Anybody still here?

The next day Asuna asked Hikaru if he will go to the petting zoo with her, which he gladly accepted. She wanted a change of place, a relaxing one, where she could convince him to let her join.

Why did she want to join even though it was life-threatening? I think we all know the reason. *Love is strange.*

They visited the petting zoo, home to the adorable real-life plushies. Always excited to see people come to them, greeting them in the cutest way. The place was relaxing, where one could forget his worries for the time being.

It could make people smile from their hearts, putting them in a pleasant mood. Asuna was wondering how she would start the conversation. She rolled her hair to ease her nervousness. She opened her mouth, but her voice refused to come out.

She tugged his sleeve.

'Hikaru?'

'Are you Hikaru Yoshida and Asuna Hayashi?'

A stronger voice overlapped hers. It was a man's voice. They turned around to see two men in formal black suits. One who was average-sized and the other who was abnormally burly. The outfit he wore barely fit him. It looked it would be torn apart any moment.

It was the smaller one who called out to them.

'Uh. Yes.'

Hikaru answered. The two men appeared and did not feel uncomfortable in their black attire under the hot sun. The regular one wore sunglasses to block the sunlight. Perhaps the burly one couldn't find one to fit his face, exposing his eyes to the sun, and they seemed dull.

'We would like to talk with you. Please come with us.'

It doesn't take a genius to know he shouldn't go with some shady looking men. Hikaru knew they were with Jira.

'We are a little busy so-'

'This isn't a request.'

The troll smirked. His smile showed what would happen if they refuse. Hikaru looked around to search for an escape route, not for himself but for Asuna, but none seemed suitable.

Thinking it's better if she stayed with him instead of escaping with no plan, getting picked up by other people. He was forced to bring her along with him.

'Okay.'

They started walking and soon found themselves in one of the warehouses of the zoo.

It was far from the public, and there wasn't any guard coming there either. An excellent place to kill someone, Hikaru thought. If worse comes to worst, he'll be the scapegoat so Asuna could get away, if she agreed with him.

'I am sure you know we are from Jira. Today we want to make a deal with you.'

'A deal?'

'Yes.'

It was nice getting a deal instead of getting instant death.

'We know you have been unwillingly hauled into this chaotic mess. We can offer you a way out. No one will harm you nor chase you. You can forget all of this like a bad dream. Our only condition is for you to kill Alexander Dean.'

Alex was lying in his bed, not wanting to get up in a long time. He was thinking about what he had done so far and what he should do now. His eyes were closed.

'Don't worry, we don't expect you to kill him. It's impossible for you two. We just want you to work with us for a while. Nothing dangerous, you just have to tell us what he is planning to do and play along. We will take care of the rest.'

Hikaru expected this from the moment the man said the word deal.

'You can either accept the offer or die here.'

The deal was desirable in a lot of ways. They get to live, being one of them. They would get out of this stupid situation safely, and if Alex is gone, Hikaru could get closer to Asuna.

For him, it was tempting. What stopped him from instantly replying was that his heart couldn't accept this. What was more important to him, his and Asuna's life or Alex's life. The scales were puzzlingly equal.

'We will never help you.'

Asuna replied in his stead, shouting out to them. Hikaru wished she hadn't answered so quickly, but if it was him, he would have taken an hour to decide. Convincing his heart to accept the offer.

'Asuna?'

'That's too bad. You both looked like kids who could have lived a long life.'

The man snapped his finger.

The giant behind him grinned and started the job he came here to do. He stepped forward and punched with his deadly fist, directing it to Asuna. His muscles were huge, slowing him down.

Hikaru pushed her away and tried getting out too but got hit. It was a massive hit.

'Run! Asuna.'

Hikaru no longer felt his left arm, only surging pain could be felt.

'No, you don't.'

Before Asuna could move, the warehouse door closed. They were trapped in. The men split up, the troll chased Hikaru, and the other walked to Asuna.

The giant, because of his size and muscles, couldn't run fast. Hikaru barely managed to run ahead of him. He threw pieces of wood, metal, and stones at him, but he wasn't bothered.

*Ring*

Alex's phone rang. He picked it up to see the caller, but it was an unknown number.

'Hello?'

'How are you, Alex? Hope you're in good health.'

It was the voice Alex never wanted to hear.

'What do you want?'

His tone changed.

'Now, now. Why don't we chat a little? It's been so long since we talked.'

'I'm hanging up.'

'Wait. Goodness, you sure are ungrateful to the one who saved your life. I just wanted to play a game with you.'

'Game?'

'Yes, it's simple. We each will declare four goals, the one who completes all four first wins. Let me start by telling you my four.

1. Send that pesky WS Agent back to where he came from and have him replaced by someone else.'

Sending Jason back was the caller's first goal, and he completed it.

'2. Blow something up with my newly bought nuclear toys.

3. Kill the people you care about and…'

Alex's eyes widened, hearing this.

Blood was coming from Hikaru's head after avoiding a direct blow. He saw a small shed-like room.

The humongous man was behind him. He pulled the shelves, which fell, blocking the door and ran in.

It gave him a few minutes until he caught his breath.

'Lastly, Destroy you.'