The Judge and the Assassin
Judge Michiru Kaioh walked up the stairs
to the courthouse, carefully looking around. No assassin could be seen, but of
course such people didn't walk around with signs that said "I'm an assassin, so
watch your butt." Finally Michiru reached the huge wooden doors, pushed them
open and walked into the court.
"Damn." Professional killer Haruka Tenoh
murmured to herself. "He got away." Angry about her inability to kill the
target, she put her gun in the black violin case she always used and quickly
left the roof she had chosen for doing her job. Since premier minister Goemon
Ishikawa didn't know that the death just passed by him, there was no police out
to get the killer, and Haruka could walk away calm and without being afraid of
getting caught. Down on the street, sitting in an inconspicuous car, her
partner waited for her. "You missed him." The long haired man stated when
Haruka got into the car and threw the violin case on the backseat. "Shut up,
Sergio." Haruka answered angrily. "It's enough if I don't get my money now. Why
did you have to make that stupid deal?" Sergio just chuckled. "Don't worry, if
we really succeed in killing the premier minister we'll get enough money.
First, you have to do another job." Haruka searched through her pockets while
Sergio talked; she found the object of desire – a pack of cigarettes – pulled
one out and lit it. She inhaled and blew a cloud of blue smoke against the car
roof. "What is it?" "One of our people got caught. His trial is next week. You
have to kill the judge before it starts." Sergio explained, pulling a picture
from the pocket of his jacket. "Here's the target. Her name is Michiru Kaioh."
Haruka laid on her comfy black leather
couch in her huge apartment – being a professional killer brought a lot of money – and stared at the photo
Sergio had given to her. The woman that was pictured on it was still very
young, at least young for a judge. Haruka guessed that Kaioh was somewhere in
her late thirties, 38 or 39. "I'm sure
she's younger than me. I'm getting old." Haruka thought to herself,
remembering that she already was 45. Soon there would be gray streaks in her
blonde hair, but it wasn't gray hair that she worried about. Usually, an
assassin was sent into pension after his 40th birthday. Haruka only
was still working because she was good. To
tell the truth, she currently was the best assassin available. Unconsciously,
Harukas right hand came up and touched the long scar that reached from her
eyebrow over her cheek down to her chin. That nice "souvenir" had been given to
her from another killer who had tried to get rid of her with a knife. He had
slashed her cheek, but that was the only chance Haruka had given him. She still
remembered the crack his breaking neck had caused and grinned at the memory.
But then she remembered her failure when trying to kill Ishikawa, and the grin
slowly faded. Haruka sighed, lit another cigarette – she was smoking way too
much these days – and turned on her TV.
Michiru took off her reading glasses,
rubbed her eyes and yawned. She checked her watch and sighed: ten p.m. "Time to
go home." She said out loud to no one in particular, since she was alone in her
office. Michiru put her files into the data safe, locked it and put on her dark
blue coat, ready to leave the office. She walked out of the room, locked it
behind her and made her way down to the entrance hall. That was when the
hallway window burst and a dark clothed figure jumped in. Michiru screamed in
shock and almost dropped her handbag when the figure aimed a heavy gun at her.
However, Michiru wasn't the type for standing and staring until someone killed
her. She quickly opened her bag, reached in and pulled out a small can of tear
gas. Before her attacker could react, she had opened the can and sprayed some
of the gas into his eyes. The man or woman screamed in pain, dropping the gun
and covering his or her eyes. Michiru kicked the attacker in the abdomen,
causing him to fall on the floor, and picked up his gun, aiming at him. "Get
up." She commanded. "Now!" The
attacker came to his feet, and Michiru commanded him to take off his mask. He
did so, and Michiru could see his face. Shortcut, black hair, darkblue eyes;
all in all a handsome young man. "You have to do better than that if you want
to kill me." Michiru told him. She threatened him with the gun while pulling
out her cellphone and calling the police.
The next morning, Haruka read about the
failed attack in the newspaper. "That's a tough one." She said to herself when
she read how Michiru defeated the attacker. "Tear gas, good God." She threw the
newspaper into the trashcan and though about the best weapon for this job.
Haruka grabbed a city plan and studied the houses around the court. Finally she
found a suitable roof and decided to use her sniper for killing Michiru. She
stood up to get the gun when her phone rang. Haruka sighed and answered it.
"Tenoh?" "Hi, it's the wolf." Sergio said with his codename, since somebody
could eavesdrop. "Hi Wolf. What's up?" Haruka asked calmly, avoiding to use her
code name Fox. "It's about the game I gave to you yesterday. How do you plan to
win it?" Sergio asked. "I'll win it by climbing on a high place." Haruka
answered, referring to the roof she had chosen. "Good. And when will the game
start?" "Tomorrow." With that, Haruka hung up her phone and walked into the
cellar were she kept her guns. She pulled the sniper from it's hook and took it
with her to clean it. Her tool had to be clean if that job should be
successful.
The next morning, Sergio picked Haruka up
with his car to "win the game". They stopped in front of the house Haruka had
chosen, and Haruka got out. "I'll be back soon, wolf." She promised. "Okay,
Fox. And hit the target this time." "I surely will." Haruka promised and
entered the house. Since she wore a business suit, she looked like all the
other guys that worked there, and nobody minded her walking around. Haruka made
her way to the elevator, got in – happy that she was the only one who used it,
so nobody would wonder what she wanted to do on the roof – and pressed the
button that read "R" when suddenly her cell phone rang. Haruka looked at the
display: "Wolf calling". She answered the phone with an impatient tone in her
voice: "What is it?" "Changing of the game. We'll get the target to our headquarter."
"What?" Harukas eyes widened. "You want me to kidnap the judge?" "Yes, that's
exactly what the boss wants. He wants to talk to Kaioh." Haruka frowned; she
knew what Sergio meant with "talk": brutal torture that would leave Michiru
Kaioh in a terrible mental condition. "Okay. I'll get her. She should be the
only one in court at this time of the day." Haruka hung up her phone, pressed
the stop button and drove down into the entrance hall again. She quickly left
the building and entered the court.
Michiru looked up from her newest trial –
it was against a Mafioso that had been caught when he tried to kill a police
man – when somebody knocked at her door. "Yes please?" the judge said. The door
opened and a man with sandy blonde hair came in. Michiru thought that he was
kinda cute, if you didn't mind the long scar in his face. "Michiru Kaioh?" the
man asked. "Yes. How can I help you?" Michiru asked politely. Suddenly the man
reached into his jacket and pulled out a colt executive .38. "You can help me
by keeping your mouth shut and following me." He said coldly. Michirus eyes
grew wide, and she tried to grab her handbag that stood under her desk. "Don't
even try to get me with tear gas." The man warned her, and Michiru pulled back
her hand. "Put your hands on the desk." The guy ordered, and Michiru obeyed
him. Her heart was beating very fast now, and it even got faster when the guy
pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. "I'll go over to you know. If you
move, you are dead. This colt is equipped with a sound absorber, so nobody will
hear it if I shoot you right here." "Then why don't you do it now?" Michiru
asked. "You'll see. And now hold still." The man walked over to Michiru, took
her hands and chained them together behind her back. "Stand up." He then
commanded. Michiru did as he had told her, and he hung her coat over her
shoulders to avoid that anyone saw the handcuffs. "We'll go now. If you try
anything, you're dead." He warned her again and took her arm. Together, they
left the court. Unknown to Haruka, Michiru had pushed the alarm button under
her desk, and when the two of them came out of the court, police already
waited. "Shimatta!" Haruka yelled and
raised her colt to Michirus temple. "Let go of the judge!" One of the police
men yelled into a megaphone. "Make me!" Haruka yelled back. She never saw the
man who shot her. All of a sudden, a stinging pain went through her side, and
as she looked down she saw the bullet hole six centimeters right from her
navel. Haruka moaned in pain, but didn't let go of Michiru. Instead, she pulled
her prisoner back into the court and locked the door.
As soon as her captor had locked the
heavy wood doors, he let go of Michiru and went down on his knees, holding his
right side. To her horror, Michiru could see blood running over the man's
fingers. "Oh my, you are hurt!" she explained. "Guess what." Her captor
answered through gritted teeth. "Let me have a look." Michiru said softly,
earning an odd look. "What? I didn't just study law, I also have a doctor in
medicine." "Really?" Her captor asked stunned. "I didn't know that." "Nobody
knows it besides me, Mister…" Michiru answered, trailing off since she didn't
know the mans name. "Nice trick, but I won't tell you my name." The Mafioso
said sternly. Michiru sighed. "Why not? You've taken me hostage, and it seems
as if we will stay here longer than just a few hours. And if I help you with
your wound, you can tell me your name." Her captor sighed. "Haruka." He finally
said. "And I'm not a Mister, I'm a woman." Michirus eyes bulged out. "A woman…?
You look a lot like a man." "I know, thanks. That's what I want." Haruka
answered. She tried to stand up, moaned and fell back on her knees again, more
blood seeping from her wound. Michiru rushed to her side immediately and pulled
her hands away. "Lay down, I'll take care of that." Haruka hesitated for a
moment, then did as she had been told and laid flat on her back. Michiru opened
her shirt and examined the wound. "The bullet is still stuck inside. We have to
get it out." "And how do you wanna do that?" Haruka asked sarcastically. "With
that." Michiru answered, showing her a letter opener to her that was formed
like a dagger. Harukas eyes widened. "You want to do an operation with a letter
opener?" The Mafioso then yelled. Michiru just shrugged. "I'll use tweezers
too, if that calms you down a little." Haruka sighed and laid her head on the
soft carpet. "Just do it." She then said.
The policemen stood outside the court,
not knowing what to do. Little did they know that Sergio was about to enter the
court by climbing through the ventilation shafts, a sharp knife between his
teeth. He listened carefully until he heard soft talking. Sergio followed the
noises and finally reached a tight lattice. Looking through it, he saw Haruka
and Michiru, and much to his dismay Haruka just told the judge her name.
"What's up with her?" the Mafioso wondered. He spied through the lattice and
saw Haruka lying on the floor, the judge next to her – threatening her with a
letter opener.
Michiru was about to cut the wound open
when suddenly someone kicked the lattice from the ventilation shaft on the
ground and jumped into the room. Haruka jerked up, the letter opener digging
into her wound. She screamed and fell back to the floor again, more blood than
before running from her wound. "Haruka, I'll save you!" Sergio screamed,
attacking Michiru with his knife. "Stop it!" Haruka yelled. "She wanted to help
me, you dork!" Sergio stopped dead in his tracks and lowered his knife. "What?" Michiru nodded and pointed to
the bloody letter opener accusing. "Look at what you did, I stabbed Haruka
now." Sergio blushed. "Sorry. What are you doing with that thing, anyway?" "She
gets out the bullet." Haruka explained. "I guess you saw that one of the
policemen shot me?" "Yeah, didn't miss it. We're in a big mess now, Haruka."
Sergio informed his partner. "The court is surrounded by the police, and as far
as I know, they will sent an elite unit to infiltrate you when it's dark." "Damn." Haruka
cursed. "What shall we do now ?" Michiru asked, sounding worried.
"Well…the only way to get out of this mess is to let you go."