CR: Got an hour quota at complete, so nervous….I am glad you all liked my stories so far, I appreciate all your reviews, because I never had so many compliments in my life. Back when I was in Sec 2, all I hear from my classmates are "You're a retard!" and "You should be in the mental hospital", or "Are you sure you are supposed to be in this class? You should've gone to Grace Orchard (a school for people with special needs)". Back then, I find comfort in writing my feelings down, and writing ideas in my notebook. My friends encourage me to write online, and now here I am. Your compliments moved me to tears, Thank you! (Although my former classmates still call me a retard) Well, back to the story!

Shizuka removed the map from her bag and checked it. "Hmm, according to the map, our rivals have hidden their supplies and treasures in this room. Also, they usually take refuge here." she said, pointing to a box. "They usually enlist Yuki to take charge of their supplies and treasure. However, I am almost sure there will be a booby trap." They looked at each other with dread. Yuki was a well-known explosive user in the rival group. He is also very good at technology. "Hmm…..they have a big pile of goodies and treasures in that room, huh?" said Ryoma. "Our mission is to eliminate the last of the rival assassin group, right?" Shizuka nodded. "Well, I guess we'll have to fix that. All we need to do is to get rid of their supplies and treasures, so that they will find themselves with virtually nothing and then, our plan is accomplished!" Shizuka nodded vigorously. "That's a great idea, Ryoma. Now let's go over our plan." They divided up their weapons because they planned to separate. Shizuka will distract the members while Ryoma would get rid of the stuff. Apart from the weapons, they each had a communicator, some smoke bombs and fireworks, and basic first aid stuff. "Ready?" said Ryoma. Shizuka nodded. She took out her hairpin and picked on the lock. The door swung open.

"Wait for the signal. When the members come out of refuge, you try and distract Yuki, and I'll try to stall them." Ryoma nodded and Shizuka went in. Ryoma spied on the room where their rivals were. There were only three remaining members in the other group. The treasure and supplies are scattered around beds, and all three are singing some kind of drinking song and chugging down wine. Not an ideal activity to engage on at this moment. Just then, there was a "BOOM!" sound, and it echoed. Shizuka must have lighted up one of her fireworks. All four members jumped up, and they equipped themselves with weapons, leaving Yuki to guard their stuff again. Ryoma hid as two of the members walked past him to the source of the noise. Ryoma gritted his teeth. He'll have to get Yuki out of the picture in order to get rid of those supplies. He himself threw a smoke bomb at Yuki. Yuki got up, and to Ryoma's surprise, he did not immediately run. Instead, he hopped in strange patterns, sometimes risking a few steps. At one point, he launched himself up in the air. He overshot slightly, and he squealed as his hands hit the ground, but nothing happens. In a few moments, he regained his feet and ran out of the room.

Ryoma grinded his teeth in frustration. So Shizuka was right about the booby trap. But it's clearly more complex than he had thought, and he knew only Shizuka would be able to replicate the path to the supplies and treasure. But what sort of trap would they have laid that required Shizuka's dexterity? Has so many trigger points? Why did Yuki squeal as he hit the ground? He'd have thought….the very ground was going to explode. "It's mined." Ryoma whispered. He knew Yuki was good at making explosives, and he would most likely have hidden it underground so that whoever tries to steal any of their stuff, they would be blown sky-high. The mines are probably set off by pressure, and he bet that it didn't need to be a lot too. During the fight between the assassin groups, one member from their team dropped a small knife at the mines Yuki created, and their group literally had to scrape bits of him off the ground. He could throw rocks, of course, but how many can he set off? One? Or maybe it would be a chain reaction. How would Yuki place those mines? If he set off only one, he'd draw all the members back here. That's for sure.

Just then, there was another "BOOM!" in the distance. Shizuka has set off her second fireworks. Ryoma's running out of time, and he knew it. He glanced at the bag of coins suspended near the shelf. If only he could free those coins…..

He took out his bow and arrows, moved into range and gave himself three arrows to do the job. He placed his feet carefully, and blocked out the rest of the world as he took meticulous aim. The first arrow tore through the side of the bag, leaving a slit in the bag. The second widened it to a gaping hole. He could see the fistful of coins teetering near the edge. He let the third arrow go, which left a hole in the bottom. For a moment, everything seemed frozen in time. Then, the coins spilled to the ground and Ryoma was blown backward into the air. Another blast knocked him flat on the face. That happened two more times. Thank god, he wasn't injured, but his communicator was broken. He quickly hid as the members returned. Another boy was blaming Yuki for all these, and he snapped Yuki's neck in frustration. Yuki fell to the ground, dead. The other two took Yuki's weapons, and went back in the mansion to look for the culprit. Ryoma crept out of his hiding place. 'Now to find Shiuzka' Ryoma thought. Surely she heard the explosions. 'The next fireworks will be at 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1' thought Ryoma. But there was no familiar "Boom" of the fireworks. What is going on? Where is his partner? He'd better go and check. He went to the rendezvous place. No sign of her. In fact, it seemed undisturbed. She must have run into trouble. He had better hunt this down. He couldn't contact her because his communicator is broken from the explosion. It was then he heard a scream, a young girl's scream, there's no one in the mansion capable of making that sound except….

"Shizuka!" Ryoma cried out, running to the direction of the noise. There was another cry, this time it was his name. "Ryoma! Ryoma!"

"Shizuka!" he called back, to let her know he's near. Sure enough, she was on the ground hopelessly entangled in the net. Ryoma quickly took out his knife and cut her free. "Shh, Shizuka, it's ok, I'm here." When he cut her free, she gave him a brief hug, but then, she saw what's behind Ryoma, and pushed him away. The knife, which would have hit Ryoma, landed in her stomach instead. Ryoma turned and shoot the girl, and the arrow hit her neck. She fell to ground, dead. Ryoma quickly ran to his partner. One look at the wound and he knew it was beyond her capabilities to heal. He crouched before her, staring hopelessly at the embedded weapon. Her hand reached out and he clutched to it like a lifeline, as if it was he who was dying instead.

"Did you blow up the supplies and treasure?" she whispered.

"Every last bit." He said.

"The leader has escaped. You need to finish this mission." she said.

"I'm going to. For the both of us." Ryoma replied.

"Ryoma…do you love him?" Ryoma nodded.

"Then, you have to fight for him. I want you to be happy. That's all I ask for."

Ryoma nodded, looking up at the girl's corpse.

"Don't go." Shizuka tightened her grip on his hand

"Of course not, staying right here." He said. He moved in closer and pulled her head to his lap. He gently brushed her flaming red hair behind her ear. "Sing." She whispered.

Sing? Sing what? He does know a few songs. Shizuka taught him some simple songs when they were younger. Sing. His throat was tight with tears. But if this is Shizuka's last request, he had to at least try. The song that came to him was a simple lullaby, what Shizuka called a mountain air. The words were easy and soothing, promising tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time they call today.

He gave a small cough, swallowed hard, and began:

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when you awake, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Shizuka's eyes fluttered shut, her chest is still moving but only just, Ryoma released the tears and they slid down his cheeks. But he has to finish the song for her.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away

A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray,

Forget your woes and let your troubles lay

And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

The final lines were barely audible

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Shizuka opened her eyes slightly. She could see patches of white clouding her vision. Slowly, the patches of white became bigger until it obscured her vision. Ryoma closed her eyes, not very alarmed by the feeling of salty wetness still brimming over his eyelids and dripping down his cheeks. But he had to finish the mission. He left her lying in the mansion, knife still in stomach. He couldn't stop looking at his partner, who is past harm but so vulnerable in death. "Bye Shizuka." He whispered kissing her on the temple. He took her items, knowing she probably want him to have it, but left the knife in her stomach. He went outside and lit up their strongest bomb. Their final plan was to blow up this mansion so that they won't be able to come back anymore. He planned for them to light this up together, but it seemed that he had to do it alone now. The mansion exploded, leaving nothing but rubble by the time he was done. Now, the final mission is to find the leader and kill him.

This time, he was alone.

CR: Of course, I got this scene from the Hunger Games. I guess I can't help myself to put something related to Hunger Games no matter what I am writing about, sorry :P