What Lies Ahead

"The Hunt sends their regards," I muttered.

"N-no!" the man screamed before I shot him through the head with a pistol.

He fell to the ground with a thud. I lifted the gun once more and planted another bullet into his head. Safety measures and all.

"Dang, I missed it," Megumi said as she poked her head through the office door. "Couldn't have waited just a couple of seconds, Tsuki?"

I looked over to see her walking in, dragging a body behind her that left a trail of blood.

"The hell did that guy do to get Megumi no Hana's special treatment?" I scoffed.

"He called my mom a hoe," she replied.

"...You don't have a mom."

"Hey, I very well could, and if I do, then I wouldn't want anyone calling her a hoe and living to tell the tale."

"You're insane."

Megumi let go of the body and walked over to me. Together, we glanced out of the window to see the city of Osaka under a vast starless sky. I've been here maybe three times in all of my life, and it was never for sightseeing. Still, the view is nice, so I'll give it that.

"Another day, another asshole we remove from this world," Megumi chuckled. "Never gets old, to be honest."

"Only, it didn't take a day," I sighed. "It took us a whole week to track him down."

"It wasn't even that long compared to some of the jobs we had overseas. We were gone for two months that one time in America, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was when I had the time to do that. Winter break ended four days ago. That's four days of classes that I missed."

"...And...?"

"The last time I missed that many days in a row, the headmaster gave me an earful."

"For real? Sheesh, you've changed, Tsuki. Worrying about something as trivial as school is kinda crazy for someone like you. Are you even passing your classes?"

"Not at all, but at least I'm trying."

Suddenly, my phone began to ring. Did I not turn it to silent mode before the infiltration? That would've been bad if it went off while I was still sneaking around the office building.

I pulled it out to check who it was. 'Taiyori Ayaka.'

After a moment of hesitation, I turned off the screen and slipped it back into my pocket, but not without switching it to silent mode.

Megumi let out a cheeky whistle. "Look who's crawling back. Not even gonna give her a chance? That's like the seventieth time she's called since we left Tokyo."

"It's more like I don't want to give myself a chance," I replied. "I... I hurt her too much for me to allow myself to even think about it."

"Damn, and here I was thinking you two were doing so well, especially after you rescued her like a knight in shining armor. What do you think she has to say that she feels the need to call you ten times a day?"

"Not sure."

"You think she finally realized that you saved her not once, but twice? Maybe all the heat is out of her system, and she's regretting it now."

"Unlikely."

Just thinking back on that night hurts my head. Still, Taiyori's words were as fresh as the day I heard them, but that's fine. I shouldn't be allowed to forget. At least then, I can remember what she told me and understand my place in this world.

"You don't think she feels even a little bit sorry?" Megumi asked. "I mean, based on what you told me, it seems like she said a lot of terrible things that she might've come to regret. I doubt she wouldn't have at least thought about it."

"Would you?" I asked. "Say you were a normal person, and that happened to you. Would you be willing to forgive and forget so easily?"

"Hm... That's not a fair question to ask another assassin, but I guess that would do it, huh? Finding out the person you trusted was actually a cold-blooded murderer. I can't imagine that happens often out there in the normal world."

"Definitely not. I suppose that's why she reacted the way she did, and I can't even blame her for it."

Megumi rested a hand on my shoulder, fixing her gaze upon the night lights of Osaka.

"It sucks, but that's the reality we live in," she said. "We're not meant for the normal world, Tsuki. No matter how much the boss tries to push us to be kids our age, it's not gonna happen. We were forced to adapt to dangerous environments filled with blood and death at a young age. We're not kids. We're assassins. We tread the shadows, and we tread them alone. Every single relationship we forge is fated to fall. That's just how it is."

"I know that... I do," I sighed. "I just wish there was some other way."

"Maybe we'll find it one day. We only just started to adjust to the normal world. At the very least, we shouldn't get our hopes up. Life is unpredictable for people like us. We should take our time while we're still young."

"...Yeah."

"Come on. We'll miss the train back to Tokyo if we delay any longer. Wouldn't want to mark off a fifth day of absence, eh?"

She lightly punched my shoulder and left the office room while I stayed to admire the view one last time.

Before Watcher sent me to the university, I was nothing but a monster who was born to kill. It was just so natural to me, and I never questioned it. Spilling blood was just a part of my everyday life.

'I was doing the world a favor.' That's what I always told myself. However, at some point, I began to question my resolve. With every kill, I fell deeper and deeper into a never-ending abyss, and there, I could hear the howls of my victims. Every so often, a piece of my mind would always look back and think, 'Who am I to pass judgment on these people? What gives me the right to take their lives?'

Nonetheless, I killed, and I killed, and I killed. It's strange to think about the fact that my fellow students don't even know that a murderer is walking amongst them. Taiyori Ayaka was one such person.

Oblivious to my true self, she would pester me, scorn me, and make it so painfully obvious that she didn't like me at all. In a way, it was refreshing. As annoying as she was, she gave me a small glimpse of what the normal world can be like.

I was more surprised that there was someone who was willing to talk to me. She was the first person from this world I could call a real friend, and eventually...

"Hah..." I sighed.

Eventually, I fell for her. Me, Tsuki no Ran, an assassin of the Hunt, fell for her. Like me, she was just a broken person who wanted to find their own place in this world. Despite having everything, her only desire was to be normal, and I... was the one who broke her.

I don't deserve her—to talk to her, to look at her, to even think about her... I don't deserve any of it. She, on the other hand, deserves everything to be happy. Unfortunately... I'm not the person who can grant her that.

"Tsuki!" Megumi shouted from the other room.

"Coming," I replied.

Starting tomorrow, I will leave everything behind. I will only look forward. As much as I don't want to, I have to forget. That's the only thing I can do.