Saito headquarters, Roppongi Tokyo

Kiochi finished summarizing the events of the last few days to Yamamoto and the two downed several cups of tea.

“Mmm… this is quite interesting. If the council wants to keep this a secret, there is no telling what they are willing to do.” Yamamoto said thoughtfully.

He pondered deeply and his brows furrowed slightly.

“I apologize, but can you tell me what happened when you struck one of them again?” Yamamoto asked.

Kiochi knew what he had told Yamamoto was very hard to believe and more than anyone, Kiochi knew that one would have to see those giant monster’s in order to acknowledge their existence.

Kiochi unclipped his scabbard from his belt and placed it in front of him.

Kiochi unsheathed the Nodachi and placed in front of the scabbard.

“I struck one of those things with everything I had and it bounced off like it was nothing.” Kiochi described.

“I see.” Yamamoto acknowledged softly.

A moment passed, then Yamamoto stood up and walked towards the door.

Kiochi followed him, leaving his Nodachi on the table.

“I’ll see what I can do to help, but for now, make sure that you eat and rest. You look worse than hell.” He said with a weak laugh.

Kiochi didn’t know why, but he felt like he could trust the old man.

“Use any of the facilities and services here to your hearts content. We’ll speak soon after you’ve had some rest. Your room is the first room down the hall to the right. I’ll send someone there as soon as possible.” He said with a wave as he walked out of the room.

Left alone, Kiochi stood in the corridor. Collecting his thoughts.

[So that was Yamamoto… Why do you trust him even though he has ties to the council?]

Eve asked.

‘Do we have any other choices?’ Kiochi asked.

Eve remained silent.

After calming his thoughts to a certain extent, Kiochi took Yamamoto’s advice and went to his room.

It was rather spacious for a room that was supposed to be for guests.

But then again, he was on the top floor of the Saito building.

The room, like Yamamoto’s office, was sparsely decorated.

The was a futon to the far right, the bathroom door was too the far left and there was a couch and TV in the centre.

Kiochi took one look at the bed and knew exactly what he needed to do.

He took off his hoodie, unstrapped his bulletproof vest, tore off his shirt, kicked off his boots and rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower to remove the sticky residue from the substance Eve extracted from his body.

After drying himself off, he wore his black cargo pants and jumper onto the futon.

He was already sleepy but the futon had an amplifying effect on his drowsiness and so before he even knew it, his eyes were closed and he was asleep.

.

..

Four years earlier

An off limits location near Mt. Takao, Japan

“Come on, rookies! They don’t call this endurance training for nothing, ha!” A burly man bellowed.

Kiochi, two instructors and several students had been running for hours and their equipment added several more kilograms to their overall suffering, making it that much harder to run.

This training would have been considered hellish for normal fifteen year olds, but Kiochi and his classmates had all undergone numerous surgeries and other procedures that enhanced their bodies to beyond the limits.

Their day started with a ten kilometre jog to a designated location, where they’d spend several hours doing various exercises before jogging back to the camp area.

They were currently on their way back to camp.

It was night time and so visibility was low and to make things worse, none of the students were given torches or night vision goggles, which the instructors had.

“Ena! Ena , look! I’m jogging backwards!” A boy named Izanagi boasted.

“Careful, you idiot! If you fall, instructor Ito will scold you.” A girl named Ena yelled.

“Quiet, back there!” The buff man named Kaede Ito ordered.

The group was running along a rather pathway which followed the side of a steep hill, so they had to be careful.

“You know, you runts should be more like Kiochi. He knows how to get stuff done. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m an instructor, I’d take under my wing as we headed for the frontlines, Haha!” Ito announced loudly.

Everyone on camp already knew how much he hated being an instructor and how much he wanted to serve in actual missions.

But the council wouldn’t let him.

“Sir, Kiochi may be better in many regards, bur don’t you think he’s a little too quite, considering that we’re supposed to work as a team?”

“Yeah, I think the only time you’ll ever see his mouth open is when he’s eating”

“Really? Well I’ve never seen him open his mouth even when eating. Haha!”

They were talking like Kiochi wasn’t there.

But in all honesty, Kiochi didn’t mind and it’s not like he didn’t want to talk.

It’s just that no one ever approached him.

Was it his face?

No.

Right?

The group continued running non stop for several minutes until Kiochi heard a scream coming from behind him.

He turned to look and found that a section of the pathway had broken up and slid down the cliff side.

The problem was that the rest of the students were still on the other side of the gap and the only ones who had made it to safety were Kiochi, Ito and Ms. Watanabe.

“What’s happening?” Ito shoved Kiochi to the side before examining the gap that separated him from his students.

“Ha, this is why they call this a survival camp, no?” He laughed without a hint of care.

“Sir, what should we do?” One of the students asked.

Ito stood near the edge of the gap and examined its dimensions.

Kiochi knew exactly what the knucklehead was planning on doing.

“Children, jump. Don’t worry, I will catch you.” He said.

The only problem was the gap between him and the students was around five meters long and the width of the pathway was barely a meter wide.

“That’s a bad idea.” Watanabe commented, but she didn’t move.

“Don’t worry, leave it me! I am a B ranked Kynigoi after all!” He declared rather loudly.

One of the students walked up to the ledge on their side.

It was a rather short boy, who had long messy hair.

“Come on! Jump!” Ito said, but as soon as the boy put power into his legs, the ground beneath him gave away and he slipped.

Everyone helplessly watched as the boy fell down the hill, his body hit the several boulders a few times before crashing into the trees below.

Panic followed and some of the students broke into tears.

This was not their first survival camp, but it was definitely the first where someone died.

And to make it worse they all watched as it happened.

“Calm down! Do not forget what you are. You are soldiers of the council and you should be prepared to give your very lives to the council. Those of you who lack that resolve shouldn’t be here in the first place!” Ito shouted.

The students were silenced by his words but Kiochi could sense panic in his tone.

The reason Ito was panicking because he would have to explain to the council why and how he lost a child whose upbringing and training cost billions of Yen.

“Come on! Next one!” Ito ordered, but none of the students moved.

“What are you waiting for?” his voice was becoming hoarse with desperation.

Another student came forward.

It was a tall, athletic girl who even managed to keep up with Kiochi in training, sometimes.

She ran and jumped while Ito reached out his hand, but the girl’s hands were drenched in sweat from fear and so when their hands touched, Ito’s grasp slipped and her body slammed onto the hillside and tumbled down to the ground.

“Haaarg!” Ito let out a fearsome cry that shook the night.

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“I’ll jump over there and lead the students somewhere safe, whilst you and Kiochi go back to camp and alert Ms. Hashimoto about the situation.” Watanabe said as she walked over to the gap.

“No, wait! I can handle this!” Ito shouted as he blocked Watanabe with his hand.

“Now isn’t the time to be stubborn and I am your superior, so stand down.” Watanabe raised her voice for the first time since she started training the students.

Kiochi could tell that the situation was complicated and getting anymore students killed wouldn’t be good for Watanabe either.

Mako Watanabe was their combat instructor.

She found strange pleasure in watching the students fight each other to the point where they bled, other than that, she was a kind and caring woman who would later on help treat any injuries the students sustained.

But above all that, she was a soldier who served the council and she knew that there’d be consequence if she let any more students die.

“Mmn.” Ito let out a pained moan.

Then suddenly, Kiochi saw his expression change.

“Ok. How about this: why don’t I jump over that side and you go report the situation to miss Hashimoto? Yes. That’s a better idea.”

Kiochi could practically see the desperation oozing from his body in the form of sweat.

“No. You are to-" just as the words left Watanabe's mouth, Ito ran forward and jumped over the gap.

Watanabe tried to stop him but the ground beneath her gave away and she slipped.

Ito’s fate wasn’t any prettier, because just as he landed on the other side, the ground broke apart due to his weight and the force of the jump.

He fell, but he had grabbed the bags of two students who stood near the gap and so he took them with him as he fell.

Kiochi panicked.

What were they going to do now that the instructors were gone.

He could’ve ran to the camp and reported the situation like Watanabe wanted, but that would mean leaving his classmates behind.

Kiochi ran towards the ledge but then he slipped on the loose soil and tumbled down the cliff side.

His head must have hit something because what followed after was darkness.

He couldn’t see anything and he couldn’t hear anything.

.

..

Saito headquarters, Tokyo present day

[Kiochi, someone’s coming!]

Kiochi heard Eve’s voice and he sprung out of the futon.

He couldn’t hear anything other than himself in the room, but he still felt that something was off.

His door was locked, the lights were off and it was a nearly impossible for an intruder to come in through the windows.

He slowly slid on his socks and boots.

Then suddenly, the door slid open and a shadow dash into the room.

The shadowy figure was of average height.

Kiochi looked the shadow over.

Its slender figure and narrow waist indicated that it was a woman.

Or a rather small man.

Behind its tactical mask was long red hair.

The fact that she dyed her hair meant that she was young, possibly rebellious or something like that.

‘Can I win?’ Kiochi asked Eve.

He didn’t know why he was being too cautious.

But after what he experienced with the dark giants, he told himself that there was no such thing as being too cautious.

[I do not have enough data to give you a conclusive answer. But she is human and her heart is beating like crazy. An armature assasin?]

Kiochi internally nodded, then dashed towards the woman and to his surprise, he was fast.

Several times faster than before.

The shadow raised her guard and entered a comical battle pose.

What was she? A small child?

She threw a right jab at Kiochi’s face as he approached.

It moved at a snail’s pace, so Kiochi easily dodged it.

The shadow let loose a flurry of careless attacks, but Kiochi dodged them all with ease.

He realized that he was way faster than before.

How about power?

Kiochi lowered his stance, moved in towards the woman, who sluggishly tried to kick him, then he tackled her onto the floor.

She struggled intensely but it was no use.

Kiochi placed his hand on her throat and applied generous amounts of pressure.

“I- I give up!” A weak voice said.

Kiochi let go and got off her.

After calming himself, he offered his hand and she grabbed it as she stood up.

“So, you are a Kynigoi. A Super soldier.” She said through laboured breaths.

“Yes, and who might you be?” Kiochi asked as he turned on the lights, revealing the woman’s athletic body, covered only by a rather skin tight combat suit and several pieces of gear.

The woman removed her mask, revealing a face with amazingly smooth bronze skin.

Kiochi felt his guard weaken as she looked at him with her hazelnut eyes.

“Dalila Omar, daughter of Rashida Omar. I’m sure you know him.” She said casually as she offered her hand in greeting.

Kiochi shook it gently before returning to his futon.

“What do you want? Last time I checked your father wasn’t on the council.” Kiochi asked.

He needed to know why Rashida Omar’s daughter was here.

He was one of the biggest names in the business world and had his tentacles in every oil rig on the planet.

Seeing as he was Egyptian, it was fair to call him the modern day Tutankhamun, but what did he want with Kiochi?

“I see you’ve already met Dalila. She is staying here as my guest as well.” Said a familiar raspy old voice.

It was Yamamoto and he was standing by the door.

“Mr. Saito, why didn’t you tell me your guest was a Kynigoi?” She asked cheerfully as she walked over to the old mans side.

Yamamoto scratched the back of his head and laughed the matter off.

“Well, Kiochi-kun here decided to drop by unexpectedly, so I had very little time to prepare. But on to proper business. Kiochi, this way.” Yamamoto said.

Kiochi got up, wore his shirt, strapped on his bullet proof vests and followed.

The three walked quietly down several corridors before reaching the executive elevator Yamamoto and Kiochi had used before.

“Where are we going and I’d like to know what she is doing here?” Kiochi asked.

“I’m right here, you know!” Dalila complained.

“Her father wanted her to get some real world experience and since I absolutely love field work, he sent her here. Speaking of which, her Japanese might be as terrible as yours, ha!” Yamamoto laughed.

“Hey, I’m still here!” She complained again.

The elevator stopped and the three exited, finding themselves on the eighth floor.

The walls were made from concrete that Kiochi assumed was heavily reinforced and the floor made of grated steel.

The luxury from the floor above was replaced with the feeling of containment and the smell of machine oil.

“I called the council last night.” Yamamoto said as we walked down several more corridors.

“What did you tell them?” Kiochi asked, his voice a little more murderous than he intended.

“I told them that you came by, stole some stuff and left, ha! They were quick to accept it too, so I guess we got lucky.” Yamamoto said.

This wasn’t luck.

If anything this was the opposite of luck.

The council accepting Yamamoto’s words meant that it was gathering its forces.

The three came to a stop at a large metal door.

Next to it was a biometric scanner which Yamamoto placed his index finger on.

A small beep came from the machine and the door gradually started lifting.

“This is the most secure part of Saito headquarters and this is where you’ll be spending a lot of your time.” Yamamoto said gleefully.

Kiochi, on the other hand felt the coldest chill snake it’s way up his spine after Yamamoto uttered those words.

The room they entered was a large hall and it was littered with dangerous looking devices and machines that looked more like instruments of torture.

The loud noises of the air conditioning units only added to the hall’s already eerie atmosphere.

Kiochi had a really bad feeling about all of this.

Then he heard something rustling under some piles of paper and what looked like empty noodle cups.

Kiochi kicked the junk to the side revealing a sleeping man.

He wore an extremely dirty lab coat and his messy blonde hair covered most of his face.

But even beneath that dirty hair Kiochi knew who that man was.

His name was David Freeman, an American scientist who specialized in advanced robotics.

But that wasn’t why Kiochi knew him.

He was the father of one of his subordinates, Alice Freeman.

Why did Kiochi feel an intense pain when he looked at him?

How would he tell him about Alice’s brutal death?

How would he look at Kiochi afterwards?

Why did Kiochi even care?

Truthfully, this was the first time that Kiochi lost any of his men.

Yamamoto walked towards Kiochi.

“So that’s where he is. Of all my guests, he is the messiest. Get up, idiot!” Yamamoto kicked David’s leg.

“Go away! I’m busy.” He waved his hand randomly in the air.

“Look at this, best in the world he calls himself. Get up or else...” Yamamoto said as he sat on a sofa that was nearby.

Dalila followed and sat next to him.

David also started getting up.

The papers that had fallen onto him somehow, fell onto the already messy floor.

“Captain Kiochi, you’re here? What a surprise. I’ve always wanted to conduct tests on you, you know.” He let out a deep yawn then sat on a chair opposite Yamamoto.

“Its just Kiochi now. The council has marked me for elimination.” Kiochi said corrected.

“Mmm, I wonder why. Oh and where’s Alice and the rest?” he asked.

Kiochi’s heart sank.

His thoughts were already in a mess and this wasn’t helping.

What should I tell him? Kiochi thought to himself.

[The truth.]

Eve answered.

Kiochi took a breath and looked into David’s eyes.

No matter how lazy David appeared, he was still a remarkable scientist and a good father.

Even though he lost his wife many years before, he took care of Alice loved Alice with all his heart and when she asked to join the ranks of the Kynigoi he let her.

Kiochi saw all that and much more in Mr. Freeman’s eyes.

“Alice-" Kiochi’s throat felt like it was being crushed and he couldn’t utter the words he wanted.

“Alice and the rest of my team were killed in action.” Kiochi said as he took deep and painful breaths.

Desperately fighting the urge to cry or throw up.

Silence fell upon the hall.

Followed by more silence.

“Did you get those responsible and where is my daughters body?” David asked with a voice that was scarier than any Kiochi had ever heard in his entire life.

“The council wouldn’t disclose any information about the beings we faced and she fell near the Myanmar border.” Kiochi whispered.

Not because he wanted to be quiet.

His voice just wouldn’t come out.

“When you say beings, you mean to say that they weren’t human? And the council didn’t want you to investigate this or anything?” Kiochi could hear the anger building within David as he asked.

“That’s what we’re here to discuss. I have had a feeling for a while that things are going to change and if the council is left alone to do as it pleases, mankind may pay for it.” Yamamoto’s announced.

“We are missing a few more people, but I’ve gathered the people I trust most here to discuss our plans for the future.” Yamamoto was being more serious than I’d ever seen him.

The door from which we entered opened, revealing a familiar woman.

It was the receptionist Kiochi met the day before.

She was dressed differently though. Her clothes this time around were more casual, but she still retained her edgy appearance.

“I’m sure you are all acquainted with Ichika Kobayashi. She’s my secretary and dear friend.” She gave a deep bow as Yamamoto reintroduced her.

Following her from behind was a man who looked slightly older than Kiochi was.

“That dashing young man there is Rin Takahashi. Actually, he is a B ranked soldier. What do you young ones call yourselves nowadays?” Yamamoto asked.

“We are Kynigoi. The word means hunter in Greek. Quite fitting don’t you think?” Rin said.

He was dressed sharply, even though this was an unofficial meeting.

“Truly a fitting word. I’d like you to meet Kiochi. He was your superior, but now he stands before us as a normal man, ha!” Yamamoto laughed.

“A normal man who could kill us all in his sleep.” Dalila scoffed.

After a short burst of laughter from everyone except David and Kiochi, everyone finally settled down.

“What I’m going to tell you is information that could get you killed if the council were to know you had it. So, if you are unwilling to pay for this information with your life, I suggest that you leave.” Yamamoto spoke clearly enough for every one to hear.

No one moved.

Kiochi had nothing to lose, so he stayed put.

“Just a reminder that not all of us present here have received the special training Kiochi and Rin got. This means that if the council were to capture you and interrogate you, you will break. Seeing as that you’re all still here, I’ll take it that you’ve all come to terms with everything.” Yamamoto said.

.

..

“Yassine, I hope you slept well.” Dr. Tahiri asked as she dried her hair.

“Yeah, Japan is a wonderful place and we’ve only been here for about twelve hours.” Yassine said while getting dressed.

Yassine and Dr. Tahiri had landed in Tokyo several hours earlier, did a little sight seeing and eventually made their way to a hotel.

They were set up in two separate rooms that had an attached living area.

In all honesty, Yassine would have preferred to share a room with Dr. Tahiri, but nothing could be done about that.

Their purpose in japan was to have the Ovum Vitae they found in Africa examined and in a few days, they were to return it to Morocco, where it would be kept in a museum.

Yassine brushed his hair as they prepared to depart from the hotel, but Yassine wanted to take one more look at the Ovum Vitae.

Something fascinated him about it and the strange feeling he had only intensified once he had it in his room.

Yassine took out the large metal case that held the Ovum Vitae and placed it on his bed.

In almost every sense of the word, the Ovum Vitae looked like a giant, almost entirely smooth metal egg with strange dark markings on it.

Ever since scientist in Europe unearthed the first one, no one was able to decipher what the markings meant.

Carbon dating revealed that the Ovum Vitae was at least fifteen thousand years old.

But If that number was correct, that would predate when mankind first used metal by about five thousand years.

So little was known about the Ovum Vitae and Yassine guessed that he and the professor were supposed to find out what they could.

After opening the case Yassine felt the strange sensation from before.

A strange feeling, like heat was coming from the Ovum Vitae.

He couldn’t be sure since it was so feint, yet so intoxicating.

“Ms. Rose, could you please come here for a moment.” Yassine called out.

Ms. Tahiri arrived a few moments later.

She was dressed causally and her thick grey jacket with fur lining made her look kinda cute.

“I’m sure it’s just me, but could you please place your hand above the Ovum Vitae, doesn’t feel like the it’s radiating some kind of heat?” Yassine pointed at the Ovum Vitae and the professor placed her hand on it.

“Mmm. Nope, it’s as cold as steel. Maybe you’re traumatized about the work I made you do in the desert. I apologize for making you do all that work but I assure you that this second egg will surely give us the answers we need to change the course of our history and be mankind’s salvation.” She placed her hand on Yassine’s cheek as she spoke.

“Now come on. We shouldn’t be late.” She said as she left the room.

But Yassine still wasn’t sure.

He placed his hand on the Ovum and he could feel actual heat coming from it.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe he was a little traumatized by all the work he did in the desert.

Yassine cast those thoughts aside and the two set off for one of the most advanced research facilities in Japan, if not the world, Saito headquarters.