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Two weeks later...
Kohaku observed the large ice-like shards in the island from the distance in the area near the Persian Gulf, he was tasked to investigate the growing ice field that his target assigned him too. He was covered with a black turtleneck, black pants, black gloves and black knee-length riding boots--he also gained a black cape that reached his knees which has a batik patterns underneath the cape. His dark auburn wolf's cut hair remained similar from the beginning, his usual long bangs almost covering his magenta-red eyes and he retained his usual porcelain complexion. Seriously, it was fucking cold in this area and the Emirs already informed the Indonesian shadow government about the culprit who used those Interceptors as the cause.
Byakuya is dressed in a black formal shirt with a purple tie underneath his white vest, white blazer with long tailcoat that has purple embroidery of chrysanthemum and conch behind him, and slacks, as well as black shoes and matching gloves. He wears a dark purple handkerchief on his white blazer's breast pocket, in addition of a long furisode on his left arm with purple patterns of chrysanthemum. He still wears his frameless spectacles despite no longer has poor eyesight, his purplish-black short messy hair became longer and bunched up into a ponytail on his left shoulder with his bangs swept messily to the side, almost framing his forehead falling almost to his cheeks, light violet sharp eyes and fair complexion.
Kyouka has grown due to the side-effect of becoming a Tiryag, despite these changes she still can maintain her mature appearance as she did earlier. Her purplish-black long hair now extended below her waist, with her bangs fell upon her light violet eyes and cheeks as her bangs fell beneath her chest. Her white headband remained on her head, except her white lily flower pins clipped on both sides of her head--her hair is styled into loose half ponytail with a red ribbon bowtie and light violet beads on them. She wears a crimson kimono with long extended furisode that has embroidery of snowflakes, a yellow obi with large bowtie on the front and a white haori with red borders and five-petaled flowers on the sleeves and the end-she wears a black thigh-length socks, white banner around her left arm and a pair of dark brown knee-length boots-she would tie her long hair into topknot and leaving her bangs loose.
And lastly, since Kyoran had to be paired with Nadya in the other missions--Sherry retained her usual clothes.
"So, what's our mission again?"
Kohaku asked, somewhat his dumb and aloof attitude when he was an assassin hasn't changed as much as he could recall. Kyouka answered, opening her hand. "We have to destroy the source, so the ice and water can't get any worse," she reminded, getting into her job as well. He was looking down at the giant shards with ice-like formations in the entire landmass and the area around the ocean and the floating in the air, taking out his notebook to write down his notes. "Holy fuck, that was huge! It's like living in Antarctica," Kohaku mumbled to himself.
He hasn't expected that, so does Kyouka and Byakuya. "The source of the Interceptors located in here, there's good news and bad news? Which one do you want to hear first?" Kyouka asked, looking down to see there are only ice spikes and ice-covered peaks. "Well... uh, give me some bad news first, Kyouka," the auburn-haired man answered, seeing she remained unamused by it. "The bad news is we don't know the incoming threats other than Phantom Beasts and Interceptors so we have to make sure none of the casualties occurred in here... do you get it now, Kohaku?" she asked. "What the fuck is that shit, wait I got that already. Anyways, what's the good news now?"
Kohaku asked, before Sherry glanced at her fingers as if nothing happened. "The good news is that after the mission, we will have to enjoy ourselves and go to Bintan for a vacation. I heard there's a spa pool."
Okay, the atmosphere here is cold as hell and he will kill anyone who decided to waste his time with 'de-stress' activities (dammit, he used to attend those counseling sessions on his training days and he spent his time fighting), by killing those fucking Interceptors on sight. They saw the ice spikes were somewhat growing which took a similar shape of a lotus shaped, they were trying to figure out where the fuck is the source of the growing ice--with the interferences preventing them to find the exact location of the Core. "Wait a second, did Murasame has a Core of Heruka inside her too...? I can sense it there," Kohaku asked, watching Byakuya keeping an eye on his personal dragon companion with a nod. "Yes, it appears like the Core is known as Vajrakumara--from what I learned," he answered, while the female dragon was flying around to find their target. "But why is it residing in a Phantom Beast's Core?" Kyouka asked, frowning at her own question.
Sherry folded her arms, looking forward. "As long the creature is reborn as a Tiryag's personal companion, it is no longer upholding the status of Vipralopa-class Phantom Beast--but a new identity and status. Just like it means that they will serve their new master, just like Byakuya here who is the current master of Murasame," she told them, as Murasame chirped and roared a bit to give a response to her owner's nickname. "I forgot that you had a soft spot for dragon," Kohaku told Byakuya, before he sighed. "Cut to the chase, how are we going to neutralize the 'power plant' in the island? We don't even know what that is."
"Maybe it comes from the rift in the center of the landmass," Byakuya suggested, his fingers tapped on his chin as he was thinking. His eyes suddenly noticed something in the distance, there was a core that hidden underneath the icy walls--he could feel its magnetic energy from his location. "The Core is on the other side of the island and having problems since the icy walls are preventing us to reach the entrance," he stated, he was on his partner's back as he need to search the Core to help stabilized the area once they capture or destroy the Core to prevent it from turning everything into the wasteland by an eternal ice age, or worse.
Kohaku stared at his palm as the fireball formed in his hand, instead of using his bare hand he was just floating his hand over to the direction and his auburn eyes were glowing, unleashing his flames--soon the ice became a liquid water as it melted and left puddles. "I will get that main core by myself," he declared, before he added. "As for you guys, find the rest of the core that controls the surrounding areas so that we can stop the 'eternal winter'."
"Uh-uh, you still have 5 minutes before this ice here causes a chain reaction."
They would be able to attack with their high-performance ice harvesters from the ground, they must find all the core before the chain reaction occur. Kohaku dashes forward and transformed into his Tiryag form, before he began to make his way through the ice ground underneath his feet; leaping upward and making long distances to his destination. Byakuya, Kyouka, and Sherry hopped onto Murasame's back while trying to avoid the interferences from the comms, seeing Kohaku was able to find the long icy 'stem' upon the ice with a large light shining in the center. The four of them separated into different locations, transforming into their Tiryag forms while Murasame followed Byakuya's path.
Kohaku use his fist to punch into the giant ice shard that protects the Core, destroying a couple of small shards to become dust-like particles. There, there was the 'core' itself that gave off an immense power to sustain the ice structure and will release a terrible snowstorm and turn the world into the 'endless winter' when the emergency protocol is turned on by the Intruder. He had 3 minutes and 32 seconds, he thought he would try another method to get to the core of this entity and destroy it--then he realized it. He close his eyes, using his fire element through the boiling the water around the ice until it reached the core.
Kohaku watched the Interceptors appeared, he leaps upward and slammed his fist into the icy g round--creating a massive scorching blaze that burns half of the entire island in the region. His flames burnt through the surrounding ice wall, to let the beams of sunlight shone through and hit the ice while giving himself access into the shard's core. "Tsk, what a pain...! All of the fucking ice that made it difficult for me to go here," he hissed and looked back at the Interceptors and smirked darkly. "You know, what? If you even dare to make it harder for me, how about I burn the other half for you? You stabbed me before, and now you will regret it," he stated, while cracking his knuckles.
"My flames have no mercy for you."
They will have his vengeance against his assailant, and he won't hold back. Kohaku leaps and swirls as the darkness overwhelms the Interceptors, in a second--he appears in the darkness and charged his burning fist in one of the Interceptors with a flaming left hook. He ducks down to dodge their spear's attack and charges his knuckle with the fire elemental before punching each of the Interceptors with both flaming punches, before it turned into a fiery spiral kick; sending a dozen Interceptors flies away. He made a circular motion with his flames, creating two rows of long giant whips that trapped a dozen Interceptors before he pulls his arms-sending a bunch of them to scattered mess around him.
Kohaku morphed his gauntlet on his left hand into his bullwhip that now turned into red and gold color with black handle, the chain-blade has a red burning flames that surrounds the blade; he makes a circle motion and snaps his wrist-dispersed them across the island along with his fiery chains and made their body charred and left for them to vanish into black dust. He kept up his battle stance when he keeps killing them, twisting his torso as his whip slammed multiple Interceptors around him, burning through their chest with his fire whip technique.
His auburn red eyes found the core, it was at the bottom underneath the stairs but how could he? But, he doesn't fucking care--Kohaku looks like a pyromaniac when he spread his arms above the destroyed the creatures, flames released and he made a perfect shape of flames, a dragon which was burning the icy room and it lets him enter through the ice. "Die, all of you," Kohaku mumbled, muttering as he kept glancing in the opposite directions--watching the creatures were burned through its core. Then, he landed down and walking towards the exposed 'power plant' or the Core that was the cause of the mess. He morphed his bullwhip into his gauntlet again, now he has the choice to destroy the Core at the bottom.
Kohaku leaps to destroy the Core, making it exploded.
BOOM!!!
Soon, the entire Core is destroyed by its destruction and collapsed. Kohaku watched the flames died down on the island and it was quite a fire show (for people who saw the flames rising from the ice wall like volcano), the last few Interceptors were nowhere in sight after they get obliterated--what a sweet view after wiping all the remnants of their corpses to a burning hell.
Meanwhile, Byakuya landed down on the other island in his Tiryag form. He watched the swamp-like areas has now the remaining growing icicles and making their paths impassable, a bunch of ice spike-liked creatures moved their bodies. "You leave me no choice then..." he murmured, before he summoned his six katanas and taking one out to make several cuts. Byakuya made more cuts against the Interceptor before twisting his body, swirling the katana in his fingers before he slashed the spear; destroying them from forming--he does a backwards flip to make a distance and slicing each of them with sharp gust of winds. He switched one katana and take out the second one that floats beside him, each six katanas has different 'roles' in every offenses, attacks and defenses--when he and Kyouka were in Ono-Ha Ittō-ryū. Kyouka also transforms into her Tiryag form, taking the katana in hand and made a series of fast circular motion--cutting down the line of ice spears shooting forward from the bottom ground; and slicing the Interceptors around her.
As for Sherry, she unleashed her katana-like weapon and her flintlock on her hand--before she effortlessly slice down the ice waves down from the sky; before the series of ice spears shooting from the bottom ground, slicing a lot of them into pieces before looking at her six bullets. "If this keeps up, it will be over sooner than I thought," she said, looking at the Interceptors without showing any mercy on them. She hopped on Murasame's back, with her free arm while she aimed her weapon; firing them directly to destroy the core near them. This time, there weren't much threat from a lot of enemies and she doesn't have to worry to bring those ice creatures closer to her opponent--now there's no barrier in her target.
With an incredible speed--even Murasame appeared in several split-seconds, attacking the Interceptors around them and destroyed them on sight to gain the perfect defense, offense, and agile movement. The four of them destroyed the four cores as they reunited in the port, and Kohaku is exhausted after dashing his way into the field and killed all the remaining enemies around him. Hell, he is that crazy, violent and bloodthirsty psycho like that; only when he was in his Tiryag form--but in his human form he's just a chill-ass who often has a foul language, sarcasm, apathetic attitude and an oblivious jerk-ass that somehow didn't catch attention of others but could be a 'leader' or the 'brain' of the organization. He still has his cleverness but also like a carefree, cold and oblivious--yes, he doesn't believe in fate, fate can go fuck itself for all he cares--after all he's still going to fight and protect everything that's important to him (as well as his moral code) no matter the cost.
But, now that fate is such a funny bitch who often messed everything with him. Which means, he had to go along with these shady shit to his own freedom.
They changed back into their human form, watching the water cleared and turned back into the blue sea from that weird icy mass in front of them. "Good, now we need to go back to the hotel... the sky becomes clearer than before."
"Yes, indeed."
Few hours later...
Kohaku was sleeping on his bed in the five-star hotel located in Dubai, with a television is playing the news in English--in the left corner he was wearing an earphone to block the noises around him. He was exhausted from the jet lag and have no time to adjust the time zone in his body, he was reading a lot of booklets about a secret organization from the ancient civilization 5000 years ago. "Kayana!" Kahayana shouted at his son, entering his son's bedroom. "Huh... what...?"
Kahayana heard him asked, before he placed his luggages on the floor. "From now on, we'll be staying in Dubai for one month. For the expenses, the Secret Garden already covered it to lessen the burden in our shoulders," he explained, staring at his son who was laying with his head on the foot of the bed. "Be sure you work hard, we're getting more international clients and customers after the Indonesian shadow government made an alliance with the other nations."
Kohaku nodded, before he yawned as he stretched his arms and tossed his booklets on his suitcase. "Understood... now can you let me rest? I got barely any sleep when I kept reading those," he told him before going back to sleep, Kahayana sighed before he watched him sleeping--it was like four o'clock in the morning and GOOD GOD THE WEATHER IS SO DAMN HOT OUTSIDE! No wonder why most of the Middle Eastern people--most of the locals are Arab peoples from the Middle East itself--always wear those clothing to prevent themselves from getting sunburn. "Fine, breakfast will be prepared downstairs at six... I'm exhausted too so I'm gonna sleep too..."
Kahayana grumbled, before he goes to sleep on the other bed and pull up the blanket over himself. Kohaku was tired after dealing with this case by going here all the way from Indonesia to Persian Gulf, but he can at least have the chance to relax here and holidays too.
But, not only that.
He has to write a report for all the missions that he has done, and now he has to focus his future as a permanent member of Secret Garden that has become his 'home'. His friends already signed a permanent contract like him in Secret Garden, which means they can't escape nor abandon it at all even if they wanted to--and it is a rule that once they make an oath, they have sworn in their loyalty until death. Kohaku went to sleep, hoping that he didn't have any nightmares or hallucinations after the trauma of his past. Now, he has a new life. A life that he chooses to make a better change for himself.
When the breakfast hour started, Kohaku wanted to yawn but his father putted his hand over his mouth to force him to open his mouth and shove the dish into his son's mouth. "Open your mouth! Wider, wider... yes, that's good," Kahayana spoke, before releasing his hand--Kohaku immediately gulped down and wiped his mouth after being forced to eat that. "Father, I'm not a baby anymore. Seriously, I'm like twenty-one and you always have been babying me even though we're in Dubai," the auburn-haired man rolled his eyes, his half-assed magenta-red eyes glanced at the meals in front of him. Byakuya was busy eating like usual, but he had to deal with the asthma like his younger sister Kyouka--they always carry their inhalers and spare medicines in case he got fever or being attacked by his enemies and having a low immune-system since he was 9 years old.
"Sherry, what's the weather in Dubai again?" Kyouka asked, feared that her asthma might relapse again. She always kept her medicine box and spare inhalers inside her bag, every day like Byakuya. Sherry was playfully holding Kohaku's hand on the table, watching his reaction is being flustered and rejected her all-time--Sherry always managed to distract him and causing confusion. "It is usually very hot, depending on the seasons," Sherry answered, closing her eyes with a smile.
Byakuya stopped eating as he felt his asthma relapsed, even though the dining hall has air conditioner and all the foods were delicious and high-quality--the weather really hates both of them. "Nii-sama, are you okay?" Kyouka asked him with concerned and he fiddled with his inhalers. He just didn't like the weather--it was somehow high enough to make his breathing tubes hurt and make his lungs burnt.
Byakuya nodded, still inhaling before his breathing becomes normal--he was fine now, and so does Kyouka (she was fine since her asthma wasn't triggered after she used the inhaler). Honestly, they had to live with it due to the type being hereditary to them, and they were used to it so living outside their homeland will definitely have consequences. Their food is already finished and Kahayana has some business to attend, while his son Kohaku chatted with his friends about their daily life, knowing that most of the Secret Garden's Administrators were having a meeting--including Hisato, Damien and Kahayana himself.
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"I hate hot weather so bad... I'm almost out of breath when we were about to board into the plane," Kyouka told them and blew her nose while leaning to her seat. Byakuya drank some water after he got cough, Kohaku frowned at them--even though he never had asthma, but he rarely get sick unlike them. They kept watching the clouds and rain when it was at the summer season--sometimes Byakuya wouldn't drink a lot of water and often cough due to the heat in this region, not forgetting they also had to be careful when they were in places with dust or smoke. "Hey, are you sure you guys can deal with it?" he asked, trying to forget the terrible image of his nightmares. "It's okay, as long we're not stuck in a hot, dry and sandy place with no places to take shelter from the desert... it's fine since it's not a seasonal asthma."
Byakuya explained, coughing a little after his airways was cleared and he resumed to drink. Kyoran checked his phone, there was some local tourists he saw visiting the site when they arrived there two days ago. The four of them decided to explore around Dubai with their moneys, it's enough for them to take some souvenirs (or touristy things) since all of them have had enough vacations. "There were other three 'favorite' members that Damien recruited... I wonder where are they now, he said that the three of them were waiting for us..."
"Oh, that must be them."
The shadow figures stood there before them, as Kohaku greeted them with a smug look upon his handsome young man features. "Good morning, it appears like the three of you are Damien's subordinates--right?" he asked, then he realized that... there's only both of them who were strangers to them and the other one... is familiar.
Kiryu Ryugūji who was around Kyouka's age standing there with a cat-like snickers on his lips. He also had grown with his messy shoulder-length blonde hair with bangs almost covering his golden-colored eyes with sharp pupils and his cheeks along his fair complexion. He wears a black collared formal leopard shirt under his white blazer, black choker around his collars, white pants tucked into his black knee-length boots--he wears a red fingerless gloves and bracelets on his left wrist.
Radjasa Wangsadinata or Radja; the twenty-one years old Indonesian fellow with quarter Chinese-Malay descent chuckled while holding his black-red oriental fan on his hand, almost covering his mouth. He has a long teal-black hair with red locks tied into messy bun and his long uneven bangs has red streaks were framing over his red eyes and black rounded Chinese vintage sunglasses on his eyes, he has a light tan complexion and appears to have a mischievous smile on his lips--along a silver piercings on his left ear and helix on his right ear. He wears a black turtleneck underneath his red, green and white-splashed half-buttoned changshan with batik patterns and gold necklace around his neck, he wears a long white, green and black overcoat on his left and black waistcoat on his right, both of the sleeves being separated on his arm that showed the black mesh of his upper body with a white scarf and gold on his left sleeves. He wears long pants, knee-length black socks, and long white boots that reached his lower-shins.
"Kiryu? I thought you're with us?! Where have you been?!"
Kyouka snapped that mde Kiryu laughed nervously as he fiddled with his fingers, before he explained. "Sorry-nya... I kind of had to go too early before you guys came here. I had to see the locations of the areas and report the data for the authorities, but don't worry! I will team up with you guys-nya! That's how it supposed to be! Aren't I?" he explained with a shrug, putting on his best smile at them which cheered them up a little.
Kohaku was relieved, but first--introduction is needed from them. "Kayana Sahanaya Tirta... nice to meet you," he introduced himself, nudging his elbow at Byakuya that made him twitched his eyebrows. "Byakuya Shinobu," he answered, Kyouka did the same. "I'm Kyouka, Kyouka Shinobu," she answered, and lastly Sherry introduced herself. "Sherry Simalungun, also... where's the last one?" she asked, before Radjasa pouted. "Oh, the last one? She supposed to be here, that little girl..." he said, looking around until the girl popped out from behind his coat. "Gosh, you scared us, Rayna!" Kiryu shrieked out of surprise.
Rayna is a fourteen-years old fair-skinned Indonesian orphan girl who Damien's mother Ravina saved from the Phantom Eruption, which the latter had to bound by his command until she was guided by someone older than her. She has shoulder-length greyish-brown hair with messy bangs over her cheeks and magenta-colored eyes with yellow pupils, with a shy and frowning expression on her face. She sports a white-hooded robe with black robe and long sleeves, a muted blue undertones that reaches below her knees. Her robe is adorned with gold-black decorations and cyan quadrilaterals and a white-cyan and gold wristbands on both of her forearms, she also wears knee-length black boots that reach into her robe with gold soles extending into gold heels.
The girl was scared to meet new people at first, but since the bond and contract made--she must have at least some freedom of her own. Due to her fear of crowds, Radjasa would often pull her in and bring her around when they were exploring the city. Rayna saw Kohaku and hid behind the man's legs, poking her head as she stared at Kohaku in the distance. "Sorry about that, Kayana. She's a timid one," Radjasa spoke, smiling as he looked at Kohaku before he glanced down at her. "Hey, it's okay... he's not gonna hurt ya. Trust me, Damien is one of his 'favorites' remember?"
Rayna was wide-eyed at first, looking back at Kohaku as if the Indonesian fellow reminded her of someone--she ran towards him and hugged him. Kohaku was staring at her with a dumbfounded look before his fingers patted the top of her head, which immediately earned the girl's trust over him. "Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself," Radjasa said, giggling mischievously.
"Radjasa Wangsadinata, calling me by Radja is fine."
Not gonna lie, their fashion drip is very radical and their personalities are just as they can express on each of their 'titles' on being agents of Secret Garden as spies--however, their skillset are unmatched. Radja added with a 'hmm' sound, before he folded his fan and smiled at them. "Haiyah, are we gonna go for the sightseeing? Also, we gotta investigate at the same time," he asked in the middle of his enthusiasm, they were planning to go shopping--why not? "To know that someone already taken the 'favorite agent position' that supposed to be me too, what an insult," he let out a chuckle, they are totally different from when they are in the organization but the looks in their eyes says everything.
Kohaku didn't know why, but he wanted to laugh at how Radjasa's speech and the way he speaks are hilarious and chaotic for some reasons--it seems like Radjasa was enjoying his time outside. He saw that Rayna is clinging to his hand and that makes him want to laugh, before they decided to move to another area. Although, the rest of the four of them appeared that not going to run around all the countries because of the mission and all they need to do is spend their free-time enjoying themselves to refresh.
Sherry was being nice to Rayna and somewhat gaining her trust without force, thus made Kohaku surprised by her honesty and always being straightforward to others--not unlike Rayna who has been showing her caring side, cute behavior and always stuttered whenever she found herself being questioned or called by anyone around her. With these types of new people that Kohaku finds them worthy of his trust (it's not even a year after his recruiting period but it sounds like he just became one of the Administrators...), so does with Radjasa.
Kohaku watched his friends were minding their business in the beach, he sat on the rocky seashore and observing them. He saw Rayna timidly walking towards him, before her fingers was on his sleeves and asking permission. "Can I...?" her voice quivered a bit, before Kohaku patted his side with a chuckle. "Go on," he replied, the girl gladly sat with him and watch the sunset together. Meanwhile, Sherry pulled Byakuya with her by holding his wrists on the beach and making him feeling quite uneasy from the sudden. "Sherry, I'm not interested in going too far away from the area so can you tell me when will we back from the beach..." he asked, Kyouka had brought her camera and sunglasses in case the atmosphere becomes cloudy or getting too hot and bright.
"Seriously, Byakuya. You always stoic and cold since we met for the first time, aren't you never learning from your grandfather? Anyway, let's have some fun... it's not like we just go on missions every day," she giggled, making Byakuya immediately backing away--he's not into skinship because it gave him goosebumps and being uncomfortable with that sort of interaction. "Kyouka," he called, his younger sister turned to him as she approached them. "What? What do you want?"
Byakuya raised his eyebrows. "Tell me, when can we--"
Kiryu popped out from the sands, that made them fall to the ground. "Fun!" his laughter is enough to put a smile on Kyouka, who tries to stop herself from laughing--this was so dumb, the blonde's hair was all covered in sands and Byakuya slowly manifesting his katana from his black umbrella; transforming into a katana with handle holder at the end. "I will give you the meaning of FUN, Kiryu!" he growled, chasing Kiryu by the sea. Kyouka, Radjasa and Sherry giggled, trying not to laugh as Kohaku and Rayna watched them chasing around.
Rayna watched Kohaku for a moment, asking the auburn-haired man from what's wrong with a head tilt. She was curious of him, somehow thinking to herself that there is no way her boss would bring someone like Kohaku near their proximity, right? She began to open up about what made her a target but Kohaku patted her head gently and told her that it's okay, no need to worry about the past. She can put her faith in the rightful people--then, Rayna spoke. "Somehow, this makes me feels like I'm no longer alone anymore..." she stated with a little smile appearing on her expression.
Kohaku listens to her, closing his eyes and let Rayna lay her head on his lap. This scene reminded him of how his mom would be like that when she was alive, her gentle touch always soothes him as he didn't recall any memories of her, only a picture of their whole family, including his father who's still alive until now in Secret Garden. "Rayna, that's your name?" he asked, as she nodded softly. "Are you sure that no one would adopt you?"
"Yes... my parents died in the Phantom Eruption and Damien's mother saved me, so she entrusted me to your superior... since they both work together as partners and allies," Rayna told him, before she stared at the sky--the endless blue skies are the limit and Kohaku responded with a nod, now he understood why she was afraid to open up to anyone else except Damien. "Sorry for hugging you earlier, you remind me of your superior," she said.
Kohaku gave her an understanding look, knowing her situation must be tough for her since the orphans in Indonesia are often abused and ignored even though they never ask to be left alone and abandoned. "It's okay, sometimes--I don't mind helping the broken parts of you and made you more better than before. All in time, or so that they say," he replied, staring at the clear and endless ocean in front of him, his half-closed eyes staring at Byakuya who threatened Kiryu comically for teasing him with Kyouka by his side; to where Sherry's laughing and Radjasa shaking his head along with a smile on his face.
Happiness in a sense of unity, as family can always remain a family.
Few hours later, Sherry sat beside Kohaku that surprised him a little--trying not to wake up Rayna on his lap. "What?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows, while still peeking at his sleeping friend and smiling a little. He knew how fast someone can make him care, but he was fond of being trusted with things he'd been asking and accepted without making him hard to do so. "Aren't you happy with us, you don't seem to smile a lot," Sherry asked, grinning at his response.
"I look hideous when I smile, so of course," he remarked, leaning against his seat before he added. "I only show how sincere it is when there's something made me so satisfied that I need to unleash it, so don't look at me like that, seriously," he warned her that made her laughs as she turned to the view, trying not to laugh so much to prevent from waking Rayna. "Come on, let's do some shopping. I'm done and bored, it was exhausting for doing the job at the same time, so..." she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear--sighing and glancing at him.
Kohaku rolled his eyes, before Rayna stirred on his lap and woke up with a yawn--her eyes widened as her hands pushing herself from his laps, feeling a little confused of why she had slept on his lap--like her nightmare was disappeared when she hugged him. "Ah, sorry! I fell asleep!" she exclaimed, with a panicked expression on her face. Kohaku can't help but to pinch her cheek and told her that it's okay. "It's okay, we're planning to do some shopping and exploring. Wanna join us?" he said, then the girl nodded frantically with a 'sure' escaped through her lips.
Radjasa was the bombastic one when it comes to fashion, especially with his outfits being one-of-a-kind... or a bit bizarre for their tastes, like--he was wearing all Asian-style clothes and somehow has the mixed fashion of western but he can blend it in order to pull it. He always make sure that his friends' fashion is matching and can't have him being out-dressed by someone else. "Alright, do you want to buy Versace, Gucci, Louis Vitton or Karl Lagerfeld?" he asked them, and Kohaku didn't really care which brand that they were going to pick to wear. It's not like he's trying to show off in his fashion sense or whatsoever, but so is their tastes. "We don't mind any, but please... don't be hedonistic. We aren't here to dress ourselves like a celebrity or--"
Kohaku shrieked comically when Radjasa pulled all of them into the shopping centre in the largest mall of Dubai, Mall of the Emirates. He was awed by the luxurious, gorgeous and artistic interior design of the mall. The mall has five levels of shopping space that consist various shopping brands throughout the United Arab Emirates and several others from the rest of the world, even secret international shops that can't be exposed to other nations, can be found as their shopping source. Sherry was a fan of collecting black coats, ranging from fancy and sophisticated coat to full-black coat with velvet texture on the collars and trim of the sleeves.
Kahayana once told his son Kohaku to buy some nice clothes (because duh, he has high salary because of his assassination job so why not?), and Kohaku hasn't been feeling too comfortable wearing even proper clothes when he was a 21-years old young man. Crap, he got exposed by that shit--so he had to buy some clothes for himself too--considering that Byakuya and the rest are buying for themselves as well. He goes to find the one that suits the color of earth tone, since there's a term of 'earth boy'--a male who dresses in fashion with a tone of earth and nature-like, plain and less-colors; for some reasons.
Byakuya noticed this, watching his long-time friend having difficulties on the choices so he helped. "So, you liked wearing earth-toned colors?" he asked, as Kohaku shrugged. "Whatever... but, this is good enough so just pick it and I'm done," he told him, making the 21-years old Japanese man sighed. "Fine, let me help you--or I can ask for Radja's advice, depending how expensive the brands."
"You mean, how expansive the brands? Dude, we have like black platinum cards and you ask if this expensive or not?" Kohaku said sarcastically, raising his brows in a judging matter as he couldn't believe what he said. Byakuya immediately realizing he's kinda panicking from that, before shoving a jacket on his face. "J-Just try to keep up with our pace... you gonna end up have Radja fuss over your clothing, for some reasons," he mumbled, before he gets a pair of pants for Kohaku, based from his sizes.
Radjasa was giving advice about fashion to Kyouka who loves wearing feminine clothings, the same goes for Rayna who wanted a new outfit for her trips. She never showed any interests when it comes to fashion and yet Radjasa has picked at least two, but he won't leave the area until he had them both changed into the fresh and brand new one to try. Sherry was trying some black coats while Kiryu was waiting, yawning like a cat until he saw Kohaku had to try on some clothes that Byakuya gave him after a bunch of walking around the mall to the shoe store or wherever.
"Him? He's awkward, huh?" Kiryu asked, watching from afar with curiosity. "It's usual for them trying new things," Sherry replied, ruffling Kiryu's hair gently--it reminded her of how her sister acting towards him the same way as she did. "I'm not a teen anymore-nya, I'm twenty-one years old-nya!" he snarled, swatting her hand with pouting. Sherry smiled in amusement, as she turned to Kohaku who was forced to try on by Byakuya; and Radjasa helping out.
Seeing all of them laughing together made Kohaku realized something, he glanced at Sherry who still had her gaze on him and smiles genuinely without having her covering her face from her fans.
Did these feelings blossomed not long after he was given this chance to live and chose the path where he could possibly made a new future for himself?
Sherry felt her hand on his own fingers, watching a gentle look in his eyes with an unwavering smile. "I think, I might grow up and stopped trying to deceive myself again..." he said, gazing at his friends whose surrounding him with their smiles and laughter echoing at each other--breaking the silence in the atmosphere like a broken memories, no more cold walls for him to bear and build a barrier between his heart. A smile crept up on his lips as he had made a decision, a true one where he didn't force it like the one that he keeps when he was a child, because sometimes: sometimes happiness can't always be materialized. Yet, Kohaku has won the battle to win this feeling of true happiness.
Rayna noticed that Kohaku is smiling at them sincerely, before she hugged him and feeling like a new member of the family; finally home to grow and be like him.
After that, Kohaku and Byakuya decided to do some team-up mission which unexpectedly their teammates is Radjasa, Kyouka, Kiryu, Rayna and Sherry. Damien was giving them a task on assassinating the corrupt businesspeople, to protect the civilians and the public. Kohaku has grown accustomed to their feelings and his, looking forward of how the city would shape in modern times and how the world change with him. He wondered how does Radjasa's method of assassination do, can his manipulation and illusions work and how would be the others. "How do you assassinate your target?" he asked.
Radjasa giggled, fanning himself with his oriental fan made of black lace design, purple gradient background with detailed golden images of Buddha symbol, black lotus flower patterned by the sides. He answered this, but he appears a bit different from the way Kohaku's father described him like a 'godly' benevolent being. "Me? Haiyah, assassins also had to keep their clothes clean," he flips his hair, using the large fan to cover his face. "You don't kill your targets in brutal ways, right?"
"Yes, correct, but are you underestimating my capabilities?"
"No, I'm just curious on how you do it. Mine was a quick and clean-cutted decapitation. If you can control our illusion to put them in 'the bad dream scenario', I'm sure it could work!"
How is that... Kohaku can't even use his braincell to think of his manipulation skills, as he often took his sweet ass time to murder his victims, not caring how many bodies pile up like if he's a mad man. But, his speech is pretty sharp from what Kahayana had told him and their team having someone very charismatic was almost never happen. But this is an adventure that makes Kohaku go insane with new members and he doesn't give a single shit to show it on the surface. "Do you know what Shanti means?" Radjasa asked rhetorically, though he's an Indonesian like him--Kohaku still don't understand his disposition as always. "Huh...? Is this one of your tactic?" he asked.
"Yes! It meant 'Peace'. What do you say?"
Kohaku paused, blinking in curiosity as they just went out from their mission and they're going to celebrate by wearing what's on their mind. As usual, Radjasa would have an expensive and almost over the top attire, it literally showed his wealth--if he was born noble-rich, but Kohaku have to admit; Radjasa made a good use of those costumes and fashion as for the job, but this. He thought it was a little bit too over-the-top with his elaborate fashion taste, it was like a masquerade party. "By the way, I have half blood of Chinese-Indonesian running through my veins. All of the money I gained isn't just from assassination, but my business in property and art galleries as well. Fuiyoh, thank goodness!" he proudly exclaimed, adjusting his loose topknot hairstyle, revealing his whole black clothes with a little bit mix of red details on his belt, sleeves, shoes and there's a lot of dragon motifs on it too.
Damn, Kohaku looks like he was getting invested in this shit. "Teach me about business," he said with a smirk, earning a giggle from Radjasa who experienced in this field. "What business do you like to focus on?" he asked.
"... language class."
So, he gets some money from that--good thing Radjasa is fluent in languages and cultures. "What language do you speak? Other than English and Indonesian?" he asked, before Kohaku cleared his throat. "Japanese, because I passed a scholarship to Japan during second to third year--I told Byakuya about it," he said, making Radjasa grinned at him happily. "You need to work with people, you know? You have to listen and compromise whatever they had to say, now..."
Kohaku ended up didn't get a sleep the whole day from his lecture, making him overslept the next day that Kahayana had to let him rest after he took a breakfast.
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