"Again? Really?"

Anon and I had been reviewing the process of suturing a serious injury when Yuma had interrupted, insisting on another round of arm wrestling. Rin had appeared in the main room at just the right time to see me slam his hand down on the table.

"Yes!" I yelled in victory, leaning back in my chair. Anon waited patiently. Rin rolled her eyes.

"Dude, what?!" Yuma yelled. "How in the hell?"

With Rin and I's sparring put on hold, I had decided to fill the gap in my schedule with more weight lifting. It seemed to have paid off. "Guess I'm the dominant one, now," I sneered.

Yuma shook his head. "I can't believe it. Rematch."

"I beat you fair and square."

"No! Rematch!" He seemed genuinely offended.

I sighed. "Fine. But only to stop your whining."

Rin shook her head, taking a seat next to me. "You're both dumb."

Anon watched the fight with an amused smile on her face.

We joined hands again, my elbow planted firmly on the table. "Three, two-"

The final number was drowned out by the sound of the front door opening. I looked over my shoulder, distracted from the game, as Flower and Kanon appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Each of them wore a frown.

"Meiko wants to see you," Flower said to Rin. "She said it's urgent."

Rin furrowed her brow. Once again, against Anon's wishes, she was not wearing her sling. "How urgent?"

"She wants you to meet her at a hotel in London tomorrow."

The girl next to me frowned. "Tomorrow? Why?"

Flower shrugged. "She wouldn't say. Just told me it was important."

Rin sighed. "Well… if it's that urgent-"

"I don't like it," Kanon said, crossing her arms. "I still think she had something to do with the contract. I don't like it at all."

As much as the others had tried to shake Kanon of her suspicions, there was no changing the girl's mind.

"Let us come with you," Kanon said.

"No," Flower shook her head. "Meiko would be put off by all six of us coming to see her. Just let Rin do it." She turned her attention to the girl. "She specifically asked that you come alone."

Kanon scoffed. "Now I definitely think something is up."

"It's not new, Kanon, that she asks to see only me," Rin pointed out. Yuma and I watched the conversation, our contest completely forgotten.

Distressed, Kanon looked for anything to say. Her gaze traveled across the room, strained. "At least… at least take Len with you," she said.

Rin's shoulders slumped. "If she wants me to go alone-"

"Please?" She continued. "Just… just for my peace of mind. He doesn't have to go meet her. Just bring him with you. Please."

Rin glanced at me, our eyes meeting as she pondered her proposition. I didn't see a problem with the plan; I was more than happy to go with her. To be honest, sending her off alone, especially with her shoulder still hurt, worried me as well.

Breaking our eye contact, Rin looked over at Flower. "When do we leave?"

Kanon sighed in relief, but Flower frowned. After a pause, she answered. "Now. Go grab your stuff. And Len, if you're going, do not let her see you. She won't be happy."

I nodded and stood from the table. "Okay."

Flower turned back towards the stairs. "Let's go."


It was a dreary day in London, England.

Clouds hung over the city malevolently, threatening rain but offering none. It was a cold spring day. And yet the city was still bustling with life.

There were no hotels during this trip, either. It seemed that all meetings with Meiko were brief and important. Rin and I carried our bags through the streets as we followed our printed directions to Meiko's hotel.

"What do you think it's about?" I asked her as we walked. The tall buildings surrounding us were overly familiar at that point. After so many cities, every single one felt the same.

She looked down at her map. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's probably big." Her eyes gleamed with hope. "Maybe she found something on Luka."

"Does she know you guys are looking for her?"

"We've…" Rin looked for the right words. "We've asked Meiko about her often. Never told her any details, though. Maybe she finally found something for us."

I didn't like the unknown. With this mysterious trip, the entire city felt like it was closing in on us.

"This is it," Rin said, looking up at one of the buildings. "This is where she's staying."

The hotel was an architectural masterpiece. It was made up of two buildings, on either side of the car-filled street, joined together by an enclosed hallway with glass walls that hung multiple stories over us. Even from the ground, I caught sight of people walking between the two buildings.

"Damn," I said, craning my neck to see the top of the buildings. Beyond the walkway, they rose, mirror each other perfectly, high into the sky. I wouldn't want to run up those stairs, I thought. My legs had just recovered from China and I wasn't too eager to pain them once again.

Rin veered to the right, pushing open the doors to the hotel. "Come on," she said, waving me after her. I followed.

This modern paradise was hidden in the traditional style of London's inner city. We walked past the check-in desk, ignoring the odd look of the employees, and stepped onto the elevator.

"Fifth floor, room 508," Rin repeated to herself. She turned to me. "Just… just walk around the floor or something. She's going to have guards in her room, but not outside. Whatever you do, do not come in." She pulled out her earpiece from her bag. I did the same. "If anything happens, I'm going to leave this on," she told me, gently tapping it into her ear. "You'll be able to talk to me, but I won't be able to respond, okay?"

I nodded, putting my earpiece on as well. "Okay."

She sighed. "You'll be able to hear everything. I don't like spying on her, but I won't be able to turn it on and off without alerting her."

Meiko has her guards, but Rin has hers as well. She didn't say it, but it was obvious to both of us why I was here. "Okay," I said once more.

"Do you have your gun on you?"

"Yeah." Was that even a question?

She frowned. "Do not shoot anything. You'll alert the entire city if it goes off."

"Hopefully I won't need it."

No response.

The elevator doors dinged open, and we slipped into the empty hallway.

I followed her silently until she stopped in front of room 508. She cast me one last glance as I passed her, before knocking against the door. I continued down the hall without looking back. I heard the door open and then close shortly after.

It was hard to look casual in the middle of a hallway, so I found a vending machine that I could lean next to. It was in a small area split off from the hallway. My position offered a perfect view of my surroundings. I watched Meiko's door like a hawk.

Voices sounded in my earpiece. "Meiko," Rin greeted.

"Rin." The older woman's voice was much quieter than Rin's, considering the earpiece was designed just to pick up the voice of the person wearing it. Everytime Meiko spoke, it was almost too soft to hear. Only the two of them exchanged words, but I knew there were many more people in the apartment. Guards.

I crossed my arms and I listened carefully.

"What's going on?" Rin asked.

"I have another contract for you," Meiko responded. "But this one is… a bit different."

"How so?"

Meiko said something else, but her response was too soft to make out. That's okay. As long as Rin hears it.

"What's her name?" Rin asked.

Once again, Meiko's response was too quiet to hear.

Everything is okay, I told myself. It's just another contract.

Just as I was about to let out a deep, loud sigh, I nearly jumped as a figure appeared around the corner in the hallway. He past right by me, most likely unaware of my presence altogether, and continued towards the room.

I held my breath and watched him.

He was dressed in a hoodie and jeans. His back was to me and his hood was pulled up over his head. It was almost disturbing how quiet his footsteps were. Slung over his back was a backpack. It looked heavy.

He passed the door without a pause. But my suspicion did not wane. So, deciding Rin was safe enough in her room, I followed him.

It was hard keeping track of him. The layout of the hotel was unlike the traditional American hotels. Instead of a single straight hall, they were positioned in a grid on each floor. I was able to tail him at a distance, sometimes barely catching glimpses of him as he disappeared around a corner. It felt like we were walking in circles and I briefly wondered if he had somehow become aware I was following him. But, eventually, he took an unexpected turn towards the stairwell and pushed his way in.

I let the door close all the way before slowly and silently opening it, guiding it closed behind me.

In the stairwell, it was much harder for him to mask his footsteps. They echoed softly as he climbed the stairs above me. It would be impossible to walk without alerting him, so I tried my best to match his quickening pace, stepping only when he did. It seemed to work. I couldn't see him, but I heard him open a door above me and close it. The footsteps went silent.

We had only climbed three floors. I opened the door slowly, peering down the hall to see him walking to my right. The entire time, I heard Rin's conversation with Meiko. It seemed like a normal contract. Nothing to worry about. Especially compared to the person in front of me.

Once I turned the corner, I was startled to find the glass walkway stretched out in front of me. The clear walls on either side revealed London during its rush hour. Ahead of me walked the mysterious stranger, his hands in his pockets and his back still to me.

I wanted to stare out the windows longer but I had no time. Should I tell Rin? Even if I wanted to advise her of the unknown person, I couldn't. Speaking at this point would draw his attention to me. Plus, it was probably nothing. A person walking around with a backpack was not uncommon in a hotel. If anything, I was just trying to pass the time. Rin was going to be occupied for a while.

"Where can I find her?" Rin asked. My end was silent. As far as she knew, I was still perched up against that wall.

He veered left. I followed.

It took me off guard seeing an empty hall ahead of me. I caught a glimpse of a shutting door. Room 808.

I stopped in front of it, pressing my ear to the door.

There was shuffling. A zipper opened.

"If she's so well protected, how are we supposed to get to her?" Rin asked.

"...you to find out," were the only words of Meiko's response I was able to make out. I tried to zone out their voices, listening to the door.

There was more shuffling. I heard a gentle clink as something metal hit the floor. I could feel my heartbeat picking up.

"And the people around her? What info do you have on them?" Rin asked.

The sounds emanating from the door were muffled, but audible. There was a louder clink this time. I had heard these sounds before.

"...how many are there?" Her voice sounded in my ear once again.

I had heard these sounds before.

I had heard these sound many times before.

I reached for my bag, desperately digging around through the clutter for my keycard reader. Inside, the unmistakable sounds of someone assembling the parts of a gun continued.

It felt like eons before I finally found what I was looking for. With trembling hands, I inserted the card, waiting impatiently as machines decoded the key.

"How much are we talking for this?" She asked.

Come on, come on, I thought, adrenaline starting to pump through me. On the opposite side of the street from the girls, a few floors higher, it was the perfect vantage point. I knew Meiko had a lot of enemies but this was not how I expected this trip to go. Weren't her guards supposed to be the ones saving her?

Finally, the screen flashed green. The sounds inside had stopped.

"Target in sight," a male voice said in the room. He's talking to someone. He's-

I threw the door open and felt an extreme rush of deja vu. Kneeling on the other side of the room was the person I had followed, a familiar-looking, large gun pressed against his shoulder. It was propped up with the barrel leaning out the window, pointing down. At its end was a suppressor.

He turned to me as I barged in. His eyes grew wide and he stood tall. The gun remained perfectly in place. Meiko was still at the other end of that barrel. "Who the fuck-"

Last time I had interrupted an assassination, I was caught completely in the open. This time, though, I was ready.

With my bag swinging wildly over my shoulder, I vaulted over the neatly-made bed, shoving the stranger against the glass of the window. He hit it with a thud, his eyes narrowing in anger as he swung a fist at me. I ducked low to avoid it and pushed him into the glass once again. He let out a huff as the air escaped him. I struggled to keep him against the glass, reaching for the edge of the window to open it further, then gasped as I took a rough kick to the abdomen. I clutched at my stomach, falling to the ground.

I expected another blow but it never came. My assailant had fled the room, his running echoing through the halls.

Breathing heavily, I crawled towards the gun and peered through the scope.

I was half right. The gun was pointing directly into the window of a certain hotel room. The scope revealed the perfectly clear picture of Rin and Meiko, sitting across from each other, discussing their business. But the barrel was not pointing at Meiko. Not at all.

It was aimed directly into the back of Rin's head.

"K," I breathed out, barely remembering to address her with her code name. I saw her twitch a little bit in the room. "We've been set up." My stomach was killing me, and I glanced over my shoulder constantly to check if the guy had returned. He didn't.

Three floors below me, she tensed. "Let's talk about our pay," she said. Meiko nodded, her mouth moving but her words too soft to hear.

She doesn't believe me. "K, I just followed a guy up to the eighth floor. He went into this random room, and I heard him putting a gun together. I scared him off... but I'm looking through the gun. He left it."

I couldn't see Rin's expression. Meiko narrowed her eyes. I could only imagine the color draining from Rin's face before her.

"It's aimed right at you," I finished, nearly gasping my words now. I need Anon to look at this, I thought, grimacing at the idea of another stay in the infirmary.

The second the words left my mouth, Rin stood from her chair. The crosshairs now aimed at an empty seat.

"Why are we here, Meiko?" Rin suddenly asked with a strained voice. I heard the conversation through my earpiece and watched it through the scope. I was careful not to put my hands anywhere near the trigger of the gun.

Meiko cocked her head to the side. "For a contract-"

Rin shook her head, cutting her off. "Why. Are. We. Here?" She demanded.

Meiko hesitated, watching her with a careful eye. I was still shaking. Rin's alone down there, I realized. And I'm stuck up here.

With a gun.

I ran across the room, slamming the door shut and positioning a chair in front of the handle. Through my earpiece, I heard a growl of anger.

"Bombs, Rin?!" Meiko yelled, her voice very clear. "What the fuck were you thinking? That was all over the news! A contract that I was involved in was on National Television! What were you thinking?"

I returned to the gun, pulling it firmly into my left shoulder and watching the scene carefully.

"What?" Rin responded. "That wasn't us! Someone planted those! The client set us up! I wanted to warn you-"

"Don't make me laugh, Rin!" Meiko was standing now, too. "Why would my client pay that much money to have someone killed when they had the resources to do it themselves?"

"They set us up, I said!" Rin responded, clenching her fists. I examined the room around them as they argued. The door to the hall was directly to Rin's left. Two people stood in front of it. There were two more behind the couch on either side of Meiko. I had a feeling there were even more hidden from my sight. "We're not stupid enough to use bombs to kill a client. I swear!" She was nearly pleading now.

Meiko crossed her arms. "Luka told me about your little… attempt in LA."

Rin's shoulders slumped. "You're… you're working with-"

"Of course I'm working with Luka! I'd be stupid not to! Do you know how much money she brings me in every month?"

"I've got you covered," I assured Rin. "I've got you covered."

Despite my words, she looked terrified.

"You…" Rin trailed off. "You just tried to kill me."

Meiko waved a hand at her. "You're getting sloppy, Rin. I can't be associated with sloppy assassins. With you around, it's just a matter of time before they find me." She shrugged, and added: "Don't take it personally."

Rin shook her head. "We've worked together for years-"

"Everything comes to an end eventually," Meiko said. "No one lives long in this business. See ya, Rin."

The room erupted into motion in a second. The people standing around the couch moved to either side of Meiko, pulling her out of the room swiftly. The two standing near the door stepped towards Rin, and three others appeared around her.

I was thankful they had chosen a room with such a large window.

Careful not to hit Rin, I picked off one body standing behind her. The sound was reduced, though not completely eliminated. She jumped, watching with wide eyes as the guard slid to the ground, lifeless.

"I've got you covered," I said once again. Pulling my eye from the scope, I searched the room for ammunition. It was sitting next to me on the wooden floor. I grabbed a stray bullet.

I looked through the scope as I unloaded the shell and slid the new bullet in. Her bag sat at the foot of her chair. Furrowing her brow, she dodged for it, grabbing her baton out of her bag and extending it.

"Stay it in the window," I told her. "I can only see them through the window."

She didn't respond, but she swung wildly at the closest guard, dodging to her right. Her back was to me. They had her surrounded.

The ones behind her were the greatest threat but I was too scared to aim for another. I recognized this gun from Flower's teachings. Its power would certainly send the bullet through my target and straight into Rin's stomach. I wasn't eager to kill her.

Instead, I aimed at a person standing to her right and pulled the trigger. They dropped to the floor instantly.

Alarm raised in the guards once they realized what was happening. One of them dodged out of sight of the window, while another pulled Rin into a chokehold from behind her. I could hear her struggling to breathe in my ear. She elbowed the man in the side, her baton slipping from her fingers. He kneeled over in pain while Rin delivered a hard kick in his neck.

The two remaining guards, a man and a woman, charged at her from either side. I could only pick off the man in time. The woman grabbed the collar of Rin's shirt from behind, slamming her into the glass with enough force to make me cringe. A small bloodstain appeared on the now-cracked glass where Rin's head had hit it. She collapsed just as I landed my shot between the woman eyes.

"Rin," I said, looking through the scope and forgoing our codenames. The room was now motionless. "Rin?"

She didn't answer, nor did she move.

"Fuck," I muttered, standing tall. I glanced at the gun one last time with disgust before impulsively kicking it out of the open window. I left the room as it fell down to the sidewalk below.

I ran through the hallways once more, pushing past people and ignoring their angry calls in response. Dashing through the connecting walkway, I caught a glimpse of the city below us once more. There was already a crowd of people forming on the sidewalk where the gun had landed. The clouds above were darkening.

Three staircases later, I burst into the room.

"Rin!" I called, jumping over the lifeless bodies of the guards to get to her. Kneeling down, I turned her head to face me. Blood ran down her temple where her head had hit the window. Blood trickled down her face.

I desperately felt for a heartbeat, letting out a sigh of relief when I felt the steady pulse in her neck. The force of the impact was enough to knock her unconscious. But she was alive.

"Rin, wake up," I said, reaching for her shoulder and pausing. Shaking her awake was probably the worst thing I could do in this situation. Not only could I further injure her shoulder, but with a head injury like this, she needed medical attention. And fast.

Anon was an ocean away. Literally. I was her only hope.

I glanced around the room. The motionless bodies were scattered throughout. It was a rather grim scene, but I was focused on more important things. The door was open. Meiko was gone.

My heart nearly stopped at the sound of police sirens. Looking down at the street, I watched with horror as three police cars pulled up to the curb across the street. Someone had called about the gun. The officers stepped out of their cars, dispersing the crowd. They were across the street, but it was only a matter of time until they found us.

"Rin!" I called again, trying desperately to wake her up. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go. Panic was coursing through my veins.

Her eyes remained closed and her breathing remained soft.

Wherever we went, I knew it had to be away from here. I took off my bag, digging through it for my face mask and slipped it on. I grabbed Rin's good arm, kneeling down as I pulled her onto my bag. Her arms dangled around my neck, and her cheek rested softly against my shoulder. I could feel the blood from her wound dripping onto the back of my shirt. I grabbed the bag from the floor, slipping it over both my shoulder and hers in an attempt to balance her on my back. It kind of worked.

The officers had zoned off the area where the gun had landed. It had exploded into several pieces on impact, which all lay scattered throughout the sidewalk. One of them entered the front doors of the sister building. I was running out of time.

I stood, trying to shift Rin into a comfortable position on my back. The bag helped keep her left side balanced, but I had to keep my right arm constantly hooked under her leg to keep her from slipping. I ran out of the room leaning forward, my back nearly parallel to the ground. I pulled Rin's hood over her head as I ran.

Some of the hotel's occupants stopped in the hall at the sight of us. Three people, two guys and a girl, were carrying their luggage through the hall when they saw us. I jogged past them. My bag would be scrambling the cameras, but there was no hiding from the sights of pedestrians.

Just as I turned the corner for the stairs, one of them screamed. They must have passed the bloody scene we left behind.

Now we really had to run.

Just get out, just get out, just get out, I repeatedly thought to myself as I sprinted down the stairs, careful to keep myself balanced. The police had entered the other building, so there was no escape in that direction. We couldn't go up, obviously, since there was no Yuma in a helicopter to pick us up, so I only had one option. Down.

Rin's cheek bounced against my shoulder as I ran.

She needed Anon. She needed her team.

I needed my team.

But they were in another country. And, I realized with despair, I had no way to contact them. We had already reached the lobby when I remembered that Rin's bag contained our plane tickets. Rin's bag that was upstairs, covered in the blood of the guards.

It was too late to go back for it. I cursed under my breath.

I was completely and utterly alone with Rin unconscious on my back, the police and a possible rival assassin coming after me, and no way to contact any backup. If I fucked anything up, Rin and I would end up dead or captured. I didn't know which was worse.

There were more people walking down the stairs who shouted after me as I passed them. It certainly looked bad. Some guy running with an unconscious girl on his back? Bad news.

We had no hotel to return to, no escape car, no evac, nothing.

But we have bases in every major country in the world.

UK. Where is it? I could hear Yuma's voice in my ears.

"Fuck," I muttered. Under all this stress, I couldn't remember.

My breathing heavy, I kicked open the door to the lobby. Several pairs of eyes looked in my direction as I entered. I tried to skirt the walls, but my attempts at hiding were in vain.

The main exit was out of the question. Even now I could see the police walking towards the building. There was an empty hall to my right. Probably some maintenance hall or something. I followed it.

This is the one with that, like, super British-sounding name, right?

It was. The city… the village, more like. It was North. I knew that much. But what was its fucking name?

It was North. For now, that was enough. I needed to go North. But it was way too far to walk. I needed a car.

No taxi driver would stop for someone who looked like they were in the middle of a kidnapping. And even if they did, they would never drive me several hours to this random town in the middle of nowhere. I probably had enough money to simply buy a new car, but the thought was so ridiculous I almost laughed at it.

"Down there!" I person called from the lobby.

Uh oh.

I went from a light jog to a full out sprint.

I couldn't taxi, I couldn't purchase. That left me with one option. Theft. I didn't like it, but I didn't have a choice. Kanon had shown me that process of hotwiring a car. I played the instructions over in my head.

With every few bounds down the hall, I had to pull Rin up my back. She was still slipping.

There was yelling behind me. An emergency exit stood against the wall a few feet ahead of me. Pushing it would sound the alarm.

I was already being pursued and I had no other options. So I pushed it open.

The humid air rushed at me, blowing through mine and Rin's hair. It had started to rain. The door shut behind me, muffling the high-pitched ringing that ensued my exit.

Rin was still passed out.

I had stepped into an alley. Without wasting time, I dashed to the left, continuing to run with my back low to the ground. Even her small weight was beginning to ache my shoulders.

"Red wire to red wire, brown wire to brown wire. Red wire to red wire, brown wire to-" I mumbled to myself. I turned a corner, hearing more shouts behind me, and disappeared into the maze of buildings in downtown London.


This is probably one of my top three chapters in this entire thing. For once, Len gets to be the hero!

Thanks for reading! :)