Chapter Text
Harumi.
My morning started off great, despite all the dirty work I had to do. I turned on the radio and started my morning routine. After my morning shower and brushing my teeth, I put on perfectly straight black pants and a tight-fitting black turtleneck. I needed to look stylish, slightly formal, and not stand out too much. Following the "hair etiquette" rules I had heard from Boss's mother, I pulled my hair back into a low bun. But to keep some flair, I left my bangs and two front strands loose and used a curling iron to give them some light volume and curl.
Now for the equally important step—makeup. Even a killer like me has to look formal. I just evened out my skin tone a little so I wouldn't look tired. I lined my upper lash line with black pencil and applied mascara to my upper lashes. I finished it off with perfect red lipstick.
I also put on a belt, which would be convenient for hanging my gun and sunglasses.
After I finished my routine, I turned off the music and walked over to my katana, which was hanging on the wall. My name was engraved on the blade, and flowers were painted on the hilt. It was a rather expensive gift from my boss. As I looked at the katana, memories of how I got here flashed through my mind. The Merge pulled me out of prison. And in return, I ended up on this island. Of all the people I knew, only Skylor was here. By right, it was her island, as it belonged to her father. But after the Merge, several more islands appeared nearby, and there were people on each of them. So Skylor, Boss, and I had to take matters into our own hands. It was difficult at first. But thanks to the fact that we cut down a large part of the jungle, we maintained peace in the territory, money, and resources. The people began to build a city. I had to become a gangster and a "diplomat." Boss united the strongest, most intelligent, smartest, and most ruthless people and formed a mafia that rules the united islands, protects them from enemies, defends its interests and the interests of the people, and manages the economy and politics. Both internally and externally. But since no one officially recognizes us and politics in general is not perfect throughout the world at the moment, our methods are not always humane. I am not proud of what I do. But it is my duty and I am happy to protect this place. I am happy to protect the future of the children who grow up here. At first, it was very difficult here. But for the last two years, life here has been almost perfect.
Today, I decided not to take my katana because the mission was not supposed to be difficult or long. Just negotiations with one tycoon. All I need is a pistol and an assistant. I can scare him with the pistol. And my assistant will "take care" of unwanted people at these negotiations. I don't like killing people. I only kill inhuman creatures and soulless puppets. But in general, I try to just scare or capture them.
I put on my boots and headed for the exit.
I still had an hour before the mission, so I decided to wake Lloyd up.
First, I went to the restaurant kitchen on the first floor of the building. I grabbed breakfast for myself and Lloyd. It was cream cheese sandwiches, cucumber and chicken, and waffles with cream. And tea. I got him green tea with mint because I thought the color suited him. And for myself, I got black tea with lemon and five spoons of sugar. I put everything on a tray and went to the room where he was staying.
When I approached his room, I transferred the breakfast tray to one hand and opened the door. When I entered, I closed the door and transferred the tray back to both hands.
Lloyd was still asleep, but that wasn't a problem for me. I placed the tray with food on the nightstand. The smell of food made him start to wake up involuntarily.
I picked up his things from the chair next to the bed and threw them on the bed. I sat gracefully on the chair and waited for him to wake up completely.
Finally, the sleeping beauty opened his eyes and sat up slightly, leaning on his elbows.
"Good morning," I said, sounding both formal and relaxed. After all these years in politics, I had gotten used to speaking in that tone.
"Morning," he said, sounding tired and sleepy.
"Here's our breakfast," I said, pointing to the food and tea on the nightstand. Looking at his confused and still half-asleep face, I added, "You first, I insist."
It was funny to see the look on his face. It seemed he wasn't used to manners. Especially from me. To be honest, I was holding myself back right now so as not to start an argument with him. I was just training before the mission and keeping my spirits up. After the mission, I would annoy him to my heart's content.
"Yes, ma'am," he responded to my formal and polite tone. How sweet. Although I understand that it was most likely sarcasm.
Lloyd sat up straight and took a sandwich.
Meanwhile, I started with my tea.
After chewing the sandwich thoroughly, he spoke again.
"You promised last night to tell me everything," he began seriously. "Answer my questions."
On the one hand, he deserves the truth. But on the other hand, I'm still a little scared of what questions he'll ask me.
"Where are we?" was the first question. It was quite logical, so I was ready for it.
"We're on an island that used to belong to Chen," I said, seeing the slight tension on his face, and hastened to reassure him, "Now it's a democratic republic that no one recognizes. People here have the right to choose. Skylar, a ninja you know, is one of the leaders on this island, so you don't have to worry.
Sometimes I feel sick myself from how believable I am. Sometimes I hate my actions, but I hate starting something and not finishing it even more. That's why, when I often find myself in dangerous or awkward situations, I see it through to the end. With my words, I dig my own grave. That's how stubborn I am. Often, in order to prove something to one person, I become dependent on another. It's good that I haven't stooped to sleeping with someone higher than me in the hierarchy just to be closer to the top.
Because of my obsessive thoughts, I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to see Lloyd's face. I don't want to pretend to be polite and reserved. I don't want to answer these stupid questions. In my mind, I began to ask First Spinjitzu Master for something to happen so that I could leave immediately.
My prayers were answered.
Suddenly, a maid entered the room.
"Harumi, the boss asked me to call you," she said.
"Thank you, I'm coming," I replied, then looked at Lloyd one last time and said, "I'm sorry, but I'll see you tonight."
I got up from my chair and left the room, leaving Lloyd alone.
When I arrived at the boss's office, he informed me that I needed to leave a little earlier. I didn't go into details. I just left his office, and outside there were already five young men and boys in formal suits waiting for me. My personal gang of gangsters who help me with everything. As far as I know, they are friends with each other, but that's none of my business. I didn't need all of them for this mission. I chose one of them. His name was Tom. He was five years older than me. He was an excellent marksman, strategist, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, knowledgeable about poisons, familiar with the constitutions of all the merged lands, and simply a great conversationalist. He was the perfect person from the point of view of the criminal world. But for me personally, he was too emotionless. It even annoyed me.
We got into the car and drove to where we needed to go. There were incredibly few cars in this city, as it is very difficult to manufacture your own cars and buy them in other countries at the moment. We drove along the highway outside the city so as not to arouse envy among ordinary residents. We talked about work the whole way.
Finally, we arrived at our destination. It was a rather beautiful estate. We went inside, and a maid showed us to a room where Mr. Magnate was already waiting. When we met, he kissed the back of my hand and invited me to sit across from him. I sat down, and he began the conversation.
"I think you know why we're here," I said calmly to the man I needed to talk to.
"I know," he said, and after those words, I felt someone behind me point a gun at me. He continued, "But I'll hurry to decline your boss's wonderful offer."
The man stood up and began pacing around the room.
"You see, beautiful..." he said. "You can be more useful than just threatening me with a gun and a handsome, strong guy next to you."
I was alert and a little scared, but I didn't show it.
"It would be much better if you told me some secrets..." he continued. "Otherwise, you will become a sleeping beauty and sleep forever."
He moved closer to me. He hadn't noticed that I was holding a gun on my lap and pointing it at his groin. As soon as he crossed the line, I fired two shots. Then I fell with the chair, dodging his bodyguards. They opened fire on us, but they were poor shots. They only hit me in the arm. But they didn't shoot through it, they just grazed it. Meanwhile, Tom quickly kicks one of them with his foot and hits the other one with his head against the edge of the table. I quickly grab the folder with the documents I need. I'm lucky that it's a waterproof folder, so there are no drops of blood on the documents.
We went out into the corridor, where some unwanted people were already waiting for us.