"Cindy!" a young woman exclaimed loudly.

"Elie. How are you?" Cindy said quietly.

The day after the events with her special Ubear client, Cindy met up with her good friend Elie for coffee. They had been meeting up frequently since becoming friends. The Bone Shop was their favorite spot. The atmosphere was calm, and the coffee was always fresh. There were lounge chairs, board games that were free to play, and smooth ambient lo-fi music that set a relaxing mood. Every Monday evening, they would go there to have coffee and play chess after work. This week, however, they met on Tuesday; Cindy had had to reschedule, given the events that had unfolded the day before.

Elie was a twenty-three-year-old human woman. She had black hair, a dark complexion, a tall stature, and an outgoing demeanor. Elie was somewhat of an antithesis to the meek, mild-mannered, Cindy. Nonetheless, they had become good friends a few months after Cindy moved to Baldimore. Elie was a mechanic that worked on Cindy's arm. Ever since Cindy's first routine maintenance visit, where they discovered they shared the same favorite anime, their friendship blossomed.

After ordering their coffees, the young women grabbed a chess board and proceeded to sit down near a window for a view of the city.

"Wow, you look like shit!" Elie said, rather loudly.

"Shut up. I'm just...tired."

"You're working yourself too hard, Cindy. You even bailed on me yesterday! Why can't you just stay at my place until you find an apartment? I offered a shit-ton of times!"

Cindy smiled softly as she drank a sip of her black coffee, slightly embarrassed by her friend's obnoxious demeanor. It was something that had been uncomfortable to her at first, but she had grown used to Elie's eccentric personality. She had even started to become somewhat fond of it, despite how annoying it was.

"I told you already, I'm doing this on my own. I'll be out of my car soon, so don't worry about it. Your king is in check, by the way." Cindy said, as she moved her queen on the chess board.

"You said the same thing last week," Elie said, in a softer tone than usual.

"Sorry..." Cindy said, as she gazed out the window, watching the bustling city move along. Although she was quite shy and reserved, Cindy's pride was immense, often to her detriment. She could even be stubborn at times.

"Well, I'll keep harassing you about it until you actually find a place. So, what happened yesterday? A date? Wait, what dude would want to date a homeless girl!" Elie's obnoxious laugh rang loudly through the coffee shop, much to Cindy's frustration.

"Oh shut up!" Cindy exclaimed much more loudly than usual.

Should I just tell her?

"Jeez, calm down, young lady. You don't want to cause a scene, do you?"

Cindy's expression became dull, as she gave up on trying to argue with her oblivious friend; she quietly focused on the chess board.

"Check," Cindy said, moving her queen once more.

"Sorry, I went a bit too far with the teasing. Seriously though, are you okay?" Elie asked, as she moved her king out of danger.

"I-I'm fine. I just... I got a new job," Cindy said, with a worried look on her face.

"That's great! Why didn't you tell me sooner?! What job? Where?"

"Checkmate," Cindy said, as she delivered the finishing blow.

"Fuc-"

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This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The events of the previous day still ripe in Cindy's mind, she recalled her adventures to her friend, Elie; the story of how she became an assassin.

"So, are you my ride? Cindy, right?"

"Y-yes! Where would you like to go?" Cindy said in an overly nervous tone, rapidly tapping her left finger on the steering wheel.

"Fifth Street on the west side of town. I-I'm visiting an old buddy of mine... yeah."

"N-not a problem, sir. Just hop on in!"

This guy's with The Fam! There's a killer getting into my Beetle!

Cindy noticed that the young man seemed nervous as well. He was an average-sized human male. Sporting a white suit that looked brand new, the man did not have the look that Cindy would expect from an assassin. His face was gruff-looking, as if he was a reformed criminal. His skin was slightly tanned, and his hairstyle was quite unusual.

White seems like a bad color to wear if you're going to kill someone, Cindy thought. Maybe he is just going to see an old buddy. I'm sure assassins have buddies too...

As Cindy and the man headed towards Fifth Street, the silence in the car started to make her feel uneasy.

"Y-your name...," Cindy said nervously.

"Huh? You got a problem with my name?" the man asked, furrowing his left brow.

Man, he's touchy! "N-no sir! It just sounded cool, was all! I was just curious about your heritage."

"Oh, why didn't you say so? I'm Asian," he replied, snarkily.

"Cool..." Well, this is awkward.

The silence persisted. Cindy was not usually one to force a conversation, but this passenger was just too interesting. How often did she get to meet a real assassin?

"Oh, that's it. Kuwahara!" The half elf exclaimed, trying her best to break the silence once more.

"Huh?"

"T-that pompadour hairstyle. It reminded me of a character in 'Yu Yu Bakusho.' It was a really popular anime back when I was a kid! That's where you got your hairstyle from, right? It looks just like him!"

"Nope. Never heard of it. Just shut up and drive!"

"Oh." Screw you, asshole! If you weren't an assassin, I'd kick you out of my car!

Cindy finally gave up on trying to converse with the young man. Silence pervaded until they reached their destination.

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"Here we are! Thank you very much, sir! Have a wonderful day!"

Cindy and Kai arrived at Fifth street. The neighborhood was older and rough-looking; despite this, it had a certain charm about it. It was quiet. Cindy was quite relieved to be done with this assignment, and she eagerly tried to usher Kai out of her car as quickly and politely as possible. She was already debating whether to take the rest of the day off. Kai, however, had other plans.

"Sooo, how big of a tip could I give you to wait here for a little while?" Kai asked, hesitantly.

"Huh?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"L-listen," Kai continued, "I'm just checking up on an old chum. I haven't seen him in months! I have to get back to work in an hour, but I just really wanted to say hi. How about a twenty dollar bill? What do ya say?"

Cindy became wary again. The peaceful charm that she was feeling had vanished.

He's going to kill someone. Why is he trying so hard to hide it, though? If he's really a legal assassin, then why? They only kill bad guys, probably...

A cold sweat began to form on the half elf's back.

It'll be fine. He's a professional, right? He'll just kill the bad guy quietly, and I get a huge tip! I need that apartment soon, and anyway he'll kill the guy whether I wait here or not, so it'll be fine...right?

Cindy made up her mind. "Fine, I'll wait for thirty minutes, but that's all you get!"

Kai pulled out a bill from his pocket. "Sweet, thanks. I won't take long. Here's the cash up front."

"Thank you!"

"No prob! Don't spend it all at once!"

"The money's all crumpled up," Cindy complained, as she watched Kai walk towards a brick house across the street.

Thirty minutes passed. Kai had not yet emerged from the house. To Cindy's surprise, the resident of the house had welcomed Kai in with a smile.

Huh, maybe it was just a buddy after all, she thought. She found, to her own surprise, that she was faintly disappointed. She knew killing was wrong, but still...the idea of being a getaway driver for a legal assassin was certainly more exciting than her usual fares.

Guess I got all worked up over nothing! Still, hurry up, please!

Cindy decided to give him more time. It would not be a good idea to cross an assassin, she decided. Especially one who had paid in advance.

Kai stepped out of the house at the thirty-five-minute mark. He frantically ran towards Cindy's car and practically leaped inside. The frantic running did not bother Cindy at first; she assumed that he was just late getting back to work. What frightened Cindy was that his white suit was stained red. As Kai fumbled into the car, Cindy had a moment to think, That's why you don't wear white when you kill someone, dumbass...

"Drive now!" the young man exclaimed.

"Y-your suit!" Stay in control, she thought to herself. It's not like you've never seen blood before. Though it was never this much... I fucking sleep back there, dammit!

Kai deliberately reached inside the inner left breast pocket of his suit, his hand trembling. He produced a small revolver, no bigger than Cindy's hand, while struggling to catch his breath. He slowly pointed the gun to Cindy's head and sternly repeated himself in a chattered voice.

"DRIVE. NOW."

"Fuc-"