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[contract_star]

[Hei appears on the Plane not bleeding this time! looking a little indignant.]

Ms. Kirihara! You thought I was going to wear them??

[After a moment he sighs in a long-suffering sort of way.]

Mion, I'm not sure how much your vest cost...I brought some yen though, enough to cover it, I think.

Oh, and Mr. Tyler, if you've been...un-kidnapped yet--I have news.

Comments

[madamemoiselle]

{It takes about a minute this time, but with a wet cough she shudders and comes right back to life, reaching towards her neck to grab the wire. Diva looks up to Hei and gives him a feral grin}

Delicious ♥~

[contract_star]

[Just staring at her, unperturbed, and holding tight to the wire.] You've had your taste, then. Can we call this a truce? It'll get tiresome if we have to kill each other every time we meet.

[madamemoiselle]

{She sits up, suddenly a lot more cheerful} Ah, of course, of course~ I promised that I wouldn't kill you, but you didn't believe me~

[contract_star]

[A little more relaxed now.] I've found that erring on the side of caution makes you live longer. It's nothing personal, though.

[madamemoiselle]

Well, I would hope not! Ne, but you're not just a schoolboy at all, are you? You lied~ Or you're really quite the student.

[contract_star]

[Pressing harder at his neck.] Not a schoolboy, no. But that's how people here see me, and I'd like to keep it that way for now, if you don't mind.

[madamemoiselle]

Oh, that's right, you humans don't heal. {She forgets; but Diva takes her dress in her hands and rips it, holding the cloth out to him with a smile.} Of course, of course, that's fine. It'll be a secret~♥

Ne, but you had better unwrap this wire, or I'll break it.

[contract_star]

[Accepts the cloth with a vague nod of thanks and starts wrapping his neck.]

Right, sorry. [Flicks his wrist and the wire unwraps and retracts into his utility belt.]

[madamemoiselle]

Well then, if it's alright for me to ask, just what are you?

[contract_star]

[Long pause as he ties off the bandage and considers what to say.]

Does it matter?

[madamemoiselle]

Of course not. {Laughs} Do you think that what someone is would matter to me?

I'm just curious.

[contract_star]

[Looks up at her and gives her a calculating look. But then he just sighs and his gaze goes to the floor.]

Contractor.

[madamemoiselle]

See, I don't even know what that is. It doesn't sound so bad.

[contract_star]

[Noncommittally,] It's a person with no soul and no emotions who doesn't think twice about killing. They have superhuman abilities, in exchange for an obeisance. [Pauses.] If anyone shows up here claiming to be a Contractor, I suggest you avoid them.

[madamemoiselle]

{Simply} Why? If I avoided you for that reason, it'd be silly. I would have missed how nice Li is. Are they really so bad?

[contract_star]

They are. They're employed as assassins, hitmen, spies. They're liars and traitors. You can't trust them.

[madamemoiselle]

Hm...Well, alright, I guess. I'll trust you on that, Li.

[contract_star]

[Pause because that caught him a little off guard. But he's an emotional masochist, so,] Li Shengshun isn't real.

[madamemoiselle]

It's a fake name? {Just smiles still! She's not terribly surprised} Well, then what's your real name?

[contract_star]

Not just the name. The rest of it. [Doesn't answer her second question.]

[madamemoiselle]

Then tell me the truth.

[contract_star]

I've already told you the truth.

[madamemoiselle]

Then your name. Since Li isn't a real person, I need one to call you, don't I?

[contract_star]

[Long pause.]

You can call me Hei, then. It's not real either, but it's closer to the truth than Li.

[madamemoiselle]

Then Hei it is. {Smiles warmly}