A small town in southern California had an unknown force of evil within it. Kagori had walked around, not speaking or looking at anybody. He came for some recruits, and that's what he was leaving with. It didn't matter if he had to shed some blood in order to obtain his new members, but he was going to have to be discreet about everything he did. Police had seen a couple of dead bodies without a trace of harassment or disease in perfectly healthy teens. They were baffled, and Kagori knew if he kept it up in one area, he would seen be caught, and he would be a public problem. That couldn't happen yet. He wasn't ready.
He passed a small park, and there had been children sitting there, playing. He sat on a bench and looked around. American children had been so bland, so weak. Kagori needed to find some kids were eager to fight, somebody who wouldn't mind a kill or a thousand kills. Somebody a lot like himself. The closest he had was Moku, but Moku still needed to be trained of his powers. His strength and his eager to please Kagori, even if it meant killing, was a great gift. But there was something deep inside that had said that Moku needed some help at some point.
As Kagori looked around, a baseball had rolled to his feet. A fifteen year old kid had ran up as Kagori picked up the ball. His hair was long for a boy, getting in front of his eyes, and ending at his neck in the back. His green eyes looked into Kagori's.
"Hey, man. Can you hand us the ball?"
Kagori remained silent. He understood and spoke English well enough to respond, but there was something different about this teen. A good kind of different. Kagori had let the ball roll around in his open palm, and the ball exploded as he closed his hands. Shards of the baseball had spilled everywhere. It was a normal thing to see a person squish a baseball into oblivion. The kid looked from Kagori's hand, to his eyes. A grin appeared on the kid's face.
"So, you're one of us, huh?" the kid asked.
"One of you? You sound as if there are a hoard of you."
"Well, there is. Call it a social clique, but we all hang together, and hunt demons down, and everything."
"Really?" Kagori asked, please to hear this. Kagori had quickly drawn his sword, and pointed towards the kid's neck, but he had already had his drawn and deflecting Kagori's. Kagori grinned as he put his weapon away. "What's you're name?"
"Austin. Austin Growler." The kid responded.
"Really?" Kagori questioned in curiosity. "Do you fight demons often, Austin?"
"I've only been Demon Hunting for a couple of months."
Only a couple of months, and this boy is able to deflect my attacks? He is indeed another gifted one, just like Daisuke. But I'll use this power to my advantage.
"You're still weak." Kagori said.
"What are you talking about, man?" Austin asked, chuckling with a "getting-offended" laugh. "I deflected your attack, didn't I?"
"Do you think that's all it takes to fight for me?"
"What are you? A Demon Hunting Scout or something? Is there some school or something for Demon Hunting?"
"I've come here to get recruits for a battle against the world. All Demon Hunters will be forced into this. It's just a matter if you're on a side, or if you're scrambling to save yourself from the random follower. Being a mercenary won't help you in a battle like this, and being a rouge will only get you killed. So, you have three choices: join me, join the enemy, or get killed by the both of us."
"Is your enemy strong?"
"Strong? No. Determined enough to manage to live, that's another story."
"So, you're asking me and my friends to join you to fight against this one guy who's giving you problems for your problems?" Austin asked.
"Exactly." Kagori said, matter-of-factly.
"Why us? Don't you have people from your home or your neighborhood?"
"Maybe you didn't hear the part about the world fighting against each other. I've come from Japan in order to find people to fight."
"So, you came to lazy, greedy America to fight for you?" Austin asked in humor.
"Yes." Kagori answered in the same tone.
"Man, I like the way you think. It's so messed up and weird. But it makes sense at the same time. You're planning on taking advantage of your men, use them as pawns in your plans. You have no knights, or queens, or rooks, only pawns. And that's how you see this little game of chess, isn't it? You don't even care if your men know about this, you keep on this little recruit game, just so you can tip the scale."
"You're quiet knowledgeable." Kagori said with a grin. "I don't give a damn about you or your friend's lives. If you die, it's because you were foolish, and deserve to die in the first place. So, what do you say?" Kagori asked, immediately, as if he was just asking to trade baseball cards. Kagori held out his hand, and Austin looked at it for a while. Until a grin swept across his face.
"You got yourself a deal with me. Just come and talk to my friends." Austin said. "And by the way, I'm the weakest one in our group. Talk about a jackpot, huh?"
"Yes," Kagori grinned.
And so the Kagori Destiny begins.
"So, let me get this straight," Daisuke said as he shook his head. "We're thinking of back stabbing?"
"You make it sound a lot worse than it is." Hakura replied.
"What do you mean!" Daisuke shouted. "It's bad no matter how you put it!"
The three were in their little world again, discussing the newest issue: the president of DHA and their treaty with him. Hakura hadn't just made her point out as an idea, but a fact, as if they had already decided. She wanted to back stab the president of DHA while in battle with Kagori.
"I agree with Daisuke." Yuki said. "I don't think this is the right way to do this. I mean, he's going to be helping us, isn't he?"
"That's what he wants to make it look like. But if we recruit enough people for him, we'll be able to take those people back when we fight him. If we let him do all the work of recruiting, than we won't have anybody to fall back on us. And eventually, the president if going to attack and kill us off. You can see it in his eyes."
"But… back stabbing?" Daisuke asked. "It's so… juvenile, so childish. It's simplistic."
"So simplistic, he won't see it coming." Hakura said. "He already doesn't trust us. He thinks we want him to trust us just so we can stab him in the back. But if we act the very way we have been while this whole thing goes on ,he'll expect that we're just trying to get by and live. Knowing the president that well, that is."
"Are you sure this is the only way we can do this? I mean, can't we fight him after we defeat Kagori?"
"No." she said plainly. "The president, if he acts the way I suspect he will, will attack us while we're fighting Kagori. So, that's when we're going to have to strike, only sooner."
"This all seems really strange." Daisuke said. "Why don't we just depart from the president and make our own party? I mean, get our own recruits, our own people to fight with us instead of for us."
"It's suicide. We'd be taking up two strong enemies. Backstabbing leaves us with some support for a couple of months, maybe a year. If we make our own party, the president and Kagori will most likely call a truce and come after us."
"Why?" Yuki asked. "Why is the president so persistent on Daisuke's death? He has been for a while now, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, I've been kinda wondering about that as well. Ever since the tournament, he's been breathing down my neck. What's his problem?"
"The president fears for humanity. He sees your mother in you, and there is a sudden instinct of wanting to kill"
"What does Mom have to do with any of this? I heard that at the tournament as well. Why did they kill my mom? Why do they find me a threat because I have her blood in me? What is it about her that nobody's telling about."
"That'll have to be saved for another time." Hakura said. "Now we're discussing business."
"No!" Daisuke roared. "I'm tired of people ignoring me when ever my mother's name is mentioned! Why does everybody hate her! What's so wrong with her!"
Slap! There had been a red hand print across the face of Daisuke. Daisuke looked at Hakura after he snapped out of his state of momentary shock. She had her eyes hard and cold like usual when she was fighting, or watching a fight.
"I've told you that everything I do has a purpose, didn't I? You will find out about your mom, just not now. You're not ready to find out what's wrong with your mother. There are too many things that will unfold at an unnecessary pace. You have to understand at a rate that I think will make you stronger, do you understand?"
Daisuke sat there, not able to speak from anger and frustration. He turned his head quickly as he let out a pained sigh. Right before replying: "Fine."
"So, we'll get right down the last point of this meeting." Hakura said, taking out a cigarette, but not her lighter. "Ryuku… does anybody really know who he is?"
"What do you mean?" Yuki asked. "He's a kid who goes to our school, and a great Demon Hunter. He's a friend of ours."
"I know that. I mean, does anybody know anything about his past at all?"
"No." Yuki said. "Nobody knows much about him. Just that he's a kid who likes to have fun and hang out with Daisuke."
"What's wrong?" Daisuke said as he looked at Hakura. "You're making a really weird face. It isn't about Ryuku is it?"
"I'm afraid so. I don't like this kid, Daisuke. I have no clue about his past, or who or what he is, but there's something different about him. I'm not sure if he's innocuous or not. He's a very mysterious person."
"If I can change your mind by bringing him to you, are you willing to accept him. I trust Ryuku with my life. And if he breaks that trust, I'll never forget how we were friends."
"You're too soft hearted for your own good." Hakura said as she shook her head and pointed her cigarette at Daisuke as she spoke. But it wasn't a 'no' kind of voice. It was the type that was forced to approve. "Fine, Daisuke. If you can somehow get him to finally tell you everything, than he can join our little group. It doesn't seem that he freaks out whenever he's around Demon Hunters, so I suppose it'll be alright just this once."
"Thank you." Daisuke said with a slight bow. Not sounding desperate, but showing a moderate amount of respect.
"Don't mention it."
"I have one question, though." Daisuke said as he thought a little.
"What's that?" Hakura asked.
"Why don't you ever see Yuri face to face?"
Hakura grinned, and there was the flash. Daisuke was back in his room. Okay, did she have control of that place or what? And what was up with her sending him out? She did that every single time he had spoken about this mother and now about Yuri. Unless… those two had something to do together.
"So, that's Kagori's game is it?" the president of DHA asked Ken, as he looked at the bottle of poison Kagori handed Ken a while back. "Well, this is going to be an interesting thing. I mean, what are you going to do when he finds out you've been leaking information for me."
"He'll probably kill me." Ken grinned with his British accent not even trying to get a good decent, understandable accent. But, well enough, it was heard correctly.
"And you go about your business this way anyway?" the president question with a grin back at Ken. "You're quite the risk taker."
"I guess you can say that about me. Most people usually do. But I've never lost a fight before, and I don't plan on losing one anytime soon."
"So, if he tries to attack you, you're going to fight back?'
"What do you think I'm going to do? Sit and wait to be attacked and have my face rearranged by that freak? You've got to be kidding me."
"There's always surrendering."
Ken laughed loudly again as he shook his head and looked at the president with a hearty glare.
"You have to be kiddin' me. Like I'd surrender, especially to a bloke like that!"
"That was no joke. I suggest that if a time comes for you to surrender you, I think you should go for it."
"A'int no way I'm surrendering. I don't care if he kills me. I'd rather die than to give up."
"Just some friendly advise for my pupil. If you want to learn how to survive out there, than you have to listen and take heed of my words."
"Yeah, yeah." Ken said, waving the president off as he looked out the window. Another sunny day, and the small amount of clouds that existed that day, had blown away slowly. Ken's eyes kept steady on the clouds as he let the sun's warmth soak into his skin.
"Ken? Can I ask you a question?" the president asked.
"What is it?" Ken asked, not even looking at him.
"Why did you join Kagori in the first place if you were just going to betray him anyway?"
"Because," Ken said shrugging his shoulders. "He was weaker than me at the time."
"And now that's he's far stronger than you, you want to fight against him and try to get into a fight with him?"
"Exactly."
"That doesn't exactly make quiet much sense."
"It makes a lot more sense than you'd like to think, man." Ken said, still watching the sky.
"How so?"
"Well, think about it. If you're the strongest out there, and nobody wants to fight you, and you still have a huge itch to fight, what are you going to do? You're not going to simply sit back and wait for people to come looking for you. You're going to hunt people. When Kagori had given me an opportunity to fight along side with him, he was a weak little thing, and I thought that the people I would be fighting would be worth a challenge. But when he grew stronger, I knew that I had to fight Kagori. There was no way I was going to miss a battle this large just to sit back and fight weaker people. I want to take care of the head honcho, as soon as possible."
"Hmm. Interesting methods you have. They're quiet entertaining. But do you really think that you can handle Kagori by yourself?"
"That's what I'm going to go out and see."
"Well, what if you took on a practice challenge."
"Practice challenge. What are you talking about?"
"A person who's not quiet as strong as Kagori, but close enough. You defeat him, you have a large chance of defeating Kagori."
"Go on…" Ken sounded intrigued.
"Well, there's a little pest that I have that needs taking care of. His name his Hiromushu Daisuke."
"I've heard about this kid. Kagori was after him. Daisuke's not much of a liked person, is he? He has everybody on his trail."
"Well, he's become quiet menacing lately. Especially now that he's joined sides with Hakura. She's a dangerous woman who needs to be stopped and taken care of."
"And this is my practice run?"
"He's coming to America in three months. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to handle him by then. And trust me, you won't be bored at all."
"So, what's in it for me if I actually win. Before, I've gotten money off the corpse of my opponents. Sounds like the kid doesn't have a penny to his name. What are you going to give me if I kill him off for you fools."
"How about this… I'll let you start taking over the Western part of America after the war is over. Imagine all the killing you'll do as you reign your terror in that area."
"You're trying to take over America?"
"America's the strongest, most relied-on country in the entire world. What's wrong with taking it over. Finally, Demon Hunters will be able to live peacefully as we join under one sun and rule the world as we should. Demon Hunters shouldn't live in the world in fear. You're a fool to think other wise."
"So, I if I kill Daisuke, I get part of America, huh? Not a bad price. I say that you've got yourself a deal, Mr. President."
The two shook on it, and a little more conversation had gone on. Minutes later, Ken walked out of the office, and walked into the street. As he walked passed an ally way, he had stopped walking, and didn't look at the alley. He didn't need to.
"Kagori." He said, showing he knew he was there.
"Ken. Did you do your task? You're late. Remember my promise to you. You did poison his tea, didn't you?"
"You have to be kidding me. Of course I didn't." Ken said, staring at Kagori in the eyes as he turned around. The two held their gaze as Kagori looked for any other sign of emotion. Kagori looked away and gave a slight scoff of relief.
"Knowing you, you did something far worse than poisoning."
"You know me too well." Ken said with a grin. "I put my own pills in his drink. It takes a few months, so it looks like an accident or his strength going down."
"What do they do?"
"They start off with a slight cold, then a fever, and then several days of diarrhea and puking." Kagori frowned in disgust and Ken laughed a little and then continued. "After that, he may appear well for a couple of weeks, but his strength will fall rapidly. He won't be able to fight his way with a level E after a few more weeks. And then his soul will reek of rotting flesh, and the demons will literally eat him alive."
"You really have a twisted mind for torture, don't you?" Kagori said dryly.
"What can I say? It's my specialty." Ken said with a grin.
"Well, at least I know I can trust you with my getting rid of the president. Did he say much?"
"Just says he's going to take over America when the war's over. Going to give me the West if I kill of Hiromushu."
"And you know that Hiromushu's my territory, right?"
"I know, I know. I won't lay a hand on him, don't worry. He's going to be your kill. But you don't mind if I mess with him for a while, do you?"
"Mess with as in, he'll still be able to fight with full strength, right?"
"Correct. Just a little sparing without his knowledge of it. He won't think that I'm just messing with him. I gotta see his real strength, especially if he's going to go up against somebody crazy like you."
"Daisuke can kill you, so don't be cocky."
"I'm not a fool, I just act like it from time to time. Don't doubt me, Kagori. I'm stronger than I look. Don't forget that."
"And you don't forget where your alliance lies with. If you try to even an attempt of a backstab towards me, you're death will be the last thing you'll be thinking of, and the first thing you beg for."
"Don't worry boss, you've got me on your side. Don't worry."
"Something just doesn't feel right." Ryuku said.
"What do you mean?" Kori asked.
The group was at their usual lunch spot, and Ryuku had been spacing out all day. And now to have this random little epiphany was strange. Kori looked at Ryuku and Ryuku still had on a serious face.
"It's like somebody's not doing so well. I don't know how to explain it. I just feel…stress among the group."
"Well, midterms are coming up, so people in our group are probably studying their asses off."
"Yeah, but this feels like an overwhelming fear."
"Who do you think it is?" Kori asked as he looked around.
"Whatcha two talkin' about?" Andrew asked as he sat down. Kori stood up and then sat in his lap.
"Just midterms." She said in a seductive tone and she gently brushed her finger across his cheek. "If you need a tutor, I can really show a lot. If you catch my drift."
"Um…"
"And I guarantee that these lessons– Hey!"
Yuri pulled Kori off of Andrew's lap as she said, "Down girl. Keep your hormones on tact."
"You're one to talk, Yuri." Kori grinned as Yuri let her go. "Where's your little boy toy?"
"He's not a boy toy."
"Oh, did Yuki beat you to the punch already?"
"What punch?" Yuki asked as she sat down. Her voice made Kori jump a little. She wasn't aware that Yuki had already shown up. Yuki sat down, not even trying to get an answer again.
"You know, who gets to keep Daisuke. I mean, he's leaving for America in only a short three months. Times been flying by, don't you think? And plus, winter's coming around the corner. You know that Christmas is only a good three weeks and two days away! What are you guys going to get him?"
The two looked at each other, and then looked away, not entirely sure what to get him. Daisuke was such a complex guy at times. How were you suppose to know what to get him? It was a difficult thing to think about.
"Well, I thought I might get him a couple of beers." Ryuku said in thought.
"Beer? Why the hell would you get him beers." Raine asked in doubting curiosity.
"Because Raine, my love, Daisuke has a horrible drinking problem, and he–"
THWACK!
"I won't have you spoiling Daisuke's good name!" Yuki said as he rubbed her fist from the blow she gave into Ryuku's skull. Yuki looked at Raine. "His father loves beer. It's a brown-nose thing."
"What's a brown-nosing thing?" Daisuke asked with a tray of food in his hands as the group had quickly gasped as if they let the cat out of the bag. Excuses had been thrown left and right, and Daisuke couldn't quite understand what they were talking about. He sat down, forgetting that they had been acting strange at all. "So, Hakito is sitting alone. I tried inviting him to sit with us again, but he won't give in into any invitation that I throw out at him. I don't know what's wrong with him."
"You know that I think he needs?" Kori said with a grin. It was the grin that everybody in the group had feared. The grin of horrid ideas that had usually involved– "Let's play Rock-Paper-Scissors"–that game–"To see who will flirt with Hakito and try to win him over to our group."
"Are you nuts?" Yuri asked. "He's obviously not going to want to do anything with us. I mean, a couple of his friends had died mysteriously the other night. Don't you think you can give him some grieving time?"
"Are you nuts? With a hot little boy like him, how could you want to lay off of him? He's got something that nobody else around here has."
"Blond hair?" Deíji asked.
"A cape?" Ryuku guessed
"Ravioli?" Momo questioned.
"Nope?" Kori said with a grin as she gently shook her head. The answer had been drawn out by a pause, to make the whole thing seem more dramatic. "A badass attitude."
"Are you saying that I'm not badass?" Andrew asked, suddenly like he cared.
"It's not that…" Kori said, leaving it off with another pause, trying to figure out how to explain it to him. "There's just something older, more experienced about him."
"What about the whole, 'I like American Boys' gig?"
"I'm sorry. It's not you. It's me." She said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But we can still be friends, right?"
Everybody, including Andrew, was stunned. What the poo was happening? This was all so weird, and so… awkward.
"Did Kori just break up with Andrew?" Daisuke asked Yuki.
"It seems that way." Yuki replied back, still in shock as well.
"When did they ever start going out?" Raine inquired. "This is way too freaky for me to even start just thinking about."
"I know exactly what you mean." Deíji said as she started to walk away with Raine.
"Man," Josh said, dumping his trash in the trashcan. "I can't think of getting dump like that in front of all my friends."
"Hey, Josh." Momo called. "I dump you!" she said with a smile.
"What!?" Josh cried. "You're kidding right?"
"Nope!" her grin still as large as usual. The bright, sunny fun smile had still been planted there. "No joke at all. You're not as good with video games as you used to be."
"What is this!?" Josh yelled, but Momo skipped away, not really listening to what he had to say about the whole situation.
"Man, you got punk'd." Ryuku said as he patted Josh's shoulder with a sympathy pat. "You don't see that happen every day. Two dumps in a row in one group. Luckily, I don't have the girlfriend to dump me on the spot. But I know somebody who does." Ryuku's sly eyes turned over to a mouth-already-stuffed Daisuke.
"Who? Me?" he said. "I have a girlfriend. When did this happen."
"C'mon man. Don't tell me you're still not sure about this whole thing!"
"What whole thing!?" Daisuke questioned as he followed after Ryuku was walking out of the room.
Yuri and Yuki had sat there, all alone. There was a momentary pause, and then Yuki had started to chuckle. Yuri looked at her and raised a brow.
"What's so funny?" Yuri asked.
"Well, we first started this as a talk of stress or something. Then we spoke of midterms, and then Christmas, and then people started to break up with each other. Not a normal lunch."
"No,' Yuri smiled as she realized what Yuki spoke of. "This is probably the most random lunch we've ever had."