June 2003.
Having graduated from Teitan Elementary, Mukuro had now successfully advanced to middle school.
It was currently the height of summer.
In an office inside a tall building in Kyoto.
Click.
The sound of a lighter snapping sounded.
"Hey, you've both got families now. Don't you think it's time to settle down a little? Wouldn't it be better to stay home and enjoy life with Onshin and Megumi? The money you two have made these past few years is more than enough to last a lifetime." Shiu, the chain-smoking middleman, lit his cigarette with ease and exhaled a slow stream of smoke. Across from him sat Toji and Mukuro.
He'd met Onshin once before, along with Megumi, who at the time was still drinking milk and hadn't learned how to crawl.
"You've got to earn while you're young. Don't tell me you still don't have a girlfriend? Baby formula isn't cheap, you know." Toji crossed his legs, swinging the slipper on his toes as he spoke. He reached out to roughly rub his brother's head, while teasing Shiu with a smirk.
Mukuro hadn't lived on milk for long as a baby. Once his teeth grew in, he'd simply eaten whatever Toji ate. But Megumi wasn't the same. For Onshin's sake, Toji wanted only the best for his son.
"Spare me. Single life is the best," Shiu muttered.
He pulled a heavy file folder from beside him and dropped it onto the table, letting the brothers take their pick. The contents were requests that nobody in the underworld of assassins would dare touch; contracts for killing high-ranking sorcerers.
"This batch—"
"I know what you two want," Shiu interrupted when he saw Mukuro about to speak. "These targets are all basically curse users in disguise, sorcerers who abuse their arts."
After working together for so many years, he'd gotten used to filtering jobs for them ahead of time. It almost felt like he was more of an underling than a broker.
"Hm? This one…"
While searching through the stack, both brothers' eyes stopped on the same file.
Target: Male. Name: Tanaka Furui. Rank: Grade 1. Lives alone in Kyoto.
His hobbies, past encounters, and victories filled the file, but only one detail mattered; he had killed multiple sorcerers who'd tried to take him down, and he was rumoured to have a way to nullify cursed techniques. Worse, he was said to have cursed spirits working with him.
That explained why no one else wanted the job. For a sorcerer, cursed energy and techniques were their lifeline. Facing someone who could erase those meant losing every advantage.
"A man who can nullify cursed techniques, huh? That's quite a nasty ability," Toji said, barely holding back a laugh. He pulled that file aside and shoved the rest back into the folder.
"The bounty's only twenty million yen? Nullifying techniques, plus possibly facing an entire group… no wonder no one dares to take it. Still, we'll do it," Mukuro added.
He didn't really care about the money. What caught his attention was that line: the method to nullify techniques.
He'd been searching for that thing for a long time.
"Wait, what are you doing? hey!" Toji yelped as Mukuro stood up and yanked him by the collar, dragging him away even though he was watching a horse race on the office TV.
Shiu leaned back, crushed his cigarette butt into the ashtray on the table, and stretched lazily. "Those two brothers… really are something else. But maybe, just maybe, they'd make good friends too."
* * *
Their destination wasn't far. Barely half an hour later, they reached the target's hideout.
It was an isolated spot, so much so that the two didn't even bother disguising themselves.
Who would have guessed, deep in a dense forest that reeked of malice, a rotting, abandoned house stood hidden away?
"Is this guy really a curse user? To end up living in a dump like this… pathetic," Toji murmured, double-checking the address.
If the file hadn't been so clear, and if he hadn't sensed two distinct cursed auras inside, he would have thought they had found the wrong place.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just get on with it," Mukuro said and pushed open the rotting front door that looked more like a prop than a barrier.
They stepped inside and were greeted with a sight that made them frown. The exterior being ruined was one thing, but they had expected some kind of hidden depth to the place. Instead, the inside was just as dilapidated.
Filthy, decaying walls, floors stained with dried blood, and the thick metallic stench of past killings hung in the air. Every mark whispered of something gruesome that had happened here.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"
A sudden voice echoed through the house.
The brothers turned and saw their target, Tanaka Furui, standing at the turn of the staircase, staring at them with wary eyes.
He looked to be in his twenties but wore a small outfit that didn't fit him at all. The style was so childish that even Mukuro, at six years old, wouldn't have been caught dead in it.
If he walked down the street dressed like this, people would definitely stare, wondering if he was mentally unstable. And yet, despite the bizarre clothes, the man himself was oddly neat. There wasn't a hint of stubble on his face, and his hair was styled stiffly with gel, as if carefully maintained.
"No need to be so tense. We were paid to kill you, that's all. But before that, why not clear up a few doubts for us?" Mukuro replied as a smile he thought looked friendly spread across his face and stepped forward slowly.
"Stay back! Don't move another step!" Tanaka shouted, cursed energy gathering around his fists as he dropped into a fighting stance.
Even if the two in front of him gave off no cursed energy, he wouldn't underestimate them. He had reasons he had to live.
"I don't care who sent you. Leave now, and I'll let it go." His feet shifted subtly toward the staircase. His eyes flicked upward for just a moment, his nerves showing through.
"There's someone else upstairs, isn't there? No… not someone. Something," Toji said, pulling out a small creature from his pocket.
The Inventory Curse swelled, winding itself around his body. From its mouth, the cursed weapon Split Soul Katana slid free.
"Damn it… What do you want?!" Tanaka's voice shook, his unease clear.
The presence of these two was overwhelming, stronger than anything he'd felt, yet not a trace of cursed energy leaked from them.
His body trembled, not knowing if it was fear or excitement, but finally his gaze hardened.
He couldn't die here.
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