Servant of Evil Chapter 2

"Do it," he ordered, and the executioner walked toward the two "sleeping" girls, his knife nearly glowing in the pale light.

"No!" wailed the other prisoner, a boy tied to a chair. He continued in a raspy whisper.  

"I'll join you. Just…Don't hurt them. Please."

The man smiled and called off his subordinate.

"I knew you'd see the light."

---

Eyelids heavy, Len opened them slowly to dim light, trying to get his bearings. He'd snuck out last night, met Dell and Meito at the abandoned warehouse, and chased after their target, Meiko. They were up on a roof, fighting broke out, and then…Then what? What had happened to him after the fighting started? Meito had stabbed his sister (Would he ever have to hurt Rin like that? Would he be able to do it?) and then his mind was at a complete blank.

It was as though he hadn't been awake…Yes! That was it! Some guy (An unknown accomplice of Meiko, maybe?) had come from behind and started choking him while pinning down all of his limbs at the same time. Despite Len's struggles to break free, there was no escape. All he managed to do was lower his already falling oxygen supply.
But before he passed out from the choking, Len decided to get a good look at the guy's face. It wasn't an old face, per say, but it wasn't a young one either, like an old soul trapped in a young body. He looked to be older than Meito, so that put him at somewhere in his mid-to-late 20s, but what Len remembered clearest about the man was the color blue.

He'd had a blue scarf, blue eyes, even blue hair! Strange as it seemed, the man was anything but silly. His gaze was so cold toward Len as they locked eyes it was like he was frozen in ice. But that was all that he'd gotten to observe before he finally succumbed into darkness.

Now, trying to figure out what had happened, Len realized that he was lying on a bed of rubble, hard and rough against him. His body was sore, probably covered with bruises, and, judging from the state he was in, Len concluded that the building had collapsed. It hadn't been able to hold their weight. Wriggling his limbs to see if anything was broken, Len found that everything was fine until he got to his left leg. When he'd tried to move it even the slightest amount, excruciating pain flew up his leg. It was definitely broken, and the only reason why he'd been oblivious to it before now was the fact that his body was numb from staying in the same position for who-knows-how-long.

Now, after waking up a bit and trying to move, Len had aggravated the wound, causing it to throb painfully. He ignored it as best he could and tried to lift his head to get a better look, but now any type of motion hurt. Until someone (hopefully Meito or Dell) came along, Len was a sitting duck.

After what seemed like ages staring at the ever lightening sky, Len heard someone speak. Reminded that he should be at home in his bed, just waking up for another day of school, he instantly thought of Rin yelling at Miku to get up in the morning, or they would be late again. Instead of the usual ranting, he heard someone (probably Meiko, since it was a woman yelling, and the voice was the same) repeating a name.

"Kaito," she'd said, her words quiet and tinted with disbelief but loud enough for someone nearby to hear. She must have been behind one of the rubble piles blocking his already limited view. What cursed luck Len had.

No response.

"Kaito," she continued, her voice stronger and edged with annoyance.

Still no response.

"Kaito!" she yelled, completely annoyed, and by the way she was shouting Len knew that she not only knew the blue-haired man, who was now identified as Kaito, but also knew him well enough to drop any honorifics to his name. That was interesting. Perhaps they could get to Meiko by harming Kaito? But he'd already proven he was in his element when up against others, by the way he's snuck up behind Len and choked him without anyone else noticing. Even in the dark, it was an open area, and being able to do something like that took skill.

Len filed this information away in a corner of his mind for later pondering.

"Bakaito! Wake up now or I will unleash my wrath upon your pitiful existence!"

Meiko's latest statement earned a snicker from Len. It must have been horrible to be a friend of Meiko's. She sounded like she would abuse the hell out of you if you so much as looked at her wrong. But her latest shout seemed to have some effect, for he heard the sound of gravel and brick chunks being displaced as someone moved from their bed of wreckage. Seeing a head of blue hair pop up over the small mountains of what used to be a building, Len was able to confirm that yes, yelling at someone could get things done, in the right circumstances.

Kaito (he assumed, after all, it was the same man from last night) shook some dust out of his hair and ambled over to a spot to Len's left, apparently still too tired to function completely normally. The blue hair disappeared, once again being covered by the mounds of rubble. Frustrated about his situation but mostly his boredom, Len growled. Why did everything about his life have to be such a mess?

Shaking off the unwanted memories, Len tried to catch snatches of the quiet conversation just to his left.

---

Meiko hated feeling weak. She hated needing help, especially from Bakaito, who shouldn't have been there anyway. Ignoring the memories that came to the front of her mind, she glared up at him, knowing he would think it was his fault she was so cranky.

How an innocent idiot like him got roped into their business, Meiko would never know (tell).

"Well?" she asked him, exasperated. "Are you going to keep looking down at me or are you going to help me up?"

Mild confusion was written all over Kaito's face, but he leaned down to help her up anyway. Putting one arm around her upper back and beneath her arms and the other under her knees, Kaito lifted Meiko up without any difficulty. He set her down on her feet lightly and let go. After the initial unsteadiness, Meiko was able to stand on her own.

Trying (and failing) to ignore the protest her back gave at being stretched, Meiko looked around to see if anyone else was on top of the ruins, calmly ignoring the irritated boy right in front of her. After all, she had an image to keep.

"Meiko," growled the boy, who finally got the woman to look at him.

"Len," she replied coolly, the barest hint of a You-don't-know-how-much-I-want-to-hurt-you lacing her voice.

Kaito stood slightly behind her, listening to the conversation and waiting patiently for something to do. Even if he had no idea what was going on or how he got involved in it, it was much easier to stay in the background and learn what he could. Sorting everything out looked like it was going to take awhile, anyway.

"Fine then," continued Meiko. "We'll help you, on the condition that you won't sell me out to your group the second you get back."

"I agree," Len answered reluctantly.

Meiko rolled her eyes and called out to Kaito.

"Come on. Help me lift him up."

---

Walking along the empty city streets, Dell couldn't help but look behind him every few minutes and start snickering.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" growled Len, who was being carried by Meito. According to Kaito (a.k.a. The Enemy of Anatomy) Len hadn't broken a bone, but he would probably need a cast while it healed. Since he was also unable to walk on said leg and Dell couldn't carry him, Meito was forced into carrying Len around until they got to wherever it was they were going. So far, Len hadn't told either of his teammates and they hadn't asked, so that was the end of that.

"Turn left at the corner," Len instructed Dell, who was being blindly followed by Meito. "Then the fifth house on the right."

Curious as to why Len hadn't told him why they were in the residential area of the city, Dell followed his directions, deciding that it was easier to simply listen to the temperamental boy. That was a lesson he had learned the hard way. Teenagers these days were apparently very good at getting what they wanted, and Len's seemingly natural craftiness drove him nuts. He'd sooner quit smoking than try to debate with Len.

Coming back to the present, Dell took in the house in front of him. It was two stories tall, with bricks that had long ago lost their color. Concrete steps led to the front door, which was missing the outer screen door and looking like it would fall over at the slightest push. All of the windows were dark.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Dell asked skeptically. "It looks like every other building in this forsaken city. Old, creepy, and on its last legs."

"Yeah, sounds about right," countered Len. "Now knock on the door before she goes away."

Dell turned to face Len and raised an eyebrow, but the boy just smiled and gestured at the door with his hand. Still skeptical, Dell walked up the steps and knocked on the door with the back of his hand. To his surprise, he heard several locks click and the door opened a crack to reveal a sea-foam green eye. He stepped back and would have fallen down the stairs if not for the hand that reached out and grabbed his, pulling him pack to the top step.

"Honne-san?" asked the green-eyed woman. "Are you all right?"

"G-Gumi-san!" exclaimed Dell, even more startled than before. "You live here?! And, uh, yes, I'm fine."

"That's good to hear," Gumi replied in her soft voice. "Who's that behind you?"

She leaned around Dell to see Len glaring daggers at Dell's back from his spot in Meito's arms.

"Oh! Len-kun, Meito-san!" The two turned to look at her upon hearing their names, and Len was instantly happier.  
"It's nice to see you two. But why are you here at this time of the morning? How do you even know where I- Never mind. I'd rather not know. Anyways, come inside. You really shouldn't stand out there…"

Stepping back inside her house, Gumi held her door open for the two-and-a-half men. Dell ambled in, trying not to seem like a complete idiot in front of his classmate. He thanked her as he walked by, but didn't turn to look at Gumi's face, which was contorted into a cross between a frown and smirk from trying to hold back her laughter. By the time Meito and Len made it to the door, she had managed to fix her face back into an expression of mild surprise.

Gumi shut the door and took a deep breath. Her surprise had been faked. She knew something was up when she heard the building collapse last night, and the noise from this morning was probably the boys digging themselves out of the mess. They'd probably been on an assignment for them and ended up facing minor (major) difficulties.

Turning around, she fixed the three idiots with a cold stare.

"I know what you are and I know what you're doing," she said flatly. "So don't try to lie to me because I will report you. Don't tell me about it, don't ask how I know, just tell me where it hurts."

She paused for effect, knowing that the three were completely buying her bluff.

"Got it?"

---

Meiko dragged herself along, ignoring the worried Kaito behind her who rushed to help every time she so much as stumbled. She did not need help. She would not let herself be helped. She definitely did not need his help.

He should've been dead, said a little voice in the back of her head.

Meiko stopped in her tracks. Why would she even think of something like that? She never wanted…It shouldn't have…Everything just…

Overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of memories (and blood loss) Meiko collapsed. When Kaito caught her so she wouldn't hit the floor, she was already out cold.