𝑸𝑶𝑻𝑪:

𝑰𝒇 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔.

***

"Matsuha ..."

"Exactly how delusional are you to mistake me for that roach." Kiyoshi stated with disgust dripping down his tongue.

Footsteps echoed around the sabotaged area, dust and debris lying everywhere his eyes could follow. He was careful in his approach, memorizing every detail—blood, fractures, flesh—and watching out for anymore predators to come. He came to a stop beside Asami, squatting down and slipping his hands beneath her legs and back to lift her up, as he carried her away from the pieces of the scientist's corpse. Asami's ice-cold skin went blue from his touch and he blinked at the dark bags crowning her eyes, the swollen skin sticking to her bones, chapped and pale lips, and her significantly lacking weight.

"Turned into quite a monster, haven't you?" He laid her down on the cleaner floor across the molten gate as his eyes caught sight of the outgrown fang protruding out of her mouth. He washed her face with a clean cloth he fished out of his bag, before drawing out a syringe and positioning it above her arm. As soon as the needle touched her, a light tug at his shirt shook him out of concentration and he turned to meet half-open sapphire eyes, a shade darker than he recognized.

"Children ... Inside ...," she croaked. Kiyoshi's eyes widened and a modest smile replaced his scowl.

"Not quite a monster then." He rocked her shoulders to bring her back to the minimum consciousness. "Asami, listen to me carefully. And trust me. Stop your regeneration. Hear me? Try to stop it."

Asami stared at him for a moment with half-lidded eyes before nodding, finding genuine concern and thought-through confidence in his face. As the regeneration stopped, she felt a sensation of being sucked in and thrown out, making her gut wrench and head spin. The insides of her nose burned, but she felt it; the stoppage of the crawling sensation in her body that continues when she regenerates. It was the first time she took control over the powers she took for granted, possibly due to her weakened state.

"Good girl. Now go to sleep." Kiyoshi injected her and felt her go limp in his arms. Relief washed over him as he recalled her sentence before she fainted. She was not there yet. She was still the Asami Sato he knew. Kiyoshi realized he had just called her by her first name and it rolled out so fluently from his tongue, as if he had said it countless times already.


However, he didn't have time for this. Kiyoshi picked up subjects that piqued his interest—a sanitized scalpel, a remote control and some empty syringes—and scanned the broken wheelchair that was once seated on by the old geezer he couldn't recognize, who is now flesh and blood grovelling in the dirt, thanks to Asami. He was there for most of the fight, doing what he was best at. Investigating. Humans are born for a precise purpose. They serve their respective purpose and die. Kiyoshi thought his own might have been in the shadows—watching with unbiased eyes, enjoying and memorizing every piece of information he saw. Though, nothing about this battle had been enjoyable. It made him sick to the stomach to just remember Asami's face while she fought, as if she had died many times. He couldn't imagine what she might have gone through while trapped here, and that is why it eased him to know she was still who he remembered she was.

His nose picked up another scent, and he stiffened, before relaxing and acting as if he knew nothing.

"Where the he—wha..." The words hung unfinished as Arakawa gazed around. The suffocating stink of disintegrating blood, and something more disgusting filled his lungs. He could almost taste it in the air, the coppery taste he had always detested. He had been used to carnage, but this might as well be called hell. The walls had turned black with caked blood and dirt, and the red and pink flesh spread around didn't make it look any less grimacing.

"Sato has been rescued. I contacted HQ. Backup is probably on its way. Though I doubt they'd find it on their own." Kiyoshi eyed the man with his jaw open, who on hearing his words fixed himself and took prudent steps inside.

"Sato was here? Is that why you left patrol and flew here?"

"I didn't exactly fly. And yes. I found her unconscious. Injured, too. She is stable for the time being. No bleeding from the outside. I don't know about any internal damages, though. There are signs of torture and a lot of blood loss. She was starved, too, probably." Kiyoshi fondled with his phone as he recorded the crime scene and sustained contact with the other members simultaneously. Arakawa felt sick of the disdain in his voice, as if the surrounding scenery didn't make him go weak in the knees.

"Chief wouldn't be happy." The older man held his head and Kiyoshi scoffed.

"Well, no surprises there."

"Shut up. You ran here like your tail caught fire. Chief would also not be happy learning about you and his daughter."


"I rescued her. What more does he need from a man who risked his life to save the daughter?" Kiyoshi smirked. "Come on, Investigator Hikaru, that is why you're still a virgin. And I even went through the trouble of giving you an awesome hairstyle. You don't know the basics of impressing someone." He emphasized on how he addressed him, a teasing tone to his voice as Arakawa glared at him. He had known Kiyoshi since he had been a little kid who barely reached his hip. And here he was, a special recruit at the organization he had spent his blood, sweat and tears for, functioning under him and neglecting their senior-junior relationship. The Chief had issued an emergency recruitment when his daughter was reported missing for over 24 hours in secret, forming a task force precisely to find her. The task force was left in Arakawa's care, who was then promoted to the rank of Investigator with Kiyoshi as his assistant.

"Awesome, my ass! Cut the crap and focus on the mission." He ignored the roll of Kiyoshi's eyes. "How far is the backup?"

"Fifteen minutes from the station."

"Wait, a minute. How did you know there was a passage leading to this secret base or whatever below the underground metro station?"

Kiyoshi bit his tongue in shock but collected himself, not letting any of the surprise show on his face. Even though Arakawa was the closest he could know someone as a person since childhood, he hadn't known about any of Kiyoshi's skills. Kiyoshi sought him as a comfort after feeling rejected and lonely in the Kyoto laboratory. Hikaru was his only friend back then, though 8 years older than him, and they had maintained their relationship till date. Nonetheless, Kiyoshi had always been a part of the shadows. If he were to be exposed to light, he'd disappear. No one knew the real him, and he liked it this way. He wore his secrecy like a cape, and he could very well say, only Asami had managed to peek inside it.

"Just... an accident. And a hunch."

"An accident and a hunch together?" Arakawa raised his brows.

"Yeah. An accidental hunch." Kiyoshi smiled, and Arakawa knew none of it was true. Not the smile. Not the explanation.

"Fine." He sighed. He knew he couldn't get anymore out of the younger man's mouth. "Anything more here?"

"There are children inside." At Arakawa's raised eyebrows, he clarified, "Asami mentioned before fainting." Kiyoshi fought the underlying sense of discomfort he felt in this place. Arakawa hadn't yet asked about this place, and if word got out, it'd be trouble explaining why there existed such intricate machinery to hoard POWANs below the bustling Tokyo metro station. Kiyoshi had once lived through this hell himself, and he had been the one with most comfort around here. What these captives must have gone through, he couldn't fathom. However, it was their purpose in reestablishing this he was failing to understand. To go through the same hell all over again, what might have given result to such ambitions?


Arakawa returned from inside the hallway, breathing hard and lines across his forehead. He felt bleak, barely fighting the nausea threatening his throat. With a sickly huff of gasp, he reported, "I took a peek inside. There are... a lot of them. And I don't understand what's going on." Here was the moment Kiyoshi feared. "You don't tell me any details and I want to trust you. But seeing this place, I'm not sure how long my trust will last."

Kiyoshi feigned impassiveness. He was good at it.

"Anyway," Arakawa ran a hand through his hair, "I'll have the reinforcements have a thorough checkup inside. Did Asami say any more? No? Then, Okay. I'd appreciate if I could get more out of you, but that seems impossible."

Kiyoshi understood Arakawa was compelling him now, but he held his temper. It would be fatal to let any insecurity show on his face. It had been 13 years since he had this mask on and he would not let it fall, best friend or whatnot.

"Just remember this." The inspector knew Kiyoshi had secrets. Kiyoshi had a tendency to be mature in most situations, acting more grownup for his age. Only with him he let a little loose. He couldn't convey how a man made him feel sympathy and annoyance at the same time, but even so, Kiyoshi was still a stranger to him in many aspects. He would never, never confess what he intended to hide. "If what you and Mr. Azuma are planning is anything against the P. E—no—anything that intends harm to the citizens, I wouldn't forgive you."

It was not a bluff, Kiyoshi knew. Arakawa had lost his parents in a POWAN attack and had, since then, dedicated his life to protect as many people as he could. Best friend or not, Kiyoshi would be killed if Arakawa wanted him to. Kiyoshi looked up to meet the man's eyes, lit like a burning flame, firm and menacing. He won't admit but it unsettled his nerves.

Arakawa knew what Kiyoshi was hiding wasn't as simple as a secret between best friends. It could most likely be a nationwide threat. And he would never, never let his best friend slip into the depths of evil. Even if it meant he'd have to tarnish his own hands with Kiyoshi's and a lot more peoples' bloods.

"Understood." This time, Kiyoshi didn't smile.

"As long as you do. Now, take your girlf... um... Sato to the Chief. I don't think they'll make it at this rate. Neither will she. And if the Chief kills you... well... rest in peace, in advance."


Kiyoshi's lips crooked up into a smirk, and he helped the unconscious Asami on his back. There was a hidden promise to his words—if Kiyoshi were in the right, he could always trust Arakawa to have his back. The man had never had a moment of leisure in his life, having gone through the inferno of nightmares terrifying him all his life, the corpses of his parents, the ghosts of his comrades—he believed he would never get rid of them. The least Arakawa believed he could do was fight. Fight till no one else would have to go through the same fate as him. And Kiyoshi would be the first person to give him the push in this battle, he vowed when he saw how lifeless his eyes seemed 12 years ago.

"Roger that."

Kiyoshi vanished in a flash. The sound of thunder followed as Arakawa smiled to himself.

***

Kiyoshi rendezvoused with the reinforcements halfway back, washed in rain and grime, panting.

Kiyoshi felt the dearth of weight and warmth on his back when they shifted Asami into a private ambulance. Asami's breathing had become short and her pulse started fading somewhere on the way. She had lost way too much blood and the thing Kite said about her slowly decaying from the inside worried him. As he sat beside her in the ambulance, he wished he could have had the liberty to interrupt her battle. Or maybe more precision in his abilities so he could have located her faster. Now, he was seeing her so weak, so feeble; and yet her face was still as magnificent as ever—even with her dry, pale skin and blue lips. Kiyoshi squeezed her hand.

Please make it, he wished.

He directed his eyes on the steady arrival and departure of the fog on her oxygen mask, perturbed about facing her father and his own. The responsibilities weighing on him had never felt so heavy before, as if he would be ground to dust. Kiyoshi shook his leg as the Sato mansion entered his sight. He was torn between wanting to make it sooner and never reaching it there.

Chief fidgeted outside his house, soaked in rain and adhered to by a maid struggling to keep him dry under an umbrella. Kiyoshi watched, biting his lip as Chief held his daughter by the shoulders, his jaw set in a square and his brows tight. He couldn't express the pity he felt for this man who couldn't even afford the luxury to cry seeing his daughter in a deathly state. But then again, this might have been the compensation of his past actions.

"We need to talk."

Kiyoshi flinched as the Chief's brusque voice jolted him out of his reverie.

"Yes. Understood."

He accompanied him inside the door, water dripping down his clothes upon the icy floor of Asami's house. He wasn't as upbeat as he tried to be before Arakawa.

"How were you so late in locating her?" Hiroichi's levelled voice sounded more sinister than Arakawa's warning. Even amidst the storm raging outside, the Sato mansion was painfully quiet. He could hear the droplets falling on the floor, his exhale, and the venom in Chief's voice.

"She was held captive underground, a level below the underground Tokyo station, Sir."

"So I heard." The Chief sat on his sofa, and motioned for Kiyoshi to sit opposite him, not caring how drenched both were. "The previous laboratory. With your skills, I hoped you would find my daughter in a healthy state, at least. Seems like I overestimated you."

Kiyoshi felt his temper rise with each word that fell out of the old man's mouth. Why was he the one in this predicament? Why was he answerable for whatever they had been conspiring since he was a toddler? As Chief spoke, he only saw red.

"I should have sent s—"

"I would totally appreciate you sending some else."

A pin drop silence followed Kiyoshi's brief outburst. He managed to keep his voice levelled and didn't lose his civility, but he was damn pissed.

"It would save me the trouble of running around. However, Sir, it's the fruit of your own actions that let Asami get hurt." He called her by her name mistakenly, but that didn't stop him. "Do you know who I saw there? Kite. Kite from the laboratory. He was the one who kidnapped Asami. He tormented her."

"Wait just a second... Kite? He didn't die." The expression on the man's face was almost comical, but Kiyoshi held himself.

"Apparently, yes. The only reason Kite would do this seems to be you, Sir. And even if you sent someone else," Kiyoshi stood up and spun back, "I'd have gone for her. Like I have been doing. I'd have saved her no matter what. Because apparently, there's no one else in your organization who can." He sneered, looking back at the Chief from the doorstep. "And you can try me."

Kiyoshi waited for an answer, though he didn't foresee one. However, Chief had bigger matters.

"Where's Kite?"

Kiyoshi felt bitter just hearing that question from her father.

"I killed him."

Kiyoshi left without waiting for an answer.

He stepped into the rain, feeling the droplets hit his face and slither down his skin. If rain could wash away one thing a person most wanted to vanish, he would have chosen responsibilities.

"Only I... only I can do it."

He felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his phone to find Arakawa's name flashing on the screen.

"Hello."

"Do you know who the other body belongs to?"

Kiyoshi's breath snagged as a dreadful intuition hit him. One belonged to Kite. But he didn't know who the other monster was. He had his doubts about the old man.

"Who was it?"

"Atsusuke Sato. Brother of Haruhiko Sato, the man who found the P.E.D."

A thunk rung as Kiyoshi's phone slipped out his hands. He clutched his face as he felt his nerves run cold. He had never felt so confused and surprised together in his life before.

_______________________________________________

Sorry for the long wait!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking of changing a lot of things with my id and book and neglected writing this. I'm so sorryyyyy!!!!! But thanks to @182blink, I felt motivated once again!! Thank you!!

I have decided to continue writing this, and after completing it as a firat draft manuscript, I'll make the major and minor changes. This book might be a narrative of Arakawa since he's going to play an important part. We'll see what happens. For now, I must fight my laziness and rescue my motivation!

Hope you liked the chapter!

Thanks for reading!