothetically, of course."

She stares at him blankly for several seconds, then there's a faint tug at the corner of her mouth, and her tone becomes vaguely amused. 

"I see. In that case, your apology is hypothetically accepted."

His eyes narrow at her suspiciously. 

'Is she...making a joke?'

However, after several seconds of staring, he can see no answers to that question in Ronin's face. Sighing internally, he turns his attention to his biggest remaining question. He clears his throat and directs a serious gaze at her. 

"Ehem...well, I'm glad we've settled our hypotheticals. Anyway, Ronin...there's a bigger question on my mind, one implicated in all of these little interactions between us."

Rain pauses for a moment, gauging Ronin's expression. She merely nods with a calm expression, urging him to continue. 

"Okay, just to confirm...you think the leaders of the Abel and/or Veyron clans are...uhm...trying to kill you, right?"

He watches as Ronin's face becomes a bit somber, and she answers after a short pause, tone measured. 

"I would be lying if I said that I am absolutely certain, but...yes. I'm fairly confident that's the case."

Rain nods absentmindedly for a few seconds, trying to decide how to ask the question that's most important to him. He doesn't want to get caught up in something he shouldn't.

"Well, do you mind telling me why you think that? It seems kind of hard to believe...honestly. Why would the strongest people in the world try to kill a teenage girl? Especially the daughter of humanity's treasure, the Fated Blade. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Ronin purses her lips thoughtfully for a while, a conflicted expression on her face. Eventually, she cuts her eyes at Rain, her mind seemingly made up. 

"I'll answer you if you want, but...I want three assurances first."

His eyes widen in surprise. 

'I thought I was the one getting assurances today...'

Nevertheless, he merely sighs internally, and nods at Ronin with raised eyebrows. 

"Okay...those are?"

Ronin's eyes focus on him intently. 

"First, I want to know that you're at least willing to hear me out and seriously consider an alliance. Truthfully, I don't like talking about something as personal as what I'd be telling you, and I want to know that it's not just a waste of my time. Second, since this is personal, I want your word that you won't repeat it. To anyone...ever...but especially not to your Legacy friend. Finally, you should know that getting the answer to your question might put you in danger, too...I'm not sure. So, I just want to know that you are willingly taking that risk."

Rain presses his chin into his folded hands, thinking over her words carefully. He doesn't have any problem with the first request. This conversation has softened his animosity towards her, and he's curious what she has to offer now. The second request is also fine...after all, he's keeping plenty of personal information from Nik as well. He just didn't want to keep strategically valuable information from his ally. The third request, though...

'Is she implying that I could...end up in the same position as her? Do I want to risk that?'

He's not sure that things are as conspiratorial as she's making them out to be...she doesn't seem like the most well-adjusted person. But, he's also not sure she's wrong. However, he's been burning with curiosity about why she thinks there's a conspiracy to kill her, and Unhinged has already taken notice. At the end up the day, he doesn't truly have a choice anymore. 

He directs a resolves gaze at Ronin and nods.

"Very well, you have my assurances on all three points. Let's hear why you think the clans are trying to have you killed."

He swears that Ronin's expression looks a little...relieved. She nods at him, then her tone becomes heavy...laced with anger. 

"Well, to begin...I'm almost certain that they already killed my parents."