The stream of time flowed at an interminable rush, more merciless than ever before. Whether it was an hour ago or a few minutes ago, he did not care. What mattered to him was the present as his past roamed closer in his own haunted shadow. Not so long ago, he witnessed his own home, the household of a wealthy family where he was raised, engulfed within a scorching blob of flames that turned the blind, dead night into a bright, living hell. The lust for blood, his blood, led the gloomy atmosphere to choke on its own smoky air, yet thankfully, not a single drop of acrid blood had been spilled so far. However, this was not over; it was merely the beginning, a beginning of a new era in his life where he must leave his own home island. He had committed no crimes, nor was he exiled; what led to his takeoff was far worse and tragic. Abased as a homeless runaway, he was forced to abandon his entire way of life and decamp from the Holy Remunun Empire.

What led to this very predicament happened so fast yet so slow over the course of his intricate life. Fear, confusion, and excitement prickled within his throbbing heart altogether, but he was so grateful that he wasn't alone. However, deep down in the corner of his distressed mind, he knew that his gratefulness was also his greatest fear. The more he cared for someone, the more painful it was to lose that person. For years, he rejected his emotions, suppressing it in a cold-blooded cage, yet here he was, carrying her in his aching arms.

In his arms, a younger girl remained motionless in an unconscious state of mind; he never even had a chance to confirm if she was still alive. Comparing himself to his little sister, he realized something after glancing at his mental flashbacks. Rebecca was lucky either way; not only was she saved by the black angel twice, she never had to witness the horrors, at least not entirely. In both cases that she was saved, she remained asleep, comfortably in the arms of her older brother. It made him wonder if she was even aware of his demonic appearance.

A freak, a monster, that was what he looked like if the night wasn't shrouding him with a blanket of darkness. As he crossed over the ocean, he did not look back, only straight ahead with his violet eyes giving off a mysterious glow. The sea down below reflected the small diminishing light from his crumbling, searing home as darkness grew thicker like a black fog the further he flew towards the invisible horizon. Not a single twinkling star winked at him as they all hid behind the ominous clouds. Even with his finely-tuned ears, he had never heard of such a dry and dead tone of silence. Only a subtle cool breeze ruffled up his black hair and whistled past his ears.

Not once so far had he considered where he was going; the gravity of his situation led his instincts to give him only one command: GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! It didn't matter where so long as he was as far away from home as possible. Even after coming this far, escape was still in question.

With this being the longest flight while carrying a human body, his preternatural demon-like black wings gradually grew jaded to the point that he glided more than he flew. Droplets of sweat dribbled down the right side of his cheek, near the ear. His breath grew more audible, and he unknowingly flew closer and closer towards the water at dangerous proximity.

"Heh… so I've finally reached my limit," he smirked in utter defeat. The high-pitched sound that he emitted, undetectable to the human ear, had led him to sense a scope of his physical surroundings with a rapid series of echoes. Echolocation had told him the obvious; there was nowhere to land. Soon, his energy would deplete to zero, and he would plummet into the ocean, sinking into his own grave.

Despite his inevitable doom, he couldn't seem to drop the girl which would lighten to load, letting him fly just a bit longer, but his arms grew stiff and torpid. He didn't care about the girl, definitely not; his own life mattered more. Rescuing her was nothing more than an act of his whim; he simply thought that her dying inside a burning house was unpleasant for his conscience. Though, drowning didn't sound any better than being burned to death, but this way of dying was different. He wanted to be a little selfish too. If he was going to die, he wanted to at least die alongside with her. Of course, it wasn't because he cared for her; he simply didn't want to die alone.

His gleaming violet eyes closed shut for there was no further reason to keep them open. Echoes that he gave and received showed him the truth in the blind night as he could create a mental image of the ocean in front of him. It was an image without color, just shapes and forms that barely changes, here, in the prosaic ocean of the north. Miraculously, his animalistic senses suddenly detected a faint figure up ahead at two o'clock, and it was most definitely solid, floating in the gentle cold sea.

Ah, found it!

Opening his eyes once again, his violet pupils glowed in the dark from the reflection of a dim orange light. He flew towards that very light like a moth attracted towards a candle of hope. However, that faint light suddenly vanished without warning moments later, and everything dusked into blackness once again. Not all was lost to pinpoint its whereabouts because there was more than one way to sense an object for a bat. However, flying at such a low altitude made it difficult to land accurately without skipping right past the target, so with the remaining energy surging through his veins, he mustered up the strength to adjust his wings to swoop up towards the sky at a high angle. Then, he descended with his languid wings flailing in the breeze like a banner, and without a sound, he plummeted straight down while affirming Rebecca's safety by staying beneath the girl before impact.

THUMP!

Ripples of water expanded at surface level after a meager, violent splash was heard. Swaying side to side, he was rocked in a soothing lullaby against a wooden surface as his mind went blank. His curved back reeled his black wings inwards, sucking them in as the rest of his figure morphed back into his regular human self without conscious effort. Left ear pressed against the deck, Pluto lied there on his side while unconsciously holding his sister firmly against his heart with his arms wrapped securely behind her head. All motion was in abeyance except the subtle expansion and contraction from his chest. Silent breaths of fatigue entered and left from his half-opened mouth which were made visible in the chilly atmosphere.

"Haah... Haah...," he panted from exhaustion. This little rowboat held a lamp that had emanated a dim orange light. All of this was set up by him. Long before his escape, he prepared this wooden vessel in advanced.

Half-awake, he was subconsciously aware of his own existence, and the first thing he noticed was the malodorous scent. It smelled like old, rotten wood, and the moisture from the seawater only made it that much worse. Soon, the bicep of his left arm felt numb from her sister's head resting on it. Slowly uprising, he dragged his legs inwards, sitting on his knees with his sister lying on his lap. Beneath his legs, he could feel a large but shallow dent which took form from his crash upon this structure. His eyes squinted in the dark.

"O-Ow…," a sharp pain passed through his spine which made him recall that he landed on his back. During the fall, he remembered that he cautiously curled his head forward to prevent landing on the back of his head.

Glancing straight down at his lap, he directed his attention towards his younger sibling while barely being able to make out the outline of any form. His left hand caressed gently through his sister's silky black hair as he was relieved to hear the girl's gentle breaths which proved she was just as alive as he was.

He was no longer sure which direction his home island was located. Whatever happens next, he could no longer return home; there was no turning back. Even now, he was not completely out of harm's way.

"H-Hm…," the girl slowly opened her eyes where she would be greeted by the darkness of the clouded night sky. "P-Pluto…," she muttered meekly while gazing at a silhouette of a young boy.

"So… you're awake, huh?" he said with a distant tone.

"He-he," she smiled softly.

"What?" he questioned at her slight giggle just now.

"I'm sleeping on your lap," she pointed out the rare instance of getting to be up close to him, and to make things even better, she wasn't the one who initiated this.

"Tch! Don't get used to it," he grumbled.

"Pluto…, did you… save me?"

Gritting his teeth, he tensed his brows at the implication of her question. "O-Of course not! W-Why would I save a deadweight like you?"

"You're lying…," she said with a sweet, happy tone.

"Ugh…, quit sounding so happy. You have no idea how dire our situation is right now!"

"Ha-ha… Pluto acts so tough and heartless, but he's a big softie."

"Y-You…, You don't know anything about me," he said with a forlorn look on his face. They may be siblings, but they were not raised together. He was a year older than her, and he had only learned that he even had a little sister just a year ago. For most of his twelve years of life, he had thought to be an only child, all alone battling against the cruelty of this world, but this girl was somehow different from the atrocities he had witnessed. Pure, innocent, naïve, she was like a delicate little flower in the middle of a battlefield.

For his whole life, he had lived by a pragmatic, cold, calculative mindset. There was only one golden rule that he lived by: put your life above all else. Survive at all costs. It didn't matter who he had to slay or what wicked cruelty he must commit, he cared only for his own life.

And yet, this girl challenged all of that. Here he was, bringing her along after going out of his way to rescue her from the raging fires. It was completely irrational. Even now, he didn't know why he ended up saving her at the risk of his own life.

"I want to know more about you, Pluto," she said endearingly. Her brother had always been a mysterious, secretive type. Without a doubt, he had been keeping secrets from her, but she believed it was all for good reason. For the past year of getting to know him, she would constantly follow him around, hug him, snuggle him, and show as much affection as possible. After all, that was his greatest weakness. He'd dodge her hugs, avoid her, and get all flustered. He was so accustomed to a cruel world that he didn't know how to handle affection.

"No, you don't," he replied quietly. A part of him was afraid of her finding out just what kind of a monster he truly was. He was afraid to taint her, the personification of what's pure and innocent, with his sinful life.

Suddenly, a bright beam of white light shined straight at them from behind.

"!" Turning around, Pluto widened his eyes, spotting a ship in the distance sailing towards them at maximum speed. "There're here…," he muttered.

He gnashed in frustration. This was his last and final chance. He could escape and leave here alive in one piece, or he could stay here and be by her side until the very bitter end.

D-Damn it…. What am I thinking!? Why? This is completely illogical! Why would I… feel like this? Why do I want to… protect her? She's useless. She can't fight. She doesn't even know the situation right now. There's absolutely no benefit in keeping her around.

"It's over," a tall, lithe man in a black suit stepped up to the front of the large vessel, wearing a white ghoulish mask to cover his face. "You two are the last surviving members of the family of assassins." There were over a dozen of other men in dark suits standing around him on the main deck.

"CP8," the boy identified them, "also known as Cipher Pol 8." They were members of a secret agency, working directly under the World Government. They moved in the shadows, often tasked with investigations, assassinations, and espionage.

"You know of our existence, boy? I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from a spy of your caliber."

"Spy?" Rebecca repeated the word that was used to describe her older brother. "What… do they mean?" She looked towards him for answers.

"Ho~? You don't know, little girl? Your big brother here is famous in the Underworld. Just like the rest of his family, he has assassinated countless of targets, but he's best known as The Eavesdropper. As the consumer of the Komu Komu no Mi, his ears have allowed him to gain all sorts of confidential information. And that's where we come in. Your brother knows too much, and we're here to silence him."

"Pluto…, are you a ninja!?" the little sister looked up to her brother, asking in a childish tone.

"…, No… I'm not….," he replied with an annoyed look on his face.

"Leave her out of this!" said the boy in a protective tone. "She has nothing to do with the Underworld. She has committed no crimes!"

"Being blooded related to the likes of you is a crime in itself. We cannot risk her becoming a threat to the World Government," the masked man raised up his hand, gesturing his men to aim their pistols straight at the small wooden boat which carried two mere children. The clicks of their weapons sounded, unlocked for usage.

If it were just me, I could probably escape from this situation unscathed. But…, with Rebecca being present, that makes things tricky.

Immediately, the brother pushed the girl off the boat.

"Eh?" Rebecca soon found herself falling straight in the waters. Almost immediately, she heard a series of gunfire. Her heart pounded rapidly, fearing for her brother's safety. She was horrified at the thought of him sacrificing himself to save her.

The wooden boat was now riddled with holes. With demonic black wings sprouting out, Pluto had ascended into the air with the intent to divert their attention away from his sister. With a swift flicker of his arm, he decisively flung out a small knife. Glass shattered. The bright source of light extinguished; everything went pitch black.

"I can't see!" One of the men exclaimed the obvious. Gunshots were fired aimlessly at the night sky. All they could make out was a vague blur of motion as a small winged demon dashed towards their ship with a zigzagging flight pattern.

Rebecca popped her head out of the water to gasp for air. Droplets rained from her face and long silky hair. She squinted at the darkness, unable to make out anything. Her first instinct was to locate her brother, but the sound of cracked bones and grunts of pain drew her attention towards the large vessel.

I may be outnumbered, but I have the advantage of the night.

As a hybrid between human and bat, Pluto simply had to rely on his echolocation to replace his eyesight to locate each position of the men on board. Black claws pierced and slashed. Wings generated gusts of wind to render some off balance. Elbows and knees struck heavy blows. Without any hesitance and wasted movements, the young assassin went all out, every strike hitting precisely at vital points. By controlling the wrist, elbow, and shoulder of his opponents, he disarmed some and armed himself with firearms to fire precisely at neighboring agents.

On the deck, the disoriented men could no longer safely use their pistols without the risk of the harming their own comrades. The Zoan-user had brought this to a close-range battle, and with his affinity for the night, he could freely roam around without constraint.

On this very night, fifteen CP8 agents were killed.