I fell ill about mid-February and have only now started recovering my strength. Hopefully I'll be back on track with the story and get it wrapped up soon.


Chapter Three

Yuta opened his eyes to blinding light. He squeezed his eyes shut and shielded them with his hand as he struggled to sit up. His head was aching terribly. His free hand stroked the comforter—

This isn't a futon.

Yuta's eyes snapped opened. He blinked against the bright lights and frantically looked around. "Mana?!"

He quickly found Mana. She was lying in a twin-sized bed to his right, looking fast asleep. Yuta also saw that he was sitting in a twin-sized bed. In their apartment, they had their own bedrooms and slept in futons. He scrambled out of the bed and fell to her bedside. He reached out and stroked her cheek. Cool, but he could feel heat building underneath her skin. She's coming back. Yuta nearly fell over in relief.

"Amazing. Twelve hours almost to the minute."

Yuta quickly turned and his body tensed as rage surged in his body. He was there. The man in the black suit and sunglasses. The man who had shot him. He was sitting in a folding chair at the foot of their beds, one leg draped over the other knee. He was smiling, but it was an unkind smile. "I had heard that when you immortals "die", it takes twelve hours for you to come back," the man said. He slowly clapped his gloved hands together. "That's incredible."

The rage was replaced by cold fear. Yuta slowly stood up. "Who are you?" he whispered. He looked down at himself and he saw that he was dressed in a white T-shit and white pajama pants. "W-Where are my clothes?"

"They were covered in blood," the man said bluntly. "I thought it would be polite to give you fresh clothes."

"How do you know about us?!" Yuta demanded.

Mana suddenly gasped as she came awake. Yuta turned back to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"Yuta?" She reached up and stroked her cheek. "Yuta, you were shot. You—HEY!" she shrieked, pointing to the man. "He shot us! He murdered us, Yuta!"

"That's a terrible accusation to make," the man said in a bland tone. "I knew that a bullet to your skulls wouldn't truly kill you. If I wanted you both dead, I would have cut your heads off."

Mana gasped in alarm, and Yuta shifted to block her from view. "Who are you?!" he demanded again in a harsher tone.

"You may call me Shiro," the man said. Yuta reflexively flinched when he heard the name and Shiro's brow rose. "Oh? Do you know me?"

"I'm not fond of that name," Yuta said, remembering the poor dog that had been turned into a rabid Lost Soul. "How did you know about Mana and I?"

Shiro shrugged casually. "A fool ate mermaid's flesh on a train and the usual result happened. Most everyone panicked and tried to flee. You two, however?" He pointed to them. "You both ran towards the monster and killed it. Even though you were also in danger you disregarded your own safety to kill it. That tells me two things. One—you are familiar with these monsters. And two—you knew that you wouldn't die. So that tells me you are one of two things; you are either fools who do not care if you die…or you are immortals who cannot die."

Yuta felt as though he wasn't breathing. There was a roaring in his ears and his felt light-headed. He slowly sat down beside Mana on her bed to try and compose himself. He knows. He knows everything. How does he know so much?

Mana was also shocked but she found the words first. "H-How do you know all this?!"

Shiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. He flipped it open, revealing a badge. "What is that?" Mana said.

"It means I'm a member of the PSIA," Shiro said, closing the wallet. "So to answer your question; I know these things because it's my job to know."

The PSIA. The Public Security Intelligence Agency. Yuta knew that they answered to the Ministry of Justice, so that meant that Shiro was a government agent. He swallowed thickly and looked at Shiro. "T…The Japanese government…knows about mermaids?"

"Of course they do," Shiro responded. His tone was incredulous, as though Yuta had asked the world's dumbest question. "A mythological fish that grants immortality is not going to go unnoticed by one of the oldest governments in the world. A fair number of people vying for power in the last several centuries have eaten mermaid's flesh, and have either died or turned into monsters. You two, however, are the first true immortals I have ever met. You are quite a unique pair, as you have virtually no electronic background. Not even number cards. Do you want to bring attention to yourselves?"

"I was born before number cards," Yuta said quietly. "And Mana, she…"

"I was raised to be fed to mermaids," Mana said bluntly.

Shiro's brow rose again. "Fair enough. And it sounds like neither of you have anything like fake birth certificates do you?"

Yuta frowned deeply, remaining silent.

"I guess there is a drawback to immortality," Shiro sighed.

"More than you know," Yuta murmured. "Watching your family and friends die. Seeing the world around you change while you don't change…"

Shiro tilted his had slightly. "It's sort of jarring seeing your youthful face but hearing the tone of an old, jaded man."

Mana took Yuta's hand and squeezed it. Yuta squeezed it back.

"But I didn't bring you here to question you about your immortality," Shiro said, suddenly standing up. "We need to talk business."

"Where is here?" Yuta asked.

"And why did you kill us?" Mana asked.

"This is a government black site, and I "killed" you to incapacitate you," Shiro said. "Because I had a feeling that neither of you would come with me voluntarily. Now, follow me. I have something very important to discuss with you both."


They had been held in an ominously white and sterile room, and from there they were escorted to another ominously white and sterile room with a table and chair. Yuta noticed that Mana was still in her street clothes, which he was relieved about. But he kept his arm around her shoulders as they followed behind Shiro. When they entered the room with the table and chairs, Yuta and Mana sat side by side and Shiro sat across from them. He folded his hands on the table before he spoke. "We need your help."

This Yuta wasn't expecting. His eyes widened in shock. "W…What?!"

"We've gotten reports of consumption of mermaid byproducts for the last several decades, however the information we receive is constantly inconsistent," Shiro explained. "We know something is going on, but despite our best efforts these cases have alluded us. But you are probably aware of this."

"Yes," Yuta said grimly. "Mana and I have dealt with—many bizarre and disturbing cases involving mermaids. And we have dealt with it alone."

"We know that there has been activity, but it has also been extremely uncommon," Shiro said. "There is also the matter that most people do not believe mermaids exist. These types of investigations are not something we can request aid for."

"How do you know so much if you don't have these cases often?" Mana asked.

"You two are not the first immortals the Japanese government has spoken with," Shiro said. "Granted, there are not many of you; we only have a written record from an interview with an older gentleman from the Meiji Restoration. At the time he claimed he was 300 years old. So what little we do know about you immortals is from his testimony. But I do not know if this man is still alive or not.

"There has been a frequency in incidents involving mermaid's flesh. Not just here in Japan, but all over the world. The case of Natsu Ai has garnered considerable attention because she ate mermaid's flesh live in front of an internet audience. And despite our best efforts to scrub the footage from the internet, well…" he shrugged. "Nothing ever truly goes away on the internet."

"Do you know what happened to Natsu Ai?" Yuta asked.

"She's dead," Shiro said bluntly. "We disposed of her. We lost three agents in eliminating her, but she is gone."

"You are sure?" Mana asked carefully.

"We cut her monstrous head off and burned her body. There is no coming back for her."

"And her family?" Yuta asked.

"We have moved them for their safety," Shiro said. "They have been unable to give us any information though on where she purchased mermaid's flesh, but I don't doubt that the people who sold Natsu Ai the flesh will come after them."

"Who are they?" Mana asked.

Shiro pointed to them. "That's what the both of you are going to find out."

"What?!" Yuta demanded sharply.

"We know that mermaid's flesh is involved," Shiro said. "And from what it looks like, someone is producing mermaid's flesh on a wide scale. They're producing enough to ship it globally, and for all intents and purposes the shipments are coming out of this country. We just don't know from where."

"What are you saying?" Mana demanded. "T-That someone's harvesting mermaid's flesh here in Japan and selling it?!"

"Exactly."

"…And you want us to look into it because you don't want to lose any more officers," Yuta said.

Shiro smiled thinly. "You were coming back from Natsu Ai's hometown, weren't you? It sounds like you were already looking into this."

"Look, I have work tomorrow," Yuta said. "A longtime friend of ours has served as our benefactor and pulled in several favors for me to get this job. A job I just started. What am I supposed to tell my employer?"

"We'll take care of it," Shiro said. "Don't you think this is more important?"

Yuta swallowed thickly. Shiro had a good point. "We will need to be compensated," he said.

"Yuta?" Mana looked at him in shock.

"It's becoming harder for me to find work," Yuta said. "Especially when I lack a traceable background. Mana and I can't even leave this country without difficulty. I will gladly stop the spread of mermaid's flesh, but you should know that this won't be the first time we've done this. We have fought countless times to spread the spread of this—curse." he enunciated the word. "And in doing so we have each suffered deaths. Oftentimes brutal deaths. We have gone into these situations with little money, sometimes just the clothes on our backs, and being homeless. Most of the time…when we eliminate the threat, we still have little money, barely have the clothes on our backs, and are still homeless."

"Yuta." When Mana said his name again, her tone was melancholy. Yuta took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"We will gladly face this threat ourselves," Yuta said. "But if it's the Japanese government asking this of us, I want compensation. And I want both Mana and I to be left alone afterwards."

Shiro raised his hands slightly. "I'm not at liberty to discuss your compensation. But if the two of you can stop the mass production of mermaid's flesh, you will be taken care of."

"Please clarify, sir," Yuta pressed. "I don't want Mana and I to put our necks on the line for this, only to have them chopped by you in the end."

Shiro choked on a laugh, but quickly recovered himself. "As I said, I cannot discuss your compensation. But I will swear to you that both of your lives will be safe when this is all over."

Yuta relaxed a little, but not completely. "You will let us go?"

"We will let you go," Shiro promised. "My oath."

"We'll do it," Mana said before Yuta can speak.

"Yes," Yuta said, though more cautiously. "Are we allowed to leave now?"

"Of course," Shiro said. "But I ask that you get this done as soon as possible. You will be granted unlimited credit and cash flow for your investigation. In the meantime I will speak to you boss, Yuta-san. Just don't get any bright ideas."

"…Meaning?"

Shiro's smile faded, and he leaned forward threateningly. "If you decide to side with the people distributing the mermaid's flesh, then I will cut your heads off myself."


"Fill them all."

Higuchi gasped in alarm when he heard this command. He set down his table and quickly turned. "S-Sir?!"

His benefactor paused and turned to face him. Even after knowing him for several years, the boy's face frightened Higuchi greatly. "What is it?"

"Ah…" Higuchi struggled to find his voice before he mustered the strength to continue. "Should—Shouldn't we exercise caution for now, sir?"

The eyes narrowed at him. "Why?"

"The death of—the streamer," Higuchi said. "Natsu Ai. It's bringing a lot of unwanted attention."

"How is it bringing unwanted attention?" His benefactor asked calmly. "No one knows where this facility is. This place looks like a normal fishery. There will be no attention brought to us if people stop trying to betray us."

Higuchi winced and rubbed at his nape. His glasses slipped down his nose and pushed them back up. "…I understand," he said slowly. "But those orders…that was thirty orders for the flesh. Six in Japan, three for the States, more for Europe…I feel that we are being too reckless."

"We will fill them all."

"B-But all of our customers are dying!" Higuchi burst out.

"You knew what you were getting into when you decided to join me," his benefactor said. "These deaths are just stepping stones to the broader plan. Fill all of the orders."

"But—"

"Fill all of the orders."

When he used that tone of voice, Higuchi knew that he could not refuse him. He slowly nodded his head and bowed. "…All right."

"Good. I don't want to have a repeat of this argument again."

"Yes, sir."

Silence lingered in the air as the benefactor left the office.