⊱Dont Fall in Love⊰

Chapter XIII

"I'm sorry, Michiyo. But this is why I met you"

Haru gripped on the knife. For some reason, he was hesitating.

"I hate murderers"

"I hate assassins"

Michiyo's words echoed in his mind. His hands were shaking. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth before dropping the knife away.

"I can't do this. Why?" Haru thought, looking at his hands. "This is what I have been doing for years. But.. Why can't I do it?" He sighed. He looked at Michiyo. "Your words..."

He stood up and packed his stuff. If he stays here longer, he might just get filled with more guilt. His mind is troubled by thoughts.

"I'm an assassin, but why can't I kill her? Why did her words influence me so much?" He thought again as he left the mansion and drove his bike away.

"Am I a good person... Or a bad assassin?"

❖

Haru walked to school weakly. He didn't have the mood and was left bored at home for the rest of the weekend. For some reason, Chikage didn't even give him a single mission.

"Good morning Haru-san! Why did you leave without notice the other day?" Michiyo greeted. Haru's brain lagged. He didn't know what to say. He was only an inch away from killing Michiyo, and she didn't even know.

"I... I didn't want to bother you sleeping so soundly" he lied. Michiyo nodded. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were mad at me about something. You didn't even reply to my texts" Michiyo sighed in relief.

Haru scratched his head. "Sorry, I was just a bit exhausted last night" he smiled. Suddenly, Amane appeared behind him.

"Hah! Already walking to school together?" He greeted. Haru just glared at Amane. "The next time you surprise me like that, you'll never see the light of day anymore" Haru threatened.

Amane snickered. "This week is the last, right? The winter break is near" he thought. Haru and Michiyo nodded. To them, winter breaks and holidays are   everything, but to someone who has been living his life as an assassin, winter just means harder work since he couldn't leave any marks on the snow.

"Haru? You okay? You've been zoning out for a while now? Anything on your mind?" Amane asked, concerned. Haru just smiled at him and shook his head.

❖

Haru once again left his victim unconscious on the floor, not dead yet. For some reason, he couldn't do most of his missions well lately. Michiyo's words came to his mind all the time, making him let his victim go alive.

He didn't worry much, since his face are covered carefully to conceal his identity. But he's afraid of what Chikage would do when he finds out about his actions.

"Hey, arrogant guy" a familiar voice greeted him. Haru turned towards the source, and as he expected, it was the man who stabbed him the other day.

"You again. What do you want?" Haru sighed. "You left that guy alive, didn't you? Why's that? Is it because of that girl's words?" The man snickered.

Haru froze. "How did you know about that?" He asked, angry. "I have my ways. And your face everytime you want to stab someone says it all. She really left a deep impression on you, huh?" The man answered nonchalantly.

Haru pointed his gun at him. "I'm warning you again, don't you dare kill Michiyo before me" he threatened. The man chuckled.

"Can you kill her, though? You had a good chance the other day, but you wasted it" he reminded. Haru didn't respond. He knew that, and he still couldn't bring himself to kill Michiyo. And now, he seems to be protecting her instead.

"Say what you want. Ill kill both of you anyway. Oh, and that guy who is always with you too, Amane... right? By the way. Want me to give you a clue about my identity? Just to spice things up" the man offered. Haru didn't respond again. He was shocked to here that the man is also on the hunt for Amane.

The man sighed. "I'll take that as a yes then. Listen, I'm someone you see almost everyday, someone who is pretty close to you" he whispered, before walking away.

Haru froze in shock. "Close to me..? I see almost every day..?

It can't be Michiyo or Amane, since their both are being hunted by him. That only leaves...."

Haru realised something. There's only one more person who matches the clues.

"Chikage! That's right, he's the one who gave me the mission, so of course he wants the Suzukis dead too. Plus, I never really knew anything about him. Maybe... He's been working alone behind my back all these time"

Haru clenched his fists. He has a good feeling he knew everything now. "That's it! I shouldn't have trusted him"

"Just you wait, Chikage. I'll finally kill you one day"

❖