Chapter 50: An 'Inefficient' Test

Me. A target. Why? And... is she? Sakura? She is just so cute.

In class, she is the perfect, bubbly airhead. She asks me for a pencil, and I almost jump out of my skin. "Oh, thank you, Shoujo-kun! You are a lifesaver!" she chirps, and her hand brushes mine. It is like touching a cloud. I look at Ayako. Her eyes are on her textbook. But her pen... her pen has snapped in half.

At lunch, Sakura finds me. On the roof.

"Shoujo-kun! I found you!" she says, bouncing over. "You are always alone! It is so mysterious!"

"I like the quiet," I mutter, my whole body tensing.

"Aw, but quiet is boring!" she says, pouting. She sits way too close. "Let's be friends!"

I am so uncomfortable. "I... I do not think..."

"Minatawa-kun."

The voice is ice. Ayako is standing at the door.

Sakura turns, her head tilting. "Oh! Hi! You are Katsumi-san, right? The Student Council President! Wow! You are even prettier up close! You are like a goddess!"

Ayako just stares. The goddess and the idol are facing off.

"Hanazawa-san," Ayako says, her voice flat. "This is a restricted-access area. For safety."

"Oh, nonsense!" Sakura giggles. "I am safe with Shoujo-kun! He is so strong! He can protect me!"

She grabs my arm. My scarred arm. I flinch. Ayako's eyes snap to Sakura's hand on my arm. The temperature on the roof drops to absolute zero.

"He is busy, Hanazawa-san," Ayako says, her voice a low hiss. "He has duties."

"Aw, you are a meanie, Katsumi-san!" Sakura says, pouting. "You are hogging him! It is... 'inefficient'!"

My blood stops. Sakura just used her word.

I look at Sakura. She is still pouting, her eyes all anime-cute. I look at Ayako. Her face is white.

It is not a guess. It is not a coincidence. It is a message.

Sakura is not a professional; she is the assassin. Ayako knows. And Sakura knows that Ayako knows. This is a declaration of war, right here on my roof.

Ayako does not say a word. She just turns and leaves.

The rest of the day, I cannot breathe. It is a war of whispers.

"Shoujo-kun," Sakura whispers from behind me. "Katsumi-san is so cold. Is she a problem?"

I do not answer.

My phone buzzes. DEMON: Dojo. 5 PM. Not 6 AM. NOW.

The bell rings. I am out of my seat.

"Shoujo-kun! Wait!" Sakura calls.

I run.

I get to the dojo. I slide the door open. Ayako is there. She is not in her gi. She is in her black dress, her "Oasis" dress.

"Ayako... what...?"

"She is Sakura," Ayako says, her voice shaking. She is furious. "The Pink Pest. She is the one."

"The one...?"

"The one who was hired to correct me."

"An assassin?" I whisper.

"She is S-Rank," Ayako says, pacing. "She is not a thug. She is like me. She is a professional."

"And she is toying with us!" Ayako hisses. "She is enjoying this. She is inefficient. She is insulting!"

"Ayako," I say, "we have to tell your father. We have to..."

"NO!" she roars. "This is my battle! This is my correction! She challenged me! And she used you!"

"This game is over," Ayako says, her eyes black. "Tonight. I am ending this. I am correcting her."

That night, Ayako is walking. Alone. In the dark. She is bait. She is walking through the warehouse district, the place where the dojo is.

I am not there. I am forbidden. "You are a liability, Shoujo," she said. "Stay home. That is an order."

I am not at home. I am observing. From a rooftop, a block away. I have binoculars I stole from the school's AV club. I am an asset. I observe.

She is walking. And they are there. Not Sakura. Gangsters. A lot of gangsters. They just appear from alleys, from doorways. At least twenty of them. They surround her.

Ayako just stops. She sighs. "You are late."

The gangsters just charge. And Ayako moves. It is not a fight. It is a correction. It is the Hybrid Style. It is art. She is a river. She is a rock. She is her. She is not brutal like at the Oasis. She is efficient.

Block. Twist. Thud. Parry. Strike. Down. Flow. Adapt. Correct.

She is dancing. She is clearing the board. She is not even breathing hard. In five minutes, it is over. Twenty men, on the ground, groaning. Ayako just smooths her dress. She is adequate.

And I see her. Sakura.

She is on the same rooftop as me. She is twenty feet away, in the shadows. She is in her pink-haired 'idol' form. She is eating pocky.

"Wow," Sakura whispers, and I can hear her. "She is good. She is S-Rank for a reason."

She looks at me. She knew I was here. She smiles.

"Hi, Shoujo-kun!" she chirps.

I am frozen.

"She is amazing, right?" Sakura says, her voice full of fake awe. "She passed the test. Phase One is complete."

"What...?"

"She is too hard a target," Sakura says, popping a pocky stick. "She has no weakness."

She stands up. "So, I guess I will have to go after her father instead."

She giggles. "This is so fun!"

She disappears.