Chapter 9

Hayami was only 9 years old when Mazi asked her to be part of their team. At the age, she was supposed to be colouring and worrying about whether her two-digit number addition was correct, she was holding a knife in her hand and worrying about whether she should kill the man who took care of her like his own child.

She was forced.

Mazi was her father, though not biological, she had to listen to him. She picked up a knife and learned how to defend herself and even harm others. She eventually got over her hesitation to swing her knife at someone. One small mistake and she was thrown down to the chambers and beaten up until blood was dripping from all over her body. She was tired of being beaten up every time she thought about whether the human life in front of her had any value.

As she turned 12, she started tagging along for missions. Hans Romero, who was a new kid back then, joined her soon enough. "Hey," He said to the quiet girl walking next to him. She looked at him and then turned her face back. "Are we not talking is it?" He asked her. This time she only looked at him through side-eyes. "Come on," He said, prying her to speak. She cleared her throat and answered back in the one word he spoke first. "Hey," She said. The boys face lit up when she spoke. "There we go," He said. lightly shoving her shoulder. She rolled her eyes at his actions and continued to walk with the group.

"First time?" She asked him. He turned towards her, in shock that she spoke up first. "Mhmm" He hummed and nodded, gripping the edge of his t-shirt. Hayami seemed to notice his actions. "Nervous?" She asked him, head turned back to her front. He gave a big and hesitant nod. She patted him on his left shoulder in a comforting way. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," She said. He nodded and slightly relaxed from her words. "If you can survive the intense fight," She said and walked ahead. Hans looked at her in utter horror and continued to walk.

"The task is simple, people. Follow the rules and you're good to go" The commander announced to the group. It was now 2 years later. Hayami and Hans, both turning 14-year-olds. After the first mission together where they introduced themselves, they've been tagged along for every mission. Hans was glad for her and she seemed annoyed with him every time but inside she was glad she had someone she knew.

For their new mission, they split up and started walking towards their own unit. They were in search of a woman who stole something from the market and failed to pay the needed price. Hayami was walking around the market with a scarf over her head, hiding her appearance. She picked up a product from a shop pretending to be interested when she heard the name of her target. There was an alleyway right next to where she was standing and she heard some commotion. She dropped the item in her hand and turned towards the alley.

"Give me the money, Akio," A thug said. Hayami's eyes widened at the name. Akio. That's it. That was the target. She charged forward, towards the 3 men towering over Akio. Hayami held the neck of the one in the middle and twisted it, cracking it and making the man fall to the ground. The one on her right threw a punch at her using his right hand and she caught, twisting his hands. The man on her left was about to slice her with his knife when she held his arm with the knife and made him slice his own cheek. The man screamed in pain while Hayami turned towards her right, held the man's head using her left and banged it against the wall. When she cleared him off, the man with the knife came forward and she punched his nose. He threw back his head in pain and she grabbed his head and banged it against the opposite wall.

Hayami started walking towards the girl when she noticed that she was gone. She looked around for her frantically but she was nowhere to be found. The man whose neck she cracked had gotten up from his paralysis and was hitting his head to come back to the moment. Hayami turned around and wrapped her hands around the handle of her sword, ready to take it out. When the man started charging forward, she was about to take out her sword when a small hand grabbed onto her cloth on her back, pulling it. Hayami turned around and found a small girl pulling on her.

This was the first she hesitated because of someone else.

The girl seemed to shake her head as no to take out Hayami's weapon. Hayami sighed and obliged, leaving the handle of her katana. She charged forwards when the man was near and went up behind him. She grabbed his neck and turned it to the side, smacking his neck and he fell again. Hayami looked at the falling figure when she noticed the girl in front of her was admiring her. Hayami started walking towards her and stood in front of her. She was slightly taken aback because the little girl didn't seem to move back from fear, she seemed to be moving forward.

"What are you doing here?" Hayami asked her. The girl looked at her. "I was going back home from the market when these guys surrounded me," She said. Hayami nodded but she was hesitant to ask the question. "Do you know some lady called Akio? She was right around here" Hayami asked, looking around. The girl looked at her in confusion. "That's me," She said. Hayami looked at her. "Eh?" Hayami said. They both looked at each other, blinking in confusion. "Are you sure?" Hayami asked. "Why wouldn't I be sure of my own name?" The girl said, giving her a deadpan expression. "That's true," Hayami said, placing her hands on her hips.

Hayami was accompanying the girl back home because she was too small to be walking by herself. The walk was mostly silent between them but the girl seemed to be wanting to ask something. "Tell me your name," Hayami asked the little girl. "Riya Akio," The little girl said. Hayami looked at her and the girl was flashing her an eye-blinding smile. Hayami turned her head towards the front but inside she was melting on her smile. It was one of the most cutest things she'd ever seen. "Why are you looking for my mother?" The little girl, Riya, asked. Hayami scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Her name?" Hayami asked. "Alina Akio"

That was it again. The target. Hayami couldn't believe that she was going to the targets house. "Can you fix my momma?" Riya asked, not turning her head and looking forward. "We'll see?" Hayami said. She didn't want to guarantee something that was surrounded by her target. They arrived at the house and the little girl led her to the house.

"Tadaima, Oka-san" the little girl announced that she was back home to her mother. There was no answerback.

Hayami couldn't help but be more curious about little Riya.