Bab 43: CHAPTER 44: LAST MINUTE DITCH
Riku Saito, Natasha Lane, Nathan Blake and Lana Barracks. In a dimly lit, cluttered planning room, four students gathered around a weathered wooden desk strewn with files and papers. Tension hung in the air as they began to discuss their mission.
"This is pretty straight forward guys, we don't need to do all of this."
Nathan Blake, a nonchalant figure with tousled brown hair and captivating hazel eyes, was the first to voice his opinion. He leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk with a yawn.
"Look, there's no need to overcomplicate this guys,"
Nathan began, a hint of arrogance in his tone.
"Our target is just a regular guy.
Why don't we send one of these lovely ladies,"
he gestured towards Lana and Natasha,
"to walk up to him, and bam! Mission accomplished. No need for all this meticulous planning."
Lana Barracks, a timid member of the group, agreed with Nathan's bold proposal, her voice barely audible. She seemed to prefer this straightforward approach.
"I… I mean, he does have a point. We already know where he will be for the whole day. This should be pretty easy."
Lana was the one shyly agreeing with Nathan's arrogance.
Natasha Lane, however, wore a skeptical expression, torn between agreeing with the audacious Nathan and understanding the gravity of the task at hand. She glanced at Riku, who was visibly stressed, grappling with their lack of strategic insight.
Since Riku had already seen the strategic meeting between Nakita, Dante and Jose he had a fair understanding of the basics that they needed to cover before diving in head first.
But now that he was in a strategic meeting with these first years he felt like he was playing with kindergarteners at best.
They had nothing to contribute to the planning. They factored in nothing, they didn't consider his history, his known security, they did not even question if he had any form of training.
Riku's eyes twitched as he looked at the three baffled by their incompetence and another thought came across his mind and he had to ask.
His annoyance apparent, Riku couldn't help but voice his frustration.
"Have you three been avoiding end-of-term missions on purpose?"
he demanded, his eyes boring into each of them.
When Riku asked this question it was as if thunder ran through the three of them and a heavy silence knelt on the neck of the atmosphere.
"You heard Miss Debeers, we were all sick at the time. An unavoidable stomach bug."
Natasha was the one to break the atmosphere with a half hearted explanation. Nathan hearing the explanation nodded as though he agreed.
Riku squinted his eyes as though trying to look into their souls until he saw one of them about to break.
But Lana couldn't lie even if her life depended on it.
Lana broke down in tears, overwhelmed by guilt.
"Alright, fine, I confess!"
Lana sobbed, her emotions flowing freely.
"I can't stand violence, and the sight of blood makes me faint! I just can't do it."
Riku was incredulous, struggling to comprehend how someone with such an aversion to violence could be training to become an assassin. But Nathan chimed in with his own revelation, eager to share his phobias.
"As for me,"
Nathan admitted,
"I've got a phobia of sharp objects, guns, and needles – basically anything that draws blood.
But hey, I don't mind killing, as long as I don't get hurt."
Riku's bewilderment only deepened. How could a traumatophobe become an assassin? It was a miracle he even made it this far into the school.
Riku, feeling dejected, looked at Natasha as she fiddled her thumbs.
"And what's your excuse?"
Natasha, the last to speak, mumbled her confession under her breath, seemingly reluctant to share her reasoning.
"I'm a devoted Christian,"
she whispered, averting her gaze.
"I don't believe in causing harm to others."
Her response was laced with defiance, her faith unwavering. She flipped her hair and turned away, leaving Riku grappling with the bizarre nature of his companions.
Riku's eyes grew bloodshot as he realized he was trapped with the misfits of the assassin world.
These children were no more wanted than the back of a loaf of bread. He was left with the worst of the class.
Riku's face palmed himself hoping this was all just a bad dream but then he looked at the time and realized they only had a few hours to show Miss Debeers their game plan.
Riku sighed, feeling that the weight of this entire mission was solely on his shoulders. Now he understood why they looked at him like some sort of savior.
Riku, however, couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration boiling within him. He had expected his team to come up with a well-thought-out plan, considering the importance of the mission.
Instead, he found himself surrounded by a group of novices with irrational fears and a lack of strategic thinking.
Taking a deep breath to quell his frustration, Riku knew he had to step up. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the cluttered desk, and addressed his companions.
"Look, I get it. This mission seems straightforward on the surface,"
Riku began, trying to infuse some semblance of urgency into the room.
"But there's more to it than meets the eye. We can't afford to underestimate our target or make hasty decisions."
Nathan rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by Riku's caution.
"Come on, Riku. It's just a guy. What's the worst that could happen?"
Riku's eyes bore into Nathan's, his frustration mounting.
"The worst that could happen is that we fail the mission, get caught, or worse – end up dead."
He couldn't believe he was explaining the basics of their profession to his own teammates. It was as if they had no understanding of the risks they faced in their line of work.
Riku slumped back into his seat feeling like he was in for a very long night.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone