Additionally, maybe word had spread, that she wasn't as shaken by the new king's ways as she should have been, maybe they knew of her deep rooted dislike for the status quo, her rebellious nature, both of which were much in sync with the emperor, who wasn't too popular among the Knights. They had suffered the maximum casualties from the attack after all, though the Grimoire Heart leader had tried his best to keep that to a minimum, there were always sacrifices, the Knights were sour about it being them. While she too, had been conflicted about her loyalty, Aki had made the mistake of being vocal about her agreement with the abolishing of the establishment of slavery and now she was being tested... Aki could speculate to pin point the reason for their hatred, but it wouldn't matter, what did matter, was that they had it in for her...
These people definitely had a part to play in the choice she made, to live in Batra's inn instead of the barracks provided to the Knights. She wasn't sure if she had it in her to fight them, or to give them the satisfaction of denying her duty and turning away from her beliefs when it came to the tough stuff. From the expectant look in their eyes, Aki gleaned, that is what they wanted and were hoping for as she approached the slackers. They wanted to see her idealism crumble under the weight of her own avoidance. She cleared her throat to gain their attention as they suddenly pretended to be rather engrossed in their game. They ignored her and she rolled her eyes as they forced her to verbally interrupt their gathering. 'Er... Excuse me...' she started.
'Oh you're excused, dear.' one piped up, in an annoyingly saccharine tone. She rolled her eyes and held up the paper that had the directives of the job. She sighed and swallowed her pride. 'It says here that I am assigned to this job alongside a certain Xandra Queen.' she simply went on. They had gone out of their way to press her buttons, she was sure there was malice in purposely assigning her with a stranger and without any of her teammates. It was common knowledge that Aki relied on Tsuru to deal with social interactions... 'So?' another Knight said, in a dull tone. Her meaning should have been plain, but alas, they wanted to prolong her agony. 'Where can I find her?' she asked sharply. Her tone betrayed impatience as did the tapping of her feet and the way her free hand found its place on her waist. 'If you can't handle even that much, I doubt you can do this job...' the first one said again, prompting the others to laugh. Thoroughly annoyed, she just turned and walked away, once out of their sight, and in the corridor, she slumped against the wall, sighing deeply. If only this Xandra woman would just appear... maybe her luck would turn... If she truly was assigned to the same task, maybe she too was looking for Akira?