Skit 11: Being Mean To Kumatora (Murderface Ver.)

The car stopped in front of a nondescript building. For the entire twenty-six minute drive, not a word was spoken. Okay,

sure, the first few minutes Kumatora tried asking for further information on their mission, but Murderface simply glared or

grunted at her. Clearly she didn't want to discuss it, so Kumatora stayed quiet, not wanting to offend or enrage her new

boss. That was what she did, right...? At least some of the not-so-wet-behind-their-ears recruits told her so, that

Murderface wasn't a person to give any reasons to kill with. All of their vague advice evaporated in that car ride like so

much mist through an open bathroom window; she had no clue how to interact with her.

And so, she stayed quiet, fretting over her choices, overanalyizing each and every one of them.

Murderface unlocked the car and stepped out, slamming the car door behind herself. Kumatora jumped a little, surprised by

the suddenness; weren't they going to discuss the plan? Maybe... maybe outside, they will. Hopeful, Kumatora also stepped

out, closing the door with more care. The resulting slam was a kitten's mew compared to what noise Murderface had made.

Now what, Kumatora thought to herself, staying near to Murderface but keeping a respectable distance from her. She wanted to

make Murderface proud, at least, to be stuck with her; that she could be stuck with someone far more worse than she. She

knew she was overeager to prove herself, but she couldn't help feeling this way; she really wanted to prove to be an asset

to the Officio. And with Murderface's happiness in her performance in the bag, that would definitely help her chances.

"Uhm... now what, M-Murderface-sempai?" She had no idea what they were doing here. No one, especially her boss, gave her any

indication what the goal here was.

Murderface took a long drag from her cig, filling her lungs deep of the relaxing smoke, before letting it all out smoothly.

The dying cig fell to the ground like the morning star, crushed between cold cement and unrelenting heel. Her sempai groaned

from the pits of hell, the first tired sound Kumatora had noticed. Murderface wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that

her eyes had seen far too much. For a moment Kumatora felt her overeagerness die just a little...

... and the next, Murderface suddenly became alive. Her eyes shone with a subtle brilliance, and she actually looked at her.

"Mission objective: Search and Destroy. All we need to do is to eliminate a certain target. I'll tell you who it is when we

meet them. It'd be safe, since you're an Eversor, to simply kill everyone inside, to start getting you some experience. I

will be supervising you but you'll do the bulk of the legwork." Kumatora nodded her confirmation wordlessly, limbs beginning

to tremble.  For the faintest of moments, Murderface frowned, as if dissatisfied with something; maybe with something she

had did? Murderface composed her features the next, looking professional, alert, leading the way into the building; and from

there, Kumatora.

---

The place was filled with a lot more people than she had expected. Kumatora... had killed a few of them, sure, thanks to the

verbal spurring of her sempai, and almost physical spurring, but the body count went to Murderface, who simply mowed down

crowds after failing to get her junior to act.

Kumatora hunched over, knees hugging chest, trying not to puke, not to feel so vile, while Murderface dialed into her

cellphone. She had to get some air. Air that didn't stink of death and harbored the ghost wails of the victims, of the

thundering cries of guns and explosions. Deep breathes, Kumatora, deep breathes, she told herself, still not used to killing

despite the Officio's efforts to prepare her for that, to deaden the impact.

"This is Murderface. Mission successful, building has been cleared of hostiles."

She stayed quiet, listening to whoever was on the other line. Kumatora didn't pay any particular attention to that, too busy

dealing with her own small crisis, but after a while, she noticed it was oddly silent for too long. Taking a peek at her

boss, she noticed she was being glared at.

"We were docked on our reward. Next time we're paid, I'm taking your portion." Was all she said before making her way back

to the car.

"Uuuh.... I'm sorry, Murderface-sempai..." Kumatora shuddered, scared to the core for messing up.

Murderface got into the car and started it up. Kumatora reluctantly stood up, and walked to the car. Murderface didn't wait,

driving off down the road without her.

Left behind, with a failed mission, a pissed off boss, and a guilty conscious, Kumatora had a long walk ahead of her.