Shark

6

Atsuo was walking behind Isamu, Usagi, and Yubiwa, towards the neighborhood. He dragged his feet on the ground, tired from losing sleep to crying the other night. The circles under his eyes were growing darker by the day, and his eyelids felt heavier than ever. As he looked at the now familiar scenery of the mundane slums, he noticed the group was walking past all the usual houses.

"Hey, where are we going?" He called out.

Isamu looked back at him.

"We're going to a different part of the neighborhood this time." He said, "We're dealing with the lower class today."

"Oh. How many people are we seeing?"

"Four. Also, come up here. You're falling behind the group."

Atsuo walked a bit closer to the group as they entered an unfamiliar area. He looked around at the houses, which were somehow more run down than the others. Atsuo could practically feel the weight in the air on his shoulders. The group approached a simple, cracked house.

"Atsuo, I'm gonna give you one more shot." Isamu said, "Go knock."

Atsuo walked up to the doorway, the others following him.

"What if I act like Isamu this time?" He thought, "Yeah, maybe that'll work."

When he reached the doorway, Atsuo took a deep breath, straightened up a bit, and firmly knocked on the door a few times. After a moment, a young man with messy hair answered the door.

"Hello?" He said, "Can I help you?"

Atsuo shifted in place a bit, planting his feet.

"You know what we want." He said, recalling how Isamu spoke, "You owe us money. Hand it over."

The man's eyes widened a bit, then he reached into his pockets and pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to Atsuo. Atsuo took the money, trying to hide his surprise.

"Thank you." He said, nodding and handing the money to Usagi.

When the door closed, the group started walking away. Atsuo felt an unfamiliar warmth in his chest, and a small smirk appeared on his face. Suddenly, he heard Isamu call him.

"Atsuo, come here."

He walked over to Isamu.

"Do you...need something?" He asked nervously.

Isamu rolled his eyes, sighing.

"...that was terrible." He said, "Stop smiling like an idiot."

Atsuo's smile faded, and the warmth in his chest disappeared.

"I don't know what that was." Isamu continued, "What was that?"

"...I-I was trying to seem...t-tougher." Atsuo stuttered.

Isamu brought his hand to his forehead.

"Oh my god..." He groaned, "Okay, I see what you were going for, but that reeked of insecurity. You're still an amateur when it comes to that."

Then, Yubiwa called over to Isamu. 

"Remind me to never let you knock again." He said as he walked away.

Atsuo remained frozen in shock for a moment, then he started following the group again. The warm feeling in his chest was replaced by a strange tight feeling, as if his anxiety and annoyance combined into one.

"Wow." He thought, "I gave it my all and he still berated me. I thought I'd be better at it by now, but...ugh, I've only been out on three missions. Still, I thought I'd show signs of improvement by now."

Atsuo looked ahead of him at the others. He saw Isamu and Yubiwa talking, laughing a bit. Atsuo scoffed.

"Dammit." He thought, scuffing the ground with his foot.

As the group walked to the second house, Isamu started talking to the others.

"Alright, this guy is a bit more dangerous than the others." He said, "Yubiwa, you know what to do."

Yubiwa chuckled a bit, cracking his bronze and silver-lined knuckles. Atsuo shuddered at the cracking sound.

"Uh, Isamu? What do you mean by 'more dangerous?'" He asked.

"This guy has a bit of a reputation for fighting loan sharks." Isamu replied, looking back at him, "He knows we're coming now, and he's armed. But don't worry, just stand back. We know what to do."

Atsuo stood behind the group, trying to blend in as Yubiwa knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and a man answered. But before anyone could react, Yubiwa punched him across the face. A spurt of blood flew from his mouth and he fell to the floor, now unconscious. Upon hitting the floor, a handgun fell from his hand, sliding across the floor. Atsuo flinched, tensing up even more. With a hand gesture from Isamu, the group went into the house. Atsuo warrily followed them inside, looking around the single room. There was hardly any furniture, and the bed on the floor was flattened and dirty.

The others scavenged the room, looking for the money. Atsuo looked around the semi-bare room. Then, he spotted a picture frame laying on the floor. He picked it up and examined it. Inside the frame, there was a photo of the man they were robbing standing next to a woman and a little girl. Atsuo felt a pang of remorse, knowing that the man had a family.

Once Usagi found a wad of cash under the bed, he and Yubiwa went outside. Atsuo and Isamu lingered in the room. Atsuo could feel the tension in the air tightening, waiting to snap at any given moment.

"Atsuo." Isamu said.

"...yes?" Atsuo asked, growing more anxious.

"...if you're gonna stand around and do nothing, do it somewhere else, not in our way."

"Oh, s-sorry."

"Look, just stay out of our way. We're trying to work here."

"...okay."

Isamu looked down at the handgun on the ground. He picked it up and pulled the top back, echoing an ominous clicking sound throughout the almost empty room.

"Consider this a lesson." He said.

Then, he pointed the gun downwards and pulled the trigger, burying a bullet in the unconscious man's head. Crimson blood splattered onto the walls and floor as his body convulsed, reacting to the shot. Atsuo felt a surge of shock and nausea run through him. Isamu threw the gun aside and looked at Atsuo, seeing his sickened expression.

"Ugh, I know that look." He groaned, "Swallow it and head outside, we still have two more houses to go to."

Wincing, Atsuo gulped down the liquid crawling up his throat, refusing to let it leave his mouth, and followed Isamu outside. As he walked, he could still see the body of the man laying on the ground, even though he only saw it for a moment. He could see the blood on the wall, the last twitch as he was shot, the picture of the man's wife and daughter. He swallowed nervously and kept walking behind the group, unable to shake the nauseous feeling in his stomach.