An Assassin’s Second Chance

The rain made the cold autumn night even more unbearable. I stood on the street corner staring at the building that held my target. As I glared at the concrete behemoth, the rain slowed to a stop in midair. The person across the street froze before their foot hit the ground. All was quiet.

I crossed the front door and passed through the stained halls like a ghost. Lives were lived all around me, but for one unfortunate soul, it was quickly coming to an end. The door to his apartment was shut up with the uttermost caution; it meant nothing to me. This job, this organization, they had made me into the perfect machine.

He sat in his chair staring at the door. Empty bottles littered his table, and an ashtray sat on it overflowing. The dim candlelight tried to pierce the darkness of the room. He was unkept and probably expected to go out in a blaze of glory. He would get no such satisfaction. I pulled a knife from my thigh and cut across his neck and deep into his throat. No blood flowed: his eyes still had a glimmer of life, but soon after I left, he would be dead.

I turned to leave but saw light in another room. In it sat a frail young woman leaning over a child in her bed. She wasn't my target, but she was like him... like me. We had abilities that others feared and hated. She would spend her life on the run from monsters like me. In the most brutal act of mercy, I saved her from that life by ending hers as well. I'll never forget how the blade slowly pierced her chest and heart, how her eyes still looked to her mother with hope.

As I left the building, the rain continued. A wailing pierced the night. Those screams will haunt me until the day I finally die. That cold night in the poorest part of the city was forever burned into my mind. I looked into a window as I returned to my lair to see the monster that I had become.

The labyrinth of the back alleys gave way to a clearing, and I ran towards it. Faced with countless grunts and their armored trucks, I stood trapped like a rat in a cage. They brought me to my knees, and the Captain walked towards me.

"Eclipse no longer requires your services, Number 9," her cold voice filled my ears. "Number 12, render his termination."

Number 12 stood tall and proud, her long blonde hair hugged her body as the rain weighed it down. She pointed her pistol at me and smiled. I closed my eyes for the last time and half prayed.

"Do me a favor, Number 9: die."

The sound of rain ceased. My cold and exhausted body felt warm and relaxed. I opened my eyes to see a ceiling that was not my own. I sprang up to find myself in a bed that was foreign to me. All around me sat a room that seemed like a distant memory. I stood up and saw someone looking in my direction. My eyes met my reflection in the mirror. Before me stood a child too smart for his own good: Ishigami Kazuma.