ᴢᴇʀᴏ;

Kaz Brekker didn't care about anyone but himself. Or that was what he wanted to think.

Life had taught him that caring about people was a weakness. Sooner or later, your enemies would use them against you and the world would take them away from you, leaving you completly alone. So, why care in the first place?

All that changed when she came.

Katya Novokova.

Kaz was fourteenth years old at that time. He had been in the Dregs for over a little more than two years, and had already gained a reputation.

He was known as a ruthless bastard that didn't care about anything other than krudge.

People began to call him Dirtyhands, because he didn't mind staining his hands if that meant achieving his purpose.

But he didn't do everything alone. In that kind of job you needed a team, people with talents that would be useful to him. Investments.

And that's why Kaz had been forming his own gang inside of the Dregs.

The Crows.

He made sure every one of them were loyal to him.

They performed heists and robbed rich people, they killed if necessary and threatened every person that could be a problem in their businesses.

Katya entered his life two months after a job had gone wrong.

Kaz had jumped of a roof of a bank after a heist. He landed wrong, and he broke his leg, an injury that would accompany him for the rest of his days.

In the first month after the accident, he was brodier than usual. He was in an inmense pain all day and was unable to move from his bed.

The second month was better. Doctors told him to keep bed rest, but Kaz was too stubborn, and refused to listen.

He visited a fabrikator and told him to make him a cane, one that would be easy to carry and that could break bones.

And he continued living as if nothing had even happened.

At that time, rumors about dead bodies being found with a stabb wound to the heart were being told. Near them, a card of the queen of hearts covered in blood.

Kaz became curious, naturally. The killer had murdered them in an expert way, without any flaws.

He needed that person to work for him. He knew someone with that talent could be useful for him and his business.

So he sent some of his crows to search for information. He told them to ask people about the killer, to find out who he was.

But he became surprised when his crows returned without any kind of information. It was like the murderer was a ghost.

So he went to search instead. When you wanted something done right, you needed to do it yourself.

But Kaz had began to become frustrated when he couldn't find anything either. Until one night, when he was returning to the Crow Club, he heard the sounds of people fighting.

He wouldn't normally pay attention, but that day something told him he needed to see what was happening.

He followed the noises, and he found himself in an alley. There were two men dead on the floor, a knife stuck in each of their hearts.

At that moment, Kaz Brekker knew that he had found the killer that everyone had been talking about for so long.

A third body dropped dead to the floor. Kaz recognized him as one of the men who had been stealing money from the club lately.

He had been thinking of sending someone to take care of him. But, apparently, the stranger had already solved his problem.

He was surprised when he turned to face the killer and came in contact with a girl not much younger than him.

She was wearing all black, with a hood that had fallen off her due to all the fighting. Her face was painted in blood and her eyes were stone cold, waiting for the next threat to arrive.

Kaz was even more surprised when the girl was able to remove his cane from his hands and pointed an arrow at his heart.

If he wasn't sure before, at that time he was completely sure. He needed to have her in the crows.

He told her she would be under his protection and that she would have a placed to stayed and to be fed in. She would only have to work for him in return.

The girl accepted, after all, she knew that in that city you needed protection and she had grown tired of avoiding being tried to put in brothels or of men trying to rape her in the streets.

So she left with Kaz, and from that point on she was part of the Crows.

It didn't take even a day for her and Jesper to be attached to each other's hips. They got along perfectly and Jesper decided to be the one to introduce her to how things worked in the Barrel.

They became best friends not even a week later. From then on, Katya was the one who stop Jesper from spending all his krudge gambling and Jesper scared all men who tried to harm the girl, not that she needed it.

At first, Kaz was skeptical about trusting her. After all, he barely knew her.

But little by little, she was able to gain a little bit of Kaz's trust.

Katya had a facade around herself. She portrait herself as a ruthless killer without feelings who killed for pleasure.

But, in reality, she was just a broken girl who killed if necessary and only those individuals who had taken advantage of the weak. She was just surviving in a world where you could be a hunter or a prey.

And she chose the path of the hunter.

Katya was a hell good of a fighter. She was a prodigy when it came to knives and arrows, just like Jesper was with guns.

She did all the jobs Kaz ordered her perfectly, without any flaws. And she always found out everybody's secrets.

Kaz sometimes wondered how was it possible for her to come out with the information she did. But he didn't cuestioned it farther, after all, secrets were secrets, and they were very valuable.

Katya started to became one of the best among the Crows.

The people from the barrel had come to respect her, after seeing how cunning and ruthless she could be.

Even Kaz had a certain respect for her, which surprised most people if not all.

But who could blame him? Katya could manage to steal a piece of your heart without you even noticing and when you came to realize it, it was already to late to do anything about it.

Things changed one day, one year after Katya's arrival to the gang.

Kaz was shot in the shoulder during a heist. When they reached the Barrel, he went straight to his office, bleeding and with the bullet still stuck in his arm.

He knew that he couldn't reach the injury by himself, but the prospect of someone touching him was enough for him not to ask for anyone's help.

He was having an internal crisis when suddenly, Katya entered the room.

She had heard the rumors about Kaz's abversion to touch, and knew he wouldn't let anyone touch him. Even if it meant having to life with the bullet permanently stuck in his arm.

But she wouldn't have any of it. She knew that because of her grisha powers, her touch wouldn't cause him any flashback.

Perks of having life flowing through your veins.

So she wanted to help him, even if it meant her secret could become exposed.

It took some time to convince him, but a rational part of his brain remembered him that the longer the bullet stayed inside his arm the more damage it would cause him.

So he accepted, although reluctantly.

Kaz was prepared to feel that nauseous feeling he always got when someone touched him, and for painful memories to come to his mind.

And that's why he couldn't be more surprised when Katya pulled out the bullet and started sewing the wound and all he felt was the warm touch of the girl's fingers against his skin.

It was like she was made of pure life, and that feeling had somehow traveled to Kaz's own body.

He had never felt something like that in his entire life.

He didn't know why he told her his story after that, it just fell right.

It was so out of character for him. He didn't trust anyone with the information about his past, but somehow, he decided he didn't have anything to lose.

Maybe it was because he couldn't resist the opportunity that life had put in front of him. It was like something was telling him it was time for him to have someone to confide in. Someone to rely on.

When Kaz finished his story, he wasn't expecting Katya to told him he was the bravest person she had ever met.

Nobody had ever think that about him.

"Why?" He asked her confused.

She looked at him like she couldn't believe that he was asking that. Like she couldn't fathom that he didn't have the same opinion as her.

"Because even after all you have gone through, you have keep fighting with tooth and nails, and you have manage to built an empire, all by yourself. If that's not being brave, I don't know what it is."

And since that moment, since that simple conversation, a mutual understandment came to them. They saw each other in a new light.

The months passed and their friendship grew.

She was the only one who could sneak up on Kaz without him even noticing. And she took great pleasure in that, teasing Kaz every opportunity she had.

Katya began to left him coffee in his desk before going to sleep, knowing he would most likely spend the night working. Other times, she left him notes saying that if he didn't get some rest she would go there and kick his ass.

Kaz behaved as he was irritated by her because she didn't let him do his job. But he was secretly glad that she care about his well being.

It felt right knowing someone cared for him after so many years of being the only one looking after himself.

Both of them spent entire afternoons in Kaz's office. Katya reading books in front of the boy's desk while he took care of businesses.

Sometimes Katya would rumble about how she was starting to run out of reading material.

The next day, a stack of books would suddenly appear in her room.

Kaz found himself searching for her everytime they were in the same room, to see if she was alright. Most of the times, he found her along Jesper, one of his arms around her shoulders.

He hated the feeling of jealousy he got when he saw them together, which was practically all day.

Apart from that, he had to listened to Jesper flirting with Katya every opportunity he had.

He knew they were both best friends, and that it was harmless flirting, but that didn't mean he liked it.

He didn't know how did it happen, but one day he realized he had fallen in love with her.

The signs were obvious. He should have seen it before, like everyone else had. Nonetheless, his own stubbornness had made him refuse of such possible feelings for Katya.

The Bastard of the Barrel in love with a girl who seemed ruthless but was in fact the kindest person he had ever met.

And that was the difference between him and her. She had a heart, but Kaz didn't believe he had one.

So he decided to shut down his feelings and admire the girl from afar. He didn't think he deserved Katya, he was far too damaged.

But what he didn't know was that Katya felt the exact same way and that she didn't care if he was damaged or not. After all, she was also broken.

And she believed that broken people made up the most beautiful disasters.

When the Crows learn about a job that involves kidnapping a sun summoner and gaining one million kruge, Kaz and Katya finally succumb to their feelings.

After all, you can't fight a love that was made to occur.

sᴏᴏ, ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴇ ɢᴏ, ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴋɪɴᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏʟᴏɢᴜᴇ. ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ʟɪᴋᴇᴅ ɪᴛ. ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴀs sᴏᴏɴ ᴀs ɪ ᴄᴀɴ. ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ɪɴ ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ sʟᴏᴡ. ɪ'ᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ɢᴜʏs ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ. ᴠᴏᴛᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ. ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʟɪᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ sᴏ ғᴀʀ.
sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇʟᴀʏ❤️.

ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ғɪɴɴɪᴄᴋ ᴏᴅᴀɪʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ, ɢɪᴠᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ɢᴜʏs, ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜᴜ.