#osaragi

Nagumo darted his eyes, taking full account of the store, which was small and surprisingly neat. It was a two storeyed building, nagumo criticized the open signboard hung in front of the glass entrance. He, then, scanned inside of the store, smile widening a bit when he found no human presence lingering around. How about he disguises as sakamoto himself, plus it'd be fun to see how his old friend reacts after his retirement.

Entering the store, disguised as sakamoto, he went behind the counter and took a seat he supposed sakamoto might take. Spread out on the counter was newspaper folded messily, a cranky cash register, and some small spreads of candy, snacks and other daily convenience necessities. He picked up on the newspaper pretending to read it as he picked up on the dull sound of approaching footsteps.

A guy with blonde hair, middle partition and some shaggy clothes entered, with a green apron and his name batch pinned over it. Shin was printed on it.

Nagumo noticed. ‘Shin asakura’ and he recognised. The esper guy Sakamoto worked with after leaving the order. He had also heard that Shin had too left being an assassin and joined being an assistant in this store. He searched for a red haired chinese girl, who is also said to have started here a few days ago.

Nagumo waited patiently, subsiding his giggles inside he darted his eyes again on the door seeing a girl enter lazily. Ahh lu shaotang— the other assistant, whose main job is to make pork buns.

He sat quietly pretending to read the newspaper.

It wasn't long until both of them started arguing, making Nagumo's dopamine rush through his veins. With a bang on the counter table, shin whined “sakamoto san, we have to fire this girl!” pointing an accusatory finger on his back over the girl with pink jacket, who didn't cared even a bit.

Nagumo contemplated a little what shall he say? Maybe behave a little out of it, it'd be fun to see both of their stupefied reactions.

“Now, now shin!” He said, “We don't say mean things like that here.” taking both of them by surprise, who aren't able to comprehend how come their boss all of a sudden became so chatty, and started questioning his sudden behaviour.

Its fun, nagumo thought. Why not enjoy it with more spice. “How rude.” He replied to their thread of questions. “I will kill you.”

And this was enough to gawk both of the assistants, enough to let their jaw wide open touching the floor, but before nagumo to have anymore of fun the door opened again and his friend entered, unphased by seeing his doppelganger infront of him.

Nagumo knew sakamoto realised it was him, but I'd be more fun to attack with a knife to shake up both of the assistants even more. But most of all he wanted to see, if sakamoto’s senses dulled over the span of 5 years.

Instantly he pulled out a knife and stuck it in the newspaper sakamoto picked up, which was disregarded by him a few minutes ago. Tearing the newspaper from the middle he saw sakamoto dodge the attack, before getting hold of a cutter, threatening his neck.

He was no less of a deal too, in a blink his gun stayed plastered to sakamoto's head, before sakamoto pulls back the cutter and draws the blade back in. “Long time no see, nagumo.” His glasses gleamed, as his face fat made his voice sound a little thicker than nagumo had heard years ago.

“I see you can still move, Sakamoto!” He said chirpy, before dismissing the disguise, shocking shin and lu. And it wasn't long for them to throw hands at him. Nagumo was right, sakamoto's senses haven't dulled but it has rusted a bit. He wondered how fast he would have thrown his body to the ground, back slammed on the floor and instead of a paper cutter, sakamoto's hand would have adorned his signature gun he never swapped out after graduating from JCC, if he had not retired already.

Who knew the legendary Hitman would chicken out of the game one day in the name of…..love?

And get this bulky. For once nagumo thought to slap his huge round belly to see if the fat ripples through.

After another thread of lies, he was bound on a chair by sakamoto's two assistants, it's not like he can't break apart the rope but he just didn't. “there’s a bounty on sakamoto's head. The reward is one billion yen.”

He explained, as his assistants refused to believe him, but their doubts were soon dispelled as soon as they took down the pizza assassin.

Nagumo only wanted to inform his friend about the bounty on his head. That's why he visited. Or that's what he was trying to tell himself. He didn't quite understand why he visited after so many years….after rion akao died, it was both of them. Nagumo thought since sakamoto is still there it'd be okay. But it wasn't long until he retired saying he fell in love. Sakamoto quitted the order, and eventually wiped his hands of assassination. Without even saying a goodbye. He married and had a child. And nagumo was left all alone. Though he never stopped smiling.

And after 5 years when he learned about the bounty on his friend’s head, he couldn't help but feel a bit odd. What an odd world of liars he lives in?

Akao said she would graduate with both of them. Yet, she didn't.

Sakamoto said he would be there till the end, yet he didn't.

“Why did both of you left me alone?” He wanted an answer, but he never asked. Knowing one isn't alive to answer and the other would just dismiss his question.

He disposed the body of the pizza assassin near the garbage disposal area. He smiled another gleeful smile, before taking out his fist from his coat pockets and rolled the small white dice on the road.

The dive stopped rolling. One dot. Nagumo chuckled. “I wouldn't consider it unlucky…” he said, before dismantling his compact of weapons as a curved blade of an arms length slipped right through his fingers, which ended up landing into the pizza assassin’s fourth and fifth rib.

A shriek of unpleasant screaming rose through the air, and intensified even more as nagumo twisted the blade with his index and thumb. Filthy red splattered over his silhouette, as if the strokes of a frizzy brush from someone who attempted to paint the crimson flowers of death. How sad he will have to pay for his laundry again.

After changing his clothes, which he always keeps a set of two at hand, he set out his foot towards home. He'd a call from the JAA headquarters, Tokyo to attend the next day. Ofcourse he wouldn't want to get any less of sleep.

He knew sakamoto won't kill anyone, and even though he wouldn't show it on his face, the reason sakamoto stopped killing cringes him. If anything love only brings in vulnerability, and loss of power.

And if anything he'd learned all these years being in assassination field, he knew that power is easy to gain than to hold on. He'd seen his friends gaining the very top before falling down from the peak. Except for sakamoto who chose to step down.

Nagumo’s smile lines faded a bit, expression grave, will he too oneday lose all of it? Nothing is certain in life, it flows and changes its direction like a river, ticks away with time and evolves into new colours with each season. However, ever since he joined the order his season of life has always been the same: the fall.

All the dried crinkly leaves fell off years ago, yet no tree has ever sprouted a lively green. The winter keeps snowing, covering the mud with its dusty white, but the spring never comes.

Nagumo kept walking without noticing where his feets were leading him, his head faced down and hands in his coat, eyes simply gazed over the red old tiles, the footpath, and the small black lines dividing each section. At moments of his trance, he felt someone bumping into him.

He would have normally walked away, without bothering to peer at the person, but for some reason he felt a tug on his right sleeve. The person was refusing to let go. A muscle ticked in his arm, ready on first instinct to throw a punch over the face, “excuse me?”

A girl's voice?

Nagumo's body soothed as he turned to take proper account of you. Your one hand was clasping over his coat’s fabric, whereas the other was fumbling the inside of her tote bag.

You take out a hello kitty bandaid and shove it towards him. Confused, Nagumo tilts his head, face has regained its merry rictus.

“Yes?”

“Your hand is bleeding…”

Nagumo's eyes widen a bit as he speculates his hand and then looks at the bright red stain on his coat. Another laundry. He looked at the cut between his fingers, which must have sliced through when he was pulling out the blades. “Is it?” He faked his astonishment.

“That seems to be deep…you should disinfect it right away. How did you get hurt?” You bat your innocent eyes at him, before taking a look at the compact case hanging on his back with the help of a strap looped over his body. Nagumo felt his mouth dry. Well umm how does he even phrase it properly…

“A technician? You carry tools in that?” Nagumo stared at you blankly, as his brain stopped processing his thoughts, “yes” a lie slipped off pretty easily from his mouth. It's easy and convenient to lie.

You bring Nagumo's hand gently, while applying the bandaid, looped perfectly over his cuts, when he doesn't make the move to accept the help. “You should take care of yourself.” You say frowning your brows a bit at him.

“Yeah I will. Thanks.”

You smile at him before turning and taking your leave. Whereas nagumo stayed glued to the spot, watching you disappear among crowds. He peered down his hand, the hello kitty doodles stared back at him. What just happened?

Ever since that incident nagumo has lost half a quarter of his sleep, astir for no reason. Could it be the pressure of the work and the mysterious massacre caused by slur— or could it be him drifting into a relentless void staring at the hello kitty band aid given by you which he, for some ridiculous reason, framed it.

Or it could be for the number of times he visited the same alley hoping to catch sight of your fuzzy white scarf and maybe a hello kitty bandaid to offer…

Why was he even doing that?

Has he gone crazy?

Well, probably he has.

Whatever he was, Nagumo had less time to criticize himself for his sleep schedule or find the reason of trigger to his insomnia. He was on a mission to execute— find the B-grade assassin, who is suspected to have hands knotted with slur— Edo Nakamura.

And surprisingly enough his last sightings were spotted in the same alley nagumo was granted to lay his eyes on your soft frame.

After collecting several pieces of information about Edo’s past from the mission handler, nagumo noted 3 facts about him.

Edo had a history with an illegal orphanage which was later burned down for certain unknown reasons.

His speciality was poisons. He was among the very few male students from the poison department of jcc. After graduation he joined the Tokyo quarters before vanishing into thin air right when the massacre started.

And lastly, he was said to have a sister.

And that specific sister runs her own bakery, which is also somewhere situated amidst the nooks and hooks of this alley.

Edo is suspected of treachery and might have caused the opening to the breaking of the Tokyo headquarters. And from what the papers suggests, it took less than a millisecond for nagumo to come to the conclusion that Edo might have visited his sister before his traces faded.

And that sister might lead to the advantage of revealing the pathway to slur’s so-called puppet ‘Edo’.

‘Little a lot’— was the name of the bakery….and it wasn't a hassle when just a few turns led to the vibrant blue of old summer sky drew him in.

Nagumo thought to himself, what'd this serene peace of blue would look like if he rather tainted it with splatters of chaotic blood.

What if the slow tendrils of this freshly baked bread had a hint of metallic, iron like pungency? His lips creaked as corners turn upwards in a gleaming smile. Shall he force edo’s sister to lure him in here and satisfy the itch of his palm?

‘Clang-dong'

A step echoed as he entered the bakery. It was quiet inside and the owner wasn't seen to be near.

Nagumo swallowed his chuckle. It'd be so fun to break this silent melody with wretched screams. Shall he hide? Oh it'd be very fine to kill them both wouldn't it? the brother and the sister, both? After all, they might feel lonely if one crossed the line of death but the other didn't. Wouldn't they?

‘Clang-dong’

“Oh, a customer! I'm sorry I wasn't around, what would you need si— hey aren't you the guy from the other day?”

“...huh?”

“Is your wound healed now?... don't you remember me? I'm the one who offered you a bandaid that day when—”

Nagumo interrupts, “are you the owner of this bakery?”

“Um yeah?...” You tilt your head in confusion at the black haired guy you met a few days ago. “Do you need something from here?”

“Uh…yeah anything baked you feel’d be the best.” Nagumo answers after a while. What was it supposed to mean? You were Edo’s…sister? The broad plan of executing double murders was long forgotten from his mind, replaced by a dull throb in his chest and ragged breaths.

You nodded your head slipping behind the counter and packing some of the freshly baked blueberry muffins from the oven into the takeout box. Your delicate fingers brushed back your strands of hair, before drawing out a paper bag to proceed with his order.

“That'd be 3,500 yen. I…uh.. packed you blueberry muffins.” You stated, a bit nervously as the huge man kept staring at you with blank eyes.

“...yeah. thanks.” Nagumo handed down the cash to the coin tray on the counter with one hand while the other took his unplanned pakage after shoving his wallet back to his pocket.

Your fingers brushed with his ever so slightly and the dull throb on his chest intensified. He felt delirious, dizzy and unorganised. What was wrong, wasn't he supposed to stop with his bullshit and rather execute his mission?

He didn't stop walking until he was out of the bakery. Or till the some sort of intensified throb on his chest calmed. Only then did he walk back in.

He'd straight go to work. Get the details about edo and—

“You forgot something, Sir?”

Silence.

“Uh…your name?” what the heck? Wasn't he about to ask about edo?

“Y/n. And yours?” You said, shades of faint red painting your cheeks. Your name was so beautiful, he thought.

“yoichi. Nagumo yoichi.”

Back on his way home, he repeated your name several times in several different tones and felt an unusual rush of fervor delight rushing through his veins, similar yet even more intense than when he kills on his missions.

Mission?

Wait? He didn't inquire anything about edo!!!

“What the heck is wrong with me?”