Chapter Eleven

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned – everyone – to his own way. - Isaiah 53:6

* * * *

Yuri’s eye twitched dangerously as she strode down the hallways of the dormitories of Hati, with a chatterbox, namely Tohya Tanigawa, talking her ear off beside her.

“No,” said Yuri curtly as she stopped by the lift and pressed the button for it.

“Come on, Yuri!” Tohya nearly begged, both hands clasped together in a prayer motion. “It’s not every day that we can get a chance to get together like this! Just this once?”

“And what part of ‘I’ve just returned from a mission and is dead tired’ do you not understand?” asked Yuri grumpily, pressing the button for the lift once more. Where the hell is the damn lift when you need it? And why just this once when she decided to take the lift instead of the stairs, must it take such a damn long time to arrive?

“A movie can be used as relaxation.” Tohya pleaded.

“No.”

Every three months or so, Ren, Tohya and Yuri would get together to have a ‘movie night’ so as to speak, where they would practically spend the entire night in the movie room of the recreation room in the dormitory building. It’s a tradition that they somehow began when Tohya first joined them. That night happened to be their ‘movie night’, but Tohya had invited Sunny and Selina as well.

Tohya was about to say something else when he saw someone sneaking up on Yuri, and he grinned. “Have a good flight to the recreation room, Yuri.”

Yuri’s smirk faded when she thought that she’d gotten the best of Tohya. “What are you—?”

A hand grabbed Yuri around the waist and tossed her over a shoulder, and the teen looked only to see a grinning Sunny who had just tossed her over his shoulder. “Sunny! Put me down!”

Sunny only grinned before proceeding to carry her over to the recreation room of the dormitory building where Selina and Ren were waiting. Tohya and Sunny were sent to convince or drag Yuri by force to the recreation room.

Yuri looked back at a grinning Tohya. “Tohya! Kisama[1]! You knew that he was sneaking up on me!” Yuri accused, pointing at Tohya with a look that promised a whole lot of hurt once Yuri get back on both her feet.

“You can’t even sense Sunny sneaking up on you, and you call yourself a Phantom?” Tohya asked in mock horror.

“There is time for work and time to have fun, Yagami,” said Sunny cheerfully as he continued carrying Yuri over his shoulder. “Come on, everyone’s waiting.”

Yuri allowed Sunny to carry her to the recreation room. She knew that there was no proint arguing with him.

* * * *

Yuri sat cross legged on the carpeted floor of the movie room in the recreation room – a small attached room to the recreation room for their members to watch their favourite movies on DVDs.

The curtains of the room were currently drawn to prevent the sunlight from streaming in, and the lights of the room were all turned off. Ren and Sunny were setting up the DVD player, as well as the sound surround system for the movie that they were about to watch. A pile of cushions and pillows were all around Yuri, Tohya and Selina so that they could keep themselves comfortable during the movie.

“What movie are we watching this time?” asked Yuri with a sigh. “It had better not be some movie like The Ring that you’ve forced us to watch last time, Tohya!”

“Nope. Ren chose the movie this time,” said Tohya with a slight frown on his face. “He chose Star Wars. I wanted to watch Halloween, but Sunny and Ren both objected.”

Yuri was thankful for Sunny and Ren’s intervention. “What is it with you and horror and ghost movies, Tohya?” Yuri wanted to know. “The last time we watched The Ring, not one of us managed to get to sleep until three in the morning! And let’s not forget the fact that ALL of us had a mission the following morning as well!”

Ren who was setting up the movie, snorted at this. For Phantoms, assassins who were trained to take on just about anything and therefore not supposed to be afraid of anything, they were all pretty freaked out after watching a ghost movie. Granted, that was about a year ago after Tohya had first joined the Phantoms, but still…

Tohya never got a chance to answer Yuri, as the opening scenes of the movie appeared on the screen just then, and Sunny and Ren got back to their places with their friends, with Ren hugging a cushion to his chest.

Yuri had never watched Star Wars before as she didn’t really like science fiction stories or movies, but Ren was a fan of it. And he had told her the story briefly so that she at least understood what was going on, as the current Star Wars movie that they were all watching is the third movie in the Star Wars trilogy.

And surprisingly, for a science fiction movie, Star Wars is extremely excellent and captivating. Yuri can see why Ren liked that movie so much.

“Obi-wan never told you what had happened to your father.”

Yuri stared at the movie screen. What was Luke doing?

“He told me enough.” Oh, he was courting death. Well, that is nothing new. Either way that he went was death, but still… Hanging onto something like this was definitely not increasing his chances of survival. “He told me that you killed him.”

“No.” So Vader hadn’t killed Anakin Skywalker? Then who did? “I am your father.”

Next to Yuri, Selina squeaked and clutched the pillow that she was hugging to her chest even tighter than before, almost ripping it apart.

“No. No! That’s not true! That’s impossible!”

“Search your feelings. You knew it to be true.”

“No! No! No!”

“Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It’s the only way.”

Yuri watched as Luke made his decision. For a science fiction movie, she is sure getting into it. She was surprised to find Luke still alive after his fall. Why would Luke risk death? On second thought, Yuri thinks that she does know. If she was faced with the same decision, she would have done the exact same thing.

“Yuri, what are you thinking about?” Ren who was sitting next to her asked.

Yuri sighed, a very absurd thought entering her head. “If Kami shows up saying that he is my father, I’m going to kill myself.”

Ren stared at Yuri like she had suddenly grown two new heads. “Where did that come from?” He wanted to know.

Before Yuri can answer, the door to the room flew open just then. All five of them jumped about a foot in the air, and turned around only to see one of the members of Hati standing at the doorway, looking extremely apologetic.

“My apologies. But the captain and the Elder have called for you, Yagami-sama[2].”

* * * *

Riou looked extremely apologetic as he looked at an irritated looking Yuri Yagami who didn’t look too happy at having to take on a mission on her day-off. Usually, Yuri, as a Phantom, could mask her emotions really well, but those that knew her well, or had worked with her closely, could see past her mask.

“I am well aware that you’ve just finished a mission earlier in the day, but we need you on this one as well,” said Riou sheepishly. “One of the other Phantoms had sent in a report that there are two suspected Raven Gate’s members sighted in underground Shinjuku. I would like for you to investigate those two, and if possible, uncover their plans. Keep a low profile though.”

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Yuri sighed. “Fine,” she said. “A mission’s a mission. No matter how much I dislike it.”

* * * *

It was a cloudy and rainy Wednesday afternoon, with the rain having just let up earlier, when Yuri Yagami walked through the streets of Shinjuku in her street clothes in order to blend in with the crowd, as she shadowed a suspected Raven’s Gate member that the Elder and Riou have told her about earlier.

The person that she was trailing seemed harmless as well; your typical man with a stubble on his chin, and dressed in a black T-shirt and tattered jeans with a beige coat on, with both his hands stuffed into his pockets, his shifty eyes glancing from left to right in suspicion as he headed off to who-knows-where.

But as Yuri knows from past experience, appearances can be deceptive.

Yuri paused in her step before quickly turning, and pretending to be busy looking at the mannequins in the shop window of some clothes boutique, keeping an eye on the man that she was shadowing out of the corner of her eye.

The man was looking left and right carefully, standing outside an alleyway. The streets of Shinjuku were always crowded at this hour of the day, and no one paid the man a second glance, save for Yuri herself.

Yuri frowned slightly as she turned her head to the side carefully, pretending to be interested in some outfit that the mannequins in the shop window were displaying, not letting the man out of her sight.

From where Yuri was standing, she could see how the man’s face seemed a tad bit relaxed; as if he was relieved, before he stepped in through the alleyway and disappeared into the darkness Yuri waited for several moments before moving away from the front of the clothes boutique, and headed towards the alleyway that the man had just disappeared into.

Yuri took a quick glance around before being satisfied that no one was near her, entering the alleyway as well, one hand on her gun in case of any sudden ‘surprises’. Her sharp eyes caught the sight of two silhouettes in the distance, and she quickly ducked behind a stack of empty carton boxes.

Yuri could tell by the sound of their voices that the two figures were men, both appearing to be in their late twenties or early thirties. And Yuri had to strain her ears to catch their conversation, as they were both speaking in fairly low tones, and even then, Yuri could only catch snippets of their conversation.

“…found him dead in the warehouse in underground Shinjuku.” The first man was speaking. “Apparently, Hati got to him.”

At this point in time, Yuri knew exactly who they were speaking about: Kanzaki.

“Does Hati know about our connection to him?” The second man spoke, his voice sounding quite gruff, and there was a strange accent to his voice that Yuri didn’t quite recognise.

There was a slight pause before Yuri heard the click of a lighter, and the strong smell of tobacco smoke filled the air. “Most probably,” said the first man. “They are Hati after all. You can’t under-estimate them.”

“Who are those involved in his extermination? Do you know?” asked the second man, not sounding too concerned.

“Extermination? That’s what you call Kanzaki’s murder?” The first man sounded a tad bit amused.

“Then what do you call the death of a liability?” asked the second man, his voice getting sharp. “In the first place, we should never have risked exposure by getting him out of prison. We only did that because Kami knew that he’s the one person that Hati will chase after personally, and we do need a way to determine the threat level that Hati is to us.” He sighed. “Answer my question. Which members of Hati are involved in his extermination? The Drifters or the Sweepers?”

Sweepers are the people within Hati who are part of the ‘clean-up crew’. Basically, the Sweepers are the ones who do all the ‘cleaning up’ after a Phantom or a Drifter had killed a target, usually disposing of the bodies, and ensuring that the person dispatched to take out the target did their job properly. A Drifter is also what Hati called their regular assassins who aren’t part of their elites, the Phantoms.

The difference in strength between a Phantom and a Drifter is like the difference between Heaven and Earth. A major difference. Thus, in the event a Phantom ever defected from Hati, a fellow Phantom will be dispatched after them instead of the Sweepers.

The first man sighed. “Neither. Five Phantoms were sent after him instead,” he said, and there was a slight pause before the second man spoke again, his voice sounding surprised.

“Five?” he echoed. “Hati actually sent five of their best after a man like Kanzaki?” There was a slight pause. “Who were they?”

“Phantoms II, XI, V, VIII and XIII.”

There was a shocked pause before the second man spoke again, his voice sounding quite spooked. “Those five are some of Hati’s best! And Hati actually sent those five after a person like Kanzaki?”

Their voices were lowered just then, and Yuri frowned as she could barely hear anything, edging closely towards the side of the carton boxes that she was hiding behind. And she froze as there was the sound of clattering as an empty glass bottle rolled away from her foot, startling the two men into immediate silence.

“What’s that?” asked the second man sharply. “Is there someone there? Did someone follow you?”

“Not possible,” said the first man, sounding a tad bit alarmed. “I had been careful on my way here. No one followed me. I’m sure of it.”

Right on cue, there was the loud yowl of a cat from right beside Yuri, and she almost jumped out of her skin as the silhouette of a cat scampered past her and out of the alleyway, and Yuri gave a sigh of relief. With any luck, those two men should believe that the noise from earlier is the cat.

The first man chuckled in amusement, the relief in his voice obvious to Yuri. “Just a cat,” he said. “Gave me a fright there for a moment.”

“It sure did,” said the second man, amusement in his voice as well. “But before that…we got a mouse to catch.”

Click.

Yuri froze in terror as she heard the unmistakable click of a revolver.

‘Shit.’

All her instincts kicked in just then, as she immediately threw herself to the ground. There was the immediate clattering of bullets which destroyed the carton boxes that she was hiding behind. Yuri immediately removed her gun from her holster, and dodged-rolled towards the entrance of the alleyway, and ducked around a corner as bullets peppered the pavement, causing several bystanders to scream. Several shop windows shattered as a result of the bullets.

Yuri scowled inwardly. ‘Keep a low profile, my foot,’ she thought to herself, releasing the safety catch on her gun. ‘I don’t have any other choice now.’

She waited for that one single moment when the bullets onslaught let up before turning around the corner and firing thrice. One bullet missed, but she distinctly heard the unmistakable sound of one of her bullets hitting one of the metal pipes that lined the walls, and a water pipe immediately burst, showering the two men with water.

Almost immediately, there was the sound of several curses before Yuri took that chance to run down the streets of Shinjuku, knowing perfectly well that that won’t stop them for long. She was right, as bullets immediately peppered around her feet, causing several bystanders to scream.

Yuri bit back a curse as a stray bullet hit the palm of her left hand, and blood immediately began to flow. But Yuri knew that she didn’t have time to worry about that right now, and besides, she had suffered worse injuries than that.

She scowled as she pulled out her cellphone and dialling a number that she was long familiar with by now. She led the two men hot on her heels to a desolate area to minimise the risk of endangering the civilians.

She hated to do this, but she had to call for help.

* * * *

In Hati headquarters, Ren and Tohya were both having a pretty slow game of billiards in the recreation room of the dormitory building, when Sunny entered, wearing a serious expression on his face that almost seemed like someone had just died.

“What’s up?” asked Ren, noting the look on his face. “You look as if your dog had died.”

Sunny sighed. “Control had just gotten an SOS call from Yagami,” he reported. “Apparently, she is being chased by some snipers in underground Shinjuku.”

“Whaaat?”

“Yuri is in trouble again?” Ren rolled his eyes in annoyance.

* * * *

Yuri cursed as she ducked whilst running through the streets of Shinjuku, pushing her way through the streets which wasn’t too difficult to do with two snipers hot on her heels, firing bullets in every direction. A bullet zipped past her head, narrowly missing her.

Yuri can only thank her lucky stars that the two men hot on her heels – whoever that they are – are bad with guns. Extremely bad with guns. But as it is, she is in a rather tight spot right now.

With this many bystanders and civilians, Yuri daren’t fire her gun, as she runs a risk of hitting innocent civilians. And she is already fairly sure that this is going to be all over the papers come tomorrow morning.

And unless she’s extremely lucky, Yuri had a nasty feeling that the Elder or Riou were going to yell at her for this, as it means extreme work at covering up. In the end, Hati and their members aren’t supposed to exist, and the public aren’t even supposed to know about them.

Yuri dodged another stray bullet which struck a wall not too far away from her. “You idiots couldn’t hit a wall even if it is right in front of you!” Yuri shouted, not turning her head back. A bullet then whizzed past her, narrowly missing her head by mere inches.

“Dog of Hati!” hissed one of the men whom Yuri recognised as the first speaker from earlier, reloading some bullets into his gun. “Die!”

But before he or his companion could even fire a single shot, Yuri’s sharp ears caught the sound of something whistling through the air. And against her better judgment, she turned her head just in time to see a pair of twin spinning knives come into contact with the hands of her two pursuers, and said pursuers dropped their guns with a painful cry, with blood gushing out from their wounds.

Yuri wasn’t paying attention to her pursuers however, as her attention was focused on the twin spinning knives which had saved her life, go flying back to their owner. She knew those weapons…

A loud roaring sound of a motorcycle engine reaches her ears just then. Yuri narrowed her eyes as a black and silver motorbike with the rider having on a black helmet with a black leather jacket with flames designed on the back came riding up to her, the bike stopping next to her.

“Get on!” said an extremely familiar voice as one hand caught the twin spinning knives which the rider had thrown earlier to help Yuri out.

Yuri’s eyes widened with both surprise and wonder as she recognised that voice instantly. How can she not when she worked with the owner of that voice almost every single day?

“Tohya?”

Yuri had never been as glad as now to see her friend.

“Hurry up and get on!” Tohya urged as he quickly threw a couple of smoke bombs at the two men which immediately gave them a smokescreen cover for several precious moments.

Yuri didn’t need any more prompting as she immediately got on the bike behind Tohya, and the teen veered his bike before speeding off, the bullets which clattered after them missing his bike by mere inches.

* * * *

That night wasn’t much fun for Yuri the moment that she had returned with Tohya to Hati headquarters.

Sure, the mission isn’t exactly a total failure, but still, Raven’s Gate will be tipped off that Hati is on their tail, if they hadn’t been already.

Yuri spent three hours in the presence of the Elder and Riou, getting chewed out by the both of them endlessly, with the Elder going on and on, endlessly preaching to Yuri about the importance of anonymity, and why it is important that the public not know of their existence.

Yeah right. Like Yuri didn’t already knew that.

Yuri’s ears were ringing by the time she was dismissed by the Elder and Riou, with instructions from them both to tend to her injuries which she had sustained from the two members of Raven’s Gate earlier.

Tohya chuckled, and Ren smirked a little as the two teens sat on Yuri’s either side, up on the rooftop of the dormitory building later that night, as they both watched the girl binding the palm of her left hand with bandages.

“I do believe this is the first time that I’ve seen you mess up a mission,” chuckled Ren. Seeing Yuri’s dark look, he turned serious. “Come on, everyone fails missions at some point. Even I do. It isn’t the end of the world if you failed this one mission.”

Tohya nodded. “Ren’s right,” he said. He then smiled. “I guess that even a legendary assassin gets injured sometimes.”

“Now that we’ve got time, Yuri, do you mind telling me why you chose guns as your weapon?” asked Ren curiously. “I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time now, but we somehow always get interrupted.”

There was silence for several moments before Yuri spoke. “My uncle trained me to use guns when I first came to Japan nine years ago,” she said, not betraying anything in her tone.

Tohya raised a brow. “Your uncle?” He frowned, furrowing his brows. “Yagami-sama?”

Yuri nodded. “He’s the one who taught me how to kill,” she said. “Before that, when my mother was alive, she never liked or approved of his ‘job’.” She chuckled bitterly. “Pretty ironic how I ended up going down the same path, huh?” Yuri tilted her head backwards to look at the stars. “My uncle taught me everything that I know. He’s the one who had trained me to be a Phantom.”

Yuri shut her eyes briefly. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could still see her mother and uncle. It has been nine years since she’d left that country and had come to Japan. Yet the years after that were filled with nothing but bloodshed and deaths. Sometimes, Yuri wondered if her mother would have approved of what she is doing. Or if her mother would even accept what she is doing now.

It has been so long since her death, and Yuri hasn’t thought about her mother in years.

Yet it is also that night when Yuri dreamt about her mother.

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[1] A Japanese expletive

[2] -sama: A form of suffix used to address a higher up