NOVEL FROG B1.CH32: Ken & Ryu
Hayashi
Team A extracted intel from the notorious Katsuro Shimadora. And Team B demolished his main testing lab…
Despite the mission being successful for the most part, Felix and his team were still unable to capture Keiko. It seemed that fishing her out of hiding was going to be a trial, and with so much time having passed, it’d be even more difficult to track her. After 12 hours, her trail was lost in the network. After 24 hours, her trail was clean. A woman like that was thorough. We’d have to start over from scratch, and hope that our informant would catch wind of her before she struck.
She hadn’t been in our radar until now, and I was upset we’d missed the association. I’d done my part in researching the files, and usually, I was good at making connections like these. As for the encounter, part of losing Keiko fell on me as well. I was expecting too much too soon from Reina. I had my assumptions given evidence of that evening. Her target had been doting her all night, and even refused to attack her. Shimadora was taking Reina too lightly, until he didn’t. I had to step in and interfere, which gave Keiko a chance to flee.
Speaking of…
What I witnessed back there with Nero was still bothering me….
It wasn’t exactly what he said, but how he said it. That voice… it wasn’t his. No matter how overwhelmed he was when he thought his team mate had died, I couldn’t see an easy going kid like himself derail like that….
I sat on the second floor balcony of my den and looked out into the morning sun, contemplating what it all meant. My head fought theories, none of which were good. I looked down at my tea before my crossed legs and struggled with the concept of this being connected to his growing list of meta abilities. Four was one thing, but five gifts? Never in my history in Hunter Corp had I ever witnessed someone with so many.
“I wonder if this is a cause of concern…” I whispered to myself as I picked my cup of tea, bringing it to my lips. “His system board had already analyzed the new skill. Any day now, Organization VII will get involved, and things might get messy….” I sighed, the thought annoying me. As I closed my eyes, I sought answers. While I didn’t want to burden Nero with my unease, I also didn’t want to deceive him into thinking all of this was normal. At one point, I truly believed it was. One meta addition wasn’t alarming, but two—now, the elites will be looking at him funny.
“Aww, how sweet! You actually care for the kid!” a grating voice echoed in my ears, my face already churning. “That’s very uncharacteristic of you, Hayashi! You always were the tough-loving type. Gotta admit, I’m a little envious of him already….”
“Don’t you know how to use a front door like everyone—” I paused, looking down at my tea to see nothing but air. When I heard slurping across from me, I looked up, seeing my unrefined associate drinking a hot beverage with a proud grin on his face.
He sat there posing, the light spring breeze flowing through his white and black spiky hair. The asshole thought he was truly majestic as he sipped my tea with a smug satisfaction that only inflated his already considerable ego. “Delicious. You really outdid yourself with this batch, Ken!”
I flat eyed him. “I told you not to call me that. It sounds so… American.”
He looked down his glasses at me and smirked. “Oh, come on! Ken, Ryu… it practically rolls off the tongue!”
I sighed. “Ryuske, what are you doing here?”
“Hey now, that’s no way to treat a guest!”
“A pest is more like it….”
“I sensed a disturbance in your aura…. Your output wasn’t tickling me in the right places anymore….”
“Please… stop talking….”
“We are connected on a special plane, after all…” his voice cooed. “An astral plane, if you will…. Something was amiss, and I just had to see what had your wires crisscrossed! Usually, your year ones don’t give you this much grief.”
“They always give me grief.”
“But this time is different….” He grinned. “You want my advice, and I’m here to give it to you.”
Ryuske Itodoro, one of the strongest high-ranked retirees. He used to be a mentor like myself, but he was atrocious at it. He was forced to resign after a number of his students went missing under his watch. His lack of structure and responsibility had great repercussions in the corp. Those same students went solo, turned vigilante, or they went rogue all together. But what he lacked in organization and leadership he made up for in self-discipline and execution. The man was stronger than me by an immense range, his meta abilities superior and his execution near flawless. I wouldn’t be wrong in saying he was the strongest meta out there, even stronger than any single member of Organization VII. As a matter of fact, he’d been hunted for being above and beyond the imperial standard, on the hit list for both monsters and hunters alike.
Despite his persona being somewhat of an acquired taste, I owned the man my life. In the beginning of our partnership, I couldn’t understand why he found a particular interest in me, until he told me I reminded him of his younger brother. I was older than him by a few years, but it didn’t matter. Yuji died a while ago, and he swore I looked and acted just like him.
“Nero Aldeon. Year one, age, 18, District 1 Xion native,” Ryuske said, continuing to read my mind. The moment I’d said yes to being part of his realm, we were connected. Being able to read my mind was one of his perks, among other things. “Meta abilities, five: super strength, mental immunity, physical invulnerability, flame manipulation, and now, thermoreception.” He grinned. “Well, he’s a natural Super Man, isn’t he? I wonder what his kryptonite is….”
“Inhibitors,” I said.
“Nooo, that’s an advantage for flesh eaters,” he corrected. “I’m talking about an exclusive weakness. Something that’d work on him every time….”
“Why is that important?”
“You tell me, Ken?” he said, giving me a looming look.
“I never thought about putting him down.”
“It hadn’t crossed your mind? No need to lie to me.” He chuckled. “I could read your thoughts, after all.”
“If I had, it was a subconscious exploration.”
“Best be prepared than regret trying to improvise at the last minute, right?”
“He’s a good kid, Ryuske.”
“That’s neither here nor there. I don’t even know the guy, so I cannot comment on his ethics. But truthfully, that may not be something worth factoring when the time comes. If that voice came from somewhere else or someone else, then that only indicates a matter far more serious than questionable morals. Think about it—Nero’s persona going dark is much less alarming than something inside Nero being dark.”
I looked up to him, startled. “What are you implying?”
He shrugged and laughed. “No idea! Though, I am invested in finding out. He’s still testing this whole hunter business out, right? His evaluations aren’t over yet?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
He pouted. “Yeah, I know, but entertain me, here! I’m a sucker for conversation! Life gets boring otherwise! I am curious, how is he performing so far?”
“He has much learning to do, but his heart is in the right place.”
“Good! That’s all that matters for now. Has his crew said anything about the incident?”
“Not that I know of… but I know you, Ryuske. You are never without your theories. You came here to tell me something. Well then, let me hear it.”
“Oh—” his voice hitched, then a greedy smile stretched on his lips. “Well, sorry to disappoint. I actually came here to dive into your brain a little. You know how much I like the warmth of your gooey insides.”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Your madness is truly unparalleled….”
He winked. “I will take that as a compliment! That being said, I do want to observe him, given the right time. I want to see how this develops….”
“I won’t take that for an answer,” I said seriously.
He chuckled, then placed the tea cup down and got up on his feet. “I said I came here to give advice though, didn’t I? Not theories….”
“I don’t want any advice. I want to hear the theories. What are you thinking? This situation… it’s a missing piece to your puzzle, isn’t it?”
He scoffed. “Can’t say, really. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Like I said before, I don’t really know the kid enough to say for sure.”
“But?”
“His presence does raise a few questions, as anyone would suspect. When you have an abnormality, you begin to wonder. Meta humans have this code, a ranking system some would call it. We tend to ignore it sometimes and bunch them all in the same mosh pit, so the majority won’t feel left out. You have metas who only have one skill, which are the common group. Then, you have humans who have two. The gifted who have three are special. They are rare cases, three being ultra-rare. Then, you have the meta humans who have four gifts—they are legendary! Only a handful have been reported worldwide. And then, there is Nero, the abnormality. Who doesn’t quite fit in the equation, and maybe, he isn’t supposed to….”
“What do you mean?”
“There could be a possibility that the meta is the conscious being using Nero as a vessel, and not the other way around. It’s uncommon enough to discover talent this late.”
“If that’s the case, why now? When he’s eligible to become a hunter?”
“Maybe the sentient meta ability has a plan within the corp. It would make perfect sense. Remain dormant until the time is right, then show all of the pretty colors to get the vessel in front of the target. After all, his abilities began flaring up just in time for him to enlist.”
“Are you serious about this conscious meta ability?”
He chuckled. “No, which is why I said it was only a running theory.”
“But it’s a viable one, isn’t it?”
“Could be. Truthfully, I hope I am wrong. The idea of meta abilities controlling host humans is scary enough as a concept as it is. You said he was a good kid, and yes, it matters a lot. If his purity is fighting this thing from going haywire, that’s crucial. More than you know.”
“But what if the meta decides to take over entirely? Suppose Nero becomes just a shell?”
He shrugged, “Wish I had an answer for you there. The truth is, we’re in the dark as much as he is.”
I lowered my eyes, thinking to myself. “That fact that he doesn’t remember is a tad alarming….”
“It might actually be a blessing in disguise. If he doesn’t remember, then he will continue to think he’s normal. Maybe for a short while, but that while might be enough time for us to figure out what’s going on.” He sighed exasperatingly. “That’s a lot to chew on, isn’t it? Fifty years ago, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Meta beings, shadow walkers, both supernatural beings beyond the human understanding. You know, the only difference is that one needs to feed on human blood. For strength, for vitality, for pleasure…” He snorted, tossing his hands in his pockets before he turned his back at me, watching the sunrise. “Such a strange concept… finding similarities between the two. Sometimes, I can’t even tell them apart…. And we still have no idea where either of them came from….”
“We don’t deserve to be grouped up in the same category as flesh eaters, Ryuske….”
“And why is that?”
I sighed. “I don’t feel like having this conversation with you again….”
“We aren’t that much different from them, are we? And as meta beings, not so different from humans, either. You can’t deny that. If you really think about it, you’ll see that the only difference is our callings in life, our values, and our temptations.”
“You just explained the definition of identity,” I said looking up to him. “What shapes us is our life choices, our ambitions, our values, and the resistance to our dark temptations. Eaters make a choice to terrorize; their ambition is to ruin lives. They have no values, nor do they have any type of resistance to dark temptations.”
“An infamous hunter shares the same traits,” he said, and I could sense him smiling without him looking at me. “Tell me I’m wrong?”
“An infamous hunter doesn’t feed on humans.”
“No. They feed on greed and pride, which could be worse. A greedy and prideful man with power is very capable of burning down cities, countries, even. Washing away lives in the masses. But most monsters feed because it’s a necessity.”
“I don’t appreciate your analogy, Ryuske. From what you’re implying, there is very little that makes us different from serial killers, rapists, and pure devils of this world.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. All I’m saying is that we’re not so different from humans, from each other, or even from the monsters we hunt. We all have our own callings, our own desires, and our own temptations. It’s how we choose to act on them that makes us who we are.”
I digested his words for a moment, before I frowned and said, “So, you’re saying... we’re all monsters in our own way?”
Ryuske nodded solemnly. “In a way, yes. We all have the potential to do monstrous things. But it’s our choices and actions that define us. We are all shaped by our own internal hunger. Whether we feed it with power and pride, or with the flesh of others, it comes down to the same basic instinct: survival.”
I squinted, looking at him intensely. “Something triggered you to defend the predator mindset.”
He chuckled and turned to face me. “Funny you should mention that! This issue with Nero really had me thinking. But it wasn’t him that triggered it, not directly. More so, it was the correlation to your student and this small boy I saw the other day.”
“What about him?”
“He was an itty bitty assignment—reports said he ate a married couple in one night.”
“That isn’t an uncommon thing for a shadow walker to do.”
“The boy looked like the couple’s son who died four years ago.”
“Also not uncommon for shadow walkers to taunt their victims.”
“When I approached the boy, slash, flesh eater as he knelt down in the blood of his victims, he turned around and apologized.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s your point?”
“His sorrow was genuine…. He mentioned having to do it because he’s been starving for weeks.”
“I’m still not following you, Ryuske. Monsters play mind games all the—”
“It wasn’t a mind game…” he said, his face growing serious. “This flesh eater was genuinely upset he ate his parents. I believe the couple had bonded with him for some time, and for whatever reason, it truly believed it was a little boy.”
“They do strange things for a thrill.”
“Maybe, but not a ride. That level of commitment wasn’t fabricated for malevolence.”
“Was that all you took from that experience?”
“There’s still so much we don’t know about shadow walkers, Ken. The power struggle isn’t black and white. That’s just what we want to believe. It’s simpler to think that monsters are just monsters, and hunters are heroes. But it’s deeper than that. And Nero is proof of it.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I said, getting up on my feet. “Maybe I didn’t want to hear your theories….”
He laughed. “You’re just upset I compared you to a flesh eater!” He grinned. “All of that tough talk only to be a big sensitive softy inside!”
“Your implications are a stretch. The difference between us and those monsters is black and white, night and day,” I said confidently. “Our differences aren’t as simple as you’re making them seem. Flesh eaters enjoy terrorizing humankind. It’s in their blood. It’s their code of ethics. If you put together a little girl and a shadow walker posing as a little girl, the one posing will devour the other girl every time. The true human child will not resort to eating the other to survive. We have presets that are just in our nature. Those presets are not shared across the food chain. I don’t care how gullible that posing monster child made you; it doesn’t change what he’d done. All it means was that he was more cunning and devious than most. And the fact that you don’t see that truly terrifies me, Ryuske.”
He smirked. “I almost forgot how stubborn that mind of yours is, Ken.”
“I don’t bend for demons.”
“Neither do I.”
“And don’t you ever compare Nero to them.”
He raised his hands as a gesture of an apology. “I misunderstood your position in this conversion. Clearly, this boy is to be defended at all costs.”
I glared at him. “I could do without your smart attitude, Ryuske.”
“You’re not doing him any favors by treating him like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like a mindless child who needs to be protected from the scary truths of reality. Tell me, Ken, are you afraid of discovering these truths, too? Are you afraid of finding out something you don’t like? If not, then you’ll listen to reason. You’ll be the bigger man and be proactive about this. If you really want to help him, you’ll let me observe. And when the time comes, you’ll allow me to interfere….”
I considered my options carefully.
“All I’m asking is to study him. That’s all. I won’t hurt a hair on his head! I promise!” He fanned his fingers and gave me a giddy smile.
The idea was harmless. As harmless as things could get with Ryuske. He respected my word, so I knew he wouldn’t hurt Nero or cross any boundaries. I turned around to exit and gave him the answer he was looking for, “You’ll wait until the evaluation period is over.”
He clasped his hands together delightfully. “Ah, I knew you’d come along!” he cheered, and then his tone turned cheeky. “However, you do know that means that you have to pass him, right?”
“It was good seeing you again, Ryuske.”
