Chapter 1
My name is Kaoru Kawai, and I’m in my second year of working. My hobby is flower arranging. I’m 24, tall and slender, about 183 cm and 65 kg. I’m a pretty good‑looking guy, but I’m not trying to show off.
This is my story. If you have time, please stay with me.
I usually don’t work overtime. Finishing every task within working hours is my motto. That evening, after the closing bell, I said goodbye to my colleagues and headed straight for the elevator hall.
“Hey, Kaoru.”Someone called my name from behind. I turned around to see who it was. Tamami, who joined the company at the same time as me, was standing there with her hands on her hips.
“Leaving on time, huh?”“Yep, my shift’s done.”
“You’ve got on‑the‑job training with the new hire, Ms. Akama,” she said, nodding toward the woman beside her. A tall, skinny woman in her thirties was standing there shyly. I shrugged.
“Thank you, Mr. Kawai. Your teaching skill is superb,” Akama Yayoi said, her voice full of awe. We were standing in an abandoned factory. I glanced at the man’s lifeless body, then neatly organized my tools in the case.
“Well, let’s finish. We’ll hang the body from the beam to make it look like a suicide.”
“Sure. I’ll grab his shoulders and lift.”Akama moved quickly to the body and hauled it up using the ladder. Despite her slim frame, she was remarkably strong. Then we calmly hung the body from the ceiling to make it look like a suicide.
After leaving the site, we split up near the station.“Thanks,” Akama murmured, giving me a small bow.
“Ms. Tamami says you’re really skilled, even though you’re the youngest in the company.”I nodded and checked my watch, realizing I could still make it before the florist closed. Well, I’ll buy some flowers, I thought.
When I got back to my cozy little apartment, I spread the flower shop’s package out on the table. I checked my smartphone. There were voice messages from my mom on the screen. I sighed. Today was the anniversary of my dad’s death.
My dad was a cop, the kind of man who could never walk past someone in trouble. He tried to step in during a domestic dispute and was killed by the wife. I was in my second year of junior high school then. My mom kept crying, but I didn’t shed a single tear.
Looking back, I’d always been the kind of kid who didn’t show much emotion, so I just accepted the misfortune in our family in silence. My dad’s pension and life insurance were the only things keeping what was left of our family afloat.
“Kaoru.”I turned toward the voice. He was sitting on one of the dining chairs, smiling at me like he always used to.“Are you okay today?”I looked into his gentle eyes and answered,“Yep.”“Good. Well, I’m going to warm up your meal.”He stood up from the chair and headed for the oven. He was my late father, Kazu.
To be precise, he was a ghost. When I chose my occupation two years ago, he came back to me from the spirit world.
After I got changed, I went back to the kitchen. My dinner was already set out on the table. He took my cup from the stove and placed it in front of me.“Thanks, Dad.”I took the cup from his hand.
Dad smiled at me softly.“I got a voicemail from Mom.”I gulped down some hot, good green tea and said,“I know. She was worried about you all day.”“Just in case, I told her you’re okay,” he said.I looked at him. He looked exactly the same as he had at thirty‑eight, the age when he died.
“Thanks, Dad.”
In response to my gratitude, he scratched his head and gave a shy laugh.
“Shall we watch something on TV?”
I pressed a few buttons on the remote and looked at the TV screen.
The late‑night news was on the air, reporting the discovery of a salaried worker in his thirties found hanging from the ceiling in an abandoned factory.
I knew who he was.
He was our target.
His name was Yoshio Kubota, and we were assigned to execute him. We followed him from his company, and the moment he turned into a secluded alley, I killed him as we passed each other.
“I want to watch another program.”
Dad took the remote and changed the channel.
Then he watched quietly.
“Your mom bought so many flowers, just like you, and arranged them on my butsudan.”
After his death, Mom started a flower school at home to earn an income.
“Your love of flowers must come from your mother,” he said with a smile.
“I don’t know.”
I shrugged.
Then something caught in my heart, and I asked him casually,
“Dad, will the man I killed today go to some kind of peaceful place?”
It was just a question born from my own curiosity.
Dad paused.
I realized he was perplexed.
I was about to change the subject, but he shook his head.
“I don’t know, Kaoru.”
His eyes were bottomless and dark.
“So, where did you come back from?” I asked.
“I… I don’t remember where I was before I came back to you,” he said. “The only thing I remember is that I was worried about you and your mom.”
My occupation is contract killer.I’m the liaison for the Association of Contract Killers.We make contracts with clients and take on the killings after the executives carefully review each request.And now I live with my dad’s ghost.
