Hourai was on the phone. "Yes," he said. "I have BK-201 in custody. Shall I terminate him?" He waited for the other end to answer. "Very well."
Hourai hung up the phone and pulled out a key. Shoving the key into the slot on one of his locked drawers, he proceeded to rifle through the contents. He dug out a gun. The weapon was placed in his pocket and he stood. The Syndicate would pay him well for this.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Shoes clicked down the long hallway. They stopped outside of a specialized white cell. Inside of it, a dark figure was slumped against a wall. Blood dripped onto the white tile beneath him, tarnishing it. This was the most pathetic state she had ever seen BK-201 in. Misaki's eyes hardened.
"BK-201," she called.
He raised his head weakly. The mask was still in place. It, too, had been stained red. Through all this, though, it was obvious that the guards had chosen to beat him a little extra even after he surrendered. Guilt tugged at her, but she didn't let it show and entered the room without a trace of fear. For security, he had been shackled to the wall for the time being. His head dropped again as she drew closer.
"Are you under stress from not paying your price?" she asked, kneeling down. She hadn't expected him to answer. He fulfilled her expectations. She went on, trying to find that one nerve that would get him to talk. "Yin…she called you her friend, did you know that?"
She couldn't see the slight smile that graced Hei's face. To him, that at least was one blessing that might make this torture all worth it.
"Why did you save her?" Misaki wondered. "Most Contractors wouldn't have bothered. Of course, you've never seemed to follow the patterns of most Contractors."
"You keep asking questions when you know I won't answer," he stated.
"I'm just trying to understand," she responded with genuine sincerity.
"I'm a Contractor. I lie, betray, kill by instinct. There is nothing to understand."
"If you were a killer by instinct, you wouldn't have bothered to rescue her."
Hei was silenced by Misaki's point. It was true. He never could have let Yin rot here alone. Misaki took note of his sudden silence. Its thickness had her craving to see what emotion his face betrayed just beneath that mask. These thoughts led her to notice something.
"There's a crack in your mask," she observed, slowly reaching out toward it.
Hei slapped her wrist away.
"Awfully protective of your identity, aren't you?"
Hei turned away from her again. "You might not like what you find."
"Why do you say that?"
Hei said nothing. He didn't need to.
Misaki put her hand out again. This time, her fingers brushed against the smooth white material. Just one little tug…
"Chief Kirihara, I do not believe I authorized you to be in that cell."
Misaki glanced over at Hourai, who had just arrived. She pulled away and stood, fingers still longing to pull off that disguise. To see those meaningful blue eyes she'd caught that one instant not so long ago. Instead she resisted. "Sorry, sir," she apologized. She exited the holding chamber, hand fisted.
"You are dismissed," Hourai announced regally. Reluctantly, Misaki nodded and walked away. However, right as she turned the corner, she found her curiosity getting the better of her. In other words; she eavesdropped.
Hourai marched up to the screen of Hei's cell, glaring at the man it concealed. "BK-201; the Black Reaper," he began. "You always were quite the trouble-maker, weren't you?"
"Are you just here to gloat, then?" Hei questioned flatly. Wasn't it enough to have him and stripped away his pride?
A code was typed in and the older man entered the unit. The click of a gun sounded. "No," Hourai replied. "I've been charged to take care of you once and for all. After you're dead, we should have no problem exterminating the rest of your team."
"You're from the Syndicate," Hei realized. It was all he could do to act like this didn't surprise him.
"And we know about your disobedience," the General declared. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that you can't run from the Syndicate?" He pointed the gun straight at Hei. No bulletproof coat to protect him now. "Do you have anything you want to say before I pull the trigger?"
Hei looked away in silence. He knew this day might come eventually. Not so soon, though. In the end, no words came to him.
There was a bang. Then another.
Misaki slapped her hand over her mouth. She tried not to look. Her memories swirled back to the last Contractor that had died. The one she'd almost called a friend. Jack Simon…November Eleven. Now another one was gone. BK-201 had been a criminal, but she didn't think she was ready to see his dead body yet.
"I might ask you the same question," a new voice countered. Misaki jolted upon hearing it. Wide-eyed, she poked her head around the corner. Impossible.
Hourai lay against the wall, blood oozing from his side. He clutched at the wound, grimacing, yet managing to glare at his opponent. Across from him stood the black-masked man, holding a gun. While his hood had not been pulled down, a few locks of golden hair had drifted over his forehead. Misaki's eyes darted to BK-201. She gasped. He was shaking, a hand clasped over his shoulder. He'd been shot. Yet, completely alive.
Unfortunately, her gasp had been heard. Hourai twisted to see their intruder. "Kirihara!" he shouted. Aisu turned to her as well. A soft smiled melted his face, nearly hidden by his high collar. Yin darted out from a hallway behind him.
"Yin," Aisu called. He bent down and whispered something to her. Understanding, the girl ran over to Misaki and grabbed the elder's hand.
"We have to leave," Yin stated, leading Misaki along. "You will be killed otherwise."
Aisu turned back to Hourai. The injured man had found his gun again and aimed it at Hei. The least he could do, he thought, was finish the job. Luckily, Aisu shot the weapon away. The Contractor approached Hourai and swiftly took something out of his pocket. In less than a second, the needle had been plunged in Hourai's neck and the General was out.
Hei cringed as Aisu began to glide toward him. Unexpectedly, the blonde gripped Hei's chains and started to glow a shocking blue while red eyes filtered out thin holes in his black mask. The metal covered with frost. It shattered easily. Aisu stuck out his arm to the freed Hei.
"Need a hand?" he offered. Aisu didn't wait for a reply and instead heaved Hei off of the ground. "I have made two promises that you would make it out of here alive and I expect to keep both."
"Why even bother?" Hei inquired exhaustedly. This man was a Contractor, after all.
Aisu didn't respond. Their pace quickened and Hei had to struggle to keep up. His vision was blurring and it was only getting worse as more blood flowed out. He tried his best to cover it up so that he wouldn't end up leaving a crimson trail behind him. The success of that plan? Debatable.
Hei stumbled. Aisu ignored him the first time it happened, however, after nearly falling to the ground a third time, he ducked his shoulder under Hei's good arm. He waited for Hei to complain. It was soon evident that Hei was too tired to do much talking at all.
They set down in a hidden ally way. While waiting for Yin and Misaki to show up, Aisu studied Hei carefully. The Black Reaper was breathing heavily. The bullet had dug mercilessly into his shoulder. Aisu cringed while remembering when he had been in a similar position, only with the shot having gone straight through his chest. The pain of the memory wasn't something that would fade away anytime soon.
"Aisu," Yin addressed. Aisu turned to see her standing at the entrance to the path. Misaki was positioned directly next to her. A mixture of confusion and impatience dominated her expression. Aisu found it difficult to look her in the eye.
This was one of those times in which Misaki wished she had X-ray vision. Masks, the both of them. It was the black-masked one that picked at her nerves the most right now, though. It kept her from seeing the face of the man she was almost positive was beneath it.
Confident that he wouldn't hurt her, Misaki stepped forward. Aisu made no move to avoid the woman. She was now only inches from him. His eyes moved to lock with hers. Blue. His irises were a striking sky blue. Slowly, her hand reached up to touch the mask. She caught him smile and put his hand on top of hers.
"Do you really want to do that?" he asked gently.
The look in her eyes was enough of an answer. She knew who he was. Aisu cautiously guided her other hand up to the opposite side of his face. He was glad when she didn't object to his touch. Together, they both removed the mask.
Misaki restrained the wetness in her eyes from pooling over. Golden hair fell over his face, messier than she remembered it. Yet, it was still his face. The same structure, the same smirking lips, and the same teasing eyes of the man she thought to be dead.
"November," she whispered.
"Hello, Misaki," he greeted. "I'd say long time no see, but I really only saw you a little while ago."
"They said you were dead," she countered.
"Yes, well, they can be a bit unreliable at times," he replied. "And I'm supposed to be dead."
"It was staged?" Misaki gaped.
"No, no, no," he chuckled, waving his hands. "Well, at least, I wasn't in any part of that plan. It's quite a lengthy story. Sadly, we don't have time for it right now. I do believe Mr. BK-201 over there is fading fast."
It was only then that she paid full attention to her surroundings and saw the dark heap in the corner. Yin was leaning over the Black Reaper, his coat resting loosely on her shoulders. A pale hand touched the side of his neck lightly. Weakly, he raised his gloved hand to hold her wrist. She went to remove the coat to put it over him, but he shook his head. The soft emotion in the scene amazed Misaki.
November stuck the mask back onto his face so that Hei would not be able to tell his identity. "Yin," he called, "I think it's time we take him back, don't you?"
The girl nodded silently.
Aisu turned to Misaki. Gently, he told her, "You should go home now, Misaki. Hourai won't recall anything from the last few hours. Just remember, for now, I need to stay dead. My name is Aisu. If you tell anyone my actual identity, I'll have to kill you."
"Let me guess, that was a joke?" Misaki responded, dead-pan.
"You catch on fast," Aisu quipped. "However, I will be in a lot of trouble, so I would appreciate it if you didn't all the same."
"Understood." Her lips said it, but she wanted to ask him so much else. How did he come back? What was he doing? Why? And most importantly: Would she ever see him again?
Aisu lifted the now-unconscious Hei off the pavement. Yin stayed close to his side. Then they vanished, leaving Misaki standing all alone in the night. She gazed up at the stars. They might have all been fakes, but one of her wishes just came true.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Light seared Hei's eyes as they finally opened. He cringed away from it. It was the feeling that suddenly alerted him to the absence of his mask. Despite the pain, he peeled open his eyelids further to see where he was. A hand fell onto his forehead.
"Well, well, well, look who's awake," a high-pitched female voice teased. "Have a nice nap, sleepyhead?"
Hei jolted forward, only to be met with a heated throbbing in his shoulder. He gasped and grabbed at it.
"You shouldn't move so much," the voice continued. "You were shot at, remember?"
Hei glared in its direction, finally able to locate the person speaking even though he already knew who it was. "Amber," he growled.
Her smile was sad as she gazed at him. "I told you you'd come eventually, Hei."
"Where are we?" he demanded.
"Don't be so snappy," she sighed. He protested as she tried to push him back down onto the table. She won.
"Ruby," Amber called, "can you come over here?"
The tall woman with the short black hair heeded and appeared by Hei's side. Amber gave Ruby a nod, to which Ruby nodded in return. Hei struggled as Ruby place her hand over his bullet-wound, but Amber wouldn't have any of it and held him still.
"Hei, calm down," Amber ordered. "Ruby won't be able to heal you if you don't."
"My, I figured he would be uncooperative, but I didn't think the great Black Reaper would throw a tantrum about it," a British accent added. Recognizing it, Hei's eyes darted over to see Aisu. Without his mask. November.
November strolled up to the fight as Hei glared at him. He laughed in the Reaper's face. "Come now, no need to act so childish," he commented.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Hei snapped.
"Is that any way to treat the person who just saved your life?"
Hei had no retort, but he kept his glare steady.
"Hei."
Hei was snapped out of his anger by the soft voice. From the shadows, a girl stepped out. Hei felt paralyzed and glad at the same time.
"Yin," he breathed.
The rest of the group backed away as she slowly approached him. When she was close enough, she raised her hands to her face. Her fingers pulled the corners of her mouth into a smile. The sight made Hei want to smile back.
"Yin will tell you everything," Amber said. She knew that Hei would believe the Doll more than he would believe her. A peaceful expression crossed Amber's face as she noticed how Hei's gaze didn't leave Yin even once. The time-traveling Contractor motioned everyone out.
"Are you sure they won't run away?" November questioned quietly.
"No," she answered. "But then again, Hei always was my variable."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-