[ (Short) Author's Note ]

If you can spare some of your time, please do check out this story in Wattpad too. I'm thinking of entering this in a contest. c: Thank you and please enjoy this (rather long) chapter!

[ 02: Ninjas Don't Always Finish the Job ]

Inside her mailbox was another paper flower, white, clean, and innocently sitting on top of a newspaper.

Sachan felt like a robot running on emergency fuel. She trudged along the rooftops, even occassionally tripping over loose plates and falling flat on the roof. She dreaded seeing the result in a mirror. Her feet had its own agenda, and after jumping from roof to roof with no energy nor conscious goal in mind, she realized she was once again on her way to the Odd Jobs. She sighed, berating Waki-san in her head for not giving her some mission she could drown herself in.

Stopping at the roof of the building right across Snack Otose, she watched Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi - and the dog, who stopped following after some steps - noisily trudge down the stairs. Sachan raised an eyebrow at the petite woman they were following.

Their client, perhaps, she thought. When she saw another two figures trailing behind the Odd Jobs, dressed as ordinary ninjas, she pouted. If they needed ninjas, they could have talked to me.

After carefully mulling over her options - "carefully" meaning "barely three seconds" - she followed after them, walking and leaping from rooftop to rooftop. I'm sure they don't mind the extra shinobi help, she decided.

As it turned out, they didn't need her help and she lost the urge to help out. Their client had wanted help with cleaning a warehouse, in the middle of a forest, and needed people who weren't as lazy as the previous workers she had. Shinpachi and some unfit volunteers - Sachan had to wonder why there were volunteers - were in charge of the grounds. The ninjas' job was to clean and fix the ceiling and the roof. Gintoki and Kagura were sort of in the middle, helping the fitter ones in moving stuff from place to place and going to the upper floor to help the ninjas when needed.

"Very shinobi-like," Sachan muttered, her tone laced with sarcasm as she stared at the ninjas in their positions on the walls and attached to the ceiling. She scrunched up her nose at the dust flying about and coughed lightly.

In the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of the client turning to her. "You there," the woman called. Sachan looked away from her and scowled at the wall. "If you're here anyway, quit being rude and help out."

Sachan sighed, wondering about her strange lack of energy. On other days, she would be jumping around, following Gintoki, getting shoved aside, and helping out. She would be a noisy, masochistic, bundle of sunshine.

But she had woken up empty that day, her body running on reserve fuel and the everyday urge to glimpse Gintoki's face.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

The client's voice was nearer now. Sachan's stomach coiled with unexplainable wariness at the woman. With her brows furrowed, she turned to meet her gaze.

To Sachan's confusion, the woman's earthy eyes eyes burned with the distaste and anger of a vengeful spirit. They bore into her own squinted gaze, sending a strange foreboding chill up and down her spine.

As much as she hated to admit it, Sachan felt condemned.

Folding her arms, she mirrored the client's upturned lips and furrowed eyebrows. Sachan asked as carefully as she could, "What's your problem?"

That might have seemed ruder than she intended, Sachan realized as the shadows casted on the other woman's features deepened further.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Quit being annoying and help the ninjas up there," she said, pointing up.

"If I don't want to?"

"Then leave."

Her words, coated with finality and disdain, struck a nerve in Sachan's memory. For a second, the woman in front of her was an older man commanding authority and respect, wearing the same face and saying the same words as––

Stop. Sachan shook her head. Meeting the woman's eyes, she shrugged and muttered, "Whatever."

Sachan strode to the wall farthest from the woman, intent on breaking away from the strange darkness she wore. And, especially, away from the memories that beckoned at Sachan's mind, wanting to break free.

In the next several hours, she forced her usual sunshine out. She ran and jumped around, helping the workers by carrying the smaller boxes. At other times, she climbed the walls to help a few ninjas reach certain areas. She laughed and talked loudly, adding to the jovial atmosphere the Odd Jobs had already instilled.

Still, deep inside, Sachan knew she shouldn't be there. Ever since morning, she was only a copy of the new identity she built in the past few years. Hollow, weak, and fake. She walked around with a grin on her face and emptiness in her chest. With every laughter she gave, a small part of her shriveled away.

"Ah, Sachan-san, watch out!"

Sachan stopped in her tracks. A plank fell in front of her. As Shinpachi ran towards her, she heard an apologetic yelp from above.

"I'm so sorry, Sachan-san. I accidentally pulled too hard on the rope he held and–"

She raised her hand to stop him and smiled. "It's fine," she said before glaring up at the ninja who dropped the plank. The guy yelped out another apology. "Freelance ninjas shouldn't be this incompetent."

Shinpachi chuckled awkwardly. "Well, if it makes you feel better, most of them are actually ninjas Satsuki-san had brought with her from the countryside."

Sachan raised an eyebrow. "They worked for her before this?"

"Yeah. That's all we know, though," he paused, fiddling with his glasses, "she only said she had ninjas working directly under her. She said it would make work easier while the pay remained hefty. That actually made Gin-san accept the job more readily since we'll have 'less work and more pay', as he called it."

Sachan nodded, mulling over the odd information Shinpachi had shared. "And the other ninjas?"

Shinpachi blinked. "I thought you knew them? I heard some of them talk about you."

Sachan's eyes narrowed. "What did they say?"

"Err, something about what a renowned assassin was doing here, of all places."

At the semi-compliment, Sachan nodded and folded her arms, her questions satisfied. Noting her mood change, Shinpachi smiled and gestured behind him. "Then, Sachan-san, I got to go. See you later."

Sachan nodded and Shinpachi waved as he jogged away.

Then she let out a relieved sigh as tension left her shoulders. Sachan mentally thanked Shinpachi for pulling her out of her thoughts.

She didn't mind the occasional mishaps Kagura would "accidentally" make and annoyance Gintoki would show at her - which was acceptable because she always found an opportunity to disturb him - but she was grateful that Shinpachi treated her politely. It helped balance her life into a kind of normalcy.

With Shinpachi's words in mind, she studied the people busying themselves within the warehouse, trying to group them by their appearances. Certainly, most of the ninjas wore black-themed hakama. The rest wore a variety of clothing, and Sachan assumed those were the ones that knew her. Glancing to the black-themed ninjas, she concluded that they were the ones who worked under Satsuki. The small amount of volunteers looked like everyday citizens.

Not a minute later, as the setting sun poured in from the entrance and seeped into the windows, the client-woman - as Sachan labeled her in mind - called for everyone to stop. Ninjas made their way down the walls while some dropped soundlessly unto the floor. As they jogged to the woman standing by the entrance, Sachan noted the strange aura of competence that wasn't present earlier.

The Odd Jobs passed by her, with Kagura and Shinpachi giving cheerful grins. Sachan didn't follow and only watched them, feeling a strange sickening in her stomach. Client-woman Satsuki met them halfway, leaving the ninjas huddled by the door and blocking the sunlight.

From her place, Sachan couldn't hear what Satsuki and the Odd Jobs talked about. Leaning against one of the massive crates, she watched Satsuki nod and hand them a wad of bills. Her eyes narrowed at the woman's bright, ordinary expression. It's as if the woman she talked to that morning was a figment of her imagination, an apparition from her past born from paranoia.

As the sun dipped deeper over the horizon and bathed everything with gold and shadows of violet, the ninjas and volunteers left the warehouse. Some were in groups, while others alone. After chatting with the Odd Jobs for a moment more, the woman left to follow, bringing with her the rest of the ninjas huddled by the entrance.

Sachan returned her gaze to the Odd Jobs standing close together, staring at the cash Gintoki held in his hands. She walked closer to them. As their mumbling registered closer, she realized they were counting the money.

"Alright, Shinpachi-kun. You and Kagura get thirty percent while I get the seventy. Deal?"

Shinpachi bristled. "Hell no!"

"But Gin-san," Sachan stopped beside them as Kagura tried to reach for the money, "would the seventy percent be enough for the both of us?"

Gintoki turned his head to glare at her while holding Kagura's face back with one hand and the money in the other. "Who said I'm sharing? Get out." With one last push on Kagura's face, he brought one foot behind Kagura's to trip her backward. Ignoring Kagura and Shinpachi's angry shouts, he ran to the entrance. Not a second later, they followed.

Sachan stared at them, chuckling to herself despite the growing disturbance in her gut. As she moved to follow them, a scream ripped through the air.

Her heartbeat skipped. She stood frozen for a few seconds before sprinting out the doorway. As her eyes adjusted to the remaining golden brightness outside, she saw Satsuki run to the alert Odd Jobs. Sachan ran to them, her eyes trained on the woman. She was hysteric, her eyes wide, tears running down her face speckled with drops of red liquid. Her clothes, once a pretty pattern of blue and green, had now a deep red color splattered all over.

Sachan didn't need to be a genius to know what those were.

Satsuki grabbed onto Gintoki, shaking him while crying out bursts of words that jumbled together.

"Please help them! They just– Suddenly there were– All of them are– I only–"

Shinpachi and Kagura tried to calm her down, holding her by her arms, as Gintoki squinted at the direction she came from. Sachan followed his line of sight.

Past a few empty and run-down sheds, on the only pathway in the small forest, was a pile of what looked like human bodies.

Sachan sprinted forward, ignoring the Odd Jobs' calls. Her heartbeat thudded with every step she took, but all she can think about is the clawing sensation in her gut.

Upon getting closer, her breath faltered and she gasped. The iron stench of fresh blood filled her nostrils, only worsening her queasy stomach. Bodies were on top of each other in a haphazard pile, as if the culprits - whoever they were - treated them as mere rag dolls. Sachan's chest twisted as she looked at the wide eyes and gaping mouths of the new corpses, proof of a sudden, horrible death.

She stepped back. Running footsteps resounded behind her, but she didn't look back until she felt a warm presence beside her. Turning her eyes to the side, Sachan looked at Gintoki, his face rigid and red eyes trained on the sight in front of them.

"What the hell..." she heard him mumble.

She heard a gasp and she turned her head to see Shinpachi stop running. His face paled and he retraced his steps, rushing to the bushes. Before he started vomiting, Sachan turned back to the pile of bodies.

Taking a deep breath, but nearly hurling due to the vile stench, she closed her eyes and rubbed her arms. Willing herself to calm down, she tried to make sense of the situation. She thought back to when the sickening gut feeling had started.

She squinted. That morning... At the warehouse... That woman...?

With a gasp, she opened her eyes, scanning the bodies once more.

No way, she thought, shaking her head.

Gintoki shifted beside her. "Miss, what exactly hap– Huh?" At his confused tone, she turned her attention to him. He looked to Kagura. "Where's the woman?"

The young redhead shook her head. "I don't know-aru. We outran her, and suddenly she disappeared. What's going on, Gin-chan?"

"That's what I want to know."

Sachan turned back to the bodies, gulping as her gut twisted further. She flitted her eyes from body to body. As she did so, with every passing second, her confusion and suspicion grew.

None of the bodies have black clothing.

Sachan stepped back, about to turn to Gintoki to report when she glimpsed a strange white object tucked in the shirt of the topmost body. She paused, narrowing her eyes to try to recognize it. But since she couldn't, she stepped forward, the nausea in her gut deepening.

Once she was at least a meter away, her eyes widened.

It was a wilted and bloodied paper flower.

Sachan trembled as apprehension and paranoia rocked her body. Her blood boiled. Sachan didn't know what she was feeling. Fear? Disgust? Shame?

She didn't know. All of them coiled and fused in her gut, clenching her chest.

She wanted to scream.

"Oi, Sachan?"

Sachan jolted. She stepped forward and with quick movements pulled the flower out. The blood on it stuck to her palm, its petals wet and limp.

I don't know. It can't be.

"Oi."

Stepping back, she curled her fist as tight as she could, crumpling the already dead flower. It's as if she wanted to squeeze the blood out, to squeeze the life out. Her heart slammed against her ribcage, shouting at her, warning her.

She shook her head and clutched her chest, ignoring the press of the flower on her shirt. It's not them. It's not them.

Hearing footsteps nearing, Sachan flinched and turned to the forest, running away into the darkness.

"Sachan!"

"Sachan-san!"

It can't be them.

[ Author's Note ]

I kinda just rushed that last part. Now you know what the title insinuated. ;) (Yeah, I kinda thought it was cool.)

How was it? Are you guys starting to be wary of the paper flowers or more weirded out? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to review, fav, or follow this story. I'll also reply to your questions in case there were some unclear parts (which I don't doubt because I didn't edit this).

Please do check out this story in Wattpad, too! Your engagement and support is greatly appreciated.

Stay tuned, guys. It's gonna get even weirder from here on out, lol.

Ehem. Sooo, see you guys next Tuesday!

💌
- Lia -