Character Profile: Mireille Bouquet

No one knows Mireille Bouquet's past, and she never talks about it. Whatever it is, she seems determined to shut the door on it, though memories of it keep cropping up from time to time.

One day, she received an e-mail from Japan. It contained a picture from the sender, who identified herself as Kirika Yumura, and a single sentence: "Make a pilgrimage for the past with me." Originally thinking it to be junk, she was about to leave. But the message had one more thing: a sound clip. It was a sound of a melody like that coming from a music box. It was the melody that stopped her in her tracks.

Mireille headed for Japan and located Kirika. She demanded answers. Kirika responded by opening her pocket watch: the watch that played the same music she heard on her computer when she received the e-mail. Suddenly, Kirika ran. Thinking she was trying to escape, it was only later that Mireille learns that trouble had come in a big way. In the struggle, Mireille's wounded in her right arm. Oddly enough, though, Kirika didn't seem to be having much trouble dealing with the matter.

Finally with some time to themselves, Kirika explained. She explained that she seemed to have an incredible amount of skill but no memories of how she came to be so good. Nothing about her seems real: not even her identity as Kirika Yumura. Mireille insisted she see the watch again. Upon hearing the melody of the watch, Mireille's repressed memories suddenly haunted her again. The melody was connected to her past, which meant that Kirika was somehow linked to her, though exactly how was a big mystery. Though her professionalism and personality make her refuse at first, Mireille finally agrees to Kirika's strange request...on one condition.

Mireille is a professional assassin. Her only contracts, thus, are hits, and she will not make an exception, not even for this. Mireille only accepts the request on the condition that, once they unravel the mystery, Kirika will herself become the hit. Kirika agrees, seemingly because, this way, there will be no uncertainty at the end of her life.

Mireille takes Kirika back to France. Learning that Kirika identifies herself as the notorious "Noir" (and, after seeing her in action, inclining to believe it), Mireille makes it known that "Noir" is accepting contracts: "Noir" in this case being the two of them together. As they travel together, Mireille hopes to find the clues she and Kirika need to unravel their mutual mystery and put their pasts to final rest. Her haunted memories, however, will not rest easy, nor will they leave her alone as the series progresses.

Being a hardened and thoroughly experienced assassin, Mireille herself finds killing very easy; to her, it's all business. Her main strength compared to Kirika is her marksmanship. She carries a Walther P99. In addition to her superior experience with handguns, her Walther carries more rounds (a 20-round magazine compared to the 7-round magazine for Kirika's Beretta).