Shiki Yukitaka

Shiki Yukitaki is a high school teacher living in Tokyo, Japan who, one night, was approached by a beautiful woman in a bar, who asks him if he would be willing to commit murder for 5 million yen (about $50,000 US). Shiki refuses, but the woman persists, asking if he would if the target was also a murderer. Shiki states that he might, but it would have to be for more than 5 million yen. After work the next day, Shiki is approached by the woman again, who picks him up in her car and takes him to a bar, where he is introduced to a Chinese man named Yan and a Tokyo Police detective named Kuzumi. The woman, who introduces him as Erika Nakagawa and tells him to that Yan is the getaway driver, and that he and Kuzumi are going to kill a wealthy shipping mogul connected in Yakuza murders and drug dealing for 5 million yen, and they would be receive further, higher-paying contracts if they succeeded. Erika also states that the target stored a large amount of money in the basement, which was theirs if they could steal it. Shiki and Kuzumi agree, Shiki somewhat reluctantly. Shiki and Kuzumi enter the target's home and immobilize him, before Shiki cuts his throat with a butterfly knife. Shiki and Kuzumi then ransack the house, making it look like a robbery, and Shiki steals a set of keys to the basement. When Shiki opens the door, however, he finds not money, but a well furnished room, where a girl was held in prison. The girl, who states her name is Itsuki, says that the man they killed was her father, but feels no despair at his loss, as he had kept her imprisoned in the basement for ten years, since she was eight. Itsuki, it soon becomes apparent, was imprisoned because of her mysterious ability to read the mind of any person she comes into physical contact with.

Having nowhere else to take her, Shiki takes Itsuki back to his apartment, where she begins living with him, while Shiki and Kuzumi are sent to assassinate more targets, including a Yakuza scam artist, a serial killer, and several high-ranking Yakuza. During the course of the assassination of the scam artist, Shiki and Kuzumi are forced to kill a second man who tries to pull a gun, but is overpowered and stabbed to death before he can attack. Shortly after eliminating the serial killer, Shiki and Kuzumi themselves fall victim to an assassination attempt by a close friend of the victim, Ei-kun. Shiki and Kuzumi, however, disable Ei-kun, but cannot bring themselves to kill him. Ei-kun is held imprisoned in Shiki's apartment for about two weeks, until another Yakuza thug named Maeda comes to rescue him. Shiki is not at the apartment at the time, being on a school and Ei-kun is freed, however, Maeda then attempts to rape Itsuki. Ei-kun is disgusted by this and beats Maeda to death with a frying pan. When Shiki returns, Ei-kun states that he is now a target for the Yakuza, and, however reluctantly, aids Shiki in eliminating a group of Yakuza executives using Maeda's handguns. Ei-kun later becomes a second roommate to Shiki, along with Itsuka.

Shiki's reasons for committing these murders are revealed shortly after his first assassination. Shiki's older sister is dying of cancer, and Shiki is distraught they he might lose his sister, having already lost his mother in his teenage years, because she cannot afford the treatment necessary for her to survive. Because of this, Shiki agrees to work as an assassin in order to raise the money necessary to save his sister's life.