One. Two. Three snipers spotted on the rooftops facing a cafe.
"Ha~" the blonde girl released a pleased sigh as she stretched, entering the building.
"A cup of chocolate milkshake would be perfect after being cooped up in that house for so long," she mused, cracking her knuckles as a 'pop' sound resonated in the semi-empty cafe. "I need to stretch more," she muttered under her breath, twisting and turning her wrists and fingers as she headed to the counter to place her order.
"Hiya! One choco milk please," she cheerfully rattled out her regular order, noting he must be a new hire. She chuckled as she realised her time being a couch potato was so long that the usual waiter had changed.
"Pardon? What was that?" The waiter asked, rubbing his neck nervously. "You said that too fast for me to ca-" He paused, as though just noticing her appearance as he looked her over.
Her peculiar height caught his attention the most, as she was unusually short. Her light pink sweater coupled with her white skirt, complemented her blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle with childlike amusement. Her shoulder-length blond hair had a side braid to add a subtle flair, topped up with a pink ribbon tied around her brown beret.
As he turned his gaze down, he was surprised to see her ridiculously high wedges, as it was a wasted effort to make her look taller since she still didn't look taller than 5 feet. The waiter couldn't help but look behind her as if expecting to see her parents coming in after her.
"..."
"I am sixteen," she assured after a brief silence, and the waiter laughed nervously before taking her order.
"Here you go," he said, handing her the order.
She smiled at him before taking her drink. "Thanks, but can I have this in a takeaway cup, please?"
'I haven't seen her stop smiling once. Does she have a resting smiling face?' The waiter thought offhandedly before collecting her drink, shooting her a wink. "Just a moment, sweetheart."
He left to arrange her takeaway cup while she leaned on the counter, playing with some coins she had on her to pass the time. He came back shortly with it, and she thanked him again as she collected it.
"Oh, thank you!" Her smile brightened like a little kid's as she took a sip of the drink. She happily paid for it and gave the waiter the coins she was playing with earlier as a tip.
"Thanks for the tip." He smiled back as he placed the money in the register, keeping the tip in his pocket.
"No problem at all. I should thank you instead for this delicious cup of choco milk," she said gratefully before leaving the cafe with her drink.
She walked some distance away from the cafe, past the snipers, before pausing as she took out the small thing hidden under her takeaway cup.
It was a mini bomb.
"Ah... are these people doubting my skills? It's pathetic how clumsily they hid the bomb." The previously polite and sweet facade seemed to have vanished as a sinister smile appeared on her face.
"And the snipers just sat there watching. Were they really only there to confirm I took the bomb?" A sickeningly tense and malicious aura surrounded her. It felt like she could snap at any moment, when the aura suddenly vanished. "Oh. They still had a plan B, huh?"
She turned around with a grin on her face. "No need to hide, I already felt your presence even with how slowly you kept following me. Come on, surely you wouldn't lack the confidence to confront me after coming all this way~" she said in a singsong voice.
A moment of silence reigned before a masked man in a black jumpsuit came out calmly from the shadows of a nearby building.
"I see you found me. As expected of the top assassin, Mystic S," the assassin said with a cocky tone, but his nervous and alert eyes betrayed his relaxed facade.
"Yes, I know I am awesome and all, but..." She looked him over and sighed. "Were you the best they could find?"
She gave him a warm smile as if she hadn't just insulted him, and his face twisted in anger at her words, all signs of nervousness and alertness disappearing.
His scowl turned into a smirk when he noticed she was still holding the takeaway cup. "You are the top assassin, yet you didn't even notice the bomb attached to your cup." He sneered, "That bomb will explode in 15 seconds. You stand no chance against me now."
"I know, which is why I put it on you," she said, innocently batting her eyes.
"Yes, which is why you put it on-" he paused as her words sank in, "You what?! When?! How?! Where is it?!" He panicked as he patted his body down, trying to find the bomb, yet he couldn't feel anything unusual on him, probably due to how small it was.
"I can't tell you or it won't be fun~" She let out a cute giggle that sounded anything but cute to the man.
"By the way, you have 8 seconds left," she reminded him as she smiled sweetly.
The assassin stopped his frantic search as the impending doom dawned on him. "They warned me to be careful with you... Why didn't I listen?" He lamented before suddenly glaring at her with a crazed look.
"If I'm going down, then I will at least take you with me!" he said as he started running maniacally towards her. "Even if I die, I will still be known as the greatest assassin for taking you down!"
Her smile grew wider as she saw his crazed self gradually but quickly get closer. She dodged just as he reached her and jumped up to the roof with little effort. She looked down at the man to see him looking up at her with a surprised expression that amused her, though that lasted less than a second before he exploded.
At the same time, the waiter in the cafe also exploded, and several screams burst out.
She looked over in the direction of the cafe, watching the commotion. "He wasn't so bright, was he? He wasn't even on alert with me." She yawned, sitting on the roof lazily. "He didn't suspect those coins were bombs, yet he was put in charge of planting a bomb."
"That was more boring than I expected." She yawned once more before taking out her phone and typing in her password: "Starfire".
Her real name.
She went to her call log and saw her number one contact information, the organisation she worked for: ITY organisation.
"No calls yet, huh?" She stared at her phone for a while, and her lips curled up into yet another smile.
"Oh well, at least I can keep enjoying my break. I haven't had this much time to relax since I joined that organization anyway," she stretched before scoffing. "Geez, imagine not letting someone rest since they were twelve. I should make the most of it before they decide to do that..." She trailed off as she stared into the distance.
'That presence is still watching me, huh?' she thought before shrugging and heading home.
[Somewhere far away]
"The Head gave me quite an interesting job. I wonder what else you have in store for me, Star." A voice was heard by a stranger whose face was shrouded in darkness.
A gorgeous lady appeared beside the stranger. Her very appearance was enchanting and could easily capture a mere man's heart with a simple glimpse of her beauty.
The lady had long, silky azure hair carefully tied back in a ponytail, leaving only the short bangs to roam free as they shaped her face perfectly. She wore a traditional-looking outfit that made her look like a fairy in human form and only served to enhance her pure-like grace.
She elegantly walked closer to the stranger, and the hem of her gown and sleeves seemed to float along as she did so. She looked so surreal that she appeared as though she came out of an ancient painting, which might not be that far from the truth, given how unusual her sudden appearance was.
"Master," she greeted the stranger with her equally enchanting voice. "I know the Head said you should watch over her, but that doesn't mean you should watch her like you are watching a movie," she scolded, not exactly comfortable with what the stranger was doing.
"The Head said I should watch her, but never specified how I should watch her," the stranger replied casually with a glance in her direction. "I can watch her however way I like," the stranger added in an amused tone.
"But if the Head knows you aren't even looking after her safety properly and are leaving it all to Miss Starfire, you might get in trouble," the lady said, clearly worried for her master.
"I know, but the Head can't do anything to me since I am a competitor for that thing," the stranger chuckled. "The Head wouldn't dare do anything major before a winner is announced."
"Yes, but Miss Starfire is also-" The stranger cut the lady off.
"Don't complete that sentence and annoy me. You wouldn't want me to punish you again, would you?" The threat was calm but ominous.
The lady's face paled as she remembered the last time her master got annoyed with her and punished her.
"Of course, master," the lady apologized, bowing her head. "I apologise for having uttered such a vile thing."
"Good. Now go, I have an interesting show coming up and I don't want you to disturb me with your rambling," the stranger said with a more lighthearted tone.
"Of course." The lady bowed her head once more before she disappeared.
The stranger was left alone once again and watched Starfire with a smirk.