Age of Darkness (24 page)

Keimaro could take any hateful words, but lies
like that made him want to murder Buu. He moved forward, his eyes glowing like
two coals dipped in molten lava. Smoke rose off of his body as flames generated
along his fist. No words could leave his mouth for fear that he might
accidently release a jet of flame outward instead.
Make him pay for
everything that he’s done to you
, a voice boomed in his head.

“Oh, the demon comes to his senses, huh?”
Buu yelled, sprinting forward as he leapt into the air. “You deserve to die. It
is all your fault that Bakaara is gone, you stupid, insolent bastard of a
child! Your mother deserved every bit of pain she got from those soldiers for raising
a child straight from the depths of hell!” His image vanished.

Keimaro’s eyes could see everything that
happened. He saw the magic somehow. A glowing, swirling void in the air sucked Buu’s
body into the hole, making him vanish in an instant. His knuckles cracked from
how hard he clenched his fist, and he spun around, seeing the portal reappear
behind him. With unnatural clarity, he rocketed his fist outward, rotating it
before Buu had even appeared. When the boy did, he met a fist solidly to the
face. There was a crack as the fire-filled fist collided with Buu’s face,
Keimaro’s body rotating as he drove his opponent straight into the ground with
full force. The boy felt drained of energy, but his body was singing with wrath
he wanted to unleash on Buu, eager to barrage the former bully with fire-filled
punches and tear him apart after what he had said.

But Keimaro did nothing more. Instead, his
demonic eyes glared straight into the blue pools of Buu, the boy shaking as
blood streamed down from his broken nose. Small burns marked his cheeks, and he
stared, trembling, awaiting more blows to rain down on him. None came.

Keimaro knew that Buu could no longer move
after a blow like that. In fact, he was impressed that the boy was still conscious.
The silence dragged out for a moment longer before the crowd roared in
approval, the earth thundering from their bellows of amusement. The boy stared
down at Buu with a sullen look before Aladdin rushed to his side and thrust his
limp hand into the air to claim the victory.

In his heart, he felt no such victory. All
he felt was pain at the reminder of his mother’s fate. He didn’t believe that
she had been abused, but her death was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
Why
weren’t you there for your own mother when she needed you most?
Keimaro
lowered his head, looking away from his opponent. Buu stared at him weakly. He
felt that perhaps he had gone too far.

“Keimaro Hayashi,” Yuri boomed, his roar
silencing every single assassin that had taken the time to watch the battle.
They all shrank away as the werewolf stomped forward down the steps of the
stands and locked gazes with Keimaro, glaring at him with his beastly eyes. “And
what on earth do you think you’re doing? You know we have plans for tonight.
Why do you insist on risking injury?”

“I was having a reunion,” Keimaro muttered,
pulling his arm from Aladdin’s and grabbing his clothing from the noble. He
slid on his shirt and threw on his cloak, his cape flapping behind him as he
walked forward to the stands, looking up at Yuri. The ten-foot walls were all
that separated them. “So? How might I help you?”

Yuri simply stared at him and rolled his
eyes. “We have something that we need to show you. It’s confidential. Meet me on
the top floor immediately.”

***

As he walked up the long spiral stairs, Keimaro
was lectured on how he should’ve been resting and eating rather than fighting
in the arena. All he could do was block out Yuri’s words and think about how
annoying it was to walk up all these stairs. He wished they had just used the
teleporting platform like when he’d first arrived at the mansion. He wiped some
sweat off of his brow, and Yuri stopped at the top floor, looking at a servant passing
by. Keimaro hadn’t even been aware that the mansion had servants. Then again,
he supposed that it made sense, since Z had to be rich to afford all of these
magic rooms.

“Your servant will lead you to the private
bathing house. It’s indoors, so I warn you to bring a torch—and more than one,
at that. Otherwise, it could get quite dark if the water accidently puts out
the first one,” Yuri said with a shrug. “Not the best experience and not the
most pleasant bath either. Anyway, make sure to come to me at the infirmary
once you’ve cleaned yourself up. We have something to show you.”

The servant wore a black dress that stopped
mid-thigh, while white stockings stretched up several inches past her knees.
Her long, brown hair hung down perfectly combed like a princess’s without a
single knot in it. Her hazel eyes averted from Keimaro as her cheeks flushed
red. She held her hands behind her back shyly, inadvertently drawing attention
to the red bow at the top of her breasts that kept her dress together. She
definitely didn’t seem like the type who would normally be a maid. In fact, she
already looked quite shaken just from wearing the dress.
Perhaps it’s her
first day?

“Around here,” Yuri said, “being a servant
for a day or a week is typically a punishment for the assassins. Mika here tried
to steal food from the kitchens at midnight.” He patted her head gently as if
she were some type of a dog, causing her to pale and knit her eyebrows. “Make
sure not to embarrass her. She hates that. Though she can’t do anything about
it today, she will make you pay for humiliation afterward. Isn’t that right,
Mika?”

“I’ll destroy you,” Mika muttered, crossing
her arms with an angry pout.

Yuri chuckled and gave Keimaro a small wave
before he walked off.

Keimaro blinked a few times as he found
himself left alone with Mika. He scratched his neck gently. “Uh … so….”

“Just come with me,” Mika muttered
assertively and walked off down the hallway with a towel in her hands.

Keimaro blinked a few times, watching the
sway of her hips as she scampered down the hallway. He sighed, sliding his
hands into his pockets as he walked after her. He followed her into a room,
unsurprised to find himself in some type of hot spring, despite the fact that
they were inside of the mansion. Rocks surrounded a rather large pool of water
with steam rising into the air. A white artificial light floated in the air,
shining down into the bath. It would seem that he wouldn’t need a torch after
all. The boy beamed as he looked at Mika.

“This place never ceases to amaze me,” he
said with a radiant smile. She simply left the towel and quickly stumbled past
Keimaro, fleeing to the hallway. He watched her for a moment, not sure what he
had done to repel her. He closed his eyes and turned away, closing the door
behind him. He sighed as half the room was encased in shadows that crept along
his feet.

The boy undressed and left his cloak and
shirt on the floor before stepping into the hot springs. The water felt natural
and clean—and scalding hot. It took several minutes for him to ease himself in,
but when he finally did, he was completely relaxed. He exhaled as he leaned
back against the side of the springs, feeling the cool air evaporate the hot
water off of his skin. The steam drifted upward, obscuring his vision, creating
a screen around him. The rocks that surrounded the hot springs were smooth and,
oddly enough, felt more like pillows than they did rocks. Leaning back and
relaxing, he looked blankly at the clear waters before him and imagined himself
in front of an ocean, just like he had read about in books when he had lived in
Bakaara.
Ah, if the Bakaara massacre never happened, I could be pursuing my
dream of becoming an explorer rather than an assassin. It’s hard to say it, but
I miss the old days in Bakaara.

He sighed. Although he knew that being
associated with this organization benefitted him, he felt like an outsider
already—shunned, as he had been in his youth. From the stares he received from
other assassins, he was clearly the hot topic of the hour. Without a doubt, he
would get more of a reputation after his showdown with Buu. From Mika’s
reaction, fear of him was arising in the hearts of other assassins. Perhaps he
had come across as a bully? He hadn’t wanted that. He’d never wanted anyone to
misjudge him this way. He closed his eyes. This felt like Bakaara all over
again. Everyone had a dark perception of him, and he’d been here only a day!

“Why do you care so much about other people’s
opinions?”

Keimaro’s head snapped up, his eyes
widening. From the dark shadows of the room, a figure emerged. It was another
version of him, except with the Shokugan activated. His eyes were red and
glowing angrily, and the clone wore an evil smile upon his face. Keimaro’s
heart pounded with uncertainty—was he was just seeing things, or was this
doppelganger an actual physical being? He stayed frozen in the hot springs,
unmoving.

“What, cat got your tongue?” the clone said
with an amused smirk, putting a hand on his hip. He wore his cloak and all of
his clothing, but the resemblance was purely physical. The doppelganger scoffed,
his attitude clearly different from the original Keimaro’s. “Your objective
here is revenge! Not to make friends, is it? Who the hell cares what these
other people think of you? What matters is that you use them to get what you
want.”

“No,” Keimaro muttered. “I’m not just here
for revenge. I’m also here to change humanity’s views on the Hayashi clan! If
everyone fears me, then I won’t be accomplishing anything! I’ll still be a
monster in their eyes, and nothing will have changed from four years ago!” he exclaimed.
“Who are you?”

“I’m you,” the clone said with a chuckle,
his eyes flashing bright red. “The real you. The one who is set on his goal.
The one who is willing to do anything in order to destroy his enemies and claim
Hayashi clan dominance over the human civilization.”

“The Hayashi clan isn’t dominant!”

“Why is it that we are faster, stronger,
and better than other humans, then?” The clone paced back and forth as he
spoke, a smile printed on his face. He never stopped watching Keimaro. “Tell
me. Why are we able to destroy entire armies of humans alone? Why do the gods
want us extinct? Why is it unfair for us to live on this earth? Why do other
humans see us as monsters? Haven’t you ever asked yourselves these questions?
Oh, of course, you have. After all, I would know,” he said, stopping in front
of Keimaro so that he was looking down on the naked boy. “It’s because we aren’t
human. We are a whole race separate from humanity. We are an improved version,
and the gods knew it was unfair for us to share the same land with their prized,
inferior creations, the humans. That’s why they called for our elimination,
Keimaro. That is why our mother and father are dead! Our true parents, not
those fake guardians that didn’t give a single crap about us.”

Keimaro lowered his head, glaring at the
clone. “You’ve said enough.”

The clone wasn’t done. “Our lives are
ruined by humanity, yet you want to be friends with them, don’t you? You’re
soft. You want these humans to accept you as one of them, huh? Why would you
want that? It was humans that killed your new mother, too, and obliterated your
village. It was humanity that declared that your entire clan be annihilated!
All of the pain that you’ve experienced in your life,” he cackled with
laughter, tilting his head back as he did so, “has been because of humans! So
why in hell’s name do you wanna side with a race as disgusting as them?”

“Shut up!” Keimaro growled, swiping his
hand. A burst of flame roared outward at the clone. In an instant, the image
shimmered and vanished into thin air. The boy’s heart was thumping rapidly and
he was gasping when Mika threw the door open, her eyes wide with fear. With a
glance, she saw that the towel had caught fire and quickly flicked her wrist. Water
came to life from the springs and flowed freely through the air to touch upon
the flames. The flow doused the fire’s rage, leaving nothing but smothering
smoke.

Mika exhaled and turned to face Keimaro
with a frown. “What happened? I was worried! Why were you yelling? Who were you
talking to?”

Keimaro blinked and realized that the
entire thing had been an illusion. Was he going mad? Something like that had
never happened before. He shook his head and sighed. “No, it’s nothing,” he
muttered. He climbed out of the springs, water dripping off of his body.

Mika squealed and turned away, her hands
folded over her lap as a rosy blush bloomed on her cheeks. “Cover yourself up
before you get up like that!” she exclaimed, rushing out of the room.

Keimaro watched her for a moment and
chuckled to himself, picking up the ashy towel. He dried himself and put his
clothes back on, zipping up the front of his cloak. He cracked his neck,
walking to the doorway of the room, where he saw Mika waiting outside to lead
him to his next destination. He gave her a small nod before he turned back to
glance into the darkness of the hot springs. What on earth had that incident
been? Was he going insane?
I should tell Yata about this.
But, at the
same time, a part of him didn’t want to. Illusions would make Yata worry about
him and make him cautious. He could see Yata urging him not to take part in
tonight’s assassination.

He blinked and closed the door behind him,
giving Mika a small smile. He scratched the back of his neck as he tried to
explain why he’d had the sudden outburst moments before. In the back of his
mind, there was a slight worry because, for once, it seemed that Keimaro was
powerless.

***

Keimaro stared in disbelief at what Yuri
had to show him. His eyes were widened and his teeth gritted together. His
hands shook furiously at his side as he saw a skinny young girl who bore a
striking similarity to the man he had seen in the poor side of the city. She
looked so malnourished that he found it hard to even look at her without
feeling empathy. Where had they gotten her, and how was she important to the
organization? The closer he looked, the more certain he grew that he recognized
this girl. She was the one that Yata and Gavin had brought through the front
door of Zylon’s mansion. Her long, black hair had grown to her lower back from
a lack of cutting. She rested upon a soft white mattress in the infirmary. She
was asleep or unconscious; he couldn’t tell. He glanced at Yuri, who was
looking at the girl with little emotion. “Who is she?”

“We were hoping that you could tell us
that.”

“Huh?” Keimaro blinked, raising an eyebrow.

Gavin was standing beside the bed, his
position rather stiff. He seemed traumatized after the loss of Noah. Yuri
nodded to him, and the soldier lifted one of the girl’s lids, revealing her
iris was a glowing red color.

Keimaro’s heart thumped as he stared. The
Shokugan. Why did this girl have it? Were they somehow related? He had believed
that the Hayashi clan had been massacred. Were there more out there? She was
too old to be Keimaro’s sister. Who was she? “Where did you find her?” he demanded
of Yuri.

“That’s confidential.”

“You showed Gavin, a person that you almost
killed because you didn’t trust him!” Keimaro snarled. “Do you want me to help
at all? If so, you should probably stop being so secretive around me and tell
me where the hell you found this girl!”

Yuri raised an eyebrow at Keimaro’s sudden
aggressiveness and exhaled. “We found her in a government alchemy lab
underground. They have been performing experiments on humans in the poorer districts—people
who were already doomed to die. Many of the lab experiments perished in the
process. However, when Yata, Gavin, and Noah went down there to investigate,
they found this girl. She’s alive. And she has the Shokugan. This begs the
question of whether the government is transplanting the eyes of other members
of the Hayashi clan into fresh hosts. Perhaps they kept the eyes of those who
were killed instead of destroying the bodies.”

“You’re saying they scavenged the dead
members of the Hayashi clan in order to perform tests on live humans?” Keimaro
said with disbelief, finding more hatred building up in his body.
These
bastards have gone too far. That isn’t human! How dare they?

“That is our current hypothesis, yes,” Yuri
said. “Tests show that she’s an ordinary human and that these eyes were
actually surgically implanted.”

“Has she awakened yet?”

“Nope, she’s been asleep for hours now.”

Keimaro sighed. “Allow me to speak to her
when she awakens. What’s the plan with Noah? When are we sending a rescue
mission?”

“Rescue mission?” Z’s voice echoed as
Keimaro glanced over his shoulder to find the man sauntering down the infirmary
toward them, his hands neatly behind his back. “And why would we do so?”

“It’s your son….” Keimaro frowned.