“Welcome back…
Lu…” said the unknown male voice sitting in the dark room, as the blood-red light stopped at the edge of the desk.
Some books and a laptop sat on the table, alongside a few framed pictures.
“You came late…
Did you bring her?” the unknown male voice asked.
Lu stood quietly in the red light, dropping his eyes down in a tiny bit of fright.
“—Someone got in my way…” said Lu.
“…..And what did you do?” asked the unknown male voice.
“—It was the second target we currently do not have information about….” said Lu calmly.
“The second target…
The black guy?” said the unknown man.
“Yes…
I happened to spot him after managing to locate the main target’s hometown..” said Lu.
“I waited for the right moment to attack and interrogate him, but he seemed to have noticed me, forcing me to proceed with eliminating him,” said Lu.
*TAP….
TAP….
TAP….*
The unknown man continuously tapped his left fingers on the table while he rested his chin on his right fist.
“But he was more capable than I thought…
I only managed to put up a fight, but this man…
” said Lu.
*TAP…
TAP…
TAP…*
“…was not normal.”
*TAP.*
*SHFFFF…*
The unknown man stopped his tapping, raising his head and body up from his right fist as he sat up straight in curious interest upon hearing those words.
“I shot him in his chest three times and he was still alive..
As I said, I managed to put up a fight with him, but his martial arts didn’t seem good…” said Lu calmly.
“—but dangerous..” said Lu.
“How can a martial art that wasn’t good be dangerous…
Did you fool yourself?” asked the unknown man, a bit curious.
“When I said his martial art or how he fought didn’t seem good but dangerous, I didn’t mean that he was bad…
He was more precise than I was, and he could adapt and change fighting stances almost instantly,” said Lu.
“His eyes were more open— He was creative!” said Lu.
*STEP…
STEP…*
He walked towards the table before the unknown man slowly.
*STEP.*
He stopped before the table.
“He fought in an instant, simple, basic, scattered, and rough but precise pattern which he could change…
which seemed not too good neither too bad, but dangerous and very effective,” said Lu.
“Hmm,” said the unknown man.
“….When we fought, it didn’t drag out.
It was just a short matter of time before he ended everything almost in an instant..
It was like he had my life on his palms,” said Lu with a serious voice.
Silence filled the room for a moment…
Lu locked in his gaze, looking at the unknown man.
“Honestly, I could have lied and covered the truth, then given an excuse because I know this could hurt my reputation…
But you know very well that I’m no child,” said Lu.
The unknown man in the shadows remained silent.
“I do not intend to be a fracture that will collapse this organization…” said Lu.
“…..Is that so….” said the unknown man.
“Earlier, we actually deployed an extra 20 of our men to track our main target down..” said the unknown man.
He opened the drawer on the table, dipped his hand in, then pulled out and threw multiple files of people onto the table.
Lu looked down at them, touching them with his left hand.
“We completely lost contact with all of them; none of them returned,” said the unknown man.
“He was with her…
And hearing these words directly from you about that man, he’s indeed capable,” said the unknown man.
“I suggest we do thorough research about this man.
We currently have no information about him, just a photo..” said Lu.
“We’re already working on that,” said the unknown man.
“We lost because of a lack of information; it won’t happen again,” said the unknown man.
“Then I will take my leave,” said Lu, walking away.
*STEP…
STEP…
STEP…*
“If I were to fight him one-on-one…..
Would I win?” asked the unknown man.
*STEP.*
Lu stopped at the exit, his hand on the door handle, then tilted his head back to his right.
“You— Brother Kazuma….” said Lu, having a brief flashback of P’s glowing golden eyes looking down on him from the dark with an evil grin smile…
“There are more like me out there who don’t feel human or whom people don’t see as human, but as monsters.
But that man….
felt like a different breed,” said Lu.
**”HE’S NOT OF THIS WORLD.”**
*CRRRNNKKK!*
He clenched tightly on the door handle.
“That man is mine, Brother Kazuma…
I’ll kill him myself.
Call when you get his information,” said Lu.
*CREAK….*
*SLAM!*
The unknown man, Kazuma, remained quiet as Lu exited the office.
“Interesting…” said Kazuma.
*RING!
RING!*
His phone on the table started ringing, flashing a bright light in the dark as he glanced down at it.
*RING!
RING!*
He raised his left hand, reaching out in an attempt to pick up his phone.
*RING!
RING!*
*RING!*
Kazuma’s hand in the dark reached for his phone—
*TAP.*
The visual instantly changed to a female hand in the bright morning light, tapping on her bedside clock on a desk to turn it off.
Her right hand slowly withdrew back under the blanket, holding a giant white teddy bear.
“YAAAAWN…..” yawned Hanabi loudly as she stretched her body on the bed, her eyes fluttering half-open.
She had just woken up.
Sitting right behind her on the mattress was a second plushie—a black teddy bear that P had won for her at the High Striker two weeks ago.
She slowly rolled to the right side of the bed, then got up tiredly.
She was wearing a plain white nightgown as she stepped towards the left side of the room, but paused near the foot of the bed because of her blanket trailing on the floor.
“Mmn,” said Hanabi lazily, picking it up and tossing it onto the mattress.
She made her way to the bathroom inside her room.
*CREAK…..*
*BAM!*
*VROOOOM!*
The scene cut sharply to Hanabi driving her car down the busy highway.
The driver’s side window was open while she gently took a sip of coffee from her mug.
She smoothly pulled into the parking lot in front of her store, then stepped out.
*SLAM!*
She shut her car door while holding a food cooler, walking towards her store ten meters away.
The doorbell chimed as she opened the entrance, greeted by her employees.
The store was a combination of a hair plaza and a spa, each with its own designated space.
The plaza section had six workstations, but only four female employees were currently seen servicing their customers’ hair.
Hanabi made her way further into the store.
*STEP…
STEP…*
“Welcome, Boss..” greeted the employees.
“Y-Yeah—” replied Hanabi.
“Where are the rest of the girls….?” asked Hanabi, looking around.
“They are working in the spa section..
Suki said she’s sick, so she won’t make it today,” said an employee.
“Customers have been waiting for you in the spa section…” said another employee.
*STEP.*
She stopped in her tracks.
“Huh—” said Hanabi.
Hanabi walked through the second entrance inside the store that led straight into the spa section.
*STEP…
STEP…
STEP…*
As she stepped inside, she came to a sudden halt, staring at a crowd of more than a dozen customers sitting in the waiting area—a mixture of both men and women—who all turned to stare back at her.
In the wide spa area, two girls were busy giving massages to a few customers.
“Hanabi…!” the waiting customers exclaimed in relief.
“Thank God…” said one.
“We’ve been waiting for you..” said a male customer.
“What took you so long…” said another.
Hanabi looked at the mixed crowd of men and women in sheer shock and surprise.
*…Customers this early?
I didn’t even get to have breakfast,* Hanabi thought.
*But look at them…* she thought softly, feeling a pang of pity.
In her eyes, all she could see was how exhausted, stressed, and weak her male and female customers looked.
> *”SAVE US!”* their hearts practically screamed.
>
“Haa…
Okay then..” said Hanabi, dropping her food cooler onto a desk on the right side of the entrance.
*CRACK!*
*CRACK!*
Hanabi cracked her neck and the fingers of both stretched-out hands held together.
“Time for some fixing,” said Hanabi, locking in.
She proceeded to start working….
Minutes into her shift, while she was focused on her work, her phone on the counter started ringing.
*RING!
RING!*
*RING!
RING!*
Her phone screen lit up, displaying the name:
GRAN SARUME