Sitting in the house, Hisashi kept his gaze on the clock, waiting. Once the hour hand struck two o’clock in the night, he nodded to Arika who handed him his jacket. Placing his katana across his back, Hisashi stood out in the cold, looking up at the starry night. “The night is very beautiful. And serene.”, Hisashi commented.

“Indeed. But now we need to focus on the mission. Got the keys?”

“Yeah. You sit in the passenger seat. I’ll take the wheel.”

The road was clear, not a single soul outside. He let Arika type in the address while he drove, taking directions from Arika. They followed the last rumor, hoping it would take them somewhere at least.

“We’re here.”, Arika said as she turned the navigation off, taking her weapons out. “Let’s go.”

Silently, they crept up the old factory, the windows were so dirty you couldn’t see anything inside. There were no lights lit, it looked messy and dirty. Hisashi rubbed a small portion of the window so he could see inside, but it was so dark, you couldn’t see anything.

“I can’t see anything. Nor anyone, Arika.”

“Let’s wait for a moment, okay? That window there is broken, perhaps you’ll see better.”

Hisashi leaned to peek through the frame, but his face sunk. “It’s completely dark inside, Arika. Nobody’s there.” He wanted to go back to the car, but then he heard the heavy doors open.

A horrifying screech echoed through the factory. One that sent cold into Hisashi’s bones.

Arika poked him between the ribs to look up, and Hisashi stuck his nose against the window.

A tall man in his twenties was in the room, holding a sword, or what Hisashi assumed was a sword. Hisashi observed him closer.

A strong hand swung the sword, the sword which looked quite heavy, yet the man wielded it with ease. The crimson red hair stood out in the night, it was slightly longer, strands dancing around that slim face, handsome face. His eyes laser-focused on the stone wall before him, each swing of the sword making a dent in the wall. The muscles on his shoulders and arms showing with each move he made. That is Yoru, Hisashi concluded when he compared him to the description. He was training apparently, and there wasn’t anybody with him in the room.

With each swing he made, Hisashi followed it with his eyes, the rhythmic sound of hits mesmerizing him. The handsome face looked serious, with each hit Yoru would purse his lips, only to swiftly swing and hit the wall again. Hisashi couldn’t pull his gaze from him.

Suddenly, pain scorched in his arm. “Hey, what was that for?!”

Arika pursed her lips. “You weren’t listening to me. I said we need to find the fastest way to get to him, without grabbing much attention from him. It seems like it will be easiest to come around, so we can sneak upon him, and throw him off balance. Over there.” She pointed to the entrance Yoru walked through. “Let’s go there.”

Sneaking around, Hisashi threw glances up at Yoru, making sure he didn’t notice them. Slowly dragging his katana out, Hisashi and Arika decided to enter the factory.

Hiding in the darkness, Hisashi and Arika let piles of books and papers mask their presence as they neared Yoru. “What, this was too easy.”, Hisashi thought as he prepared to attack him. But he couldn’t look away, couldn’t take his eyes off the target. Thinking he had his katana in his left hand, Hisashi cut his hand on the sharp metal, the quick wince knocking the metal down.

Yoru turned to them, eyes wide. “Dammit, Hisashi, you had one job!”, thought Arika as she took her knives out, attacking Yoru head-on.

The small girl launched herself at Yoru, swinging her knife. The knife met the metal of Yoru’s sword, the man pushing her down. Ducking, Arika aimed at his side. Yoru evaded it, only to whip his head around, seeing Hisashi jumping at him. His katana aimed at Yoru’s head. Taking a wider stance, the redhead met his swing, sparks flying out in the dark. Swing. Duck. Slice.

Drops of sweat broke out of Hisashi’s brow as he blocked Yoru’s attack. “Damn, that hurt.”, he thought. His foot slid, and Yoru seemed to use it to his advantage to push Hisashi back.

Losing footage, Hisashi gasped as Yoru swung his sword at his head.

Arika hammered into Yoru, slicing him across his side. Using the opportunity, Hisashi struck.

The man was quick. With a dodge, he grabbed Arika and kicked her in the stomach. The wind upon his back had him swing his sword back, the sword digging into the flesh of Hisashi’s shoulder. A “clank” was heard as their weapons fell to the floor.

Hisashi just regained his focus when his face was met with a hard fist. The blow knocked him to the floor, the impact hurting his back. Hisashi coughed blood.

“Hisa–” Arika didn’t finish the word as a smack reached her face. Another one in the jaw. In the stomach. She dropped to the ground.

Arms grabbed him from behind. Yoru twisted one, freeing from the grip, swinging at Hisashi’s head.

Without hesitation, Yoru plunged, battering Hisashi. Punches carelessly landing all over his face, head, chest and legs.  

As Arika lay on the ground, watching her best friend getting beaten, only one word coursed through her mind: Fight. Fight! You have to get up!

She dragged her palm across the ground, feeling how uneven it was. Collecting dust on one small pile, she looked up, seeing Yoru land a final blow to Hisashi’s head, knocking him down. Grabbing his sword, Yoru brought it up to land the final blow on Hisashi.

“NO!” thought Arika as she gathered strength to get up, launching at Yoru and throwing the dust into his eyes.

She grabbed her weapons and Hisashi’s katana, nudging Hisashi to get off the floor. Limping, she hurried him to the exit, running towards their car.

Grabbing the car keys, Arika sat at the wheel, driving away from the place into the deep night.

Cleaning his glasses, Yoru leaned upon the doorframe of the factory. Putting them back on, his eyes narrowed at the night lights that could be seen in the distance.

Taking a sip from his bottle, he shut the doors to the factory.