《Not An Assassins World》


 Chapter 0: Prologue

    A thieves'' world¡­


    When you think about what system this world plays by there¡¯s only one truly correct answer


    Robbery


    This world is run by thieves. Everyone steals something for a living. Bank collectors, lawyers, artists, entrepreneurs, and more. However, if I had to say


    I¡¯m the worst of them all¡­


    What do I steal?


    ¡­¡­


    I steal lives


    I¡¯m Shirazaki Kage, I was born in Akita which is far north of central Tokyo, which is where I¡¯m stationed now. I was told that my parents had left Japan to work overseas for a while


    Because of that, I lived with my grandparents while I was little. Though as fate would have it, that didn¡¯t last very long¡­


    One night I went out to ride my bike around 7:00 PM. To this day I still vividly remember everything, how nice the cold breeze felt while riding around our small neighborhood, and the tragedy that took place in my absence


    When I finished riding around I came back and parked my bike in front of the house like usual, walked into the house, and took off my shoes


    There was nothing particularly unusual. I walked straight to the kitchen to get a glass of water because I was tired, but what I saw when I did will forever remain with me


    I was stunned with fear and confusion. Right beside the kitchen counter layed both my grandparents. They were both lying in a pile of blood. It was like they were a sack of potatoes or even two sandbags. My grandpa was lying on top of Grandma as if he was trying to protect her


    Presuming it was just a prank I slowly walked up to them and crouched down shaking grandpa relentlessly.


    ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t funny,¡±


    I said repeatedly¡­


    But nothing


    After looking at both of their lifeless eyes I began to tear up, the realization of them being dead really started to set in¡­.


    But


    For whatever reason I noticed a bloody kitchen knife on the floor a bit further from where they were. We had a backdoor that led to our backyard which was fenced with stone walls near the kitchen, and that''s where I noticed it


    But that wasn¡¯t all I noticed¡­


    After looking closer at the knife I began to see a reflection of what seemed to be a person''s eye. Clouded with emotion I wasn¡¯t sure if it really was a person or if I had gone mad


    A reasonable thing for a 10-year-old kid to do would have been to run away screaming and trying to grab someone''s attention. Though I guess I wasn¡¯t that smart as a kid


    For whatever reason, in the heat of the moment. The words that came out of my mouth were


    ¡°YOU DID THIS DIDN¡¯T YOU¡±


    The expression I had on my face then was probably rather disgusting. It¡¯s not like I had the time to go look in a mirror, but if I had to guess it probably looked something like a German shepherd ready to bite. With the exception of my eyes tearing up


    What happened next is still shocking to me, even now


    Why would someone do something so idiotic?


    The eyes that I saw were in fact that of a persons. It was a man, one I did not recognize. After hearing me speak he bolted further into the backyard and proceeded to climb over the stone wall


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    I was too afraid to move so I didn¡¯t try to chase him. I caught a glimpse of what his description was though, a black jacket, white sneakers tainted with blood, short black hair, and my grandpa''s watch on his left wrist


    He had successfully hopped over the wall and as any kid would, I sat there. I sat in a pile of blood ready to ball my eyes out while staring at my grandparents


    But not long after I couldn¡¯t figure out what to do with myself¡­. So, I picked up the kitchen knife and ran out the front door to see if I could follow him


    Even though he escaped through the back of our home I was able to find which way he went due to the trail of blood left by the sneakers


    The footsteps lead all the way through the neighborhood and eventually, I lost sight of them


    It was almost like he just up and vanished


    Then I noticed it


    A huge bush leading uphill. I¡¯m not sure why I decided to go through it but I did, and after a few seconds I found an abandoned shrine. There was little light in one of the buildings so I slowly made my way to it


    Peaking my head through one of the broken windows, I saw the man. There he was rummaging through items that he seemed to have stolen from my grandparents. That repulsive grin he had on his face while scouring the items was truly revolting to me


    I wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to do at the time I had left to chase him. I had chased him all the way back to where he was staying, all while holding a kitchen knife


    At the time I was unsure as to why I decided to follow him, but in that moment while I was watching him through the window, it became evident what I wanted to do


    I had sternly gripped the kitchen knife with my right hand, raised my arm up with my elbow bent, and swung my arm down as fast as I could while releasing my grip off the knife


    The knife went through the window frame and hit him in his left shoulder


    Hehe


    His left shoulder


    I had missed


    Though of course in that moment I wasn¡¯t really aiming and I thought I had killed him¡­ but it takes more than a knife to the arm to kill a human


    Though I was overjoyed, my happy expression would soon leave my face when the man grabbed his arm in pain and looked towards the window. Unlike last time¡­ our eyes had actually met this time and he spoke


    ¡°I KNEW I SHOULD¡¯VE KILLED YOU, YOU DAMNED RASCAL¡±


    That''s what he yelled at me. Right before running out of the door and having his skull pierced by a kunai


    The throwing knife came from a bit of a distance as to from where I was standing but even still, it was extraordinary. The man''s head clung to the door like a nail in the wall


    Terrified at what I had witnessed I was weak on my knees and fell to my butt on the ground. Shortly after appeared a man in an all-black tuxedo, even the undershirt and tie were black. As he approached I wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it so I just sat there in fear, though this time I wasn¡¯t about to tear up like before


    Once the man in the tux reached me he spoke only a few words


    ¡°Very impressive young child. To be able to throw a knife like that at your age is quite remarkable¡±


    ¡°I am aware of your misfortunes this pass evening, so why not join me. You need only follow¡±


    I wasn¡¯t aware of what he meant by that but I began to hear the police sirens as he walked away, then I thought about what I should do. I was still young and didn¡¯t have a family to return to. So I followed the man in the tux as he walked further uphill, and ever since then my life changed


    From that day on I was taken in by an assassin named Miho who graciously killed a thief with a bounty on his head


    And I was trained to be an assassin¡­


    Now fast forward to present day, I am a first-class assassin, age 20, and I am tasked to stop terrorists from messing with a temporal displacement device. I¡¯m not sure why the terrorists want it but I heard it can be used to traverse through time


    Given¡­ as capable as I am now¡­


    This is a near-impossible task for me


    Even if they do call me Kage, the shadow of death

 Chapter 1: Temporal Displacement Device

    Chapter 1


    December 21st, 2045, 9:00 PM


    Toranomon-Azabudai, Central Tokyo


    The district was packed with people as today was a weekend and a holiday was fast approaching. Kaze was called into the assassin''s headquarters main building. This building acted not only as a headquarters but as a stronghold to any V.I.P members that work for or with the company


    Man, work gets especially hectic around the holidays. Dishonerable civilians everywhere, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and even children, they all succumb to greed and revenge. That¡¯s the only reason people like me even have such a job


    Kaze walked into the company''s headquarters and scanned his ID to activate the elevator in the lobby. The headquarters building is called The Black Loom, it received this name shortly after it was constructed due to it being basically invisible at night and so tall that it would loom over every other building in the district


    Aside from the building''s astounding exterior, it¡¯s also known for being basically impossible to gain access to separate floors in the building. The floor Kaze is heading to is known as the conference floor. On the conference floor resides the boss''s office, the only people who have access to this floor are first-rate assassins, exclusive V.I.P, and the boss


    After a 2-minute wait on the elevator, Kaze reached the 210th floor, the highest floor in the building. Once the elevator doors opened he was greeted by a long hallway of black walls and feather-grey carpet


    Kaze raised his right eyebrow in confusion as he proceeded to walk down to the boss¡¯s quarters


    ¡°This hallway feels like it stretches endlessly, almost like a nightmare¡±


    Kaze had never met the boss but had heard many stories. One of the boss¡¯s most famous stories in particular tells a tale about how he assassinated the whole Yazuki family in one night. The Yazuki¡¯s were a well-known and wealthy family. Their family was known for overseas trade, but most of their deals were illegal


    I know the story about the Yazuki¡¯s but still, it doesn¡¯t make sense¡­. In one night, how? They had some of the best security in Japan and just getting into the house itself is near impossible. All without being spotted, just what kind of person is he?


    He approached dark double doors that seemed to be made of ebony wood. Kaze reaches out his right hand and opens the door walking through the right side


    As he walked in, the first thing he noticed was a long clear desk made of glass and a normal work space on top of it.  Wanting to examine the room Kaze looks both right and left as he continues to walk forward to the center of the room


    But when he looked to the left he noticed


    A child?


    The room had looked just as it did in the hallway. The only difference was the bookshelves filled with books on each side of the wall, A workspace towards the front of the room, floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the quarters, a seating area with sofas in the middle of the space, the room being slightly light, and a child with a pen and notebook off to the left


    Kaze stopped to look at the child, in confusion he couldn¡¯t help but stare. The child wore black fitted pants, black sneakers, a short black trench coat made of cotton, and had short black straight hair with a few strands of blonde highlights that came down to the neck


    It¡¯s a little girl, is it the boss¡¯s child?


    ¡°Shirizaki Kaze, Age:20, Height:180cm, Hair color: Black, Eye color: Brown, Favorite color: unknown, Favorite food: unknown, Relationship status: Single, Hair styled in a short pony tail, and a dead expression¡±


    Suddenly a stern yet soft voice echoed the space. The voice came from the big dark grey chair behind the desk, however, the chair was facing the windows that peered out into the night sky


    ¡°Still just standing there huh? Normally people would be on edge or yell SIR while saluting¡­ I knew you would be the right choice¡± The boss says in a calm tone


    I¡¯m a little thrown off by how soft the boss¡¯s voice is but what does he mean by I¡¯m the right choice? Am I being chosen for another V.I.P. mission? No, normally I get my jobs through Miho


    ¡°Listen Shirizaki, what I am about to tell you can never leave this room. Do you understand¡±


    Why something so serious¡­. And why did he choose me?


    ¡°I understand¡± Kaze replied with a little tension in his voice


    ¡°Kyushiki Corp, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of it before¡­. A technically advanced corporation working to bring Japan sophisticated technology. Rumor has it, they laid off many of their staff due to the successful development of artificial intelligence¡± The boss expressed in a stern but soft voice once more


    Artificial Intelligence? Does he mean AI, as in robots¡­


    ¡°That isn¡¯t the only thing they have, as I said it¡¯s only been rumored to be true but what I¡¯m about to tell you is no mere rumor. Within the company''s building there''s a secret underground bunker of sorts, but isn¡¯t being used as one. It would be more accurate to call it a basement, down there they have what some have been led to believe a nuclear bomb, however, that isn¡¯t the case¡±


    The boss sure does have a way of obtaining information. I¡¯ve dealt with my fair share of Kyushiki employees and have never heard something like this


    ¡°What they¡¯re really keeping secret down there is a temporal displacement device. A.K.A a time machine, accurate assessments of when they started development is unknown to us. Furthermore, we have obtained intel that a terrorist organization will be targeting the facility underground to get their hands on that device. This is where you come in Shirizaki Kaze, I-no we need you to stop that device from getting into their clutches¡±


    A terrorist group, time machine, secret facility, classified project¡­ LIKE HELL


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude sir, but with all due respect this seems a little crass¡± Kaze replied firmly


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. I¡¯ll tell you what, you will receive a special reward for this job¡± The boss says in a persuasive tone


    Kaze looked over to the left side of the room to see the little girl still writing in a notebook. The sight of the child began to confuse him and made him question more about the information he had just been given


    If this information is supposed to be so valuable then is it ok for this child to be here?


    Still trying to understand the current situation Kaze put his left hand over his eyes and nose. This was often used as a mechanism to block out any form of light to the eyelids allowing him to think more clearly


    ¡°The girl over there is mine so don¡¯t think too hard about it¡±


    Of course, he would know what I¡¯m thinking, he can¡¯t even see me either. I wonder what the reward would be for a job like this, seems like it won¡¯t just be money this time. It''s not like I have anything to do though, Miho isn¡¯t around either


    After taking some time to ponder the task he was asked to perform, Kaze eventually came to a decision. Taking his hand off of his face he walked up to the front of the clear desk and told the boss his decision


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it, what will this reward be?¡± he asked


    ¡°I thank you, I am indebted to you for taking on this mission. Regarding your reward, it¡¯s in here¡± The boss replied


    The chair that had been facing toward the ceiling windows began to turn towards the front of the room and Kaze for the first time. When the chair fully spun around Kaze was greeted with a little more than an unexpecting appearance


    Suddenly a wide-eyed expression began to emerge on his face


    ¡°.....¡±


    ¡°No words huh? I imagine you weren¡¯t expecting me to be a woman now, weren¡¯t you? Here take this envelope¡± The boss says while handing Kaze a white envelope with a red rose seal on it


    Sitting in the dark grey chair sat a woman with an above-average chest, long black hair with a natural blonde on top, fitted in an all-black tuxedo, big round black eyes, plump lips, and a pair of brown strapped goggles that laid around her collarbone


    Kaze reached his right hand out to grab the envelope. There was nothing particularly noticeable on it. The envelope didn¡¯t have any form of writing on the front nor back, all that was on it was a red seal in the shape of a rose to keep it closed


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t expect you to be a woman, it¡¯s more of the fact that it never crossed my mind. Though I guess in regards to the stories told about you, one would assume quite the opposite¡±


    ¡°Pffft¡­ HAHAHHAHAHA, Yeah I guess that would certainly be the case¡± She says in a cheerful voice while holding her stomach


    ¡°Ah man, you certainly are different from everyone else in this business. Listen, about that envelope, don¡¯t open it until after you finish this task. Now the only other piece of information you need is the time and date, it¡¯s tomorrow at 11:00 PM¡±


    Throughout the conversation between the two one thing became very clear¡­. The boss was a rather interesting character and seemed to always talk in a soft and abrupt style, almost like an overly excited adult


    Thus she started smiling at Kaze with her eyes closed


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think I heard you, when did you say?¡± Kaze said with the same smiling expression


    ¡°Tomorrow¡± She replies


    For a short moment the two stared at each other with the same smiling expression. It was like an awkward scene in a movie when someone does something stupid


    Kaze slowly opened his eyes and the smiling expression left his face as he did. Stunned by what he heard he had no real reaction


    ¡°Are you like¡­ Dumb¡± Kaze asked the boss


    ¡°Hey, that''s no way to talk to your boss¡± She replies in a pouty voice


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°I know this is sudden Kaze but this is important¡­. Sume come¡±


    The boss lowered her right hand down waving in an up and down motion. She signaled for the little girl to come over to her. The little girl got up in a timely manner and walked over to her side, when the child reached her she extended her hand to the top of the girl''s head and rubbed


    Is she giving the girl head pats?


    ¡°This is Azuki Sume, as I¡¯ve told you she is my daughter. And I¡¯m Azuki Yume, haha our names are similar, neat right¡± She expresses in a cheerful tone


    Why did she sound so proud to say that? Aside from that, she said her name was Azuki Yume, and she even told me her daughter''s name, but why¡­


    ¡°Why are you telling me your name? I haven''t heard of anyone who knows your name so I assumed you were keeping that confidential, were you not?¡± Kaze asked


    After hearing that question the boss stood up from her chair and pointed at Kaze with her left hand, remaining her right on the child''s head


    ¡°That''s an easy answer, those who know your true identity are those who can cause you the most suffering. I am entrusting you with that envelope and the name of myself as well as my daughter, you are the one I chose for this job¡± She said in a lordly tone


    For a moment her entire persona changed, she spoke almost like a proud noble. This is all messed up, but if she truly trusts me to get this job done then I will


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it done¡±


    Kaze began to feel tiresome as the boss¡¯s eccentric personality started to wear him out, more than anything he wanted to leave. He reached into his back pocket and grabbed a 100-yen coin. Kaze flipped the coin off his thumb and caught it in the air, then he gave it to Azuki Sume with an open palm


    ¡°Here, take it¡± Kaze told Sume


    She grabbed the coin out of his hand and then looked up at Kaze with a smile. After giving Sume the coin he turned around and began to walk out of the room


    ¡°Kaze, remember¡­ This is a thieves'' world¡± The boss says in a soft tone as Kaze walks out of the room


    December 22nd, 2045, 10:30 PM Kyushiki Corporation Head Quarters


    Kaze arrived at the company building wearing the same all-back tuxedo as the boss and Miho. Once inside the company building, he stationed himself in the lobby with a cup of black coffee. There were many people coming in and out of the main lobby but there was no one he was looking for. A few minutes later, A man with a lab coat walked into the building and headed toward a stairwell


    Kaze began to follow the man to the stairwell as he needed him to get through the white door blocking it. The Kyushiki¡¯s corporation building has tight security, even more so than the assassin''s headquarters Black Loom, unlike the Black Loom, there weren¡¯t highly skilled combatants on every floor. The only way to access certain areas were with a specific keycard, and even then you needed a keycard that stated your ID and occupation within the company to access that area.


    As the man in the lab coat reached the stairwell he pulled out a keycard from his front pocket of the white lab coat. Kaze, a mere few feet behind the man, lunged out from behind the corner he was hiding at


    His footsteps were silent and precise


    ¡°I¡¯m Sorry¡± Kaze muttered before getting behind the man


    Hearing the soft mutter he tried to turn around but wasn¡¯t able to react in time. Kaze covered the man''s mouth with his left hand and placed his right hand right over his forehead, twisting both his hands at the same time in a swift motion, breaking his neck. He bent down to grab the keycard that fell


    Placing the keycard in front of the proximity card reader, the door unlocked and he walked in while dragging the body in with him to block the door from the inside. He headed down 20 flights of stairs and was greeted by another door, but this door did not require a keycard


    I wonder if this is where that time machine thing is


    Kaze opened the door and found a giant basement with a huge sphere that seemed to be plated on top of a massive mechanical bird''s nest. Taking a closer look, that wasn¡¯t the only thing that was there. There were bodies on the ground everywhere in the basement floor, upon seeing this site, Kaze quickly closed the door silently and ducked underneath an electrical box


    The hell is going on here? Did the terrorist come earlier than expected¡­ That¡¯s the only explanation, there¡¯s blood and bodies everywhere, probably around 15 or 20


    ¡°Cm¡¯on specs, isn¡¯t this YOUR project? Hurry up and turn this damn thing on¡±


    Suddenly Kaze began to hear voices from the other side of the basement. There stood 2 men in all black with black masks on and someone in a lab coat. The men in black both had pistols. The man in the lab coat was at gunpoint while seated in a chair facing a desk of monitors, he was being used to turn on the temporal displacement device


    ¡°Hey boss, you really think this thing is going to work?¡± Said the man walking around the room


    ¡°It has to¡± Replied the one holding a hostage


    Kaze peeked his head over the electrical box and got a peak at where they were


    I see, that''s the situation. I don¡¯t have much time then


    ¡°H-Here, I¡¯m done¡­ I-I¡¯m not sure why you want to activate the machine b-b-but it¡¯s not even fully finished yet, and if you activate it it cou-¡±


    ¡°OH SHUT THE HELL UP SPECS, GIVE ME THAT¡± The terrorist exclaimed


    The guy being called specs was smacked in his face with the pistol before he could finish his frantic warning. The boss of the terrorists grabs a cellular device from the hands of the guy he just hit.


    ¡°Finally¡± He said, in a menacing tone while staring at the device. All that was left was for him to press the button on the device


    Trying to think of something quick, Kaze finds a broken pipe next to him on the ground and picks it up. He stands up, reaches his arm back, and throws the pipe at the boss. The pipe landed on his head and in a stun, the terrorist dropped the device


    ¡°The hell!¡±


    Both the terrorist look over towards Kaze and they extend their guns out and start shooting at him. Kaze quickly ducked under the box again, short of time he made a break for it and started running towards the terrorist, picking up the dead bodies near him and the ground and using them as meat shields


    Slowly closing in the distance of one of the terrorists he throws the body he''s currently holding in the direction of the terrorist that was close to him. The terrorist moved to the side, dodging the body that was flailing at him but dropped the gun as the body grazed his arm causing him to lose his grip on the weapon


    ¡°DAMNIT!¡± He yells


    Kaze now charging at the man in a low position he pulls out a butterfly knife from his back pocket and closes the gap. The terrorist threw a punch at his face but Kaze dodged by changing his direction and countered it with a cut to his stomach


    He began to fall while weeping and clutching his stomach. Before he hit the ground Kaze grabbed him by the back of his shirt and proceeded to run forward using him as a meat shield. The boss of the terrorists panicked as he was trying to reload his weapon


    Where is that guy in the glasses? Is he¡­ I see, he''s under that table behind the terrorist


    ¡°DAMNNIT TO HELL, I WAS GOING TO DO THIS ANYWAYS. HAHAHAHA, I DONT KNOW WHY THEY SENT AN ASSASSIN BUT YOUR TOO LATE¡± The terrorist says as he throws his gun on the ground and drops down to press the activation button on the device


    The Massive sphere began to spin clockwise in a fast rotation, making an unstable mechanical rocking sound, almost like a washing machine. Then suddenly everything and everyone stopped and went silent


    What¡­ What''s going on?


    Why can¡¯t I move, why aren¡¯t the two of them moving?


    Even the blood from this guy isn¡¯t dripping anymore.


    Did he stop time? No, impossible¡­right?


    A few moments later time had resumed. Kaze threw the body he was holding on the ground and rushed the other Terrorist as fast as he could. As he was running to the man a flash of white light appeared out of nowhere causing him to stop. The whole basement was engrossed in a white light so blinding it was impossible to see anything


    In that moment Kaze felt an extreme pressure being applied to his head giving him a headache. Not being able to keep his eyes open and withstand the pressure he fell unconscious. Hours go by and Kaze slowly starts to wake up from his sleep, feeling a cold breeze on his face and the cold touch of metal beneath him he opens his eyes. Frantic and confused about what happened he quickly got up and looked at his surroundings


    Damn my head is still killing me, I can''t remember anything after that random flash of light


    However, Kaze was no longer in the basement. He was outside, thinking he might have gotten kidnapped and taken to a remote location he began to walk forward and found himself on a ledge. After reaching the ledge Kaze was in a state of shock, his mouth slightly opened, and his eyes widened. He was on the roof of a giant building


    Is this, Tokyo? I can see Kyushiki Corp a few miles down. What happened? Is this some sort of illusion, if so then why can I really feel the cold wind and even the solid metal beneath my feet


    Unable to make sense of the situation Kaze sat on the ledge of the building pondering, until he came to a realization. He most certainly wasn¡¯t in the basement anymore and he wasn¡¯t hallucinating. Looking at the city closer to where he was there was only one answer as to where he had woken up from


    ¡°I''m on top of The Black Loom¡±


    December 22nd, 2085, 10:52 PM


    Toranomon-Azabudai, Central Tokyo, The Black Loom