Work Text:
One task. A job that determined a life, or possibly two, depending on the willingness of the assassin. Not many opportunities like these were even whispered of, not to mention carried out. Taking the life of another in secret required a crafted skill that only the most heartless toyed with and only the most damaged considered. Quite simply, Mizuki was not the type of ordinary thief cut out for this work.
But the hired blade didn’t do the decision making—that was up to the employer. Mizuki knew better than to question orders, considering doing so could mean a week without food.
Of all of the life-threatening situations Mizuki had found themself entangled with, none had come close to the mission they pursued in the cold dead of the night outside the Shinonome estate.
Cold brick greeted their fingertips with an icy touch that sent shivers coursing through their veins, into the heart that beat rapidly with every step closer toward their target. The window on the far right of the second floor, they’d been told, was where she, Lady Ena Shinonome, slept. The command was simple: take the girl’s life and escape without a trace.
Sneaking into the manor was the easy part. Mizuki recognized this one in particular, for an antique vase it housed, or at least, had housed before they had their fingertips wrapped around it and in the hands of a grateful merchant. They'd complimented it for its ornate design and patterns, yet Mizuki only remembered the warm meal the payment had supplied them that night. Their work came down simply to the reward, and today’s reward had the potential to net them a brand new life entirely, or at least safety.
The hooded messenger had appeared at their doorstep, just two weeks prior, note in hand, yet few words of their own. A request from an unnamed noble, yet a powerful one, as they could tell by the fancy parchment, but more importantly, the threat it contained. Mizuki wasn’t one to care for political schemes, but they weren’t stupid enough to know that nothing you did was kept a secret in a town littered with spies at every corner. One simple slipup meant a life in debt.
No one took mercy on a petty thief. Victory tonight was essential as not to land a life in prison, or worse, publicly executed.
A life for a life, and in this case, the life taken would be Lady Ena’s.
So they waited that night, watching lights flicker to nothingness through the open windows until the moonlight cast upon their back was the only source of light in sight. Watching the house for the past two weeks had been particularly useful in noticing the patterns at which each room lost its glow or when the same figure dashed off into the evening every night. The other child of Lord Shinonome, presumably, but not the target.
The target was… different than Mizuki had expected. Most noble women retired to sleep quite early, and while they did notice the lights go out at an early hour, they returned again, into the ungodly hours of the night. It was almost hilarious, that a noble woman had such a seemingly terrible sleep schedule, yet suffered none of the daily labor of that of a commoner.
That observation netted the perfect time to strike, just as the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and paint the sky with a dim shade of orange. Getaways were more difficult when the night couldn’t act as a mask, but that’s why Mizuki was the assassin on a job. They were experienced, and more than anything, they were talented in their craft.
But Mizuki was no assassin.
Mizuki tapped their fingers against the hilt of their knife, as if rapid movement would make the hours fly by faster. Such a task was a waiting game more than anything, and even as the candles dimmed in Lady Ena’s room, they knew they still needed time to let her fall asleep. There was no assassination if the victim was there to watch the action.
Their patience is rewarded greatly in time. The air is still silent, as if they’d already cut the life out of it, and the thick ivy sprawled out across the side of the house made for a perfect rope. It was as if nobody had even tried to make the task difficult, except for the heart that pounded in their chest and rang in their ears. A cry for help, perhaps, but when was the ruthless thief Mizuki one to turn to their emotions?
Getting the window open was a simple task in itself, considering Mizuki could just simply pry it open with the end of their dagger. Petty nobles really spent too much time prettying themselves to ignore such basic security. Even trembling fingers could pull the shutters apart as if granting a grand entrance to a ballroom, but this was certainly no ballroom.
The lady lay peacefully on her side, eyes closed as her chest moved up and down with a steady rhythm completely unmatched to Mizuki’s. They could make out her features in the darkness, and a breath caught in their throat.
“She’s beautiful.”
Mizuki had seen the Crown Princess from afar enough times to know how to truly define beauty, but this girl was different. She had a look of peace to her, and Mizuki couldn’t help but focus on the rise and the fall of her breathing. What they needed in the moment was a second of peace before they crawled into the room, soundlessly.
Their fingers curled around their dagger like icy tendrils. If their heartbeat alone wasn’t enough to wake the sleeping maiden, nothing was, even as they crept to the edge of the bed and peered at the girl’s face. Mizuki held the blade forward, lining the curve of the blade with the curve of Lady Ena’s neck as if in preparation.
That’s when tears formed like icicles in their eyelids, as they steadied their shaking hand and felt the knife clatter to the ground.
Mizuki was no assassin.
It only took moments for the girl’s eyes to flutter open and widen, a scream forming in her throat as Mizuki lunged for her, covering her mouth forcefully and holding her to the headboard of her bed with their other arm. Lady Ena squirmed in place, making it rather difficult to hold her down, and Mizuki let out a loud grunt before coughing out a few words. “I won’t do it!”
The girl’s muffled cries were not enough to wake anyone, and if she were any less beautiful, Mizuki might’ve reached for the dagger again and cut through her heart, but instead, their grip weakened and Ena forced herself out from under Mizuki, dashing to the window with a gasp that shook the entire room.
“W-Wait!” Mizuki cried out, throwing their hands up as if defeated.
Ena backed away slowly, arms reaching for the mercy of her windowsill. “I-I’ll jump,” she threatened, moving one leg up against the wall.
“That wouldn’t kill you,” Mizuki cautioned her, picking up their stray dagger from the floor and holding it up for Ena to observe. “But this certainly will.”
Ena’s eyes widened, filled with fear like a mouse catching sight of the curl of a cat’s claws. “W-Who even are you?”
“I wouldn’t be a good assassin if I let my target get away, nonetheless, let my name out into the public,” Mizuki answered, holding a hand out as if Ena were the armed one instead. “Please. Don’t move. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Ena shook her head fiercely, tears streaming down her pale face. “You’re saying that like you don’t have a knife on you.”
The dagger clattered to the floor once more. Mizuki was defeated before the mission even began, especially as she stared into the girl’s deep brown eyes. “Take it, if you like,” they offered, kicking it toward Ena, who gasped loudly as the blade nearly sliced her foot.
“Y-You!” she choked out. “Y-You’re a monster, if you meant to… to kill me!”
“A monster is certainly no exaggeration.”
“L-Listen,” Mizuki said, lowering their voice. “Maybe I did come here with that intention, but I promise you no harm. If you wish to cut me down right here, I wouldn’t blame you.” They hesitated, shallowing sharply. “It would be far more merciful than the punishment awaiting me after I fail this mission.”
“You… You were hired?” Ena’s tone changes. “You didn’t just come here to slit my throat and rob my possessions?”
“A job is a job. A noble woman like yourself wouldn’t understand.”
“How dare you!”
“Please, quiet down,” Mizuki hissed. They considered their situation, tossing a few ideas in their mind. “If you just let me through that window and forget this ever happened, I promise you’ll be safe from me. Forever.”
“How am I supposed to trust you?!”
Mizuki didn’t ever expect things to come to this, lifting their mask down from over their head and revealing a mane of light pink hair. To fail a mission was an insult in itself, but to reveal themself to the very girl they should’ve murdered? Mizuki couldn’t even consider the punishment they were in for later.
“Y-You’re hardly my age, are you?” Ena stuttered, her hands gripping the windowsill tighter. “You are—you were—going to kill me, when—”
Mizuki’s eyes had wandered to the corner next to Ena, where a large sheet seemed to be flung aimlessly over a stack of something rectangular. They beckoned with their hand to it. “What’s this?”
As if on cue, Ena threw an arm out weakly as if defending whatever she hid there. “Don’t,” she hissed, although her voice came out more shrill. It only plagued Mizuki’s curiosity even more.
“If I’m going to die, may I at least die knowing Lady Ena’s deepest darkest secret?” Mizuki spoke plainly, winking at the girl. They were beginning to have a little too much… fun with this. Fun with everything going wrong, and knowing this could be their last day. Somehow the thought didn’t feel so scary anymore, watching someone else hold the exact same fear, but being the one holding the edge of the rope on Ena’s own life.
Mizuki’s attitude had thrown Ena off, with how carefree someone stuck in a room with a knife and death sentence could be. She looked from the dagger pointing at her on the floor, to the covering, back to Mizuki. It was the first time the two made actual eye contact, and Mizuki felt their heart skip a beat.
Ena’s hand quickly scooped the dagger off the ground and threw it out the open window.
Mizuki had no words to react with, instead chuckling softly. “You’re a lot smarter than I made you out to be, for all the talk I hear about you...” Mizuki stopped midpace. “From what I’ve gathered enough from someone wanting your head.”
“Oh yeah. All those nobles sure do like to talk about me, don’t they?” Ena’s frightened expression was replaced with a scowl. “You gonna join them? Tell me how much of a disappointment I am?”
Mizuki stifled a laugh. “I may have tried to slit your throat, but I actually have no idea what you’re talking about, so I guess to answer your question, no. From what I know, you just seem like an ordinary girl.”
“Are you… teasing me?”
“Are you going to show me whatever it is you’re hiding~?”
Ena rolled her eyes, hesitantly taking a step forward. “You aren’t still armed, are you?” Mizuki shook their head, to which Ena sighed deeply. “Maybe it’s just because it’s the middle of the night and I’m feeling a little unstable after whatever the hell just happened mere minutes ago, but if you said you’re going to die anyway…” She took the end of the sheet and tugged it off, revealing a stack of canvases and an easel. “You might as well get a chance to make fun of me, just like everyone else.”
That wasn’t the case at all, as Mizuki brought their hands to their face, taking in the sight of the artwork. They inched closer, trying to make out the details with the limited light in the room, yet it was still clear that this Ena girl could draw, and she could draw well. The painting sitting on the easel looked unfinished, but Mizuki could make out some sort of dark forest, a girl huddled under a tree that stretched into a sky of purple and blue hues. It felt melancholic, but soothing. “Beautiful,” they muttered under their breath. They motioned toward the stack of canvases beside the easel. “May I?”
Ena nodded, returning to sit on the edge of her bed, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Mizuki took the top canvas off the stack, a painting once of a rainstorm and a boat, sails torn by the wind, and again, a small girl huddling for cover. The only difference was the streaks of black paint that muddled the picture, as if Ena had thrown her brush at the canvas frustration. It didn’t look intentional. Painting after painting told the same story, a beautiful scene and a lonely girl who looked so out of place, yet felt so familiar. “That’s you, isn’t it?” Mizuki whispered, pointing at the figure.
“It doesn’t matter who it is. It’s just a drawing. It’s not even good.” Ena scowled. She refused to even look toward her paintings.
“I think these are beautiful. Honestly. I swear on it.”
Seconds felt like hours. Ena’s muffled voice whispered. “...No one has ever said that to me.”
Mizuki felt their stomach drop like an anchor. Their heart skips a beat, and before they know it, they’re on their feet, at Ena’s bedside with their arms wrapped around her, only this time, Ena didn’t struggle. Neither of them feared death in the moment. Ena choked out a sob into Mizuki’s shoulder, tugging the stranger closer to her. “You weren’t going to kill me. You’re my guardian angel, aren’t you? This has all been a dream?”
“Maybe. If you want to think of it that way.”
“Because I don’t think I’ll ever see you again,” was what Mizuki could’ve said. What they meant, as they backed away and pulled the mask back over their face and hair.
“Are you leaving me?” Ena called out, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Mizuki Akiyama. That’s all you need to know.” Mizuki didn’t turn around to meet her gaze, speaking into the sun as it peaked over the horizon overhead. “I’ll never leave you, remember? Because I’m your guardian angel, and this was all just a dream. Go back to sleep.”
They swung their legs over the window sill and clung to the ivy, letting the window shutters slam behind them, muffling Ena’s cries. It was better if it ended this way. Besides, Mizuki had an old friend to visit—someone possibly willing to house a wanted criminal.
Because maybe they were Lady Ena’s guardian angel after all.