Tokyo

Kiochi made sure that he took the longest possible route to his destination, Saito headquarters.

Just in case he was being followed.

Using money he found in the safe house, he paid for everything with cash, because he didn’t have any cards of any kind.

In a modern sense, Kiochi Suzuki didn’t exist.

He had an ID and a Birth certificate, but those were being kept by the council.

He could’ve probably checked the orphanage where he grew up, but that would take time and time was the one thing Kiochi was short on.

He exited the cab and thanked the driver, before his eyes instinctively shot up.

The Saito headquarters wasn’t the tallest building in Tokyo, standing at only two hundred or so meters, but it was definitely the most unique.

Simply put, it was a big grey cube, which was in stark contrast to all the tall towers that littered Tokyo’s skyline.

It’s dark glass windows allowed almost no light to pass through, which made the building appear mysterious and almost alien like.

One of the only flaws of the almost perfect cube was the entrance, which sunk into the cube slightly.

Kiochi walked to the entrance and got into the building.

The interior was the dark.

The walls were a dark grey and the roof of the lobby was almost twenty meters from the floor.

Kiochi walked up to the receptionist who sat quietly at their post.

It was a woman and she was dressed in sharp formal clothes.

Her black hair, coupled with her black uniform gave her an air of diligence and perfection.

“Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?” She asked in a flatly.

“My name is Kiochi Suzuki and I’d like to meet Yamamoto Saito.” Kiochi said clearly.

The woman promptly typed some buttons on her keyboard and then finally looked up to face Kiochi.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Saito is not scheduled to meet with a Mr. Suzuki. However, you could request an appointment with his chief advisor.” She said.

Kiochi’s brows furrowed slightly. He was getting slightly impatient and his options were limited. If any existed.

He walked closer to the desk, this made the woman wince briefly.

“Listen, this is a matter of the utmost importance and I must meet with Yamamoto. At least tell me where he is.” Kiochi decided that he would meet him, one way or another.

“Unfortunately, I am not allowed to disclose the whereabouts of Mr. Saito and like I suggested before, you can request a meeting with his chief adviser.” She said, her voice still flat and cold.

Kiochi’s temples burnt at the thought of him being captured while waiting for a man who wasn’t even the one he needed to speak to.

Kiochi placed his hand on the desk and leaned towards the woman.

“Listen, I don’t care about whatever procedures are in place or what you can or cannot do. I just need to meet Yamamoto. So, are you going to help me or not?” Kiochi’s desperation leaked out of his voice as he spoke.

Why was he talking like that?

Was he afraid to die at the hands of the council?

No.

What he was afraid of was dying without knowing the truth.

He needed to know what those things were and he needed everyone else to know how dangerous they were.

Kiochi didn’t want to die without achieving at least that much.

The woman sighed and stood up from behind her desk.

“Sir, if that is all the business you have, then I’d like to kindly request that you leave.” She said while gesturing at the door.

“I cannot! I told you. I need to see Yamamoto.” Kiochi’s voice became a slight growl.

He didn’t know what else to do.

The woman sighed then raised her wrist to her mouth and spoke into what Kiochi assumed was a communication device.

“Security, requesting assistance. Location: lobby.” She said loudly enough for Kiochi to hear.

This was a warning, but Kiochi couldn’t leave, not yet.

“That isn’t necessary. I’ll leave, but at least tell me if Yamamoto is in the building.” He asked.

The woman remained silent and shortly after Kiochi saw two men in uniform emerge from behind the wall that separated the lobby from the rest of the building.

They approached him and one of them grabbed his shoulder and nudged him in the direction of the entrance.

“No, wait! I can’t leave yet. Ma’am, all I need is Yamamoto’s location.”

The receptionist sat back on her chair and resumed her work as the guard dragged Kiochi backwards.

Kiochi’s frustration built up so quickly that he could almost feel his temples throb in pain.

Kiochi could’ve easily overpowered the guards and forced the receptionist to tell him where Yamamoto was, but that would only complicate his already bad situation.

“Dammit!” Kiochi cursed out loud.

Then suddenly he heard the sound of an elevator bell coming from his right.

The once smooth and shiny grew wall shifted, then a section of the wall sunk inwards and slid to the side, revealing a old man wearing a black Yukata.

His dishevelled grey hair made the old man look like a really unreliable uncle, but Kiochi knew exactly who he was.

“Kiochi, it has been too long. I apologize for not intervening earlier but I was in a meeting and those vultures wouldn’t let me go.”

The old man said as he walked towards Kiochi.

By that time, the guards had already unhanded Kiochi and were now bowing deeply.

“No problem.” Kiochi gave the old man a quick nod.

“Ah, exactly as I remember. A man of few words. However, your occupation is partially to blame for this misunderstanding as I cannot put you on the VIP list, you see.” He let out a hearty laugh before extending a hand to Kiochi.

Kiochi raised my hand in responds but then the old man moved in closer and gave me a hug.

“You saved my life, boy. I’m pretty sure that we are more than strangers by now. No?” He retorted then released Kiochi from his weakened version of a bear hug.

“Ichika, this is Kiochi Suzuki. Please, grant him clearance that’s slightly lower than mine. He is our guest and I’d like him to enjoy his stay.” The old man ordered the receptionist, who gave a deep bow before sitting down.

“Now come! I’m sure we have a lot to talk about.” He walked back to the elevator he came from and gestured that Kiochi follow.

Kiochi later learnt that the secret elevator he was in was only for top executives and of course, the old man Yamamoto Saito himself.

The elevator was silent, as neither Yamamoto nor Kiochi spoke.

Kiochi’s head was lowered as he pondered on how he would explain the situation to Yamamoto.

“So, you’re in trouble with the council. Tough break.” Yamamoto said, shaking Kiochi out of the maze that was his mind.

“Yeah.” Kiochi sighed.

Yamamoto chuckled, then tuned back to look at the young soldier.

Yamamoto’s deep brown eye’s examined Kiochi.

His expression was like the one you’d get after seeing a family member you hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see the legendary A-3 make an expression like this, even though we met briefly. Tell me, what exactly did you have in mind when you came here today.” Yamamoto sked.

His voice was low, yet didn’t have the slightest hint of malice.

“I- I don’t know. I just wanted to talk to someone I knew.” Kiochi sighed with his head lowered even further.

“Although I am flattered that the person you came to is me, I’m a bit concerned. A warrior such as you should never have his head so low.” Yamamoto said.

His words echoed in Kiochi’s head.

The elevator doors slid open and the two found themselves on the top floor of Saito headquarters.

The ninth floor.

The ninth floor looked like the inside of a five star hotel.

The floor was made from marble tiles that each had their own unique design, but together depicted beautiful scenes.

The lights above rained their soft golden light onto the many art pieces that decorated the walls.

Yamamoto led Kiochi down the ninth floors central corridor.

The layout was very Japanese and to each room, there was a sliding door, behind some of which were objects that looked like ancient relics.

If one didn’t know who Yamamoto was, they would have assumed that he was some kind of underworld overlord who had a hobby of collecting rare and priceless artefacts.

But Yamamoto was in fact the opposite.

Yamamoto Saito was a genius. Although he went through school like any other child, he’s mind was already hard at work as he had started his work on revolutionizing the technological world.

He was responsible for creating cybernetic technology that help millions of lives and on top of that, he was kind hearted.

He always ensured that the technology he made wasn’t prices at a point where the people who needed it couldn’t get it.

But Saito was more than a company that helped people through ground breaking technological advancements.

Yamamoto’s brother, Kaijin Saito, led the other halve of the company.

Where Yamamoto wanted to patch the world together, Kaijin wanted to rip it apart.

Kaijin was responsible for the creation of weapons that changed the way mankind conducted warfare almost completely.

He created drones that operated by some sort hive mind, allowing them to operate with maximum efficiency and sold them to which ever side offered the most money.

He created vehicles that could traverse many, if not all terrains.

Kaijin was also responsible for development human machine integration technology.

Kiochi knew this because he am the product of some of Kaijin’s work.

From early on in Kiochi’s childhood, he underwent countless surgeries that were meant to blur the line between man and machine.

One could say that Kiochi was a cyborg. Or rather, something very close to it.

Kiochi dragged himself back into reality and realised that he was already in Yamamoto’s office.

The room was large.

Almost twenty squared meters big and unlike the other rooms they came across earlier, Yamamoto’s office was barely decorated.

There was only a small mat in the centre of the room and a pedestal further in the back.

Kiochi knew exactly what once sat on the beautiful wooden pedestal.

A sword.

A Nodachi, to be specific.

Yamamoto walked to the centre of the room and sat on the mat.

Kiochi did the same.

The two sat in silence for a moment.

Kiochi could tell Yamamoto wanted him to calm down and so he did.

“Would you like some tea?” Yamamoto asked.

Kiochi gave him a quick nod and almost as soon as he did, two attendees, one male and one female, walked into the room.

After stopping a few steps away from Kiochi and Yamamoto, the attendees both gave respectful bows.

What confused Kiochi about this was that he hadn’t seen anyone else on the entire floor other than Yamamoto and himself.

The male attendee placed the mini table he was carrying between Yamamoto and Kiochi, then the female attendee placed a trey on the table.

On the tray sat two cups and a teapot.

Yamamoto poured some tea into both cups and it was only after Kiochi had taken a sip that Yamamoto spoke.

“Now then, tell me what happened.”

.

..

Where the hell are they? Tony Martinez thought to himself.

They were supposed to meet at a restaurant in Roppongi, but two hours had already passed since the designated time and Tony was getting impatient.

Not to mention bored.

Tony heard loud laughter coming from outside the restaurant and braced himself for the headache he was about to get.

“Ha! See, brother? What did I tell you? The Japanese have the most beautiful women in the world!” A tall black man with dreadlocks declared as he entered the restaurant.

“And I said that you’re drunk brother! Even a blind man knows that the most beautiful woman are from Jamaica!” a lightly shorter black man said.

The two approached the table where Tony sat.

Tony almost couldn’t tell that the two of them were extremely dangerous from the casual way the two approaching men were speaking to each other.

“ The Boom Brother’s “, Trevor and Aaron Wilkins.

Tony had heard rumours about how the two of them blew up an oil tanker in the middle east to bits even though it wasn’t part of their mission, knowing these two. It was probably true.

“Sloth! Long time no see!” The taller man, Trevor, said as he sat on the chair opposite Tony’s.

“True dat. Last time we saw you, we were being yelled at for killing too many civilians!” The shorter man, Aaron, said as he sat next to his brother.

“That’s not something to be proud of and stop calling me sloth!” Tony pleaded.

Tony always found that nickname really annoying, because once the higher ups heard about it, they started think he was lazy.

‘I’m the farthest thing from lazy!’ Tony thought.

“We’ll stop calling you that when it stops being true!” Trever said loudly.

Tony could swear his ears were ringing.

“Anyway. So it’s Kiochi this time. I still don’t believe it. That boy is straighter than an arrow, he is.” Aaron said solemnly.

Tony sighed deeply, because he too had his doubts.

But then he remembered that they were soldiers and they had their orders.

“I can’t believe it either. But these orders are coming from the council.” Tony tried to say without sounding to gloomy.

“Ah well, we still have some time. On to a much bigger problem. Have you made your move on Camila yet?” Trevor asked as he winked his left eye rapidly.

If it wasn’t for the numerous scars on his face, he’d have looked like a pervy older brother.

“Yes, but she won’t budge. She’s the very definition of an ice queen. Sometimes I wish I could just-"

“Wish you could just what?”

A female but monotone voice came from behind Tony.

The very air trembled at the presence of the voices owner.

Tony quickly glanced at the Wilkins brothers, who for the first time ever, remained silent.

Their faces frozen with fear.

Tony trembled as he tuned to look back and his eyes met the voices owner.

“Nothing! I meant nothing by it. But you could stand to be a bit kinder to your fellow A rankers, no?” Tony’s voice barely came out as a cowardly squeal.

“I see.” Camila said as she took the seat next to Tony.

The lively atmosphere from before was gone and one could almost see the tension in the air.

“The council has ordered that A-3 be eliminated within the next few days. I don’t need to tell you that none of you will survive an encounter with him if you are alone, so use this time to gather troops and equipment. There are several B rankers in Tokyo as of right now, so feel free to use them.” She said flatty.

The three men all nodded simultaneously.

“Camil- er, I mean, A-1. Aside from A-2, you’re one of the very few who’ve seen Kio- I mean A-3 fight. Just how strong is he?”

Was Trevor actually using ranks as he spoke? Tony wondered.

Just how much respect did he have for Camila for him to use ranks in his speech?

“I do not know the extent of his combat potential. This and also the fact that he only ever received basic augmentation. So I’m unsure. But from the way he fights, it’s safe to say that it would take two A rankers or about a twenty B rankers to subdue him. This is not an estimate, this is information from when he was training.”

Tony’s eye’s shot open. “Wait a minute! Do you mean that training incident where the old A-8 and A-10 got injured?” Tony asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

The Wilkins brothers were also curious, so they all just waited for Camila's reply.

“Yes.” She answered straightforwardly.

A moment passed as Tony, Trevor and Aaron blankly started at each other.

It was Aaron who broke the silence as he asked. “So, why isn’t he ranked A-2 or even, forgive my rudeness, A-1?”

Camila sighed for the first time since Tony met her.

“That’s because he hasn’t received all of the necessary augmentations. That and he’s only nineteen.”

More silence followed after she dropped the bomb on the three men.

“So we have to kill that guy?” Aaron asked.

“Yes.” Camila said as she stood up.

“Good luck.” She said as she walked out of the restaurant.

Some time passed after she left.

The threw men were trying to digest what we had just heard.

“Bah! I’m not afraid of Kiochi. Never have and never will be.” Trevor declared.

He was lucky the restaurant was empty, otherwise people would have seen the beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

“Yeah, that’s right bro! We’re going to blow him sky high!” Aaron said, but his declaration was more of a sigh than a confident shout.

“I know you guys are excited but don’t forget what Camila said. Going in alone will be suicide. So get some B rankers. Ok?” Tony told them, but Trevor slammed his fist on the table and growled.

“what are you saying that we can’t kill him ourselves?” Trevor growled.

Tony opened his mouth to refute him but it was his brother who spoke up.

“No, brother. I agree with what he said. Getting some help would probably make this many times easier.” Aaron said.

Trevor sighed, then sat back.

“Fine. But for now, let’s get some drinks, yes?” He asked as he rose from his seat.

“Yeah, I could use one after meeting Camila, or two, or twenty.” Aaron said as he followed his brother.

“You coming?” Trever looked back and asked.

Trevor put some cash on the table and followed the two out of the table.

“Yeah, why not.”

.

..

After many bottles of alcohol and many trip to the restrooms, the three men finally burnt themselves out and got a room in a cheap motel.

Trevor was passed out on the floor, his drool carelessly poured out of his mouth.

Tony’s head was spinning as he removed his shoes and jumped onto a nearby couch.

He saw Aaron grab a blanket from the bed and cover his brother with it.

This was a rare sight to see.

Aaron may have been the quieter one, but he was just as destructive and murderous as his brother.

“Look at this idiot. First he declares victory over Kiochi then gets himself this drunk.” Aaron said softly as he crawled onto the bed.

“Yeah, he’s an idiot alright.” Tony agreed.

“You know Trevor’s really scared when he drinks a lot. Back then when we went on out first mission, Trevor stole our captain’s liquor and downed it before the battle.” Aaron reminisced.

“Yeah.” Tony said.

He didn’t know that these two maniacs were capable of feeling fear.

“I’m scared too. You know, when we get sent out, it’s usually against nameless enemies who the council wants gone. But our target this time has a scary name. Blood steel.” Aaron said.

Tony was amazed at how sensitive Aaron was being.

No teasing.

No mocking.

“Tony, tell me about that training incident.” Aaron asked.

Tony was taken aback by the fact that he called him by his actual name and not sloth.

“Ahem, well I don’t know all the details, but, four years ago, something happened to Kiochi’s class during a routine training trip. It’s said that when the emergency team got there, several B ranked Kynigoi were several injured and when the higher ups sent A ranked Kynigoi, they too were badly injured by Kiochi before they subdued him. This would be amazing in itself but the problem is that happened four years ago… imagine how much stronger he has gotten.” Tony retorted.

“I see.” Aaron said.

“Ok. Tell me more about his crazy nickname.” Aaron asked.

“Well, actually that one is more of a mystery than the training incident. You see, there is a legend among the low ranked Kynigoi. The legend says that any warrior who faces Kiochi in one on one combat, sheds so much blood that it gives Kiochi’s sword an even coating of blood. But, the legends never go into specific details, like who he killed with the sword or anything.” Tony explained.

Aaron remained silent for a bit.

“I see. Oh well, goodnight Tony.” Aaron said.

“Goodnight, Aaron.” Tony bade his chubby roommate goodnight.

Sleep soon came after as Tony celebrated the fact that he wasn’t the one who had to face Kiochi.