Chapter 2.

"So, I see that you have my payment, Ms. Salt." Xavier said while scanning the material inside the briefcase thoroughly.

Xavier and I were both sitting on the other side of the table next to the balcony. There were ashtray, my cigarette case, and the briefcase were on the table. Xavier's henchmen were standing at the each corner.

I nodded. "Yes." I grabbed another cigarette from my case and lightened it. It was my third one. "A thirty-pound pack of cocaine just like you requested.

"Excellent." Xavier satisfyingly grinned and locked the briefcase. He signaled and one of this henchmen grabbed the briefcase then walked into one of the vacant room.

"I believe you have something as a payment for me."

"Hmm, did I?" Xavier blew more smoke out with a despicable look on his face.

I sighed. "This could have worked smoothly if you just gave me what we agreed." I rubbed my cigarette on the ashtray.

"Tsk, I don't like to shoot a lady. But we can't have loose ends."

One of the henchmen behind me cocked his pistol and aimed it against the back of my head. Xavier seemed amused. "Any last words?"

I lit my fourth cigarette. "You know, I have to say. I'm quite glad that you let me to smoke."

"Oh? Why is that, sweetheart?"

This time, it was my turn to grin. "Because I could use my lighter." I pressed button on my watch.

BANG—!

My lighter exploded. However, instead of flame, bright light enough to blind everyone in the room came out. And I was the only one who was wearing glasses with protective lenses.

"Aaargh!"

"My eyes!"

I ran to the nearest henchman. He sensed me and quickly drew his gun at me but twisted his arm and aimed his gun against his stomach then I pulled the trigger.

"You bitch!" Another henchman shouted. I pushed the dead henchman to shoot the remaining ones. One by one the henchmen faced death from my shots. Lastly, I shot Xavier in the neck.

"Nngh!" Blood was fuming out of his neck. I put the pistol on the table and approached to him slowly. As I approached to Xavier, I could see the fear in his eyes.

"Did you really think I'd believe a word from your mouth?" I scoffed. I didn't hide my British accent anymore. "During your last few minutes, I want you to listen to this very carefully." I lit another cigarette and sat on one of the chairs with my legs crossed.

"Depends on whether you were good or naughty —though it seems very clear to me— you'd be going to heaven or hell. However, we all know that you don't believe in God. Therefore, let's say you'll be reincarnated." I blew some smokes from my cigarette.

"According to the Hinduism, your reincarnation heavily depends on how you spent your previous life; which we both know that you were a piece of shit."

Xavier tried to mutter, but words couldn't come out of his mouth.

So in your next life when you make a business with someone, take my bloody words and try to be more thorough." I got up from the chair and aimed the pistol against his head. "Farewell, Xavier."

BANG—!

I knocked on the door. "Hello! I'm here for the water delivery!" I stood my chin up and said proudly.

The door opened and revealed few individuals including my goal.

"Well, I guess that's it for the delivery today!" I cheerfully grinned and shook one of the the men's hand.

"Why don't you consider working with us?" The security guard followed me eventually. Always felt good to have fans.

Pfft! Too easy! This guy is just literally pushing me into his boss's office!

"You know what? Why dontcha take me to your boss's office! I can have some interview and he can decide whether to hire me or not!"

The men seemed convinced. They nodded and led me to the office. In the office, their boss was comfortably sitting on the armchair with his legs crossed on the desk. The man who was most enthusiastic about hiring me talked to him.

"Hey, boss! We have some real deal here! This handsome young man

I boasted and showed my biceps off. "Hell yeah dude! I'm a freakin' superhero!"

The boss didn't seem impressed. "Some biceps are your specialties? What a problem we already have enough muscles."

Before that security guard could say something, I clapped my hand "You know what I think I good. I already found a perfect job."

The security guard seemed disappointed and confused at the same time.

"So what is it. Some mediocre delivery guy?"

"You are the job." I kicked him right in the face to knock him down. The security guard shrieked and drew his pistol so I kicked the table to push them away. Then I used the edgy stick disguised as a pen to stab them in the throat, making sure no one walks out of here alive.

"Now you see what I do for living right?" I twisted my stick hard on his neck. His final words were more than silenced.

After a ten minutes of walk from my house, I arrived at the Residence of 本田(Honda). For the last time, even though I changed before I left home, and though I changed my clothes before I get here, I scanned myself up and down to make sure no blood stains on my clothes just in case. Perfect! Though I was like twenty minutes for the party.

Ding— dong—

I pressed the doorbell and waited someone to open the door. Then a familiar voice came from behind.

"Alfred? Is that you?" Huh, it looked like Alice just arrived from her work.

"Hey…! I'm glad I'm not the only person who's late!" I tried to lighten the awkward mood.

"I believe we arrived around the same so technically that doesn't count." From that, we both let out some small laugh.

"I uh… like your scarf? Is that new?"

"Oh, actually, I bought this months ago,"

Dammit! Had to make things awkward. And before I could do something, the door opened, revealing our dear polite Japanese friend.

"こんばんは (Konbanwa), Alfred-San and Alice-San."

"Sup, bro!" I gave him a high five and Kiku reluctantly and awkwardly obliged.

"Good evening, Kiku. Sorry we're late."

"No worries." Kiku slightly bowed to us. "I would like to offer a gratitude to both of you for picking times from your busy schedules to make it here."

"It's been a gazillion friggin' years since the last time I saw you! How have you been, m'dude?"

"If you're going to use slang at least use them properly!" Alice scowled. Again.

Kiku just smiled gently as he always did. "I have been very good, Alfred-San. I thank you for asking."

When we entered Kiku's house, we didn't see anyone. That's strange. Wasn't this a party?

"You said it was a barbecue party, right? So is everyone outside at the backyard?" Alice asked Kiku. Maybe she noticed that there isn't anyone home as well.

"Oh, right! It was a barbecue party! Gee, I almost forgot!" I slapped my hand on my forehead.

"はい (Hai), I must have not informed you very well. My apologies to you both."

"Nah, dude!"

Kiku's house was very organized. Seriously. Advertisers could use his house for advertising! I wasn't sure what his job was, but the guy must spend his whole free time cleaning his house for sure. There was bunch of Japanese stuffs that I don't even know how to pronounce or to use. But there were some artifacts that I knew.

"Whoa, is that a katana? And are those the throwing stars?"

"I'm delighted that you like my artifacts."

"Can you use them? Like a heroic Japanese samurai!"

"Don't ask that kind of questions to him, you git!"

"Actually…" Kiku raised his hand with a face full of seriousness. Alice and I both felt something stingy from his reaction. However, he gently shook his head then opened the door to the backyard. "Please excuse me for what just happened and I hope you have a great time."

The garden was filled with around thirty people. They all seemed to enjoy the party. Everyone was laughing, talking, and eating joyfully. On the corner there was long table with various meats, drinks, and fruits with plates and a barbecue grill right next to it. a Man what a big garden!

"Dude! This is the coolest BBQ party that I've ever had! I never knew you could cook something other than sushi!" Alice sighed and face palmed.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw one of the happiest looking girl in my life. My first impression was that she looked pretty and cute. This tiny girl's joyful smile was enlightening my mood. She had two braided auburn hair with a one strange curl sticking out on the left side of her head. Is that even possible?

However, the biggest thing that caught my eyes was the fact that she was wearing a maternity clothing and had a small bump on her stomach despite she looked quite young.

"Ve, you're Alice, right? Hello! I'm Feliciana! But you can call me Feli like everyone else! I'm so glad that I finally met you!" Then she kissed on both of my cheeks and gave a gentle hug, making me a bit frustrated.

Feliciana… The name sounded vaguely familiar. Where did I hear it again?

"Oh, um… Hello, Feli. Nice to meet you too. But what did you mean by you finally met me?" I became suspicious. There was a slight chance that she was the assassin from the adversarial agency, trying to let my guard down by faking her pregnancy. I readied to draw my dagger in my sleeve anytime.

Feliciana chirped. "I did an internship in the suit company 'Flying Mint Bunny'! That's how I know you. Ve~ when I told Kiku I worked there, he told me that you're the head of the sales department!"

Then I saw the ring on her finger. Ah, now I see. She was the wife of Kiku's German friend. 'Ludwig' I believe it was? Kiku also mentioned that she did the internship in my company. I could only vaguely remember but I could also let my guard down. Well, besides the fact that Feliciana was lovely.

I smiled to hide my guilt to this sweet girl. "Hehe… I wish that I could have met you there. How long was your internship? If I may ask."

Feliciana chirped. "I was there for two months! In the designer's department!"

"Yeah, I think that was why I couldn't meet you. Plus I have tons of business trips."

And for some reason we both giggled slightly. Good god, it has been so long since I talked to anyone outside of my company besides Alfred. Feliciana was good to chat with.

"Feli, I got your lemonade." A stern voice with a German accent. came behind us. There was a tall, well-built man holding two glasses of lemonades. He had a sleek blonde hair and piercing icy-blue eyes, wearing a button down shirt and a pair of dark brown pants.

'That must be Ludwig' I thought to myself.

"Ludwig! Ve~ grazie!" Feliciana squeezed Ludwig into her chest.

Ludwig blushed. "F—feli, you really should be more careful when you move." But he hugged her back, trying not to drop the lemonades.

Feliciana's eyes widened like she reminded something and cheerfully pointed at me. "Oh, and Ludwig! This is Alice! Alice Jones! She's Kiku's friend and a head of the sales department of Flying Mint Bunny!"

I chuckled at Feliciana and reached my hand out. "Uh… Hi. You must be Ludwig. I'm Alice."

Ludwig sternly nodded. "Guten abend, Alice."

The more I observed at Ludwig, not only I could see how protective he was for Feliciana, but also how much he loved his wife. The way Ludwig was looking at Feliciana, just by the look of his, I couldn't even tell how much he loved her. Ludwig was embracing his arms around Feliciana from the back and nuzzling his face on her hair, making Feliciana to giggle.

None of the other guests got my attention. It seemed that only the Ludwig and Feliciana were the only ones existed at the backyard. No, in the whole world. Too many emotions pierced through me: warmth, sadness, envy, guilt.

It gave me a heartache. Was it really that my secret was ruining our marriage? To be honest, before I met Alfred, I didn't feel any guilt or self-conscious from my… profession.

"Bloody hell, I need some drink." I moved my gaze from them and tried to hold my tears. I went to the ice box and fished out any alcohol I could find without a second glance.

When I looked at Ally, she was looking at a blonde man and his wife.

Maybe she was thinking what I was thinking: when was the last time I ever gave her that look? Or the last time I hugged her from behind? Or at least the last time I told her that I loved her? And shouldn't I be with my wife right now?

It saddened me. I felt like a total douchebag. I drank the rest of my drink at once and refilled the drink again and again with chewing more and more barbecues. Normally, I would have only eat to cover the feeling of emptiness, but I felt like I needed the assistance of alcohols.

On the long table right next to the barbecue grill, there were tons of different types of grilled meats along with the various drinks.

Beer… hehe. Alice's favorite drink along with ale.

"Is everything alright, Alfred-San? I hope I do not offend you, but you seem sad." Kiku asked with a worried face. He knew that I don't enjoy drinking.

"Huh? I'm fine, dude! Why do think I'm sad?" I quickly changed my face into a huge and goofy smile. However, Kiku didn't look convinced. From the next question he asked, I almost flipped out into the air.

"Is it because of Alice-San?"

Cough—!

I spat out the beer in my mouth and unfortunately, they all landed on Kiku's face.

"Jesus! Sorry, Kiku! Are you alright?" I immediately apologized and hurried to grab any napkin I saw on the table and handed to Kiku.

Kiku wordlessly grabbed the napkins and cleaned his face. "N—no worries, Alfred-San. It was my fault." Kiku gave an one last swipe on his face. "However, I would like to continue our conversation."

"Um… okay?" I still felt unsure about this but decided to agree with him.

"You love Alice-San, don't you?"

I hesitated but nodded. "Yes. I… I do."

"My apologies, but I actually noticed that you both had problems these days."

What? I thought the problems we had were unnoticeable. "Were they that obvious?"

Kiku nodded apologetically. "I'm afraid it does."

I just sighed. "I don't know, man. Like what am I supposed to do? We're just keep getting apart from each other day by day. Plus that couple therapist isn't helping at all!"

Kiku contemplated for a moment. "Why don't you try talking to each other then? It is clear that you still love each other."

'Go talk to her'. 'Conversation is the best solution'. 'That's how the marriage is'. These are the the most generic advices that I've been hearing every time I seek for the valid advice. However, Kiku's following advice completely caught me off guard.

"Alfred-San, I do feel uneasy to say this since I don't have any romantic relationships, and I know you're thinking I'm about to say another derivative advices but please hear me out." Kiku continued. However, not in his usual polite but impassive smile, but with sympathy and caring. "I remember when I first saw both of you together. I felt only two of you were existing in this world. I even felt envy to look such happiness."

"But I'm not even sure I love her any—."

"Can you look me in the eyes and say that you don't love her?"

I got completely speechless. I couldn't even make an eye contact with him. Kiku gave me an understanding smile.

"I am sorry but I overheard you without my intention before you entered my house. You tried to compliment her about her scarf. Do you really think you just did it to clear out the awkward atmosphere?"

I felt even more embarrassing.

"It's not broken just bent. And if you could fall in love with her before, as long as you try you can fall in love with her again."

Gee, I really go have an amazing friend, don't I? "Thanks, man." I patted his shoulder. "I really appreciate it."

"The honor is mine." Kiku said with a warm smile. "I am flattered that I was helpful."

"However…" I grimaced and Kiku raised his eyebrow.

"I have to attend this business trip and I'll be gone for few days. Alice is going abroad as well! So it'll take few days before we meet again. So I'll tell Alice when we meet again after our trips how I truly feel and how I want to improve our relationship. Plus during those few days, I could get myself ready to tell that!"

Kiku nodded with an approval. "I'm glad to see you working things out. That's the Alfred-San that I know. So now—." Kiku held a plate full of barbecue. "Would you like to eat some more?"

I was never more overjoyed when I took the plate.

Translation

こんばんは (Konbanwa) : Good evening

はい (Hai) : Yes

Grazie : Thank you

Guten abend : Good evening

(A/N)

Sorry guys I'm late! I said some few things to take care and got sick due to the recent rapid climate changes. So I just read some more fics and chilled on my bed xD

Thank you so much for the Follows and Favorites! Plus, I'm sorry that Alfred's part is too short compared to Alice's. I rewrote it several times but I think I'm lacking of skills ;(

I read the comment of reminder from the guest. Thank you for the reminder and I deleted it. I still have it as a document. I'm not sure whether I should just use it as an One-shot or expand it to several chapters. And I'm sorry that I deleted that.

The next chapter will be posted around May 20th! If any of you saw the movie, yes! It's gonna include the finding-out-who-they-are scene!

Hasta la pasta!