Through the dark and lonely streets, a child ran frantically for his life. He didn’t know what he was running from. He only knew that if he stopped, something bad would happen. Not taking that chance, the boy kept running, stumbling around with his lungs ablaze. Corner after corner, he dove, but the same light peered past his shoulder persistently. Tripping over, the boy coughed, gasping for air as rain continued to pour down all around him. The sound of the downpour filled his eardrums, and for a moment that was all he could hear.

“Where did that come from? From me?” The boy fell back and felt his body. There were no cuts and the blood on him wasn’t his, yet he felt pain all throughout his body. He looked back to a black hover car pulling in. Motioning over, he reached for his slipper and put it on, and desperately ran for a chained fencing up ahead.

“Run little sheep, run… or they’ll get you.” He heard a faint voice whisper close to his ear, though no one was there. He turned to look back and saw a figure inside of the car, revving the engine that loudly blared. He had to escape. His sight was fixed on the chained fence up ahead once more. His lungs felt like they were seconds away from exploding if he continued to take in large amounts of air, but he couldn’t control his breathing.

He willed himself and jumped onto the fence. His small hands clawed onto the fencing and he mustered what little strength he had left in his legs to kick himself up. His muscles felt sore, but he scaled up, as his fear of being caught forced the fatigue to the back of his head.

After struggling for a few seconds, he managed to land on the other end, resuming his escape. A red light shined past his shoulder and he knew it likely belonged to his pursuer, but he didn’t dare take a moment to stop. The sounds of a car’s raging engine getting closer terrified him. The boy looked around frantically for a place to hide, but there wasn’t such a place. “The street’s too long, the car’s definitely gonna catch up if I go that way.”

Glancing over his shoulder before making his decision, he saw the same hover car smash through the fence he had cleared moments ago. Unable to run any further, the boy used the last of his strength to try and pass the muddy path that led into the abandoned building’s indoor parking lot, but his legs gave out halfway there. The vehicle’s headlights shined upon him as tears blew out of his eyes. He tried to push himself up, to no avail.

The man peered through the foggy glass. It was hard to see, but he could make up a small figure shaking in an amassing puddle. Taking a closer look by sticking his head out of his car window, a tightening feeling hit his chest as a boy laid crying in the dirt. “This is Joshua, I’ve found the suspect near an old parking building in the Chiba residential area. It may be one of the missing children… possibly age ten to twelve.” The male released the pressure he had on the transmission button and swung the car door open, stepping out as thunder erupted in the turbulent night sky. He left the engine running and observed the boy for a bit, before moving forward with his briefcase tightly clenched in his hand.

Before taking another step, Joshua took out a holographic image of the boy he was after. The child looked like a complete mess from running, but he fit the description. With this reassurance, he walked closer. He had a feeling of what was going on, but wanted confirmation. “What are you doing out so late, buddy? Are you lost? I’m here to help get you back home to your parents.”

The boy’s head jerked in his direction, a glimmer of hope somewhat relieving his pained face. “Help? Home!? No… not home.” He stared at the older man with less fear, but total desperation. “I didn’t wan- I was…” He tried to fathom what had happened, but the harder he tried to remember, the more frustrated he became. A sharp pain behind his head forced the boy to clench the back of his head, resulting in him ripping patches of his hair off. His spasms were accompanied by uncontrollable sobs. A stronger pain spread along his stomach, intensifying the already unbearable pain. Joshua observed these symptoms and dropped his head down, ashamed that he was too late.

The boy clenched his stomach tightly, hugging himself. He balled up, then twisted his back over as he cried. Joshua winced after seeing the child’s torn lips and glowing eyes, an indication that the transformation had begun. The small smile the child had on his face only seemed creepy to him, yet this was still a child hoping to get help. “Do you know how this happened?” Joshua asked.

The boy, still letting out tears, answered, “I don’t know. All of a sudden… I was sleepwalking and acting weird. I’m so scared, please help! HELP MEEE!”

Joshua’s eyes fell to the bite mark on the boy’s neck as the child finished speaking. As much as the idea of what was necessary pained him, there was no other choice. He gripped the briefcase one final time, steeling himself for what would be coming next.

“Please make it stop,” the terror in the boy’s voice rose. “It hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS!!!” he repeated. The final ear-piercing plea spurred Joshua into action.

“I’m officer Joshua of the Yori and I promise to help rid you of your pain.” The man inched closer to the child, trying to assure him, “I will make the pain go away. You didn’t deserve this… I’m sorry this happened to you.” He started opening the briefcase.

“AGGGGHHRHRRRRRR!!!” The child suddenly screamed to a crescendo. His body contorted as he was introduced to a whole new level of agony. His skin started stretching and swelling to gross proportions beyond his tiny body. He went pale, but then took on a reddish hue, before his skin bubbled and liquefied before Joshua’s horrified eyes.

He watched the dripping skin hit the pavement and spread out towards him as a pink arm reached out for his leg. Before it could latch itself onto him, he jumped back and made sure he was at a safe distance. The red mass flickered on and off, emitting a steamy glowing mist. Joshua ran off to a nearby wall to avoid the toxic fumes, which melted everything that it touched.

It was too late to save the child. Guilt gripped him for not killing the poor kid sooner, but he had no time to beat himself up. An explosion soon rocked the structure Joshua stood behind as a brilliant light flashed into the dark sky. He could hear the child’s final shrieks as a thick red mist started spreading everywhere. Shielding his face, the officer took out a mask from his coat to protect himself from the amassing fumes.

A feminine robotic voice spoke, “Activation success, oxygen supply of twenty minutes confirmed.” Joshua opened his eyes, weezing until breathing became easier. He felt nauseated and his ears burned as he pressed the mask to his face. The mask spread upwards, covering his entire head and stabilizing his breathing. Through infrared vision, he could see the mist poisoning the plant life around the area. “Scan for the Shiki that’s formed from that child’s body. Search for the direction of negative Retsu,” he instructed the system. He was determined to destroy that thing, but knew he needed to be better prepared. After re-opening his briefcase, he set it on the ground and stepped onto the center.

“Gotta end this in five minutes,” Joshua thought to himself, aware of the lethal consequences of exceeding his limit. The briefcase was made of Woshu, and the living energetic organisms called spirits within the briefcase. Focusing on his strongest emotion, his killing intent, he projected it towards the spirits he called forth. Anger radiated from his body, attracting the Woshu, as they spread across his body, ready to transform the Yori officer. One slip up in his concentration, and the Woshu, Girisuzo would leave him at his adversary’s mercy.

“That boy’s death cannot go unpunished!” Joshua shouted, letting out all the rage he felt. His eyes shot open as black particles from the briefcase formed over his entire body. He felt it go up his spine, fusing with him. It clumped together forming black skin and his eyes shifted to a bright red as veins of a similar shade formed along his new body. From these veins, hundreds of red chittering small mouths spread out, with a red string-like aura connecting them to the veins along his body.

A small hovering camera unlatched itself from beside the briefcase and floated up into the sky, extracting data of the surrounding area. It sent this information to him through the mask he wore. Taking in the information presented to him, Joshua started returning to the area where the boy took his last breath.

Rage rushed through him, as he only thought of destroying what had taken the poor boy so brutally. The shrilling mouths that surrounded him all chanted “SLAUGHTER!!!” in a distorted effect. This drove him, but would cause any normal being to go insane. He had to keep his rage in balance; if he were to allow it to take over, he would end up losing himself.

A cackling laugh mixed with wheezing spread out through the area, leading Joshua to follow the unearthly sound. Arriving at the source, he noticed a crater. Within it, the creature formed from the boy’s remains and stood there, snarling with its rows of sharp teeth and drooling at the sight of its first meal. The Shiki shoved its face to the ground and started to eat away at the remains of its host.

Joshua’s red hair spiked up behind the mask and in a single burst, the mouths that formed from the red glowing veins that spread all over his black body, shot out towards the Shiki, striking it at multiple points. The Shiki collided with the brick wall that was several yards behind it, but quickly whipped itself into the sky and pounced back down, as if nothing had happened to it. It had a portion of the boy’s jaw between its claws and went on to shove it into its mouth, revealing one of the boy’s eyes in its mouth.

The Woshu-empowered officer allowed the rage to course through and flew straight at the terrifying Shiki. Its claws twisted backwards and stabbed into the ground in order to brace for the tackle it was about to receive. Though it had attempted to stay grounded, the attack was surprisingly overwhelming and blew it back. The Shiki spiraled over and then like a cat, landed on all fours and began moving too quickly for Joshua to see. It zig-zagged straight towards him, bearing its claws towards his face.

Joshua quickly caught the Shiki’s claws and whipped the creature backwards onto the ground, and stabbed his fingers into the Shiki’s eyes, proceeding to tear it across the field straight into a number of building pillars. Seeing as how the officer had gained the upper hand, the Shiki quickly grabbed a pillar that laid nearby and swung a portion of it at him. Joshua smashed it away with his fist, creating a dust of debris that washed up against him, giving the Shiki an opening. He quickly flapped his other arm in front of himself, creating a ripple of wind that blew the clustered debris out of his line of sight, but as he did, the Shiki appeared right beside him.

At that moment, his anger diminished, and was replaced with shock and the fear of not being able to counter what’d follow next. A single thought of his daughter living without him brought a spine-chilling fear that killed his rage. This disturbed the synchronization he had with his Woshu weapon and thus, the black mass broke apart, detaching itself from his body as he was shot backwards by the Shiki. His body tumbled over several times. He had been severely struck in his gut, leaving him gasping for air as he struggled to keep his vision on the Shiki that mockingly crept his way. Joshua punched the ground with his fist in disappointment.

A loud bang followed by a radiant light forced the Shiki to dash off into the darkness of the nearby abandoned building. Both the Ikigai and Yori had arrived. Two dozen Setsus swarmed through and some from the Ikigai stayed behind to cleanse the outside area, as small low-level Shikis began to grow from the nearby plants, taking up pink irregular forms.

“We’ve got eyes on the target,” a dispatcher spoke through Joshua’s earpiece. Four Setsus took off after the Shiki, as others brought a stretcher in for him. He vaguely saw their figures standing over him and recognized one of them, her light wavy hair instantly recognizable. His Setsu partner, Hoshio Algata.

Watching Joshua force a faint smile upset her, as she puffed up her cheeks and charged right to his side. “Jeez Jo, I told you to wait until I finished my coffee! You’re a grown man! Make wiser choices! You can’t run out so recklessly every time you hear a child’s involved! One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed doing that.” She sighed and set her attention to the entrance of the building. More Setsus passed by her and jumped up to the final steps of the staircase, where they surveyed what was ahead in the darkness of the abandoned parking building.

A strong corrupt vibe came from inside. Their Setsu qualities allowed them to pick up on the irregularities. Tracing the amassing Retsu, they took off after the Shiki. Inside, the Shiki dove from pillar to pillar, making its way to the second floor. It growled knowing it was outnumbered, but fought hard in an attempt to escape. It clawed at all who got too close, forcing several Setsus to back away and circle over. Two came in, connecting with the Shiki’s claws, while a third came from behind and slashed at the Shiki’s back, causing patches of black puss to splatter across the cold dusty ground.

The Shiki whipped the back of its long right arm over, nearly striking the Setsu that had slashed it, but the Setsu kicked back as another swooped in from under the Shiki. By the time it looked down, the Setsu pierced his saber through the Shiki’s left cheek while a fifth Setsu swept its feet and a sixth smashed her fist straight into the Shiki’s gut, hurling it into a thick wall.

Try as it may, the Shiki couldn’t move as fast. All of its maneuvers drained it of the little negative Retsu it had and none of the Setsus surrounding it gave off any fear. The Shiki slumped over weakly, leaving many areas exposed for the Setsus to attack. Its eyes shot everywhere, as it couldn’t make up its mind of who to attack. “YOU DAMN ANTS!” it screamed out. The Shiki willed itself to lean up and attempted to dive aside, but the moment it did this, it was kicked face-first across the parking space. Its body thrashed several times against the ground, ultimately crashing right through the second floor wall, where it splashed into a series of puddles that continued to form outside.

The Setsus stepped out from behind the pillars, approaching the now giant opening in the wall. A chilly wet breeze blew in through the opening as they hopped from the second floor down to the ground level, one by one, getting into formation again.

“Those things never cease to amaze me. They’re capable of adjusting to a human’s brain so quickly. This one already knows about the existence of ants? Even though it incorrectly referred to us as them…” Lacy analyzed as she adjusted her glasses and chuckled, moving in.

“Lacy… don’t get me started, you short scrubby nerd. It’s disgusting, especially when you consider they primarily target the weak-minded,” Neal whispered back, watching their captain hop onto the Shiki’s shoulder.

“Speak! What is your connection to the rise in Shikis?! You’re all connected, so don’t lie to me. Who do you serve?!” Two Setsus stabbed their sabers into the Shiki’s thigh and shoulder, pinning it down. Liquid oozed out of its wound, contaminating the puddles that surrounded it. The Setsu’s released vibrations through their sabers, that spread into its body, increasing the pain it felt from the stabs. More Setsu swooped in and stabbed it in different areas, further immobilizing it.

“Shousa Vasco, please be wary! You mustn’t slay it yet!” Lacy’s words went unheard.

“If you don’t tell us, I’ll have them amp up the pain!” Vasco threatened, but did not receive any response. “You will not speak? Fine, you monstrocity! Forever disappear into nothingness!” Vasco yelled, arching his arm up as thunder surged through the cloudy sky above. The Shiki shrieked in pain as two other Setsus grinded their sabers into its twitchy shoulders, lodging them further in as blood oozed out.

“Wait,” Hoshio commanded, attracting the attention of all the Setsu who froze and glared back at her. “Don’t kill it yet. Stand down,” she requested, approaching them. Thunder flashed, creating a bright light that temporarily allowed them to see the Yori emblem on her chest. The two that had approached her, stopped in place and bowed down, catching her Setsu scent that she had been masking. “Pack unit?” She stopped behind the Setsu.

“Pack five! Zensuke Shichirobei, ma’am!” he said as sweat ran down the side of his forehead.

“AGHHHHRRHHHH!!!” The Shiki’s head twisted all over the place in an effort to get free. The Setsu withdrew his second saber and stabbed it into the Shiki’s back, causing it to let out another roar as another Setsu stepped off of its back and approached Hoshio.

“Don’t kill it?!” one of the Setsus asked as another added, “That thing is a category 2 and already claimed a human life! It’s under strict protocol to be slain!”

“Take it easy. I’m Detective Hoshio of the Yori. That Shiki mustn’t be slain yet,” she introduced herself, passing by the two. “Do not forget it still has the memories of the boy. Those memories must be brought out and collected. Tampering with that process will result in punishment.”

“Collected?” the Setsu asked, only to be scolded by Neal.

“Baku, you lousy scrub. You’re new here, shut up and watch instead of yapping! Captain lost his cool again. Bunch of scrubs, I hate all of you.” Neal smacked his head, causing the young Setsu to reach up and cover it as he got shoved aside.

“Well, at least explain it to me! I’m terrible at remembering things, you know that. Don’t be so cruel!” Baku whined at Neal, who watched Detective Hoshio step over a puddle.

“A basic Shiki needs negative Retsu and memories to sustain itself,” Lacy hit the side of Baku’s head as she began to explain. “During its final stage of life, it goes into a mindset of biting and passing on a virus. It’ll go after a human. Once the human is bitten, the virus spreads into the body, forming into the Shiki. It gradually gains control of the brain, while growing within the human. It’ll take a few days or even a month until it decides to get rid of its host. During that time, it hunts at night for human flesh. Sometime’s the human may be able to hold it back, but if the human develops bad habits that create negative Retsu, the Shiki will grow stronger which speeds up its development. The easiest targets are children, teens and those who can’t control their negative thoughts.” She eyed Baku, who seemed confused. “Have I lost you yet?”

Baku turned his head back to the Shiki. “Woah, then that thing must have eaten a lot…” he uttered.

“Judging from that one’s size, it must have eaten at least ten humans,” Lacy responded.

Hoshio observed the Shiki, seeing the boy’s soul at the center of the Shiki’s body. “The soul is still there, we can work with it,” she noted.

“The soul?” Baku inquired. “Hey Lacy, do you know how this stuff even works?”

Lacy sighed. “Oh yeah, it’s gonna be a long one though. I’m not sure you’ll remember it all.”

“Might as well tell me.”

“There are two kinds of phases. The one where it’s healthy, and the one when it’s on the verge of death. The healthy one primarily hunts children solely for their adrenochrome and some have managed to even hide in society. It’s the very problem the Tensei and other civilizations are facing. That first phase… they have no self control. If they can’t find children, they’ll get the next best thing: women. Men are the least preferred, as they typically exert the least amount of fear. When the healthy Shiki devours the human, it starts with the brain, so that it can gain the human’s consciousness, it’s soul. From within the Shiki, the soul will witness everything the Shiki does from that point on. Seeing such horrors will corrupt the soul, causing it to slip into negative emotions, which of course creates the negative Retsu that the Shiki lives on. The soul disappears when the shiki has used up the negative Retsu it has produced, but if the soul is saved before being used up, we… the Tensei, can bring it into a resurrection state where it will manifest in a new body at a future point.”

“How is that?” Baku asked, scratching his head.

“I don’t know how the hell you got out of the academy and made it here. This is your job,” Lacy groaned and gave Baku a light slap on the cheek as she continued on. “Listen up, you owe me for going through the trouble of telling you all of this.”

“The soul starts out as a sphere of light, representing positive Retsu. A portion of that sphere is turned black, and eventually the soul will completely turn black, emitting negative Retsu. The Shiki will completely drain that negative Retsu out of the soul for its use, and at that point, the soul will completely disappear. Thus, in order to maintain itself, the Shiki needs to continuously hunt each night while already exerting Retsu when fighting us. A Shiki can infiltrate anybody and that’s how they’ve destroyed civilizations in the past, causing them to war with each other, as it always sneaks itself to the top. In the event that it finds no humans to prey on and drains all of the souls it had stored, it’ll slip into the survival phase. In the survival phase, it’ll be short on time and thus, will attack any human it runs into. It’ll only be able to register one bite and then ‘die’ shortly after. That single bite passes on the virus, and those toxins are only released in the survival phase. After it enters through the victim’s wound, the individual becomes a host that has from four days up to a month before being disposed of. It absorbs the human’s brain along with its memories and will push the soul back, whilst taking over. The Shiki will hunt down any humans the host had hatred for and when it’s ready, it’ll blow up the host’s body, now ready to hunt for other humans to maintain its new corrupt existence.” She took a long breath after finishing.

The other Setsus kept their Sabers lodged into the Shiki, wondering what was going on. Detective Hoshio circled the Shiki and then stopped in front of it. The Shiki tried stretching its neck in an attempt to take a bite out of her leg, but it didn’t have enough Retsu to do so.

Hoshio knelt down in front of it with a smile. “If you tell us what we need to know, there’s a reward in it for you. You’ll be released.”

All of the Setsus glanced at each other, concerned about what she had said. “That’s absurd!” “Is she crazy?” The Shiki let out an odd laugh, followed by coughing.

“It’s as you heard. We will set you free, outside of Osaka in exchange for some information,” she spoke meekly.

One of the Setsus that was standing on the Shiki’s shoulder barked at her, alarmed. “SET IT FREE? WHA-” He stopped talking, halted by Detective Hoshio raising her hand up. She closed her eyes. A moment of silence allowed for the rain’s presence to be felt. Drips clapped against the black pavement below and helped the Shiki ease itself.

Detective Hoshio went on to telepathically ask. “Life is quite beautiful, so many experiences for you to gain, experiences like this calming rain washing down on you… do you remember the last time you experienced such sensations?” A sense of tranquility spread through the area. Two of the Setsu’s rubbed their eyes sleepily.

“Rain…” the Shiki said in the voice of the boy that had been killed. Its eyes glimmered, becoming heavy.

“Yes, like the rain that splashes around when it’s stepped on. The same one that’s accompanied you on a trip to school not too long ago.” Her words brought back memories for the boy, which flashed in an arranged sequence of weeks prior to the current time.

“Yes… rain, school…” The Shiki’s eyes glowed a soft blue. Particles twinkled out, forming orbs that rotated around. Each had different memories. The boy seemed to be gaining control over the Shiki, only for it to force him back into painful submission.

“GRAHHHH!!! I’LL TEAR YOU APART!!!” it blurted out, snapping its jaws at the nearest Setsu. It almost bit the Setsu’s calf, but the Setsu jumped up and slammed her foot down on the Shiki’s head.

“Meat… meat… perfect for feeding,” the Shiki started repeating. “No protection here, voice said…” The Setsus looked at each other, bewildered by what it said.

“Tell us, who is this ‘voice’?” one of the Setsus on the Shiki’s shoulder knelt over and asked, but the Shiki’s behavior progressively grew worse.

“There’s little time, it’ll be disappearing soon,” Hoshio told the other Setsus as she walked up to it. “Give us a name,” she spoke up, stepping away as the Shiki’s neck flopped over and its claws tore into the concrete ground.

“CHASE!!!” it blurted out. The voice changed and it’s mouth moved differently. “Chase all you want, the fall is beginning… Osaka, the Order, all will meet its end. We will ensure this.” The Shiki burped, releasing a thick grey smoke from its mouth as its body started to irregularly grow. The Setsus loosened their grip, sensing that something bad was about to happen. The Shiki gave off negative vibes rapidly. A mixture of emotions stirred within the Shiki coming from the child, and it progressed to the third phase, no longer able to keep itself together. Its body bloated up like a balloon.

The Setsus that were mounted on the Shiki quickly left their sabers behind and grabbed Hoshio, all taking off towards the farthest pillars at random. The Shiki soon exploded, blowing hot green flames in all directions. These flames seared out of the driveway, severely burning the pillars and rupturing them in the process. The Setsus protected themselves by using their capes and after assuring the explosion subsided, they all stepped out from the pillars they had been behind.

“GARI!!!” Baku saw one of the Setsus whose leg had gotten caught in the explosion. The Setsu was wincing in pain, avoiding the sight of his missing leg.

“Don’t stand around, go get him help! Everyone else secure the area!” Vasco ordered, going over to the Setsu’s side. Dozens of orbs fluttered around holding streams of memories.

“Quickly! You! Capture the memories!” Hoshio ordered Baku to go over. At her command, he approached where the Shiki’s crispy body laid. He shut his eyes and then opened them. A bright purple flash pulled all of the memories floating around into his eyes. He dropped to his knees, gripping the side of his head.

“The boy’s memories, go through them.” Hoshio walked over and pressed her palm down on Baku’s shoulder.

“Yes ma’am.” Baku clenched his eyes, waiting a moment for the memories to settle.

“His parents… the home. What do you see?” Hoshio asked him, concerned.

“It’s hard… a door seems to be opening, there’s arguing coming from the hallway. Something was thrown and he slammed the door shut…”

“Search through until you find memories of what transpired four nights ago. He must know what happened to those other children,” Hoshio ordered him.

The Setsu found himself sinking into the memories of that day.

The boy walked out of his house late at night, with troubled thoughts of his school life and his home life; the boy decided he couldn’t stay any longer. It seemed that the fighting would never end. Every other day, his parents brought other people home. “What’s the point in being together?” He asked himself that question plenty of times, unable to come to a specific answer.

Until one night arrived where his mother accused his father of cheating, and having a child with someone else. She claimed it to be with one of their friends who they’d regularly go out for drinks with. Their voices died down when the boy sneaked out through the front. He made sure he had some holo-coins in his pocket, so that he could buy snacks.

Feeling around his pocket, he was sure there was enough and tiptoed down the stairs as quietly as possible, until he reached the bottom and ran onto the sidewalk. He weighed life’s ups and downs as he walked the two miles, sticking to the side of the road to avoid being run over by any hover cars. The night was really warm. The boy started to remember wanting to get a smoothie, which led to memories of other boys from his school picking on him after he defended a girl, who did nothing in return to help him. That girl actually joined in on teasing him. He couldn’t understand why they were so mean. He wasn’t aware of how “children are conditioned into behaving that way, that those who teach them are the artists and beings people watch through social media.” That was the apparent answer given to him by the old man who worked as a cashier at the Taco Shell he went into.

After buying himself the smoothie and nachos he craved, he sat down near the front door of the store and watched a few cars pull in for fuel and left afterwards. He lamented how he couldn’t get up and leave, start a new life. He felt as though he deserved it. Negative seeds gradually sprouted, killing his desire to finish his nachos. He left the half eaten nachos within its bag and set it on the sidewalk.

He really thought about what he was informed of within the Taco Shell. Still, it wasn’t fair to him. He thought to himself again: could he continue on while constantly getting trampled upon? What action would he have to take to end this? He had spoken to his mother about transferring for the third time, but it didn’t seem like that wouldn’t change anything. What if the situation progressed to the point where he’d be killed? He shivered vigorously. He’d have to make a stand for himself, as it was better to act early than regret later. He thought about scaring the kids with a switchblade or one of the tools his father kept within their home. That’d have to be the answer: scare those that tormented him.

Just as he arrived at a solution, he stopped for a moment when he saw movement from the corner of his eyes. It came from the treeline. His initial reaction was to run, but he found himself frozen. The lighting from a nearby lamp offered sight only ten feet towards the treeline. From this darkness, a small nose sniffed. He compared it to a bunny’s nose. Believing it to be an innocent creature, he approached, only to find out moments later that he was gravely mistaken.

A beast walked out of the shadows, causing the boy to fall down. His knees quivered as he lost all sense of his bladder and urinated himself. The thing before him did not look like any animal he had ever seen. Drool started escaping its mouth, and the boy quickly returned to his feet, the sense of flight kicking in. As soon as he started to run, the creature leapt towards his back with ease, and chomped on his neck. The boy instinctively swung his elbow back in a struggle, connecting with the creature’s jaw, causing it to get off of him. His desire to escape got him onto his feet, only for him to lose consciousness seconds later, while attempting to reach home.

Baku couldn’t continue, as he automatically gurgled and vomited at the sight of the child’s gradual transformation. Having gotten the information needed, Hoshio taped Baku’s shoulder to get him out of the boy’s memory pool, and then rubbed the back of his head in an effort to calm his vomiting. “Take it easy kid…”

“I wasn’t expecting that… calling it gross would be a huge understatement.” Baku shook his head back and forth, attempting to shake off the snot that dripped out of his nose. He pressed his palms up against his stomach, as the memories escaped through his eyes in the form of twinkles.

“Describe it,” Hoshio ordered, gently hitting the back of his head.

Baku groaned, regretting that he volunteered. “Night two, the host had nightmares of the boy named Hide. He went to the home and dragged Hide outside after snapping his neck in two. Hide is responsible for distracting the boy in his class. He’s the one that took the boy’s spot in their class lineup. Hide began messing with him. Other children saw this and thought it was funny how the teacher singled out the boy when he called Hide out on it. Night three, the Shiki spread further into the host’s brain. Making him act on the urge to claim the two other children who messed with him that day. Hide hadn’t gone to school, so the two children thought they’d continue bullying the boy. The girl joined in, tossing the boy’s bag into a ditch. His intentions were to get the girl that night, but the Shiki lost its control on him shortly after devouring the third victim. Hide and his entire family were found dead in their homes the following morning. On the fourth night, the Shiki seemed to do something different. It went after a random human, and I saw it taking the human to a factory. It seems to be an old one here in Osaka. East off towards the Tombasa ruins.”

“A factory?” Hoshio repeated.

“From what I could see, there was a logo that read ‘Fillies.’”

“That’s weird… we’ll have to look into that. Did you see what it did with that pedestrian it took? What’s in that factory?”

“I didn’t see what it did with the human, but it left the factory without that human, so something did happen there. Negative vibes were emanating from that place. It was so strong, that the link I had to the memories was completely disconnected.” Baku released the pressure he had on his eyebrows. “Berry, did you get all of that?” he asked a Setsu who had been recording on standby.

Berry gave him a single nod. He finished taking final notes and turned off the recorder he had running. “Okay, we have all the pieces to bring this case together.” Berry handed Hoshio the holo-pad with the organized details. The detective organized it all in her head after skimming through it in a little over fifteen seconds, and gave the others a nod.

“Perfect. It can go like this.” Hoshio cleared her throat. “The troubled suspect known as Suu, age 10, left home late night as a way to escape his family troubles. On the way back home, he attracted a dying Shiki that bit him, beginning his transformation. The following nights, he targeted and devoured the classmates he had hatred for. Those that traumatized him, who themselves were traumatized victims that took up toxic mentalities the media exposed them too. That stirred the tragedy that occured. Okay, case resolved. A total of 6 parents will be taken in for reinstallation. Suu’s class is to be visited. Track down the culprits that spread the toxic thought forms by taking the devices of the children and pulling up their search history. It may lead us to the responsible forces outside of Honshu. This case has been solved by a collaborative effort between Ikigai and Yori.” Berry finished taking his notes and the four returned to their respective vehicles. Each vehicle went a separate way while Hoshio headed to the boy’s home, where reinstallation would occur.

“Cleansing Protocol A3, harsh.” Baku took one last glance to the parking building after his comment.

“That’s how order is maintained, scrub. Shut up and get in.” Neal shoved him in the hover car.

Once the reports were in, a total of five Yori officers headed over to the Moto residence. Ten Ikigai Setsu accompanied Hoshio for what would have to be done, and she could hear arguing coming from within the home already. “Nothing’s changed, even though their kid is gone,” she noted and shook her head. The Yori banged on their door until Suu’s father opened the door, sweating profusely at the sight of the many officers.

“How can I help you?” he asked nervously in a raspy tone.

“Yori? Has my son been found?” The woman passed her husband, visibly bruised over her eyebrow.

Neal quickly moved in not answering, and dropped the father to the ground. Many others stormed in right after him as the mother screamed in shock. She took a step away, but tripped over a chair. The two were quickly put to sleep after having gas blown across their faces, before being carried out to the trucks. “We’ll be taking them to the HQ now,” Hoshio was informed.

“It’s a real shame,” Baku mumbled, stopping beside Hoshio.

“Don’t let it get to you.” Hoshio brought out lipstick from her purse. She slid the see-through lipstick across her lip in order to moisten it, then continued. “They’ll have their memories wiped. They’ll have new identities. They’ll be trained to behave like decent humans. It’ll be as if they are coming into this world as newborns, and the process should only take about 4 months. Once it’s complete, they’ll be put back into society and continue their lives in a completely different place where they won’t add to the negativity that already exists in this world.” She looked up at the stars.

Baku looked down to his feet and heard his partners from Ikigai 8 calling out to him. “That sucks for them, don’t you think?” He looked at Hoshio and waited for a response. Hoshio sighed, lamenting that this was the twelfth case in the last month.

“People shouldn’t be with each other if they don’t even understand themselves.” She shook her head. “They wouldn’t have ever been able to understand each other. They would have passed that onto any other child they’d have, and that child would grow to create more negativity. Many are subconsciously taught to behave ignorantly and not sympathize because of certain forces being handled in the Tensei courts. Regardless, these two were incapable of seeing eye to eye. Removing their memories, giving them new lives… is better than killing them, don’t you think? There’s a negative influence out there looking to increase the amount of negative Retsu for their own twisted gain. If that happens, Osaka will fall. You make sure to remember that.” With that said, Hoshio walked down the stone path.

“Baku!!!” Lacy landed on his back, shaking him around. “You can treat me to pocky on the way back!” She set her chin on his head and stared at Hoshio leaving. “Hey, was that the famous detective Hoshio?! What’d she tell you?”

“I don’t remember.”