Nathan burst out of the train and slammed his way through the mass of people. He was supposed to be at Roy’s house by 17:00. It was 16:35, and if he wanted to reach his destination on time, public transport wouldn’t cut it. At this time of day, it was slower than going on foot. But even going by foot would take at least forty minutes. Nathan, however, had something else in mind.

He walked out of the train station, steering into a dimly lit alley. When he reached the end of the alley, he backed up and sprinted to the opposite wall, bouncing off and latching onto an elevated ladder. He pulled himself up and climbed to the roof.

Once on the roof, he didn’t waste time savouring the breath-taking view. He ran straight for his destination. Most of the roofs were connected, but every once in a while, he had to jump across a three-meter gap.

It took him around twenty minutes to traverse what would have normally taken at least twice as long. His only problem now was getting down without breaking any bones. His boosted self-confidence tempted him to try and jump down from the one hundred-meter tall building, but his rationality won in the end and he took the fire exit.

He heard shouting from below him but thought nothing of it. It was only when he was about ten meters above ground that he noticed the four figures standing a short distance to his right. He could’ve easily sneaked down without them noticing, but the way they were standing piqued his interest—three of them were surrounding the last one.

The one in the middle was a girl, based on her silhouette. Nathan thought she was getting mugged at first, but as she wasn’t screaming for help, he jumped down without making any noise and crept just close enough to hear them without being detected.

“Are you dipshits just gonna stand there, or what?” shouted the girl.

The men looked at each other. It was impossible to discern faces in the dark, but based on their posture, Nathan knew that they weren’t going to let that go. The biggest man out of the three—obviously the leader of this no-name gang—started lifting his hand to throw a punch.

Nathan wanted to step in, but before he could do anything, the girl’s hand flew out and struck the man’s throat. The man slumped down, coughing, and received a right hook finisher to the face.

The girl didn’t wait for the two lackeys to realize what had happened. She sent the left one to the ground with a roundhouse kick to the gut, momentarily exposing her back to her last enemy. The man attempted a grab, but her petite figure allowed her to slip out of his grasp and kick the back of his knee, folding him like a picnic chair. With a well-aimed knee to the face, he was out cold.

That didn’t go as expected, Nathan thought. The girl turned around and walked away. Nathan wanted to go in the other direction as well until he noticed the leader groggily rising to his feet. He could barely stand straight, but Nathan could see him reaching for what looked like a gun. The girl had no idea.

***

Maya smiled to herself as she strode away. She had been going around the neighbourhood to provoke various idiots and beat them to a pulp. These three were known to molest young girls—it was the perfect opportunity to teach them a lesson and get a little training in.

Her happiness didn’t last long. She dropped to the ground as a gunshot echoed through the alley. She knew the sound, but with all the adrenaline, she wasn’t sure if she had been shot.

She needed to stand up as quickly as possible. Lying prone made her an easy target. But why wasn’t the man shooting, she wondered? Maya took a cautious look behind her. There was the attacker, pinned against the wall. His wrist had been snapped by a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt—the man who now held him by the neck.

Maya stood up slowly, watching the hooded man throw the attacker to the ground as if he weighed nothing. He was out cold.

“Are you okay?” the man asked. He sounded more like a boy, but his body was muscular. Maya was stupefied. “Are you hurt?” he repeated.

Maya inspected herself and shook her head. It seemed that the shooter had missed. “N—no. I think I’m fine.”

“Good,” the man said, turning away. He didn’t even bother checking.

“Wa—wait. Who are you?”

“Does it matter? Just be careful next time. That was some nice action.” The man disappeared into the darkness. Maya wanted to ask him more questions, but when she ran to his location, he was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

***

“You’re late,” Roy said, opening the front door.

“Sorry, something came up.” Nathan had had to sprint the rest of the way, and he’d still managed to be ten minutes late.

“Were you running?”

“No, I was hyperventilating for the last ten minutes just so I would be out of breath when you answered the door.”

“That’s stupid. Why’d you do that?”

“That was sarcasm. Of course I was running.” Nathan glared patronizingly at Roy.

“Oh.” Roy hadn’t realized he was being mocked. “Come on in!”

Nathan stepped into a lavish entrance hall. The ceiling was lined with crystal chandeliers; the interior was made completely out of walnut wood.

“Wow. Do you guys steal for a living?” Nathan stood with his mouth wide open. He was far from living in poverty, but this was a little over the top even for him.

“We don’t steal!” Roy protested, furrowing his brow.

“Calm down there, would you?” Nathan stretched out his hands defensively. “That was a joke. A joke.”

“You joke a lot. Did anyone ever tell you that?” Roy’s face slowly turned back to normal, happy even. “Do you want to go and see my room?”

“I think I should go and talk to your mom first. You know about what,” Nathan said, looking at an uncomprehending Roy. “When we get there, just say you need to go to the toilet.”

“So that you can be alone with them?”

“Of course! Why else would I ask you to go to the toilet?”

“So I got it right!” Roy was so happy with his own achievement that he was oblivious to Nathan’s condescension.

Roy led Nathan through what seemed like a maze of halls, all built in the same extravagant style. They finally reached a kitchen where two women sat behind a table, chatting.

The older of the two, obviously Roy’s mother, shared some features with her son, especially the hazel coloured hair. The blonde woman beside her was someone Nathan already knew.

“Hi, Mum. Hi, Dayla. This is Nathan. The friend I spoke about!” Roy was either a very good actor or he was genuinely happy about the situation. Nathan couldn’t be sure, but he was inclined towards the latter. “I really need to go to the toilet. Could you please offer him something to drink?”

“Of course, Roy.” Mrs. Moore smiled and stood up. “What can I offer you?”

“Water, please.”

Roy left Nathan alone with the two women. The younger one immediately gave him a piercing stare.

“So you’re Nathan,” she said at last, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

“Nice to meet you, Dayla.” Nathan smiled.

“You—” Mrs. Moore pointed at Dayla and then at Nathan “—you two know each other?”

“We’ve met. Once,” Nathan clarified, sitting down as Mrs. Moore handed him a cup. “I met Roy in the city once and we were talking. Ms. Dayla thought he was bothering me when in reality we were just having a friendly conversation. A funny misunderstanding.”

“Why didn’t you say anything back then?”

“I love teasing Roy. And when I saw how scared he was of you, I just wanted to watch how the situation would develop.”

“There’s something off about you, Nathan.” Dayla said suspiciously.

“Oh, don’t be rude, Dayla. He’s Roy’s friend.” Mrs. Moore shot a look at Dayla, but Dayla wasn’t budging.

“Actually, there is something off. Ms. Dayla here has a very keen eye,” Nathan smiled once again, making Dayla even angrier. “You see, I have a rather interesting relationship with the anti-assassin movement.”

Both women suddenly tensed up.

“My father was an informant for your husband, Mrs. Moore. And now that your husband has passed away—my condolences, by the way—and my father is on a different mission, I came here to continue in his stead. Of course, Roy doesn’t know anything about this. He is my friend and I don’t want him to get mixed up in any of this dangerous stuff. I presume he doesn’t get involved in adult business anyway.”