An Assassin's Respite

What's Your Name?

It was the day after Kazuna and Kagura's date and Kazuna was getting ready to go to school.

"Rimi? Hurry up or we'll be late again," He shouts.

He walks into the living room and notices a note on the coffee table.

Dear Kachi,

Ms. Katsuchi had a mission for me so I will be in America for a couple of days. Don't worry, I'm not assassinating anyone, I'm just doing some scouting for her. Sorry, I didn't tell you because I knew you would try to stop me, so trust me and believe that I'll be fine.  

Love, Ria.

Kazuna lets out a sigh as he puts the letter down.

"I guess all I can really do is have faith," He mutters to himself as he leaves his house where Kagura was waiting for him as usual, and the two walk to school together.

"Where's Ria?" She asks.

"She's not feeling so good so she'll be staying at home for the next couple of days," He answers.

"Oh, well I hope she feels better soon," She says.

She keeps shooting side glances at Kazuna as they walk and Kazuna takes note.

"Something wrong?" He asks.

"N-no, nothing," She says as she dons a look of embarrassment.

She would spend the rest of the day constantly side glancing at Kazuna but being hesitant to start a conversation with him. She thought it was just her not being able to think of anything to say, but she started to think otherwise when she wasn't able to offer him help with his chemistry. 

"What's wrong with me?" She thinks to herself as they head to lunch.

She tries to start up a conversation once they sit down at their table, but all of a sudden it felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs and all she can manage is a little squeak.

"Kagura, are you ok? You've been kinda quiet all day." Matt asks.

"Yea, I'm fine," She replies.

"Are you sure you're feeling fine?" Kazuna asks, taking a good look at her.

For some reason, his gaze made her feel embarrassed and made her heart race. 

"Y-yea, I-I'm sure," She stutters in response as she looks away.

"Why do I get so jittery when I talk to or even try and talk to him?" She asks herself.

Throughout the day she constantly found herself unable to hold a conversation with Kazuna without feeling like her heart was going to explode. Even when they were walking home together her heart was beating just a little faster than usual.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kazuna asks just as they reach their street.

"Yea," She responds.

"Kazuna gives her a look of uncertainty before placing a hand on her forehead.

"W-w-w-what are you doing?" She exclaims.

"See, you're burning up," He states.

He gets closer to Kagura.

"I-I-I-I'm fine," She stutters while frantically moving Kazuna's hand and running into her house.

Kazuna was standing there with a puzzled expression on his face.

"For someone that was trained to be able to read people, you are remarkably bad at it," Kirin states.

"Shut up," Kazuna says in response as he walks into his house.

He opens his refrigerator and lets out a sigh. 

"I can't believe she took all the food in my refrigerator with her," He says, closing the refrigerator.

"Guess I'll go grocery shopping again," He says as he heads out.

Meanwhile, Kagura was in her room with her face buried in her pillow.

"Why is it so hard to talk to him all of a sudden? It doesn't make any sense," She asks herself.

She buries her face into her pillow and lets out a muffled grumble.

"Kagura, dinners ready," She hears her mom yell.

She rolls out of her bed and heads downstairs. She eats with her mom in silence for a minute before she stops.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" She says.

"Sure, ask away," Her mother answers.

"Well, um, recently I um, have become aware of how I feel towards Kazuna," She says.

"Ohh, and how do you feel?" Her mother asks.

"W-well, um, I think I l-like him," She says almost to herself.

Her mom lets out a cheer.

"I've been waiting for you to say that for a while now," She says.

"For a while?" Kagura asks.

"Yes, it was clear the way you acted around him," Her mother responds.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Recently I've been having a hard time talking to Kazuna. Every time I try and talk, my heart starts to beat uncontrollably and I lose my breath. Even when I'm just walking next to him my heart beats a little bit faster," She says.

"I see, but that's just how it is when you're around the person you like," Her mother says.

"But I just want to talk with him like I used to. If I really have felt like this for a while, then why was I able to interact with him normally before?" She asks.

"Because you were denying how you felt before. Now that you are accepting your feelings, your heart is able to react the way it wants. Don't worry, you'll be able to interact with him like you did before it just takes some time," Her mother answers.

"You really think so?" She asks.

"Yes, it will just take time. Sooner or later, you'll get used to it and be able to talk normally with him, just take it slowly," Her mother says.

"Okay, then I'll just be patient," Kagura says with a smile as she and her mother continue eating.

At the shopping center, Kazuna had just finished getting groceries and was heading home. 

"I can't believe I have had to get groceries twice in the past week," He says.

He sighs as he walks through the city. He stops at a dark alley and looks down it. He can hear footsteps, they belonged to a child and it sounded like they were running. After a few seconds, a young girl appears. She had black hair with silver eyes and her clothing was nothing more than dirty rags. She stops once she sees him and Kazuna can see that she has a look of fear on her face.

He slowly sets his bags down and gets on one knee in an attempt to make himself seem as non-threatening as possible. 

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you, what's your name?" He asks, but the girl was still hesitant to even come anywhere close to him.

Kazuna tries to think of a way to get her to relax. 

"Watch this," He says.

He lifts his arm and conjures some lightning. Just a little, nothing more than a few sparks. He forms them into a dragon and lets it fly around before it sizzles out in the sky.

"See, harmless," He says with a smile.

This seemed to have let her relax as she slowly made her way to him, but before she got too far, someone grabbed her arm from behind. It was a man in a suit with sunglasses on.

"Got you," He says.

The little girl struggles frantically in an attempt to get free. She looks at Kazuna with a pleading expression. Kazuna analyzes the girl’s expression, clothing, the attitude of the man that grabbed her, and his clothing and lets out a sigh.

"There's no way I can walk away after seeing that look. Sir, can I ask you something?" He says.

"No, get lost before you get hurt," The man barks.

"Whew, I'm glad you were rude, I might have felt a little bad if you were polite," He states.

"Huh?" The man growls.

Before he could say anything else, Kazuna had shoved his shoulder into the man's stomach. The man took a couple of steps back before Kazuna sent him flying with a kick to the face. 

"I'm glad there was only one and that he wasn't very strong. That little lightning dragon I made took more energy than normal. I guess I won't be back to full strength for a little while longer." He notes to himself.

He gives his hand to the girl.

"Come on now, you wanted me to save you, right?" He says.

The girl hesitantly reaches for his hand before she grabs it.

"You have a name?" He asks.

"Kari," She says. Her voice was quiet and frail.

"Ok Kari, why was that man looking for you?" He asks.

"Because I escaped," She answers.

"Escaped? From where?" He asks.

"I don't know, it was a scary place," She says.

Kazuna analyzes all the information he had albeit it wasn't very much. 

"What about your parents or guardian?" He asks.

The girl just shakes her head, confirming Kazuna's suspicion.

"So she was kidn*pped. There’s also a possibility that her family was murdered. If I had to guess it was because of her power. She looks like she's eight or nine, so I doubt she has a very good idea of what her power is or how it is used, so I can only assume what they're using her for," He thinks to himself.

"Come on, we're going to head somewhere safe," He says.

Kari nods and Kazuna grabs the man's unconscious body and heads to Yuu's agency. He got plenty of looks from people I mean, he was carrying an unconscious man over his shoulder and was walking with a girl that looked homeless. He reaches Yuu's agency and walks to the front desk.

"Oh, Kazuna. Um, who's that?" the receptionist asks.

"Is Yuu here, I've run into something troublesome," He says.

"No, he's out for some business, do you want to leave a message?" She asks.

"That's fine, I'll just leave this guy here for you all to deal with," He says as he drops the man onto the ground.

"Who is he?" She asks.

"I don't know, all I know is that he was chasing this girl here," He says while pointing to Kari.

The receptionist looks over the desk and sees Kari who hides behind Kazuna's legs.

"And who's this?" She asks.

"Don't know that either," He says.

"How do you know you didn't kidnap this girl? Arresting someone for child a***e is one thing, but without evidence and a badge it's more akin to assault and k********g," she states.

"No kid looks at their parents with fear the way she looked at that man, also, he threatened me so it was self-defense," He says in his defense.

"So, what are you going to do with the kid?" She asks.

"I know someone that can watch her until I can find her parents or a relative of hers," He says.

The receptionist sighs.

"If I've learned anything from working at this agency it's that it is always best to leave the strong to their own devices," She says.

Kazuna gives her a bow before taking the girl's hand and heading home. He takes her to the living room and sits her on the couch.

"What am I going to do now? I have no idea how to take care of a kid. I don't know how long she's been in captivity or what the level of her education is," He says to himself.

"For now I guess you should get yourself cleaned up, alright," He says.

Kari nods her head and Kazuna leads her to the bathroom.

"Okay, while you get cleaned up, I'll look for something for you to wear," He states.

The girl nods her head and Kazuna leaves the bathroom once the bath has been filled. Kazuna makes it halfway down the stairs before he hears what sounds like someone falling. He rushes up the stairs and throws the door open to see Kari on the floor in soaking wet clothing.

"Do you not know how to bathe yourself?" He asks.

"My parents always did it for me," She responds.

"So she must have been in captivity for a couple of years. She might have even been part of a wealthy family if she’s really not used to bathing herself. Her current physical state doesn't help either," Kazuna guesses.

"I guess it can't be helped, come here, I'll show you how," He says.

Kari walks towards him and Kazuna takes off her rags. She had cuts and bruises all over her body. Kazuna sits her under the shower and washes her before lathering her with soap. 

"Her body is frail and it feels as if there's only a layer of skin over a skeleton. I'll have to take her to Momo for an examination," He notes to himself.

He washes the soap off of her and places her in the bath.

"You can relax here while I look for some clothes for you to wear," He says.

Kari nods and Kazuna leaves for Ria's room.

"I'll have to apologize to Ria whenever she gets back," He thinks as he rummages through her things.

"I doubt she has any underwear she can fit, so I can at least get her something to cover herself and I can buy some clothes and underwear for her tomorrow," He notes as he grabs a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts.

He goes into a spare guest room and lays the clothes on the bed.

"I guess she can use this room until I can figure out what I'm going to do exactly," He says.

He leaves the room and starts making dinner. 

"What do kids eat?" He wonders while rummaging through what he bought and what he already had.

"Hm, kids like chicken tenders and dislike vegetables. Chicken tenders and mac n' cheese it is," He whispers.

He places the chicken tenders into the oven and the mac n' cheese onto the stovetop. 

"Guess I'll grab her from the bath," He says as he walks upstairs.

He opens the door to the bathroom and catches Kari playing in the bath. She stops when she sees him.

"U-uh, I-I wasn't p-playing," She whimpers.

"What are you talking about, there's nothing wrong with a kid playing in the bath," He says while handing her a towel.

"So-so I’m not in trouble? I'm not going to be punished?" She asks with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"No, you aren't in trouble and you won't be punished. Now, dry up so I can take you to your room," He assures her.

Tears start to form in her eyes. "Okay," She says while wiping her eyes and drying off. 

"This is where you'll be sleeping, there's a change of clothes on the bed there. Sorry, I don't have any underwear for you. Whenever you finish changing, come downstairs for dinner," He says.

"Understood," Kari responds.

She gets changed and goes downstairs while Kazuna finishes cooking. 

"Take a seat at the table there," He says.

She sits and he places a plate in front of her.

"Is-is this for me," She asks.

"Of course, I placed it in front of you didn't I? Now eat up." He retorts.

She looks from the food to Kazuna with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Thank you very much!" She exclaims as she begins to eat.

She eats as if she hadn't eaten in days although Kazuna thought that his observation was more of a fact than an exaggeration. He decided to refrain from asking her any more questions and decided to let her relax. She finishes scarfing down her food and a sad expression passes her face.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I ate all my food, but I'm still hungry," She replies.

"Do you want more?" He asks.

"I-I can have more?" She asks with the sparkle in her eyes returning.

"Of course, why wouldn't you be allowed to have more?" He asks.

"At the place I was at, we didn't get nearly as much food as you gave me and we weren't allowed to get more once we ate what we had," She says sadly.

"Well here you can eat as much as you want," He assures her.

"Mhm," She mumbles as tears start to form again.

Once she finishes eating, Kazuna takes her to her room.

"I'll be in the room down the hall, if you need anything, just come to my room," He says.

Kari gives him a nod.

"Goodnight," He says.

"Goodnight," She replies.

Kazuna goes to his room and lays in his bed for five minutes before he hears his door open.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Uhm, I, Uhm, I'm scared of the dark," She says with an embarrassed look on her face.

Kazuna sighs.

"Come on," He says while patting his bed.

She quickly scurries to the spot next to Kazuna and curls up next to him.

"Did you sleep in the dark before you came here?" He asks.

Kari nods.

"I was always scared and barely slept, but they just told me to get over it," She states.

They lay in silence before he could hear her breathing steady. He goes to leave the bed but she has a grip on his shirt.

"No escape, huh?" He says to himself, he looks at her sleeping face.

"The people of this world continue to amaze me with the disturbing things they can live with doing," He thinks to himself before dozing off.