Darker than Black: Past Disaster
A/N: I'm posting this before my other is done for two reason. One: Dear4life knows about it and she's bugging me to post it; and two: DTB 2 is coming out in October, so I want to get a jump start on things.
Disclaimer: All rights to Darker than Black belong to Bones,Tensai Okamura, and Funimation.
--
Chapter One: The Foreign Affair's New Recruit
One month prior to Heaven's Gate disappearance
Trees cluttered around each other to prevent the sun from piercing through their leaves and warming the mud-infested terrain. Mist rose from the ground and leaves caused by the heat, making the humidity thick and hard to breathe. Mold infested the tree trunks, bushes were scattered about, and broken rotting branches littered the area, giving bugs and other creatures a place to live or hide from predators.
Parrots hidden in the colossal forest chirped, as if they were giving up their location. A lizard lay on the rock while it whipped out his tongue to taste the air. A chimpanzee gazed around the landscape as it munched on bugs.
A toucan flew over the forest line, scanned the area below, and found a spot to land on a branch to shade itself from the blazing sun. In a murky river stream a black caiman's head floated above the surface, as it swam along.
In the mist of the South American Rainforest, a blue-eyed and medium length black-haired man in a black outfit ran through the cluttered terrain. Voices echoed behind him, indicating his pursuers were gaining on him. He came to a halt, looked around the forest for a place to hide, and took cover in a bush to his right.
Moments later MI-6 agents ran passed his area. He waited a moment to make sure it was clear for him to depart the bush.
A minute later he stepped from behind it and headed back to camp.
Things were heating up for some reason. MI-6 was getting more aggressive at attacking the Syndicate and he didn't know if he could keep on protecting his sister.
Suddenly a gun shot behind him to have a bullet strike a tree nearby. He turned around to see his pursuers. He cursed and whipped out his cable line to wrap it around a branch, and retracted it to fly upwards and out of more bullets' paths. He took out a split double-edged blade from his right holster, connected it to his cable, and flung it to embed the blade into one of the man's skull. He ripped the blade out and swung it around to slash another man's throat.
The blue-eyed man retracted his line, disconnected his blade, and flung out his wire to wrap it around the remaining man's neck. He tugged on the line to make the man grind his teeth in frustration while grabbing it to try to loosen it. The blue-eyed man dropped from the tree and hung the man. The man struggled as he suffocated and then died.
The blue-eyed man looked back at the dead men. He turned away from them, and then froze in fear at a man standing before him with a gun pointed at him.
"Die, Black Reaper!" he shouted.
A shot was fired, causing the blue-eyed man to cringe, but he didn't feel a bullet strike him. He looked back at the man to see him falling forward. Behind him stood a woman with green hair and orange eyes wearing a black jump suit with a red vest. She held a gun in her right hand.
"You all right, Hei?" she asked.
The blue-eyed man looked at her baffled.
"A—Amber?" he questioned. "Wh—how did you find me?"
"What, no, 'thanks for saving me?'"
He glared at her to show he didn't feel like playing her games at a time like this.
"We tracked you with Dolls," she said. "Come on, let's go."
Hei snorted and followed Amber through the terrain. He was sick of the Syndicate having to rely on Contractors' help with operations. If they kept on using them, most likely they would turn on them.
"So what happened?" she asked, not looking back.
Hei stared at her back for a few seconds before saying, "Not sure. I was done with my mission and I started heading back, believing none of the MI-6 agents saw me, but then I found out somehow I was being followed. I headed in a different direction to lose them, and then what you saw back there is what happened next."
"They probably used Dolls to locate you as we did. It's smart on the MI-6's and Syndicate's part to have their observing spirits spy off leaves."
"Do you see any right now?"
"No."
Hei made a note to keep a keen eye on her and the other Contractors. If you let your guard down around them, they would take you down without a second thought. Although with Amber around helping protect his sister, Bai, his trust was growing stronger with her. However, if she tried to hurt his sister he would personally kill her.
---
Five years after Hell's Gate Incident
Overcast blanketed the city of Tokyo, as wind blew heavily between the buildings, giving the day a cold feeling for the middle of May. The clouds bundled up together and caused a downpour. Residence flung open umbrellas to shield themselves, or ran through it to reach his or her destination quicker.
Puddles that formed along the curves were splashed onto the sidewalks as cars ran by. A bolt of lightening shot down from the heavens, followed by a roaring thunder. While the rain continued, fewer commuters departed from their homes, or stood in stores and train stations to wait out the storm.
Twenty minutes later the rain slowed. The city's occupants and visitors continued their journey along the drenched sidewalks. A young Asian man, a little taller than an average Japanese man, walked along a back alley looking for an apartment complex while carrying black luggage in his left hand. He had short black and spiky hair, a sharp handsome face, and sky blue eyes. He wore a light green shirt, blue jeans, and a black leather coat with a button strap collar.
The young Asian man stopped in front of an apartment complex he was looking for.
"This is Misuzu," he said.
Above him a window slid open. He glanced upward to see a dark-skinned man looking down at him. The dark-skinned man nodded in which the young Asian man smiled and waved. He walked into the cluttered area, headed over to the office, and knocked on the door.
Seconds later it slid open to show an elderly woman gazing at him angrily. The young Asian man thought apparently she was having a bad day, and he figured it was a mistake to make his appearance.
"You damn gravestone sellers can't leave me alone!" she growled. "I told you people for the past five years I'm healthy enough to live another seventy years!"
"Eh, you see, I'm not here for that," said the young Asian man a little embarrassed. "I'm here to…"
"Oh, you're from the Estate Company! No, I will not sell my property to you A-wholes no matter how high building costs get!"
"No, no." The young Asian man shook his head while waving his hands back and forth. "I'm here for the available room you have. I just moved here and I noticed in the newspaper about this place."
"Is that so? Why didn't you say that to begin with?" The young Asian man frowned at the old lady's comment. "Well, come on in so we can get things approved for you."
The young Asian man entered and kneeled in front of a table. An old man was messing around with a bunch of plants in a cramped garden yard. He figured the old man was her husband and felt sorry for him having to deal with her bickering. The old lady set a stack of papers in front of him.
The young Asian man began filling out the paper work as the old lady looked over his shoulder to watch him.
"Markile? What kind of name is that?" she asked.
"Marcile… Mar-cell" smiled the Asian man.
"Heh?" the old lady muttered, as her eyes slanted sideways. "Is that some kind of European name?"
"No. I come from a Japanese family, but my parents, I guess, wanted me to have a name close to an American name."
"So why not a name like Bill, Bob, or Mike?"
Marcile shrugged while smiling sheepishly, and scratching the back of his head to say, "What's worse is that they didn't realize it's actually pronounced Mar-seal, and it's a girl's name."
The old lady blinked at him baffled.
"You must have had it hard growing up," she said.
Marcile chuckled.
After he was finished and paid a deposit fee on a room, the old lady grabbed a set of keys, and guided him out of the office. They ascended the rusty metal stairs and walked down the balcony to the far end. The old lady stepped in front of room 201, inserted the key to unlock the door, and opened it.
He entered the room and removed his shoes to walk around it. He was pleased there was a sink near the window, and a small bathroom with a shower.
"Suitable for you?" she asked. He nodded in response. "All right. Try not to have any late night parties here."
Marcile nodded again. The old lady handed over the keys to him and left the room. He walked over to the window and opened it to sit on the small balcony to gaze at Hell's Gate in the distance. The thing looked creepy, even with the clouds painted on the walls to make it look as if it were blending in with the sky.
Almost five years ago an eruption had happened at Pandora that was named the Tokyo Explosion. It took Pandora three years to fix the damages and over fiver hundred billion yen. To pay for the cost, prices on estates skyrocketed to where the city citizens almost went bankrupt.
He huffed out the jet lag he was feeling from his eleven-hour flight from O'Hare airport, and figured he needed to get some rest for his big meeting tomorrow morning.
---
Dawn rose. The sky was clear and the day felt warmer than it had the following day. Puddles still lingered along the sidewalks and streets, reminding the citizens and visitors of the struggle they had to endure yesterday.
Marcile exited his room and descended the stairs to depart for his big event. As he reached the corner he heard the office door open.
"Ah, Mark… Masr…" yelled the old lady, already forgetting how to pronounce his name.
He turned around smiling and said, "Marcile."
"Mars-san!" she said instead. "Had a good night sleep?"
"Hai," he nodded. "But I might want to stop off at a store and get a futon."
"Where're you heading to anyway?"
"An interview. It's out in Shibuya."
"Shibuya? Good luck with the crowd on the JR line."
"Thanks."
Marcile waved later and headed for the station. The streets were somewhat crowded for the morning journey, as school kids rampaged around people in business attire.
He fought his way through the cluttered people and crossed busy streets before reaching the JR line. He cursed having to pay a day ticket to make it over to Shibuya. Marcile thought about trying to get his driver's license, but the cost of owning a car was ridiculously expensive in Japan.
Marcile coughed up some of his cash, took his ticket to slide it through a gate, and headed up the stairs that said JR Yamanote line towards Shibuya. He hurried towards a waiting train and made it as the doors closed. There were no empty seats left or a strap to hold on. As the train began its journey to the next station, Marcile grabbed a hold of a pole.
He had seen pictures of Japan from his mother's photo album of how the city was so cluttered, and how their transportation vehicles were built small to accommodate space, but the pictures did little to explain it. On his way from Narita airport traveling along their freeway on a bus, he was amazed that a few semis' trailers were built to the truck, and other trucks' back wheels turned as the fronts did. He was also astounded he could only fit his arm between the buildings spaces, and at how close the buildings were from the tracks. He wondered how someone could tolerate the noise, especially if a person worked night shifts and had to sleep during the day.
Shibuya was finally approaching after passing a few stations. He readied to exit the door he had stepped through, but the speaker said the doors were opening on the other side. Marcile fought his way over while the doors opened, but he was pushed aside as everybody else made their way out, and then people waiting on the platform shoved their way onto the train. Once he made it to the doors it closed on him.
He cursed. The train pulled way from the station and headed to Harajuku. He stood by the door, ready to get off, but to his luck the door was opening on the other side. He pushed his way to the other side and was able to get off. He ran down the stairs and up the other side, making it on time to get on the departing train.
He stood in the middle of the crowd, and when he heard where the doors were opening, he fought over to it. Marcile shoved his way off the train and descended the stairs. Once he was outside the station he sighed out a sign of relief. He was having a heck of a first day, and it wasn't over yet.
Shibuya sparkled with life. The area resembled Time Square with a Billboard on top of a sideways U-shaped building. The roads split into a Y-shape, the left side having a Disney store, and the right side had a Record Tower down the street. The crosswalks were cluttered with pedestrians holding up traffic.
Marcile headed off into the crowd until it dissipated as he drew closer to his destination. Ten minutes later he reached it.
The Police Department was a white rectangular building that was rounded on the corners. It seemed to stand alone, no buildings boxed up to it, giving it an eerie feeling.
He looked down at his watch and saw he had ten minutes to spare, making him praise himself for leaving early.
Marcile trotted up the ramp and entered the building to walk over to the security desk. An old man in a security uniform looked up at him and asked, "Can I help you?"
"Hello, my name is Marcile Fukazawa, and I am here for an interview on the Foreign Affairs level with the Commander," said Marcile.
The security guard nodded, picked up his phone, and dialed a number. He sat in silence for a few seconds.
"Sir, a young man named Fukazawa is here to see you," said the security guard. His eyes looked upwards at nothing as he listened to the other person's voice, and then nodded. He hung up the phone and looked up at Marcile while he handed him a pass. "Fourth floor."
"Thank you," bowed Marcile.
He clipped the pass on his jacket, walked over to the elevators to hit the up button, and waited. Moments later the doors slid open. Marcile stepped on the elevator, pushed the fourth floor button, and rode it up. Within seconds he reached the floor. He exited the elevator and gazed around the confined office. A woman with brown hair typed away on a computer to his right, and a guy wearing a red leather coat sat across from her. A big bulky man with short hair walked up to him.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I have an interview with your commander, sir," said Marcile.
"Oh, all right. Right this way."
The big guy guided him around a few desks and over to a door. On it had the name, "Commander Iasi Obi," written on it. The big guy knocked on the door.
"You may enter," said a man.
The big guy opened the door and gestured for Marcile to enter. He did and stopped in front of a tidy desk. Behind it sat a man in his late forties with short black and greasy hair that was graying, and a goatee. He was dressed in a well-pressed suit, wore rectangular glasses over hollow eyes, and he had a scar on his forehead above his right eye. He had a sharp face, and his body seemed to be in shape. His elbows rested on his desk with his hands laced together while he sat in a perfect posture.
Commander Iasi gestured for Marcile to have a seat in a chair in front of him. Marcile bowed his thanks and did what was gestured. He looked across the desk and waited for the commander to speak. The commander flip opened a file and stared down at it to examine it.
"It says here," began the commander, "you graduated High School in Arlington Heights outside of Chicago, Illinois at sixteen, and finished the police academy at the age of nineteen at the top of your class. You are also fluent in Japanese due to the fact that your parents had taught you."
"Yes, sir," said Marcile.
The commander looked up from the file and said, "You have great potential and most likely succeeding the position of commander at an early age, so why bother wanting to be transferred here of all places? You have a better chance in your hometown."
"I am grateful for your concern, Commander Iasi, but I feel this is the place for me due to the situation that has been going on."
"You mean Contractors?" Iasi asked, as his right eyelid rose. He narrowed them while crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "What do you think about them? Truthfully."
"Truthfully, sir, I think they are a menace to society and have to be dealt with."
"Have you encountered a Contractor before?"
"Yes, sir. My father was killed by one five years ago after the Tokyo Explosion."
"Is that so? So you are seeking revenge?"
"No, sir. My duty as a police officer is to protect the weak from the corrupt."
"Doesn't that include Contractors and Dolls?"
"Sir?"
"There are Contractors out in this world that aren't strong enough to defend themselves. Dolls are weak-minded beings that depend on others. Be careful on how you judge things before you see the real picture; especially under Section-Chief Kirihara's orders."
"Sir, if I may be frank?" The Commander gestured for him to be. "Contractors are deceiving creatures who don't act on their emotions. Why should we show them any compassion if they show none for us?"
"The way you think is how most of us felt around here five years ago, Detective Fukazawa," said a woman behind him.
Marcile looked over his shoulder to see a woman around her thirties. She was dressed in a blue suit, had long brown hair held back in a ponytail, and oval-shaped glasses that hid her brown eye's true beauty.
"Detective Fukazawa, meet Section-Chief Kirihara Misaki," said Iasi. "You'll be working under her wing, and I advise you not to get under her skin."
Marcile looked back at the commander flabbergasted and babbled, "I'm hired?"
"Yes," nodded Iasi. "One of our former colleagues, Kunio Matsumoto, had to retire due to his age. You have an outstanding score, and if we need a translator to speak English, we have you."
"Thank you, sir. When do I start?"
"Now. In fact, we've been waiting for you so we could start a meeting."
Marcile looked at him curiously, as the commander stood from his desk. He gestured for him to stand and follow in which he did. They exited the office, walked around the desks while Kirihara motioned for the big guy, the brown-haired woman, and the red jacket man to follow them.
They entered a white room and sat around a rectangular table in front of a screen. Marcile uncomfortably sat between the red jacket man and brown-haired woman on the right side, as Kirihara and the big guy sat across from them. Commander Iasi sat before everybody.
"You all know we are getting a new colleague," began Iasi. "Everybody, I would like to introduce to you Detective Fukazawa Marcile. Detective Fukazawa, meet Mayu Ootsuka, Yutaka Kouno, and Yuusuke Saitou."
Everybody bowed towards him. He returned it.
"Now that we're all introduced, Ootsuka, can you catch us up on things going around the city," said Iasi.
"QU025 was active last night in Tokyo, unfortunately we couldn't get a location on him," said Ootsuka. "From what we have gathered he has the ability to invade someone's mind and make them do whatever he wants."
"So we don't know who he was attacking."
"No. We've asked the local police to inform us of any bodies found dead to contact us. Also, BK201 was active last night in the same area."
The room seemed to enclose on them and it felt as if it had gotten warmer. Marcile's body stiffened at the messier code. He had heard stories of the Black Reaper who rampaged through South America until Heaven's Gate disappeared, and then mysteriously made his statement five years ago here. The two names gave him goose bumps whenever he heard them. The only thing the Foreign Affairs had gotten on him was that he had used to work for the Syndicate, and his code name is Hei.
"Ootsuka, why are we now just hearing about this?" Section-Chief Kirihara yelled.
Ootsuka shrugged her shoulders. Iasi leaned back in his chair while lacing his fingers together and looked over at them.
"Because I informed Ishizaki to inform me first of any activity concerning BK201," he said.
Everybody stared at him flabbergasted.
"Why would you do a thing like that?" Section-Chief Kirihara asked. "We haven't heard of any movement from him in Japan in the past four years, and now that he's back you're keeping his activity a secret!"
"Have you all forgotten that this unit is still corrupted by the Syndicate? If they got wing of his presence too, our chances of detaining him and finding out where exactly the Syndicate are hiding will go up in smoke."
"I don't think BK201 knows exactly where the Syndicate is. If he did, he would have eradicated them a long time ago."
"Maybe so, but all cases on him are to be forwarded to me first, and then I will inform you all about the situation. Everyone is dismissed, except you, Section-Chief Kirihara."
Everybody stood and exited the room. The red jacket man named Kouno closed the door behind him.
"Man, BK201 is back," he said.
"Yeah, what timing for our new recruit too," said the big guy named Saitou.
"Eh, you guys encountered him before, right?" spoke up Marcile. "What's it like to be in his presence?"
"I never met him face-to-face," said Kouno.
"Neither have I," said Ootsuka.
"I have twice with the Chief," said Saitou. "It was like meeting a ghost. His haunting mask seemed to hover in air since he was dressed in all black.
"But never mind that. How about we get you signed to a computer and get you to work."
Marcile nodded and followed Saitou over to a desk. Things were going to get interesting for him.
---
Kirihara Misaki looked over at Commander Iasi with a stern face, as was he. He had been assigned to the Foreign Affairs two months after Hourai's arrest. He had seemed like a decent and honest man, but there was also a side to him that Misaki couldn't put her finger on. She didn't trust him full heartily, and she kept her guard up around him.
"You don't approve of my actions, do you, Section-Chief Kirihara," he said.
"No, sir," Misaki responded. "What if we had located QU025 and BK201 was there? Saitou, Kouno and I would have been in a dire situation. If you are worried about a leak here, you can have Kanami call me only, or you can immediately inform me. More to the point, sir, the Syndicate could have a spy at the Astronomy lab."
Iasi stared at her for a moment before saying, "I'll think about that. I wanted to ask you about Detective Fukazawa Marcile."
"In my opinion, he's too young to handle this type of situation."
"Really? Have you seen his scores yet?"
"Yes I have. Scores in a classroom and on a training field is one thing, when it comes to the real thing, it's a whole new league. He hasn't even shot at a live target yet."
"As I expected from you. However, we need to replace Matsumoto and he's the best candidate."
"If you hadn't forced him into retirement we wouldn't have to worry about that."
"He was the oldest out of you all, and even though he was still in good shape, when it came to chasing a Contractor he always lagged behind. My call on the matter is final. You're dismissed."
Misaki nodded and exited the conference room. She looked across the office and saw Marcile hard at work typing away on the computer. She was going to keep her eyes on him, and if he failed too many times, she would find a way to kick him off her team and get Matsumoto back.
----
Marcile surprisingly made it back to his place to hear a guitar blazing away on the bottom floor. Misuzu was sweeping in front of her door. She looked up from her work and waved at him. He returned it.
"Hey, Mars-san, did you get the job?" she asked.
"Yes I did," he replied.
"That's good. So what is it if you don't mind me asking?"
"A spot on the Foreign Affairs."
Misuzu's eyes lit up as her teeth grinded against each other and said, "The Foreign Affairs? Aren't you too young for that spot?"
"Yes, but the commander thinks I have what it takes."
"I wouldn't be concerned about what he says; it's that woman chief, Kirihara Misaki," she informed, as she waved the point of her broom back and forth. "I've had the pleasure of meeting her here five years ago, and I can tell you, she's a tough cookie."
"Here? Why?"
"It was about some foreign exchange student named Li Shening… Shenshuun… Oh, I could never remember his last name." Marcile narrowed his eyes; not surprised at her comment since she couldn't pronounce his name. "Anyway, she came by to talk to him after the Hell's Gate thing, but immigration had sent him back to China. Great kid. In fact, you're staying in the same room he had stayed at."
"Is that so?"
-----
Misaki drove home from a long day at work. She had looked over Marcile's work and was pleased at how well he could write, but that was only deskwork. He was lucky they hadn't gotten any calls concerning Contractors.
Her thoughts dwelled on Li. He was in Japan again, which she was happy about, but why had he returned? The last thing she had heard about him was that he was active in Shanghai, and that was six months ago. The last time he was active in Japan was out in Kyoto. Her team was called out to help with the Foreign Affairs there, but it did no good.
She had tried to think of calling him Hei, but he wasn't the man she had grown to like. For the past five years her heart ached whenever she heard anything about him. She hadn't seen him since when she had chased him by his old place.
She reached her apartment twenty minutes later. Misaki exited her car and entered the complex to walk over to the elevators, stepped onto one, and rode it up to her floor. Seconds later the doors slid open. Misaki headed over to her room, opened the door, and walked into it. She noticed her balcony window lay open with a man dressed in a black trench coat and white mask.
She dropped her keys and looked on flabbergasted.
"It's been a while, Kirihara-san," said Hei.