Chapter I-B: Agony

3

Wearing his black puffer jacket, leather gloves and a simple face mask. He took a train through the city of Tokyo, neon lights reflecting off the windows as he held his blade tightly, covering it from any eyes of sight.

His signature blade was none other than a glistening steel pocket knife. Its edge sharp and slightly chipped from extended use. A weapon he had used to take many lives, his only excuse being that none of them were innocent.

He left the train at his stop, shuffling his way through the infamous golden gai. Drunkards swayed from left to right, camouflaging him from undue attention; Jonah wasn’t tall, short for London and average for Tokyo, he had an unassuming lithe build that hid his extraordinary talents.

His only defining feature—

“Hey you! The one with the scar.”

His signature scar, a white line that trailed around his neck, clean and sharp.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Come over here.” The voice that was originally loud turned lazy with a yawn, as if his shout was nothing more than an act.

Jonah didn’t like being called out like that, it wasn’t exactly respectful but money was money and there was too much of it on the table to care. He turned into the dark alley, following the tall young man through the curved streets. The man seemed to be in his early twenties with a lanky yet toned build, a strikingly handsome but tired face, fair skin and platinum blonde hair that reflected his pale blue eyes.

Once they turned into an empty street they both stopped, patiently waiting for who would speak first.

“So you must be the ‘special’ guy they refer to as Nife?”

Jonah scratched the back of his head anxiously. “Yeah, that's the codename, for some reason they removed the K but at least it looks cool on paper.”

The young man in front of him didn’t seem to care one bit. “Yeah, yeah, cool. Onto business…”

The atmosphere stiffened. Jonah’s smile disappeared, his face straightening with experience. “Who do you want me to kill?”

“Wasting no time. I love it. Look to the right.”

Jonah did as told, staring down the alleyway to see a beautiful girl. His heart rushed. His lower body tensed with physical attraction.

A young woman, at most a few years older than him, sat on an empty bench. Her pale skin shone under the moonlight. Short ruby-red hair framed her aesthetically pleasing face in a wavy bob. Thin-rimmed glasses caught the silver light when she looked up, sharp crimson eyes behind them. And her figure was undeniably to the envy of many women, even at her younger age.

Jonah’s eyes widened and sharpened, noticing everything from her simple sky blue jeans and white top. To the small, easily missable black mole under her right eye.

He couldn’t kill her even if he wanted to. “I apologise but I don’t kill women.” He wasn’t lying, he didn’t kill women or children, that was a line he wasn’t prepared to cross.

“I’m not asking you to kill her, kid. All I ask is that you follow her and murder her boyfriend she’s about to meet up with.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t think you’ Kagekai asked those types of questions?”

“.....” Jonah knew what that meant.

“Good. So ya’ gonna kill him or what?”

“Sure. But where's my up front?”

“Tch, greedy little twerp. Take it and go, count it if you want.”

Jonah took the letter filled with money in his hand. “Nah, no need. Will get the other half of the payment when I’m finished. Have a goodnight mate.”

There was no point in asking questions anymore, now it was time to get the job done. He followed the girl quietly, her steps were like a ghost; silent and fleeting like the mist.

His eyes followed her closely, making sure to keep his distance while watching her with a focus that made even him uncomfortable. While he wanted to be more professional, his eyes couldn’t help but drift across her elegant form. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. If I wasn’t trying to kill her boyfriend, I would definitely consider approaching her, although….

He doubted he would have the confidence to pursue that desire.

After another half hour of stalking he found himself at an abandoned school, she stood outside the gates waiting, scrolling through her phone in boredom. Until a strikingly flamboyant man approached her, his heavy bootsteps crunching the pavement.

Is that her… sugar daddy?

That was the only way he could describe this arrangement, the man was tall, even taller than the young man from earlier. Jonah could scale his height pretty accurately, from his analysis the girl he had been following was an inch or so shorter than him, so the imposing man above her was closer to an NBA player than a regular human. The man's build was evident, somewhat disguised under the purple three piece suit he wore but Jonah’s experience had taught him how to infer more than meets the eye. He was unable to see the man's face, covered by the shadows of the man’s purple top hat. It covered him in an ominous air of mystery.

“Must be some type of compensated dating. Knew a girl that good looking was too good to be true.” Jonah murmured to himself in frustration.

The duo spoke for a moment longer before going their separate ways, the man opening the iron gates of the abandoned high school and walking in slowly. As the girl walked further down the street, carrying and hiding something she had just been given in a small, black plastic bag. Probably some money or something, wonder what she had to do for that…?

He didn’t want to imagine that, so he focused his mind back on the strange man. He walked further into the high school playfully, as if life was nothing but a game to him.

Jonah’s heart rate increased in his chest, pummeling him with a rare sense of fear. Something feels off, as if this is some sort of trap… Nah, I will be fine, I’ve dealt with far creepier stuff before. This is nothing!

He steeled his nerves and followed the man in, mentally readying himself to take another life.

4

The school floors were dusty, filled with dandruff and cobwebs as Jonah ascended and descended up flights of stairs until they made it to the school's main hall. 

The main hall was large and vast with various pictures of awards won by the school on the wall, its academic nature now made extinct and forgotten by time.

The man's feet came to a stop at the centre of the hall, his head swiveling upwards as he removed his top hat, unleashing his long navy blue hair with royal violet highlights.

“I seeeeee….. I seem to have been followed?” His whimsical, playful voice echoed through the hall. No sign of fear could be sensed in his tone.

Jonah, who stood only a few metres away, pulled out his knife with a sudden ching!

Its silver edge gleaming even in the shadows. “Are you going to kill me…?” The man’s voice gained a sense of artificial fear, as if encouraging the attack.

He’s wide open, so why can't I….

His feet were frozen, his grip trembling in his knife. The last time he felt this way was after his first kill, when he had killed –xxxx– a very long time ago.

It wasn’t fear that held him back, no, it was his mothers last words: “the same knife that can end a life, can just as easily give one.”

Those words echoed through his mind like a dragon roaring through its den. But he had to kill him, if he couldn’t….

“Run.”

“Hm?”

“I said run away from me, pretend to be dead, I don’t know what you did or why someone wants you dead but…”

“.....”

“I’ve made a promise to live a righteous life. One where I no longer kill for money, so just run, please…. Don’t make me change my mind.”

He would take the upfront money and flee to another country if he had to, but he wouldn’t take another life for money anymore, he couldn’t let his mothers final wishes die in vain. 

He dropped his knife to the floor, the sound of silver-steel dropping, reverberating around the building with a sense of indictment.

Time paused. The man put a hand to his chin in confusion. “Iiiii seem to have underestimated the depravity of the immortal assassin, Nife.”

How does he know!?

While Jonah’s title was known well across the criminal underground, the common public should have no idea of his true nature. The abomination that was Nife.

“I suppose that there is still humanity in you yet. But first, let us test your title and assess its accuracy.”

“Wha—BANG!”

In an instant, the sound of a gunshot rang out through the hall. Blood gurgled from Jonah’s mouth, his neck gaping open from a bullet wound.

The… hell…?

“BANG! BANG!” 

Two more gun shots rang out, aim picture perfect. One to the heart, the other to the head.

His body went still with shock before flailing to the ground helplessly, the dimming light in his eyes catching the ruby-red hair of his assaulter. The weapon of malice being hidden in the small black bag that concealed its true nature. Her form was practiced, experienced; her eyes cold, efficient.

“Thaaaaank you, Gemini, you may exit the premises and leave the rest to me.” The man’s voice echoed with a sense of curiosity, yet he didn’t even bother to turn around and look upon the gruesome sight he had caused.

She simply nodded, turning around in compliance and leaving the hall, the boy’s eyes losing sight of the beautiful flower that had attempted to take its life. The holes in Jonah’s eyes gushed crimson, flooding the floor in what made him human.

What the hell is going on? It was a set up! It must have been a set up! I was set up! When was I set up! How did they know I was coming? When did they know I was coming? Why did they shoot me? Didn’t I spare him?

His recovering mind raced with questions that he couldn’t find an answer to. His internal functions were healing from the inside, knotting themselves back together and realigning, reproducing new parts that had been blown out mere moments ago.

His bloody fingers gripped the ground, heaving himself up as his feet tripped over his own pool of blood. His erratic movements like a helpless animal, his brain still recovering couldn’t quite take full control of his motor functions yet. Thankfully his pain receptors had been blown out alongside it, alleviating the soul breaking pain he should have experienced. Even so, this was the worst he had ever been assaulted, a mix of confusion and embarrassment disorientating his fragile psyche.

His voice box finally healed and his mind regained enough strength to control the muscles weakly, forfeiting his eyes. Jonah’s voice trembled, the words slurring out like a stroke victim:

“W–why… I… spare—eeed yu…”

Jonah’s weakened eyes looked dearly, pleading for answers as it just about managed to process the warped picture it saw. The flamboyant man turned to face him, his face a blur but his sadistic smile evident. He answered with a simple five words:

“Because you are a mage.”

Huh!?

The man stretched forth his right hand slowly, pointing his palm towards the boy. “Bye, bye, I hope you survive this one as well, Jonah Ajayi!”

And with those final words, holy flame spread from his hands and took form in an all powerful inferno. The floor melted beneath them from the force, all remnants of the building's former valour was burned to cinder and Jonah felt unimaginable pain. The worst he had ever experienced in his entire life, his skin charred to ash, his bones melted to paste, his nerves fried to oblivion. 

A taste of hell itself, his soul coated in unimaginable agony.