Chapter Text
‘Promised I’m changing
Back from the dark,
Riyo quickens her pace until the cold air reminds her of where she is. She paused, staring at the ground while standing motionlessly on the rooftop. Of course, the past will forever haunt her, but for some reason, Riyo can’t bring herself to comprehend it. Why must it be her? Why must it be you.
She sighed heavily and sat down with crossed legs. Her fingers gently undo the knot in her hair, letting the wind combs through her hair. Riyo knows she’s not that good with her own emotions, and usually she won’t even give things this much thought. But for some reason, she just can’t stop dwelling about it. About you. Why, after all these years of abandonment, you still somehow crawled back into her life. And this time, it seems like she can’t just leave again.
“Riyooooo” The sounds of Enjin’s voice brought her back to reality. She blinks and turns back to face the thick scent of cigarette smoke.
“...” She didn’t know what to say. Sure it was a cowardly move to just run away like that, but what else could she have done? Let you walk closer and watch as your smile fades? She has imagined this scenario a hundred times, that just somehow, someway, you and her will bump into each other again. But not like this. Not as her fucking co-worker and live in the same building as her.
“Hellooo?” Enjin waves his hand in front of her face, making her blink again. Shit, how did she keep zoning out? “Ground to Riyo?”
“Yeah yeah I’m here” Riyo chuckles and tries to keep that cheeky grin on her face. But Enjin, of course, Enjin saw through it all.
Riyo’s not sure if she wanted advice.
After a rather comfortable silence, Riyo just stares blankly at the sky while Enjin takes another smoke. He finally speaks up:
“What was her name again?”
The red head blinks in confusion. She knows Enjin pays attention to detail more than anyone. He definitely knows, but guessing from his lay-back posture, he's trying to distract her off whatever her head is making up and give her some space to talk.
“_____”
“What a pretty name”
Riyo paused and turned to look at Enjin, who's inhaling another cloud of smoke in his lungs.
“Do you miss her?”
“...” She blinks off the tears that she didn't realize were there.
Enjin sighs, the silence told him practically everything he needed to know.
.
.
.
2 years ago,
Back to the assassin world, the world where nothing is certain and your wills you left for the sibling that you wonder if they’re alive or not, have already been written and got put neatly under your mattress, you weren't afraid, you weren’t scared or hesitate. Because you couldn’t. You’ve been taught this since a very young age. That fear wasn’t a choice. You either kill or be killed. Your entire life was shaped by gunshots, bloody blades and trust issues.
Until you met her.
Riyo wasn’t an openly friendly kid. In fact, you guys have never even talked at first. You two were assigned together by absolutely random. Skeptical was an understatement, you were never the “duo” kind, solo was always the better, less complicated choice.
Yet, you ended up injured mid battle.
Seriously, how careless could you have been? You trusted your strength too much and became cocky for less than a second and then you’re laying there, trying to control your own breathing as air barely enters your lungs.
Pathetic.
Now you were gonna die. Here, under the heavy storm, as your “partner” ends up going back with the cash and announces your death like it’s just another afternoon.
However, the red head didn’t leave. In fact, you heard loud gunshots as your eyes started to blur and the world started to fade. You felt someone’s arms hauling you upright, you tried to use as much strength as possible to stay awake, but of course, a hit to the chest equals a tremendous amount of blood loss.
The first thing you heard was a beeping sound as your senses start to come back, then it was a blur of the harsh fluorescent lights. A sudden throb at your chest finally got you snap into motion. Everything came crashing in as you realized what had happened.
You haven't cried in years. Since the day you can remember, your “parents” have always taught that emotions means weakness, that if you chose to be an assassin, you will never be able to “feel” anymore. And nevertheless, here you are, sobbing to yourself under the bright fluorescent lights, the sharp antiseptic smell and the sound of the beeping monitor proving that you were still there, still breathing, that those letters under your mattress were still there.
“You’re awake.”
You flinched, your head was diving too deep in the idea of actually surviving that you forgot to take in your surroundings for the first time. That, or you felt safe.
Wait, what?
“Ah, Riyo, right?” and she nodded
You tried to sit up and she didn’t stop you even when you hissed as the bullet wound stretched a little. Riyo sat there, you can’t exactly read her emotions but you can tell she’s a little awkward and not knowing what to do. Now that you think about it.
She was no different from you.
Riyo and you were both kids. Kids who were shaped to become deadly weapons that can be controlled, can be wild, can be careless and insane with no hesitation because you didn’t even get to experience what they call “childhood”. You didn’t have friends. And every time you try to make friends, they’ll be dead on some random mission a few days later. So you stopped. This time would be the exact same, you thought, and the “Thank you” died as you opened and closed your mouth.
You both sit in the uncomfortable silence, not knowing what to say as the clock continues to tick. Riyo looked like she wanted to say something too, you noticed her body language as she fidgeted with her sleeves.
Fuck it, she/you were gonna die anyway.
“Thank you for saving me-”
“Thank you for not leaving me behind-”
You stared at her, those big green eyes and chubby cheeks stared back at you. Suddenly, both of you burst out laughing.
Yes, laughing, full on arms over stomach, doubling over laughing. What in the trashbeast were you so worried about? Wasn’t the entire motiv of the assassin is to not hesitate? You both can shoot a bullet, kill millions of people in seconds but hesitated over a thank you? This is just a big fat joke, seriously, so humorous to both of you that you laughed until tears started to form in the corner of your eyes. And the more you laugh, the less tension you both feel. Words came easier than either of you expected, it’s like you two were one person at that moment as you both started to gossip about the others, complain about the cafeteria food and discuss which weapons would be the best in close combat if it weren’t for their jinkis.
Your heart was speeding up.
And for some reason, you felt like she felt the same.
.
.
.
Becoming a cleaner is the last thing at the bottom of your list. Honestly, you never thought you'd choose such a safe option after years of getting blood on your vital instrument. It’s rather amusing. After Riyo left, you became dull. Your moves became less sharp, you started wearing heavier clothes and growing thinner by the week, despite already being malnutritious. So your boss introduced you to a safer, calmer and friendlier option.
“Until you feel better.” he said. But you saw a mysterious glint in his eyes.
Corvus took you in without question.
“I’ve known enough from your old boss.” he said, and you didn’t wanna question it.
Team child is… loud. But they’re kind people, you can feel it. For the first time you actually let your guard down and start trying to make friends after being introduced to the cleaners. Guita is a loud, energetic kid who’s only one year younger than you. Dear is a literal kid, and despite his annoyed expression, you can still see the nervous side of him. And then there’s Bro Santa, who surprised you the most. So they do have a parental figure, and he seems… kind? The concept of a nice, warm family is still new to you, but you’ll get the hang of it, hopefully.
While greeting the supporters, who you secretly liked the most because of their devotion for the cleaners, you thought you saw something that made your heart skip a beat.
A short red head.
You looked up, but she’s already gone. Maybe you’re starting to hallucinate? Even after 2 years, you still can’t forget her huh?
How pathetic of you.
A person like her doesn't deserve to be missed.
.
.
.
The first night is always the hardest.
You can barely sleep. The room is too big, the window is too calm, the place is too silent. You laid wide-awake as the moment where the bright red hair flashed through the corner of your eyes, making your heart speeding up. There’s no way, right?
There’s just no way.
The night is a lot more windy than you thought. As your feet shuffled through the wooden floor, you started to make your way up higher and higher until you reached the roof. You missed this, this peaceful feeling where you and Riyo used to stargaze after a night mission. However it’s quite useless to miss such a girl, seriously you gotta stop thinking about someone who has hurt you so deeply, it’ll only hurt you more.
With a small yawn, you noticed a figure also sitting there. Long hair falling onto the ground but you can’t really see the color because of the faint moon light.
“Evening!” You said calmly and started to make your way over. New friends, you thought. These ones won’t die so easily.
The figure seems to haven't heard your greeting, so you decided to walk over and make a proper introduction of yourself. Your light feets make practically no sound from all the practice back in the assassin days.
“Good evening-”
The person flinched and with a smooth motion, you felt a sharp object near your throat. Good reflexes! Reminds you of her again. Their jinki also look familiar, oh a pair of… scissors…?
Maybe your eyes weren't deceiving you.
Those huge green eyes stared at you like you’re a ghost, and you can’t help but stare back the same way.
“Riyo?”