I've been in the order for nearly 10 years now, and since me and Nagumo joined there hasn't really been any major threats to deal with. So it's been kind of boring killing b-rate fighters. I still haven't figured out what Chairman Asaki's whole deal is, but he stuck true to his word to give me freedom to do what I please in the order, so for now I can leave him alone. Nagumo's told me on various occasions that I look worse for wear than when I was at the JCC, which I can't deny. Looking in the mirror I'm definitely a bit skinnier and more tired looking, guess smoking has that effect on you, but I'm too deep in now.

I thought today would've been another boring day. But my intel person came into my room to pass me a rather interesting piece of paper.

"Taro Sakomoto. Bounty 1 billion Yen." I muse while looking over the screenshots from the dark web

My bounty's still only 900 million. Though none of the bounty websites have a clear picture of my face, so nobody has really come after me, it wouldn't go well if they did anyways. Jealousy aside, this new bounty on Sakamoto's head is both amusing and concerning. I'm sure a bunch of assassins will be coming after him now and Sakamoto's not the most discreet seeing as he has a whole store named after him.

Even fat he should be able to deal with the lower class assassins, but with a billion on his head there's sure to be some A rank and above assassins coming after him. I've been monitoring Sakamoto from a distance since he left the order, I don't wanna get too involved with his family lest they become targets because of me. But Sakamoto hasn't done anything noteworthy in over 5 years, so why would someone put a 1 billion yen bounty out of nowhere? An old enemy? Not likely, If you have a lot of enemies as an assassin you're not doing a very good job.

Actually he did just wipe out the danshokai triad so maybe one of them?

Suddenly a figure appears behind me and yoinks the paper out of my hands.

"Phew. 1 billion. That's a higher bounty than you Sano. " Nagumo said smiling

"I still have no idea how you manage to teleport into places." I say turning to face him

"So whatcha gonna do about this bounty? Wanna go kill Sakamoto and take the money for ourselves." Nagumo suggested

"Not the worst idea." I muse

"But I'll probably just try and figure out who put the bounty before going to kill him/her." I say lighting a cigarette

"Well have fun~" Nagumo said leaving the room

"Hey. If you pass by the convenience store could you get me some candy. Oh and say high to the big man for me." I say

"Kay~" Nagumo said before he transformed into a fat Sakamoto

Sigh* more work for me I guess... Y'know what screw it. With a billion yen bounty on his head being associated with me is the least of his problems, besides way less people know my identity than Nagumo's. I get up out of my chair and head out

"Yo. Chiaki. Keep digging into this bounty. Let me know any interesting things you find out." I say calling my intel gal.

She tried hacking into the JAA database before, and succeeded. I respected the balls so I made her my personal intel gal.

Short timeskip(with Nagumo)

Lu had come in 2 hours late for her first day of work. Shin and her started bickering

"Let's fire her Mr Sakamoto. She doesn't jive with the peaceful vibe of this shop." Shin ironically said

"And what peaceful vibe is that?" Lu said

"Shut up! We're working on it!" Shin said annooyed

"Now now Shin. That's not nice. And Lu be sure to come in on time next time, and apologise when you're late."

Shin and Lu stared in disbelief. 'Sakamoto's' said more words than he usually says in a week

"What's up with you 2. You look like pigeons who have been hit by.22 long range bullets! Now get your morning chores done. Shin you're on outdoor cleanup. Lu could you restock the shelves." 'Sakamoto' said

"You sure are talkative today boss." Lu muses

"I've never seen him talk this much in all our time together." Shin says in disbelief

"What? You think I'm just a talking lump of flesh? That's rude. You wanna die? I'm a human being y'know. Thanks for everything you 2." 'Sakamoto' said offended

At that moment someone entered the store. It was...... Sakamoto. Lu and shin looked even more dumbfounded

"What a surprise! Are we twins?" 'Sakamoto' said

Without a word Sakamoto tried to stab 'Sakamoto' through the newspaper he was reading. 'Sakamoto' dodges and holds a pen knife at Sakamoto's throat while Sakamoto points a gun at the other one

"That's good. You've still got the moves Sakamoto"

Nagumo transformed back to himself. Shin couldn't believe he had been deceived as he couldn't read Nagumo's thoughts at all.

Nagumo started laughing at Shin and apologised for deceiving him. Shin and Lu proceeded to bonk him on the head. If only they knew who Nagumo actually was. They'd probably think twice about doing that.

"Mr Sakamoto! Who's this?!/ Let's stuff him in a bag!" Shin/Lu said

"The name's Nagumo. I work at the supermarket across the street. Me and Sakamoto are pals. I turn 18 this year." Nagumo lies as naturally as he breathes

"Woah he's young?/ There's a supermarket across the street?" Shin/ Lu said confused

"He's an ex colleague from my hit man days. He's 27." Sakamoto thought which Shin heard

"You're a total liar." The 2 of hem shouted before continuing to beat him up before tying him to a chair

"There's a price on your head Sakamoto! A billion yen!" Nagumo said cheerfully

Shin and Lu both didn't believe him. That's what happens when you cry wolf

"But it's true..... It was officially decided at the assassin's conference this morning. It's gonna be listed tomorrow. Word's already out amongst hitmen in the know..... That the legendary hitman's back in business." Nagumo explained as Sakamoto opened a pizza box which he didn't remember ordering.

At that moment the Pizza man took out 2 pizza cutters and threatened to cut Nagumo's 'pretty face'. But Sakamoto looked unbothered and continued to munch on his pizza. Before he could do anything the pizza man collapsed onto the ground.

I had used my middle finger to jab a pressure point on his neck. Effectively knocking him out. Shin stared in disbelief, he didn't even sense my presence or see what I did to the pizza man

"Wow. Who invited you to the party." Nagumo said looking up at me still tied to a chair

"WHO'S THIS?!" Shin and Lu exclaimed thoroughly confused at what was going on today

"Who? Me? I just graduated from the JCC. I'm a lowly assassin with a low bounty, I'm just trying to make a quick buck. No hard feelings." I say walking towards Sakamoto

Shin and Lu got on guard as I approached

"He's an ex colleague from the JAA. He has a bounty of 900 million, but none of the people setting the bounty have a good picture of his face." Sakamoto thought

"HAH?! 900 million yen! Mr Sakamoto why are all your colleagues liars?!" Shin said flabbergasted

"Eh. How'd you know about my bounty? You keeping tabs on me. how cute." I say but inside I was extremely perplexed at how he got that information

"Thanks for not killing Sano." Sakamoto said

"Heh? You still on that no kill policy Sakamoto. You think you can take out assassins like us like that?" Nagumo said menacingly

"Just kidding! I'm not gonna partake in this." Nagumo says

"Yup. It's not our job. We specialise in preventing assassinations. " I said before turning to leave

"I miss the days when we worked together." Nagumo said following me out

"Sano. How would anyone benefit from my death now?" Sakamoto asked

"Who knows. But don't worry. As far as I'm concerned you're a civilian now. We'll deal with it. Just lay low for now." I say waving him off

"Right~ No more stunts like you did with the Danshokai triad kay~" Nagumo said picking up the pizza guy

"Will there be other guys like him?" Lu asked

"If you're lucky." I say

"Yeah don't expect anymore small fry like him. Well anyways it was nice seeing you again Sakamoto. I wanted to say goodbye before you got iced." Nagumo says

Timeskip(Couple days)

I had called for an order meeting. I booked an expensive restaurant so I could put it down as a business expense. I was leaning back in my chair with my legs on the table

"Sano. Show some respect would you. Take your feet off the table." Hyo said annoyed

"We're paying. If they're not happy they're welcome to tell me." I say ignoring him and lighting a cigarette

Osaragi sees what I'm doing and attempts to copy me.

"Don't Osaragi. Woman shouldn't sit like that." Shishiba said stopping Osaragi

"Let her do what she wants Shishiba." I muse

"You're welcome to take her off my hands if you want." Shishiba said annoyed

Osaragi just panned between me and Shishiba confused as to whether she can put her legs on the table or not.

Shishiba goes to dig in to his food.

"Mr Shishiba. You might not want to eat that." Osaragi says observing the food on the plate

As Shishiba looks at his plate he sees onions which pisses him off. He calls for the head chef before stabbing him with the butter knife.

"Wow you must really hate onions huh?" Nagumo said with a smirk

"Hey. I have a bone to pick with you. Did you go see Sakamoto?" Hyo asked

"Huh? Sakamoto..... man I haven't heard that name in ages." Nagumo said acting confused

"Don't play me for a fool! Wanna die?" Hyo said grabbing Nagumo's shoulder

"That was a nice dinner. Let's start the meeting." I say

"where's old man takamura?" Nagumo asked

"Probably got lost." I muse

As if on cue. Once the conversation died down the door to the room opened and Chiaki walked in. Hyo got up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oi. This is a private meeting. Leave." Hyo said menacingly, but Chiaki just looked up unfazed

"Hyo. Touch my assistant again. I'll kill you." I say coldly

"Tch." Hyo says letting go and returning to his seat

"It is an honour to meet almost the full roster of the esteemed order members. Let's get down to business. Recently an unknown killer has taken out a string of association assassins. There have been more than 30 incidents costing over 300 million yen so far." Chiaki reports without needing any prompting. This is why I like her so much

"Right. Let's deal with it...... in the name of the order." I say

Short timeskip(Couple hours)

Sakamoto, Shin and Lu were raiding dondenkai headquarters. Sakamoto fought hard boiled, who told him that the boss of the dondenkai was the best lead into who put a bounty on his head. they then went to the video rental store which tipped them off about the whereabouts of the donenkai HQ. They soon reached the top floor

"Mr Sakamoto I can't hear 2 enemy's voices!" Shin said

"Is his detector thing broken again." Lu thought

"I heard that!" Shin said irked

"We're here." Sakamoto said standing outside the boss's office

As they opened the door they were shocked when they saw the office littered full of dead bodies. And 2 people sat at the centre

"You 2....." Sakamoto said

"Heya Sakamoto! You caught me with my pants down." Nagumo said

"What're you doing here?" Shin asked

"Just some business." I say

"Behold. All the elites of the Dondenkai, even the boss. I killed em." Nagumo said

"Neh. Sakamoto didn't I say to lay low. It's like you're looking for trouble." I muse

"Yup. Sorry Sakamoto. I'm afraid you'll have to die." Nagumo said taking out his toy blade

He speed blitzes Shin and stabs him in the neck. Shin holds his neck but then realises it wasn't bleeding

"Hahahahaha. Just kidding! Gotcha didn't I." Nagumo said before getting beat up by Lu and Shin

"We just happened to have business with the Dondenkai. When we got here they were already dead." I explain amused

"What kind of business?" Sakamoto asked

"An investigation. There's been a number of assassins being killed by an unknown perp lately. 30 groups with ties to the JAA, over 100 professional assassins have been slaughtered in a few months." I explain

"That's like a quarter of the assassin industry." Shin said shocked

"The perp leaves behind an X at the scene of the slaughter. So that's what we've been calling them." I explain

"The orders on this case?" Sakamoto deduced

"Mhm."

"The order? Who're they?" Lu asked remembering hearing it before

"Think of us as the special forces of the JAA. Tasked with maintaining order in the assassin world. As you all know Sakamoto here was a former member." Nagumo explained

"WHAT?!" Lu said shocked

"Guess she didn't know." I muse

"You guys should watch out for X too." Nagumo warned

"Why? We're not assassins anymore." Shin asked

" Yeah what's the big deal? We're trying to deal with this bounty, this throws a wrench in our plans. Thanks a lot." Lu says unfazed by the pile of bodies

"Nothing's confirmed yet. But the killings started around the same time the bounty was placed on your head Sakamoto." I say

"Well that's all good to see you haven't been iced yet. But a word of advice. If you struggled with boiled you're in trouble. Your skills have really atrophied in the 5 years you've been retired." Nagumo said

I wave him off before the 2 of us leave

"You think he'll be okay?" Nagumo asked

"He'll be fine. I could never really imagine Sakamoto dying, even if he's fat now." I say as we enter the elevator



With our warning. Sakamoto and friends started training again. Sakamoto would cycle Hana to her school, under the speed limit of course. Shin would read people's minds for their shopping list and get all their stuff in record time. And Lu....... well she's just been drinking.

With the looming threat of X. There will finally be something interesting happening in the assassin world after 5 boring years. Will Sakamoto be able to deal with all the money hungry assassins that come his way? Will the order be able to deal with X. What or who is X? So many questions left to be answered in the next episode of-