The Conquerors bloodline

Chapter 53: One with the Hounds

"Please tell me I'm not the only one really unnerved by this new Kurome?" Wave whispered to the group of Run, Seryu and himself, all three watching as Kurome uncharacteristically smiled at and then proceeded to pet the fifteenth dog they had passed by since they'd left the capital to deal with a string of new danger beast related incidents.

Run just smiled at Kurome as she began to enthusiastically rub the dogs belly. "I don't mind. She seems much happier than she was before. Like she has less of a weight on her shoulders."

Wave nodded along, "yeah. I know. But still, it's like, just so sudden. One day she looks like she ate a piece of rotten salmon, the next she's smiling brighter than sun. What do you think's got her so happy? And what does it have to do with dogs?"

Run shrugged a response, "I do not know, and I am not going to pry. I'm glad she found something that makes her like this."

Wave huffed frustratedly, "c'mon, show a bit of curiosity. She's our friend-"

"Colleague." Run corrected.

"- It's natural to be at least a little curious about her personal life." Wave turned to Seryu who was gnawing on the tip of her thumb, glaring daggers at Kurome, a fact that all of the Jaegers grew swiftly accustomed to after her frequent run ins with Kurome whenever she tried to convince the others to put Parc down for all his crimes, often bringing his teacher and Dr. Stylish.

Unable to comprehend why everyone seemed so calm that the very man who murdered their teammate was being treated so well that he was being fed and not tortured or executed.

Even if Esdeath wanted to convert him back to the side of the Empire, he was still an evildoer and he deserved corporal punishment at the least.

"What about you? What do you think's got her so over the moon?"

Seryu didn't seem to hear him.

"Seryu?"

"Hmm?" Seryu took a double take towards Wave when he finally got her attention, "oh" her eyes turned sharp, returning to Kurome who was now surrounded by three dogs from out of nowhere, all of which were on their backs giving Kurome full access to their bellies while also treating them to some dog snacks that had slowly been taking up spots in her candy bag, as much as that disturbed Wave.

He swore he saw her eat a dog treat on accident once and she didn't even notice. Part of him swore she looked like she was relishing the taste more than her usual candies.

"She's cavorting with evil," Seryu gnawed on her finger, "I just know it. I can smell it. You can as well, can't you Koro Koro?" Seryu looked to her side finding a lack of her partner in justice. "Where'd you go?" her head swivelled, searching for her dog.

"Uh, Seryu," she felt a tap on her shoulder from Wave who was pointing to where Kurome was hugging an awoken Koro like he was a teddy bear while Koro itself sat on the ground nibbling on snacks Kurome was tossing up every now and then with a rapidly growing horde of pooches.

"Wha-!? KORO!? What are you doing!?" Seryu shouted, "Get back here!" Koro just looked at her dumbly, but didn't move, its toothy maw opening wide as another few snacks were tossed into the air, refusing to listen to its masters wishes.

"You traitor! You're my partner! Not hers!"

Koro didn't care. Koro liked Kurome. Kurome gave him snacks and rubs he really liked her rubs.

"Koro!"

Wave just watched as Seryu stomped over towards her awol teigu and began to tug on one of its miniature arms while Kurome just kept herself buried in its body.

"Do we just leave them? We're supposed to be meeting with Bols in like, ten minutes." Wave leaned to Run and whispered.

"They're our colleagues we can't just leave them" he said as he watched Seryu move onto trying to pull Kurome off Koro, leading to an unfortunate incident as the pack of dogs around them went into a literal dog pile, burying both Kurome and Seryu beneath them.

"HELP ME!" Seryu screamed her amber eyes just barely visible within the darkness between the dogs bodies, one of her metal arms reaching out to Run and Wave.

"Then again. They are highly capable of caring for themselves. I say we leave them and get something to eat before Bols arrives." Run said, Wave nodded sharing a look before slowly backing away to skirt around the tangled abomination of dogs, a teigu, an assassin and an imperial guard.

"DON'T YOU DARE! HELP MMPHGM-"

Was that fear Wave saw glimmering in Seryu's eyes as the fur ball engulfed her arm and shut the hole for her eyes?

Chances were high it was. He would also be terrified.

"lets let's go," he muttered fearfully turning his back to that whole mess with a remorseful expression.

"We shall," Run tilted his head to look to where barks and whines were coming from, even a few muffled, girlish screams with the hairs on the back of his neck going on end. "We should keep Kurome away from dogs from now on."

Wave couldn't agree more.

***

Hunched over, Seryu gasped for breath, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Her hair and uniform a mess and covered in more dog hair than her own.

A sheer difference to Kurome who looked completely unharmed from the dog pile, her hair still neat and without any hair other than hers within it. Same to be said for her clothing.

Standing between them both was Koro in his unawaken form nibbling of one of Kurome's dog snacks while she did the same with her own pieces of candy.

"Too much fluff- too much fluff," Seryu had taken to chanting since their horde dispersed under Kurome's request. She knew herself she was going to have nightmares about this day, the day she was nearly crushed with the combined weight of nearly thirty dogs or more.

Kurome just looked around the village they had found themselves patrolling after getting their orders from Run. Ignoring the crisis having girl besides her. Not because she found the breakdown annoying or anything.

She just couldn't stand dealing with the same girl who had attempted to murder her master so many times this month.

As they walked past a store, Kurome's stride halted, her eyes locking on something within the store that immediately perked her interest. Bringing herself up to the display, she peered deep into the store, past the mannequins and shelves of leather-based objects towards far wall of the store against the wall stood a lonesome mannequin. And what it wore sent a spark of excitement through her body.

Of the two, only Koro noticed Kurome's absence and her swift entrance into the store. Seryu just kept walking while mumbling sweet, fluffy horrors to herself.

Not long later did Kurome leave the store with a widen smile to her face as she held a paper bag tightly to her chest, the top of which had been rolled and sealed to keep the contents from spilling out.

She looked left, right and left again before she noticed Seryu in the distance. Falling into a light jog to catch up with her. Not saying anything as she arrived besides her once again.

Kurome turned her head down to Koro who looked up at her expectantly. Digging through her pouch she pulled out another of the dog treats and tossed it into Koro's mouth before pulling out a candy of her own.

Placing just the tip of the bone shaped cookie between her teeth, biting down through it and snapping it in half. Beginning to chew on it not long later with an happy smile and faint blush along her cheeks. The sway of her hips a little more pronounced than ever before.

She was happy with her new purchase and she couldn't wait to use it.

***

Kurome smacked her lips and let out a yawn. Their hours of patrol had led to only a few less than private arguments between the populace being swiftly dealt with by a slowly calming Seryu and a ever continuously giddy Kurome who still carried a brown paper bag with her wherever they went.

Neither having spoken a word to the other throughout the whole endeavor.

"Why Why are you protecting him?"

Until now that was.

Kurome tilted her head giving Seryu a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Evans," she hissed, spite in her eyes, "he's an abomination. A monster. He has no right to live."

A frown came to Kurome as she let her tongue fall from her lips and lick her creamy mint flavoured ice cream. "I was ordered to protect him," she half lied. While she had indeed been asked to protect Parc she had also been tasked with ensuring he didn't escape. The same orders everyone but Seryu had gotten as she would likely completely ignore the protection order in favour of killing him.

"I've tried to bring justice to Evans. But every time I try I bring it up during the missions you are always the first one to defend him."

"Because he is not a threat and we are under orders to protect him. Not execute him." Kurome answered.

"Not a threat!? He repeatedly attacks Run, Wave and Bols whenever they check on him!" Seryu argued flaring her arms out. "He even has his teigu! A weapon! And yet you say he isn't a threat!?"

she just as well couldn't understand Esdeath's thought process in allowing Parc to keep his teigu. The sheer insanity of the notion of allowing a criminal to keep such a dangerous weapon because the captain believed he would be no threat to them with it.

"He's more than a threat! He's a danger to us all!"

"We also have teigu. If he tried to escape or truly attack us we would be able to be able to defeat him." Kurome's hand inadvertently rose to her throat, stroking against the black and purple catsey marble hanging from it.

"That's-" Seryu groaned, "that's not the point. He has a weapon. He know how to use it. It's only a matter of time before he tries to actually kill one of us and I feel like the only one worried about it."

Kurome knew it truly was a matter of time before Parc killed one of them. He was planning, watching them as they worked. Learning everything he could about them as people and fighters. And she was the one providing him with everything he needed, from following Bols around for a day to having duels with Wave.

All whilst Parc lay in his room watching them with his third eye that hung from Kurome's collar. So it truly was a matter of time before he had all the plans he needed. And when he was ready. Kurome wasn't going to hesitate to put any of them down.

"Mnn," Kurome nodded, acting as if she agreed.

"Then why are you still protecting him! Join me with convincing the others that we should get rid of him!"

"No." Kurome shook her head instantly. "I do not want to make General Esdeath angry. I do not want to die."

Seryu flinched at Esdeath's name, of all the people, Esdeath was the one most defensive of Parc's actions even if she didn't particularly say anything in his defence. But Seryu could see it, how Esdeath shirked off his attacks as simple tests for the others.

'If you allow a prisoner the upper hand, you have failed as a soldier.'

That was what she said when Seryu brought up the very attacks.

"Its-" she really had no way of arguing, even she held a deep fear of the general beneath her respect. It was this fear that kept her from truly acting on her thoughts of breaking into his skull and giving him a bullet shaped hole in his head.

"The Captain the Captain will understand. She will listen to us if we all petition her!"

"I'm not going to help you." Before Seryu could even ask her anything else, she refused her. "I'm not helping you in a suicide mission. You are not my superior. The General is-" a full lie, "-and her orders are to ensure Parc Evan's does not escape."

She continued fiddling with her ornament, a part of her knowing Parc was listening in, whispering in her ear what to say. Using her as a proxy for his own thoughts and it made her happy being needed, being used by him.

If only he could use her completely

"I'm not trying to act like you're superior! I just want to keep us all safe! To keep Empire safe! And getting rid of Evan's is the first step to doing it!" While Seryu said all this, Kurome's eyes ran to the street where she could see some villagers running, just barely able to see larger silhouettes behind them.

Frowning, Kurome pushed herself to her feet, holding her bag under her right arm while she lowered her left to the hilt of Yatsufusa. "No the first step is killing those." She muttered, seeing the silhouettes becoming clearer.

Seryu had seen them as well, the monstrous humanoid dangerbeasts chasing the villagers.

"Koro" Kurome gripped Yatsufusa's handle, taking slow steps towards the civilians.

"...Number three."

***

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Since the last three weren't so great, here's a third release for today. Don't get used to it.