I threw a punch.

"Off," Sakuno said.

I tried to go for a jab.

"Clean."

I went for an uppercut.

"Missed."

I stepped back and rolled my shoulders around to loosen them up. With heavy breaths, I stumbled over to a nearby bench and collapsed onto it. I grabbed a clean towel from beside my phone and wiped my face.

I then glanced at my phone to check the time: '03:49 AM.' Earlier, Sakuno suggested we hit the gym, noting that it’s nearly empty during these hours. Given our nocturnal habits from our occupation and my need to get back into training, I agreed.

"Here," Sakuno said.

He tossed over a bottle of water. I snatched it out of the air, twisted off the cap, and drank the whole thing in one go. At the same time, Sakuno sat down, staring at me while holding his own bottle.

"You okay, man?" Sakuno asked. "You haven't been concentrating the entire night. Your strikes felt shallower than usual. They were so slow that I could read them from a mile away, and that doesn't normally happen when I'm sparring with you."

"Just... something on my mind."

He let out a chuckle. "You? With something on your mind? It has to be something big to mess up your punches."

"Not necessarily. It's more of an annoyance."

"Talk to me."

For a moment, I kept my silence, debating on whether or not I should say. It really isn't that big of a deal, yet it's bothering me to this extent.

"It's about Taiyori Ayaka," I mumbled.

His face rapidly morphed into a cheeky smile. "Ehhh~?"

"Shut up. It's not like that."

"Hehe, sure. Anyway, continue."

"She's really starting to get on my nerves. At first, I thought I'd be able to ignore her presence altogether, but we somehow keep bumping into each other. Every single time, she starts off with some snarky comment, and then it turns into a heated exchange. I always try my best to be as patient as possible, but she gets in my head easier than all those corporate bastards I've killed back then. I mean, you were there the first time we met her. All I did was help her, and she went off on me. She's kept her grudge ever since, which is the main reason why we keep getting into these childish arguments. Every single word that comes out of her mouth is just so infuriating, and..."

I looked over to see Sakuno with his legs crossed. He pushed an elbow into his thigh while resting his head on his hand. All the while, that smile grew even wider than before.

"W-what...?" I grumbled.

"Hehe, nothing," he chuckled. "It's just surprising to see that you have so much to say about one person. Even for the most hellish criminals, you brushed them off as if they were nothing. Are you sure there aren't any underlying feelings in there?"

"Again, it's not like that."

"I don't know, man. You seem to care a lot about what Taiyori has to say to you."

"That's because..."

I don't even know how to respond to that. Hearing it from Sakuno, it does seem peculiar. I've encountered many in the underworld who've committed the most heinous crimes. No matter what they said or did, it never stirred my emotions. In the end, I just executed them without a second thought.

Why is it so different now? Ever since I met Taiyori, she's been occupying my thoughts incessantly. Even after I finish a mission, I find myself dwelling on her conceited remarks from yesterday, the day before, and the day before that.

"Hey, Tsuki, I don't mean to be that guy, but... I think you might be in love," Sakuno snickered. "You'd better not let Ai no Uta find out about this. She'll never let you live it down."

"Alright. Stand up. We're going again," I said.

"Whoa, hey! I was just kidding!"

"Should've thought about your words before you decided to run your mouth, now get up."

Sakuno and I sparred for another two minutes. This time, I made sure to concentrate. There's no way I'm letting him off the hook, and that's exactly what I did.

"Hey, Tsuki, calm down!" he shouted.

Instead, I increased my speed, strengthened my fists, and locked him in a flurry of strikes that made it difficult for him to recover. With my arm pulled back just slightly, I used all of my momentum in the final attack. He was sent flying back and rolled on the ground.

"Goddam, man..." he coughed. "Lesson learned, I guess. Never piss off Tsuki no Ran. Wonder how Taiyori is still alive now that I've experienced his wrath..."

"Quit exaggerating," I said.

Suddenly, a notification sound rang from my phone.

"Dang, who the hell is texting you this late at night?" Sakuno muttered. "Even I'm not getting that, and there have been a lot~ of girls who've come up and asked for my Line ID."

"Wait, you know what Line is?"

"Is there anybody in Tokyo who doesn't? Biggest messaging app in the freaking nation."

So it turns out, I was the only one left in the dark. Just how much of the normal world do I still not know about?

I walked over to the bench and picked up my phone. My eyes shot wide open when I saw the sender's name on my lock screen.

"Taiyori Ayaka..." Sakuno's voice crept into my ear. "Mhm, mhm. Interesting."

My head slowly tilted while giving him an ominous glare, and he immediately backed away.

"Sorry, sorry," he grinned coyly. "I'll leave you to it, sire."

As soon as he scurried away, I sat down and opened the app to read the messages.

Taiyori: "Reply if you're a weirdo."

Me: "What?"

Taiyori: "Hah! You actually replied! I freaking knew it. You weirdo."

Me: "Why are you awake? It's four in the morning."

Taiyori: "I just got done studying. Wouldn't be the first time I pulled an all-nighter. Couldn't sleep, and I got bored, so I pulled up Line and decided to bother you. That was IF you were awake, which for some reason, you are."

Me: "Why'd you message me? I'm sure there were plenty of other options on your list. Figured I'd be the last person you'd pick."

Taiyori: "Am I being interrogated or something? Only a handful of guys have my Line, but all of them are either creeps, perverts, or gold diggers who're after my money. I'm pretty sure I left a good fifty percent of them on read. The other fifty are those whom I never bothered to open."

Me: "What makes you think I'm not like them?"

Taiyori: "Because you make it so graciously clear that you don't like me at all."

Me: "And still, you messaged me..."

Taiyori: "What can I say? It's fun messing with my enemies."

I couldn't help but chuckle a little. The funny part is that she's being dead serious. It's like the world she sees isn't the same as everyone else, but... I don't really have the right to say anything on that matter.

Me: "Go to sleep. A fragile little girl like you needs it."

Taiyori: "Oh, I'm the fragile one. Aren't you the one who blows up on me every time we meet?"

Me: "I think you just unintentionally called yourself out."

Taiyori: "Whatever. I don't even know why I bothered to message you. I'm pissed now. Hope I never see you again."

Me: "Likewise."

That was the last message in the text string. Looks like she really went to sleep. That's good.

I pressed the power button and rested my phone on the bench. My head feels so light all of a sudden, but there's no pain.

What a strange situation. She doesn't like me, and I don't like her, yet she still decided to message me among what could possibly be hundreds of people in her contact list.

I let out a quiet scoff. Taiyori Ayaka... You are, by far, the most interesting thing that has happened during my school life, and that wasn't a compliment.