Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Rewind

"Cindy!" A young girl exclaimed loudly.

"Elie. How are you?" Cindy said quietly.

One day after the events that transpired with her special Ubear client, Cindy met up with her good friend Elie for coffee. They have been meeting frequently since becoming friends. "The Bone Shop" was their favorite spot to meet at. Every Monday evening, they would go there, have coffee, and play chess after work. However, they had to reschedule their meeting by one day. Elie was a young human woman at the age of twenty-three. Featuring black hair, a tall stature, and an outgoing demeanor, Elie was somewhat of an antithesis to the more meek and mild mannered Cindy. Nonetheless, they became good friends a few months after Cindy moved to Baldimore. Elie was a mechanic that worked on Cindy's car. Ever since they first conversed about their favorite manga series, they've been friends ever since.

After ordering their coffees, Elie and Cindy sat down and talked.

[Elie: Wow, you look like shit!]

[Cindy: Shut up. I'm just...tired]

[Elie: You're working yourself too hard Cindy. you even bailed on me yesterday! Why can't you just stay at my place until you find an apartment? I offered a shit ton of times!]

Cindy smiled softly as she drank a sip of her black coffee, slightly embarrassed by her friend's obnoxious demeanor. It was something that was uncomfortable to her at first, but she had grown used to Elie's eccentric personality. She had even started to become somewhat fond of it, despite how annoying it was.

[Cindy: I told you already. I'm doing this on my own. I'll be out of my car soon, so don't worry about it. Your king is in check, by the way.]

"You said the same thing last week." Elie said, in a softer tone than usual.

Cindy was a somewhat stubborn woman. If she set her mind to something, there was no convincing her otherwise. Although quite shy and reserved, Cindy's pride was immense, often to her detriment.

[Elie: Well, I'll keep harassing you about it until you actually find a place. So, what happened yesterday? A date? Wait, what dude would want to date a homeless girl! Ahahaha!!!]

Elie's obnoxious laughs rang through the entire coffee shop, much to the frustration of Cindy.

"Oh shut up!!" Cindy exclaimed much louder than usual.

[Elie: Jeez, calm down young lady. You don't want to cause a scene, do you?]

Cindy's expression became dull as she quickly gave up on trying to argue with her oblivious friend; and quietly focused on the chess board.

[Cindy: Check]

[Elie: Sorry, I went a bit too far with the teasing. Seriously though, are you okay?]

[Cindy: I-I'm fine. I just...I got a new job.]

[Elie: That's great! Why didn't you tell me sooner?! What job? Where?!

[Cindy: Checkmate]

[Elie: Fu-]

※Rewind※

 

[Man: So, are you my ride? Cindy right?]

"Y-yes! Where would you like to go?" Cindy said in an obviously nervous tone.

[Man: Fifth street on the west side of town. I-I'm visiting an old buddy of mine...yeah]

[Cindy: N-not a problem, sir. Just hop on in!]

Cindy noticed that the young man seemed nervous as well. He was an average sized male of human origin. Sporting an all-white suit that looked brand new, the man did not have the look that Cindy would expect from an assassin. His face was gruff-looking, as if he was a reformed criminal. His skin was slightly tanned and his hairstyle was quite unusual.

As Cindy and the man headed towards Fifth Street, the silence in the car started to make her feel uneasy.

[Cindy: Y-your name.]

[Man: Huh? you got a problem with my name?]

[Cindy: N-no sir! It just sounded cool was all! I was just curious about your heritage.]

[Kai: Oh, why didn't you say so? I'm Asian.]

[Cindy: Cool]

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The silence continued for a short while.

[Cindy: Oh, that's it. Kuwahara!]

[Kai: Huh??]

[Cindy: Your hairstyle. It reminded me of a character in a manga That I read when I was a kid. That's where you got your hairstyle from, right?

[Kai: Nope. Never heard of it. Just shut up and drive!]

[Cindy: Oh.]

Cindy gave up on trying to converse with the young man named Kai, so the silence remained until they reached their destination.

 

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[Cindy: Here we are! Thank you very much sir! Have a wonderful day]

Cindy and Kai had arrived on Fifth street. The neighborhood was older and rough-looking, but it was also quiet and had a peaceful charm to it. Cindy was quite relieved to be done with this assignment, almost to the point where she wanted to take the rest of the day off. However:

[Kai: So, how big of a tip could I give you to wait here for a little while]

[Cindy: Huh?]

[Kai: Listen, I'm just checking up on an old chum. I haven't seen him in months! I have to get back to work in an hour, but I just really wanted to see him! How about a twenty dollar bill? What do ya say?]

Cindy became weary again. The peaceful charm that she was feeling had instantly vanished. She began to think to herself:

"He's going to kill someone. Why is he trying so hard to hide it though? If he's really a legal assassin, then why? They only kill bad guys."

"It'll be fine. He's a professional, right? He'll just kill the bad guy quietly and We'll be on our way! Plus, I get a huge tip! I need that apartment soon! It'll be fine..."

[Cindy: Fine. I'll wait for thirty minutes.]

[Kai: Sweet, thanks! I won't take long! Here's the cash up front.]

[Cindy: Thank you!]

"The money's all crumpled up." Cindy said quietly, as Kai approached a brick house from across the street.

 

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Thirty minutes had passed by, but Kai had still yet to step out of the brown brick house. To the surprise of Cindy, the resident of that house welcomed Kai in with a smile on his face, from what she could see.

"Maybe it was just a buddy after all." Cindy thought.

"Guess I was worried for nothing! Hurry up please!"

Not long after thirty minutes, Kai stepped out of the house. He ran towards Cindy's car in a frantic state and quickly got inside of the vehicle. The frantic running did not bother Cindy at first, as she assumed that he was just late to get back to work. What frightened Cindy, was when Kai entered her Beetle and she noticed that his fresh white suit was now painted in blood.

[Kai: Drive now!]

[Cindy: Y-y-y-y-your suit!!! Blood!]

As Cindy was in a state of shock and panic, Kai slowly reached inside of the inner left breast pocket of his suit, revealing a small revolver, no bigger than the size of Cindy's hand. As he sat in the back of Cindy's small car, his hands trembling while struggling to catch his breath; the young man held the gun to Cindy's head and repeated himself once more, in a chattered, yet stern tone:

"DRIVE. NOW."

[Cindy: Fu-]

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