Izumi890

6. Kizuki

The next day, at exactly 7 p.m., Izumi steps out of her car and walks toward her mother’s house.

Before she even reaches the door, she hears it, her mother’s giggle.

Izumi pauses.

“…That’s suspicious.”

She steps inside.

In the kitchen, Isshiki is seated comfortably at the table with Izumi’s mother. A tray of freshly baked cupcakes sits between them. Isshiki is stuffing his face, cheeks full, while her mother happily flips through an old photo album.

“And this one,” her mother laughs, pointing, “was when Izumi tried to cut her own bangs.”

Isshiki squints at the picture.

“She looked feral.” Her mom giggles.

Izumi drops her bag. “What are you doing here?”

Her mother looks up, delighted.

“Izumi! Welcome back. Isshiki came to pick you up.”

Isshiki waves with a cupcake still in his hand. “Hi.”

“You’re going out,” her mother adds brightly.

“But...” Izumi starts.

Isshiki stands, already packing the remaining cupcakes into a paper bag like it’s routine. He gently steers Izumi toward the door.

Outside, once he finishes chewing, he looks at her seriously.

“I just wanted your mother to be certain you’re with me,” he says. “So… where were you? You didn’t show up at work.”

Izumi exhales. “I was ‘sick.’ Went to see my master.”

Isshiki raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I’m an assassin,” she says flatly. “I had a job.”

He shrugs. “Whatever. Let’s go. I want you to meet someone.”

Izumi studies him for a second, then nods. “Okay.”

As they walk away, her mother watches from the doorway, smiling far too knowingly.

***

Izumi stumbles out of a portal and drops to her knees in Deltania, her stomach twisting violently.

“I think I’m going to throw up…”

“Don’t worry,” Isshiki says calmly. “That’s a side effect of using my portals too often.”

Izumi’s face has gone faintly green as she forces herself upright.

“…Who exactly am I meeting?” she asks.

Isshiki smiles. “I bet you already know her. She’s an elementary school teacher and she owns a dojo. Kizuki Ishikawa.”

Izumi looks up.

Her blood runs cold.

“Ishikawa.”

“Kageno!” Kizuki says brightly, her voice mischievous.

Kizuki looks exactly how Izumi remembers her, golden-blonde hair, clear blue eyes, effortless confidence.

The most popular girl in high school.

A cheerleader.

The girl who dated Izumi’s crush, Izumi Nakamura.

Izumi straightens slowly.

“Why is she here?”

“Same reason as you,” Isshiki answers.

Izumi’s glare sharpens. Kizuki looks harmless. Cute, even.

That’s what made her dangerous.

“Same reason as you,” Isshiki answers.

Izumi’s glare sharpens. Kizuki looks harmless. Cute, even.

That’s what makes her dangerous, Izumi thinks.

Kizuki smirks. “I always knew you were jealous of me.”

Izumi scoffs. “Jealous? Please. No offense, but just looking at your face makes me sick.”

Kizuki gasps, clutching her chest dramatically. “Wanna take it outside, b*tch?!”

Izumi tilts her head, unimpressed. “Like you could ever beat me.”

Before Kizuki can respond, Kaori strolls in, all cheerful energy, completely oblivious to the tension. "I made us brownies!"

Izumi and Kizuki glared at each other, sparks practically flying.

Before anything could happen, Isshiki stepped in, arms crossed.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he said, voice calm but firm. “Izumi, I didn’t bring you here to settle scores.”

Izumi folded her arms and looked away, still fuming.

“Whatever,” she muttered.

***

The three girls, Izumi, Kizuki, and Kaori sat down on the sofa, still side-eyeing each other.

Isshiki moved to the whiteboard, marker in hand, standing like a teacher about to deliver a very important lesson.

“To cut a long story short,” Isshiki began, flipping the marker between his fingers, “there’s a rogue mage playing around with f*******n magic. Blah, blah, blah… Deltania is leaking into Earth. More monsters are slipping through. And we have to stop him.”

Kaori tilted her head, unimpressed. “You could’ve just said ‘stop the mage,’ you know?”

Isshiki smirked. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Izumi muttered under her breath, but Kaori caught it. "Idiot."

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Izumi replied, rolling her eyes.

Isshiki turned back to the board, tapping it with the marker.

“Anyway, this isn’t a debate club. We plan, we fight, and we don’t die. Any questions?”

The girls exchanged glances.

None of them were the type to back down.

And none of them had any idea just how dangerous this mission was going to be.

Isshiki pointed at the whiteboard, then leaned back against it.

“The previous day, a monster named Ed slipped through and wreaked havoc in Kyoto. But don’t worry, I managed to stop it.”

Izumi crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

“You?! I’m the one who took it head-on.”

Isshiki waved a hand dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah, same thing. Details, details.”

He reached into a bag and pulled out a handful of cheese curls, tossing one into his mouth.

“Anyway, if we’re going to take on the mage, I need to get you three ready.”

He looked at each of them carefully.

“Izumi, you’re too impulsive. That adds a little… dirt to your S-ranked assassin reputation. Kaori, you’re still struggling with attack, though your defense is solid. And Kizuki… hmm, I’m still discovering your limits.”

Izumi crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes.

“So… what exactly are we going to do?”

Isshiki leaned casually against the whiteboard.

“For now, Izumi and Kizuki will handle the monsters on Earth, while Kaori and I take charge of Deltania.”

Kaori frowned. “Isshiki… Izumi and Kizuki aren’t even familiar with their powers yet.”

Isshiki waved a hand dismissively. “I know. That’s why Izumi failed to defeat Ed.”

Izumi’s hand clenched into a tight fist. “Hey!”

Isshiki ignored her glare. “Izumi is an assassin and a journalist on Earth. She’s only free at 5 p.m. So, in consideration of her schedule… training drills will start at 5 p.m. sharp.”

Kaori tilted her head. “You’re really scheduling their training around her job?”

Isshiki shrugged, munching on a cheese curl. “She’s S-ranked, but even S-ranked assassins have lives, apparently.”

Izumi crossed her arms, glaring.

“Whatever. Are we done yet? I have to go home.”

Isshiki smirked.

“We’re just getting started.”

Izumi’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell do you mean?”

Before she could protest further, a massive portal opened above them, sucking everyone in.

When Izumi landed, she found herself in a huge training room, walls lined with weapons, mats covering the floor, and every kind of training equipment imaginable.

She blinked. Blankly. “I hate your guts.”

Isshiki didn’t even flinch. “I’m very aware.”

Kaori bounced on some balls. “Can we start already?”

Kizuki rolled her shoulders, unimpressed. “Relax. He hasn’t even told us what we’re doing yet.”

Isshiki raised a finger, pacing in front of them. “Today’s exercise is simple. But before we begin Isshiki-style training, you need to prep your bodies or you might tear yourselves to shreds.”

Izumi’s head tilted slightly, one eyebrow raised. “Say that again.”

Isshiki’s grin widened. “Today, I want you to do… 180 sit-ups.”

Izumi and Kizuki froze. “What?!”

Kaori’s eyes sparkled. “Yay! Finally, a real workout!”