Alluring Opposites

CHAPTER 2

Luna's company provided all of their members with living quarters that are hidden at a secret base. This was a way for them to maintain a low profile as well as to remain unknown from the public.

Kiara and Laura shared a dorm room. Inside the dormitory, Kiara was seen to be sitting on her bed. Her hand was busy fidgeting with a chain that hung loosely around her neck. Connected to the chain's bail was a pendant that gave off a nice gleam every time the light touched it.

The pendant was shaped to resemble the Sun and the Moon. Kiara took a good look on the pendant, examining it carefully with her eyes.

Something dawned on her at that moment as she recalled yesterday's incident at the Silverwater Company's HQ. The symbol on the bodyguard's jacket resembled the Sun. Not just that, the logo of the company that she has been working with was none other than the Moon itself.

Many questions started playing in her head. Come to think of it, she didn't remember anything before she became a member of Luna. Kiara frowned and shook her head.

The pendant was already hers ever since the first day she was recruited at the company.

"Hey, are you listening? Hello? KIARA! " Laura snapped Kiara out of her thoughts.

Kiara turned to Laura who was sitting on the bed right next to her. Laura stared at her friend with a baffled expression.

"What is it?" Kiara asked in a monotonous manner.

"I'm asking you why you were taking so long to complete last night's mission?" Laura repeated her question.

Kiara only replied with a single sentence, "The old man talked a lot". Laura took a glance at the pendant that Kiara was holding. She has seen the pendant before but she never bothered asking Kiara about it.

"You've been playing with that pendant for the past few minutes, Queen".

"I was thinking of something," Kiara replied without even looking at her friend. "Also, we're not in the middle of a mission right now. Don't call me Queen".

"Fine. Anyway, I heard Bella chatting with Rezza about Ace," Laura changed the topic.

Immediately after hearing that name, Kiara quickly turned her head to Laura. Ace was the top assassin at Luna's company. She used to be the greatest member the company had ever got. No one has ever surpassed her. But, after her death, not a single person dared to mention her name at Luna's base.

Bella and Rezza are the high members of the company. It's a little bit odd for them to bring up the matter about Ace.

"What did she say?" Kiara tried to dig deeper into the story.

"Bella asked Rezza why no one replaced Ace," said Laura.

"You mean take the nickname Ace?"

"Yes. Well, after Queen died, you took her name, right? Why didn't anyone take her alias? "

"You got a theory?" Kiara asked. She instantly caught that Laura wasn't trying to open this topic to ask for her opinion. Laura got something to tell her.

"Hmm, Ace probably had betrayed Luna and Madam Serena wasn't happy about that. So, I'm guessing that the alias 'Ace' is sort of forbidden," Laura explained her thoughts on the situation.

Kiara frowned. She hasn't got any idea of what Ace–who once was the person that constantly got praised by everyone– had done to the point that the entire company treated her as non-existent.

"What had Ace done?" Kiara asked.

"Seriously? You don't know? " there was a slight shock in her voice.

"I don't follow the gossip and rumours here," Kiara stated with a straight face. Laura shook her head.

"Ace violated Luna's rules"

They both knew and memorized Luna's rules. The rules were quite easy to follow if they wanted to remain loyal to Luna.

Luna's rule:

1) All members are required to use the registered nickname as a way to hide their own identities during a mission.

2) Having a family is strictly prohibited.

3) Have no mercy.

4) Members who are unable to work due to severe injuries, old age or resignation will be killed to prevent Luna's secrets from being revealed.

5) If Luna's secrets are revealed, the member must be killed.

"Which rule did she break?" Kiara asked.

"All of them," Laura said in a displeased tone.

Kiara shook her head in disbelief. Both Laura and Kiara didn't know the actual story of Ace. They weren't even born at that time. Why did they need to care about this?

"Do we have training today?" Laura changed the topic again.

Kiara nodded.

"Well, we should get ready".

***

They headed to the hall. It's the place where all of the members would gather for practice. The training was supposed to start at 6 a.m. but they arrived an hour early.

Most of Luna's members didn't like the blinding light in the early morning. It kind of explained why missions were only done at night. All of the members were already there; their ages ranged from 20 and above. They are all considered as 'students'.

Laura, Lucy and Kiara have been taken and trained since childhood due to their past histories. Tasha was the youngest student in Luna. She became a member when she was still a high school student.

They were all waiting for their respective coaches. Kiara and Laura sat on a long bench. Both of them were wearing black T-shirts.

"Do you have any plans this morning? Want to go for a walk?" Laura suggested.

"Not really. Sure, I don't mind," replied Kiara.

A few minutes later, Lucy and Tasha arrived. Lucy wore a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt while Tasha chose to wear a sweater that was imprinted with Luna's logo.

"Hey, wanna tag along with me to buy some clothes? My clothes are all torn up," asked Lucy.

Kiara didn't like shopping. Most of the time, she will ask someone else to help her with it.

"OK," both Laura and Tasha agreed in unison.

They looked at Kiara. Kiara just gave them a nod. She was bored anyways and hasn't got any work to do.

They began to warm up. "Have you ever thought about changing weapons?" Tasha suddenly asked Laura out of the blue.

"It'll be a waste of time if we decided to change our weapons" Laura quickly replied. "Not just that, it will also take forever to get used to the weapon, let alone trying to master it," she added.

Laura continued her explanation, "Learning to use the gun already took me years to master. I bet it'll also be the same if I choose to switch to swords".

Tasha nodded. They all had to make a choice of what weapon to use on their first day as Luna's members.

Not long after that, their coaches showed up at the training ground.

"Alright, let's start. Those who have warmed up can find their partner, " Franklin instructed them.

The four girls were looking for their respective coaches. As usual, Kiara was also looking for her coach.

"Kiara".

Kiara turned around so she could face the owner of the voice.

"Bella. Everyone is quite early today," said Kiara.

"We'll be having a meeting later," replied Bella. Bella is about 10 years older than Kiara.

Both of them take their stances. Kiara held her katana firmly in her hand. Bella was also using a katana but hers was longer than Kiara's.

"Ready?" Bella insisted.

Kiara nodded. She waited for her coach to start her attack. Bella sprung up towards Kiara. The blade in her hand was going for Kiara's neck.

"You can't always wait for your enemy to move first. They'll take advantage of that. After all, you're just wasting time," Bella commented.

Kiara swiftly dodged the attack and swung her blade towards Bella's stomach. Bella sliced her student's arm. She already saw the attack coming. Kiara didn't even feel the slightest pain. She's already used to it. She continued to attack Bella.

Suddenly, Bella attacks started coming at her non-stop. Kiara managed to avoid every single attack with her amazing agility. She saw an opening and aimed for Bella's leg.

Little did she know that it was a trap. Bella leapt into the air. The blade in her grip slashed Kiara's shoulder. Droplets of blood fell to the ground. Something warm gushed out underneath Kiara's shirt.

Her arm felt numb and sluggish. Bella waited for her student to gain back her strength. It was a grave mistake.

Kiara took the opportunity and started attacking again. Bella gritted her teeth. She shouldn't have given Kiara the chance. The cold blade ran against Bella's cheek. This time, Kiara is the one who went for Bella's neck. Bella begins to catch up with Kiara's speed and technique.

Kiara charged forward but she can feel herself losing balance so

she decided to attack Bella's side instead. She almost fell but was able to stabilize herself.

Kiara only managed to make a small cut on Bella's right abdomen. She missed her target.

"Please think first before you act. Aim first and then attack. Use your head and pay close attention to the opponent's strategy or weaknesses," advised Bella.

Kiara let out a slow grunt. Did Bella just label her as stupid? She tackled Bella's legs so she could knock her over. A loud thud could be heard as Bella fell to the ground on her back.

Kiara pointed her blade in front of Bella's face.

Both Bella and Kiara seemed quite calm. Neither of them was panting. Bella smirked.

"Good job," she complimented Kiara.

Kiara pulled her katana away from Bella's face.

"Ready for a second round?" said Bella as she stood up. Kiara just gave off a small nod. They finished the training at seven. Both of them were covered in blood.

"I guess that's all for today," Bella informed Kiara as a signal to end their sparring session. Kiara tried to stand up straight. She felt a stinging pain on her ribs. Bella elbowed her real hard back then. Cuts and wounds were all over her body.

"Alright, times up! Training is over. You are all free for the whole day. Luna's high members are instructed to gather in the meeting room after this. As usual, our mission starts at night," Franklin made his announcement loud and clear.

"Kiara, help me to compile some files when you come back," instructed Bella.

Kiara just nodded. She wanted to go back to the dormitory first. She left the hall. Lucy, Tasha and Laura walked beside her.

"Hey, Bella and you were pretty rough during the sparing," said Lucy.

Kiara took a glance at Lucy. She was also pretty messed up with some cuts here and there.

"Well, speak for yourself," Kiara simply replied.

"Let's change first. See you guys at ten!" Laura reminded them of the shopping trip. Afterwards, the four of them headed to their dorms.

***

Laura and Kiara cleaned themselves in their dorm. Laura offered to help Kiara with her wounds. She wrapped Kiara's chest and shoulder with some bandages. Her ribs were pretty much swollen and her shoulder was slightly injured.

"Alright. Done," said Laura as she clipped the bandages in place.

Kiara put her black T-shirt down. She slowly laid down on the bed. They're going to take a rest first. A few minutes later, someone rang her phone. It's Lucy. Kiara reached for her jacket and put it on. She wore her black trousers and slipped on a pair of black Adidas shoes.

"Umm, why are you wearing all black? We're only going out for shopping," Laura questioned Kiara's fashion sense.

"I feel comfortable with this colour," Kiara replied straightforwardly.

Laura shook her head. She wore a grey hoodie that covered her head, a pair of black jeans and her favourite Vans shoes.

"Let's go," Laura called for Kiara. They left the dorm and went to the lobby. Lucy and Tasha were already there.

Lucy wore a denim shirt with blue jeans. She was wearing black Converse. Tasha wore a grey sweater with a pair of maroon jeans and white Nike shoes.

"Let's go!!" Tasha exclaimed in excitement.

They got into Lucy's Mercedes and drove to a nearby mall.

Kiara's stone-cold face showed some sign of disinterest. She never liked this kind of activity in the first place. Many passers-by were staring at the girls. Undoubtedly, the girls' beauty was truly remarkable. Kiara began to feel uncomfortable.

"Why are they looking at us?" Kiara mumbled to herself.

The other three turned to Kiara. Seemed like they managed to catch what she just said.

Kiara hated attention. This is one of the reasons why she didn't like going out in the public.

"People look at us because we are special edition, Kiara. That's how the world works, just accept it," said Tasha in a deliberately sassy manner.

"Special edition? What a joke," Kiara hissed at her friend.

A group of men walked next to them. On their mouths were a smug smile filled with arrogance. They're trying to get the ladies' attention. Kiara gave off a deathly glare at them.

"Ooo~ you're quite a feisty girl, aren't cha?" someone from the group tried to flirt with her. The attempt was acquainted with his friends' laughter.

Kiara's hand reached into her pocket. She was rummaging for something. When she finally get a grasp of the object, she continued to fiddle with it. It was a small dagger. She turned to face the group of men who had already passed a few meters far behind them.

Lucy grabbed Kiara's hand. It came off as a warning for Kiara. Kiara let out a long sigh. She took her hand off of the blade. Fine. She'll let them go this time. She didn't want to create a scene anyway.

***

They have breakfast at a nearby cafe after buying the clothes they need. Tasha was treating them.

"Guys," Lucy suddenly interrupted, "Izz has a problem. He was tracked down by the police. He wanted us to fetch something from the Starlight warehouse, " Lucy read out the messages sent by Izz.

Izz was a member of Luna who's in charge to cover up any mistakes done by Luna's assassins. He's also in charge of retrieving the weapons purchased by the company.

"No problem, I know the owner of the warehouse. We can get in easily, "said Kiara.

Her friends believed Kiara's words. Among the four of them, Kiara was the one who has been working with Luna for the longest even though she's only 20 years old.

All of them got up and left the cafe. Lucy parked her black Mercedes across from the cafe so they had to cross the street. Kiara was trailing behind her friends. As Kiara was crossing the street, she heard a loud honking sound. She instantly faced to her right and noticed a blue car coming at her.

Kiara thought to herself that she could avoid the car if she ran straight across, but clearly, she was wrong. Right at that moment, a hand reached out for her. She was yanked away from the street. The sudden force jolted Kiara backwards. She knocked over the person behind her and they both fell to the ground.

She studied the person who saved her. It's a man with brown eyes and lustrous black hair. He's wearing a plain white shirt. The guy fell into a sitting position. He was holding Kiara's arm. Kiara fell on her knees and her hands were on the man's shoulders.

Kiara immediately got up and brushed off the dust from her trousers. She saw an empty coffee cup at the ground. The coffee must've spilled out from the cup when she fell on him. Kiara glanced at the guy again. The coffee had indeed stained his shirt. Her sleeves were also damp so she assumed the spilt coffee hit her clothes too.

"Are you okay?" asked the man as he got up.

"What's your problem? Why did you pull me?" Kiara snapped.

"I was trying to save you. Are you willing to die here?" the man didn't expect her to say that.

"Why were you trying to save a person you don't even know?" Kiara raised her tone. She sounded quite mad.

Lucy, Laura and Tasha ran towards Kiara even though they had already crossed the street. They wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to Kiara.

"Not even a thank you? My coffee is spilt and my shirt is ruined because of you. If you're a human, you too will help someone in danger". He felt offended.

"Let her be, Evan," a guy suddenly interrupted the two.

Kiara stretched her neck so she could take a peek behind 'Evan'. She just realized three men were standing behind him. Evan was still looking at her, irritated.

"So, Evan, ey? Listen here, I don't need a knight in shining armour. I can take care of myself, " snarled Kiara.

She turned her back away from the man and walked towards Lucy's car. Her friend just followed along with Kiara. Evan stood there and eyed Kiara as she left with a frown on her face.

"Are you okay, bro?" asked Shawn, one of Evan's friends.

"What's wrong with her?" the woman's words didn't sit well with Airyn.

"Arrogant...ungrateful woman" muttered Evan under his breath.

"She's kinda pretty though," Ryan grinned. Evan didn't say anything because he knew for a fact that what his friend said was true.