Love Thy Assassin (AMBW)

Welcome To The Family

Where are those damn papers! Randel or Del s he liked tobe called started to search his entire room. Under the bed, in the dresser, just about anywhere he could stick a piece of paper. He needed those papers if he was to stay and finish the job.

That stupid b***h and her stupid paperwork, just because I sign the piece of s**t doesn't mean anything. Del did admit though she was a very smart woman to be cautious of him, unlike her very naive husband. Del was able to fool him with just a single glance. He assumed rich people were stupid no matter where you go in life. Mrs.Dire though she was something else. She could see right through his false kindness with others and threaten him without even thinking twice. Del bet if I had been Mrs.Dire that found him during his false homeless facade she probably would have left him there.

It’s not like he was actually homeless at the time it was all a ploy set up by his real bosses Dillard and Dallas. Leave a poor lost boy in the same building the famous Dire family would be checking out and see what happens. Well since Mr.Dire is a softie he decided it would be best to have me live with him and his family till Del got back on his feet. He thought Mr.Dire was such a nice man he almost felt bad about betraying him. But it was his job....his real job.

He had just about tor apart his room and still hadn't found those papers. hen it hit him he threw them in the closet in a shoebox with some other papers he had found around the house. He hadn't given them too much of a thought after that. He could give a rats ass if those damned paper got to that b***h. Oh, he hated her so much. He took the stride across the somewhat large room to the built-in closet. I opened the wooden shudders and was met by at least ten butler suites each one black and white and a couple of lain clothes outfits for their supposed days off. They were mere like 'you can roam around in the woods near the house' days. Looking through a couple of shoeboxes messily sitting on the bottom he found the crumpled up paper he so desperately needed at the moment.

Hurriedly he unfolded the paper and tried to smooth it out on his knee. He got it somewhat flat and sighed in satisfaction. What the hell, it's not like Mrs.Dire can kick him out her husband wouldn't have it he thought.  He didn't know what he was so worried about, maybe it's the fact that she knows something is up she didn't trust him with an inch of her body. 

Maybe that's what scares him the most is that she watches his every move and knows it leading up to something. 'Dead or alive you will leave this building' those words kept ringing in his head. Those words making a shiver run up his spine. He wanted to kill her right then and there but he also wanted to show Dillard and Dallas that he could be professional. No matter how he looked at it he knew at the end of the day it would be her or him. He would have o make sure he came out on top.

He truly didn't know how anyone could fall in love with that scowling face. She walked around like she owns the world. Like she's the queen and everyone must do as she says. He couldnt stand it. He balled his fist until his knuckles had turned white. The timid soft knock disrupted his thoughts. He released his anger blood rushing to his hands.

"Coming" he called out placing the paper on his nearby desk and went to open the door. He ran a tired hand through his sable hair. As he opened the door he spotted a pair of dazzling soft green eyes.

"H-hey Del." He greeted me quietly her shy smile brighting up fae. Randel sood to the side and waved for her to come in. He hadn't expected her to follow suit with a tea cart in tow. 

 "I know you probably have lots of work to do but d-do you want to have a drink of tea with me?"  She avoided Dels gaze and her cheeks flushed.

"I would love. Lemme pull up the table".The piping hot tea filled the room with a scent of fresh fruit. Del ran to grab the table that had previously been tipped over in his search for his paper.

"What happened in here looks like a tornado came through." She did a spin taking in the mess and clutter. Pulled out dresser draws and clothes astrewn across the room.

"I was looking for some things for that witch." Del saw Suzy do a small wince but otherwise ignored the comment. He pulled the two chairs to the small table and she began to set up the teacups. Del watched as she poured us cups of dark tea. She smiled so innocently clear only here because she wanted to be. Sometimes Del had been worried she was on an errand for Mrs.Direand just trying to get information from him.

"What flavor is this?" He asked carefully grabbing a cup as she sat next to me. The chairs creaking ever so slightly from not being properly worn in.

"It's Blueberry, I gave it to you once and you had told me you really liked it. So I thought I’d bring you a  cup of the last bit." She smiled widened and she let out a sneaky little giggle. Del was surprised she remembered it had been his first week here he had said that.

"I appreciate you remembering, that's sweet of you. But isn’t this the tea Mrs.Dire had wanted?" He asked sipping at the sweet fruity tea. Her eyes looked a bit frantic now. 

"Please don’t tell." She whispered to him near pleading to him. Del strangely felt good having someone plead to him. Of course, he liked Suzy too much to ever rat her out.

"Dont worry about it. I wouldn't wanna see such a pretty girl get in trouble." Del smiled at her and she blushed so red he thought she had turned into a tomato. They sat and drank for about an hour making small talk and sharing stolen glances and smiles.

 Even though Suzy was Mrs.Dires right hand she was also his best friend in this house. She was the only one Del thought he could actually talk to without being proper. She was the only be who was worried about him when he got sick a month after arriving. She was checking on him every hour then. The way she cared for him made all the difference and Del knew come hell or high water he would leave this place with her. As they were finishing up he helped her to set the cups and platter back onto the wheeling tray. 

"Thanks, Suzy I should get back to work now. That witch has other things for me to do." He nearly spat her name as he said it.

“She's not that bad Del. Maybe if you just understood-” He gave her a sharp glance and she winced slightly.

“She's a terrible person and deserves what she has coming to her.” She frowned and furrowed her brow. Lines maring her beautiful face. It was the first time he'd ever seen he like that.  He felt like he was only speaking the truth but he felt bad that it had bothered her.

"I better go, I'm sure Mrs.Dire needs me at the moment." She turned to leave him in a hurry. He didn't want to leave it at that.

"Wait.." As she turned to face him he hugged her tightly. He began to think of how they could live such a wonderful life after the money he got from this job. How he could see her smile every day and never have to wait on that b***h again. He buried his face n the crock of her neck. She was so soft and smelled like roses. She didn't move though she stayed frozen in place. 

"Uhm Ra-Randel." She uttered out, he doubted she had ever been in an even slightly compromising position.   

"Thank you for being such a good friend to me." He released her and laid a light kiss on her forehead. Her mouth gaped like a fish out of water in surprise and shock. She nearly tripped over herself as she bolted from the room taking the tea cart with her. 

"B-bye Del!" She shouted down the hallway. He went to close the door waving at her as she went. He would have Suzy by the end of all this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well did you get the letter?” Mr.Dallas was very eager for an answer on the other end of the phone. It had been about a week since they sent in his application to work in the Dires home. 

With the few strings, they could pull they came up with a legitimate work history skilled enough to get him hired. But they weren’t powerful enough to get me a new identity completely and that's what really bothered me. Knowing he'd be called Jiro again got under his skin. He hadn't been called that in twenty years. He would remind himself of who he was once in awhile just so he didn't feel like he lost every shred of who he once was. The last bit of humanity keeping him sane.

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here hold on a moment.” Jiro dropped the phone onto his bed mumbled voices speaking into the blankets as Dallas continued on. He traveled too much to really decorate. After renting the place out he had never let another soul into it. To the disappointment of many of the local women. So he kept it simple. A bed, blackout curtains, and a small kitchen. A suitcase was always packed and his weapons safely stored for him to easily obtain if need be.

He quickly opened the envelope with a large DR seal in black wax on it and no return address. A singular piece of paper was folded inside. It seemed ominous, he had expected more than just one piece of paper. His brow furrowed in confusion as he unfolded it and read the one short statement in cursive handwriting that sat in the middle. 

"You have been accepted. Welcome to the family Jiro Okada. Be ready for your departure in an hour. -Mr & Mrs Dire’" He read aloud

Is this a joke or something? Even though he knew he was the only one in the room he was compelled to scan his surroundings carefully especially taking in the shadows. He felt as if someone was watching him. 

Usually, he was the one in control and he'd have someone else’s life in my hands. But he wasn’t dealing with a simple kill. No these people knew what they were doing. Jiro was feeling completely on edge. Quickly he picked up the phone a bit frantic.

“Is this some kind of joke? Do you think what I do is a game?” He kept his calm demeanor. He just needs to straighten this out is al no need to panic.

“What do you mean Nyx? You got the letter didn’t you and you should have been accepted.” He almost shouted at me.

“Yes that's what it says but that's all it says. This makes no sense, I don’t like this Dallas.” The ruffle of some papers on the other end had me thinking. What was going to happen next?

“I think now you just wait. Say your goodbyes to whoever you needed to and just wait. No one really knows what happens after you get accepted. Not even our informant, he got in by mere luck.” Dallas tried to sound confident but he was wavering. Over the last week, it had become ever evident he wanted less and less to do with this.  

“Fine”

“Once you're in find Del. He’ll fill you in.” Jiro hung up the phone abruptly and stuck the portable device in his back pocket. 

So he had to just wait...fine. He could wait he'd been waiting for something this big my whole life waiting a little bit longer won't kill him. But what was he waiting for exactly? 

So he did as the letter instructed he got ready to leave maybe a bus would pick him up or a limo. He packed a rather light bag just some sweaters and shirts and some pants. He figured they would provide him the work clothes.  He removed all the weapons from it. He knew they would go through he belongings he didn't want to chance anything here. He stuck the weapons with his others under the floorboards under his bed.  He didn't have any food in the fridge so that was fine as well. 

He was thinking if there was anything else he had to do. He almost forgot he would be gone for a long time supposedly with no one to pay his rent he quickly grabbed enough rent for the next year and grabbed his bag. Locking the door behind him he headed down the street to py his landlord. She was a little old lady who did bother him any and was certainly sweet on him. which was evident when he arrived.

Miss Nam barely reached up to his chest and hugged him gratefully as he gave her the money. He didnt actually believe he would be there for a year but the job changes all the time. He wanted to make sure she was covered during that time. He knew she wouldn't ever actually throw him out. He kissed her on the cheek goodbye and she blushed playfully batting him on the arm.

"You have a good trip dear." She called to him as he left her apartment. It had all taken about fifty minutes or so but he was ready to go. Still no sign of any fancy car Direrose logos nearby. So he figured he would head back to his own apartment and wait.

Takayama was a small but very stable town. I a lot of older couples and large families lived here. Everyone knew everyone whether you liked it or not. That meant everyone knew me. As Nyx of course never Jiro. 

He passed small children playing near the storefronts. They waved and said hello giving him toothy grins as he waved back. All the stores around here were run by locals, with no big-name supermarkets or fancy clothing stores. And thankfully no interest in diamonds. He liked this place, it reminded me of the village he lived in as a child. Though the memories were limited he was quite fond of them. 

He rounded the cornerback to his apartment bag in tow. The street normally busy was oddly quiet. No playing children or friendly faces. The eerie silence of it all shook me and then it appeared. 

A black van came speeding down the street in his direction coming at him like a bat out of hell. The windows were blacked out so I could not see the driver's face and the headlights blared in his face even though it was midday. He shielded his eyes from the harsh light as it came closer. 

The stark halt in front of him had him knowing. Knowing what was going to happen next and debating on whether or not he was gonna let it happen. The side door slid open fast and hard. Many hands clad in black gloves reached out to grab him. He tried to fight them off but there were at least four large men holding me to the bottom of the van. Before he could comprehend how I was gonna get out of this his hands were tired at his back and a soft silken black fabric placed over my eyes. No one said a word only the slam of the side door apparent. 

Hands removed themselves from him and he relaxed a little. If they had wanted to kill him they would have done it already. 

As quickly as the resolve came to mind a cloth was placed over his mouth. He breathed in the harsh fumes and blacked out.