CHAPTER 4 - Feindlich [Hostile]
'His room has to be on the second floor,' Omi said through gritted teeth as they crawled across the ventilation shaft, which connected all floors of the three-floor warehouse. The air was warm inside, and their breathing caused the walls to moist. He felt as if there was insufficient supply of oxygen inside, for the rest of the Weiss were breathing heavily the thin air.
Yohji cursed, 'Damn.' Apparently he was having a hard time as well, creeping across the narrow, creaky and rusty old pipes.
Their tiring excursion was almost over. Through a net-covered opening, Ken spotted two men in military uniforms, surveying the empty area. Their hands carried machine guns, and their expressions were grim and hard. Quietly, except for the heavy sound of their boots, they paced the hall back and forth…back and forth…
'Saigo has to be in that room,' hissed Yohji, pointing at the door at the end of the hall.
Omi nodded. 'Hai. Let's go.'
*
'Shichiro-sama,' a guard saluted at Jin as Jin approached the door to Saigo's room.
'Is Saigo around? I mean…Saigo-sama,' Jin corrected himself automatically.
'Hai. Did you schedule an appointment?'
'Iie. This is an emergency. I have to talk to him as soon as possible,' replied Jin, getting impatient with the guard standing by the door of Saigo's business room.
'Onegai, he has a visitor and has to be entertained first,' the guard apologized. 'I suggest you come back later, after an hour at most.'
*
Kei would not believe her eyes.
As she peered from behind the heavily tinted glasses of Saigo's office, she saw him brutally murdered by four men, as his guest scampered away to the back door in a desperate escape.
No one could see her, she was sure…the window from which the glass was attached was small enough not to be noticed, and the glass was colored intensely enough to hide herself.
She had so terribly wanted to shut her eyes from the violence confined inside the room. The bloodcurdling shrieks of Saigo rang incessantly in her ears, chilling her bones, turning her face pallid. The glimmer of gore, which splattered upon the entire room as his body took a blow after the other, blinded her eyes, draining her of energy.
The slow agony that contorted his face, the pleading in his terrified eyes, the fear radiating from his tormented body…the mercilessness of the assassins….as they twisted a thread-like cord around his neck and dangled him from the ceiling…and the blood, which spurted from Saigo's mouth before his final breath of torture…swept her away from reality…
She felt as if she had just entered a haunting nightmare.
Her hair stood on one end as the influx of events replayed itself in her mind. The shrill cries and deathly moans recurred in her mind madly…over…and over again… She stared ahead, as if on a daze…petrified…traumatized…
What bewildered her more, was the fact she knew the killers…
*
'IIE!!! YAMITTE YAMITTE!!!'
'SAIGO-SAMA!'
Jin was caught startled by the sudden screech coming from inside the room. For a split second he caught his breath, shivers racing across his spine. His face darkened as he regained control of his stunned self. 'K'so…' he muttered under his breath as he ignored the guard and banged open the door.
He held his gun before himself menacingly.
The sight of Saigo's gory body hanging from the ceiling stupefied him.
*
'Intruder alert,' Yohji remarked, smirking at the man holding his gun before him. In a brief instance the sight of Saigo's corpse caught the man off guard.
'Guns would not be needed in this kind of fight,' said Ran, as he sliced the air with his katana, drops of blood splattering on the floor from its steel blade. Forebodingly, his eyes gleamed as the sword in his gloved hand.
The man snickered, hurling his gun to the nearby wall. 'So be it,' he replied, drawing the sword from the sheath slung from his back.
'Its four against one, what chances do you have?' noticed Ken as he wiped the thick red liquid from his claws.
Saigo's body released more blood from the slash in his back. It trickled to the ground, creating a scarlet pool under his cadaver.
'Get lost or be killed,' Yohji warned.
Then five more men appeared from behind the man who stood daringly still. They must be the nasty accomplices. The party was about to begin
*
'Jin-kun, Falke ordered us to leave right now,' Kei's voice hissed from Jin's audio transmitter hidden behind his dark locks. Her tone was apparently trembling.
'Hai.' Jin turned to his men. 'Let's go.' Then facing the Weiss with a glare, he said, through clenched jaws, 'We'll settle this some other time.'
*
'Must've gotten scared,' Yohji commented as the "villains" left. He surveyed the corpse, which still hung from the ceiling, a grimace of disgust shadowing over his features. 'Damn bastard,' he muttered. Shaking his head distastefully, he took a cigarette stick from his coat pocket, placed it upon his lips and lit it.
'Let's go,' Ran told them. He wore his typical serious face again, glaring at nothing in particular. Slowly, he left, his form disappearing into the shadows outside the bloodstained room.
'His room has to be on the second floor,' Omi said through gritted teeth as they crawled across the ventilation shaft, which connected all floors of the three-floor warehouse. The air was warm inside, and their breathing caused the walls to moist. He felt as if there was insufficient supply of oxygen inside, for the rest of the Weiss were breathing heavily the thin air.
Yohji cursed, 'Damn.' Apparently he was having a hard time as well, creeping across the narrow, creaky and rusty old pipes.
Their tiring excursion was almost over. Through a net-covered opening, Ken spotted two men in military uniforms, surveying the empty area. Their hands carried machine guns, and their expressions were grim and hard. Quietly, except for the heavy sound of their boots, they paced the hall back and forth…back and forth…
'Saigo has to be in that room,' hissed Yohji, pointing at the door at the end of the hall.
Omi nodded. 'Hai. Let's go.'
*
'Shichiro-sama,' a guard saluted at Jin as Jin approached the door to Saigo's room.
'Is Saigo around? I mean…Saigo-sama,' Jin corrected himself automatically.
'Hai. Did you schedule an appointment?'
'Iie. This is an emergency. I have to talk to him as soon as possible,' replied Jin, getting impatient with the guard standing by the door of Saigo's business room.
'Onegai, he has a visitor and has to be entertained first,' the guard apologized. 'I suggest you come back later, after an hour at most.'
*
Kei would not believe her eyes.
As she peered from behind the heavily tinted glasses of Saigo's office, she saw him brutally murdered by four men, as his guest scampered away to the back door in a desperate escape.
No one could see her, she was sure…the window from which the glass was attached was small enough not to be noticed, and the glass was colored intensely enough to hide herself.
She had so terribly wanted to shut her eyes from the violence confined inside the room. The bloodcurdling shrieks of Saigo rang incessantly in her ears, chilling her bones, turning her face pallid. The glimmer of gore, which splattered upon the entire room as his body took a blow after the other, blinded her eyes, draining her of energy.
The slow agony that contorted his face, the pleading in his terrified eyes, the fear radiating from his tormented body…the mercilessness of the assassins….as they twisted a thread-like cord around his neck and dangled him from the ceiling…and the blood, which spurted from Saigo's mouth before his final breath of torture…swept her away from reality…
She felt as if she had just entered a haunting nightmare.
Her hair stood on one end as the influx of events replayed itself in her mind. The shrill cries and deathly moans recurred in her mind madly…over…and over again… She stared ahead, as if on a daze…petrified…traumatized…
What bewildered her more, was the fact she knew the killers…
*
'IIE!!! YAMITTE YAMITTE!!!'
'SAIGO-SAMA!'
Jin was caught startled by the sudden screech coming from inside the room. For a split second he caught his breath, shivers racing across his spine. His face darkened as he regained control of his stunned self. 'K'so…' he muttered under his breath as he ignored the guard and banged open the door.
He held his gun before himself menacingly.
The sight of Saigo's gory body hanging from the ceiling stupefied him.
*
'Intruder alert,' Yohji remarked, smirking at the man holding his gun before him. In a brief instance the sight of Saigo's corpse caught the man off guard.
'Guns would not be needed in this kind of fight,' said Ran, as he sliced the air with his katana, drops of blood splattering on the floor from its steel blade. Forebodingly, his eyes gleamed as the sword in his gloved hand.
The man snickered, hurling his gun to the nearby wall. 'So be it,' he replied, drawing the sword from the sheath slung from his back.
'Its four against one, what chances do you have?' noticed Ken as he wiped the thick red liquid from his claws.
Saigo's body released more blood from the slash in his back. It trickled to the ground, creating a scarlet pool under his cadaver.
'Get lost or be killed,' Yohji warned.
Then five more men appeared from behind the man who stood daringly still. They must be the nasty accomplices. The party was about to begin
*
'Jin-kun, Falke ordered us to leave right now,' Kei's voice hissed from Jin's audio transmitter hidden behind his dark locks. Her tone was apparently trembling.
'Hai.' Jin turned to his men. 'Let's go.' Then facing the Weiss with a glare, he said, through clenched jaws, 'We'll settle this some other time.'
*
'Must've gotten scared,' Yohji commented as the "villains" left. He surveyed the corpse, which still hung from the ceiling, a grimace of disgust shadowing over his features. 'Damn bastard,' he muttered. Shaking his head distastefully, he took a cigarette stick from his coat pocket, placed it upon his lips and lit it.
'Let's go,' Ran told them. He wore his typical serious face again, glaring at nothing in particular. Slowly, he left, his form disappearing into the shadows outside the bloodstained room.