I hate this job…

Said every person ever.

However, for this particular woman, it was something that despite being accustomed to doing, she always wanted to hurl.

Sooner or later, though, she sometimes finds the rare emotion of joy within her soul that she gets…

…When I have to kill for money.

***

It was a bit harder for Liohime Kitagami to operate as one of the Shinigami Soldiers due to the increased surveillance by police forces in the area that day, but despite the potential setback, he had managed to get the job done for a client.

Although, he was not really fond of this one as he returned with her requested item.

Naturally walking side by side with a forty year-old woman among passers-by, Liohime whispered to her, "Keep walking, and remember that if you scream or try to run-"

"You have photo and audio evidence of me strangling my kid to death, and will report me to the police. I know," the lady whispered back, resigning herself to her fate.

--Liohime had kidnapped a person through blackmail, and now neared the outskirts of Polar Town, near a rural area by a large garbage dump site, and changed direction with her into an alleyway.

Oh great. The fated alleyway, once again.

Liohime nervously rubbed his right cheek with his index finger as they both stumbled into an empty, closed space.

"W-What are you…planning to do to me?" the woman fearfully questioned as her mask that relayed a calm expression finally broke down now that she was out of the public eye. "And how do you have such clear evidence of my actions when I don't even…know who you are!?"

"Relax. I'm not here to harm you, or do anything to you."

"T-Then why-"

"I'm just doing my job of stealing," he interjected calmly, "Although in this case, I'm stealing a live person for the first time in a while."

Understandably confused, the middle-aged woman stepped back while trembling, and Liohime monitored her movements carefully, ready to take her down if she tried to run.

Seriously….why is the client late!? I'm pretty sure that we agreed to be here at this exact time! Now I have to take care of this frightened hag on my own! He thought as his right eyebrow twitched in frustration.

Then, out of nowhere-

"Thanks, cutie pie."

A feminine shadow blurred right past him from behind and closed the distance between herself and the victim in front of her.

Without mercy, she pulled out a knife that was strapped to her hip and drove it straight into her neck, pummeling her entire body into the ground in one move as blood gushed from the center of her throat.

She stood up and stared straight into the woman's bloodshot eyes as her body convulsed and the hands instinctively tried to cover the neck to no avail.

"That's for killing your son. Now, your death will be slow and painful as you remember your lack of empathy being the cause of your life's end."

The older woman continued to lay on the floor, gurgling and drowning in her own blood that spilled into her mouth and out onto the floor.

Her hands slowly slumped onto the ground, and her body twitched to and fro until after about forty seconds. Then, the light from her desperate eyes ceased to exist as she remained motionless in her own pool of blood.

Liohime cupped a hand over his mouth, trying his best not to let the urge of throwing up after witnessing a gruesome death take place, while the woman with rounded cheeks and thin lips covered by a robotic, metallic respirator and dark grey hair, fixed her latex military cap firmly onto her head and sat on the stomach of the lifeless body in boredom.

"Thanks for bringing her over to me, Shrimpdick."

Liohime glared at her through the corner of his eyes, and the girl's silvery-grey colored pupils contracted.

"Ah, I forgot that you hate that name, mostly because you're pretty big down there, right?"

"Why the hell did you request me to help with your job….Jolene Aurora?"

Interrogating the Murder-For-Hire Shinigami Soldier with that direct question, The Thief-For-Hire awaited an answer with heightened annoyance.

Double tapping the center of her respirator with her middle finger and waiting for it to split into two parts and mechanically disperse from the teasing smile that was hidden, Jolene replied, "Miss me?"

"No. Now go home."

"Uwahh, so cold-hearted, Lio-chan. Hm, want a cigarette?"

"Stop using weird formalities. I won't say no to a smoke, though. Also, you haven't answered my question."

He hastily grabbed one that she pulled out from a cigarette box in her pocket and reached for his lighter in his own pocket.

"Well, you've been hiding yourself from me for a bit too long, so I decided…"

"To personally make a fake anonymous account on the dark web to make a request for me to handle so that you could drag me out here and talk?"

"You catch on quick." Jolene chuckled and held out her own cigarette for it to be lighted by Liohime's lighter.

Sighing, he lit it along with his and they both smoked in silence, before Liohime spoke up once again.

"Well, here I am."

"Here you are."

She grinned and stood up, quickly pinning his body to the wall before leaning into his face.

Jolene stopped only an inch before their lips touched and licked her lips.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? And now, we're both heading off into the Paradisus Legion in about a month."

"Yeah, I guess."

"We've been through a lot together. I guess that I just wanted to say that no matter what, let's give this shit our very best."

"Agreed," he replied while tilting his head in slight confusion, "Anything else? I mean, did you really drag me out here just to say that? You could have just texted me."

That was honestly pretty heartwarming, way different than her usual self.

"I miss your dick. Let's fuck."

Nevermind.

This Liohime guy is seriously suffering from success. And I'm still mad about it.

"Good grief. You should have just started with that statement instead of trying to butter me up." he said.

"But then you wouldn't agree."

"And I still won't, thank you very much."

Liohime calmly pushed Jolene back, holding onto her shoulders and staring at her with a straight face.

"I'm glad that you're still craving for sex with me. Thankfully, our era of being fuck-buddy workmates has been over for a while."

"Tch, and why can't we resume that glorious era?"

"...Come on. You know why. Anyway, I'm leaving, and I still expect you to pay me online for what I did today."

"Haaah. Consider it done, darling."

"Ugh."

Liohime turned to leave, and Jolene gazed downwards.

"...Hey, Shrimpdick."

"Why do you still-"

"Here. Tomorrow's September 28th, right?"

She removed a small, white box tied with a red ribbon from her left pocket and threw it into his arms.

"....Happy early birthday, dumbass."

His eyes widened, and a bright smile could be seen on his face as he kept it close to his chest.

So that's why she wanted to meet me face to face.

"....Fuck. Thanks."

"So, are we still on for a night at the love hote-"

"Nope."

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