The smell of iron filled the air.

My right hand was tightly wrapped around the throat of a man I had never met before.

Drops of blood dripped from my left hand, bloodied by the beating I caused.

"Speak. Who sent you?"

My tone was so somber that it even surprised me. Was it because it had been a while?

The mask I had put on my face crumbled instantly when these men appeared in front of me.

"I... don-"

I tightened my grip, as if the answer I was requesting from him was unimportant.

"Guh..."

Groans came from behind the man I was lifting. Two men wearing black suits were lying still in the dark alley, holding their stomachs.

The sun's rays barely peeked through the fairly low tiles of the roofs above us, strangely brightening up the sprayed blood behind me.

"Do you have any idea who you were ordered to attack?"

The coldness in my voice reminded me of my past, which, I thought, was behind me.

"N-No..."

I sighed.

"You should've been more careful. Research more about your target; pull every bit of information you can to corner it like a frail animal."

"That's what you should've done. Bunch of amateurs, this is truly pathetic."

I was about to let go of him when a high-pitched yell caught my attention, coming from my right.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

A woman's voice. This made this whole matter a lot more complicated.

As I turned my head in her direction, my thoughts focused.

Was she reinforcement disguised as a civilian? Or did I find myself in a rather difficult situation where the police could arrive at any minute now?

But, to my surprise, what I saw was a flying kick coming in my direction.

That woman... kicked my side with everything she had, forcing me to release the man I was strangling.

Honestly, it didn't hurt that much. My body isn't frail enough to be wary of such fears.

The impact was enough to push me a few meters away while I tried to avoid tumbling down.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

As I recovered my balance, my eyes were fixated on the culprit of this sudden attack.

She did a somersault after kicking, backflipped, and landed like that comic book superhero, the spider guy.

"That's what you get for attacking innocents in a dark alley."

My gaze was colder than before; I could feel it. Being interrupted was already bothersome, but receiving a lesson from a stranger made the taste in my mouth turn sour.

The woman stood up while dragging her shoulder-length blonde hair, revealing her face to me.

Well, she was a beauty, I won't lie. A bit on the tomboyish side, all things considered.

Her curves were pretty visible in the skin-tight sportswear she was wearing. She was a very ordinary person, like any civilian in this city.

What caught my attention was her face. Her features reminded me of someone I wish I could forget.

"If you want to bully someone, take on someone your size!"

Pointing her finger at me, she scowled.

"R-Retreat!"

The three guys took this opportunity to flee. I stared at their backs with a terrifying glare that made the woman shut her mouth.

They turned the corner of the alley, disappearing before I could obtain the answer I was looking for.

And, at the snap of a finger, I returned to normal.

"Aaah~"

The sigh that escaped my mouth was one of exhaustion.

"Hey."

I called out to the person standing in front of me, shivering uncontrollably.

Seeing that she looked terrified, I stepped forward while placing my hands in my pockets.

"S-Stay back! I can still scream if you do something!"

"..."

Ignoring her words, I continued walking. I stopped right in front of her and whispered into her left ear.

(You should analyze the situation before jumping to conclusions.)

Then, I continued on my way. Leaving her behind me.

"W-Wait!"

She abruptly turned around and grabbed my wrist.

"Yes?"

I tried to stay calm to avoid freaking her out more than she already was as I glanced over my shoulder.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't have the time or the obligation to teach you anything. Why don't you ponder it some more?"

Ready to leave, I took a step forward while shaking off her hand.

"..."

But I was forced to stop again.

"Could you let go of me?"

"No."

Shaking her head from left to right, she stared inside my eyes.

"I'm not letting you go until you've explained what happened to me."

After a brief consideration, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to explain things. In the worst-case scenario, she would call the cops on me, and this mess would continue to pile up endlessly.

"Fine. Have it your way."

I pulled my wrist away from her grip and placed my back on the wall.

"These three dragged me into this alley."

From my back pocket, I took out a piece of cloth. While explaining, I cleaned my bloodied fist.

"I was about to learn who was their boss before you interrupted."

Her eyes opened wide as she realized the situation.

"Then..."

I nodded.

"The victim here is me. I simply defended myself."

She placed a hand on the wall and leaned against it, seemingly defeated.

"I made a mistake."

Without waiting, she looked at me and expressed her deepest apology.

"Would you be kind enough to accept my apologies? I have also attacked you."

Crossing my arms, I looked into her green eyes. This was a rather unusual color of pupil, which made me even more suspicious about her lineage.

"Are you a gullible person? I could be lying through my teeth, and you would still trust my words."

She looked at me in silence before opening her mouth.

"I am not. I chose to trust you because you could have easily attacked me while we were talking."

"Since I've kicked you, I could've ended up like those men earlier, right? Yet, I am still fine. Which leads me to conclude that you truly were the victim."

My eyes drifted to the side.

"A detective's blood, through and through."

"Huh?"

Her demeanor changed completely.

"How-"

Feeling that she was about to question me, I pushed myself off the wall and walked away.

"Avoid playing the heroine too much. You'll find yourself in trouble one day."

I waved at her while I walked out of the alley.

"W-Wait!"

Disappearing into the crowd of citizens walking the main street, I thought this would be the last time I would see this person.

But damn...

How wrong was I?