Sector 1: STAM [16:32]
Kenji was only a few paces behind Shou and Seiji. He shouted to explain the situation, “He got impaled through his shoulder! With poison!”
Shou cursed loudly and picked up the pace. When they made it there, Hiro was leaning against the wall outside of the locked doors.
“Hiro what happen-” Shou started to ask but Seiji pushed past him and snagged at Hiro’s bloodied collar, yanking him off the wall.
“Why is Ryu in critical condition while you don’t have a scratch?!?!” Seiji’s voice was shaking with rage and a hint of control.
Hiro rolled his eyes and pulled Seiji’s hand off his collar, “He got himself hurt,” his voice sounded more annoyed than angry, “He protected a garbage mazoku child to take the full attack of the rampant thing. If it weren’t for me killing both of them he would have died,” he looked away from them, “He wanted to contain the rampant. I saved his life,” Hiro started to walk away from the locked doors.
“Where are you going?!” Seiji yelled at Hiro’s back.
Hiro rolled his eyes and replied in his usual dull tone, “To shower- I reek of trash,” and with that he left the three agents.
Seiji slammed his fist against the wall and fell to his knees- his anger immediately giving way to his grief and fear, “Ryu….he’s gonna be ok….right?” he didn’t turn to look at Shou as he spoke.
Shou nodded to himself, “He will be fine,”
There was silence for a second before Kenji spoke softly behind them, “Hiro killed a child?”
“He disposed of a mazoku,” Shou added in a vain attempt to take the sour taste from his mouth.
From around the corner Kyoushirou stood, leaning against the wall. He had overheard the entire confrontation while grinding his teeth. He expected Hiro to be ruthless and merciless toward mazoku- he was thankful to no longer be partnered with someone as volatile as him...and yet there was good news. Ryuichi felt pity….Ryuichi protected a mazoku from death. I hope that Ryu makes it out of surgery without any complications...perhaps I can confide in Ryu with..my secret...perhaps Ryu can help...Arisa...what if it’s you? What if you’re the next person we’re ordered to dispose of….
---
Ryu knew he was dreaming. He could feel the sharp pain in his shoulder, but when he looked down at it there was no wound.
He remembered exactly what happened. He remembered fighting the praying mantis-like rampant mazoku. He remembered protecting the little girl.
He remembered not being able to protect the little girl from Hiro.
Suddenly he was right there. The rampant was running toward him. Ryu looked behind him and saw a little mazoku girl with snow white hair and a pink dress. He knew what would happen. He knew that he would be pierced by the giant arm of the rampant mazoku. He knew that protecting the little girl would end in his defeat.
He wrapped his arms around her anyway.
He felt it all over again, the arm of the rampant pushing deep into his shoulder. Again, he did not scream.
He looked down at the little girl and she was sitting. They weren’t in the park anymore, there was no rampant mazoku, his shoulder didn’t hurt.
The little girl was crying. She was curled into a ball. Her white hair hung around her sides protectively.
Ryu knelt down in front of the girl. It felt like he said something but he couldn’t make out his own words. The girl looked up at him but Ryu couldn't see her face. It was fuzzy and blurred.
He looked down at the girl’s torso and saw red soaked bandages.
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She looked away from him at a door that opened. She started screaming and tried to crawl away from the figure in the room.
Ryu looked but could only see a black figure, the hand outstretched. He could feel the eyes of the figure on him. A clear, deep voice rang through his head, “Leave her Ryuichi.”
---
Hiro had the shower as hot as the water would come out. The whole bathroom was filled with thick steam. Hiro’s skin was red, but he scrubbed it viciously with his bar of soap. When he finally stepped out of the shower he took in a breath of thick, steamy air and opened the window to let the wet air out. He looked in the mirror at his red skin and smelled his wrist, finally clean….
Hiro opened the door to the room cautiously to make sure no one else was there. He went directly for the locked drawer to his desk. As he opened the drawer, he let out a soft sigh of relief seeing the contents. There was an assortment of things in the drawer, several writing utensils, a purple hair band, scraps of paper, a comb, bread wrappers, and a small photo of Arisa from the school pictures. He reached for the picture and a small handkerchief. He held the small cloth against the skin of his face sending tingles through his body as he stared at the picture, “Arisa….” even the sound of her name was perfect, “My perfect angel Arisa...” he covered his face with the cloth and inhaled deeply, “Arisa~”
Sector 1- Thrice Inc.Mr.Black’s Office [26 August 2121 21:22]
Even though the far wall was made entirely of glass and let through the bright light of neon signs and glowing tracks, the office still felt so dark, “So there you have it. All you have to do is make me all the money that your brother lost back- with interest of course. And aren’t I just the best?” Mr.Black’s voice was both soothing and menacing, “I’ve given you the perfect job to ensure your success.”
The girl he addressed was almost completely covered by the darkness of the room. She sat in a poor wooden chair with her hands curled into fists on her legs, “But this job-” her voice was shaky and nervous, she might have been about to cry.
Mr. Black slammed his fist on his desk which startled the girl, “Do you or do you not want to save your brother? Because if I don’t get back my investment- I will take it from his flesh,” he let out a sigh and quelled his anger. When he spoke again, it was with his smooth and friendly tone, “It will be easy enough- just 4.7 million in drug money. That sounds easy. You already work in MRPA so you have the supplies. And thanks to mazoku selling their personal doses there is already a market for “Free”, now you just have to broaden it.”
The girl in the chair was shaking in fear. Normally she might have felt anger toward her brother, or sadness or despair- but the only emotion she could feel, the only emotion that seemed to radiate from her soul- was fear, “Ok.”
Mr.Black immediately turned around in his desk chair to look out of his large wall-window. His assistant, Chihiyo, took this cue to speak to the girl directly, “You can come with me now.” Chihiyo had a smile that under normal circumstances would have seemed sincere and warm- but to the girl it was cold and snake-like, “We are going to need a small piece of collateral, to make sure you won’t run away of course.”
The girl simply nodded, her body was too overcome with fear to dare and speak to Chihiyo. She forced her body to stand and began to follow Chihiyo through the large wooden doors that she had come through what felt like an eternity ago.
“Oh,” Chihiyo’s voice was not the same sweet tone that she had used to address the girl, her voice was darker, coarser, and aggressive, “Mr. Black, she is here to see you.”
Akumako wasn’t fazed in the slightest by the intimidating atmosphere. As she walked by the girl; however, she recognized her almost instantly- but remained silent as she closed the wooden door to the office.
“What are you doing to her?” Akumako said as she turned to face Mr. Black.
He turned around in his chair, “It’s nice to see you too-”
She sighed and began to say her usual introduction with a voice laced with dread, “Hello Uncle, I have come to give you the results of my last test.”
Mr.Black nodded- his demeanor was more friendly and playful now than it had been with the girl only moments ago, “Now, as you were saying?”
“What is Chihiyo doing to that-”
From outside the office there came a blood curdling scream and cries for help- from the girl.
Akumako’s body instinctively turned toward the screaming and lurched to help- but her body was suddenly frozen, “Let me go!!” she struggled against the invisible hold that Mr. Black had placed her in.
“My child,” his voice was smooth and soothing, “There is always a need for collateral in deal making. You yourself know exactly what that means to me. That girl is important to me...and her collateral is more important,” he released her from his grasp and she obediently stood before him, “Now, what of your latest testing?”
Down the Hall
Chihiyo’s hidden room was the size of a broom closet. Compared to the sleek, clean lines of the Thrice building, this room was old, disheveled, and dusty. Every wall had shelves from floor to ceiling that were crammed with dusty books; empty jars; jars filled with eyes, hair, and unrecognizable parts; old rusted tools; and hanging from the wall was a full-sized doll with dark brown skin and hair shaved close to its head. The rest of the room was taken up by a patient's chair and just enough room for Chihiyo to stand beside it.
Chihiyo stood over the body of the girl that had passed out in pain. She placed a large white cloth over the girl’s eye that immediately soaked to a bright red. Paying no mind to the blood now dripping from the girl’s face, Chihiyo closed the newly filled jar tightly, “Thank you Mary,” she looked through the glass jar into the murky gel, “Perfect.”