Mikage Kagami opened his eyes and found himself staring
at a white ceiling. His eyelids felt extremely heavy, and his limbs felt so
sore that he didn't want to move a single muscle. He exhaled deeply and turned
his head as he heard noises at his side.
There was a nurse dressed in white, checking the stability of the life support
machinery that was humming softly in the silence of the white-walled room. She
turned when she heard the soft noise that was made by Kagami's movement, and
dropped her checkboard in shock.
"Mi… Mikage-san!" the nurse exclaimed, her face beaming with both shock and
amazement. "Doctor!!!" she yelled as she ran out of the room. "Doctor
O'Howell!"
Where am I? Kagami felt his head throbbing from the blinding brightness
that struck his now-light-sensitive eyes. He tried to recall his last memory of
consciousness, but his head hurts too much for him to think at the moment.
He heard voices drawing nearer, and rapid footsteps, then the door opened and
in walked a familiar face.
"Kagami-san!" Alexander O'Howell stared in amazement as he saw that the nurse
was telling the truth, that Mikage Kagami had finally came to consciousness. He
froze for a moment, then walked towards Kagami to check his pulse.
"Alec…" Kagami started to speak. His voice was hoarse. "What happened…?"
"All pulse is normal…" Alec said, changing the subject to avoid having to
answer Kagami's question. He then proceeded to check Kagami's eye reflexes by
flashing a flashlight over his eyes, then he took out his stethoscope to check
Kagami's heartbeat. But suddenly Kagami grasped his collar.
"Alec!" Kagami pulled the young doctor towards him. "Answer me!"
"Kagami-san… you… you survived the explosion…" Alec scrambled for words.
"You've been in a coma… this whole time… for fifteen months…"
Fifteen months… Kagami thought as he released Alec's collar. Then the
images slowly returned back into his memory. Ceres… Mikage Shiso… Aya… Aki…
Tooya… and all his C-Genoma subjects. He closed his eyes and laid back on the
bed. My C-Project…
Suddenly they heard a commotion outside the room. "Sir, wait! You can't go in there!"
A nurse's voice was heard, but then it was followed by a blasting sound, and
then screams, more blasts, and rapid footsteps.
"What's going on out there…?" Alec mumbled as he walked towards the door.
Suddenly, the door blasted into pieces, its blast sent Alec flying off to the
wall.
As the dust settled down, Alec opened his eyes to see the figure standing right
in front of him. "What the hell do you think you're do…" Alec stopped his words
when he could finally see clearly the face of the perpetrator. "No…" He mouthed
the words, trembling in fear, as he saw the blood-stained hands and face. "It
can't be…"
Kagami's eyes widened in both astonishment and horror. "Mikage Shiso…!"
* * *
Kagami leaned back on the leather chair in his office up on the top floor of
the new Mikage International building. Three days ago was when he had came back
to consciousness. He looked around. The room looked exactly the same as if he
were in the same building that was destroyed to ashes by the mass C-Genoma
subjects' suicide a year ago. Since the incident, the rest of the Mikage clan
had rebuilt the building exactly the same to resume their family business, and
in hope that Kagami would return and resume the C-Project, to preserve their
supposed "destiny" as civilization leaders. The five top floors of the
50-storey building was built to accommodate the technologies needed by the
C-Project. The labs, the test chambers.
"Kagami…" Freya's voice echoed again inside his head. "I know your dreams… I
know what you wish for… and I can make it all come true once again. We can
build a new world together… the world that is of your ideal…"
Kagami closed his eyes, and he could almost feel again the sweetness of her lips on his.
The perfect world…
She had first only enticed him for his help in obtaining her goal, which is to
kill Ceres, and Aya's child. But when she learned that the Mikages had built a
compound that possess an ability to clone manas, her eyes gleamed in
astonishment.
Neo-C-Project. Kagami had already given it a new name. He became
enchanted by the revelation that Freya had brought to his knowledge. A chance
that only passes every ten thousand years had fallen on his time.
"The tennyo crest… holds a sacred meaning. It's a talisman that holds forbidden
powers." Freya said. "There are four points of celestial positions in each
angle of the crest that holds immense power. With a holy sacrifice positioned
in the center of the crest, and a perfect mana on each of the crest's power
points, a fusion of the force will open a dimensional gate, in which both
heaven and earth will merge into one." Freya concluded, as she delightfully
watched the expression emerging on Kagami's face.
"A perfect world…" Kagami had muttered in disbelief as he listened to Freya's
revelation.
Kagami's daydream was abruptly interrupted by noises
outside his door.
"Hanashite yo!!" a girl's voice was heard screaming outside. The door opened,
and Mikage Shiso walked in. Two big men in suits and shades were holding a
raven-haired girl. Kagami stood up from where he is and approached them.
"What is this?" Kagami asked.
"This is your first guinea pig." Mikage Shiso said. "Miyashita Sayaka is a
human C-Genoma."
Kagami smiled at the sound of the word 'C-Genoma'. It always stirs his blood to
excitement. "Take her down to the main lab. Get Alexander O'Howell from his
containment chamber to supervise."
* * *
"Kagami-san! This is madness!" Alec exclaimed as Kagami
walked into the main lab's control room. From the glass panel, they could see
Sayaka being strapped to the hi-tech machinery that will extract her tennyo
life force to clone an artificial mana. "Are you going to repeat the same
nightmare? Have you forgotten what it was like!?"
"It will be different this time, Alec. I promise." Kagami said calmly as his
eyes never went away from his subject down below in the test chamber.
"I will not be a part of this! You can imprison me here forever but I will not
take any more part in any of this madness!" Alec exclaimed with determination.
Kagami then turned to glance at the young doctor's sharp, determined words.
Alexander O'Howell was the only lead scientist that survived the original
C-Project, but ever since that incident, he had realized the evil of the
C-Project and had sworn never to take part in it again. Therefore, Kagami had
imprisoned him in the building to force upon his cooperation. He looked pale
and tired as he hadn't eaten a single bite or slept a single wink in three days
since he had been locked in the containment chamber.
"Don't be foolish, O'Howell." Kagami said. "If you refuse to cooperate I will
kill that girl. Is that what you want?"
Alec looked at Kagami in horror. "No… you wouldn't do that! She's a subject
critical to the experiment!"
"She's a C-Genoma. I can replace her with other C-Genomas just as easily. You
do realize we have millions of C-Genoma subjects all over the world?" Kagami
said tauntingly, staring right at Alec.
"Kagami-san…" Alec murmured in despair. He knew that Kagami was a ruthless
person who would not say something if he did not mean it. And at the corner of
his eye, he saw Wei Fei Li, Kagami's trusted ruthless henchman stepping up,
ready for Kagami's command.
Heavy-heartedly, Alec turned away and walked towards the control consoles,
where the other assistant scientists await his orders. He sat down, and with
trembling hands, pushed a button that triggered the machinery in the test
chamber to hum into life. "Subject one… Miyashita Sayaka. C-Genoma subject type
A." Alec muttered the words, holding back the tears in his eyes.
"Test one… go."
* * *
Late in the afternoon the following day, Sayaka was sitting silently on the
railings on the school's rooftop. She doesn't know how long she's been sitting
there since school hours ended. The once crowded basketball court and football
field was now sitting silently in emptiness. The breeze that was soft and
subtle was starting to sweep coldly through the air.
It was only four days ago that her brother was suddenly possessed by Mikage
Shiso. But it felt like ages ago. And it almost felt unreal. As she thought
more about it, she buried her face in her palms and sobbed softly.
Akira had only been the one and only love she had this whole time. He had been
her fortress, her shoulder to cry on, someone who is always there for her,
someone who holds her every night in her sleep. And the realization that he
might be gone forever was too much for her.
"Don't worry… you'll get your brother back." She remembered Freya saying to her
just yesterday. "Only if you do as you're told. It's all in your hands."
"What exactly do you want me to do?" Sayaka had asked Freya in desperation.
"Oh I have quite some tasks for you. You will lure all of them to us. I want
Ceres, and that other tennyo Aogiri Suzumi. I want their manas." Freya
answered. "And that tennyo child will be our sacred sacrifice."
"And Tooya…" Mikage Shiso's eyes gleamed. "His head is mine."
"That Aogiri boy and Tooya are the protectors. You will seduce the Aogiri boy
and use his trust to kill both him and Tooya. Do it, and you will have your
brother back in one piece. You have my word." Freya smiled a victorious smile.
"But first, you would need to something else for us…"
That was when she was taken
away for the C-Project testing. Sayaka exhaled. Her body felt extremely weak
after enduring hours of testing that extracted her life force out of her limbs.
Even today.
The sky was now glowing red as the sun was setting. Yet she didn't budge from
where she had been sitting. How can I do it to Yuuhi…? Why us…? She
couldn't understand why of all people, it happened to both her and her beloved
brother. My tennyo blood… it had brought all this…
Even she could not remember when she had first discovered she was a C-Genoma.
Funny, even all her memories of her childhood could sometimes seemed as if they
were merely a fragment of her imagination. One day, she could remember clearly
the face of her parents. Another day, all her childhood memories would fade
away, as though none of it had ever happened at all. She remembered the last
time she saw both her parents when they returned to Japan two years ago. But
somehow, there was no memory of what they did during that time, what
conversations took place…
What am I really? What is this curse in my blood?
"Miyashita-san?" a voice suddenly called out behind her that took her by
surprise that she almost fell from the railings. But Yuuhi's strong hands
caught on to her.
"Aogiri-san! You scared me half to death…" she said as she steadily regained
her balance, and stepped down from the railings. It wasn't after a moment that
they both realized they were still holding hands, and both of them retracted
their hands, their faces turning red.
"Gomen…" Yuuhi said. "I saw you from down below… and I thought I'd come up to
say hello… what are you doing here at this hour?"
"I… uh…" she wondered what she was going to say. "Ano… betsuni… I just felt like
being alone…" she murmured as her eyes looked away from his eyes.
"Are you all right? You look a little pale…" he said again, trying to find her
gaze with a concerned look on his face.
"Aa… daijobu! Watashi wa daijobu!" she answered quickly to divert his attention
away from her poor condition.
"Yokatta ne…" Yuuhi said again, smiling. And then for a moment, there was just
silence between them. Yuuhi could hear his heart beating almost as if it were
aloud. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach everytime he laid eyes on her, and
he doesn't know why. Ask her…! Ask her you baka! Yuuhi argued with
himself. He opened his mouth, the words at the tip of his tongue, but then he
hesitated. "Well… in that case…" he said instead. "It's late… you wouldn't want
to worry your brother, would you? Well… ja ne!" He said as he turned around. Aogiri
no baka! He scolded himself. Why are you such a chicken shit? Still
hoping on Aya's heart that could never be yours?
Onii-chan… She thought of Akira as Yuuhi mentioned him. I must… kill…
Yuuhi… or Onii-chan will… But then fatigue and dizziness overcame her and
she collapsed onto the floor.
* * *
Tooya gazed out to the garden with a blank stare as he sat down at the Aogiri house's
parlor. It felt a little strange to feel so energized, and to be immortal
again… after all this time. He lifted up his right palm and looked at it. Then,
the dagger emerged out of his flesh again. He examined the dagger closely, then
let it disappear into his palm again.
"Tooya…" Aya called out softly behind him. She walked to him and sat next to
him. When Tooya told her what Ceres had told them, she had been surprisingly
calm and collected as she listened. Even when mentioned the fact that their
child, Aki, is in grave danger.
Tooya took her in his arms and held her close.
"Nee… Tooya… please be honest with me…" Aya started saying. "Are you dying…?"
Tooya's eyes widened in shock at her question. For a moment he was speechless,
not knowing what exactly he should tell her. Actually, not knowing how he
should tell her is more likely.
"Tooya, I know…" she said again, her head still nestled close on Tooya's
shoulder. "I know that you are getting weaker… I know about your seizures… why didn't
you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to be worried, Aya." Tooya said.
"But what about you?" Aya exclaimed, as she pulled away from him and looked at
him. "You're going through this alone… taking it all as your own burden over
your shoulders… I want to be there for you just as you've been there for me!
You're not alone anymore, Tooya… remember?"
Tooya was left speechless in stunnedness. But then as Aya's words sank into his
heart, he felt warmth creeping up inside him. "Arigato… Aya…" he said as he
smiled. "I promise I'll never keep anything from you ever again…"
Their moment of affection was interrupted by a commotion. "Onee-sama!!!"
Yuuhi's voice was heard yelling for Suzumi from a distance.
"Yuuhi!?" Suzumi exclaimed as she walked across the hallway to see what the
commotion was all about, Kyuu-chan following right behind her.
"Nee-sama! Kyuu-chan!" Yuuhi exclaimed as he entered the door with an
unconscious Sayaka in his arms. "Call a doctor! Hayaku!"
As Kyuu-chan went to the telephone to call a doctor, Suzumi helped Yuuhi to lay
the girl down in his room. "Yuuhi… what happened?"
Tooya and Aya hurriedly entered Yuuhi's room to see what's going on. "That
girl…" Aya muttered in disbelief as she saw Sayaka. "Tooya…" Aya turned to look
at Tooya.
Suzumi was startled by the look on Aya and Tooya's faces. She looked at Tooya
for an explanation. "She was the girl we saw in the station… the girl whose
brother looked exactly like Aki…" Tooya said to Suzumi. Then he turned to Yuuhi.
"Yuuhi… how did you…?"
"She's a new student, and I met her in school the day after we saw her at the
station. We were just talking just now… and she suddenly…"
"She's a tennyo…" Suzumi cut Yuuhi's words all of a sudden.
Suzumi's words brought silence among Yuuhi, Aya and Tooya. They were all
stunned for moment. Yuuhi's eyes stared at his sister-in-law in disbelief.
"What are you saying… Onee-sama…?!" Yuuhi stammered in shock. "Tennyo…"
"She's a tennyo descendant, Yuuhi. Just like me." Suzumi said calmly. "I can
sense it just as I sensed Aya's existence, remember?" she said as she took
Sayaka's lifeless hand in hers and checked her pulse. "She's extremely weak…"
"A… tennyo…" Aya started speaking in shock. "And her brother… looked just like
Aki… what does this all mean?"
Aya… Ceres voice called out. Let me out…
"Ceres…" Aya murmured softly. Then she stepped back, and let Ceres unleash
herself out in her physique. Floating back to the floor, Ceres stepped towards
where Sayaka was lying, and took her hand from Suzumi's.
"Ceres…" Yuuhi said. "Can you do something?"
Ceres turned to look at Yuuhi, and saw how concerned he looked. She realized
that a soft spot for Sayaka had developed in his heart as well. "Her life force
is very weak… as if it had been drained out…" Ceres said. "Freya might have
something to do with this…" She paused for a moment. "But she'll be fine…"
Yuuhi exhaled in relief and leaned back on the wall at Ceres' words.
Tooya just stood there in silence. Something inside me… is reacting to her
presence… she's no ordinary tennyo descendant… Tooya thought to himself. What
is she…?
* * *
"Sayaka… we know of your tennyo blood…" Yuuhi said softly when he's finally
left alone in the room as Suzumi went out to escort the doctor who had came to
examine Sayaka.
Sayaka looked at him, stunned at his words. "Yuuhi… how did you…" she started
speaking. He knows…! Does he know that I'm working with them…?
"Did that tennyo, Freya, and Mikage Shiso did this to you? Listen to me… they
might come back for you and finish the job! It's not safe for you out there…!"
Yuuhi exclaimed as he grasped on her shoulders. "I can protect you! We'll stop
them together!" he exclaimed with determination.
"Not without this, you won't." Suzumi walked in the room with the tennyo
crest-sewn headband and armbands that Yuuhi used to wear. She walked towards
Yuuhi and helped him put it on around his head and on his wrists.
Yuuhi flexed his fists as he pulled the armband into place.
"Count me in." Tooya said, appearing at the door. The dagger was in his hand,
then it disappeared into his flesh.
Sayaka's eyes widened. "What… what are you…? All of you?"
* * *
"Arigato, Yuuhi." Sayaka said as Yuuhi stopped his car in front of her large
mansion. "You and your friends have all been so nice…"
"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Yuuhi asked with concern.
Sayaka nodded. "I can take care of myself… and I have… my brother… to protect
me too…" She felt as if her heart broke for having to lie to him.
Yuuhi smiled. Then after a sudden awkward moment of silence, he got out of his
car to open the door for Sayaka.
"Well… I'll see you in school tomorrow…" Sayaka said, as Yuuhi closed the door
behind her when she got out.
"Aa… hai…" Yuuhi said. "Please… if anything… you know where to find me…" he
said as he waved his cellphone in the air. And then as another thought crossed
his head, his face turned red. "Ano… would it be all right… if I asked you out…
sometime…? Like maybe… for a date…?" he asked naively.
She was stunned by his question. And her face turned red as well, and she
nodded shyly to Yuuhi's delight.
"Well then… Oyasumi…" Yuuhi said again sheepishly.
"Oyasumi…" she said, and she turned to walk away. But after a couple of steps,
suddenly she turned back and kissed Yuuhi on his cheek, and quickly turned
around again and ran off into her gate. "Ja mata ashita!" she yelled from afar.
Yuuhi was left stunned in the darkness. A tingling warm sensation was creeping
up in his chest. Something that he had always felt… only for Aya. Slowly, he
smiled.
Sayaka…
* * *
Sayaka opened the door to her bedroom. When she turned on the light, she found
Mikage Shiso sitting in the middle of her room, waiting for her. Sayaka gasped
in shock when she saw him.
He smiled devilishly when he saw her. Then, slowly, Freya's figure emerged into
visibility next to him.
"What a sweet display." Freya said with a mocking smile on her face. "So tell
us something good that you found out today…!"
"It's only been a day…" Sayaka said, after hesitating, even though Yuuhi and
Suzumi had told her almost everything about themselves when she had asked, and
the reappearance of Ceres. "He didn't tell me anything."
"Are you sure…?" Freya taunted her. "You know… if you do know something you
should really be telling us. You will be rewarded accordingly. I promise you."
"And how exactly would you reward me?" Sayaka asked, leaning back on her door.
Mikage Shiso stood up. "By letting you have your brother back for one night."
He said, smiling his usual victorious smile. "One night. It's enough for now,
isn't it?"
Sayaka's eyes widened in shock. Onii-chan…
"Mikage…" Freya ordered. Mikage Shiso nodded, and closed his eyes. Then Sayaka
saw a strange shadowy mist lift up from her brother's body. Akira's body
slumped on the floor lifelessly. But then, he started moving, but he was weak.
Freya bent down towards Akira and pulled his face up so Sayaka could see him.
"Like I said… it's all in your hands…" she hissed at Sayaka.
"Sa…ya…ka…" Akira mouthed his words as he was choked by Freya's grip.
"Onii-chan…!" she screamed, then turned to Freya. "Stop it! He can't breathe!"
she exclaimed. Upon looking at Freya's face, she knew if she told her something
good, she'll be able to hold her brother in her arms again. Clenching her
trembling fist, she finally opened her mouth, "The mana… Ceres' mana… is now
inside Tooya!" she screamed out the words with tears streaming out of her eyes.
Freya looked up at her as she heard the words. She smiled, and slowly released
Akira's neck. He slumped back to the floor. "Good girl." Freya hissed. "Have
fun." she said mockingly, and disappeared.
"Onii-chan!!!" Sayaka shrieked and she hurriedly went to lift her brother up in
her arms. With the last ounce of her strength, she tangled his arm around her
shoulders and dragged him up to lie on her bed.
"Sayaka… what happened…?" Akira mumbled, his hand resting on his forehead. "My
head… hurts…"
Her tears dripped onto his face. "It's all right… everything's gonna be all
right…" she said softly as she held her brother's face in her palms and kissed
him again and again.
Akira took both her hands by her wrists and looked at her for a moment. Then he
pushed her down and climbed on top of her. He looked at her intently as his
fingers toyed with her shirt's buttons. Then he slowly leaned down closer and
kissed her passionately. Tugging off each other's clothes, the two siblings are
now entangled in their own world.
One night… just one night…
Onii-chan…
…
Yuuhi…
Gomen nasai…
====================================================================================
to be continued…
