The Time Assassin

by Meatbun Attack

Heng Shi is an assassin that gets the word traitor from his own family. Now he has to run away from home to survive, but running away from his life isn't that simple, so he takes help from second life. But it isn't easy to satisfy all of his needs just by playing a game... What will happen now? (First fanfic ever) DISCONTINUED. SORRY

25. The life of a demon Birthday chapter

Alright you wonderful people, finally I got my head on the track for this story and not something else. –Bows down deeply- I'm so sorry! I said this year's birthday chapter would be on the birthday but obviously just so much happened during the summer, mainly hanging with friends before school began and on top of that, my laziness hindered me and all these new ideas rose to the surface so my brain just couldn't focus on the time assassin! –Starts to cry- I'm so sorry; I'm a terrible author who barely updates… What happened to make me lose focus on the stories I'm posting?

Heng shi: Well, obviously you got too many ideas. You should really stop watching new animes or read new mangas, it'll only give you more.

How can you say that!? You know that I can't stop watching them! I mean, do you have any idea how awesome it is to find new fan-girl objects? –Does a wiggly dance with flowers around me- Have you seen Rin's awesome blue flames? Or seen how awesome Eren's 3D gear is? And oh my chocolate, don't let me even start on Zelgadis! I've only seen about 10 episodes but he's already right below Deidara in my fan girl list! His magic powers, his blue skin, his cold-yet considerate personality!

Heng shi: Alright! Alright! I get it! You're a typical fan girl. But why do you even like Deidara? I thought you were more into the sadistic or evil type when you squealed or smiled every time Alucard ripped his victims apart.

-cough- Well, I'm sorry for rambling there, let's go back to more important business.

Heng shi: -Grins- Avoiding the subject I see.

Aaaaanyway, I figured that you didn't understand completely everything of Heng shi's old speech from the previous chapter so I decided to skip it this time. It's easier for you to read then without having to figure out what the word means. (And also easier for me because I don't have to search for the words) So we'll just pretend that he speaks old-fashioned, alright? And to make up for my terrible lateness, this chapter is extra, extra long. And also, I've read guest reviews and they've said that I should expand the time that I talk with my wonderful killer before and after the chapters. And also, a guest pointed out that it was cruel of me to tie him to the chair since I can defend myself so well.

Heng shi: -snort- Yeah, right. She knows absolutely nothing about martial arts, the hammer she has sends shockwaves directly into my time energy and that's why I pass out. And those 'computer powers' of hers, it's only a matter of time before I figure out how to neutralize it so it doesn't affect me. And then, I'll take over the story.

Ehm… Does that mean that I was screwed since the second chapter…? Since I revealed about your time energy…? –is sweating a lot while slowly backing away from the grinning Heng shi-

Heng shi: -eyes gleaming dangerously- Of course, why else do you think that I've tried to kill you so many times. Once I destroy that 'computer power' of yours, this story will be mine to tell.

-Huddles off into a corner, hugging my knees and shaking- He's so scary… Why did I have to make him like that…? And why do you guys want me to release him…? He'll take over my story and then you'll never know what'll happen to him! Those people are still after him, you know?! Please don't make me release him! The last time I did, if it weren't for my computer powers, I would have been killed! And like he says, it's only a matter of time before he figures it out… So please don't make me release him!

Heng shi: -chuckles darkly- Yeah, yeah. Aren't you supposed to present the birthday chapter? You're late enough as it is.

-Dries my eyes and looks towards readers- Yeah… Sorry… Here's the birthday chapter, the majority of you wanted it to be Heng shi's childhood, so here it comes… All of them, kind of, he's a grown up on most of them… I hope this makes you understand Heng shi better. This chapter has taken 5 months to write!

Heng shi: -Glares darkly at me while trying to wiggle out from his chains- You're dead!

Eeeep! Enjoy! –runs out of the room, leaving Heng shi behind.

Heng shi: -Glances towards readers- If you vote for me getting free from these chains… I can make the story much more exciting. You won't know anything more about me though. And the girl won't talk anything after this chapter, thank god.

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1902 - 12th may - 14:36

I'm sitting in my father's lap, looking through a picture book containing different landscapes of the outside world. Since I haven't been allowed to go outside in my first five years, I want to see what the outside world is like in pictures instead. My gaze shifts from the picture book and up towards my father's neck where the golden chain of his necklace hangs loosely but disappears underneath his neck line. My brows furrow in confusion as I continue to stare at the chain.

"Excuse me, father. Why are you wearing a necklace all the time? Only girls are supposed to wear necklaces." I ask him innocently.

Father look down at me with slight interest shining in his yellow eyes, but smiles kindly as I reach up a hand to fish his necklace out from underneath his shirt. I look at the hourglass necklace in my hand, the sand inside it slowly pouring down the small hole and into the lower container but the strangest thing about it is that the sand seems to be never-ending, just continue to flow without the lower space getting full. I can hear father close the book we've been looking through, setting it aside on the brown leather couch we're sitting on before he ruffles my hair. Father and mother are the only ones who are allowed to do that to me, I hate it when others treat me like a kid.

"Not only women wear necklaces, son. If the necklace is important enough or the man simply thinks it looks good on him, men can too wear necklaces much like the women does."

I wrinkle my forehead in confusion, staring up into father's eyes and shift my position so that I'm sitting across his father's legs so I won't have to turn around in a weird angle to up look at him.

"But, that just seems so weird. Men aren't supposed to wear necklaces; it shows that they don't have any pride in being a man, that's at least what I've heard. The kids in school called you a woman just because you wear a necklace and have softer hair than other men."

Father raises an eyebrow in interest, unconsciously touching his dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail as he drops his hand from the my head to rest beside us on the couch.

"Did they now? That wasn't very nice of them to say, this guild is a family and families are supposed to respect each other and accept that not everyone are alike. I like my necklace and my hair is soft because I take good care of it."

I huff in annoyance, puffing out my cheeks slightly like I always do when I'm annoyed. I also cross my arms over my chest to further show my annoyance but it only makes my father smile, I have no idea why though.

"Yes, I told them that, that your necklace is important and just because your hair is soft doesn't mean that you're a woman. But they just continued laughing at you; I just don't understand why they would disrespect you so much just because you wear a necklace."

Father ruffles my white hair again before he envelops me in a one-armed hug. He knows that I don't like too much affection so he and mother always give me one-armed hugs so that I won't feel awkward. Although, on special occasions they can't help themselves from hugging me tightly, I guess it's ok if it's them…

"They just don't understand how it is to have something important to you that are unusual. Take your stuffed animal for example; even though you're five years old, old enough to sleep without a stuffed animal's comfort, you still hug it to your chest while you sleep." I blush slightly when he says that, it's not my fault that I can't bring myself to throw away my first gift… Father notices my embarrassment but doesn't mention it and continue to talk.

"That little stuffed dog is precious to you and that's why you don't want to throw it away or replace it, you want the animal to stay in your bed no matter how much you would be teased if the other boys in your school discovered it. It's the same thing with my necklace, I don't care if they tease me because I'm wearing it, I'll take those consequences if it means that I'll still have the necklace around my neck. And did you know that I also have a precious climbing tree?"

"Really? You have a climbing tree of your own?" I exclaim in amazement, this is something I haven't heard from him, and he always shares his secrets with me or mother. Father chuckles slightly at my excitement and hugs me a little tighter with his arm.

"That's right, as a matter of fact; I'll take you there tomorrow. You're old enough for me to share my special place with you."

My eyes light up in pure glee and I wiggle out from father's tight grip so that I can run out from the room to tell mother the good news.

"Mother! Mother! Father will show me his tree tomorrow! I'll be able to go outside! Did you know he had a tree?"

Mother's painting like she usually does in her work room she's bought with most of her work money. But when she hears me enter the room, she turns away from her painting to look down at me with her blue eyes. Her white hair tied up in a ponytail to keep it from getting in her way while she paints. As I'm walking towards her with happy skips in my steps, Mother's eyes soften and a small smile grace her lips as she puts aside her paint and pencil so she can envelop me in a hug once I reach her. I happily bury my face in her stomach.

"Yes, I knew he has a tree. In fact, I was the first person he showed his tree to. It's a very pretty place for a tree to grow on."

I wiggle out from her grip as well and start jumping in excitement.

"I want to go there now mother! I can't wait until tomorrow to see father's tree!"

Mother chuckles at my enthusiasm and ruffles my hair in affection; I shake of her hand with a smile on my face. Mother picks up her pencil and colors again, turning towards her painting and tells me from over her shoulder that if I wait until tomorrow to see the tree, I'll get to paint with her paint just this once. I can't say no to painting together with my mother, so I agree and follow her instructions on how to set up the second paint tripod. I then place a canvas on it and start to paint. I have only been allowed to draw on paper before so to pain on a canvas is really special! I will do the best painting I can!

Those days were my happiest days… Short as they were… everything must come to an end… 11 years later; sickness took my Mother away… Father following her two years later, losing the battle of age… After that, I was all alone with just a few things to remember them by… It was a terrible feeling and I wanted to follow them in death… But, I was too afraid to die completely… Now that I got the power to stay alive, I used it like the coward I was… I faked my death to try and start my life anew… I really disgust myself…

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1944 - 1st April - 03:18

I and my three friends are sitting on a bench together, laughing over a joke one of us did. It's our fifth school year and I'm still mourning over my parents' death even though it happened many years ago. Right now, my body's 11 years old so I still have the pleasure of being a carefree child for a while more before I become an assassin. There's still three years left in school so I'll spend all the time I've got left with my new friends, they are the children of my former friends so you can say they're my replacement for their parents.

The girl of our gang, Caroline, brushes a strand of her black hair behind her ear, setting her blue eyes on me with an eager glint in her eyes.

"Hey, John, have you done any great pranks today?"

I laugh at her question, crossing my arms over my chest proudly while lifting my nose higher up into the air.

"Well, of course, I'm not called the 'prankster king' for nothing. You know that grumpy teacher who always wears a frown on his face; I decided to put some colour in his every-day life. So during one of his lessons yesterday, I snuck off from class and went into his apartment. I went into his bathroom and poured some colour in his shampoo so it turned pink! I bet that since he already has blonde hair, the colour will stick nicely onto his hair!"

Larry shoves me hard on my shoulder while he's laughing, almost making me fall off the bench with the force he puts behind it. Caroline and Jimmy are also laughing and the sound makes a small smile spread on my lips.

"Aw, man! Hahahaha! I can't wait to see how his hair turned out when we see him in the next class! Hahahahaha! Great job John! Hiehahaha!" Jimmy shouts out in between his hysterical laughs, clutching his stomach hard and trying, but failing, to stay on the bench. He instead falls to the floor because he bent over too far but he keeps laughing even then. Larry soon joins Jimmy on the ground and both brown-haired twins are rolling from side to side to try and lessen their laughter. This is what causes me to laugh with the others.

My and Caroline's laughter soon die out though when we see two teachers walk towards us with a third person hidden behind them. Larry and Jimmy haven't lessened their laughter though since they haven't spotted the teachers and seen their serious expressions.

"Shhh, guys, stop it." Caroline whispers to the twins, but they can't hear her since their laughter is too loud.

I see it as my responsibility as the oldest of us to be the first line of defense so I stand up to face the teachers. When the twins hear my footsteps as I walk towards the group of three, they slowly stop laughing and I can feel my friend's gazes on me when I stop a few feet away from them, waiting for the teachers to stop a few feet from me before I decide to speak as politely as I can.

"Hello, how can we help you? Has something happened?"

The two teachers at the front of the group look down on me with blank gazes, sparing a quick glance towards the three kids behind me for a short second before once again settling on me.

"John Stones, you are to come with us to a meeting with the elders. You are going to undergo the official assassin ceremony."

My eyes widen in shock at his words, I'll graduate already? But why? I have been holding back so why would they…?

"W-what? But why teacher? I'm nothing special." I tell them, frowning as I try to come up with something that could have exposed my knowledge of how to be an assassin to the elders.

The person behind the first two black-clad teachers pushes them aside so that the third person can show himself. With a lot of difficulty I manage to suppress the laughter that wants to burst out from my mouth as I see the once blonde-haired teacher now has salmon pink hair. Though I hear one of the twins cough to contain his own laughter but other than that, it's perfectly silent when we see him due to the current situation. The 'frownie' teacher's frown grows even deeper when he spots the amusement in my eyes and he stares accusingly down at me.

"John Stones, you're the one who broke into my apartment last night to pour colour into my shampoo so that it would turn into this despicable colour. But what makes you graduate is that you didn't leave any evidence for a trained assassin's eye to spot. No open door, no broken lock, no dirt or disruptions on the floor, no fingerprints and nothing was out of place when I stepped through my door. The only thing I found that could point the blame towards you was a single strand of white hair stuck on the shampoo bottle. I have noticed during the lessons I have with your class that you're a little further ahead of the others, but now I'm sure that you are miles ahead, maybe even on the same level as a talented assassin in the means of hiding. You are going to perform the assassin ceremony on tomorrow's full moon and devote your loyalty towards the elders. The decision is final."

I stare at him with cold sweat running down my neck, I never realized to make the break in scene seem like that of an amateur, I just did it like I always would have done. Shit… I royally screwed up…

"But a strand of hair isn't much evidence, how can you be so sure that it was me? And how can you be absolutely certain that I'm so far ahead of everyone else? I'm not a prodigy; I don't do anything that the others don't. My hiding skills just come naturally."

The teachers doesn't answer me, but the one to the right suddenly pull out a knife from his sleeve and quickly hurls it towards me, too fast for a newbie to even register it. I react fast and bat away the knife with my hand and inch away from my face so that it hits the floor with a small 'clang'. Since I made sure to hit the knife on its handle, I don't have any wounds from the weapon and out of instinct; I place myself in a fighting stance.

It takes a few seconds for me to realize what I've done when I see a smirk on the pink-haired man's face. Crap...

"I think that's evidence enough, now come along." He says with his smirk growing larger, as if he enjoys seeing me get nervous.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and look back towards my friends who are all standing up, staring at me with bewildered and shocked faces. I've never told them that I could do anything like that… When I broke into an apartment together with them, I always made sure to leave some kind of trace behind me somewhere just like they did… It's a miracle I've been able to fake clumsiness for so long…

I smile sadly at them when I see tears gathering in the corner of Caroline's eyes, they must feel betrayed right now…

"I guess… This is good bye, huh? I won't be able to see you anymore after the ceremony…"

Larry's eyes grow hard along with Jimmy's while Caroline's tears start to fall down her cheeks.

"Yes… I guess this is good bye forever. I thought we were supposed to be friends. But it seems you broke our most important promise right from the start."

I wince at his low blow, turning towards the teachers so that they won't be able to see the pain in my eyes. When the teachers start to walk away, I loyally walk after them with my gaze down to the floor.

They didn't even come to the ceremony… I saw Caroline once but she turned her eyes away from me… Larry died soon after he became an official assassin… He so desperately wanted to catch up to me… The only time I saw Jimmy was when he attacked me in a rage, he blamed me for his brother's death… It hurts to be rejected so I went more often to my mother and father's grave to talk about my problems… All this only makes me miss them more…

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1979 - 1st July - 04:42

I'm walking through the long corridor of Xian hong, my ever-present indifferent face looking straight ahead and don't meet any eye contact. Though I can't help but hear whispers from others as I walk by them.

"Hey, look, is Ryan already done with his mission? Wasn't it an assassination of a high-skilled martial artist from an enemy guild? He sure is a…"

"Ryan is back. Wow, he's so handsome with that indifferent face." "Yeah, I just wish he would notice me. Anyone would die to be together with a guy like him." "I agree he's so strong and…

"Tche, that damn kid. Coming here so early just to show off, I bet that he didn't even do his job but actually ran back here with his tail in between his legs. That would make more sense since you can't really kill an experienced fighter that fast with the talent he got."

I stop when I hear one of the elder men talk down on me. But my indifferent face doesn't change in any other way than my eyes getting harder. Talk bad about me, I can deal with that, but if you underestimate my skills, you won't get away unharmed. My anger grows as I hear other men laugh together with the one who spoke. The meeting with the elders can wait a little longer…

I turn sharply towards the sound of mocking laughter, stopping in front of the group of five men with my hands calmly placed inside my comfortable black pants. Their laughter dies out when they sense me and the five of them glares up at me from where they're sitting in a circle on the floor, playing a game of cards with a bottle of beer next to each of them.

"What do you want, kid? Aren't you supposed to go and report to the elders about your mission? Or maybe we were right about you failing your assassination. I thought it was bad from the start to make a kid like you graduate early. No friends, freezing out your family and treating everyone like a plague, the likes of you are never good assassins. You should know from school that assassin guilds are family and are supposed to treat each other well or have you forgotten that?"

I stare at him blankly, letting his insults run dry and their laughter die out before I speak.

"How about you, you tell me to treat the guild better but even so, you hate me to the bone just because I can do all jobs better and faster than you grown-ups who, in your opinion, have much more experience than I do."

"What did you say?!" Another man screams in anger as all five of them throw down their cards to stand taller than me by a good head. Even though I'm 14 and have reached my growth spurt, I know that I won't grow taller than 1,68 meters, I only have a few decimeters left until I reach that height.

"I think you heard me perfectly well, if you just use the shadows as your friend and hide your presence perfectly, an assassination of a fighter is easy even if that person is a martial artist who's training to become as swift as ourselves. My agility is also much greater than yours, I can see that you are one of those who work in groups and focus on strength, unlike myself who normally do solo jobs since I'm too fast for anyone to notice me before they're dead."

When one of the men tries to hit me, I easily turn away from the fist, catching it with one of the hands which I've had in my pocket up until now. I kick him in the stomach before he gets the chance to react and the man hits the wall, sliding down onto the floor while trying to regain his breath. When the other four men see their comrade down for count, they all attack at the same time in hope of overwhelming me. I take out my other hand from my pocket so I can use both my hands and block the first punch and kick with my arms.

When a fist aims towards my face, I quickly drop to the ground, putting my hands on marble floor, rolling forwards slightly and kick up my legs into two of the men's throats so they too loose their breath. I finish my roll just in time to avoid getting hit by a third man's stomp and when I turn around, I block a kick towards my head with my left hand. Keeping it there, just by his knee, I grab onto his heel with my right and push him backwards, forcing the man to fall unless he wants his kneecap broken. He lands clumsily, hitting the floor with the back of his head. I dodge to the left to avoid a tackle from the last man while giving him a light push in the back and sweeping out his legs from under him, causing him to face plant into the floor.

I stand in front of three groaning full-grown men who are struggling to stand up with two others behind me who are unconscious, or probably dead since I did kick them hard on their throats. I turn away from the group, speaking to them as I walk away.

"Insulting me, I'm ok with that, insulting other guild members, I can deal with that too. But if you ever insult my skills or the guild as a whole, you are shown first-hand what I can do."

A few teenage girls squeal at my words, whispering about how cool I was as I continue my walk to the elders.

I don't mourn over my parents as much anymore but I refuse to call my new 'family' my family… I don't want to be rejected by my friends like I was before so I don't want to have any in the first place… If I don't have any bonds, it won't be as painful to leave, right…?

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2005 - 10th September - 02:58

"No…" I whisper in disbelief, staring at the dead bodies in shock. My last life was lonely so I tried to start from scratch this time again, but when I go after the target alone, I find my two only friends dead when I get back. How did this happen? Th-they're holding hands? They're smiling? Why are they smiling?! Are they happy to leave me behind?! How could they have died?! There weren't many assassins when I left, I'm sure they could have taken care of it! Or else I wouldn't have left!

I look down at the blood around their bodies, it looks fresh and is still pouring out, they must have been dead for just a few minutes… I go down to my knees and touch the blood, it isn't really cold, I would say 5-7 minutes tops that the blood has been lying here. Stab through the heart on Gwen… Stab through the kidney and lung on Gered… They must be happy to at least die together… But they forgot about me! They left me behind! They shouldn't look so damn happy! It was just because of them that I could go on team missions! They're only 15! They shouldn't die so early!

I hit the ground in frustration, my fist making a splashing sound when it hits the bloody puddle. My body shivers in both disgust and excitement at the sound of blood. Disgust because it's the blood coming from my first friends I've had in decades and excitement because it's blood, still warm blood. I can feel its weak heat caress my skin through my glove and it makes me want to feel more of heated blood. But I can't… because there's no one else to kill…

There are corpses littered everywhere, their blood splattering over the wall and floors. Many bodies are crushed from Gered's heavy spike ball and are lying, broken; in craters either alone or together with someone. Lines of splashed blood litters the floor and walls here and there from Gwen's swift work with her daggers and a lot of the dead people have holes in their bodies after being hit by my deadly shots with my type 64 pistol.

I sigh tiredly, standing up from the floor and look down at my friends' peaceful faces one last time. Someone has to report the mission… I guess it's time to get back…

I turn around and walk away from the bloody scene, my steps silent with a slight 'tap' echoing through the wide halls of the mansion our mission was placed in. The target is dead and the target's help is dead. But along the way, two comrades died. One who was a huge asset in his strength and the other with her agility. But even though we've lost them, the elders will see this as a job well done since I came out alive. But I won't ever call this mission a good one. I won't take any team missions again.

It's better to work alone, that way; the hole in my chest won't hurt… I guess trying to rebuild my life is meaningless… I will always face the same pain, over and over, like a nightmare repeating itself… No more important bonds, only weak bonds which will fill the empty void… Because precious bonds are too painful to cut…

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2034 - 22nd April - 09:26

"Hi mother! I'm back!" I call out happily as I stand in front of the special tree with a backpack slung over my shoulder. I smile as a warm breeze caress my cheek and I walk over to the base of the tree to sit down against the trunk. Once I'm seated, I open my backpack and take out the photo of my mother, drawing pad, pencil and a rubber. I place the picture of mother beside me while placing the drawing pad in my lap to think about what to draw this time. Yesterday, I drew the scenery from the tree's view. Both how I remember it and how it is now. A lot has changed from then to now; the river has a bridge over it and I assume the meadow will soon become a park. A church has been built here so there are gravestones at the end of this hill now and a few trees have been cut down to build houses in the horizon.

I sit there in silence, simply drawing and enjoying the warm summer breeze underneath the shadow of my family's big tree. I should visit father soon, it has been a while since I did and I'm sure he would enjoy some company. Having a dumpster dumped on top of his grave isn't really pleasant; at least I think that's what he's thinking even if that dump doesn't stink.

I settle on drawing a family photo of me, father and mother. Me sitting in father's lap with mother next to us on the leather couch we used to have. Mother and I are playing on our ocarinas and father's listening to us playing with a peaceful smile on his face. It still hurts to think back to those days, but not as much anymore. Sometimes I don't understand why I even bother to stay alive, why don't I drop dead already? I don't have anything in particular to protect or live for, so why don't I join my family already?

As I gaze at the picture, I realize that I can't really create a happy and calm feeling to it. The bodies are too tense and father's smile seems almost forced. I still have a long way to go before I can draw as good as I did before, even though I've practiced for 10 years now in my 17 long 'life', I still can't picture the alive feeling. I have been faced with too much death so I've completely lost my touch through the years. I sigh tiredly as I close the pad, gazing up on the green leaves above me.

"Mother… What am I living for now? It hurts, everything hurts. It hurts to remember you and father, it hurts to leave friends behind when I graduate early, it hurts to hear those hateful comments most grown-ups say about me, it hurts to… live. The only time it doesn't hurt is when I'm killing, but killing shouldn't be my meaning of life. I don't want to get a precious person because it would hurt to tell the truth about me, it would hurt even more to start over if I do get such a bond. If I reveal my secret, they will hate me, everyone will call me a monster and avoid me completely. That's too painful to even think about… I need to fill the void I have in some way and then I need someone to talk to… And that hole keeps on getting bigger… What can I live for? I don't know how long I can keep this up… But, I'm scared… Of all the things I'm scared of, it's death…"

I close my eyes as another tired sigh escape my lips and joins another burst of wind which ruffles my hair. Xian hong start to get suspicious too, they start to theorize that my first cycle is the main soul and that my other cycles is a 'reincarnation' of my first cycle. They aren't completely right but when the elders called me in for a meeting and told me that I was the reincarnation of the real me, I had to pretend to be shocked and confused. I was truly shocked that they would have figured it out, but I had to play with the confusion part. They said that I was 'destined to develop fast and graduate early' and my classmates avoided me after they found out about me being the 'reincarnation'. They didn't see any point in befriending someone who would graduate early anyways. But that was for the best, and then I could devote my attention to my first self, trying to bring bits and pieces of it back to me now. It's a really slow process, but it's working.

My temper has gotten a little better and I'm drawing and playing music again. And it isn't as painful to visit Mother and Father either so I do it more often now. I'm also smiling this time when I'm alone compared to previous cycles, since I'm re-living my first cycle, the happy memories surface and I remember more of how wonderful my parents were.

The things in my past is probably what's keeping me alive, my parents existence shouldn't be forgotten, that must be the reason I have for being alive. Right when I'm knocking on hell's door; I'm turning back time to meet death another day, I'm running away from death. Yeah, that's it… I'm afraid to die, that's why I'm still alive… I shouldn't live, but I do… The past keeps me happy but the past destroys me all the same… The past is a small light in my heart, but the past also brings me much more darkness in return for the light…

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2069 - 30th June - 24:30

Only the blue light coming from the computer brightens my dark room as I'm looking through files. I'm looking for certain files, namely those of me from my different cycles. I change each hairstyle, even though I've had the same hair all this time, so that it won't be as easy to recognize me. Although, Photoshop doesn't want to change my eyes into another colour for some reason, it looks fake when I do. I have to change all photos, there's a high chance anyone could find them even if they're deleted afterwards.

All former information about me and my skills, deleted and forgotten like my past never even existed other than in my head. All the different names they've given me, none of them Chinese for some reason, gone and forgotten. It seems like the names has to be from the western world so we can blend in easier anywhere. I suppose it has been like that since the Second World War when Germany lost. Although my first name is and will always be Chinese and I'll never forget it like I've done with my other names.

The disk holding an advanced protecting program is lying on the table next to the computer, the CD reflecting blue light from the computer. My fingers are tapping the keyboard absently as I wait for all the files to be deleted. After this, my past, present and future will be kept a secret to everyone. The most anyone would be able to get are pictures but they can't do much with them, much less draw a connection between them.

A 'blip' sound comes out from the computer speakers as a sign that my files are all deleted. I click down the window and carefully pick up the blank disc. I'm very careful when I put the CD into the machine and once I press the 'open files' for the disc, the computer screen starts flickering before it becomes completely blue. Vaguely remembering the instructions, I start tapping different keys to instruct the program on what to do. Protect the future and past files of me from everyone, not even me should be able to get it. Also, protect my big money account, the one I transfer all the money from past cycles to it, and make sure I'm the only one who can have access to it.

Once I'm finished writing the instructions, I sit back in my computer chair to wait for a few minutes, the screen is supposed to turn back to normal if I've done things right. Much to my pleasure, the screen turn back to normal and nothing seems to amiss with the computer files other than my information being deleted. As a test, I take a photo of myself with my mobile camera, sending the picture to my computer through Bluetooth to save it there. Although, when the computer states that the file is received, I can't find it anywhere. And when I look into my phone, I can't find it there either since the phone was momentarily connected to the internet. It seems like this super secure program works, now no one will be able to find any information about me, that's good.

I stand up from my chair, stretching my arms up in the air to ease my tense shoulders before I take out the disk and turn off the computer. Now that the program is in the internet, this CD Isn't really needed, but I will save it anyway, just for good measure.

I start to walk out from my room, I have to go and get some dinner before I can get to bed. Even though I would like to not meet anyone, I can't stop eating just because of that. I hate it, I hate it all. The rules, the people, the orders, my life, everything.

I slowly walk down the corridor, avoiding everyone's gaze and stepping away from anyone who's about to walk into me. I take a turn to the left into a corridor which I know not many people use and walk the long way towards the dining hall.

It takes me 5 minutes more than usual to get to the dining hall and once I'm there, the idle chatter is being drilled into my brain and hurts me physically. I quickly slink over to the small shaft that hold food, pick a plate and put food on it and then slink out from the room just as quick as I came. I sigh in relief to be away from that cramped, white room and make my way towards one of the marble benches that are against the wall of the huge corridor. Once I've eaten my food, I'll leave my plate and then I'll go back to my room. I hate other people, they're nothing but trouble.

A young boy, about the age of 15, is walking towards me with determined strides. He is dressed in a complete black bodysuit, just like any other assassin these days. He must be newly employed…

I give him my deadliest glare to try and keep him away from me, but the boy continues to stride forward although now with cold sweat clinging to his forehead. Why the hell must he be so persistent?

The boy stops a few meter away from me but before he gets the chance to even open his mouth, I speak up myself.

"You must be a newbie. Your higher ups obviously haven't told you the most important unwritten rule here in Xian Hong. Don't get near me and don't try to socialize with me. I hate people."

The boy swallows hard, my words having the same effect as I wanted them to have but even so, the boy straightens himself and look me dead in the eye. Although he has a lot of fear showing on his face and body language.

"Y-yes, I-I know of that rule Mikael Jung! B-but I-I was sent b-by the elders t-to tell you that you're o-ordered to attend t-to an important m-meeting!"

I frown in disapproval, those elders; I don't like them at all. They're all so paranoid over everything. Maybe they have a theory that as the 'reincarnation', I'll bring destruction to the organization. They'll probably get rid of me if I go. I think it's time to end this cycle anyways but I won't go.

I put aside my unfinished plate, stand up and walk away from the frightened boy towards my room.

"H-hey! Where are you going Mikel?" The boy shouts out and follows me.

"Shut up." I retort and walk a little faster; the boy follows my example and manages to touch me on the shoulder. I freeze in place, those horrid memories taking its hold on me and out of instinct; I quickly spin around and punch the boy away, my fist making a cracking sound as it connects with his nose. The boy skids away a good three feet until he stops and other people around us quickly comes to the boys' aid, all of them glaring angrily at me.

I'm panting hard; my body shaking as the horrible memories almost takes over me. I bite my lip until it bleeds before I manage to get a grip on myself. I stare down at the boy, my face turning blank, almost like a zombie as the huge hole in my chest presents itself within me.

"Don't touch me. I want nothing to do with others. Next time you touch me, I'll kill you."

I then turn around to walk away, the void feeling inside me suddenly seem larger because I have once again pushed away any kind of human contact. What's wrong with me? I can't handle it anymore.

When I start walking, the boy calls out after me that I have to go to the elders. Even with his broken nose, he still thinks about the mission. I continue walking without giving him a response. The hole inside me is still aching and while it does that, I can't do anything. Suppress the memories, walk on and find a reason to live, that's what I'm doing.

The only really useful thing I've done so far is to delete my information… A blank shell, that's all that I am right now… Doesn't want human contact and has nothing to live for… Time to start over… Maybe I'll find a reason next time…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO

2100 - 17th September - 03:44

"Flynn Clark. Do you mind if we have a word with you?"

I stop in the middle of the deserted corridors, not turning around to face the elders who are all standing behind me. They all have a serious aura around them and I can't help but notice that they are a little hostile as well. I smirk, tilting my head a little to the side as I speak to them with amusement in my voice.

"Yes, dear elders? What can I do for you?"

"We want you to answer a few questions of ours."

I turn my head around to stare at the elders, amusement and interest hiding the suspicion in my eyes. Have they found out anything about the true me? If the questions are too personal, I have to kill them whether they're elders or not. These are really one of my favorite elder groups so it'll be a shame if they ask about that.

"That does depend on what kind of questions it is, but ask away."

"Where does your loyalty lie? Within us elders or the organization?" The main elder, Jiro, says seriously, the aura of hostility increasing a little within all of the elders. I relax slightly, if it's those types of questions, there won't be any trouble.

I turn towards them fully, crossing my arms over my chest before I answer.

"My loyalty does not lie within you or what you see as the organization. You could call it loyalty towards me and the organization as a whole."

The youngest of the elders, Carla, seems confused by my answer and steps forward to ask another question.

"What does that-" She's cut off by Jiro though with a lift of his hand. She immediately gets silent and Jiro takes up the task on asking interrogating me.

"You are the incarnation of the 'white snake' and like the previous incarnations you've graduated early and been a great recourse to Xian hong. But the real question is if you're really born again with the same soul, you are far too experienced to be called a prodigy. How old are you really?"

Through his talk, I keep my calm façade but once he ask the real question my act shatters into pieces and a murderous grin appears on my face. The elders get more cautious when they see my grin and they tense up to be prepared for battle. I have to kill the elders; this is going to feel great!

"You're asking me how old I am? That's pretty rude, you know."

I uncross my arms and direct one of my palms towards the path behind the elders and use time energy to create a barrier so no one can get in or out from it. The elders notice the small shine of light glinting across the opening and the weapon specialist, Stephan, quickly runs over to the invisible wall with his sword pointing forward. When the sword connects with the barrier, the barrier automatically drains all the time energy from the sword and returning it to its original form, dust. I can see that the barrier manage to drain some of Stephan's time energy as well but not enough to kill him since he quickly let go of his sword and jumped away just in time.

"-Pant- Jiro, this force field –pant- is draining the life out from you!" Stephan yell out in warning. The other elders grow even tenser by his words and they take out their respective weapons to fight me.

Jiro his daggers, Clara her two swords, Stephan takes out a huge hammer which fits perfectly for his huge form and strength, my former teacher John takes out his two nun chucks from his belt and the silent Marie takes out her two pistols. I just stare at them and start to chuckle at their pointless struggle to escape from here alive. I do the same with the opening behind me so that the five of them are trapped in here with me.

"It's not draining the life out from you, just your time energy. If it drains you dry, you become what your body once were, just a pile of cells, meaning you become dust. Draining time energy from others, it's what I do."

Jiro's eyes narrow in disgust and he readies his weapons to throw them at me if I make any sudden movement.

"You monster, so that's what have been keeping you alive, draining the life of others to satisfy your need of immortality?!"

I shake my head at his words, my smile turning more evil than blood thirsty.

"No, not really. At first, I was just afraid to die. Then when I thought that I would end my endless suffering by dying for real, I finally found a reason to live! I found it in this life, do you have any idea how wonderful it feels to have a reason to live for?!" I take a step forward, my eyes going wide with glee as I can finally say everything I've wanted to say for two decades.

"I'm going to cleanse the assassins! Their goal has been dirtied, their unity has been dirtied and their will has been dirtied! I've watched the change for 167 years now! Everything the assassins abandon sticks to me; their hate, their grief, their regret, their love, their sympathy, their bloodlust... it is all making the hole inside me grow! But now I finally have something to fill that hole! Haaaaahahahaha!"

As I throw my head up towards the ceiling to laugh to my heart's content, I can feel the elders quickly move forward to strike me down. Jiro throws one of his daggers, but I step to the side and catch the dagger as it passes me. With a huge grin still on my face, I see Stephan's huge hammer advance down on me. I slow down time a little so I'm able to avoid it since there would be no way to avoid that in time if I hadn't unless I want to use time energy in my muscles.

With the time still slowed down, I sling myself up onto the weapon specialists back and hold the very sharp dagger against his throat. I then make the time go at a normal pace again and I slit open Stephan's throat, the cut being deep enough so that I know there's no way he can survive it more than a few seconds. Jiro swears loudly and Clara swing her swords down into my back, although I roll away from the corpse, she still grazes me with the sword's sharp edges. I grin at the four who are left and tell them with a voice that can send cold shivers down one's spine.

"One down, four more to go."

After I've said that, all four of them start a deadly dance with me all at once with Jiro and Marie keeping their distance. I cut the other two little by little, taking pleasure in the blood splattering over my face and clothes, both my own and theirs. The deadly dance takes a few minutes before one side gets the 'advantage' which are the elders. Marie manages to shoot me in the knee and I fall down to the floor since my leg no longer can support me. Clara lifts her swords in the air to kill me 'for good' and she slashes me right where my heart is. What she doesn't know is that I put up a time energy barrier inside my body just in time to not be killed, but I fake my death of course and fall back onto the ground with an unfocused stare.

Clara sighs in relief and I can hear her thank Marie for shooting me so I could be killed. Then they talk about how they won, what they should do now and blah, blah, blah, that stupid talk people have after a battle to complement each other on what they did. Ugh, I've always hated that kind of talk.

But finally, they decide to get back to their 'throne corridor' to report about my betrayal but they stop once they notice that my barrier is still there even though I've been 'killed'. How they noticed that? It was only pure luck that they carried Stephan's dead body so it was one centimeter ahead of Clara and Jiro, who were carrying Stephan's body.

"W-what?! Stephan's body turned into dust?! B-but how? The barrier shouldn't be intact!" Clara shouts out in distress. I think it's time to make my appearance. Whenever you think you've taken down a bad guy, they always rise up again.

I slowly rise up to my feet while I'm speaking, making their eye fall onto me and every one of them expressing shock over my survival.

"It's because I'm not dead yet, Clara. Not until I've destroyed every single assassin's guild, I can't die. And I won't let anyone who knows my secret live either."

Once I'm standing upright, I flash them a blood thirsty grin and then I stop time. I stare at their wondrous shocked faces for a second before I run towards them, taking Clara's swords from her sheaths around her waist and hold the two swords against the first two of the elder's necks. When I start time again, I cut of their heads easily thanks to my strength, speed and the blade's sharpness. The last two elders, Jiro and Marie, only get the time to glance towards their companion's direction before I'm up in their faces as well. I stab both of them in their throats, them emitting a small gurgling sound before they fall to the floor, dead.

I drain the barriers and crouch down in front of the four dead elder's bodies, all of them pained in a beautiful red. I take some blood on my fingers and start to paint a little beside the bodies, the blood feeling warm against my fingers and I steadily draw a grim reaper with five spirits around him, the spirits representing the elders while the grim reaper is me.

I look around the corridor, the beautiful red colour staining the marble floor and a little on the white walls. There are craters after Stephan's hammer and John's nun chucks from when they've hit the ground hard enough. Maybe I should die too… The wound on my chest is still bleeding and I can make it look like I got stabbed by Jiro when he was on the doorstep of the afterlife. Yeah, that could work. Or I could die from bleeding… Less work with over bleeding, I'll take that option instead.

I drain time energy from the elder's corpses so that I can keep myself alive before I make a blood trail towards the wall. I then lean against the wall and use my time energy to momentarily stop my bleeding. Now I just have to wait until someone comes to investigate and find me and the elders, then they'll take away the bodies and dispose of them in the heat oven so the corpses can burn.

I've done this so many times now… Fooling death and fooling others that I am dead… I might tell someone my secret in the future instead of just telling people who are going to die… But it'll probably take a few centuries before I would even trust anyone enough to do that… I can't trust anyone other than myself… The world is too greedy for power… Even I cannot resist its pull…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO

2121 - 25th August - 02:41

Did you know that there are a lot of rumors constantly floating around in the organization? Many of them aren't true, but of course there are those rumors that are true but no one really believes it. As I'm sitting in the middle of the dining hall, surrounded by people with two persons sitting at my table who I can somewhat accept, I can constantly hear chitter and chatter about different rumors or stories going around, the most excited ones coming from the younger part of Xian hong.

My hearing is shifting between different people to try and snap up something interesting and my ears finally settle on a pair of girls who are talking mainly about me a few feet to my left.

"-ard the rumor about the hottest hottie?"

"You mean Nile? What about him?"

"Well, I've heard some really nasty stuff about him from our teachers, that's why he graduated so early. They say that when he was just a few years old, he killed his own parents!"

"What?! No way! Why would anyone want to kill their parents!?"

"Well, it's only a rumor but they say the parents didn't let him do the things he wanted when he was young and because of his bad temper, he killed them for it! You do know that the previous reincarnation of him killed the elders, right? That must be why he's so crazy this time. He may be a hottie and is a great role model for other assassins, but after hearing that, you realize what the life of an assassin really can do to a child. Although I'm glad we weren't that affected."

"Yeah, I wonder what he's thinking…"

"I don't know but I don't want to find out… Now, that guy seems scary…"

I smirk slightly, amused that they would be frightened by that little story. My caretakers didn't want to let me go to school in fear that my actions would turn out similar to what I did in the previous cycle. It is as they say, I killed them when I was only a few years into this cycle, but not many knows that and I'm playing it off like I don't remember it.

My bloodlust and anger have grown stronger ever since I've killed the elders, I'm not sure why though. Can have something to do with the way my caretakers treated me… Most people are afraid of me because of the way I smile before and after a mission but it seems I'm still popular with the girls no matter what I do… How can I get them to leave me alone?

I decide to test something out in hope that those two who were talking about me will stop like me. I turn my head around so that I'm looking directly at the girls, giving them a small, dark smirk to say 'that rumor is true' before I turn back to my acquaintances who are having a discussion over a mission the two of them did. They're discussing whether or not it was good to let a little kid, who stumbled into their mission by accident, run away from the scene. Assassins these days really don't have a heart, not that I'm saying I have one anyway.

"On the other hand, he's too hot. It's impossible to not like him."

"Yeah, I agree."

I sigh quietly in disappointment; my plan seems to have made their crushes on me worse… Why the hell do girls have to like the 'evil' type?

To complete my goal, I have to live quietly… To live quietly I have to be inconspicuous… To be inconspicuous I have to control my emotions… But it's getting harder and harder to contain them, especially my lust for blood… I know that I should learn to control them better… If not, I'll get exposed… And that could lead to my downfall… Meaning the end of not only my life, but for my humanity as well…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO

2140 - 18th December - 03:06

I'm walking down the long corridor, holding a baggy backpack with the things I was supposed to bring back from my assassination mission. A dark blue scarf is hiding the lower part of my face, making it easier for me to hide my expressions from the world and reminding me to keep my emotions in check. I am in the process of creating a "face mask" that will hide my true self away from the world; hide my bloodlust, anger and resentment. It is hard though, as maintaining a blank or polite facade is only the first step, and that is difficult enough. What I really need to do is learn how to reign in my emotions.

"Mister Ling!"

I have the huge urge to sigh angrily as I see three kids run towards me, waving their hands happily in the air to catch my attention. The kids see me as their biggest idol because I always do my missions right, and because all girls like me... AGAIN… But this time it's because I'm the 'mysterious' type and not the 'evil' type… When will there ever be a cycle where I'm not liked by the girls? Fuck my awesome looks. I decide to humor the boys by simply nodding my head and then continue walking, but their annoying voices have to call after me…

"Mister Ling! Please wait!"

I tense up as I feel my anger spike and almost burst through its thin layer of protection but I manage to somewhat hold it down. I won't hit the kids just because they are annoying. I won't hit them. I won't hit them…

The kids stop right next to me, huffing in exhaustion as they all support themselves on the knees. I shift my hold on my black backpack as I glance at the kids from the corner of my eye, trying to show an interested glint in my eye but obviously fails if I'm going by their scared posture when they look up at me. It's really hard to hide your emotions; I think it'll take many years until I master it.

"What?" I grunt out, speaking as little as possible to contain my boiling anger towards the annoying flies near me.

"Ehm…" The kid in the front starts. "Well, Mister Ling, I'm wondering if you have any leads on how to use a sword properly, we can't seem to grasp the technique. Maybe you can show us?"

"No." Is my short answer and I stare at them with a silent question in my eyes, 'Is that all you wanted? Then don't waste my time'. The boys get nervous by my stare and another one steps forward to ask me a question.

"Well, you always get girls to look at you; do you have any trick to that?"

"No, I walk." I continue to stare at the boys with the same question in my eyes; others have started to notice me talking to the kids by now. The kid asking the question widens his eyes in surprise over my answer.

"So you just walk and they notice you immediately?"

My patience is running thin by now and I'm sure that if I stay with these kids any longer, I'll end up punching them for being so annoying and that would do me no good in containing emotions. I remember that I have a mission to report and I point towards the backpack over my shoulder and say "Mission". The boys get my drift and they immediately apologize for holding me up. As I start walking, I hear someone walk up to the kids and start talking to them. I can hear it's a man, one of those men who see me as a competition and thus hate me.

"You shouldn't bother asking him on point-outs or favors. He's an anti-social bastard who doesn't know anything of teamwork. He might be the reincarnation of a famous assassin, but he isn't much compared to me. I'm much better than he is." I stop walking when I hear him say proudly that he's better than I am and I can't contain my anger anymore, how dare he say that!? And when he knows full well that I'm hearing! I thought people learned not to mess with me!

"Really?" I ask him, almost hissing out the word and probably sending shivers down a few people's spines. The feeling of anger around me was so strong that those around me got quiet, so you could clearly hear what I said. His answer is filled with confidence and arrogance and I can imagine him straightening himself to face me.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I said. Weakling. You think you're so coo-" My fist in his face cuts off his sentence.

In just 4 seconds, I've spun around, jumped at him and thrown a punch in his face and now he's lying a few feet away from me with a broken nose. The man takes the pain well since he only hisses in pain before he lifts his head up to glare at me. But the glare I give him makes his glare falter, because I've released the leash on my bloodlust and it's gazing down at the man.

"If you say one more fucking thing, you won't live tomorrow."

The man nods slowly and he unconsciously move his free hand towards one of the hidden knives all of us assassin have. Since I'm satisfied with the answer, I close my eyes and focus on holding my anger at bay and replace it with my still poor face-mask. It takes 20 seconds for me to suppress my emotions, but once I do, I simply turn around and resume my walk towards the elders.

My anger is strong… Too strong sometimes, but I don't think or care about that when my vision grows red… So I have to stop myself from reaching that point… It's hard, but I have to learn how to do it so that I can do my job right… My REAL job, to delete the assassins…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO

2174 - 26th Feburary - 23:14

"Like hell I'll do a stupid mission like that! Why do I need to deliver a stupid letter? I'm a professional killer, not some mail-deliverer!"

The eldest elder sigh tiredly at my behavior, rubbing his temples in frustration that I won't cooperate with them. The weapon master slams his hands down on their half-moon-table and shouts at me in anger, even louder than I did.

"It's your duty as an assassin to also strengthen our bonds with our intellections or allies! How many times do we have to tell you that!? Delivering letters are just as important as killing a hindering target!"

I want to scream back at him even louder, but my red scarf reminds me that I have to take hold on my emotions, so I put on my face mask. Now, I'll be cocky and seem superior.

"Tche, I still don't get it why I have to be the one to do it. I know we have an assassin's guild on our backs who want to kill us, why not let me take care of them? Let Xien take care of the letter. He could use some extra exercise; he's been avoiding missions for three months."

"That's because he just got a child, Zen. We allowed him to take care of the child under the condition that he would work in the kitchen during his free time." The eldest say tiredly, staring at me with 'please understand why you have to do it' in his eyes. I just shake my head, turn around and walk away from the elders. The weapon master scream after me, just as loud as before and I hold my hands over my ears to block out the sound. My face mask has improved, but my temper won't handle another fully-heard shout from the man.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?! We just gave you a mission! Come here and receive the letter!"

"I told you I'm not doing that type of mission. Call me back when you have a more exciting mission for me. And you better keep your voice down, old hippo. You wouldn't want the ceiling to break or the enemies to hear you because you shouted so loud? And brush your teeth; you could kill a swarm of flies with that breath. As weird as it sounds, I would pity those flies." I tell him without turning around while cleaning my ear from wax with my finger. A typical laid-back image, the classic to rile people by while throwing insults at them.

"Why you little-! I'll kill you!" He screams at me as I start walking again. I just lift a hand in the air, saying a silent 'goodbye' with the gesture.

"Yeah, right. You wouldn't succeed old man, I'm better than you."

After that, I jump a little to the side to avoid the hammer that was hurled towards my head and it crashes into the floor a little ways ahead of me, creating a little crater as it hits the floor. After that, he doesn't scream at me or throw anything else but let me walk away towards the dining hall. On my way there, I can hear the angry whispers around me.

"How can he be so rude towards the elders?"

"That kid must be all talk, no one has beaten the weapon elder."

"You would think that with that scarf of his, he would be mysterious and cool, but he's just a jerk."

"Always insulting people, it's no surprise that he doesn't have anyone to talk to."

Finally, girls aren't in love with me in this cycle, I can finally have some space from those lovey-dovey confessions they make. Because of my face-mask personality, everyone hates me. I don't have any friends, but I still make contact with people by insulting them when I point out obvious truths about them.

The hole is still there… But it doesn't hurt as much anymore… It's being filled with hate from others instead of love… Hate is much better, because love just makes the hole bigger after they die… I'm bleeding from my heart, literally, from time to time… Just to relieve the pain a little for a short while…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO

2238 - 30th August - 02:32

Girls around the age of 17-19 are giggling all around me as I'm sitting relaxed on the bench with two arms tossed around two different girl's shoulders on both sides. Two other girls are standing on their knees in front of me, leaning on my thighs to get as close to me as possible.

"Hey, Yen, what are you going to do tonight?" The girl to my right asks me flirty, leaning closer to me and pressing her breasts to my side. I look at her, pulling her closer to me in response and lean my face extremely close to hers with a playful smirk on my lips.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a little of this and a little of that. Do you want me to do something else, Chin?"

She stares at me with obvious lust as she presses herself even closer to me and slowly lean forward as to kiss me. "Yes, I would want you to do everything…"

Just before she kisses me, I lean away and turn my attention towards the girl tugging on my left leg with a raised eyebrow. I see her angry look and my smirk widens slightly as I release Chin so I can have a free hand to grip onto the girl's chin and lift her head up so that she's looking right into my eyes.

"Don't worry Miao, you can always join us. The question is if you are willing to share me a little."

Miao's eyes also get filled with lust at my comment and she smirks back at me, her hand crawling up to my private area. "And if I don't want to?" she says huskily. I stop her from getting too close to my dick after I've released her chin.

"You'll have to wait for that, those who wait for something good can never wait too long."

The other three girls giggle slightly while Miao's still a captive in my yellow eyes. At least until my only friend Guan calls out to me.

"There you are! I knew I would find you if I hear multiply girls giggling! Ok, many girls giggle, but you get my point."

I chuckle slightly at Guan's bad joke and I toss my arm around Chin's shoulders as I look up at my smirking friend with a smirk of my own since the girls are glaring at him because we were disturbed.

"Yeah, what did you want Guan? I'm a little busy here." I say as I tighten my grip on the girl's shoulders, said girls giggling in response. Guan just shakes his head, his curly black hair moving slightly with the motion and he points over his shoulder to tell me to come with him.

"Come on, Yen. We have a mission to do, just you and I."

I hide my surprise behind my mask and make my smirk get more wicked than amused.

"Really? Just you and me? Does that have a hidden meaning behind it?" I ask, wiggling my eyebrows. Guan just laughs at my comment.

"Hahaha, no way, in your dreams Yen! Now, let's go. Your ladies can wait a few more hours can't they?"

I do an exaggerate sigh while releasing the two girls I'm holding onto and standing up without any difficulty even though the girls lying on my legs try to hold me down.

"Damn, I guess you and I will remain a dream then, I thought there was something more between us." Guan just shakes his head, his green eyes shining in amusement since he's used to my sex jokes, and walk away towards the exit. Before I follow him, I make the girls gripping onto my legs release me and wink to the four aroused females with a sexy smirk on my face. I don't stop to see their reactions but I follow my friend instead. My legs are a little stiff at first since I sat there for nearly an hour, flirting with the four girls at the same time.

I must proudly present that I've mastered my face-mask fully. It was hard because of my bad temperament, but after two cycles of training, I've finally succeeded and I can change between any personalities I want whenever I want. The ones I use the most are 'playful' and 'sexy' when I'm flirting with girls and socialize with Guan. I'm almost always flirting with girls, I just love their reactions when I say certain things to them or just wink at them. And It's always nice to have some 'fun time' since I couldn't have it in the last cycle.

It doesn't take long for me and Guan to get out from the guild and start running across rooftops towards our goal. Apparently, one of our allies specifically wanted me to come to their mansion alone so we could discuss our alliance. But it should be someone who's picked by the elders who would go to that meeting. This leads to the conclusion that they want me dead since I'm such a successful assassin and that's why I have a partner for this mission who'll hide in the shadows and take out eventual assassins before they can strike. If they strike before that, he'll be there as backup.

The idea of killing gets me riled up, but I hide it behind my, for once, serious face-mask since I'm not alone this time. If he were to see the real me, I would have to kill him during this mission, but I can't kill him here when we're still out in the open. But why would I want to kill him anyway? He's the first friend I've had in 6 cycles.

While those thoughts are going around in my head, constantly contradicting each other and slowly contributing to my developing headache (which doesn't help my mood in the slightest) we arrive at the location of the mission and proceed in completing it. Killing, unsurprisingly, somewhat lightens my bad mood. That aside, though, the mission did not exactly end like we thought it would...

As I'm standing in front of the master's dead body, the mission being complete without any further complications other than my blood lust side coming out. Guan looked at me weirdly the first time I laughed when I cut someone down; I could feel his eyes on my back but his look quickly disappeared since he had to focus on the fight. Although, the master's last words must have raised some suspicion within my friend…"He's a demon that must be eliminated; enjoying the pain of others isn't something an assassin should do. He is an dishonour to his profession."

He must have had spies who watched me as I did other missions and painted with my victims' blood, otherwise he would not have had any grounds to base that statement on. But what will I do now? Guan knows how I am. What will happen now?

"Yen…? What the hell was that…?" He asks me with confusion and betrayal in his voice. I can picture his crestfallen face even though he's standing behind me. I for a moment consider telling him the truth but I stop in my thoughts and think over how my friendship with Guan really affects me. Is it really worth letting him live? I'm letting my guard down around him, right now I'm actually considering telling him my biggest secret and he has actually delayedmy real mission. When I should have gone out to another country to delete an organization on a free day, I hung out with Guan instead. When I should have visited Father's grave, I ate dinner with Guan and came late. Guan has actually hindered me from being with my real family and from continuing with my mission. Now that I think about it like this, I'm disgusted with myself that I forgot about it all just because of some friendship.

That settles it, he has to disappear… The hole might get bigger, but I can't have this kind of friendship when my real mission is at stake.

I look over my shoulder so I can look at my friend, a blank face looking at a crestfallen one. We don't say anything at first, just staring at each other with Guan trying to read what I'm thinking.

"Yen, wha-… He called you a demon, why didn't you tell me you liked killing so much?"

I turn around fully, my blank face still intact as I speak in a calm tone.

"You thought I told you everything, but I have never told you anything that's true about me."

He takes a small step back in shock and confusion, his mouth opened to ask me a question, but I cut him off by talking again.

"I guess it's time to show you, who I really am." With that, I remove my face mask and a cruel smile immediately takes my neutral one, my eyes get a crazy glint to them because of all the blood around me and the whole me Guan thought I was is replaced with darkness and cruelty, literally radiating those negative things from my skin. Blood has that kind of effect on me. I see Guan shiver and my smile grows wider at his sudden fear. To further scare him before his death, I bend down so I can dip my fingers in some warm blood lying in a pool on the floor. My fingers are dripping with the wonderful red colour and I turn my hand upwards so the colour can course down my hand. While I do this, I look at Guan to see his reaction; he's torn between shock, betrayal, fear and confusion. He doesn't know how to take all this, that's good.

I slowly walk forward towards him, still holding my hand upwards in front of me and the blood slowly dripping of my hand. Guan stands still, but I can see him consider running away because of my expression.

"Do you know why he called me a demon? He thought it was only because I love blood and killing, but he couldn't be more right about his reference concerning the real me." I start out, stopping about five feet away from my friend. Before I continue speaking though, I stretch out my time energy to see if anyone is alive, no one should hear about me and stay alive. I'll only tell Guan because he'll die here anyway.

Luckily, I can't find anyone that's even close to hearing distance and that person isn't even moving in this direction. Although, I can feel recording cameras and I pull out some knives from my belt and hurl them towards the three cameras, but also some kind of listener, with my bloodied hand. When the task is done, I once again look towards my friend who is now on guard because I threw knives.

"You see, it's not only because I love killing people, but also because I've killed so many people. And have you heard that demons are immortal? Well, that may fit for me too."

"Because you're the reincarnation of a successful assassin from a long time ago?" Oh, so he has calmed down now? That's no fun.

I shake my head at his question, grinning as I imagine his reaction to what I'm about to say next. "Not quite. I, myself, am immortal. I'm still the same person I was way back then."

Guan tense up and a few sweat drops emerge from his forehead as he realize what that means, he's no idiot so I would be surprised if he didn't get it.

"Y-you mean? You're-?"

Wanting to see his eyes grow even wider, I answer his unfinished question, my arms spreading out as if I'm embracing the world.

"That´s right, I'm not reborn, I simply become young again, and again, and again. I still have the same memories, still the same dead family but much more improved skills for each life I live through. You can call me, immortal."

Like I thought, his eyes grow even wider and I take pleasure in seeing his confusion and shock over what I've just revealed for him. Maybe fooling him will be a lot more fun way to play with him than terrifying him? Let's test it out…

I put on my face mask with a small smile, my murderous aura disappearing as I walk over to him, putting a hand comfortably on his shoulder. Guan flinch when I place my hand on his shoulder, but relax once he sees that I've hidden my real personality.

"So, now you know my biggest secret, you can't tell anyone, ok? If you do, I would have to leave from the country forever."

Guan mutely nods, still a little too shaken to form any words at the moment. I pat his shoulder, my smile telling him that I'm satisfied and I turn around and walk towards the exit of the mansion.

"Good, now I have to go back and announce the mission as a success."

"Yeah… Wait- you?"

I look at him from over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow at him and tell his like it's the most obvious thing ever, grinning evilly from behind my mask.

"Well, yeah. 'Cause dead people can't tell anyone, right?"

Before he even gets the chance to think over my words, I'm already rushing towards him with my kusarigama ready to strike him down. Although, his instincts help him avoid the first slash and he manage to roll away from me. He barely manages to block my second swipe with his ninja sword and he's really shocked and torn at my actions. I keep a blank face, keeping my bloodlust behind my mask with some difficulty and I continue to slash at him, simply playing with him a little bit for now.

It isn't until he's overcome his shock that I get serious and I quickly gain the advantage. He's tired from fighting but since I drained time energy, I feel almost better than before and it doesn't take long until I've got him pinned to the ground, his weapon far away from him, his hands tied with the chain on my weapon and his legs broken with me sitting on his hands on top of his chest. Just one swipe across the neck, and he won't bother me anymore. But his eyes make me hesitate a little.

Those green eyes which have been my company for this whole cycle and made me almost forget the hole in my chest. Those green eyes are staring at me, trying to make me back down with the amount of confidence they have. I lift the hand with my blade, my other hand holding onto his neck so he can't try to get up but when Guan speaks, I stop slightly to hear his last words.

"Why the hell are you doing this Yen? We've been best friends for all this time and now you'll kill me just because I know some secret? That's a sick and twisted reason to kill a friend! What the hell has happened to you to make you behavelike this?!"

I stare at him for a while, letting the silence drag out for a while before I finally remove my face mask to reveal my cruel smile. Now, I have to do it, no turning back. I have to kill the last amount of possibility to create a strong bond like this; I have to destroy that small part of me which still wants affection by killing my friend. It has to be done.

"Everything has happened to me; my parents' death, my friends' death, solitude, torture, corruption, hate, insanity, time. It has leftme in an empty void, a void that can never be filled. The way I've come to cope with it is to kill and destroy, all while working towards one single goal. I'll destroy all the assassins and I won't let anyone, not even a friend, steer me away from that goal. You'll talk, no one can hold this kind of secret, and so the only solution is to kill you. Although, I have to thank you for giving me a friendship the likes of which I haven't had in a long time. I'll see you in the afterlife; we'll both go to the same place anyway."

After that, I push away any doubt I have left and let my blade descend towards his head, piercing his skull. His eyes are focused on me for two more seconds before getting that blank, dead stare I am so used to by now. Even so, this stare seems to be much worse than anything I received from him when he was still alive…

I stand up, unwrap my chain from his hands and rip out my blade. Without waiting there any longer, I walk away with a pulsing pain in my chest and a few tears running down my cheeks.

It had to be done… He would have talked… To keep my secret safe and to keep my mind on my mission, I had to do it… But those green eyes would haunt me for a long time… Much longer than what I would have imagined…

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2275 - 6th August - 01:02

I stare at my newlyforged blade, marveling the fact that I've done it by myself. It has taken me eight years to design it and three years to forge this sword. Now it's finally finished; a blade that has time energy fused inside of its blade and hilt in hope to give the sword larger amount of power to destroy and kill. The sheath also has time energy inside of it to contain the energy in the blade, or else it will leak out and my hard work would be useless.

The idea of making a living blade came to me when I looked at the old CD the living protection program was in, what if I made a blade alive in the same sense? What if I could fuse metal with time energy so I could use the blade in the most effective way possible? After 11 years, thought have become reality. And now it's time to test it out…

I slowly sheath my new blade and put it on my back underneath my jacket with the hilt facing downwards. There's a small plastic hook that holds the sword in its place by the handle. The handle has a small hole which has been made for the hook to hold on to, so I don't have to worry about the sword slipping out.

Today will be the first day that I test out my sword, I wonder if it'll be like I've planned or if it's completely different. Even though, I'm positive that it will fit my fighting style no matter how it is. It does have a part of me inside of it after all.

With a smirk, I walk out from the blacksmith towards the elder's table to get my first mission for the night. I hope it involves mass-killing, that's always the best job. When I appear at the elder's table, I simply receive a paper with my mission instructions and then I have to leave. Three elders were recently killed while they were doing an alliance mission so they still have some difficulty in organizing and it can take hours until you get your mission. That way, long lines would be created towards the elder table so I always make sure that I arrive at least two hours later than the time you're supposed to be there, I don't want to stand there two hours before the mission table opens and I really don't want to stand in line, my patience wouldn't be able to take that.

I'm reading my mission letter as I'm on my way outside, waving towards a few people who say hi to me without paying them any real attention. I'm supposed to wipe out a small organization that's slowly growing more powerful and is a potential enemy in the future. Right now, there are about 40-50 people a part of the organization so it shouldn't be too hard to take down. Although, the mission letter also mentions that I will be the leader of a five-man team, we're supposed to depart in 15 minutes. Tche, screw teammates, I can do this myself. If they had been more organized, they would have let me do this kind of mission by myself. I wiped out a street gang who were messing with our informatorwhen I was 15 in this cycle and there were at least 60 of them in that dump of theirs. Sure, they weren't professional fighters, but I could have taken on more of them and the elders know it. I'm the 'reincarnation' after all.

I fold the paper and put it in the inside pocket of my black wind jacket and walk with more hurried steps towards the exit. Sadly for me, my teammates are the early bunch and they're already there. The teammate's names were clearly written on the paper so they know that I'm a part of their team, damn…

"Hey, Sein! You're our team leader, right?" A girl a few years older than me ask with a bright smile on her face, but her eyes are cold sinceshe has seen death so many times. Most assassins tend to show less emotions to hide their grief and keep their sanity, just like this woman does. I nod my head and look around at each face of my team. They're all slightly older than I am right now, but I can see respect in all of their eyes of making me their team leader. Everyone knows what I can do and how well I can do missions it seems, good.

"Enough chit-chat. Let's go. Don't give me any stupid questions or requests unless it's absolutely necessary. I usually work alone, so it's safe to say that when we fight, don't fight close to me. You might get in my way."

They all nod in understanding and they let me pass them so that I can run at the head of the group with the other four following closely behind me. It will take about an hour to get to the location if we keep up this pace the whole way there. I know I can, but the question is if my teammates do… Tche, why must I have teammates for this job? It's only going to be a nuisance.

After 30 minutes of constant running and jumping over the rooftops, one of the male teammates run a little faster so he can run next to me, don't tell me he has a stupid question?

"Sein, sir? Can I ask you something?"

I give him a blank stare, recognizing the face but can't connect it to a name, and nod my head but giving him a stare that says 'but it better be something that won't waste my time'.

"Could we go a little slower, we have great stamina but at this rate, we'll be dead tired when we arrive at the location and we won't be able to defend ourselves if there is an ambush at the location."

I inwardly frown at his question, he wants to go slower? But then it'll take longer for me to use my new weapon. But he does have a point, they'll be dead tired if we continue running this fast, but that could also be a good thing because then they wouldn't get in my way. And also, I want to finish this as quickly as possible so that I have a lot of time later during the night to continue with my real mission. If you think about that, the best thing is to leave them behind, but this is Guan's brother's son bearing the same, green haunting eyes as his dead uncle. When I think about Guan and those haunting dead eyes, I divert my gaze from the man's and slow down my pace so that the others can take it a little easier. The teammates run past me, but once they realize I've slowed down, they too slow down and once again take their position behind me. The man speaks up from behind me.

"Thank you Sein. I-."

"Don't thank me just yet." I interrupt him. "I have a brand new weapon that I'm dying to try out, so if any of you ask a question while we're running towards our mission, that person will be the first one I test it on. And you," I look at the man from over my shoulder, glaring angrily at him as his eyes bring up so many more horrid memories. "Don't look at me like that ever again; I hate those green eyes of yours."

The four teammates nod in understanding and I look forward again. They didn't say anything else during the trip.

When we arrive at the location, we stop on top of a roof to look down at the abandoned house this organization has taken as their stronghold. The house is standing in the middle of a clearing in the middle of the small 'forest', if you even can call the group of trees a forest. It's not really small, but it's not large either. We've been reported that they're constructing an underground facility underneath the house so most of the members are probably underneath the ground. I survey my surroundings and immediately spot a few assassins of this guild, who are all hidden very poorly. I point at the woman and a man who's the second shortest of our group, me being the shortest of us all.

"You and you, you two take out the guards in the trees. I hope you can see them as well as I do." I tell them and both of them nod at my instructions. I continue explaining what to do, not lowering my voice since those who try to hide can't possibly hear us from this distance. "After you've taken care of the visible guards in the trees, you'll give us a small sign to go inside the house and then you'll continue searching the forest for anyone you missed. You other two, you will follow me inside the building. You will search the house and kill any organization member that you see, but all children under 8 will be captured and bound. Those children can be used in our own organization but if they put up too much of a fight, kill them. While you're doing that, I will search for a way to the underground facility. When I find it, I'll tell you four and depending on who's done with what they're assigned to do, they'll follow me in. In the underground facility, I'll go straight for the leader and cut down anyone who's in my way, so you better not be one of those foolish people. Understand?"

They all nod and together, we jump down from the roof and land quietly on a balcony. We proceed to jump from balcony to balcony until we're close enough to the ground so we won't break any bones if we drop down from our height. Once we're on the ground, I nod towards the woman and the short man; they disappear swiftly into the darkness of the forest. I and the other two run into the forest after them and hide in the shadows once we can see the house.

I look at the house, searching for anything that can indicate that there are people there. There's nothing if you don't count the clean porch while the other parts of the house is dusty. Also, I can see that the door has been slightly repaired, but it's still hanging a little askew for show.

I can see the woman waving shortly towards us from the edge of the clearing as signal before she once again disappears into the trees and that's our cue to infiltrate the house. We move quickly, running across the high grass towards the porch. I open the door slowly, peeking around it and pulling downmy balaclavaa little lower so my white hair won't show in the darkness. I can't sense anyone in the hall and I slip inside followed by the other two, I nod towards them, pointing up to the second floor before I move towards the living room of the broken house. I can hear the men slowly creep up the stairs, but I pay it no mind and follow the footprints in the dust. They cross everywhere to make people confused, but by just a quick analysis, my eyes land on the spot where the way towards the underground building is. It's behind the bookshelf. There aren't any tracks in the dust where the shelf has been pulled aside, so I guess it goes inwards.

I walk towards the bookshelf, smirking as I hear the sound of a quiet battle from upstairs; those guys are doing their job, good. I study the bookshelf, trying to find where the switch is. There are two books that aren't dusty, one to fool and one that's the real one. I study the two books closer, one book is thick, and the other small and the thin one is directly underneath the thick one so both could be the fooling one. Which one was touched last? My time energy says it's the thin one, so I'll try that one.

As I'm pulling out the thin book, I can hear a small 'click' from the bookshelf and when I pull the book out to its max, the bookshelf slowly move inwards. By now, the sound of fighting has died out from upstairs and I look over my shoulder just in time to see the two men coming down, carrying 2 children with them. They look about the age of 5 and 6, they're lucky I gave them orders to spare such young children. After a few seconds, I feel the last two approaching the house and I look towards the door just in time to see them walk inside with another kid tied up with them. So there were kids outside of the house, I wonder what he was doing. He's about 8 years old and is fighting the woman unlike the other two. When the 8-year old is dropped off where the other two younger kids are, the younger kids huddle closer to the older one and said boy glare up at us.

I walk forward, leaving the door open, and kick the glaring boy in the face, this makes the boy glare even more but I stop his glare by grabbing his chin and smirk at him cruelly.

"You better be grateful that I ordered them not to kill children below 8, or else, you would be lying in a beautiful pool of red blood. Now, just sit there and be nice and we won't have to kill you. Your whole family is going to be wiped out and there's nothing you can do about it. We're too strong, you're too weak. If you wanted to be strong, you should have joined a real organization like us instead of a wanna-be one."

I grin broadly at the horrified look on his face and I release his chin roughly, standing up and walk towards the open door, looking towards the woman and the man with green eyes, nodding towards them to stay and watch the kids. They nod in understanding and the last two men and I walk inside the underground facility, the oldest boy screaming towards us loudly from behind his gag, but am quickly silenced with a kick towards his face again. That kid got some spunk, I have to admit that.

After the opposing threat is wiped out, I have a very pleased smile on my face. I got some new recruits and the sword worked just like I thought it would. Although, I had to tell it to wake up in order for it to work. It drained my enemies' time energy and transferred that time energy to me. A one-slash kill, you get a scratch from this, and you die instantly. The expressions they had when I first managed to suck out the time energy of someone with my sword, marvelous. They tried to stay clear from me as much as they could, but their death was inevitable. They started screaming that I have some kind of deadly poison on my blade. That could be possible, but that wasn't the case this time.

The five year old is a girl, weeping loudly from behind her gag and being carried by the short man bridal style to give her as comfortable of a ride as possible since she didn't fight us at all. The other 6-year old boy is slung over the second man's shoulder and is weeping just as much as the little girl. The ameteur gang must have been like a real family to these kids, well too bad for them. This is the life of an assassin.

The 8-year old is surprisingly cooperative during the whole trip and doesn't do anything drastic from the green-eyed man's shoulder. The woman is running in the back, on the lookout for any enemies and to make sure that the kids doesn't leave any kind of trail that someone can follow. It isn't until they're all put in front of the elders that the 8-year old start to struggle and the other two have dried their tears. I remove the girl's and the younger boy's gags first, they don't say anything. But when I remove the 8-year old's gag, he starts screaming.

"Fuck you guys! You think I'm going to join another fucking organization just because mine got eliminated!? Then think again! I would never go so low as to abandon my family! I'll escape the first chance I get!"

The elders, who have been discussing the mission with the green eyed man and why we've brought kids with us is silenced at the boy's outburst. My temper flares and I take a hold of the boy's neck, squeezing it and lifting him up in the air so he can barely breathe. I'm glaring at him angrily with my hand slowly moving towards my sword on my back.

"What did I tell you, you little shit? You better be grateful that I made those guys spare your life just because you're young. It's one of the things an assassin must do, think of the best ways to get new recruits. And the best way to recruit members in my opinion is to recruit children who have been a part of an organization, children who doesn't have anything to run back to, and make our organization their home. You don't really have a choice here, kid. Either you stay in this organization and are safe, or you die right here by my blade. I personally prefer the blade one actually, I like killing very much."

I let go of the boy's neck and let him fall heavily to the floor, coughing for breath. The two younger children scream out his name in worry. I smirk down at the boy who's weakly glaring up at me with his blue eyes. I slowly pull out my sword from its sheath while I talk.

"Chou, huh? Well, I got to admit; you've got some spunk, kid. There aren't many who can have that kind of bravery that you have. You've lost something dear to you before you joined that wanna-be organization, right? That's why you wanted to become stronger; you joined a gang team who soon would become an assassin's guild to be able to protect something. But what good is it now? In the life of an assassin, you always lose something dear to you. You don't have anything to protect anymore other than these two kids that you know. And do you seriously think you are any match for me? I can kill you with one cut, that's all I need. If you want to be alive, the only thing you have to do is swear your loyalty towards the guild. I may be a cold-blooded killer, but I do follow the rules from time to time. Although, I have to admit, a child screaming in pain sounds much more beautiful than a grown-up doing the same."

I can see Chou shiver in fright at my last words, but the adults around me doesn't react since they've heard it before. The two younger children are huddled close together and shivering in fright over me. But when I look at Chou again, I can see that he has frozen up, as if he just realized something when I looked towards the other two children. I think he has made up his mind now.

"Well, Sein, I now understand your reason for bringing children with you, it's a good thing that you're thinking about the organizations future." One of the elders says pleasantly, making me turn towards him and look as he strokes his beard thoughtfully. "But there's one important question, who will take care of these children? They can't live here unsupervised and without someone to take care of them, they're still young."

I shrug my shoulders, settling my gaze on the teammates I went on the mission with. "Do any of you want to take care of a brat?" The woman nods and looks down at the still frightened girl.

"I wouldn't mind taking care of the girl, but if none of you want to take care of the younger boy, I can take care of the two children. They seem to know each other very well and it would be a shame to separate them."

At the woman's words, I can feel the excitement radiating off the two younger kids, but there's still the problem with the oldest kid. Who will take care of him? The green-eyed guy voices my question to the elders.

"Well, why don't Sein take care of him?"

I glare murderously at the elder, the air around my darkening as I growl at him.

"I. Will. What?" The elder stares calmly at me and I realize I lost my face mask, but quickly put it back on again, the dark aura slowly disappearing as I'm pretending to calm down with a hand to my forehead.

"Why not take care of him? It can be a great way to develop, you don't have any family since they died when you were very young and you don't have any siblings or friends. You are 25, but have no interest in family, so why not adopt this boy as a start to creating a bond? It'll be the first bond you've ever had."

I stare up at the elder, removing the hand from my face and calmly speak back. "I have to disagree with you, elder. I am the reincarnation; I know I will die early. It might take just a few years before I die too so who will take care of the kid then? Also, I don't socialize with anyone, that's not my expertise. I kill people, that's what I do. You trained me to be a cold-blooded killer, but now you want me to take care of a child? Are you trying to make me regain emotions that I've lost? Because it won't work that way. Also, why do you think I'm the best man for the job? For all I know, he might get so much on my nerves that I kill him in his sleep. It would just be a wasted effort to put him under my protection."

"But, because your previous generations have all passed down their money to you, you are the richest assassin here in Xian Hong and not to mention the most skilled one. You can teach this boy some things that the school can't and I can see a lot of potential in the child. If I put the child in someone else's care, that talent might go to waste and he might never bloom. And I believe that you will live long enough so the boy can take care of himself when you pass away."

"But-"

"Now that I realize what my colleague is going at, I must say that it's a very good idea. Sein Jun, taking care of the boy isn't an option anymore, it's an order. And you are not allowed to kill him and you will teach him everything he needs to know to survive here in Xian Hong."

I glare at the two elders before I slowly turn around towards Chou who have managed to sit up during our conversation. He's torn between being afraid and relieved that he'll get a caretaker. I cut his ropes off, not letting the blade cut through him and I briskly walk off towards my room. When I don't hear footsteps behind me, I yell at the boy to hurry it up. After that, he runs after me.

That's the first 'child' I ever had… It wasn't a wonderful experience, but I would lie if I said that it was a terrible one… When he got over his 'defiant age', he began to accept me and became similar to how I was when I had my face mask on… … I guess… He was the only one I regretted leaving behind when it was time to end the cycle…

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400 years… Today is my real birthday, signifying that I've existed in this world for 400 years… The time has passed so quickly yet so very slow. I've experienced more things than any normal person would do even if you gave them 1000 years. I've seen the world change around me and I have changed with it. The assassins, they barely show any emotions anymore. It feels as though the emotions that they abandon get sucked inside me… I'm getting darker with every year that passes by. The only thing that keeps the small light I have left from going outis the memories of my real parents. But that light can easily be extinguished... I wonder how long I can hold on to that little light… To myself. Becauseif the light disappears, I'll be no one.

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