Haruhi's Identity

I took Haruhi home after wiping her down and making sure that there's not blood stains left on her. It's part of being in this industry, you need to properly clean yourself so that there will be no evidence against you.

Haruhi, still in shock from recovering her memories sat on the couch and hugged her legs. I went to the kitchen counter to get her a glass of water.

"Thank you."

She said as I hand her the glass but she put it down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Not thirsty, huh.

I stood up, gave her a head pat and went to my room to unarm myself. When I get back, Haruhi is still there, hugging her legs.

If I'm not gonna talk, nobody will.

I sat beside her once more and gave her a soothing hug.

"Can you tell me what happened, Haruhi?"

She snuggled and started telling her story.

"Papa, remember you found me in the basement of the mansion during one of your hits, right?"

"Mhmm"

I nodded and she continued.

"That mansion... Is actually an assassin's training facility."

An assassin training facility? I thought Assassins were replaced by hitmen long ago? Assassins were considered as the old school hitmen, they'd utilize poison, knives, and close quarters combat compared to hitmen whose expertise relies on long range engagement using firearms and grenades. Most of the techniques that are taught to us hitmen actually came from the assassins but with a modern touch as weaponry and techniques also evolved.

"Those people stabbed to death? That was actually the last part of the training."

The last part of training.

That's usually a battle royale of all the training participants. I heard from traditional assassins that for them, they need to kill each other until only one of them remains and that person "graduates". For hitmen, it's different. They give you an assignment, you do it with assistance from your trainer. You succeed, you pass and graduate.

To think that she's just nine and is already subjected to that kind of harsh environment... Not like I can say anything about it. I was also trained when I was at a young age.

"We learned everything about assassination, how to make poison, stealth, and other stuff similar as yours, Papa."

I nodded and hugged her tightly.

"I was born there. I didn't even get to know my parents. All I heard was that they died from the annual final assassin examination."

Tears started to trail her cheeks once again.

"When you found me, they just finished giving me a pill that's supposed to make me forget what happened inside the mansion."

Not that it matters, I killed them all anyway.

"But it didn't work, as you can see, Papa. Being put into a dangerous situation as earlier unlocked my repressed memories and abilities."

She held my shirt tightly.

"Papa, I..."

She paused for a bit to collect herself.

"Papa, I-I killed them. I had to! I didn't have a choice!"

She buried herself into my chest and started crying even harder. I hugged her tighter and rubbed her back in an attempt to give her reassurance.

"I didn't want to! I didn't!"

She continued crying, wiping her tears with my shirt.

Her sentiment is understandable. It's human nature to stay alive, nobody wants to die. It pains me to see how much this affects her, to the point that she's reduced into a crying mess. Her morals have contradicted her action. She knows that it's not normal to kill people even though she was raised in that harsh environment, but she doesn't want to die either so she killed people.

It's the survival of the fittest.

You may have survived but it definitely takes something from you.

She stopped crying after a while and sat back up again. Her eyes are visibly red from all the crying she did.

I hand her the glass of water once more.

"Thank you."

She drank it in one go. Not surprising as crying can drain your water reserves quickly.

"Papa."

Her voice is shaking.

"Do you still accept me after hearing all of that?"

She closed her eyes.

"Haruhi."

I called to her and patted her head.

"What did I say when I first took you home?"

She opened her eyes and looked at me. Tears already forming once more just a few minutes after she settled.

I smiled and said "From now on...?"

"We're family!"

She continued where I left and threw herself at me.

"Woah, woah. That's dangerous."

"I love you, Papa!"

"I love you too, Haruhi."

***

After getting comfortable on our positions, I asked Haruhi to turn the TV on since she's lying at the edge of the sofa near the coffee table where the remote is.

As if fate's string is playing a trick on us, the show that's playing is an action movie about a hitman. We both looked at each other and laughed, seeming to get the joke fate's played on us.

"Haruhi."

"Hmm?"

"You regret being an assassin, right?"

She didn't answer and only nodded instead.

"What's your next move?"

There must be something still on her mind that she's not telling me.

"I want to forget about it."

She turned her body towards me and looked at my eyes.

"Is that your final answer?"

"What's this, a game show?"

"You could say that."

I laughed and so did she.

"Yup. That's my final answer, Papa."

"Alright. Starting tomorrow, I'm quitting being a hitman."

"Huh?!"

Her face showed a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.

"Yup, you heard that right."

"But, why?"

"If you want to forget about it, then it should start with me, right?"

"What do you mean?"

She started tugging on my clothes.

"I'm a hitman and I kill people. I'm the number one thing you want to avoid, right?"

"I-I know, but you don't need to do it for me!"

"A family is built on sacrifices and compromises, Haruhi."

I smiled and gave her a headpat.

"Understand?"

"Fine..."

She sighed in relief.

"You complain but you actually feel relieved, don't you?"

"I mean, it's just out of the blue. I didn't know you were willing to go that far for me. Plus, I didn't want you to be in danger. I wouldn't know what to do without you. At least for now."

"Hahaha, you worry about useless things, Haruhi. You're looking at the top guy when it comes to hits."

I pointed to myself.

She just laughed and turned around to watch TV again.

"What are you going to do now, Papa?"

I pondered for a bit.

"Hmm, for now, school?"

"Oh, school? The place where people study about different things?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking of taking college. I'm still young, y'know."

"Hmm, I kinda want to go to school too."

She pouted.

"No worries, we'll get that sorted out in due time."

I messed with her hair.

"Papa!"

I just laughed and left the living room.

"Turn the TV off when you're done!"

"Okay!"