Slight Mishap

I stepped up to the two and forcefully grabbed the boy's wrist, causing him to wince in pain. I steadily strengthened my grip until he finally let go.

"Who the hell are...?!"

The moment he looked into my eyes, he froze. That face was a picture-perfect replica of most of my victims, moments before their untimely deaths.

Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of showmanship to completely stop someone in their tracks. I like to think that I've mastered that art.

"She said she wouldn't be able to go, did she not?" I asked with a slight hint of anger. "So why don't you respect her choice and kindly fuck off?"

"Stay out of this, buddy. Unless you wanna get hurt."

"Ah... Hey, Sakuno."

"What's up?" he replied.

"That was a threat, wasn't it?"

"Sure was."

"So there shouldn't be an issue if I break his arm, right?"

"Nah. I say go for it. This is purely... self-defense."

With that, I slowly twisted the boy's arm up at an awkward angle. First was a pop, then an audible crack, and he began groaning in pain.

"Dude, the fuck are you doing?!" he screamed. "Agh! Let go!"

"You didn't seem to want to let go when Taiyori told you to," I said. "What reason do I have to listen to a hypocrite?"

Again, I pulled his arm up, and that was when he let out the most agonizing scream. Many eyes fell upon us, but I paid no attention to anyone else but him.

Suddenly, a hand reached over and gently grabbed my own. I tilted my head to see Ayaka looking at me with a stern look.

"That's enough," she said.

It took a while for her words to register in my head. Was she not being hurt by him just a minute ago? Why would she tell me to stop?

I decided not to question it. In this particular case, she's my client. As such, whatever she says goes.

"Alright," I said.

The moment I released my grip on the boy, he stumbled and fell on the ground, clutching his arm while his friends gathered around him.

"The hell is your problem?!" he chided. "You could've broken my arm!"

"That's right, I could've," I muttered. "Keep that in mind when you see my face again."

The boy gritted his teeth at me like a wolf would to its prey. Such a look is one I am accustomed to receiving, though not many were able to show it directly to my face. In fact, this guy might be the first.

"Hey, now, guys," Sakuno interrupted. "Let's stop this and save it for a more... private location, hm? We wouldn't want this to escalate with so many eyes on us, now would we?

I hadn't even noticed that there was a crowd gathering around us until Sakuno mentioned it. I never had to worry about such trivial things because my face was always covered in the field.

"Tch..." the boy clicked his tongue in anger and left.

He stormed off until he disappeared beyond the spectating crowd.

"Heh. Nice one, Tsuki," Sakuno chuckled. "That was quite the show you put on there."

"You shouldn't have interfered," I said. "I'm still not satisfied with the outcome."

"What would you have done had I not interfered? Can't imagine you would outright kill him when so many people were watching."

"Who knows? Maybe I would've."

"Hah! You might be crazier than me, Tsuki."

I need to remember that I'm just a normal person now. Well... Maybe not 'normal,' but someone pretending to be. The things I've done in the field won't fly here, especially when the risk of getting caught is significantly higher.

Every time I see something that pisses me off, I can feel the killer within twisting and turning, begging me to allow it the privilege of rampaging. It's a simple case of cause and effect. However, I have to do a better job at controlling it, lest I turn my bloodied hands upon an undeserving person.

"You... Your name is Tuski?"

I turned around to see that Ayaka was still standing there. Was she there the whole time? I thought she had already run off.

"Yeah," I replied. "Taiyori, right?"

"Hah. So you know me huh? Came in to save this little damsel in distress?" she scoffed with an irritated tone. "So? What's it gonna be? You want me to go on a date with you? Maybe a nice little smooch?"

"... Oh?"

That certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting. Her tone indicated that she did not, in fact, appreciate my help. Well, it's not like I was expecting much, but this is just over the top.

"It seems I've misjudged the situation," I said. "Perhaps you were in no need of help."

"Oh, did you just now notice? Good on you."

"Hah... No freaking way. I'm genuinely speechless. Then, Taiyori. Pardon my intrusion. Sakuno, let's go."

"Coming, sire!" he grinned.

"Stop right there," Ayaka demanded. "I'm not done with you."

Her face bore a scowl much more disdainful than before. So this is someone who walks the normal world. How... interesting, to say the least. She might turn out to be quite the annoyance.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You didn't answer my question," she said.

"As to what? Why did I interfere? Simple. It seemed like you couldn't handle yourself, so I stepped in. However, since you're so adamant that you could've taken them all on, then perhaps I underestimated you. For that, I apologize."

"Wha... Hey, stop!"

I didn't bother turning back this time. That kind of irritated me. I've encountered some ungrateful clients here and there, but none were as obvious about it as her. The others at least showed their gratitude by paying me. I wasn't expecting her to pay me, but a simple 'thank you' would've been sufficient.

"What a weird one," Sakuno whistled. "And here I was thinking that she was gonna be a kind little girl. Earlier today, I think I overheard a couple of people talking about her on my way to your room. What is it that they call her? The Belle?"

"Something like that."

"I'll admit, she's got the looks, but damn... She's an asshole for real. I mean, what the heck, right? All you did was help her out, and she blew up in your face."

"It's whatever. Just let it go and forget about it. I don't want to think about it for a second longer. It's making me angry."

"Pft... What? The 'Belle' break your heart?"

"I don't have a heart, and neither do you."

"Ouch."

That was perhaps one of the strangest encounters in my life, and I've seen a lot of bad shit go down in the underworld. I thought this place was supposed to be normal, but so far, it has been anything but.

To be honest, I don't know how much longer I can last. My tolerance is already running extremely thin.