The next week saw nothing of interest happening. It seemed as though the assassinations have calmed down since Big boss hasn't contacted me since. I was very happy to not hear from him.

Since that bump in with that weird woman at the bar, I have calmed myself down from thinking like a 14 year old chuunibyou who thinks assassinations and assassins is cool and something to be proud about.

Short story, it isn't. Just having a gun here in Japan without a license can place you in jail for a few years, a few decades if you use it. If you add into that with the murders and the fact that it's all intentional, Big boss is looking at a possible death penalty.

The police probably don't like Big boss and his crew.

It's as if I suddenly grew up because just the thought of working for Big boss again gives me chills all the way down my spine. The adrenaline died down and the fear is emerging.

Something in my brain is telling me to adapt. Another part of my brain is telling me to reject it in case I don't have to do this ever again. They both have their points.

But it's been giving me endless stress and problems. Anything I think about is suddenly interrupted by my brain arguing with itself on this issue. It's been annoying.

However, I didn't have space to continue this worthless time wasting. The reason being that starting today, the third week of summer on a Monday, I'll be back tutoring the four girls.

I could quit it and just live off of my two hit job money, but I quoting now might ruin my reputation as a respectable teacher.

The pessimistic part in me is wondering if I might be contracted to help kill their parents, which brings me great sadness, especially seeing those cheerful girls. Thankfully, I greatly oppose those thoughts.

This was all in the shower. Since most of the past week wasn't real problems, but mental problems, I've found myself reflecting a lot in the showers. The water was still running since... well, I had the money.

"Honey~! What's taking so long?" (Chika)

"Sorry, I'll be out soon" (Ren)

Hearing the complaining tone from outside of the bathroom, I chuckled and finished up. I made sure to place all of the shampoos in order again so she won't complain about the little things.

I left the bathroom with just a small towel tied around my waist and when Chika saw me, her face immediately turned red and I think I even saw some steam.

I was confused since I had a towel over my bits but... oh yeah, she's sitting down. She can see under...

Oops.

With a wry smile on my face, I helped the silent Chika into the bathroom and got dressed for work. Since it's already the third week, there are only three more weeks left until school starts and I'm back in an official job with the foreign girls.

Before leaving, I made sure to leave a goodbye message to Chika and I went on my way. This time however, I wasn't as lucky as the previous times.

"Ara~? If it isn't Ren-kun" (Keiko)

The good looking neighbor is here once more. A normal person would be ecstatic, but not me. She did seem to cross some lines of privacy before. It has made me question once or twice if she was working for Big boss.

"A-Ahh, good afternoon Keiko-san" (Ren)

"Where are you going?" (Keiko)

"Just to work... alright see you!" (Ren)

Without waiting for her response, I was already jogging away from the scene. I just didn't want to deal with her.

"W-wait!" (Keiko)

To be completely honest, I don't think that Keiko would do something like invade my privacy on purpose, but rather that she is just an airhead rich girl. It's the most likely scenario.

And she also hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, I even feel a little guilty for thinking some unsavory things about her. The more I see her constantly confused eyes, the more I think she isn't a bad person, but an oblivious one.

On the way to the bus station, I noticed that the streets were a bit more... patrolled? There was definitely more police cars driving around and policemen standing outside of buildings than before.

I saw some policemen even watching some "suspicious" people with a glare. I looked at this and immediately shook my head. There's no way.

There isn't a way in hell that they are looking for me. It mustn't be true. They aren't searching for me. They are just preparing. That's it, they aren't looking, not looking...

I kept on repeating that to myself over and over as I was self-comforting. My back teeth were unconsciously biting down hard that I could even hear it. My neck was covered in a cold sweat. I felt my breath spiking suddenly.

This was a really scary situation to be in, truly.

However, it got even worse as I stepped onto the bus. The bus was on its way to the apartment and as it drove closer and closer, the concentration of the police increased.

The reason was simple; the two people killed by Big boss were rich. From the scene the detectives were greeted with, it's a bit obvious this is no regular murder. And even if you ignore that, the rich people are more important than the others, aren't they?

Losing a rich person could be bad for the politician with insufficient fundings. Well, at least they still are dispatching cops in the more regular neighborhoods.

Despite my fears and anxiety about the cops all around me, I somehow stayed cool. I adjusted my collar to hide the sweat dripping on my neck. I gave my forehead a quick wipe and took some deep breaths to calm myself.

It felt like they were all staring at me. I felt my feet loosening up, gettin ready to run. But I didn't need to. I was totally fine. It was just my brain being paranoid.

With my eyes darting around, I grabbed my work sling bag and rushed to the entrance door. Before I could enter however, I suddenly felt a strong grip holding my shoulder back.

My body froze up instantly and my spine was stiff. When I turned around, my gaze lined up with the giant security guard by the entrance of the building.

"I-is there a problem?" (Ren)

"Yeah, sorry. There are some checks that people need to go through from now on before entering. Where do you live?" (Security Guard)

Instant relief washed over me. If he thinks I live here, then he thinks I look respectable. I'm probably not even on his suspicious people list.

"Oh... I don't live here. I'm working as a tutor for room 3808. Tell them the name Tsuchiya Ren" (Ren)

"Oh I got it. Wait here for a bit..." (Security Guard)

The misunderstanding was instantly cleared up with a small talk with the apartment and I was let in instantly. Some of the stares of the people lightened since I got through the security check.

They were obviously paranoid about the recent happenings, and you can't blame them.

When I reached the elevator, pushed in "3808" and arrived there, I just now realized how much this has been affecting some of the rich population.

Who greeted me were two buff men, just slightly smaller than Ronda and they even had some visible weapons. They didn't have guns, but they had tasers, batons and gray-area weapons.

They thankfully heard that I was coming up and no drama happened. It was also because I was a fairly good looking man, making me less likely to be a bad guy.

"Morning Ellie" (Ren)

"Good morning Tsuchiya-san. Sorry about all of the guards, but I assume you understand from the recent news" (Ellie)

"No, it wasn't really a problem" (Ren)

"Then, please do come in" (Ellie)

With a great big smile on that tiny face of hers, she placed her hand on my back and basically pushed me in. Ellie's expression showed a genuine smile amongst slight worry.

After all, anyone could be a bad guy during this time. I'm not exactly a seasoned employee with this family either. Their and Ellie's suspicions are all valid.

The atmosphere in the apartment was visibly darkened. It felt heavy just entering into my lungs. When I took a look up at the indoor balcony, I saw a beautiful woman.

She wasn't wearing a maid's outfit like Ellie, but a fully tied up bathrobe colored red.

Her eyes looked down at me with scrutiny. As if she was seeing my worth as a human. They were definitely daunting, but I chalked it up to that woman being a protective mother or aunt.

I can't just leave her like that, so I smiled lightly and continued to the library.

The doors opened up to reveal the four girls, all waiting patiently and seemingly looking forward to our next session. It seems these girls were not as hard as I thought.

"G-greetings, Tsuchiya-sensei!" (Danielle)

"Good morning... Tsuchiya-sensei" (Bella)

"Welcome back!" (Estelle)

"Tsuchiya-sensei is backkkk~" (Emily)

They seemed very lively to have just come grieving over a lost family friend, but maybe they weren't as close as I thought. And the more I thought, the more it made sense.

If their father worked with the fat man I first worked on, then it's curtesy to go to his funeral after he was pronounced "assumed dead".

The lesson was going on as I started pointing to bits in their textbooks and leading them to find the answers with my assistances. They were truly bright children.

Krrrshhhhh... krrshhhhh...

The sound of broken lead scratching against the paper was heard in the room. The lead, almost finished, was continuously being abused by Danielle's hand.

Before I could stop her however, I got a text message.

[YuYuYakusho: Bar, by 8:00 p.m, be there. No room for negligence]

I wryly smiled at the text message. Another job to kill a human as I was assuring the future of another human. It was a bit ironic in a sense that I was a teacher, a maker of futures, and an assassin, an ender of one.

"Tsuchiya-sensei? Is there anything?" (Bella)

Bella, like the hormone-ridden girl she is, was paying a lot of attention to me. She was probably tired of all of the old men she had to meet at the funeral.

I responded in likeness with an assured and reliable expression.

"It's nothing. Just a message from my wife about dinner" (Ren)

Then and there, a massive BANG! was heard in the library.

"You had a wife?!" (Bella)

"Haah? Yeah, did Ellie not tell?" (Ren)

That day, she was much less active than usual and got many more questions wrong than before. I had an idea of why, but I knew this was a passing fad.

She'll find a boy for her.

 

———

a.n | hiya! Thanks for reading and sorry of the late late release. I was on vacation and there wasn’t wifi. Anyways, I’m back and I hope you enjoyed! Peace!