Edit: 4/9/13

I probably should have put this here earlier, but Act 1 is mainly a prologue.

Edit: 2/4/14

I kept forgetting to put up that reviews are welcome. If you feel inclined to speak then speak!

Act 1

The End of a War, the Start of Another

Chapter 1-1: I Scratch Your Back…

"It has been several weeks since I came back into this world. All of last month has been an illuminating experience for both {Master (crossed out)} Survivor and me. He has started to trust me, despite my errors and my past. He even sees me as his partner now, an honor I shall not betray.

"We heard a rumor from a reliable source that Survivor has found unable to ignore. He has contacted an acquaintance of ours to act on this information, a trade to be precise. Our new employer gives us what Survivor needs to put out the Soul Burn after we help him. However, I have concerns about this 'deal' but Survivor will make the final decision."

-Devil's Journal, First, and Currently Only, Entry

Somewhere in the Middle East, a sports car is traveling down a road at high speed. The driver is wearing a sword on his back and a book bag on his side. Beside him in the passenger's seat is a case of weapons grade plutonium. When the driver looks towards the plutonium, however, he sees something, someone else.

"I will say it again," the man in passenger seat, whose looks resembles the driver completely, says. "I do not trust him, Survivor."

The driver, a mercenary who goes by the name of Mark Silv, sighs, "Again, duly noted under 'do not care'."

"You are going to get stabbed in the back."

"Whatever you say, Devil."

The image, Devil rolls his eyes, "Why do you trust him?"

"I don't, not in this case, anyway."

"Then why are you doing this? Why are you waiting when we no longer can? For your 'friend'?" Mark turns to glare at him. "Eyes on the road. Wrecking this car does nothing for us."

Mark turns back to the road reluctantly, "Just trust me."

"I trust you completely. I am just saying…"

Mark pulls up into a camp full of people surrounding a single building. "If he does betray us I won't be surprised."

"Does? He will betray us."

Mark parks his car in front of a group of armed men. Silently he picks up the case and exits the car. He counts the men around him: A total of eleven. With confidence, he strolls forward towards a tall mid-twenties man he recognizes. "Abdul?"

"Oh, Devil! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. You are even more intimidating in person than your picture and your voice suggest…umm, no offense meant."

"Do not worry, I get that a lot," He offers his hand to Abdul, who quickly shakes it. "I have what you requested."

"Thank you, Devil, we owe you our gratitude. Come on inside." Abdul leads Mark into the building. Devil appears next to Mark spiritually so that no one else can see or hear him.

"Not a bad impersonation, Survivor. I would not have offered my hand, however. Just because I would aid them does not make me a friend."

'I'm not planning on doing this more than once,' Mark thinks, since he obviously can't talk at the moment.

When they reach the doors, Abdul talks to the guards posted outside it. "Nizam is expecting him. He won't be a problem."

"Nizam isn't here yet, he can wait outside."

"He's a guest here so we should at least let him get comfortable."

The other guard walks over to Mark reluctantly. "Fine, but at least let us search him for weapons."

"Very well," Mark says with his arms raised. The guard pats him down expertly, unknowingly missing the hand and a half sword on Marks back.

Devil speaks again. "I guess it is a good thing that your sword is your soul weapon so people can not differentiate between you and it. Otherwise we would have to go with one of my infamous plans."

''Kill them all' is hardly a plan.'

After a few more moments of patting down the guard lets him pass, obviously satisfied. Abdul smiles and opens the doors for them. A heavily guarded prison with bloodthirsty and insane men and women lie beyond them, at least that's what Mark was expecting to see. What he does see makes him smack his forehead with his palm. Arcade games, a ping-pong table, a few HDTVs with game consoles attached and players to match, and not to mention a book club are just about the last things he expected to see.

'Sometimes I believe that I am the last sane person alive in the whole world, or maybe I am the only insane person instead.'

"Well, a happy worker is a productive worker," said Devil as if he knew what Mark was thinking. "Maybe the same logic can be used for terrorist groups."

"Is something wrong, Devil?"

Mark quickly pulls himself back together. "Uh, no, no I am okay I was just wondering about some information I had gathered. Tell me, do you have a red-headed German soldier here."

"Yeah, we captured her a couple of days ago. How did you know?"

"I have an expert information gatherer working for me. He was the one who pointed me in your direction. Do you mind if I see her?"

Abdul raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I worked with her and we sort of had a fling. I am just saying that I should at least say hello."

"Ah, haha, I get you. You want to rekindle old relationships, eh? Well you don't have to worry, we didn't hurt her and we'll let her go back to the military safely after the Germans pay the ransom. Go ahead; she's down that hallway, then just take a right and behind the metal door, can't miss it. Oh, and you can say that you are negotiating the price if that helps."

"Nice idea, thanks Abdul."

As Mark makes his way down the hallway Abdul was pointing to, Devil talks again. "I am actually surprised on how easy that was. I guess all that game time does make terrorists soft."

He laughs at the comment. "Yeah, we should tell everyone to ship entertainment products to protect against insurgency."

"That probably includes security installers as well. No cameras. They might as well have just put out a mat for infiltrators and spies. Good news for us."

They turn the corner. "And no guards either, they were probably the ones playing ping-pong."

"I thought the term was 'table tennis.'"

Mark turns the knob. "And it's open, too."

"At this point it is just sad. I am starting to wonder if they had even tied her up. If not, your victory will be severely hollow."

"You're just into that kind of thing. Only with, you know, guys."

"At least I admit to my fetishes. What are yours again? Oh yeah, you like it when women-"

Mark hurriedly opens the door to end the conversation. Inside he sees a woman with bright red hair in desert camouflage clothes and her arms bound to a metal folding chair with a pair of handcuffs for both arms. She's turned around to face the window and away from the door, so she doesn't see him come in. She does, however, raise her head defiantly.

Mark closes the door behind him as Devil sighs and speaks, "This was what I was talking about. You always run from these conversations, embarrassed, even though you know that I already know everything. There is no point to these retreats."

He just ignores him and moves and crouches in front of the woman so she can easily see his face. "Hi Maru-san, I see that you've taken to espionage. If ask me, though, your more suited to front line work."

Margit Eberbach, the woman in the chair looks at him with surprise all over her face. "Mark! What are you doing here?"

"I heard you got caught, so I asked Frank what happened out of disbelief, and now I'm here to help you out at his request."

"How?"

"You got 'caught' because Nizam is being a clever little bird and being hard to pin down, right? Well, he's going to meet me here in a few minutes, so if you were to get loose…"

"He'll be an easy target. I'm liking this plan. It's humiliating how easily he can elude me, The Hound, who always finds her prey… but why don't you just catch him yourself?"

He sighs wistfully, "Politics."

"Politics?"

"Rule #1 in politics is to be able to deny any variable that can cause you harm."

"I don't get it."

"Frank is a very well respected military leader. If word gets out that he is working with a merc like me then that can quickly reverse his situation. Best case scenario in such an event is that everyone just shrugs it off as 'it was necessary' in which case the German Military will take a fall because that's another way of saying that his troops aren't as good as one lone soldier of fortune. Then politicians will say it's because they lack funding or it's because of schools or whatever the hell is the scapegoat is now a days, then their opponents will continue trashing the military to attack, then Frank's ability will be drawn in to the fight and he won't be able to operate as efficiently or given as much leeway to-"

"Okay, okay I get the picture! Why is it so complicated?"

"It is how they hide their weakness and fear," Devil interjects even though only Mark can hear him as he is now. Mark responds with a dry smile.

Margit sees the smile, "What is it?"

Mark quickly hides his grin. "Nothing you have to worry about for now," he stands back up and walk to her side. "Frank said he will be sending in a unit to help you secure the building as you're capturing Nizam. Lean forward."

She does as she's told and Mark unsheathes his cracked sword that is barely holding todether. With a swift cut, he severs the cuff chains keeping her in the chair. He puts the sword back as Margit walks around a bit. "Thanks," she says. "Alright, I'm ready to go!"

Mark smiles at her eagerness. "Not so fast," he replies. "The reinforcements will signal you to attack through the window. Until then, you have to wait."

"Understood. Waiting before you attack is crucial to hunting."

"Good, then on to the last, and my least favorite, thing."

"Which is?"

"I still have to keep up appearances, so I'm going to get in your way as you attack Nizam. When I do, hit me, hard, preferably in the head."

She gives him a sadistic grin in acknowledgement.

"You're a little too happy to be hitting me, Maru-san. Should I be worried?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing personal."

Mark sends out a small energy pulse into the hall outside to make sure it is clear to leave, he doesn't detect anyone. He nods to Margit one last time before leaving the room. Devil follows him as usual and makes one last quip as they return to the lobby. "You should be worried, Survivor. The reason behind her smile is that she can now take out some or all of her anger on you."

Mark lets out a sigh after hearing that. Abdul walks over. "What's wrong Devil? Did she reject you?"

"Yes, she is not exactly in the greatest mood right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Don't worry; Nizam is just outside so you can leave shortly."

Mark lets out a laugh, "You are very understanding, Abdul."

Abdul gives a small bow to Mark. "Thank you for the complement," he says as the door opens and Nizam, a middle-aged man, comes in. "Nizam! How are you doing?"

"Alright, I'm a little nervous but I am glad we have what we need now," Nizam says before turning to his guards. "Watch over the Hound. I don't like her so close to me." The guards nod and head down the hallway to the makeshift cell.

'Hopefully they won't enter the room and find Margit free. I don't want them to make a ruckus and blow my cover.'

Devil, as if on cue, follows them while talking. "Do not worry Survivor; I will make sure they will be harmless." Even though Devil is not in a physical form, he can still keep people in line by attacking they're spirits lightly, giving them 'bad vibes'.

Nizam, in the meantime, has gotten so close to Mark their noses are almost touching. He's just standing there, staring into Mark's eyes, trying to get a read on his soul. 'I guess this is one way to say 'nice to meet you.' But then again, he has been able to avoid the German Military for awhile now so maybe there is some sort of trick here…note to self: Consult Devil on possible soul reading technique involving looking into someone's eyes.'

After a while Nizam backs up with a smile on his face and extends his hand to Mark who shakes it. "So you have what we want?" he asks.

Mark hands him the case. "Of course, I would not be here if I did not have anything."

Nizam laughs happily and says to Abdul, "I like him." He takes the case and is about to open it before stopping himself. He turns back to Mark, "Is it safe to be exposed to plutonium?"

"I honestly have no idea. I would not, just to be sure."

"Well it's fine; we have experts and a facility here. How about we give you a tour?"

"Sure, I do not-" The power suddenly goes out for a half second before coming back on, making the people playing the video games very upset. "I do not suppose that is usual."

Nizam looks around with worry. He calls to the guards outside, "The power just went out! Check out the generator!" There is no response. Nizam pulls out a pistol. "Damn…Everyone get ready! We may be under attack!"

All the terrorists move toward their guns when the doors slam open and grenades get thrown in. "Flashbangs!" Mark yells out.

The grenades go off and stun the terrorists (Mark covered his ears and closed his eyes when he saw the grenades). Mark grabs Nizam and tries to move him away when Margit rushes from the hallway, Mark presumes she's already knocked out the guards watching over her, and charges at them as planned. Mark stands up to face her as valiantly as possible when a gunshot rings out behind him and he feels a sharp pain in his back. Mark quickly spins around, "OW! What the hell?!"

"Sorry! I still can't see that well!" Nizam had accidently shot him. Mark turns back to Margit who is already in mid-jump. The very next moment her boot smashes into Mark's face hard. Teeth and blood fly out of his mouth and he can hear his jaw crack under the pressure. He spins uncontrollably before hitting the ground and playing dead.

Shortly afterward, a burlap sack is placed over his head to blind him and he is dragged away and thrown into what Mark presumes is a truck. He can hear a couple of helicopters and a few engines humming. He sends out a small pulse and detects that Abdul and Nizam are in a separate vehicle and that Margit is in one of the helicopters. There are a few terrorists in his truck as well, but they aren't important.

He can sense Devil next to him. "That looked like it hurt. Your experience with pain is useful in times like this I see. I am going to guess that we will be seeing face to face with Friedrich in about three hours so we should rest, especially since we are going to end with plan C."

Three hours later, Mark is thrown into a chair next to a table with bright lights sifting through the bag on his head. He can feel two presences in the room with him. Still, he stays on the safe side and continues to act unconscious even though his eyes are open. One of them pulls the bag off of him and he takes that as a cue that it's okay to stop acting now. He stretches his arms and legs and looks across the table to a near-bald German man in his mid-fifties who is also sitting down. Margit, who had pulled off the bag, is calmly standing next to him. Devil, on the other hand, is on the brink of raging, telling Mark all he needs to know.

Mark ignores Devil allows the man across from him, his employer Lt. Gen. Frank Friedrich, the first word. "Good work. The plan went off without a hitch."

"I try my best."

"It shows. Thanks to you, we captured Nizam a lot quicker than we had hoped and without casualties."

"The best kind of results," Mark turns his head to Margit. "How are you doing Maru-san?"

"I didn't like being handcuffed to a chair, it feels good to move freely again!"

"Yep, you are definitely not cut out for espionage work."

Frank interrupts the two, "I am the one who decides what's best for her."

"Of course, you are her CO after all," Mark calmly takes that sudden outburst in stride.

"Yes, I am…did it just get colder in here?"

Mark worriedly eyes Devil. "That's just Devil. We should get this over with quickly before he can no longer hold back."

Margit opens her eyes wide and readies her tonfa, "Devil is here?! In this room?!" she asks, ready for battle.

"Yeah, he's in the corner to your left, although I don't recommend trying to fight him. Very few things can hurt him as he is now."

"Why is he here?" Frank asks calmly.

"He is literally a part of me. He has to be with me, for now anyway. He's still following my rules though so you don't have to worry about him."

"I see…"

"Good. Now, can I have my payment? I'm dying to have it again."

"Of course," Frank pulls out a leather briefcase from under the table and opens it, revealing a flawless, emerald cut diamond just big enough to fit comfortably inside a closed hand. Margit suddenly forgets about Devil and looks deeply at it. Even Mark's breath would have been taken away. If it wasn't for…

"That's not my diamond."

Frank face doesn't budge an inch. Margit just gives him a quizzical look. Mark sighs and pulls out a lighter from his left pocket and grabs the stone with his right hand. Then he puts the diamond over the open flame. Cracking noises erupt from the stone.

Margit is startled by the sudden cracking. "What are you doing?!" she almost yells.

"Frank…this isn't even a diamond. Diamonds don't crack under flame. Do you want-"

He is interrupted by Devil, who takes physical form and flings the table into the wall and shattering it into chips. Mark doesn't move at all but the other two are startled by the sudden event.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he screams loudly. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT US LIKE THIS! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS YOU TWISTED BASTARD?!"

Mark sighs and slowly puts the lighter in his pocket and throws the cracked stone at the splinters that use to be the table. Then he gets up and pulls Devil back. "Calm down, Devil, calm down."

"YOU KNOW WHAT OLD MAN?! HOW ABOUT YOU GET YOUR DOG TO SHOVE BOTH OF HER TONFA UP YOUR BEATEN OLD ASS SO I CAN KICK THEM INTO YOUR HEAD AND OUT YOUR EYES!"

Mark uses a much firmer voice, "Calm Down!" Devil stops yelling, but is clearly still very angry. Fire is burning on the back of his 'shirt' and is licking the ceiling. He reluctantly lets himself get pulled back by Mark, "Alright, good, deep breaths Devil." Devil presses his back on the wall in front of Frank and Margit, who are left completely speechless. After Devil takes a few breathes and the fire burns out Mark turns and sits back on the chair.

"That…was…" Margit starts.

"Violent? Tense? Scary? Disturbing?"

"Angry."

"I prefer the term 'provoked'," Devil says normally.

Mark decides to get back on topic and speaks to Frank, "Why did you do this?"

"I…cannot pay or endorse mercenaries. I had hoped to trick you into thinking you got what you wanted."

"Oh right. What other reason could it be?" Devil scoffs unbelievingly. Mark turns his head so that both his and Devil's eyes meet. In that moment they realize that they both know the true reason as to why Frank pulled off such a trick.

Mark turns to Frank again. "Do you know why I need that diamond, my diamond?"

"No, you gave me the location, the pictures of the museum, and who owns it."

Devil can't help but make a small and bitter comment, "God damned vultures."

"Vultures?"

"You see," Mark continues, "when Aura Artists start their training they are given a gem that matches their soul. A soul gem, if you will. When this happens, an Artist pushes their spirit into the gem and they leave a part of their soul in it. Once the Artist is done with training they are given the gem to fuse with the Artist's Soul Weapon, like my sword. This is done to bolster the Artist's soul to prevent Breaks and Burns.

"Now, I'm sure you are wondering why they wait until the Artist is done training. That's because the soul is easily corrupted and even damaged during the training process during which the Soul Gem is also malleable and prone to the same risks. It is only after training that an Artist's soul is truly solid.

"Now that was where my lecture ended. However, Devil has been scouring our information and he has found that the Soul Gem has a secondary purpose. It serves as a soul's blueprint and can reverse damaging afflictions."

"So...?"

"So," Devil says, "we can stop Survivor's Soul Burn, thus preventing his life from ending prematurely."

"So Mark isn't going to die?" Margit asks tentatively for fear of getting her hopes up.

"I am sure of it, but we are at the end of our deadline."

Mark sighs, "Why are you such a downer?"

"I do not lie. Now can you see the importance of our request, Friedrich?"

"…I do see, but my decision is final. I'm not helping you."

"Lt. General!" Margit starts, but Frank silences her by raising his hand.

"My situation has not changed," he explains. "I can't help you."

Mark looks him in the eyes and sees that he's too stubborn to change his mind. He switches his gaze to Margit and asks, "What about you Maru-san? Are you just going to stand by Frank or are you going to try and help me?"

Margit is now the center of attention and looks between the two, clearly torn. It takes her several seconds to decide. "I want to help you Mark…but I can't go against Lt. General."

"I understand." He turns to Frank one last time, "Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? You do know what this means, right?"

His face tenses up as he speaks, "retaliation."

"War," and with that final word Mark and Devil disappear.

"Was that the 'blink' ability you told me about?" Frank asks Margit.

"Yes, sir…Did he actually declare war on us?" she asks sadly

"It would appear so, Margit. We don't have to worry about him, though. He won't be able to hurt the German Military."

A few seconds later outside the base…

"You really have a flair for drama Survivor."

Mark is making his way to a camouflaged vehicle that he had a friend park and leave. "Maybe."

"…You counted on this?"

Mark silently takes off the cover to find out it was a truck hiding under it. He opens the door and finds the keys in the ignition and turns it on. "We need to get that diamond. I'll get someone to pick us up and we'll fly to an airport and head to Germany. We can probably make it there by midnight."

Devil is already in the passenger seat and has stopped making a 'physical shell' so that no one else can see him. "Then, we travel to Kawakami by jet to find our next asset." Mark starts driving down the road while pulling out some of his contacts info on the phone, Devil decides to speak to him now rather than later, "Do not feel bad, you did this for your goal."

"…I have my doubts. It doesn't matter, it's done."

Devil shows concern on his face, but Mark is focusing on the road and doesn't notice it. After a few minutes, Devil sighs and looks at the window. He quietly thinks for the rest of the trip to Germany, never giving a hint as to what about.

Mark blinks to the top of the museum without anybody noticing; not that it's easy to be noticed, all the lights are turned off and no one is on the streets below. He quietly sends a pulse through the building and detects nothing. Before he enters, though, collapses down on the roof and lets out a few quick, pained breaths. Devil quickly moves to his side. "You are pushing yourself, use a few moments to take a quick rest. Your position is…delicate."

"Huff…Yeah, no kidding. Huff…huff…I'll be fine. We're…huff…almost there."

"Yes, we are. And it would be a pity if you fall now. Just because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel does not mean you should blind yourself." Mark gives a quick 'Fine, you win' look at Devil. "Are you sure you do not want me to take control until we get to the diamond?"

"No…huff…I'm fine."

"It will be easier if-"

"I SAID NO! Huff…huff…sorry…huff…I didn't mean to yell."

"I understand. You are in pain. You used the rest of the energy I took from Kawakami getting here from the airport."

Mark slowly gets up. "Exactly, nothing's left. We really are cutting it close."

"I can feel death's blade getting closer myself, but you can escape it…I will sabotage the alarms for you. There is no normal way to get in so I suggest you take the direct path." Devil disappears into the building.

After a few more deep breaths, Mark pulls out his sword. He takes a few steps back and points the blade towards the ground. A feels a pang of guilt, but this is remedied when fact that the exhibit his family's Soul Gems are being kept in is called 'trinkets of demons' passes through his head. "Screw you!" he says aloud before thrusting the sword into the roof. It stabs through the roof as if it was butter. With little difficulty, he cuts a crude circle out off the roof and jumps into the newly-made hole.

Devil is waiting for him when he hits the ground. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nothing, just an encouraging shout to get me going."

"…I see. The exhibit is just ahead, you are going to have to cut your way through the metal shutters," Devil gestures to the shutters just in front of him.

Mark walks in front of the shutters and cuts a large triangle and moves through it. "I should have just made a hole over the gems."

"You should have thought about it," says Devil as they turn the corner into another shutter.

Again he cuts a hole. "And you did? Why didn't you tell me?"

They move down the hallway. "Several reasons."

Another barrier quickly cut through. "Such as?"

"First off, you need to learn how to think things through on your own."

"I've been on my own for the past four years!"

"And yet you skipped over something trivial."

Mark slashes through another obstacle. "Okay, you win that one."

"Second, we couldn't risk damaging the Gems."

"Then we could have made a hole just far enough away from the exhibit to not damage the Gems, but close enough to not have to deal with these shutters."

"That conflicts with the third reason."

"Which is?"

"I wanted to deal as much damage as possible to the bastard who calls our family 'demons'."

"We could have done that after we got them!"

"Yes, but you would not have wanted to afterwards."

Mark stops in his tracks. "Wait, you're manipulating me?!"

"Somewhat."

"What…the…hell, Devil?!"

Devil just realizes what he was doing and looks away, surprisingly embarrassed. "Sorry, I did not mean to…"

"I trusted you! Are you telling me that you have been manipulating me since the beginning?!"

He quickly looks back and stares into Mark's eyes. "No! This was a one-time accident! I swear I will never do it again!"

"You didn't even know you were doing it! How can I be sure-"

"I got careless! I am sorry. I did not mean to break your trust."

Mark continues to look Devil in the eye for several seconds before talking again. "Okay, I'll let you go this time, but no more manipulating. Not only for me but for everyone else as well, I don't want all of Kawakami turned into your slaves."

"I will not betray you."

Mark looks around and sees the sign pointing to the exhibit down the hall. He runs to the entrance, eager to finally get he needs. When he reaches the end of the hall and turns around the corner like the sign says, the sight renders him speechless.

The gems, all of them, are in display cases hugging the walls. He feels the energy coursing through the room and through him. He walks into the center, where his brother's old Bo staff is displayed. Fond memories of training with him enter his mind and he unconsciously puts his hand on the glass incasing it. Something in the display case on the right is else is reaching out to him, though, calling him. He walks toward it and sees his diamond. It is simply lying there, imprisoned by the glass, waiting to reunite with him. Without a second thought he thrusts his hand through the glass and grabs the diamond.

He raises it so he can see it clearly. It is exactly as he remembered it. He grins and raises his sword. Gently he presses the diamond against the blade, slowly entering and merging with it. As it does, the cracks on the blade disappear and eventually cease to exist. When the diamond fully disappears into the blade, Mark feels a surge of energy course through him, taking away all the tiredness and pain. He feels…complete. Resurrected.

Using his free hand he makes a ball of energy effortlessly. As he returns it into his body, he smiles and looks around. All the other gems are watching patiently. He read in his family's book that other Soul Gems can also be absorbed into the body to grant increased power and use of the Soul Weapons that have been merged with them. He quickly grabs his father's Soul Gem, a trilliant topaz, and takes it into himself. He can feel his power grow slightly and when he summons the Gem into his hand, an old M1911 handgun appears; his father's old weapon.

Mark grabs all of the Gems, unwilling to leave them here, before coming back to his brother's Bo Staff. It wasn't merged with his brother's Soul Gem, which Mark can't absorb.

"You should take it anyway," says Devil, who has been watching everything from the doorway. "We can probably absorb it later; there is probably something in the book about this."

Mark nods and grabs the Bo Staff. He makes his way to Devil.

"Are you ready to go? Are you sure you do not want to try out your family's weapons?"

"There will be time to do that later, in Kawakami, and besides," He unconsciously makes a determined smile, "we have a deadline."