Reika Kitami, meanwhile, had gone to the apartment Saeki, Maki, and Jun had been renting. She had gone into the bedroom alone to study, leaving her gathered subjects to amuse themselves with the captured Kurumi Imari. Only Saeki seemed hesitant to participate, as she waited outside the bedroom, listening intently for any signs as to what exactly Kitami was up to.
She heard no noises, but saw a piece of paper in the shape of a human figure, emboldened with an 'R' in Kitami's blood after the older woman had exited.
Kitami paused and turned to face the younger blonde. "Do you suspect me, Saeki-san?"
Saeki at first intended to deny it, but nodded. "Yes, sensei. What have you been up to that you haven't told us about?"
"All kinds of things," Kitami answered simply. "I need amusement from time to time too, Saeki-san."
"Okay, then I'll be specific," Saeki agreed. "What did you do to bring Hirazuki-kun back?"
Kitami seemed surprised, but reacted naturally enough. "I didn't bring him back; he did that on his own. Hirazuki-kun is just another person I intend to make into my acolyte. Like Minase-kun and yourself."
"You don't need any more followers," Saeki told her. "The plan is all set up. Even if Takashiro-sensei intervenes, we're more than powerful enough to stop her."
"It's not the ritual I want his help with," Kitami responded. "I killed him, and he escaped from Hell and came back to life without the dealmaker's help." She glanced back at the bedroom, and the still-contained black sphere. "I want to know how he did it. In exchange for giving him the pleasure he so cravenly seeks, I'll be able to escape Hell's influence whenever I want." She turned her attention once more to Saeki. "Don't you still play with cards, Saeki-san? You should know that it's always best to have an extra card in your sleeve."
Saeki nodded grimly. "Are you leaving us tonight, sensei?"
"Yes," Kitami confirmed. "Enjoy yourselves. You're in charge for now, Saeki-san. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Saeki watched Kitami stroll away and drew back to think. Sensei is aware of my plans... she must realize I had an ulterior motive for sending Hirazuki-kun after her. She turned from the orgies on her left to their supply of drugs, and a single, undiluted mixture of the substance they'd been using, contained in a hypodermic needle.
I'll just wait for the opportunity, sensei. I'll plunge this into Hirazuki-kun's heart and get back into your good graces... or I'll kill you before you can complete your ritual.
Elsewhere, Kitami was in the thoughts of another young boy, who the day beforehand, had shared her company, lost his virginity, and fallen head over heels (if he hadn't before) for her. She had asked him to call her 'Reika' and had asked him to grant her fond memories of the school before her impending transfer, now only a day away.
"Yamanishi-kun? Why are you on campus so late?"
He turned to spot the curly blonde locks and green eyes of Rika Shiraki, the student council president and famed 'idol of the school'. He'd been fond of her, as all the other boys had, but now she was little more than the butt of everyone's jokes, after so many boys had sex with her that grisly afternoon. She was expected to tender a resignation any day now, and had taken to locking herself in the student council office, keeping unusually long hours.
"Just lost track of time, Shiraki-san," Yamanishi answered neutrally. His thoughts were all for Kitami, and he walked away from her without another word. That ended up working well for Shiraki, who exited the campus and went to the home of the man she loved.
Only to see him enjoying the body of his red-haired art teacher, oblivious to the outside world (especially since the two were pressed up against Minase's window curtains, where Shiraki herself had once been).
She clenched her fist in obvious anger.
In the dead of night, Asante and Ritsuko alike were summoned by the administrator, along with Lieutenant Yuge and two other field agents.
"Now's the time. Execute Reika Kitami within the next 24 hours."
-
"2:01AM April 31st- Tokken Field Agent Log; Report filed by 1st Lieutenant Yuge, Main Branch Shinjuku
Immediate target neutralized. Recruit Hirazuki Asante, following advice from Dr. Akagi and field agents Kazumo Kize and Morita Hajime, has been recommended for Tokken Field Agent status. Operation was completed in two standard hours. Target's corpse will be salvaged following autopsy and police examination. Additional witness testimony pending."
"Concise and to the point," one of the administrators observed. "Would you care to elaborate on exactly what happened, Lieutenant Yuge?"
Yuge adjusted his sunglasses, cleared his throat, and began.
Three hours earlier, Asante stepped out from the Tokken vehicle in the dead of night, on to the seemingly empty campus... but he knew better than to think it a waste of time. She was here, and the information being provided to him supported that.
"Several students have been reported missing, both from their classes and from their homes today," Sergeant Morita explained. "Reika Kitami has not been observed exiting the school. Kill her and as many witnesses to the crime as deemed necessary."
Ritsuko visibly flinched at the thought.
"Yeah, I'll try not to go crazy," Asante replied before taking off towards the school gate, pressing out his right palm to rearrange the atoms as necessary before him and step through the gate, only to be stopped before entering the facility proper; he smashed into some kind of barrier, toppling backwards.
"Asante-kun?" Ritsuko called into his headset.
"I'm fine, Doctor," Asante responded, stalking back up to his feet and refocusing his attention on the door. He pressed his right hand firmly against it and instructed the atoms to separate, only to feel himself repelled, and an almost electrical discharge ripped into his palm, leaving new cuts.
Asante cursed and prepared to use more drastic measures, until his eye swiveled over and spotted two people approaching. He slammed his hand to the ground and sank down into it, forming for himself a chamber beneath the ground to hide within and observe from.
Stepping over him were Taki Minase and Hiroko Takashiro, neither looking particularly pleased to be there. He'd hope being directly beneath her would give Asante a good view beneath Hiroko's dress, but only saw the underside of Minase's shoe, and couldn't risk moving himself or they might've been aware of it.
However, staying put proved a worthwhile time investment. Hiroko drew some marking in her lipstick on the door and it shattered at her provocation. Once she and Minase had entered, Asante stood up and out of the ground, following them quietly as they darted down the hallway. It was easy not to make any footsteps when he could just instruct the atoms in the ground to propel him forward.
He came to a sudden halt as he found Hiroko engaged in battle, magical energies waged against one another... and then saw Saeki, Maki, and Jun all fall back and slam down into the cold floor, and Hiroko and Minase continued forward. Asante again came to a halt as he knelt down to examine Saeki and her friends, all lying unconscious.
Though he might've considered helping them, Asante opted to forget he'd ever seen them and continued, all the way down to the school's dark corridor, as students formed a circle and chanted, and Minase and Hiroko each faced Kitami, lying atop the body of Kurumi Imari.
Asante himself remained in the shadows, watching the confrontation and waiting for an opportune moment. Hiroko was seized and promptly violated by two of the students, while Minase had begun a steady chant, and Kitami at last turned her attention from Imari and prepared a retort.
Asante couldn't deny he'd found himself at a crossroads. He hated Minase, had been given a simple ultimatum to kill Kitami or die trying, and the sight of Takashiro's partially nude form had him feeling impotent and horny simultaneously.
And then, at last, from the darkness he emerged, rearing back his right hand and aiming for Taki Minase's neck. He could get into Kitami's good graces after...whatever it was she was doing, promptly kill her when she let her guard down, and then have his way with his art teacher.
Until, that was, he saw the barely perceptible shaking of Kitami's head. Anyone else would've missed it, but he noticed the slight gravitation of atoms around her; she'd made it perfectly clear he wasn't to interfere. Asante locked gaze with her ever so briefly and slunk back, waiting the confrontation out with all the tact and subtlety of a petulant child.
And then the cavernous chamber filled with bright light. Students fled, and Asante was nearly trampled by a long line of cloaked throngs rushing up the stairs and the hell out. Once granted opportunity to compose himself, he peeked out and spotted Hiroko, also composed and redressed, Minase wrapping a cloak over an otherwise nude Kurumi Imari, and the body of Reika Kitami lying on the floor, blood dribbling from a cut in her wrist onto her still open, paralyzed eyes. Again he slunk away and allowed the other three to exit, passing straight through the wall to examine her fallen form.
Her red blood cells had ceased to produce. Slowly but surely her cells were dying off. She was dead, and she had told Asante not to help her before this process occurred.
Had it been arrogance? Had Kitami overlooked some key flaw in her plan and been thwarted where Asante could've saved her? It seemed irrelevant... until he spied something lying on the ground a few feet away from her; a tiny cutout of lined paper inscribed with the letter 'R' with a message attached:
'Hirazuki-kun, place this in the bag of the woman you seek.' -Kitami
He glanced at her fallen form once more, before a cackle came in over his headset. "Asante-kun? You haven't checked in. Why are so many students exiting the campus?"
Asante breathed out, placing the tiny item in his cloak. "They just witnessed a murder," was his curt reply.
"Murder?" Ritsuko repeated. "Does that mean-?"
"The target has been neutralized," Asante said simply. "Call the police to detain any witnesses. They'll want some answers too, so I recommend we let them see the body first."
"And what story are you planning on telling them?" Lieutenant Yuge chimed in.
Asante clenched his right hand and created a nice document, reminiscent of a suicide note, all using Kitami's little notice to him as the template to arrange carbon to appear like pencil lead. "I think they'll buy this."
"Very well... anyone else we have to clean up?" Yuge asked.
"All other participants in the night's events are still alive," Asante responded. "The only other significant witnesses present were..." he paused a bit, considering. "...Kurumi Imari and Taki Minase, both of whom have already fled."
"Understood. We'll send someone in to collect you. I'll stand in and give the report to the police myself."
"Oh, goody."
"He's a crude man," Ritsuko explained, "but he's dependable and obviously very powerful. I can't say I'd want to work with him in the future, but I have no problem with his official conscription."
"You agree with Lieutenant Yuge's decision?" the administrator asked.
"Conditionally," Ritsuko replied. "Is there anything else?"
"You'll have to be the one to inform him," the administrator told her. "See to it he completes his academic term and graduates. After that, he will be officially inducted into Tokken."
TOKKEN SPECIAL
INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
CONSCRIPTED FIELD OFFICER DOCUMENT: CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION
HIRAZUKI ASANTE
Rank: Corporal
Department:
Shinjuku Main Branch
Missions Completed: 1 S-Rank
Assignment
Official Conscript Number: 002
Assignment Status:
Pending
