Chapter 1 The Journey Begins
It was a cold and cloudy day in the city. Wearing a long London fog coat, gloves, and a hat a young man about 21 years of age stood on a corner waiting for a taxi to stop and take him home. He was quite tired after a long work day as a freelance designer. While he was good at his craft the jobs he got were too few and far between. Usually he wouldn't even consider paying for a taxi as there was a reason for his seeking more jobs. His parents were killed in a car crash only a few months earlier and his sister who was about 8 years younger broke her leg when she fell down some stairs in his new house. She was the only family he had left and he devoted his time to creating a suitable life for them both.
While he was lost in thought a deep blue car stopped and the passenger seat window lowered. "Hey Eric. Do you need a lift?"
Eric Strife gave the driver a thankful look. "Thanks Hunter. You have no idea how expensive it is to call up a taxi."
As he got in Hunter turned his head in Eric's direction. "How is Katherine?"
"Kat is doing better." Eric said with what might have passed for genuine sincerity. He always preferred calling his sister by that nickname due to her love of cats.
Hunter showed him a caring smile then began driving off toward Eric's home. He lived just outside of the city itself preferring not to be caught in the congestion of city life. He had access to his own car, but he rarely used it unless his freelancing job required him to. Mostly he relied on Hunter to act as his personal driver for when Eric had clients within the city.
The two remained silent as they proceeded. Usually they'd be discussing new possibilities and projects they could undertake, but Hunter could tell that Eric was exhausted from a long day. Slowly Eric began to drift off into the memory of when his sister had the accident.
He was up later then usual. By now he should have been asleep, but his latest project was proving to be more trying then ones he'd been use to in the past. His sister was still awake and was playing upstairs. Eric wished he hadn't accepted this project and was spending time with her.
He was nearly finished with the project when he heard the sounds of foot steps coming from behind. He lifted his head just in time to see a pair of hands covering his eyes followed by a young female voice. "Looks like you're blind now brother."
Eric let out a slight laugh. "Oh no tiny hands, my only weakness."
He turned to see his sister Kat standing with her hands behind her back. She wore a bright smile knowing that she managed to get her brother's attention. She was wearing a plain white night gown and always wore her hair in a pony tail that rested on her shoulder.
"I thought you'd be in bed by now Kat. It's passed your bedtime." Eric said with the tone of a caring older brother.
Kat showed him a sad face. "I couldn't sleep without you tucking me in."
Eric hated seeing her upset and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be much longer now. You go on upstairs and I'll tuck you in shortly."
Reluctantly Kat slowly made her way upstairs. Eric had barely returned to his work when a loud noise followed by the pained cries of his sister broke his concentration. Rushing up the stairs he saw that Kat had landed on the upper balcony and had curled up holding her left leg.
"What happened Kat?" Eric asked in a horrified voice.
Kat could barely speak with the unbearable pain coming from her leg. She only pointed toward the stairs and Eric began piecing together what must have happened. She had missed a step going up and had fallen down the stairs with her leg hitting the bare floor breaking her femur bone.
Eric immediately put Kat in his car then drove toward the hospital. After checking her in he paced back and forth out of sear worry mixed with regret. Had he not been working on his latest project he could have helped her up the stairs. One of the doctors approached him and told him that Kat's leg would take a long time to heal. The doctor lead him to the room his sister was in then left him.
Looking at her Eric felt a mix of regret and disappointment. She was the only family he had left and while her injury wasn't fatal he realizes that it could have been much worse. That realization affirmed his decision to be more supportive then he ever had been. He had a secret wish to become something greater then what he was now. Many would laugh at this desire viewing it as childish. Not surprising seeing as how those kinds of ideals were almost nonexistent nowadays.
"Hey, wake up." Eric awoke from his daydream when Hunter shook him.
Eric looked to see that they had stopped in front of his house. Shaking his head to wake himself completely he got out of the car then stopped to thank his friend before entering his house. It wasn't elegant nor shabby, but held with it a welcoming environment. He passed by a wall which held a picture of him and his sister enjoying a nice hike. He stopped when he heard noise coming from the living room. Curious he walked toward the room and saw his sister sitting in a chair with her crutch lying beside her. She was watching one of her favorite shows. As he entered he noticed someone else was there also. A man supposedly in his mid twenties sat wearing a black coat similar to the one Eric was wearing. His clothing seemed quite appropriate for the current weather outside.
When Eric cleared his throat Kat looked up at him and smiled. "Welcome home brother. How did your day go?"
"About as well as one might expect Kat." He answered with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
Eyeing the man he asked, "Who is this? I wasn't expecting a visitor."
The man lowered his head in a respectful manner. "My name is Kaito Arashi. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Strife."
Eric seemed surprised by the man's name. Being familiar with the Japanese language he new the name meant 'ocean storm'. Yet the man spoke in basic English as if he were used to it.
Out of sear curiosity Eric asked, "Where exactly are you from Mr. Arashi?"
Motioning to a room in the back Kaito answered, "That's sort of why I came here. If you wouldn't mind I'd like for this conversation to be kept between us."
Eric hesitated for a moment then lead Kaito into his study. Before he closed the door he looked toward Kat, "Will you be okay by yourself sis?"
Kat nodded her head then returned to watch her show. As soon as he closed the doors he sat down behind his desk with Kaito facing him. "So why exactly is it that you came here?"
Kaito cleared his throat before responding, "Bear with me on this cause it may sound far fetched."
Eric let out an exaggerated sigh, "If you came here to hook me up with a new project know that I'm not excepting clients at this time. Given that the holidays are about to start."
"This has nothing to do with your so called career." Kaito said in a rather serious tone.
Stunned by Kaito's statement Eric showed him a questioning look. "Then what business do you have with me?"
Letting out a sigh Kaito said, "What I have to tell you is greater then whether or not you'll be trying to pull an all nighter."
Gathering his thoughts Kaito resumed, "I am from a world of advanced technologies known as Tengoku. In this world the name translates as heaven and to some it is."
Eric remained silent for a moment, but soon after he burst into laughter, "Are you serious?"
He could barely speak while he was in a state of laughter such as this. Yet he finally managed to find his voice, "So what are you an alien or an angel?"
At this he let out another laugh as if it were an ironic punchline to a hilarious joke. Though while Eric seemed to be enjoying himself Kaito was growing impatient. Finally Kaito slammed his hand on Eric's desk, "If you're done braying like an ass I'll go further with my description. I did say it would sound far fetched."
Eric finally straightened up and looked at Kaito squarely, "Lets assume for the moment that what you've said is true. What exactly is your reason for coming here?"
Kaito run a hand over his eyes before answering, "I was sent here to locate something we call the Hero of Tengoku-"
He stopped and aimed a meaningful look at Eric, "If you laugh again I'm going to punch you in the face."
Eric swallowed nervously and restrained the urge to laugh. When Kaito was certain Eric had control over himself he resumed. "Supposedly the Hero of Tengoku is on this world and it's my job to locate him."
In a curious manner Eric asked, "What exactly is this Hero of Tengoku?"
"He's supposed to be the protector of our world." Kaito replied. "Once he awakens his full potential all threats will be neutralized."
Bewildered by this Eric asked, "Are you saying that I'm this "Hero of Tengoku"?"
Kaito shook his head, "At the moment I'm still searching. I've already stopped in over twenty cities on this world and none of them seemed to fit the mold. You may be, but then you may not be."
"Wait a minute!" Eric cut in, "You're telling me that you had this conversation with other people?"
"They don't have any memory of our meeting. After I spoke with them I erased their memories." Kaito paused to show Eric his ID card. It wasn't like anything Eric had ever seen. It looked like a credit card, but seemed to have the capabilities of a touch screen phone.
Eric whistled, "That's quite the card you have."
"This does more then identify me." Kaito remarked.
"This is my multipurpose tool that insures I am prepared for anything."
Eric stared in amazement for a moment. Then a thought went through his mind, "The way you make it sound it's almost as if time isn't on your side."
"It isn't." Kaito replied in a voice that held no humor and made Eric tremble a bit.
"Two mercenaries were dispatched to eliminate him and by now they could be anywhere."
Eric seemed troubled by this, "How come I haven't heard anything about mysterious deaths lately?"
"They aren't amateurs nor are they run of the mill mercenaries." Kaito remarked, "Even if there were reports on deaths there is no way any law enforcer could tell it apart from a typical homicide."
Eric's face seemed to loose color as he listened to Kaito's words. For a moment he couldn't find his voice, but when he did his voice seemed to be filled with a hint of suspicion. "If those killers are here how do I know they haven't followed you?"
Kaito raised his finger to silence him then looked out the window as if someone were watching them. In a low voice Kaito said, "Meet me tomorrow and I'll fill you in on more details."
Without explanation Kaito got up then showed himself out.
Once outside Kaito did a full sweep of the area around him. He had a feeling that someone was listening even had an eye on the house at this very moment. Though it was difficult to tell where it was coming from. The city lay right before him and around the area outside the city trees were scattered about. Suddenly he had a sickening feeling that he made a mistake in coming here tonight. The Junketsu mercenaries that were dispatched were said to be masters of their art and if what he said before was true then it was likely that Kaito drew Eric into a dangerous situation.
He needed to locate the mercenaries and deal with them before things got ugly. Wishing to further his search he made his way toward the city unaware that the house was indeed being watched.
On top of a tall building two figures were visible in front of a crescent moon which had just broke through the clouds. One of them was a male who wore his hair in a tight pony tail and had on clothing similar to that of a shinobi. His left eye was covered by an eye-patch and his right eye which had a distinct maroon hue appeared to shine with the color of blood. The second was a female who was on her front with a pair of high-powered electro-binoculars. A visible difference between herself and the man was that she wore clothing similar to that of a Victorian era dress. To some she might have appeared cute, but her clothing was merely a facade.
"Well well brother. It seems the Core was quick to send one of their men here." The woman said in an almost excited tone.
"Who would have thought it would be the great General Kaito Arashi himself sister?" The man replied adding to his sister's excitement.
A cruel grin passed over his sister's lips, "That tracer we brought better say the one in the house is our next big kill."
Looking at a device in his hand a grin matching that of his sister formed as it began to initiate a series of tones. "Oh yes sister. It seems we finally found a match to the sample the Lord of Jashin was willing to provide."
Putting the binoculars away she tried leaping down when her brother stopped her. "Why are you holding me back?"
"Use your head Yokubo." He said as he pointed toward his bag containing the necessary equipment. "We don't want to attract unwanted attention remember. Quiet in then quiet out."
"What if the General returns Kodoku or if there is someone else in the house?" Yokubo inquired out of anxiousness.
Kodoku grinned, "You know our policy. If they interfere consider them obstacles to be removed."
He looked at the house then back at Yokubo, "Our client sent us in. So lets show this Hero of Tengoku the art of the BaishÅ-kin twins."
End