They were almost there. Shintaro sat in the backseat, staring at the window, fingering the hilt of the dagger they had given him. Daggers were better for assassins. Daggers couldn't be traced like bullets. Shintaro supposed he really was an assassin now. He unsheathed it and the person driving jumped. She was new and didn't know...well she knew enough, he guessed, because she kept looking at him in the rear-view mirror.
"You're not my target," he told her in Mandarin. "If you're good." And it was true. As long as Takani liked her, she would be okay. As long as he was useful. He didn't like that word. It tasted like sandpaper in his mouth. The car bumped a little on a different kind of road and in the hum of the tires he could hear the screaming again. Why was killing people so easy? (right in the throat and Guang had burbled, his eyes wide, the crazy finally leaving him)
Shintaro felt a little sick and sheathed the dagger again. The driver pulled to a stop by a dusty road and looked at him til he figured he was supposed to get out. The heat rolled onto his face, sucking the breath out of him in wet waves. He carried the sheathed dagger clenched in his fist. He was supposed to hide it. Takani had said to hide it. But Takani wasn't here and he'd broken promises before. Maybe he'd stop giving Lien-Hua the new stuff that made her skin peel off, or maybe he'd pretend they'd never had the conversation.
His head hurt and he realized his teeth were clenched. He kept them that way. There was a man standing outside a low, dirty looking building. A stern, impatient, angry looking man that made Shintaro irritated just by looking at him for some reason. It didn't matter. The man would feel what it was like to look upon an assassin. Shintaro glared up at him, gathering all the anger, and heat into a tight little ball in his chest and then pushing it out. The wind kicked up and the leaves rasped around him, swirling in the hot air.
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"You're not my target," he told her in Mandarin. "If you're good." And it was true. As long as Takani liked her, she would be okay. As long as he was useful. He didn't like that word. It tasted like sandpaper in his mouth. The car bumped a little on a different kind of road and in the hum of the tires he could hear the screaming again. Why was killing people so easy? (right in the throat and Guang had burbled, his eyes wide, the crazy finally leaving him)
Shintaro felt a little sick and sheathed the dagger again. The driver pulled to a stop by a dusty road and looked at him til he figured he was supposed to get out. The heat rolled onto his face, sucking the breath out of him in wet waves. He carried the sheathed dagger clenched in his fist. He was supposed to hide it. Takani had said to hide it. But Takani wasn't here and he'd broken promises before. Maybe he'd stop giving Lien-Hua the new stuff that made her skin peel off, or maybe he'd pretend they'd never had the conversation.
His head hurt and he realized his teeth were clenched. He kept them that way. There was a man standing outside a low, dirty looking building. A stern, impatient, angry looking man that made Shintaro irritated just by looking at him for some reason. It didn't matter. The man would feel what it was like to look upon an assassin. Shintaro glared up at him, gathering all the anger, and heat into a tight little ball in his chest and then pushing it out. The wind kicked up and the leaves rasped around him, swirling in the hot air.