A/N Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be writing down four chapters and posting them all at once so don't be surprised if there'll be a delay between updates since the chapters are going to be long and it'll take a while because of it.
Anyway, I have decided to pair Doug up with Shirou and I know that's a little weird when you consider the massive age difference but Shirou has been through a lot and he deserves some kind of happiness in his immortal life when you think about it.
So, this next chapter will have Doug and Shirou go to the medical center to figure out the amnesiac's past before investigating the bombings so without further ado, let's begin.
"Give me the money, bitch!"
"Get your hands off my wife!"
"Douglas, run!"
I gasped awake as I shot up and breathed heavily, tears welling up and starting to run down my cheeks as I struggled to hold back sobs while the nightmare had shaken me up bad, the nightmare consisting of the two people from that memory being mugged by somebody whose face was blurred out and his voice was distorted while the woman, who was my mother, was yelling for me to run when the nightmare had ended.
'Oh god, my parents were murdered during a mugging,' I thought in complete horror and considering how small I seemed to be during the dream, I must've been really young during that time since it felt more like a memory than a dream.
I was startled by the sound of someone knocking on the door, making me look at it before I relaxed as I noticed that it was early in the morning so I got out of bed and yawned while I went over to the door to unlock it, then I opened it slightly and I could see Shirou on the other side.
"Morning, is there a reason why you're knocking on my door this early?" I asked as Shirou had his hands in his coat pockets.
"I'm taking you to the medical center early this morning so take a shower and get dressed," Shirou said and was about to walk away when I cleared my throat.
"Um, what about breakfast?" I questioned before Shirou stopped and looked back at me.
"No time for that, now get ready and meet me outside," Shirou replied stoically until he walked away.
I frowned at his dismissive attitude, but I let it go as I left my room and went to go to the bathroom to take a shower, then I entered the bathroom and removed my shirt and boxers before stepping into the stall and turning on the water.
I took a quick shower and finished up before drying myself off, leaving the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist after I had put my dirty clothes in a laundry basket and went to get my clothes from yesterday that were now clean so that I could have something to wear.
I went back into my bedroom and got dressed before I left the bedroom and made my way to the front door and left the building, then I saw Shirou waiting for me and he gestured for me to follow him until he started walking down a street.
I stayed right behind him since I was still new to this city and didn't want to get lost, though we went through alleyways and sometimes took the rooftops for a short while when we eventually arrived at a massive trident-shaped tower that was located in the heart of the city while I let out an impressive whistle.
"Damn, this place is huge," I commented as Shirou led me to the front door and he glanced at me for a second in response.
We entered the lobby and headed to the front desk, where I chatted to the person working there until he said that a Doctor Stevens would see me shortly so Shirou and I had to wait until the doctor would come and call out for me.
To pass the time, I decided to read one of the building's pamphlets that talked about the medical center's purpose and how it was owned by Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals, then I started feeling confused since the name Sylvasta felt so familiar to me and I didn't know why.
Either way, I assumed that I might've heard the name somewhere before I lost my memories so shook it off as I kept reading until I heard someone calling my name, making me look up and I can see a man in a lab coat as he was looking around so I assume that he was Doctor Stevens as I stood up and started walking over to him with Shirou right next to me as the man saw us.
"Hello, which one of you is Douglas Jackson?" the man asked and I raised my hand.
"I'm Douglas Jackson," I replied and the man smiled.
"Good, if you'll just follow me, then I'll take you to your assigned room so is he coming along with you?" the man questioned as he gazed at Shirou, who stared back with a frown.
"Yes, he'll be in the room with me," I replied and the man nodded.
"Very well, is he a friend or a relative?" the man inquired as I shook my head.
"No, he's a social worker who brought me here to get me checked out for any problems and to see if we can figure some things out," I said and the man hummed thoughtfully.
"I see...well, just follow me to your assigned room and I'll examine you for any problems you might have," the man told me before he started walking down a hallway with Shirou and me right behind him when we soon arrived at an examination room and went inside before the man had me remove my jacket and I took a seat after that.
"So, I'm Jacob Stevens and I'll be examining you this morning, now what seems to be the problem?" Jacob inquired as I noticed Shirou leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.
"Well, I'm suffering from memory loss and the only thing I can remember is my name and my age, which is why I need answers so that I can figure out who I am," I answered and Jacob frowned thoughtfully.
"Sounds like you're suffering from amnesia so let me examine your head for a second," Jacob said and I leaned forward so that he could gently hold my head, then he turned it this way and that until he paused as he saw the back of my neck.
"What is it?" I asked as Jacob hummed thoughtfully.
"There appears to be a surgical scar on the back of your neck, and it looks faded so you might've gone through some kind of surgical procedure a while ago...maybe a couple of years ago," Jacob told me as he felt the scar during his examination of it.
"Is that something to be concerned about?" I inquired with a look of concern before Jacob was finished and he shook his head.
"No, you seem to be walking around well enough so aside from the surgical scar, I don't see any signs of a recent head injury so you must've developed memory loss brought on by some kind of intense psychological trauma," Jacob told me and I wondered what would've been so traumatic that it caused me to develop amnesia.
"Is it possible for me to recover my memories?" I asked and Jacob looked uncertain.
"It's hard to say since each case is different so it could take days or even years for a person suffering from amnesia to recover their memories, but there are some cases where a person never recovers their memories so you shouldn't get your hopes up if that were the case," Jacob explained and that lowered my spirits a little.
"I see...can you at least examine me to see if I have any problems?" I questioned solemnly and Jacob sent me a sympathetic look.
"Sorry, I know it's not what you wanted to hear but I'd rather not give you false hope if it turns out that your memories don't come back so if you would take off your shirt for me, then I'll get started," Jacob instructed and I was hesitant at first, but I sighed and removed my shirt when Jacob's eyes widened at my scarred torso and even Shirou paused when he saw the scars.
"My God, so many scars...okay, just hold still and I'll check your heartbeat," Jacob said after snapping out of it and he went to use his stethoscope.
Jacob examined me after that by checking my heartbeat, testing my reflexes, looking into my ears, checking my temperature, and taking some blood to see if I was fully healthy before he used a microscope to look at the blood sample when I noticed that he started appearing puzzled.
"Huh, that's odd," Jacob mumbled and that got my attention.
"What is it?" I asked as Jacob finished up and looked at me.
"The results of your blood test do show that you're a healthy beastman, but there's also a strange anomaly that I can't quite figure out," Jacob replied, and hearing that worried me as I could also see that Shirou was fully focused on Jacob now after hearing him say that.
"An anomaly?" I questioned in concern.
"Yes, I've never seen anything like it before but it doesn't seem to be harmful so it shouldn't be anything to worry about," Jacob reassured me and I nodded.
"Okay, so could you look up files on me? I want to figure out where I lived or if I had a job before I lost my memories so could you look it up?" I asked and Jacob nodded.
"Of course, my computer has access to the international database so your name, as well as the fact that you're American, will surely help narrow it down," Jacob replied as he went over to his computer and started typing on it.
I noticed that Shirou was looking thoughtful and holding a frown on his face so I assume that he was thinking about what he's learned so far as I also started wondering why my blood had an anomaly in it so I wondered if that was connected to my advanced healing, enhanced strength, and inhuman speed since none of those things were normal as Jacob's computer chirped and he looked through the results but frowned soon after.
"Um, there seems to be a problem here," Jacob spoke up and that got my attention.
"What do you mean?" I inquired in confusion before Jacob turned to look at me.
"I looked up your name and did find results on it, only I can't access the files since they are labeled restricted by the US department of defense," Jacob answered and that took me off guard with Shirou appearing a little surprised.
"Restricted? Just what the hell did I do for a living?" I wondered before Jacob looked serious.
"I don't know, but the only reason why someone's files are restricted by the department of defense is that they were into some very shady things that the US government doesn't want the public to know.
I don't know what you were involved in before you lost your memories, but it had to have been something serious if your files are classified and can't be accessed by civilians so I would probably be careful if I were you," Jacob warned as I nodded.
"So, is that it?" I asked and Jacob smiled.
"Well, apart from the other stuff, you're pretty much healthy so we should be done here," Jacob told me and I stood up.
"Thanks, I really appreciate this," I said as I shook Jacob's hand that was still damp from washing them in the nearby sink and he smiled.
"No problem, have a nice day," Jacob said when I went to put my shirt and jacket on until Shirou and I left the examination room.
As we headed back to Beast Co-op, I was lost in thought about what I just learned and didn't know what to think about all of this since this had created more questions than answers and I had no idea why my blood had some kind of anomaly or why my files were restricted by the department of defense.
Still, at least I had a little bit more information than before as Shirou and I made it back to Beast Co-op and went inside as I noticed that time had gone by during our visit to the medical center, then Shirou suddenly grabbed my arm and started dragging me behind him as I let out a startled yelp.
"S-Shirou, what the hell are you doing?!" I protested as I tried to get my arm free but Shirou wouldn't let go while he dragged me to a door and opened it, then I could see that it was a small room of some kind as I was forced inside and Shirou shut the door before locking it.
"Shirou, open the door!" I shouted as I banged on the door.
"I'm not letting you out because everything we've just learned is highly suspicious, so you're staying in there until I figure out what to do with you," Shirou told me and I scowled.
"You think I'm not suspicious about it too? My files are restricted by the department of defense and my blood has some kind of anomaly in it, so I'm honestly a little freaked out at the moment, and locking me in here isn't helping so let me out," I said firmly.
"No, you're staying in there so don't even think about escaping or I'll hurt you," Shirou warned until I heard him walk away, annoying me greatly.
"Asshole," I muttered as I sighed and decided to wait and see what would happen.
I found myself pacing as I checked my watch from time to time when I heard a commotion outside the door that got closer and closer until the door unlocked and it opened, then Michiru was suddenly tossed inside before I could react and she landed on the floor until Shirou closed the door and locked it again when Michiru quickly stood up and went to bang on the door.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Michiru shouted as she rammed her shoulder against the door and fell back onto the floor.
"Michiru, I'd probably save your strength since I attempted the same thing you're doing but Shirou wouldn't let me out," I spoke up and that caused Michiru to look at me.
"Doug, why are you locked up in here?" Michiru asked.
"Well, we went to the city's medical center to find a lead on who I am, only my files are restricted by the department of defense and that has Shirou suspicious so he locked me in here," I explained, withholding the part where my blood has an anomaly since I didn't want to freak her out just as I saw something small being shoved under the door and I noticed that it was Michiru's student ID as the tanuki went to pick it up.
"Michiru, I now believe you used to be human," Shirou said on the other side of the door.
"So, why are you doing this?!" Michiru shouted in disbelief.
"The fact that you exist is dangerous," Shirou replied and that took me off guard.
"Hold on, why the hell is that dangerous?" I questioned in confusion.
"If the humans find out that they can turn into beastmen, they would all panic and remember what I said, Doug. Neither of you is to go out until we find out more so I'll bring you both some food," Shirou said before I heard him walking away.
"Hey, what the hell are you talking about?! This is crazy!" Michiru yelled as she banged on the door again.
"Trust me, I'm going to protect the peace of this city," Shirou responded after coming back.
"Hey, you can't keep us locked up forever and I'm not sure you've noticed, but we're the only ones who know that Michiru used to be a human so who's going to tell everyone? It won't be me and it certainly isn't going to be you while I'm sure Michiru will keep her mouth shut about it.
Also, she looks nothing like a human so I don't think the people in this city will find out unless she opens her mouth about it and shows proof that she used to be human," I pointed out logically.
"I can't take any risks right now so if either of you takes one step out of that room, I'll kill you," Shirou warned and I was unamused by that while Michiru scoffed.
"You want peace for this city? What about us?!" Michiru snapped irritably when I heard something heavy being moved across the room outside until it came to a stop on the other side of the door and my eyes widened when I realized what Shirou was doing.
'D-Did he just fucking barricade the door?!' I thought in disbelief as I was about to start shouting at Shirou to let him know how I felt about that when another voice spoke up.
"Are you redecorating your furniture this morning? Looks exhausting," the voice commented, clearly female and sounding familiar as I frowned thoughtfully.
'Huh, now where did I hear that voice before?' I thought as I started listening in.
"Mayor," Shirou replied and that got my attention while Michiru looked surprised.
"Doug, did he say Mayor?" Michiru asked before she started listening in and so did I as I heard the mayor talking about the medical center receiving a bomb threat.
"A bombing?" Shirou questioned shortly after the mayor spoke to him.
"Yes, that's right. The director notified the police that the Salvasta medical center received a bomb threat, then today at dawn, someone bombed one of Salvasta's trucks that was transporting medicine," the mayor explained before Michiru and I shared a look.
"A bomb?" Michiru muttered, then I was taken by surprise to see her left ear elongating into a rabbit's ear.
"Michiru, your ear," I whispered as I gestured at her left ear, then Michiru looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of her ear.
"Now it's my ears? Ugh, this sucks," Michiru groaned quietly, though she continued to listen to the conversation that was still happening.
"If you have the money to build a hospital for beastmen that's filled with cutting edge equipment, that money should go to the humans instead'...that's what these criminals are saying," the mayor continued while I was frowning at the information I was learning.
"I take it that it's the anti-beastmen again?" Shirou questioned with a hard edge in his voice.
"The police did their best to track the scents left by the bombs, but the explosion ended up causing the smells to get mixed up so they were, unfortunately, unable to track it. I believe that with your sharp sense of smell, you would be able to do a much better job than the police.
Please, help me locate any others," the mayor said.
"A few patients are hospitalized there, so we have to do this quickly," Shirou replied, then Michiru gasped as she quickly looked at me.
"Doug, if the hospital gets bombed, there's not going to be anyone to treat my disease," Michiru whispered frantically and I sweatdropped at that.
"Michiru, I think we have more important things to worry about than your condition because if any bombs were to go off in the medical center, then god knows how many people will die," I pointed out quietly as Michiru took in a huge breath.
"Miss Mayor, please help us!" Michiru shouted, startling me as I flinched from the loud volume.
"Did you just hear something?" the mayor questioned.
"No," Shirou replied and I was half-tempted to kick his ass once I got out of here, then I saw Michiru taking in a deep breath before her head turned into a bird and I couldn't react in time.
"Get us out of here because Doug and I are being locked up against our will!" Michiru bellowed at the top of her lungs, her shout almost rendering me deaf and causing the building to shake as I shouted in pain and clasped my hands against my ears.
"Dammit Michiru, are you trying to make me deaf?!" I yelled as my ears were ringing and Michiru looked embarrassed as her head turned back to normal and I barely heard something crash to the ground while I was cleaning out one of my ears with a finger.
"Sorry," Michiru muttered sheepishly while it sounded slightly muffled until my hearing soon came back.
"That was Kuro, he just learned how to mimic voices," Shirou lied and that was when I got pissed as I gritted my teeth.
"Fuck this, I'm busting down the door so stand back, Michiru," I warned as Michiru gulped at the angry expression that was on my face, wisely stepping aside as I backed up and ignored anything else Shirou and the mayor were talking about.
I let out a few deep breaths and started running at the door and got ready to bash it down when the door suddenly opened and I couldn't stop in time as I squeezed my eyes shut, colliding into something as a loud grunt happened and I felt my lips on something when I opened my eyes and saw a pair of ice-blue ones staring right back at me.
It took me a second to realize what happened and my eyes bugged out in horror as I ripped myself away from Shirou, my lips leaving his as I was sputtering with my face turning bright red from what happened as I felt completely mortified and beyond embarrassed.
Shirou didn't look any better as he was twitching and covering his mouth, sending me a look of murder as his pale face was bright red as well while the mayor was standing nearby and holding her mouth as I could see her struggling hard not to laugh, then I noticed Michiru's face had gone white from what happened while she looked terrified and it wouldn't surprise me if she thought Shirou was going to beat me to a bloody pulp.
'Oh fuck, he's going to kill me...isn't he?' I thought as I prepared myself for a serious ass-kicking, only nothing happened after a minute and I was confused as I saw Shirou turning away and avoiding eye contact with me while the mayor appeared to have regained her composure.
"Oh my, I sure wasn't expecting that so you must be Douglas Jackson while she's Michiru Kagemori, correct?" the mayor asked and I cleared my throat awkwardly while looking anywhere but at her.
"Y-Yeah, we are," I stuttered, feeling like the world's biggest idiot for seriously embarrassing myself in front of the mayor of all people.
"You don't need to be embarrassed, what happened was an accident so you don't have to act so shy around me," the mayor reassured me, and that calmed me down slightly as I fully focused on her now.
"Yeah, it was an accident so I didn't mean for that to happen," I replied and the mayor smiled at that while Shirou looked like he was glaring at nothing in particular from what happened, though his face still looked red as Michiru snapped out of it and stormed out of the small room before pointing at Shirou.
"Mayor, he's guilty of kidnapping me and Doug before locking us up!" Michiru snapped irritably before Shirou sent her a sour expression.
"Hey," Shirou retorted while looking a little annoyed at the accusation.
"He said he'd kill us if we tried to leave so he's guilty of that, too!" Michiru added, ignoring Shirou as the wolf beastman crossed his arms with a frown.
"It's for the safety of you and Doug, as well as the beastmen in this city," Shirou said before I glared at him.
"You threatened to kill us after locking us up, so you sure have a funny way of showing it," I pointed out irritably when the mayor turned her attention to Michiru.
"We'll continue that for another time because I'm more curious about you, Miss Kagemori, since you look like a tanuki beastman on the outside so it's hard to believe you used to be a human until recently," the mayor said, rendering Michiru speechless while I was taken off guard by that.
"So, you knew?" Shirou questioned and the mayor nodded.
"I stay on top of everything that happens in Anima city, which is my job as the mayor here," the mayor replied and I frowned as I thought about who might be responsible for this.
"I see, Gram Grandma must've told you about Michiru's condition," I said and the mayor simply smiled.
"I protect the confidentiality of my sources, Mr. Jackson," the mayor told me with a look of amusement before Michiru cleared her throat to get the mayor's attention.
"Listen, let me and Doug go with him because we want to help you find the bombs," Michiru said and I nodded in agreement since whoever these terrorists are needed to be stopped.
"And why is that?" the mayor asked.
"Because the medical center has cutting edge technology that'll help Michiru find a solution to cure her condition and I also want to help stop the bombs because god knows how many people will die if they aren't disarmed in time," I explained while Shirou sent me a hard look.
"You're a civilian, so you're not allowed to assist in the investigation and neither is Michiru," Shirou pointed out before I sent him an unamused look.
"Look who's talking, you're a civilian too but the police let you assist in taking down criminals like that group of child traffickers so I don't think you're in any position to argue, not to mention that Michiru wants to be human again while I need answers as to who I am," I pointed out logically as the mayor nodded in agreement.
"He makes a very good point and the fact that she used to be human is the truth, so it is possible that Miss Kagemori's condition could be a disease or the cause of how she became that way could be through other means that we just aren't seeing yet," the mayor said.
"Anyway, it's dangerous to let her go outside because if the anti-beastmen faction were to find out about her, it could be trouble and Mr. Jackson is pretty suspicious since I took him to the medical center to get him checked out and it turns out his files are restricted by the US Department of Defense, not to mention that the results of his blood test showed an anomaly so he can't go outside either until I figure out what to do with him," Shirou explained, causing Michiru to look at me in surprise at the part of my blood having an anomaly before the mayor started looking thoughtful.
"Is that true, Mr. Jackson?" the mayor asked me and I nodded.
"Yes, it's true and I don't know why that is but I'm hoping to find out more since everything I've learned so far is creating more questions than answers at this point," I replied before Michiru sent me a look that told me we were going to have a long talk later about withholding the results of my blood test from her when she sighed.
"Look, aside from that, I don't just wanna sit around," Michiru spoke up and we all looked at her as she added, "Before I came into this city and met Doug, I was always hiding in my house and never even left my room.
After I ran away, I spent all of my time just worrying about avoiding the beastman hunters, and now that I've finally made it here, I won't live in hiding anymore."
"It's not a good idea," Shirou stated firmly while Michiru looked upset and I felt bad for her so I cleared my throat to get Shirou's attention.
"Shirou, do I need to remind you that Michiru looks nothing like a human and we're the only ones that know about her condition, so nobody will find out as long as we don't tell anyone," I pointed out with a frown.
"You know, we are a little short-staffed at the moment so why don't we let Miss Kagemori and Mr. Jackson help out, where Miss Kagemori can be the new go-to contact for Kuro while Mr. Jackson is partnered up with you so that you can keep an eye on him?" the mayor offered as the crow next to her cawed, taking me by surprise while Michiru blinked at that.
"A contact for Kuro and Doug being Shirou's partner?" Michiru wondered curiously while Shirou frowned, quite possibly at the thought of me being his partner during the investigation.
"As Mr. Jackson had pointed out earlier, no one will be able to tell that Miss Kagemori used to be a human just by looking at her so she won't have any problems walking around Anima city," the mayor said and Shirou sighed at that, unable to come up with anything to counter that since he knew that she was right as the mayor went to look at us.
"However, no one is to find out that you used to be a human, and as for Mr. Jackson, I'll be looking into what he and Ogami discovered so far since it sounds like he was involved in something that's highly classified among the public in his home country and that anomaly in his blood is also something to look into as well.
Either way, remember what I said and don't reveal what you used to be or it'll cause confusion and quite possibly mass panic, understand?" the mayor added before Michiru started looking serious.
"Yes, ma'am," Michiru replied with a firm nod.
"Very well, now that that's taken care of, can you and Mr. Jackson forgive Ogami for locking you two up and threatening the both of you?" the mayor inquired, and that made me frown as I thought about it while Michiru appeared indecisive when I let out a sigh.
"Well, I guess I can understand why he did it since he was worried about everyone in this city and what he and I discovered at the medical center does seem suspicious, but I honestly think that he should've found a better way of dealing with it instead of locking us up and treating us like criminals.
Still, aside from that, we have more important things to worry about at the moment so I'm willing to let this go for now since now's not the time for grudges or being distrustful of each other," I replied and Michiru still looked uncertain until she huffed and rested her hands on her hips.
"Well, after hearing what Doug said, then I suppose I can," Michiru grumbled while pouting until the mayor nodded and held out two smartphones for us to take.
"Here you go," the mayor offered as Michiru perked up, then she and I took the phones before the former human held hers up with an excited gasp.
"A smartphone?! It's been a long time so thank you!" Michiru cried happily while I examined my phone, seeing Shirou's name and phone number on it.
"Of course, if Kuro finds anything, make sure you two call Ogami," the mayor told us and I nodded.
"Will do," I said with a look of appreciation when the mayor turned her attention to Shirou and removed a small packet from her pocket as I noticed the small packet had a tiny shard of metal inside.
"This is a piece of the bomb that was left at the crime scene," the mayor said before Shirou walked over to take the small packet and held it up as he looked at it closely until he nodded.
"Understood, I'll get started right away," Shirou said when the mayor turned her attention to me.
"Mr. Jackson, I heard about how you helped take down that child trafficking ring so if you do a good job on this investigation, then I would like to offer you a job if you're interested," the mayor offered, and I was surprised by that when I showed a small smile.
"I'll consider it, so thank you for the offer," I replied.
"Well, I best get going since the city isn't going to run itself so I'll be waiting for an update on the investigation," the mayor said until she turned around and promptly left the room, then Shirou gestured for me and Michiru to follow him before we all headed to the roof.
Once we made it to the roof, I found myself enjoying the sights because even though this city had its dark side, it was still impressive to see as I gazed at the medical center that was in the distance and hoped that Jacob and the other employees had been alerted about the bomb threat and were evacuated as Shirou motioned his head at the tall building.
"You see that building, Michiru? That hospital is a part of the Salvasta Conglomerate, which belongs to the Salvasta family and they're one of the richest in the world that supports the mayor's vision of achieving equal rights for beastmen and humans.
It also supported Anima city with large amounts of funding so some humans are unhappy about it, though rumors say that Salvasta Pharmaceutical is profiting off data on beastmen and as a result, not all beastmen have a positive view of them," Shirou explained as Michiru listened and turned to look at him.
"So, that's the place where you took Doug for a check-up but if what you say is true, why did you accept this job?" Michiru asked and Shirou looked at her.
"Huh?" Shirou questioned.
"I mean, you do things that are for the well-being of beastmen," Michiru clarified.
"You know, she does make a good point," I spoke up and Shirou sighed.
"Yeah, well, I can't say no to the mayor," Shirou grumbled as he opened the packet and placed the metal shard in his hand before he shifted into his beast form and raised the shard to his nose before smelling it, then a short time went by until he changed back into his human form and opened his eyes while taking out his smartphone and calling someone.
"This is Ogami, I found the locations of the bombs and there are six of them in total so send in the bomb squad," Shirou said before he hung up and turned to look at us.
"Michiru, you head over to the hospital while Douglas stays with me," Shirou added and Michiru tensed up.
"Are there bombs in the hospital?" Michiru asked before Shirou shook his head.
"No, I didn't smell any there but head there just in case because we suspect Salvasta is what the criminals are really after," Shirou replied as he gestured for me to follow him and I held up a hand in a gesture for him to wait when I turned to look a Michiru.
"Hey, we should probably exchange phone numbers just in case since there's a good chance the terrorists are armed," I pointed out and Michiru nodded until I located what was apparently my new phone number on my new phone.
Michiru and I exchanged phone numbers before we went back into the building, but not before I told Shirou that I needed to get something from my room and I hurried there before going inside and making my way to the bedside cabinet, taking my gun and the ammo mag out until I loaded the gun and racked the slide to chamber a round.
I did a brass check just in case and nodded in satisfaction when I saw that the gun was fully loaded, then I stuffed the gun in the back of my jeans and thought about getting a holster for it as I left my room and met back up with the others until we left the building and Michiru took off to the medical center with Kuro flying above her while Shirou went down what appeared to be a random direction and I followed him.
"I'm curious, why are you having me stay with you?" I asked in confusion as we were running to where the first bomb was possibly located.
"So that I can keep an eye on you since I still don't trust you to be discreet, not to mention that everything we've learned about you so far at the medical center is still pretty suspicious," Shirou replied and I sent him a look for being blunt.
"Gee, thanks for being so honest," I said dryly as we kept running through the streets, sometimes taking the rooftops to get to our destination quicker.
After a while, we met up with the detective from last night and he introduced himself to me as Yuji Tachiki before Shirou explained that I was going to be partnered up with him for now on the mayor's order, and the detective agreed as he had the bomb squad disarmed the first bomb until Shirou led us to the other bombs that were soon taken care of by the bomb squad when one of the officers disarmed the last bomb.
"Alright, this is the last one," Shirou informed us and he wasn't wearing his coat at the moment, though I let out a sigh of relief since the bombs were taken care of and all we had to worry about were the terrorists responsible for it.
"Thank god for that, now we should meet up with Michiru and see if she found anything," I spoke up, and just as I said that, my phone started buzzing before I removed it from my jacket pocket and saw that Michiru was calling me until I answered.
"Did you find something, Michiru?" I asked and paused when I heard the female tanuki panting on the other line, sounding like she was running for her life.
"Doug, there's this group of beastmen that's after me so I need help, now!" Michiru gasped out, catching my full attention as I heard someone yelling for her to stop running or they would hurt her.
"Okay, tell me where you are and we'll head there right away," I said as Shirou turned to look at me with a questioning look, only I held up my hand in a gesture for him to wait and proceeded to listen to what Michiru had to say.
Michiru told me how she had fled an underground loading dock that was located in the medical center and was currently running down the city streets, not knowing where she was at the moment until I reassured her that Shirou and I will find her and hung up when I turned to look at the wolf beastman next to me with a serious look.
"We need to go, now," I stated urgently and Shirou nodded.
We went to part ways with Tachiki and he told us to go, then Shirou and I shifted into our beast forms and quickly left the area just as Kuro showed up and started leading us to where Michiru was as I kept my eye on the crow that was flying above us when we eventually arrived at an alley where a group of beastmen was cornering Michiru with two of them about to attack her when Shirou grabbed one by the wrist and held him up while I sent a swift kick into the other one, knocking him down.
"Enough," Shirou said coldly while the group of beastmen froze up and started sweating nervously as the one guy Shirou had was groaning in pain.
"Y-You must be Ogami and who the fuck is that?" the hyena beastman questioned uneasily as he also saw me.
"I'm someone who doesn't appreciate you attacking a lady like that, so take your buddies and get the fuck out of here or we'll put all of you in a world of pain," I warned as my eyes turned cold and focused, just before the crow beastman charged at me and Shirou let go of the guy he was holding until that one attacked him.
I easily avoided the crow beastman's punches and sent him flying past his friends with a swift kick to the abdomen, just as Shirou rendered his attacker almost unconscious as the canine beastman went bouncing across the pavement and slid to a stop next to the other beastmen.
"I'm only going to tell you this once, leave and we won't kill you...not today," Shirou warned coldly as the two injured beastmen were helped up by their friends, then the hyena gritted his teeth as he sweated nervously.
"You'll pay for this!" the hyena shouted before he and the others ran away with the two unconscious beastmen until they were gone and I snapped out of it, going to check on Michiru to see if she was okay.
"You alright?" I asked and Michiru nodded.
"Yes, thank you," Michiru replied as Kuro landed on Shirou's shoulder.
"I'm glad we made it in time, Kuro led us here," Shirou said as Michiru scowled at him and got up from the ground she was currently sitting on.
"You asshole, I tried calling you so many times until I was forced to call Doug!" Michiru shouted irritably just as Shirou and I changed back into our human forms.
"Sorry, so why were those guys chasing you?" Shirou asked as he looked back at the female tanuki.
"Who knows, maybe it's because I saw some suspicious-looking people loading a truck behind the hospital and who are they, anyway?" Michiru wondered as we left the alley and started walking down a street that had a perfect view of the medical center up ahead while the tall building was seen in the distance.
"They're from a criminal organization known as The Family," Shirou replied and that made me look at him curiously.
"The Family?" I questioned.
"They're working with some of the staff and embezzling the hospital's assets," Shirou explained just before a loud explosion happened nearby, causing Michiru to let out a startled yelp and I quickly ducked down without even realizing it.
"Jesus, what the hell was that?!" I shouted in alarm as I looked around frantically and that's when I saw smoke coming out of the medical center up above.
"What is that?" Michiru gasped in shock before Shirou took off in the direction of the medical center, forcing me and Michiru to go after him as he looked back.
"Michiru, wait at the Beastman Co-Op while Douglas and I check this out," Shirou instructed urgently but Michiru shook her head.
"I don't want to because if they destroy the medical center, then I'm in trouble," Michiru refused and I turned my attention to her.
"You do realize that it's going to be dangerous. right?" I questioned and Michiru nodded.
"Yeah, I do but I can't just sit around while a bunch of maniacs are running around and blowing crap up, not to mention that I'm not taking no for an answer so don't even try and stop me," Michiru stated firmly and Shirou paused at that until I was surprised to see him smile slightly.
"You're such a pain," Shirou muttered as we kept running until we soon made it to the medical center and I could see emergency vehicles have arrived while the building's employees were being evacuated.
Shirou and I made our way inside and Michiru was barred by a couple of officers from entering, only she was let in after Shirou told them that she was with us when we continued heading up each floor until we made it to where the explosion happened, which used to be a server room and my eyes widened in shock when I saw that there wasn't much left as we went inside.
"This is awful," Michiru said and I nodded.
"Yeah, thank god no one got hurt or worse in the explosion," I agreed as we approached Tachiki, who was standing next to a middle-aged balding man with a lab coat while the stranger was wiping his face with a handkerchief to get rid of the sweat until the detective saw us approaching.
"Ogami, I see you and Jackson made it so I would like to introduce you both to Mr. Yaba, the director of the medical center," Tachiki introduced as the person in question turned around to look at us, then I noticed a slight reaction when he made short eye-contact with Michiru where his eyes widened for a second and then he started looking nervous before I slightly narrowed my eyes in suspicion since it was like he recognized her or something.
"This was clearly the work of those damn terrorists as well so if the police don't stop this crime, then the repercussions will be harsh," Yaba said irritably.
"Allow me and Mr. Jackson here to investigate too," Shirou offered as he took a few steps forward and Yaba narrowed his eyes.
"Ogami is an adviser who's been helping us investigate the situation and Mr. Jackson had just been assigned as Ogami's partner, so are you okay with that?" Tachiki asked, and Yaba looked away before appearing uncertain for a short time until he huffed.
"Do whatever you want," Yaba grumbled before he walked away and I looked at Shirou.
"Well, we should probably get started," I suggested before Shirou nodded and we headed in opposite directions to track the bomber's scent.
I shifted into my beast form and got down on one knee, thinking about how it was possible Shirou missed this bomb when he located all of the others as I heard Tachiki commenting about that and Shirou replying, though I wasn't paying attention while I closed my eyes and started to smell the room.
I was taken completely off guard when a vision appeared before me with employees of the medical center walking all around me and I sucked in a breath because of it, but I managed to shake it off and kept concentrating as employees started moving around like they were on fast forward while I was amazed by what I was witnessing but then I started feeling confused when I didn't pick up anyone planting a bomb in the room until I opened my eyes with a confused frown and stood up before walking over to Shirou.
"Did you find anything?" Shirou asked me and I shook my head.
"Not a damn thing, you?" I inquired.
"Me neither, so the only thing I can think of is that the bomb and the terrorists have no scents," Shirou replied and that's when I recalled something about Yaba that hit me.
"Shirou, when we were talking to Yaba earlier, I noticed that something was off with his hands," I said and Shirou nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I noticed too," Shirou replied before we turned our attention to Tachiki.
"Detective, the bomb and the person who planted it had no scents but that made me remember that Yaba's hands didn't have any kind of scent on them so he needs to be taken into custody right now since there's a good possibility he might be responsible for this," I stated and Tachiki nodded.
"Of course, I'll contact the judge and have an arrest warrant signed before notifying the station for backup," Tachiki said as he took out his phone and started making a couple of calls.
After a short while, Tachiki informed the rest of us that backup was arriving with the warrant so we proceeded to head downstairs and meet up with a few patrol officers as one of them handed the warrant over to the detective, then we made our way upstairs again and showed up at Yaba's office when we went inside and I saw the suspected bombers resting his head on his desk as his body language showed he was exhausted.
"Mr. Yaba," Tachiki announced and that caused Yaba to sit up straight with a startled gasp until he saw it was us as Tachiki asked, "Can I speak with you for a moment, please?"
"What the hell do you want with me now?! I hope you know I'm going to hold you responsible for this!" Yaba snapped irritably.
"We conducted an investigation of the crime scene but we couldn't detect traces of the criminal's scent," Tachiki said and Yaba stood up and slammed his hands on his desk.
"Is that an excuse?!" Yaba exclaimed before I scowled at him.
"Shut up and sit your ass back down," I warned and Yaba shut up after that before he sat back down in his chair.
"Not only the criminal, but there was a period of time during which no scents were found at the crime scene and it's completely impossible for scents to disappear unless you use a special chemical that's fully able to erase the scent," Shirou explained sternly.
"Mr. Yaba, this laboratory is capable of developing such a chemical, right?" Tachiki questioned and that caused Yaba to stand up while he started sweating.
"This is outrageous, are you actually holding yourself blameless and suspecting me?!" Yaba cried out in outrage as Michiru glared at him.
"I saw one of your employees doing business with The Family earlier today so I'm guessing you're involved with them too, are you?" Michiru accused sternly.
"To destroy all of the evidence, you staged the whole thing and bombed the laboratory," Shirou said and Yaba gritted his teeth before he slammed a fist on the desk.
"Seriously, how can you trust what a man like him says?!" Yaba shouted as he pointed at Shirou, only the wolf beastman sent him a cold glare and Yaba flinched.
"I don't think you heard me correctly, shut your damn mouth because we're not done yet," I stated darkly and Yaba recoiled from the steely look in my eyes.
"If you follow the scent left at the crime scene, it'll always lead you to the criminal because every beastman has their own unique scent...however, there was a particular spot at the crime scene that had no scent at all.
You see, ever since this laboratory was bombed, your hands have no scent to them either," Shirou stated and that made Yaba freeze up before he quickly raised his hands to smell them and started looking panicked while Tachiki held up the arrest warrant.
"In accordance with the regulations of the beastman special zone, the analysis of the scent is going to be used as evidence so, Mr. Yaba, why don't you and I have a long talk at the police station?" Tachiki suggested while Yaba twitched at what was happening.
Suddenly, Yaba shifted into his beast form that was a rhino and he roared at us as he smashed the desk by stepping on it and I widened my eyes in alarm while I pulled out my gun and went to aim at Yaba, only I was swatted aside by the rhino beastman and was sent flying until my back collided against a wall and I let out a pained yelp while I bounced off the wall and crashed to the ground choking and coughing from getting the breath knocked out of me.
'Fuck, that hurt,' I thought as I let out a groan and looked up to see Yaba charging at Shirou to impale the wolf with his horn, only Shirou grabbed it and growled as he held Yaba back.
"Shirou, Doug!" Michiru shouted in horror before she suddenly let out a gag, making me look to see that a chameleon beastman had his tail around her neck and that made me grab my gun while getting up when the chameleon glared at me.
"Hold it, take one more step and I will fucking kill her!" the chameleon threatened and Shirou looked pissed as he sent him a livid glare, Yaba taking advantage of the distraction by slamming his fist into Shirou's face and that sent the wolf into a wall behind him as it turned into a crater.
"Get the hell out of her, Mimura!" Yaba yelled at the chameleon beastman, prompting Mimura to run and taking Michiru with him as a hostage before Yaba turned and ran to the window before he smashed right through it.
"Shirou. you good?!" I exclaimed as my injuries healed up.
"Go after them!" Shirou shouted, then I nodded and quickly gestured for Tachiki to stay right behind me before we ran out of the office and chased after Mimura, who had Michiru.
"Let her go, right now," Tachiki ordered as we aimed our guns at Mimura while we were on the roof with a few other officers, all of us being in our beast forms as Mimura was dangling Michiru off the roof with his tail.
"Don't move, I'll throw her off this roof if you come any closer!" Mimura yelled as I scowled since it wasn't looking good and I needed to come up with a solution fast.
"I hope you know that you're never going to get away with this," Michiru gagged out before Mimura glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes.
"Shut your fucking mouth, this is all your fault because if it wasn't for you snooping around, none of this would've happened!" Mimura yelled angrily.
"Hey, just put her down on the rooftop because it doesn't have to end like this!" I shouted and that turned his attention right back at us.
"Look, if you want to save her, then give me a hundred million yen and a helicopter to escape!" Mimura demanded but Tachiki narrowed his eyes.
"That's not going to happen," Tachiki stated firmly just before I saw Kuro fly up and he went to dive-bomb Mimura, who spotted the crow and swatted him away before Kuro let out a pained squawk as he hit the ground.
"Kuro!" Michiru cried out in horror while I got ready to shoot if it even looked like Mimura was going to drop her.
"Don't underestimate the vision of a chameleon so try anything suspicious and you die, now give me my money and my helicopter," Mimura growled.
"Hey, if you so much as drop her, we will shoot you so calm down and put her back down onto the roof because it's over," I warned and Mimura glared at me.
The chameleon was about to say something when I saw Michiru's arms glowing before they extended again like last time, taking Tachiki and the other officers completely off guard as their mouths dropped open and Mimura went to see what had them so startled when he saw Michiru's arms unnaturally long.
Mimura eyes widened in disbelief before he was smacked in the face by Michiru, forcing him to let go of her by accident and Michiru started falling while my eyes widened in horror and I stuffed my gun in the back of my jeans during my sprint to the edge of the roof before I reached out and grabbed her wrist, only I was yanked over and that was when nothing but terror flooded my system.
"Oh, fuck me!" I screamed as we both started falling down to the streets below while Michiru was screaming her head off and tumbling around, her wrist yanking out of my hand.
I knew that we were going to die since there was no way I was going to survive a fall like this and Michiru certainly wasn't going to survive either as we kept falling, then I saw Shirou running on the side of the building and leaped off of it before reaching out to catch both of us.
Shirou managed to grab Michiru and I tried to take his hand, only I missed and we kept falling as I was screaming in pure terror with Shirou having no choice but to pull Michiru into a hug and held on to her as we fell, then we hit the side of the building and started rolling down it until we were launched off at the end of a curve and fell before we collided against a window.
I felt my ribs break and my head collided against the glass and Shirou's back hit the glass, the two of us letting out yelps of agony while I heard the window crack from the impact, then we rolled off and continued falling until we finally crashed to the ground and causing it to crack with Shirou laying on his back with Michiru on top of him while I was on my stomach.
I couldn't breathe or move as I felt nothing but pure agony when my ribs and my head started healing with the pain beginning to dull, then I felt better as I slowly rolled over until I was on my back and started showing a pained grimace as Michiru lifted her head and gasped as she saw us not moving.
"Shirou, Doug!" Michiru shouted in pure horror as she shook Shirou frantically.
"I'm alive, so can you get off me?" Shirou suggested, causing Michiru to scramble off him so that he could sit up and shake his head that was bleeding when I let out a groan that caught their attention.
I slowly sat up and clutched my aching ribs but the pain didn't matter at the moment because I was in shock and disbelief that Shirou and I weren't dead from a fall that should've killed us as my eyes bugged out, then I raised my hands and stared at them while I couldn't believe I was alive from a fall like that as Shirou looked stunned and Michiru appeared relieved.
"T-This is impossible...we shouldn't even be alive right now," I stuttered as I felt my head and discovered that it had blood on it, my blood while I heard more than a few people leave the medical center behind us.
"Ogami, you and Mr. Jackson need to stay still so that we can get you both treated at the hospital!" Tachiki called out as Shirou and I shifted back to our human forms before we stood up.
"No, I'm fine," Shirou refused gruffly before he started walking away with his hands in his coat pockets as I started limping after him with Michiru right behind us until she showed up next to us.
"Can you two walk?" Michiru asked in concern.
"I can, and it looks like Doug is moving around as well so he should be fine," Shirou said nonchalantly, only he sent me a look that demanded answers and I didn't have any to give him since I have no earthly idea how it's possible we're still alive and moving around.
"Are you really sure that you and Doug are okay?" Michiru questioned and Shirou sighed.
"We're not going to die," Shirou replied, brushing off her concerns when he suddenly stumbled with a pained groan and Michiru hurried over to grab him so that he wouldn't fall over.
"Hey, um, I wanted to say thanks for saving me," Michiru said gratefully, then Shirou looked up with a serious expression.
"I made a promise, didn't I? That I would protect this city and the beastmen living in it," Shirou vowed and I could see Michiru looking ahead of us with a smile before we continued making our way back to Beast Co-op as I could see the sun setting and started wondering what the hell I was since it shouldn't be possible that I have survived a lethal fall and walked away with only minor injuries.
Either way, we made it back to Beast Co-op and Melissa was frantic when she saw me and Shirou looking injured so she fixed us up and told us to take it easy for a few days before I decided to go to bed after everything that happened, then I placed the gun and ammo mag in my bedside cabinet and carefully stripped down to my boxers until I went to bed and fell fast asleep.
Tomorrow morning, I got up and slipped into a fresh pair of clothes that looked pretty much the same as my previous ones before I noticed that I felt much better like I had never been hurt in the first place, though I checked my reflection in the bathroom mirror and decided to keep the bandages on for Melissa's sake as I made my way to the kitchen and had breakfast until I was finished and went to check on Shirou to see if he was doing okay when I saw that the mayor and Michiru were in there and they greeted me before the mayor got right down to business.
"Yaba and Mimura confessed to the crime and it turns out that they were working together to embezzle assets from the medical center so when they found out that upper management had noticed, they bombed the center's data system.
To do that, they hired some criminals and staged a fake bombing so that they can erase all of the data that exposed the embezzlement," the mayor explained while I was sitting on a sofa as Shirou sat in a nearby chair, his head bandaged up.
"I'm not so sure that's all, though," Michiru spoke up and the mayor started appearing curious.
"What do you mean?" the mayor asked before Michiru lowered her head.
"Well, you know that man, Mimura? It was strange how much hatred he had...I mean, he bombed his own laboratory just to save himself so that's completely insane, and it seems like adults are trying to hide anything that seems inconvenient to them.
It's pathetic," Michiru stated firmly as she went to send a look of annoyance at Shirou.
"Are you talking about me?" Shirou asked and Michiru huffed.
"Well..." Michiru trailed off and Shirou sighed.
"I'm sorry, I won't lock you and Doug up anymore," Shirou grumbled and Michiru let out a dramatic gasp.
"What?" Shirou questioned.
"It's just that you were such a pain about it before," Michiru pointed out before Shirou looked away.
"I don't want you and Doug to think I'm like those guys, just make sure you don't tell anyone about your condition," Shirou said and Michiru smiled.
"Understood," Michiru replied and Shirou looked at me to send a look that told me that I need to keep what I've learned at the medical center to myself and I nodded to let him know I would.
"Miss Kagemori, I'm going to investigate treatment methods for you as well," the mayor said and that caught Michiru's attention but she looked confused.
"She has experience in beastman genetic research and is the first beastman to ever earn a doctorate," Shirou clarified and the mayor smiled modestly.
"That's true, but I am a politician now and my research is how I was able to build a strong relationship with Salvasta Pharmaceutical, which is why they also provided support in founding Anima city," the mayor explained.
"That's incredible," Michiru admitted while looking impressed.
"Yeah, it sure is so you learn something new every day," I agreed and Shirou crossed his arms.
"Be careful around Salvasta Pharmaceutical, there's something suspicious about them," Shirou warned, and that caused me and Michiru to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Michiru asked in confusion.
"I don't have a reason, my nose just gives me that impression," Shirou replied cryptically and I sent him a weird look as Michiru grinned.
"Oh, animal instinct," Michiru teased and started giggling, though Shirou didn't look amused as he stood up from his seat.
"Wait, are you mocking me?" Shirou questioned with a sour expression and Michiru turned away from him.
"Of course not," Michiru said playfully, then the mayor and I chuckled until Shirou frowned and turned to look at me with a certain look that I have come to understand the short time I've gotten to know him.
"Michiru, could you step outside, please? I need to talk with Shirou and the mayor in private," I suggested with a hard look in my eyes, and Michiru paused as she saw how serious I looked until she nodded and went to leave the room until she was gone.
"Mr. Jackson, I had heard from Ogami about what happened yesterday so I'm rather curious about a lot of things, such as how you survived a fall that should've killed you or everything you've learned at the medical center," the mayor said as she looked thoughtful and I knew that she needed to know what was going on so that she could help me discover my past.
"Well, I don't know much, but I'll tell you what I know so far," I said and after that, I began explaining what I know so far about who I might be.
A/N Hey guys, I'm finally done with this chapter so thank god for that since this took a while to finish but I have something important to announce. Basically, I've been doing some thinking and decided to remove the crossover portion of the story and make the X-over a sequel since that would make things much less stressful for me and the story wouldn't be so damn long.
Well, that's pretty much it so let me know what you think and stay tuned.