Chapter Twenty One
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One, you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust, they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved, in you they trusted and were not disappointed. - Psalm 22:2
* * * *
The skies were dark and gloomy that early Thursday morning when Yuri Yagami made her way into the Aoyama cemetery at the break of dawn, wearing her coat. The gloomy weather that Thursday morning only added to her already sombre mood as she entered the silent cemetery.
The Aoyama cemetery was deserted, and even the caretaker of the cemetery wasn’t around. The dried leaves crackled beneath Yuri’s feet as she walked over them, taking a path that she could probably walk with both her eyes closed.
And at the furthest point of the cemetery, Yuri stopped before a fairly elaborate grave with the engravings of twin dragons on the top of the gravestone. The following words were inscribed on the gravestone itself in Japanese kanji letters:
Here lies Kenji Yagami
Friend to all and brother to some
May he find in death what he could not find in life
20 August 1970 – 31 July 2006
Yuri’s eyes roamed over the third line inscribed on the gravestone over and over again like how she always did when she came here whenever she felt down or upset. Just like when her uncle was still alive, she always managed to feel better whenever she spoke to him.
Kenji Yagami may not be the most emotional person out there, but he is the most important person in the world to Yuri. He did help to raise her after all, and he is the closest thing to a father that she ever had in her entire life.
“It’s been awhile, Uncle Kenji,” said Yuri softly. “How are you doing?”
And Yuri could almost hear her uncle’s voice in her head, back then when he was training her to be a Hati assassin.
If revenge is called Justice, then that Justice breeds yet more revenge, and becomes a chain of hatred.
Yuri sighed to herself.
A very small voice at the back of her mind that had always been there spoke up next.
‘What would your mother think if she saw you like this now? Didn’t she trust you? Would she be proud of you?’
Yuri sighed, pushing her bangs out of her eyes as she let her eyes roam over the words of the gravestone. She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again.
“No…” she whispered to herself. “I suppose not…”
The sound of the crackling of dried leaves caused Yuri to turn around, and she saw both Tohya and Ren approaching her, both in their coats as well. Yuri didn’t say anything as they looked at each other for several moments in silence before she turned back towards her uncle’s gravestone.
Ren broke the silence first.
“I thought that we’ll find you here,” he said. “And I was right.”
“And you’re looking for me because…?” Yuri questioned, though she had a feeling that she knew the answer. Ever since Jessica’s unexpected appearance all those months back when Miki had died, she knew that both Tohya and Ren were getting curious about her past.
Not that she could blame them.
Tohya sighed before going straight to the point. He knew that there was no beating around the bush with Yuri. “We’ve known each other for quite some time now,” he stated, and Yuri turned around to face them at this. “Can you tell us, Yuri? Just what had happened between you and that Apostle girl? Why do you hate her so much? And why did she hate you so much? And just what had led you to join Hati in the first place?”
Yuri was silent for several moments before speaking again. “Tohya, you were in Hati for the longest time among us three, especially since your family have been Hati assassins for generations ever since the war,” she said. “Tell me, how much do you know about my past?”
“As much as any of the others in Hati does, I suppose,” said Tohya with a shrug. “You suddenly appeared in Japan nine years ago, and Yagami-sama brought you to Hati headquarters, despite the fact that civilians aren’t supposed to know about Hati. But the Elder didn’t say anything about it. And it was only a few months later that you underwent training under Yagami-sama to be a Hati assassin. And before we knew it, you became a Phantom – one of Hati’s elites.”
Yuri nodded. “That’s about the gist of it,” she said. “That is the simple version of things.” She gave out a small sigh. “We’ve known each other for some time now. I’ve known Ren for only three years, yet it almost seems longer.” Ren smiled. “And Tohya, much as I hate to admit it, you were my first friend in Hati even when I first started training.” She muttered something beneath her breath. “I’ve wanted to kill you so many times back then because of your annoying ways. It’s a wonder that I didn’t.”
Tohya grinned.
Yuri ran the fingers of her right hand through her hair. “We’ve known each other for some time now. And I’ve never told you this before. Or anyone else for that matter.” She turned back towards her uncle’s grave. “I guess talking about the past every once in awhile is alright.” She mused. “I shall tell you about my past…and just why I’d joined Hati and became an assassin.”
Yuri fell silent for several moments as she looked at her uncle’s gravestone.
“You said that you’ve sinned, Ren,” she said emotionlessly, and Ren raised a brow. “That night when you nearly blew your brains out if I hadn’t stopped you, you said that you don’t deserve to live.” Yuri chuckled bitterly. “Trust me. Compared to what I’ve done, what you’ve done is nothing.”
Tohya raised a brow. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Gods…” Yuri muttered, clasping one hand to her forehead. “I really need to get this all off my chest, or I’ll go crazy!” She paused. “I guess it all really started from my childhood. You guys probably knew parts of it as well.” Tohya and Ren both nodded. “For as long as I’ve remembered, I never had a father. Back then, the only father figures in my life were Uncle Kenji and Miki’s father who had passed away when we were about six or so. I didn’t have a father, but I was never lonely. Then when I was old enough to understand, my mother explained to me that my father left us even before I was born.” Yuri clenched her hands into fists. “Because that worthless piece of shit is his daughter!”
Tohya and Ren’s eyes widened. “So it’s true then…” said Ren, his eyes wide with wonder and shock. “That girl is really your…” He trailed off.
Yuri nodded. “Yeah. I was surprised when you managed to find that out though, Ren,” she said, turning towards him. She chuckled. “I suppose you’re a better hacker and information gatherer than I’ve thought.” She sighed. “Yeah. Much as I hate to admit it, I am related by blood to that whore. I don’t really understand it back then, and even now, I still don’t. But from what my mother had told me back then, that whore’s mother was my father’s first girlfriend even before he had met my mother. He got her pregnant, and then she ran away from him. Then, when my mother was pregnant with me, that bitch’s mother appeared on their doorstep with her daughter, and wanted him to leave my mother for the sake of their ‘true love’ and their daughter.” She said sarcastically.
Ren sighed and Tohya groaned. Talk about a complicated family…
Yuri growled. “My father was an idiot,” she said. “He left my mother for that woman, and not long after that, he vanished without a trace, presumed dead. After that, that woman and her daughter kept tormenting my mother and me, and that whore even made my school days a living nightmare when I had the misfortune to be enrolled in the same goddamn school as her!” She chuckled. “Well, it’s not like I’m not used to it by then. Miki and I used to be the targets of the school bullies all the time back then just because we’re Japanese.”
Tohya and Ren exchanged looks.
I don’t understand, kaa-san.
Someday you will. Just remember, Yuri. You’ll always be my treasure.
“Then nine years ago…” Yuri almost shook with anger as she remembered that incident that had caused her to leave Singapore. “Nine years ago was when everything actually began for me…”
Yuri proceeded to tell them the rest of what actually happened before she came to Japan and joined Hati. But she withheld the most gruesome details as she did not want to talk about it or to remember it. Yuri thought it was not necessary to let Tohya and Ren know everything.
“After my mother was murdered, everything was like a nightmare for me,” said Yuri, her voice shaking with emotion. “I often thought, ‘if it was a nightmare, let me wake up from it.’ For days, I kept repeating that in my head. But who was I kidding?” She chuckled bitterly. “ I can’t…can’t wake up from it because it was reality!”
Ren was silent as he thought that it was best for Yuri to let it all out. How many years has she kept it bottled inside of her like this? And he seriously doubted that even Yuri’s uncle knew anything about this. Yuri isn’t the type to just talk about her own problems without tremendous persuasion – she disliked showing weakness of any kind.
“You thought that you’ve experienced pain, Ren. But the pain that I had endured for that one week when my mother was murdered to when I actually ran away to Japan, that was real pain!”
Ren had a feeling that Yuri didn’t mean the physical type of pain. Yuri clenched her hands into fists by her sides, her bangs covering her eyes as she glared at the ground, trying to drive a hole through it by sheer willpower alone.
“My mother never did anything wrong! She was a kind hearted and gentle woman who would never even think of harming a fly. She was everything to me!” Yuri’s vision was blurring as tears fell. “And that bitch murdered her in cold blood!” Yuri wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “I returned home from school that day only to find my mother dying in the sitting room of our apartment, with that bitch’s calling card beside her. That’s how I even knew that she was the murderer.” Yuri turned towards her friends. “But that was just when things started to get good. You haven’t heard the most interesting part yet.” She chuckled bitterly and darkly. “I ended up being the police’s prime suspect in my mother’s murder.”
Ren’s blood turned cold at this.
Yuri turned her face towards the sky where the clouds were starting to darken, with rain threatening to fall. “At a time when revenge, vengeance, justice and death hold no meaning in my world, I started to hate. I hate that mother and daughter pair. I knew that no matter what I said, no one would believe me. They all thought that I was crazy. The only ones who have believed me and stood by me were Miki and her elder brother.”
Tohya was taken aback. So that was why Yuri had gone to meet Miki that night. That girl was the only one who had ever stood by Yuri during the darkest time of her life.
“I started to hate, hate and hate.” Yuri clenched her jaw. “And with time, I started to hate everything. It was by that point that I no longer cared about anything but vengeance. I enlisted Miki’s help to get to Japan. Her brother helped too, albeit reluctantly.” She chuckled darkly. “I thought about no one but myself back then. I left Singapore, and managed to get to Japan.” Yuri looked at her uncle’s grave, and clenched her hands into fists by her sides. “I…can’t return to that country anymore.” She turned towards Ren and Tohya. “And that’s when I decided to be a Hati assassin.”
* * * *
May 2000
Shinjuku, Japan
Yuri Yagami watched on with emotionless eyes as her uncle converse with a young man who looked to be in his early teens. It had been a month or so since she came to Japan, and had gone to her uncle. And whenever she closed her eyes at night, she kept seeing the scene of her mother’s death that day.
She had been living with her uncle in the dormitory complex of his workplace for the past month, and even Yuri is sharp enough to put together the pieces that her uncle’s ‘job’ isn’t the normal everyday job that most adults do their whole lives.
She may be nine years old, but she was definitely not stupid.
Besides, her uncle had a tendency to disappear for days on end whenever the guy he called ‘Elder’ called for him. The man was supposedly her uncle’s ‘employer’. And when Kenji reappeared again, he always had that haunted look on his face which Yuri ever only saw one time on Michiru-nii’s face when she happened to be over at Miki’s house. Michio-nii had later explained to Miki and her that Michiru-nii had to kill a suspect/criminal for the first time that day.
Her uncle had that same look that Michiru-nii had that day. It wasn’t that obvious, but it stayed with him, particularly the eyes, till he died.
Yuri raised a brow as Kenji came out of the room of the young man in the dormitory complex. That building had really been the only place that Yuri had been allowed to stay in so far, not that she minded. She had never really liked travelling and going to other places ever since she was a young child.
“Yuri, this is Riou Takeshi,” said Kenji, gesturing towards the young man by his side who gave Yuri a smile, and she returned the gesture. “I…have some work to do, so he’ll be watching over you whilst I’m gone.”
Yuri nodded. She had never been alone ever since she had come to Japan. It was like her uncle was afraid that she will go and ‘off’ herself or something. It was pretty ridiculous. If Yuri had wanted to die, she would have done so back in Singapore. What would she go to all that trouble to slip past the police of Singapore and come to Japan for if she was going to kill herself in the end?
When Kenji was ‘working’, the ‘Elder’ guy was the one watching over her. Yuri kind of liked the old guy, as he taught her how to play shougi[1] and several other strategy games, and he often told her stories as well. Never once did he give her any pitying looks, or even ask about what had happened in Singapore, though Yuri suspects that her uncle probably had something to do with it.
She had cried her eyes out the night that she told her uncle everything. But after that night, she had never been alone once.
“When will you be back?” asked Yuri.
“I’m not too sure myself,” said Kenji with a shrug. “Depends on how long I take to finish my…work, I suppose.” He coughed, but Yuri didn’t miss the slight pause in her uncle’s words. Honestly! How naïve does Kenji seriously think she is? Yuri knew that her uncle’s work was something that he could not be proud of, and it isn’t something that he could just shout to everyone.
Yuri nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll see you again, right?”
Kenji smiled and nodded, ruffling her hair. “Of course.”
“Yagami-san.” Riou interrupted, and the two exchanged looks before Kenji nodded.
“I understand,” said Kenji. “Please look after her for me.”
Riou nodded, and Yuri watched as her uncle walked down the hallway and disappeared from view. She then looked at Riou who looked back at her with a nervous expression on his face. He then coughed into his hand.
“So…what do you want to do today?” Riou asked nervously.
The look that Yuri gave him asked the same exact thing.
* * * *
Aoyama Cemetery
October 2009
“The captain was already a Phantom by then?” Ren blinked owlishly. “How old was he?”
“Well, I don’t really think that he was already a Phantom,” said Yuri with a cough. “He was about fifteen or sixteen back then, I think. I was too preoccupied with my own problems then. Thus, I wasn’t really paying attention to the people around me, except for my uncle. I think that the captain was training to be a Phantom at that time.”
Tohya nodded. “Yeah, I think he was too,” he said. “After the entire fiasco with their encounter with the first generation of Raven’s Gate, Hati was almost in shambles, as they’ve lost almost their entire elite force – the Phantoms. As far as I know, the only ones who survived were the Elder and Yagami-sama. The Elder was actually still the captain of the Phantoms back then, but he is also taking care of the leadership of Hati too. It was during that time when everything in Hati had quietened down some that the surviving members of the Phantoms were picking new members.”
“Anyway, it was about a month and a half after I’d been in Japan that Uncle Kenji actually came clean about Hati, and what they actually do,” said Yuri with a cough. “I think that he was actually half expecting me to run screaming, but I didn’t.” She sighed. “At that point in time, I was already plotting ways for me to exact my revenge on that mother and daughter pair. My uncle coming clean with Hati was just all that I need to decide that I wanted to be like him: to be a Phantom -- To be an assassin.”
* * * *
June 2000
Shinjuku, Japan
The topic of Hati came up quite unexpectedly.
As usual, Yuri and her uncle were in his bedroom in the dormitory complex. The man himself was at the computer, whilst Yuri was sitting on her uncle’s bed with her back against the wall, reading a novel that her uncle had bought for her so that she wouldn’t get bored with his long period of absences.
Yuri was on the first page of her novel, but she hadn’t moved past a single page, despite having had the book opened on her lap for the past thirty minutes. She was glancing at her uncle every now and again.
Yuri was, if nothing, a smart child.
If no one will give her answers to questions that she wanted answered, she will do the next best thing: she will observe and get the answers herself.
And now, after nearly two months in Japan, she had more or less attained the answers that she wanted. She just wanted confirmation from her uncle. And if it is one thing that Yuri hated the most, it is being lied to. Though to be fair to her uncle, he had never once lied to her about his job. He had just never given her a proper answer whenever she had asked.
“Uncle Kenji.”
“Hmm?” Kenji didn’t tear his eyes away from the screen of his computer as he took a sip from his mug of steaming hot coffee.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Is Hati…an assassination organisation?”
Kenji nearly choked on his coffee, and as it is, he snorted about half of his coffee up his nose, and ended up using several napkins just to clean up the mess that he had caused. Though thankfully, the coffee didn’t end up on his computer.
Kenji coughed as he placed his cup back onto the desk before turning around in his swivel chair to look at his niece. Yuri was looking at him with a calm and calculated look, and Kenji knew that look all too well: it is that look that Yuri always had ever since she was a small child whenever she wanted to know something, and wouldn’t stop until she had gotten the answers that she wanted.
“W-What makes you say that all of a sudden?” Kenji asked. She could tell that the man was a tad bit nervous.
Yuri sighed. “I’m nine years old, Uncle,” she said. “I’m not stupid. I have the ability to put together the pieces by myself.” She said the last part rather irritably.
She started to tick off the points on her fingers when she saw her uncle’s raised brow that asked her silently to elaborate. “You never liked to talk about your ‘job’, and you often returned rather late at night, sometimes injured.”
Yuri knew that her uncle didn’t realise that he had accidentally woken her up on more than one occasion when he had returned late. Yuri had always been a light sleeper, so this wasn’t exactly her uncle’s fault.
“Sometimes, when I was in the recreation room watching television, I sometimes hear your other ‘colleagues’ talking something about ‘missions’, ‘targets’ and ‘cleanup’.”
Kenji groaned. He made a mental note to ‘speak’ to the Drifters – the lower ranked members of Hati, about not talking about their missions in a place where everyone could hear them!
“And lastly, from what little that you’ve said about Hati whenever I’ve asked you, you said that Hati’s job is really important,” said Yuri calmly, looking at her uncle in the eye. “And if Hati is really as big as what I’ve seen during the past two months that I’ve been here, surely someone would have written about it on a website or a blog in the technology savvy world we live in? But I’ve seen nothing of that sort on the Internet whenever I use your computer while you’re out ‘working’.”
Kenji clasped one hand to his forehead. “I knew that it was a bad idea to teach you how to surf and use the Internet,” he muttered below his breath, and Yuri managed a small smile. “And I see that your mother isn’t exaggerating either when she said that you remind her of me. You’re indeed very sharp and observant, Yuri.” Yuri managed a small smile.
Kenji then got up from his seat. “Come with me, Yuri,” he said, pulling on his coat that was draped over the back of his chair. “And put on your coat. I’m going to take you somewhere. I know that I can’t hide this from you for long. The Elder and Riou both told me so, but I still wanted to try. I’m going to tell you everything about Hati, and what I actually do for them. And after that, I want you to make your own decision; you’re already old enough to do so.”
* * * *
Aoyama Cemetery
October 2009
Ren frowned. “So, on that day, your uncle told you everything about Hati?” he asked, and Yuri nodded.
“Yes,” said Yuri with a nod. She chuckled. “Well, it isn’t like he has a choice. I did practically force him into a corner.”
Ren and Tohya exchanged grins. Yuri hadn’t changed in that aspect ever since she was a child, it seems. Even now, she could force some of their targets to reveal everything that they had ever known with just a few well chosen words.
“So…he told you everything on that day then?” Tohya asked, and Yuri nodded.
“Everything about Hati and the Phantoms, and even their history,” she said. “He also told me why he and my mother kept it from me.” She sighed. “You see, the Yagami family is a lot like Tohya’s family.” Tohya blinked. “For generations, the members of the Yagami family have always served in Hati. But my mother had never liked the whole assassination thing. And thus, she left home when she graduated from high school to pursue her own life. Her parents – my grandparents died when she was pretty young. And thus, my uncle is the one to bring her up. She then met my father in college, and both left for Singapore after that. But despite all the differences between them, my mother and uncle still kept in constant contact with each other. Uncle Kenji often visited us several times a year – especially during New Year’s Eve, our birthdays, and Christmas.” Yuri sighed. “Anyway, he told me everything that day. Even what Hati is, and what they represents. And he even told me about the Phantoms.”
* * * *
June 2000
Ichigaya, Shinjuku
Yuri stared as she stood before a rather large painting that almost covered the entire section of the wall that her uncle had brought her to.
Her uncle had driven her somewhere in Ichigaya with his motorbike, and he had later explained that the building was the headquarters of the Hati organisation. The interior of the building was Victorian-like, and there wasn’t anyone around then.
Kenji had also came clean with her about Hati, explaining every single detail about the Hati organisation, what they actually does, and even about the Phantoms – the Hati elites, of which he is a member of.
If it is two months earlier, Yuri would have been pretty freaked out by the fact that her kind-hearted and gentle uncle was an assassin, a killer. But now, that fact didn’t scare her much.
Probably, it had something to do with her witnessing her mother dying right in front of her, and maybe it was because revenge had been at the back of her mind for two months now. But whatever it was, Yuri accepted the fact that Hati was an underground organisation that kills in the shadows, and the Yagami family had long been in this line for generations ever since the war.
Yuri could only stare as she looked at this amazing painting right in front of her. She can’t really tell how long ago it had been painted. But when she looked at the label below the painting, she found out that this painting had been done by some half-Japanese half-American guy more than eighty years ago.
And yet, this painting looked as if it was done yesterday.
Seen from a child’s point of view, the painting looked almost ominous; as the background was that of chaos itself – with black flames and falling mountains, and with volcanoes erupting. But the main focus of the painting was the two gargantuan black wolves depicted in the middle of the painting.
The wolves looked extremely life-like to Yuri, with their wide jaws, drool dripping out of their mouths, and their golden eyes. And both those two wolves were each facing a different direction, with only one difference between them both – the wolf facing the right side was chasing after the moon, whilst the wolf facing the left side was chasing after the sun.
And when Yuri glanced down to read the label of the painting again, she read the words on it for the first time: ‘The Wolves of the Dark and Light – Hati and Skoll.’
“Hati…and Skoll?” Yuri muttered to herself as she let her eyes rest on the painting for a few moments before looking up at her uncle. “What is this?”
Kenji was looking at the painting with a strange look in his eyes, his hands shoved in his pockets. Yuri was fairly certain that her uncle had probably seen this painting over a hundred times, yet it almost seemed to her like Kenji was seeing it for the first time in his life.
“Hati and Skoll are the wolves of Norse mythology,” said Kenji, looking down at Yuri, a small smile tugging at the ends of his lips. “Hati chases the moon, and Skoll chases the sun. Thus, the cycle of night and day is due to those two wolves. And it is also believed that when the sun is devoured, there is a solar eclipse, and when the moon is devoured, there is a lunar eclipse.”
“In the early days, people try to scare away the wolves by banging a great number of pots and pans together. Thus, because of their individual roles, Hati is known as the wolf of the night and moon, whilst Skoll is known as the wolf of the light and sun.”
Kenji glanced at Yuri before looking at the Hati wolf depicted in the painting – the wolf on the right side of the painting. Yuri followed her uncle’s gaze.
“The Hati organisation is named after him.” Kenji said calmly, tracing the image of the Hati wolf gently with the fingertips of his right hand. “If Hati’s name, Hati Hroovitnisson, is translated from the Norse tongue, his name basically meant ‘He Who Hates, Enemy’.” Kenji paused and glanced at Yuri. “In other words, there are many people who believe that Hati is actually the symbol of those who dwell in the shadows, and is the very symbol of hatred itself.” Kenji sighed. “That’s why the Hati wolf is our symbol.”
“Why?”
Kenji glanced down at Yuri before turning back to the painting of the two wolves in Norse mythology. He would look at the painting whenever he felt upset and troubled, or whenever he felt confused. The painting somehow managed to cheer him up some. This was actually the first time that Kenji had ever brought someone with him here.
The level of the Hati headquarters that they were in was the level where the meeting room of the Phantoms are. Thus, apart from the Phantoms themselves, no one ever came up here. And the paintings hanging on the wall on this level told the tale about what Hati really represented to the world, and how important their jobs really were.
Kenji stared at Yuri for a long time before turning back to the painting. He was starting to dread what Yuri’s decision for her future might be. He knew that Hitomi would never approve of her only child being exposed to the life that their father had wanted for Hitomi when they were both children.
That was the reason why Hitomi left home in the first place after she graduated from high school – because she couldn’t stand the fact that her beloved older brother was a killer.
But when Hitomi was older, she somehow understood her older brother’s situation, though it didn’t mean that she accepted it. But then, they started talking again. Hitomi Yagami was perhaps the only living civilian who knew about Hati.
Kenji knew that if Hitomi were still alive, she would chide him for exposing Yuri to this life. But still, Yuri had to make her choice regarding her future. And furthermore, Kenji has been in this line for long enough to know that when Yuri had first come to him two months ago, that look in her eyes was one of pure hatred and vengeance for her mother’s killer.
She was out for blood.
“You know of Hati and what we actually do,” said Kenji at last. “The Hati wolf of Norse mythology represents darkness. That is what we are. We are not upholders of justice. We merely have the responsibility to protect Japan and the order of the world from crumbling in the shadows. In order to achieve that, we operate in darkness, unknown to everyone.”
Kenji glanced at Yuri briefly before walking down the hallway with Yuri close at his heels.
“Because the nature of our jobs…our duties…the missions that we perform are so…horrific, that letting the public know of our existence, and what we actually do, might and will cause chaos, and we had to keep what we do a tight secret. It will also create a scandal like no other, and we might even possibly risk a civil war.” Kenji chose his words carefully. “Japan isn’t the only country on our list to protect. We protect every country on the world map. Hati’s job is to protect the order of the world, and to prevent that order from crumbling.” He sighed. “It is a thankless job, Yuri, but someone has to do it.”
Kenji stopped before another painting almost as large as the one earlier that had depicted the two gargantuan wolves of Norse mythology. Yuri recognised this painting immediately, as she had seen a similar one at an Art festival a few years ago.
It seemed to be an exact replica of ‘The Last Supper’, the famous 1495 painting done by Leonardo da Vinci which depicted the last meal that Jesus Christ had shared with his twelve disciples before his betrayal and death.
“Yuri, do you know why there are always only thirteen members for the Phantoms – the Hati elites?” asked Kenji suddenly, and Yuri blinked at this odd question.
“No.”
“During the time of Lord Jesus, at the Last Supper, there were thirteen people present. And not long after that, Judas betrayed Jesus. Later, Jesus was left to die on the cross.” Kenji paused, looking down at Yuri who was looking at the painting with something akin to awe in her eyes. “That’s the reason why Hati always had thirteen members among their elites. No more, and no less. It won’t change now, and it won’t ever change in the future. That’s the rule.”
Silence fell between them both for several minutes as Yuri stared at the painting without saying anything, while Kenji studied his niece .
“Uncle Kenji.” Yuri finally broke the uneasy silence without turning around to face her uncle, while Kenji raised a brow. “You said earlier back at the dorms that you wanted me to choose my own path. To make my own decision. Is this what you had meant?”
“Yeah.” Kenji said, nodding as he did so. “For generations, the Yagami family had always been in Hati, serving them as assassins. Hitomi just never liked the whole killing part of Hati. That is the reason why she had left home in the first place, and why she had never liked to talk about my ‘job’ whenever you asked her. I’m a killer. I take lives for a living.”
“When you were born, your mother was reluctant to allow me to see you as she was afraid that you might end up walking the same path that I did. It took a great deal of convincing on my part before she would agree to let me see you.”
Kenji looked at Yuri, and the girl turned to look at her uncle in the eye. “You’re nine years old now. You’re old enough to make your own decision. I was barely seven years old before I started training to be a killer.” Kenji knelt down to Yuri’s eye level, looking at her in the eye. “Whether you want to just live a normal civilian life, and forget about everything like how your mother did, or whether you want to join the world of darkness like how I did, it is your choice. You have to make your own decision.”
Yuri turned towards the painting of The Last Supper, and her gaze lingered on the figure of Judas Iscariot, the one who had betrayed Jesus Christ.
—and you’re probably going to need it soon enough. Though I doubt that I’ll be able to hear your comments on my flower arranging skills which is a pity. After all…you won’t be living long enough to see them…
…Listen…Yuri… In this world…power is everything… I…knew that right from the start… Trust…no one…but yourself…
Yuri clenched her hands into fists by her sides as the words of that…woman as well as her mother’s dying words rang through her head. She already knew what she had wanted when she had made the decision to go to Japan.
Yuri made up her mind.
She then turned to face her uncle with a determined look on her face. And Kenji was almost taken aback by that fire of determination that he had only seen in the eyes of his fellow Phantoms when they headed out onto the battlefield.
“I’ve made my decision,” said Yuri, not looking away from her uncle’s eyes, and Kenji nodded. “I know that you might probably say that it’s a rash decision on my part, but it isn’t. I’ve already made up my mind two months ago when kaa-san was killed by that woman!” Yuri clenched her jaw as she looked away briefly before turning back to her uncle once more. “Uncle Kenji, I…want to be a Phantom.”
Kenji stared. Somehow, he wasn’t very surprised by Yuri’s decision.
In his heart of hearts, Kenji knew that this was going to be the path that Yuri will choose. Especially after that night when he had seen her cry her eyes out as she told him everything about his younger sister’s death, and he had seen that hatred and anger for Hitomi’s murderer in Yuri’s eyes.
Even if Kenji had never told Yuri about Hati, and had kept her away from this life, he knew without a doubt that Yuri will still find a way to involve herself in this world. She was too much like him to be any different. Even Hitomi had admitted that.
Kenji sighed before kneeling down to Yuri’s eye level, placing both hands onto her shoulders. “You have to understand something, Yuri,” he said seriously, and Yuri blinked. “Once you tread this path, there is no going back. You can’t return even if you wanted to. The life of an assassin has no allowances for failure. We can’t afford that. If you fail, you die. Do you understand?”
Yuri didn’t falter. She nodded. “Yes.”
Kenji sighed before straightening himself to his full height as he looked down at Yuri. He knew that his niece was as stubborn as he was, and he also knew that once she’d made her decision, she would not change it.
But still…
“Do you want to live, Yuri?” Kenji asked.
“Yes.”
“Will you regret your decision?” Kenji asked.
“No.”
Kenji said nothing for several moments as he looked at his niece.
It was in Yuri’s blood.
She was born into a family that had served as assassins in Hati for generations after all. She carries the name of Yagami. Even if she had never wanted to be an assassin, the stigma will still be there to those who actually knew what the Yagami name had actually represented in the underworld.
Kenji sighed. “Yuri, in this world, power is everything,” he said, repeating the same exact words that his own father had said to him over twenty years ago. “If you want to live, you’re going to have to be stronger.” He looked at Yuri in the eye. Yuri didn’t falter once. “Yuri, I’m going to teach you how to kill.”
* * * *
Aoyama Cemetery
October 2009
Ren frowned. “So that’s when you made your decision to join Hati?” he asked, and Yuri nodded.
Tohya placed the forefinger of his right hand against his chin. “From what I could recall, Yagami-sama was your teacher, isn’t it, Yuri?” he asked, and Yuri nodded.
“He taught me everything I knew,” said Yuri. “From whom do you think I learned how to use guns? My uncle was a gun wielder. He is the only one in Hati. He spent months training me. And the rumours in Hati about his training didn’t do him any justice.”
Yuri chuckled at her memory of her uncle training her.
“He is a damn sadist when it comes to training. His training was harsh, hard and long. And if memory serves me right, I did want to beg him to stop. But I stuck with it. At that time, the only thing on my mind was revenge. I think that my uncle knew it too.”
* * * *
September 2000
Ichigaya, Shinjuku
Bang!
Yuri winced as she rubbed her left arm. That last shot had almost dislocated her arm because of the impact that came with it.
It had been nearly three months since her uncle started training her in combat, and the first few months were mainly in building up strength, speed and endurance. Yuri actually thought that her legs were going to fall off with all the squats that her uncle had made her do during the first month of training.
It is only after Kenji was satisfied with her strength, endurance and speed that he finally moved on to training her in using guns. But still, her child body was not strong enough to handle the impact that came with firing a shot.
And almost like Kenji had read her mind, Yuri sensed him coming up from behind her all of a sudden, and his foot moved her legs further apart from each other, and a strong arm shifted the hand holding the gun.
“Adjust your form,” said Kenji solemnly. “As a child, your body may not take the strain of firing a shot. Thus, the only way not to get injured with the backlash of the firing is to find the form that suits you best. And from there, you can adjust your form slowly as you grow, before you can fire a shot with no problem.”
“I understand,” said Yuri before adjusting her form according to the instructions, focusing on the bulls-eye target in front of her in the training room that the members of Hati mainly use to train in. “I won’t give in.”
Kenji stared at Yuri. Then he closed one hand over the practice gun that he had given Yuri for training, and the girl turned to look at him.
“Yuri, rest for a moment, and come sit with me,” he said. “I want a word with you.”
Yuri nodded dumbly as she allowed her uncle to take her practice gun before she followed him meekly. She leaned against the wall of the training room as she took a few gulps of water from the bottle, quenching her thirst.
“Yuri.” Kenji spoke suddenly, and Yuri looked up at her uncle who was sitting against the wall next to her, sitting with one leg stretched out before him, with the other leg propped up. “What do you think Justice is?”
Yuri blinked at the odd question. “Justice…” she muttered, looking away from Kenji, and at the bulls-eye target. She didn’t finish her sentence.
Justice doesn’t exist.
“If revenge is called Justice, then that Justice breeds yet more revenge, and becomes a chain of hatred.” Kenji stated, eyeing Yuri who stiffened a little. He sighed. “Everyone have their own reasons for being in Hati, Yuri. You have your own reasons. I have my own reasons. Everyone does. But it isn’t good to allow vengeance to rule your life. It’ll consume you.”
“Then…what should I do?” Yuri almost ended up shouting as she turned to face her uncle. “My mother…! My mother didn’t deserve to end up murdered like that! She didn’t do anything wrong! The one who is in the wrong is that woman! And she got away scot-free when she is the murderer? Where is the justice in that?”
Kenji chuckled bitterly, leaning his head backwards against the wall. “Don’t you know, Yuri?” he questioned before looking at her. “Justice doesn’t exist.” Yuri stared. “In our world, it doesn’t exist. Justice as part of the order of society, as we know, doesn’t work. That’s why we’re here, to do the job that Justice cannot. We become Justice itself.” He smiled a small sad smile for a moment. “Even though we aren’t exactly the epitome of Justice ourselves.”
Kenji looked at Yuri, clutching his own gun – an ebony coloured handgun with engravings of a three-headed dog on it. That was Kenji Yagami’s weapon, the ornamental gun Cerberus.
“When I was your age, I was already sent out on missions to take the lives of people,” said Kenji. “The lives of people who doesn’t deserve to continue existing in this world. That is what I thought back then. That with every life that I take, there is someone else in this world who continues living happily and in peace. That thought is what keeps me sane from all the killings.”
Kenji glanced at Yuri. “I won’t be around forever, Yuri,” he stated, and Yuri’s eyes widened a slight fraction. “Everyone dies someday. So will I. It holds especially true for a member of Hati, especially the Phantoms.”
Kenji smiled at Yuri. “All men are born free, and they will die free. That is the way of life. But before I die, I am going to make sure that you know everything that I can teach you. If I can’t make you forget about revenge, I won’t try to stop you. But I will make sure that you have the skills and the tools needed to ensure that you actually made it out alive.”
Kenji pulled down part of the collar of his coat from the left side of his neck, exposing a black butterfly tattoo with spread wings just above his collarbone on the left side of his neck.
Yuri’s eyes widened when she saw it. And now that she actually looked closely, she can see that a black chain was also looped three times around Kenji’s left wrist, from which a silver crescent moon pendant engraved with the Roman numeral of two hung from.
“This is the mark of the Phantoms,” said Kenji, pulling his coat collar back up again, and looking at Yuri. “There is a reason why the mark of the Phantoms is the butterfly. It is for the sole reason alone that the butterfly is the most mysterious and also the most beautiful creature in the world.”
Kenji smiled wistfully. “It first started out as a caterpillar. Then a larvae. Then it became the beautiful butterfly. No one will ever suspect the beautiful butterfly of anything. That’s similar to how the Phantoms of Hati actually work. No one who saw a Phantom will suspect them of anything until it is too late.”
“A butterfly…” Yuri muttered to herself.
“Hati’s methods might be a little barbaric and cruel to most people, but you can’t deny the fact that the world needs us,” said Kenji. “We’re a necessary evil. As such, we live in the shadows. And Hati’s name has long been associated with the darkness and the shadows ever since our existence.”
Yuri can only stare dumbly. “We’re…a necessary evil?” she echoed her uncle’s words. “What do you mean?”
Kenji smiled mysteriously as he looked at Yuri, but he didn’t answer her question.
“It is either kill or be killed,” he stated. “This is the reality of the harsh world that we now live in. That is the reality of life, Yuri. Power is everything.” Kenji glanced at Yuri. “You want to be stronger. Stronger than anyone else. You’re an amateur now, but you’ve got the spirit.” A strange glint entered Kenji’s eye as he looked at Yuri, and Yuri had a feeling that she is seeing Kenji Yagami the Phantom now. “The spirit of a killer.”
* * * *
Aoyama Cemetery
October 2009
“And it wasn’t that long after I had become a Phantom when Uncle Kenji died.” Yuri sighed, running the fingers of her right hand through her hair. “His death…is a mystery.” She frowned to herself. “It was a rather simple mission that he was sent on, one that he was expected to make it through with little or no problem. But I guess even a Phantom has limitations.” She turned to face Ren. “He died a few months after I’d met you.”
Ren said nothing, but he remembered that one day when he was sparring with Yuri in one of the training dojos of Hati headquarters, Riou came for Yuri with a rather strange look on his face. He hadn’t seen Yuri for a week after that. It was only later that he had found out from the Elder that Yuri’s uncle had died on that day.
“Your mother’s last words…” said Tohya slowly, oblivious to Ren’s current mood, frowning thoughtfully. “‘Do not trust Kami’.” He frowned. “What does that mean?”
Yuri sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea,” she admitted. “I have been thinking about it ever since she died. I had assumed in the beginning that my mother was probably with a group whose leader fashions himself as some kind of god – probably a cult of some sort.”
Yuri noticed the looks on the faces of Tohya and Ren, and proceeded to explain. “You see, when my mother was still alive, she used to take me to the church not too far away from our house all the time. But despite all that, she is not a staunch believer. Even back then, I did feel that my mother seemed to be praying for some kind of hope.” Yuri sighed. “Now I’m not so sure that the ‘Kami’ that my mother had tried to warn me about is the leader of some cult group.”
Ren frowned. “What makes you say that?” he asked, and Yuri turned towards him.
“Because my uncle had an even stranger look on his face when I told him what my mother told me with her dying breath,” said Yuri simply. “I didn’t really think too much about it back then. But when the captain and the Elder told us about Raven’s Gate earlier this year, along with their leader who calls himself ‘Kami’ or ‘God’, it got me thinking.” She frowned thoughtfully. “What if the ‘Kami’ that my mother had warned me about…is the ‘Kami’ from Raven’s Gate?”
Tohya sighed. “So that’s why you literally jumped at the chance to go after Raven’s Gate when the captain first told us about them,” he muttered. “I thought it was strange, but I didn’t think too much about it.”
Yuri managed a small smile, and nodded. “Yeah. But if this ‘Kami’ that my mother is talking about is the ‘Kami’ from Raven’s Gate, then…” She trailed off.
“Your mother has some mysterious connection with them.” Ren finished her sentence for her. He then frowned. “But what?”
Yuri shrugged. “Beats me,” she admitted. “I have completely no idea.”
Tohya frowned as a sudden thought struck him. “You know, come to think of it, it does seem like several of the Phantoms have some mysterious connection with Raven’s Gate,” he said, and both Yuri and Ren turned towards him. He then elaborated.
“There is Yuri with that…Jessica girl.” Tohya eyed Yuri warily. Save for the clenching of her jaw, Yuri didn’t lose her cool at the mention of her arch nemesis. “Then Selina with that Sam guy. And then there’s Miki-san uncovering the existence of Raven’s Gate’s. It’s too much of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
Ren frowned, thinking over what Tohya had said. “Now that you mentioned it…” he mused. “It’s definitely too much of a coincidence, and I for one, most definitely do not believe in coincidences!” He glanced at his two friends. “And furthermore, the actions that Raven’s Gate had been undertaking of late are a little…unusual.”
Ren glanced at Tohya and Yuri.
“In the past, they were just content enough to manipulate the actions of people, and to simply watch the drama unfold. Like that time with Yoshiyuki. And then Kanzaki. But of late, their actions have been a little…off.”
“You know, now that you’ve mentioned it…” Yuri frowned. “In the past, we were lucky if we were able to find even the simplest clue pointing us to one of their lackeys. But now, we are getting information about the Apostles of Raven’s Gate left, right and centre. It would certainly help matters if we get information about this ‘Kami’ as well. But still, it didn’t change the fact that they’re getting careless.”
“Or reckless.” Tohya pointed out. He scratched the back of his head at the looks that his two friends were giving him. “I can’t help but feel that Raven’s Gate is somehow not trying to hide their existence any longer. And if their organisation is as powerful as we had assumed it to be, they must have some kind of financial backing. I mean, you can’t get all the arms and ammunition that they’ve gotten without some kind of financial assistance.”
Ren nodded. “Yeah. The captain had asked me to look into that as well,” he said. “And so far, I have over half a dozen companies on my list that is suspected to be supporting Raven’s Gate financially. It will take me a great deal of work before I manage to figure out which company is supporting Raven’s Gate.”
“If they’re getting careless…or reckless,” said Yuri, looking from Tohya to Ren and back again, “then I guess that they’re getting desperate.” Seeing the looks from both Ren and Tohya, she proceeded to explain. “You both should know this by now. Desperation can drive a man to do many crazy things. That is definitely the case here.” She sighed. “People have a side to them that they’ve kept hidden from everyone else after all.”
Ren sighed. “You’ve said it,” he said, agreeing with Yuri. “Really…” He muttered. “If there truly is evil in this world, it lies in the hearts of Man.”
“Good and bad, huh?” Tohya mused. “Good and bad are just definitions of mankind. The laws were created and passed by humans. Who is to say what is good and what is bad?”
Ren groaned. “Anyway, there is definitely no mistaking one fact here,” he said firmly, looking at his two friends in the eye. “We will definitely take Raven’s Gate down!”
Tohya nodded, agreeing with Ren. “If we let someone like Kami do as he wishes, I don’t even want to think about what the outcome will be.”
Yuri nodded. “Of course,” she said curtly. “I have no intention to let them run amok. Kami might be a real god to Raven’s Gate, but he’s definitely no god of mine!”
Ren smirked. “You’ve said it, Yuri,” he said.
Tohya grinned. “Atta girl, Yuri,” he grinned.
‘And that is that, Uncle Kenji.’ Yuri turned towards the gravestone of her uncle, her hands clenching into fists by her sides. ‘You fought Raven’s Gate once, and you defeated them. Please. Help us get over this hurdle. I…don’t want to see any deaths any longer. There is no real victory if half of my friends have to sacrifice their lives in order to see to it that Raven’s Gate stays down.’ Yuri tightened her fists by her sides. ‘Give me the strength to defeat Raven’s Gate.’
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[1] Shougi: It is a form of Japanese chess that is a two person board game, being categorised in the same family as Western chess, and is an extremely popular chess game