Deal Me In. (Jirou. Introductory. Single Post)

New York City...

What a town...

Bustling with thousands upon thousands of citizens, going from here to there, picking up this, dropping off that, Going up town for work, and traveling downtown for leisure. This city was truly alive, and it never stopped moving, it never stopped breathing, and if you weren't careful it would swallow up and spit you out into the gutter.

This was something he knew all too well.

To him, the past few years had been more instrumental in shaping him into the man he was today than the day he first learned how to walk and talk at the same time. In this world Himura Jirou, the man known to those of the less than reputable populace as "The Wild Card", knew that you were always one card away from either winning it all, or watching it all go down the drain.

It was a decent day in New York City, as far as most days in New York were concerned. He'd had a decent breakfast that morning and his belly was full, and his checkbook was still in the green, though he knew such things were only temporary. If you wanted to make it in this world, much less make it in this town, you needed to work when ever you could, and do whatever it took to live, thrive, and survive.

How long had it been since his last job? A week? Two weeks? It had been a while since the last one, but he was always able to make his money stretch. A nice little habit he'd picked up from his father. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as he walked. No new messages and zero missed calls.

Jirou shoved his phone back in his jacket pocket and rounded the corner to his apartment complex. It wasn't much more than a hole in the wall, and wasn't much to look at, but it kept the cost of living down, and was in that particular part of town few would want to go snooping around in anyway. He strolled on in and made his way to the top floor, climbing the four flights of stairs swiftly and quietly with little effort and stopped in front of his door. He pulled out his room key, unlocked the door, walked right on in.

As he began to close the door, he felt his phone buzzing in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out and stared at the screen. He didn't recognize the number, not that it mattered. He never recognized the numbers people called him with, not even regular clients. He answered the call, cradling the cellphone between his should and ear as he closed and locked the door.

"Himura Jirou here, you want him; you got him." he replied in a casual, lighthearted and friendly tone.

"Good day, Mr. Jirou." the voice on the other side was feminine and polite. "I'm calling on be half of my employer. We have a job that needs to be taken care of immediately and we are interested in acquiring your services."

Finally, another pay day was on the way, and already Jirou could tell that this one was going to pay well. Anytime a potential client called him via a secretary, which this lady clearly was, it meant that they were definitely big time, and would definitely pay top dollar to insure that the job was done quickly, and quietly. He held the phone up to his ear with his right hand and plopped himself down on his couch, placing his feet up on the small coffee table in front of him.

"I see. I'm assuming your employer needs this job taken care of quietly, correct?" the secretary confirmed, "I'm also assuming that you and your employer are aware of how much my services will cost?"

"We are quite aware of what your services will cost us, Mr. Jirou. My employer has authorized me to wire funds directly to whatever account you desire, in whatever amount you feel is fair to cover the cost of your time and resources, both expendable and non. A blank check, if you will." Jirou's eyes widened to the size of golf balls, his hands shook and his jaw dropped. He almost dropped the damned phone. Whoever this new client was, they were willing to pay whatever they had to, just to see that this job was done. Jirou had just hit the jackpot. He took a second gather his composure and reply.

"Well then, may I ask what this job entails?"