Immunity Hunter

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Sasame Kai

It's funny how fast something can go south. I was able to avoid the Annual Sweep by conveniently getting transferred to a new team. At least, that's what was told to Ashley and her group. The poor girls had to handle being two members short on the worst day of the year. None of them knows what happened to their archer, Lin Ming. Whispers around the academy say Lin Ming was eaten alive—I don't bother to correct them.

I was busy with my own mission of completing my other hunts. With everyone being locked up in their homes, I picked off the easy prey—the ones that lived alone.

It's 8:00 am on a weekend and I would love to be at home sleeping in. Yet here I am sitting in a meeting room at headquarters. One of Omi's lead agents, Shara Moon, an Okamikiin, called this meeting to address the Skater Boys' failed mission. Last I heard they were getting patched up after the sweep. You can't trust those three to retrieve a huntress safely.

"Sasame, are you paying attention?" Shara asks. Her golden eyes pierce my skull, her pointed ears twitching with annoyance.

"Yes ma'am." I lied. There's no reason for me to be here, it wasn't my mission that failed. Part of me thinks Omi just wanted me here as another reminder of who I am. I haven't forgotten that I'm his prized pet.

"Good." She smooths back a few stray blonde hairs that escape the tight bun, before continuing. "David Langley, would you care to tell me what lead up to the death of huntress Hikari Isen?"

I expect David to tell some elaborate lie to get out of this, like he usually does. The Organization allows these boys to get away with a lot, but when one of our own dies it becomes a problem. To my surprise, David sits straight in his chair giving direct eye contact to the agent interrogator.

"Hikari and I were attack by a Konadai...in a hospital. She was thrown through a wall. I led the Konadai away thinking she was still alive but when I returned I found out that she died due to her injuries," David says with his hands cupped together in front of him. He actually sounds professional for once.

Zach, the usual loud mouth of the group, sinks down in his seat. He looks guilty about something. Shara seems to ignore him as she continues to berate David.

"Why were you at the hospital?"

"We were pinned down, ma'am. Hikari decided the hospital was a good place to take cover while we waited for the horde to move on."

Even though David is spilling out every word as professionally as possible, I can't help but notice that he's blaming all of this on Hikari. Then again, I've never actually met her, so she could have been the one calling the shots about where to go. I do know from the briefing meeting that the mission called for these three to retrieve her and return her back to The Organization safely. I suppose no one really knows what happened over there—that explains this debriefing.

Shara folds her arms, leaning back in her chair at the end of the long table. She taps the tip of her pen to her lips, as if she's thinking hard about her next question. There's a long pause, then she writes something down in her notes. Zach is still attempting to hide. Akairo has the same dull look on his face. David, on the other hand, looks calm but cautious. It's a side of him I haven't seen. He's usually making sexual jokes by now but maybe Shara has him frightened somehow. Or maybe Omi threatened to take away their freedom if they didn't cooperate with the interrogation.

"Tell me about the four kids you saved. I'm particularly interested in the Okamikiin that was bitten."

What Okamikiin? I sit up straight in my seat and lean in.

"What kids?" Zach responds calling Shara's bluff. "Who said there was anyone else there but us?"

"Mr. Bradly, you may not know this but your crap won't work here. There's a dead agent on our hands, four witnesses and a report stating that you attacked two of them." Shara slams her pen down on the table and waves her papers in the air at Zach, trying to keep her voice calm but stern. She pushes away from the table, leaning over it with both hands on the surface.

Zach sits up in his seat, folding his arms. He looks at David, then Akairo. Neither of them wants to speak. Finally, Akairo chimes in. "Two teens named Nevin and Jeiku were escaping a horde just outside the hospital. Hikari let them come in with us."

"We told her it was a bad idea," David adds.

Things just got more interesting. Of all the people to get saved by the infamous Skater Boys, it had to be Jeiku and Nevin. Shara rubs her eyes then sits back down in her chair.

"So, what about the two females?"

"They turned out to be two members of the Sonnie family," Zach says leaning back in his chair.

Shara's jaw drops. "You attacked two members of the Sonnie family? What the hell were you thinking?" she snaps.

Zach rolls his eyes. "How was I supposed to know who they were? The princess and her friend showed up out of nowhere. So yeah, I attacked them. We had to cover our asses and we already had two other morons to get rid of."

David looks back at Zach as if he's giving him a mental high five. Shara purses her lips and a small wrinkle forms on her forehead. She shuffles more papers on the table, writes in a few more notes, and then looks back at the boys. Disappointment fills her eyes. She bites her lower lip. Her mouth opens as if she's about to speak, but she pauses, taking time to look at me.

"Sasame, you know these kids that they saved, correct?"

Is she serious? Why am I being questioned now? I sit up straight, preparing my answer carefully. "Yes, I know them. I was assigned to shadow them for a few weeks."

"And your results, please?" Shara readies her pen preparing to jot down everything I say next. She stares at me, hanging on every word.

"They are members of the Eradication Squad, but they are no harm to us. They have no idea what is going on here and as far as I'm concerned, they have no idea who these three are. We are just like any other squad members to them."

I glare over at the three boys sitting to my left. You're welcome.

Shara writes down everything I say. She takes a moment to straighten the papers and read over what she jotted down before speaking again. "If you boys have nothing else to add, then it looks like we're done here. I'll send in my final report to Omi for further review. Until then, you three better keep your shenanigans under control."

She stands and adjusts her white pants suit before exiting the room. We remain silent until the door closes.

David stands and walks behind my seat. He spins me around to face him. Staring into my eyes, he kneels. "I guess I owe you one," he says grinning.

I fold my arms and look away from his gaze. "You owe me nothing, Omi made me sit in this meeting."

David laughs. "You're such a hard ass, you know that?" He stands and walks to the door followed by Zach and Akairo. Zach winks at me before he leaves the room. I flip him my middle finger in return.

Once I'm alone, I put my head on the table. Honestly, I could have let those three rot but I wanted to protect Ashley and her friends. I've grown attached to them over the last few weeks, even though I would never admit that to anyone here. I refuse to have my head on the chopping block.

Theannual Konadai sweep may be over, but the real chaos is just beginning. I havefifteen new targets added to my list. This is going to be a long season.