The Belle

As crowded as the courtyard was, an even larger crowd was gathering right at the student council stall. From what I could gather, the student council handles school events and affairs. I can't imagine all of these people wanting to get involved in something like that.

When I got closer to the crowd, I realized that I was exactly right. They're not at all interested in the student council or how it works. Almost all of their eyes were fixed on a girl who was standing behind the stall, passing out pamphlets.

Her hair fell to just below her shoulders and had a subtle waviness to it. The forefront split towards the left side of her hair, and the dangling strands curved like a crescent moons away from her face. As elegant as it looked on its own, the color of wine red topped it off.

She met all who came up to her with a smile on her face. Those sharp eyes of hazel brown curled to greet her guests with warmth, and yet... I noticed that something was off.

"Hello," she said to me. "Are you also interested in running for student council?"

I paused for a moment. "... Huh...?"

I then turned around and noticed that I had somehow moved from the back of the crowd to the front. Did they push me all the way up here or something? How did I fail to notice?

"Hm? Are you okay?" the girl asked.

"Yes, sir- I mean... Yeah," I replied as I turned back around.

"Would you like a pamphlet? You don't have to run. Just think about it. Who knows? Maybe you'll land a seat."

"Uh... Sure."

She reached her hand out with the pamphlet to which I took it, but not without looking further into her eyes. She looks...

"Are you alright?" I subconsciously asked.

"Eh...?"

It was only after the moment that I realized I had said that out loud. She raised her eyebrows as she stared at me, seemingly startled.

"S-sorry. It's nothing."

I quickly dashed away before I could further embarrass myself. God, I'm so freaking dumb.

As an assassin who has read many facial expressions, it wasn't hard to tell that underneath the welcoming smile, a sense of melancholy was there. I wonder why she feels like that. Everyone seems to think highly of her.

Even so, it was none of my business. Why in the world did I ask that question? I bet I looked like a total creep.

Well, there goes any chance of a good first impression.

I unrolled the pamphlet that the girl gave me and read its contents. Like every other pamphlet, it just shows basic information about the club and the people who run it.

A nice picture of that girl was printed towards the bottom.

"Taiyori Ayaka," I read it out loud.

She's one of the second-year officers who ran toward the beginning of the first term and won by a landslide. They even put 'Belle of Campus' on the pamphlet.

That's a bit too much, in my opinion, but hey. It's a term of admiration used by the student body, so I guess it's fine.

After spending the rest of the day walking around and looking at the different stalls, I made my way back to my dorm room. That was perhaps the most unproductive journey I've ever made in my life. Nothing interests me.

Honestly, I wouldn't even be here if Watcher didn't make me go to school. One day, he started spouting some nonsense that I should probably do things that kids my age would do.

How in the world does he expect me to do that? I'm an assassin. He trained me to be a killer. I've walked along the dark side of the world for my entire life.

As I sat down on my bed, I raised my hands to look at them. These hands are stained with the blood of the many who were sent too early to the afterlife. Someone like me... can't be allowed to live a normal life.

Suddenly, my phone began to ring. The text on the screen said 'unknown caller,' but I knew very well who it was.

"Ran, are you there?" Watcher said when I picked up.

"I'm here, sir," I replied.

"How's the mission going?"

"Well... It's going, sir."

"Don't tell me you haven't found any clubs to join yet."

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you, sir."

An audible sigh of disappointment could be heard through the phone. I don't know what he expects. Does he think it's easy for someone with my mentality to find interest in trivial things like school clubs?

"I gave you till the end of the week, so I'm expecting results by then, at the very least," he said.

"It will be difficult, sir."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I didn't call you just to check up. A situation has come up. One of our boys got captured and killed while trying to take down a high-value target. He's got some connections in the underworld."

"Yakuza, sir?"

"Seems like it. According to the reports, this guy is a loose screw. He and his gang beat up the son of a guy running for a seat in the Cabinet and left him naked in a bar downtown."

"I thought the yakuza were laying off on doing things like that, sir."

"You would think, huh? It's easy to just say it was the yakuza, but it runs deeper than that. Nowadays, anyone can hop in and declare themselves the yakuza. Gives them some credibility and a reason to do all the bad shit."

"Are you insinuating that it's a fraud, sir?"

"I ain't insinuating nothing, son. I know he's a fraud, and part of our job is snipping them off. This guy is one of them. What do you think? You up for it?"

I quickly slipped on my nightly attire. It's just a simple black jacket, some sweatpants, a cap, and a mask. Makes it easy to move around, and it covers my face pretty well.

After grabbing my silenced pistol and dagger from the drawer, I opened the doors to my balcony and faced the moonlight.

"I will answer to the Hunt."