Time was everything. I contacted Sakura as fast as possible. Luckily I kept my cell phone in my pants at all times. I dialed her and hoped that she hadn’t changed her number again (couldn’t let the cops get a hold of something like that, after all). The phone rang once, twice, thrice… Damn it, pick up!
“Huuugh… Hello?” came a tired, Australian woman’s voice. She must have still been asleep.
“Wake up, sleepy head. I’m about to die.” I spoke casually, waiting for her response. She smacked her lips a few times and coughed.
“What’d you do this time, B?” she grumbled carelessly. “More importantly… to who?”
I gave a deep sigh. “I caught the Crusader’s eye apparently.” I said hesitantly, but trying to soften the impact of my words.
“Meet me at the usual spot in half an hour.” she spoke fully awake at this point, and then hung the phone up. I sighed at my phone and shoved it back in my pocket. The ‘usual spot’ was about half a mile away. Not a fun walk when recovering from a stab wound. I began walking a few paces when I caught my own appearance in an empty shop window. I stopped and took a look at myself. I was looking pretty rough. My dark eyes were even darker from redness, bags dragging at the bottoms of my eye sockets. My short, auburn hair was greasy and out of order. I looked like shit.
I glared deep into my own eyes and remembered my former self, ten years ago as some punk fifteen year old kid. I tried to remember why I ever chose to become an assassin. Because I thought it’d get me laid… I thought with a smirk. Dumb ass. I put my hood on and continued my short, but far too long, journey.
The usual spot, a small, family owned sushi and hibachi restaurant called “Miyabi’s”. Known for its loyal customers who rarely go to any other establishment for said dishes, me and Sakura were both welcome regulars. I walked myself up to the bar area and seated myself. There were rarely customers at this hour, in between breakfast and lunch. The chef and waitress, husband and wife, both greeted me with big smiles. They really made me feel like family, and if there were a time I needed that feeling, it was now.
“How are you doing, B?” Shinji, the owner/chef, asked me with a friendly expression.
I leaned over the counter with my face propped in my hands. I laughed through my nose and met eyes with him. “How do I look?”
He looked into my face and smiled “Pretty bad.”
The bell over the entrance rang and light footsteps accompanied it. “I’d say.” came Sakura’s Aussie accent.
My eyes dragged across their sockets to my left to see her figure glowing in the sunlight. Elegant, yet tough. Thin, yet strong. She dressed in a tight fitting red button-up shirt with short sleeves. A pair of black jeans and black-studded belt tied the outfit together. Long black hair with red streaks flowed off her shoulders and slightly onto her chest. Her dark complexion was kept an smooth, a rarity for those of our profession. Her brown Asian eyes looked at me with slight annoyance. She stepped over towards me, giving Shinji a nodding hello and ordering a number three. “So tell me your situation, B.”
I rubbed my eyes as I spoke. “The Crusader knows I’m after James. He found me, and he challenged me to a fight at the Waterfront.”
“Then just run away.” she replied quickly, half laughing.
“That’s not an option. He said he’d kill me whether I came or not.” Sakura was a smart girl. Smarter than me for not taking the James contract.
“Damn. You’re really in deep, huh?” she said, telling me what I already knew.
“What do you think I should do?” I asked, my life probably counting on her answer.
She began biting her thumb nail, looking out the window and towards the sun. This meant she was deliberating some great thought. I was scared. I was very, very scared. “You’re going to need a trump card. An ace in the hole. Something to give you an extra edge. As little as I know about the Crusader, you and I both know you’re no match for him alone.”
“So what do you suggest my trump card be?” I asked begrudginlgy.
“Me, of course.” she spoke bravely.
This made me visibly angry. “No, no way. I’m not letting you stick you’re neck out for me.” There was no way I could. She didn’t have anything to do with the contracts, and even if we had a lot of history behind us, I wasn’t going to let her stop making her own.
“Who said I was going to stick my neck out? They don’t call me the ‘Sweet Sniper’ for nothing.” she proclaimed proudly. Yes, she went by that name. The greatest female sniper in what many believed to be the world. She had a few aliases for that title. The Bullet with a Kiss. The Distant Rose. But she wasn’t such a poetic individual. Just a talented one.
I looked into her eyes and saw a great determination. She wouldn’t back down from me, there was no stopping her. My first mistake was calling her for help in the first place. I knew then that our next stop would be the Waterfront Gardens, and a great battle with a deadly man.
Shinji pretended not to hear anything...
