Killer Crown

"Huh, oh yeah."

I rub my collar.

"No more roll calls."

I get out of bed and look out of the giant gla.s.s windows. The sun hasn"t risen yet but I can still see view.

I don"t know what to do with myself, so I leave my room and walk around a bit. I end up wandering into the kitchen. I rummage through some cupboards and find some tea.

"Ah, finally."

I blow on my tea to cool it down a bit a take a few sips. Coming from up the stairs, I hear a door creek open, followed by footsteps.

"Zero? What the h.e.l.l are you doing up so early?"

"Oh, good morning Ricky. It seems that i"ve gotten used to my daily schedule back home. I didn"t know I would be up this early. What about you?"

He scratches the back of his neck,

"I uh, I couldn"t really sleep. So i"m going to take a walk."

I jump up,

"Well I shall join you!"

I run by his side and he smiles.

"You really wanna wear that out?"

I look down at what i"m wearing; an oversized shirt and a pair of spandex and knee socks.

"Why, is there something wrong with it?"

He shakes his head,

"I guess not."

We walk down the street and look at all the busy cars.

"So, Zero. How did you become an a.s.sa.s.sin?"

"Huh? I"m not an a.s.sa.s.sin. I"m a bounty hunter."

"Oh, my bad. A bounty hunter."

"Well, I didn"t become one, I was born one. My biological mother was one but she died giving birth."

"Oh d.a.m.n, i"m sorry."

"It"s fine, I didn"t know her. What about you?"

"Uh, my parents were in the mafia and they were wanted all over. One day I came home from school and found them both dead. I dropped out of school and started pushing, now i"m here."

He shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Hm, I envy you Ricky. Even though your family was killed, you had one."

"That"s odd, I was gonna say the same thing to you. You didn"t know yours so you"ve never felt a lost. I envy that."

We keep walking until he sits on a bus bench.

"Um, what else shall we talk about?"

I shrug,

"I"m not sure, just ask me whatever."

"Hm, okay. Tell me about your name."

"I don"t have one. I"m called Zero because i"m the highest ranking hunter. The lower the number, the more dangerous you are."

She looks at me in shock.

"Wait, so you"re telling me that one, you have no name but a number, and two, you"re a living weapon?!"

"I guess. That"s why i"ve been a.s.signed with this job."

"Speaking of this job, we need to talk about it a little more."

"Alright. What about it?"

"There"s one little detail I didn"t mention last night,"

I raise my brows in confusion.

"When I introduce you, we"ll have to pretend to be together."

"Together? Like we"re lovers or something?"

He nods awkwardly.

"I guess that makes scene,"

I think for a bit,

"But you"ll have to tell me what to do and how to act. I"ve never had a boyfriend before, let alone a fake one. So you"ll have to guide me."

"Really? But you"re so..."

He strokes his chin and looks at me,

"So d.a.m.n s.e.xy."

"What? I-I am?"

"What?! How do you even say that? You"re smoking!"

"I don"t really leave the house unless i"m on a job. We can"t leave the premises. So I don"t really have anything to compare to."

"Oh, that explains a s.h.i.t ton then."

The phone in his pocket starts to ring.

"Yo, tu as Ricky ... Attends, maintenant? ... Mais je ne suis pas à la maison ... D"accord, d"accord, je serai là."

He hangs up and stuffs it back into his pocket.

"I didn"t know you spoke french, Ricky."

"Yeah, uh, we gotta go."

He grabs my hand and starts running back towards the mansion.

"What the h.e.l.l"s going on?"

"No time! We"ve gotta hurry!"

"What"s going on?! Why are we running, and why is he pulling me so hard? d.a.m.nit Ricky, what are you up too?"