PROLOGUE: THE FIRST ROSE

ME: A new story, I suppose...? I don't know. I just had an idea.

BLOSSOM: And what kind of idea would that be...?

ME: A mystery! Anyway, READ AND REVIEW!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing besides my own OC's and the story; as usual.

Prologue: The First Rose

It wasn't that he liked doing it.

It wasn't that he wanted to either.

No, it was more like he had to.

It got easier over time, but it also got harder. He was starting to think. And thinking in such a business was bad.

The first time he did it, he almost gave up and let the girl go. But she refused, saying that if that was what he wanted, then she'd give it.

What a fool.

That had been his first time—but not his last.

People asked him why he owned a rose garden and tended to them so carefully, but then would pluck a few at the end of the month. He always replied that he just wanted to.

His brothers thought his little hobby was silly—well, the part they knew about, anyway.

What was even worse was the fact he was hiding this information from almost all of his brothers—it was like a solo job, one he didn't know how long it would take to complete.

And it just kept getting worse.

The latest job he'd finished had been a girl he'd taken a liking to. She was firm, but nice, and very smart. Her green eyes sparkled and her red hair shone as she kissed him. Those same green eyes widened with shock when she felt it.

Yes, he'd stabbed a sword through her stomach.

He remembered her staring at him and whispering, "Why..." before collapsing on the floor.

He'd simply stood above her with a dark, unreadable expression on his face, staring down at the dead carcass, watching as blood poled around his feet.

Then he'd extracted the "prize"—a "Heart Gem".

Finally, he'd set a fresh red rose down on her chest, kissed her on the forehead, and escaped. He called up his so-called "boss", and then he'd gone home.

It was only in the nighttime, as he sat on his bed with a headache, that the guilt began ripping at him. It didn't help that sirens were sounding outside of their house.

But it was over. It was behind him.

...Right...?

Then he'd gotten a call at 3:30 am, only a half hour after he'd finally fallen asleep.

"Hello?" he rasped, rubbing his eyes.

"There's a charity event happening next week. Be there and extract gems from the targets there," the distorted voice on the other side commanded.

He understood. He hung up and sighed, falling back on his bed.

...It was time for another job.

ME: Short prologue; I know. But I'll get working on the next chapter... And oh, I don't know how far this'll go or how often I'll update, but...yeah.

BRICK: She's going on vacation soon! Good riddance!

ME: Shut up, Brick. And yeah, I'll try to update when I can, like last year...