"...with the final death toll reaching over 1.2 billion people, the majority of whom lost their lives in the ensuing tidal waves and flooding, with-"

The deep chiming of the school's bell startled the the wizened teacher out of his monologue. "Is it that time already?" he asked no-one in particular, looking up at the clock over the blackboard. "Well, no matter. I expect that some of you will be spending most of your weekend undergoing testing at the Geofront, so in the interests of fairness I have decided not to assign homework. Class dismissed."

The students, who by and large had been ignoring him for most of the class, packed their belongings and made their way out of the classroom into the hall. This sort of behavior was not unusual for this particular teacher, and the students had learned that it was easier to simply humor the man rather than try and convince him that a meteor did not strike Antarctica at the turn of the century. Some were still curious as to what would cause such strange behavior, however.

"You know what I think? I think he was in some apocalypse cult, and when the world didn't end he made up this whole story in his head." The pony-tailed girl turned to the blonde teen walking alongside her. "What do you think, Satsuki?"

Satsuki shrugged, smoothing out her short, chin-length hair. "Maybe he's just obsessed with some old movie or TV show. I heard that there were a lot of people like that back then."

"What, you mean people so totally hung up on something that they base their entire lives around it?"

Before Satsuki could respond two arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind as a handsome young man with close-cropped and impeccably styled dark hair leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Hello there, gorgeous."

Satsuki smiled and leaned back to take a look at the new arrival. "Hey Katsuya."

"Speak of the devil," the girl muttered.

Turning away from Satsuki, Katsuya shot the girl a dirty look before politely asking, "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

"Nothing at all," she replied. Quickening her pace, she waved behind her without turning around. "I'll see you later, Satsuki."

"Ran, hold on for a second, I-"

"Don't worry about it; she's just jealous. So..." he started, moving along side of her while still keeping one arm around her shoulder. "You have any plans for this Saturday?"

"Actually, yeah. A couple friends and I were planning on having a little girl's night out."

"It's been over a month since our last date. Are you saying that you don't have time for your personal Prince Charming?"

"Hey, my social life is a first-come, first-serve, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of thing. They asked before you did, so..." She shrugged.

"...so I'm out in the cold then, huh?"

Satsuki stopped and turned to face him, gazing into his pale green eyes. "Don't say it like that. I mean, you're a nice guy and all, but sometimes I just need a little 'me' time, you know?"

"But what about us? I feel as if-"

"Katsuya, I'm not going to leave you any time soon." Cheerfully she added, "I'm open next week, though. Wanna give it a shot then?"

He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Well then, until next week..."

"Until next week, Mr. Charming."

The front doors to the school burst open and a skinny, chestnut-haired teen looked about frantically, searching for someone. Spotting the someone in question near the school's gate he ran after her, weaving his way through the mass of black uniform-clad students while waving one hand over his head. "Satsuki!"

Satsuki turned just as he slid to a stop next to her, pausing to catch his breath. "Oh, hi Takada."

"I was... looking all over for you," Takada gasped. "Teacher wanted to... to talk to you about something."

"Oh. Well, it can probably wait until Monday," she said off-handedly, walking away.

Jogging after her Takada said, "hold on a second! Didn't you hear him calling your name?"

"Nah, I sort of blanked out and lost track of time."

"...that figures."

"Oh, come on. It's not like he was saying anything important."

"That's not the point." He ran a hand through his unkempt mop of hair, collecting his thoughts. "Look, are you doing anything over the weekend, because I'd-"

"Hey now!" Satsuki stopped in her tracks, whirled around and leaned forward until she was nearly nose-to-nose with Takada. "You're not asking me out on a date, are you?" she inquired, grinning.

"A date? No, no no... it's just that..." He trailed of, looking away.

Satsuki giggled and looked into Takada's eyes. "Go on."

"...I'd, um... like to help you with some of your class work."

She arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Well... the teacher's always on your case about how you could do better if you applied yourself and all, and since I'm one of the better students in the class he asked me if I could help you study."

"Oh, that," she replied, the tone of her voice showing an expressed disinterest in the subject. "Ah, you know teachers are. They're all stuck that old 'study hard, work hard and be miserable because our parents were too' mentality. Plus most of the classes are completely useless. I mean really, algebra? How practical is knowing what x times y to the z over three to the blah power is? Why not teach people something useful, like how to cook?"

"Did you study for the last algebra test?" Takada inquired.

"Nah, I had better things to do."

"What did you get on it?"

"Hmm," Satsuki hmmed. After a moment's thought she dismissed the question with a gesture. "It's not important."

"This is important, Satsuki! If you don't study you won't get good grades, if you don't get good grades you won't get into a good college..." She began making a yackety-yack gesture with her hand, which he ignored. "...if you don't get into a good college you won't get a good job, and if-"

She sighed. "If this, if that... you know I don't like talking about ifs." Her expression brightened and she leaned forward again. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm glad you're worried about me, Takada. You're going to make some girl very happy some day." With that she turned and ran off, waving to Takada. "See you next week!"

Takada waved meekly at the departing Satsuki. Once she was out of sight he sighed and began trudging home. "...feel like a babysitter sometimes..."

The front door slid open and Satsuki stepped inside, slipping her shoes off in the foyer before continuing down the hall towards her room. As she walked past the living room she heard a familiar voice call out. "Welcome home, honey."

Dropping her school bag she turned around and ran into the living room. There, seated in a chair and reading a magazine, was Arcueid Arima. Though nearly twenty years had passed since Shiki first met her, she remained as radiant as ever.

"Mom!" Satsuki practically dived towards her, wrapping both arms around her neck. "Mom, I missed you so much!"

Arcueid returned the hug in kind. "I missed you too, hon. So how's school?"

"Oh, you know, same old same old. Learn new things, meet new people..."

"Flirt with your boyfriend."

"Moooooom," she chided, leaning back.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I flirted with your father all the time back in the day."

"That's really not the sort of thing you're supposed to tell your kids, mom." In an attempt to change the subject to something other than her mother's romantic life she asked, "how was Okinawa?"

"It's beautiful this time of year. All the flowers are in bloom, the weather's nice and warm... the shopping's good too. Speaking of which, I got you something."

"Really?" Satsuki eagerly asked, leaning forward.

"Really." Reaching over, Arcueid picked up a small rectangular box and handed it to her daughter. "The instant I saw it I thought of you."

She looked the box over with a puzzled expression before lifting up the top, and immediately her eyes lit up: Inside was an exquisitely crafted teardrop-shaped switchblade knife, an intricate swirling pattern of turquoise inlaid into the gleaming steel handle.

"Oh, wow! This is the greatest gift ever!" Once again hugging her mother tightly, she skipped off towards her room to revel in her new gift.

Arcueid shook her head as she went back to reading. "You really are your father's child..."

"...and then I find out that he's been with some bitch from the Lillian school across town." The tall, short-haired girl clenched her fist, causing the joints to crack rather loudly. "So I do what every self-respecting woman should do when they find out that their SOs are running around behind their backs."

"No offense, Akira," Ran started, "but I'm not sure that most women would beat up their boyfriends."

"I didn't beat him up," Akira said, taking a sip of her drink. "I slammed him into the wall before throwing him to the ground. 'Beating up' implies punching."

"He has a black eye," Ran retorted.

"Okay, so I punched him once. My point still stands. Why are you asking me all this crap, anyway?" She gestured to Satsuki, who was sitting across from her. "Pester Sats for a while or something. She's the one with the improbably successful relationship."

Satsuki shot Akira a look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on. Out of three hundred assholes you get the one guy who's willing to wait on you hand and foot and probably sits around all day at home waiting for you to call him because he can't go a day without hearing your voice." She clasped her hands together and held them to her chest for emphasis.

"Bitter much?" Ran asked.

"I don't know about you," Satsuki said, "but from what I've seen most guys don't cheat on their girlfriends."

"What about your guy?"

"He wouldn't do that; he's too nice."

"So... he loves you."

"Yeah."

Akira cocked an eyebrow. "Do you love him?"

After a moment's thought she hesitantly replied, "yeah, I guess so..." before taking a drink from her soda.

"Oh, I see," Akira commented, nodding. "Did you fuck him?"

Satsuki's reaction to the question was to inadvertently spray her beverage through her nose and into the air in front of her, following it with a violent coughing fit and ending with her clutching her nose as the carbonation did very unpleasant things to her sinuses.

"Is that a 'no?'" Akira asked, trying to suppress a grin and failing miserably.

Satsuki nodded, still holding her nose.

"Akira!" Ran hissed, "what kind of question is that?"

"Oh, come on! Like you weren't wondering the same thing. The way he acts I wouldn't be surprised if Sat here was leading him around by his dick." She chuckled. "Wouldn't blame her, either. The guy's loaded."

"For your informa-" Satsuki paused before sniffing, picking up her napkin and blowing her nose. "For your information I have not, nor will I ever have sex with him."

"So you don't love him."

"I love him, I just-"

"You just don't love him enough to have sex with him."

"There's more to love than just sex."

Akira pointed to Satsuki and opened her mouth to say something before turning away and shrugging. "Okay, you got me. Maybe I'm just jaded..."

"'Maybe?'" Ran asked incredulously.

"Okay, so I am jaded. But I just find it strange that your relationship is so... so perfect, you know?" She picked up her glass. "You do know what they say about things that are too good to be true, right?"

As Katsuya stared out the sedan's side window contemplating the day's events, his thoughts were rather rudely disturbed by the ringing of his cell phone. Pulling the phone out of his jacket pocket, he checked the number before cursing and flipping it open. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Katsuya, something's come up," a nervous-sounding man's voice said. "That is to say, uh..."

"Spit it out, old man."

"Your sister is... is going to be, uh..." The voice wavered slightly. "...joining you. At school."

"WHAT?" Katsuya screamed, startling the driver. "How could you let that conniving little bitch do something like that?"

"N-n-now don't get so upset. I tried to talk her out of it, but she's... you know how she is, right?"

Katsuya leaned back in his seat, massaging his temples with his free hand. "Yes, I do. I also know that you've got no balls, which is why she can get away with shit like this. You should've locked her up, father."

"Maybe she-"

"She's a freak. You know that."

"She's a human being! How can you-"

"Right now she's good for one thing and one thing only, and the last time I checked she didn't have to be walking around trying to stick her nose into my business to do it. This isn't a hard thing to understand, but somehow you've managed to fuck it up." He snorted. "Now I know why your father never expected much from you."

Katsuya's father tried to reply but was cut off when Katsuya closed the phone and placed it back into his pocket. "Fuck me," he muttered. Then, to the driver, "you may as well head home; there's no way in Hell that I can enjoy myself after this."

"Yes, sir," he replied.

Looking out the window again, he let out an irritated growl. "This is going to go to shit, I can see it already."

Satsuki sighed. Another nondescript week in the public education system. It wasn't that she didn't like it - she wasn't terribly fond of it, granted, she just knew she couldn't do much without it and begrudgingly put up with it - it was just that it was so... well, boring. Almost predictable. Right about now, she thought, would be the time that someone - probably Takada - would come up behind her and ask her how her weekend went.

"Excuse me... you are Satsuki Arima, are you not?"

She stopped. Either Takada was hitting the estrogen or predictability just up and left when she wasn't looking.

"Yeah, I am," she said, turning. "...and you are...?"

Standing behind her was a slim, demure young woman a few inches taller than Satsuki and clad in the school's black uniform, gazing intently at her with deep blue eyes. She gave her a slight bow, causing her waist-length raven-black hair to cascade down over her shoulders. Brushing it back she replied, "Nanashi."

After a moment's thought Satsuki tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow. "Have we met?"

Nanashi allowed herself a slight smile before walking past her and towards the school. "No," she said, "but Katsuya spoke of you."

"He did? Hey, wait up!" She took a few quick steps before slowing down to keep pace with her. "How do you know Katsuya?"

"He's my twin brother."

"He never said anything about having a sister."

"He's not that fond of me," she said, brushing a stray lock of hair aside. "I can't imagine why."

Satsuki nodded. "I see."

They continued on in silence for a few seconds before Nanashi turned to look at Satsuki and spoke. "You know, Katsuya said you were quite beautiful. I see now that such words are an understatement."

"Um... thanks." Taken aback by this statement, Satsuki found herself blushing despite herself, turning away to hide her embarrassment. She knew this was flattery of the highest degree, but coming from her it just sounded so...

"You must have a lot of male admirers."

She shook her head. "Not really. Most guys don't talk to me."

"I find that surprising."

"It's probably because I look like, well..." She gestured to herself in a "you know the rest" sort of way.

"A foreigner?"

"Yeah."

"Their loss."

She smiled. "Yeah, no kidding. So how about you?"

"Well, we all have our secrets..."

As they approached one of the hallway junctions Katsuya rounded the corner heading towards them and, upon seeing his sister, came to a sudden halt. "Oh, it's you," he said, his expression darkening.

"Good morning, brother."

"Satsuki," he said, ignoring Nanashi, "what are you doing with her?"

"Just talking," she replied.

He glared at his sister. "I see."

"You don't object to our conversation, do you?" Nanashi inquired, giving him a sly look. "After all, no harm can come of it, correct?"

"...no, of course not." Forcing a smile, he nodded towards Satsuki and gave her a polite, "I'll see you later, Satsuki," before walking past the two girls and turning into a nearby classroom.

"What's gotten into him?" Satsuki asked.

Nanashi smirked. "I won't even hazard a guess."

15. EXT. POV SHOT - ALLEY - NIGHT

The alley is between two concrete buildings. Judging from
the lack of garbage and graffiti, it isn't in the bad part of
town. A street light illuminates the alley slightly. It's
enough to see, but not enough to make out details. The
shot begins at the end of the alley, facing the street, with
the CAMERA at eye level. It slowly moves forward,
accompanied by light footsteps.

The camera stops. A light sniffing sound is heard for a
second, then the camera lowers slightly and races forward
at high speed. Just as it reaches the end of the alley A
MAN steps into view.

The man is wearing a brown business suit and is slightly
overweight and balding. He carries with him a dark brown
suitcase.

As the camera approaches the man two feminine hands
come into frame and wrap around his arm, tugging at it.
The man, not expecting this, jumps slightly and pulls back.

F. VOICE (OS)

(distressed)

Please, you have to help me!

MAN

Wha-?

F. VOICE (OS)

My friend, they've got my friend! She's back there and
they're going to kill her or rape her or- you have to help
me, please!

The man looks torn. His first instinct is to get away from
there, but his expression hardens as he begins to feel the
call of chivalry.

MAN

Where are they?

F. VOICE (OS)

Thank you, oh thank you so much!

The man gets pulled into the alley for a few steps before
the arms retract from the frame. The camera begins
moving away from the man.

F. VOICE (OS)

She's this way! Hurry!

Turning away, the camera races down the alley, weaving
past neatly-stacked garbage cans and orange crates and
around corners. Heavy footsteps can be heard in the
distance, but as the camera continues onward they begin
to fade.

The camera stops, looking into a cul-de-sac. The only
thing that can be seen in the moonlight are a metal door
on the left side with a broken lamp hanging above it.

The camera whips backwards. The man hasn't arrived yet.

Panning up, the camera quickly moves back and forth
between the walls of the alley until it reaches the top. It
then pans downward to reveal the man running into the
alley, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He comes to a
halt, leaning forward with his hands on his knees as he
looks around.

Staggering forward, he tries the door. No good; it's
locked. He looks around again to see if he missed anything.

The view blurs as the camera rapidly descends onto the
man, flying to his neck. He barely has time to shout
when a wet tearing noise is heard and blood sprays into
the frame. He flails about in agony, trying in vain to escape.
Suddenly, a loud crack is heard and his body goes limp as
he slumps to the ground. The camera remains fixed at his
throat the entire time as lapping noises are heard.

The licking continues for several more seconds until the
camera moves back up, looking down at the body as a pool
of blood slowly spreads around him.

CUT TO BLACK.

Satsuki awoke with a start, her body covered in a thin film of cold sweat. Propping herself up in bed, she frantically looked around her to ensure that she was still in her room and not in some back alley with a corpse. After confirming that she was in fact at home she breathed a sigh of relief, trying to calm herself down.

"That dream again..." she said to herself, resting her elbows on her knees. When did they begin, she wondered? Almost two weeks ago? The faces and locations were all different, but the outcome was always the same: Some poor soul was tricked, trapped or hunted down by her, after which she murdered them and consumed their blood. The thing that struck her, though, was that they were so vivid: The smell of the man's cologne, the sound of tearing flesh and the taste of blood which still lingered in her mouth. Stranger still was that during them she felt a sense of joy, almost as if it was all some sort of game for her.

"This is probably some sort of subliminal... thing," she mumbled, falling back onto her pillow. "Like repressed sexual urges or something Freudian like that. Yeah, nothing to get worried over, just..."

She closed her eyes and groaned, finding that to her dismay her attempts to convince herself that her dreams weren't a problem weren't very... well, convincing. Pulling the covers back up over her, she rolled over and prepared for another fitful night of sleep.

Approximately eleven hours later Satsuki was sitting in her school's cafeteria with Takada, Katsuya and Nanashi. Takada was occupying himself by checking his notes for the next class, Katsuya was casting suspicious glances at Nanashi in between bites of his meal, Nanashi (whose presence Katsuya tolerated purely for Satsuki's sake) was looking at Satsuki with an expression of vague interest and Satsuki was contemplating how two weeks' worth of dreams about murdering people and drinking their blood put a damper on her appetite as she listlessly prodded at a small clump of rice with a plastic fork.

"You're worried about something," Nanashi said. It wasn't a question so much as a statement of fact.

It wasn't until about a second later that Satsuki realized that yes, someone was talking to her. "What? Oh, uh... it's nothing. Really."

"It's not like you to be this concerned about something." She leaned forward, folding her hands in front of her and resting her chin on them. "...and it really doesn't suit you, to be frank." Casting a sidelong glance at the two males at the table she added, "surely I'm not the only one who's noticed this?"

"Actually, I was wondering about that," Takada started, looking up from his notes at Satsuki. "You've been really-"

"Of course I've noticed," Katsuya said haughtily. "I was just about to ask, as a matter of fact. At least until someone interrupted me." He shot a dirty look at Nanashi, who ignored it.

Satsuki gave the rice clump another nudge before setting her fork down. "Thanks for noticing," she said sullenly, eyes fixed on her plate, "but I really don't feel like talking about it at the moment."

Katsuya started to say something which, in his mind, would reassure his girlfriend as well as help patch up their relationship which, also in his mind, had been steadily going downhill. Before he could even utter a word, however, his sister chose that exact moment to reassure his girlfriend for her.

"I understand," she said softly, patting Satsuki's hand. "But just remember that we're here for you should you ever need a confidant."

She raised her head and allowed herself a slight smile. "Thanks, Nanashi."

"-the body of the victim, Hideyuki Oda, age 37-" Satsuki turned in time to see a black and white portrait of a portly, balding businessman on the cafeteria's television screen, his eyes censored by a thick black bar. "...was discovered this morning by locals. At this time the police have no suspects, but Commissioner-"

The color in Satsuki's face rapidly drained away and she felt herself becoming very ill. She managed to stammer out an "excuse me" before stumbling to her feet and quickly making her way out of the cafeteria and down the hall.

Turning towards her departing form, both Takada and Katsuya shouted, "Satsuki, wait!" Takada glanced back at Katsuya, Katsuya turned and glared at Nanashi and Nanashi turned to Katsuya and gave him an innocent smile. Noting the lack of reaction on both their parts, Takada set his notebook down and quickly followed after her.

After Takada's departure, Katsuya's expression was replaced with one of almost inhuman calm as he turned away from his sister, returning his attentions to his meal. "You know, for all those years everyone's said that you were worthless, not even deserving of a name. But no, even someone who's worthless would have the sense to stay out of other people's business. Especially when it's in their own best interests to back the hell off."

"Is it, now?"

"Don't be coy with me. Do you really think I can't tell why you're here?"

"I am here because I choose to be. You, on the other hand-"

"I'm here," he cut in, "because I want to be here. Don't act as if you know things you don't."

"Come, now; we're both on leashes, brother. The only difference is that I choose to lead my so-called masters while you sit by their side cowed into submission."

"At least you admit you're a rabid bitch," he snapped.

"Mind your words," she said, standing up. "You've a reputation to uphold here, do you not?"

"One of us does."

"All the more reason to be careful, is it not? Good day."

Shoving the door open Satsuki plodded onto the school's roof, breathing heavily. The churning sensation in the pit of her stomach had subsided somewhat, leaving her merely nauseated and not completely prepared to lose her lunch. Running a hand through her hair, she thought about what she had just seen.

"He's really dead," she said to herself. She tilted her head upwards and stared into the sky. "They're really dead."

"Satsuki?"

Satsuki jumped and quickly turned, presenting Takada with her best nonchalant look. Looking at her in faint befuddlement, he closed the door behind him.

"How'd you find me?"

"The door was open; I just followed the breeze. Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded slowly before looking off to the side, fidgeting. Eventually she asked, "Takada, we're good friends, right?"

"Well, yeah. Ever since, what, fifth grade?"

She leaned forward and looked into his eyes, her expression becoming a bit more pleading. "Really good friends, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." he said, albeit hesitantly.

"So I can tell you something and trust that you won't tell anyone else, right?"

"Yeah..." Takada didn't exactly like where this was going, but he still went along with it regardless.

She leaned forward a bit further and, looking directly into Takada's eyes, said in a worried tone, "I'm dead serious, Takada. I'm going to tell you something and you need to promise me that you will not tell anyone. EVER."

Takada's eyes flitted to the side for a moment as he tried to avoid her gaze. After a second of hesitation he said, "okay. I promise." After all, how bad could it possibly be?

"Okay." Leaning back, she took a deep breath and looked around, trying to find the right words to explain her plight. After a while she gave up and decided to say it as simply as possible. "Takada," she said, "I think I killed a bunch of people."

He nodded. "Oh, well- WHAT?"

"I think I killed a bunch of people."

Takada stared at her in disbelief before turning away. Removing his glasses, he rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "you can't be serious." He turned back towards her, only to find her looking as desperate as he had ever seen her. "...you are serious."

"That guy on the news that was killed? I had a dream last night where I killed him, and before that there were a bunch of other guys who-"

Takada held his hands up. "Hold it, hold it, hold it. You believe that just because you had a dream about it that you did it?"

She blinked. "Well, when you say it like that..."

"It could have been someone else and you just mistook the man's face for the one in your dream."

"No, I'm sure that it was him."

"Right." He slid his glasses back into place, thinking for a moment. "Didn't you say that there were other people as well?"

"Yeah, about ten or so."

"Was there any mention of other killings in the news recently?"

She shook her head.

He folded his arms across his chest and lowered his head, lapsing into thought again. After a few seconds he said, "I honestly don't know what to make of this. I mean, it's all so far-fetched, but..."

But she's so worked up over it that I can't help but wonder, he thought. Unfolding his arms, Takada looked up at her. "Do you remember where any of the other murders in your dreams occurred?"

"Vaguely, yeah. Why?"

"If it'll make you feel better, I want you to lead me to one of the locations after school. If there's no body or anything of the sort, this whole ordeal can be put to rest. Except for the whole..." he gesticulated. "...'dreaming about killing' thing."

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "But what if there is a body there?"

"We'll deal with that if - IF - it actually comes up. Which I seriously doubt."

"Right," she deadpanned.

"Why couldn't you tell Katsuya this, anyway?"

"Well, for starters I trust you and, I dunno, I just... I don't think he'd understand, you know?"

"...and I'm supposed to?"

"Well, no, but you were here, so..." She shrugged.

In the Burial Agency's main complex, a silver-haired woman clad in a navy cloak strode down the main corridor of its offices, the heels of her boots clicking on the polished marble floor. As the blue-cloaked figure passed by two bishops having a conversation they grew silent, watching her distrustfully. She paid them no mind; she had become accustomed to such events in her time working for the church and really, she didn't expect them to know any better.

At the end of the hallway she shoved open the polished wooden doors, coming into a lavishly decorated room filled with Catholic regalia. In the center of the room was a large desk, behind which sat an older man in crimson ceremonial garb, composing a letter on a sheet of paper with a silver and gold-plated pen. Upon hearing the doors open he looked up, rose to his feet and slowly made his way around the desk to meet the woman. Coming to a halt, she lowered herself down on one knee as he extended his hand, kissing his ring in reverence. "Cardinal Jacobson."

"Welcome, Mediator. Prompt as ever, I see."

"What's the situation?"

The cardinal slowly returned to his seat, talking as he went. "We've received reports of some unusual activity in Japan, more specifically in the Miyagi prefecture, somewhere in the suburbs of Sendai." Noting her expression of shock, he continued. "...and it would appear that you do know something about it after all. No wonder you were chosen for this mission."

Composing herself, she asked, "it's a Dead Apostle, isn't it?"

"From the looks of things, yes."

"I take it that Narbareck wants me to find and eliminate it, then."

"One would think that, yes. But even though she did say that it was your mistake she also said that she didn't trust you enough to deal with the matter. I'm not quite certain as to the meaning behind her words, mind you; I'm merely the messenger."

The woman had a few choice words to say regarding Narbareck but decided against it. "So if that isn't the task at hand," she said, annoyance creeping into her voice, "then what is?"

"While the Dead Apostle is an issue, naturally, there's another matter that needs to be addressed at the same time. More specifically, one that will remove a persistent thorn from the side of the Church and prevent this from happening again."

Ciel folded her arms across her chest. "I'm listening."