Chapter Two - Planning

Nagisa gathered the few possessions he owned and carefully packed them into his suitcase. A change of clothes, his camera, a wig, make-up, gun, and knives. In a separate and secured knapsack he carried his computer, a book, and the profile. He had already made the call to his contact at the Vancouver International Airport to let him know he'd be arriving soon and to let his bag "accidentally" miss inspection.

Packed up? Check.

Plane ticket booked? Check.

Landlord notified? Check.

Japanese accommodations made? Check.

Calls made?

Nagisa hesitated. He had already made the call to his contact, but he could make one other call. His hand hovered over one of his three cell phones. Should he? He had kept in contact with her, albeit infrequently.

He knew he shouldn't. An assassin should never leave traces, let alone contact anyone they know outside of business. He flipped through his contacts, finally landing on the one he was looking for. He hadn't contacted her in over a year. He shouldn't call her, let alone tell her that he was finally coming back to Japan.

Nagisa hit the call button anyway. The phone rang a few times before a bleary voice picked up.

"Nagisa? Nagisa-chan? Is that you?" A voice excitedly chimed over the phone.

"Yes mother, it's me," he said.

"Oh! I'm so relieved to hear your voice! You should call more often!" she lamented. Nagisa resisted chuckling. He had been on plenty of jobs where cell service wasn't even an option. In some cases, picking up a phone could even endanger his life.

"I'll try and make the effort," he said, "Listen mother, my work is bringing me back to Japan soon."

"You're finally coming back to Japan? Is your job working out? Are you still with that business development firm?"

"Yes, mother."

"It must be good that you're coming back! You might be up for a promotion!" she chattered excessively. Nagisa sighed and let her go on. Even eight years out of her household, he couldn't bring himself to cut her off.

"Yeah, I hope so too!" he said, "I can't wait to see you, mom."

"When do you come in?"

"I'm actually on my way to the airport right now," Nagisa explained, "My flight's scheduled to arrive around ten."

"Do you need a place to stay? You're always welcome in your mother's home." He definitely did not want to stay at his mom's place. It was already a bad enough idea to meet with her. Rule number one of being an assassin: cut all ties.

"I'm actually staying in a company apartment. I'm sorry, mom. I would if I could, but the deposit was already made." She scoffed.

"Fine, I understand."

"Listen, mother, I just wanted to let you know before I fly in. I'm at the airport now, I've gotta go."

"Alright Nagisa-chan, I can't wait to see you again!" Nagisa could hear her excitement through the phone.

"I'll see you soon, mom." He ended the call. He had never quite repaired his relationship with his mother, but he was an adult now, and he was more than willing to be cordial at the least. He had thought about totally cutting ties with her a number of times now, but he didn't like to leave loose ends, and their relationship was the definition of a loose end.

He entered the airport, opting to go with one of his Japanese national passports (Never his own personal one though, that was long gone). It would at least make his travel back into Japan a little easier. As Nagisa finally took a seat in his terminal, he couldn't help but reminisce on the first time he finally left the country.

Nagisa sat calm in the terminal seat. He tried not to think of the life he was leaving behind. The friends and the family. This was the life he had chosen. He was good at assassination, that much he had proven time and time again. He had gotten his first official job at the age of 16 to take down a Yakuza leader. He had completed the hit in a mere five minutes.

Of course, it had taken Nagisa months to mentally recover from that night, but that was a whole different story.

He tightly gripped his passport. He was flying to India to research and destroy a gang that had been stealing children for unknown purposes. It was a long-term assignment. Lovro had told him that it was possible he may never return to Japan.

He hadn't told anyone other than his mother. His own graduation had been just yesterday. He had promised Karma that he would see him soon. He had told Kayano, Kataoka, Nakamura, and Kanzaki that he would help them move into college. He, Sugino, Maehara, and Isogai had plans for lunch sometime soon. Nagisa hoped they would forgive him one day. Nagisa could hope that deception became easier as he grew into his job. It had to. Assassins without skills of deception were doomed to fail.

"We are now boarding Flight 1739 to New Delhi."

It was now or never.

Nagisa wondered what his friends would say to him now. Karma would probably make a snarky comment and throw a knife at him, telling him that if he couldn't dodge it, he was probably a pretty shitty assassin. Kayano would probably just outright punch him. He liked to think that his other friends would more readily forgive him, but he never knew.

"Now boarding Flight 843 to Tokyo." Nagisa stood up. He couldn't distract himself in Japan. He had no intention of seeing his former friends. He was going to go in, strike, and leave. The last thing he needed were those kind of questions. For them, there was probably little doubt as to where he ended up. This was just a job. That was that.

—

Nagisa slipped the immigration officer 10,000 yen not to notice the inconsistency in his passport, and he was on his way. A soft smile rested on his face as the familiar sounds of Japan filled the airport. He hadn't spoken his mother tongue in years. His mother once commented that his speech had become muddled with unfamiliar accents. It was inevitable when most of your business was done in English and Russian.

He pulled his bag off of baggage claim. His ride was already waiting for him.

"Hello, Mr. Matsunaga. How was your flight?" The driver politely asked.

"It was fine," he responded.

"You're at the ANA Intercontinental, correct?"

"Indeed." The driver opened the door for him, and Nagisa slid in. The driver started the car up and began their departure from the airport.

"Are you in town for business?"

"I am. I work at an international development firm."

"Where are you from?" Nagisa's eyes softened.

"I actually grew up in Tokyo," he said, "Left just after high school."

"You must've gone to a good high school to get hired right out of there!" Nagisa thought of all of the special training he underwent in high school. His normal teachers weren't too bad either.

"Yeah, it was pretty good." The trip continued quietly from that point on. The driver would occasionally shoot questions back at him, but Nagisa was quiet. Nagisa hadn't realized how many memories would resurface. I wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed in Japan? Maybe I should buy a house after this job. It's not like I have any absence of funds at my disposal. I can take a vacation every once in a while. The car came to a stop. Nagisa exited the vehicle and took his bag from the driver. He slipped him a 5,000 yen note and entered the hotel. The job should only last a month at most, he didn't need to find an apartment quite yet.

"Mr. Matsunaga?" The receptionist asked. Nagisa regarded him with a cool stare.

"Yes."

"Welcome to the ANA InterContinental Tokyo. Your room is 482. If you have any questions or needs, please don't hesitate to contact us. Will that be all your need?"

"Yes, that'll be fine." He took the key and walked up to his room, his heavy luggage dragging behind him.

Nagisa found reassurance in the fluffy hotel bed. This comfort was not going to last, he knew as much. Tomorrow he was going into the slums to begin research. Lovro told him that such jobs could take anywhere from six months to a year.

He closed his eyes and let the pillow settle around him. A couple of his friends should've realized by now that he was gone. His poor mother was probably going to get harassed with a million questions by Karma alone. He rolled over, ignoring the guilt that gnawed on his heart. Sugino was going to be so disappointed. Kayano and Nakamura were going to be furious. He sat up and walked over to his suitcase.

Forgive me, Lovro, I know you told me that I should abandon all of my possessions but I couldn't part with this.A small black box was settled deep below his clothes. A small necklace laid inside. It was sterling silver with a small, circular, yellow pendant. Karma had presented it to him for their graduation, saying it was a gift from everyone.

"We never thanked you for it. We know what you went through after it happened. We couldn't do it, and you could." Behind him, their friends were giving him supportive smiles. "So this is from all of us to you. We're all going off to different colleges, but when we get all old and boring, just remember us."

Nagisa pulled it out of the black box. It gleamed as the florescent lighting hit it. "I'm going to need all the reminders I can get," he muttered to himself. He undid the silver clasp and put it around his neck. Tears began to fall down his face.

"I'm going to need all the reminders I can get," he repeated quietly.

The circular charm bounced against his collarbone as he changed into more casual clothes. First thing's first: Asano-finding. Next was Asano-tracking. Last was Asano-killing. Easy enough, an in and out job. He pulled out his laptop and some of his other gear. He had to set up a secured wi-fi spot to do some quick research to see if any of the information in the profile was incorrect.

He twirled a pen around his fingers as he wrote down notes on what he could find on him. The man had a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook profile, and a Line account. His posts were private, and his LinkedIn was neglected, showing an update only two years ago.

He typed Asano's name into a news aggregate, to which he saw numerous news articles pop up. There were a few profiles on his unusual rise to success. Others simply quoted him. He was becoming a rising star in politics and people were taking notice.

"You're really becoming well known, Nagisa."

"I am?" Nagisa questioned, somewhat confused.

"They've given you a nickname. The Blue Viper." Nagisa sat back in his chair, trying to wrap his head around this. He had a nickname? That meant that he had really made it. "Rumors are forming."

"Such as?"

"That you took down an entire human trafficking ring in Mexico and slayed them all in broad daylight." Nagisa thought back to the Black Pig ring. He had taken them down. That wasn't wrong. In broad daylight though? That would be hard, even for him.

"Incredible."

"You're really in demand now, Nagisa. So, where will the Blue Viper strike next?"

He read through the profiles the Internet had afforded him. The profiles were almost identical to the one he had gotten from Lovro. Whoever was ordering the hit was doing it on current information at the very least. Asano Gakushuu was second-in-command to the head of the Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education department in the Ministry of Education, a though that made Nagisa shiver. He had seen a lot of good in Gakushuu in junior high and eventually high school, although he had become quieter and quieter as high school drew to a close. Nagisa never got to see where he went after that.

He mindlessly wrote down notes and interesting tidbits he came across. In one article, it commented they had caught him on his way to lunch, which mean Asano took his lunch at approximately 12:30pm. He probably went into the office around eight, and left around five or six. Nagisa guessed he probably didn't take too many vacation days either. He glanced at the clock. 13:45. He would begin scouting the next day.

—

Of all the skills that assassination required, scouting was definitely one of the most aggravating parts of his job. He found a cute little café (though not as great as the one in Vancouver) not too far from the Ministry, where the real work could begin. He had quickly purchased a small laptop from a nearby electronics store. It was going to be far too hard to pinpoint Asano directly from the Tokyo commute crowds. That meant he would have to track his target another way: digitally.

Nagisa hated hacking. He wasn't good at it and he didn't enjoy it. His target likely had a government phone as well, which was sure to have a minimum of one hundred security measures. He tapped his fingers against the new laptop's keyboard. If a government agency picked up on the hack, at least it wouldn't be traced to his own wi-fi or his own computer. It was disposable.

"Alright, Nagisa, it's time for you to learn something new," Karasuma told him. Nagisa stood a little bit straighter. They had been upping the intensity of his training everyday now. It was no longer about free running, but free climbing and strength exercises. If he was to be a pro assassin, he needed to be at the peak of physical fitness. He sparred against Karasuma in martial arts and learned weaponry from Irina.

"Yes, Karasuma-sensei?"

"Sit down." Nagisa complied. "Most communication nowadays is totally digital. When you eventually get out there, it's going to be very important that you know how to navigate digital environments and computers. I'm going to be teaching you how to hack computers."

"Hacking?" Nagisa asked, "It's that important?"

Karasuma nodded. "It's that important."

It was times like these that Nagisa wished he had his own IT lackey like movies about secret agents always showed (though he wasn't a government agent, the principle still stood). He would have to find a site to begin his electronic assault. He just need to access to Asano's planner, that was it. His mobile phone would be a great starting point, assuming he was working on a government phone.

He felt a headache coming on.

He was going to need another coffee.

—

Nagisa sat in a bar not too far from where the Ministry of Education. He quietly sipped at the sake he had ordered. While enjoying some real sake (definitely not that nasty stuff he had tried in the US!) was definitely important, he had a bigger purpose here. He mindlessly scrolled through his phone, listening to the conversations around him as carefully as he could.

"And he's just not paying attention to me anymore!"

"Oh Hikari-san, I totally understand. You should dump him, if he's not respecting you, you shouldn't put up with that!"

Not relevant.

"Did you see what Kenji-san posted yesterday?"

"No, what?"

"So while he was apparently too sick to come into work, he wasn't too sick to head out on a date with Makoto-chan!"

"Really?!"

Not relevant.

"I can't believe what a jerk he is."

"C'mon Yori-san, he's not all that bad."

"Just because he's the boss doesn't mean he can treat us like that!"

"Look, I worked under Asano-sama for a while too." Nagisa's eyes widened, what luck! "You just gotta deal with it. Do as he says, even if he's a jerk while he orders you around." The woman lowered her voice, but Nagisa was already acutely attuned to their conversation. "They say that bad things happen to people who don't respect him. They say he's got a curse or something. But if he likes you, good things come your way." Nagisa listened as they ordered another round.

"I dunno if I can keep up pretending to tolerate him," Yori explained, "He keeps me late, I feel like I haven't seen my children in weeks. You know this is the first time I've gotten off at five in two months?"

"It seems hard now, but I can guarantee that if he likes you, you'll make it to the top. You know when he was in my department. My co-worker, Daichi-san, you remember him? He got on Asano-sama's good side and you know what happened? He ended up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Somehow, he made the jump from MEXT to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Do you know how hard that is? That man can either send you to your grave or your dreams."

"I dunno, Kaiya-san, there's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way, y'know?" He swallowed his sake, ordering another round. "It's like, who the hell is he anyway? He's ten years younger than me!" Nagisa twitched. He would need to act soon. Not yet. He watched the bartender deliver the next round. Almost. The woman sipped at her cup.

"That man is cursed, I'm telling you," she said, shaking her head, "There's something about him. His charisma and his ruthlessness."

"I'm sick of it!" he spat. The alcohol was starting to get to him, that much was obvious. He must've had a lot more before Nagisa had arrived. Not yet.

"Just power through, I know you can do it," she said, patting him on the back.

"Yeah yeah, God knows how long he's gonna be there anyway." She grinned.

"Exactly." Almost. He gulped down another round of sake. She rubbed his back again. "Look, Takashi-san, I've gotta go. I'm meeting my boyfriend in ten. Don't let Asano-sama get you too down, alright. If you ever need to vent, just text me or call me. I'll respond as soon as I can." Now. The woman got up, giving him a hug before leaving. Nagisa gulped down the rest of his sake. He threw a 500 yen coin on the counter top. It was time to put on a show.

He stumbled from his stool, as though he had a lot more to drink than he actually had. He

wandered in the direction of the man, "accidentally" stumbling into this Takashi-san.

"Watch it!" the man snapped, his hand up ready to pay his tab.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I don' normally ge' this bad, bu' my shitty-ass boss has bee' getting on my nerves la'ly. I'm sorry." He bowed deeply, pretending to convey his sincerity. He swayed a bit where he bowed. The man laughed loudly.

"Join th' party!" he exclaimed, slamming his hand on Nagisa's back. He held back his instinct to throw his knife at the man's throat.

"Hi' stupid ass fired me today," Nagisa slurred, carefully watching the man, "Like wha' di' I do to deserve tha'? I show up everyda' at eigh' o'clock sharp, don' leave until six. Like hi' lazy ass doesn' show up till ten!"

"My crazy ass boss doesn't ever leave!" The man exclaimed, exasperated. "He's there when I get in and when I leave! He's gotta get there at like five or six or some shit!" That's good to know. At the earliest, his daily schedule probably starts at 5 in the morning.

"My stupi' boss leaves at like four too! I been bustin' my ass for ten hours a day, and he jus' fires me!" Nagisa exclaimed, roughly taking a cup and slamming it onto the counter. The man laughed, gesturing to the bartender to get them another round. Nagisa carefully sipped the drink that the bartender delivered, he didn't want to actually get drunk.

"Isn't that how it always is?!" Takashi agreed, "I've been working for 13 years at this stupid ministry, and I get passed over for a promotion, while this young attractive prick gets the job in an instant! The asshole probably used his daddy's connections to get it or something! I got two kids at home! I could use that promotion!" Nagisa's heart went out to him, it really did. He really did seem like a hard-working man.

"Lemme ask you, does your boss do this stupi' ass thin' where he makes you pool your schedules togethe' like he doesn't trus' you or somethin'?"

"How did you know!? And of course, he thinks he's so high and mighty because he keeps his own shit private!" Nagisa gritted his teeth. Of course he did. Wouldn't it be so nice if he made things convenient for his assassin? That was never the case.

"M' boss did the same thin'! As if his lazy ass had anythin' to hide!"

"My boss is some crazy ass powerful man." Takashi lowered his voice. "They say that if he doesn't like you, he'll find ways to take you out. That's why they're saying he got his position so young. He's ruthless." Not particularly informative. Though it did confirm that Asano had just gotten crazier since they got out of high school. His case briefing told him as much. He mentally gathered what he had learned. Underlings don't like him, his day-to-day work is likely encrypted, even his employees realize he's invested in some shady business, and he's typically at work from five am to seven pm. Nagisa mentally groaned. There was no way he was going to get out of attempting to hack Asano's phone. At least he now had a starting point.

Nagisa dramatically glanced at his watch. "Ah shi', I can' stay out much longer. I gotta ge' home." He gulped down the rest of the sake, leaving a 1000 yen note on the bar.

"It was nice meeting ya, man. Hope you can find another job," Takashi said. Nagisa nodded, standing up. He feigned a stumble into the man. "You gonna be alright getting home?"

"I'll b' fine," he assured. He pushed himself back, and stumbled towards the door, Takashi's work phone carefully tucked into his pocket.

Not a bad first day.