地獄の暗殺者 - Chapter 1 - ReitaxRuki KaixUruha
Title: Jigoku No Ansatsusha (Assassin of Hell)
Author: shurikenwielder
Disclaimer: don't own 'em
Rating: PG-15
Chapters: Chapter 1
Pairings: ReitaxRuki KaixUruha
Warnings: language, violence, smut (later on)
Description: Reita was only a college student before it on. Before all of the mysterious murders in Kyoto. Before that assassin threw him into this mess. Before he was targeted by a secret part of the government and assisting a gang he wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Yes, he was only a college student.
"For today's news, caution has been advised in the Kyoto area as yet another of what appears to be a murder victim has been found. The victim has been recently identified as Tsubasa Yamada. Sources say that the man was a chemistry teacher as a local university, of which we have been asked to not give the name of. We have our anchor Naomi Kitagawa on the scene.”
“Thank you. The body of the college teacher was found only a few blocks off on the town's primary school. The body was completely free of wounds except for a single bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. The police are still trying to identify the exact type of weapon and form a list of suspects. We have a witness here to describe-”
“You know, that frown's gonna freeze there if you stare at that screen any harder,” Kouyou interrupted his friend.
Reita blinked, dazed for a minute before answering, “I just can't believe someone would kill Mr. Yamada. I mean sure he was a little jittery, but he would never hurt a fly.”
The redhead turned towards the other with his eyes wide in disbelief. “A little jittery? The man was psycho! Wouldn't surprise me if he pulled the trigger himself.”
“Kouyou!” he exclaimed.
His roommate threw up his hands in surrender. “Calm down. I'm just kidding.” He paused to grab the remote off of the coffee table. “Besides, sitting around here all day watching the unreliable news isn't going to change anything. You need to go to college. You know, that thing you're paying millions of yen to go to?”
The blond sighed and got up, “Okay, okay. Don't mock me. I'm moving” and proceeded to walk out the door.
- -
The pair quickly departed once they reached the entrance of the university.
It was a nice private school. The blond's parents had wanted him to go to a less crowded place where he could get a more 'hands on' learning experience. He took a sharp left towards History class, taking his time to enjoy the weather. The fall temperature was always perfect. Not humid and not freezing. He could stay out here all day.
He was quickly ushered inside the large building with the rest of the crowd and made his way to the end of the row so that he could look out the window.
"As some of you may or may not know already, we lost our very beloved teacher today, Mr. Yamada. Based off of what we have been told already, he was murdered. We know that this may be hard to accept, so I'm reminding you that the university's counselor is always available if-"
Reita tuned out the rest of the man's speech. The girls in the front row were sniffling as the guys looked around uncomfortably. It wasn't the first murder here.
The first one had been treated normally like any other case. Aside from the perfection of the gunshot everything had seemed normal. That was until the same thing happened again the next week. And then three more times the next. All killed the same way.
The culprit was quickly becoming known as a cruel serial killer. The media had even given him a nickname already. Jigoku No Ansatsusha, or Assassin of Hell. Mostly because all the victims were completely innocent people, with only one thing in common. The all had a violence record or some offense on their record at some point in time. And that the servant had come to take them to hell for their 'crimes'. Quite morbid though just for a killing streak.
The rest of the day was rather depressing though. Each professor gave a similar speech about what a great teacher Mr. Yamada had been and how they would never forget him. The usual things people said when one died.
All bad thoughts aside though, he never felt more relieved when he left. Finally free of the heavy atmosphere, the blond set his course for his apartment. Kouyou should already be there since his classes ended and hour before Reita's.
Once he turned the key in the door, he quickly made his way inside to take off his messenger bag.
"Reita? That you?" Kouyou called from his bedroom.
"Should it be someone else?" he answered sarcastically and tossed his keys onto the counter along with his bag.
“Well then...” There was some rustling from the back room a bit more before the redhead appeared next to him in the living room with several DVD's in his hands. “We're having a movie marathon.”
The blond eyed the fifteen or so cases covered in strange symbols and fell down on the couch, already dreading the thought of reading subtitles all night. “What's it with you and foreign movies?”
The other plopped down next to him after retrieving multiple cans of beer and soda from the fridge. “They're good. It gives character. And, it couldn't hurt to make you read once in awhile.”
“Oi! You make it sound like I'm stupid...” the blond grumbled. “What did you get anyway?”
The redhead spread out all the cases in even rows along the coffee table and read them all aloud. “Ah... there's a Swedish one called Let The Right One In. I heard good things about it so I bought it. It's about some teenager befriending or falling in love, not sure which one, with a girl who has to drink blood to live.”
“Next,” the other ordered, not in the mood for anything vampire related.
“There's a Spanish one called Pan's Labyrinth. A girl discovers a fantasy world and completes tasks during some post Spanish civil war stuff.”
“Maybe.”
“German film called The White Ribbon. It's about-”
“We're not watching anything in German.”
“What do you have against Germany?” the redhead gave him an accusing look.
“Nothing. I just don't want to watch it.”
“But I didn't even-”
“Next,” the blond called out on default.
The other glared at him for a moment before snatching another movie off the desk. “Apartment, Korean. After recent suicides in the neighborhood-”
“Let's watch that one.”
Kouyou let out a frustrated growl and marched over to the DVD player. “So you won't watch one about vampires but you will watch one about suicide? You have problems...”
“Shut up.”
Six hours of horror movies later Reita slowly felt himself becoming nauseous. He quickly averted his eyes away from the screen as the main characters legs were torn apart, in search of anything else to take his mind off of it.
“Hey Kouyou...” he started interrupting the other's morbid fascination with the movie. “I'm gonna go for a walk.”
The other paused the movie as the blond shrugged on his jacket. “Are you okay?”
Reita nodded his head briskly. “Yeah, I just need some fresh air. You don't have to wait up for me.”
The blond quickly left the building and set his course for the park, closing his eyes briefly to breathe in the crisp air. Pink tinged his cheeks once the cold of the night had finally set in. He had never really had a problem with horror movies except for the fact that the ones Kouyou had picked were unnecessarily gory.
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre...” he mumbled, not caring how horribly he pronounced it. “Who would ever want to watch something like that?”
Almost as soon as he had finished his sentence there was a loud pop from the woods behind him. The blond jumped and turned around to face the sound. What had that noise been?
He hurried off of the bench and jogged into the trees in hopes of finding the source. The tree limbs scratched his face as he ran through the dark carelessly.
Wait... His footsteps came to a stop. Where had that sound come from again?
As if someone had been listening to his thoughts, another pop was heard, only louder this time.
“Ow!” he yelled and grabbed his arm as a sharp pain shot through it. His fingers came away coated in red.
The was a faint sound of someone cursing before another person jumped from their perch on a tree and started running just as soon as they got their footing. Two more figures ran from their positions in the bushes, with one heading towards the runner and another to the injured blond. The redhead slid to a stop on his knees beside the blond and called out to his partner, “Don't run! Shoot him Kai!”
A confused look spread over the brunette's face for a split second before he remembered the shotgun on his waistband. Nimble fingers clasped around the handle, and fired a total of three times right in a row.
Each bullet whizzed by the truant, only fueling his paranoia and if possible, the man started running faster, looping around to head in the blond's direction, all high hopes of escaping.
The redhead beside him let out a growl and snatched his own firearm from it's holster. “Have to always do everything myself...” He raised his gun and aimed at the figure just about to pass them.
Bang!
It all happened in slow motion. The stranger's pounding footsteps stopped as he staggered to a halt. His frail body swayed weightlessly for a moment before flopping unceremoniously to the ground with a dull thud. His head bounced a few times and finally rested in Reita's direction, all movement stopped aside from the blood trickling from his head. The brown eyes distant and staring at nothing.
Reita felt his eyes widen in horror as he took in the detail of the shot. The single shot, perfectly imbedded in the center of the now corpse's forehead.
“Jigoku no... Ansatsusha,” he found himself whispering. He turned back to the redhead only to have his fear increased. The other had a stone cold look on his face, giving away no emotion to what he could be feeling at the moment. A shiver ran up his spine. He could only imagine what it felt like to be under that gaze.
His thought process was interrupted though as the brunette from earlier came running up. He opened his mouth to say something, but the redhead beat him to it.
“Now's not the time for that. Just go get what we came here for.”
The brunette looked like he was about to protest, but only nodded his head dejectedly and jogged back over to the dead body to rummage through the corpse's jacket.
The blond's attention was brought back to the other at his side as he produced a small needle filled halfway. “Now for you,” he said to himself and began to inject the liquid into the blond's arm.
Reita squirmed in a futile attempt to get away, but stopped as he began to feel drowsy. The pale eyelids slipped shut just as the other finished pushing the drug in. The effect was getting the better of him, and convincing him that it was okay to rest for a moment despite the fact that he was in the presence of a murderer.
“Oyasumi,” a voice drifted off to him from far away before unconsciousness overtook him.
~~~~~~~
Reita felt himself awake to the sound of mechanical beeping beside him. A low groan passed over his lips as he tried to sit up, pain shooting through his right shoulder.
"Your awake!" he heard a voice cheer.
His eyes cracked open to see the brunette from before sitting on the corner of his bed.
The other opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted as the door suddenly burst open.
Reita cowered closer into the bed, ignoring his injury from fear.
"What is it Ruki?" the brunette asked, seeming unfazed.
"Your father wants to see you," the redhead replied. The assassin walked closer to the bed and jabbed his thumb at the door. "Get the fuck out."
"But I thought I'd check up on this guy here-"
"Kai," the assassin hardened his eyes and voice, making Reita nearly want to scream even though the words weren't directed at him. "Leave. Now."
The brunette glared at the other which was returned with an even fiercer one. He let out a huff and stood. "Fine," was all he said before leaving the room and the two alone.
Reita stared at the doorway praying for the brunette to walk back through and take him with him, send the redhead out, anything. He just didn't want to be left alone with him.
He jerked as the assassin took a deep breath, reminding him that he was in the room.
"I make you nervous don't I?" the redhead finally spoke up after taking Kai's spot on the bed.
Reita was scared silent by the other's demeanor. Just a moment ago he had been hateful and demanding with the brunette Kai. The 'assassin' was acting like he was oblivious to the world around him. As if he hadn't killed thirteen people. And just who knew? It was only according to the news that it was thirteen people, who was to say there wasn't more?
"P-Please..." he curled up tighter in the sheets, ignoring the pain in his arm.
The redhead looked back at him with an unreadable expression, between confused and sad, as if he was trying to figure out the answer to world calculation by calculation. But then suddenly, it was gone no quicker than it had appeared, and was replaced by a stone cold expression.
"How much do you remember from last night?" he asked, voice void of any emotion.
"Why?" the blond asked. It may be an overreaction but he didn't want to die because he had been trying to make sure no one had been hurt.
"Do you really want to know?" was all the other replied, not even bothering to be menacing about it, causing his voice to fall flat.
"N-no..."
The redhead let out a sigh and turned to face the blond. "Look, we're not going to hurt or kill you, I just need to know what you remember."
The other cautiously stared the other down, trying to decide whether or not he was telling the truth. "I..." he paused when the redhead looked up. "...can't."
He was expecting the other to get mad or pull a gun on him. He felt like those situations would be easier to deal with than having the other's face suddenly inches from his own, with absolutely no traces of anger anywhere, but curiosity. Lots of it.
The redhead tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner and stared the other down. "Why?"
The blond suddenly felt himself becoming more conscious of everything and comparing it to the other. His breathing was short and irregular while the other's was calm and slow. His heart was pounding in his ears, yet he couldn't hear the other's. And more importantly, why was he looking at him like that?
Like I'm the most interesting thing in the world, or at least this room.
"I-I don't know," the blond finally answered shakily.
The blond had to hold back his wave of questions when the other smirked and leaned in, past his face and to his ear. He felt his eyes squeeze shut as he felt the other take a deep breath.
"What do you know about me?" the other carefully enunciated.
Reita felt confusion take over him, but had no time to act on it as the doctor decided to come back in at that moment.
"Oh, did I interrupt something?"
The pair turned towards the middle aged man leaning against the doorway.
The redhead sighed and got up from his spot on the bed and made his way over to the doctor.
"No you didn't," he turned back towards the blond with a smirk. "Rather perfect timing, wouldn't you agree?" He then left the room, the clack of his military boots carrying after him.
The doctor laughed to himself and looked back down at his clipboard.
Reita looked at him in disbelief. How was this amusing? This man was laughing while he was afraid someone was just going to run in and shoot him on the spot.
"He won't hurt you," the other suddenly spoke up, as if reading his thoughts. "He may act like a jackass, but as long as you aren't his target or in his way he's not going to do anything to you."
Reita frowned. "Why?"
The doctor looked up surprised. "Because," he said as if it should be obvious. "In this company, we don't kill innocents."
~~~~~~~
Ruki walked down the hallway, up the many flights of stairs and to the middle floors.
He sighed and typed in the 10 digit code to the keypad.
The metal door slid open revealing a dark room with only large computer displays. The keys clicked away as the surveillance workers watched their own feed of the cameras.
"Status?" he said sternly, stepping down the metal grate stairs.
Everyone suddenly sat up rigid in their seats to look as alert as they could.
"Nothing yet, Matsumoto-san," one responded.
"Really?" he said with fake surprise. "Then," he walked up to one of the displays. He lifted one of the workers from their chair and pushed him up against the wall.
"Explain to me why the hell I have a civilian in the hospital with a gunshot wound!" he yelled, grip tightening on the poor man's throat.
"Matsumoto-san!" another yelled. He ran up to try to pry his hands off his colleague's neck. "He's new! He doesn't know any better!"
The redhead dropped the other to the floor where he lay gasping.
"Then teach him the fuck how to do his job," he seethed before storming out.
~~~~~~~
Reita followed Kai down the hallway, wringing his hands nervously.
The brunette in front of him whistled to an imaginary tune, swinging his ring of keys around his index finger.
"If you're letting me go then why does someone need to escort me home?" he finally asked, feeling as though he was about to go insane listening to the other's annoying whistling.
The brunette stopped by a metal door and started picking through his keys.
"Because," the other answered back. "You don't think the guy we killed was the only one out there do you?"
Reita froze at the thought. He hadn't even considered that there may be more people in the clearing. "Does that mean that they're after me?"
"Possibly," Kai shrugged as the door opened.
Reita felt his eyes widen as a silver and white room was laid out before him. He looked ahead and saw a large glass window. He felt his heart stop at the person on the other side.
"Jigoku no Ansatsusha..."
"Hm?" Kai looked at him curiously. "Who?"
"Jigoku no Ansatsusha; it's what everyone's been calling him since he murdered all those people."
Kai laughed at thought. "Assassin of Hell? The media's so creative-...."
The other's voice drained out to the background as he continued to watch the redhead on the other side.
Ruki had a large bow and arrow in his hands, about twenty arrows or so strapped to his back. The redhead was surrounded by five different men, all burly and had guns strapped to their legs and hips. One suddenly moved and pulled the weapon firing twice.
Reita gasped despite the fact the redhead quickly got out of the way and shot an arrow that embedded into the tall man's chest.
Kai laughed at the other's reaction. "Nothing's going to happen to him. He one of the best agents we have in this company."
"And the others?" he asked back, watching as the redhead sent another arrow through another burly man.
"They were all going to die anyway."
Reita turned to the brunette surprised. "Already going to die? You mean they're criminals?"
"Heading straight for death row." Kai answered, watching his friend kill the last two of the three. "The government just sends some of them here. Practice for us, less work for them."
"But if they're going to die then why are they fighting?"
He looked back at the glass to see why Kai wasn't answering him.
Ruki had walked up to a cowering boy in the corner that couldn't have been much older than 23.
"P-please," the other said, backing further into the corner. He dropped his gun on the floor. "Have mercy."
The redhead scoffed. "Mercy? It seems your and my definition of 'mercy' are quite different." He kneeled down on one knee giving the man a quizzical look. "Does raping an eight year old girl and then killing her sound like mercy?" He got out a butterfly knife from beneath his sleeve. "Her mother committed suicide a week later." He held back a smirk as the crook's eyes widened at the news. Ruki wanted to roll his eyes. Had he really thought the child's parents would be okay with their only child dead?
He lifted up the other's chin with two fingers. "Do you know how she died?"
"H-how?" the other started shaking as the knife was placed against his neck, trailing slightly with the tip.
He let out a gasp trying to scream but just gave a gurgling sound as the knife suddenly dug into his neck and tore across.
Ruki cleaned the blood off of the weapon on his pants.
"She slit her throat."
Reita watched with horror as the redhead walked past the dead bodies littering the ground as blood spilled towards the drain in the center.
The next few minutes were a whirlwind. Reita briefly felt himself being led to a black SUV with Ruki and being driven home. His eyes watched the lights of Kyoto, but weren't taking in the scenery. All he could see were the men's bodies on the tile floor, the pleading expression on the last one's face before the redhead had killed him. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself he couldn't bring himself to believe the man had deserved to die. What if he had been wrongly convicted? Things like that happen sometimes. What if-
He shrieked as a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" the redhead asked.
"Get off of me!" he continued to scream other obscenities at him. The redhead quickly pulled over to the side of the road.
The blond quickly threw open his door and scrambled out onto the grass gasping.
He heard the other's door shut and foot steps come near him.
"Hey-"
He attempted to slap the other's hand but felt them grabbed.
He started flailing to get away feeling panic set in. "GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!!"
Slap!
Reita froze as the other's hand collided with his cheek.
"Shut the fuck up! What the hell is your problem?!"
He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me-....
He wasn't sure when he felt tears roll down his cheeks at the thought. He hadn't talked to his mother or sister in almost two years and what about Kouyou? His friend would be devastated when he found his dead body on the news.
"Please don't kill me," he choked out.
This must look pitiful, he thought. Me on my knees begging for my life.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He looked up surprised, eyes still watering. "B-but back there, you-"
"I killed criminals that had a death sentence," the redhead answered for him. "Last time I checked your none of the above."
"B-but..."
"But nothing!" he cut him off , anger almost to a boiling point. "Now get your ass back in the fucking car before I change my goddamn mind!"
Reita quickly scrambled back into the Yukon, curling up in the passenger seat, whimpering as he began to cry.
He knew he didn't look like it, but Reita knew he was emotionally fragile. It just took a lot to make it show.
He briefly heard the sound of the driver's door slamming before the engine started up again. The ground began to move from beneath him again as he continued to shed tears that the redhead seemed to either not notice or care about.
"Why did this happen to me?" he sobbed quietly to himself not caring if the other heard him anymore. He was a heartless murderer, and nothing but that. He had no feelings.
He looked up at the man through his tear-blurred vision who continued to stare at the road with his ever stone cold expression.
Yes, Reita thought to himself. He's nothing but that.
~~~~~~~~
Ruki sighed as the blond disappeared into his apartment, not seeming to care that he knew where he lived.
The had tried hard to express hate towards him, but even Ruki could see that the poor man was scared beyond belief.
"And as he should be," he said to himself but paused as he caught sight of a black van to his left directly across the parking lot.
He narrowed his eyes as a snarl tore his throat already knowing who it was.
He reached for his phone and dialed one of his few numbers.
"Hello?" Aoi picked up on the second ring.
"Aoi get an apartment ready. The bastards followed him home."
"What?" the other said in disbelief. "They just don't waste any time do they?"
Hearing a growl rumble in his friend's chest Aoi quickly rushed to distract him.
"Look, I'll get an apartment ready just head back to headquarters okay? They wouldn't be stupid enough to try something the day after."
"Says who?" the assassin snorted sarcastically.
"Fuck Ruki c'mon. Don't. We haven't even got targets on them yet."
"Yet," he threw back at him coldly. "Goodbye Aoi," he said before hanging up, reaching for the pistol in the waistband of his black jeans and got out of the car.
Chapter 2
~~~~~~~