Rude Awakening

The weekend had finally arrived, and just like every other afternoon, it was as cold as cover, if not colder. I woke up way later than I was expecting, but that was to be expected since Sakuno and I got called for a mission dead in the middle of the night. Speaking of which, I noticed that he was already up.

"Hey, you... You're finally awake," he said.

"Continue that sentence, and you're dead."

"Eh?! Come on, man! I have the entire intro to that game memorized, and I don't find many opportunities to show it off!"

"Isn't it your fault for having such a useless talent?"

"It's not useless..."

"Hah. Relax. I'm kidding.

I sat up and stretched my arms as high as I could reach. Another day, another couple of missed messages from Taiyori because she wakes up so damn early. I took a while to scroll through them all, and after gathering all the necessary information, I formulated the most perfect response.

Me: "My bad, I just woke up."

Yeah, that's perfect. I didn't even realize I was capable of such elegant and refined speech. I’ve attended a few high society parties for infiltration missions before—maybe I picked up a thing or two along the way.

I got up and went through my morning routine, brushing my teeth, washing my face... and that's pretty much it.

"Damn, it's cold," I mumbled, shivering.

"Really?" Sakuno scoffed. "All that training we did at the peak of Mount Fuji, and you're saying that this is cold?"

"Hm... Maybe I have been getting overly lax when it came to staying in shape."

"Or maybe, and stay with me here... Why don't you put a freaking shirt on? Might help, but that's just me."

"Okay, smart ass."

Suddenly, the front door clicked open. Sakuno and I instinctively turned with our arms up, as this was a common training exercise that Watcher would always 'gift' to us.

"Tsuki!" a chilling voice screeched, one that instilled much more fear in me than Watcher could ever hope to achieve.

Taiyori Ayaka herself stomped in with a perturbed expression on her face. Something tells me I'm in for an earful even though I don't even know what I did to deserve it. However, when our eyes locked, she immediately froze. No... Although she was looking at me, her gaze was directed elsewhere.

"W-w-wha...!"

She then turned around with her hands covering her face. I noticed her ear growing red, almost as bright as her hair.

"W-why are you...?!" she shouted.

My eyes trailed down to see that I was topless, and I felt my face heating up. Ever since coming here, I never felt the need to sleep with my shirt on. Then again, I also didn't expect Taiyori to simply walk in without prior notice.

"Uh... Sorry," I mumbled.

"Whatever! Just... put something on! Anything!"

Sakuno tossed me a sweater that was hanging by the corner of his bedframe. As soon as I put it on, I regretted it. I pulled the sweater down, revealing its design. It's... goofy-looking reindeer.

"The hell is this...?" I muttered.

"Ehe... H-hey, man," he snickered. "You didn't give me much to work with here. Besides, I think it suits you. What do you think, Taiyori?"

Slowly, Taiyori turned around, and the moment she saw the sweater, I regretted wearing it even more. What started as a restrained giggle quickly turned into a burst of laughter.

"Hah..." I sighed.

"Aw, come on, man," Sakuno grinned. "It ain't that bad."

Taiyori finally calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye. "I agree. It looks good! I mean—it looks amazing."

"That sounded so~ genuine," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, put a cork in your pessimism and take the compliment, will you? I'm trying to be nice here."

"And I assure you that you did absolutely swell. Anyway, what's got you coming all the way over here and barging in like you own the place?"

She poked her chin with a cheeky expression. "Hm~ Oh, I don't know. Maybe it has to do with the twenty messages I sent without a single reply from you."

"What? I did reply."

Her brows furrowed as she crossed her arms, clearly unamused.

"Sakuno," Taiyori called out.

"What up?" he replied as he took a sip of water.

"Is 'I just woke up' a valid response to twenty messages in a row?"

"PFT~!" He then spat it all out. "The hell kinda response is that, man?!"

"That's what I'm saying!"

I reached for the back of my head to scratch it for no particular reason. It was hard enough dealing with one knucklehead, now I have to deal with two. Although, I can safely say that I'm fine with just one of them.

"I'm... sorry," I sighed.

Taiyori's expression shifted almost immediately. "Eh? That's it? You're surrendering just like that?"

"I mean, I get it. My response was lackluster. It's just that I—"

"Pft... Hehe."

There's that look again—that smile that she often hits me with, one that I can never go against no matter how hard I try.

"You don't need to explain yourself, Tsuki. You know I'm just joking, right?"

"Um... I guess?"

Her eyes curled even wider as she said, "Cute," under her breath.

She definitely intended for us to not hear it, but being the people we are, it wasn't exactly hard to miss. I shot Sakuno a deadly glare, a sign that if he said anything at all, I'd choke him to death.

"A-anyway, did you just come here for this?" I coughed.

"Well, actually, yeah. Say! What are you doing today?"

"I just woke up, so I didn't have anything planned. What's up?"

"Do you wanna come help me and Saki with some festival planning? We could totally use a third perspective."

"I'm not sure that my inputs alone would be enough."

"Doesn't matter. I just want you to be there."

Just like that, I folded again. How can she say something like that with a straight face, especially when Sakuno is standing right there? Even from here, I could see that ugly smug.

"Sure," I replied.

"Great! And you too, Sakuno!"

"Eh? Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"Yeah! I'm gonna wait outside, so hurry up!"

Taiyori rushed around and slammed the door shut, leaving the both of us to finally let all of that sink in.

"Your girlfriend is weird, man," Sakuno sighed.

"She is not my girlfriend."

"Hah. Not yet."

After we got ready, Taiyori led us to her apartment room. She was holding a bunch of boxes filled with large paper. I offered to carry them, but she insisted.

Many people stopped to look at us along the way. It was practically the same as always—only now, Sakuno was with us. It kind of looks like a princess and her two guards. That's funny. I never thought I could make a fun little analogy like that.

"Tsuki, put in the passcode," she said when we got to the door.

"What? You put it in," I mumbled. "It's your room."

"If you couldn't tell, my hands are full. Hurry up!"

I let out an exhausted sigh and inputted the numbers into the touchpad. Three, three, eight, five, and the door sprung open to which Taiyori cheerfully rushed in.

Reluctantly, I slowly twisted my head back to see Sakuno stroking his chin with a devious smirk.

"So... You even know the passcode to her room, eh?" he whispered.

"Shut. Up."

"Eep..."

We entered the room and came across something I didn't think we were meant to see. Shiro was lying on her stomach near the sofas with a piece of paper in front of her. She was wearing a short skirt while swinging her legs back and forth in the air.

Sakuno and I immediately pulled each other by the head and forced each other to turn around. Above all, agents of the Hunt must show restraint when necessary. It is also a form of respect.

"Kill only those who deserve to be killed," I recited to him.

"Likewise, look only when it's right to look," Sakuno nodded his head.

"My thoughts exactly. Should we say something?"

"When applicable, play coy. What's she gonna do if she finds out that we saw her... her..."

"Oi, what are you two doing just standing there?" Shiro's voice pierced our ears like an icicle.

Slowly, our heads turned. Shiro was still in the same exact position, but she was now looking at us with a suspecting expression.

"Erm... S-Shiro..." I gulped.

"Your... Uh..." Sakuno also gulped.

"Hm? My what?" Shiro asked as a playful smile appeared on her face.

Taiyori suddenly stormed in between us with her arms out.

"Saki! Your underwear is showing!" she shouted.

Just like that, silence filled the room. Taiyori was glaring at us while we stared back at her, unsure of what to say.

"Ah, I guess it was," Shiro chuckled. "Oops."

She grabbed the sheet of paper in front of her and sat on the sofa. Sakuno and I awkwardly made our way over to the couch on the other side of the table, but Taiyori pulled my arm and dragged me into the kitchen area.

"You looked, didn't you?!" she chided silently.

"It was the first thing I saw when I walked in," I mumbled. "I turned away immediately. What else could I do?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about, don't look?!"

"I was trying!"

"Hah. I bet you enjoyed the view, didn't you? Is that what you're into? Peeping at other girls' panties?!"

"No! And I didn't look intentionally!"

Suddenly, the sound of a crunch stopped us from saying another word to each other. Our eyes simultaneously tilted to the side. Sakuno and Shiro were sitting right next to each other, staring at us with anticipation. A bowl of popcorn rested in Shiro's lap to which Sakuno reached over and munched on another piece.

"I'd give this show a seven out of ten," Shiro said. "What about you?"

Sakuno shook his head in disagreement. "Not enough kissing for a rom-com. I'd give it a solid four out of ten."

"Ah, true, true."

"S-Saki!" Taiyori shouted, her face glowing red.

"Haha! I'm just messing with ya. So, are we gonna get to work or what?"

After shooting me a threatening glare, Taiyori pushed her hair to the side and walked over to sit down. I went over to do the same, but I paused when I realized that the only free seat was right next to Taiyori.

Shiro and Sakuno looked at me, their smiles inching wider and wider with each passing second. After letting out my fiftieth sigh of the day, I sat down next to Taiyori while she was averting eye contact with me. This is going to be a long day.