Summer and Winter

“Ptooie.” I spit out the bland orange flavored bubble gum and knelt down in front of the black suited man, who laid collapsed on the edge of a rusty wall covered with graffiti. He was panting heavily after running up the stairs of a thirty-floor building to the rooftop. He had the eyes of an old defeated homeless dog, but the stubborn determination in his eyes was still there. I clicked my tongue, annoyed.

“Mr., it would be nice if you could hand over it now,” I said, bored out of my wits, “I don’t want to be labeled as the Grim Reaper again.” I raised my gun and aimed it at his forehead.

We were both on the rooftop of an abandoned thirty-floor building, and after countless hours of me chasing this man, we ended up here. This guy does have some good taste, coming to a rooftop to start the finale of our chase. The wind was blowing my snow white hair everywhere, our clothes both ruffling dramatically like some climax of a movie. He’s still probably shocked though, that a girl like me could catch him after hours of running.

The man was still silent, tense and drenched with sweat, his right hand still clenched as tight as it was before. He glared at me with hate and disgust, and I cocked my head and stared at him back, my interest in him gradually decreasing.

“Oh well, you had the chance. Don’t blame me later.” I pulled the trigger.

Bam.

The man’s whole body slumped, and the fingers of his right hand loosened. I leaned forward, unraveling his fingers and-

Bam.

I widened my eyes, after dodging that sudden unknown bullet flying just millimeters from my nose. Did the Special Corps already find me? I quickly rolled away from the dead man to dodge another bullet and got back up on my feet. I looked in the direction the bullet fired. That sound of the bullet…

Bam.

I dodged again, avoiding another bullet that whizzed by me and only slightly grazed my black tie. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. This guy is on the rooftop with me. But where is he? I turned around and around, scanning the whole rooftop, only to find no one. Darn. He knows all my blind spots. “Oi, you know this tie costs more than all your teeth combined!” I shouted.

Another deafening shot. I squatted down, avoiding the bullet above me that was about to drill into my heart. I got up and once again looked in the direction the bullet was shot. There was no one there.

Darn. I guess I’ll have to rely on my other senses. I closed my eyes and focused. Footsteps four and a half feet away from me. Judging from the wind… he’s a really fast runner. I instantly raised my gun and shot. A sudden change in the pace of footsteps. Darn. He dodged it.

I guess I have no other choice. I sprinted to the sound of the footsteps, my gun charging head first. The attacker fired another bullet straight at me. I fired too, my bullet ricocheting both of our bullets to the side. I opened my eyes once we were just less than a foot apart and almost came in contact with an incoming round kick to the side of my temple. I blocked his kick with my gun. I was ready to counterattack with a front jump kick. I smirked. This guy fought well for someone in the Special Corps. One front kick from me, and he’ll be out cold.

Or so I thought.

It was the smell.

The scent of sweet peaches. I widened my eyes in recognition. Surprised and confused, I messed up my timing for my kick and for a millisecond my mind went blank. When I came back into focus, all of a sudden I felt myself toppling on top of the Special Corps guy. We both went down, our legs tangling with each other and guns carelessly waving around.

It was at some point where after all that wrestling on the ground that I ended up lying on the ground, my gun aimed straight at a redhead while he was on top of me, his gun aimed at my head. His bright unwavering green eyes stared coldly at me.

I widened my eyes. Those fiery red curls, those summer green eyes… yep, it was him.

“Summer?” I whispered. I shook my head. That couldn’t be him.

“Winter,” he said, not an inch of warmth in his voice. His eyes were fixed on me as he reloaded his pistol. "Hand over the sapphire," he demanded.

Gah. It’s him. Only Summer could know my real name. I sighed heartlessly. No matter. Work is more important. After all, both of us are in work in our black and white suits, ties, gloves, everything a uniform assassin wears. And he won’t go easy on me since I’m a girl. I guess I should start getting serious like him too.

“Drop the gun.”

“... Make me.”

“Oh come on, I know you will. I’ve known you ever since...”

“It’s been ten years. You know yourself how much people can change in ten years.”

“Oh, I don’t.”

“Look at you now.”

“...Fine. You got me.” I slowly lowered my gun and he lowered his.

His face was stone cold. I smiled, trying to ease up the tension.

“It’s been a while.”

“... Likewise.”

I could feel the sweat trickling down my back like icicles prickling my spine. So much for breaking the tension. I stared at Summer, his clothes ruffled but not an inch of sweat on him. His hair got longer, his red curls tumbling down his forehead and right below his ears. I cursed under my breath, my adrenaline pumping through my bloodstream like crazy. This is bad. I have to end it now.

“Well, I’ve got to get going now,” I said, laughing nervously and started to twirl my gun around my index finger. I headed over to the edge of the building and leaned over the rusty iron railing. Two hundred and forty feet below me was a desolate concrete sidewalk cracked with age.

Summer narrowed his eyes. Hostility was still radiating from him, but it was a bit calmer than before. I gulped down the butterflies swirling up from my stomach. Was it just my imagination… Did Summer just smirk at me? Did I just notice a second of amusement coming from him? I shook my head. Screw him.

“It was nice meeting you again,” Summer replied in his new snooty English accent. Before I could reply, he raised his gun in a split second and pulled the trigger. A deafening shot rang out.

“Too late!” I shouted above as I fell down over the thirty floored building. Before the bullet impaled my frontal lobe, I tottered over the edge of the railing head first. The wind whistled in my ears as I fell closer and closer to the hard concrete floor below.

Above I saw Summer’s green eyes shine like polished emeralds as he looked down upon me over the railing. He was frowning, his expression still cold and serious. I sighed and grinned foolishly back. He aimed his gun at me again and my grin instantly vanished.

“So persistent,” I muttered and twirled to the left as a bullet to the right of me flew just inches from my nose. I glanced down. There were a few more feet between me and the skull-crushing concrete. I rolled into a ball and somersaulted in the air, and when I came in contact with the floor the momentum sent me rolling on the floor and landed on my two feet unharmed. I stuck my tongue out at Summer, who was thirty floors above me and dashed away.

I sighed again. “Oh Summer,” I said wistfully to myself, “We didn’t change at all.” I smiled uncontrollably as if someone was forcing the corners of my lips to pull up.

It was nice meeting you again.

That sentence made my heart swell up and pound harshly against my chest. But I kept running. Running away from the person I knew ten years ago, running from the past that always attempted to pull me down into the depths of long forgotten memories. I clicked my tongue, clutching my left hand tightly.

In my hand was the sapphire.

Too bad, Summer.

Looks like I win again.

…