98 Assassins (1/2)
Blood King recounted everything he experienced against White Fox and his team. ”We can safely assume they're passing foreigners.”
”Who the hell are these thugs!?” Black Devil sat down. His head ached. He massaged his temples. ”First, Hayden. Second, this White Fox. Who the hell are these people…? How powerful is this wolf?”
”If I had not escaped earlier…” Blood King's expression became grave, similar to his tone. ”I would have died a gruesome death.”
”What?” Black Devil's tone became even more serious.
”The thing is, I can feel that she was kind of going easy on me.” Blood King could tell that Sayuri wasn't going all in with her attacks. ”It was as if her sole goal was to distract me.”
”From what?” Black Devil's eyes behind the mask narrowed.
”She's protecting that White Fox.” Blood King's expression said 'naturally.' ”Whoever that White Fox is, we cannot touch him. Even Pangkat Anino is protecting them. The strange thing is that they're foreigners, yet Pangkat Anino's protecting them.”
”Maybe they've allied up with this strange group of people.” Black Devil sighed. ”What a headache. Somebody's vandalizing us, but we can't retaliate… How frustrating.”
Black Devil was keen on not offending Pangkat Anino at all. Even Forest Giant, there strongest sponsor, wouldn't risk to. They all knew the power of The Boss.
”Call off all the search parties for this White Fox and his eleven companions.” Black Devil rested his elbows on the table, intertwined his hands, and rested his chin on his hands. ”Anyways, have you met the three prime candidates for the replacement of Crimson Enchantress? Examine them and give us your vote.”
Throwing an activated tablet to him, Black Devil continued. ”Remember to read every single one carefully. It is quite a hard decision.”
”Okay, boss.” Blood King took a cursory glance at the three candidates as he walked away. He didn't pay attention to their names, instead his eyes were on their Abilities. ”Taunting Turtle? Psh. Discord Sowing? Lame. Devil's Whisper? Now that's something…”
Back in the room, Black Devil removed his mask when the door closed. ”When will you come back, boss? Everything's falling apart.”
…..
Waking up, Hayden felt that he wasn't only on Eun-ha's arms. There was someone behind him. From the smell, Hayden could tell that it was Sayuri. His head was leaning on Eun-ha's arms and he was faced towards her.
His head was buried in Eun-ha's collarbone with his left arm wrapped around her. His other hand was close to his chest.
As for Sayuri, her left hand was on Hayden's abdomen. Her head was in physical touch with Hayden's back. If he was not tall, Sayuri would've definitely spooned Hayden.
Oddly enough, Hayden was comfortable. He tightened his hug and kissed Eun-ha on the cheek. She woke up from this. She grumbled, ”Oh, you're awake…”
The two pecked each other's lips. Hayden whispered, ”What's she doing here?”
”Oh, she's like that.” Eun-ha said in a matter-of-factly tone as if this was a normal occurrence. ”She would climb into bed when she thinks it's comfortable.”
”And you're okay with her hugging me in this manner?”
”Of course.” Eun-ha caressed Hayden's face. She smiled and looked warmly at him. It was an amazing sight. ”It's very alright.”
”It is so weird. You know?” Hayden muttered. ”Two women? You don't find it weird?”
”Not at all.” Eun-ha moved her lips towards Hayden's. ”We've talked about this. You're too perfect. It really is what I feel.”
”Okay.” Hayden smiled. ”Just making sure.”
At that moment, Sayuri groaned, rubbing her head on Hayden's back. ”So noisy…”
Hayden tapped Sayuri's arms. Shifting a bit, Hayden acquired his phone from below the pillow. When he shifted, Sayuri and Eun-ha was now the one in his arms. He hugged the both of them as he opened his phone. ”Okay, you can go back to sleep.”
”Oh…” Sayuri was partially stunned. Ultimately, she cuddled with Hayden, burying her head on his collarbone.
”She's awfully cuddly.” Eun-ha giggled, kissing Hayden on the cheek as she similarly opened her phone. ”When's your episode going to air?”
”Later, at night.” Hayden tilted his head so that his and Eun-ha's touched. Meanwhile, his left hand was on Sayuri's shoulder. ”Are you going to watch it?”
”Of course I will. With all of my co-members in fact.��� Eun-ha laughed at something posted on her social media and showed it to Hayden. Hayden was amused of her behavior. Reading the post, Hayden laughed as well.
”Oh yeah. By the way.” On his phone, Hayden was checking construction companies. ”My friend and his girlfriend will come with me to the fansign. Should I introduce you to my friend?”
”Oho. That's a big step.” Eun-ha turned her head to him. ”Are you sure you want to introduce me to your friend?”
”I'm asking you.” Hayden locked eyes with Eun-ha. ”His girlfriend is apparently a huge fan. Probably wealthy too since she somehow acquired the scarce fansign tickets.”
From Daniel's words, he deduced that Scarlet didn't seize the tickets conventionally. Rather, she got it from someplace else.
”Heh, okay.” Eun-ha returned to browsing on her phone. ”Are you giving us gifts?”
”Yep.” Hayden smelled Eun-ha's hair. It had a fragrant flowery scent. It brought Hayden into a field of flowers.
”What are the gifts?” Eun-ha curiously asked Hayden with bubbly eyes.
”As much as it is tempting to tell you…” Hayden took placed down his phone on his chest and tapped on Eun-ha's nose. He enunciated each word. ”It's a secret.”
Eun-ha pouted adorably. ”Fine. Will I like it better than this ring?”
”Er…” Hayden was speechless. ”If I'm correct, since my gifts to all of you are personal. With yours being more so. Yes. Yes, you will.”
”Heh, I'm looking forward to it.” Eun-ha touched Hayden's forearm with her left hand. She kissed it. ”You know, if you told me I'd be dating a 16-year-old, my old self will laugh.”
”If I were to inform the past me that I'd be lying in bed with two of the CHORUS members, cuddling with them, he would've killed me.” Hayden's rejoinder topped Eun-ha. ”And worst of all, I'd let him kill me.”
”About that date.” Sayuri suddenly talked.
”Thought you were sleeping?” Hayden pulled her to him closer by tightening his hug on her. ”Can't sleep?”
”Yeah, you guys are too noisy.” Sayuri kissed Hayden on the cheek. ”About that date. I wonder where you're taking me, Hayden-kun?”
”Where do you want to go?” Hayden messed Sayuri's hair. ”It's your date proposal. Also, I'm still not that keen on you being my girlfriend.”
”You're not?” Sayuri sat up. She twisted and knelt beside Hayden, staring at him with those puppy eyes. ”Why not?”
”That won't work anymore, Sayuri-san.” Hayden pinched Sayuri's left cheek with a faint smile. ”You see, last time, I was fighting the flow. This time, I'm going along with it, being flexible and bending like a bamboo stick in the wind. Nice try though.”
”Uh…” Sayuri rapidly blinked. She laid back down on Hayden's arms in dismay. ”Tsk, jeez. At least I get to lie down with you.”
…..
Wearing his former outfit of plain black shirt, black denim jacket, black slim cut-jeans, and black boots, Hayden sat in his car. He drove out of the basement parking lot. It was 4:00 AM by that point in time.
The car ride was smooth and finally without any interruptions. In the car ride, Hayden was jamming with modern anime songs as he texted with Eun-ha and Sayuri in his phone.
Arriving at his house and parking his car, Hayden directly went to his room. Going in, he didn't bother changing clothes and went straight to recording some videos.
He didn't invite Daniel knowing that he had his first actual date with Scarlet. Apparently, Scarlet skipped school for the day to be with Daniel. It was quite cheesy.
All the while he was recording, Hayden was hearing birds from the distance. From the caws, the sound indubitably came from crows. It was rather unsettling for Hayden. As if death was near his doorstep.
When he finally finished recording, Hayden had a cold feeling on his neck. Without a warning, he slid down his gaming chair and pushed it backwards.
Activating his Divine Perception, Hayden heard a thud. From his Heavenly Sense, Hayden sensed that there was someone in the room.
Taking out a Black Piercer, Hayden aimed at the stomach of Comedy. Infusing essence energy into the pistol, he was going to fire when the sound of flapping wings entered his ears from his window.
Abruptly, myriads of black crows swept him off his feet, throwing his aim off. Although he was able to fire, the bullet merely affected Comedy's leg.
'Fuck.' Comedy held her leg as she groaned. That pistol bullet was much sharper than she anticipated. It was also painful. After all, she has never been damaged by a bounty before. 'There's always a first for everything, huh?'
'Well this is annoying.' From his observation the crows' wings were unreasonably sharp, cutting his clothes and body. The crows flew around instead of pecking him. Enhancing his physique, Hayden opted to not use his Indestructible Devil until something truly dire occurred.
Storing his Black Piercer back in his Space Ring, Hayden fished out his ginunting blades. Loud dragon-like breathing sounds came from him as his ginunting blades was sharpened to extreme levels.
His disposition changed as he cut down tens of birds every slash. Outside, Discord was invisible, standing in front of Hayden's house. His eyes were closed. His expression shifted when the number of his birds started dwindling at a rapid pace.