Note: This is my first chapter, I hope you can send some comments and suggestions to me. Please be frank so that I can improve on my writing. Thank you and I hope you enjoy it. I do not own Darker than Black

Prologue/Chapter 1: Calm

It was almost noontime and the residents of Tokyo are rushing to the restaurants and fast food chains for their lunch break.

An elderly man dressed in a black coat and a gold chain around his neck sat on a park bench reading the day's newspaper. Beside him was a black cat scratching its ears and purring contentedly. On a swing across them both sat a silver-haired girl with her left foot dipped in a puddle from last night's rain. A young Chinese man walked up to the opposite bench of the old man and rested on it.

"You're late, Hei", Huang said while flipping the paper's pages noisily.

"I had to take the other path or I would bump into Kurasawa Gai", he answered "What's the next mission?"

Mao stood and stretched himself, "Surely you've heard of the early morning bombings in Shinjuku's Building 45 and MI-6's Headquarters?"

"Yes, it's all over the news,"

"From the information our spy in MI-6 has gathered, one of their former members and her companion were involved and they are probably the culprits. Her codename under the British Secret Intelligence Service was February, but she is also referred to as Amber," continued the cat. Hei's expression changed upon hearing the last word.

"Amber…is…in Tokyo?"

Huang flipped his newspaper again, "Yes, she is here. The Syndicate was not pleased when she betrayed our organization and she must be dealt with immediately. You have enough time until 10:00 pm tomorrow evening to capture her. Bring her to our warehouse as soon as possible. The other contractors are also after her so you have substantial support. When she tries to escape you are granted the right to use deadly force. Is everything clear? Oh, and we'll check on you from time to time so you'll have to bear with us. Got it?"

"Understood," Hei said as he stood and walked away, his mind deep in thought.

"Amber, what are you going to do to this city?" he muttered to himself as he walked towards Home Run Ramen with his stomach growling fiercely, which made people stare at him.

He passed by Building 45 to check how much damage the explosion had caused. He caught sight of a young boy with grey hair and strange eyes. His right eye was green though the other was red. He kept on jumping, trying to get a necklace stuck on a tree. Hei moved closer and stretched his hand upward and took the necklace.

The boy kept staring at him and he smiled back. He handed the necklace to the boy and said, "Here, I hope it will always make you smile," with that he resumed walking.

The boy stared at him as he walked. He glanced back at the boy and smiled. The young one began to talk, "Why?" he continued,"No, I must express my gratitude. Thank you, it was nice meeting you,"

Hei beamed back at him, "Nice to meet you too. I'm Li Shengshun,"

"Maki,"

"Was that necklace a gift?"

"Hmm," he nodded "A dear friend gave it to me,"

"I see, then you must take good care of it…But, what was it doing up there?"

Maki slowly turned away and walked a few steps before looking back at Hei, "Thank you," he said as he began to run.

Dr. Kanami Ishizaki stood together with her colleagues as they watched their screens with worried faces. The sunspot cycle is occurring…again. The whole Astronomical Observatory is always a mess whenever the cycle occurs. Everyone's on the edge during these kinds of events.

Mayu Ootsuka had a huge question mark painted all over her face, as if it had been there since the day she was born. Though Kanami's senses were not that strong, she doesn't need to be a genius to notice Ootsuka's expression.

She began to explain, "The cycle happens every few years when large sunspots appear on a general surface of the sun, it looks like a giant eye,"

"Like a giant eye? How scary...I wonder if anything will happen," inquired Ootsuka

"It's alright; we still weren't able to relate the cycle to any weird phenomena so...we're pretty much in the dark when it comes to studying it..."

"But, doesn't it feel kind of disturbing? I mean, don't you feel anything weird?"

"Oh, I forgot about that…during the last sunspot cycle," Kanami's eyes looked as if she realized something important without noticing it at first. She slowly continued, "In…South America…Heaven's Gate…disappeared,"

Maki went down a dark flight of stairs with posters stuck on its walls. Upon reaching the lower level he opened slowly opened a door and closed it promptly. Inside was a dimly lit pub with a billiard table in the center and several dartboards were hanging on the wall. Sitting on a chair was a heavy built red haired man slumped on the counter who looked as if he was almost asleep. But when he heard Maki return he slightly opened his right eye and began scolding the youngster, "Honestly, what were you thinking, going back to the scene? Something could have happened,"

"I dropped something important there, I found it blown off by the explosion," he said, feeling a bit guilty for making his teammate worried.

"Were you followed?" the man closed his eyes once more.

"No, I'm fine. No need to worry, Amagiri,"

Though he may seem a bit tough and cold hearted, Amagiri cared for the boy. Months of working together made them feel more comfortable in each other's company. Due to his feelings, he could consider Maki as his younger brother, or even his son. Maki felt the same way for him too. He looked up to Amagiri and respected as if he was his own father. Unfitting as it seems, they could be the only people Maki considered as family.

He recalled his past when he was young; his parents had left him alone in the park when they discovered his demonic powers. They never cared for him, he thought. What kind of parents would leave their son alone at the age of four just because of his new abilities? Perhaps they were scared, but they could have hid him, protected him from the people who looked down on him.

He quickly brushed away the tear that fell on his cheek with his sleeve. "Where's Amber?" he asked

"She went out to look for the Final Key,"

"Then I must go with her," he glanced at Amagiri

"No, there's no point for you to go. She can look for him herself," he spoke as he drank water from his glass that was sitting right next to him.

"Dr. Ishizaki, Dr. Ishizaki!" came the electronic voice from the overhead radio, "You're needed in the Observatory's main section! Please come quickly,"

"Oh, lunch time's over? I wonder what could have happened…" she winked at Ootsuka as if everything was fine but there was a hint of fear in her voice.

They rushed to the main section and were met with people all staring towards the center of the room. Kanami's eyes widened as she realized what was happening.

"Ho…Hoshimi-sama spoke…" she said, her voice shaking.

"Oh, lovely stars, each going out to fulfill its destiny. How short your lives are. You rise at day and fall at night. Twinkling, twinkling stars, oh where are you going? Oh stars, shining brightly in the sky. Many will fall but many will rise to fill their place. Go out and live your fates, to others you shall not bend. This is the beginning of the end."

Class: Contractor

Messier Code: BK201

Codename: Hei

Abilities: Electrical Manipulation

Remuneration: Unknown

Relevant Information: Fought at Heaven's War (South America), Member of the Syndicate

Class: Doll

Codename: Yin

Abilities: Surveillance (Water)

Relevant Information: Member of the Syndicate

Class: Contractor

Messier Code: Unknown

Codename: Mao

Abilities: Animal Possession

Remuneration: Lose Original Body

Relevant Information: Member of the Syndicate

Class: Human

Codename: Huang

Abilities: Sniping and Assault

Relevant Information: Former officer of Tokyo Police, Member of the Syndicate