Sai Karasu's Story

"Ugh, it's raining again."

In a particularly busy street in the dark city, the red-haired man growled to himself. Falling drops of cold water were battering his head and body as he turned to his companion, a seemingly oblivious looking girl.

"Hey, you! Put this on, you'll catch a cold in this rain."

Lifting the fedora off his head, he dropped his hand down on the girl's head. She shifted from foot to foot and looked up at him. "Aren't you going to catch the cold instead?"

"No, don't worry about me. Either ways, we can't sleep on a rooftop or a tree in this state. We gotta find shelter somehow."

"....We're splitting up again to look."

"You know me too well. So what are you waiting for? Go."

Before Sayaka moved, Sai had already disappeared into the bustling crowd, leaving the awkward girl standing there like a fish out of water. Sighing, she turned to the other side and pushed past, her figure finally disappearing.

A few hours of searching had tired her out as she leaned against a wall heavily.

"This city is too big and dangerous for someone like me."

Suddenly her phone started ringing and buzzing. Pulling it out, she looked at the caller ID.

"Hello?"
"I found us a place to stay. Don't worry, I got everything covered."
"Cool. Where?"
"Look up."

She saw the man smirking at her with the phone raised to his ear. A little feeling of frustration grew inside her as she tucked her phone in, took out something else-

And hurled it at the other, actually managing to nick him on the forehead.

After a while, Sayaka felt awkward again. Sitting on the bed, she looked down at the floor.

"You alright there?"
"....I'm not used to these luxuries."
"Bah, of course you aren't. You slept in a capsule almost half of your life and when you first ran away from me I found you sleeping in a tree."
"The second time I found you, you were bleeding out in an alley."
"...Touche."

Sai looked out the window, sighing.
"Are you sure we haven't got any jobs at all?"
"None. But I heard some detective's been on our race's tail for quite a while now."

The Cambion looked over at his accomplice.
"Do you want me to kill him or something?"
"No, I'm just saying. Besides, you kill to live. You need money. And the prices for assassination are quite high- And you know I'm pretty much dead broke."
"Who knows?"

"The night's so young, don't you think?"

"Well then, Mr. Cambion, what do you want to do?"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Allan brought a hand up and rubbed at his tired mug, the alarm clock having woken him with it's persistent beeping. He rose from the bed and sleepily pawed at the electronic device, hitting miscellaneous buttons before the right one was pressed bringing the beeping to an end.

As he stood he shrugged the blankets off him, leaving them in a crumpled pile on the bed. He was about to get started with his morning routine but he was suddenly onset by a powerful yawn lasting quite long. When he was finished he looked over at the clock to see the time he had to get to work in. It was currently seven thirty in the evening. He needed to get to work by nine so he had set his clock to wake him up with a decent amount of time to get to the mall where he worked as the night security guard.

---

Roughly half an hour later

---

After a meager breakfast of leftover macaroni & cheese he had gotten dressed and ready to hit the road. He stepped from his apartment before shutting and locking the door behind him and went over to the elevator, hitting the down button which called up the elevator. After a bit of rumbling, sounding akin to a penny trapped in an active washing machine, the elevator stopped at his floor. The doors slid open to reveal the rusty and somewhat stained interior of a worn down elevator. Lucky for Allan the elevator was empty. It was not uncommon for the elevator to be rather unaccommadated in the later hours of the day. He went inside and hit the ground floor button, the doors shutting closed rather noisily.

Stepping out from the elevator he made his way out onto the street. Unfortunately Allan had yet to get his driving license so he was stuck with walking to work. Walking may take longer for him than taking the bus but the time he'd save was negligible since the nearest bus stop was at least a ten minute walk in the opposite direction from his work. On the plus side there was a cafe between his apartment and the North Quarantize City Mall. As he came around the halfway point between work and home he stopped at that very cafe like he does every night he works. There was a nice young lady who usually worked the cashier around these times. She was a year younger than him and was working here mainly since it was one of the few places that would hire a young student. She's seen him enough times to pretty much know exactly what he wants to order from there. It wasn't very difficult since his order was simple and he loathed to differ from it.

Hi Allan. One large black coffee like usual?"

"Yup." No real surprises from Allan here. He tapped his credit card to the screen which picked up the card's chip signal and made the payment instantly. Not even a minute later he picked up his coffee from the pleasant girl and went on his way to work.

---

Some time in the night

---

The mall definitely had an eerie silence to it. Down in his wing he rarely saw another soul in sight. Quite frankly this was a great job for him. No one was bothering or even talking to him for that matter. It was just him, his rather colorful mind and of course his superpowers. There were cameras of course but they didn't move and he knew where they all faced so he could practice without being caught. Leaning up against a wall down in the food court he glanced at his hand, turning it back and forth. With little else but a desire his whole arm was glowing a brilliant sky blue. The glow was radiating out from beneath the skin, the tissue between the light and the outside world a translucent shadow.

He ventured over to the other side of the food court. Up against the wall between two fast food joints was a soda vending machine. He always thought the 'Do not tip or rock the vending machine' sign was funny for a particular reason. With the power within channeling through his body he reached underneath the rather weighty machine and picked it up with ease. Holding it with two hands he decided to shift the center of the machine over onto his left hand and then withdraw the other. He now had the vending machine balanced on one hand over his head. "Right. Now down to business." He spoke his thought out loud even though no one but him could hear. He started pumping the vending machine up and down with his left hand like it was a large awkward gym weight.


"Four... Five... Si-Woah!" His count was interrupted as the vending machines was suddenly compromised. It started with a very slight wobble. As the machine wobbled his hand moved to try and keep the balance of the machine but wound up over-correcting and causing the vending machine to shake even more. By that point momentum set in sending the machine falling away from his hold. He tried to catch it before it hit the ground but at the speed at which this all took place he was simply an inch short and a second late as it hit the ground with a loud clang. "Well... Crap." He swore in a low voice to avoid drawing any more attention than he might of grabbed already. He looked around to see if any of the other guards were nearby. There was no one to be seen.

Wiping a slight bit of nervous sweat from his forehead he propped the vending machine back up and observed the damage. One of the corners was damaged and it was leaking a fluid he didn't recognize. "Okay... I think I can fix this." He was once again talking to himself out loud. He used his strength to smooth out the crushed corner so that it looked square enough. He really didn't know what to do about the fluid and there was no duct tape in sight so he just set the vending machine back up against it's wall and walked away acting innocent. "Well, I did what I could." He assured himself as he meandered away from the scene of the incident.


That's when he heard it. The sounds coming from the one shop down the hall left from the food court. It was an old curio shop which sold various old and interesting things. He was never really interested in what the shop had in stock, mostly passing it by without a second thought. Right now though he was interested in it for a different reason. He realized that he might of heard footsteps earlier while he was screwing around with the vending machine and now he could hear something moving stuff about. Internally he gave a deep sigh. He really didn't want anything to happen tonight or any other night for that matter. Something happens in his job it always means paperwork. He hated paperwork.

As quietly as he could he unlocked the front mesh blocking the entrance of the shop from the rest of the mall. He had to assume that the potential thief or whatever it might be had come in through the back door. There was no real way to move the metal mesh panels quietly but he did what good he could do, sliding the panels aside and slipping through the narrow space he opened. The panels rattled when they got moved and now the sound of items being moved had suddenly stopped. Slowly creeping forward Allan snuck up towards the source of where the sound was coming from last. As he came around a stand he saw...

Quarantize City. A city where all sorts of souls converge. And it's not just any old soul that is currently moving about in this normal plane of existence. Several different beings have taken roost here.
An old, run-down building. Different people see it differently. For some it appears like a relic of a time forgotten. To others, it was just a ghost of the time when Quarantize was in its Golden Age, with buildings being constructed left and right. Rumors about this office abound as well. Some say that it is a drug laboratory while others think that it was an armory for some armed thugs roaming around the street at night. No one ever bothered to check it out, regardless. People would simply not give any thought about it upon seeing it or avoid it altogether. Right, for them, this building doesn't exist. There was nothing special about it aside from completing the landscape.
Well, of course, this being Quarantize City, almost every corner has a story to tell and this building is no exception. Oddly enough, most stories here starts with someone screaming--

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! What do you mean I'm not getting any pay for this month???!!!"
Shino walked over to her employer's desk, slamming her fists onto the table. She found it quite unfair that her pay is docked for this month. This rarely happens so one could probably understand why she's getting all worked up about it.
"It's just as I said. I'll pay you in a week's time so just be patient."
"How come? I just saw 5,000,000.00 got transferred to your account when we made that inquiry at the bank!"
"50,000. You added a couple of zeroes."
"Then how did you spend that much in just a span of a couple of days?!"
"Well, I suppose you'll see it soon so--"
Risaya took out a large, classic style chess set from her desk, dusting off some dirt that accumulated on it. She set it down on the table and opened it to inspect the pieces. The pieces aren't made simply like the much more modern and cheaper sets but, it was carved out of wood, with intricate details where one can see how the pieces actually look like.
"This set is very old. The seller told me that it was from the early 18th century. Well, that was the time when magical study was beginning to prosper so who knows? This set may contain powerful traces of sorcery embedded in it. You can see from the way the pieces are individually carved---"
"I don't care about lengthy explanations. Just get straight to the point."
"It happened to be on sale so I bought it."
Shino sighed and shrunk back to the couch in the center of the room.
"How will I pay my rent and utilities now?"
"Calm down. Look, there is another job offer that we got."
Shino got up at the sound of the word "job" and walked over beside her employer's table, glancing at the folder and files she took out from beneath her other records.
"The client wants to us to look for a man named Ayers Mackenzie and bring him under police protection. He witnessed something but, our client refused to elaborate much further. He was last seen around the North boulevard so you can try asking around there."
"Okay, I'm off."
Shino took the paper that contains the information she needs and walked over to the door. Risaya called out to her and threw something at her. She caught it and placed it in her pocket.
"I've fixed the compass. Try to be careful with it."
"Okay boss."
"Oh, and Shino?"
"What is it? Risaya-san~?"
"Can I borrow some money?"
Shino walked away and slammed the door, her hopes of getting at least a small stipend crushed. Sighing, Risaya turned to the laptop in front of her and continued her conversation with the client.
"You sure about that? I can send in some down payment if you need it."
"Never mind that. Well, what were you saying about an accident?"
"I'm beginning to doubt that it's just an accident. The car was intact but, the body was mauled beyond definition. That witness may be the key here but it's likely that we're dealing with something not of this world, so I thought of calling you guys. So, think you're up for it?"
"I suppose. I normally wouldn't do this if only I didn't need the money."
"Headquarters may assign other detectives to work on this case so I need you to hurry, if you still want the full amount to be paid."
"We'll try but it won't be easy."
The clouds outside finally changed color and a downpour started. Faint sounds of thunder echoed all throughout the office, hampering the mood somehow.
"What do you mean it won't be easy?"
"Well sir, it is hard to solve a murder that took place in a moving sealed room after all..."

Turned out the Cambion had suffered a few wounds from a job before, so Sayaka was the only one awake while the other rested. She had went out, the moonlight illuminating her platinum blonde hair. She wasn't sure what Sai wanted her to do- All he had said was for her to go out and look- But for what? He also said he was picking up some sort of essence coming from a Cambion troublemaker of some sorts, and said Cambion had been on his tail for a while. Basically, look for the guy. She wasn't sure what she was to do- Kill him? Bring him back?

Suddenly she felt a bad presence around the area, in an alley. Using the Homunculus abilities she had been infused with in her body, she tried tracking down the essence- And ended up, in what she already knew, a dark alley. She frowned. Surely this must be the Cambion Sai was referring to. She was picking up another presence, in a curio store near the location, but right now, she didn't care about the Nephilim. As her hand flew instinctively to the Lovely Icedrop, concealed, a sudden force blew her back into the wall. She looked up to see some kind of bulky guy, and the essence radiated from him.

"Now what's a little girl like you doing in here so late?"

"I'd prefer it if you were to address me as something else, sir."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And who do you think you are, boss of this--"

He froze. Looking down, he murmured a curse word to himself. His feet were frozen, quite literally.

"Cold feet, sir?"

Sayaka pushed him back and raised the tip of the blade to his neck.

"Joseph Mercurio. Cambion, uses his power to steal from houses to buy drugs. And what are you to Sai Karasu?"

"None of your business."

He snarled at the girl. She glared back, pressing the tip closer.

"What is your problem with him? Why are you following him? Don't speak and I'll pretty much kill you. If my sword doesn't kill you, the ice will freeze every single working organ in your body, including your heart and brain. Without both, you're practically a dead man."

"Alright, alright! I give! This guy offered me more weed if I killed him, okay!? Now can you let me go?!"

Sayaka processed this in her mind, before sighing.

"Shame, I thought I'd get something more."

She lowered the blade, and the man thought he could get away- But she thrust it into his chest, activating the magical ability of ice magic infused within the blade and freezing his heart. Drawing it out, she checked the blade for stains while the man dropped, dead on the ground. Cleaning it, she concealed it again and started off, back to the hotel.

"Why would someone want to kill the son of Marquis Amon, anyway? Bad blood or something? Humans really are weird."

Sayaka had left, sensing the essence of the Nephilim just nearly entering where she had killed Joseph. Not like she cared though, she was far enough not to be sensed. And as a random moment of celebration, with the small money she had from Sai, she went to some noodle shop she found.

As she quietly ate, she glanced around the place. While she had been walking, she looked back one time as she heard a far-off clang, and a hooded figure dashed out. In the shop, there were some of the rare people who would stay out so late, and one girl that seemed nervous, wearing a pink and white hoodie. She didn't interact with humans much, but she was detecting some sort of magic sensor near the girl. Must have sensed her magical abilities.

"Hm...I might have to watch out for this girl if I meet her in the future."

Thinking so, she went back to her food. She decided to focus her mind on Joseph Mercurio.

"What would that guy who hired him want with Sai? As far as I know, Amon hasn't done much in the recent years."

She murmured to herself, taking care not to let anyone hear her.

"It can't possibly be another Cambion. Or a Nephilim of sorts. Sai may be the rumored Big Sniper, but he does that only for the money. Though, he's an obscure figure...There's like a thousand serial killers and assassins that are more notorious than him, so how...? How did whoever hired Mercurio know that it was Sai?"

In the hotel, Sai was bandaging his arm. He had hurt it in an assassination job. He had sent Sayaka off to find Joseph Mercurio, some guy who was after his head. His phone rang, which made him curse under his breath. Grabbing his coat, he threw it over his bare shoulders.

"Yeah, what the hell do you want?"

"Hello there, sir. Do you remember me?"

His tone turned bitter.

"Yeah, I do. Get to the damn point, unless you finally want me to end that life of yours."

"Relax, relax. Now then, do you remember the man I asked you to snipe? Some are beginning to suspect you again. Detectives are investigating the case too. They have one witness- A man named Ayers Mackenzie."

"Lemme guess, you want me to kill him too."

"Haha! This is why you're my go-to guy for these kinds of cases! Yes."

"Maybe if you gave me more info about this Mackenzie guy I'd actually carry out the job."

"He's pretty much your average man, unemployed, when he saw it. You know? I heard that he was somewhere around the North boulevard. Try to find him there."

Sai growled as he murmured another curse.

"You better have the cash, you bastard. You're gonna owe me for this."

With that he hung up and threw the phone, luckily landing on the bed. He uncloaked the Wolf's Venom, staring at it.

"Well, buddy, you're gonna kill someone again. Isn't that just nice?"

Funny how misconceptions abound this city. A simple curious soul can be mistaken as a killer, an innocent girl may be a hidden monster, and some monsters are actually nice for a change. In this city, it is hard to find someone to trust. Every second, someone gets stabbed in the back. Motive? No one knows.

As Shino finished up her noodles, she took a good look around her surroundings. Her pursuers, if they were still pursuing her, were nowhere in sight yet. She decided that it would be best to get out while she still can. Picking up her stuff, she made her way cautiously to the door when a girl caught her eyes.
"She looks weird. She doesn't seem like she's from around here. A foreigner, maybe?"
Just then, she felt the sharp fluctuation of her compass detector. She took it out and saw the arrow pointing to the girl. She quickly hid it again and walked outside.
"Magical energy? Coming from a human? It's almost impossible. But--"
While still thinking about it, she immediately hailed a cab and got inside, telling instructions to the driver to get to her apartment. She wondered more about that girl in the shop.
"She looked more like one of those dolls that Boss makes. But, since the compass fluctuated, could she possibly be a Nephilim or a Cambion?"
She had no way to tell, and that's causing her unease. She would have loved to stay and chat to find out more but, with some people looking for her, it wasn't exactly a luxury she could afford. She glanced back behind the cab just to make sure if she had really lost her pursuers since the traffic is already getting worse. She seemed to see a couple of men arrive at the intersection near the noodle shop but, since the cab was moving, she couldn't tell any notable features. Nevertheless, the feeling of unease stayed with her until she reached her apartment.

"If you don't mind, can you wait for me a bit? I'll pay you extra. I'll just get a few things and then I'll tell you where to go."
The driver agreed and Shino proceeded inside her room. She took most of her valuables and personal belongings and stuffed it in a bag. She also changed her clothes and left the old ones here. Locking up her flat, she ran back to the cab and asked him to take her to the Fujyou Highlights near the Oriental side of Quarantize. There is only one safe place she can think of hiding.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!
Shino furiously banged the door of Risaya's main office. Her boss came out, decked in a red night gown, rubbing the sleep off her eyes.
"Oi! What are you doing here?! It's already nighttime mind you!"
Without letting her finish, Shino stormed in and tossed the bag on the table while walking to the sofa and curling up there. Her employer locked the doors and approached her.
"What's the matter? Why did you come back?"
"I ran into some trouble earlier, and now--this is probably the only place where I can be safe."
"Tch, you and your antics. Go ahead and sleep there. Just don't wake me up again."
Risaya walked back to her room, leaving Shino in the living room all by herself. She left the lights on in case Shino needs something. After a few minutes, she got up and decided to do a bit of research on her assignment. She booted up the laptop and accessed the files for her assignment.
"There was a murder downtown wherein a high-profile businessman was killed in his own car. Upon investigation, his body was horribly mauled and mutilated, his ID and the DNA tests the only proof that the carcass belonged to the businessman. The car was locked when the police investigated it, ruling out any foul play within or external assault. There is however, a large crack on the windshield where a large bullet may have gone through though, there weren't any bullets uncovered at the crime scene. Some locals claim that he was probably another victim of "Big Sniper", a notorious killer in this city..."
Shino flipped to the next page, remembering the Big Sniper rumor. Supposedly, this was a vigilante that sprung up around four years ago and started killing off some corrupt and vile people by sniping them. How much of it is true, well, Shino doesn't know.
"The only witness was an unemployed man by the name of Ayers Mackenzie though, no one was able to find him as of yet. He does hang out a lot on North Boulevard though. I'll visit there tomorrow."
Shino shut off the laptop and threw her body on the comfortable sofa there. She felt secure in the fact that no one can find this building easily.
"Ahhh!!! I hope the whole mess blows over by tomorrow!"
"Would you stop screaming?!"
Risaya complained from her bedroom against the loud noise. Shino muttered a quick apology and slept there, using a blanket she got from the chairs.

"Could you stay away from your sword for like, one second?"

Sayaka frowned as Sai looked over at her. She had returned a few minutes ago after finishing her food in the noodle shop, and she had come back to see Sai doing something with the Wolf's Venom.

"Not when there's a job to do."

Sai went back to what seemed to be his polishing of the gunblade. She sighed as she sat on her side of the bed and uncloaked the Lovely Icedrop.

"You have another cloth?"
"Why, did you kill someone tonight?"

Sayaka paused for a moment. Could she tell him that she killed Joseph without any order from him to do so?

"....Yes." She answered after thinking it through. He probably wouldn't care either way.
"I'm guessing you killed Mercurio."
"Yes I did. He was getting annoying, and the smell of alcohol on him was sickening."

She looked over at him, stopping from checking if there were stains on her blade.

"So what's this about a job?"
"Assassination job, like always. Guy wants me to kill someone named Ayers Mackenzie or something like that. He better pay me for this."
"Don't they always?"
"The last time someone didn't pay me, I killed them too, and stole their money."
"So why don't you stick with that instead?"
"Too messy of a job. You know I like clean."
"Not very obvious considering your appearance."

He turned to glare at her for a minute. Standing up, he raised the sword and pressed a button, the tip of the sword opening to reveal an opening that served as the barrel of his gun.

"Sometimes I wonder why you can't just use a real sniper rifle for your assassination missions rather than that."
"Maybe if you built me one I would."
"...Not a chance in hell if you don't have money to pay me."
"See?"

He flashed a smirk at her before cloaking the blade again. She did the same, then followed him out the door. They hung out on the rooftop for a little. The rain had stopped, so it was safe.

"Haa, this place would be the best place to snipe someone."
"Don't you think someone might hear you?"
"Nope, we're the only ones here."

Sayaka turned to look at the sky. Everytime he killed someone, there would be an investigation, a news flash, then...nothing. The world would keep spinning. Life went on as if nothing happened. She patted the area where her artificial heart kept beating.

"All of you are weird."
"That's something I am fine with hearing, especially from you, Ms. Homunculus."