A. S. O. E. A. M. S. [ɴᴀɢᴜᴍᴏ x ʏᴏᴜ]

A.

N. Yoichi

It was three months ago, just doing my usual side hustle for my food and my fancy outfits.

"Here."

A piece of photo shoved out from the woman in her mid-thirties onto the table, stopped exactly in front of me on the table.

The photo was flipped, showing the back of white color to my vision as if it was intentional.

Even though it's not really crowded in the family restaurant I was in, it's better to be cautious than regret it latlater.

The woman in her glasses glanced away from my face while sipping her wine glass. Her eyes were nowhere apart from my own orbs when the waitress came and served us the foods we ordered before.

Leaving both of us again, the woman's face facing me again with an emotionless kind.

It reminds me of her somehow.

"Mushroom soup? Seriously?"

Slurping the soup on the spoon, my eyebrows crocked to her as I spoke. "Anything wrong with my order?"

"Whatever. By the end of this month, I want this person's trace to completely vanish. Not a single thread of hair or drop of blood left."

The dice in my hand keep rolling, bouncing up and down in my right hand while my left chip in between the thumbs and index to flip upside.

My vision changed from the woman towards the photo, with my remarkable pretentious smile creeping on my lips.

Once it was on the upside view, the once bouncing dice forcely halted in my palm.

My usual closed smile eyes, cracked open once it obstructed the picture.

Her words were gibberish, exiting from my eardrum while my only focus right now is the unmoving photo in between my fingers.

I tried to control my smile from showing weakness by badly shaking just because of a unmotion photo of someone.

A photo of someone who I know owns a cafe and stated one hour from this family restaurant.

For sure, this isn't what I expected to be. Someone that one day would be a target of some people wish they were unalife by a stranger.

A stranger.

Why would I care?

It's not my problem if she dies.

Or is it?

"Did you even catch what the hell I said to you?"

"Absolutely. Without any trace and by the end of this month."

"Great. I'm gonna transfer the money–"

"I afraid I can't work it out."

"What?"

"You know, third quarter of my clients had their deadline at the end of this month too. So, I would say it's better if you can proceed this job to another expert."

"Is my payment not enough for you? I will double- no, triple it–"

"When I say I can't, by all means, I can't . Copy that? This is too easy for me, I feel anyone can finish this job. She is just a normal citizen right? I bet anyone can outlive her, even you can do it by your own dirty hand. I leave first, and tea on me anyway. You can leave without pay later."