Hitman Scaramouche

In the darkness of the foul-smelling room, a small five-year old boy clung to the dirty, tattered teddy bear, the special one his mama made for him. He huddled closer to his mother, who laid cold and motionless on the ground.

"Mama...." the boy's voice was hoarse, and he was exhausted from repeating it over and over again. His little fists were curled into his mother's shoulder, shaking for her to wake up without care for the blood on his person.

The bad man had come. The bad man had hurt his mother.

The small boy was so very tired and hungry and cold. He laid beside his mother's corpse in the darkness, without even the support of the moon's light. He gripped her clothing, his tears never ending their flow from the boy's broken eyes.

"Mommy." His voice was now a dull, unfeeling whisper. He held onto the bloody teddy bear, clinging onto it as if it was his only support. "M..Mommy..." = 27 years later =

                          **♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Let Magical Seraphina Be Your Protector of Justice~! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬**

The commercial on the television wasn't what the man was paying attention to. If anything, the bright, cheery pop of color on the screen was a complete irony to the scene playing before it.

                   **♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Don’t forget to buy Magical Seraphina’s Plush Friend Wesker~!♩ ♪ ♫ ♬**

                                           **Wesker is Only Available for a Limited Time!**

                                     **♩ ♪ ♫ ♬Magical, Magical, Love, Love Circle~! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬**

“I, I ca, can pay you! I can pay you ten times what they- EEeEh!” The man's desperate, snob-induced beg was pitched up to a strangled cry as the sound of a gun being cocked and the barrel being pressed against the side of his head. "AARGH, FUCK YOU, YOU SON OF A-"

The trigger was pulled.

Only a soft pop was sounded from the gun. The silencer had done it's job, leaving only a smoky barrel and a red hole through the man's skull.

"Useless." The violet-eyed man muttered under his breath as he came to stand straight in front of the corpse. It didn't matter how clean his shot was - blood always followed, even if it was now just a tiny splatter. He had felt some trickles on his face, and with a grunt of annoyance, he wiped it with his gloves hand.

His cell had begun to vibrate.

"...." The violet-eyed man had entertained the thought of ignoring it, but the one calling could only be one person. With another grunt of annoyance, he turned from the scene and placed the gun back in it's holster.

As the device vibrated endlessly in his pockets, he took out a pack of cigarettes. The man was picky when it came to the brand he smoked. After all, he didn't just ingest random shit in his lungs. These cigarettes were tailored to his preferences. They were created to have a hint of cinnamon and mint mixed in with the tobacco, a flavor he preferred. The filter was degradable, meaning he could crush it into tiny pieces and leave no trace of it. It was perfect for his line of work.

Leaning against the arm of the couch, the man had taken out a stick and lit it with a lighter he took out from his pocket with his free hand. He finally reached out and pulled his smartphone from his pocket, hitting the green button and pressing the device onto his ear.

“If you ever ignore my call like that again, I will kill you.”

And empty threat. He let out an amused whistle before taking a long drag.

The tone of the person's voice shifted. It went from angry to amused. "“I know you're back in the city. No rest for the weary, right? But then… You weren’t doing ‘work’ were you?”

"You already know the answer to that." Another long puff.

“So, did he have any info?”

"No. He was useless and now he’s dead.”

“Another failed lead.” The woman sounded disappointed for only a second, before going back to her normal tone. “Listen, I have a couple of assignments for you. And don’t start giving me fucking attitude because I don’t give a shit. Find yourself a place to hole up in, someplace nice, decent, and ‘normal’. Keep your body count to a minimum. These won’t necessarily be hit jobs I give you, not unless they don’t play nice.”

The man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“I told you,” the woman on the other end of the phone snapped, having heard him. “, I don’t want to hear it!” she stated this angrily, although it was obvious she was enjoying herself. “Just do as I say. I’ll contact you later. By the way, Scara-“

"...."

"... Welcome back."

+10:56 A.M: GOETHE APARTMENTS+

You stood in front of the full mirror in your heavily decorated room, switching from one top to another as you decided on what you wanted to wear. Today, the limited edition Wesker plush from your favorite anime, Magical Girl Seraphina was going on a midnight sale. You wanted to queue up in line with your best friends, Xiangling and Fischl, but sadly, Fischl for some reason was in timeout and Xiangling had a family gathering later that night. But they did promise you that you both would go to the arcade as an apology.

But on your table sat the brand new gift card your childhood best friend Diluc Ravindgr had given you. It was the same gift card that he got you last year, but since he knows how much you love stuffed toys, he got it for you anyway. Speaking of Diluc, he had also played babysitter the night before, and after which Fischl and Xiangling went bonkers in the group chat and kept on telling you to fuck his ass.

Earlier that morning, you had discovered that your older twin sibling would be arriving a quarter to one later that night. You had specifically brewed a plan to bag the Wesker plushie, but betraying Diluc's and your twin's trust, along with your only two friends, you felt a twinge of guilt. But in the end, you shook your head. It was finally your time to show off after living in envy for your whole life, even if you knew you'd probably cry yourself to sleep later that night in guilt.

After dressing up and looking like a personified Barbie doll that would make Barbie herself jealous, you gave yourself a thumbs up and raced out the door, wallet and gift card in your almost-forgotten purse. Immediately, you were met by your pleasantly chill landlady and a man you had never seen before.

“You’ll be staying right next door to two very well-behaved individuals! No noise complaints whatsoever! The last tenant left due to money issues, nothing to do with- Ooooh, Lumine, darling! Perfect timing, you’ll be having a new next-door neighbor!”

The landlady stepped out of the way. You felt your breath catch a little, as she gazed into the man's dark, indigo eyes that was both piercing and hypnotic. His face was well-proportioned and handsome, alluring even.

The aura he gave off was unlike everything you'd ever seen or felt before. You were perplexed that your landlady stood beside this man without a care in the world, showing him off like he was her best tenant. And let's be honest - he probably already is.

He was dressed head to toe on fancy, designer clothes, some from brands even you recognized. It made you wonder why a clearly well-off man would rent a place like this, but considering that the apartment was newly built and in a well state, then you figured as to why he would choose to dwell in a place like this.

He wore a dark purple vest, over a pitch-black dress shirt, that buttoned all the way to his neck and was accented by his dark tie, that had a small silver cufflink attached in the middle, that looked like an electro symbol. His slacks were also black and were iron pressed properly, all the way down to his ankles, where Lumine could tell the man definitely wore designer dress shoes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."