Chapter 27
"While off-campus, always carry your assassin license," the receptionist said, handing each squad member a sleek black card. "Mission-related expenses will be covered. Here are your cards."
Sakamoto took his, flipping it between his fingers. "And whats this card for"
"You've never used it before?" Nagumo asked, raising a brow.
"We can use it however we want while on assignment," Rion said, holding up her card, eyes practically sparkling. "This is what makes off-campus missions so enticing!"
Kasumi glanced at his card. "Can I use this to withdraw money?"
The receptionist barely looked up. "I dont know."
"Now that I think about it, you've been really obsessed with money lately, Kasumi," Rion said, a hint of concern in her voice. "Did something happen?"
"Yeah, and this is like the fifth time they've caught you wandering around in public naked," Sakamoto added flatly. "You got some kind of fetish or something?"
"He gambles them at the casino. The owner's a perv, so he lets men bet their clothes and underwears" Nagumo explained. Then, as if a thought struck him, he added, "Now that I think about it... didn't Rion have a phase where she gambled a lot?"
"It was one time! Where did you get 'a lot' from?!" Rion snapped at him. "And it was only because one of the Horsemen was my target. Might as well make a few yen while I was at it."
" Hey kids " a voice called from behind them
The squad turned as the vice president approached, a white-haired guy walking beside him.
"I'm glad you're all still here. I've got one more team member for you," he said, gesturing to the newcomer.
"His name is Kei Uzuki. He's a third-year in the assassination department, same as you."
"Oh," Rion and Kasumi said at the same time.
"You two know him?" Nagumo asked, raising a brow.
Rion stepped closer, throwing an arm around Uzuki's shoulder with a grin. "You're that kid from earlier. You look like a nerd, but you're actually a bad boy, huh?"
Uzuki shoved her hand off without a word.
"Rejected," Nagumo muttered.
"Jeez, what a wet blanket." Rion held her hand, looking slightly embarrassed. "I hate this guy already."
Kasumi, meanwhile, kept staring at Uzuki, his expression unreadable. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Sakamoto.
"You know him?" Sakamoto asked.
"Yeah. He passed the entrance exam with us two years ago."
The group fell silent, eyes widening except from Sakamoto
"My god," Rion finally said, looking dumbfounded. "That was like two years ago."
____
The team stepped out of the car, stopping in front of a department store.
"Alright, our target is Steel Dragon, the leader of an illegal weapons manufacturing ring," Nagumo explained as they crossed the street. "Intel suggests he's hiding in this building."
"Steel Dragon? What kind of cringey name is that?" Rion scoffed. "Is he even an assassin?"
"There's not much info on him," Nagumo admitted. "Figuring that out is part of the assignment."
As they reached the entrance—
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The metal detector blared.
"What? I don't even have a weapon. Did it react to my iron will?" Kasumi muttered, patting his pockets.
A female security guard approached. "Sorry, but you'll have to check in any metallic belongings here."
"Oh, come on, you're so strict," Rion groaned.
"Sorry again, but there's been a lot of violent incidents in this area lately, so please understand," the woman said with a polite but firm tone.
Sakamoto's thoughts wandered' So, a department store is basically just a huge store, right? '
Kasumi's voice cut through his mind ' What do you think, dipshit?'
Sakamoto blinked. ' you can read minds?'
Nagumo, glancing over, saw the two staring at each other in complete silence. The scene looked a bit bizarre
"Well, that's troublesome. We don't have any weapons now," Nagumo said with a shrug. "But that doesn't matter... Why don't we grab some lunch? I'm starving," he added, already making his way toward the elevator.
"You're paying?" Kasumi asked, throwing an arm around Nagumo's shoulder.
"Yup ,for myself," Nagumo replied with a smile matching Kasumi's gesture.
As the rest of the group piled into the elevator, the space quickly became cramped. In the middle stood an old man quietly reading a newspaper, looking visibly uncomfortable as Kasumi rested his head on his shoulder. Near the buttons, a lift girl stood motionless.
"Going up," she said, pressing a button.
Nagumo's eyes lingered on her back.
' Is she even trying to hide it? 'he thought. She's leaking so much bloodlust.
Without a word, he reached into the old man's pocket, took out his wallet, and tossed it onto the ground.
"Oh! My wallet!"
"Oh! A wallet!"
Both Kasumi and the old man knelt down at the same time to pick it up.
The elevator girl's eyes flickered toward kasumi defenseless head, and in an instant, she turned, pressing a gun to his head.
Before she could pull the trigger, Sakamoto flicked the card in his hand like a knife sending it slicing toward her neck.
Ding! Fashion Store, Second Department.
"Tsk, stupid brat. I'm definitely suing," the old man muttered as he stepped out of the elevator, not even glancing back at the scene behind him.
The girl staggered, clutching her neck as her legs gave out, slumping against the elevator wall.
"How did you get a knife in here?" Rion asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Hmm? You're the one who said—" Sakamoto knelt, picking up the bloodied black card from the ground and raising it toward her. "—we could use it however we want."
Rion let out a dry laugh. "Hah! Nagumo, this dude is crazy."
"Lol," Nagumo responded with a laugh
The elevator girl started sweating and breathing heavily " how did you know I was an assassin, who are you people ? "
"You were giving off so much bloodlust in cramped space how could we not notice ,and what's up with this store anyways ? " rion scoffed looking down on her
Nagumo crouched beside the girl, his expression unreadable " we are looking for a man called Steel Dragon if you don't want to die tell us everything you know "
Kasumi eyed the growing pool of blood beneath her. ' Four Eyes cut her carotid artery she's pretty much dead '
' doesn't matter though she tried to kill me '
"The Steel Dragon runs this place. The store is just a front. Entry-level staff like me have never even met him," the girl said, her voice trembling. "We've been monitoring you since you arrived. You won't make it out of here alive."
With each passing second, her face grew paler
As the squad stepped out of the elevator, their eyes scanned the area.
"Hmm? An assassin department store?" Nagumo muttered, eyeing the fashion shop in front of them.
"..."
"Yeah, we're being watched," Sakamoto said.
"Nagumo, Sakamoto, you two head upstairs. I'll stay down here with Mr. Emo and Kasu—wait, where the hell did that gorilla go?!" Rion spun around, searching for Kasumi.
"Ah, he said he had an important call and would be back in a minute," Nagumo said with a shrug.
"In the middle of a mission? Just how important is that call?" Rion scoffed.
"What? Afraid your boyfriend might be talking to other girls?" Sakamoto smirked.
"He's not my boyfriend!!" she snapped, a faint blush creeping onto her face before she quickly turned to the white-haired guy beside her. "Just don't slow me down. Uh… wait, what's your name again?"
"Uzuki..." he replied flatly.
________
Kasumi stood in the dressing room, gripping his phone tightly. His expression was unreadable, but his fingers trembled slightly.
"Can't you do something?" His voice was low, desperate. "Just give me one more day. I'll pay whatever it takes—just… keep her alive for a few more hours. I'm on my way."
"It's not about the money, Mr. Kasumi… Miss Kocho is in the final stages of brain cancer. You don't want your mother to suffer in her last moments, do you? It would be best if you were here to say your final goodbye."
Kasumi's lips parted slightly, but no words came out. His eyes stung, and he quickly wiped them with his sleeve, forcing a steady breath.
A voice called from outside. "Sir, are you alright?"
Kasumi cleared his throat, forcing his voice back to normal. "Yeah. Just… got my dick caught in the zipper. I'm fine now."
"Oh, I see."
"…"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of bullets ripping through the dressing room curtain echoed in the tight space. Kasumi reacted instantly, throwing the phone in his hand with deadly precision sending it hurtling toward the attacker's head
CRACK SQUELCH!!
The device buried itself deep into the man's skull, killing him instantly.
As he got out of the dressing room , two men emerged from the other side, guns raised and aimed at Kasumi.
Before they could even pull the trigger, Kasumi blurred past them.
CRACK. CRACK.
Their heads snapped violently, both falling to the ground, lifeless.
"Tsk, I can't just leave them like this," he muttered, grabbing the bodies by their collars and tossing them into one of the dressing rooms.
"Follow me, the dressing room is on the side," a distant voice came from behind him
Hearing it kasumi quickly rushed inside with the corpses.
"Oh shit, I forgot one," he suddenly remembered the body with crushed head.
He hurried out of the room, dragging it inside with him.
"Damn it, I forgot the blood trail!" he cursed under his breath.
Stepping out again, he tried to wipe the blood off the floor with his bare foot. Satisfied that there was almost no trace left, he sprinted back inside the dressing room.
Swoosh.
But just as he was about to enter, he slipped on the floor, losing his balance due to the blood still on his foot , Instinctively, he grabbed the curtain to steady himself, but instead of stopping his fall, the fabric tore clean off.
"Shit!"
He fell inside , he fell face face directly at one of the bodies stomach softening the impact
Before he could get up, a voice came from right outside the dressing room.
"Here, you can try on your clothes here. If you need a different size, just—eh!?"
A store employee, likely a worker, froze in shock at the sight before her. Kasumi was sprawled on the floor of the dressing room using a guy stomach as a pillow
"Sir! You can't sleep here! Please leave immediately!"
Kasumi, playing the part of a drowsy kid, rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
The worker wrinkled her nose in disgust, eyeing him like he was a homeless man—which, in a way, wasn't entirely wrong. "Security—"
Before she could finish, her body suddenly slumped forward, collapsing to the floor.
Behind her stood Rion pulling two guys by the collar. "Hey, dipshit. What the hell are you doing? I've been looking everywhere for you, and you were sleeping?"
She marched over and grabbed the curtain he had wrapped around himself like a makeshift blanket.
"Wait, wait! Time out!" Kasumi yanked it back, gripping it tightly. "I'm naked under here!"
Rion smirked. "I've seen your garbage a thousand times already. What are you hiding?"
Kasumi averted his gaze with a mock blush, feigning the innocence of a maiden in distress. "Nooo, don't do it! Uzuki is watching!" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Uzuki sighed, clearly not wanting to be a part of this conversation .
Rion, on the other hand, ignored him and yanked the curtain aside, revealing two dead bodies lying there. "Ugh... I didn't know you were into this kind of thing,"
Kasumi clicked his tongue, getting up. "Tsk. This is why I didn't want you to see it. Don't tell anyone."
"Haha, give me a million yen, and I'll think about it," she smirked.
"Keep dreaming," Kasumi replied flatly. "By the way, who were those guys? They attacked me out of nowhere."
"No idea." She shrugged. "Probably some of Steel Dragon's goons."
She suddenly tossed one of the bodies toward him. "Here. You question him."
Kasumi caught the man head, frowning. "Do I look like some kind of detective? You do it." He kicked him back at her.
"You look more intimidating, so no," she said, tossing him again.
"By the way, how's your family, Rion?" he asked, kicking the man her again
"What does that have to do with anything? You just wanted to kick him!" Rion snapped, her frustration clear.
Before she could push him back, Uzuki's hand landed firmly on her shoulder.
"Why are you touching me, Uzuki?" Rion said turning to look at him, irritation clear in her voice.
"Those people aren't our target. Don't kill unnecessarily," Uzuki replied calmly.
"Hah?" Rion raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "What's a 'meaningful' kill then? Are you the one who decides which killing is good or bad? Freaky."
"All Killing is evil. We should avoid it whenever possible," Uzuki said firmly.
"Then why the hell did you enroll in an assassin school if you're not cut out for it?" Rion shot back. "You should drop out."
"Don't be too harsh on him, Rion," Kasumi interjected with a grin. "He's right. Killing is bad. Look at me—since my first day at this school, I've never killed anyone." He said pointing at himself proudly
Rion shot him a blank look, then glanced down at the bodies scattered around them. Her expression shifted to one of disgust. "You're a sociopath."
CRASH!
All three looked up.
"That came from upstairs. Hmph, are they seriously having trouble?" Rion muttered, frowning.
Before anyone could respond, she turned away. "Have fun touching each other losers" she said, flipping them off as she walked off.
Kasumi sighed, shaking his head.' What the hell's her problem? I didn't even do anything. '
He turned to Uzuki, only to see him crouched beside the unconscious goon, checking his pulse.
"Don't mind her, man," Kasumi said, exhaling. "She's not usually like this. Probably on her period or something... I think."
Uzuki simply nodded