“Yes. I’m on my way now to discuss those matters, Miyumi.”

“We will get this matter sorted soon enough, eh-”

“The boys? June has gone to your penthouse as instructed. Takumi, I presume is going to school.”

"If you're asking of the other three, they're to arrive in a few days."

Taking the clear path headed up a hill, Alto crossed through a garden of cosmos flowers being watered by small floating sprinklers that went from row to row. Eloquent purple rose arches provided shade to the butler, who remained lost in his own world. “Someway, somehow… that boy has to reason.” That was what the current Sekiha had requested before his departure. He had to think of how to get Hanami and Takumi closer. “Pressing matters… and lady Kiyoko has already requested pictures of the two…” Alto dabbed a napkin over the top of his shiny head. “A date… mentioning such a thing to those two… for now, I must tend to one matter at a time.”

Before exiting the garden, Alto spotted the odd gardener, who was still in some kind of strange cat suit. The butler hadn’t seen him the previous day. “Why, hello there good sir…” Alto’s greeting led to the gardener tilting his head. Despite Alto coughing twice to get his attention, the gardener remained on his knees, caressing one of the cosmos flowers aggressively. Such strange behavior prompted Alto to not interact any further.

“A very weird way to manage flowers. Weird gentleman. I see why rumors are going around.” Alto paused, having forgotten of the gardener. “What was I just saying?”

Alto sighed, turning the corner, as the gardener turned his head in the direction Alto took. He knelt down, aiming a single finger down at the flowers. “Gegegegegegege.”

The heat beared down on Alto until he reached a shaded overpass. A refreshing breeze cooled him down as he watched the same breeze shift into a gust that scaled the landscape, ruffling around the fur of the hundreds of sheeps grazing the distant plain.

“Such a blessing, another day of life.”

A coffee scent stemming from the kitchen earlier in the morning accompanied Alto until he reached the top of a hill and took in the refreshing air. The butler chuckled, now resuming his walk. The small parts of life, one filled with memories of those who could have been enjoying the walk with him caused sadness to fill his heart, but then he laughed and reminded himself, there was much to look forward to. Alto stepped into the forest, humming to himself. “Another walk alone, until the lord’s on his throne.”

A sign ahead that read “Slumbering Forest” hovered over a tree stump. Alto passed this sign, going through the path he had taken hundreds of times to get to the Ikigai’s hidden department. The morning sun shined into view, as leaves twirled between the sunlight and the trees, making it seem as if the leaves danced all the way onto the ground. Green light washed down on his shoulders as he passed through and admired the serene atmosphere.

“A jolly good day, jolly good day,” he hummed to himself, clearing a small path of patches of land that elevated slightly. He swooped down beside a set of stones that were shaped as cats. A leaf floated around the middle cat’s head as it’s head filled with water. Alto observed his reflection and pressed his hands together. “Thank you.”

Alto tucked the leather case under his forearm and travelled through the woods until he stopped in front of a tall tree that stood alone, far separated from the other dozens of trees that surrounded it. Those other trees huddled together, twenty feet away from it. He glanced around and sighed as he tapped a golden bell. This golden bell rotated around the tree and moved back down in front of Alto. It registered who he was, scanning his white gloves when Alto tapped them against the bell.

After doing so, Alto stepped away from where he had been standing. The pile of leaves that were around him fluttered aside upon the floor spreading apart, revealing stairs that spiraled down into darkness. The trees that had been twenty feet away shifted over and formed into a different formation that created a new path.

From within the darkness, someone walked up, coming into view. Violet eyes reflected from inside. This was one of the Ikigai Setsus, Alto recognized. “Price, good day.”

“Mornin’ boss,” Price said after rubbing his eyes.

“I take it you didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Nope, not with the stress, the bitching, everyone’s so tense. And Shosa Kale’s up my ass with orders. Do this, do that.” Price waved his hands around with an eye roll. “Naomi and her pals must be sleeping well with no worries. I’d trade places with any of them if it meant resting.”

Alto ignored his ignorant comment.

“Wooooooo, I’m starving. You’re on your way to the meeting right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then I won’t take anymore of your time. If you see Shosa Kale, please don’t tell him you saw me. I’m supposed to get something to eat for the others back in the infirmary, but need some fresh air.” Price slapped his hands together, hoping that Alto would buy it.

“You know, Price…” Alto was going to scold him, but when he looked back, he saw Price had already ran off, disappearing into a nearby path. Alto sighed to himself, going down the stairs. The entrance behind him closed up, making his surroundings pitch black momentarily, until a series of purple flames ignited over torches that spiraled down the stairs. The long spiraling stairs eventually took Alto to a vast room made out of stone. Inside, there were several Hachi symbols inscribed along the walls along with the insignia representing the flower of life.

His footsteps silently echoed through. Alto stopped at the center, glancing up to a series of purple flames coming together overhead. These flames all came from the silver torches that were hung on the walls, which each had the Hachi’s emblem engraved on them. The flames swayed around, blazing wildly until they formed a figure that descended down twelve feet from Alto. This being bowed as the flames subsided.

The entity wore a white cap with the purple Hachi emblem at the center. His cloak was white. Along the shoulders, there were purple gems that matched his purple eyes. Coupled with the matching colors, he had purple straps tightly wrapped around his shoulder sprawling along his upper arm, going over to connect his chains.

“Why, hello Mambo.”

“Sir Alto.” Mambo nibbled on his toothpick and scratched his goatee. His body slumped over, followed by an inaudible yawn. Alto’s mustache twitched as he observed the fellow compose himself once more. “Brought me anything this time around? Ya know, it’s been days since I was last fed.”

“No, I’m in a bit of a hurry. I will keep in mind to send you a meal.”

“You sure? That’s what you said the last time, man.” Mambo watched Alto walk past him. His sights went down to Alto’s stubby legs and his round body. Instinctively, he imagined Alto as a hamburger, as the urge to pounce on him crossed Mambo’s mind. He repressed his instincts to kill though, knowing all too well what’d follow.

“If you do, have that cute little maid bring it for me. I enjoy our talks. What was her name again? Short purple hair, one bang covers her eye, seems chill…”

“Miranda?” Alto awkwardly stopped in place.

Mambo sucked his teeth and increased his chewing. “Yeah, I think that’s the one.”

“I’m afraid she’s out on an errand,” Alto informed him.

“Aw, then maybe I can visit her. Being cramped in here for years really gets boring. I sure could use some sunlight.”

“Nice try. We both know that isn’t happening, for obvious reasons,” Alto responded, glancing over his shoulder as Bambo’s pupils expanded unnaturally.

“Shucks, if it’s about those few times I got out… I’m sorry. It’s hard controlling the urge to see blood you know.” A rumbling sound came from Mambo’s belly. “Clear thoughts, clear thoughts,” he told himself, then spoke with a smile. “Right now, I only want a whiff of fresh air, maybe take a stroll along the gardens, meet that tasty smelling new girl you have up there.” Mambo turned away, his eyes momentarily becoming bloodshot when he tilted his head away from Alto’s view.

“No. Just keep doing your job,” Alto flat out said. The rock wall behind Alto broke into two, allowing Alto to walk through until he reached the end where a crystalized door stood tall. There were glowing cryptic patterns all along its frame. Alto set his hand at the center of the door. From the edges, glimmers spread down to the center of Alto’s palm. The door started shifting into chilly mist that swirled past him.

“Is that really how you’re going to treat me? I expect some charcoal at least… I’ll be watching videos until then.” Seeing as there was nothing else to do, Mambo shrugged, as his form broke apart into purple flames that flew up against the ceiling and circled over to the purple gems that he had on his shoulders before. The gems hovered back into the metallic torches, fitting back in place nicely. Now hidden like before, their flames brewed, dancing over the torches once again.

A bright shining light hit Alto, which was soon replaced with the view of the otherworldly facility that existed under the Hachi estate. Dozens of departments were in view, filled with Ikigai members going back and forth, handling their individual tasks. Alto made his way into an elevator that spun around, going through to pick up other Setsus. He gazed through the window, until he heard a robotic feminine voice say the floor he had to get off on. As soon as the doors opened, a flock of Setsu passed him on their way into the elevator. He waited for all of them to get by and then made his way to the cardinal room, where the meeting was being held.

Upon arriving at the door, Alto took a deep breath, in preparation for the complaints he’d have to hear. He held his breath, pressing his palm against the door pad. When he entered, Alto was surprised to see the place completely empty, aside from the robotic humanoids that worked on the front panels. He was the first one in. None of the Shosas were present. Walking in, he heard others getting closer to the room. “Ah, there they are.” He turned around to see one of the very first Shosas enter.

“Ah, Sir Alto, you’re late,” the first one to go through said.

“You literally just got here, too. Vasco, you dumbass.” Vasco was soon kicked by a female shorter than him.

One by one, they entered as Alto found himself amused by the lively bunch. Three of the Shosas bowed upon spotting Alto and walked to their seats around the round table while the others were still entering.

“Mr. Alto! My beautiful bald buddy!” Keichi tipped his cup back, gulping down another full cup of tea.

“Hello, Mister Keichi…” Alto raised a brow, confused at Keichi’s strange behavior. The lad’s cheeks were a flustered pink and his balance seemed off. “Drunk?” Alto thought to himself. Keichi stumbled forward, extending his hand out to Alto in the form of an attempted hug, which Alto dodged. “NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE! YOU’RE LOOKING BETTER AND BETTER EACH DAY!!!” Keichi followed up his slurred response with a hiccup.

“Keichi, that’s enough out of you! Drinking your sorrows away won’t solve anything! Especially at a critical time like this… you know what tea does to Setsus! You’re at work right now!” Sayuri snatched the cup from him in a full rage. She attempted to scold him, moving the cup along her back so Keichi wouldn’t reach it, but Linolin swooped in, in a clumsy way and took the tea kettle from the table. He filled his cup up, spilling some on the floor in the process as Sayuri struggled with Keichi.

“LALALALALAAA, I’M A FAIRY, LOOK AT ME!” He jumped onto the table, nearly tripping over. “LINOLIN!!! NOT YOU TOO! GET OFF OF THERE!” She shouted, running over to the table. Keichi snatched his cup back right at the moment that she ran by him, forcing Sayuri to turn back around to get the cup from him.

Keichi dashed over to the other end, forcing her to run after him. “LINNY, GIVE ME BACK MY KETTLE!!! It was a-” He hiccuped, pausing as Sayuri tried grabbing the cup. “From H-Hiiro,” Keichi tearfully said. Sayuri managed to take the cup from Keichi, but that wasn’t what he was after. Keichi continued chasing after Linolin.

Alto watched it all, laughing uneasily at the mayhem that didn’t seem to end. “Things sure are lively in here… it’s been so long since we were all in the same place, how exciting.” Natsu stopped beside Alto, taking her eyes off of the holo-pad she was reading in.

“Some things never change,” Natsu thought to herself.

“Okay, you two. Give it a rest,” Vasco called over to them in his snarky tone. None of them listened. The three continued to run around as the other Shosas processed what was going on.

“Aw, great, look at these two drunkards,” Kale grunted, snorting as he walked over and grabbed Keichi and Linolin, yanking them up. “Do you two want to die?! GETTING DRUNK WITHOUT ME?! CALM YOURSELVES RIGHT NOW! I ALWAYS DRINK FIRST!!!” He screamed, briefly headlocking the two between his huge biceps and then kicked Linolin up against a wall, causing a shelf full of books to fall over along with Linolin’s puffy hat.

“Can you all act civilized?! This is a mockery! To wear such ridiculous garments… how many times must I-” Vasco flailed his arms around and then ran his hand through his silver hair, sending a wink over to the other three.

“Shut up, pencil neck, I’m only breaking this up. Wink at me again and I’ll break you, too,” Kale threatened, only to freeze up at the sound of a familiar whistle.

“It’s always violence with you…” Vasco whispered, backing away to his corner.

“This is a meeting. I thought you’d all grown up by now, but you’re acting worse than when you were teenagers,” they all heard a voice say smoothly. It was Kamino, who seemed to be going over a holographic map at the desk. He powered it off and slowly whistled, closing his eyes.

“Finally, someone with reasoning.” Yayoi walked over to Kamino’s side, placing her holo-pad down near his.

“Great, everyone is accounted for.” Fuchizaki checked off her list for all of the Shosas, eyeing the subordinates, then Alto, who made it to the round table once everyone was settled down.

“Keichi, Isuda, Kiku is not present, Naomi is not present, Kamino, Morgii Soh, Yayoi, Natsu, Vasco, and Kale.” When she called their names, they responded back with “Present,” aside from Kale, who burped and asked, “Is there anymore tea? I've got a massive case of the munchies.” Everyone ignored him.

Kamino swiped his finger across a black pad in front of himself. This triggered a holographic grid of Honshu’s landscape to materialize from a pearl-like sphere that was lodged within the center of the marble table. The grid spread up, emitting a green ray that broke apart into different folder icons. “This is the place,” Kamino said.

“Yes, here are the reports that’ve been compiled.” Alto slid the folder across the table. It stopped at Kamino’s hand. He lifted it up and looked through as Yayoi tapped the hovering folder related to the Chiza ward and the recent case where a Stray had been tracked down, only to blow up under peculiar circumstances.

“The strays name is Gumon. According to the report, he had disappeared from his region out of nowhere, only to resurface a month later. The Setsus of Orinyuu were looking for him after he disappeared but found no trace of him.”

“Of course, it’s really convenient that he turned up here as an unemployed drifter,” Keichi inserted, sobering up.

“Oh, so he appeared here?” Linolin asked, having gotten up from the floor.

“The allies of the Kumamoto region have been targeted recently as well, by the neighboring Setsus of Fuke, so there’s that,” Isuda informed the others, crossing his arms.

“Orinyuu… And Fuke.”

“Not good. Lady Miyumi has to bring this all up in the next meeting she has with the other Rikutos”

“It’s scheduled for the end of this month. We’ll see then.”

“I do find it strange, too. Strays don’t kill humans at such a rapid pace, nor do they do it without cause… so many Strays popping up is unprecedented.” Kamino continued in his head. “I’d be more worried about the traitors. The amount of humans turned into Setsu is another problem to worry about.”

“That’s because…”

“The Bakufu must be behind this”

“You think they heard of Sekiha Takeshi’s absence?”

“That’s plausible”

“Those bastards…”

“Bakufu? You know damn well it can be those Setsus from Alkaid sending Strays this way. They’re closer than the Orinyuu. They’re out for our territories. My money is on them being behind this spike in activity.” Morgii pushed aside one of the hover chairs, making his way over to the control panels, where Kamino searched for the files regarding the Orinyuu family.

“I’m astonished at how blind the Tensei can be.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions here. There’s someone else working from behind, I’m sure,” Kale added.

“Funny you can say that when you aren’t even originally from here. You know, that family of yours has a lot to say,” Morgii hissed at Kale.

“Still been here for decades, so get over your suspicions, pencil neck.” Kale brought out a blunt to smoke.

“One thing is certain. Their intentions aren’t positive”

“Actually”

“Keichi, thinking back to that one chase where Hiiro disappeared…” Yayoi set her palms on the table. Keichi closed his eyes and listened silently, clearly upset of what she was about to bring up.

“Ruri! You better leave now or you’ll be late for school!” a voice echoed throughout what a moment ago was a quiet morning in a residential area of a northern Osaka prefecture.

“I’m off now, gramps!” Almost immediately a child of around twelve years exploded out of her front door with a disheveled bag in hand, spilling out pencils onto the sidewalk as she ran as fast as her little legs could take her. The child ran along the high-walled street, with cicadas wide awake and chirping as she made her way down the street where she briefly heard barking. She stopped at the crosswalk, inspecting both avenues. There wasn’t a car in sight, so she continued on; the neighborhood’s streets seemed completely empty.

She could see her school in the distance at the bottom of a low sloping hill, a straight shot down the gridded roads of the suburbs. Rushing down, she suddenly stopped herself at a certain street and turned. A small grey tabby kitten sat in the shade of an empty fruit cart, grooming its paws.

The girl beamed, pulling out food she had saved from breakfast. The cat sniffed, picking up on the few little pieces of salmon she had in a little ziplock bag. She held out the piece for the kitten and the small creature took it swiftly with a cute little meow that made the small child smile. She reached to pet the little creature only for it to pounce away. A small pout formed on the girl’s face as she got up to follow it.

“Awww, please let me pet you, Mrs. Whiskwueekins. Pretty please?”

She continued following the little creature past a house or two, as the kitten turned into an alley. The girl’s eyes lit up at what she saw. There was a whole family of stray kittens surrounding a slim man. A mother and four kittens next to a pair of overturned trash cans. Ruri reached back for the bag again, emptying it out at her feet as the kittens and their mother came over. The kittens rubbed themselves against the girl, who finally noticed the silent man who was standing there.

She looked up, bewildered by the strange man’s gaze. His eyes were plain, but stared at her with an intensity that could only be described as that of an animal whose immense hunger had led it to an easy meal. He wore a mustard-colored jacket over a white shirt, a pair of old and faded jeans, an unkempt beard and a newsboy hat. His face was incredibly pale and contorted, and his eyes bloodshot to the point of almost looking purple. His tongue soon slipped out, lapping out like a thirsty dog as the drool ran down his beard.

His incisor teeth became visible and clearly wasn’t a normal size. He slowly walked toward the child, menacingly holding his arm outwards. The little girl took a step back, only to realize that she had her back against the alley wall, as the man crept closer. She took a few steps away from the wall and stumbled over as she took a hold of some of the kittens protectively. In fear, she clenched her eyes and let out a cry.

“You know… there’s a name for strange adults who prey on little kids,” a cocky voice spoke up from above the both of them to which they looked up. A pair of teenagers stood on the alcove roof of the building. Both had dark blue overcoats with matching jeans. A light reflected off of a metallic arm-plate on one of the teen’s forearms, flashing into the eyes of the child for a second. The teen on the left had bright orange hair that was evenly cut just above his eyebrows. The one on the right ruffled his messy emerald hair around and lifted up his forearm with pride and a wide smirk.

He slapped his fingers along the metal, announcing, “Yo, pedophile.” The little girl took note of the metallic arm-plate the emerald-haired teen tapped at. Her eyes widened in shock. She recognized the emblem on the metallic plate as belonging to none other than the Hachi’s Ikigai Task Force.

“Hello? This is Hiiro of the Karoshi pack. We’ve found another stray,” Hiiro reported into his earpiece as Keichi waved around his emblem side to side, like a child showing off a toy.

Hiiro’s glare beared down on the odd fellow with disdain. “Disgusting,” he thought to himself.

At first, the man looked up at them with confusion and a bit of anger, but as he turned and looked into the eyes of one of the boys further, he flinched in fear; a look of absolute terror covered his face as he turned and bolted down the alley. With a smirk, the two boys glanced at each other and dropped from the roof, landing on their feet with a thud onto the concrete. They began chasing after the pale man, leaving the little girl standing there incredibly confused with a handful of kittens in her arms.

“Well, this sure is a spry one! Look at him go! I’ve gotta ask him what kind of shoes those are!” The emerald-haired teen chuckled as the two of them watched the pale man scramble up the side of a nine foot fence and onto the next street.

“He’s headed towards downtown,” Keichi took in the direction the man was headed.

“Yeah. Kei, watch my back.”

“Might wanna get some breakfast afterwards, I heard DripHop has a new egg mu-”

“Going on ahead,” Hiiro cut Keichi off.

The two of them reached the gate and leapt over it in a single bounce with their sights directed on their prey. The pale man sprinted in the direction of downtown Osaka with the pair close behind. He knocked over trash cans, carts, and people in an attempt to impede his pursuers. The chase continued for well over fifteen minutes as both parties had managed to maintain a sprinting pace throughout, until the pair decided to amp up their speed.

As they reached the bustling streets of the city, the two Setsus split up with Keichi dashing off down the block to try to cut the man off, managing to run him into the traffic. A blue hover-car tried to stop itself in time, only to smash into the pale man at 110 km/h. To the surprise of the dozens of onlookers, the man rose to his feet despite leaving a human sized dent in the front of the car. He cracked his neck to the left and popped it back into place, stepping off of the car and continuing his escape.

“Tch, almost,” the orange-haired teen thought to himself as he slid over the hood of a stationary car.

The man was now about a block ahead of Hiiro, and at this pace he was bound to get caught. Suddenly, he sighted Keichi smashing through a second story window of the building they were running adjacent to, descending over the pale man like a hawk would to a squirrel. The pale man quickly grabbed an old man who was walking along with a newspaper in his hand, throwing him like a pitcher would throw a fastball.

Keichi barely caught the old man as the two of them collapsed on the street. Hiiro ran up to them, grabbing his comrade by the collar and heaved him to his feet. The two continued after the pale man who had now gained a lead on them. They continued on until they had left Osaka and were now in the countryside just north of the city, running along a two-lane road on the side of a small mountain with a steep cliff.

Out of nowhere, a car ahead of them suddenly came around the bend, with the driver seeing the three of them in the middle of the road, and swerving to the right to try and avoid hitting them. Four other cars in both lanes came in soon after, creating a massive pileup in the middle of the road. Keichi looked for a brief moment to see if everyone was okay behind the wheels, only to hear a loud horn behind him.

“Look out!” Hiiro shouted. Keichi managed to turn around in time to meet an eighteen wheeler that was behind them.

“Aw, f-” is all Keichi muttered as the horns blared over his voice, shaking the gravel at his feet. Something had blown the tires of the eighteen wheeler, causing the driver to lose control as it crashed into Keichi. Hiiro looked over, stunned.

“KEI!!!”

Hiiro stopped in his tracks and turned to see Keichi on the pavement. A series of logs that the eighteen wheeler had been carrying were laid everywhere, with one of them resting on the Setsu’s sternum, and his legs pinned under another. “Damn! You alright, Kei?!”

“Don’t sound so concerned… I might start to think you like me.” He slowly pushed a log off his leg. “Go on, get that bastard. I’ll handle things here.” Keichi chuckled as he groaned, lifting the log slowly off his chest. Hiiro turned back at the chaos as some of the witnesses slowly peeled themselves out of their totaled cars, then looked back to the pale man who had just turned and had started running down a small hiking path along the side of the mountain.

After pulling the other log off of himself, Keichi pressed his head back on the ground. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then glanced up. As he looked up he briefly saw what seemed to be someone looking down at him from a nearby path. The individual wore a peculiar helmet that covered their upper face, but left their spiky black hair to be blown around by passing wind. A green swan design glowed at the center of the being’s helmet. The design seemed to have a series of swords that made up its wings, with three different swords pointed upward at both ends of its wings and the third blade pointed downward at the center, over the swan’s head. The rest of the suit was a smooth black with a set of small visible wings flapping side to side slowly. Upon realizing that Keichi noticed, the being turned away and disappeared from the edge of the cliff quietly.

“A cosplayer all the way out here? Probably shooting a movie nearby. What a suit,” Keichi thought to himself with a pained chuckle, as he tried to lean up. The individual crossed his mind again. He recalled when the individual turned away, the wings were moving and had actually elongated unnaturally. “Huh?” Keichi mumbled to himself. The world around him soon swirled over, as he blacked out.

“Damn it!” Hiiro ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He didn’t want to leave Keichi behind, but he trusted he would be fine and resumed, determined to complete his duty. The signs of fatigue were finally starting to show on the pale entity who was up ahead. Pools of sweat flew off of his face as he continued running down the hiking path that was leading deeper into the forest. He turned to look behind him for a moment only to see Hiro methodically keeping pace with him, showing no signs of fatigue. As he stepped on a bit of loose earth, it gave in and the pale man’s ankle buckled as he slipped, tumbling down the steep slope. He smashed into numerous bushes, stones, and trees with rocks and branches flying up randomly with every collision.

Hiiro watched for a moment before carefully sliding down the side of the slope on the heels of his shoes. Finally nearing the end of his fall, the pale man fell into a murky puddle of mud and leaves. He flopped onto his back and gazed up, gasping for air. He was now so deep in the woods that most of the sky was blotted out by a canopy that fluttered with leaves in the breeze overhead. He tried to rise to his feet, only for his legs to become stiff. He was completely unable to get up. Looking down, he could see his right leg bent unnaturally, as he snarled and started crawling as fast as he could, only getting a few feet before being suddenly kicked over onto his back.

A familiar face stood over him, who quickly wrapped a hand around his throat. Hiiro lifted the man about a foot off the ground by his neck, slamming him into a tree as his legs kicked wildly in mid air trying to break free from Hiiro’s steel-like grip. “Before I finish you, tell me about how you slipped into Osaka,” the Setsu spoke coldly, as his grip loosened only slightly to allow his captive to speak, while his free hand reached into the back of his waistband.

The pale man’s skin started to inflate oddly, turning into a light shade of green with irregular lumps forming on his cheekbones. “What the…” Hiiro lifted his forearm up, covering his nose and mouth when the man gurgled and vomited an unusual, bloody liquid that smelled like stomach acid. The liquid washed up against Hiiro, making him nauseous. He took the time to squeeze the man’s throat a bit more and threw him across the small clearing to give the two some distance, as the man smashed into a rock like a ragdoll. Hiiro then stepped backwards and reached down for his weapon when he heard loud grunts.

The man clawed at his chest and dropped to his knees. He punched the ground like an enraged gorilla before snapping his back. A disgusting squeal escaped the man’s mouth, as his eyes filled with tears and black gunk flew out of his mouth, striking a tree trunk behind Hiiro and melting through the bark. Like a balloon, the man’s body inflated yet again. First, his right arm grew disproportional, then his lower knee did the same. Hiiro’s instincts at that moment told him to dash for cover, but he could hardly move due to the horrid smell. An odd siren sound came from the man’s belly as his body rose higher and higher. Hiiro looked back as a flash of light rushed his way with a shockwave following right after.

He only had time to turn around and slam his palms against his ears before he was blown away. Dozens of surrounding trees were torn right from the ground, their roots incinerated, as Hiiro’s vision became blurry. It felt as if the ground itself were shaking, making it difficult for him to stand right away. Disoriented, Hiiro felt the heated soil. He shook his head and coughed, looking ahead. A thick fog had spread around him. When he rose to his knees, he glanced down to his palms. There was black dirt on them that he quickly brushed across his jeans, as he stood up onto his feet. Hiiro coughed and motioned through the mist, kicking a burnt tree trunk out of his way. He whipped out his phone to try and get a hold of Keichi, only to see that there was no service. “What the hell just happened?”

Turning his head, he scanned the area. Hiiro continued to step through the ashes that twinkled down around him until he nearly lost his footing and stopped just in front of a gaping crater. At the center, fragments of bone remained, but the foul scent of negative Retsu was still spreading, overpowering Hiiro’s senses. It seemed to be drifting off, but not disappearing like regular Retsu would.

“Didn’t it die in the explosion? Then, why is the Retsu still spreading…” Then, it hit him. “Tch, it’s not a Stray; it’s a Shiki.” Hiiro scaled out of the crater and took off, running around the crater and jumping through a bush. In order to get a good look, he dashed up onto a tree until he landed on a high branch.

He looked up at the suddenly grey skyline, which was barely visible through the thick canopy. Low sounds similar to that of whales spread around the area in different directions, yet there was nothing in sight. Hiiro hopped over to another tree branch and scaled up to the top of the tree to better survey the sky. “Yeah… over there, it’s as blue as I remember, but here… it’s grey.” An ominous wind forced his jacket to flap back, shaking the tree he was on.

To his shock, a monstrous creature formed out of the negative Retsu looming along the cloudy skies. Its lengthy arms and legs slammed forty feet down to the ground, blowing away everything nearby. It twisted its head over, letting out a high-pitched bellow as Hiiro took in its terrifying resemblance to a tarantula. It took a single step, then shrunk, disappearing into the far off treeline.

Hiiro glanced down and dropped to the ground, taking off in the direction of the black particles that twinkled in the sky. He heaved, taking deep breaths that had become visible from the sudden chill in the air. When he nearly tripped, he found that snow was forming on the ground. Up ahead, more of it abundantly covered the patches of leaves that once covered the forest floor. His eyes flickered, emitting a soft violet glow. Just behind him, there was a portal, releasing twinkling snowflakes accompanied with black particles. “It went in there…” Hiiro fixed his composure.

“Should I call Sir Alto and the others? Or go in alone? After all this… I can’t let it escape.” He reached down into his jacket pocket and spun his phone around. Hiiro swiped his index finger across the front screen and spoke into it. “Sticky note, please.” Hiiro waited until the recording app pulled up onto the main screen. When a green light started blinking, he began to record a message before entering the portal.

“Sir Alto, during our shift today, me and Keiichi ran into a peculiar entity. We pursued it, but Kei was injured. I followed it alone off the Takamatsu Expressway and into the Kentai Forest where it had blown up.” Hiiro paused, looking ahead into the portal. “After the explosion, the negative Retsu continued on and took an unnatural form. It’s a Shiki and judging by the amount of negative Retsu… it’s mid class. Call it suicide, but I can’t let that thing escape with the memories of that Stray. Who knows what it gathered in Osaka… besides, it’s not his fault he became possessed. The least I can do is take the Shiki out for him. He may have had loved ones…” After another pause, Hiiro shook his head. “Signing off.” The phone dropped into a pile of snow, powering off.

“Do you think that Hiiro could have been ambushed and taken like that Stray? If he were captured, you can’t help but wonder if he’d b-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Keichi cut in.

“I know, you were close to Hiiro; just tossing out a possibility,” she responded, defending herself. The others remained silent until Kamino went on.

“In any case, we’re bound to find out eventually. For now, we have to pinpoint the location of the growing problem. The responsibility of assuring that the wards remain safe are in our hands while Sekiha Takeshi is away. An outbreak here can be catastrophic not only for those in Osaka, but our allies as well.”

“The number of Shikis have been growing in the eastern wards by ___. I’d say it correlates with the number of human disappearances, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Mhm. We’ve already pinpointed the source. Off the outskirts of Osaka, in the old Fillies factory. Funny that the factory is under a woman named Sango…”

“Why is that funny?”

“Because she’s tied to the Ginkos.” They all stared wide-eyed.

“Some Shikis have been tracked down to that old run-down factory, huh?”

“Well? What are we waiting for?”

“For the lead”

“That’d be?”

“Sekiha Takeshi’s son”

“Where is he?”

“He’s not attending the meeting.” Keichi turned his head, in search of Takumi, but he wasn’t anywhere in the room.

Alto cleared his throat and swiped his hand across the grid, causing a holographic file to form. “Miyumi has granted permission to act without the young master, as he’s currently in school.”

“That’s the sort of warrior Takeshi left us? He’d rather be in school?!” Kale growled, slamming his fist down on the table. “What is he building, a corporate pawn or a leader?!” His fist smashed right through, as Keichi told him, “Woah, dude! Chill out! Ya almost got my fingers!”

“Unacceptable, I won’t allow it!” Kale’s furious vibes caused half of the table to overturn, as the half that Kamino had his hand on remained completely unscathed.

“We can’t let that brat do nothing, I say we knock some sense into him.” Morgii’s arms shifted, as sharp ends spread out on both sides with green crystalline like shards breaking apart.

“Maybe you guys are taking this too far? I mean, none of us really know the kid too well, right? Perhaps he’s got some problems of his own… or maybe he’s just shy,” Keichi interfered.

“I’ve heard rumors of the kind of missions he’s gone on at a young age. If those rumors are true, I’d hate my father too; no kid should go through that. Even Shi takes it too far at times,” Isuda folded his arms as the others thought over what he said.

Kamino continued to listen attentively, as he nodded after Keichi and Isuda’s words. Their little quarrel soon came to an end, as they all heard what sounded like sobbing coming from somewhere close. It only took them a few seconds to pinpoint where the sobbing was coming from. At the corner of the room, Vasco was crying over Kale’s violent behavior.

“Aw come on little baby, we’re over here having a serious conversation and you’re crying?” Morgii ridiculed.

“GET OVER HERE NOW!” Kale shouted, causing Yayoi to tell him, “You’re making it worse.” Vasco quietly remained in the corner.

“Anyway, I agree with Keichi. Besides, I don’t care if none of you guys end up deciding to trust him, I have complete faith in Lord Takumi,” Natsu quickly added her two cents.

“Of course you would, goodie two shoes, that’s how you get advancements. By kissing ass,” Kale said, waving his hand in front of his face.

“Because I can sympathize with him being doubted…” Natsu quietly thought to herself.

“Okay, okay. Lady Miyumi already has it all covered, so settle down. The young master will be joining in on the cleansing request,” Alto informed them.

“Don’t count me in for that one, I’ll continue to cover things in my ward; I want nothing to do with the soft kid after what I’ve heard today.” Kale rubbed his finger into his ear.

“It’s cool, I’ll go with my pack,” Keichi volunteered.

“Consider ours in, too.” They all heard a new voice coming from the entrance. Kiku walked straight to the table, shocking all of them.

“Ki, weren’t you sorta tired?”

“I’m fine,” she said, with dead eyes and bags under her eyes.

“Woah, no. You should be resting up.” Yayoi tried tugging her aside, but Kiku slapped her hand away. The others were concerned just the same.

“Those Strays could be there. Hiiro could be there. I have to go, no matter what,” Kiku told herself in her head.

“If she’s offered, she can go. Only three Packs can go, the rest of you will focus on looking after the assigned wards as usual,” Alto cut in.

“Ours will join as well then.” Natsu raised her head, with Yayoi agreeing.

“Perfect, then all we have to decide now is who will do the scouting.”

“Three of our members will do that,” Yayoi answered Alto right away.

“Who are they?”

“Onora, Riri and Moriko. They’re new bloods from Nagoya, Nagano, and Osaka’s Rokuro servant clan respectively. They’re marvelous rooks. This will be a great way for them to be promoted. Without having to engage the enemy, they’ll simply go in, gather intel about the infestation and come back out,” Yayoi confidently spoke, slamming her fist to her chest.

“Great, let’s give them a chance,” Natsu agreed.

“I don’t have a problem with that.” Isuda faintly smiled, looking at the other Shosas in attendance. Each agreed.

“Well then… Yayoi’s apprentices will be scouting this morning,” Alto inputted his vote. “Next up, we’ll discuss the conflict occurring with thflekobura family. As you all know…”

Yayoi left the room while the others continued on the meeting. She went off to inform the trio of their task: the three Setsus were to scope out the factory’s terrain. A confirmation request.

On the way there, seeing as it was a rainy morning, they stopped at a station for something to eat at Riri’s persistent begging. “Riri hurry up! The driver’s not gonna wait for you to buy the whole store!!!” Onora yelled from inside of the car, impatiently ravaging through the reports given to them.

There was no response from Riri, who found herself drooling over all of the sweet smells that surrounded her at the Retsu station’s storefront. Finally making a choice on what she’d have first, Riri pointed repeatedly at the sweet buns that were stored behind the glass she was in front of. A woman at the front counter picked the sweet buns that Riri pointed to. Riri stopped kneeling and stood up, twirling her finger over to a tray of large lollipops. “I’ll have three of those too!” she told the concession stand lady.

“RIRI!!!” Her heart leapt at the sudden call of her name. Riri expected it to be Onora, but instead it turned out to be Moriko. She had some sort of white box in her hand. Riri curiously reached out to tap it, but Moriko slapped her hand away and said, “I’m short 1000 holo-coins. Lend me it and I’ll pay you when we get back!” The grey haired girl begged, pressing the box up to Riri’s cheek. “It’s a collectors geta geta bonds box!!! It has a bunch of manga and anime accessories, I can’t leave it here!!! I might have a Piiheru!”

Moriko pulled the box to her chest and hugged it, squealing uncontrollably. Riri giggled and didn’t think twice about handing Moriko the cash… but moved her card away just when Moriko was about to take it.

“What happened to the fifty thousand you still owe me?” Riri reminded her as Moriko thought of something to say. One of Riri’s fangs grew, as the scent of the honey rolls being taken out of their glass containers set in. Riri completely lost focus as Moriko tackled her.

“Oh come on, what’s one thousand more?! You can drag me to my pod and I’ll hand it over when we get back from the mission, come on!!!” Before Riri had the chance to reach the rolls, Moriko took them and stuffed it into Riri’s mouth. One after another, she fed Riri three until she got the okay. The sugary glaze washed across Riri’s taste buds, hypnotizing her. In the sweet toxicity, she shrugged, devouring the rolls like an animal. Moriko went on to hand Riri’s card to the receptionist, adding her box.

All of the items scanned well until she reached the box Moriko wanted. The receptionist stared at Moriko and then at the box. “The Lolli Lolli Book Club AR game is inside of here… it’s rated M, contains graphic content.” The receptionist squinted, switching her sights from the game to Moriko’s height.

“Yeah? What about it?” Moriko frowned.

“You don’t seem old enough, I’ll have to see an ID.” The receptionist slid the box away before Moriko could take it.

“I’m sixteen, but the game is really for my perverted brother! He’s like 25 and single, he’s dying soon! One of his last wishes is to play this game!”

“You don’t have a bro-” Riri nearly said, but Moriko shoved her palm against her face and continued.

“As a dying wish he asked me to get him the game!!!” Moriko giggled, hoping that the receptionist would believe her.

Riri gave her a confused looked. “You don’t even have a brother…”

“Yeah, she doesn’t know that though,” Moriko telepathically responded back.

“Really? What hospital is he in?” The receptionist puffed up her orange hair and responded, testing the girl.

“Listen lady, he isn’t looking to date anyone unless they’re 2D waifu material, so don’t get any funny ideas! Plus, you’re a cougar.”

“Ideas? I only asked so I can verify… how do I know you’re telling the truth. I’ll need confirmation from an adult.” The receptionist slammed the white box onto the counter, startling Moriko. Riri quickly reached over and pulled her bags off of the counter before they fell over.

“S-She’s got me!” Moriko felt the menacing aura that came from the receptionist. It was like a wave of chilly darkness passing her. “What kind of hum-”

“You should know your own kind.” The receptionist unrolled some see-through lipstick and ran it across her lips. Moriko briefly saw the receptionist’s fangs as she gave her a wink.

“You’re a Set-” she nearly yelled out, but someone’s hand slapped over her mouth. The receptionist sighed, taking a look at the three girls, as Onora was now behind Moriko.

“Yeah, I am. You’re in the Ikigai?” The receptionist glanced at the metallic plate on the girl’s forearm. The armplate clearly showed, while Moriko pried Onora’s hand off of her mouth.

“We are. What’s the issue here?”

Moriko caught her breath and stepped aside when she felt two menacing forces locked in on her. Those stares were from Onora and the lady. “The Tensei will take in anyone these days, huh?” The receptionist dropped her head in frustration, only to lift herself back up into composure a second later. “The girl here wants to buy a mature AR game. You’re all underaged kids, so I can’t give it to you.”

“We’re in the Ikigai for crying out loud… we see gore all the time,” Onora pointed out.

Moriko scoffed and lunged up to grab the game. The receptionist tried tugging the game away as Moriko held onto the box for dear life. “Give it here, you old hag!!!” Moriko shouted, getting the same answer back. “No!” The box crumbled a bit, forcing Moriko to let go in fear of the contents being damaged.

Onora gently karate chopped Moriko’s head and looked around the place. “It’s real early, do you have a license to be operating so early?”

Onora’s question struck a nerve. “Crap… this one got me.” The receptionist closed her eyes. She didn’t want to get in trouble, but she had to do her job. She listened to the sound of bells jingling. A breeze blew into the storefront, carrying the scent of the salty ocean with it.

“Well? If you don’t have the license, we may just have to take a few minutes to jot down the info, unless…” Onora reached back to retrieve her phone and gave the lady a look. Right then and there the receptionist let go of the game.

“Fine, but you didn’t get it from here, got that?”

Moriko hugged the game tightly, as the woman swiped Riri’s card and handed it back with a sigh, before watching the girls enter a black hover-car. The car started up and reversed back onto the road, u-turned, and disappeared out of sight.

“Kids these days…”

For the rest of the ride, the three girls remained silent within the car, all in their own worlds. Moriko played on her phone, Riri snuggled in between her two teammates (delightfully numming on her sweets), and Onora spaced out for moments at a time, only to focus back on what was just outside of the car. She kept her eyes on the green that was created from the car passing the forest side fast. This green was soon replaced by a series of dead black trees, shaking in the now snowy terrain.

“People? No… I’m seeing things,” she mumbled, glancing at the window over at Moriko’s side. Riri quietly hummed to herself, kicking her feet around until Moriko lightly tapped her knee in order to get her to stop. Riri finished up one of her sweets and reached down to her recorder. This device is what she used to document what the unit uncovered and would automatically send the information back to the Ikigai’s HQ. Riri did exactly that, motioning over to get a better look through Onora’s side.

“We’ll be getting off now, thanks for everything,” Onora told the driver, tapping the bottom of the seat, so that the gravity that kept them firmly on weakened. Riri and Moriko did the same, exiting first. Once outside, they went straight for the old fencing and cleared it with ease, landing at the other end. Aside from Riri walking through blissfully, Onora was on high alert and Moriko kept her eyes on the holographic map that came out of her watch.

All they had to do was get close enough to study the factory, then make their way out undetected. It seemed simple enough, but the creepy vibes their surroundings gave them didn’t make them feel at ease. The whole place was dead silent aside from their feet pressing down as they traversed through the snowy path. Even the flock of crows that flew overhead made no sound at all. Some of those crows silently swooped down, perching themselves on top of tall black trees that made up their surroundings.

Their sights were down on the three. It was as if they were being observed the moment they set foot in the place. “Put on your hoods,” Onora instructed, flicking hers on. The crows soon glanced around as if the three were now invisible and flocked away, losing sight of the three who were now invisible to them.

“Let’s keep going.” Onora grabbed Riri’s wrist so she wouldn’t stray too far behind and led her through the forest of black trees. Nothing seemed out of place, yet. They slid down and climbed onto a boulder, inspecting the area ahead every thirty seconds for about five minutes.

From above, they spotted the gigantic chimney of the factory releasing dark grey fumes that swirled along a bright grey beam of light that seemed to keep the grey clouds circulating over the entire area. Snow twinkled down from those clouds. “Weather manipulation?” Moriko muttered. “The weather around this place is out of whack, and you can bet it’s those Strays.”

“Yeah,” Onora agreed.

“How do you know?” Riri asked cluelessly.

“Clearly we’re not in wintertime, Riri. On top of that, this place has been abandoned for a long time,” Moriko responded in a whisper. “I gave you some insightful knowledge, so take three thousand holo-coins off my tab,” she added.

“Teheh, not happening,” Riri giggled, finishing the large lollipop she had been chewing on. Riri made sure to relay the information using her device. With that finished, she brought out a candy bar and observed it, looking for a way to carefully open it without messing up the insides.

“Riri, keep moving,” Onora telepathically called to her, annoyed. They crept through, masking themselves in the dense forest, until they came to some bushes and laid low. “Okay, I’ll keep sight of this area, you’ll split up to check the other area. We have to scope out the place at least halfway,” she spoke, with an uneasy sensation setting in her stomach.

“Got it.”

“If anything happens, call through the intercom; you know we can’t use telepathy from afar without running the risk of it being intercepted by the Strays.” With Riri and Moriko agreeing, Onora struck her fist against her chest. The three stood up and at that moment, from the corner of her eye, Onora saw something flying straight down at them.

“WATCH OUT!” she screamed, pushing Riri aside and lunging out of the way with Moriko. The aftershock of the impact blew the surrounding trees away as chunks of wood flew everywhere. Onora rolled several times with Moriko, as pebbles mixed with twigs rained down all around them. Onora gripped Moriko tightly, taking hits as they collided with more snow. Turning over, she stopped them from going any further. She felt disoriented, but got onto her feet and glared over to where they had been.

“What is…” She saw a muscular silhouette and the snow around the crater melt away at a rapid pace. “That’s… a Shiki!” Her eyes widened at the sight of the muscular figure crawling out of the steep crater. Her heart pounded hard. She gulped, leaning down with the intention to take off. This was her first encounter with one without having her Shosa around.

From the clustered smoke, two pairs of glowing yellow eyes peered straight at Onora, then roamed in a crazed manner. The entity’s head contorted, snapping backwards over to Riri who was alone, trying to stand up with her back turned to them. Moriko tried to stand up, but found a branch had stabbed into her thigh, forcing her back to the ground. She yanked it out, flinching in the process.

“RIRI!!!” Onora shouted to the disoriented girl. Riri groaned, tripping back onto her feet. She glanced around and saw the monstrous Shiki heading straight for her. Both Moriko and Onora screamed “MOVE!!!”, but the mix of fear and shock kept her immobilized. Acting fast, Onora slid her metallic saber out of its sheath and thrust it into the Shiki’s path. The saber stabbed into a tree, lodging in deep.

The Shiki, having already been in movement, passed right through, without realizing that a wire was attached to the end of the saber. Its lower body dropped, having been sliced off while its upper body kept going towards Riri, who sniffed and brought her attention to her candy bar, which had been knocked out of her hand when Onora had pushed her. It laid right in the Shiki’s path. The Shiki staggered over, squishing it under its massive palm.

“MY FRUIT SPINDOWNS!!!” Riri screamed in terror. Her hair splurged up and everything flashed for her. Her body rushed straight at the Shiki, her mind completely blank. Her primal Setsu side kicked in, shifting her normally pale skin, to a faint red.

“RIRI, DON’T!!!” Onora shouted, but it was too late. Riri already tackled the massive Shiki, her head jammed into it’s gut, forcing acid to blow out of the Shiki. This was followed by her landing down and taking a single step up, connecting her head with the bottom of the Shiki’s chin. Its head knocked back, but not before she grabbed a hold of its neck and pulled it back straight towards her. “GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Riri smashed her forehead square on the Shiki’s head. The three horns that had developed at the center of Riri’s forehead stabbed through the Shiki’s head, tearing the head to shreds aside from the strike blowing the Shiki away as its body was flung through several trees, leaving a trail of destruction. “GRRRRRRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” Wind rippled wildly around her, only to calm down five seconds later. She soon realized what she did, as the horns sunk back into her head and her skin became pale again.

“M-My Spindowns…” Riri sniffled. “I shouldn’t have killed, now I can’t get my sweets b-back.” Riri dropped to the ground soon, lamenting her crushed candy. Onora called out to her, “Forget that for now!!! Get over here! We’ve gotta g-” Just then, the scent of Riri’s sweet fruity candy mixed in with the foul scent of a dozen entities washing in. Onora didn’t want to turn around, as more Shikis were attracted by the noise and among them, five that seemed especially different swooped down, stepping out of the mist that enveloped the area.

One of those landed beside Onora, who barely had time to turn her head when she was flicked aside like a fly. In the process, she yanked the wire of her saber, only for it to be intercepted and caught by one of them. She saw from the corner of her eye… “A Stray?!”

“What’s this little thing? A weapon?” the Stray spoke, smiling as he snapped the wire with ease. Onora continued spinning back, colliding against a tree that cracked, dropping down behind her. Her hood slipped off as blood trickled past her eyebrow.

Moriko tried to run towards Onora, but was grabbed from behind and pulled back by another Stray. Her arm was bent behind her back while the being gripped Moriko’s left breast. She struggled in the arms of the individual, who lifted her up and suddenly pressed its lips up against her own. Shocked and disgusted as the tongue invaded her mouth, she swung her hand up and slapped the Stray across the face, but he remained in place. She struck him two more times to no avail, as he laughed and threw her down into a snow pile in front of them. Moriko tried whipping back to slash at him, but he grabbed a hold of her arm and cracked a bone. She let out a pained cry at the feeling of her bone shattering in two. The vile entity then tugged her up by her hair.

“LET GO!” Moriko shouted in pain, as the Stray proceeded to slam her head to the snow with tremendous impact, causing her to lose her voice. Snow blew around as the others watched.

“Hey, this Setsu is actually cute. I caught a tasty one, mmmmm.” The Stray lifted Moriko up by her ankle and slammed her to the ground a second time, this time silencing her low groaning. The attention of the other Strays went straight to Onora the moment that she shouted “Moriko!!!” Riri tried to dash for Moriko, but one of the slick Strays slipped right between her, tripping her up. Another two flew down from above, landing on top of Riri, taking her arms and pinning them down.

“Chow,” Riri heard the Stray to her right say, followed by cackling and a low whistle. Riri turned her head around and saw Shikis rush in, headed for her from all around. She tried to stand as soon as the Strays let her go, but by the time she moved her head up, a dozen Shikis pounced down onto her, shredding her thighs and shoulders, as blood rapidly gushed onto the ground. Despite being surrounded, Riri attempted to bite at the Shikis, but found two clamped down on her small ears, ripping them off. Soon after, jaws locked her forehead and tore back, revealing her brain visibly. The rest of them turned their attention to Onora, who shook uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face and urine soaking her pants.

Before any of them could head for Onora, Moriko coughed, bringing her hand up to her mouth. A bright orb flickered out, shifting into a white box that she slammed on the ground. The white box spread out in the blink of an eye, surrounding all of them except for Onora, who stood outside of it. Moriko held in the pain of her shattered right arm and cried out to the best of her ability, “Run for help!!! Forget about us!” She moved her hand to the back of her head in order to protect it from the relentless kicks the Stray gave her.

“Aviner, what the hell did she do?!” one of the Strays questioned, attempting to press his palm through the see-through white barrier. Every attempt was met with a stinging sensation that ran all across his palm.

“She casted some sort of barrier with her vibe. We have to kill her in order to break it!”

“No, this one’s mine. I have plans for her. I’ll break through this without killing her.” The Stray stopped kicking Moriko and turned around. He cracked his massive knuckles and took in the formation.

Jorsquat impatiently shouted, “Then hurry up and break it, Nibla! We have to kill that other one before she gets away!”

“I don’t like being trapped in spaces,” Kyra said.

The complaining of the others got under Nibla’s skin, as he turned to Moriko. “Look what you did, you lousy little b*tch!” Nibla stomped his foot down on Moriko’s head, causing her face to smash into the pebbles around them. “Break this now!” He knelt down and grabbed the back of her head.

Moriko made eye contact with Onora, who couldn’t bring it to herself to run away. “G-Go,” she mouthed with a faint smile. Blood trailed down her forehead, messing with her sight.

The sheer nervousness kept Onora’s knee shaking vigorously and her insides squeezed up together. A fit of nerves kept her frozen in place as she switched from watching Riri’s limbs being torn apart to Moriko getting kicked.

“What’s the best choice? I can’t leave… but if I stay, we’ll all be killed and this will have all been for nothing…” Onora felt torn between two choices as tears continued rolling down her face, before she forced herself to take an unsteady breath. She then gulped and stabbed her index fingers into her thigh to knock herself out of her indecisiveness.

“I’m sorry that I’m leaving you behind… I’ll come back with help, I promise!” A wave of guilt washed over her, as she turned away and rushed off through the trees.

“Ember, Jorsquat, Kyra, go over to the other three walls! I’ve got this one.”

“What are you planning, Aviner?” Kyra asked as she went over to her position.

“We’ll bring out our vibes to shatter this sh*t surrounding us, come on! Nibla, you’ve got the top…” Aviner instructed as he watched Nibla backhand Moriko against a rock.

“You sit and watch what I can do. When I catch your friend… I’M GOING TO SHRED HER TO PIECES AND HAVE YOU EAT HER!” Nibla shouted at Moriko, who couldn’t hear at all.

Moriko’s vision became hazy, as her body turned weaker. She slipped off of the rock she was on, and watched all of the Strays raise their hands one by one. They all stood at their assigned area, their bodies completely still. The see-through walls shook, and began vibrating faster. Nibla flung his hand over his head and in a single thrust…

From afar, Onora leapt through the underbrush as fast as she could, tripping up repeatedly. The ground below her shook. She briefly looked to where she had escaped and felt the foul vibes growing. “Riri… Moriko… I can’t let their sacrifice be in vain!” She grit her teeth, forcing herself forward even harder than before. She dove through, shoveling snow back with her fast steps. The gates came into view along with the signals.

“Hello, this is Onora of Pack Five! Am I coming through?!” She tapped her earpiece, running down the road as the connection got stronger.

“Haha, that Setsu ran away! The Setsus of Osaka lack hardiness. How pitiful,”

“Maybe we can catch up to her,”

“No, that’ll be a waste. Just stay here,” Aviner warned.

“Neifer will be really upset if he finds out one got away. If more of them come, it’ll be on us…” Jorsquat responded.

“No he won’t… unless you’re stupid enough to tell him. He never ordered us to leave our spots,”

“Let them all come. We’ll get rid of all of them before he even notices, so quit your worrying, p*ssy,” Nibla spouted back.

“I hope you’re right about that, Nibla. You always get way over your head, I’m telling the boss it was on you then,”

“Whatever. I don’t know about any of you, but I’m heading back inside to enjoy this snack.” Nibla swiped up Moriko’s ankle, licked his lower lip and dragged the unconscious woman away, headed for one of the factory’s hidden chambers.

“Alright dude, have fun,” Kyra said, about to turn away. By then, all the others scattered in their own directions, leaving Nibla and Kyra.

“You can join if you-” Nibla telepathically suggested, but before he could finish, Kyra cut him off.

“Nah, not now.” She disappeared with the passing wind.

“W-Where…?” Moriko slowly regained consciousness, only to find that she was surrounded by mutilated female chests. A torch lit over Nibla, who had been waiting for her to awaken as she tried to stand, but found herself pinned to the ground. “RIRI! ONORA!” Moriko cried out, finding her clothes torn apart and her body exposed. The Stray grinned, before diving onto her. “W-Why are you doing this?! Stop!”

Her mouth was soon muffled by Nibla. “This is retribution against Osaka, and it’s only the beginning!”

Inside of the main office, Neifer poured a businessman another drink, when one of the Strays appeared before him. “Sir, we’ve handled the pesky flies outside.”

“That’s great news, Jorsquat… you may rise.” Neifer handed a woman the bottle he had in hand while he faced the Stray.

“We’re afraid they’re growing in numbers; we’ve been discovered.”

“It’s fine, everything is going as planned thanks to you and the others.”

“Thank you. Is there anything else you’d like me to do, sir? Shall I go out and continue my rounds?” Jorsquat stood back up, as the water in his helmet swirled around with the motion.

“Yes, that would be great. After all, your shift isn’t even over, now is it?”

“I know, sir. I just thought, maybe I could be of better use…” he hesitantly answered. One of the reasons he even joined Neifer was because of the rumors that he was far more lenient to those under him, a total contrast to the hardships he faced with Jeel.

“No, it’s alright. You should just go back and make sure there aren’t any more of those flies sneaking in. It wouldn’t be good if you were followed before everything is complete…”

“Very well, I understand.” Jorsquat bowed, taking steps back when he suddenly heard glass shattering.

“WHERE THE HELL IS THAT CONTRACT?! I DON’T HAVE ALL DAY TO SIT AROUND THIS FILTHY SH*THOLE! I HAVE DEALS TO MAKE, I THOUGHT I PAID TO HAVE IT IN TWO DAYS, BUT IT’S BEEN THREE, YOU FU**WITS!” the businessman ranted.

“Silence yourself, fool. I’m almost done speaking to my underling here.” Neifer quietly gazed over to the man. The business man turned away and took his frustrations out on the cane he had in hand. He attempted to snap it with his knee, but his stumpy legs were too short, leading him to struggle all the more. He spazzed out, flinging the cane across the room.

“Mr. Burke, please take it easy; it’s on its way! We’re doing as much as we can!” one of the female Stray’s attempted to place her hands on his shoulder, but he backhanded the girl, causing her to tumble over. Neifer smoothly stepped in before she fell, allowing her to land into his arm.

“That’s not good en-” Mr. Burke was about to shout, but felt chills run down the back of his neck.

“You’re not good enough, backhanding one of my underlings… if you don’t watch your tone, you’ll be leaving here empty handed… or worse, you won’t be leaving at all,” Neifer warned.

“You heard the master. I suggest you take another drink, and let us do our part,” added Seilei, who had just entered, slipping right behind the corpulent man and dragging her nail across his throat while holding a cup of wine in her other hand.

“I… still want my contract by tonight, so if I don’t have it by then… that f*cker Chase is going to have me up his ass. You all will, and it won’t be pleasant!” he nervously dished out his own warning.

“You’re a bold one to say that with me this close…” The tip of Seilei’s nail dug in, drawing a droplet of blood from the tense businessman.

“Seilei,” Neifer telepathically spoke, sensing her urge for blood. His vibe washed all over her, as she blushed. Seilei let go of Mr. Burke obediently. She made her way to the other end of the room where she picked up a book, the same one she’d been reading for the last two days.

Seilei sighed and briefly nuzzled her palm against the right side of her breast. “He’s asking for it master, but if you must punish me… we can take an excursion to your chamber,” Seilei softly responded Neifer’s way.

“Cut it out, you’re wearing a nun’s get up.” Seilei dropped her head in shame and mumbled to herself, flipping through the book’s contents.

Likewise, being released from the brief touch of death, the businessman dropped to his knees as his belly jiggled. He coughed several times and then flopped his arm, hobbling back to his stumpy feet. “Monsters,” he muttered under his breath quietly and returned to his seat on the large black couch.

“Jorsquat, about last night.”

“Y-Yes? Ember was leading us…”

“All five of you encountered the dogs of the Fukushima, yes? The Yori? Tell me what happened.”

Jorsquat felt uneasy, but explained, “We went to check on Goigar, but ran into a Setsu who happened to kill it. He was a Rikuto, but we made short work of him together… until his comrades arrived. We made sure to take four different directions to avoid being followed together to the factory. I believe his name is Yoshigawa Fukushima, and he shares ties with the embassy of the British.”

“Embassy of the British…”

“He isn’t the only one, there was another Rikuto that Jeel ran into. Honshu isn’t lacking like the rumors say.”

“These are things Chase will want to know,” Neifer stated, half in thought. “After you leave a report for him, take Aviner and Oris to retrieve that contract.” Neifer went over to a desk and rummaged through the upper drawer, then flicked over a disk, which Jorsquat caught.

“Inside of that, there’s info on the address and the target. Sango Ginko. Be more careful this time around.”