Pai was gone.
Amber had betrayed him and still seemed to enjoy toying with him.
After Heaven's gate he had sworn to kill the part of his heart that was still human and forgo relationships or meaningful connection to avoid anything like it happening again.
That was the real reason behind his cheerfully mild mannered alter ego. It was easy to be nice to people on that kind of surface level but he wasn't memorable or life changing for anyone he came into contact with. He was that nice foreign exchange student who didn't cause any troubles and always paid his rent on time. The sort of person who would be forgotten completely in a couple months.
But everything was changing for him. It was happening slowly, but that didn't mean Hei didn't realize it. Yin was the one who was really changing, and evoking the changes in him. After years in South America doing horrible things in the name of protecting his sister, and watching her kill so many, he tried to keep himself from wishing for his real sister back. That girl didn't exist anymore, only the contractor was left. But he was still unable to leave her until the very end.
But now Yin, a doll, supposedly a lifeless shell, was definitely developing in unpredictable ways. Almost like she regained some of her former humanity. She would check in on him without being asked, seemingly because she cared. Or Carmine, another important piece of this unraveling puzzle he wouldn't have believed unless he witnessed it himself. A contractor who regained their emotions and felt remorse? He couldn't help but wistfully hope that once he found Pai similar changes might occur in her.
It made Hei dare to think about things that he usually tried to keep himself from dwelling on. Like Pai and his own existence. Like Amber and why she seemed so determined to keep him in the dark and speak to him only in riddles.
He must be cursed. Pai might be with him in some perverted way through his ability but, wasn't that just a curse?
He might just be a human cursed with the ability of a contractor, but it was easier this way. Pretending to be the cool and rational mercenary was second nature now, it didn't feel like pretending anymore. But there was his dilemma, after Amber especially, he was inclined to believe the worst of contractors. Dig deeper into his persona as the Black Reaper for the sake of Pai and keeping the promise he had made to himself, at the cost of an almost debilitating self-hatred, or...
"Or what?" he chastised himself.
He had come too far now to ever live a normal life as a human among other humans again, was what Hei told himself until he believed it. But that lady police officer, Kirihara Misaki kept showing up in both of his lives, and made him feel for the first time in a long while that he would even want to live among others as human again. The feelings surprised him and frustrated him. That fantasy was definitely out of the realm of reality for him, no matter how much it exhilarated him getting a rise out of her (flirting?) as the Reaper, or how much he seemed to enjoy the brief moments he could spend with her as Li. Regardless Hei wasn't sure if he would be able to forgive himself for the countless lives he had taken if he did fully admit his own humanity, rather than continue in his role as the Black Reaper. Surely she wouldn't.
Doesn't that thought in and of itself mean you are already much more human than you realize?
Hei chased that idea away quickly before it could latch on, and then Mao's voice in his earpiece set his mind back to the job at hand.
"Yin says there are two plainclothes guards already at the door. Shouldn't be a problem for you."
"And the target?"
Huang's voice now, "Approaching by van from the east. Should arrive on location within the quarter hour."
That didn't give Hei much time to get inside the perimeter and get in position. But it was enough. He was the Black Reaper after all, not some rookie. The job was supposed to be simple, ambush the target and steal a briefcase that held some piece of information that the Syndicate obviously wanted. Hei didn't much care for the details this job was just a means to an end anyway, but especially recently things rarely seemed to go the way they were "supposed to."
Chief Kirihara was following the black van containing her key witness in her blue porsche. Normally her car might have stood out too much for an operation like this but they were operating under limited time and manpower with the surge of contractor related events in Tokyo after the arrival of the terrorist organization Evening Primrose. Everything seemed to be unusual lately.
"Ootsuka just got word to us that Astronomics hasn't seen any activity in the area… yet. They're keeping close watch," Saitou said from the passenger seat after hanging up his cellphone.
Kirihara Misaki and BK-201 had been playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse for too long now, and she was still in the dark about so many things. She nearly had an exclusive line to Kanami through one of her subordinates at all times now, if the stars could even give her a split second more preparation she was sure that she could use it to her advantage in this deadlocked dance between them.
Tonight's operation centered around an apparent defector of the shadow organization BK-201 worked for. This former scientist claims to have knowledge surrounding this organization's motives and the identities of moles in the supposed non-partisan research group called Pandora. He came to Section 4 terrified for his life sobbing about, "The Reaper coming to collect my soul!"
This presented a unique opportunity. She seemingly was always running one step behind her prey never able to catch up, but with this defector in her custody, BK-201 would almost certainly come straight to her. It wasn't within her usual character to use others as pait, especially civilians, but when it came to BK-201 almost nothing fazed her. As much as the idea pained her, maybe she had to think like a contractor, cold and calculating, even when it came to other's lives, if she could ever hope to catch one as slippery as the reaper was.
The van turned into what looked like a construction site in the warehouse district, with portable offices at the back corner of the barbed wire fenced property, and the porsche followed. It was actually a safehouse owned by Section 4 for situations like this one. Usually she and her team would do more to keep up pretenses that this was just a construction site, no conspicuous black vans or armed guards posted outside, but she knew that BK-201 and his team would have no problem following them here with the help from a doll, and tonight that's what she wanted anyway.
To lure him here, confront him, and take him into custody if possible.
Kanami liked to tease Misaki about her growing obsession with BK-201, that it was almost like a crush, which Misaki always denied. But admittedly tonight she was a bundle of nerves nearly flying out of her seat from adrenaline and impatience thinking about finally taking that damned mask off, and Misaki was reminding herself of herself during her college years waiting for her boyfriend on their first date. All of her thoughts were centered on BK-201 tonight and most nights if she was being honest. She knew it probably wasn't healthy, but she couldn't help it. Those that knew her, knew her tendency toward single mindedness.
Funnily enough, none of her previous romantic partners had ever inspired that kind of single mindedness, it was usually work that kept her active and engaged. So Kanami couldn't help herself it seemed, "BK-201 is the first man I've seen you show real interest in in years," she had said behind twinkling eyes the other night.
Misaki tried to keep such unprofessional thoughts from her mind as she parked behind the black van, and dialed a number on speed dial on her cellphone.
"Keep the package in the van, I want a perimeter report from the guards stationed here before we even attempt taking it out in the open," she said to Matsumoto who had been driving the van. Still on the phone she turned and asked Saitou, "They checked in with us 5 minutes ago correct? Where are they?"
The package obviously represented her witness, and she preferred keeping him in the bulletproof van as long as possible. Saitou's answer sent her mind into overdrive.
"They were checking in normally with reports until their last message 5 minutes ago like you said. It's odd that they wouldn't come to get orders as soon as they saw us pull in."
Both officers reached for their holstered weapons and Misaki spoke into her phone once more, "Matsumoto, keep your ears open for action outside and be ready to get out of here to deliver the package to our backup rendezvous."
"Understood," he replied, and Misaki cut the connection before nodding to Saitou.
They cautiously opened their respective car doors and moved around the van toward the safehouse door watching each other's backs with weapons drawn.
"Damn," Saitou muttered for both of them as they saw they collapsed bodies of the patrolmen Section 4 had enlisted to help as guards. Misaki bent down to check their vital signs and confirmed that they were indeed still alive, just unconscious and her heart skipped a beat. BK-201 was already here, this was part of his M.O. Other contractors killed almost indiscriminately, never really indiscriminately because that wouldn't be logical, but BK-201 seemed to use lethal force on humans only when ordered, or when absolutely necessary despite his rumored ruthlessness. With his fellow contractors it was a different story.
Right on cue there was a pop as the overhead lamps fizzled out from a sudden electrical overload.
"Chief!" Saitou shouted into the darkness.
"I'm fine stay sharp Saitou!," she answered as she switched on her flashlight and scanned her surroundings furiously.
Saitou did the same, and they were both careful to scan the nearby rooftops and scaffolding, knowing BK-201's penchant for swinging in from above.
A cat meowed very loudly nearby causing Misaki and Saitou to jump and point their guns toward the sound. In the split second distraction this had created there was another sound as more electricity fizzled out the locking mechanisms on the doors of the van that contained the package.
"No!" Misaki shouted turning her attention back to van and she saw him!
BK-201 had his hands on the passenger side of the van, but not at the back where the package would be, at the front cab where Matsumoto was sitting. Misaki had a sickly suspicion that everyone inside the van had received a nasty shock because none of her men including Matsumoto were making a move as far as she could see. She got her mind back into gear after the initial shock (ha) of seeing him and shouted trying to keep her voice level, "Do not move, we are the police, and you are under arrest," aiming her weapon steadily at his chest.
She didn't know how he did it but the mask seemed to be smiling or frowning depending on his mood. Right now it was smiling and he tilted his head to one side, as if to say, "Really now?"
She squeezed the trigger as he simultaneously flung out the passenger door of the van to shield himself.
"Saitou move your ass!" Misaki yelled as she ran back toward the van never keeping her eyes off of that passenger door. But the Reaper was too fast for her, and she saw his cable shootout and up away from the construction site.
"But that doesn't make sense he doesn't have the package yet!" Misaki yelled to no one in particular, but then she saw something else that made her change tack and sprint headlong back for her porsche while Saitou was still standing his ground beginning to fire off rounds that just ricocheted off of BK-201 anyway.
He had known.
He had known all along that this was a decoy van, that there was no one in the back.
That meant this might have all been a ruse set up by BK-201's employers from the very beginning, including the defector. Misaki wondered if the scientist she had sworn to protect would be at the safehouse where she had really put him when she managed to get there later or if he would be extracted by then. "It could be happening right now while we're distracted with this!" Misaki thought desperately, but she emptied her mind when she reached her car, focusing on the task at hand.
BK-201's objectives had been different the whole time. To steal the briefcase that she had seen swinging from his belt as he flew away from the scene. Her briefcase to be precise. It contained all of her team's hard work of the past couple months on Pandora and its secret relationship to this shadow organization.
Seeing BK-201 with her briefcase sent an array of disturbing thoughts racing through her mind in no particular order. If the Syndicate knew about her work that means they have a mole much closer to her than she ever could have imagined. She didn't want to think about the possibility of one of her team betraying her, but it looked probable.
No time for those thoughts now as her tires screeched trying to find purchase on the gravel road. She expertly shifted the car into gear attempting to pursue BK-201 while she still had him in her sights.
She heard Saitou yell, "Wait, Chief!" but he was quickly drowned out by the roar of her engine. The porsche crashed easily through the chain link fence gate out of the construction site, but she inwardly groaned at the thought of the scratches despite herself. She pursued the airborne Reaper for about three blocks before she lost him the first time. In a panic Misaki swung her car around a corner and miraculously brought BK-201 back into view. She saw him glance down at her but instead of swinging somewhere and inexplicably falling out of sight he flipped releasing his cable and landed on the street right in front of her.
She slammed on the brakes and almost screamed. He wouldn't be of any use to her if he was dead, but she wasn't sure if her car would stop in time! However before he let himself be hit by her, he jumped again and landed with a loud thump on the top of her roof. This time she did scream, startled by his quick reflexes and the dent that formed above her head upon his impact.
This was a stand off, she could feel it. Even though they couldn't see each other at the moment, he hadn't jumped off yet, and Misaki sat tense but alert with her hands still on the wheel, listening hard trying to sense his next move.
Which he didn't make? It felt like a whole minute went by like that.
Was he just toying with her now? But no, there was no logical reason to do that. He had his intended payload and logically should be getting away from her as fast as possible to make his drop and finish his end of the deal just like any good contractor would.
In which case maybe this meant she was part of the intended payload as well! Her base instincts didn't want to stick around to figure out if he needed her alive or dead, but her police instincts told her she might never have a chance to get this close to him ever again. And wait… couldn't he have already electrocuted her where she sat through the car? So alive then, and like hell she was going to just let herself be taken hostage.
She felt a sudden wave of anger sweep through her, "What are you waiting for then?!" she thought, furrowing her brow, and actually revved the engine in a challenge. To her immense surprise she heard what she thought was a chuckle from BK-201, and then she entered a state of even greater disbelief when he jumped off the roof and into her passenger seat in a flash.
He quickly disarmed her and put his bare hand over her mouth.
"You know all too well what I can do, don't try to scream or struggle," he said in voice that was cold as ice, but she felt like she was burning up where he was touching her. "Is this all your team could muster to try and catch me? I must say I'm a little offended," he continued his voice taking on a sardonic edge. This was the first time she had ever heard his voice and it sent a shudder through her body. It was deep and slightly gravely, but there was something she almost recognized in it as well? The Reaper surprised her again when he let go of her face so she could reply.
"So you can speak. You must have a face under there…" was all she could manage in this truly extraordinary situation, but there was still a guarded and angry edge to her words. He laughed again.
He laughed!?
But then the mask turned away from her as he settled in the seat in what was an oddly comfortable manner.
"I didn't know it would be you tonight. It's always… fun running in to you, but if this is yours," he gestured to the briefcase, "That means they know. I don't know what they know or how much yet, I never get those kinds of details, my orders were just to steal the briefcase. This time. Next time you go poking your nose in somewhere it doesn't belong my orders won't be as nice. So be careful Chief Kirihara. Like I said, you almost make this fun."
And with that he opened the door, swung away into the night and was gone. He had taken her gun with him, there was nothing she could do but sigh and call for Saitou.
"Chief!" he yelled into the phone in relief.
Misaki physically moved the phone away from her ear he was so loud before she rubbed her temples and tried to gather her nerves.
