Naomi made sure the black mask securely obscured half her face, just below her eyes, and she slipped the hood of her cloak over her head

Naomi made sure the black mask securely obscured half her face, just below her eyes, and she slipped the hood of her cloak over her head.

She treaded along the familiar route around the edge of the dense forest south of the town centre. This was a shortcut she always took, and it saved her a whole lot of time compared to if she had to follow the maze-like footpaths through the forest. Plus, it was alot quieter, not to mention a more scenic choice.

She turned into the forest and picked her way carefully through the tall, thick undergrowth. Whoa! She tripped over something and crashed into the green things. Maybe that's the reason those footpaths were created.

Blushing from pure embarrassment, although there was nobody there, she got up and dusted herself indignantly- tripping wasn't a mistake on her part; she wasn't that klutzy-it was the fungi. Oh horrible, horrible fungi. Sometimes, she wonders how does she manage to catch so many criminals without tripping over her own two feet?

She continued into the forest, carefully this time, and finally came to the spot. Pushing through creeping vines, she reached to pull apart its thick leafy branches to reveal a hollow in the tree- the abandoned home of a woodpecker. What a nest.

She peered inside and found the heavy bag of bounty she earned from her previous job- nabbing that drug dealer for that ruddy brat of a policeman. She took it out carefully and hid it safely under her cloak. A little white note inside the nest caught her eye. Oh how sweet- a thank-you note to go with it too.

She pulled it out and read it:

You might want to watch your back

As if to make that point any clearer, the leaves rustled just behind her. Naomi made out a silhouette of the figure from the corner of her eye and, quick as lightning, pulled out her Japanese sword and in a split second, brought the blade under his chin as she whirled around.

The man jumped and raised his hands, eyes wide, 'Wait! Wait! I'm just a messenger!' Naomi could roll her eyes- fancy a pathetic messenger like him pulling off something like that on her. Can't he just do it the normal way?

The people usually just write a note specifying a location and time to meet so they can give her the instructions face-to-face, and leave it there, but this guy…

As quickly as she pulled it out, Naomi swiftly returned her sword to its sheath beneath her long cloak, glaring at the man- he had beady eyes that shifted from side to side nervously, and his head seemed to be too small for his body; he was just extremely disproportionate, and twitchy;he looked, to Naomi, like a RAT. Literally.

He backed away slightly and cleared his throat, 'Master Okashi has a job for you- assassinate State Minister, Sugita Anzai, and you will be rewarded handsomely.'

ASSASINATE? Naomi Konoe froze. She'd never kill anyone! She never did. Before she could shake her head in a 'no way', he held up his hand, 'Two. Thousand. Yen.'

Naomi didn't move. Two thousand yen… two thousand yen…

Naomi knows all about the State Minister; one can hardly miss him; He was fat, overfed, lazy, and all in all PIG-like. She knew what he had done, too- he was corrupt and greedy, spending money meant for the good of the people for his own pig-ly gain- Naomi hated people like that.

But that's no reason to kill the man. Right?

But he never gets caught for his corruption, just because he bribes and hires people to destroy the evidence. So the only way was assassination…right?

BUT-

'I would like to stress that Master Okashi thinks highly of you,' the man pressed on, 'and he trusts that you will take up this offer.'

He walked forward towards her. She needed to think. With a rat like him adding to the pressure didn't help. So, Naomi pulled her sword out in front of her to stop him from coming any closer.

He didn't back away or hold up his hands like what he did just now. But he didn't move forward anymore either. He just continued staring at her, 'refusing this offer would invite trouble, Miss Konoe.'

Naomi froze in shock. Throughout her five years as a sweeper, Naomi had never revealed her identity- it was impossible for anyone to know her name. The man smiled a twisted, sick smile (you never know what a rat is thinking in that pea-sized brain, masked by its evil beady eyes), 'two thousand yen. An once-in-a-lifetime offer. You know that Minister deserves to die, and you, Miss Konoe, deserve that money.' That was so true.

Naomi nodded slowly, dazed. 'Good. We will see to it that your reward gets delivered promptly after the job is done.'

With that, he stepped away from the blade and disappeared into the bushes.

After a moment of complete stillness, Naomi let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding, and glanced at her sword-it was still up in front of her. The image of dead man's blood sliding down the now clean blade played in her mind. Naomi shuddered and slid her sword quickly back into its sheath- it was time for some Sake.