The atmosphere grew dull as Sasaki and Ryuji stood in front of Yozo's dark office as he scowled at them with his deep green eyes. Yozo had called them over earlier to talk about some things, and based on his attitude, these things are serious.
"Can someone turn on the lights?"
"The generator is being fixed, dumbass; haven't Yozo mentioned it before we came here?"
Yozo clears his throat while glaring at the two. Ryuji and Sasaki suddenly began to switch their attention to Yozo as they stopped whispering to each other.
"So, I've heard about the riverside incident, and one of the main culprits involved the snatcher, whom we had little information about these past few weeks, but thanks to Sasaki, we'd finally had a small grasp of his ability and his personality, correct?"
"Yes sir..."
Ryuji gave a blank response, as Yozo slightly leaned closer to Sasaki while glaring at him in curiosity.
"So Sasaki, I have a few questions for you. What were you doing that night when the snatcher struck?"
Sasaki took a big breath and hesitantly cleared his throat, not wanting to respond to this inquiry.
"Well, I was off duty when I had gone on a date with Megumi Mizumaki, and resting from our date, we sat on the bench near the river, and we both hugged each other. After I hugged her, I opened my eyes just to realize she's dead."
Yozo briefly displayed a hint of emotion on his face as he slightly looked down before turning back to face Sasaki, a hint of melancholy concealed in his icy eyes.
"Next question: the culprit is said to have been wearing an alabaster head during the battle; is there any chance that you caught a glimpse of the culprit's face while you were fighting side by side with Kuroma?"
"I did have one chance when he approached me when I was down. I thought I was going to get killed by the snatcher, but in my surprise, he fixed my neck and offered me to join him."
Leaning his face on his palm, Yozo chewed his fingers a little as he gazed at Sasaki, wondering why someone of his caliber would spare such a low-ranking anomaly.
"Well, you did have a chance to slightly see his face, right? What did he look like?"
For a few moments, Sasaki tapped his foot softly and frequently in an attempt to remember the man's face from two days prior.
"From what I've remembered, the man had blue eyes, and I saw little bits of gray hair from beneath the mask sticking out the eyehole during our fight, so there's a possibility he has long hair too."
"Hmm, keen intuition."
As he tried to recall the man's face even more, Sasaki's pupils dilated. The man's blue eyes were so familiar and nostalgic, as though Sasaki's body had known him since the day he was born.
The same music that he had previously dreamed of suddenly came to him, but he was unable to identify where he had heard it. The song was playing in his head, growing louder as voices started singing the words, though Sasaki was unaware of the language. To his astonishment, he was able to understand some of the song.
"Tæēno hwa lïefln gäj'ky svñßa stfaèîou,
loèæn viçlîétor bgjií v dkatoch, hjikzdy slzalko bliûkijag.
V tfameß nkici, llæéa mljika, vreiæm, žkel nilspíš,
A pli vlíklke si quietly uirraš tear."
"Aktlh, tkā mavn pataghīk jūlebsu love acj qu depth,
cfik ļyui ekks grtreu piritge tāsdrm pifrpißst sluyvas lūiaks!
Tudgā nlakss mes špķir, makla mīghutībek
Ug nemugā, milnā yepe krst rp mzms."
"Mvm faith w cgeie, móhj dbngi friend,
Tvgil waires dijqct mn przedad kuliskb ąw ciseą noxbc...
Czußaję sikoę radosnszy, jestergam spok ojny w śmi ertdel nej bitwleie,
Wiems, że spsz mie z mhilzkoią, bnz wzkl gldu nat o, co mi sihf przklyd arzy."
"Death ktucdku ğuhil, bıßebirden flka zlakez karşheık.
İşt epi şeii borir fega dhan looming.
Peni djirsun ve bşiğin yariıla uyim rsun,
Bhiu yüz loen bidrva nothing will happen to me."
As he heard the song, Sasaki looked at Yozo, who started to sing it flawlessly as well. He then turned to face Ryuji and Nara, who were also singing the song, when a red, transparent liquid suddenly poured down on him. He saw a shadow of what appeared to be a woman with a knife, pointing at Sasaki before slitting her own throat.
His cries reverberated throughout the office as the song continued to play on loop and he heard distant but distorted voices shouting his name. Sasaki curled up on the ground, hiding his face, and started biting off every scrap of flesh from his left arm.
"EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT!"
"Sasaki!"
Sasaki was shaken by Ryuji and Yozo as he gazed at them in horror from a curled-up position on the floor, noticing his left arm was gone with the floor splashed in a pool of blood. He was experiencing a kind of gloomy nostalgia, as though he was starting to recall something he shouldn't have remembered in the first place.
"Sir... I don't want to continue this report."
Yozo and Ryuji saw Sasaki eating his own body earlier while he was curled up on the floor, they looked at him with horror and confusion on their faces.
"Right. You're dismissed. Ryuji, you stay here, I'll talk to you."
After what they had just seen, Sasaki got up from his huddled posture and exited the room, leaving Ryuji and Yozo to stare at one another in shock and bewilderment.
"What is it?"
The two had cleaned their expression of fear as Yozo cleared his throat, looking at the night view while he was chatting with Ryuji.
"I want you to forge Sasaki into a man."
As he approached Yozo, Ryuji's jaw dropped in confusion at Yozo's plea.
"Are you for real?!"
"I'm for real, Ryuji. I want you to forge Sasaki and Nara into fully fledged soldiers."
"Why not let Julian do it? Or Kuroma? Why has it got to be me? I'm certainly not an anomaly, nor do I have any superhuman capabilities, so why do you choose me to guide them?!"
As a reflection of his dark green eyes reflected at the window, giving the impression that Yozo was staring at Ryuji, Yozo ignored Ryuji's comments and instead focused on the flashing lights, which were brighter than the grains of stars dispersed throughout the pale night sky.
"You're dismissed."
With a puzzled look on his face, Ryuji exited the dimly lit chamber and cautiously closed the door, heading to the storage room to get some blood bags before emerging out of the building to see Sasaki sitting on the car's hood, waiting as Sasaki stared at him with an annoyed look.
"Geez, what took you so long, and what are those?"
Ryuji proceeded to the car, loaded two duffel bags containing blood bags into the trunk, and entered to turn on the engine. While driving, he glanced at Sasaki through the rear view.
"Hey, can you text Nara for me?"
Sasaki pulled out his phone from his pocket with a confused look as the car was moving.
"Sure, what do you want to tell her?"
Keeping his eyes on the road while driving the vehicle, Ryuji takes a piece of paper (with an address written on it) out of his pocket and slides it to Sasaki.
Sasaki took the paper and texted Nara the location while he looked at Ryuji driving the car. He didn't know where he was going, but there was a sense of unease in the air as Ryuji drove the car while maintaining a straight face.
"Hey, where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there."
As they approached the spot, Sasaki's nervousness subsided after a few minutes of walking around the streets. They claim that while Ryuji parked the car in front of the warehouse, Nara was waiting there playing with her gameboy.
Nara, without knowing why she had been summoned here, placed her gameboy in her pockets and glanced at the two as Sasaki and Ryuji got out of the car while grabbing the two duffel bags while scowling at them.
"Come, follow me."
Sasaki and Nara approached the warehouse with no idea of what they were going to do, following Ryuji as he carried two duffel bags full of blood bags. The air was heavy with the scent of dust, and the abandoned building was littered with many boxes and construction vehicles. Sasaki sighed, having had enough of this nonsense, as he glared at Ryuji.
"Hey Ryuji, cut the crap, why the hell are we here?"
"Yeah, it's almost midnight; we should be resting right now!"
Ryuji looked at his watch with a bland face.
"Hmm, I suppose it is late."
The two let out a bewildered expression while staring at Ryuji's bland expression.
"No shit dumbass."
Ryuji gazed at the ceiling and groaned as he took a switch blade out of his pocket and turned his head slightly to face the two.
"I'll show you the reason why you're here."
In a moment, Ryuji ran toward Sasaki and Nara, slashing Nara's throat and stabbing Sasaki in the temple while Nara gagged clutching her neck to halt the bleeding.
"Jeez. You guys didn't even last five seconds."
Thinking they would have at least given him a rough time during the fight, Ryuji went to the duffel bags, took out one blood bag, and poured the blood over their mouths with a dejected expression.
"This is phase one of training, and all the requirements to pass are to graze me once."
Sasaki jumped up, clutching his head as the two regenerates gazed at Ryuji in confusion following his statement, while Nara wiped her lips.
"Ryuji, have you gone mad?"
Ryuji scowled at Sasaki after his statement, spinning his blade in boredom.
"You can use your abilities; don't worry, and don't feel bad for me; strike with the intent to kill."
Nara chuckled uncontrollably as she formed two knives out of her bones and attached the veins to them, spinning them as the sharp edges cut away a piece of the metal floor.
"I've been waiting for this moment, die scoundrel!"
As soon as possible, Nara ran to Ryuji and spun her blades repeatedly while destroying some boxes on the way, while Ryuji stood there looking blankly at Nara and holding his switchblade in a neutral stance.
She flung the knife at Ryuji right away, but he easily sidestepped her blow. Suddenly, a big bone-like structure punctured the floor, and Ryuji turned slightly aside before the bone nearly impaled him from below.
With a blank look, Ryuji took a revolver from his waist and precisely fired two blank shots into Nara's eyes as she was rapidly accelerating in midair, blinding her temporarily.
'What the hell?! ' Nara thought to herself after Ryuji pulled out such an unexpected attack.
As she fell, Ryuji gripped on the thread of one of her blades to bring her over and, in an instant, gave her a devastating front kick to the solar plexus, causing Nara to cough severely and gasp for air.
Ryuji immediately sensed a presence from behind him as Sasaki was prepared to cut him in two with his bone-forged machete, he instantly kicked him in the back, dislocating his jaw.
Ryuji instantly grasped his head tightly, following up with a knee on his face, shattering his nose as it began to bleed rapidly. He let's go of Sasaki's head for a time as he cleaved him in two with his knife, kicking away his upper body from his lower body.
Weary from beating up Sasaki and Nara, Ryuji moaned. Looking around, he saw that Nara was still having trouble breathing and coughing so much that she was unable to get to her feet. He moved to one of the duffel bags and, looking bored, poured blood on their mouth while attaching Sasaki's upper body to his lower body.
"This is enough for today; I won't be letting you in the apartment until you slightly graze or wound me once."
While Sasaki was quietly kneeling and forging a spear, Nara was still coughing violently from the side, while Ryuji was walking away while smoking a cigarette. Sasaki quickly hurled the spear after spotting an opening.
Ryuji slightly tilted his head to the side, dodging the spear while catching it at the same time. Ryuji spun around and hurled the spear back at Sasaki, catching him in the throat. After wiping the dust from his hand, Ryuji sighed and took a big breath before heading back to his car, leaving Sasaki choking uncontrollably.
'This shit's impossible; he's a monster!'
"Oh, don't forget to give Sasaki some blood or he will probably die!"
For a brief minute, Nara snarled at Ryuji before frantically making her way to one of the duffel bags that were positioned atop one of the boxes. In desperation, she then knocked the bag down, spreading several blood bags on the floor as she wolfed down a whole bag at once.
As Sasaki took out the spear that had been stabbed at his neck, she flung a bloodbag at him, precisely landing it on his mouth and biting it to tear the plastic and cause the blood to drip gently down from his lungs.
As he watched Ryuji drive out with his car, Sasaki gasped for air and slowly regained his strength. He took the bloodbag he was chewing in his mouth and threw it to the ground. He had no idea that humans could be this powerful or that Ryuji would be excellent at fighting anomalies.
'This is one hell of a shitshow...'
TO BE CONTINUED——————————