Miho the Killer
Chapter 72: Training

Chapter 72: Training

Ever since our strategy meeting for the upcoming Big Job, Miho had been training like a possessed woman. I was allowed to accompany Miho to the basement where there was a large training room - almost the entire floor actually - that seemed similar to the training ground for police forces or military unit for urban combat with target figures standing and popping out at random points, to which Miho had to react quickly.

After some hours of intense training, there was a hand-to-hand combat training session with Shin, where I learned that the ’old man’ was a true monster. He set up panels to recreate a narrow corridor environment, and Miho’s task was to get from one end of the corridor to the other end. The old man was the only thing that blocked Miho’s way but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get past him. They both wore protective gear so I shouldn’t have been too concerned about any possible injury for my Miho, but it was still not nice seeing her repeatedly take blows from the ruthless old man while he seemed to deflect her attacks with ease.

Shin kept on taunting Miho but she never got angry. In fact, it had exactly the opposite effect. The provoked tigress took the challenge with manic laughter and seemed to find even more strength in the face of growing adversity and impossible odds. Miho was lethally skillful in combat - there was no doubt about it. But the gap between Shin and Miho was clear. Shin moved and fought like a robot - even in the eyes of someone totally inexperienced like me. His movements were efficient, methodical, and disciplined. On the contrary, Miho moved and fought like a wild beast trying to claw her way through a wall.

On the third day, she started to make progress through this simulated ’Corridor of Death’, forcing Shin to take a few steps back. On the fourth day she was able to push Shin back almost to the other end, seemingly following the motto "If brute force doesn’t work, you are not using enough of it". This isn’t to say Miho fought without the grace of a great feline predator, far from it. Her movements were breathtakingly beautiful and made my heart pound. But things started to click. I could see why she was - supposedly - such a highly coveted killer. While Shin looked like an unbreakable wall, Miho was a sledgehammer. With relentless drive and insatiable desire, she looked like someone who would break through anything. Eventually.

There was now less than 10 days left till the D-Day and although the task seemed impossible at start, I started to believe that she could do it. If anybody can walk into a building full of hostiles, get the job done and leave, it would be Miho.

But at what cost...?

This was the question that kept on creeping up in my mind.

And on the sixth day, I saw the first sign of emotional toll.

Miho woke up in the middle of the night screaming.

I went up to her bed to check she was OK and she wasn’t.

She was drenched in sweat, shivering, trembling, twitching, and grinding her teeth. She wouldn’t say what was wrong, but I already had a suspicion that the more she was going back to her old self as a killer, the harder it was becoming for her to reconcile her past and present. It was as if she was being forced to put on a mask that she did not want to wear, clothes that no longer fit her, and eating food that she was allergic to.

These moments of panic attacks started to happen more frequently as days went by. On the seventh day of training, with one week left to go until the D-Day, she managed to complete her run through the Corridor of Death with a flurry of attacks that Shin could only parry as he backed off slowly. That earned her a pat on the head from the old man and the proud smile of a father, which seemed to make Miho happy, but as soon as Shin left the training room she collapsed on the ground and had a violent convulsion.

She wasn’t physically sick, but her body was rejecting everything she was being prepared to do. It took a whole hour to calm her down and seeing her suffer like this was tearing me apart.

When she finally calmed down and laid on her back on the cold ground with her head resting on my lap, I decided we needed to talk.

"Miho. Are you OK with all this?"

"Heh, what are you talking about?" She was clearly forcing it.

"All these training and the Big Job that’s coming up... I feel like this ’work’ isn’t for you anymore."

Miho then went quiet for a while and surprised me.

"What if I said you were right?"

I expected her to casually say "Don’t worry about it", so this wasn’t what I expected.

"You... don’t feel right about it either?"

"Every night... every night I see the faces of people that I-, I disposed of."

I didn’t know what to say.

"I try to put all these thoughts behind me, but they won’t go away."

"We can... still stop this, Miho."

"Sigh... we can’t."

"Why not?!"

"They will come after me, or worse - after US. We can’t be free unless I get this done."

"But..."

"Thank you for your concern, Sohee. I mean really... you always care for me. You are the first one who really cared for me other than the old man."

The old man...

That wry old man.

Pushing Miho to do a job like this. Knowing that she could die - easily. Knowing that she is not ready for it - probably.

There was so much about Shin that didn’t make sense. On one hand I had to concede that he did care for Miho. For many years it seems. And he took care of Juho while Miho was incapable of doing so recently.

But why do I get this nagging feeling that his motivation isn’t just about ’helping a stray cat’?

"Miho, can I ask when you first met him?"

"It was at my sister’s funeral."

"You said he came and paid for everything and stayed for the whole three days at the funeral."

"Yes, from start to finish."

"But you’ve never seen him before that?"

"No. He said he was my father’s friend."

"Do you believe that?"

"What are you getting at? Of course, I believe him. Look at all this!" She gestured to show everything that was around the room. Everything was geared toward turning her into a killing machine.

"I’m not sure if this really is all for you... Have you ever wanted to do something different? Working different jobs?"

"No. This is what I’m good at. This is me, Sohee."

"But you are struggling. I don’t know if all this is really good for you."

Miho then abruptly sat up. Looking into my eyes.

"What’s with all this? We have a big job coming up. I’m terribly sorry you got dragged into this, and I can’t apologize enough for... you know... but now is not the time to doubt anything. Do what we need to do first and ask questions later."

Her unwavering focus on the job ahead and unquestioning faith in Shin alarmed me. This wasn’t only because she was still in a vulnerable state of mind since her head injury, but a result of years of conditioning. Glimpses of ’old Miho’ I saw were vibrant and lively yet gentle and kind, with an endearing quality of childish innocence that I wouldn’t say is common for an average ’sixteen’ years old. She was purer than her peers with no sign of teenage cynicism or unreasonable rebellion.

I felt a pang in my heart. Right now through watching Miho’s recovery and training, I was witnessing her transformation from a gentle young girl to a ruthless killer. Previously I knew these two polar opposite stages existed in her life, but knowing that was one thing and seeing the transition was something else - tragic.

"Don’t think too much about it, Sohee. It is what it is, and I’m happy that there is something to look forward to after all this, and someone that I can look forward to the future together with."

If all things turn out well... Maybe we will finally be free.

But that was a big if.

I couldn’t shake off the feeling that things might not turn out the way we want, despite the fact that Miho was getting stronger each day - perhaps because the mental and emotional toll she’s been burdened with was getting more overwhelming each day too.

But I was only a hopeless pigeon and I couldn’t help my tiger. This was a world that I couldn’t fit in. Powerless and useless.

The most terrifying thing though, was that even if we survive through all this and emerge out of it victorious, we may end up having to live on with the wounds and scars in our soul that may never heal.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.