The Tale of Befriending the World's Strongest Fixer (2)
At this rate, I'm really gonna die...
Valentina struggled to pry the hand off her throat. She'd been slammed to the ground dozens of times already. There's no way I can beat Kali. That was the conclusion Valentina had reached.
Kali looked down at Valentina and tossed her aside.
"Isn't it about time to call it quits? Your whole body's already a mess. Why are you so obsessed with that thing? Money? Or maybe honor...?"
"Screw money and honor... I'm doing it to survive. To survive. If I go back empty-handed right now, that coconut-headed bastard Abye will report it straight to Wilson. Sure, the guy's polite, but if there's zero results, his attitude turns ice-cold in a heartbeat. I don't give a damn about that. The real problem is getting disowned by the family."
"..."
Valentina picked up her bastard sword and rapier with the revolver slot, her hands trembling.
"I'm gonna survive this. No matter what."
"...Haa."
Kali sat down on the stairs, using them like a chair.
"You... know what's inside that thing and you're still trying to move it...?"
At Kali's question, Valentina shook her head.
Kali stood up and walked over with heavy steps, splitting the container door in half. Unknown chunks of meat spilled out from inside.
"..."
"I already knew Thumb takes money to haul illegal goods like this. But even so, isn't transporting perfectly fine people turned into meat chunks a bit too cruel, even for you...?"
Valentina stared at the meat. All of that used to be people...? A revolting, acrid stench wafted from the chunks, and they really did look like ground-up human flesh.
"Hoo... You said you're from the Bonyatelli family, right? I don't know much about it, but it seems like a pretty prestigious outfit. I doubt they'd disown you. Makes sense, too—you're seriously strong. I figured I'd knock you out at worst, or cripple you a bit if it got rough. Didn't expect you to be this tough."
"Is that a compliment? Or an insult?"
"Take it however you want."
Kali tossed her lit cigarette into the pile of meat. After a while, it all burned up, leaving nothing but ash. Kali watched the meat go up in flames like she was gazing at old friends.
"Guess funerals in District 23 are all cremations, huh."
Valentina, now covered head to toe in dirt and rags, plopped down next to Kali. At her remark, Kali lit her lighter and said,
"Who knows. In a place like this where it's just eat or be eaten outside of surviving, there's no such thing as funeral customs anyway. I just hope they feel like they've escaped this hellhole, even a little."
Kali glanced at Valentina, who was trying to put a cigar in her mouth, and quietly held out her lighter.
"Want a light?"
Valentina nodded at Kali's question. Kali lit the end of the cigar in Valentina's mouth.
"You don't look like the smoking type."
Valentina shrugged at Kali's words.
"With all the shitty missions Thumb keeps dumping on me, and that bastard Wilson judging all his kids solely on results and honor? You'd go nuts too."
Valentina turned her head away and muttered,
"Honestly... I'm thinking of just bolting to the outskirts."
"And do what?"
"Dunno. Figure it out once I'm there... If that Wilson guy just hands over the Prevision Eye, I'll get the hell out of this district right away. That's the shortcut to surviving in life."
"Sounds like you're always running from something. You've got real skill, no matter how I look at it. Why keep trying to flee?"
"Haa... Never thought I'd hear that from you. Why run? Isn't it obvious? I don't wanna die. I'm running to live."
At Valentina's words, Kali fell silent, deep in thought. Then she suddenly grabbed Valentina's wrist.
"Wh-what are you—?"
"You planning to head back like that? Your whole body's wrecked and filthy."
"...Whose fault is that?"
Kali grabbed Valentina's wrist and dragged her somewhere. They arrived at a building where a friendly-looking man waved at Kali.
"Hey, Kali. Finally coming in? Oh, who's the new face next to you? Never seen her before."
"Hey, Uncle Sean. This is my 'friend.' She got a little banged up because of me, so I wanna borrow your place to patch her up with the first-aid kit and clean her up."
At Kali's words, the man named Sean nodded.
"Got it. Bathroom's on the second floor—use it as much as you want. Goose is out for a bit, so the second floor's empty. Perfect timing."
"Thanks."
Kali thanked Uncle Sean and practically dragged Valentina by the wrist up the stairs. She opened her room door and shoved Valentina inside.
"This is my room."
To Valentina, it looked just like a typical teenage girl's room. It reminded her of her little sister's setup back in middle school second year, long before she possessed this body. Posters covered the walls—guitar stuff related to music, and all the gossip rags a pubescent girl might like.
"Where's that first-aid kit...?"
Kali rummaged around and pulled something from a drawer.
"Ah, found it. Sit on the bed—I'll patch you up."
Kali treated and disinfected every wound on Valentina's scraped ankles, wrists, arms, sides, everywhere.
"Ow! That hurts. Go easy."
"Quit whining. Almost done."
Kali stuck teddy bear-shaped bandages on Valentina's hands and knees.
"Limited-edition teddy bear stickers. Cute, right?"
The bandages had little red teddy bear stickers on them.
"What... You don't seem like the type who'd have stuff like this."
"I'm a girl just like you. Kinda hurts my feelings..."
Kali grinned cheekily at Valentina.
"How old are you this year?"
Valentina tilted her head at Kali's question.
"How old...?"
"Yeah, you look about my age. How old are you exactly?"
As far as Valentina remembered, this body's original owner was pretty young in the story. Some "entanglement phenomenon" or whatever made the Spiderweb timeline and the Smoke War era all wonky, but she recalled Valentina being just 16.
A Capo at 16? Talk about a child soldier thrown into the meat grinder.
"16 this year. You?"
"15. Not much difference, so I'm switching to casual from now on."
"???"
"I've been casual anyway."
"I know. Just saying. It's easier for you too."
With that, Kali stowed the first-aid kit in the dresser drawer. Then she grabbed Valentina's wrist again and headed upstairs to the second floor.
Kali and Valentina entered the bathroom.
"Alright, strip."
"???"
"What're you waiting for? Hurry up and get naked."
"No... what the hell?"
"You gonna shower with your clothes on?"
"Of course not."
"Then strip."
"But... even so, getting naked here..."
"What's the big deal? We're both girls."
"H-hey... wai..."