SIDE STORY: Mukuro's Past Part 4

The next day, Fenrir defeated the rebels just like their boss said they would, and they all flew back to the Middle East with their new trophies. New equipment, new honors, new experience and, of course - new money. More cash than Mukuro had ever seen in her entire life, and more than most people made in a year, though still not enough to help Junko with her dream. So she kept on working for Fenrir, living day in and day out to the rhythm of gunfire as she fought her way across the world.

And, of course, the bonds that she made with her fellow soldiers along the way were another prize that she treasured during her career, though many of her friendships ended shortly after they began due to an explosion or a well-placed sniper’s shot.

For the next four years, Mukuro lived the life of a mercenary, and she did so with such skill and professionalism that she practically became the face of the company, constantly being sent out on the hardest and highest-profile jobs. And that’s why two years into her career, at the age of 20, she was given responsibility over the single biggest job Fenrir had ever been given.

It was in the small European country of Novoselic, which was unusual in many different ways. It’s culture, language, and customs were all unique, it was relatively isolated from the rest of the world up in the mountains, and it was one of the last nations on the continent that still had an absolute monarchy, complete with an extravagant royal castle.

But with monarchies came dynastic disputes, and that led to things like civil wars and coups, which is exactly why Mukuro and her squad of seven elite soldiers were currently peering into the royal throne room through the massive rainbow stained-glass window behind the throne. Inside, the disgraced brother of the king and his followers were standing around with guns and body armor as over a dozen hostages lay on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. He had planned to seize the royal palace and the whole royal family in one swift coup, but in a twist of fate the king was out visiting the countryside that day and so the besiegers were now the besieged, surrounded by the entire nation’s army. The only reason that they hadn’t been killed right away was because they still held the king’s heirs, which is why Fenrir was called in - the king didn’t want to take any chances with them getting hurt.

“So, what’s the situation?” Mukuro heard Amy’s voice say into her shortwave earpiece as the Japanese girl carefully looked into the room through the glass. She was being held up by a rope connected to a ledge just above the window, but Mukuro still made sure she didn’t block too much of the light and risk getting seen. It was hard to see through the glass regardless, but her binoculars helped a little bit, and the listening device Mukuro held in her hand helped make sure she could hear everything too.

“Same as always,” Mukuro replied to her friend. “Lots of pacing around and yelling on the phone. Even though it’s hopeless, he’s still demanding to be made the new king.”

“Pfft, what a loser. Doesn’t he know when to cut his losses and run?” Amy asked.

“You’re one to talk,” Mukuro said flatly before listening in on the throne room once again.

“I told you, a pardon is not good enough!” the pretender to the throne shouted into a landline phone. He had pale skin, a thin black mustache, an old brown military uniform with a red silk sash around his stomach, and a red cap with a long golden tassel and three golden crosses pinned to the font. “You must abdicate by the end of the day, or else you leave me **** but to start executing hostages. I know they are my family, but I will not have my claim be denied!”

“D-don’t be hasty now, brother dear!” the king replied over the phone. “No one has to get hurt!”

“If that’s what you think, then why don’t you just abdicate already?!” the pretender screamed into the phone.

“Don’t do it, father!” another voice suddenly interjected, catching everyone - including Mukuro - by surprise. The voice came from none other than a blonde, 12 year-old girl, and one of the king’s daughters; Sonia Nevermind. She, like the other hostages, was bound and on her knees and was worse-for-wear, but unlike the others she did not look the least bit afraid.

“Uncle is a tyrant, and would destroy our great nation with his horrible leadership! You cannot let him have his way!” she shouted, sounding like a girl who was much older.

“But… my dear! This is your life we’re talking about!” King Nevermind pointed out.

“I don’t care, father! If it is for the good of our country, I would gladly die a million times in its service!” Sonia shouted. “Forget about me, and do not let him win, no matter what!”

“Why you little…” The pretender put down the phone but didn’t hang up so the king on the other side could keep listening. “It looks like someone just volunteered to be the first sacrifice. Someone, get me my royal pistol!”

“Shit!” Mukuro dropped her listening device and grabbed her **** rifle from her back. “Bad news, Amy; we have to go in now.”

“What!?” Amy gasped over the headset. “But we’re not ready yet! The explosives still need to be placed, and the sniper isn’t even in position!”

“Out of time; we have to go to plan B instead.” Mukuro cocked her gun and made sure there was a bullet in the chamber. “Are you ready, or am I going to have to go in alone again?”

“Shit… we’ll be right there,” Amy answered before rappelling down alongside Mukuro with five other soldiers.

“Alright, remember; no matter what, no member of the royal family shall die.” Mukuro kicked away from the stained-glass window and then came swinging back with her leg extended and her boot pointed straight toward the stained-glass. “Now, let’s go!”

A moment later Mukuro crashed through the window and into the throne room, causing a rainbow of glass to rain down upon everyone in the room. Mukuro did not give them the chance to react to this spectacular sight, however, and immediately opened fire on every enemy soldier she could see, starting with the ones closest to the hostages. Even someone as skilled as her couldn’t get everyone, though, and the ones that survived immediately began firing back at Mukuro and her comrades.

“Gah! I can’t believe this! I should have known better than to trust such a traitor!” the pretender said as he ducked behind a chair. “You! This is all your fault!” he shouted at Sonia.

Grabbing a golden gun off the ground, he moved to shoot the young princess and end her before she even had the chance to rule the kingdom. Mukuro noticed this, however, and swiftly moved to intercept him. Taking out a long combat knife with expert precision, she lunged at the man and cut off his hand at the wrist before he even had the chance to pull the trigger.

“Gaaah!” The pretender shouted, grabbing the stump. “My hand! Do you have any idea what you’ve-” He was silenced when Mukuro placed her knife to his neck.

“You’re lucky that the king said specifically that he wanted to keep you alive,” Mukuro told him, her eyes and her voice both as cold as ice as the sounds of gunfire still filled the room. “But I can still have a little ‘accident’ if you don’t tell your men to surrender… right now !”

“Gnnngh…” The king’s brother grimaced but, after a few moments, he relented. “Fine… stand down, men! Throw down your arms!”

The sound of fighting in the room stopped almost immediately after, as the few rebels that remained in earshot put down their guns and threw up their hands. There were still gunshots in the distance, however, indicating that the king had taken the opportunity to finally attack the castle’s defenses, and were now busy retaking the whole thing. It was close, but the day… had been won.

“Phew…” Mukuro finally allowed herself to release the breath she had been holding in and put her knife away. “Someone, get this man a doctor…. And a jail cell in the dungeon too.”

Mukuro then turned toward Sonia to begin the single most difficult part of her job, comforting shell-shocked civilians, but to her surprise the young blonde girl didn’t look the least bit traumatized. If anything, she was staring up at Mukuro with wide-eyed glee and admiration.

“Uh… are you alright, Madame Nevermind?” Mukuro asked, a little off-put by the child’s aura.

“Oh, I’m fine, thank you for asking! Don’t worry about me!” Sonia replied chipperly. “Say, I don’t recognize that uniform of yours… you’re not one of my dad’s soldiers, are you?”

“Very perceptive,” Mukuro said, reloading her gun just in case there was a counter attack. “No, I’m not; I’m with a private military company called Fenrir, and your father hired us to save you.”

“Wow! A private military contractor? That’s so cool! I’ve read all about you online and in books!” Sonia cooed, her eyes lighting up like stars. “You must get to travel all around the world as part of that job! I’m so very jealous!”

“Uh… yeah, that’s right,” Mukuro replied, taken aback even more; no one had ever said they were jealous of her job before. “I’ve had missions on every continent, including Antarctica.”

“Ooooh! That must have involved some really intense training!” Sonia clapped her hands together. “Tell me; how long did you have to train for? What was the selection process? What kind of environments did you train for? How long can you survive in the wilderness? What kind of weapons do you have access to? What’s the biggest bomb you have? Do you have anything that could level a whole island?”

“Uh…” Mukuro stammered, unsure if it was appropriate to have a conversation like this with a child, let alone a princess. “I can answer your questions later, okay? For now, I think it would be best if I returned you to your father safely.”

“Really? You’ll answer me later?” Sonia asked, her eyes still bright. “Do you promise?”

“Yes, of course - now, let’s get going, shall we?” Mukuro offered her tattooed hand for Sonia to take.

“Alright, miss! I promise to follow you diligently!” Sonia smiled and took Mukuro’s hand, and together they walked out of the castle to the royal army headquarters outside.

After that, Mukuro and her squad not only had the honor of being thanked by King Nevermind himself, but they were also invited to return to the castle the next day, where a parade was held in their honor and they were each officially made knights of Novosolic. Normally, this would just be another military honor that they’d throw in the closet and forget about, but King Nevermind actually followed this knighthood with an actual employment offer; act as the palace’s royal guard for a full year.

Normally when acting as a security detail, Mukuro would spend her time watching security cameras, laying traps, and patrolling almost constantly, but it was clear after only a few days that this was an almost entirely ceremonial position. So instead, Mukuro got to spend her third year of her career at Fenrir reading books, relaxing in gardens, and spending time with a very curious princess. It was like the first vacation she had ever had - only she was actually being paid to do nothing.

But even while living in luxury, Mukuro couldn’t enjoy it entirely, especially knowing that her sisters were still alone in Japan - and even messaging them daily and wiring them all the money she made did nothing to assuage that. So even if it wasn’t required, Mukuro kept on training every day at the castle’s armory, constantly preparing for the day she’d have to fight again.

And sure enough, when the day finally came for the seven knights of Fenrir to return to active duty, Mukuro was the only one who signed up for the next mission when they got back to base.

BANG!

The last time Mukuro heard guns fire as a part of Fenrir was completely unlike any of the times she heard before. Not that the sound was very different, even if they were firing blanks, but it was the scenario that had changed. She wasn’t being shot at, trained, competing with Amy, or attempting to kill someone. Instead, it was a salute being given by her comrades, including her very own commander, Balthazar, as they all stood at the Fenrir airport.

The salute was for Mukuro, who despite being in Fenrir only 4 years, and spending 1 of those years in Novoselic, had completed a record number of missions in that time, earned the company unheard-of amounts of money, and saved the lives of her comrades more times than she cared to count. And now, after receiving enough money for Junko’s new clothing store and then some, Mukuro was finally going to return home to Japan.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay an extra year or two?” the Boss asked, putting his ceremonial rifle down and walking up to Mukuro. “Most Fenrir soldiers work at least 8, and if they make it that long then they usually get to retire in mansions with their own personal ass-wipers.”

“I appreciate the offer, Boss, but I’ve spent enough time away from where I’m really needed,” Mukuro said, a little regret in her voice. “I promise you, though; in my heart of hearts, I will forever be a wolf, just like all of you.”

“That’s the spirit!” Balthazar shook Mukuro’s hand and slapped her on the shoulder. “If you ever need a favor from us just give us a call, okay? We’ll be here for you.”

“So… it looks like this is the end of the line, huh?” Amy said as she walked forward next. “It’s a shame to see you go, but at least I finally got to sit you down and finish the Harry Potter movies before you could get out of here.”

“Yes… despite my best efforts.” Mukuro said sarcastically, though she still had a smile on her face when she shook her comrade’s hand. “I’ll miss you, Amelia, I really will.”

“Hey, I told you never to call me that!” Amy complained.

“What are you going to do; steal my underwear again?” Mukuro asked dryly. “You can’t do anything; we’re not going to be roommates anymore.”

“Yeah, but who knows? I might fly all the way to Japan just to mess with you; who knows?” Amy then reached behind Mukuro and slapped her hard on the ass. “I’ll miss you too, Pup… but I think I’ll miss this most of all!”

After that, the only other one who came up was Sebastian, who after years of being with Mukuro and Amy and fighting for Fenrir had molded into a much stronger young man - though even then he still had some flashes of innocence that reminded Mukuro of what first drew her to him in the first place.

“Hey, Mukuro… I guess this is it, huh? I have to say, it’s better than seeing you go in a body bag like some of the others, but it’s still pretty painful,” He said bashfully. “So, I guess I only have one more chance to ask this… did you ever get any real feelings for me?”

“No… but I will admit, I did get more used to the idea of sharing you.” Mukuro leaned forward and kissed Sebastian on the cheek. Years of fighting had turned Mukuro colder than even life on the streets could have, but she still showed some moments of warmth like this from time to time. “Now do me proud out there, okay? My reputation’s linked to yours now, so don’t go messing up.”

“Y-yes ma’am! You can count on me!” Sebastian saluted loyally. Mukuro saluted back and kissed him on the cheek as well before saying her last goodbyes to the company and boarding her plane back to Japan.

Actually, ‘to Japan’ was not technically correct. The cargo plane Mukuro was boarding was going to fly over Japan, for sure, but due to an incident in Guatemala Mukuro knew it was a very bad idea for her to be in any international airports. So instead, she just waited in the hold reading one of her books until the plane was over Japan, at which point she put on her oxygen mask and her parachute and got ready for her grand return:

A nighttime HALO jump into the desert surrounding her hometown.

Now, of course this was an incredibly risky procedure, and for most people it would have been the most exciting moments of their lives - but for the Ultimate Soldier, it was just another day, and stepped out of the plane without so much as a flinch on her face.

A few minutes later she had landed safely a mile outside of the city, its bright pink neon lights imitating a sunrise on the horizon as she gathered up the remnants of her parachute.

“Home-sweet-home at last. It’s just as shiny as I remember it.” Mukuro said to herself, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “Well, I guess I should get walking now; it’s not getting any closer. I wonder if Ryoko will remember who I am this time…”