Disclaimer: I do not own NOIR. This story is rated T for violence, and disturbing images, situations, slight shoujo-ai content. This spoils the second episode. This is the series that deals with Kirika's POV.
Memory Fails Me
Chapter 2- Daily Bread
France-
I have been living with the assassin: Mireille Bouquet for almost a week now. I still have no clue to who I am, or why I can kill so easily. But at least I'm not alone anymore. I even share a bed with Mireille. Her apartment isn't very big, and there is only one bed. Still, I was surprised when she told me I could sleep next to her, as long as I kept to my side of the bed. I thought she would have me sleep on the floor, or even on top of the pool table if necessary.
It is comforting in a way to share sleeping space with Mireille. I usually lay on my back and try to always be aware of keeping my body on my side of the bed. Mireille tosses and turns in her sleep. She seems to have bad dreams fairly often. She usually sleeps turned on her side facing away from me. I usually look over to catch a glimpse of her long blonde hair, and her back.
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Mireille has a ritual of always going out in the morning for breakfast. I found out right away that she loves to shop, and is always stopping and looking in store windows, especially if they sell handbags or shoes. She bought me a white t-shirt soon after I arrived here with her from Japan. It has the French flag on it and says "France." I didn't ask for it, but she bought it for me anyway. As a souvenir, she called it. I wore it this morning as we walked about the city.
I haven't spoken much to Mireille since we had agreed to the promise. I didn't know what the future held for me, except I knew it wouldn't be good. Since I had been alone so long, and still had no memories to speak of, I just didn't have much to say. Besides, Mireille usually talked enough for both of us. Either she was quoting from books, making small talk about different things, or just bossing me around.
At her home, we had slipped into an almost domestic lifestyle while waiting on our first job to come in. She expected me to brew the tea, and help her with dinner. I didn't mind though. I wasn't alone. Nothing could be worse than being alone again.
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Mireille and I were sitting at an outdoor cafe, as she slowly drank a cup of tea, and pursued a magazine she had bought. I looked across the cafe to a TV that was showing a news report about a family who had been killed in an explosion recently.
Suddenly, I could feel eyes on me, and looked up to see Mireille watching me with a funny look on her face.
"You bored, huh?" she asked.
Truthfully, I WAS, but I didn't want to make Mireille feel bad. She had done a lot for me so far. Instead I shook my head "No" and said "Um-mm".
Mireille reluctantly got up from her chair, and slung her purse over her shoulder.
"Come on, let's go home." she said a bit disappointedly.
I guess she didn't believe me when I had shook my head "No'. I felt bad, because Mireille had looked content as she sipped her tea, and flipped through her magazine. I got the feeling that she had enjoyed having someone there to sit with her. She was lonely too, though she would never admit it to me.
We walked home after stopping off at the market to get a few groceries, and a loaf of bread for dinner. I carried the bag for Mireille. We came up to the apartment, and Mireille stopped to check her mail and sighed when she didn't receive any. As soon as we got inside, I put the bag of groceries down and went to open the window to look outside. It made the apartment seem bigger, and I felt better when I could look at the world around me. I liked to look at the blue, cloudless sky. It made me feel peaceful somehow. But I still felt so empty and emotionless. I wondered if I would ever remember who I was. I reached in my pocket and pulled the pocket watch out. I stared at the two maidens that were holding long swords on the cover. Why did I have it? What did it mean to me and to Mireille?
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Later that evening, Mireille and I prepared dinner. Mireille had changed into a dark blue tank top and pants, while I wore tan overall's over my France t-shirt. I busied myself peeling the skin off the potato's with the potato peeler. Mireille stood next to me.
"Will you get that knife for me?" she asked, as she pointed to a small knife that was close to me.
"Sure" I said softly, as I picked up the knife and did a fancy little turn with it as I held it out to Mireille. "Here" I told her.
She looked at me very oddly for a second, then finally took it from me and said "Thank...you." very slowly.
I wondered what I did that caused her to react that way. Maybe I handled the knife too skillfully? The look she had given me, made me feel like I was some sort of freakish monster. I had meant nothing by handing her the knife that way.
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Finally, dinner was ready and the table set, as we sat down to eat. We had a basket of bread on the table, and I grabbed a piece and began to tear small chunks of it to eat. I looked up to find Mireille watching me with a bemused expression.
"That's our daily bread. In other words, Heaven's blessing. So why don't you eat it as if you're enjoying it?" she asked sarcastically.
She was picking on me again. She liked to do this sometimes. I was finding out that she enjoyed teasing me.
"I AM enjoying it." I told her.
"You don't look like you are!" she countered.
"Really?" I asked softly.
"REALLY" she emphasized, as she made a face at me.
It didn't really bother me that she teased me, but I didn't understand why she did. But I didn't mind, this was just part of Mireille I guessed.
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Soon after that we had our first job offer as NOIR. We looked at it. Our targets were Jon Jaques Legrande- Director of the French National Puppet Peace Dept. and Pierre Quassat- a key officer in The Peoples Armed Alliance- a far right terrorist organization. Mireille explained to me why our client wanted us to take them out.
She looked at me to get my reaction, but I had none. I just stared at the faces of the men on the computer screen. They were just more men to kill. Well, that's what I was here for, wasn't it? It's what I was made for, I supposed.
Mireille just looked back at the computer screen and smirked. "Well to be frank, all of them are scum, but the cleaning fee is plentiful!" she said the last part in a singsong voice, as she accepted the assignment.
Later, Mireille and I find an underground tunnel that we climb down into. I draw on the cement wall with chalk as I make a target for us to practice shoot at. Mireille goes first, and she shoots very well. Then it's my turn, and as usual I shoot with my perfect aim. Mireille turns to look at me with a little laugh. Whether she's impressed, shocked, or jealous, I just don't know.
Then we go to a restaurant that we know our targets will be meeting at. We sit and wait for Legrande and Quassat to meet, so we can get a good look at them. We follow them to where they are supposed to meet later. Mireille and I rush home before the men meet, so we can load our weapons and map out our entrance and exit routes.
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Mireille wears a dark purple halter top, faded jeans, and black wedge sandals. I wear a sleeveless denim shirt, skirt, and white ankle socks with pink shoes. Neither of us look anything like assassins in these casual clothes. I wish I looked as good as Mireille does though. It must be nice to be tall and beautiful.
We make our way into the entrance and begin to carry out our plan. Mireille goes one way to take out the rebel leader.
I slowly come to wear Legrande is supposed to be. I look carefully around.
Suddenly, I am ambushed from behind by a tall man who begins to strangle me using a piece of thin wire. I can't breathe! I start to gasp and choke, as I desperately reach behind me and grab the man's glasses off his face. I break off a piece of the glasses and reach back and stab him right in his larynx with it. He immediately lets go of me and falls down choking as I fall to my knees, as I gasp for breath, and shoot him without even looking at him.
I look up and notice Legrande standing there staring at me with a frightened and bewildered expression. "No way! It's not possible...! How can you be NOIR?" he asks, as I feel my eyes turn cold upon him and I shoot him. He immediately falls down dead.
I feel someone behind me. It is Mireille, who is looking at the man I killed with the piece of his sunglasses sticking from his throat. She looks disgusted.
"Your work is just so Garish." she tells me, disapprovingly.
I don't say anything. I am just this way, I suppose. I only know how to kill by any means necessary. No matter how garish or messy it is. I know how Mireille hates messes too.
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It is still sunny and beautiful out, as we leave the place where we completed our assassination. Mireille walks ahead of me.
"Looks like a beautiful day, don't you think?" she asks in a cheerful voice.
I stop. I don't feel cheerful. I don't feel anything. Why should this be a beautiful day? I don't feel anything but confusion.
"Daily bread...I make a living killing people. But why doesn't that sadden me?" I ask, as those empty tears fall down my face.
Mireille looks at me sadly, and then looks down. "IF we knew that...I could kill you and be done with it." she says softly.
I look at Mireille. She looks away as if deep in thought. I feel nothing...except a tiny bit afraid. I wonder if this pilgrimage is worth it. I must get my memories back though, but then when I do Mireille will kill me. It's a good thing I feel so numb inside, because I can't imagine how much it would hurt to feel all the things I've done, that I am going to do, and knowing in the end Mireille wants to kill me.
Chapter 3 – The sound of waves- ep 4
I hope this was a enjoyable POV piece. This is Kirika's POV story, so I am going to focus on episodes that are more Kirika related here. This episode is a hard one, it has equal amounts of M/K moments, but Kirika is still so quiet and a mystery here that I decided to focus on her instead of Mireille. And I love Monica Rial, but I can't hardly understand her most of the time as Kirika:) I tried to switch over to Japanese with the English subtitles(it's supposed to come with Japanese) but I couldn't get it to switch over. Pretty bad when you can't understand the English dub and need subtitles! And I speak English!
My other POV series "A Bouquet Of Memories" will focus on Mireille's POV. In fact, episode 3 (the one with the Bella Donna Lily lady) will be chapter 2 of Mireille's story.(it was a more Mireille centered episode than a Kirika one). Then there are some key episodes that focus on both M/K and usually cause a turning point in their relationship. So they will probably share the episode 7- The Black Thread of Fate.(2 takes on that story with two different POV's).
Why? I don't know. This is almost my analysis of what I think the characters might have thought due to the evidence presented on screen, and my own view. Of course I see a romantic future for them(if they didn't get shot at the end like some speculate) so I tend to lean on the romantic side of things. I do use actual quotes from the show because that is part of the evidence given, but the thoughts and descriptions are my own. I'm not trying to rip Beetrain off. NOIR belongs to beetrain- not me:(
I hope someone finds this pieces enjoyable, I have done extensive notetaking on the whole series. I just am trying to understand these characters better, and to fill in the blanks and show how I think their relationship changed during the course of the show. I will probably do a Chloe POV on episode 12- Assassination Mission. It will be a one-shot. Unless I end up really liking Chloe, but until Hell freezes over, I doubt it.
Please leave me a review, constructive critism. I would be very happy.