Revenge Monogatari

Chapter 1 Magazine

I'm no cold-blooded murderer or some heartless assassin; I'm just very good at my job, which involves a lot of killing.

I'm not doing this out of enjoyment or pleasure, nor am I doing this for some righteous purpose, stick around and I'll tell you my story.

The snow fell softly around me, melting into the white ground occasionally turning green due to the flashing neon light from across the street; the cold wind blew but left the ground undisturbed and the whimpering cries of the man curling up before me were the only few sounds, I looked at my watch 1:00 AM it was late, or should I say early and pulled the hammer back on my pistol which was met by an even more pathetic whimper 'p-p-please d-don't d-do th-th-this' I cocked my head 'I have money, I-I-I'll give you money' he frantically pulled out his wallet and threw it to my feet 'n-now l-let me go p-please?' he relaxed a bit and I pulled the trigger loosing a bullet through his skull, the sound of the shot echoed and resonated before being swallowed up by a short burst of wind, I placed the pistol back into the fold of my belt, picked up his wallet and flicked it open; about 20 notes and a handful of coins I flipped it closed and placed it in my back pocket before taking the stairs back down.

I brought up my hood on arriving at the bottom of the building, my breath showing up as foggy clumps in the cold air.

It was early December not long until Christmas, though I wasn't really going to celebrate it with anyone, that's the way it's always been, that's the way it'll always be is what I told myself as the flashing red and blue lights sped by me, cutting through the early morning fog, the shrill siren piercing through the biting winds and another sound pierced my hearing, the sound of my headset receiving communication, I authorized the call and a voice, deep but wise filtered through

'Is it done? Well I'm sure I don't need to ask, you always follow through anyway the money is in your account and I've left a present at your apartment, merry Christmas' he chuckled before the connection cut ending the one-sided conversation.

I trudged through the snow to my apartment, fumbling with the key I opened the door and slipped inside.

It was dark and empty like no one lived inside, for the most part that was right, it had water, and electricity, that's all I needed, this was more-or-less a place for me to sleep and eat, nothing else, for a bed I would lay out a tatami mat with a blanket and single pillow, for food, I usually had takeaways and microwave meals, the boxes and containers were piling up in the corner, my lifestyle- wait, that wasn't right well how do I put it, my survival rate depends on how well I utilize my environment and living arrangements.

After taking off my shoes I made my way to the main room, which also served as a bedroom to see a parcel in the middle, white with red ribbons lacing it, on closer inspection there was a note attached which read:

Dear kid

Open it now if you want

M

A man of few words, his codename M for Marvin, well that's what he told me, I didn't believe him because that man is as slippery and unpredictable as a snake...I carefully untied the quaint box and removed the lid with slow but precise movements, why was I being careful?

My employer rarely sends gifts.

I removed the lid carefully, setting it to the side and peered into the box to see a bulge covered by white cloth, I removed it revealing a pistol, colored in obsidian, the design looked sharper, but comfortable at the same time, I wondered what model it could be as I examined it in my hands, my inspection was distracted by another call 'hey, what do you think? I hope you like it, had it made just for you and you'll get a chance to use it too, another target, sorry you didn't get enough time to rest but this is urgent...it's HIM' that's all I needed to know I walked over to the stove and turned on the gas before walking out the front door once I was a ways distance away from the apartment block I took out the pistol from the box, when I gripped it a blue display lit up where the hammer is suppose to be, it displayed the number 47 in robotic typing, I took aim and a holographic sight appeared above it, interesting, after I fired a shot the number went to 46 and the apartment combusted and ensnared itself in a fireball.