Yep, I finally decided on it. What is it? The full story’s title.
Starting from now on it’ll be Codename:Strike – Riot of the Rising Sun. Reasons? Read the story and you’ll know where I threw in the conflict. Clue: It’s a place. Yeah, that’s all.
Here comes the story. ;P
“Only the facilities and building?”
“Yeah, can’t help it I guess. We’re not assassins after all, we only blow up things,” Strike said.
“Tch… if only you can kill their people I could’ve proposed for a higher pay for you. Anyway, here’s your pay. Be thankful to the heavens for I’m your generous client.”
And it ends, the client goes off to tend to his other businesses while Fire whispered to Strike, “We don’t do this job because we wanted to, right.”
Strike just shrugged before replying, “Well, basically that’s our original business – sabotaging.”
“Do I hear something from you guys…?”
Both of them turned back to see their client with glaring eyes. “Uhh, nope. Just that we’re thinking what to do with our wages next.”
Their client then returned a laugh and said, “Ah, I see! Very well then, you don’t need to be shy about talking them out aloud! Hahahahaha!”
… And they advanced out further from the office. “Weird old man,” Fire said.
“… Weird Al Yankovic, for anyone?”
Both let out their usual hearty laugh for the day as they went down further the streets to find a place for some refreshing teatime.
But since both of them are the worst misers in the world anyone can think of (self-proclaimed, that is), their place of choice is just a shabby back-alley coffee shop… well, what is important is getting a cup of tea to be sipped upon, right…
Well, all’s not until a new client stumbled upon them. As usual, that is. But somehow this time the client is somehow… unusual. What’s up next?
In a somehow humble coffee shop…
“What? You’re asking this… in the middle of our coffee?”
“Please.”
“Miss, we can’t do this job… because this is not our job. Furthermore, to ask us to do such a thing… is not right, in my opinion.”
“Yeah! We only work with companies requiring demolishing jobs for us to be done!” (Or so as Fire says, that is. And nope, I’m not being sarcastic or anything.)
“You… can’t?”
Fire and Strike looked at each other, both minds messed up. “Damn it, man,” Fire said, “and to do it in somewhere else, in that country.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine it,” Strike said. “We can’t simply do a bodyguard task like that… it’s simply not right. Besides it’s going to be too troublesome.”
“Makes me wonder dude,” Fire replied, “has things gotten bad in such a country? I mean, the place where most people say things like ‘sushi’… can’t be.”
Both of them thought hard, and finally they decided to turn over to their… seemingly a client, and ask.
“Uh… has things gotten bad there… that you need some kinda… bodyguards?” Fire asked.
The client simply nodded. Strike let out a sigh. “Looks like it’s that bad,” he said, “and I don’t think anyone wants to believe it, moreover if it’s coming from one of its citizens.”
“I’m asking you only once… please.”
Fire crossed his arms, and with a kind of serious face he said, “One moment please while we discuss it over again.”
So the two turned away from this “guest” of theirs, and whispered to each other that anyone who was looking could only wonder what’s in their thoughts.
“Psssttt,” Fire whispered, “y’know, after a while I was starting to think this could be something we could work on.”
“… not without a price isn’t it?” Strike followed up, completing Fire’s statements.
“Yeah, but I think if we do well it’s going to be a whole new experience,” Fire added. “We’re risk takers, after all.”
“Hmmm…”
“So, what are our stakes… let this be a chance…” Fire continued again, “… or trouble?”
Strike, with a deep breath, replied with a “… Let’s gamble on it.”
They turned to their “guest”, and with a little bit of more confidence with them pronounced their decisions.
“We’ll take this job,” Strike said. “So, what do we do?”
The client, with a smile on her face, bowed as a sign of thanks before replying with, “I’ll be waiting for you two… in my country, in three days time.”
Then she left.
“Three days time, huh,” Fire muttered. “Man! How’s that going to be possible!?”
“Take a look at this.” Strike said, showing Fire a sheet of paper.
“Huh?”
“From this you can tell we don’t have to go for that much trouble just to get to the other side of Earth.”
Fire took the sheet of paper from Strike and read its contents. “Pretty cool,” he said, “guess that means we will be gone from this goddamned land for a while.”
“Well, that’s what going to happen, aye,” Strike answered.
“Wait.”
“Yup?
“When the hell did she even hand this out!?”
Strike just stared at Fire with a somehow dumb look, and said, “What? All this while you hadn’t been NOTICING!?”
“Guess I’m pretty much still an oblivious dude, eh,” Fire replied.
“Just don’t get it to be too troublesome, else it’s gonna be trouble for real.”
<to be continued>
