Chapter 3: Getting debriefed
“It was the Boss orders. Master Crow will be the one to pose as your father in case you mess up and they need to call your parents. The headmistress used to be one of our own, but then she went off and got married and thus chose to retire. She doesn’t know that you are an assassin, to her you will simply be the new transfer student and you better keep it that way.”
“Who is this headmistress you speak off?” Crow asked, the nervousness in his voice obvious.
“Her name is… just a second let me check my notes….Ah yes, she’s called Akane Akiyama but her maiden name used to be Igarashi. Why, what does it matter?”
Seeing her Master’s reaction to hearing the headmistress name had Aria thinking :
“Interesting, what’s this woman to him?”
Choosing to ask her questions later when the two of them would be alone, she pressed on:
“Anyway, is there anything else the Boss ordered me to do?” her voice laced with sarcasm, the word Boss spat with venom.
Daisuke (the nerdy guy) flinched with fear, it was obvious that Mistress Aria, one of the top ranked assassins in this organization was not pleased at all with the whole situation, she was truly pissed. Judging from the aura she currently exuded, all the rumors surrounding her, about her being someone to snap easily, were true.
He just hoped that he would not be the recipient of her wrath….
“Eh…ah.. Boss also said that you should keep a low profile at school, you are not to join any clubs that involve martial arts of any sort, or clubs that will demonstrate your skills. Clubs that have to do with music, ballroom dancing, tea ceremony, flower arrangement and other feminine stuff are okay, anything else though is forbidden.”
“Well fuck my life! How the hell am I gong to survive school if I can’t vent off my ….energy in some sport? Why don’t you just send me to some monastery for fucks sake? Even there, I would have more freedom than in that fucking school!” she was screaming like a banshee, all the employees in the nearby offices stopped what they were doing and were just watching her through the glass windows of the small office.
They were throwing looks of sympathy to their coworker, but deep inside they were all thankful that the task of debriefing Aria wasn’t entrusted to them.
“Please calm down Mistress Aria, I am sure it won’t be that bad, I mean you will get to meet other girls your own age during your stay there…”
His sentence though was abruptly stopped by Aria, who jumped on his desk and grabbed him by the necktie, pulling his face close to her.
“So YOU go then in my place! Just wear a fucking skirt, put on some make up and go in my stead! And, what do you mean during my stay there? It’d better not be what I think it is…” Aria said menacingly.
Daisuke tried to speak, but with the necktie choking him, he couldn’t even breathe, his face color had started changing to purple.
“Aria for god’s sake let the man breathe! It’s not his fault, he’s just following orders.” Crow said grabbing Aria and pulling her down to sit on the chair next to him again.
Thankfully she released the necktie and Daisuke quickly loosened it and was taking huge gulps of air, his face color quickly returning to his natural pale one. Having his breathing rate resuming a somewhat normal state, he pulled his chair as far from his desk and from Aria as he could, before he timidly, almost in a whisper, said:
“It’s a boarding school.”
“Ha, ha, ha, Crow did he just say what I think he did? It’s a joke right? I must be hearing things, yes that must be it. He didn’t say that this is a boarding school, did he?” Aria said while gripping the chair tightly, her knuckles white, her teeth gritting like a mad woman in denial.
“Aria-chan…”
“That’s it! I am going to kill this guy! He just keeps serving me bullshit after bullshit!” she said while standing up, ready to launch at Daisuke.
“Aria, calm down!” Crow said grabbing her hand tightly to stop her movement.
Daisuke was not going to just stay there and see whether Crow would be able to stop her or not, the task of debriefing her was already done, the rest of the necessary information was in the folders he gave them when they came in, so he made a run for it.
Aria’s room
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Aria was pacing up and down her room like an encaged lion. She was angry beyond belief and the broken vases, plates and glassware currently on the floor were proof of that.
“Aria-chan, come on don’t be so angry. Remember, it won’t be for too long, just a couple of months, I will make the boss change his mind, just follow his orders for the time being.”
“And what if you don’t Crow? What then, I will be stuck to that school for 2 years? It says here in this folder that I will attend as a 2nd year, that means that I have two more years till I graduate. I don’t think I can last that long in that school, it’s a freaking boarding school, that means I will get to live there, I won’t be able to come and go as I please. My freedom is being taken from me Crow, can’t you see it?”
“You will grow accustomed to it Aria. Besides, I also read your file, it says that you will have your own room, so that counts for something right? I mean you will still have your privacy.”
“It’s not to insure my privacy that the boss arranged a single room for me, Crow. It’s simply because he was afraid that I might kill my roommate during her sleep.”
“Well, you might be right about that, though I know YOU. You wouldn’t harm someone that had nothing done to you, am I right? So unless, your roommate was a complete bitch you wouldn’t kill her.”
“I guess you are right Crow, it’s just that me going to school once more…”
“Are you nervous?”
“What? No! Anyway, I need to get a drink. It’s my last night as a free woman, I might as well make the most of it.”
“You still need to review your file Aria, you mustn’t mess up on your background story or you will raise suspicions. The headmistress isn’t someone you can fool easily.”
“Oh, speaking of the headmistress what’s up with you and her? I couldn’t help but notice how you reacted when you heard her name, you certainly know her. So?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know her at all.”
“Oh, cut the crap Crow. Who are you trying to fool? I also know YOU. The rest of the world you can fool, but not me. It was for a brief second but I could see it in your eyes, that she is someone you know. Now, tell me.”
“Aria-chan seems to know me so well…”
“Stop joking and answer me truthfully what was she to you?”
“She and I ….used to date.” Crow admitted. It was clear though that he was not willing to share more, so Aria had to press him on.
“And? Why are you two not together? I mean, with you two in the same organization something like that could be done, right? So why did you break up?”
Resigning to his fate and to his unrelentful interrogator, Crow sighed:
“She was in the intel division and I were a newly recruited assassin, when we first met. We were young and in love, but she wanted more. She wanted marriage and to start a family with me, but in our line of work Aria, something like that is very difficult. We have to face many dangers, we make many enemies. She suggested that we should both leave the organization, but as I’ve said I was young and foolish back then. I wanted to become number one, I was so ambitious and acted rashly in my pursue of the top spot, that I often got injured in missions, you see the scar on my cheek? Well that’s one of the many scars I have that are proof of my poor judgment. In the end I guess she grew tired of waiting for me to achieve my foolish goals and left the organization.”
“Then, why didn’t you go after her once you’ve become No1?”
“You think I didn’t want to? I did, but she was already married, besides she deserved to be happy, who was I to drag her back in a life filled with anxiety of whether I would come back alive or not?”
“But you did consider to leave the organization for her, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but what does it matter now? She is a married woman and it’s been so long, I am sure she has already forgotten all about me.” Crow said lost in his own words.
“Well, we will see about that” Aria thought, her eyes shining mischievously.
“Anyway, thank you for sharing that with me Master, but as I’ve said I am going out to have a drink. If you say you know me, then you should also know that I just need a glance to the stupid file to memorize all that I need to. Don’t worry, I will go over it again on my way to school tomorrow. Now, I am off… Dad !”