The door to her room opened a few inches allowing in a thin sliver of the blinding fluorescent light from the hallway. Callie cracked open one eye to glance at the clunky, old style digital alarm clock sitting on the dresser. 5:02 the big red letters informed her.
"Oh, my god it's too early," she moaned, pressing her body to Kō's and burying her face into the curve formed by his neck and shoulder.
"Kō! Hey, Nakano! Wake up!" Kei hissed from the doorway.
"Mmmm, whaddya want, Kei?" he murmured, hooking his arm around Callie's shoulders to pull her tighter into his body.
"Get up! We need to start training."
"Training? This early?"
"Hirasawa is waiting downstairs for us. Let's go," he commanded.
Kō groaned. After placing a kiss on her forehead, he withdrew his arm from around his girlfriend.
"Please, don't let me go," she whined, grabbing his hand. His body was warm and his presence comforting.
"I don't want to," he moaned in return, kissing her on the cheek before pushing his body off the side of the bed. He kissed the back of her hand before unhinging her fingers from around his. "You're making this more difficult for me."
"Ugh!" Kei groaned in disgust. "And you two are making me sick! Nakano, let's go!"
"Shut up, already!" he snapped back, pulling on his running shoes. "I'm coming, I'm coming."
Callie lay in the bed with her eyes squeezed shut to block out the light. The click of the door closing told her Kō and Kei were gone.
Alone, bereft of her ever so sweet companion, she curled into a tight ball while pulling the covers over her head. She wanted to hide from the world a little longer. But the world outside would not wait to invade her perfect peace.
"Callie," came a whisper from the darkness.
Throwing back the covers, Callie sat up in the bed. Her heart dared to beat right through her sternum from the shock of hearing the disembodied but familiar voice. Then she saw the body that belonged to the voice from the darkness.
Izumi stood in the middle of the bedroom, her hands clasped in front of her. Waiting patiently like always. When did she come in? Apparently, she had been right behind Kei.
"Izumi, what is it?"
"Do you still want to go to that coffee shop?" she asked.
"Yes!" Callie exclaimed, hopping out of the bed.
The mention of coffee was all the motivation she needed to get out of bed. In a flash she had rummaged through the drawers and found an outfit. After going into the bathroom and washing her face, she quickly donned the plain red t-shirt and fashionably ripped jeans. Izumi had done a great job choosing clothes for her. On her way out of the door, she thrust her feet into a pair of plain black thong sandals.
"Let's go!" she yelled out excitedly, grabbing Izumi by the wrist to pull her along.
"Hey!" the woman cried out in surprise at being dragged out of the room. Izumi dug the soles of her slip proof loafers into the floor bringing them to a literal screeching halt. "You're not a child, Callie. Calm down."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just can't help it." Callie dropped her wrist, waiting for Izumi to take the lead. She had no idea where they were going anyway. In her excitement to escape, she had forgotten that important detail. "I'm just so thrilled to be getting out of here for a while. To go back to the real world, even for a minute."
"Is the so called real world really that great?" Izumi inquired, skepticism tainting her voice. "We're monsters with a target on our back. Your grandfather had no small part in bringing Ajins to the forefront of society and instilling fear and hate in the general public."
"Don't remind me," Callie mumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her tight jeans. She mostly referred to being reminded of the fact that the psychotic, self-proclaimed savior of the Ajin, Satō, was her grandfather. She hated having such a close, unbreakable affiliation with him. One cannot chose their family and that fact had brought her great pain and continued to do so.
They exited the building without passing a single person. Once they got outside, it was a different situation entirely. There were men everywhere. Some practicing hand to hand combat, others brushing up on their shooting skills, while others were engaged in physical training such as jumping jacks or running around the perimeter. This place operated like a military facility.
Callie saw Kei and Kō on the ground doing sit ups, Hirasawa and Tosaki standing over them with arms crossed while scowling in disapproval. She cringed when Tosaki looked up from Kei struggling to complete a sit up to glare at her.
"He really does hate Ajins, doesn't he?" she pondered aloud.
"He has a special hatred for you in particular. For being the granddaughter of Satō mostly," Izumi added bluntly. "He doesn't trust you and regards you with the apple doesn't fall far from the tree mentality."
Callie endured a pain in her heart as if Izumi had stabbed her with a knife. The truth really does hurt. "Gee, thanks for sparing my feelings, Shimomura. You're on a roll this morning. It's not like I could choose my bloodline. I certainly wouldn't have chosen this one."
"I knew you had feelings," she murmured, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
"What?" Callie's eyes narrowed in confusion while she studied the usually impassive face of the woman who presently appeared to be on the verge of smiling.
"Nothing." Izumi allowed the smile to flow across her lips, curling up the edges into a pleasant grin.
"You're beautiful when you smile," Callie complimented her. "You should do it more often."
"Th-thank y-you," she stuttered, unsettled but flattered by the unexpected praise.
They walked through a door built into the stone wall next to the large, imposing main gate made of black cast iron fitted with shields of shiny silver iron on the outside to block out prying eyes. Once they had walked down the sidewalk a block, a whole new world opened up to them. Callie contemplated if she had stepped into a parallel universe of sorts.
A busy shopping district sprawled out on the streets ahead of them. Shops and restaurants lined both sides of the street as far as she could see. Although it wasn't quite five thirty, people moved in large groups like herds of cattle along the sidewalk.
The tires of vehicles humming on the pavement was punctuated by the occasional blow of a horn. The low roar of voices ebbed and flowed like waves in an ocean of sound. Shouts of shopkeepers hawking their wares cut through the mesmerizing noise. It was odd that none of these sounds could be heard inside the compound considering its proximity.
It had been a while since Callie had experienced the busyness of civilization. She didn't realize how much she had missed it. It all seemed so normal. For a moment, she felt as if she had awakened from a nightmare; that she wasn't an Ajin, and she was just a plain old human being again. Ignorance of her identity really had been bliss.
"This is a professional shopping district. People come here early in the morning to buy the necessary goods to stock their businesses," Izumi explained as they walked past the scurrying people who largely ignored them. Occasionally they received a nod or slight bow in acknowledgement. " We can hide in plain sight in a place like this. Everyone is too busy conducting their businesses and tending to their own affairs to pay much attention to us. I don't think anyone notices our place down the street at all. They probably think it's just an empty warehouse hidden behind big gates."
Callie glimpsed around at the organized chaos surrounding them. People passed them talking on their cell phones while others were engaged in the lively banter of bargaining with the merchants to make a great deal. Seeing the typical daily activity, experiencing the small degree of normalcy that reminded her of the hustle and bustle of the city where she lived, gave great solace to her. She found herself smiling for no particular reason. It felt nice.
Izumi turned suddenly to enter the front door of a building that looked more like a residence rather than a restaurant. They received suspicious glares from the people at the end of the coffee line that stopped only a few feet from the door.
Callie smiled. The line of people waiting to order their morning brew looked the same no matter what country one might be in. Several baristas rushed back and forth behind the counter among steaming coffee pots and hissing foamers, somehow managing not to bump into each other in their haste to fill orders. It was all disturbingly American, further reminding her of home.
Her heart panged a little, and her stomach cramped from the unexpected glut of emotion. Home. She missed her grandmother. Since her grandmother had died, there was no real reason to go back. However, finding Kō gave her a reason to stay here. He had even asked her to marry him. With him, she could find love and a whole new life. They could make a family of their own. Tears swam in her eyes in mourning of the life and family she had lost yet the hopeful longing the promise held in Kō's invitation to be his wife caused happiness to well inside her broken heart.
"Are you all right?" Izumi asked her, pausing at the bottom of the staircase that led to the second floor.
"I'm fine. Why?" Callie rejoined, sniffing back her tears.
"I've never seen someone look so happy and sad at the same time."
"I'm fine," she repeated. "I'm also starving. Let's go."
The second floor housed the full service restaurant, faintly reminiscent of an old-fashioned diner like the ones Callie loved to find off the beaten track at home. Despite appearing to be a simple diner on the surface, the food was served on gold rimmed china plates and the drinks in crystal vessels. There were full place settings on each table complete with cloth napkins. A beautiful and tasteful merging of simplicity and refinement.
They found a table on the balcony overlooking the street below. Callie gave into the temptation to eat a traditional, artery clogging American breakfast of eggs, bacon, and buttered toast. She ordered hazelnut coffee for herself and a pitcher of mimosas, champagne and orange juice, for the both of them to share. Izumi ordered a blueberry muffin and fresh fruit. For a minute, Callie felt guilty over her food choice. But only for a minute.
"I think I've found my new favorite restaurant," Callie announced, carefully unrolling the napkin to remove the utensils before laying it in her lap.
When the drinks arrived, Callie immediately poured them both a mimosa, sliding one glass over to her new friend. How could she not think of Izumi as a friend? The woman had been so helpful and kind to her.
A bit hesitant, Izumi sniffed the bubbling orange concoction in her champagne flute before taking a sip. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, and her body visibly shuddered.
"I don't like that," she grumbled, pushing the glass toward Callie. "I'm not too fond of alcohol anyway."
"Hey, at least you tried it. You never know what you'll like until you try it. Not every new experience can be a winner. Cheers!" Callie raised her glass in a toast to Izumi.
"Callie, have you had sex with Kō?" she inquired candidly. "Or Kei?"
Callie choked on her drink before she could finish the glass which she had to put down quickly before she dropped it. She coughed until she wheezed in her attempt to clear her lungs of the beverage she had accidentally inhaled when startled by Izumi's blunt personal question. When she could breathe again, she asked a question of her own in a raspy voice,"Why would you ask such a thing?"
"I don't know. You were talking about new experiences and all." Izumi's cheeks brightened to a pretty pink blush. The color continued to rise until her entire face turned crimson red. "I'm sorry. That was too personal. I shouldn't have asked."
"It's okay. You can ask me anything. Just be sure to warn me next time." Callie inhaled deeply before answering to clear her lungs. "Kō is my boyfriend. Yes, I have had sex with him. With Kei? Hell, no."
"Is it..." Her words gradually trailed off, and she toyed nervously with her napkin that lay folded on the table. "Is it good? Do you enjoy it?"
"Well, yes. Very much so on both accounts. I love him, and he loves me. That seems to make it better too." She watched the pain, a disconcerting blend of sadness, shame, and guilt, flit through the woman's maroon-brown eyes. The reason for Izumi's out of the blue and extremely personal questions became obvious. Callie surmised that Izumi had experienced sex under less than good circumstances, possibly without her consent at all.
"Oh," Izumi murmured, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "I've never had sex with someone I love."
Callie wanted to say 'I'm sorry' but did not. She would not apologize for the heinous, selfish acts of a thoughtless individual. Besides, it would only magnify Izumi's pain by receiving pity in return. Instead, she silently reached across the table take the hurting woman's hand to still her anxious fingers fiddling with the thick cotton fabric of the napkin.
"Thank you for bringing me here," she said to change the subject.
Thankfully, their food arrived at the same time, saving them both from a long, uncomfortable pause. They ate in silence, swiftly emptying their overflowing plates and filling their bellies.
The conversation centered on what was going on below as small box trucks and larger delivery trucks began to rumble up the street. The vibrations of the big trucks could be felt in the trembling of the balcony hanging over the sidewalk below. No one seemed the slightest bit concerned about the platform falling because the diners continued to eat and converse while people below walked under it without hesitation.
While the two women enjoyed great food and friendly conversation, unaware of an insidious danger headed their way. Someone was busy working behind a keyboard, searching. This person had a mission, an oversimplified yet horribly complicated order given to him by Satō: find his granddaughter, Callie. The task would be akin to hunting the proverbial needle in a haystack a millions. He had every confidence in himself and his equipment he would be successful.
Okuyama had hacked into every major city's camera surveillance system and inserted an undetectable, virus like program into the facial recognition programs to pick up on faces that closely matched Callie's. Using her video, he had captured screenshots of her which he used to plot out the unique coordinates of her face. Then he created an algorithm to run in the recognition programs to search for her before sending the hits back to him for confirmation. It was a long shot that she would appear in a big city because it would be safer to stick to smaller towns and rural areas where there were no cameras. However, he had the feeling that she would believe the hiding in plain sight theory a better plan of action.
He sat on the couch beside Satō playing one of the video games the man indulged in frequently. At least they were playing on the same team in a cooperative military game. Otherwise his defeat would be assured in direct combat with his boss. He had figured doing this would be better than another eight hours of watching random pictures of women who were close but no match to Callie flash across the multiple screens.
"Ahhh," he groaned when his character received a shot to the head, killing him off. "Damn, snipers!"
"Gotta watch those rooftops, Okuyama." Satō aimed his character's assault rifle and fired, sending up a spray of blood from the rooftop where Okuyama's killer was hiding. His character promptly turned to the next rooftop and fired again. "When you respawn, we need to get up to higher grounds as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir." He was reluctant to hit the button to continue playing.
A loud ding sounded from his computer. Saved by the bell in the most literal sense. He put down his controller and hobbled over to his computer to look at the screen. There was a picture of a woman with a white grid being transposed over her face. White dots indicated the points that matched the facial recognition coordinates of his program. Although he recognized her without the digital confirmation, he pressed a button for the program to remap her face and recheck the points. A little box appeared in the middle of the screen flashing the words: 100% MATCH.
"Bingo," he mumbled, typing furiously to bring up the live camera feed. He watched the pretty young woman with wavy brown hair and kind eyes while she sipped her coffee. "Sir, I found her."
Satō paused his game and ambled over to the computer. He stared at the screen, his eyes opening wide to see his granddaughter who reminded him so much of the woman he had loved - and the son who had betrayed him. His hand patted the computer guru on the shoulder in congratulations for his success.
"Good job, Okuyama," he said. "She's a beautiful girl, isn't she Okuyama?"
The question made him antsy causing him to shift anxiously in his computer chair. He cleared his throat, but stuttered anyway when he answered. "Y-yes, sir." He cleared his throat again. "Want me to send Tanaka out to get her?" he inquired hopefully. He silently reveled in the idea of being able to order Tanaka around.
"No. Not yet. We have more important plans to attend to first. There are some important people who need to die."