Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of DC.


Pale eyes, clouded and unseeing,
Brown locks, mopped and splitting,
A cross, a nail, restrained is he,
The pain- overwhelming be.

The darkness cometh,
The light hideth,
Like a Hashashin,
Like a Savior:

Kudo.
Shinichi.


The time is early morning, long before the sun rises over the horizon. The place is a decent-sized auditorium, situated in the heart of Japan- Tokyo. But neither the place nor the time particularly matter, given that most of the people present have just stayed up all night, in that very building, after having been called from all parts of the world. From France, Great Britain, the United States, China, Russia- and of course, Japan- agents swarmed together in one location, all at the behest of Interpol. Naturally, the abrupt gathering of so many nationalities raised serious questions as to the purpose of the meeting, leading to a hum of whispering throughout the hall as each person tries to demonstrate how "in the know" he is. This also led to wild speculations, ranging from the possibility of the next world war to the sighting of Bigfoot. Of course, no one really believed that the meeting was to discuss Bigfoot (at least, for the most part), but the idle chatter served as a way for the agents to de-stress after both the long flight and the secret nature of the meeting. In fact, most agencies were given relatively little to work with as they sent their agents off to Japan, a situation that particularly bothered one female FBI agent.

"Ne, how much longer do you think they're going to make us wait here?" the woman asks of the man sitting besides her. The man, a gruff looking fellow with a scary face, shrugs as he leans back in the chair. It makes a small squeak sound from the weight. "They could have at least told us what this was all about," the woman continues, her brows furrowing in annoyance.

"I suppose so," the man replies simply, a unconcerned look still across his face.

"How can you be so calm about this, Camel-kun?" the woman remarks. For a moment, she looks as if she might jump out of her seat, so agitated did she appear. The moment passes though and she remains in the seat, though no less restless.

"What's worrying going to do, Jodie-san?" Camel asks in reply, continuing before Jodie can interrupt, "Black-san told us to investigate this situation and represent the FBI at Interpol. So why don't we just wait patiently until Interpol tells us what's going on? Given how hurriedly they called us all here, I can't imagine they'd make us wait much longer."

Finding reason in Camel's words, Jodie relaxes a little, crossing her arms as she too leans back in the chair. Then turning to Camel, she says, "Ne, you don't think they really found Bigfoot, do you?" Camel just rolls his eyes and lets out a hearty laugh.

Outside the auditorium in a nearby office, two Interpol agents are gathered. The British one, Paul, is busy handing the Japanese one a sheet of paper.

"Here's the list of all the attendees and their respective agencies, Redgrace," Paul says.

"Thanks," Redgrace replies, his eyes quickly scanning down the list. They pause briefly upon reaching the FBI, a hesitation which does not go unnoticed.

Turning to Redgrace, Paul asks, "Is something wrong?"

Redgrace shakes his head. "It's nothing," he replies, folding the list and putting it into his pocket. "Let's get the briefing started. Where's Hakuba?"

"He's already in the auditorium," Paul replies, heading to the door. Just as he opens it though, an Interpol lab tech bursts through, nearly knocking him over. Paul manages to catch himself by grabbing onto the door frame, likewise preventing the tech from falling. "Slow down, kid," Paul jokes, helping the tech stand back up.

"S-sir!" the tech exclaims, sounding out of breath. "We've found out where Ignotis is heading!"

Instantly, Redgrace's eyes narrow. "Are you sure?" he asks, to which the tech nods. Redgrace then turns to Paul and asks, "Can you and Hakuba handle the briefing?"

Paul nods. "Update me later," he says, then walks out into the hall, heading towards the auditorium. Redgrace, on the other hand, gestures to the lab tech to get going; the two of them beeline to the computer lab.


"You're so hot, you'd break my air-conditioner. If you were a booger, I'd pick you first. My love is like diarrhea; I just can't hold it in. I'm a thief, uh-"

Finding that he had forgotten the words, Naku pauses, his eyes glancing down at his "cheat sheet". "So, please let me steal your heart!" he remarks, reading the line off the page, and slapping himself for forgetting. He repeats the words a few more times under his breath, trying to commit them to memory. After all, memorizing all the pick-up lines was vital to the mission Wolf had assigned him.

Thinking on the mission, Naku looks up, just in time to see the bus slow into a parking space in the lot. After a brief pause, the doors open, and all the passengers begin exiting. Naku follows suit, hopping down onto the asphalt. Then with a spring in his step, he begins to walk towards the concert hall, holding tight onto the ticket Wolf had given him. In his other hand is a poster with a pink haired pop idol, the star of the day's performance.

"Ayumi-chan," Naku mumbles under his breath as he walks up to the check-in counter, reminding himself of the name. He repeats it a few more times so that it flows off his tongue easily, as it might of a long time fan. Then with an excited grin, Naku greets the concert hall receptionist, handing over his ticket as he does so. The lady takes it, rips off one end, then hands back the stub.

"You're all set. Enjoy," she says, giving him passage.

"Un!" Naku exclaims, genuinely excited at the prospect of attending a pop concert. Seeing his enthusiasm, the receptionist giggles.

"You must be a longtime fan," she comments as Naku walks by.

Naku just shakes his head, the smile still on his face. "I just heard about her yesterday," he says as he heads into the inner hall. The receptionist, on the other hand, gives him a funny look, about to ask what he meant. When she opens her mouth to speak, however, she realizes that Naku has already disappeared into the crowd.


Looking at her phone, Jodie lets out a groan, setting the device aside. A look of frustration is once again painted on her face, one that does not escape Camel's notice. Turning, and breaking out of his stupor, he asks, "What's wrong now, Jodie-san?"

"This game," Jodie begins, pointing to her phone, "Fieldville or something. Someone downloaded it onto my phone for me."

"What about it?" Camel asks, raising an eyebrow. He had never heard of the game before, but knowing Jodie, the trouble could lie in any number of places. After a pause, Jodie finally replies.

"The weeds won't stop growing," she says, sounding rather exasperated.

"Huh?" Camel asks, now thoroughly confused, "Weeds?"

"Yes, you basically-" Jodie begins as she tries to explain the game. She is interrupted by a sudden blaring from speakers though, feedback from a microphone that is first turned on. Instantly, Jodie turns to the front of the room, away from Camel, her eyes searching with expectation. It does not take her long before she notices the young man standing there, microphone in hand. The young man's hazel eyes scan around the room, left to right, front to back, finally making contact with Jodie's. For a split second, she feels the acuity of his glance, the penetrating nature of those eyes, and then just as quickly, his eyes move on, leaving Jodie a bit breathless. Before she could comment about the matter to Camel, however, a second individual enters the room, clearly also in charge, but much older in age. This man gives the first a nod, an indication to begin the meeting. The young man nods in reply, then holds the microphone a bit closer.

"Let's begin," he says calmly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Even with dozens upon dozens of eyes trained on him though, he does not appear nervous, each word coming across as calculated and measured. After pausing a moment for everyone to settle down, he continues. "My name is Saguru Hakuba; I work with Interpol," he explains, the firmness of his voice seemingly keeping everyone on the edge of their seats, "As you may all realize, rather special circumstances have brought you all here. I know you all probably have questions to ask, but please save them until after the briefing. With that being said, I'll hand it over to Paul to outline the situation at hand."

"Thank you, Hakuba," the older man, Paul, says, walking over and taking the microphone. Then turning to the audience, he says, "Yesterday, at approximately 4PM, we were informed by Tokyo International Airport that one of our facial scanners had been triggered. Now, normally we just hand such cases over to the local authorities. But this individual was a special one." Here, Paul pauses, as if for dramatic effect. To his credit, it works; Jodie feels herself swallow involuntarily, her body shifting forward in seat. Before she can fall off though, Paul continues, pointing to a projector screen. Displayed is what appears to be a Japanese teenager, with hair white as winter snow and eyes an unusual violet hue.

For an instant, Jodie feels a sense of recognition wash over her, as if she had seen the boy before. Turning to her side, she is about to ask Camel, the words literally on the tip of her tongue. She is interrupted though when Paul decides to continue with the briefing; the feeling of familiarity quickly dissipates.

"I'm not sure how many of you know who this individual is," Paul says, referring to the boy on the screen, "but here at Interpol, we call him Ignotis, Latin for unknown. He's suspected of orchestrating the military coup in South Africa, the bombing of the French embassy in Egypt, and the loss of several billion dollars worth of intellectual property from United States companies. Of course, these are all speculations, as no one has ever seen him or found solid evidence against him. There are probably all sorts of other illegal activities that he's partaken in that we don't know about-"

Here, one of the French agents stands up and interrupts, drawing the attention of all eyes in the room. "If no one's ever seen him before, then how do you know that boy is this Ignotis?" he asks. Several hushed mumbles erupt around the room, with many others finding that they had similar questions.

Paul takes the question in stride and with a small smile, answers, "You'll just have to trust Interpol on this."

The French agent clearly looks displeased by the answer, but with Paul not saying anything further on the matter, he has little choice but to sit down.

"Now, if we can hold all questions until the end," Paul says, starting the briefing once more, "I will hand the mic over to Hakuba, who will describe our course of action."


Sifting through his pockets, the man finally finds the key he is looking for. He pulls it out, inserts it into the keyhole, and then opens the door, the smell of home greeting him like an old friend- like his only friend. Without dwelling on the matter, the man takes a step inside, swinging the door shut behind him. He sets the grocery bags he had been carrying on a nearby counter, then pats down his blue-striped shirt. Satisfied, he turns to his answering machine to check for any missed calls. The blinking light on the machine indicates that there are two. Pushing the play button, the man waits as the machine sputters a bit, filling the room with static. Then finally, the messages begin to play.

"First message. It's me. I have a contract for you. Diet member Song Hai. Tomorrow at noon. The Redhouse Diner. Bring a date. Message one complete."

A beep from the answering machine indicates the end of the message and for a moment, the man feels a smile tug at his face. He thinks he hears a distinct tension in his mediator's voice, likely a product of their brief encounter yesterday. The smile quickly disappears, however, when he hears the second message.

"Second message. Um...hello? Kaito? Geez, I hope this is the right number. Anyways, I asked Jii-san how to contact you and he gave me this number. So...um...hi. How's it been? I hope everything is well. Um...by the way, I was wondering if you'd want to have lunch with me sometime. I know this sounds abrupt, what with us having not seen each other for years, but...Well, let me know. My number is the same as before. Give me a call, okay? Ja. Message two complete."

The man let the beep echo through the room for a bit, an upset expression on his face. He had told Jii the number to one of his safe houses, on account of their longtime relationship. He had not expected Jii to give it to someone else. Moving away from the answering machine, the man drops himself onto the couch, a long sigh escaping his lips. Should I just ignore her? he wonders, letting his eyelids slip shut. That's when a sudden idea comes to mind.

"She wanted me to have a date, right?" the man asks to the empty room, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. He scrolls through the contacts lists, finding the name Nakamori Aoko, then presses call. The phone rings a bit before a woman picks up.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Hey, it's me," the man replies.


Post Story Notes

Sorry for the long delay! No excuses :(
Anyways, after writing this, I was wondering how many people are still interested in seeing this story continue. If not too many, well...I'll probably find ways to distract myself from writing...haha

At any rate, enjoy the chapter.

Cheers,