Author's Note: There are times when stories start off one way and then develop into more plot lines. Such as this week's halo. I just had to add more along with the ideas that I have been sitting on for quite a while. There's a new character this season too. Should I make Lilith Polish too or some other Eastern European. Let me know in the reviews. I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do for the next two weeks. I might even add in a little bonus chapter sometime later. You will have to see. For now, enjoy this week's halo.
Halo Six: Nanami:
Nanami had to take a couple of weeks off due to the stress that had been building up in her life. Even then, she couldn't relax. It is hard when you can't tell anyone that you are being trafficked in secret while your allies are trying to gather evidence to help you. Nanami still didn't know how she was going to tell her fiancé. It was a good thing she had Celty and Keiichi on her side. That was going to be put to the test when she came back to work.
The poor teacher found herself in for a nasty surprise on the first day back.
Nanami walked into the hall and found the other teachers gathered around a bulletin board. A curious look came over her face as she walked over to the crowd. One of the teachers turned her with a look of judgment. Nanami froze in her tracks. All eyes stared at her.
"What's going on?" she asked. No one wanted to say anything at first. One of the other teachers held up her phone.
"Is this you?" she asked. "Please tell me it's not true." Nanami's face grew pale as she looked at the screen. There was a picture of her on a message forum. She was naked on her knees in on a bed of red silk sheets. Her facial expression was of one filled with pleasure. The her in the picture had on a black leather collar with a leash on. The eyes were censored out, but she could recognize the mole under her left breast. Nanami stepped back with her mouth covered. More eyes of judgment fell upon her. Some of the teachers started to whisper among each other. The teacher began to panic. Oh no… Was this it? Was this going to be the end of her? The teacher didn't know what to do.
"It's obviously fake!" someone said behind her. Everyone looked up to see Isamu holding his phone in his hand.
"Clearly someone doctored this picture," he said walking up next to Nanami. "This is a smear campaign against Yamazaki-san." One of the other female teachers put her hands on her hips.
"And why would someone want to do that?" she asked. Isamu shrugged.
"There are many reasons," he said. "Jealousy? Petty revenge? People have done worse for less." He put his arm around Nanami's shoulders. She resisted the urge to flinch away from him.
"I mean, look at her," Isamu said. "She's pretty, smart, and very popular with the students. I wouldn't be surprised if one of you did it." The teachers looked at each other. They started to whisper to each other again. Nanami looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Was he… smiling? Isamu removed his arm from her shoulders.
"What are you all doing standing around here?" he asked. "There's nothing to see here. Move it along. Go on. Get going!" Isamu waved off the teachers as he spoke. Their colleagues all walked over with confused looks on their faces. Isamu stood, watching them leave. He turned to Nanami when they were all gone.
"You okay?" he asked. Nanami blinked at first.
"Uh… yeah, yeah," she said. "Thanks." The teacher rushed into her own classroom as fast as she could. It didn't help that she still felt Isamu's eyes on her. Why would he do that?
Isamu stood in the hallway, grinning to himself.
Kabukicho.
The members of Asahara were at it again. Young women were out recruiting. No luck today either. Still, they couldn't give up.
Tonight, they were at the club named Alice's. They looked out of place in their white and orange robes. Some of the patrons didn't buy any attention to them. Still, these women wouldn't give up. Something seemed off about their methods, however. One of the girls sat close to a man in his forties. She tried to look at him with sweet doe eyes.
"Can I help you?" the man asked.
"Would you like to join the Church of Light?" she asked.
"No thank you," he said. She tried to cuddle up to him. He had to push her off.
"I said no," he said. The twenty-something woman tried to cuddle up to him again. She tried to hide her nerves.
"Please?" she asked. "It's enlightening." The man smirked.
"This is the only enlightening I need," he said. He pointed to the dancers on the stage. The woman's lips turned into a frown.
"But that isn't right," she said. The man scooted away from her. The girl tried to move in closer.
"Look, can you please leave me alone?" he asked. Worry washed over her face. She grabbed onto his arm. The man tried to shake her off.
"Get off," he said. "Let me go." She wouldn't let him go.
"Please!" she pleaded.
"Get off of me!" the man shouted. She was the only one harassing the patrons of the club. Meanwhile, the girl clung tighter to the man. By this point, Erina had to intervene.
"Whoa, hey there!" she shouted. The man and the girl looked up to see the tadpole power walking over to them on the couch.
"What's going on here?" Erina asked as she pointed between the pair. She tried her best to sound authoritative with her questions.
"This young lady won't stop harassing me with her stupid church," the man complained. He tried to pull himself out of the woman's grasp, but she wouldn't let go.
"It is not!" the woman screamed. "Don't speak ill about things you don't know! Take it back! Take it back!" She started beating on him with her fists.
"Get off me! Are you crazy?!" the man yelled.
"Okay, that's enough! Stop it!" Erina shouted. She reached forward and grabbed the woman by the sleeve. The waitress tried to pull her up, but the woman pulled away.
"Come on, don't do this," the tadpole said. "I really don't want to have to touch you. Just leave the man alone and please leave." She grabbed the other woman by the sleeve with a tighter grip. She tried to pull her up, but the desperate woman refused to get off the leather sofa. Grabbing both sleeves didn't help either. This woman refused to get up. The waitress shook her head. She didn't want to have to turn to the hard way. Erina had no choice, but to grab her by the wrist. That old pulsing feeling ran through the woman's body. Her eyes turned blank as she started to talk.
"Murata scares me. Something about him isn't right. I don't really believe what he says. I am not really put of this church. I have been trying for months to expose him. I am worried because I think my little sister joined this church. I am a K-Pop fan at heart, but my friends don't know it," the woman muttered in a monotone voice. Erina quickly let go of her wrist. When the woman came back to her senses, she looked around panicked. The waitress and the man stared at her. The other women from the church stared at her. They looked like a bunch of angry cats glaring at the woman who spoke. Erina began to feel sympathy for her. The woman drew her knees to her chest. She started shaking her head.
"No. No," the woman muttered to herself. Another woman in the orange and white robes pointed at Erina.
"A witch! A witch, I tell you!" she screamed. The other church members fixed their gaze on Erina.
"Witch! Witch! Witch! Witch! Witch!" they all chanted. The women all crowded around the waitress. Erina tried to fight down her panic as she started backing away. She feared that this would happen if she used her powers. Hifumi arrived in time with the bouncer.
"Okay, you've caused enough trouble," the bouncer said. "Please leave." He ushered the women in orange and white out of the club, much to the delight of all the dancers and patrons. Erina turned to the man on the leather couch once she calmed down.
"I'm so sorry about that," she said, bowing. "Are you okay, sir?"
"Yeah…" the man said.
"Can I get you anything?" Erina asked.
"Uh, yeah. Could I have another beer?" he asked.
"Of course," she said. The waitress turned to leave.
"Hey, Erina!" the man said. She turned her head. He was sitting up now.
"Are you okay?" he asked. The tadpole froze and turned to him.
"Yes," she said. "Thank you for asking. Hey, can I sit with you for a drink?"
"Okay," the man said.
"Thank you," Erina said. "Drinks are on the house. I am so sorry for all of that."
"Thanks," he said. The waitress walked over to the bar. She came back to the couch with a tray of sample beers. Erina spent the rest of the night drinking with the man.
Members from Asahara were permanently banned from Alice's as a new rule.
Ikebukuro.
The next morning, Celty and Chie made it down to the living room in the apartment. They found Shinra sound asleep on the couch. At first, the dullahan was happy that her boyfriend was finally getting some sleep. But then, another thought came into her head.
Celty walked over and shook Shinra on the shoulder. Her boyfriend slowly fluttered awake.
"Hm?" the doctor asked. Shinra turned his head.
"Oh. Celty! Good morning!" he said.
"[What were you doing out here? Couldn't sleep?]" Celty wrote.
"Huh?" Shinra asked, looking around. The doctor frowned.
"Where did he go?" he asked.
"[What are you talking about? Where did who go?]" Celty typed. Her boyfriend turned his head.
"I had a patient here last night," he said. "He looked really pale and had a giant hole in his ribcage." The doctor ruffled up his hair.
"Gah! He couldn't have gotten far! I'm surprised that he made it all the way here from… from…" Shinra said. He tried to think of where Aleksy came from. Celty and Chie looked at each other uneasily. Shingen told Celty about this.
"[You're telling me that he's seeing what?]" she wrote yesterday.
"He said something about seeing a little boy across the street," the older doctor said. "I didn't see anything."
"[So… What does that mean? What are you saying?]" she wrote. Shingen shrugged.
"I don't really know," he said. "Maybe he can see dead people? All I can say is don't be surprised if he claims that he sees people who are there."
In the present day, Celty reached forward and gently reached her hand on Shinra's shoulder.
"[What did the man look like?]" she wrote. Shinra looked into her non-existent eyes.
"Pale, thin, a giant hole in the right side of his ribs," he said. "Black pants, a white shirt, brown leather shoes, and black suspenders. He had an Eastern European accent. Polish? I think he was Polish." Celty didn't know what to mean by this. This all sounded too detailed to be Shinra's imagination. But she couldn't help but feel that this was…
Her boyfriend looked like a hurt puppy.
"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked.
"[No, no! I do believe you. It's just…]" Celty wrote.
"What?" the doctor asked. His girlfriend seemed to sigh before typing again.
"[You just haven't been sleeping lately. I'm worried about you,]" she wrote.
"I haven't?" he asked. Celty shook her non-existent head.
"[You haven't noticed?]" she wrote.
"No…" Shinra said. He paused.
"Aleksy!" the doctor blurted out.
"Excuse me?" Chie asked.
"Aleksy! That was his name. Aleksy! Aleksy!" the doctor said.
"[Okay, okay. Just calm down,]" Celty typed. She and Chie didn't know what to make of this. They didn't want to upset him since he believed that he treated an actual person last night. The dullahan sat next to her boyfriend.
"[Have you had anything to eat yet?]" she wrote.
"A little bit," Shinra said. He started to perk up as he took her by the hands.
"Are you going to cook for me?" the doctor asked.
"[Sure,]" Celty wrote. "[I'll make you anything you want.]" She got up and walked into the kitchen. Shinra squealed to himself like a child about to get a present on his birthday. Chie watched them the whole time. Such a strange relationship this had.
Saki pulled out her phone and started recording a video.
"Okay, I don't really know where to start with this. This all feels strange to me. Uh…" She hesitated before continuing.
"My name is Mikajima Saki. I am making this recording in case I am found murdered. I think somebody is going to kill me. I get the following that someone has been stalking me. Someone has even been inside the apartment while I was home a couple of times. I haven't told anyone else about this. I can't tell my boyfriend because he's already got too much on his mind. Most of his gang is dead. I am pretty much alone on this.
"My nightmares have been getting worse lately. Last night, I dreamt that I looked in the mirror and I didn't see me. I could see the whole bathroom, but I didn't see me. My boyfriend called my name as he walked into our apartment. I tried to call to him, but he can't hear me. He walked into the bathroom and looked around. He can't see or hear me. I shout at him until my throat feels raw. He finally gives up and walks out of the bathroom. Then I wake up.
"I don't know what to make of any of this. I can't tell anyone, and I don't know what to do. For now, I am making this because I felt like I had to make documentation about this before I die. I don't know if this will be the only video or if I am going to post this online anywhere." Saki closed her eyes for a moment.
"For now, thank you for listening to me." Saki cut off her phone.
Meanwhile, Yuuko watched her from the window. She smirked as she counted down to the moment that she would end Saki's life.
"Soon," she said to herself. "Soon, bitch." Yuuko vanished from the window.
Nanami sat back at her desk. Isamu might have defused the situation for now, but the other teachers kept staring at her. It was a mistake to get back to work. Still, the teacher had to act like everything was normal.
"Does anyone have any questions?" she asked her students. The children didn't say anything. Their silence made things worse. Nanami took in a deep breath.
"Okay," she said. "We'll go on to the next problem." The whole time, she expected to be called to the principal's office. Would she end up getting fired?
"I want to go home," Nanami said to herself. She turned her head when she heard a knock on her door. Jiro poked his head inside. Oh. There was the issue with him. Would he leave her if she told him the truth? It wasn't like she was doing this by choice. Someone was drugging her and sexually assaulting her night after night.
"Are you doing okay?" Jiro asked. The math teacher dropped her head on her desk.
"No!" she wailed. The man walked over to her desk and rubbed her on the back. Nanami lifted her head. Jiro gave her a gentle smile.
"It's going to be okay," he said. "It's just a picture on message board." He had no idea how deep this problem was. She couldn't tell him the truth, but he had to know. Nanami pressed her lips together.
"Okay," she said. "Jiro-kun."
"Yes?" he asked. Nanami took him by the hands.
"Will you stay with me for a while?" she asked. Jiro sat down next to her at his desk.
"Sure," he said.
"Thank you," Nanami said, bowing her head.
-Two Years Ago-
Nanami and Jiro sat at their desks after school. They had just finished up their paperwork for the day. Jiro packed up his things.
"I'm going to head out," he said.
"Okay," Nanami said at her computer. Jiro stood up and walked over to the doorway. His girlfriend kept typing. Moments later, her phone rang.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Hey, baby," Jiro said on the other line. "I forgot something upstairs. I'm coming up to get it. Could you help me out?"
"Okay…" Nanami said. "What is it?"
"Reach over to my desk and open the drawer. I'm walking into the building now," he said. His girlfriend reached over to the desk drawer and pulled it open. Inside, she found a small black velvet box. Curious, she picked it up and looked at it.
"Sweetie, what is this little box?" Nanami asked.
"Open it," Jiro said. His girlfriend opened the box. Inside was a small platinum ring with a large diamond on it. Nanami's jaw dropped.
"Jiro-kun…" she said.
"Do you like it?" he asked. The teacher froze as she realized that the voice was coming from behind her. She turned to see Jiro standing in the doorway. He lowered his phone by his side.
"Will you marry me?" Jiro asked. Nanami's phone hit the floor.
"Yes!" she said in a yelp. She jumped up from her chair and ran over to her new fiancé. The couple embraced. Nanami couldn't help but to brag to her friends and show off her ring.
-Present Day-
Nanami wondered if their love would last the truth.
"Jiro-kun," she said.
"Hm?" he asked. His fiancée shook her head. She couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him yet. But how long could she keep this a secret?
That question could probably be answered sooner than she wanted.
Murata didn't know what to make of this new information.
"Tell me again what happened," he said. The women all sat in front of him in his office. One of them stood up.
"We found a witch at Alice's!" she said. "She touched Sister Jimbo and she started speaking blasphemy!" Jimbo froze as her face burned red. Murata raised his eyebrow.
"Is this true?" he asked. Jimbo didn't look up at him.
"I don't remember what happened," she said. "She grabbed me on the wrist, and everything went blank. When I came to, she and that man were staring at me."
"And you don't remember what you said when this 'witch' touched you?" Murata asked. Jimbo shook her head.
"Hm," the minister said, sitting back in his chair. He turned to his flock.
"Anyone get a good look at this girl?" Murata said. Another woman stood up.
"Really with long light brown hair tied back into a ponytail, sweet brown eyes, and really nice curves in her uniform," she said. The woman blushed as she said that. She quickly shook her head.
"I'm not a lesbian, but I would still get with her," she said. "She's got some nice boobs on her. Kind like Miya-san's." Her eyes shifted over to the woman on the couch on the other side of the room. The bodyguard just eyed her with an eyebrow raised. The minister nodded as he listened.
"I see," he said.
"What do we do with Sister Jimbo?" another member asked. Jimbo froze. Murata turned to her.
"And you really don't remember what all you said?" he asked.
"No, my lord," she said. The office stayed quiet for a lingering moment. Murata took a sip of his beer.
"I will let it slide for now," he said. Jimbo lifted her head in shock. Murata held up his hand.
"I will come up with your penance later," he said. "For now, we must find this witch. I might have a good use for us." A great sense of dread filled Jimbo's heart. She could not let that happen.
That same evening, there was another round of tadpole testing. This time it was Chie, Mikado, and Yamato. They were now waiting for this week's results to come in. Mikado looked to his left and to his right. Chie seemed pleasant. A bit jumpy, but pleasant.
"I'm Chie," she said when they first met. "You must be Mikado."
"Yeah," he said, nodding. Yamato on the other hand…
"Hello, Yamato," Mikado said in a low voice.
"Yo," the other tadpole said. Something about this boy told Mikado to stay far away from him. Many not too far away, though. Yukio suggested that tadpoles had to stay together.
"We've already lost three of them," he said on Saturday. "We can't afford to lose anyone else. We have to at least stay together in two's. If you can't do that, try to keep in contact with each other by any means possible. It doesn't have to be a full on conversation. Just a simple, 'hello, how are you?' will do just fine."
Mikado got another look at Yamato's profile as they sat on the couch. He didn't seem too sure about that one.
"What?" Yamato asked. Mikado quickly put up his hands.
"Nothing!" he was quick to say. "Nothing." Yamato rolled his eyes. He picked up his glass of cold green tea and took a sip. Mikado lowered his hand and sat back into place. He could use more juice right about now. Chie pretended not to be paying any attention to the tension between the two boys as sipped on her strawberry milk. The tadpoles looked up when they heard footsteps approach them. Shinra stood with his chart in hand. Yamato took another sip of his tea.
"Well?" he asked.
"Everything looks good for now," the doctor said. "We haven't been able to figure out the latest change yet. The best that we can hope for is to keep a close eye on things." Yamato frowned.
"That's it?" he asked.
"Yeah," Shinra said. The tadpole boy clicked his tongue.
"Well that was a waste of time," he muttered.
"You need these tests though," the doctor said. "We're trying to help you here." Yamato folded his arms across his chest.
"Thanks for the tea," he muttered. He was about to get up and leave when they heard the door buzz.
"I'll get it," Shinra said. He turned and walked to the front door. It was around this time that Celty came into the living room about to head out for a late night job. Mikado turned and looked up.
"Oh hey, Celty," he said. The need to drink and the powers lessened in the tadpoles as Chie and Yamato looked up as well.
"[How did everything go?]" Celty typed. Yamato rolled his eyes.
"Nothing much," he grumbled. The dullahan looked over at Mikado and Chie. They just shrugged and shook their heads. Everyone turned when they heard an audible gasp. Shinra slowly backed away from the door.
"[What is it?]" Celty spelled out with her shadows.
"It's him!" the doctor yelled. "It's Aleksy! He's here!"
"[What?!]" she wrote. Celty and the tadpoles ran to the front door for a better look. And there he was. Only, there were a couple of things different from last night. His ribs were all bandaged up. His hair was pushed out of his face, revealing his deep red eyes. In fact, he was wearing a dark gray fedora.
And he wasn't alone.
Aleksy held a woman with long black curls by the waist. She too looked just as pale. Her deep red lips stood out against her face. Her white blouse blended in with her torso, making her red bowtie stand out. Aleksy smiled.
"You're back," Shinra said.
"Yes," Aleksy said. "Thanks for fixing my ribs last night."
"Uh… you're welcome," the doctor said. Celty and the tadpoles couldn't grasp what they were looking at. Shinra turned to his girlfriend.
"See? I knew he was real! I didn't imagine it last night!" Aleksy smiled politely.
"I didn't introduce myself last time," the Polish man said. "My name is Aleksy Gorecki. And this is my wife, Lilith." Mikado froze. The moment he saw Lilith's face, old memories flooded his head. The way he pinned her against the wall. His tongue shoved into her mouth. Her moans filling the room. Each savage thrust against any surface of their choosing. Her biting into his flesh.
Mikado shook his head.
"Is something wrong?" Chie whispered next to him.
"No…" he said in a low voice. Lilith watched him with a secret little smirk on her face.