“Lilian-sama.” Kotohime graced her charge with a gentle arcing of her lips. “I am pleased to see that you have arrived here unharmed.”
“Never mind me!” Lilian gawked at her maid-slash-bodyguard. “What about you? Are you okay? You’re injured!”
Indeed, Kevin noticed that Kotohime looked like she’d been seriously wounded. She walked with a pronounced limp, and her normally porcelain skin held an ashen shade. Blood smeared across her arms and legs revealed where she had been injured, though all of the cuts that must have marred her skin at one point were healed by now. He could see the regenerated skin within the slashed and ripped parts of her kimono. Kiara didn’t look much better, though considering she only had one arm, perhaps that wasn’t saying much.
“Paltry injuries that are even now healing are nothing for you to worry about, Lilian-sama,” Kotohime assured her charge.
“I found her nearly unconscious in a crater,” Kiara added, as if to burst the woman’s bubble of self-assurance.
“U-unconscious in a crater!” Lilian squawked.
“Hmph!” Kotohime demurely narrowed her eyes and hid her frown behind the sleeve of her kimono. “There is no need to inform everyone about the culmination of my battle, Kiara-san.” She turned back to her charge. “Like I said, Lilian-sama, there is nothing to worry about. While the battle against that machine was a hard-fought one, I still came out victorious.”
“Sit down you two.” Having never been one for pleasantries, as Kevin could attest to, Monstrang ordered the two yōkai females to have a seat. He seemed impatient to get started.
“Of course, Monstrang-dono,” Kotohime replied with a respectful bow of her head. Kiara just clicked her tongue and sat down on the couch closest to where Kevin and the others were sitting.
“You’re looking mighty comfortable, boya,” Kiara commented upon seeing the sea of feminine flesh surrounding him.
“It’s not as comfortable as you might think,” Kevin was quick to reply.
Kiara’s fangs reflected the light as she grinned. “So you say, but you seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“I never said I wasn’t.”
“Enough bantering,” Monstrang cut in before someone else could comment. “There is a lot that we need to discuss, and I would like to get this out of the way as soon as possible.”
“Of course, Monstrang-dono,” Kotohime, ever the pragmatist, said from where she sat in seiza on the floor. “I can only assume you wish to discuss what happened to us.”
“Not quite.”
As Kirihime reentered the room, Davin grunted and began to inform them about their current situation. Kevin listened as Kirihime stood behind the couch on Camellia’s side, and as he did, he slowly realized that their life, that everyone’s life, would never be the same again.
***
Justin sat handcuffed to a chair.
His surroundings were bland—gray floor, gray walls, and a gray ceiling. The only light in the room came from the overhead lamp that hung from the ceiling like a cheap chandelier. A glass window was situated to his left, spanning much of the wall, but he couldn’t see through it. This was an interrogation room.
By this point, Justin imagined that Kevin was beginning to learn that there was a lot more involved in this debacle than just him and his family.
I wonder if Kevin has realized that the problem these yōkai face isn’t something that can be solved with a gun?
With nothing to do, Justin resolved to wait until an opportunity to escape presented itself.
***
Monstrang spoke for nearly an hour, informing Kevin and his companions about the situation they were facing.
Unfortunately, even Monstrang did not seem to know what, exactly, they were dealing with. Communications around the United States, possibly even worldwide, had been cut off. Something was apparently jamming their transmissions and blocking the airwaves. No signals of any kind could be sent or received. Even the internet had been temporarily shut down.
However, just because they knew nothing of national or international events did not mean they were ignorant.
The citizens of Phoenix were panicking. Without being able to send and receive so much as a text message, the population of the large city had been sent into a state of unmitigated fear. According to the reports Monstrang received from his agents, many people believed it was some kind of terrorist attack.
And they’re right, in a way.
It was a terrorist attack, just not the kind most people assumed. This wasn’t an attack on the United States, or even on the world. It was an attack on yōkai, an attack perpetrated by The Sons and Daughters of Humanity. Kevin and his family were not the only ones who’d been attacked that night. Several others had been hit as well—and unlike with them, those other groups had been successful.
But why attack so brazenly? And why now?
The Sons and Daughters of Humanity had always worked from the shadows before. What could have changed the status quo like this? There had to be a reason, but unfortunately, that reason eluded Kevin. Without any idea on how the organization operated, he couldn’t even begin to take a guess.
Which was why he’d decided to speak with Justin.
He’d come alone. While Lilian had wanted to be with him, to support him, he’d convinced her that Iris needed someone to look after her. She’d been reluctant, but he assured her that once he finished talking to Justin, he would come back. That had been enough to placate her.
His former friend was being held in a standard holding cell, the kind often used for interrogation. It had two rooms connected by a door and a one-way window. When he entered the first room, it was to see the one called Mack standing guard by the door. The pink-haired man noticed him and blinked.
“Well now, ain’t you the human who came in with those four vixens?”
“That’s right.” Kevin stepped up to the man. “I’m here to speak with Just—I mean, I’m here to see the prisoner. I have Monstrang’s permission, but if you don’t believe me, then you can go and ask him yourself.”
“No need.” Mack raised his hands and gave an easygoing grin. “If you want to talk to the guy, be my guest. We haven’t begun interrogating him yet, but maybe you can get something out of him before we do anything.”
Kevin grimaced at the word “interrogation.” He wasn’t well versed in military matters, but he knew what an interrogation was. Torture. Suffering. Breaking a person’s spirit bit by bit until they revealed all the secrets locked within their mind. It didn’t sound pleasant, and though he felt betrayed by Justin’s actions, he would rather his former friend not have to suffer through an interrogation.
Entering the room and closing the door behind him, Kevin sat down at the table on the opposite side of Justin. The messy black-haired youth was sitting in a chair as well, his hands bound behind his back and his legs cuffed to the chair. Despite his situation, he still greeted Kevin with a smile.
“I see you’ve come to greet the prisoner,” Justin greeted, his tone sardonic and dry. “Or have you come to say hi to an old friend?”
Kevin grimaced at the lackadaisical tone. “Why did you decide to join The Sons and Daughters of Humanity? What did they offer you that was so valuable you would betray your friends for it?”
“You seem to be under a misimpression of me.” Justin shifted in his seat, his shoulders twitching as if he was trying to get comfortable. “I have always been a part of The Sons and Daughters of Humanity. Long before I met you, I was a soldier furthering their cause.”
“W-what?”
Kevin had been halfway to his seat when Justin said that. He paused, a jolt traveling from his spine to his brain. It felt like he’d shoved his finger into an electric socket.
“Perhaps a bit of an explanation will help you understand where I’m coming from.” Justin sighed and shifted some more. “I was a baby born for the sole purpose of being an agent of humanity’s cause, a protector against yōkai. Born in a test tube and raised in
a lab, I was injected with a variety of drugs and enhancements from the time I was born to the time I turned six. After that, I was trained in the use of various weapons and hand-to-hand combat until I was thirteen. Then I was sent on missions to find and eliminate yōkai who threatened the safety of humans throughout the world. My whole life has been built around that purpose.”
The look Justin gave Kevin, half-bitter and half-amused, made him grit his teeth.
“So you see, I never betrayed you or anyone else. This is how it has always been, right from the very beginning.”
Kevin felt so many mixed emotions. They swirled around inside of him, a tornado threatening to tear him from the inside out. Anger. Sadness. Hurt. Compassion. Confusion. A deluge of feelings flooded him and he didn’t know how to deal with them.
“I can see that you are conflicted,” Justin observed. “If it makes you feel any better, I did enjoy the time I spent with you and the others. It was a lot of fun. I never enjoyed myself until I became friends with you.”
Kevin took a deep breath, held it for two seconds, then slowly let it out, calming his mind.
“Tell me,” Kevin started, his voice calm, composed, leaving no hint as to the emotions raging inside of him, “do you agree with The Sons and Daughters of Humanity? Do you think yōkai are a threat to humans everywhere? That they should be exterminated before they exterminate humans?”
“Not particularly,” Justin answered honestly—at least, Kevin thought he was being honest. “Yōkai are no more a danger to humanity than humans are to themselves.”
“Then why are you doing this?” Kevin forced himself not to shout. “If you don’t agree with their ideals, why are you still fighting for them?”
Justin appeared honestly confused. “What do you mean? I just told you. My entire life has been nothing but training for this very purpose. It is the only reason I exist; to eliminate yōkai regardless of the threat they may or may not pose.”
“But you don’t even agree with what The Sons and Daughters of Humanity are doing! You just said so!”
Justin sighed and hung his head, as if he was disappointed in Kevin. “Being a regular human who only recently became involved with this world, I suppose I can understand why you would think this way, but you fail to grasp what I have been telling you. I am a person who was born and bred for this reason, this purpose.” He gazed at Kevin with a calm expression hardened by steel. “What would a man be without his purpose? He would be nothing. A man’s purpose is his strength and his reason to continue living. I am sure that you also have a purpose, one that has given you the strength to keep moving despite the hardships you’ve faced. This is my purpose, and without it, I am nothing. I might as well not even exist.”
Kevin sat back, trying to come to terms with what his friend—former friend—had just said, but he kept drawing a blank. He stared at the other boy, whose expression was so calm and mature. Justin wasn’t speaking like a child right now. He wasn’t talking with that fake speech impediment. He was speaking like an adult, one who’d seen horrors that Kevin could scarcely fathom.
“Justin…”
“I believe we have spoken enough now,” Justin continued. “While this conversation has been pleasant, and it was nice to see a friendly face again, I can’t let myself remain in captivity.”
“What?”
Just then, several explosions rocked the base. Kevin stood up, startled. Justin used his distracted state, muscles straining against the handcuffs binding him. The cuffs shattered and Justin stood to his feet. The table between them was destroyed by a well-placed kick from the young man, whose strength was enough to tear straight through the metal.
Kevin leapt back to avoid the jagged metal shard that nearly hit him, but he was so surprised that he could not avoid the foot that planted itself into his gut. He doubled over, spittle and blood flying from his mouth. He didn’t get a chance to recover as, a mere second later, an elbow slammed into his nose, shattering it.
Pained, disoriented, and unable to breath, Kevin was unprepared to defend himself from the next attack—a solid kick to his temple. However, despite the pain overriding his senses, he still had enough sense of mind to launch a kick that caught Justin in the solar plexus before he was blown back.
As darkness descended upon him, Kevin heard a scream.
“BELOVED!”
He heard nothing after that.
CHAPTER 3
RISING TENSION
Having been trained since birth, Justin wasn’t the kind of person who got injured during a fight very often, or at all—until now, that is.
Justin stood in the bathroom of his house, in front of the mirror, staring at the bandages covering his torso. He hadn’t broken anything, thank God, but his ribs had been bruised during his escape.
Justin was an elite soldier, a human created by scientists to kill yōkai. His body was stronger than a regular human’s, his senses were sharper, and his physical attributes were higher. He might have been a failed experiment, but the enhancements done to him ensured that, failure or not, he was still the greatest human weapon conceived by man.
Which was why he was so surprised that Kevin had been able to defeat him. Sure, it had been with the help of several kitsune, but his friend had been the one leading them. And in the end, it was Kevin who’d ultimately defeated him.
Who’d have thought that Kevin could grow that much in such a short period of time.
While the Sons and Daughters of Humanity had done their best to track Kevin’s movements, they obviously hadn’t noticed how much the boy had grown. It had only been a year since Kevin discovered the existence of yōkai, and only about eight months since Kevin started to receive training from Kiara F. Kuyo. There were plenty of grown men, professional soldiers, who’d been training for ten years and still didn’t have the prowess that Kevin did. It was astonishing, really.
Then again, Kevin is sort of like my predecessor, so perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised.
“Justin,” a voice called from behind the bathroom door. “Justin, are you in there?”
Putting on his shirt, Justin opened the door to reveal his mother.
Thanks to the drugs and brainwashing techniques the Sons and Daughters of Humanity had done to them, Justin’s mom and dad had accepted him back into their house with open arms, despite how he’d been gone for nearly six months. A simple key phrase had been spoken and they’d gone right back to being his parents. It was almost as if he’d never left in the first place.
“Is something wrong, Mother?”
“No, no. There is nothing wrong.” His mother smiled brightly. “I was simply checking in to see if you were okay. I know you and your friends were roughhousing last night, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.”
It was a testament to how powerful their brainwashing was that this woman didn’t even react to how her son was speaking like a regular person instead of having a speech impediment.
Justin ignored the guilt he felt. “Thank you for your concern, but there’s no need to worry. As you can see, the injuries weren’t that bad.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” His mother sighed in relief. “Well, when you are ready, come downstairs. I’ve got breakfast on the table.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Justin returned to his room after his mother went downstairs. After locking the door, he picked up his cellphone and made a call to Commander Paine.
“Good morning, Commander,” Justin greeted in a faux cheerful voice. “I hope you slept well last night.”
“…”
“Why, whatever do you mean? Is it not the early bird who always gets the worm?”
“…”
“I’m hurt that you would think that. Of course I’m calling to give you my report. Why else would I call you?”
“…!!”
Clearing his throat, Justin spoke in a semi-serious voice. “Things are progressing smoothly on my end. The communications blackout is still in effect, and we’l
l be ready to begin Operation Yōkai Reveal within the next two days. The only issue we have now is that we lack the numbers needed to complete the operation.”
The Sons and Daughters of Humanity was a small organization, relatively speaking. While they had operatives located all over the world, they were mostly small cells consisting of, at most, thirty-five to forty members. The now debunked cell that had once been under the command of Heather Grant here in Arizona had been one of the largest with forty-five members total.
“…”
Justin whistled. “So, the US government is willing to lend us their forces? Provided they bring their military armaments with them, we shouldn’t have too many problems dealing with any yōkai threats.”
“…”
“Very good, then. I’ll be ready for when they arrive.”
“…”
“Right. By the way, you know that idea of yours to use the news and spread dissent toward yōkai? It’s very cliche. Have you been reading 1984 recently?”
“…”
Justin blinked as he heard the phone click dead.
“Huh, he hung up on me. Oh well.”
Pocketing his phone, Justin finished getting dressed, and then went downstairs to have breakfast with his family.
***
Two days.
It had been two days since Lindsay last saw Kevin, Lilian, and Iris. Two days since rumors of explosions near their condominium complex reached her ears. Two days since they, along with Heather Grant, had vanished.
Two days had never felt like such a long time.
Lindsay sat in class as the teacher took roll call, absentmindedly responding when her name was called. Dr. Allan Spencer had skipped over Lilian, Kevin, and Iris while calling out names, which she found odd as most teachers would call out the names of missing students anyway, but she guessed he just didn’t see the point. After he finished taking roll, he did not get right into their lesson that day, as he usually did.
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