"What's the problem if I was sent there to kill Miyamura? Weren't you there for the same purpose?"
Akira couldn't answer right away as she knew the answer to his question. He was right. Akira and the brothers were there to kill Miyamura. However, she was cautious not to confirm any of the man's speculations nor reveal any information on their side as she feared that the man was an actual enemy, and that he might use any information he might get against them.
"Stop changing the subject. I asked you who sent you to kill Miyamura" Akira replied, still holding the man by his shirt's collar and leaning in closer that they could almost feel each other's breath.
Ren smirked - teeth in full display - as he realized that she wasn't backing down.
'What a stubborn and feisty woman.'
Unlike her two male companions, the woman was on the smaller side. Ren estimated that she was probably five feet and four inches tall. He would easily tower her if released from his current position. He would be a colossal human compared to her as he was six feet and two inches tall.
For someone as small as her, she had quite the balls and the attitude.
"I don't understand. Why is there a need to know the person behind it? You had the same goal. That person wanted Miyamura dead, and you wanted to kill Miyamura. That's all. Can't you just move on from it?"
"You attacked me last night" Akira pointed out.
"Oh. So that's the problem. Well, I didn't know who you were. Just like you, I thought you came to impede my mission. So, my initial reaction was obviously to assault you."
Akira couldn't tell if he was really telling the truth or not. Nonetheless, his reason or alibi was pretty valid.
She let go of the man's shirt and moved a step backward. Ren let out a sigh of relief as he felt his neck and throat loosen up. He hated the way she was holding him. It felt like as if he was being strangled.
"So, are we good now? Are you finally letting me go?" Ren asked so casually. He was hoping that his message got across them. After all, he didn't really have any intention to kill anyone of them. It was all a coincidence that they were aiming for the same person that night.
"No", the woman said coldly, her tone leaving no room for an answer or objection.
Ren silently cursed in his mind upon hearing her response. It dawned on him that she was really a very stubborn woman. Of all the people that he had encountered, she was so far the hardest one he had to deal with.
Transacting with people was no stranger to Ren. His former day job required him to have daily transactions. He was a delivery guy.
In fact, he had his fair share of difficult customers ranging from the entitled one who thought he could cuss him just because the box of the action figure he ordered had a little dent on it; to the stubborn one who kept insisting to get a discount even though Ren had already explained a gazillion times that it wasn't in his authority to give discounts; and simply to the blatantly stupid customers.
You name it. Ren had seen and tasted it all - a full spectrum of rainbow M&Ms that was way past its expiration date - sweet but would give you bowel troubles.
He had already mastered the art of dealing with such challenging people and getting on their good side during transactions - or so he thought. The woman he was currently dealing with was a different breed of stubborn and challenging.
Not only was she someone who wouldn't allow herself to be persuaded, she was also basically threatening Ren's life which was way much worse than the previous people he encountered.
'There's no talking to this woman', were the thoughts of a man who had come to fully accept that there's no breaking the guards and walls of the woman in front of him.
"Did you really think I would let you go that easily?" the tone of her voice was threatening. "Unless you tell us who hired you to kill Miyamura, you're stuck here with us. Worst-case scenario, I might kill you myself."
Ren could ascertain that she meant what she said.
"One week. I'll give you one week to decide. That's the longest I can give you. If you do not tell me who your boss is within a week's time, I'll kill you." With that, the woman walked out of the room. The two men followed her without saying any more word, the sounds of their retreating shoes becoming fainter.
Ren stared at their backs blankly.
As the door was shut close, Ren was left in the room alone, contemplating on the only option he had.
Meanwhile, Akira and the two brothers proceeded to the meeting room. A huge frown was plastered on Akira's face as they walked silently in the hallway. The two men behind her didn't dare to say a single word as they felt the dark and heavy atmosphere emanating from her.
'She's pissed', Haru thought to himself as he walked with his entwined hands behind his head.
He turned to look at his brother who was walking beside him. Kaito gave him the look that screamed: DON'T TALK.
Getting the signal, Haru averted his eyes from his brother and chose just to keep them staring above. 'Yup. She's pissed. Really pissed.'
Not very long after, they were finally near to their destination. Akira pushed the wooden door of the meeting room open. She and the brothers were welcomed by the display of two people smooching on the long table.
The crease on her forehead increased tremendously at the sight in front of her.
"Seriously, you two? How many times do I have to tell you to get a room - like a proper room for this kind of thing", she snarled at the man and woman with disheveled looks - an obvious result of their earlier debauchery.
They had been going at it in the most inappropriate and unexpected places which was something that Akira just couldn't understand because first, the couple owned a really huge house, and second, because they had their own room at the main house.
The couple quickly detached themselves from each other as they sensed the red alert going off. They could tell, Akira was really in a bad mood today.
Straightening their clothes and fixing their hairs, they took their seats like obedient children.
"Well, that's the flame of newlyweds for you", Haru commented as he took a seat on the left side of the long table. He gave the couple a wink.
"Still, it's disgusting", Kaito responded as he sat across his brother.
"You're only saying that because you are a hopeless romantic", Haru retorted.
His older brother was always quick to show his disgust and scorn over things that had something to do with romance, but Haru knew that it was only because deep inside, he was insecure. After all, he was a failure in winning the heart of the only woman he had ever loved.
Kaito glared at his brother across the table. He swore that if he ever mentioned the name of that woman, he would beat his brother right there and then.
"Stop, you two. You're only making my head hurt more", Akira said as she took her usual spot in the meeting room, and it was the seat at the end of the table. "Sota, where is my grandmother?" she asked to the man she walked into doing inappropriate things with his wife earlier.
"She left with some of the guys. She has a business meeting to attend", Sota replied right away.
Akira exhaled deeply, "Is that so? Then I guess I'd just have to talk to her when she gets back home."
When stressed and uncertain of what to do, it was her grandmother whom Akira always consulted first as she had always been confident that her grandmother had the right answer for everything, given how wise she was.
"I heard you caught a man from last night's mission. Is he a spy?" suddenly spoke the woman beside Sato. She had a straight fringe that stopped just right at the top of her eyebrows which for some reason Akira always found irritating. It reminded her of that doll that her mother bought her for her fourteenth birthday. That doll had the same hairstyle.
Akira shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not certain yet. That's why I need grandma, but unfortunately, she's not here."
"I heard from the women who saw you taking him at the estate last night that he was quite the looker. Is that true?"
"Nao!" Sato scowled at his wife. His face bore both a disapproving and hurt reaction.
"What? I'm just curious!" Nao replied in defense.
Akira recalled the man's sleeping face when she unveiled his mask from last night. He had long curly eyelashes, red lips, and a strong and defined jawline. His hair was rather unusual - crimson in color. But she's one to talk. Her hair color was just as unique as his.
In addition to that, her eye color was probably the weirdest she had ever seen. They had the shade of cherry red. It was one of the reasons why she didn't really like going out during the day. She was a night person for many reasons, but one of them was because at night, people couldn't really see her eyes properly in its true color. She would get a lot of questioning and weirded out stares from other people when she was younger.
'Are those contact lenses? What a weird choice of color. She must be one those of those cosplayers.'
'I believe those are her real eyes. Is it perhaps a genetic mutation?'
These were only some of the remarks made by the people whom she would encounter. Clearly, she's not the former and for the latter, the answer is yes - her eyes were all natural. Even her hair color was all natural. She was born with the following extraordinary features. The reason why remained unknown to them.
However, one thing was certain for her family and her clan, and it was that despite how odd she might have looked in the eyes of normal people, Akira was a blessed one. And she wasn't just a blessed one. They believed that she was THE BLESSED ONE.
Akira continued to ponder on the man's looks. Whether his hair was natural or dyed was something that she was not sure of. However, she couldn't deny the fact that the man was indeed good-looking.
"Yes. He is actually handsome - a very handsome man at that", she admitted as she stared at her hands.
Nao squealed at the revelation while her husband and Kaito had an unamused expression plastered all over their faces.
Thinking about the man suddenly made Akira realize that she didn't even know his name. "Seriously, how can you forget to ask for such a very important information", she mumbled annoyingly at herself as she facepalmed.
She made a mental note to ask for the guy's name the next time she visited him in his prison, hoping that by that time, he would finally give in and give her the answer she wanted.
"But aside from his looks, have you confirmed if he is just like us?" Sato suddenly inquired. There was a sudden silence in the room after the question was raised. After all, everyone knew the bearing of that question to them.