☣️𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙷𝚄𝙽𝚃☣️

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖊

The bell rang.

The sky slowly turned gray, and the atmosphere became tense.

School has officially started.

The gates have been locked and the people's faces became grim and dark.

The students of ANHS then slowly walk back to their respective classrooms. Each one of them eyeing each other closely as they cautiously take their steps.

The entire school fell silent.

No voices can be heard. Only the whistling of the wind...and the students' heartbeats.

A speaker in each classroom then voices out, breaking the silence of the rooms, "Attention, as all of you have long awaited, it is now time to announce..." the voice fades away.

'Crap.. It's happening again..damned panic attacks...'

Althea Hazumi, a student at ANHS, thought to herself as her heartbeat started beating at a more fast pace. Her ears started ringing, making her not hear what the voice was saying.

"Thank you for your patience. Regarding the announcement, please be aware that 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 is necessary and needed. Remember your trainings and always remember to NOT trust anyone, even the people in the same room as you right now. Focus on your 𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩. Thank you for listening and good luck."

This is it. It's happening. The Annual Manhunt.

ANHS, or Assasin's National Head School, is the Number one most popular and dangerous Assasination School in the world. As the planet continued to age throughout time, it became a toxic place for humans. Assasins, Mafias, all kinds of criminals, increased in population. Earth is now filled with corruption. Life became a dangerous game. It is now just survival of the fittest, and everyone had to comply, even children. Everyone had to fight for their lives.

Time went by and the countries united and they came up with a plan to manage the people. They created a system where they train young people to become proper Assasins and Mafias. So that in the future, when they are properly trained, they can just kill each other. This is because it can help "reduce the need for resources", and to lessen the stress the people are giving to the countries' governments. The government is no help at all. They are selfish. They are probably the cause of all of this.

The system is just like school. They teach people how to read and solve equations, but the only twist is that Murder is involved in their teachings.

The Annual Manhunt.

It is an activity in ANHS where each student of the school has a target that they are required to kill every year. This activity helps them get used to assasinate a target or a person.

Earth is dead, and everyone is dead inside.

'Calm down, don't be a bitch. Just breathe.' Althea said to herself as she closed her eyes as an attempt to calm herself down.

Every year, whenever its The Annual Manhunt, her anxiety always comes out. Being forced to kill someone is not to be taken lightly. She is traumatized.

As she was breathing in and out, she failed to notice that her friend was quietly staring at her.

"Hey.." Her dear friend, Belle, reached out.

"Oh! uh..hey.." she responds, heartbeat still racing.

"I know how you're feeling, Im panicking here too you know? But..But I always tell myself that I will survive. Look at us now? We managed to survive 2 years here, why don't we live for another year?" Belle said with concern and nervousness in her tone.

Althea just looked at her and sighed.
"I just...I dont want to hurt people.."

"Let's not think about that for now..We have 24 hours until we can start looking for our targets. Why don't we train..?" Her friend said, trying to get their mind off of the pressure they both felt. "Actually, no. I'll train by my own. You dont need training." She continued.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean?? You already know how to kick someone's ass hard! I only know how to avoid getting kicked, you know what Im sayin'?" Belle said as she remembered something. "By the way, do you think you're gonna be ok?"

Althea looks at her, breath getting steadier and no longer trembling. "Why am I not gonna be ok?" she sighed, "Like you said, I should believe in myself and do what I'm told to do. Im not gonna die...."

"No no no, I mean, are you gonna be ok with your target?" Belle asked with a tense look on her face.

Althea realized that she did not know who she had to look for. "What..why..? who-who am I supposed to Assasinate?? Is it someone with a higher grade than us??"

Her friend looks at her with a shocked expression. "Didn't you hear? Your target is Jake Peralta!"

Althea's panicked expression vanished. It slowly turned into a more sinister one instead. "Jake Peralta? THE Jake Peralta?"

Belle responds and leans back on her chair. "Yeah. THAT Jake Peralta."