A Family Like No Other

Tanaka

"You're late," was the first thing I heard. Not even a "take a seat." I had to invite myself on the couch. At least the room they booked was nice.

"So, where is he?" another voice asked. This voice felt more like a whisper, as if its owner didn't want to disturb anyone around.

"Hm? Excuse me, my dear coworker, but who may this 'he' you're referring to be?"

"Are you trying to play stupid? Or is this how you usually are? I can't quite tell the difference."

Ah, the sharp tongue of the guy next to me remained unchanged. I looked his way and saw a face that looked almost identical to mine. If I were to point out a difference, it would have to be his mouth—that moving hole in his face that spewed nothing but hate and poison—which was abnormally large.

"That's harsh!" I bit back.

"Is what I would have said if those words came from anybody else. At last, we just have to accept that you yourself are a special case. Isn't that right, my mighty Iwazaru-sama~?"

The moment I said those words, the man's pupils shrunk to dots, and before I could grasp my surroundings, he stood up and grabbed me by my fancy white shirt.

"Oh no... we can't have that... You've brought me to such a nice bar just to get rough with me? At least give me something to get me dizzy first~"

I taunted the man—no, the curse—called Iwazaru until he was close to exploding. I looked him in the eyes as I spoke and saw the moment reason left his body. He opened his large mouth and prepared to shout the most foul words known to mankind.

On my side, I grinned to push him over the edge. After all, I knew he wouldn't harm me. He didn't govern over doing evil; he governed over speaking evil.

Sezaru would sound weird, after all.

Just as he was about to utter his first words, my other coworker grabbed Iwazaru by the arm.

"Stop before you do something stupid," he said. "We can't have people around here hear what you're about to say, lest we want a monster crisis on our hands."

"And what would be so bad about it?" I asked, trying to keep the mood going, but it was too late.

Iwazaru let go of me, and I took my seat on the couch once again. I looked at the other man that looked just like me, only with bigger ears. This guy named Kikazaru was the silent type. He was a listener who wouldn't act unless absolutely necessary.

Or so I thought, until—

*Smack*

His fist flew for my jaw, and before I could react, I already felt my skull dancing left to right. The whole room became blurry for a second, and I had to use both of my hands to stop myself from falling.

"That was unexpected..." I said right before my mouth filled with blood.

"For the calm Kikazaru to strike me like that, aren't you overstepping your authority a bit?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked me back. "All I did was to protect the peace in this establishment. It was a peace that you were trying to break, so I had to put you in your place. How does that make me an evildoer?"

"Tsk, 'protect,' you say..."

I clicked my tongue, and the room went silent.

"So, what's this about? Why the happy gathering?" I asked. That's when Iwazaru spoke, like he was waiting for me to say the word.

"Don't you think you've been fooling around too much?"

I was surprised by his straightforwardness.

"Pardon? I think I've also done my job pretty well. Haven't you seen those new monsters?"

"And what about the girl? The assassin? I wasn't expecting much of you, but to let them escape is a new low."

"Ah... haha. That's... I was busy with the monsters, and I had no time to—"

"Sezaru!"

Upon hearing that name, my body froze, starting from the heart.

"What did you call me?" I turned around and asked; before me stood the stoic Kikazaru, with no regret for calling me by that name.

"Oh? Somebody's mad. Haha!" Iwazaru added.

"Tell me, Sezaru. I highly doubt it, but could it be that you feel something for that girl?"

I gritted my teeth at Kikazaru's question.

"This loser still has feelings? Haha! Perfect creation, my ass! This guy's a goner if he can fall in love!"

With them both ridiculing me, I could do nothing but sink into the couch and accept the punishment for lacking something—no, for having something they don't.

"Why is it only the three of us?" I asked when Iwazaru's laughter finally settled. "Where is Mizaru?"

"Hm? I thought you knew already. He went to finish what you could not."

Upon hearing that answer, I felt joy welling up inside me.

"Good. That's really good," I said.

"That's one less to worry about."

*****

Shino

When I woke up, it was still dark outside. I wasn't used to sleeping on the grass, so it was to be expected that I would have some trouble staying asleep.

I looked around, trying to read my surroundings, and I noticed something was missing.

"Chigira?"

Once again, the girl wasn't by my side. I sneakily tapped into the power of the curse to enhance my hearing, thinking that she might be behind one of those trees, but I heard nothing.

I got startles, and got up to look for the girl.

"I have to find her... for the mission—"

It was then that I heard something from beneath the ground. I jumped as if I had stepped with my socks in a puddle, and from beneath my feet, a familiar face sprouted.

"Surpri—AH!"

Unfortunately, Chigira took me by surprise, so I landed on her face.

After helping her out of the ground, we sat with backs touching, for I felt too ashamed to look at her.

"Look! It's fine! I've healed!" she said, but I still didn't have it in me to turn around.

"Come on..."

Not letting me do as I wished, Chigira stood up suddenly, and I fell on my back. It was the second time I had been caught with my guard down.

There I stood, looking up at the lady with green hair as she laughed at me. I didn't mind her laughter, but something else was bothering me.

"Your body..."

"HA?!"

I had to be more careful when picking my words.

"No... Like... you don't use your body to fight, do you?"

Confused, Chigira tilted her head.

"I don't. Is that a bad thing?"

However I looked at it, she was strong—probably much stronger than me. Yet she seemed defenseless. For some reason, that didn't sit right with me.

"Here. Take this," I said as I threw her my blunt sword. She struggled to catch it, but she somehow managed.

"Woah! It's vibrating!"

"It's infused with the curse already. It will cut anything."

After handing her my weapon, silence came over us. That silence lasted for a couple of minutes, enough for me to look around once more. The forest was truly beautiful, but my life wasn't here.

I took my time to analyze the situation I was in, and it slowly came to me. My identity had been blown. I couldn't contact the family, for I would put them in danger. I had no home to return to, and I had to start living like a fugitive.

My mission was far from over, and things had gotten much more complicated. The more I thought about it, the more the beauty around started turning gloomy. I could see the corners of my vision darkening, like a nightmare creeping up on me.

It seemed surreal, but it was true. The family and the assassin's life had been everything to me, yet I knew that the family would stop contacting me, and I knew it would throw me away soon enough. I had become a liability. For the first time in a long while, I felt scared.

Maybe she felt me shiver, or maybe she had some special powers, but the next moment, I felt Chigira's palm on my back as she was trying to comfort me.

"It's okay..."

She said with a soft voice.

"I'm here. All you have to do is keep me safe."

And she soon had ma confused at what she was hinting at.

"Umm... I'm not that good with consolation. Hehe!"

She made a dumb face, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Her words brought no comfort, yet she still managed to make me feel better.

I laughed so much, I felt myself get dizzy.

"That's right. Whatever tomorrow may hold, I won't be able to face it like this," I said as I lay on my back.

"What? Do you want to sleep again?" Chigira asked, more confused than annoyed.

"We've only slept like what? One hour? It's still dark out."

"Shino... You've slept the whole day..."

Hearing her words, I jumped to my feet with a shocked face. I jumped so quickly that I skipped the whole "bending your knees" stage.

"A WHOLE DAY!?"

But when I turned around to ask my question, someone stood between me and Chigira. It was somebody with a familiar face, and he jumped as if I had startled him.

"Shino... so that's your name. Do you want to know mine?"

There was something weird about this guy. His eyes were abnormally big, but if I were to ignore the eyes, his face was—

"You..."

"Die."