"Wake up! Hey! Wake up!"
The familiar soft tone of voice rang through his ears as he slowly peeled his eyes open. He was in a bit of a daze.
"Mmn... What happened?" He asked, sitting up slowly on the uncomfortable paved ground. He gazed up at the silhouette of his classmate and the moon that shone brightly behind him. He had just noticed it had gotten quite dark out.
"Oh, you're awake! How long were you planning on sleeping for?" Akira started, kneeling beside him to help him up. "You got knocked out in the commotion, are you alright?"
"Knocked out?"
'Yes. A rival gang started a fight with those yakuza guys, and caused explosions throughout the building," Akira continued, fabricating every bit of the information, and then pointing to the alignment of iron stairs structured at the side of the building. "You were knocked out and I had to carry you up to the roof and down the fire escape."
"Oh," Hikaru said, glancing at the direction of his pointed index finger. "You're stronger than you look."
"We should-" Akira started, but was cut off by the loud blaring of police sirens in the distance.
"We should get out of here," Hikaru said, stealing the words right out of Akira's mouth.
He'd thought he'd be more concerned about avoiding the police seeing as he was the one going on with dangerous illegal business, but from the way Hikaru grabbed his hand and hurriedly led him to the road farthest from where the sirens were coming from, he re-evaluated that Hikaru may have some secrets of his own as well.
But what concerned him more, was if he actually believed the story Lucien came up with on a whim.
~ An hour earlier
"Lucien!"
"Are you happy to see me?" Lucien chortled, taking steps towards Akira as the rest of the team went on disposing of the remaining Yakuza members. "My precious Lily."
"Shit! Halo dogs!" The leader of the gang cried, as Jin sliced his body apart from his torso, leaving two separate halves of him, and a new floor color.
"It seems he was aware of Holders after all," Oliver remarked, looking at the sight with disdain, and exhaustion. "Their organization might prove to be a problem after all."
"Oliver." Akira muttered, staring at the team he wasn't expecting to arrive yet, and feeling a bit disappointed in himself for his inability to handle the situation properly by himself.
"Hello Akira," Oliver said with a soft smile, as he ambled over beside him. "I see he gave you a bit more trouble than initially thought."
The team glanced over to Hikaru's unconscious position on the ground.
"He seems like a handful," Jin commented with a small snicker, as he placed his hands behind his head in his usual relaxed posture.
"The building is clear," A face that hadn't been seen in a while said to Lucien. "All enemies have been eliminated.
Natasha Depoverov Profile:
Codename: Blink
Country of Origin: Russia
Age: 24
Ability: Teleportation
Weapon of Preference: Daggers, Throwing knives, Whips.
"Excellent," Lucien said, putting his hand in his pocket. "Akira, did you obtain the file?"
"Yes," He stated, pulling out his phone and linking it to the attached device on the side of his head, then sending to Oliver's laptop. "I destroyed the hardcopy though."
"It's all here," Oliver stated, looking over the new information that was just delivered. "Good work Akira."
"So now that just leaves us with one less problem," Another familiar voice said, coming through the new opening in the wall from the earlier explosions.
Damien Huxley Profile:
Codename: Hollow
Country of Origin: USA
Age: 24
Ability: Wind Control
Weapon of Preference: Sniper rifles, Automatic rifles.
"Is it just me or is this mission growing branches the more information we dig up?" The third separated member of the team said with a small awkward chuckle behind it, as he scratched the back of his head in slight unease.
Katri Pakani Profile:
Codename: Wave
Country of Origin: India
Age: 18
Ability: Sonic voice, Sound control
Weapon of Preference: Semi-automatic rifles.
"And what would that be?" Luck asked, not caught up with the information as he and Akira had both been separated for individual missions.
The team had split up to tackle various missions. While Akira and Luck were sent on ahead to infiltrate their respective schools, the rest of the team separated to deal with a situation involving Holders in Chiba. The missions Katri, Natasha, and Damien were on had taken longer, so they had not left for Japan with the rest of them, but later met up with the larger half of the team in Chiba.
"Back in Chiba, we uncovered a covert organization that helped smuggle Holders to the H.I.R.E research lab," Oliver explained, rubbing his temples. He brushed his blonde hair away from his eyes and continued, "As it turns out, this yakuza firm is part of a the larger organization works with H.I.R.E"
"We'll take it on one at a time," Lucien spieled, resting his arm on Akira's shoulder. He was about six inches taller than Akira. He was quite a tall man. Spinning Akira around, and gesturing to the corner where Hikaru lay he said, "Now, how about you tell me about your friend."
Letting out a heavy sigh of contempt he replied, "What do I do about him?"
"Just tell him he got knocked out by a rival gang or something," Lucien chortled, releasing his grip on Akira and then waving from behind as he started to walk off. "Later."
"Let's move before the cops arrive," Damien sighed, swinging the long black bag he had brought over his shoulder, and then giving a brief wave good bye.
As they left, Akira's expression turned into a look of self deprecation.
"Relax," Oliver said in his usual motherly soft tone. "You're too worked up. take it easy and enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity for a regular school life."
"The next time I see you," Lucien added, stopping in his tracks to talk to Akira as the rest headed towards the exit they had created in the wall leading outside. "I want you to tell me you've made a friend. And I mean it. Laugh and play, and do all those things high schoolers do. Got it?"
Akira gave a small sigh in response. He was conflicted, as he didn't really know how to relax.
"Here," Lucien said, tossing him a milk candy- his favorite. They no longer distributed or supplied in this candy in the Kanto region, and was mostly only available for purchase in Kyoto, and Nagoya, as far as he was aware of, yet Lucien always had a way of providing it to him. "Cheer up and enjoy you school life."
"We'll see you later Akira," Oliver stated. "We'll send him back to your apartment for you, so you take care of your friend."
He had just taken notice of the figure hiding behind the wall by the staircase. It was Satoma. He now realized that he was probably the one responsible for all those explosions.
After they had left, he let out one last sigh before lifting the unconscious Hikaru over his shoulders and heading to the exit. The familiar scent of the Samizume milk candy he had begun to suck on hit his nose and gave him a brief feeling of relief.
Just like his nightmares, with this candy, again he could not let go of the past. The past seven years had brought him here, still filled with emptiness, and rage. His purpose for living now, was his singular thirst for revenge.