Ch 7: Connections of The Past and What lies Hidden Within the Darkness

Japanese is in Italics

Flashbacks are in bold

Frankenstein's House- Normal POV

Everyone continued to stare at the new comer who looked so much like their friend. Some even kept looking back and forth between the two. Seira had gone into the kitchen soon after completing her observation; after all she had food to check on. Rael had followed her out stating something along the lines of helping. He, being who he is, really could car less about M-21 and his copy. Also Seira was more importan…defiantly more important.

Rai had continued to do his thing, which entailed drinking tea in the most elegant way ever conceived, well in Regis's opinion. Frankenstein seemed to just be quietly observing the situation waiting for a chance to talk. Takeo had gotten over the shock along with the other few, when they heard an exclamation come from the hallway. Tao the social butterfly had arrived.

"Holy cow! I didn't know you had a miny me! Can you tell me where you got him cause I would like one." He stated in a conversational way as he walked over to M-21 with a grin on his face. Takeo groaned and gained a look from the others.

"Tao I can hardly deal with one of you I don't need another one." Takeo stated with a sigh.

Tao stared at his cousin for a few minutes before stating. "You know lately I'm starting to get the feeling that you have some repressed issues involving me with the comments you keep making."

A cough from across the room brought all eyes onto Frankenstein as he then smiled and walked up to Shinwoo and the others. He smiled at them. Then he caught M-21's arm before he could escape.

"Hello, I am Principal Lee and I must say it is very nice to meet you." Frankenstein stated as he then turned to M-21. "Would you be so kind and translate."

M-21 stared at him for a few minutes and then it clicked in his head, oh well sh*t. I guess I'm stuck translating.

Then they heard Japanese. Turning their head they saw the boy, who looked like M-21, turn to the other two and began speaking in Japanese. The two looked at him intently and then the woman turned to Frankenstein and smiled warming. She then spoke something. The boy next to her nodded and then turned to the others. He then shocked everyone in the room.

"She says it's nice to meet you and her name is Tsubame." The guy pauses and then looks at all of them. "Also the guy behind me is Motomi, my guardian and I'm Akira. You don't have to worry about making "Ajussi" over there translate everything cause I can help because I'm fluent in both languages."

A few of them blink at the empathies Akira puts on the word Ajussi.

"Also on another note I would rather appreciate it if you don't make similar jokes as you did before." He stated with a glare at Tao. Who proceeded to grin and laugh nervously, after all that glare was pretty unnerving on a teen. It like spelled pain and despair was the vibe Tao was getting from it. Hmm maybe he was similar to M-21 in more ways than just their looks.

M-21 then introduce everyone else in the room to the newcomers. Then Seira came in and announced dinner was ready. Everyone entered the dining room and sat down. Akira, Tsubame, and Motomi all blinked when they saw different foods on the table but for some reason the only thing in front of the one called Rai, who hadn't said a word yet, was ramen. They glanced at each other, noticing everyone else wasn't concerned they began to eat.

Akira then noticed Rai just sitting there.

"What are you doing?" He questioned Rai. Which to his confusion and slight interest everybody else at the table stiffened and stopped to watch Rai and him. Rai turned to look at him like he had no care in the world and stated.

"I'm waiting for the portion to grow."

Motomi and Tsubame upon getting the answer from Akira stared at each other in confusion. Akira just shrugged and started eating his food.

After dinner- M-21

After they had completed their meals they all returned to the living room where most of them got dragged into playing a board game with Shinwoo.

M-21 was on the balcony as usual staring up at the sky. The moon was almost full. He then noticed movement next to him but pretended not to notice.

Akira had come to stand next to M-21. He stared at the moon for a while quietly and then he glanced at M-21.

"So exactly what is your name?" Akira then asked. "When the introductions were going on earlier they did not even once mention your name."

M-21 just shrugged and hides his uneasiness behind a mask. It still was unsettling for him that this person seemed familiar.

"They probably thought I had already given my name." He replied finally with. Akira studied him for a few minutes. "Just go on calling me Ajussi." Was what he continued with even though he interlay cringed at being called that. Akira shook his head.

"But that's not your name that's just a term in Korean that means uncle or an older male in a certain age range. It's not a name and its weird that Shinwoo doesn't know your name and he trusts you so much, same with the others here if I went by how they act." Akira explained as his eyes bore into M-21. "So is there a reason your hiding your name? Why won't you tell me?"

Akira was obviously getting frustrated at him. Heck he was getting frustrated at himself. He let out a growl under his breath as he glared at Akira. "What if I told you I don't have a name?" M-21 exclaimed as he glared at Akira.

Akira had frozen at that remark. He stared into the face of someone who looked so much like himself and saw pain in the man's eyes. "How can you not have a name everyo…"

Before Akira could finish he seemed to have noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It caught his attention and held it.

M-21 was confused when he stopped talking and then felt an eerie feeling come over him. He then turned to follow Akira's line of sight. What he saw caused M-21 to come to his feet.

Standing in the street next to a corner was a man with what seemed to be glowing purple eyes. His wispy brown hair flowed unnaturally around his face. The man was like a ghost. With him was two cats a black one and a white one. He continued to stare right back at Akira and then he tilted his head slightly to turn those eyes onto M-21.

All M-21 knew was that he suddenly felt like his senses, his whole being was drowning in lavender. When suddenly a fierce pain erupted from his head. Unable to take his eyes away from the man the pain continued to erupt and build until he almost passed out. Right as he stumbled back, his eyes closing, a name came unbidden to his lips.

"Nicole Premier."

That was the last thing he knew.

Regis

Regis had somehow after the first game got himself out of playing again. He had been just sitting there when he noticed Akira approached M-21. So Regis then quietly headed towards them, he heard their conversation and saw them both pause strangely. Then M-21 dropped.

As he fell backwards Regis came forward to catch him. While holding M-21's head in his lap he noticed Akira glance back confused at the street and then turned to look at them with a blank face as the others rushed over.

"Nicole Premier." Regis looked down to notice that M-21 had mumbled the name out as his eyes fluttered shut.

As the others gathered around to help Akira was pulled to the side by Motomi. Shinwoo looked on in worry as he stood by his grandma. It was then decided that Karias would carry M-21 to his bedroom. Shinwoo and the others would go home for the night.

So when all that was done, as well as the cleanup, all of them sat around the living room.

"So anyone want to tell me what just happened to M-21?" Takeo finally exclaimed with worry as he looked at Tao for answers. Who glanced up from his computer to look at him.

"I got nothing. There doesn't seem to be a connection with anything within the data bases." He stated.

"His brain fluctuated." Everyone stopped to stare at the one who just had spoken. It was Rai. He continued to stare into his cup of tea giving away none of his emotions.

"What do you mean Master?" Frankenstein questioned.

"When he collapsed I suddenly felt a weird sensation from him and his mind. Like someone was trying to connect but couldn't. When that feeling grew to strong it seemed to spike and then he crashed." Rai explained.

"Hey Regis you were over by the two of them, what happened?" Karias asked me.

"M-21 was being interrogated, I guess you could say. Akira seemed really keen on getting his name, so they were going back and forth and then Akira just stopped. He was actually the first to act weird. From what I saw he started to stare into the street. M-21 did the same then fell…." Regis paused. He stared forward for a few moments debating if what he heard was important. Then he decided well whatever.

"Before he passed out on my lap I heard him mumble a name, "Nicole Premier."

The others looked at him for a while mulling over the info they had been given and deciding what to do. Tao who had listened intently then said.

"I'll try to find info on this "Nicole Premier" in the Unions data base."

The roof top across from Frankenstein's House-?

A Pipe tapped against the building's roof as its owner grinned wolfishly. He not only had found Nano the ghost bastard but also the little lady. Man, the boss was so going to love this. He would get two of the things he's been wanting at once.

He paused in his musing and tapping, when he recalled the guy standing next to the little lady. He had looked like an older version of the little lady. He smirked once more his tongue snaking out to lick his lips. He was going to have so much fun with this job and even better there was a great desert for him after completing the job.

He brings the ghost bastard and lady to Arbitro and he gets himself a nice lady for himself. Hmm maybe he should come up with a name for him before he went after them. He cracked a smirk as he jumped down and cackled away as he walked.

Airport

They were attempting to get there luggage from the convey belt when Rin glanced to his right. His face went pale and he grabbed Keisuke and hide behind a pillar.

"What was that for?" Keisuke exclaimed only to get a smack upside the head from Rin. Yukihito and Touya who didn't know much about Rin got curious and came over. Rin turned to look at them.

"My brother is on the other side of the pillar." He whispered to them. Keisuke paled severely and crouched down, while Yukihito and Touya glanced at each other. They had been told about how much an a-hole Rin's older brother was from both Rin and Keisuke, but they were still confused that they had never heard about him from Akira.

The two glanced around the pillar to get a look at the guy. They instantly knew who it was. The man had girls drooling after him and guys avoiding him like a plague. Even with the cold look plastered on his face along with the smirk, it seemed he just reeked of sex appeal. The man was looking around the airport before an obvious government official came running up to him. The man seemed to somehow grovel and walk as he talked to Shiki and lead him to a very expensive car.

"So any reason why he had a government lapdog show up and escorts him to a very expensive car?" Touya questioned Rin. Rin glared at him and mouthed don't ask. He then grabbed his stuff and walked out of the airport with the others shrugging and then following suit.

Shinwoo's House- Akira

After the events at Principal Lee's house Shinwoo and his guests returned to his house for the night. Tsubame, Motomi, and Shinwoo quickly got ready for bed and went to sleep. But Akira couldn't sleep at all.

He knew who he had saw watching them from across the street. It was Nano. Why would he follow him all the way to South Korea. Akira sighed as he got up from the futon that had been laid out for him and made his way to the front door. Maybe a walk would clear his head. As the door shut behind him he did not notice that Motomi, who had been sleeping on the couch, had watched him leave with a worried expression.

As Akira walked around the area he became lost in his thoughts. He knew Nano had a horrible tendency to…well for lack of better words stalk him, ever since that incident that brought them back together. But he didn't really blame Nano. The guy basically lacked common sense and acted like a child most of the time so Akira couldn't stop himself from letting him do what he wanted and felt compelled to help him out even. Which he knew weirded some of his friends out from what he was aware of…especially Rin at that note. But he really did have a reason to treat him that way. After all Nano believed him to be his only friend and person he could trust. Even if…Akira stopped in his thinking to roughly scratch his head and give out a big sigh…Even if to himself, his interactions that had happened before re-meeting Nano were just broken and shattered memories he could barely remember. But the feeling of connection remained and Akira couldn't stop himself from interactioning with Nano in the way he did.

The problem though, now that he stopped to think about it, was what happened earlier tonight. How for once Nano's attention had been diverted to the Ajussi guy. Who then upon locking eyes with Nano blacked out in pain. That was just weird and even though he hadn't been close enough to clearly hear what the Ajussi said before passing out he had heard the first part. The guy had said Nicole, which was Nano's code name. Did that mean the Ajussi also knew Nano and if he did…Didn't that make it weirder that they look so similar and both have connections to Nano.

Akira sighed once more stopping as he looked around him. He just didn't know enough about what was going on at this point. He shouldn't broad about it till he knew mor…What a sec where was he?

Akira began frantically looking around at his surroundings. He saw no land marks he knew at all. Maybe this whole walk was a very bad idea. He thought as he scratched his head and forgetting his thoughts began to attempt to make his way back to Shinwoo's house.

Sadly Akira had ended up exactly as his name implied. Akira was hopelessly Lost.

Unknown to him a shadow stalked him in the night.

M-21

M-21 walked through an endless darkness seemingly getting nowhere fast. As he walked he heard voices speaking all around him but there was no one there.

"We are comrades."

"We only have to wait for your body to adapt to no longer needing the pills."

"Don't you think we have a better chance with them then with the Union."

"Don't worry one day we will find our names as well as our fallen comrades."

"Ajussi."

"Don't die please hold on."

"You're a disgrace giving up your humanity for power."

"I have a werewolf's heart?"

"So you were fooled. Now you want to die? You lived without a sister before and you can still continue to live without one."

"I'm _. Let's be friends!"

As he walked he remembered each time he heard the comment and his connection to the different people in his life. M-24, Regis, Shinwoo, the other kids, Frankenstein…Rai and all the others. But then he began to hear things he couldn't remember. It began to hurt his head as these things he couldn't recall began to mix with the familiar.

"Ajussi see you after school."

"You know you're the only one I can trust. Even if you disappear one day I'll find you again, _."

"Ajussi you're really popular, right? Can you give us some advice on girls?"

"Big brother are you okay? Can you hear me!? Big Brother!"

"We have to fix the kitchen before Frankenstein finds out!"

"Why don't you become a security guard for the school."

"….he's losing to much blood…I guess he is not compatible…It was too much to get our hopes up that he'd turn out like Premier."

"WHAT have you done to him. I'll kill you all! Hey don't leave me! Hey _. How am I suppose to find you if your dead!..."

"Get him out of here! We can't have him messing up Premier. You shouldn't have gotten close to the test subject in the first place! You foolish boy!"

"Big brother I made a new friend today….His names Nicole! Big brother…why don't you react anymore.. …ge..bet..r right?"

"Ajussi why are you here? Did you get captured too?"

"Hmm..I want this one. But sir that one is a failed experiment! He won't react! He is basically brain dead at this point. Well isn't that interesting, even so I believe he wi…ent..ta..n me qu..t nic…ly."

"So you do know these child..n. is it par..t of yo…r mis..on?"

M-21 slummed to the ground within the pitch blackness. As the unknown and known jumbled together nothing making sense anymore. Just pain shooting through his whole body. The words began to become clear as the pain intensified.

"Hi I'm exp..r..me..t M-24. Wh..ts yo..r na..e?"

"Bi..Bro..er.."

"NO MATTER WHAT I WILL FIND YOU!"

The pain suddenly became too much and suddenly it cut off. M-21 dropped to the ground in a heap gasping for air. Then as he opened his eyes a seen played out in front of him.

He saw a much younger version of himself sitting on a swing all alone. It was in a park of some type that he didn't recognize. As his younger version stared at the ground in front two others walked up. Their outlines slightly blurry like the surroundings.

"Hey what are you doing all by yourself?"

"Is that any fun at all?"

The slightly taller boy stated trying to get his attention, as the other boy just stared on. M-21's younger self slowly raised his head to look at the two in front. They shockingly became sharp and M-21 could see their details. The boy who had spoken had pale creamy skin, glossy black hair with a rat tail, and piercing gray eyes. He wore a black turtle neck and pants. He had a calculating look in his eyes as he looked my younger version up and down.

The one next to him when he looked at him froze M-21. It was the man that he saw from across the street. Only younger and his eyes were a dull blue instead of glowing purple.

The tall boy grinned at M-21's younger version.

"You looked up. That's great! My name is Nori! This quiet guy next to me is Nano. What's your name?"

The younger version of himself continued to stare at them with a blank empty stare then he sighed. While looking Nori straight in the eyes he said,

"My name is N- L-."

The unbearable pain came back full on. It shatter the scene in front of him, which he assumed was one of his erased memories, as he succumbed to the darkness surrounding him. Before he lost complete consciousness he felt a hand cover his eyes as he was hugged from behind. A females voice then soothingly rang out around him and stated,

"it is alright. Don't worry about any of this. It is just a bad dream. When you awake I will have helped you forget everything."

She then began to hum a song that felt so nostalgic as she cradled him. He then finally slipped into deep sleep and disappeared from the dark world.

The woman continued to sit in the darkness humming to herself. She wondered would the boy ever realize who she was and that she was even within him…

To be continued…

Naïve: So…Yeah lots of stuff happened in this chapter. Also sorry it took a while to get out. When I did the last chapter I had continued onto this chapter but then…I sadly got side tracked. Sorry.

Reborn: You still haven't got back to your other stories.

Naïve: I know I know. It's just this stories flowing better than the other ones. I will get back to them. I have not given up yet!

Naïve: Anyway some of you are probably wondering about a few things. One I don't plan on having any OCs in this story. Well that was the original plan sadly there will be one or two but that's it cause I hate OCs. On another matter the chick at the end of this chapter is not really an OC for your info…yes she is kind of because we have only barely heard about her and seen her in flash backs in Noblesse so her personality is all up to my opinions and needs. Also I just realize that I have been using Tao as a Deus Ex Makina of sorts in this story. Hey when I can't easily explain something well here comes Tao to the rescue. Weirdly I did not plan that. Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for the next one.

Preview: Who's the person stalking Akira? Who is the lady in M-21's head? What's with Nano the ghosty? And will any of the Togainu no chi characters ever get to Akira? And when will there be action? Well here you go! Well hopefully...