Reconstruction

By: Aviantei

Chapter One

Remains

"Oh, so you wanna talk to HOMRA first?"

The young woman nodded, looking up at her guide. The man paused in consideration, muttering something akin to directions under his breath. Sitting beside her on the bench, a girl in her mid-teens sighed in irritation.

"Damn straight," she said, pulling the cigarette hanging from her lips out of her mouth as she spoke. "They were our first lead anyway, so it's only natural we start with them. Right, Nee-san?" The older of the two females nodded again. The lengths of chestnut locks bounced slightly as she did so. "Don't they have some bar or something as their hideout?"

"That's right, Hitomi-san," the guide agreed. "Though I don't think it would be good for your reputation if you went into a place like that at your age."

Hitomi scoffed, standing up. Her middle finger was purposefully chosen to point at the piercings embedded in her nose. "Listen, shit for brains, does it really look like I give a damn about my reputation?" The statement could have turned into a full-blown rant if it weren't for the light impact that had made contact with the back of Hitomi's head.

The chestnut haired woman had stood up. In her hands was a small cat plush with plastic eyes almost too big for its head. A paw was extended from where it had hit Hitomi, and the woman shook her head. Hitomi sighed before leaning down at the minimum angle to be considered a bow.

"Please take us there, Urumana-san," she said. The words were forced, but they sounded polite enough. Beside Hitomi, the other woman bowed as well. Their guide, Urumana, looked at the mismatched pair before giving a short laugh.

"I should have known you two wouldn't care about such things," he commented. "I mean, when you came to me about your request, I knew you two weren't normal." Hitomi almost retorted to the unintentional insult, but her sister's presence beside her stalled the action. "Yeah, HOMRA has a bar as their base. The group's second in—oh, I guess he's in charge now. Anyway, their leader runs the place, so if you've got questions to ask, it probably is the best place to start."

Hitomi frowned as her sister gave a small smile. "If we ask questions will we even get any answers?" she asked. "Last I checked street gangs don't like spilling their secrets."

Urumana laughed again, this time only a chuckle. "Trust me, I think if you're honest about your intentions, he'll open right up," he assured. "Although I think maybe having you there might end in a fight, Hitomi-san. With your attitude and all. I could offer to go in and speak for you'd like."

Hitomi felt the insult surge out of her throat, but stopped it when her sister stood in between her and their guide. The older female's expression was serious from her profile as she gave an almost fierce shake of her head. Urumana looked surprised, and Hitomi's own expression softened. "You wanna go do it, Nee-san?"

A nod of the head, no less determined than the movement that came before.

Kusanagi Izumo was often considered by the rest of HOMRA to be the second-in-command, the father figure of sorts. And in comparison to the aloof attitude held by their king, it was an accurate description at times. He cared for all the members of HOMRA, gave them orders in their king's absence or steed, and allowed his precious bar to be used for their hideout, the bar that had given their group its name.

So it had only been the logical decision that he would be the one to take over after Suoh Mikoto's death.

He still wasn't used to it. Izumo hadn't expected to do anything of the sort. But most of HOMRA had flocked back to the bar after that night, and still swung by out of habit. It had been Yata-chan who had offhandedly asked the bartender what HOMRA would be doing next, and everyone seemed to treat him as leader after that. Not King, but still a position of power nonetheless.

Izumo had accepted, mainly because HOMRA still needed someone to hold it together. Most of the members had nowhere else to go. It was a real foster home for wayward street punks and the like. But even three weeks wasn't enough to make him be certain that this was alright.

HOMRA never had a plan. Mikoto had never intended to start it, so it never really had a goal. If anything, it was an organization that simply floated along on the whims of its King. And even Izumo, who seemed to be the closest to Mikoto, never truly knew what the King was thinking.

Thus it was impossible to take his place. Not that anyone truly expected him to. But Izumo most certainly had a hard time telling his boys that there wasn't anything they immediately needed to take action on. HOMRA lacked its true leader and still lacked a plan, making leading it an almost impossible task.

But the hardest part was taking care of Anna.

The young girl had been hit by Mikoto's death the hardest out of all of them. Izumo didn't blame her, considering how attached to the hip she was to the king all the time. Especially since Mikoto had saved her. The girl was staying in the bar like always, but she had turned almost despondent after the red lights that had once been their bond together disappeared amongst that night's air.

It hurt Izumo to see the girl like that. But there wasn't anything he could really do to fix the problem. At least she still ate whenever meals were put out in front of her.

The bar's doors opened, and the jingle of the bell made Izumo look up from his train of thought. A young woman walked in, her long chestnut hair almost reaching past her mid-calf length skirt. A minimal amount of lace adorned the edges of her clothing, except for a vest that fit tightly over her chest. She gave a short bow before sitting down at the bar. Up close, the few beads hooked into small strands of hair seemed miscolored in the dim light.

"Welcome, Mademoiselle," Izumo greeted, quickly slipping into his polite demeanor. "What can I get you today?"

She paused for a moment, then tapped her fingers against her throat before shaking her head with a sad smile. Izumo almost started—Mute?—before reaching under the bar for a menu. The woman then made a few shapes with her hands in the air.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand sign language," he apologized. The woman gave a short nod of understanding before placing a phone on the counter. Her thin hands picked up the menu as an all too familiar image was displayed on the screen.

"Are you here about the bounty?" Izumo warily asked. He contained a relieved sigh as the woman shook her head. "But you are here about the person in this video." This time she nodded, pointing at something on the menu at the same time. Izumo took the time of preparation to contemplate the situation.

"Do you happen to know where he is?"

A shake of the head in the negative.

"But you're looking for him?"

A nod.

"Does that mean you know him personally?"

The woman paused to think of how to answer. She frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing. She raised a hand parallel to the bar and shook it side to side. Yes and no.

Izumo didn't know how to take that answer so he let it slide. "I hate to tell you but we don't know where he is, either," he admitted. That was another hard part. They had gone through all that trouble, their king was dead, and no one could say for certain that they had even dealt with the target they had been hunting all that time.

Totsuka's murderer.

The woman seemed disappointed for a moment, before she looked up to him with wide hazel eyes. She started to sign for a second before remembering his lack of understanding. She instead reached for her phone—probably to type out the message—but Izumo put the drink she had ordered in her way. He didn't need to see confirmation to know what she wanted to ask.

Will you help me?

Izumo didn't know the answer to that. After all, looking for this boy before had resulted in the death of their King. But at the same time, HOMRA needed something to do, they needed answers. If helping this girl in a non-antagonistic search could solve both of those problems, it was probably a good idea right? And if not, HOMRA could always pull out of the deal.

"If you're only interested in finding him, I think we can help," Izumo answered. The woman gave him a questioning look from behind her upturned glass. "We were looking for this boy anyway, so it helps us, too. And if you happen to be the one that finds him, we'll even give you the bounty." That would be a tall order to fill, but Izumo would be willing to cross that bridge at a much later date.

The woman shook her head again, then gave a small bow of thanks. She tapped at her phone and tilted her head. "My contact information?" he asked. The phone was offered to him, the new contact screen at the ready. He took it in his hands, trading off a napkin and pen. "My name is Kusanagi Izumo. If you want to leave your name and number I can spread it around so HOMRA can contact you if necessary."

The two fulfilled their necessary tasks, and Izumo took a crack at reading the kanji that was handed to him. "'Hayatama Eri'? Is it alright if I call you Eri-chan?" He was met with a nod and the slightest of smiles forming at the corners of her mouth. "Well then let's work hard together, Eri-chan," Izumo said, offering his hand. "Would you mind letting me know as much as you can about this boy?"

Eri's hand reached back for the pen, before her phone sounded a ringtone. The woman read the text on the screen, lips pursing together.

"Something come up?" Izumo asked. Eri quickly stood up and bowed a short apology. "No, it's fine. You can send me a message later or drop by some other time. For a nice young lady like yourself to be so worked up, I can only guess it's important."

Eri gave Izumo a smile that seemed to be laughing at him, but he couldn't say for sure before she turned around. However, the woman stopped quickly, as if she was avoiding something. Izumo leaned to the side to see if there was something in the way.

"Anna?"

The little girl was staring up at Eri, looking the most alive she had in the past few weeks. Others might of missed it, but Izumo could see the spark of interest in the little albino girl's eyes. The angle prevented him from seeing Eri's expression, but he was certain she had moved one thin finger up to her lips in a hush motion.

"Come on, Anna, don't be rude. Eri-chan has somewhere she needs to go," Izumo chided. Almost reluctantly Anna stepped to the side. Eri disappeared soon after, the coat tails of her vest fluttering as she walked away. Izumo frowned slightly.

"What is it Anna-chan? Did you see something?" he asked. The little girl turned her eyes back to him, reverting back to the same blank expression she always had.

"No. I saw nothing."

Hayatama Eri's exit from the HOMRA bar was something that could be described as graceful yet ungraceful at the same time. Her movements were smooth enough, but something in her expression marred the otherwise tranquility of the moment. Only sparing a glance to check the traffic, she crossed the street to where Hitomi was waiting for her. With only faint traces of anger in her expression, Eri reclaimed the cat plush that was being offered to her.

"Did you learn anything, Nee-san?" Hitomi asked. Eri opened her mouth and let out a sigh that was only a breath of air.

"In terms of location, they're just as clueless as we are." The voice speaking was female, but Eri's lips didn't move. Instead, the words were emanating from the toy being lightly clenched in her hands. "But they want answers, too. They agreed to help, but I didn't get the chance to share any information that could be overly useful."

"That's fine, though, right? We can't have them knowing all our cards. And they certainly won't let us know all of theirs. We've got to be careful." Hitomi put her arm around Eri's shoulder. "On a side note, we should find someplace to eat. I worked up quite the appetite while waiting for you."

"Please don't tell me that you got into another fight." Eri narrowed her eyes at Hitomi, and the cat projected the slight irritation and concern in her voice with accuracy. "Especially not here. What will we do if you accidentally beat up someone who we need as an ally?"

Hitomi shrugged. "Do I look like I've been in a fight?" she said. "Nah, it just got really boring out here, and I started thinking about food."

Eri stared down Hitomi, trying to find a trace of a lie in her words. She saw nothing. "Fine I suppose. By the way, Hitomi-chan, your roots are starting to come in. You should probably dye your hair again sometime soon."

"Eh, really?" Hitomi glanced into a nearby shop window, frowning at the pale blond strands starting to contrast against the rest of her short black hair. "Fine, I'll pick up some dye and we can take care of it later. But food comes first."

Eri looked up and down the street before answering. "That's perfectly fine, but how do you expect to get anywhere without Urumana-san?" The guide was nowhere to be seen. Hitomi flinched slightly. "Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know that asshole ran off saying he had agreed to show someone else around," Hitomi answered. "What kind of dumbass takes on a job like this and then takes on another escort job? Fuck that guy! If it weren't for the fact that he's the only one that took on our case I would've beaten the shit out of him for trying to run off on us!"

Eri let out another soundless sigh. "I suppose we'll be able to find someplace to eat on our own. And I at least remember the way once we get to the subway," she said. "But I'm proud of you for not starting a scene over it, Hitomi-chan. You've grown at least a little."

"Nee-chan, I know that was meant to be a compliment, but that was almost cruel."

"Ruyaki would have been proud of you, too," Eri said softly. The smile dropped from Hitomi's face in an instant.

The two fell into silence as they walked away from HOMRA.

"Nagana, report on the situation."

"Yes Ma'am. There are the members of HOMRA, two women, a Strain, and the Black Dog, Yatogami Kuroh, whom have all been marked as potential targets. They were all noted to last be seen in this city, although the Strain and Yatogami haven't been seen since the incident at Ashinaka Gakuen."

"Well that's troublesome. Why don't we just ignore them?"

"Please try to take your job more seriously, Tarashi-kun."

"Please try not to be such a hard-ass, Fukune-san."

For the subordinates on the scene, watching their higher-ups argue like this was an exasperating but common occurrence.

Nagana, who often worked on missions with the two, realized long ago that intervention was necessary to get anything done. "Sir, ma'am, what exactly is the course of action we'll be taking?" he asked. Tarashi and Fukune's argument was dispersed before it even started.

Fukune cleared her throat. "Unlike Tarashi-kun's unreasonable suggestion, we really should put the most effort into locating Yatogami. He is the one that is the one best suited to our goals. The members of HOMRA will take time. We'll need to get close before even trying anything."

"And if we track down the Black Dog, the Strain will follow," Tarashi continued. Fukune seemed slightly annoyed by the interruption but didn't disagree. "Even though it's a pain, the Strain definitely is the second most useful out of that bunch. So we look for the Dog and send someone to play nice with the gangsters to get on their good side. What do we even know about the women, anyways?"

"They're being tracked, although we don't know much about their intentions other than they're searching for someone," Nagana reported. "We don't even know who it is they're looking for but it seems as if they've made contact with HOMRA. If we can determine their cause—"

"Then we can assist them to gain their favor. Damn, more work…"

"They may be easier to convince than HOMRA, though," Fukune considered. "The person we send to HOMRA should be able to discover what they're up to. They can also double as an envoy to get them on our side at the same time. That way we can spend minimal numbers on activities that don't involve searching for Yatogami."

"That's right. You get on it, Fukune-san…" Tarashi said. Nagana watched as a vein popped in Fukune's forehead.

"Tarashi-kun, your sense of humor is really terrible," the woman said, keeping a calm tone with only hints of malice mixing in. "As such, please refrain from attempting to make jokes during moments of business."

"You're mistaken, Fukune-san, I wasn't joking."

"Sir, ma'am, about that rumor," Nagana interrupted again. Both of his superiors looked back to him. "The one concerning a member of SCEPTER4. What are your thoughts on it?"

"Too much effort to think about," Tarashi commented, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

"We would need more information before acting on it," Fukune said more seriously. "And even then, it would be a difficult and dangerous risk. It's definitely something we'll have to wait on. Let it go for now. We can look into it after we solve our current problems."

"Understood, Ma'am," Nagana said. "Would you like to distribute assignments?"

Fukune shook her head. "You should know by now that isn't my area of expertise. Leave that sort of thing to Tarashi-kun."

At the sound of his name, Tarashi sat back up. The look on his face had switched from his usual lazy look only the tiniest amount. Nagana was certain he saw something dangerous in that change, but couldn't say just what.

"Now… Which one of you hard workers is best suited to the job…?"

Since I'm really bad at actually getting off my ass and doing what I said I'd do, I've decided to write this instead.

To be perfectly clear, this is a story that started as a whim and will be comprised of whims.

I wanted to write a [K] story. I wanted to make up some characters. I wanted to answer some questions that I felt like the anime missed. I wanted to run around and write without planning out every fine detail. In short, I wanted to do a lot of things with a story that I usually don't do.

There are plans for this story. I'm just choosing to write it out in a way that I think lets the characters act a bit more naturally. They don't have to do anything because I as an author thinks it needs to happen. It's really just an experiment for me as an author. I feel like maybe posting it and having people get invested in it will make it more enjoyable to keep up with. Maybe inspire me to go back to some of my older projects and finally finish them.

I will follow canon as best as possible. For this to work, there will be OCs. Lots of them. I hope to incorporate as many of the characters as possible. Whatever I write will probably be completely cancelled out by the second season of the anime when it comes out.

But for now I hope this story is something everyone can enjoy. If all goes well, updates should be weekly.

To be Continued