Author's Note: I have been sitting on the opening scene of this halo for a couple of years now. So far, I am liking for this story is unfolding. I think next week we shall get darker. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. I have just the thing to get us started. You are going to have to stick around and see while I dig through everything that I have bookmarked for ideas. For now, enjoy this week's halo.

Halo Two: Yokio:

October 18, 2015.

-3:00 a.m.-

A woman in a short white dress ran out of her apartment. She slowed down to a walk. She held her breath as she kept moving. The woman quickly looked behind her but didn't stop moving. To stop would equal death. She kept walking and glancing behind her. Halfway down the hall, the woman turned around and started walking backward. The key was to stay calm and keep moving.

One of her neighbors, an elderly woman, poked her head out into the hall.

"Hello, Sakoto-chan," she said. The woman turned her head for a quick second.

"Hello," she said back. Sakoto kept moving to the elevator. However, she turned and started walking briskly back to her apartment. She was just about to her door when she broke into a run back into her apartment. Sakoto ran back out with her purse and her keys in her hands. She took off running as fast as she could to the stairs. The elevator would take too long. Plus, sometimes it would break without warning. No, she had to keep running. If she could just get to her car she would be safe.

Sakoto made it down to the apartment car park. She already had her key out in her hand. She unlocked the door and climbed in. Sakoto was quick to lock the door. She started up the car, praying that it wouldn't stall on her. Sakoto whipped her head around. Her eyes widened as she reached for her phone. She dialed 110 as fast as she could.

"110, what's your emergency?" the operator asked on the other line.

"I'm being chased!" Sakoto screamed. She kept looking out the window starting up the car.

"You're being chased? Who is chasing you? Where exactly are you?" the operator asked.

Crash!

Sakoto screamed as the invisible force smashed the driver's side window.

"Miss? Are you okay? What's wrong?" the operator asked. There was only screaming and stabs. Then the call got disconnected.

Sakoto sat up straight in the driver's seat with her blank eyes open and blood around her mouth. Her head was cocked to the side like it was broken. There was a giant hole in her chest.

-8:00 a.m.-

Yokio sat on Shinra and Celty's couch. Hifumi would be coming here today. That call from Kitano this morning made things worse. What could Tandeki do to him now?

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang. Yokio looked at the phone screen. Huh? What was Seita doing calling him?

"Hello?" Yokio asked.

"Have you heard from Sakoto-chan today?" Seita asked. The tadpole had a puzzled look on his face.

"No, not lately…" he said. There was a pause on the line. Yokio could hear mumbling from his friend.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Oh god," his friend said. Yokio narrowed his eyes.

"You get in a fight or something?" he asked.

"No," Seita said. Yokio noticed that his friend sounded distant.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. Suddenly, the tadpole felt that old chill run up his spine. Three of them were here.

"Listen, I will call you back," he said. "Maybe she's just busy right now. We'll talk later." Yokio hung up as three pairs of footsteps in a doorway. Erina, Hifumi, and Megumi stood staring at him. Hifumi felt her heart jump in her chest. He straightened his hair as he stood up.

"Yo," he said, waving. She stood, speechless. Hifumi's memories about him started flooding back. He was the one to come to her in Chou Mori. He turned to when he felt like he was drowning.

"The doc was the one who led me here," Yokio said. He held up his phone.

"I've been looking for you for months, Hifumi-san," he said. The other two tadpoles started to remember him as well. Erina pulled out her phone.

"Yukio, we found Yokio," she said. Meanwhile, Hifumi and Yokio locked eyes with each other.

The inner circle sat in the board room for another meeting. They all had a guess of what this was about. Kitano stood up from his seat.

"Everyone," he said. "Mam and Vozrozhdeniye are starting to catch up to us. In fact, it is Mam who has changed the timeline." The circle stared at him as he put up his hand.

"However, there is some good news," he said. "We can still keep our lead. We don't need to panic, but we have to keep working. Therefore, I am granting you permission to take your projects even further." His inner circle looked reserved with their joy.

"If you need the funds or permission, I will grant it to you," Kitano said. Osamu raised his hand.

"What about Izaya?" he asked. "Do we get to kill him yet?" The therapist put up his hand.

"We will get there in all due time," he said. "We have more important issues to work on." Kitano held up a piece of paper.

"I have his name written here," he said. "However, I will not light this until the time is right. This paper is going to stay with me." Kitano put the paper back into his pocket. Osamu frowned but had no choice but to go along with the situation. The therapist looked at his inner circle.

"Who's turn is it to get their horse?" he asked. Osamu raised his hand again.

"Good, good," he said. Kitano cleared his throat.

"That is all," he said. "You are dismissed."

Mikado sat in Akari's room. They had to keep their distance from each other. Akari cleared her throat.

"Do you feel any different?" she asked.

"No," the tadpole said, shaking his head. Akari took a moment to think. She looked up and started to get up.

"Please… don't," he pleaded. Akari paused. She slowly sat down.

"Thank you," Mikado said. He took a breath.

"Though, there is something that I have to know," she said. The tadpole looked up at her.

"What?" he asked. Akari stood up.

"Wait… what are you doing?" Mikado asked.

"There's just something I have to see," she said. She started walking toward him. Slow steps to be exact. Mikado felt his breath hitch. He didn't like where this was going.

"Don't do this," the tadpole said.

"Relax, there is something that I have to see," Akari said. She walked closer to him. Her heart started pounding against her chest. She started to take in slow, heavy breaths. Akari walked closer. Mikado could see the pupils in her eyes starting to dilate. Her cheeks started to redden.

"Stop," Mikado said. "You don't have to come any closer!" Akari didn't seem to hear him. She looked like she was in a trance as she found herself just inches away from him now. Mikado could hear all of the things that she wanted to do to him running in her head. He also heard all of the things she wanted him to do to her. If Akari got any closer, she would…

Suddenly, Akari stopped in her tracks.

"It's just as I thought," she said. She looked up at the tadpole boy.

"You really are doing this," Akari said.

"Me? I'm not doing anything! I swear!" Mikado yelped, waving his hands in front of him.

"No, not consciously at least," she said. She swallowed hard like she was trying to stay above water.

"You give off this sweet and musky scent when I am around you," Akari said.

"Huh?" the tadpole boy asked. He started to smell himself. Nothing much had changed. Akari started to back up and calm down. She cleared her throat.

"This might be a problem," she said. "I was lucky to be able to stop myself before I really lost it. Twice. I don't think there's going to be a third time." Mikado shifted in place.

"What about Anri?" he asked.

"Saika might be able to snap her out of it," Akari said. She noticed the worried look in his eyes.

"Any normal girl might not even have a chance," Mikado added. His stomach turned at the thought of what else could be cranked up with his powers. Akari put up her hands.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I've got you. I can make pheromone blockers for you and the others. They might not hold for long, but it's better than nothing." Mikado managed to calm down after hearing that.

"Okay," he said. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, boo," Akari said. "I'm just happy to help you." Mikado sat back into place feeling much better for the time being.

Mizuho sat across from Chiharu in the apartment. The angel was chained down to the floor. Tatsuya had no choice but to tell his old friend the truth. Good thing that he had Chiharu's friends to help clear things up.

"So… is she some sort of a monster now?" Mizuho asked.

"Sort of," Tatsuya said. His friend wrinkled her nose.

"But she isn't human?" she asked.

"No," Mikado said.

"Hm…" Mizuho said. The others waited for her to ask more questions.

"So… what is she now?" she asked.

"An angel," Tatsuya said. His friend about laughed. Her laughter died away when she saw the grim looks on their faces.

"You can't be serious," she said. "She doesn't look anything like an angel." They didn't say anything.

"Oh," Mizuho said. She looked at Tatsuya and Chiharu's friends across the table.

"What are you going to do with her?" Mizuho asked in a low voice. Tatsuya, Masaomi, Mikado, and Anri looked at each other. The woman frowned.

"Seriously? You don't have anything?" she asked.

"Well, Kishitani-sensei and his dad have been trying to help her," Anri said. "But they have so much going on."

"So you have been keeping her locked up like this?" Mizuho asked.

"Got any better ideas?" Tatsuya asked. His friend sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

Since then, she and Tatsuya had been keeping Chiharu held and chained back in her room. She hadn't planned on "monster-sitting" today. But here she was. She promised that she would help Tatsuya with Chiharu as he tried to figure out what to do with her next. The woman rolled her eyes. Love could be such a bitch at times. Mizuho twirled one of her dark purple pigtails.

"So, here we are," she said. "You as a feral animal and me as a civilized human." Chiharu looked up at her. Her eyes had gone from brown to red. Drool ran out of the corner of her mouth. Chiharu started growling again. Mizuho raised her eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" she asked. She had her hand on her stun gun. Chiharu froze with wide eyes.

"Heh," Mizuho said. She still kept her hand on the stun gun. Part of her took delight in tormenting her by just showing it to her. All of those times Chiharu tried to block her from seeing Tatsuya. Mizuho smirked to herself as took that as sweet revenge. The angel cowered back, trembling.

"I finally have a way to keep you in check," the woman said. Mizuho frowned.

"However, that leaves the question of what we should do with you," she said. "We can't let you out in public. However, we can't keep you here forever. They don't believe they can change you back either." Mizuho took a moment to think.

"This is quite a problem if you break it down," she said. Mizuho tried not to smile as another thought crossed her mind.

"Maybe we could just keep you around as a pet," she said. The woman noticed Chiharu's right eye twitching. Oh, dear. She didn't seem to find that funny. Mizuho gave her an odd look.

"Wait… can you understand what I am saying?" she asked. Chiharu didn't move. Mizuho leaned in closer with the stun gun in hand.

"Is your name Hashimoto Chiharu?" she asked. The angel's eyes flickered to life. Low growls came out of her mouth. Mizuho didn't know what to make of this. She stopped in her tracks.

"Do you know where you are?" the woman asked. Chiharu let out another low growl.

"Do you know who I am?" Mizuho asked. The angel's nostrils flared as she growled again. Mizuho thought she saw anger in her eyes. Okay, the situation might have changed. The woman slowly nodded.

"Right… Yeah. This is an interesting turn," she said. "There might be some hope for you yet." Mizuho pulled out her phone and dialed the number she needed.

"Tatsuya-kun, you're going to want to get here now!" she said.

Yokio had his head on Hifumi's shoulder. It was just like the old times.

"I've been looking for you for months," he said. "I don't know exactly why to be honest."

"How much do you remember?" Hifumi asked.

"More than I wish to," Yokio said. "It doesn't help that I see the dead blending in with the living either."

"That's your main power?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. Hifumi held out her hand. Chains began raining down from them.

"Ah, so that's what you can do," he said. Hifumi turned to Yokio.

"See have you seen any of the others?" she asked.

"No," Yokio said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. There was a new text on the screen.

"Huh?" he asked.

"What's wrong?" Hifumi asked.

"It's my friend," Yokio said. He opened up the text. The pair read together. Yokio's heart sank.

"His girlfriend was murdered in her car," he said. "One of the neighbors found the body in the parking garage." The pair looked at each other. Yokio scrolled down on his screen. The link to the article popped up on the screen. But he didn't need to tap on it. Yokio pressed his lips together.

"How long before they start coming for us?" he asked.

"I'm afraid they already have," Hifumi said. The other tadpole shook his head.

"I mean the really bad ones," he said. "I've seen the way the dead look at me lately. It's like they expect me to become one of them really soon." Yokio lowered his phone.

"I don't think I have it in me to fight to be honest," he said. Hifumi cuddled up to his side.

"That's why we are looking for the others," she said. "You don't have to worry, Yokio-kun. You have all of us now." Yokio tried not to go to sleep on her shoulder.

That's when another crossed his head.

"Hey, I might have gotten an email from one of us," he said. Yokio pulled up his email on his phone. Hifumi took a look for herself. The message was saved in an unnamed folder. It hadn't been opened. Hifumi turned to the other tadpole.

"When did you get this?" she asked.

"Last night," Yokio said. "I don't know who it is. I haven't even tried to ask."

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" she asked. "Reply back and tell them that you want to meet up."

"Right," he said. "What do I say?"

"Just get them who we are and tell them that we want to meet," she said.

"Right," the other tadpole said. Yokio tapped the screen and got to typing. He pressed send when he was finished.

The child hoovered onto a pack of condoms in Mikado's room. He had managed to slip away from Shion's watchful eye long enough to make it here. She dealing with another unborn soul. They were probably upset about a toy being taken from them or something. The child pushed that thought out of his head. He had other things on his mind.

He kept his eyes on the condoms. A tiny hand reached for one of them. It would just take one little prick. Just one little prick…

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked behind him. The child froze. A hand rested on his head. There was no warmth in that touch.

"I know what you trying to do," she said. "We talked about this." The little hand drew back. She put her hands on her hips.

"It's not worth it," the deity said. "Everything has to happen in the natural order. You know that." Little eyes looked up at her. Shion made a face at him.

"I know you're frustrated," she said. She pulled him closer to her side.

"You will be born. I promise," the deity added. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't believe her. That doesn't faze her. They've done this before.

"Hm?" she asked. "I can't tell you when you will be conceived. You know that I am not allowed to do that." She patted him on the head.

"Don't get all pouty with me" Shion said. "I'm on your side, remember? I am here to keep you out of trouble. There is already talk of taking retribution out on you and your family. Is that what you want?" There was a pause. Shion smiled and patted her on the head.

"Very good," she said. The deity held out her hand.

"Come back with me," she said. The tiny hand grabbed onto hers.

"Good, let's head back now," she said. The deity and child disappeared into thin air. She knows that he going to try something like this again. His patience is like a string about to snap. For now, all she can do is distract him until his conception time came.

If only Mikado would play along with the strings of fate…

December 15, 2015

"It's you," Shinra said.

"Sensei!" someone shouted behind him. The doctor turned around to see Mizuho pushing her way through the crowd. Shinra waved to flag her down. The woman made her way over to him. Her brown beanie hat and equally brown scarf made her face look smaller.

"Are you here to see what's going on too?" Shinra asked.

"Yes," Mizuho said. "But I really came out here to find you." She looked out at the crowd watching the police talking to each other.

"I pretty much followed the crowd here," she said.

"Okay…" the doctor said. "I just saw who died."

"Never mind that," Mizuho said with a grim look on her face. "We've got bigger problems to deal with. Much bigger."