10章

イエローの出会い

Chapter 10

Yellow Encounter

"You know, now that I've had the chance to really look at her without feeling like I'm gonna piss my pants, the ol' boss isn't a bad lookin' lady. I can see why you had a crush on her," Kouno smirked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Not caring at all how horribly out of tune he was with the song on the radio.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Saitou grumbled, staring sullenly out his window. As far as Kouno was concerned, he might as well have just teleported out of his chair at the station and into the car. Except for the dejected look on his face, his posture hadn't changed.

"Sorry, sorry, have a crush on her, my bad," the younger agent laughed, "still going strong on that front, huh partner? How's Ayame doing, by the way? She forgiven you yet for botching your one year anniversary?"

Eyes narrowing gloomily and shifting his gaze from the window to the back of Kirihara's car as they rounded the corner for Mejirodai, Saitou gave a heavy sigh that was only partially exaggerated. "She moved out last weekend."

Kouno hissed through his teeth, giving his partner and friend a sympathetic glance, "Ouch. Over huh?"

"Yeah," Saitou said on exhale, turning back to eyeing the scenery with little interest as they drove by.

"Hey, think on the bright side: you're free to do whatever you want now! Maybe when this whole thing is over you can finally act on your rekindled crush. It'll be like one of those sappy chick flicks; you could even write a book about it," Kouno suggested enthusiastically. "Just don't forget about your friends when you get famous."

"Shut up," Saitou growled petulantly, then somehow sat up even straighter than before. "We're here."

Coming to a halt behind their former Chief's blue Porsche, Kouno and Saitou wasted little time getting out and hurrying to join her on the sidewalk. The Contractor known as Mao nothing more than a blur as he skittered away further up the path. Clearly they'd already decided his role in the whole ordeal.

Looking about, a quick survey of the area showed no signs of life outside evidence of squatters and teenaged vandalism. None of which was a surprise. Located so close to Hell's Gate, Mejirodai and the surrounding businesses hadn't a chance. Sure, it had limped along for quite a while, longer than most anywhere else similarly distanced to the Gate, but all pretenses were dropped about three years before the Tokyo Explosion. When a fire had ravaged a residential area on the opposite side of the park, and public security had delayed far longer than was acceptable in getting there. After that, everyone left alive had packed up and moved on. No one wanted to live in a place that didn't care about them. Now, like everywhere else around the gate, Mejirodai Sports Park was nothing more than a ghost town, an empty, hollow remnant of what Tokyo had been fourteen years ago.

Stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, Kouno turned away from the crumbling remains of a dentists' office across the street to face his partner and old boss.

"Where do we start?" he asked, watching as Kirihara scrolled through the screen on her mobile, a concentrated look on her face.

"We'll head across the baseball field, past the tennis courts and toward the smaller apartment complex on the other side. It's between here and there that the disturbance was recorded to have happened," Kirihara replied, gesturing behind her. "If Shima really was attacked here, and it's where the Gold and Purple Nebulae went missing, our best bet in finding them would be to scour the crime scene and the surrounding space before moving on, just in case the Spheres are still here."

"What do we do if we find anything?" Saitou asked.

"We either take it back to the station, or use it to determine our next destination. Understood? Or do you still have more questions?" she said curtly, pinning the pair of them with a familiar stare.

"Understood, ma'am!" the two men answered unanimously, backs straightening and arms slapping to their sides in attention.

"Good, let's go," Kirihara said, and lead the way down the walk and through the park's entrance.

Striding into the open expanse of field, Kouno Yutaka couldn't help the eerie feeling of being watched from crawling up his spine. The Gate looming not far away to his left didn't help him feel any better either, only intensifying the sensation, and he could feel sweat trickle down his brow towards his eyes. There was a reason places so close to the Gate didn't stay occupied long, and the wrongness that permeated the air didn't help. Even the sky seemed to darken with it; turning a day that had started as warm and sunny into one of chill dusk, clouds slowly gathering overhead. A growing storm sketching itself across what had once been blue and bright; starting from the Gate's and slowly spreading outward.

Or at least it seemed to, from where Kouno was standing. More than likely it was just his imagination. Hell's Gate wasn't even active anymore. Not to mention that the weather report had already predicted cloudy with a chance of rain later in the day, so it wasn't anything unexpected to begin with. But still, being so close to the Gate put his teeth on edge, like something inevitably bad was going to happen at any moment.

As they searched for signs of the reported "disturbance", walking slowly and determinedly, Kouno quietly eased his gun from its holster. Trying very much to give himself a sense of security. It was only when the weapon was cradled in his hands did he notice that both Kirihara and Saitou had done the same. Apparently he wasn't the only one out of sorts, striding across a field that should have been teeming with people, but instead was overgrown and slowly being reabsorbed by nature.

Coming upon the opposite side, feeling horribly vulnerable and exposed, Kouno finally caught sight of what had sent them there in the first place.

Instead of being consumed by trees or bushes, or simply falling away from disrepair, the chain link fence lining the opposite side of the field looked like it had been blasted. Something or someone blowing a hole from where the trio stood, and into the small clearing beyond. The ground was still scorched from whatever heat had burned into it, the grass and bushes slowly making their way back to obscure the spot. Starting nearly five steps away from the fence line, growing bigger as it neared the center of the clearing, then halting altogether just before hitting the following trees. Yellow police tape hung wilted and broken from less brittle portions, forgotten by whoever it was that had commanded the scene.

Kouno took a deep breath, then followed Saitou and Kirihara through the gap, stepping lightly over bits of heat-mottled metal. Much like the fence, the clearing was not in good condition.

In fact, as far as Kouno was concerned the place may as well have been a war zone. What could have been three grenades had ripped into the earth, two either side of the clearing and one a little to the right of the burn mark. Bushes and trees near the craters were shredded or uprooted entirely. What looked to have been shots from bullets had aeriated the lawn, and either lightning struck at an angle, or an electrical charge, had created a veined line from one corner of the clearing to the other. At least three trees seemed to have exploded from the inside out, splinters the size of his shin, and much bigger, jutting out from any and all other surfaces. Even faint outlines of bodies were still fading from the landscape. Most still marked by flags hanging limply where they had sunk into the ground.

It all reminded him of the day the Tokyo Explosion had sent a white blanket over the city, when Contractors and humans had battled for what they'd deemed as right. He still had nightmares about it sometimes. Of the car Matsumoto had picked them up in being blasted into smithereens by either the military or Contractors while they tried to invade PANDORA. It varied who did it, but the conclusion never changed.

Giving the carnage a second perusal, he then looked to Kirihara and Saitou, and nodded in silent agreement to circle the perimeter of the clearing to the left while Saitou headed the other direction. Kirihara strode for the center, examining ruts that looked like claws marks as she went.

It was all too quiet, and every sound he made was all too loud. He could hear his heart beating, the pace gradually increasing as he made his circuit, looking for any clues that had been missed by the team sent to examine the scene before Section 4 ever had the chance. Just trying to regulate his breathing even made the tension more noticeable. Every time he made to hold his breath in tighter rein ended with him stepping on a twig or pile of leaves. Earning startled glares from his companions.

Finally, when he had just about finished going around, when Kirihara was kneeling over one of the craters looking in and Saitou was trying to both watch her back and the ground at the same time, the maroon-jacketed officer caught a glimpse of something…different. It sparkled in what little sunlight streamed through the darkening sky. A glittering yellow dust cloud swirling within a glistening shell.

The Gold Nebula. Trapped inside a glass sphere no bigger than a Ping-Pong ball. The character for Time written on its otherwise smooth surface.

For a moment all he could do was stare, shocked. It was half buried, hidden from view by an overhanging branch and a splinter of wood the size of his shin. The only reason he'd seen it at all being the light bouncing off the glass. It had just about blinded him.

It was only when Saitou tripped into the very crater Kirihara had been looking into that he snapped from his reverie.

Ignoring Kirihara's quiet, somewhat edgy reprimand, Kouno bent and dug the small object out from its hiding place. Holding it carefully in his palm, he straightened, continuing to stare at it with awe. Mesmerized by the warm shift of the nebula inside its glass cage.

Despite his morose surroundings, he felt somehow immune to it all. It felt like he could do anything or go anywhere and no one would notice because, to them, it would be like he never left. Everything bad in his past melted, and his future seemed secure, all because of what he held in his hand.

Shaking his head to clear the mental fog, Kouno turned to face Kirihara and Saitou. It seemed like he were somehow betraying the Sphere by calling attention to it, but he did his best to disregard the impression. With the Sphere perched between his forefinger and thumb, Kouno raised it to eye level and called out. "Hey Saitou, Ms. Kirihara," he said, wincing at the title and feeling horribly uncomfortable calling her that, "look what I found."

Smirking at their startled faces, his wry smile quickly vanished when Kirihara chanced to look behind him, and her confused countenance turned into one of panic, the color draining out of her face. She didn't even seem to see the Nebula, too focused on whatever was at his back.

"Kouno, look out!" she yelled.

Stunned, lungs constricting with dread at the uncharacteristic cry, Kouno made to dodge to the side but, with the feeling of something slamming into his back, found he couldn't move. Gaping, blinking up at the horrified stares of his partner and one-time Chief, Kouno then looked down to where their eyes were pinned and grimaced.

What looked to be a tree branch had stabbed him through the back and was now protruding out the side of his torso. For some reason the pain he knew he should be feeling just wasn't registering, and all he could do was stare at it. In his shock he dropped his gun first, the weapon hitting the ground with a resounding clatter. The Sphere between his fingers dropped not long after, and it was then his mind became numb with agony. He groaned; it was the only sound he could make. The pain far exceeded any bawling he should be doing.

"Kouno!" Saitou yelled, and distantly he heard a shot go off, felt the bullet whiz by his cheek to whatever was behind him.

Pulled from the horrid vision of watching his black shirt turn blacker with blood, his legs weakened as soon as he looked away and his sight became marred with dark spots. Looking up, Kouno briefly made eye contact with Kirihara.

"Ch-Chief," he gasped, then everything went dark, a reverberating snap from behind him vibrating through the branch as he fell to the ground.

((**))*10*((**))

Mao had just about passed the large apartment complex bordering Mejirodai Park, and was coming up on the clearing he was to meet back with Kirihara when he saw Hei. Or, at the very least, saw him make to pass him by, darting through the broken glass doors of the building's rear entrance and heading up the same path as Mao.

"Hei!" he couldn't help shouting, and was surprised when the man actually stopped, using his momentum to carry him around to face the squirrel and drawing one of his knives as he did so.

"Mao, what are you doing here?" the Black Reaper asked, voice muffled through the strange substance that made up his smiling white mask. Mao was actually surprised he had any of those left, as often as he had broken them.

"I could ask you the same thing," Mao replied, wincing at the line. "I'm here with Kirihara and a part of the old Section 4 team; we're looking for evidence."

"Section 4?" Hei said, lowering his blade.

"Yes, Kouno and Saitou. Remember them?" Mao said, leaping onto a low-hanging tree branch so as to be eye-level with the Contractor.

"None of you should be here, why are you here?" Hei repeated, voice tense with what seemed like suppressed rage, though it was hard to tell. Certainly it wasn't have been concern.

"I already told you, we're looking for evidence," Mao said, "This is possibly the last known location of Shima, the Contractor who stole the Spheres from the New Syndicate. So how about you answer my question this time: why are you here?"

For a moment the Reaper was silent, unmoving. Merely staring at Mao with the black-veiled eye sockets of his mask. Considering the question and possibly whether or not he would answer it at all. Then, reaching into the pouch on his hip, pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it, and showed it to the squirrel.

"'Mejirodai Park, south end clearing past baseball field; 2:00pm'. Where did you get this?" Mao said, studying the letters carefully.

"Yin's old spot," Hei said, tone unintelligible, then reached into the pouch again, "It was under this."

Tearing his attention from the note, Mao's eyes widened when he looked at the photograph the Contractor then showed him. While the picture was one he had seen before, a snapshot identical to the one they had observed at New Syndicate Headquarters of the Gold Nebula, it was the pink insignia on its corner that caught his attention. Painted on with what looked like sparkly nail polish, the icon was a circle, inside of which bloomed a cherry blossom. He knew it well, though he hated to admit it.

"You recognize it."

Mao narrowed his eyes, "That's Madame Oreille's signature."

Hei was decidedly silent as he replaced both papers.

"You don't seem surprised," Mao said, watching him closely. "I have to admit, though, I'm not either. It wouldn't have been like her to keep out of it, as the Director said she would. However, I do wonder what she's playing at."

Hei shook his head, then turned to continue on his way, "You should leave while you can, Mao, and take your friends with you. It isn't safe."

"Hang on a moment, what is that supposed to mean? Are you referring to what I glimpsed last night?" Mao asked quickly, balancing on his haunches as the branch swayed beneath him.

"Mao—" he began, but whatever he had intended to say was cut off by the sound of gunfire.

"That can't be good," Mao said, and leapt from the branch to Hei's shoulder just as he took off, tiny claws digging into the bulletproof jacket beneath him.

Hei didn't even seem to notice he'd picked up a hitchhiker, or didn't care, sprinting toward the source of the gunshot even as a second rang out, then a third. Anxiety rose above levels far from normal inside the tiny body of his squirrel host, and Mao winced as a fourth pierced the atmosphere. Not long after they burst through the bushes into unadulterated chaos.

"I knew it couldn't be good!" Mao shouted, and leapt into the nearest tree as the Black Reaper broke into the clearing, knife drawn and streaking like a silent black bullet into the fray. It was all Mao could do to hang back and watch as the drama unfolded before him.

((**))*10*((**))

For the first few seconds Misaki couldn't blink, couldn't move, couldn't believe what she was seeing was real. It was like she was standing still in a single moment. A dream where things moved outside her vision, while thoughts of what she should be doing skimmed along the surface of her consciousness, but nothing made it through. Nothing registered except one, simple thought.

This can't be happening.

Then Saitou was shouting next to her, and she found herself again. Instinct took over where rational thought failed, and she fired off a round into the darkness behind Kouno's frozen form, aiming at a darker shadow in the bushes. She barely missed the young officer in the process, causing her to wince. But it did seem to catch Kouno's attention, bringing it up from the bloody root impaling him. Just so he could look her in the eye.

"Ch-Chief," he gasped, and Kirihara flinched at the title. Then his eyelids drooped and he was falling over, the branch snapping in half behind him as he landed on his side.

Gritting her teeth against the cool rage burning in her chest, Misaki fired another round into the bushes, almost in unison with Saitou.

This time the deadly projectiles made contact, but it was not with the shadowy figure who glowed blue along the edges, eyes visible only by red pinpricks of light as he activated his power. Thin branches similar to the one that had struck Kouno had grown from a two-foot splinter behind the officer's body, and had struck out just as Misaki and Saitou's bullets burst from their weapons. Instead of cutting into Saitou, as they would have, they were instead burst into raining bits of wood.

At the failure, the Contractor seemed to redouble his efforts, and more branches exploded from the splinter like thousands of wooden tentacles, reaching up toward the sky before dropping to pierce the earth and anything else unfortunate enough to be in the way. Both officers rolled in opposite directions and Misaki stretched her gun hand out as far as she could to let off another shot. This time she heard the sound of the projectile slamming into a body, and the shadow faltered. The blue glow went out, as did the red, and out of the corner of her eye Misaki was aware of Saitou crawling as fast as he could to his partner.

"Saitou, hurry!" Misaki said, noticing with wide eyes the Contractor beginning to rally, eyes a piercing, angry crimson.

This time when Misaki got to one knee and fixed herself in place as she aimed, keeping her hands steady and bracing for the recoil. But before she could squeeze the trigger something slammed into her side. A rough impact that worked quickly to tear her suit jacket and shirt. Tough bark splintered into her skin as her attacker's weapon of choice broke in half. Thrown, she rolled for the second time, then winced as a sharp pain lanced through her. Doing her best to ignore the harsh ache of possibly bruised ribs, Misaki jumped to her feet only to have a fist collide with her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and putting her on her back.

"Kirihara!" Saitou shouted, trying to pull Kouno away from the scene while fending off more attacks from branches with a partially melted fence pole.

Gasping for air, Misaki's hand twitched around her gun, somehow still clutched in her hand, and tried to lift it up enough to aim at the burly man now standing above her. The instant she managed to point the muzzle his way he kicked her forearm, his booted foot landing heavily on her wrist. She gave out a strangled sound as it cracked audibly, not having the breath to shout.

All she could do was watch, tears of agony gathered in her eyes and trying her best to recover her air, while the man pulled a sizeable splinter out of the ground and raised it above his head. Eyes widening, Misaki was unable to look away from the arms that plummeted the makeshift dagger towards her. Astonished that of all the ways she could have died, this would be it. Only distantly was she was aware of Saitou calling her name again.

Then a black blur appeared out of nowhere and collided with the man, and the broken piece of wood landed with a harmless clunk next to her head. Blinking rapidly, wondering if she'd seen what she thought she had, or if her frightened mind was just playing tricks on her, Misaki finally inhaled a burning breath and, adrenaline pumping through her veins, scrabbled to a sitting position. Just in time to watch her rescuer plunge a dual-bladed knife into the man's chest from where he had pushed him to the ground. A surge of blue electricity sparked around them as steel sank into flesh, brighter than the blue glow that outlined the power's source.

"BK201," she rasped, clutching her wrist to her stomach and picking up her gun with her uninjured hand.

He was on his feet again before the words had completely left her mouth, and she twisted to watch him weave through attacking branches as though predicting every move before it was made. Too busy trying to avoid being speared, he didn't advance very quickly in a forward direction, but it was enough of a distraction for Saitou to drag Kouno away, calling for Misaki to follow him. Fortunately he didn't wait for her, and just before he disappeared Misaki saw the officer put his phone to his ear, no doubt calling out for backup.

Making her way across the clearing in a crouch, Misaki couldn't stop herself risking a glance as the Black Reaper made his way through the branches, knives flashing with powerful electrical charges that sent bits of wood flying everywhere. Then, even as she watched, she saw one collide with his shoulder. Though the sharp point failed to pierce the black coat, he stumbled, barely avoiding a second attack. It was clear he was getting tired, and fast, and if she didn't do something she had the sinking feeling he wouldn't make it.

Raising her gun to aim with her less dominant hand, Misaki swallowed, tasting blood from a cut inside her cheek. She squeezed the trigger with far more force than she'd intended, hoping her aim wouldn't be off. No sooner had she done so than she tripped, suppressing a cry as she landed on her damaged ribs. She hoped vaguely she hadn't turned a bruise into a crack, or worse, then struggled to her knees. As Misaki turned to face the battle, desperate to see if she had done anything, relief flooded her. The branches were flailing uncontrolled, as though the head had been cut off from the snake's body. She couldn't stop from smiling, a small one covered in dirt and blood.

Faster than she could blink, faster than her brain could realize what was happening, one of the branches veered her way, cutting into her thigh and tearing away both cloth and flesh before it fell dead to the ground. She screamed, not even bothering to try and suppress it.

"Kirihara!" she heard Mao call out, and saw his small form dart her way out of nowhere.

"Mao, look out!" BK201 shouted, and Misaki watched in horror as the small animal was driven into the ground by another stray tendril of wood.

It wasn't often Misaki felt helpless, or powerless. She'd always done everything she could to avoid that. Becoming stronger and, admittedly, colder and less friendly in her effort to always be the reliable one. The one who was never fazed and could be counted on to react rationally in any given situation.

But now, watching another one of her companions – her friends – fall into a pool of his own blood, it had turned into one of those rare moments. Unable to move and unable to help, her vision became nothing more than a blur as she raised her gun once again to where the shadow had been. The shadow of the Contractor who had more than likely now killed two people she cared about.

She didn't know she was crying as she squeezed the trigger over and over. Not caring when no more bullets came out.

End Chapter 10

Darker Than Black – Welcome Home

By: Kari1Anime