Plan to Assassinate Tatsuya Shiba - Volume 1 - The Girl Assassin - Chapter 11

[11] Surrender 

A Friday in the middle of April. 

Today, it has been raining since just before dawn. The rain is not particularly heavy so it is not at the level where one would need an umbrella. 

Within this drizzle, Shiba Tatsuya is running in muddy trainers. This would not happen even if you were to fall down onto the roads surface. The mud, though you could also say clay, gives the impression of wet sand encroaching into the gaps in the fibres. 

He is in the middle of returning home after his morning’s daily training. Running at an extreme speed and completely exposed to the rain. The speed is comparable to that of the travelling speed of the average self-driving car. Naturally, the speed his feet are moving is fast, but the reason the speed is that of a self-driving car is that the strides are bizarrely long. Each stride was eight meters in length. 

There is almost nobody around this early in the morning. No, at present they are non-existent with the exception of Tatsuya. While the early hour was also a factor, it must be said that there were no people crazy enough to go jogging in this weather or with elegant pursuits such as taking a walk to appreciate the rain. 

After covering two thirds of the way home, Tatsuya met with a person other than himself for the first time in a while. The first since leaving Kokonoe Temple, his place of training. 

This figure was that of a young girl with a small build. Shorter than his little sister who is a third-year middle school student. She seems to be approximately one hundred and fifty centimetres. A high necked buttonless long-sleeved shirt with a front opening vest, a miniskirt with leggings and high-cut sneakers. Despite her slender body, with a glance Tatsuya saw through to a toughness which betrays her appearance. 

Above all else, what Tatsuya recognised was her face with what appeared to be a hachimaki head band wrapped around and her long hair tied back. 

It was the young girl assassin he had caught sight of in Shibuya the Wednesday evening the week before. 

Tatsuya stopped. The distance was five meters. It was a little far to talk, but for Tatsuya the distance could be cleared in a single bound. —— That, I dare say, is likely the same for the girl. “Shiba Tatsuya.” 

The professional killer girl opens her mouth. 

“My name is Hashibami Yuki.” 

Upon calling out Tatsuya’s name, she gives her own name. 

“Hashibami Yuki?” 

Tatsuya repeated the girl’s name with suspicion. Changing the intonation of the repetition. 

“That’s right.” 

Yuki perceived that as a sign that the other party was aware of her own existence.  

“I’ve come to settle the bill.” 

Whilst raising her voice to make the proclamation, Yuki drew the knife she was hiding behind her back with her left hand. 

“You won’t escape today. Assuming you don’t want your home smashing to pieces!” 

Both of Tatsuya’s eyes narrowed slightly. From his body, an icy fighting spirit began to ooze out. 

The boy’s ambience suddenly changed. Trembling under that fighting spirit, Yuki reflexively winces. 

She scolded herself. It would be too shameful to hesitate here. 

(I didn’t come here to play the part of the clown. Isn’t that so!?) 

This boy, Shiba Tatsuya, she knew from the onset that he was not the same as an ordinary person. Some of this dreadfulness had already been shown, it was not going to get her dispirited and tuck her tail. 

Yuki persuaded herself, forcibly, to arouse her fighting spirit. 

She placed her hand on her extraordinary talent’s door as it sank to the seabed of her consciousness and pulled open the door with all of her might. 

Placing her trust in her own ‘power’, she challenged Tatsuya directly. 

Wanizuka objected to this manner of doing things. Stopping Yuki and saying she should at least strike unexpectedly. 

However, she was convinced. 

—— On Shiba Tatsuya, popular methods such as surprise attacks and the like will not work. 

There is no basis. But she realised. According to her instincts, the absolute best plan for the sake of surviving, was to challenge him to a bout head on. 

Yuki charges. 

Enhancing her walking abilities, she clears the five-meter distance in a single step. 

She stuck out the knife. Simply a blow dependant on speed. 

A sharp pain ran up Yuki’s left hand. 

After realising she had dropped the knife, she became aware the wrist wielding it had been struck. 

Tatsuya had chosen that exact point of her ‘forearm’, without being concerned with the speed of the thrust which a professional boxer could not have reached because of her Physical Boost. 

Pain as though being eaten into by a blade of steel. 

That, Yuki was able to withstand as she had predicted this result. 

She was not pretending to be tough. As proof of that, she pressed the muzzle of a pocket pistol into Tatsuya’s side which she had prepared in her right hand unnoticed. 

Yuki pulls the trigger. 

“What!!?” 

Yuki expresses serious shock. 

The bullet hit the wall of a private house and rebounded. 

It did not inflict a single scratch on Tatsuya. 

His left hand had brushed her right hand, averting the pocket pistols muzzle. 

On Shiba Tatsuya, using the popular method of a surprise attack will not work. 

It is what she personally believed. But having that proved in such a manner fell completely outside of her expectations. 

Yuki’s body reflexively cramped up as it was forced up into the air. 

Tatsuya had driven a knee kick into Yuki’s abdomen mercilessly. 

Yuki falls onto her back, getting wet from road’s surface. 

The violent impact stops her breathing. Desperately holding onto her consciousness which trying to escape into nothingness, Yuki rises up ignoring the pain. 

Shiba Tatsuya is standing in the spot where he sent her flying with a kick. 

Yuki recklessly raises her right hand and pulls the trigger for the second shot. 

When Tatsuya’s left-hand cuts into the line of fire, it cannot be seen by Yuki. 

His left hand closes simultaneously with the gunshot. 

Clenching in an instant. Powder spills from the loose openings between his fingers, from the cracks. 

“No way!......Really?” 

Yuki uttered so dumbfounded she forgot the circumstances as she stood up. 

She wondered if it was a dream, though Yuki doubted it. 

If this is a dream, it must be an extraordinary nightmare. 

She was certain she fired a bullet. The recoil remained in Yuki’s right hand. 

As yet, Shiba Tatsuya has not moved from that spot. He did not bend or wave his body. He only held up his left hand into the line of fire. 

“The bullet……, caught it……?” 

Suddenly, Yuki was hit by a fit of laughter. 

Just like a manga. No, nowadays they would not put such content in a manga. It is like an American comic from the previous century. 

She was in the midst of the absurd. 

Yuki also understands that magic has become a real technology. Even the ordinary citizen knows this very well. For work, there have been times when the opponent was a magician. She has seen magic close up. 

But it had never felt unreasonable like this. 

This is not really magic. This could not be magic that actually existed in reality, or so Yuki believed. 

If this is not a manga, then it is a fairy-tale. 

The magic that exists in reality is a technology used by humans. She understands that a magician is no more than a human being. 

A human possessing physical limits. Because of that, she was able to outmanoeuvre a magician who became hostile. 

But no matter how slow the bullet, a human would not be able to catch it. 

Even with her Physical Boost at full throttle, it would be impossible for Yuki. 

“If you read the trajectory from the muzzle, it’s not particularly difficult.” Tatsuya answered Yuki’s question. 

Rather than shock at reading her thoughts, a rebuttal at of its contents —— the shock having been surpassed by the antipathy within Yuki. 

“Are you still half asleep! The bullet doesn’t fire in a straight line from the muzzle. Every gun has its own quirks. Moreover, the bullet will go awry due to the rotation of the airflow and pulled down by gravity. You can’t understand more than a rough trajectory from the direction of the gun’s muzzle!” 

“At this distance, you are able to disregard some blurring, more or less.” 

“You are not even wearing a glove! It’s ridiculous to stop a bullet with your bear hands!” Tatsuya responded to Yuki’s protest with a derisive smile. 

That smile, feeling fear grabbing hold of her heart, Yuki stood up in a hurry. 

Once she had gotten up, she could not believe she had partaken in a leisurely conversation in that stance after falling on her backside. 

Yuki threw away her pocket pistol. She had spare bullets. But it did not appear likely they would be useful. 

Yuki drew out a knife from the belt wrapped around her thigh. Raising her miniskirt quite a bit on purpose, but Tatsuya provided no opening. With such a composed manner her makeshift behaviour must appear stupid.  

But then, Yuki has already lost the state of mind to regard that shame. 

Yuki began to attack Tatsuya in silence.  

Stepping at a right angle just before contacting Tatsuya, furthermore, leaping one legged and throwing the knife from the air. 

Landing on a fence and turning sideways. And jumping while simultaneously drawing a new knife. 

Jumping high into the sky above Tatsuya, this time throwing two knifes at different times. 

Tatsuya easily dodges all the knives thrown by Yuki. 

Concurrent with landing she reversed her trajectory. Not by means of neutralising the inertia. By forcing her body to stop with her strengthened muscles and then jumping. 

Yuki twists her body in the air, unleashing a right-sided spinning kick. 

The distance is too great for a normal kick. 

There is a sharp point protruding from the tiptoe of the sneakers she is wearing. 

Tatsuya grabs Yuki’s right ankle with his left hand. 

Yuki’s body suddenly stops. However, she does not feel any recoil. 

Yuki understands that it is by means of inertia control. 

Tatsuya throws up his right foot. 

He strikes up at Yuki’s body which is in a position higher than his own head. 

Yuki’s body folds into the character for ‘ku’ (く). 

The impact makes her feel like she will lose consciousness. 

Without the composure to prepare her posture in the air, she falls to the roads surface. 

However, she never falls down. 

In the middle of falling, she receives another of Tatsuya’s kicks. 

The trajectory changed from downwards to horizontal. She draws an arc, strikes the road’s surface, and lays there. 

While coughing painfully, Yuki raises her body with her hand. 

She realises that in truth, the kick just now was more of a ‘push’ than a ‘hit’.  

Had she fallen as she was then she would have hit her head severely. That second kick had been to adjust her so that she fell onto her back. 

“What kind of…… intention, is……” 

The damage Yuki has received is making talking normally extremely difficult. 

But she squeezed out that question while coughing violently. 

“You can no longer stand.” 

The reply was retuned in a voice without any feeling, not even a tiny flicker of emotion. 

Yuki clenches her back teeth. 

Certainly, she escaped from falling on her head. However, substituting that she took a blow to her back. Even with a body enhanced with an extraordinary talent, she was not in a state where she would be able to stand for quite a while. 

“Hashibami……” 

Tatsuya calls Yuki’s name. 

Not understanding the meaning, Yuki can only blink her eyes. 

“Never again show yourself before me.” 

Suddenly assailed by a strong pressure, she stops blinking. 

It was not just blinking.  Every muscle inside her body, inside her face was caused to stop. Even the muscles of her heart, for one moment, definitely stopped. 

“Next time, you’ll be erased.” Erased, not killed. 

Without any reason, Yuki understood that was meant literally. 

Tatsuya resumes running. 

Watching his retreating figure, Yuki realised that Tatsuya had not moved a single step like he was now. 

Eventually, Tatsuya disappears from Yuki’s field of view. All that remains in the place was the pistol she had thrown and the knife she had lost when struck, and then, Yuki personally who was unable to stand as yet. 

“……Monster……” 

Muttering in a trembling voice, Yuki relaxed her arms. 

Her head dropped to the road. 

The wet road’s surface felt pleasantly cool where it touched her cheek. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

“Did we make it in time?......” 

Roughly five minutes after Tatsuya ran away. 

Seeing Yuki collapsed on the roads surface, Fumiya stroked his chest in relief. 

“Yami?......” 

From her current of being face down position, Yuki rolled her body face up and turns to look at Fumiya. 

“No, I can’t say I made it in time given the current state of affairs.” 

Fumiya muttering to himself makes a bitter smile as he makes his amendment. 

“I guess so……” 

Yuki also responds with a bitter smile while lying down. 

“Nuts, are you hurt!?” 

From behind Fumiya who us wearing female clothing, calls out the voice of Wanizuka, who is being restrained by both arms from the left and right. 

“Croco…… what, did they catch you too?” 

“Forget about that, are you hurt!?” 

“Don’t look so concerned. It’s just bruises. This splendid state of affairs must be the influence of serving the benevolence of Buddha……” 

There was no look of regret or wonder on Yuki’s face. Instead, rising to the surface was the look of a person who had resigned themselves. 

“…… It would appear to me that we tried to lay a hand on something that should not be touched.” 

“I didn’t think you would acquire that understanding.” It was Fumiya who responded to Yuki’s deploring. 

“However, it is already too late.” 

As he says that, Fumiya looks over his shoulder. 

Receiving that signal, two black suits walk up to Yuki. 

Yuki is stood up, held under the arms from both sides. 

In a position where she appeared to be dangling between the two suits, Yuki laughed weakly, yet fearlessly. 

“You saved me the trouble. As yet I’m still unable to stand.” She said to Fumiya, without an especially sarcastic tone. 

“Are you able to walk?” 

“Just take me like this.” 

Yuki returns a disdainful response to Fumiya’s question. 

“Well then, let’s do that.” 

Fumiya does not let that aggravate his emotions. 

The black suits walk Yuki over to a box wagon. It is not Wanizuka’s. It is a different station wagon. 

Yuki does not resist. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

When she came to, Yuki was tied to a chair in a room with no window. 

Yuki wondered if she fell asleep in the car. Was she exhausted to that extent? Or —— was she put to sleep? 

After about one minute she opens her eyes as a door opens and two people, a man, and a woman, enter the room.  

One is a man not yet in his thirties wearing a black suit. 

The other is a young girl with a bob cut, ‘Yami’. 

“Hashibami Yuki. How are you feeling?” 

“Not great.” 

Fumiya’s question, Yuki answers without hurling abusive language or being sarcastic. There is no defiance in Yuki’s attitude. 

“Our relationship isn’t the sort for making small talk, so I’ll move on quickly.” 

“Let’s do that. I’d also prefer it that way. Though I would appreciate it more if you’d untie this rope.” 

“I will untie them when we finish our chat. You appear to have lost the will to resist.” 

Though his speech could be considered to be putting on airs, Yuki did not impatiently demand an explanation. 

Yami —— Fumiya has said they are going to talk. Even if she does not ask, she will soon get the answer. 

“First of all, Abousha has already fallen under our jurisdiction.” 

“……Did the company president surrender?” 

“Yes, upon revealing our identity he submitted to us immediately.” 

“……You, who are you……?” 

An alarm bell reverberates though Yuki’s mind. Her intuition is in an uproar, telling her not to listen. 

But at this point it was futile. Even if she does not ask, it will not make a difference if she hears it from Fumiya anyway. 

“We are the Kuroba Family. A branch family of the Yotsuba Family of the Ten Master Clans.” 

“Yotsuba, if that’s the case……” 

Yuki’s voice was faint. That was a name Yuki was acquainted with. 

Officially, they are one of the Ten Master Clans, a family of magicians who served as a representative of Japan. 

As far as Yuki and those of society’s underworld we concerned, they were regarded as ‘untouchable’. It was not that you were prohibited from touching them. It was that if you did touch them, the demons would return a calamity of destruction. Because they cannot be comprehended, nor could the power they possessed, nor were their identities known, they were an existence to be feared like a superstition. 

“It appears you understand, that is for the best. Now, Abousha has fallen under the jurisdiction of the Kuroba Family. Hashibami Yuki, we desire you to become our vassal.” 

“……I don’t have a choice.” 

“That is not the case.” 

Fumiya smiled sweetly with the face of a lovely young lady. 

“You do have the option of not obeying us. However, if you chose that path, you must lose your memory.” 

Yuki took a long hard look at Fumiya’s face. 

Fumiya is smiling. But that smile was not because what she said was really a joke. 

“You are able to do such a thing……?” 

“We can. Naturally, it won’t cause you to go insane. However, you will forget everything entirely.” 

“Everything, is it?” 

“Yes. Everything you have remembered since you were born. Regrettably, at present the Yotsuba Family doesn’t have a practitioner able to erase just one part of your memory. 

“…………” 

“There is no need to worry, you would be left with the knowledge necessary for everyday living such as how to use machinery and tools, and how to use tableware and talk. 

“Even my own name?” 

“Regrettably.” 

“And also my parent’s names!? And all of my childhood memories!? Everything!?” 

“Regrettably.” 

Yuki rolled her eyes and glared at Fumiya 

“……That, you cannot call that a choice.” 

“Is that so? This discussion is had frequently.” 

Yuki felt chills when Fumiya did not lower his smile. 

While strongly believing that ‘I’m not an opponent for this person’. 

It is not just Shiba Tatsuya. This ‘Yami’ is also a monster. 

That night. From the moment she was seen at the murder scene, she had been enthralled by a clan of monsters…... 

“……I understand. I will obey.” 

“I thank you kindly. The quick decision has saved me some trouble.” 

“However.” 

“What is it?” 

Fumiya turned to look at Yuki, who would attach conditions in this situation, with great interest. 

“I will obey you, Yami. Not the Kuroba nor the Yotsuba. I, obey you.” 

“I don’t understand why you would arrive at a decision like that……” Fumiya muttered in a bewildered voice. 

To tell the truth, Yuki herself did not understand why she had attached such a condition. 

I dare to say —— it might be a result of it being disagreeable to simply become a yes man who does any and everything they are told. 

“Wait just a moment.” 

Fumiya said that as he went to the corner of the room and took out an information terminal and spoke to someone via voice communication. She appeared to be speaking to her father, or so Yuki conjectured from the words she overheard here and there. 

After finishing the call, Fumiya reappears before Yuki. 

“I obtained approval. Yuki, you will become a member of the Kuroba Family’s combat personnel, but I will be the one who commands you.” 

“That’s good.” 

Yuki did not mind being suddenly addressing without an honorific. She may be a younger girl, but after this she is her boss. Being called by a nickname or without an honorific, she was fine either way. 

Suddenly, Yuki realised there was something she had to confirm. 

“By the way, what will happen to Croco?” 

“Croco? Ah! That is Wanizuka-san is it not. He said he would abide by your decision.” 

“Then……” 

“That is correct. You and Wanizuka-san will remain partners hereafter.” 

After saying those words, Fumiya leaves the room together with the young man who had not said a single word. 

Replacing them, four men in black suits enter. 

They untie the rope for Yuki. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

After Yuki swore to become Fumiya’s subordinate, she was returned to her apartment. 

Quickly, and without the use of anything like a blindfold. 

The apartment will continue to be treated as a company owned property of Abousha going forwards. Since the organisation was consumed in its entirety by the Kuroba Family, Yuki’s daily existence has not changed when looking from the outside. 

Speaking of things not changing, the company’s —— Abousha’s business has not changed. Company president Morozumi was released overnight after his capture by the Kuroba Family, working hard on his business activities immediately from the very next day. 

Abousha is a political assassination society. This goes against the Yotsuba’s policy of not influencing the progress of politics, which you could say is the polar opposite stance. 

Since liberating themselves by usurping Institute Four, the Yotsuba Family have distanced themselves from killing those in power. 

The Yotsuba Family have politicians and military personnel they are particularly close to. They undertake the commissions of people in the government and people you would say are ‘the masterminds pulling the strings’ and, albeit unofficially, they continually receive work which they entrusted with by the government. Even if that includes illegal activity, the Yotsuba Family will not care. 

But, no matter how much money is thrown into an illegal power struggle, the Yotsuba Family will not lend a hand. We do not deal with ordinary people like those who are in power —— the Yotsuba Family has that sort of hubris, though it could be viewed as a fastidious illness. 

For all that the Kuroba Family is the branch family which bears the burden of intelligence gathering activities, and as such they are more generous to such things than the main family in this respect, likely because they are closer to the criminal underworld for work. It may or may not be agreeable to rephrase it as being realistic. 

Abousha has been participating in the secret feuds of fellow members of the pollical family for more than ten years already and has grown into a player who cannot be ignored within the field of illegal political power. If Abousha were to suddenly leave, it is highly likely to cause mayhem in the criminal underworld as they dispute the vacancy. To avoid that situation, it was decided that the Kuroba Family would immerse themselves in the murky waters of that world, rather than the Yotsuba Family. 

The Kuroba Family has said their stance is ‘leave it alone for the time being,’ and Abousha was immediately allowed to carry on its assassination business in accordance with that. Naturally, they will not report the criminal organisation to the authorities. Regarding the incident on the night of the murder where that Shiba Tatsuya witnessed, there was no reason from the very beginning, probably, to worry about the Yotsuba Family, Tatsuya included, talking to the police or authorities. 

That Yuki was seriously worried was comical. 

Saturday evening, the week after Yuki bent the knee to Fumiya and Tatsuya. She had received a summons from the Kuroba Family by way of Wanizuka. 

“……So, who is this Kuroba Fumiya?” 

Yuki requested information regarding the person who had summoned them, while sparing a moment from biting into a sweet bean jelly stick in passenger’s seat of the station wagon being driven by Wanizuka. 

“It’s the honourable eldest child of the Kuroba Family.” 

“Honourable eldest child? Ah! Like an heir?” 

“Yes. They are currently a second-year middle school student living in Toyohashi or something like that. They have come to the capital for the sake of meeting Yuki.” 

“From the Aichi Prefecture especially? They’ve gone to some trouble.” 

The way Yuki was speaking made it appear she would run at any moment. 

For argument’s sake, the other party is the employer’s successor. Wanizuka had kept in mind the necessity of hitting the nail on the head. 

“Yuki. The other party is the boss’s honourable son. Make sure you bear that in mind and behave.” 

“My boss is Yami. That was the arrangement.” 

“That is an argument about the chain of command. The Kuroba Family is our employer now.” 

Yuki’s daily life has not changed on the surface. However, her source of income has. Her rent is covered by Abousha, but her other living expenses come out of the Kuroba Family’s coffers. 

“I know I know.” 

Replying with a tone which would make you doubt that she truly understands, Yuki resumes reopens the individually wrapped long and narrow sweet bean jelly pieces and turns to look out of the window  

Yuki was summoned to the building with ‘the room with no windows’ from the other day. That building has a high-class rental mansion and the room Yuki was brought to was, to tell the truth, one of the rooms rented out as the official residence for an ambassador of a certain country. 

Even if you say it is a small country, the Kuroba Family make use of the ambassador’s official residence like they own it, that is the true power of the Yotsuba Family’s main house and once again, the ominousness is insuppressible. It is to be expected that the contact between magicians and forging powers is severely restricted, yet the Yotsuba Family have an equal or better relationship with the ambassador of a foreign country. 

If that is the case, then it is possible that even their own country’s government is secretly under substantial control of the Yotsuba Family. Even such improbable wild ideas erred through Yuki’s mind. 

It was the room without windows this time as well. But unlike last time, this room is prepared with a high-class reception set up. Was this carried out for last time, or was it purchased after? 

Without any particular investigation, Yuki sank her back into the sofa which was essentially a cushion. 

There was a knock. 

In contrast to Yuki who remained seated, Wanizuka hurried towards the door. 

From that open door entered a young boy in a blazer and the young man in a black suit from the other day. 

This young boy appears to be ‘Kuroba Fumiya’. Or so Yuki guessed. 

“Yuki.” 

Wanizuka calls Yuki’s name, loaded with a petition that she must stand up. 

However, Yuki feigns ignorance. 

The boy sooths the flustered Wanizuka saying “I don’t care.” 

“I know that the young lady is unrefined.” 

“Honourable Greetings.” 

Yuki scowls at the boy who takes position in front of her. 

“Isn’t it a bit late to worry about the state of our relationship at this late hour? Isn’t it the relationship of those that tried to kill each other once?” 

“Tried to kill each other……?” 

Yuki’s glare at Fumiya changes into one of suspicion. 

Yuki’s memory does not contain this boy’s face. 

In the first place, she has never taken a contract to murder a child. 

With the exception of Shiba Tatsuya, the only other person close to her age she had tried to kill was that young girl from the other…… 

“——You! No way, Yami!” 

Fumiya smiled silently. That smile, it matched that of the young girl he had fought for her life against. 

“I’m Kuroba Fumiya. ‘Yami’ is the code name for that disguise, so don’t call me that at other times.” 

Yuki had lost her voice and was just opening and closing her mouth. 

(He’s a man!? With that appearance!? He was cuter than I am!?) Did she not believe it or not want to believe it? 

Yuki’s conflict ended, 

“Hey, is it okay to ask a question?” 

She squeezed out just one question. 

“What is it?” 

“……You, aren’t you Yami disguising yourself as a man?” Fumiya’s expression transformed. 

Cut off inside that room, a young boy’s clamouring voice roared in such a high tone you would be unsure if it were breaking. 

In this way, Yuki was able to repay Fumiya with a single retort.