Later that day
If there was one thing that Hime both hated, and liked, though only to an extent, it was surprises. And when Ao, Akina and the man they were with turned up at the door of the office, she could not decide whether to be relieved that Ao and the others had returned home safely, or throttle them for being out when they could have been hunted down by Gin.
And who the hell was this man? Hime had practically exclaimed to them after they arrived. It had taken Ao and Akina a while to explain how they ran into him and the power she had felt emanating from him too. They had listened to what he had to say with several of the group, namely Hime, interrupting with a question. When they had finished, all eyes fell on the man, whom Kotoha and Kyosuke had requested he sit on the sofa (it buckled a little under his huge size) and Hime had asked him to explain what he was doing here.
With a deep breath, he had told them everything in the space of about 5 minutes; who he was; what he was doing here in Japan and how he had been drawn here to Sakurashin. When he had told them of his real identity, the group were surprised, each of them nervously exchanging glances with one another, and Ao had said "I knew it!" This led to a bombardment of questions, such as why had he come to Japan in the first place, and how he became a human. Again, the man [Godzilla] managed to explain the first one with ease (his answer was he had come to fight Manda as well as being attracted by a mysterious, but familiar power source he had sensed). The second, though, he could not explain beyond seeing a bright green light and then found himself in an alleyway near the sections of the city where he and Manda had fought as a human.
When he was done, it had left the others all silent with shock and no words to spout. A few second had passed silently with all eyes turning to each other and then to 'Godzilla'. Finally, Hime had decided to break the silence and that was currently what they talking about.
"So how do we get him back to normal?" Kyosuke asked, glancing over at 'Godzilla'. "I mean, Gin isn't gonna just hand it over to us."
"Obviously not." Hime replied, glancing up at him and then, with a heavy sigh, looked out of the window at the approaching dark sky, gently adjusting her scarf that covered her neck. "But we still don't know where he is. And because we're facing some difficulties with trying to find him, it could be some time before we do."
'Godzilla' noticed how Ao, who was sitting on a chair next him, shot Hime a dark look, the feeling of hostility coming off her like heat from a flame. So these are the difficulties she mentioned. Luckily, Kotoha, who was sitting next to Ao, rested a hand on her arm and gave her a look that begged for control and no further escalation of tension. Please, Ao. Don't argue back. We need to stick together, even if Hime is being a pain in the ass. Ao turned her gaze onto her colleague and friend but he saw it soften a fraction and she leaned back into the chair. 'Godzilla' inwardly sighed at this. In a situation like this, divided we fall is a clear and present problem with these humans.
"So what do we do now?" Kyosuke asked, looking at the others in the hopes that they would have an answer, but the lost expressions that met his eyes, if heads were turned, gave him the clear answer. What was there to do?
"If I were Gin, I would stay low and not draw attention to myself. He knows how quickly we almost caught him." Akina spoke up and Hime, not turning away from the window, nodded slightly in agreement.
"Yes, but he would also get someone to do his dirty work for him. Just like the other night." The young mayor informed him. A pause hung in the air, then she turned and walked over to the main desk that was covered with papers around the computers. "I need to phone the police headquarters; tell them to be on the lookout for anything suspicious."
"Mayor Hime?" the deep voice of their guest spoke up, drawing all eyes to him, everyone listening to what he was going to ask by the sheer power of his voice. "Why are you trying to hide something under the scarf?"
She went to speak but a musical tone quickly erupts from seemingly nowhere, filling the air and making the group jump out of their skins. It was Hime's phone on the desk. She picked it up and looked at the screen, seeing the name of the police commissioner across the screen. Why was he calling her? There was no reason for-wait!
Fear gripped her like a vice and she accepted the call.
"Commissioner, what's wrong?!" she asked in a panicked voice, immediately heightening the tension of those around her.
"Mayor Hime, we have a situation."
Ten minutes earlier, downtown Sakurashin
Hidden in an alleyway between two apartment buildings, a group of three men stood. One was leaning against the wall of the building behind him, hands in his jacket pocket, the hood pulled up and obscuring his face partly. He shifted a little, glancing down at the dirty jeans he was wearing. The second man was quite short and pot-bellied with stick thin arms protruding out of his short sleeved top and a pair of gym trousers covered his legs. He stood in the middle of the alleyway with his back to the entrance. The third was leaning against a huge bin, his long black hair covering his eyes and a tattooed arm resting on the top of the metallic object he was against. He too had a jacket on like one of his companions, but it was dark green and looked newer compared to his jeans that were torn at the knees. They had been waiting here for a few minutes for their 'boss' to get back to them after he had climbed, or rather jumped up to the roof. He had two huge spears in his hand, each with a jade green crystal at the end of each one. They had decided not to ask about them because, frankly, they could care less.
The man leaning against the wall kicked a stone with his foot, sighing in annoyance. "I hope he knows what he's doing!" he said in a gruff manner.
"Me too. But he said that we'd be getting rid of the mayor and putting someone useful in her place." His companion against the bin agreed.
"But does it have to involve killing a lot of people?" the third standing with his back to the alleyway entrance asked, a little concern in his voice.
"You don't have to kill anyone, just create enough chaos in the centre to draw her and her gang out and then we can deal with her!" a voice from above spoke up, startling them. A body landed further in down the alleyway, largely obscured by darkness, and stood up; two long spears in the person's hands. Gin emerged into the light, observing the three with a displeased look. "Oh, c'mon, guys! At least show some damn enthusiasm!"
"Well, if you stop fooling around with two stupid spears then we can get on with this plan of yours!" the man leaning against the wall snapped back at him. "What were you doing up there anyway?" he asked impatiently.
"Just sorting out something to assist us for when we get rid of the mayor." Gin replied with a confident expression. He paused and looked at the three before him as if he were a father about to take his unenthusiastic children out for the day. "So, you guys ready to bring about a change?"
The three men looked at each other, uncertainty evident in each of their expressions. Again, though they were eager to find a way to get rid of the mayor, this was something very nerve-racking for them. Why did they need to bring chaos to the entire city? Was it necessary to terrorise, injure or even kill people? The attacks by, to the best of their knowledge, terrorists a few days ago had been shocking enough for them and they had hoped not to see it again. But now Gin was … well, he was practically forcing them to do what the least wanted to do. Not only did it make them uncomfortable, but also suspicious to the man, or rather Yokai's own deluded intentions. He had something else planned and they had a feeling he knew that they knew.
"What about the other guy?" the man standing in the middle of the alley asked. "What's his name …"
"He'll be here soon!" Gin interrupted him with an irritable tone. "Now, let's get a move on. We've got a mayor to get rid of." He added, his tone instantly becoming brighter despite the words meaning doom for those around them.
The three resigned themselves to his decision making and began walking ahead down the alleyway; Gin right behind them. When they had all emerged, they were standing on a road opposite Sakurashin's main square, a large place measuring 100X200 metres. Each side that surrounded it contained buildings varying from apartment complexes to mini skyscrapers. In the square itself was a small garden with four large concrete blocks arranged in the centre as a smaller square with walking space between them (enough for six people to walk hand-in-hand). Each concrete block held a replica of many of the ancient buildings that had once occupied this valley in the distant past. About fifty feet to the left of the concrete block square was a double layered fountain with the base about twenty feet in diameter. The peaceful sound of water coming out of the stone creation was peaceful to the ears, hence probably why about ten people were sitting on the side of the fountain; some listening intently to the water, others holding conversations with their friends. A few small groves of trees dotted the other parts of the square and a ring of lampposts ran around the sides. Scores of people were walking, talking, joking, laughing and having a jovial time. Children ran around playing and squealing, couples walked hand-in-hand. The air was filled with elation. It was a good evening for all.
Gin exhaled with disappointment. "Shame we have to do it now," he commented to the others. "It's such a nice evening. Shame really."
"Well why don't we just leave and not do it at all?" The man in the jacket piped up, his tone clearly indicating that he hoped Gin would agree with him.
Gin rounded on him, his gaze unchanged from the relaxed expression it wore but the man could see his eyes were blazing with a firmness that clearly told him to be silent. "Well, because we won't have another chance to change Sakurashin, and the world. So we best do it now." He turned his head so he was looking towards the square once again, the road before them quiet save for the occasional car that passed them.
"Off you go, boys. Remember, we need to bring the mayor here. So don't be afraid to show yourselves." He instructed them confidently. "Oh!" he suddenly remembered and turned back towards the member of the three dressed in the jacket. "And I'll take the pistol you have okay?" he said. "Can't have you holding back now, can we?" he added with a sickening smile.
With a heavy, annoyed sigh, the man opened his jacket pocket, reached in and pulled out a small 9mm pistol and, with a regretful look, handed it to Gin. The Yokai pocketed it and then nodded his head towards the square. Off you go!
The three men looked at each other, each gaze holding the same questioning look. But they obeyed nonetheless and walked across the road into the square. Gin saw the hands of the short sleeved top man light up a fiery colour. The jacket man's fingers turned into claws akin to what one would see on a wolf-man of sorts and the third, his hand outstretched, made an AK-47 materialise out of thin air and he loaded a clip into it, not caring that it was openly visible to everyone around them.
As they approached the centre, the noise around them suddenly dissipated as people caught sight of them. Silence fell for a moment as the men, with one final look at each other, readied themselves.
Gin smiled with satisfaction.
And within moments, the screaming, running and shooting started.
Meanwhile, fifty miles off the southern coast of Japan
"Captain! Look!"
Rushing over to the window of the destroyer Hideyoshi, Captain Shiro looked out to see the jet black, knobbly form of the snake, a creature that they had been chasing intensely for almost three days, sank beneath the waves, made a left turn and shot back in the direction of the mainland. Other crew members on the deck of the ship, as well as the four others in the battle group, quickly ran to the sides to witness the barely visible shadow of the creature swim away from them.
Seeing this made Shiro's heart race and he began barking out orders to the officers and crewmembers on his ship to immediately begin pursuing the creature. The other vessels began to turn, following Shiro's example.
For Manda, he had been called and was going to answer. Tonight was going to be a wild and eventful night.