𝑸𝑶𝑻𝑪:

𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒕, 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒕, 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆

***

"Yes, chief. Reporting from Kanagawa prefecture, Sector 12. It seems we lost our men, Assistant Inspector Takayama Hito and Inspector Adachi Yosuke, two of them from the recent recruitment in the P.E.F. We suspect it to be the work of a rank-3 POWAN. I-" the sounds of camera shutters and car sirens blared around him, interrupting his voice as he glanced to his right with a click of his tongue to see media men clicked pictures of the crime scene.

"Tsk! They are such a pain–"

"𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟐."

"I'm on it," Arakawa slid his phone down his pocket.

 26-year-old Deputy Investigator Arakawa Hikaru, leader of this investigation team lived up to his reputation with the amount of missions he got. Graduating from the academy at 18, his adept skills and sharp instincts, along with his sublime devotion to the forces caused him to meet a dignified rank at such a young age, making him a true prodigy by all means.

Arakawa slipped his hands into his pockets, his eyes scrutinizing the two headless bodies. His unhooked top button highlighted his sharp shoulder-bones, the metal neckband reflecting the light of the morning sun in a way similar to the metallic weapon fixed around both his arms.

"How come members of surveillance squad were walking around in a green coded area all by themselves?" His expressions slowly changed into a frown, lips taunted in a straight line.

"Sir," the voice impeded his trail of thoughts as he shifted his gaze in its direction to find a man with medical apparel gloves and no gears, "the security hounds have identified its smell. An illusion type POWAN could have been behind this".

"I see," his brow creased as he ran a hand through his brown locks, mumbling to himself, "Illusion types are usually weak in combat. It must have been an ambush or judging by the state of the bodies," he directed his eyes towards the scene, "it must have been a paranoia attack. I'll contact HQ. You guys take custody of everything you find important. Send these bodies for an examination. Contact their families. Also, ask the public safety squad for reinforcements to interrogate the residents. That's all."

"Yes, sir." The man retreated.

***

"More casualties each day," Hiroichi sighed, complaining in a strained voice, "We need to be more careful."

The responsibilities of being the director of massive army like P.E.D.(POWAN Eradication department) had taken a toll on him. The man, despite being only 46 years old, already looked like he was in his 60s, judging by his greying beard and hair, and the wrinkles surrounding his eyes. Despite being a recently created force —formed 50 years ago by the Sato family itself— the organisation gained a name when people started acknowledging the existence of creatures called POWANs. The family had taken upon itself the mission to relieve the world of their monstrosities, and it had been a hereditary organisation since then.

Breaking his unpleasant reverie with another sigh, the old man kept his phone on the table and sat on the sofa in the drawing-room, clasping his fingers together before his face as he observed his room to distract himself.

The enormous room was beautifully occupied with one big couch and two single sofas resting around a wooden furnished table, with a flower vase and a plate of fruits lying on it. The couch faced a 48-inch LED T.V. hung on the indigo-coloured walls decorated with several photos of a family of three.

The voice of main door creaking open reached his ears, and his eyes caught the sight of flawless white hair reaching the girl's knees, her bangs covering one of her eyes, the other eye a shining emerald like cold skies after sunset, lips with a rosy tint, medium height and properly balanced body. Her gleaming face showed no expression, not even a glimpse of emotion. As if the winter sunset had personified, he was blessed with a girl with incomparable beauty.

"Ah, Asami, welcome home," Hiroichi said, turning around to face his daughter, who faced him in response. "Good evening, father," she replied in a voice as faint as a breeze, slightly bowing her head in respect and clasping her hands loosely before her body. (𝗔.𝗡.: 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗔𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗶 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗢𝘁𝗼-𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹o𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮l𝗹𝘆)

His eyes observed his daughter, how she had grown enough to be a third-year Highschool student. He couldn't believe she would graduate next year, join up for the lessons and emerge as the future chief of the organisation. Not like she wasn't ready now; his girl had shown potential of an excellent leader since day one, acknowledged by many higher ups in the forces for her intellect, strength, and the way she carried herself around.

The said-girl returned after keeping her bag in her room, long silver hair now pulled over one shoulder. 

"What happened father? You looked worried." She stood beside the couch he sat on, resting her hand on its edge, observing quietly as the old man let out a lengthy sigh.

"We lost two of our men in a POWAN attack. It's just heartbreaking."

The air around her shifted, impassive face hiding the anger flaring inside her as she shoved her fingernails into her palm, tightly balling her fists and biting her lip.

A pathetic father and a pathetic leader, she considered him nothing more than that since her mother's death in a POWAN attack, when she had been just four. Every time an officer or citizen died in attacks like these, her mind screamed profanities for her father and his unworthiness.

'Why doesn't he feel any pain? Why doesn't he feel the need for revenge? He never avenged my mother and now he is letting his subordinates die! And even after that, he is strict about not killing a POWAN! How could he be such a monster?' Voices like these ended up echoing in her mind the instant she saw him. The P.E.F. had a policy of not killing any POWAN and not even causing them unnecessary harm, for they were not aware of their subconscious identity. They were normal citizens unknowingly controlled by a mysterious power and the government couldn't afford for them to be killed, a fact which made Asami bitter to no end.

"Ah, Asami," her father suddenly spoke, breaking her trail of thought, "I think your bangs have grown too much. You should cut them off. A student must follow proper discipline. I know you loved your mother but at least trim them a little."

Asami bit her lip as she tried harder to hold her anger inside her. The way she did her hair was just like her mother used to do, a bitter memory but one she held close to her heart.

Her mother had also been an officer in the department. Moreover, stories said she had been even more beautiful than Asami; a cheerful woman, with an extravagant charisma. She used to cover her left eye with her bangs, and that's what Asami started doing when her mother died. Those rare white hair of hers were the only legacy of her late mother.

"Okay, father," she said in a voice fading with each syllable.

***

The street looked bustling with more people than usual. Asami hated crowds, just like she hated most of the world.

Her knee-length white dress with black polka dots made a striking contrast with her pale skin. It was evening already; the sun had gone down, and the mist started settling in the air. The street lights went on as they perished the darkness of the night. Asami crossed several shops, walking with an unusual calm on her face; a calm that hid the darkness inside her head.

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥! she clenched her fists.

Before her eyes could register, a hand shot out from the shadows of an alley, wrapping itself around her mouth and nearly squeezing the life out of her. It pulled her inside the dark shadows with such force; she didn't have the time to react. The thing dragged her down the road with enough speed to blur her surroundings as she bumped into the boxes of trash and window panes, wincing in pain each time.

She pulled the hands dragging her —finding footing on the road— and threw them with all the power she had. The man, as per his shadow, landed on a large bin overflowing with trash.

Asami was confused by what suddenly happened to her, nonetheless, she calmed herself and looked around for routes to escape. It was getting darker with each second, and it was nearly impossible for her to get out of this mess. Apparently, the only route she could find was the one where that man lied.

The man jumped out swiftly and bounced on her. She shoved her leg into his gut and threw him off. Once again, she tried to escape through the opening, but the man caught hold of her hair when she was just about to get out.

He pulled her inside and pinned her down, crushing her shoulders to pieces. The cracking sound of the bones in her shoulders was fairly audible. She struggled to free herself - when the pain in her shoulders became unbearable - and kicked her legs in the open air.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩-

A tear escaped her eye. She gritted her teeth and tried to bear the pain.

A car passed on the main street. Its headlights lit barely a part of the alley she was in, allowing her to finally see his face.

The pale white face from which tangled brown hair hung down, saliva gushing out of his mouth and dropping on her dress, and the spotless white eyes staring deep into her eyes, faded away into darkness when the car passed away.

Black clouds that curtained the moon filled the night sky. Dust flew with the light breeze that flowed above the ground. In such darkness, where anything was barely visible, Asami lied pinned down to the ground, with her shoulders crushed and a pain that was unbearable a minute ago, and a man with white eyes above her.

Her lips quivered as sweat balls ran down her face.

𝘈 𝘗-𝘗𝘖𝘞𝘈𝘕-

***

Notes:

P.E.D: POWAN Eradication Department

P.E.F: POWAN Eradication Forces