I had . . . Grown rather fond of Yuu as of recent days. It was an experience so different from Cecil, who I still talked to on occasions. With him, I felt compelled to be with him. Against my own reasoning and needs. I needed someone to lean on, someone to make me feel like I wasn't missing a major part of what most people would consider to be a normal life. I never loved Cecil, I merely wanted him to fill a void in my heart.

Yuu was a different story.

He made me feel as if I was imperfect, that I didn't have a normal life. He accompanied me in the strange normality that was my routine. He wasn't as vibrant or animated at Cecil, but Yuu sure as hell made me feel welcomed to his life. It made me realize that Cecil hid things from me. He hid the identity of his father, which would be something important, he hid how he had so many liberties in his job and how he knew about my contract. Something only I and Mr. Rogue should have known.
I pondered the possibility that he was my Ghost, singling it out quickly. My Ghost was someone taunting, sly, and mischievous. The only person who didn't fear me. The only person who accepted my challenges like a fun game children would play.

The more I talked to him, the more I began to wonder who he was. His posture, way of talking, and smirk (albeit hidden) were all familiar to me. But I could never pin who it was.

It made me regret not taking off his night vision goggles when I had the chance. I knew I wouldn't want to know. That I would regret it. But, my curiosity always bested me. Above love, anger, and my stubborn nature.

They say Curiosity killed the cat. A curious saying for a curious person.

The saying certainly was true. Curiosity can kill you.

I had awoken to a knock at my door, the flowers left on my bed in a vase. I had contemplated burning them, but decided to not waste good floral decor. The box at my door was not marked by an address. Simply a cardboard box the size of my torso. I was a sight for my neighbors, wearing baggy pajama pants, no shirt, and my eyes narrowed through messy hair as if I were contemplating a murder. Which may have been true, taking myself into consideration.

The box was another gift. I believe 'they' left it for me, a condolence for My Ghost's arrogant actions. There was no note, so I was assuming. It was a suit, much similar to the one I typically wore. This one was made of a more breathable fabric, and hell, even had pockets carved into the skin tight fabric. Delicately placed on top of it was a grey harness connected to a utility belt. A wire was rolled and connected to one of the sides of it, a backup, maybe?

I shoved the box in my closet, choosing not to wear anything from it until later.
Of course, my half-awake self had to work, so the box would later be forgotten.

Another day at the coffee shop meant returning to my normal schedule. I often missed Cecil's assistance, but it was easy to return to my old habits. Teenagers rushing to school, business men and women, and college students all arrived in the morning to order coffee, espressos, lattes, you name it, I made it. Lunch and dinner was for the business meetings, and near closing was Emiliana and María to drop by for the free leftovers after they closed.

"Have you been reading the tabloids lately?" María asked in a cheery voice. She reminded me of Cynthia and Hyacinth in one living teenage girl.
"No. Since, Y'know, it's mostly rumors about me, Cecil, and other people." I said simply. She pouted, downing half of her latte.
"Okay, so, apparently people are just now figuring out about you and Cecil splitting up, and they're making rumors that he's trying to get you back by leaving flowers and shit."
"How are you sure it's a rumor?" I asked, looking at her in confusion. She gave me a deadpanned stare in response.
"He's a regular customer. Although now he never comes at the same time as you- I've managed to catch the basics of how he acted around you. He really respects 'ya." She said.
"You're only observant when it comes to famous models." Emiliana sighed. "Why can't you be observant with orders?"
"I am!" Her daughter pouted. They got into a teasing argument in Spanish as I finished cleaning up the shop.

"We could always end this. A death match, the winner gets the territory." He proposed as I swallowed my own blood, keeping the iron taste in my mouth over any way of identifying me.
"But Alyssum still prowls."
He laughed.
"What a fancy way of speaking. He's just an arsonist, and easily distinguished." He said, making a gloved gesture of pinching out a candle flame. I could see how the voice modifier covering his mouth shifted, telling me he was flashing me a toothy grin. Something about it made me uneasy. A feeling in the pit of my stomach that put me on edge, but it was easily hidden from my viewing rival.
"Shouldn't you be doing your own job?" I asked, irritated as I lifted my gun to my face, the built-in scope covering my right eye. My victim was happily talking to someone. A man.
A lover?
I didn't think about that at first. My ghost's response was never heard by me. My finger froze over the trigger. I saw them. The way they gazed at each other, eyes shining. As if that moment made them happy. Ecstatic.
They looked at each other in two ways I recognized. The way Cecil looked at me, and the emotion I felt when I saw Yuu.
"No." my quiet and feeble voice murmured, too hushed for any others to hear. My ghost stared at me, all emotions hidden beneath a mask.
I took a deep breath.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
"Do it. Please. I don't want to have Alyssum kill her." Hyacinth said in my right ear, a quiet voice that almost made me forget that she was synthetic. Supposed to feel no emotions. But here she was, giving mercy to someone I was assigned to kill. At first I didn't understand her words, the nausea and heart pounding in my skull rather distracting. Then I remembered. Alyssum burned people alive. She wanted her to have a swift death rather than to suffer in agony.

And I pulled the trigger as the man turned his head. I watched her fall limp, tears filling my goggles. My lips were pressed to a tight line.
Then he began screaming. A heart wrenching sound that echoed in my mind and pounded into my skull. Survivor of the fittest was what this world revolved around. I was not the fittest.
"Ouch. That is not music to my ears. And I should know, I make music." My ghost commented lightly, but his voice faltered. I didn't have time to connect it as police sirens sounded in the distance. "You heard nothing." He quickly added as we stared at each other in panic.
"Run, Ghost. Run as fast as you can and as far as you can." I ordered him, voice cracking as I rose. We stared at each other, him at me in fear. I at him in regret. We turned our backs on each other and ran. Small tears escaped my goggles. I wiped them, vaulting over a ledge.

I wish I could forget everything.

Trust me, I do.

I would be better off having never known.

Never known of what I had done.

Never heard those words leave my Ghost's lips.

The words that would piece together a puzzle that would have been better unsolved.

Two sights greeted me at my apartment.
The first- a note on the inside of my front door that was written in sloppy handwriting, as if the writer had tried to write as such. It read an apology.
'I'm sorry.'
Beneath it was a drawing of flowers.
The second- Yuu, leaning against the frame of my door, eyes tired. He was out of breath. I was as well. He had arrived here from a text message of me calling him to my apartment.

"It's midnight." He said casually. I sniffled wiping my puffy red eyes.
"Of course it is. What do you expect it to be? Noon?" I sighed, bag slung over my shoulders. His right eye was still covered by a bandage, eyes distant.
"I watched someone get shot." His head shot up at my mumbled words, face instantly growing worried.
"Are you alright? You weren't... near them, were you?" He asked, standing from the wall. I walked towards him until his back was against the wall, duffel bag on the floor next to me.
"No." I sighed, mentally preparing myself. Saying something would change my entire world. "It's hard to get hurt or be near that person if you're the one holding the trigger." I said, voice barely above a whisper. The color drained from his face.
A short lived confrontation.
"You-" He began, I silenced him, pressing an index finger to his lips.

"Don't say anything."

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, still shocked. "What do you want me to do?" Yuu's voice was faltering. He was worried? Scared? Disbelieving?
I couldn't tell, the man's screams still etched to my mind. My face was inches from Yuu's, my eyes meeting his emerald one wide in shock. It would be quite a sight to see if one would be awake and roaming at such an hour. I lifted his chin up so he was no longer staring at the floor as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. My voice was strong, not hoarse as it was on the rooftop.

"I want you to lie to me."