CH 23

While watching a certain surprise TV show, an assassin suddenly turns to me. Then she puts her hands on her knees and starts to mumble a little shyly.

“Also… can’t you stop calling me the assassin? ”

That’s how she says it. Well, I think I have only called her the assassin before.

“I don’t think you should call me an assassin out in the open, and it’s not like it’s a normal profession, like a teacher or something.”

“That’s true, but you never told me your name, did you? ”

I say, and I take a sip of the coffee in front of me, and then she brings her face close to mine and speaks.

“You didn’t ask me in the first place! And I don’t want you to think I’m asking you to call me my name or anything like that!”

“Okay, alright. So, what’s your name, assassin? ”

She looks away from me a little shyly and mumbles her name when I ask her.

“…Shino. It means always having high goals and aspirations and always working hard to achieve them.”

“Shino-chan, huh?”

I mutter, and the assassin, or Shino-chan, smiles a little bit brightly. Then, she adds something quite significant.

“That’s… I don’t have a surname. That’s what everyone calls me when I realize it. Only a few people have called me by my name till now…”

“There’s no surname… ”

“Well, you guessed it. I don’t know my parents, so they can’t give it to me.”

Shino-chan smiled weakly. Then she looks sad and self-deprecating again.

“Besides, I don’t like the word ‘Shino ‘ because it always seemed to be attached to the word ‘ death (死のう, Shinou) ‘… Besides, I don’t know who gave it to me.”

Shino-chan mutters something like that. She looks away again and smiles bitterly. I can’t stand to see her like that anymore, so I grab her shoulders and shout.

“Shino, Shino, Shino, Shino ! ”

“W-what’s wrong? Suddenly! Are you going crazy? I mean, you’ve always been crazy.”

Shino is panicking. Anyone would be if someone suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and yelled at me. And then I make a confession that I don’t know how many times I’ve done so.

“I love the name Shino.”

” ……. ”

She blushes so much that steam comes out of her face, and she is flustered. He continues to say to Shino-chan.

“I’m going to call you Shino-chan from now on, so be proud of your name Shino, and you’ll get my last name, Sagami, okay? ”

When I said that, Shino-chan was silent for a moment and then slightly nodded her head, maybe unconsciously. Then her face turned red, and she denied it.

“That’s not what I meant! I mean, I don’t think Sagami Shino is a good name! ”

“Shino-chan is so cute.”

“I told you it’s not good!? ”

Shino-chan was smiling very pretty as I patted her on the shoulder. I’m glad she liked my name, even if only a little.