“Hi. I’m here for my appointment.” Akari said. The receptionist smiled at her with with recognition, quickly tapping away at her console to bring up Akari’s information. She had been coming to this massage clinic for the last year or so. It had been hard to find a place that could give her the kind of message that she really needed. This place specialized in caring for elite athletes. Akari had never really been into sports, but the strain on her body from years of covert work was close enough. Her back had been a struggle for her for years, occasional flair ups of pain would leave her sucking for air, teeth clenched. Inhuman strength also meant inhuman cramps.

“Looks like you’ll be with Shiriam today, in your usual room of course.”

“Shiriam? I thought my appointment was with Shultz.” Akari asked. She didn’t enjoy having her plans changed.

“Sorry about that, Shultz called in sick today. Shiriam will be covering for them.”

“That’s fine I suppose, I’ll just see myself back then?” Akari asked, trying to keep the mild frustration from her voice.

“Of course. Shiriam should be with you shortly, make yourself comfortable.”

Akari thanked the cheery blonde woman before heading through the door into the back rooms. The whole building had a naturalist vibe. Lots of soft off whites and bamboo or wood accents. Akari thought it was a bit pretentious, but she couldn’t argue with the quality of their service. Down the hall decorated with living plants and a small aquarium lead to the private room that Akari had reserved. Privacy was a must in Akari’s eyes and for how much she was paying the people here were more than happy to arrange a specific room for her. The same one every time as per her request.

She shouldn’t let herself get so hung up over the small changes in routine, Arys had been trying to get her to relax about it for years now. It was a hard habit to break after a lifetime of living in routine. When she served the special circumstances division, it was vital that Akari never let her connection to said organization slip out. Her personal life had been structured around keeping anyone from getting close or accidentally drawing serious attention to herself. It wouldn’t do for her to be linked to all the dirty deeds the Minds had orchestrated over the decades.

Akari entered the room, closing the door behind herself. She made her way to the bench in the corner and quickly stripped down. Her skin had never scarred, her enhancements had seen to that, but even the best engineering wasn’t enough to keep the kinds of wounds she had sustained from haunting her. Tension in her shoulder were a Xaian Wardancer had run her through with its blade. An ache in her hip where she had let herself get hit with a power maul. It was honestly a wonder she was still in one piece.

Climbing into the massage chair, Akari laid herself face down, pressing her face into the hole in the headrest and did her best to relax. Taking up her breathing exercise, she slowly breathed in through her mouth and out through her nose. Carefully focusing on the flow of air through her body, pulling her stomach in when she breathed in, and pushing out when she breathed out. After a few repetitions she felt herself relax into the chair a little, some of the tension loosening up.

Akari heard the door open then shut, feet padded across the bamboo floor. The person approached her and Akari fought the urge to stiffen. Something was wrong. Akari focused her senses. The footfalls were heavier than Shiriam’s would be and Shiriam always hummed as she started working. Akari focused on her hearing, trying to confirm her suspicions, her body coiled tight as she tried to figure out if her paranoia was getting the better of her again. The whisper of a knife leaving its sheath launched her into action.

Kitsune threw themselves off the chair like a striking viper. They brought their elbow up as they spun and felt it skim across someone who had barely gotten out of the way. Bringing their hands into a guard, Kitsune stepped back to give themselves room. They took the intruder in in a glance, human, tall, muscular, and a scar across their face. He spit blood from a busted lip onto the floor and glared at Kitsune.

“The Black Hand sends its regards.” He said. His voice was like particularly phlegmy gravel. Wet and rough at the same time.

The Black Hand was a powerful, if a little over the top pirate organization Kitsune been instructed to do some work for. SC wanted to put pressure on some government or another that the Black Hand was raiding. Things had gone pretty good for them with Kitsune’s help, but when their usefulness had ran its course Kitsune had been instructed to dismantle their organization before leaving. Not their favorite thing turning on people they had worked with, but that was the job sometimes. It seemed they had missed a few of the thugs.

“You could leave now and I won’t have to kill you.” Kitsune said flatly. The ice was flooding their veins now, and they weren’t sure they could hold back regardless of what they had promised Arys.

“You’ll be the only one dying bitch!” He growled before rushing Kitsune. They juked around the tight room, trying to keep the message chair between themselves and the would be assassin. The fight was singing in Kitsune’s blood and they wanted nothing more than to kill this man with their bare hands. He seemed to know how to use that blade though so it was best to be cautious.

Their next juke was just barely mis-timed, and the man came right at Kitsune thrusting at their gut with his knife. Kitsune twisted at the last moment, slipping outside his arm and guiding it past themselves, carefully pulling his arm to bring him off balance before driving their knee into him sending him back into the wall with a thud and a grunt of pain. Kitsune leapt at him with a savage punch aimed for his throat. He slipped aside and her fist splinted the wooden paneling.

Kitsune dodged away from another stab, guiding the man’s arm past themselves with their arm and stepping inside his reach. The knife buried itself in the wall behind Kitsune as Kitsune pulled the man through the direction of his stab again. Bringing her hand back from his arm Kitsune twisted their hips, driving the force from their feet all the way through their shoulder and into a savage backhand strike that landed with a satisfying crunch on the man’s cheek sending him sprawling across the massage table.

Kitsune pounced on the downed man. They wrapped an arm around his neck, grabbing their forearm with their free arm Kitsune flexed hard, cutting off the flow of blood to the man’s brain. He thrashed and bucked beneath her, but Kitsune was seeing red now. They wanted the kill like they wanted air. Digging their knee into his back, Kitsune pinned the struggling man even harder. It only took a moment before his struggling slowed, the lack of blood in his brain quickly shutting him down. Another minute and he’d be dead. Kitsune’s face split into a savage grin as he fell limp in their arms.

“I’ll do it Akari, but you need to promise me. Promise that you’ll retire as well. No more side work, no more killing.”

Akari gasped, dropping the unconscious man. What the fuck was she doing, she promised Arys she wouldn’t do this shit anymore. Arys had agreed to retire after years of hard work. It turned out after all the hard-line traditionalist clans had died in the Primarche’s compound there wasn’t really anyone interested in resisting Arys’s reforms. She had rebuilt her society in less than a decade before slowly handing over power to an elected government. Akari had spent her time smoothing over the last few hurdles in Arys’s way. There were always dissidents and terrorists that threatened someone like Arys, and Akari had been more than happy to don Kitsune when someone stood in her way.

Akari had eventually convinced Arys to retire with her, spend their time together instead of building a society. Arys had agreed to step back to performing only a few rituals that her people still needed a queen for, but she had made Akari promise to lay down the Kitsune mask for good. No more killing, and she had nearly broken that promise. She felt sick.

Akari felt the man’s pulse. She didn’t think it had been long enough, but it was hard to be sure. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when there was still a pulse. He would probably wake up with a little brain damage, but that wasn’t anything new for him to be sure. What to do with the dickhead though? Akari couldn’t exactly leave him here, but she didn’t want to call in the guard either. That would just get Arys involved and Akari hated worrying her. Finally, the idea hit her and she couldn’t help but grin again with the thought of it.

*******

“Did you hear the news?” Arys asked.

“What news?” Akari responded.

“Someone caught one of the Galactic Guard’s most wanted. Some kind of assassin. Apparently the local guard unit found him left on their doorstep hog-tied and naked.”

“Wow. That’s crazy..” Akari rubbed her neck nervously. Arys had always picked up on these things.

“Ready for our date later babe?” Akari asked, trying to change the subject.

“Hmmm, I was thinking we could stay in tonight, actually.”

“Oh?” Akari knew that tone, and Arys had a hungry look in her eye.

“Yeah, I was thinking how nice it would be to spend some quiet time together tonight, just relax a little.” Arys husked as she stepped into Akari’s space. Akari shuddered as Arys ran a finger along her neck and across her collarbone.

“Oh..”

“First though, let’s eat, I took the liberty of calling for a meal.” Arys commanded more than said, and Akari wasn’t exactly inclined to disobey. It sounded like her wife had quite an evening planned.

*******

Akari lay gasping, her own sweat mixing with Arys’s as Arys lay on her chest, each one thoroughly exhausted. The subtle glow of the early dawn light was just starting to filter through the glass wall that took up a side of their chambers, and the play of reds and oranges across Arys’s deep wine skin was almost hypnotizing. The small beads of sweat on her back sparkled like jewels as they simply soaked in each one another’s presence.

“Thank you.” Arys said quietly. On the edge of sleep.

“For what?”

“For not killing him.” Arys grinned up at Akari.

“Oh..”

“I love you so much Akari, I know that must have been hard.”

“I love you too Arys. I.. I wanted to.”

“I know baby.” Arys hushed her.

“It’s okay to want something. You were born and raised to be a tool, but you’re not. Not anymore. You kept me from becoming another tyrant. I’ll keep you from doing the things you don’t want to.” Arys said holding Akari’s face in her hands. She wiped away a tear that Akari didn’t notice falling. Their eyes met, Arys’s deep green and subtly glowing from within, Akari’s artificial and ice blue. Then their lips met, not with the rush of passion from before, but slow and reassuring. A reconnection, and a promise. Akari knew life would be good, she knew Arys would be with her, and maybe one day she could even forget about Kitsune. It had taken years, but they were together, and their jobs were done.

It was a lot of work loving a queen, even a mostly retired one. It was a lot of work trying to become the person you wanted to be. Akari thought the work was worth it.