Back to You

Alone in his apartment, Hei was lying on the floor with his hands resting beneath his head. His eyes were closed as he was enjoying the slight break he had in between missions. The false sense of peace never lasted long and as if on cue, he heard a slight scratching at his room window. Languidly, he opened his eyes before turning his head towards the noise to find his furry companion waiting for his attention on the other side.

Stifling a groan, he rolled onto his side before pushing himself up off the ground. He slid open the window and sat at its opening. With Misuzu as a landlady, there was only one reason why Mao would venture this close to the building. The Syndicate had already decided on their next mission and they would need to gather to obtain their instructions from Huang.

"What were you doing?" asked the cat.

"Nothing."

"Sounds like something I would do."

"So?" Hei prompted, hoping to skip the idle chit-chat.

"Huang wants us to meet up in fifteen minutes – the usual place."

"Fine."

With his task of messenger complete, Mao left his balcony, leaving behind the gentle jingle of the bell on his collar. Watching his departure for a brief moment, Hei eventually moved away from the window, closing it behind him. He still had a few minutes before he needed to leave and he went to lie down on the floor for that brief moment.

When his time for relaxation was over, he got up and headed to the closet where he grabbed his trademark green jacket. As he slipped into it, he could feel his expression shifting into the unassuming mask of Li Shengshun, the foreign exchange student from China. The façade was firmly in place before he even stepped out of his front door.

It was a short walk to the park. As he slowly shuffled towards the bench, Hei had his hands buried deep into his jeans' pockets and his shoulders hunched slightly forward. At a glance, he could see that the rest of the team had already arrived. He was last, as usual.

Yin was seated at the top of the kiddy slide, looking into the distance with a vacuous gaze. In respite from the hot summer's rays, Mao hid himself in the shade of the slide. Finally, there was Huang who seemed to have no perception of weather. He was still in his normal garb of vest, coat and beret, despite the stream of sweat dripping down his brows.

As Hei passed by him to take a seat on the circular bench, the older man briefly glanced over the newspaper he was pretending to read. Muttered words regarding incompetent, thoughtless monsters could be heard from his lips, but it caused no reaction at all. Though he might complain, Hei had timed it perfectly – not a minute late nor a minute early.

"You have a mission," Huang stated.

"And?"

"Carry it out tonight."

"What's the goal?" Mao inquired.

"A rogue contractor – TM-422. Eliminate him."

"Rogue?"

"Why the hell would I know what you monsters think?" retorted Huang. "For whatever reason, he's acting on his own. They want him finished."

With that, he folded up the paper before he placed it on the bench. Slipping the beret from his head, he pulled a handkerchief from an inner pocket. He mopped at his sweaty face before the headgear was put back into place. A cigarette was then pulled from its pack and lit before he stood up to leave. No one said anything until he was gone from sight. Hei was just reaching towards the discarded paper when Mao sauntered out of hiding and came to rest in the shade by his feet.

"So what does it say?" he questioned.

"TM-422. He's hiding in an abandoned warehouse."

"That's it? How do we know what powers we're up against?"

"Doesn't say," Hei answered nonchalantly, like it was of no concern.

"…. I don't like this one bit."

If Hei reciprocated that sentiment, it wasn't expressed. Instead, he told them to meet at the warehouse just before midnight. Though their target was occupying a deserted area, it was still safer to operate beneath the cover of night. With nothing else to say, he rolled up the newspaper, tucking it under his arm as he headed home.

Standing in front of the warehouse identified by the address he was provided, Hei stayed in the shadows as he surveyed the scene in front of him. It didn't look like the rogue contractor was trying to hide his presence. Amidst the dark interior, there was a lone source of light – most likely some kind of camping lantern.

Yin was supposed to monitor the building, but it seemed as if he knew they were coming for him. There was no presence of water inside which she could use for visual. Mao had been sent to examine the exterior of the building while he waited for feedback. How they proceeded from here would depend on the cat's assessment of the situation.

"Mao?" Hei asked.

"Just give me a second… Up. Okay… Nothing out of the ordinary. He's eating his supper – take out fast food."

"Alright."

"… What are you going to do?" inquired Mao.

"The door is wide open. He's obviously expecting us. It would be rude to keep him waiting."

"What?! Wait… We don't know what his power is!"

There was truth to his words, but it wouldn't be the first time they had been sent on a mission with limited information on their target. The Syndicate only shared what minimal information they thought necessary and expected unquestionable success. Failure was not an option and there was no way to finish the task without engaging their quarry. Though Mao continued to voice his disagreement with his plan of action, Hei tuned him out and headed towards the main entrance.

His demeanor appeared to be leisurely and relaxed, but his muscles were tense. One hand was poised by his hip, ready to unleash his weapon when he needed it. The other had grabbed the handle on the door and cautiously pulled it open. Given the decrepit state the building was in, one would expect the door to squeal in protest, but it didn't. It opened whisper soft like a well-oiled machine.

He found himself in the cavernous interior of the building, no separating divisions to its design. On the far end, emptied cargo crates of various sizes were left behind haphazardly like the place had been cleared out in a hurry; some with their rusty doors still thrown open. A series of shelving frames devoid of stock ran parallel to the length of the building.

To further the picture of destitution, a number of wooden pallets were lying on the ground in varying degrees of functionality. A continued scan of the area revealed a network of I-beams criss-crossing overhead as they served different purposes. Ones for structural support were positioned in straight lines, extending in the same directions as the walls. Others were designed to assist the use of mobile chain hoists which glided along set tracks; the one chain hoist visible to him out of commission as the links had turned brown and orange with disuse.

As Mao had stated, the target was seated on a folding chair thirty feet away, his position in the center of four electric lanterns set out in a square. The light provided soft illumination as TM-422 was preoccupied with digging into a juicy hamburger. An empty milk crate he must have swiped from elsewhere was turned upside down and served as his dinner table. Like a crude table cloth, a paper napkin was laid out with a pack of fries still waiting to be consumed sitting on its surface.

Despite the obvious intrusion into his private time, the man continued to eat. He glanced up briefly to acknowledge Hei's presence, but otherwise showed no fear over this visit from the infamous Black Reaper. While Hei approached him, drawing out his split-blade knife, TM-422 polished off his burger before digging into his fries. They were chowed down by the handful like he was trying to finish them all before this inevitable battle.

When Hei was ten feet away, the rogue contractor suddenly jumped up out of his folding chair. A lone fry was gripped in his right hand. Without warning, his body highlighted in blue, his eyes glowing red. With his left hand, he held it over the right and made the motion of drawing out something long. The fry had been transmuted into a tsurugi, a long straight sword with a double-edged blade.

TM-422 dashed forward with a swift thrust of his blade, aimed straight for Hei's heart. Avoiding it with a parry left, Hei countered with a quick upward slash that had his foe nimbly jumping out of harm's way before retaking his stance. The two held their ground, neither moving as they eyed their opponent; sizing up their capabilities based on that brief exchange. Experience had garnered an ease of use with their weapon of choice, only brought on with time.

Deep set golden eyes hinted at a depth of wisdom which contradicted with his appearance as TM-422 didn't look to be a day over twenty. His brown locks were short, cropped close to the head to emphasize the triangular shape of his face and a dusting of freckles across his cheeks emphasized the unexpected chubbiness of that feature.

Slightly taller of the two, the agility he demonstrated was implicit in the leanness of his frame and the flexibility in which he moved every aspect of his body. There was no sense of wasted motion in the manner in which he both attacked and defended. With a comfortable grip on his ancient style blade, it was held loosely in front of him as he maintained his defensive stance.

Yet easily, it had firmed and tightened into a solid hold during that initial attack. Clearly, the level of skill he had was off the charts as the sword moved as he willed it like it was just an extension of his body. Each action and reaction was instinctual with its performance locked into muscle memory.

Despite the enemy's advantage in weapon length, Hei was confident in his skills as a swordsman. Making the first move, he demonstrated equally quick reflexes as he darted forward to clash blades with TM-422. His downward slash was met and blocked where they both faced each other head on in a match of brute strength. It lasted for several seconds before they broke contact.

Unrelenting, Hei continued the offensive with a direct frontal attack where his move was blocked again and countered by an attack from the rogue contractor. The two comfortably switched between the offensive and defensiveness of their battle, a dancing clash of blades. The synchronicity of their actions was like veteran stage actors performing a play instead of two contractors who had just met for the first time minutes ago.

Though there was an objective to be met with their fated encounter, neither of them made a move to change tactics from what was clearly a futile action; instead prolonging the back and forth exchange like they were enjoying the match for a battle of skills, rather than engaged in the life and death situation it truly was.

As they separated to give themselves some breathing room, TM-422 immediately kept a front guard with the sword held vertically in front of his face while Hei defended his position with his blade at a diagonal. Their breathing had started to shallow from the physical exertion, but otherwise only looked like they had engaged in a friendly sparring.

In an instant, TM-422 was charging at him with the tip of his weapon lowered, moving in with a thrust. As Hei side stepped out of the way, he had moved too quickly; his opponent changing his attack to that of a slash at the last minute. Instinctively blocking with his own weapon, Hei twisted his wrist, realigning the tip of his opponent's blade to point downward, deflecting the path of the deadly blow.

His actions caught his enemy off guard and Hei quickly brought up his knee to connect with the man's stomach. The rogue contractor hunched over from the attack, leaving his back wide open. Bringing down his elbow, Hei forced the man to the ground and sent him sprawling across the pavement with a powerful kick to the abdomen.

With quick thinking, TM-422 rolled out of harm's way and used the hilt of his sword to help himself stand. Glancing at Hei, he was still calm, not even releasing a grunt of pain from the direct hits. Shaking it off like it had been a child's attack, the rogue contractor squared off against him as he resumed his previous stance.

Frowning behind the mask, Hei had a feeling he was up to something, but he couldn't tell what. His enemy's reaction was too mild given the sustained damage he should have taken and yet the man looked perfectly fine, like he had only taken a light tumble on the ground. There was something he was hiding and obviously the Syndicate didn't deem it necessary for him to know.

As TM-422 came at him with the same tactic that had failed him earlier, Hei waited until the last second to block it directly. The outcome of his attack had not changed and he retreated to a safe distance. It took him no time at all to reform his stance before he was charging in once more. The repetitiveness of his movements were completely different than his actions from their warmup session. It was like a switch had been flipped internally with another personality taking control.

He tried it a fourth, fifth, and even sixth time, with no change to the outcome as Hei blocked each one. Even so, Hei couldn't figure out what game he was playing as his contractor's power was to transform things into the weapon itself – something he had already witnessed. This meaningless attacking of his made no sense at all.

Readying himself for the next attack, TM-422 still rushed in at him and Hei brought up his weapon to block. Except this time, he finally changed his strategy. The weapon was transferred to his left hand which he then subsequently thrusted into Hei's upper arm. As the blade was withdrawn with equally swift movements, Hei grimaced at the sting of pain flaring from the sudden wound. He had unwittingly let himself fall into the opponent's trap; lulled into complacency from the repetition of his onslaught when he should have made his move instead.

Pressing his hand to the wound, he wasn't given time to deal with the situation as TM-422 continued to attack; his movements starting to resemble more of the skill he had first displayed. He had only been biding his time until he could inflict that damaging blow. Furthermore to keep him on his toes, the enemy's style of attack had changed as his body had lost its rigid tension. In its place, a fluid flexibility was exhibited as the sword was held lightly in his grasp.

When he moved in to attack, his actions were graceful like an entertainer performing the art of Chinese sword dance. The weapon was still the same as it had been since the start, but the weight of it didn't seem obvious from the way the rogue contractor handled it; quick spins of the sword as he approached with the same speed he had used at the beginning – the flair of his movements meant to confuse someone as it wasn't an actual fighting style.

As TM-422 bore down on him like a bladed tornado, Hei blocked his attacks, but struggled to find an opening in which he could counter. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this mission if he stayed on the defensive; he knew that he had to take control of the situation. Yet clearly, his opponent was a chameleon when it came to sword skills, comfortable using multiples styles whether they truly were meant for attacking or not.

The momentum of his spinning added extra force to his blade as he twirled in with deadly precision and danced back out of harm's way with equal finesse. Because of it, Hei was determined to separate the man from his weapon. It was time to put a stop to the show and get on with business as he didn't want to be here all night.

While the opponent still maintained his distance, Hei held up his weapon in defense at the same time that he reached for his belt. It was one thing to engage in a sword battle, but that was not his only skill. His left hand gripped his grappling wire, ready to use it at a moment's notice when he spotted an opportunity.

It didn't look like TM-422 noticed any changes to his form as he came at Hei using the same dance attack style. The encounter of their blades was both rapid and powerful, clearly meant to wear him down due to his injury. Unfortunately, it was also in that split second that he would need to make his counter attack because it was the only instance in which TM-422 stopped moving long enough.

Becoming accustomed to the timing of his opponent's spins and accompanying slashes, Hei wasted no time in putting the tactic to work. In that fraction of time where he had an opening, he flicked his wrist. With satisfaction, he watched as the wire wrapped around the man's arm, followed by the jolt of electricity he sent coursing through it.

TM-422's body convulsed in response to the external influences of Hei's power. When he finally eased up, Hei was shocked that the man was still standing – still holding his sword even – like nothing had happened. The amount of energy that was sent through his body should have killed him.

His disbelief must have been evident despite the mask over his face because the other man smirked while cracking his neck like he was just warming up; brushing off Hei's electricity like it had only been a mosquito bite. Without warning, TM-422 was on the attack again, quickly shaking Hei out of his stupor.

Whether it was from the devastating blow that his power didn't work or if it truly was so, the speed of TM-422's onslaught seemed to be faster; almost like the electric charge had given him a boost. It took everything out of him to focus and block the attacks thrown his way.

The man's sword came down at him with the same surgical precision he had demonstrated earlier; every move still made like he was fluidly performing a dance; all the while with the strength of a blow behind a broadsword. All of this, with the comfort of knowing there was an advantage in keeping his distance due to the length of his weapon.

He was finally done playing around, but so was Hei. Mentally shaking away the distractions of what just happened, he focused on the mission. This man had to go down; it was do or die, quite literally, and defeat was not an option. There was still so much he had to accomplish and this target was just another stepping stone towards his goal.

The first step was to separate the man from his weapon, to even out the playing field. The initial electric shock hadn't worked, but it didn't mean it wouldn't. Every human body was susceptible to it. There just hadn't been enough time and power in his exposure.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, Hei marshalled his concentration and focused only on the enemy. As TM-422 came charging in at him, Hei blocked the attack by catching it between his blade. Before he could retreat, Hei twisted his wrist, wrenching it away from his opponent. This gave him a chance to step in and close the gap between them, using this opportunity to body slam into the other contractor.

TM-422's grip had loosened on the weapon during Hei's evasive tactic and with satisfaction, Hei heard the blade drop to the ground. Yet before the feeling of success could even settle, the man disappeared from his sight. One moment their bodies were touching as Hei charged at him; in the next, just nothing.

Glancing around in confusion, he didn't see him anywhere. A frown puckered his features as he couldn't understand what happened. It was one thing to jump away and put distance between them when he was unarmed, but how did one disappear completely? He didn't even have an extra set of eyes as Yin waited blindly outside.

"Above you!" Mao's voice shouted in his earpiece.

Reacting to the warning, Hei glanced up to see his opponent perched on one of the support beams twenty feet above him. How he had gotten up there in the blink of an eye was a mystery; one that he had no time to worry about. When he had finally noticed him, TM-422 was already calling upon his power.

Using the bolts securing that section of beam as his weapon base, two identical blades were drawn out at the same time. With lightning fast movements, they were slashing through the beam – bringing it down towards him, with TM-422 riding on top of it.

Hei knew he needed to get out of the way, but his body froze, even with Mao's noisy cries in his ear. The only thought in his mind was that the last minute of his life was spent fighting, wasted, against someone who had demonstrated one impossibility after the other.

Though she had foreseen this moment, the vision of it was not enough to prepare her for the physical reality. Amber stared on with her heart lodged in her throat. She had arrived in time to stop it from happening, but the thought that Hei could have been crushed to death… It took her several minutes to recover from the anxiety attack the scene had caused.

When her heart rate and breathing returned to normal, she made her way towards Hei who looked as if he had given up and resigned himself to his fate. If she hadn't been watching out for him, he would have accepted this; something she couldn't. She knew there would be a time that came when the Syndicate pulled the wool over his eyes and tried to eliminate him.

Tapping his shoulder, she freed him from her power's hold and dragged him out of harm's way, paused as it was. He followed docilely for a few steps until he realized who was in front of him. At that point, he shook off her hand and jerked away from her.

"Amber," he spat out. "What are you doing here?"

He was angry with her; he always was. Rather than replying, knowing he wouldn't like her answer, she just smiled at him. This further aggravated him as he ripped the mask away from his face and glared at her. There was no word of thanks despite the fact that she had just saved his life.

"Up to your tricks again, aren't you?" he accused. "Tell me where Bai is!"

It was the infamous line he always used. Just like all previous encounters with him, she had no intention of answering that question. Her continued silence exacerbated his irritation; leading to an angry outburst where he grabbed her, shaking her as he demanded to know the truth. Whatever he might do, she couldn't say anything.

When his anger had abated briefly, enough for him to stop his verbal assault, she extended her hand towards him. His eyes flickered towards it briefly, but he ignored it. Rather, he roughly shoved her away as he was getting nowhere; like usual. She came and went as she pleased, doing whatever she pleased.

"What do you want?" he asked, hostility still evident in his tone of voice.

"Perhaps I came to ask you to join us?"

"Never."

His curt refusal didn't surprise her, but it was his decision and she would respect that. Just because they didn't see eye-to-eye, it didn't mean it would change how she felt about him. He would always be special to her and she was only grateful that she had the power to protect him, given his decision to side with the enemy.

Since there was nothing else for them to talk about, they stared at each other. Hei was trying to see beyond her mask and determine her true motives, even though he had never been able to do so before. As for Amber, she was drinking in the sight of him, knowing that he was safe for another night. Their physical encounters were few and far between, for obvious reasons.

Even so, there was a secondary reason that she had come tonight. Amagiri didn't like the fact that she was always looking out for Hei, but how she chose to use her powers was her right. Besides, he wouldn't complain too much when she helped to grow their group with powerful allies – TM-422.

The Syndicate wanted him dead and he was equally bent upon extracting revenge for what they had done to him. His power was exactly what Hei had witnessed – the ability to transmute anything into a tsurugi. The part that Hei didn't know about was the fact that he was the latest experiment the Syndicate had been working on; the attempt to give a contractor super human powers, trying to create the ideal killing machine.

They had been banking on the fact that contractors were rational beings; that someone with the right power would want the prestige of using his or her ability and becoming invincible in the process. The testing had worked, but their inhumane treatment towards TM-422 had been the last straw. By then, it was too late to stop him as all experimentation was completed.

Unexpectedly, Amber moved towards him and he threw up his hands to ward her off. Their fingers touched and Amber watched him freeze in place. With a sad smile, she slipped beyond him, and paused to lean her back against his. She couldn't stay forever, but she would make the most of the time she had.

"If you would just come with me," she said softly, though he wouldn't hear it.

It wasn't meant to be and she knew that. Sighing, she pushed away from him and headed towards TM-422. He was still riding on that section of beam that almost crushed Hei. Releasing him from her power's hold, he quickly jumped off the beam. With his fingers held to his head like bunny ears, he started hopping up and down, and singing.

"Rabbit, rabbit… What does it see when it jumps? It sees the full moon when it jumps."

"Masamune, let's go," Amber said when he was finished with his remuneration.

"Who are you?"

"An ally."

A loud crashing sound echoed behind him and Hei turned around, startled by the noise. A section of the structural beams fell down, reminding him that he had been directly beneath its path a few minutes ago. Glancing around the warehouse, it was to see that he was the only one inside. Amber was long gone and his target was also missing.

"Hei, what happened?"

Turning towards the other voice, it was to see his furry companion venturing into the building. Behind him, Yin followed along. In response, all he could do was shake his head. He couldn't say for sure, but it looked like their target had also been targeted for EPR – that would be his best guess.

"Just like that?"

"She took him. No one can stop her," Hei pointed out.

"… Where does that leave us? They wanted him dead."

"… Cross that bridge when we get there."

Just like that, their mission was over. There was nothing any of them could say or do. The only thing now was to call it a day and head to their respective homes, which was exactly what they did. Whatever fate was to befall upon them would come soon enough…

AN

That only took me a year and a half to finish this story... It was supposed to be written for Alison, but I don't even know if she's into the series anymore. So, at least I'm in time for Bri's birthday? One bonus :)

What to say about this story? TM-422's name is a reference to Date Masamune, which anyone into the Sengoku period would understand. Also, the song he sings as his remuneration is actually a Japanese folk song, "Usagi", with the translated English lyrics. I don't know. Their remunerations don't always make sense and I had this silly mental image in my head of an expert swordsman, jumping around like a little kid pretending to be a rabbit. It was cute!