Eji had spent days in his office, planning and writing. He usually slept at around midnight, but he wanted to get the rest of this never-ending paperwork done so badly that it had held him captive until the early morning. Already, it was 6:30AM. The sun was up, and it burned Eji’s tired eyes as he stepped outside. He had finally completed the paperwork, but he had a few more mundane tasks to complete. He thought he may as well post some letters quickly before inevitably passing out and sleeping for as many hours as his body would allow.

The sun was hurting Eji’s eyes so much that he had to look down the entire way to the post office. He didn’t like it, but it’s what had to be done. He wasted absolutely no time, putting the letters into the post box and turning around to walk back. He looked at no one and made no conversation.

The walk to the post box and back was no longer than ten minutes, but it felt like hours. When he knew he was getting close to home again, relief overwhelmed him. That was until he actually looked up and saw an unfamiliar man standing at his front door, looking at him.

Immediately, he was wide awake. He reached into his pocket and pulled his handgun out, aiming it at the man’s head. He had never seen this man before, and he sure as hell wasn’t one of his workers or one of the criminals who worked under him. The man raised his hands above his head submissively, showing that he had no weapons on him. But Eji kept his glare and his gun locked onto him.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you at my house!?”

The man looked away from the gun, down at the floor. “My name is Sakari. I’m here because I just got fired from my job and I got kicked out of home.”

“What the hell does that have to do with me?”

Sakari looked at Eji’s gun. Eji hoped he didn’t notice the subtle trembling of his hand. “I asked around and some people said you might have a job for me…”

He seemed genuine… but that didn’t make Eji trust him any more than before. It was decisions like this that killed Eji. If he decided to send the man away, he could be safe from harm for now, but if he picked himself up and decided to get his revenge on Eji, he could have an enemy on his hands. If he took him in, he could save him from starving, but he could put himself at risk. What if he was a spy? What if he was someone who was sent to take him down?

His thoughts made him want to break down and scream. Either way, he could make an enemy. Whichever option he chose, he could be putting himself in danger. Or… he could just kill the man. His hands trembled more. He absolutely hated killing people. The only times he ever killed or intentionally injured people were times that he was in danger.

And he felt like he was in danger. The impending sense of doom that plagued him constantly was at its peak.