It's been a week since M and his group found the whereabouts of Ichiro and where Graft was being made. They haven't encountered any Graft users too but still, they were advised to stay alert. They do not want a repeat of that unfortunate incident, where some of the personnel, including some of the Guardians got killed. Only a handful of them were left.
Like the prologue, this chapter doesn't begin with the main characters. And it only means one thing....
H was going somewhere. He was carrying some flowers with him.
"Hello, H. Looks like you're going out on a date. Who's the lucky girl? Is it Sugaya?"
He turned around. It was Ichiro. He dropped the flowers and took a fighting stance.
"What a way to greet your senpai. I'm not here to fight you. I'm just going to ask you some questions."
H didn't answer.
"Okay. If you won't cooperate, I guess I'll have to take the answers from you by force. What other upgrade did Dan give you?" he said as he attacked H. H was able to parry his punch and threw a punch of his own but Ichiro parried it too.
"That punch should have taken off your arm even if you parried it yet it's still intact. Amazing."
"I won't let you escape."
"Hey, I should be the one saying that."
"..."
"Hey Mama's boy."
"I'm not a Mama's boy."
"Of course. You don't even know who your Mama is, don't you?"
"That's none of your business."
"I know who she is."
"Stop lying. I won't believe anything you say."
"Okay. I guess I'll just give you a clue....Squirt."
"Squirt. Only one person calls me that..."
Two years ago...
*knock**knock**knock**knock**knock**knock**knock**knock*
"Pipe down. We hear ya! Well, well, if it isn't the little squirt."
"I'm not a squirt. I have a name. My name is Hikaru."
"Okay, Hikaru-squirt, what do you want?"
"Please tell the members of Berryz Koubou that they will the next ones to perform, Old-lady."
"Hey, I'm not an old lady! I have a name too. My name is Hitomi. But you can call me Yossi."
"Fine. Old-lady Hitomi Yossi..."
"It can't be..."
"I guess that clue was enough, huh? She is your mother! Yoshizawa Hitomi!"
"I....impossible. She's not that old..."
"She didn't give birth to you, dumbass, but the DNA they used to create you came from her. So she can be considered your mom. I was wondering why you didn't get fat though. There was a stage in her life where your mom was fat."
"That's not true...Yossi's not...I have a mother...."
"Yoshizawa is your mother. Don't you ever feel different whenever she talks to you?'
"I...."
"What? Did I hear you right Squirt? You're asking me how to get a girl's attention?"
"You're the only one I can ask, Yossi."
"So one of the Berryz girls caught your eye huh? Who is it?"
"Secret."
"I guess it's Shimi-chan."
"How'd you know?"
"You mean it is Shimi-chan? Haha. I didn't know you liked small girls."
"She's not small."
"What is she then?"
"Well she's...she's...she's just not tall?"
"Right. She'll grow eventually."
"I think I made a mistake asking you for advice. You're not taking me seriously." H said as he started to walk away.
"Wait, wait. I'm just kidding." Yossi said as she stopped him. "Besides if you ask Rika or Miki they might turn you gay."
"Huh?"
"Rika will probably dress you in pink. And Miki...will probably do some crazy stuff to you so it would be best if you stick with me, okay?"
"Okay."
"Don't worry, I know the fashion for guys your age. I have younger brothers, you know."
"Really. I guessing that you give them a hard time."
"Of course. It's my duty as the eldest. I'm a cool sister!"
"Yeah right."
"First thing we should do is dye your hair."
"Why?"
"Cool guys have dyed hair."
"I don't see the connection."
"And you should have a bad guy attitude. Girls dig that."
"I don't understand a thing you're saying."
"Of course you don't. You also need to have your ears pierced... "
***
"So what happened?"
"The other girls thought that it was cool but she doesn't like it."
"Aww that's too bad. I'm sorry it turned out that way. I'll just change your hair back to the way it was." Yossi said as she tried to reach for his red hair.
"You don't have to." H said as he slapped Yossi's hand away. "You've caused me enough trouble already."
"Hey! That's not a nice thing to say. Didn't your mom teach you some manners?"
"I shouldn't have asked you for advice. That was the biggest mistake I have ever made."
"Hey, I said I was sorry."
"Whatever."
***
"I haven't talked to her after that..."
"I've told you some info, now it's your turn."
"I won't tell you anything. Get lost!"
"My, my. This little boy has a sharp tongue. Your mother didn't give you proper discipline. Well, what can you expect from Yoshizawa anyway? She's lazy. Hahaha. Oh well,I guess you have a death wish or something."
"My Active Shield is full again." H thought. "I won't call M and the others anymore. I will beat this guy."
"I will be merciful today, kid. I won't be hitting you in the face. If you told me the info I wanted, I would've let you live an hour longer."
H raised his hand. The mechanical butterflies which he uses to watch over the Berryz beamed to where he was in less than a second. He closed his fist and the butterflies covered it with a blinding light. When the light vanished, the butterflies were now transformed into rings, one for each finger. The sixth one, with no finger to hold it, dropped on the ground. H picked it up and placed it on the index finger of his left hand. Strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability and skill. Each of the rings enhances H's abilities. But will it be enough to beat Ichiro?
"Wow! Flashy! But that won't save you." Ichiro said as he began his attack. H was able to dodge the seemingly unending barrage of punches and kicked Ichiro at the side.
"I...I hit him!"
"Hmm. I actually felt that one, kid. It's been a while since I fought someone who could hit me. That Frame...Dan has really come up with some great inventions...."
Before he could finish, H pointed his index finger and the ring around it changed into a chain and wrapped around the unprepared Ichiro. Then with his enhanced strength, he used the chain to slam Ichiro on the ground. Once he was grounded, he aimed his right hand and started firing an endless array of energy beams at him. Then he created an energy ball and kicked it towards Ichiro. Once the smoked cleared, there was a huge hole on the ground. The chain still held Ichiro and he wasn't moving.
"I...I did it!" H said as he raised his fists in the air.
"No you didn't kid."
Ichiro stood up, freed himself from the chain and slowly walked towards H. H started firing energy beams again but it didn't stop Ichiro from advancing. He stopped firing when Ichiro was already standing in front of him.
"You ruined my favorite shirt!" Ichiro said as he punched H in the gut. H fell on his knees, trying to gasp for some air. It felt like that punch left a hole on his body.
Ichiro yankee squatted in front of him. "I won't hit you in the face. I want your mother to see it without any scratches. Also, that little girl might cry again if she sees that the guy she likes got into a fight and lost an eye, some teeth and got a dislocated jaw. Hahahahaha"
***
*knock**knock**knock**knock**knock**knock*
"Pipe down. I hear ya! Oh. It's you."
"Yossi."
"What do you want?"
"I..."
"What? Are you here to waste my time again?"
"I just wanted to apologize for what I said before. You were right. My mother didn't teach me any manners."
"So? What are you trying to tell me now?"
"I just...I just wanted to ask you if you could teach me some..."
Yossi closed the door.
"I guess that's a no." H said as he prepared to leave. But before could take a step, the door of Yossi's room opened.
"Where are you going? I just went back to change my clothes. If I'm gonna teach you some manners, I might as well wear something decent."
"You're not mad at me?"
"Of course not. I'm a cool sis remember?"
"Thank you."
"Don't fret it. Hey, that's a nice shirt. The sleeves look like they were torn accidentally. And that design, it looks like your blood's splattered on it."
"..."
"Hey, it's the first time I noticed but those birthmarks on your face, they're just like mine. Only they're on the opposite side."
"Maybe when you have kids someday, they'll get your birthmarks."
"Yeah. That'll be the day hahaha!"
"Hikaru-chan..."
Yossi and H looked at the one who was standing in front of them.
"Where were you? You kept me waiting all afternoon!"
"Shimi-chan."
"Oh, so you stood up your date. You're such a bad boy, squirt. Don't worry Saki-chan, I'll punish him later."
H dropped on his knees.
"I'm sorry, Shimi-chan."
"Hey you don't have to do that, Hikaru-chan."
"This is the last time I'm going to make you cry...."
Those were H's last words before he lay on the ground. Yossi and Saki tried to wake him up but it wasn't doing anything. Yossi told Saki to call the perv guy with the red scarf. After Saki left, Yossi checked his pulse but it would have been a lot better if she didn't because when she didn't find any, tears started to find its way on her cheeks. "Not again, not again! I'm not going to lose a brother again!" she kept telling herself.
It was only then that she noticed the thing written at the back of H's shirt.
-6% by ICHIRO
And this time, she knew that it was indeed blood used to write that.
***
A few days later...
"You can't do anything?" a furious M asked Dan.
"I can't do anything."
"You just repeated what I said."
"I know. And you should know that I really can't do anything. I'm not a God. I can't resurrect the dead."
"But..."
"Guardians are made from living persons. Even with what kind of condition that person is in, we can help him. But if he's dead, we can't do anything. Science has its limits."
"Couldn't you transfer his memories to another body?"
"That's possible. But transferring memories can lead to unstable personalities. Look what happened to..."
"Don't say his name."
"Anyway, I have to meet up with the bosses and find out what their plans are. Poor Yoshizawa and Saki are still traumatized." Dan said as he left the lab.
M slammed his hand on the table and cut it in half. He put his hands on his jacket's pockets and took out H's rings.
"If something happens to me, I programmed them to follow you. You will be able to use them but I removed the script that makes them watch over the girls when they're taking a bath, or changing their clothes."
"H..."
Then M saw the folder he held when he was getting an upgrade, the folder about his past. He didn't care about what Dan told him before. He opened it.
"Dan told me that my name was Kitahara Taiga. Could you find any info about a person by that name S?"
"Fine."
After a few seconds...
"A person by that name doesn't exist. I checked hospital records. As in all hospitals and all records."
"Dan tricked me again. What about Kitahara Masato?"
"Wait."
"Done?"
"Kitahara Masato. On June 9, 2006, He and his family met a tragic car accident. Masato survived but died when he got to the hospital."
"..."
KITAHARA MASATO
Those were the only words M was looking for in the folder and he was glad he found them. He smiled yet he was worried at the same time. Why you ask?
Because he just received a message from Risa earlier.
3:00 PM
Michii-kun, you remember that friend of mine I was telling you about? Masato-kun called me and asked me if we could meet. Don't worry, I won't be going alone. The Rokkies and Ai-chan will go with me.
3:10 PM
Miki-san told us that she could give us a ride if we let her and Ayaya-san come with us. Looks like this will be fun.
"Check." M looked at his palm.
578. 592. 601. 617....
The number kept getting larger every second.
FUCK! We're not going to lose to you, Ichiro! M said as he ran out of the room to get the others.