Disclaimer: Don't own any of it.
A/N: Juicy reincarnation fic in the making. At first focusing on Tasuki, Taka, and Miaka. Takes place three years after the Eikouden.
Warnings: Modern Bandit language.
Special thanks to roku kyu and her mighty helpful review! I think I've finally found all those pesky little errors I missed the first few times around. (edited 12-11)
Chapter 1: Overload
The black body suit fit like a glove.
The surprisingly thick and resistant material clung to his body, bringing a rush of memories. He clenched his fists, feeling the familiar pull of the fabric against his taunt muscles. Straining his ears to pick up the sound of his own movement, the man was thrilled by his silence as he stretched and twisted, making sure his clothing and equipment were situated properly.
Brushing a gloved hand back through his unruly hair, the man pulled on his specially designed facemask, completing the ensemble.
Even the blackness of night was jealous of him, as the shadows seemed to gather around in awe.
Silent, invisible, and impossibly fast
With a feral grin and a rush of adrenaline the man darted across a street, avoiding the harsh glare of streetlamps.
Completely undetectable Like a wolf huntin' its prey
But even wolves leave trails unlike me.
Everyone he knew knew he was the best. His natural skills coupled with a lifetime of training helped him rise to the top of the organization. There was some talk about him taking over the role of leader eventually But the man couldn't have cared less one way or another.
Especially when there were more important things to think about.
Like how, exactly, he was supposed to get on top of the four-story building? Funny how briefings always seemed to leave out the minor details.
Just as well it's more fun this way.
At least, he hoped it would be more fun. The challenge of scaling up the building had his mind whirling with wonderful possibilities as he made his way to the back alley. It was then that he noticed the well-built fire escape.
With a sigh and a slight drooping of his shoulders, the black-clad figure made his way up four flights of stairs and ladders without a sound. The last ladder even took him all the way to the roof, much to the man's displeasure.
I'm gettin' the feeling this one's gonna be too fuckin' easy Is it too much to ask for a little challenge now an' then?
He quickly set about preparing his climbing gear for the next phase of the operation. There were probably easier ways to complete the mission, but he refused to consider them.
If I don't at least get t' scale down the side of this stupid place I'm leavin'.
He was almost finished when static crackled over the tiny two-way radio fit snugly into his ear. His partner was finally checking in on their private channel.
"This is Kouji, do you read me?"
The man opened his mouth to reply, but he wasn't quite quick enough.
"We read you loud and clear Kouji, go ahead. I've got an urgent message for Genrou. Alright, we'll patch you right through. Thank you very much. You're welcome."
"Damnit" Genrou forced himself to growl so his friend wouldn't know he was trying to keep himself from laughing at his ridiculous antics. Kouji was always having one-sided conversations with himself. It didn't matter if they were in the middle of a job or not. "If ya got somethin' ta say just say it."
"I've hacked into their security system" Kouji continued, unfazed by the growling, "an' let me tell ya It's a real piece o' work!"
"Izzit that bad?" Genrou felt his spirits dampen again as he stopped what he was doing to hear exactly what his friend had to say.
"Worse man, worse" The tiny voice in his ear sounded terrified. "I don't think we've ever seen a system this this this OLD before!" Even over the radio, Genrou could tell his friend had started grinning like an idiot.
"Aw hell, let's call the whole thing off." Genrou was only half kidding. "If it ain't gonna be fun breakin' in here I don' wanna do 't."
"We're at a fuckin' library Genrou! A library!" Kouji chortled. "Didja think this was going to be some sorta mission impossible?"
"I can dream can't I?" Genrou sighed as he finished fastening his rope to the edge of the building. "So whadda we got?"
"Nothing no motion detectors, no heat detectors, no pass-card entry systems nothin' but a couple a' locked doors and a few rent-a-cops Exactly what the boss told us t' expect. It's gonna be a piece a' cake for pros like us."
"So what about the guards?" There was always the hope that the living security would throw a certain amount of unpredictability into the mix. Genrou crossed his fingers.
"Sorry ta disappoint ya but one of them is asleep and the one that's supposed to be monitoring the cameras is watching TV Go figure. They ain't armed and I've already disconnected their alarm system"
"Damnit Kouji! Wasn't there somewhere more interestin' we coulda broken into?"
"Maybe the boss'll have something good waitin' when we get back?"
"Yeah maybe" The prospects were heartening and once again Genrou felt his cocky grin creeping across his face. The two sharp points of his unnaturally prominent canine teeth tickled his lower lip. "Let's get this over with so we can celebrate. It's been a long time since we got smashed on real Japanese sake."
"Yer on!" Kouji cheered over the radio. "Just go ahead'n lower yerself to the third floor. I'll give ya directions once you get inside."
"Alright Kouji, but keep an eye on the guards will ya?" Genrou easily slipped over the side of the wall and tested the strength of his line before he started descending. "I'd at least like a warnin' if they spot me."
"No problem Gen-chan. I've already hacked into their cameras and it looks like the third floor is clear."
The constant exchange of conversation fell silent, as Genrou soundlessly rappelled down the side of the building. His comment about receiving warnings had been a playful dig at his older yet less talented partner and against his usual nature, his friend was taking a long time to realize it.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Kouji finally blurted out. "What exactly did you mean by yer last comment ya lil' bastard?"
"Nuthin'." Genrou lied through his teeth, lacing the single word with juicy sarcasm that was sure to get Kouji riled up.
There's nothing in the world quite like sneaking through the dark of night on a secret mission while making fun of yer best friend.
"I hope yer not implying that I might somehow screw up and get you in trouble?"
"Why would I imply somethin' like that?" Faked ignorance and innocence was a surefire way to piss off the senior member of the team.
He's gonna blow! Bwahaha!
"Screw you Genrou, ya little shit! If yer still angry about the Bangkok episode I've told ya a thousand times I'm really fuckin' sorry!"
"Ah gimme a break Kouji! Ya know I'm just teasin' ya. Besides, it's not like it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Genrou mocked, pushing his spastic friend over the edge.
"That's cold man! Real fuckin' cold. It ain't my fault that the security system had its own security system! Yer damn lucky that I even realized we'd tripped the alarm before you got yerself"
"Whaddya mean 'we'?" Genrou interrupted smugly. "I sure as hell didn't trip no alarm!"
Kouji launched into a tirade about the difficulties of hacking into surveillance and alarm programs while the younger member of the team came to his destination. Old habit took hold as he checked the edges of the window frame for any visible sign of detection devices. He allowed himself a brief moment to daydream about his last mission and all the troubles they'd had to overcome to make it out with their skins intact.
Sure, we screwed up big time But at least Bangkok was fun not like this stupid waste of time. What could possibly go wrong at a library?
Genrou sighed as he peered inside the large window he was about to illegally enter. The adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins seemed to have changed its mind and returned to his adrenal gland leaving him feeling devoid of energy.
It's usually exciting breakin' and enterin' but something about the job just really bores the shit outta me...
Stifling a yawn, the experienced thief removed a glasscutter from his utility belt. Kouji droned on in the background of his attention but it was easy enough to ignore him, especially with a volume control on his earpiece. As he braced himself to cut a perfect circle from the window he realized that it was open just a crack at the bottom.
"Aw hell What kinda fun is this?" He muttered to himself angrily as he pulled the window open wide enough to enter. Once his feet were safely touching the floor he disengaged himself from his climbing rope and left it hanging outside for his getaway. If there were problems he would be able to rappel to the alley and make a quick escape. If things went as planned he would be heading back up to the roof so he could collect his gear before departing. It didn't really matter either way to Genrou. His rope and climbing equipment were all clean and untraceable. One way or another there would be no evidence capable of insinuating his involvement in the affair
As long as he didn't get caught
Hmph Fat chance of that happenin'. There's no way some unarmed donut-eating rent-a-cop could possibly catch ME!
The sound of footsteps sent Genrou diving for cover down the nearest hallway. A moment later a flashlight wielding uniformed security guard patrolled casually past the black-clad infiltrator. It was all Genrou could do to keep his heart from beating loud enough to be heard.
"Kouji!!" Genrou hissed into the radio after he watched the light disappear down a far corridor. "Where the hell was my warnin'!?"
The reply from his partner was muffled and the young thief cursed himself out as he remembered he'd muted the man who was supposed to be keeping an eye on things.
Understandably, Kouji sounded furious. "I was tryin' ta tell ya!! There's a guard on yer floor! Are you TRYING to make things complicated??"
"Fuck" Genrou finally exhaled and allowed his pulse to return to some semblance of normalcy. "No, I'm not tryin' to get us caught"
"Don't do that man! Ya gotta focus! What the hell is yer problem? I've never seen you this distracted before! Ya wanna call things off or what? Is the library too tough for ya?"
Too tough? This shitty library??
Genrou wanted to laugh just thinking about it. Of course, he realized that it had probably been Kouji's intention in the first place. If the two of them were laughing they were more at ease, if they were more at ease they were a lot better at their jobs and everything was just a little more enjoyable.
Genrou got to his feet and made sure he hadn't lost anything in his mad dive for cover. The window was still wide open but the guard had totally failed to realize it.
Even when I'm sloppy I'm still one lucky bastard.
Genrou could feel himself grinning like a madman. His confidence returned twice as strong and he had to keep himself from actually laughing out loud. He entertained the notion that he could have stomped down the hallway laughing his fool head off and still completed his objective in the end. He was just that good
You can be an inch away from getting caught but as long as there's that inch, none of the rest of it matters.
"Didja see my moves Kouji?" He had to share his newly revamped ego with someone. "I'm like the fucking king of badass secret agents. I jumped, rolled, and came to a perfect crouch out of donut-boy's sight without a sound! Maybe I should get a job doing stunts for movies or sumthin'?"
Kouji laughed once, and Genrou could imagine him shaking his head in amusement and wonder. "Yeah, Gen-chan, yer my fuckin' hero." Kouji paused just long enough to let the younger man soak up the sarcasm-coated compliment. It was a dangerous job feeding Genrou's ego, but someone had to do it. "Now get back to work."
"Yessir!" Genrou tossed a cocky salute toward the window and what he knew to be Kouji's general direction. His friend was watching him through the surveillance cameras as well as with a high-powered night-vision scope their organization had supplied them with. Every piece of equipment they owned was top-of-the-line, right down to their covert operative style boots. It was definitely nice to be extremely well funded with wonderful black-market connections.
But all the connections and power in the world did little for Genrou as he tried to decide if the room he was looking for was to his right or his left. He first glanced one way, then the other, and then back the way he'd originally looked.
It was Kouji's bored voice that finally solved the problem. "Take a left moron"
Oh YEAH, now I remember! Leave it to Kouji to take care of th' tough stuff.
"Right!" Genrou acknowledged and started out of the corridor.
"Not 'right', I said LEFT!"
"I meant 'right' as in 'oh that's right!' See? I'm going left." Genrou pointed in the direction he was heading and tossed his invisible friend a wave.
Kouji snickered. "Ya never know with you Gen-chan"
With Kouji's directions the room was easy enough to find. The door was marked with a sign bearing a string of kanji that Genrou would have needed a dictionary to read. Japanese wasn't exactly his native language and his kanji mastery was what he liked to call 'selective'.
"I'm in front of a door Kouji, is this the one?"
"It's supposed to be a special references room or somethin' like that. Does it say anythin' about 'no unauthorized personnel allowed'?"
Genrou stared at the complicated kanji for three long seconds waiting for the words to miraculously make sense. "Uhhh Yup." It was just as likely they said 'no unauthorized personnel allowed' as anything else.
"That's the door then," Kouji was oblivious to his hesitation and his little white lie. "It should be locked. Ya got yer pick right?"
Stupid question Kouji
With practiced ease Genrou slid his favorite lock pick from its securing compartment of his utility belt. For a moment he wished Kouji still had visual contact with him so he could be sure he was at the right place.
"I'm goin' in."
As he gripped the doorknob his sixth sense started tingling. Something was strange. Not wrong, per se, but definitely not normal. For starters, he realized the door was unlocked.
"Shit Kouji the door's"
Kouji cut him off urgently. "Aw fuck Genrou. Be careful, that guard's headin' yer way again. Ferget the door and get yer ass inside."
Genrou complied and quickly shut the door. The room inside was lined with shelves of books and dark enough to make reading their titles impossible. Genrou retrieved his small flashlight and began running it over the rows of Japanese texts, hoping to find his quarry quickly and get out of the creepy room. His senses were still tingling and he did not like it one bit.
A blast of static crackled loudly in Genrou's ear and the building itself seemed to rumble and shake. As if the unexpected event wasn't enough Kouji's voice suddenly cut through the static causing Genrou to involuntarily jump.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"What is 't Kouji??" Genrou flattened himself against the corner of two of the bookshelves, blending into the deeper shadows with practiced ease. "What da hell's happenin' out there?"
"Sorry man, sorry" The rumbling dissipated as his partner took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "It just started raining out here somethin' fierce. This freakin' unnatural blast o' lightnin' just scared the hell outta me and interfered with my electronics. Everything seems to be workin' fine though no worries."
So he says
But Genrou couldn't shake the feeling that something big was happening. For a moment he allowed himself to absorb the shadows and darkness of the room, adjusting his eyes to the dimness and stretching out his senses to the limit of his perception. As his eyes gradually pulled the available light to his use he noticed something lying in the middle of the floor, something he was sure had not been there when he'd first ducked inside.
He approached carefully, his muscles coiled like springs under too much pressure.
It's just a fuckin' book
His mind tried to convince him there was nothing to be afraid of. But try as he might, he had no desire to reach down and pick it up, or even take a closer look at it. Swallowing the fear that was creeping up the back of his throat like bile he clicked on his small flashlight. His suspicions were confirmed, and for the first time in his life Genrou felt utterly lost and confused. He couldn't explain it, even to himself, but somehow just reading its title rocked the foundations of his very existence.
Especially considering the fact that he knew he couldn't and shouldn't have been able to understand the kanji sprawled in black on the ominous red cover of the book. But in his mind, as clear as day, he knew what the characters stood for
The Universe of the Four Gods
Genrou wasn't sure how long he'd been staring before he realized what he was doing. "K Kouji?" His mouth was dry and a cold sweat trickled down the trail of his backbone under his black body suit.
"Did ya find it? That was quick Was yer cheatsheet helpful for readin' all those tough kanji?" His friend was oblivious.
"Kouji the book it's uh"
"Gen-chan? What's wrong?" Kouji's boisterous attitude disappeared as the older thief finally picked up on his partner's uncertainty. "Ya don't sound like yerself. What's wrong with the book?"
"The fuckin' book it's fuckin' sittin' in the middle of the fuckin' floor like it's fuckin' waiting for me to fuckin' pick it up" Genrou slowly backed away from the threatening inanimate object, keeping his eyes on it the entire time. It had to be a trick of the inadequate lighting but for a brief moment Genrou could have sworn the thing had started to glow.
"Aw, c'mon Gen-chan." Kouji's voice quavered as he tried to reassure his best friend. If he had been oblivious to the situation before he was now painfully aware that there was something wrong with his partner. Genrou had nerves of steel, it was one of the things that Kouji admired about the younger man, but after listening to the last words out of his friend's mouth he could tell Genrou was terrified. "Well uh that just makes yer job easier right?" Kouji hoped for a reply but all he could hear on the other end was Genrou breathing
Which was terrifying to Kouji, in its own right.
Genrou could sprint a mile without increasing his breathing rate or his pulse. The man's stamina was inhuman.
But something in the library had him shooting air through his nose like he was about to go into shock or have a heart attack. Or both.
"Grab the book an' get outta there, Genrou!" Kouji half commanded and half pleaded, clueless as to why his friend was losing control.
Kouji's frantic voice was just enough to help Genrou pull himself together. He shook his head once violently, trying to clear it of the strange fuzzy cobwebs that seemed to have been collecting in his consciousness. With determination he darted back towards the book and scooped it up in one black-gloved hand.
The sensation Genrou experienced was like sticking a fork into a power outlet.
Except this power outlet sent images and feelings and memories surging through the victim's body instead of electricity. One way or another, the effect on the synapses of Genrou's brain was one and the same.
He must have screamed or cause some sort of racket because before he knew what was happening, someone was shining a painfully bright light in his face that seemed to stab straight through his retina and directly into his brain.
Instinct and nothing else told him to get up and run.
His brain had overloaded and momentarily shut down but somehow he didn't need it to find his way back to the rope waiting to take him out into the stormy night.
A/N2: If by a strange twist of fate someone out there actually likes this, here's a little preview of Chapter 2: One dark, rainy night + one terribly confused, black-clad, speed demon + one young father in a hurry + one borrowed car = "Honey, look who I ran into!"