Author's Note: There were so many ideas that I have been sitting on for quite some time that I finally managed to get out. I almost like how this halo turned out. Almost. I just wished that I could make the scene with the Dante Killer and Ran a little bit longer than what I have. Oh, well get to see more of next week. (Trust me, there was so much that I wanted to do. I will find a way to squeeze. I want to get darker than what I have done in the past.) Speaking of next week, I already had the next halo planned in my head. Stick around for that. For now, enjoy this week's halo.

Halo Six: Naru:

"And you're sure she can understand us?" Masaomi asked. He, Mikado, Anri, Noriko, Tatsuya, and Mizuho sat in the living room staring at Chiharu across the room.

"Yes," Mizuho said. "I made comment about keeping her around as a pet and she glared at me." She held up her hand to Tatsuya.

"And yes I am sure!" she was quick to say. Tatsuya put up his own hands.

"Okay, okay," he said. "I believe you." He turned back to his savage sister. Okay, they hadn't expected this.

"So… what now?" Noriko asked.

"I don't know," Tatsuya said. "I'm not an expert on creature training." Despite the whispering, Chiharu could still hear them. Her right eye was twitching.

-Chiharu-

They talk like I am not here. I can hear what they are saying. It's been like this for days. I'm starting to remember things again. My name is Hashimoto Chiharu. I am also F. My parents are dead and I live with my idiot brother. I'm looking at my friends. Their names escape me at the moment. I definitely remember the one with the large curly ponytail to the side. (Has she always had that?) Oh yeah, I am also an angel for some reason. I can't really explain what happened. It's like my mind popped back into existence. I don't like how they are staring at me.

Now Tatsuya is walking over to me. I sat up in attention on instinct. (Don't ask me why I did it.) He waved his hand in front of my face. I frowned at him Really? We're doing this. I ought to bite his fingers off right now. Instead, I stuck out my tongue and licked his palm.

"Ew!" Tatsuya shouted as he drew back his hand. I think I grinned at that. Mizuho and my friends looked shocked. I think was laughing as Tatsuya wiped his hand.

I am still not fully back yet. I am still hungry for flesh and blood. Walking on all fours is still hard. The best I can do is sit up on the floor. I still can't talk. The blonde guy with silver earrings walked over to me.

"Is your name Chiharu?" he asked. I lifted my head.

"Chiharu," he said again. I stared at him. I wished I could tell him that was my name. I know that my name. I tried to form my mouth to say yes. Instead, a higher-pitched growl came out of my mouth. The blond boy about jumped back.

"She knows her name!" he said. They all crowded around me. I tried to speak but more growls came out.

"What is she saying?" Mizuho asked. (Hey, I remember her name now.) Tatsuya shook his head.

"I don't think she's really saying anything," he said. I felt like screaming. I'm trying, you idiot! It's not my fault that I still can't talk. I flopped back frustrated. I didn't know what else to do. That idiot patted me on the head.

"Aw," was all he said. I lunged up to bite him. Tatsuya drew back his hand. I glared up at him. If I ever get myself back, I will hunt down that bitch and kill her!

"What do we do now?" Noriko asked when she and her friends were on the street. Nobody had an answer.

"Not much we can do," Mikado said.

"But she's getting better, right?" Noriko asked. "Right?" Her ponytail bounced as she spoke. Her friends didn't have an answer. The girl lowered her gaze. Masaomi patted her on the back.

"She's doing the best she can," he said. That seemed to cheer her up.

"You're right," she said. Mikado and Anri looked at each other but said nothing.

The friends all went in their separate ways. Mikado made his way back home. Something told him that he wasn't going to be alone for long. The tadpole's shifted left and right. How long before one of his women popped up to interact with him? Mikado tried not to think about that. His mind went back to that night Yokubo visited him in his dreams. The thought made his skin crawl. He could still feel her on him. The taste of her lingered on his lips. The tadpole put his fingers to his lips. That dream was only three nights ago but it hadn't left him. He couldn't figure out why. Why did she come back? Something told him that she had marked him that night. He tried not to sleep as he didn't need to. But when he did…

For the time being, Mikado kept this dream to himself. Masaomi wasn't himself since he became a player in the game. Anri could become vulnerable to the pheromones if they were alone together. That last thought added more worry to the fire. The tadpole grabbed the sides of his head.

"What did she do to me?" he asked. The tadpole wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

Suddenly, Mikado paused.

"Hello?" he asked. He looked up to see a girl at the steps of his apartment. The first thing that he noticed was her pale bright blue eyes. Something about her reminded him of Emily. Her long brown hair came down to her waist. That light grayish-blue bow on her head looked like she had rabbit ears.

"Um… are you lost or something?" Mikado asked. The girl tugged at her lacy gray skirt.

"Yes," she admitted.

"Where are you trying to go?" the tadpole asked. The girl looked down at her feet.

"I don't know," she said in a quiet voice. That light purple sweater made her body look so much smaller. Her hair hit her black and white tank top straps.

"What is your name?" Mikado asked. The girl lifted her chin.

"Naru," she said.

"Nice to meet you, I guess," the tadpole said. "I'm Ryugamine Mikado." He bowed before her.

"Hi…" Naru said, sounding confused.

"So… you don't know where you were going?" he asked. Naru slowly shook her head.

"Did you forget where you were going or you don't know the exact place?" Mikado asked. Naru took a moment to think.

"I don't really know," she said.

"Do you need some help?" the tadpole asked. Naru lifted her chin.

"I don't know," she said. "Can you get me out of here?" The girl shifted in place as she said this.

"I mean, it's better than standing around talking to some stranger in a strange place, yeah?" she asked. Mikado looked at her confused. Naru busted out into nervous laughter.

"Oh no, I'm doing it again," she said. "I tend to talk too much when I am nervous." She rubbed the back of her head as she laughed louder.

"Okay…" he said. Now Naru looked confused.

"What?" she asked.

"I will help you," Mikado said. Naru's eyes widened.

"You serious?" she asked. The tadpole shrugged and nodded.

"Sure," he said. Naru quickly bowed.

"Oh thank you so much!" she said. The girl was about to step closer but Mikado held out his hand out to her.

"Just stop," he said. Naru looked at him confused.

"It's nothing against you," Mikado said. "The problem is with me. I will help you get out of here but you just have to keep your distance."

"Uh… okay…" Naru said.

"Let's go," Mikado said.

"Right," she said. They began walking down the path. The tadpole boy looked over his shoulder. Where had he seen this girl before? She clearly wasn't from Raira Academy.

"Say Naru-chan, are you new around here?" Mikado asked.

"No," she said. "I've been in this city since I was a baby."

"Then… how come I haven't seen you around?" he asked. Naru took a moment to think.

"I guess I don't really get out much," she said. "If that makes sense."

"I guess," Mikado said. They've had this conversation before, didn't they? He couldn't exactly place where. This was going to drive him crazy.

"Is something wrong?" Naru asked. Mikado looked behind him.

"Hm?" he asked. "Oh. It's nothing. I just thought that I've seen you from somewhere."

"Ah," she said. "Actually, I think I have seen you from somewhere too." Mikado paused and turned around.

"You have?" he asked. Naru slowly nodded.

"I just can't place where," she said. She studied his face as if to look for the answer.

"Heh," was all Mikado could say.

Meanwhile, Kadota and Saburo sat in the van across town. Erika was with her cosplay friends today. It felt weird to not have Walker with them.

"You heard from him yet?" Kadota asked.

"No," Saburo said. "You?"

"No," the gangster said. "Erika said she hasn't heard from him either." They heard about the riot at the jail last month. No doubt that Walker would've escaped by now. Knowing him, he was laying low until it was the right time to pop up again. The question was, where did Walker go? There were plenty of places to look in Ikebukuro. But where to start?

Saburo was about to speak when something caught his eye outside.

"Huh? What is that?" he asked.

"What?" Kadota asked. The men looked out the windshield. A white twinkle of light appeared out of nowhere and started falling. It landed somewhere in the alley. On instinct, Saburo drove to the surface. He couldn't explain why he was doing this. Kadota didn't say anything. The van pulled up to an alley between a closed-down bar and a pachinko parlor. The men got out of the van. They used their phones as light. A low groan filled the air.

"Look!" Kadota whispered. Saburo turned his phone up ahead. A body was laying on a pile of trash. They struggled to get up as they groaned in pain. Kadota and Saburo ran toward the figure on the trash pile. When they got a better look, they saw it was a girl.

"Ow," she mumbled to herself.

"Hey!" Kadota yelled. The girl turned her head. The men got a better look at her when they got closer. She had to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. Her short bright red with black streaks stood out in the dark. The red-framed glasses made her face look so much smaller and rounder. The girl shielded her eyes from the dim light.

"Are you okay?" Kadota asked. The girl had a confused look on her face.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Saburo asked as he stepped closer. The men were now inches away from the pile she sat on. The girl reached up to her ear hear and looked like she tucking her hair behind it.

"What is she doing?" Saburo asked.

"Do you think she can understand us?" Kadota asked. The man turned back to the girl who was now sitting up straight on the pile of trash. The three of them stared at each other for a moment. Kadota took a step forward.

"Are you okay?" he asked again. The girl slowly nodded.

"Where did you come from?" Kadota asked. She stared at them for a moment. The girl covered her hand as she gasped.

"It worked," she said in a small voice. Her eyes stayed locked on the Japanese men in front of her.

"What year is this?" she asked. Her Japanese sounded a bit mangled up as she spoke. Kadota and Saburo looked at each other. Where did this question come from?

"2015?" Kadota said. The girl perked up with a huge smile on her face.

"It worked! It really worked!" she said. The girl slid off of the trash and dusted herself off. Meanwhile, Kadota and Saburo looked confused. What was this girl talking about? She must have hit her head in that fall.

"Listen, we're going to take you to a hospital," Kadota said. The girl blinked at him.

"Hospital?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Come with us." The man gently took her by the arm as he led her back to the van. The girl followed along not knowing what to do.

"What is your name?" Kadota asked the girl as they made it to the van.

"Kathy," the girl said.

"Kathy?" Kadota asked.

"Yes," she said. He pushed open the door to let her in. Saburo followed behind. He kept his eyes on Kathy's back. He couldn't explain it at the time but paternal instinct started to wake up inside of him. Like there was a need to protect and take of this girl he had just met. But just seemed ridiculous, right?

"Look, I'm fine," Kathy said. "I don't really need to go to the hospital. I have to get going." The men didn't respond at first.

"Just go with us on this," Saburo said. "You took a nasty fall. Humor us on this." Kadota looked at him. Kathy pouted at him in the back seat as Saburo gave her a stern look.

"Fine," she said. Saburo pulled away from the alley to the hospital. Kathy looked out the window. For now, she was going to have to go down this rabbit hole.

October 21, 2015

-12:45 a.m.-

Ran awoke with a low groan and throbbing headache in the darkness. The smell of kerosene flooded his nostrils. He reeled back at the smell. The man couldn't remember what happened hours earlier. Ran was sitting… somewhere. Why was it so dark in here? It was then he noticed that he couldn't move. Ran looked down at his body. He managed to see that he was chained down to a chair. Plus he was gagged. What the hell was going on?

The man tried to piece together what was going on. The last thing he could remember was leaving Izaya's place. Yeah, that was it. Izaya seemed to be paranoid about something lately. In fact, the information broker asked him to do a small favor.

"Why?" Ran asked. Izaya never gave him a clear reason why.

"This has got to stop," was all he said. Ran found it odd but decided to humor him.

"Fine, whatever," he muttered. From there, it got hazy.

Ran slowly looked around. Nothing but darkness in this room. By now, he could make out details as his eyes adjusted. Walls covered in black plastic tarp. Even all of the windows were covered up. Except for him being chained down to this chair, there wasn't anything else in the room. Well, almost. There was a video camera and a laptop sitting across the room. The little red light was blinking on it. Slowly, a rather twisted image started to come together before his very eyes. The man blinked.

Huh?

Suddenly, spotlights snapped on him. The man winced as he narrowed his eyes. What the hell was this? Ran looked up when he heard footsteps walking toward him. He narrowed his eyes as a figure in a white pantsuit and a black and red goat mask walked up to him. Just by the curves in the clothes, he could tell this was a woman. She held a large butcher knife in her right hand. She paused in front of him.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," she said. Ran tried to shout something through the leather gag. The masked woman held up her hand.

"No, no," she said. "Don't talk. We're about to go live." Her victim stared at her with hate in his eyes.

"Heh," she said. The masked woman walked over to the camera and adjusted it. She moved the mouse on the laptop and logged in. The woman clicked something on the screen and adjusted the mic on her suit.

Perfect. Now she could get started.

"Good evening, my bloodthirsty darlings," she said. "Welcome to the Punishing Hour. I am your lovely hostess, DK. This is my first live stream. Please go easy on me." DK put up her hands like she was pleading to the invisible audience. Ran raised his eyebrow.

"Let's meet our guest today, shall we?" DK asked. She turned to Ran tied up and gagged in the chair.

"You all might be familiar with him. Meet Izumii Ran. He is the former leader of the Blue Squares. He did some time in juvie. Now, he's a dog for the Awakusu." She turned to her victim.

"Say hi, Izumii-kun," she said. The woman used two fingers to lower his gasp. Ran coughed and gasped.

"What the fuck?!" he shouted. "Who the fuck are-?!" DK recovered his mouth. She then slapped him across the face.

"Quiet!" she hissed. The woman cleared her throat.

"Anyway, it's time for a pop quiz," she said. Ran stared at her with eyes as he recognized that phrase as his own. The woman smiled behind her mask.

"Question number one: how many circles of hell are in Dante's Inferno?" she asked. The thug with the burnt face gave her a blank stare.

"Time's up! The answer is nine," DK said. She turned back to the camera.

"Okay my lovelies, it's time for the plenty," she said. "Wait here." Ran watched as she walked past him. The woman whistled to herself as she walked over to a table covered in a black tarp. She pulled it away with one motion. So many tools. Which one should she choose? DK let her hand swing over the various tools before she landed on the first one that she wanted.

"Ah, here it is," she said. DK spun on her heel and walked over to her victim. Ran's eyes widened as he saw the hammer, his hammer, in her hand. DK had a smile of a wild animal under her mask. She drew back the heavy hammer above her head.

Wham!

The hammer connected with his right calf. Ran screamed out in the gag. DK smiled at the sounds.

"One," she said. She raised the hammer up again.

Wham!

"Two!" the woman shouted. Bone started to stick through the skin. Seven more times and she set down the heavy hammer.

"Whew!" she said. "That was nine hits." DK looked at Ran's right calf. The bone was broken beyond repair. No, it was even worse than that. That was left was a pulpy mess of tissue, muscle, and blood.

"Geez! It looks like you won't be using that leg for a while," she said. Ran's body was tense with the pain. He glared at her with hateful eyes. DK turned back to the camera.

"Did you enjoy that, my lovelies?" she asked. "Tell you what, for the rest of the night I will let you, the viewers, pick out whatever tool I get to use on our guest for the batsu games. You make a donation and you get to list what body part with what tools I get to strike." Ran started screaming through the gag. DK walked over and looked at the laptop screen. She scrolled through the pouring comments.

"Oh my! I've got a full room tonight. This is actually going better than I thought," she said. Let's see…" DK scrolled through the endless comments when she heard a ping from the speakers.

"Ah," she said. "5,000¥ for a needle to the eye." The woman stood up and saluted. She walked over to the table and pulled a giant hypodermic needle. Ran stared at her wide-eyed as he realized where this was going to go.

"Question Number Two: Which circle do those who committed violence against others go?" DK asked. Ran tried to struggle through his bonds. His right leg wasn't much use and the movement made the panic much worse. DK smirked under her mask.

"Ooo, time's up. The answer is the seventh circle," she said. "Time for the penalty." DK waved the tip of the needle back and forth.

"Let's see… Should I stab your right eye or your left eye?" she asked. Ran quickly shut his eyes. DK huffed.

"Come on, don't make me do this the hard way," she said. "Tiger Dragon 828 paid good money for this. I don't want to fail to deliver." Her victim refused to comply. DK sighed.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way," she said. The woman had to force open his right eye with two fingers.

Stab!

Ran screamed through gagged with the needle sticking out of his eye. But DK didn't stop there. She rammed the needle as deep as it will go. The woman smirked and pulled the needle out as fast as she could.

"One," DK said. She wasn't done by the way said that. Six more times and the needle was down to the tarp on the ground. Ran screamed through his gag really loud. DK cocked her head to the side. She reached for the gag but then paused. Instead, the woman turned back to the camera.

"Thank you for the donation," she said. DK walked over to the laptop and read the comments. The fans were going wild. It didn't take long for the notifications on the DeathVine stream to ping.

"Oh! I've got another donation," she said. "Let's see… Oh! Nami-Swan just donated 250¥ if I take off a finger with pliers." DK stood up and smiled behind her mask.

"Well, your wish is my command," she said. The woman walked over to the table again. She came behind her victim, clacking the pliers together.

"Question number: Which circle of hell do you think you are in now?" the woman asked. Ran turned his head to look up with his remaining eye. By now, he started to piece together who this woman was. It started to come back to him about how he ended up in this place.

"Time's up! The answer is you're in the first ring of the seventh circle," DK said. "Time to pick out a finger. Are you left-handed or right-handed?" Ran started shouting at her from the gag.

"Shut up, will you?" the woman asked. "I'm trying to give Nami-Swan what she paid for." DK finally picked out a finger she wanted.

"Ah!" she said. The pliers moved down to Ran's right middle finger.

Snip!

Ran let off another scream in the gag. DK kicked him in his shattered leg.

"Geez, you scream too much for a mercenary. It's starting to get rather annoying, really," she said. "You're killing the fun here." The woman shook her head as she rubbed the forehead of the mask.

"Look, if you stop screaming for an hour, I will take the gag off, okay?" she asked. "Nod once if you understand." Ran frowned at her but what could do? The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was his phone being taken from him out of his pocket. This crazy woman probably had it. Plus, these damned knots were tied really tight. Did anyone even know where he was?

Zap!

Ran shouted in the gag. He looked and noticed the cattle prod in the woman's hand. He could tell that she was getting angry.

"You took too long with your answer," DK hissed. "One more time: are you going to keep quiet for one hour? Nod if you understand. Don't make me use this again!" The mercenary had no choice but to nod. The woman lowered the cattle prod to her side.

"Much better," she said. "Let's go see what the next request is, shall we?" Ran watched as DK walked over to the laptop. His stomach dropped as another ping filled the room. Meanwhile, the woman smirked under her mask.

"Looks like I've got another donation," she said. The woman turned her head.

"50,000¥ for your other leg," she said. "And you know what? It sounds like a great idea." The woman threw back her head and laughed.

-December 12, 2015-

Izaya sat in a police interrogation room. His eyes looked so dead as he sat at the table. So it's come down to this? The man could laugh at his own desperation if he still had it in him. The most that he could muster was a dry smile. He would give anything to have a little bit of his control back. Maybe this could be the key. Just maybe…

Izaya lifted his eyes when he heard the door open. A man in a black suit walked into the room and sat across from the information broker. He dropped a folder on the table.

"What all do you know?" he asked.

"Am you going to grant me immunity?" Izaya asked.

"That will depend on what you tell me," the man in the suit. The information broker took a breath and started talking.