This chapter is dedicated to Haru-Nari8! Happy reading :)
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Hisako pov:
I had just stepped into the local department store for the chips that I had volunteered to buy to eat as a snack during our project brainstorming. This particular locality was quite calm and the people seemed friendly. They smiled and bowed to me as I passed them on the streets, even exchanging light hearted greetings about the weather which I sufficed with a small smile and a short response probably not even ten words long. It was rare for me to talk to strangers easily and this time wasn't any different.
I walked through the aisles looking for the variety of chips I thought was good to buy. Instead of picking out just one type, I picked out one pack of tangy tomato chips as well as one pack of cream and onion chips. Satisfied with my choice, I walked to the billing counter in front. There were two people standing there and they seemed to be engrossed in a rather serious discussion. They were looking at the small television screen they had next to the billing machine and frowning.
"That's terrible, isn't it? To think something so small resulted in something so bad!" One of the women spoke.
"I'll say! And they say that the firefighters haven't been able to rescue all the people inside the building. The fire is just too much." The other said.
I twitched, picking up subtle hints from their conversation. I guessed that someone had bombed some building and it was up in flames now. Firefighters had rushed to the spot so that they could help quell the fire and save the people in the burning building and reporters had also gone there to let the world see all that was happening there through television reports.
"Excuse me, has there been a fire somewhere?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, there has." The first woman said still frowning. "There has been a short circuit at the clothes warehouse not far from here and firefighters are doing their best to put out the fire and rescue the people trapped inside. They've been able to rescue most of them it seems but there are still a few in the upper floors who are trapped. I hope those people are saved too."
"It's close by?" I asked, trying not to sound too interested.
"It's about half an hour from here by car." The second woman answered. "Does someone you know work in that warehouse?"
I just shook my head no to her question. I didn't ask for any more details and got the packs of chips billed. I thanked the two of them with a chaste bow and walked out of the department store. When I was a few steps away and in a place where people wouldn't notice if I suddenly disappeared, I stepped into a dark alley. I put my backpack down along with the chips against the wall. I took off my earphones and cell phone as well and put them in my backpack before using my powers to cover my stuff to make this portion of the alleyway look like a cement filled box. I then touched the wall in front of me and created protrusions on it so I could climb to the top.
When I made it to the roof, I was easily able to spot the big building in the distance up in flames. The women had said that there were still people trapped inside and the firefighters were unable to get inside to save them because of the intensity of the flames. It did look pretty bad from here too and I knew that being a Superhuman, I would have to step in to help. It was dangerous, yes, but it wasn't something new for me. I had saved people from building fires before too.
I reached into my pocket and put on the cloth mask that covered the bottom half of my face from view – it was to make sure that I wouldn't be recognized by the people I would save from the fire. I broke into a sprint towards the warehouse while using my powers every now and then to propel myself at faster speeds and make sure I didn't lose my footing anywhere. I was at the warehouse in less than ten minutes of running.
I was sweating slightly from the run and I could feel the immense heat of the flames as I stood on the roof of the adjacent building. It was definitely impossible for any firefighter to get in or out of the building at this rate. Seeing no other choice, I took a deep breath and summoned a denser layer of air around my face to make sure I wouldn't find it hard to breathe while inside the smoke filled building. I jumped off the roof of the building I was standing on, passing through the thick fountain of water that was being used to put out the fire to get a layer of the water over my body for protection and into the flaming building through one of the broken windows of the second floor.
I felt a stinging sensation on my palms and knees as I landed on the debris covered floor of the warehouse. There was fire all around me and some parts of the floor had been burnt clean through. I stood where I had landed for a few moments and looked around. It didn't take me long to spot three people, two men and one woman lying on the floor a little away coughing and barely conscious.
I made my way through the flames and debris, blocking them if they got too close, and finally to where the three people were lying. I got down on one knee and toughed the shoulder of a man who looked to be in his mid or late twenties. He was still conscious enough to open his eyes and look at me while coughing when I touched him.
"W-who?" He asked and broke into a coughing fit again.
"Don't worry, I will save you." I said and carefully pushed him onto his back.
He nearly choked because of how thick the smoke was and I knew I didn't have the option to postpone a life saving healing session. I held his chin and made him open his mouth. I pulled down my mask and sucked in some clean air through my lips before closing his eyes with my hand and leaning down. I hovered mere centimeters over his mouth and let the air from my mouth to go into his body, replenishing his lungs with the oxygen that he desperately needed. I also slowly healed the slight burns on his body and he relaxed from his tense and suffering posture.
I did the same to the other two people because they had breathed in too much smoke and needed to be stabilized a bit before I could get them out of the warehouse. However, just as I helped out the woman, I twitched hearing footsteps of people making their way to where I was. I pulled my mask up and looked to the side to see three people approaching me while dousing the flames in their path with the help of extinguishers. They all wore half mask respirators to ensure comfortable breathing.
I stood up and faced them as they came to a stop a few feet away from me. I narrowed my eyes seeing the guy in the middle – who was wearing a suit and looked like the boss figure out of the three – watching me quite intensely. I could tell that he was smiling behind the mask for it reached his eyes very clearly. He crossed his arms and put more weight on one of his legs while continuing to watch me.
"Well, well! Aren't we lucky today?" He mused with a chuckle.
I narrowed my eyes further finding something quite odd about this. Why was he here? It didn't look like he was here to save the people in trouble. Instead, it seemed to me that he was here looking for something.
"It looks like setting this warehouse on fire really did help in our quest for knowledge." The man spoke again.
"What do you mean by that? You were the one who set this place on fire? Why would you do that?" I asked my voice going low and demanding. I didn't hesitate to speak my mind when it came to such situations, especially when I saw that something wasn't quite right.
"Since you Superhumans refuse to show yourselves willingly, we, the Intelligence Department involved in research and the betterment of the people, have no choice but to force you out with such methods. I knew putting a few civilians at risk would bring you out of your rabbit holes." He said with a shrug.
"You....how could you do something so barbaric? How could you put peoples' lives at risk just to make us come out of hiding?!" I snapped angrily. This guy was crazy! How could he have done something like this for his selfish motives?!
"Come now, don't show me such hostility. I'll feel bad if I'm hated by such a beautiful young girl. Besides, I consider myself lucky to have baited you and not any of the other weak Superhumans, for your power is the most superior. How about we introduce ourselves before further discussions, hmm? I'm Hozaki, the Head Researcher for the Superhumans Development Program. It's a pleasure finally meeting you in person, Alchemy Princess." He gave a dramatic bow with a hand on his chest.
"Alchemy Princess?" I mumbled more to myself but then scoffed. "I have no intention of introducing myself. I came here to save the people caught in the fire so I'll be taking them and leaving now."
I turned around so I could walk away from this Hozaki person while carrying the three injured people using my powers. However, I was stopped by him once again speaking.
"You don't really think you can leave from here, do you? You may have powers that you think could help you get away from me but I'm no fool. I've already taken necessary precautions to make sure you can't escape."
"Precautions?" I said with a laugh and turned to face him again. "You just called me Alchemy Princess, didn't you? So you should know that any sort of obstruction can be torn down by me. I can even throw you out of this warehouse right now if I want to."
"I know that. However," He said and raised one hand making me tense my posture and get ready to retaliate to what he planned to do. "What will you do when you can't see the obstruction?"
The moment those words left his lips, the remaining glass of the window on my right shattered and I felt a violent jerk to my body. I couldn't tell what happened for a moment but I felt intense pain in my torso and fell to one knee while holding my right side. I looked down and my eyes went wide seeing blood seeping through my clothes and forming a pool on the floor. I had just been shot!
I looked to my right through the window only to see a sharpshooter with a gun aimed at me standing in the second floor of the building next to this warehouse. I looked back at Hozaki with a glare but gasped as I saw him merely a foot away from me. He reached out with a hand but I swatted it away and stumbled back while gasping at the excruciating pain in my torso. I didn't get very far though and I felt another painful jab in my left collar bone. Blood spurted out of the wound from the shot and I screamed in agony feeling the bullet pierce through my body.
I knew that I had to get out of here right now. I had to get away from this madman who was trying to get me into his custody. I had to get away from here and find a place to rest and heal myself and it had to be where Hozaki wouldn't be able to follow. Clenching my jaw to hold in my voice, I thrust my fingers into my collar bone first and pulled out the bullet there before doing the same to the one in my right side. I felt like I couldn't breathe for a moment because of how much in hurt but I regained enough composure to look up at Hozaki who was once again approaching me.
I was breathing heavily and sweating. I felt sick to the stomach not just because of the wounds but also because I wasn't able to keep up my powers after the first shot. The smoke was filling my lungs and I felt choked by it. My vision was going blurry as well and the only thing I could do now was escape by myself – I had healed the victims of the fire enough and I could only hope they would use the strength I had given them to save themselves.
Summoning the very last bit of energy I had within me, I waved my arm across myself molding the floor of the warehouse and creating a barrier between me and Hozaki before darting to the room behind me.
I sucked in a sharp breath when I heard the next gunshot sent at me and it grazed my left arm leaving another bleeding cut. I had already lost a lot of blood and with the gunman continuously trying to get me, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. I slumped against the wall as the room spun and I shut my eyes momentarily to summon more strength from my battered body.
"Now you're mine!" I heard Hozaki yell and I snapped my eyes open to see him running towards me ready to subdue me.
He was almost successful because I couldn't and hadn't moved from where I was leaning against the wall. But something on my left exploded causing the entire portion of the second floor we were standing on to give way. I felt my left arm and chest burn severely from the heat and I was literally thrown out of the warehouse. My mask came off and my eyes went wide as I propelled down to the ground at a speed I knew would result in a fatal landing, all the more so because I was too weak to use my powers now.
Hozaki and his two men too were thrown out of the warehouse and I couldn't help but reach out to them for some help as they fell from above me. They looked terrified, probably just as much as I did and they were flailing helplessly as they fell.
My vision got blurry again and I couldn't stay conscious any longer. I was sure this was the end for me and I just wished it would be over quickly and painlessly. I let my arm fall back to my side as I accepted my fate. I bright pink light enveloped me before I closed my eyes and fell into the darkness.
When I came to, I had a pounding headache. Scrunching up my face and groaning at the soreness of my body, I slowly opened my eyes to see a dark wooden ceiling above me. I blinked several times as I stayed unmoving trying to remember why I was sleeping in a room where the wooden boards could be seen in the ceiling. Everything that happened in the warehouse and with the man named Hozaki came rushing though my mind and I sat up with a start.
Big mistake.
I gasped, feeling agonizing pain though my entire body, especially my torso and most of my left side. I hunched forward while holding the right side of my torso as it throbbed. I got the metallic taste of blood in my mouth and I coughed causing a bit of it to trickle down my chin. I held my breath and clenched my jaw tightly while taking deep breaths so I could ease the pain coursing through my body.
Sitting still did help and after what felt like forever, I opened my eyes with a sigh to take in the room I was lying in. The room was big and rather dark, the windows not open to let in any light or air. Then again, the outside seemed to be dark too – perhaps it was night now. There was no furniture or decoration in the room besides the single mattress I was lying in and a low height table with an aroma diffuser placed on top of it. That was probably the reason for the sort of medicinal smell of the air in the room.
But where was I? What was this place? Had Hozaki managed to capture me as we fell from the warehouse's second floor? Had he brought me here to this strange place and planned to use me for his so called research? If that was the case, I had to get out of here as soon as possible.
I moved the blanket off myself and realized that I was no longer in my t-shirt and shorts. I was dressed in a simple light blue yukata. I opened the yukata a bit to check on the bandages wrapped underneath over my entire torso and chest as well as my left arm and clenched my jaw seeing them stained with my blood. I guess they had taken quite some time to stop oozing blood because they were deep – I had lost a lot of blood which I could tell from the exhaustion I felt.
Pushing the thoughts aside for the time being, I sucked in a sharp breath as I stood. I stumbled unbalanced and held back a yelp in pain as I fell against the wall. My legs trembled and threatened to give out under me but I resisted and pushed away from the wall to walk towards the door while holding my limp left arm. I slid the paper door open and stepped out into the hallway only to be greeted by a large barren courtyard in front and an eerie purple mist hanging densely in the air.
"Where am I?" I mumbled to no one in particular.
I looked on either side of the hallway I had stepped out into but I couldn't see anyone. In fact, I came to realize that I was in some sort of huge medieval castle; a deserted one at that. However, I couldn't push away the feeling that I, in fact, wasn't actually alone here. There had to be someone beside me because if not, who wrapped my wounds, changed my clothes and lay on the mattress in a room?
I walked down the hallway on my right, occasionally glancing at the courtyard on the side filled with the purple mist. I crossed several paper doors that I assumed to be rooms but I didn't bother sliding them open to see what was inside because there were no lights on. However, just before I could pass another one of the doors, it slid open startling me and making me stumble back. I narrowed my eyes dangerously and tensed my posture when a person stepped out and looked at me, having noticed that I was there.
The man who had stepped out of the doors was quite good looking. He was tall, a good ten inches taller than me and had dark hair that reached even past his waist which was left open. His face was attractive with high cheekbones, defined jaws, a perfect nose and sleek red eyes with a bluish tint on the lids. His shoulders were broad and he had a very powerful posture. The one thing that I found odd about him was he clothes – he wore a dark blue haori with green and orange patterns on it and same color hakamas. He also wore a light purple sleeveless vest over it. His clothes were similar to the ones I had seen people wear in historical dramas and it was definitely odd.
"So, you're finally awake." He spoke in a deep baritone that caused an involuntary shiver to run down my spine.
I took another step back furrowing my brows deeper and silently challenging him. He turned to face me fully while sliding the door of the room from which he had stepped out of shut. He neither smiled nor returned the hostile glare I was giving him. He merely watched me and waited for me to say something.
"You're not Hozaki, are you?" I asked threatening him to even attempt to lie.
"I do not remember my name being so." He said calmly.
I watched him for a moment trying to see if he was lying but I could clearly see he wasn't. He wasn't the man who had tried to catch me in the warehouse but I still wasn't sure if this guy was one of his partners or not. I couldn't be sure if I was safe just yet. Thinking so I tried to take another step back but my knees buckled under me. Before I could fall to a heap on the floor, the man caught me against himself with an arm around my upper back. Reflexively, I had taken a hold of his sleeves and I was breathing heavily as the sudden movement and his rather firm grip around me caused a shock of pain the go through my body.
"It would seem that your injuries are yet to heal fully. You should not have got up." He said and proceeded to lift me up into his arms like a bride.
"Let go of me! I don't need your help!" I hissed and struggled despite feeling the terrible strain in my body.
He didn't say anything in return and only tightened his grip on me. I couldn't struggle anymore and he walked back to the room I had woken up in and sat me down on the mattress gently. He moved a little away and sat down with one of his knees upright and I gave him a sharp glare.
"Who are you? And where am I?" I asked not caring if I sounded rude.
"I am Naraku and you are in my castle. I saved you and had your wounds treated and bandaged. You were unconscious for two days – it shows just how serious your injuries are and that you need to rest for them to heal properly." He explained with a hint of indifference.
"Two days?" I asked surprised. "And what do you mean I'm in your castle?"
He was interrupted before he could answer my question. I looked at the door behind him to see three people walk into the room and sit down a little behind this Naraku person. There was a woman who somehow resembled Naraku in looks as well as a boy with brown eyes and black hair tied in a ponytail wearing what looked like a fighter's outfit and a pale skinned and white haired young girl holding a mirror.
"These three are my comrades." Naraku said while motioning to them with his hand. "Kagura, Kanna and Kohaku."
I didn't bother with greeting them because I had no reason to show a friendly attitude to strangers, especially when they looked so strange and I felt the need to be cautious around them. Kagura merely scoffed and looked away from me but Kohaku and Kanna bowed in a wordless greeting.
"Naraku, right?" I said making him look back at me. "Thank you for helping me but I don't wish to overstay your hospitality. I have enough strength in me to fend for myself so I would like to take my leave now."
"I see, so you wish to leave." He said while closing his eyes for a moment. "Before you do, I have a request to make. Once you hear my request, I will have Kohaku escort you out of my castle and you are free to go where you please."
"What is your request?" I asked narrowing my eyes suspiciously.
"I find the shard that you wear as the pendant of your necklace quite intriguing. I would like for to have it in my possession." He said and glanced at the pink pendant that lay against my chest.
I too looked at it curiously. This guy wanted the pendant? What would he want some silly fake gemstone necklace pendant for anyway? It's not like this was the prettiest necklace in the world or something....although, I didn't really have the patience to ask him why he wanted it. He had saved my life, so to say, and I suppose I could return the favor a bit by giving him the necklace. I just bought it on a whim because I thought it was pretty and I didn't really see any need in keeping it like it was a precious family heirloom. Besides, if I gave the necklace to this guy, I could probably get away from him quickly.
I didn't hesitate to unclip it from my neck and hold it out to him. He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, almost suspiciously, before holding out his palm so I could place it in his hand. It was then that I observed that his nails were not like that of normal people's – they were longer and sharper, pointed at the tip like claws. I didn't think too much about it though because I didn't really care what sort of appearance he wanted his nails to have. I did, however, find the way he looked at the pendant and me unsettling.
"Are you sure you do not want to keep this?" He asked while looking over it.
"It's just a simple necklace, not anything I find so important to keep. Now that I've given it to you, I'd like to leave." I said and proceeded to stand up. "I would also like for my clothes to be returned. I assume you haven't thrown them away?"
I stumbled for a moment but some amount of energy had returned to my legs so I wasn't finding it as difficult to stand compared to when I just woke up.
"I have not but they are torn and stained with your blood. Do you still want them?"
"I do." I said curtly and he nodded.
"As you wish." He said and stood up as well. "Kohaku, will you lead our guest to the main gates of the castle?"
"Yes, Master Naraku." Kohaku bowed to him and stood up so he could escort me out of the castle.
Just before I could step out of the room though, Naraku's unexpected words made me stop in place.
"You are an outcast, are you not?"
"What did you say?" I asked while turning around to look at him, my voice coming out much more sharply than I intended it to be.
"You are an outcast, not accepted by those around you because of your difference. You live by hiding who you truly are so that you are not shunned and left alone in the world. You don't trust those around you and would rather keep things to yourself than share them with others, even though they say that they will be there for you no matter what. Am I wrong?"
"What makes you say that?" I demanded and he chuckled.
"I could tell from the way you behaved when you first saw me. But I am the same as you and so are my comrades. We are not accepted by the rest of the world because we are different. We struggle to find ourselves a place to belong in this world." He said looking at me dead in the eye.
It was uncomfortable to have him watch me with such intensity. He towered over me and his red eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark, even seeming to give off a hint of malice. But I suppose that itself was enough to prove that he was different and not accepted by those around him. If he really was as dark as he appeared to be, he would not have saved my life, right?
I relaxed my stance and looked away from him, momentarily lost in thought. In one way, he was right. People who were different, people like me, Mayu Nee, Asami Nii, all the others living in Love Lock and other Superhumans we were yet to meet were different. We weren't....normal. And so, we weren't accepted by normal people even though all we did was use our powers to protect them from dangerous situations. This man too said that he and his three friends weren't normal so he understood how I felt. But that didn't mean I would trust him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said indifferently and he chuckled.
"I see you prefer not to talk about it. No matter. However, I think you should take this with you." He said while holding out a necklace with a purple crystal as a pendant. "If there is any time you are unable to handle the rejection and the isolation anymore, you are free to call upon me. This crystal is made from my miasma and no matter when or where you summon me through this, I will come to your side. I will become your place of belonging. After all, it is only natural to see the company of those similar to you comforting, to seek solace and a place to belong in with people who are just like you."
Made from his miasma? I couldn't help but find that ridiculous. I mean, it didn't really make any sense – he was talking as if he manufactured miasma and the crystal pendant of the necklace was some sort of GPS. But pushing aside how weird the information about the crystal sounded, the rest of his words had a great impact on me, more than I wanted it to. His offer was tempting and I felt the need to take the necklace to give me a sense of reassurance that someone like me, someone not accepted by society, would be there to help me if I felt overwhelmed by the solitude. He was someone I had just met and I didn't trust him, but I was surprisingly willing to take the chance. It was just a necklace after all so what could happen, right?
I reached out to the necklace in his hand. I hesitated for a moment but he didn't move his hand – he neither coaxed me to take it nor retract his hand assuming that I didn't want it. He waited patiently and I finally took it from his hand. I looked over it briefly before meeting his scarlet eyes.
"I will accept this necklace....for now. Once again, thank you for helping me. Goodbye." I said with a chaste bow, genuinely thankful to him for tending to my wounds.
"Will I have the honor of knowing your name before you leave?" He asked as I turned around. I didn't look back at him but I definitely saw the need to tell him my name since he had introduced himself to me.
"Hisako." I said simply before looking ahead to follow Kohaku out of the room and the castle.
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Mwahahahahahaha!!! >:D Were you guys expecting Hisako to meet the Inuyasha gang or Sesshomaru gang first? Surprise surprise! She was saved by none other than Naraku! Dun dun dun!
Anyway lol what did you think of the happenings in this chapter? The fire of the warehouse, Hozaki's attempt to get a Superhuman specimen for his research and finally the conversation between Naraku and Hisako? Naraku sure understands people well, doesn't he? And he knows how to get things done his way....he even offered a necklace made from his miasma and Hisako accepted it! OMG!
Vote!
COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT!!!
;D