1:57 PM
Hayai reclined on the red sofa in his living room, his feet resting on a coffee table as an old action movie played on his VHS player; he let out a yawn. Dressed in nothing more than a black white beater and red boxers he looked up at the electric clock which hung above his T.V.
Another twelve hours huh?, yawning, he frowned and ruffled his hair. In another twelve hours the Edoland liberation would begin- why Jin had chosen 2:AM was beyond him, two in the morning was a very odd time to start any kind of attack but maybe that was the point? “I have to change my whole sleep schedule over this.” He muttered under a breath.
He’d gone so far as to not sleep the night before, he would be ready with a full eight hours of sleep in him for the liberation, it would be tough he knew that. Even if these ‘Hachibuto’ were as strong as people claimed it didn’t matter. He would squash them like bugs, that’s all there was to do. But you can only stomp your foot so many times because you get tired.
Failing to hold in a final yawn he flicked the tv off with a remote and rose out of his sofa. Pushing back the recliner, Hayai stretched his back and hips with multiple loud pops. Guess now is a good time to head to sleep then huh? I can even sleep in a bit.
Looking up at the clock once more he saw it shift from 1:59PM to 2:00, Edoland time.
“!”
Suddenly he felt sick, like he’d been spun in a tea cup at an amusement park he barely resisted the urge to vomit- no matter how many times he’s experienced this he’d never been able to get used to it.
“Oh no, no- wait- wait Jin we still have 12 hours lef-”
Before Hayai could finish his sentence he’d warped out of his living room, the overhead light still turned on.
# # #
Asakawa Goutou had been a member of the Toumeikan for easily 10 years at that point. Standing of average height for an Edojin he had shoulder length black hair which curled at the ends into hoops and a rather rat-like face, slanted eyes tilting downwards as a nose which was more pointed than straight. His jaw and chin were covered in stubble colored with as much gray as black. Leaning against the red brick wall just outside an alley way opening he chewed on a soggy chai flavored toothpick.
In the 10 years he’d served the Toumeikan he'd been raised to Hikari rank; the highest one could rise before becoming a Joshin. It was rank to be revered, and feared, but not worshiped. There were thousands of Hikari afterall- but only 32 Joshin, four per each Hachibuto. He knew he could never be a Hachibuto, that would be a ridiculous notion, Hachibuto could destroy the world itself, he knew that much, or so he’d been told. Akatora the man who could not be killed- and with his bare hands scorched an island as big as Edoland nothing but ash that sunk into the sea. Iwainu the man made of stone and metal who could call upon wolves from across the world at a single yell, Aotori who shot the president of Afurenthos Ronald Rooney over three years ago. The current Ronald Rooney was nothing more than his secret twin brother, the wrinkles under their eyes completely different and so was their height- the current Ronald stood over half an inch shorter than the previous! Or maybe he was a clone? No, It didn’t- all that did was just show how powerful the Hachibuto were. Monsters to be revered, but the greatest of them all was Sumiyoshi Domushi. The strongest of the Toumeikan- no Edoland- no Taiponbo- no, the whole world! The man who had destroyed the Sangre De Tigris, slain them in cold blood at the age of 15 and made their leader kneel before Susanori Kobe and beg for salvation.
Goutou could never compare to them, he knew that- he was a dog, but a well trained one at that, one which deserved a golden collar and a steak for dinner every single night. A Joshin, a Joshin was that kind of dog, and he could be that, he knew it. .He'd risen this far by kissing feet and bowing his head low enough he’d gotten a concussion more than once. If only he could have a chance to prove himself as something worth more, he only needed one chance. Just a single great enough feat would lock him into the slot of a Joshin. Afterall there were currently two open spots for Hachibuto.
Though he didn’t know when, how or why Toushima Kikirin and Hanachi Rasetsu were no longer part of the Toumeikan. Rumors of course had spread far and wide, Hanachi had been caught in bed with the son of Kobe so she was turned into a common whore under Kuroyama- or fed to starving dogs by Iwainu. Another said she was in a coma after traveling to a foreign country somewhere in the south east of Taiponbo to acquire more stock for the Toumeikans projects. Others even went so far as to say her and Kikirin ran off together to get married! As for Kikirin just as many rumors were spread about him, the most common being he’d swindled trillions from under the nose of Kobe and for that he had shoes made of concrete and was thrown overboard into the ocean, or Shinegawa river or maybe even another body of water.
Whatever the reason was there were now two Hachibuto spots open, and while others scrambled for those he would focus on becoming a Joshin, it only would take on a single feat, once achievement and he could get it, he knew he could. He almost laughed, he all those idiots were struggling for the gold nuggets while he was counting the grains in the sand.
He only needed to kill one of these Venator Society Captains, the Venator Society, that was a name he should have shivered at, many of his rank and below would but how could he when he knew they were frauds? Just a few years prior one of their captains here in Edoland had been killed by Aotori and the dogs did nothing! They just put a new one- a mutt at that, in charge. If they had any honor or respect they would have thrown down hell fire then and there at the Venator Society, that is what a man did. But they didn't, which meant they simply weren’t strong enough.
They were frauds that almost made Goutou spit out the sour taste which grew in his mouth as he thought about them. He was not a fraud, he would never be a fraud. He deserved to be a Joshin and he would bring the head of a Venator Society captain to prove that to everyone!
Looking at his clock he saw it read 1:59 PM, the message he’d received had only said “Be at Shibuchi by 1:30 PM August 1st.” The Venator Society part had been filled in by rumors and whispers, but there was enough of them that he could trust that it was true, you can never trust rumors afterall.
Just then his clock turned to 2:00 PM with a click.
“!”
There was a flash of light before him which caused Goutou to recoil and cover his eyes. And from where that flash had come from there appeared a boy- an Edojin no doubt with his rounded yet sharp eyes and a mess of frizzy white hair which stuck up as if he’d been struck by lightning. Wearing nothing but a black wife beater and red boxers he looked just as confused as Goutou felt.
“Gurah!” Off instinct and with a yelp Goutou infused his fist with as much aura as he could until he felt like his hand would explode into flesh and bones. His knuckles smashed into the man's jaw and coughed as his eyes went wide. Then he was thrown backwards, all the way out of the alley and across the street into the front of a building across the way into a store of some kind. Its large front window bursting into shards of glass as metal shelves full of goods crumbled like cheap tissue paper.
“Who the hell was that?!” Goutou growled as his fist throbbed in pain. He could feel his heart fighting to burst out of his chest, sweat plastering the gold necklace he wore around his neck to his collar. A kid who appeared out of thin air? This isn’t funny man what the hell is going on!? With a gasp for air he exhaled deeply and straightened himself, he would not be a coward, he would be brave, for all he knew this man was a member of the Venator Society who somehow had gotten thrown away by some Hachibutos spell. He would defeat him and bring his head as well as a captain's, the more heads the better he looked.
With a laugh he took only a step forwards before the boy walked out of the stores front door-
“God damnit, I’m already tired and nauseated and I get sucker punched too!?” The boy wore a white shirt with some kind of cheaply printed red logo across the front in Shinkai letters as well as black shorts underneath. His bare feet were still exposed but now with straw colored sandals under them.
“How the hell did you have time to-” To get dressed, it had only been two seconds is what he wanted to say, but he was cut off as there was the sound of thunder clapping and a flash of light. Then suddenly everything went black.
# # #
“Stupid bastard.” Hayai growled, pulling his hand from the man's neck as he slumped to the ground. He was an ugly man, as all Edojin were of course to Hayai. Men and women- they had those same slant eyes and flat nose. People sometimes said Hayai had the same- but he did not! He looked nothing like an Edojin no matter where he came from he was Afurenthosian, and there was no question about that. He’d spent every single day of his life in that country, where he was born or to whom it didn't matter. He was from Afurenthos.
Spitting on the man who was now slumped to the ground he flicked it through the air before tucking it into his pocket. Looking around the street it was completely empty. His observation- or rather the static in the air seemed to be a fire though, he could feel snaps and crackles from every direction even a few words came though, mostly cursing in some awful tongue he didn’t understand. He spoke Shinkai, not Edogo or whatever excuse of a language it was. It all sounded the same to him, like a speaking with a mouthful of food, he nearly gagged at the thought. No, maybe it was the smell, it smelled like green tea- green tea disgusting, brown tree was obviously superior in flavor. People who eat bitter things are no better than animals. He’d always said that, only animals didn’t care about flavor, humans however enjoyed them, the sweet things in life like chocolate, fruit and sugar that is what humans eat.
Fluffing his hair he focused his mind, Hayai was truly a man born a natural prodigy for magic, as an elementalist by nature he had an extreme affinity for [Electric] and could turn his very aura into that element. Something not even Jinen Lutece could do. The static continued to spark around him in every direction but he couldn’t pick up on a single one- his mind was too full of its own static.
Found in a dumpster in Edoland, taken in by da- El-Saber- discarded and unwanted- abandoned.
He clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt. “I’m too tired for this, I need a DEMON energy drink or something to wake me up, I wonder if they have the white kind?” Kanshi liked the red flavor but Hayai couldn’t stand it, speaking of which, where was Kanashi? He’d have to make sure he knew how much of a pain it was to come here, why couldn’t they have picked someone else?
[Ride the Lightning]
With a flash of color and the sound of thunder clapping Hayai was right outside the store he’d been thrown into. Jumping through the broken window he made his way to the many refrigerators all labeled in some kind of scribbled excuse for words and pried it open. There were many strange flavors of drinks here.
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“Melon, Pickle, Soy, Redbean, Chocolate, what the hell is this?” He asked aloud, moving dwon the aisle he finally found what he was looking for and with a grin grabbed it. The black can had a large white D with what looked like blood running down it, at least in the red flavor it did.
Though Hayai paused as he saw the price tag stamped onto the side of the can, it was a dollar, realizing he’d not even brought his wallet he hesitated before opening the drink. “I mean I’ve already got these clothes on, the least they can do is give me some free stuff for my efforts huh? I should drink this entire store's worth!” He nodded, he would make sure to get what he was owed for having to deal with this mess.
His throat dry he cracked open the can and chugged the tart liquid down like it was the finest iced cold water after days of crawling through the scorching dry desert. With a hiccup he threw the empty can into a yellow colored trash can, there were many for some reason, why not just have one or maybe two at most? The more I see the less sense it makes.
Walking back outside and under the clear blue sky with only a transparent red dome above Hayai closed his eyes tightly. He focused on those bits of static in the air, like wiry strings they tickled at his ears,
Shaking his head Hayai focused again, the static spoke to him, it said many things and showed him images, but he couldn’t just go anywhere. He needed to hurry up and find someone worth his time. “The quicker I find a big bad the bigger I get to go home right?” He muttered aloud. He was never the kind to reveal in missions like others did, if needed he’d participate but he’d much rather do his daily paper work and go back home and drink soda, eat candy and play video games or watch movies. “The quicker I hit my quote the quicker I can get the hell out of this hell and go back to that.” He nodded with a smirk, such a quote not existing outside of his head.
“!”
The static suddenly burst apart as a single bolt struck Hayai's mind, like he’d been punched in the face. He jolted upright and grinned with wide eyes, it was almost painful how strong it was. “They you are, and there’s a few of ya! Oh yeah, I’m going home early alright!” He laughed.
[Ride the Lighting]
CRASH
With a deafening crash of thunder and sparks of electricity flying through the air Hayai appeared in the middle of the street. Across from him five men, the one who had the most static standing in the front.
“The hell!?” One of the men yelled as he and three others turned to look behind, only the man in the front continuing to walk forwards as if he’d heard nothing.
Hayai ignored the man who’d yelped, a short and fat man with a spike of hair atop his mostly bald head and a nose broad enough to be an anvil. “Hey you, up front!” Yelled Hayai.
“...”
The man gave no sign of interest and only continued to walk forwards, a distance of a few meters now put between him and them who’d only just tailed him. Without turning back he only said a single command. “Yopei, Kinomoto, Sho deal with it.”
“And me Aotori-san?” The man who stood furthest to the back asked- his face was covered by some kind of breathing apparatus which failed to hide his mouth which was painfully ripped open to show teeth and peeled back enough to reveal his gums and lack of lips.
The man paused for a moment, still not looking back he only pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’re to stay with me, Jingou.”
“Of course.” Jingou said. “You three take care of the brat.”
“Yes Sir!” Han, Sho and Kinomoto said in unison. Both Aotori and Jingou have already started to move again.
Hayai ground his teeth, how could he not? This Aotori had ignored him completely, his blood boiling, a vein bulged across his brow. Bursting forwards he charged after Aotori, he planned to leap over the three men ignoring them completely and crush the ugly one with a single move- Then he’d deal with Aotori, for how the man walked and talked not to mention his aura he must have been important to someone.
However-
[Freeze Frame]
Hayai was frozen mid air, like having been caught in a photo he was stuck mid leap unable to move. The one who caused this was Han, Han Yopei Joshin of Amagasaki Aotori. His two hands extend outwards, both index fingers and thumbs were positioned to make a square like one would to frame a picture.
The fat man from before, Shunsui Kinomoto ripped from the ground a metal mail box which he threw straight at Hayai. The object smashing into the boy painfully.
“OW!” Hayai yelped, as he was unfrozen, thrown backwards with the mail box in toe he crashed through another store front, once more glass shattered and metal shelves crumpled from the impact.
“Think that got him?” Sho asked, he was a man with long straight brown hair and a face chiseled from stone, high cheek bones and eyes no more than slits he wore a red turtle neck up to his chin.
“Doubt it, he seemed a wiry one.” Han Yopei laughed with a shrug, he was a man of somewhat taller stature with a thick neck and deeply wrinkled face, his brows arched high and hair a violet red sticking upwards. Ripping the black plain shirt he wore off his chest to reveal his heavily defined but thinner frame he grinned. “It’s been a while since he got to play huh?”
“I hope it got him…” Kinomoto muttered to himself with a frown.
“Oh it got me alright, it’s gotten me in a real bad mood!” Said Hayai as hopped out from the store's front window, a Ragnar Cola half drunk in one hand and a wrapper of Harold's Chocolate bar in the other.
“How the hell did you eat that so fast!?” The three men said in unison , jaws slacked.
“Ya know, if you’re gonna throw a damn mail box at me, the least you can do is speak a language I can understand.” Hayai chugged the final bit of the soda bottle before throwing it behind him with a soft clang.
“If you don’t understand what we’re saying, why did you respond in such a way?” Sho frowned with a raised brow.
“...” At that comment a vein grew on Hayai's temple and he frowned deeply. “I’m gonna peel your eyes open, and then I’m gonna deal with you three and go after glasses and scar mouths.” He grumbled. Then I can go home and sleep. Though that part he added only to himself, he really was tired in more ways than one.
2:06 PM
# # #
2:07 PM
Like a serpent slithering through tall grass Asago Yamikawa lurked behind corners and crawled between buildings. Avoiding both Toumeikan and Venator alike he finally came to a stop as he crawled into an industrial dumpster colored green and dyed black from decades of dirt and grime. Tucked away inside an alley way he could still hear the noise outside, the yells, the cries, the cursings and sound of battle.
Not caring about the maggots or smell Asago curled up inside the dumpster with a whimper, his heart pounding in his chest loud enough he could hear the blood pumping inside his ears.
I was tricked. Repeated in his head over and over again, the noise deafening- he couldn’t escape it, like a scratched record it looped over and over again. He had been tricked. The idea itself wasn’t enough to make him so ill, he’d been tricked before- but never this bad and never by someone he expected so little to be the one do it. Even if someone had managed to escape his sniper's scope he always found them again, and always in the 2nd place he’d expected, in fact the trick if anything was on them not him. He still showed up when they thought they’d lost him- that was the fact of the matter.
But that wasn’t the case here, he’d been tricked and all of his 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on backups had been cut off. He could almost laugh and cry at the same time. How could this be? Why had he never suspected Akatora? 100 out of 100 times he’d have bet everything- even his soul itself on being Aotori and Domushi. They’d always been the most mysterious, the most conniving and arrogant, acting as if no one knew of their secret alliances and schemes played out inside of back alleys and old warehouses. But never Akatora, a man so shallow he wore every emotion on his face.
Hearing the noise die down outside Yamikawa began to move- he’d never been one to stay in one place too long. Therewas a chance he’d be found, and if he was found he’d be dead. And Asago Yamikawa feared death as much as anyone could, just the thought alone made his stomach cramp, like a ball of lead had been dropped onto it.
“I’m not going to die.” He muttered to himself, “I’m the one who kills, I'm the one who pulls the trigger, not the one in the scope.”
As the noise died outside Yamikawa quickly climbed out of the dumpster, he couldn’t stay there for long, he never did stay in a single place because then it was easy to find you, and if you were found you'd die. Didn't he already say that?
"Yo! Over here, it's safe!
Yamikawa flicked his head in the direction of the Venator who approached him, a man who stood roughly 6 feet in height with broad shoulders and a head of curly blonde hair. Member of the Gamma Division, Kasui Fōder. “I saw you trying to hide, but don’t worry I just took care of the Toumeikan and-” Kasui stopped mid sentence as he saw the face of Yamikawa, despite his frizzled hair and missing blazer, a loose tie hanging from his neck the man was still Asago Yamikawa. Reaching back he tried to draw the machete at his side however-
POP!
His head burst open, blood flying through the street with bits of skull and brain matter sticking to the alley way walls.”
"Jeong." Yamikawa said, looking over his shoulder and behind him. The man who stood there was one of slightly above average height, his white high collared coat nearly reaching his eyes where tiny black spectacles straddled the bridge of his flat nose. His hair colored black and spiked upwards had only two strands hanging loose, both long enough to just barley reach his brow.
“Neid huelp?” Jeong asked, his tone was was sharp and thick with an accent. The kind of accent of those who's mother tounge was Nango, native to southern Taiponbo. Jeong has been raised in what was once known as Kanguni a country which had now become part of the larger Goubei Kingdom. Kanguni and it's siblings nations which had been at odds in every way for the past 200 years united by [Tenou] the hawk of Freedom. Many hits had been put on that man, yet every single time he managed to avoid the scope of Yamikawa.
Yamikawa shook his head; Bad thoughts... Pushing flat raven black hair from his eye line and fixing squared glasses which reflected the light ominously Yamikawa hurriedly straightened his tie. “I appreciate the offer, have you found anything of interest?”
“Nothung hwe culd yus.” Jeong shrugged.
“I see, how annoying.” Yamikawa had just finished smoothing his white button up shirt when a scream erupted from behind him. “Kasui!?” The woman yelled, appearing suddenly she was followed in toe by many more Venators who swarmed the fresh corpse of Kasui Fōder.
Jeong creased his eyes and looked to Yamikawa, “Hwunt mei tu taik cure of eit?”
Before Yamikawa could answer the question pursed by Jeong the girl who'd screamed stepped forwards with a shout. "Did you do this!?" She hissed, Orivea Jubber was her name, rear commander of the Gamma Division she was rather short but well built with visible muscle definition not unlike a volley ball player. Straight black hair cut short with squared bangs hovered just above a olive green eyes, her nose broad and skin pale. Behind were were four other members of the Gamma Division- Cauthein Alsourn, Juseifu Rekatzi, Hanrui Culmbs and Ackeleus Muitea.
Yamikawa shook his head to Jeong, "No, don't waste yourself now." Turning to the Five Venators their faces turned ghost white as they realized his identity. But even then they didn't falter and only reached to their sides drawing machetes, their aura channeled into observation, reinforcement and enhancement ready to fight to the death. However because a single move could be made by them it was Yamikawa who took the first step. Raising his two hands he made an “Ok” sign with both and crossed his forearms into a X shape.
There came a flash of light and suddenly-
[蜂熨: Full of Lead]
# # #
Orivea found herself inside a black void, reaching out she grabbed the next person, her fingers interlocking around the black rimmed hat which Cauthein wore he in turn felt to his right which was the caramel brown short curls atop the head of Hanrui.
“Whe-” Before Hanrui could even utter a single full word it happened. Bullets- from every direction, every angle and shape flew at the five inside the Liminal Realm. With sparks they saw in brief flashes of light they saw each other getting filled with holes, turned into swiss cheese, blood pouring out and screams non-existent as heads popped, bones broke and organs ruptured. It lasted no more than two seconds before the realm closed and the five mangled corpses saw the sun shining upon them.
“Suzat Hwus eaisi.” Jeong joked with a dry, almost croak-like laugh. He twirled one of the two hairs which hung below his brow, twisting it round his finger.
Yamikwa only narrowed his eyes at the corpses, his lips curling into a cruel smirk more akin to a snarl. “It was this Jinen Lutece who caused this, right?” He asked, though he didn’t wait for a response before he continued. “Then I just have to kill him.”
[ 浅可我楽燾: Asakawa Goutou] The first Kanji means Shallow or Superficial while the 2nd means passable or satisfactory, the 3rd “I” or Ego as in yourself. As for his first name, the Kanji are “Happy.” and “Shinning” or "Illuminate."
[島島黄麒麟: Toushima Kikirin] The first two Kanji are the same meaning Island, they can be read as Tou or Shima so I just thought it would be funny to combine them into Toushima, the last three mean “Yellow Giraffe.”
[尼青鳥: Amagasaki Aotori] The first Kanji means “Nun.” while the other two mean “Blue Bird.”
[冬歳仁剛: Fuyusai Jingou] “Winter Age” and “Strong Virtue.” No real meaning on my part, just a normalish name.
[宮本勝: Miyamoto Sho] Miyamoto is the name of a temple, old prefecture and a common last name, the 3rd Kanji Sho means victory. A normal name.
[坂過平: Han Yopei] The first two Kanji mean “Slope” while the two others mean “Excell at peace”. Again another somewhat normal name.
[木ノ本伸水: Kinomoto Shinsui] Another somewhat normal name in sound, the spelling is a bit weird though the first meaning Tree, the second is the Katakana character for “No” and the third book. The last two Kanji mean "Stretching" and “Water.”
[朝古闇川: Asago Yamikawa] The first two Kanji mean “Morning.” and “Old” while the final two mean “Dark River.”
[楊正: Yang Jeong] - Koreans actually used to use Hanzi though they called it Hanja and used it for all writing, though after WW2 they created Hangul their modern language. Though Hanja still stuck around for some time even still showing up today as peoples name. Originally Jegons name was Park Jeong but I already have a Park so I decided to change it to Yang. The character themself means “Willow tree” and “Justice.”
[南語: Nango] - Literally Southern Language.
[傲平: Goubei] The first Kanji means “Proud,” and the second “Peace.”
[韓国: Kankuni] Okay, not my most creative name… it literally is just “Korea” but in Japanese Korea is read as Kankoku and I made it Kankuni so give me some credit here at least!... Okay fine [歓国: Kankuni] meaning Joyous Country, is that better!?
[天鷹: Tenou] - The first Kanji means Heaven and the Second Hawk, though another name he was known by was 北寶 Kenou meaning “Northern Hawk.”
[蜂熨: Hachinosu] Means Bee hive basically… though I used a different Kanji for the 2nd instead of の巣 which I thought was too generic, the second kanji here 熨 means to smooth out or iron.
