[WARNING: Violence, Mild Drugs and Alcohol.]

Yui raised the cigarrette to his mouth, taking a long drag and then releasing the smoke into the air. The bar was unusally restless tonight. Drunks laughed obnoxiously loud, some even picking fights with the strangers next to him. Tonight was going to be a long night. He had gotten an assignment to knock off yet another citizen of this large city. And, acoording to his sources, he was dangerous.

AiJin sat on the tiny orange crate. He was in a 'safehouse' supplied by a man the boy simply knew as 'Master'. He'd trained AiJin since he was young. Too young for AiJin to remember, not that he tried to anymore. The tiny, dirty apartment was bare, the only electric appliances sat on a desk in a corner of the room, cobwebs curling around them. There was a laptop, connected to a printer. A paper was currently popping out of the printer.

With a sigh, the five foot nine form stood, moving over to the printer without a sound, even though the man wore heavy boots, and multiple daggers on his form. The paper's instructions were simple. They described another male, and described a bar he normally went to. AiJin's mission: Kill him. Naturally, it was to be done quietly, no witnesses. If there were, they needed to be dispossed of as well. Scorpio's Children couldn't afford publicity.

AiJin moved to the small bathroom, glancing at himself in the mirror. Clear blue eyes stared back at him, framed by the unruly, knife cut black hair that topped AiJin's head. The reflection was frowning, although this was normal for the male. Hard to smile when you were punished for feeling any emotion. A lost soul, found my the ruthless organization, taught to kill. He's been ten when he'd been given his first mission. AiJin recoiled from his reflection, then, grabbing the tight fitting jacket from a hook before he left the apartment, locking it behind himself.

He moved quickly, the bar was multiple blocks away. AiJin arrived quickly, moving inside the dimly lit, bouisterous area, and glancing around. He was searching for the target, although with the smoke hanging in the air, he was hard to see.

Yui tapped his fingers lazily against the grimy surface of the wooden table. Though he was an assassin, he was well-known for being impatient. He has no stomach for it. His motto "kill or be killed" did not include the words 'and sit on your butt in-between'. He was a very active indevidual. He would wake up early, work out, make breakfast, then do target practice. Do to his energetic lifestyle, having to sit still while waiting for anything gave him 'nervous habits', as they called it. Unfortunately, a big part of his job included waiting for further details or instructions. Speaking of which....

The young man reached into his pocket, past the gun and hooked knives strapped to his belt, and pulled out a large sum of coins. He dropped them lightly on the table and headed towards the figure that had just entered the bar, clamping down on the cigarrtte with his teeth. It was one of his high-ups, probably here to deliver more information on his target. He walked past the man casually and took the folded envelope that was slipped to him. The man continued into the bar as if he belonged there, while Yui made his leave. He walked a little ways away from the old building and leaned against an adjacent wall. There he unfolded the envelope and opened it, a smile playing onto his lips as he did so.

Inside the envelope was a large wad of cash, no doubt payment for the man he was going to wack off. Oh man, this is a lot! he thought, giddy. The stuffed the cash into one of his pockets where it would be safe. Normally guns-for-hire wouldn't recieve payment before the kill had even occurred, but he wasn't like most other killers. He never lost, and he never got killed. This target was as good as dead. Yui reached back into the envelope and pulled out a small piece of paper, a photo attached to it by a paperclip. To his surprise, the target was actually... attractive. Most of his assignments were fat, old men and, if they happened to be gorgeous women, they were usually on the boarder of crazy. This was going to be interesting.

Yui glanced at the piece of paper behind the photo. His eyebrows furrowed as the read the fine print. "One of Scorpio's Children, eh?" he asked himself quietly. "This will definately be interesting.

Unfortunatly, Ai'Jin had moved throughout the bar, and hadn't spotted his target. The man wasn't there as of tonight. Ai'Jin withdrew, moving back unto the street. There was nothing more for him to do at the moment, he'd recieved no additional information to track the target. His only hope was the bar.

The slim male moved across the empty street, glancing up for a moment to peer at the flickering street light. Now would come a part of the job Ai'Jin couldn't stand: Staking out. Waiting for the target to show up. After that, it was a simple matter to get the male somewhere alone. Somewhere even a witness could be taken out without drawing attention to the bodies. He'd made it across the street, and glanced both ways under the street light, looking for any observers.

Down the street, a shadowed form could be seen leaning against one of the walls. This figure was dismissed as a drunk, leaning against the wall for a moment. Ai'Jin slipped into the alley he'd decided would be the area he'd conduct his stakeout. It was easy to find a tiny discarded crate, which the male sat on, his cold blue orbs fixated on the bar across the street. His head was resting in his folded hands, tucked under his chin. One booted foot tapped on the cement, filling the air with an annoying clanking sound. The male removed his eyes from the bar for a moment, glaring down at his foot, before he returned his gaze.

Yui looked over the small piece of paper several times until the new information was carved into his memory. He then crumbled up the slip, stuffing it as well as the photo into his pocket. The information was top secret, and because of that he had to burn it; something that would have to wait until later. Just as he looked up from what he was doing, he saw the target. A young man of around his age, black hair and cobalt blue eyes, was making his way out of the bar. 'The hell? Yui quickly stepped out of the target's estimated field of view, pressing his back against the opposite wall of the ally. What the hell was he doing here? This bar wasn't included as the target's usual 'hangouts'; in fact, this wasn't even on the right side of town. The assassin slid his way towards the opening of the ally and glanced around the corner. The young man appeared to be looking for someone, and eventually turned and headed down the street in the opposite direction. He continued to watch as he turned into an allyway further down.

He chuckled darkly. This was going to be easier than he thought. He didn't even have to go on a wild man hunt, which would have been tough considering he was up against one of Scorpio's Children. Yui moved away from the wall and traveled down the ally instead of going out onto the street. He knew this sidestreets well; he would easily be able to find the one hiding the assassin. And when he did get to him, he would catch him from behind. The streets were growing completely dark, the only source of light coming from the hazy street lamps. He should be able to carry out the kill without capturing too much attention, but even he did others would view it as nothing more than a violet mugging. Not to mention every alleyway in this part of town went completely unlit, so unless the fight fell into the streets his identity would be safe.

Yui manuvered expertly through the dark ally, sticking close to the walls and being as silent as possible. As he grew closer he heard the loud tap of boots against the concreate, making him smile. His revolver was raised and ready for firing as he entered the sidestreet occupying the assassin.

The male's eyes hadn't wavered from the bar across the street as Ai'Jin sat on his perch. His ears were alert for the slightest sound. They picked up the normal sounds of the city, various cars in the distance, as well as an occasional train. With a sigh, Ai'Jin stood, streching so his limbs would still be limber in case of the target appearing. As he did, the hair on the back of his neck lifted.

Someone's here... The male's instinct, honed since he was three or four, whispered to him, telling him he was watched. Without turning, the male slipped left, crouching by the dumpster he'd taken the crate from. Then, he slipped down, pecking at who was there from close to the ground, where he wouldn't be expected to look from. While Ai'Jin did all this, his hands were slipping down, lifting one of the daggers-tipped with nightshade to poison-from the sheath he'd had to build inside the boot. His blue eyes identified a tall shadow in the dark, although features couldn't be made out. The male settled on the balls of his feet, prepared to spring, although this was more than likely a simple pedestrian.

To a normal person it would have seemed as if no one was there, but to Yui it was more than obvious. He could sense it in the air. The ally was pitch black, the street lamp near the bar not giving off enough illumination. Fortunately, he had the eyes of a cat. Most of the hits he was paid to accomplish took place on nights such as this, where the complicated features of the landscape were bathed in darkness. The had trained himself to notice details, to make sure sure every potentially harmful object was accounted for. Not to mention his eyes were already fully adjusted from sneaking around in the dark back allies.

The assassin did a quick sweep of the ally, never once lowering his gun. Though there was no one is plain sight, someone was here. And it was someone who posed a threat. If it was a drunk or any other type of normal citizen, they wouldn't have hidden. They wouldn't have seen the gun, and if they did it would be impossible for them to dart out of his vision without him noticing. The person here knew he was coming before he entered the ally. There were only two options: either the person hiding was a mugger, or it was his target. Anyone else wouldn't be giving off this type of negative feeling.

"Come out before I blow your head off," he barked. "I know you're here." If it was a mugger, which he doubted, the punk would take off running. If it was his target, the man would stay and fight. Yui rested his free hand on the hooked dagger strapped to his belt, keeping the revolver aimed ahead. He was ready.

A soft snort filled the air, as if Ai'Jin was mocking the male. Not him... He relaxed slightly. His target wouldn't have spoken, using silence as a cover while he tried to sneak up on this male. Or, at least, that's what Ai'Jin would have done, although his target couldn't have been trained as long or like Ai'Jin had. He frowned. So confusing. He remained where he was, though his other hand gently lifted one of the throwing daggers that had settled in a pocket.

The male pressed himself against the wall, sliding up until his head was poking above the dumpster. He took careful aim at the shadow, before his hand whipped forward, flinging the dagger towards the other form. Just in case the movement had drawn attention to the area, Ai'Jin slipped back down, instead poking his head out close to the ground once more, watching to see if he'd had a hit or needed to rush in.

A soft whisking sound filled the air. In a flash Yui drew his dagger and blocked the projectile, the metal of the object clanging against his own blade. It was a throwing dagger. With his other hand he fired his gun in the direction where the knife had come from, a dumpster. "There you are," he murmered, firing several bullets at the metal heap. He then jumped and pressed himself against the wall, lowering himself to a crouch. He returned his gun to its holster and took out a second blade, this one longer than the first. The knife was his prized possession, a blade that could cut through metal.

The gunfire was sure to attract attention from the bar. He had to hurry and kill his target.

A loud sound seemed to echo in the night air, and Ai'Jin's blue eyes narrowed, annoyed. Great. His target had brought a gun. There went his no witnesses plan. People from the bar were already staggering out as more bullets embedded themselves into the dumpster. Thankfully, the damn thing was full, and none of the bullets reached Ai'Jin. The drunken idiots couldn't locate the sound yet, though, and Ai'Jin slipped out from the dumpster, quickly moving much as a hunting cat would. A crouch on the balls of his feet.

In all likelyhood, Ai'Jin's target wouldn't want to attract attention, either, so the gun would no longer be a problem. He was near the area the shadow had been, and slowed down. It was no good, his eyes could pick up multiple shadows, though none moved. He crouched in the middle of the alley, hissing into the darkness in a voice that was husky from misuse, "Come out, come out, wherever you are...I'm right here...You want me?"

The man sat in the shadows as the boy moved out into the open, centering himself in the middle of the ally. He had appearently gone unnoticed. It seemed the target had a handicap: he couldn't see in the dark. The occupants of the tavern had begun to spill out onto the streeet, searching for where the gunshots had come from. The assassin wasn't worried. They were too drunk to do anything, and besides, the people in this area of town had a tendency to stay out of another's business. They would go unbothered, especially since there were weapons involved.

Deciding to stay down, Yui lunged at his target, swiping with his dagger. "Not really," he laughed, "But since you're already here, we might as well play a little!" He aimed his other blade at the major artery on the target's neck.

Hn. Was his target after all. This ran through Ai'Jin's mind as he moved backwards, away from the shadow that had moved. A blade the other male had, had whipped up, forcing Ai'Jin back more, although his chest a lovelly little cut in it now. A tiny breath of somethat that could have been pain floated from him, although a quick memory of what happened to a 'Child' who showed pain flashed through his mind, and Ai'Jin made no more noise.

He did move, however, his own blade coming from the side, attempting to bury into the other assasian's side, hopefully piercing vital organs in the process.

Yui scowled, his attack made only making a minor slash on the target's chest. He was fast, much faster than his usual oppenents. It was time he faced with an actual challenge. The assassin jumped out of the way of the Child's attack, the boy's blade just catching his side. He didn't pay attention to the pain and instead lunged himself into a new series of attacks. He stabbed and sliced, attempting to force the target back. His goal at the moment was no longer to kill, that would be too difficult. Right now his main objective was to simply harm him and slow him down. Being one of Scorpio's Children, the target probably wasn't used to being harmed by a stranger. If he could get enough wounds on him, the pain might serve as a distraction.

The scorpio's child was forced to step backwards, again and again as the other assasian continued his assault. Ai'Jin continued blocking, waiting for his opponent to tire out, though he could feel the other male's power behind his thrusts, and is was tiring Ai'Jin as well. He was getting multiple wounds, and his back was almost pressed to the alley wall. The male gritted his teeth, dropping to the ground, attempting to slash at the boy's legs from his new position. It left his back completely open, although nobody ever seemed to expect that, so it was usually a good attack.

Yui was surprised by the assassin's endurance. His own muscles were beginning to grow weary from the repetative attacks, but he continued to push the Child back. He never once lessened the force he drove into the blows. The man was caught off guard as the target suddenly dropped out of his field of vision, towards the ground. Before he could re-set his defenses, he felt the cold metal of a blade cut through his thigh. Yui hissed through his teeth, cursing as he retaliated. He wanted to end this. He slashed twice at the other man's shoulder, his movements too quick to tell if he had actually hit his target. Instead of worrying he jumped back once again, the wound in his thigh screaming with pain.

The male had almost cried out in pain, his shoulder bleeding from two seperate slash wounds. Ai'Jin bit his lip, tasting the salty metallic liquid as his blood flooded him mouth. He got to his feet quickly, switching his dagger to his other hand while he pressed himself to the wall. He was panting heavily, blood flowing freely from multiple wounds, although he tried not to show the pain he was in, instead peering into the darkness.

Yui had drawn his gun, pointing it at the target's forehead from where he stood a few yards away. Two deep gashes marked the Child's shoulder. By the looks of it, he had given up. The assassin was just about to pull the trigger when he heard shouts coming from outside the allyway. By the sound of it it was the owner of the bar, probably upset by the amount of noise both he and the target were sure to be making. If he fired his gun, the bar tender would surely call the police. It had been a long day; he wasn't in the mood for a game of 'evade the police'.

Making up his mind, Yui charged at his enemy, raising his revolver and slamming the blunt end hard against the side of the target's skull. The impact was sure to render the Child unconscious, and then they would make their getaway. He would figure out what to do with him after that.

The male had heard various shouts, and had turned his head towards it. Stupid move. When Ai'Jin turned back, all he saw was the hilt of a gun, coming towards him fast. Without feeling the actual impact, Ai'Jin slumped, his vision blurry. He sank to his knees, groaning, though attempting to fight the darkness threatening to cover him. With one last groan, he fell forward, his hands not coming up to stop the blow. His face hit the concrete, Ai'Jin's eyes closed. Out cold.

(Sorry it's so short...)

[Haha, it's okay. Sorry this is so long. x'D]

Yui didn't understand why he didn't kill him, even long after fleeing the allyway. He would have been able to do it easily. One pull of the trigger was all it would have taken. The man was knocked out, for crying out loud. Maybe he was still hung up on his old belief that killing a man who was unconscious, even if it was a target, was foul play. The man's way of thinking really got into his own way sometimes. His higher-ups called it a weakness, but he didn't really give a crap what they thought. The only thing that mattered was that he got the job done. But... for some reason, Yui had the suspiscion that his excuse for not killing the Child ran deeper than that. He grimaced. All he knew now was that he really needed a smoke.

The assassin entered the large residence, the target slung limply across his shoulder. The house was situated on the very outskirts of the city, a forest surrounding the property on two sides. Though he had the place all to himself, he didn't come here often. This house was provided by the organization; usually, he remained in an apartment in the city. Now, however, he was grateful he had it. His closest 'neighbors' were about two miles away, the city even farther. Because of this he could kill the Child in an instant if he decided to give him any trouble.

Yui placed the target in an empty chair, the male's head falling forward. The man ignored the pain in his leg and limped into the 'kitchen', digging through one of the drawers until he found what he was looking for. Thick, plastic tie-wraps. They looked pretty simple, but the police used them on criminals. They were very durable and, unlike handcuffs, there was no clever trick to getting them off. If the subject didn't have a pair of strong clippers he was screwed. He grabbed some rope as well before heading back to the Child. As he twist-tied the man's hands behind his back, he couldn't help but notice the scars that ran across his wrists. His eyebrows knit together, but he pushed away his brewing thoughts and continued working. First he twist-tied his hands before doing the same to his legs, each one being strapped to a leg of the chair. Then as a pre-caution, he used the rope for additional restraints.

(Lol, don't worry, I don't care how long posts are, as long as they say what needs to be said.)

The male woke quickly, though his head was left pressed against his chest. Ai'Jin's ears were pricked for sounds, although he couldn't hear much. His ears felt fuzzy. He tried moving his arms and legs-bound. He was tied. So was that the other male's aim? Torture? No matter, he'd been tied and beaten in this same manner plenty of times, to ensure he could handle the pressure.

Unable to do much else, Ai'Jin lifted his head, opening his eyes and peering around him slowly. A grimace came with the movement, his head throbbed.

Yui took notice when the assassin awoke, but he didn't move away from what he was doing. He was at the Child's feet and waist, stripping him of all his weapons. He threw the mass onto the table and walked over to the counter. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out his pack of cigarrettes and withdrew one. He popped the white stick into his mouth and lit it, drawing in a deep breath. He should have just pulled the trigger back when he was in the ally. Yes, he would have had to run from the police, but at least in that scenario he wouldn't have this gigantic thorn in his side. The man gripped the cigarrette in his teeth and ran a hand along his face in annoyance.

"What are Scorpio's Children, exactly?" he asked, not expecting the target to answer. Yes, Yui had heard from both intelligence and the newspapers what Scorpio's Children were and what they did, but there were peices missing. Because of that, every story he heard about them was a little different. Of course it was against the code to interrogate a target unless given specific orders, but he had already deviated (unintentionally) from the usual plan. And besides, he was curious. He had had an encounter with a Child before, and what he learned that day didn't match up with what he had heard for the past several years.

Did this idiot really expect him to answer? Ai'Jin's eyes flickered to the table, judging the distance he was from them. Easy enough, leaving them in plain sight. He simply had to get out of him binds.

His fingers worked at the ties-felt like plastic. They would hurt, breaking them, but it could be done. He had the scars to prove it. Ai'Jin used the most basic tactic he could-ignorance. Behind his back, his hands were twisting painfully up, them painfully down. It made his shoulders move, however, it could easy be blamed on discomfort, or trying to find out what was binding him. The male spoke, his voice husky with misuse, "What's Scorpio's children? A gang?"

Yui smiled at the target's response. "You're not very good at playing dumb," he stated, amusment thick in his voice. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and, as he expected, the Child was working on getting his hands loose. He was getting pretty far, actually. The man turned his back to the counter and took the cigarrette from his mouth, crushing the lit end onto the smooth surface of the countertop. "We fought; you should remember unless I smacked your head a little too hard." He walked across the room until he was behind the assassin's back. "No gang member could possible fight like that. And one certainly wouldn't have the weapons you possess," he pointed out. He pulled down the neck of his shirt and sure enough, the image of a scorpion was embedded in his skin.

He ran his thumb across the shoulder tattoo. "I could shoot you, maybe cut off a few things; but you would probably hold your tongue no matter what I did." The man smirked. Though he was curious, he would never do either of those things. He may be a gun for hire, but he followed the rules.

The male glared at him hatefully-possibly the only emotion they hadn't stripped from Ai'Jin. The male's ebony covered head darted forward, attempting to bite the male. He didn't get very far, though, the rope across his chest ensuring that. Plus, biting someone behind you normally didn't work anyway. It was simply Ai'Jin's way of saying he had spirit, and it wouldn't be broken.

Ai'Jin jumped, as the male caressed his tattoo. The movement suprised him. A tiny caress, not a slap, and it didn't come with pain. He paled, facing forward, as the male spoke of hurting him. It brought back memories, a tiny boy, crying for his mother, and recieving slap after slap, yelled at for crying, yelled at for caring. It wasn't the torture that bothered him-it was those memories.

His body relaxed in the chair, though his hands continued working, even if the other man could see him do it. Ai'Jin's face took the careful mask most of the Children wore. No expression, more like a machine than anything else. He spoke slowly, his voice carefully neutral, "I told you. I don't know any Scorpio's Children. I'm just a free lance killer."

"You can try to convince me of any story you want, but I already know about you," Yui said. He moved away and rubbed the palm of his hand against his mouth. He needed to stop delaying and kill the target, but he still wanted an answer to his question. This Child was so much different from the one he had confronted that night. He was... sane. It didn't matter, though. This man needed to die. Now, before he got loose and became an even bigger pain in the butt. The assassin removed the revolver from his belt and put in a fresh bullet, spinning it to the correct compartment. He pressed the tip of the barrel against the target's head. "It'll be quick," he promised.