"12:35 a.m…. we've been here long enough. I don't know how Senji stands this coffee smell for so many hours," Takumi muttered to himself irritatedly, and brought his sights to a camera screen displaying different angles of the cafe's sidewalk.
"Y-Your refreshmen-t, sir…" a child said, shyly.
"Put it on the table," Takumi growled without looking.
"You're always grouchy about something, Takumi. Lighten up," Senji spoke across the cafe. "Good job, Touka." Senji gave her a pat on the back as she went off to the counter.
"That thing should be in the area by now," Takumi silently thought to himself. "I'm gettin' a headache just sitting here… I need fresh air." A whistling breeze carried off empty bottles across the sidewalk, as Takumi observed. A floating clock above Takumi's head continued to rotate as jazz music played, giving the place a sense of peace. A calm, drizzling rain persisted in front of the cafe's entrance, sliding off the umbrellas they set earlier at Senji's request.
"This smell has to be lo'peva… the components of the herbs are great for stimulating parts of the brain. Prepare some for when I return. I'd like to take some with me." Yoshigawa finished his cup of tea, peering into the cup to see a broken twig. "Ah… a bad omen?"
"With marshmellows?" Senji asked Yoshigawa, not having heard what Yoshigawa whispered to himself.
"No- I mean, sure, in a bag. Those can go well with what Naomi has cooked for later."
Inside the cafe, business wasn't so fast paced anymore. There were only a few elderly Setsu sharing drinks, chattering about sports. Looking at their robes, Takumi assessed they were from the neighboring clan tasked with protecting that sector.
"Those Zilt Chargers aren't making it past four rounds, I'll tell you now!" one of the Setsu shouted, pounding his chest, showing he still had a youthful spirit despite being in an aging body.
"Pipe down before you rupture a lung, bag of bones," Takumi said from across the lounge, causing two of them to laugh. "The Chargers have Toto Shimizu on the floor. It's been statistically proven, whenever he's in deep waters… there's no one in Japan that can shut him down," Takumi shot back.
"You youngsters chat too recklessly! Stats this, stats that…" the Setsu went on as the game continued to play holographically behind the counter. Rather than argue, Takumi sighed, shifting back to keeping to himself as the others continued on with their debates.
Yoshigawa swung the pool stick he had in hand, slamming the end of the stick onto the pool table. He aimed and hit an assortment of small colorful balls, as the jazz music slowed down in the background.
"Would you like to try some caramel shil vah?" Senji held out a cup.
The question made Takumi squint his eyes. "No, I'm good… the smell is enough. You do realize, you've been filling me with drinks, dude. If I didn't know you, I'd be suspicious."
"Nothing is better than an honest take on my drinks, Takumi."
Contrary to Takumi's comment, Yoshigawa sniffed, loving the aroma of cocoa. "Imported right from England, huh? Man, that flavor's the best! It'll get you craving for more later," Yoshigawa teased.
"English coffee goes well with many of the desserts we serve here. It's not something you find everywhere in Japan, but sales for it have been dropping since you know… the dilemma you two are helping with tonight," Senji responded, striking Yoshigawa's shoulder on his way back to the front counter. Yoshigawa exaggerated, flopping and rolling along the table before continuing his game of pool as they waited. He leaned up when he heard a beeping sound coming from Senji's watch.
Senji proceeded to ask, "Is your father managing well? I forgot to ask earlier. He's in England right now, right?"
"Yeah, busy in his world and… it��s time to go already?! I'd chill and chat if I could, but the faster I get this done, the more time I can spend with Naomi! We didn't see each other at all last week." Yoshigawa dropped his head, laying across the table for a moment, only for Takumi to pull him back up by his shoulder.
"Come on, we have school tomorrow. I want to get home and practice for a little. It'll help the annoying squirt stay away from me, too."
"Aw, but Taaaaai, it's rainy. Whenever my surroundings are wet, you know I get sleepy bro," Yoshigawa complained for a moment, only to place down the pool stick back on the pool table.
"Don't forget these." Senji walked over to a closet compartment and after some searching, tossed two brown coats over to the pair. Takumi caught them and handed Yoshigawa one.
"Huh? Why the cafe's uniform?" Yoshigawa asked. "We gonna serve coffee or something!? Hahaha!"
"It should aid in luring that beassst," Senji responded.
"We almost forgot… thanks Sen," Takumi mumbled as Yoshigawa checked his out, flailing it around in search of defects.
"Aw man, this is pretty stylish now that I've put it on." Yoshigawa slid the coat on and flicked the hood on, modeling it for the two.
"I'd imagine Naomi would find it dashing on you," Senji raised his hand over his mouth and hissed quietly in laughter while Takumi's eyebrow twitched in annoyance to Yoshigawa bringing out his phone and taking a quick picture.
"They're not supposed to be stylish, they're for masking our Retsu… come on," Takumi grabbed a hold of Yoshigawa's hood, blocking him from taking a second photo and gave him a single tug, as they headed for the door. The pair exited the bright warmth of the cafe to get hit by a chilly breeze that swept in from the dark night. Leaves soon swept across their pants, fluttering across the empty street. One of the leaves brushed onto Takumi's hair as he pulled the hood over his head.
���Hang on, let me get that for you wro." Yoshigawa reached into Takumi's hood and flicked the leaf away. "Thanks," Takumi said, tilting his head up to a flickering post sign at the other end of the street.
From the camera that Senji had set behind the alley, a figure was visible. Takumi and Yoshigawa saw it through Takumi's phone. Senji had granted them access to his camera earlier so they'd know when it was there.
"It's right on time, like he said it'd be…" Takumi looked over to his left side. There weren't any people around, only closed store fronts. An empty hover-bus passed, as the pair watched it wash away the water that accumulated along the sidewalk, practically overflowing the sewage bars.
"So, Sen thinks that… that thing ate his pet dog and we just have to catch it?" Yoshigawa asked.
"Yep, pretty much."
"Does that include ripping it open?"
"Possibly," Takumi responded.
"Alright fam, don't miss a beat. It's been ages since we played catch." Yoshigawa slid his hands into his pocket and grasped his keys nonchalantly.
"I guess so… not like it was much fun," Takumi responded.
"Lighten up Tai," Yoshigawa smiled at Takumi.
"Remember the plan, wait for me to get into position…" Takumi yanked Yoshigawa back before he had a chance to run ahead, and walked ahead of him, over to the corner that'd lead into the alley. Once there, he signaled Yoshigawa to come over to the car they strategically set right in front of the alley.
Yoshigawa chuckled, doing his best to hold back the excitement he felt. He strolled over to the car, humming until he began to ramble randomly for added effect. "Succccchhhh a long day at work!!! Gosh, Marie! When will I catch a break?! Got bills, gotta feed the guppies, so many car payments, debt. Repeating the same things every day is tiring! What was I thinking to have bought such an expensive HOVER-CAR!?" His loud voice echoed throughout the area. The only sound besides his voice was that of passing cars, splashing aside water that they passed over.
"I can't believe I got drunk without bringing someone along… how am I gonna drive home?! Maybe I'll take a moment to look at social media, give my yummy body time to detox." Yoshigawa burped, as he pretended to stumble about when he got near the alley. He reached into his pockets and ravaged through them, then tossed some random crumbled papers over his shoulder and tripped up against the car. As he lifted his head from the hunched position, he spotted a shadowy figure. He hit his cheek on the window, rubbed against its slick surface and then glanced at the reflection in the mirror. A pair of glowing yellow eyes swayed. "Checking me out, eh?" he smirked.
"Alright! Where did I put my keys, huh?!" Yoshigawa quickly twirled around, and in that instance, caught a glimpse of the Night Stalker ducking. Its black ears twitched, as it sat above the dumpster, listening closely to Yoshigawa's ramblings.
Yoshigawa stumbled around in a clumsy way as he dug around in his coat for the car keys. "I can't find my keys! Jeez, this is not good, I'm so vulnerable! Someone can sneak up on me and really take advantage. I could be in big, big trouble right about now!" Yoshigawa spoke louder and banged his palm against the glass of his car, pretending that he was trying to look inside and wipe the fog off the window. All the while, he kept an eye on the reflection as the Night Stalker rose from its concealed position.
Taking this as a sign that Yoshigawa wasn't paying attention, the Night Stalker crept out of the dim alleyway and crept on all fours. It sniffed at the ground, rubbing its nose into a murky puddle and sneezed, tumbling back before laying its eyes up ahead. It didn't sense any strong Retsu, meaning there was no threat to it. Assuming Yoshigawa was human, the Night Stalker rose to its hind legs, shifting from six feet to ten feet. It walked directly towards Yoshigawa and swung its paws high up, slapping one of its floppy ears behind its shoulder in the process.
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Yoshigawa smirked as his fangs elongated past his lips. He lowered his hood as the wind whipped his orange hair around. "AHA!!! GOTCHA, BIG FELLA!!!" He whipped his arms around and pointed at the large creature that stumbled back, surprised by the weird behavior. "YOU'RE SO FLUFFY!"
Yoshigawa punched his palm and took a step forward, getting a good look at the Night Stalker. It was nothing like the prolific killer he had imagined. It seemed less threatening, aside from its height and shrunken eyes. Its entire body was patched in dark fur that was now wet due to the current rainfall.
"But… being a total creep out here, that's not cool. You see, there's a lot of Shiki activity and it's getting in the way of business, so we're going to need you to cooperate. I see you need a haircut, too. Just so happens tonight, I can show you a thing or two on cutting things,��� Yoshigawa rambled on, to Takumi's annoyance.
The Night Stalker continued creeping out towards Yoshigawa, not noticing Takumi. The outer lining of its body resembled a wolf, except a series of thorns stuck out of its back and its face resembled a child's. The creature scanned Yoshigawa in a crazed manner, attempting to process what was truly in front of it and what the being was saying. Suddenly, it saw a misty aroma seep up over Yoshigawa and wash down past it. In that very moment, it knew that what stood before it wasn't a human, nor an ordinary Setsu. It was much more dangerous… a Rikuto.
Its instincts to get away kicked in, as a device within its head alerted it to escape. Without a second look, the Night Stalker turned to retreat back into the alley, but abruptly stopped when it saw Takumi come from the corner over to the front of the alley, blocking its way through.
"Woah! Not so fast pal! Lemme hook you up! The cut's free," it heard Yoshigawa shout behind it as it stepped back, staring at Takumi, who clenched his eyes shut before opening them again. The young Hachi emitted an intense purple glow that nearly blinded the Night Stalker with a surgical flow, forcing it to temporarily look away until the brightness decreased. It soon realized there were now two walls of purple flames at the ends of the sidewalk that prevented it from escaping. Its shoulders tensed up when Takumi lowered his hood, his Retsu revealing that he too was a Rikuto.
"Yo Tai, I sorta realized… and believe me, I know it's weird to bring this up at a moment like this… but you smell like grapes. What kind of conditioner you been hiding wro?" Yoshigawa's voice passed over the Night Stalker.
"Seriously?" Takumi found himself appalled. Unlike Yoshigawa, the Night Stalker didn't want to find out any of that. It twisted its head over and stepped back further, aiming its head for the alley as it dropped onto all fours.
"It's cruel to keep that sort of stuff from me! You're pulling a Rae!"
"Now's not the time Shima… ask me again later," Takumi responded back, cutting the chit-chat short. Takumi slid out a pair of gloves from his pocket with a sigh. He slid the white glove onto his right hand and after fitting it, slid his black glove onto his left hand. He signaled Yoshigawa to get closer to it as he raised his left black gloved hand to his side. His black claws came together to form a sharp tip as he took calm strides towards the Night Stalker.
"Despite my hatred for the Tensei, I shall be your slayer tonight as Ale-" Takumi stopped himself from saying the full name, dodging that formality.
Each footstep made the Night Stalker more uneasy until it couldn't handle the pressure bearing down onto it any longer. Seeing that it was about to do something crazy, Takumi dropped his arms to his side, then swiped his right hand in front of himself. The black merged claws came apart, stretching further out of his black glove.
As soon as Yoshigawa started running towards it, the creature dashed towards Takumi on all fours. He prepared to defend against it, but instead of engaging, the Night Stalker shook its tail side to side, furiously blowing thick quills Takumi's way and like an eruption, propelled itself high up over Takumi, who slashed away all of the quills that rained down on him.
The creature landed against the side of the building, behind the pair. It eyed Takumi and growled at him, then pounced on the end of the opposite wall. The way it crawled along the wall resembled an erratic spider. Its claws lodged into the wall tightly, tearing chunks of the structure back.
Takumi whipped his coat aside to reveal a silver pistol within the holster he had on his belt. The ridge of the Woshu weapon molded into a liger that had a menacing vibe coming from it. Seeing Takumi reach down for it made the Night Stalker drop down within the alley until it landed on the wobbly gate and sprung off, into perceived safety.
"Shoot it down, wro!" Yoshigawa shouted, slapping Takumi's shoulder.
"I'll use the Incisor later, Shima. There's no point in wasting my Retsu here." Takumi glanced over his shoulder. "Get in your car. We'll intercept it."
"Open up baby, we've got somewhere to be!" At his voice command, a brimming green light ignited below Yoshigawa's vehicle. The door opened and he got in and watched Takumi disappear into the darkened alley.
"WOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO The chase is on!!! Get in, let's go!!!"
"Get comfy daddy," the car replied back in a mature woman's voice. Yoshigawa smiled as he started the car while the door closed, releasing a cool breeze. He drove onto the road and sped down the empty Sakai streetline in a blitz.
"That thing's fast." Takumi kept himself low and dashed at a moderate pace, making sure that it didn't escape his sight. His once dark purple eyes flickered on once more, making it easier for him to follow the trail of black particles that the beast was leaving behind.
The Night Stalker tore through the dirty ground below it, chucking chunks of debris back with each step it took. It didn't bother looking back until it sensed danger coming closer and closer. Just as it looked back, a bright flash of purple light flashed towards it, but the Night Stalker jumped out, twirling away from the purple blast that continued on up into the night sky. "Tsk," Takumi sucked his fangs.
It had narrowly avoided the purple flames and tumbled out of the alley. The radiational heat emitted from this flame momentarily stunned the creature, whose eyes had been blinded. A random man who'd been taking off his helmet found his bike was overturned, not being able to see the invisible force that'd blown him over. All the while, the Night Stalker shook its head back and forth and released a series of black thorns out of its back that shot randomly throughout the sidewalk. A group of late night drinkers who were just turning the corner scrambled away and only saw the street lights near the alley explode with a "POP." Indentations were made onto cars near them as they were unaware of what was really going on.
Glass spread out everywhere and the Night Stalker ran up to a traffic light, searching for a path to take. There was only one way. The cars were still passing by at full speed and it had no other choice. It'd have to risk either being struck by one of the speeding hover-cars or plummet into the ocean hidden in the darkness below the pass.
With limited time to act, the Night Stalker took a leap… and miraculously landed on one of the passing hover-cars that breezed by. It almost lost its grip, but tore its claws into the metallic roof of the car, as it stared down at the darkness the hover car passed over in relief. Its tail flicked over, striking the car's glass window. The driver heard the glass window crack and looked back, but before he could say much, he felt the pressure that had dropped down on the car lighten. The Night Stalker had hopped off and landed on another car. It hopped from hood to hood, with the intention of reaching the sidewalk that was across from the one Takumi arrived at.
Reaching the sidewalk, Takumi glanced down and saw the Night Stalker getting away. He grit his fangs, displeased at how the creature forced him to chase. "It's gonna get captured anyway. Why make it hard for me!?" Takumi grumbled in his head.
Quickly making it across the intersection, the creature front-flipped onto the sidewalk and looked up to the platform where it had been, expecting to see the young Setsu still on the other end. To its surprise, Takumi was jumping from car to car, following along closely, headed straight towards it. Stepping off of the final car, Takumi rose up high and grabbed onto the top of a 12 feet light pole. His black glove allowed him to firmly grip the surface as he dug his claws into it and skimmed the sides, coming down the pole towards the Night Stalker.
Takumi drew his Incisor once more upon landing and just as he was about to shoot, he took note of a woman approaching with a little boy and quickly slid the hand behind his back. The Night Stalker took advantage of that, as it stepped into the shade that the alley provided.
The boy glanced over to the alley up ahead, looking for something, anything interesting. To his horror, he caught sight of the Night Stalker's filthy teeth, followed by the terrifying face that poked out from the corner of the alley. The little boy stopped his mother by tugging at her sleeve. "Mommy! Don't go that way, there's a tiger baby monster thing over there…" he warned. However, his mother laughed and lifted him up into her arms, brushing the child's warning aside.
The Night Stalker glared over at the child and had the urge to attack the two humans, but it heard the click of a pistol. Takumi had walked behind the woman and aimed the weapon in the Night Stalker's direction, ready to shoot it down if it attempted to lunge at the two humans.
The Night Stalker let them pass by without harming them and instead used it as a chance to take off. The little boy nudged his mother's shoulder, asking if she didn't notice the monster and his mother laughed. "Honey, you're imagining things. Just look at the pretty city lights." The little boy looked on, doing as his mother told him as she snuggled him in her arms. He pressed his cheek against her shoulder and looked back, only to see Takumi, with his pistol aimed at the Night Stalker. The child's eyes widened and blinked, as he moved his hands up. He rubbed his eyes and when he looked again, neither Takumi nor the Night Stalker were there.
"SSSWWWWWWWWWWUUUUU!!!" Yoshigawa's car sped through the city streets, ignoring the stop lights. He set his sights on the corner he was just about to turn and spun the wheel over, allowing him to swerve into the lane. The street lights made the road ahead a visible yellow and the back of the car shook back and forth. "Come on, baby! Faster!" He tapped the shift knob, speaking to the A.I. within the car.
At the center of the knob, the female A.I. came out and twirled over to his shoulder in the form of a holographic idol. "Yes daddy, amping it up to two hundred kilometers per hour!" A green light flared out of the exhaust pipe behind Yoshigawa's car, blowing his vehicle faster through the lane.
Yoshigawa smirked and asked, "How long to our destination?"
"Four minutes," the A.I. answered back just when at the corner of his eye, Yoshigawa saw a woman stumbling down a series of stone steps that led to the top of the Minami Alps National Park. He quickly commanded the car to "stop!", causing the A.I. to fly up against the windshield face-first due to the abrupt halt, leading it to erupt into coding as Yoshigawa twisted his head over to see through the back window.
"Back it up, baby! Reverse!" The car's tail lights blinked on and off wildly, and she did as she was told, moving back and parking on the sidewalk.
Yoshigawa peered through his window and took note that the woman had her hand over her shoulder where blood was dripping down. He jerked his seatbelt off. "Could it be… a Stray attack and no Ikigai around? Hurry, open the door baby!" he ordered his car and stepped out, nearly stumbling over.
Yoshigawa looked to both ends of the street. Seeing that there weren't any lights moving in, he crossed the street quickly and caught the woman just as she collapsed forward. She wheezed as her eyes expressed fear… eyes that made Yoshigawa remember something unpleasant briefly. A girl with light green hair in a boy's arms crossed his mind.
He shook his head to get the thought out and asked the woman, "What happened?!" She struggled to raise her hand and pointed up towards the park. "My d-daughter…" Her hand dropped down and her head tilted. Yoshigawa quickly moved his head down to her chest to check for a pulse.
Her heart was still beating. In order to stop the bleeding, Yoshigawa removed his jacket and ripped some of the fabric off. He tried adjusting it over her wound and released green twinkling particles from his fingertips. These particles went into the fabric and tightened on the wound. He then adjusted her beside a street lamp and set his attention to the park. An ominous vibe with negative Retsu flowed down the stairs. It reeked of death and fresh blood.
"Damn…" Yoshigawa glanced around, catching the scent of many other Shikis. With little choice, he reached into his pocket and brought out his phone to make a call.
"Lord Fukushima, where have you been?! We've been worried sick!!! How many times have I told you not to turn off your locator?!" A British woman's voice blared out of the phone, forcing Yoshigawa to hold it away from his ear. He gave her a second to ramble and then put it on speaker.
"Yeah yeah! You know I don't want you tailing me around… unless I need you, which I do now!" Yoshigawa explained with little time. "I turned the locator on now. Kara, bring Zumepaki and get a hold of an Ikigai pack or two. There's trouble over here."