"Runo?" I asked, despite knowing it was her, and before I could stop myself.

"Shun! Oh my god Shun!" I knew that she would react that way when I spoke to her, but I never thought she would shout that loud. I, as everyone else did too, thought that that tone of voice and volume was reserved only for Dan. Whether it was after him doing something stupid or if he was infuriating her. I hoped that for me it would be that she was shocked. I pulled the phone from my ear waiting for it to stop ringing so I could speak to her.

"Runo, why are you on Dan's phone?" I asked getting little questions from my mind so I could try to focus on what I actually wanted to say, I was a little unsure on what that was. I had definitely changed since leaving.

"He's in the bathroom, left his phone on the table"

"Oh ok, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while." I asked, I felt slightly awkward, I didn't know how much she had changed since the last time we had met. Whether it was a good change or bad.

"How am I?" She repeated incredulous. "I haven't seen nor heard from you in two years and that's all you can say? You know we don't blame you, it was an accident. We just want you to come back home. Yet all you can say is how am I?"

"I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do" I breathed into the phone, it wasn't such a good idea calling.

"You could come home" she countered, talking slowly, calmly, almost sounding sad. "We have a room set for you in Marucho's house. It's been waiting for two years"

"I'll think about it" I hung up before another word could be said, before my mind could have been turned anymore. Last time I spoke to him I had said a few weeks, now it was an I'll think about it. I was too much of a push over sometimes, I let people from my past get away with far more than anyone else would. I placed my phone into my pocket, looking around, seeing how far I had to go.

I saw the end of the path and the old pub near to there, I could even see a man in an overcoat walking behind the closed pub. He was taking it serious, I liked to see that. It was rare to see someone who was conscious of the cameras. I was too that was why I brought my cloak.

Pulling it out I hung it around my shoulders, the small hood being pulled up and the partial facial mask covering my mouth and nose. Leaving only my eyes exposed to the cameras. They weren't enough to give me away, hundreds of people had amber eyes.

I crossed to the pub, staying close to the wall, not too close though, it could give something away if I did, almost like I was trying to hide. Which I was but I didn't need any possibility of being seen. I was hesitant to let the man I was working for see my face. I would always be like that, I had to think about it long and hard before I chose to let someone see me. I had to deem them trustworthy, him I wasn't sure, so I was keeping the hood up.

As I started around the deserted pub I kept my eyes on it, seeing how much more it had been run down since the last time I was there. The boarded up windows had had to have bars welded over them as the wood seemed to have been broken one time too many. The bricks were riddled with cracks slime oozing out of the breaks, looking like dead insects and stagnant rainwater blended together. The roof had slates falling from them, just like the last time I was there except now I could easily see the rafters. The rotting of the wood and the splinters that were flaking off as the wind hit it.

A blast of wind blew down the side of the pub and my body shivered in hopes to generate some heat. I folded my hands over my chest to keep my body heat in. It only mildly helped. I was grateful the cloak was covering my face otherwise I would be frozen solid. I could see a man, I presumed, standing in the far corner of the path that led to the back of the pub, his body was pressed into the wall that surrounded the pub and he had his coat pulled around him tighter than before.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was frozen.

"You the one who wanted the job?" I asked, mindful on how I talked to him, not showing any emotion in my voice. There was no point in him knowing that I hated what I was doing.

"Yea that's me" he answered stepping forwards. "So you manage to get it?" He asked holding his hand out as though expecting me to just hand the drugs over.

"Money first" I commanded as I pulled out the package. "You'll get what's yours I want my money. And a little extra, I did show those two that they should pay in the future" I added a small smirk showing on my placid face, purposefully looking slightly creepy.

"Did ya? They'll pay in future?" He asked and I could see him beginning to grab for his wallet.

"I'm sure they will"

He took his wallet out and pulled out a handful of notes.

"Here, five twenty. The five hundred I promised along with twenty extra for the fighting. You can count it first if you want." I took the notes from his outstretched hand and counted them as fast as I could. I wanted to get out of here. "I may be many things, but I'm not a con man. I wouldn't be cheap with my pay" I nodded absentmindedly at the man as I finished my counting, he was telling the truth, five hundred and twenty pound.

"Wouldn't do much good if you tried to con me out of some money when that's why I'm here" I pulled the small bag of drugs from my pocket, noting how unnatural they felt in my grip. I felt it was easy to see that I wasn't an addict.

"Aye that's true lad. Though it may not be my place I have to say, you look too young to be out doing this kind of work" I chucked him the bag, mentally stopping myself from sighing at knowing the job was done.

"Maybe I am? I don't really know what I should be doing anymore. I'm just doing this to get by" I responded as I turned from him "as we're turning out advice I should tell you that you may want to change your profession. Mine may not be the best but you're at risk of being killed"

"Duly noted" I smirked at his response before leaving him alone behind the pub.

"I'll be seeing you, maybe. Try to choose your clients more carefully next time" I didn't say anything else to him as I walked from the pub. Instead keeping my eyes trained on the floor.

It took me a few minutes to make it to the end of the road but from the looks of it I'd be walking back to the hotel, there were no cars whatsoever or even any people walking down the street. It was still light out but it seemed everyone was back home, tucked up with their families and not having to care about what the next day would bring. I remembered having that luxury. I missed having it.

I shook my head pushing the thought away, I gave up that luxury after what I did. The phone in my pocket went off and I pulled it to my ear pressing the button to see who it was, not looking at the screen.

"Hey Shun, just got a call, what's it with you doing the whole fighting thing. I thought you didn't like that?" It was Jack and he sounded smug.

"Yea I did but don't sound smug. I only did it because they came back early. It was purely self-defence and that is the only way I'll fight anybody" I could see his smirk falling from his face.

"Alright smart arse. How much you get paid?" He asked changing the topic.

"Five hundred and twenty"

"Oh only twenty quid more for going against your morals"

"I already told you, in self-defence it isn't going against morals" I ran a hand through my thick black hair ruffling it slightly to make it fall in a more comfortable position.

"Fine, fine whatever you say Shun, I'll talk to you later if I have another job for you" I gave him a quick bye before disconnecting the line from him and stuffing my cheap phone into my front pocket. It would be a long way home if there weren't any busses. I could always get a taxi but I wasn't a fan of the taxi drivers. Too much talking for my taste, they would ask inane questions just to fill in the quiet. I would prefer to listen to the radio.

I stopped at the end of the road pulling the hood of my cloak down and leant against the wall, I would spend a few minutes here before starting the walk back to the hotel. I closed my eyes briefly letting out a deep breath, I didn't want to walk back to the hotel, it was a few hours back walking and would be pitch black.

I waited for about fifteen minutes before giving up, there wouldn't be any form of transport for me. I pushed myself off the wall and started to walk slowly down the road I had travelled down maybe an hour or two earlier. It wasn't too dark, the sun was just beginning to dip behind the roof's. I knew that the night would be cold, the wind was picking up as the seconds ticked by and it was beginning to whip at my hair. I was forced to tuck it behind my ears as I walked. Shadows were beginning to form from the lessening of sun that was shining across the street.

Had I been younger I might have become paranoid of the shadows that were forming behind the trees or down the side of houses. I hadn't bothered to take off my cloak when I paused to wait for a bus, it was growing increasingly cold and the cloak helped to keep my neck warm. I thought for a moment that I should pull the hood back up to keep my hair in check and stop the cold from hitting my ears but quickly dismissed that. This area had a bad reputation for gangs; I would hate to be mistaken for the stereotypical gang member.

So instead I braved the cold, I would do this until I made it out of the area, once I had done that it would be back up covering my face. My fingers were starting to feel the cold wind and I rubbed them together to warm them. I knew it was going to be a long walk home, and in the dead of night it would feel three times longer.

I must have been walking for well over an hour, the sun had set not ten minutes ago casting an eerie glow across the road, the moon had rose accompanied by the stars. They were the only thing lighting my way. The odd cloud would float in the way of the moon creating a small shadow on my face. I smiled at the calmness that had fallen not three minutes ago, the cold wind had dimmed to a light breeze.

I raised a hand and pulled the cloak from around my neck, I started to fold it as I walked my eyes only partially open as I did. I was probably too calm but I didn't care. I wanted to get back to the hotel. I desperately needed a soft bed, it would make a change, I was getting too used to sleeping rough. I held the now folded cloak in my hand, keeping it close to my body.

I would have probably been half an hour away from the hotel if I was walking in the middle of the day but thanks to the bare street I could halve that time. Cars lined the street and I could almost guarantee that someone would be getting theirs nicked by the morning. They were all small cars so it was hard to say whose it would be but it would pass the time if I tried to.

After another five minutes I had chosen three cars for sure and had a few that were possibilities. I looked down the street trying to see if any cars were coming, I guessed no but I couldn't help being cautious. After a lifetime of watching Dan almost run himself over daily I got used to being overly careful. When I was younger I had thought of him as a bit of a freak. How could he dodge every car that ever passed him? I can remember his mum thought him a bit strange too.

A smile came to my face at the memories, I hoped that they truly did forgive me for my mistake. It was more than a mistake, I took life. But still maybe they really did forgive me. The first week after I had ran I had been plagued with nightmares. The smell of burning flesh the screams of people as they died. It had given me many sleepless nights. It must have taken a month for me to be able to sleep a full night without waking in a cold sweat. But still now, I still woke up every once in a while that cold sweat back. Maybe twice a week, those memory's fresh in my mind.

No, they couldn't forgive me. I took life, not just one, or two, I took three people's lives. No one could forgive that. I couldn't forgive that. I destroyed three families. Took people from the world.

I let out an annoyed sigh and ran my hands through my hair, I couldn't think about what I had done. To try to keep the thoughts and images out of my head I started to run, I ran blindly across the road running with only a mild awareness as to where I was going. Silently grateful that it was night. The darkness could hide so much. So much I didn't want to see.

I could hear a faint sound coming closer, it didn't register with me as anything strange, but it did make me pause for a moment. I tried to think what it could be, it wasn't a natural sound but I had heard it so many times before. I squinted trying to scan my mind, it was going so slow I couldn't think properly. Those memories had slowed my mind. I looked down the road hoping that could clear things up.

It did.

Hitting me in the eye were two bright lights, blinding me and making me block my eyes. I couldn't react fast enough to run out of the way and the car was too close and couldn't skid to a halt quick enough. Whoever was driving was swerving like mad and I could barely see anything but a blinding light. Before I knew what was happening everything went blank.

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