The eerie silence of the night filled Sakido's ears as he took in the sight set before him. His eyes widened and he slowly backed away from the masked figure.
With a labored breath he spoke "Who...the hell are you?"
"Would that change things?" The figure spoke in a low voice. "Does who I am...determine how you'll proceed with this interaction?"
The white haired boy's eyebrows lowered in confusion as he stared at the figure. His eyes began to glow blue as what had become common in a fervent situation. "I'm not playing a...a fucking game here okay? I won't hesitate!" His hands began to blow with a spinning blue energy, which alluded to his fiery sword being ready to deploy.
"Alway so ready for violence you are. Is that your way, Sakido? Is inquisition the last resort?" After speaking these words, the figure peered at Sakido with a stern eye from the only hole in the mask that wasn't obscured by darkness.
Sakido, brimming with latent fear and overflowing with angst, allowed his sword to form, the blue flames enveloped his arm and swept down into his hand, cascading from his fingertips and into his palm, creating the majestic weapon that sat within his grasp. "Back away from me, whatever you have to say, do it now! I'm not taking any chances with you goddamn people!"
The masked figure snarked at Sakido and replied with "People like...whom? You do realize you are talking of yourself right? I have no such power. How impetuous you are."
Pushed to the point of elicit fear seeping through his skin, Sakido marched forward towards the figure and pointed his blade directly in the center of his face. Both of the eyes of the mask were obscured and Sakido could view the figure much more clearly at this point.
"What are you going to do with that, kill me? You are welcome to, I suppose, for I have already seen all that I needed to know." After speaking these words, the mysterious man reached for the base of the mask at the chin, then gently lifted off of his face and brought it to his side.
Sakido beheld the face of none other than Shizuka, resurrected, before his very eyes. To say that he was stunned would be an understatement by the largest margin, for any words that he could have spoken could not express his horror. A man who he had believed to be dead, murdered before his very eyes, he was in complete disbelief. The two boys stood silent peering into each other's eyes, the only sound being the metallic sound of the mask hitting the cement underneath their feet.
"You haven't changed, Sakido, did my death teach you nothing?" Shizuka asked him in a low and almost raspy voice.
Sakido backed up into a streetlamp behind him, using his hands to catch him from losing his very balance. "Hehe...hehehhehehahaha." The boy laughed to himself quietly, his laughter grew louder and louder as he saw Shizuka''s face, the whites of his eyes enlarged and his pupil's shaking.
"No...NO...it can't be...it's in my fucking head. It's another goddamned dream isn't it? I've had one of these before. Fuck, fuck, I need to wake up."
Sakido began to rub his face tirelessly with his hands in order to dispel the illusion before him, but as unfortunate as could be for him, the illusion proved to be all too real, as the figure still stood palpable and corporeal before him.
"You...YOU DIED!!! I...I watched it! No, what really are you? What is this magic?" Sakido yelled while staring at his hands and the surroundings before him. His sword had dissipated by now, but his eyes still remained that glowing blue shining color.
Shizuka let out a soft sigh and began to speak. "I seem to forget how I came to be. I woke up with this faint scar across my chest, it has faded much now since then, though." Shizuka pulled his ragged clothing back to reveal to Sakido the wound that he spoke of."
Sakido thought to himself,'This has to be the work of a Ritter, but which, and how?'. He grew to realize more and more that the power of these beings was far beyond his comprehension. He knew not what to trust, and even less what to expect.
"How...how can this be possible? I refuse to believe it." Sakido laughed again to himself, suspending himself in a brief state of disbelief.
"I am real, Sakido, my life is now real. Do you know what I've learned just now? I already had my suspensions, but I now know that reasoning is far beyond what you possess. I have never claimed to be more intelligent than you, and never will I, but to raise your sword to me and nearly take my life, before analyzing what stood before you, that is anything but intrepid, Sakido."
Sakido scoffed and barked back at him "Shizuka, if you knew anything of what I've been through in these past few days, and hell, what I've seen in all of my years, you wouldn't question my decision! But...you're right, it was impetuous, as well as irresponsible."
Shizuka nodded his head and the two stood in silence for a few moments.
"So, where do we go from here?" Sakido asked. "The story of your death was completely altered in the news, everyone believes you to be deceased!"
A slight smile crossed Shizuka's face, a smile filled with anything but joy, but with indignant grief. "I care not what is said of me. I'm past that." Before Sakido could speak, Shizuka interrupted with a question.
"May I ask you a question, Sakido?"
"Sure, I suppose." The boy replied.
"How well did you know your parents? I mean, do you have any memories with them? We never really talked about that. That's something that I regret, I'd like to know, Sakido. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine as well."
Sakido took a short breath and began speaking.
"No, you may ask, however odd it is. Well, I remember both my Father and Mother. I can remember others, those memories are foggy though, individuals like friends of my Mother and Father that would come over every so often, I remember no children though. I remember less of my father, he wasn't there as much as my Mother, I can't recall what his occupation was. He was a quite stern man, but proud, and smiled often. I wish that I knew more, but when I think of my time with him, the memories grow weak and foggy. My mother though, I remember much, she was the kindest woman I've ever known, even to this day. She smiled even more than my father, she held a heartwarming smile, I remember it comforting me as a child. She was beautiful, she had hair that had the same complexion as snow, how beautiful it was. She always spoke to me in the softest voice, and touched me with the softest and most loving care. I strangely remember how much she loved culinary matters. I helped her often, well, I don't know if I actually helped or not, but she reassured me." Sakido laughed slightly and Shizuka gave a warm smile to Sakido's words.
"She sounds nice, Sakido. It's a shame we never talked about it." Shizuka remarked.
"I never knew that you cared."
"I didn't," The brown haired boy said with a smile.
"Ah, what has spurred this interest now?" Sakido asked him.
"I suppose after having such an 'experience' I do not view things in the same material way. I resent the way that I lived my life, although I do not regret it."
"An admirable change of heart right?" Sakido asked with a smile.
Shizuka grinned and replied "Right."
"What trouble makers we used to be, huh?" Shizuka questioned Sakido.
"We? You brought me into those matters. You were always the one stealing, vandalizing, creating those awful public disturbances." Sakido responded, still smiling while speaking.
"Oh come on, Sakido, you enjoyed it, I could see it on your face. When you first came to Kamigawa Academy, I could tell how closeted you were. I just wanted to let you have some fun."
"That you did." Sakido said with an eye roll.
9 Years Ago
"Come on, Satsuki! We gotta get out of here, Kamigawa's out for the day!" A young Shizuka told a young Sakido as they ran through the hallway of their academy. It was a very formal Japanese school, a very prestigious academy only for students who passed the country's acknowledged benchmark test.
"I told you, it's Sakido. It's been a week and you still forget how to say my name." The small child repeated.
"Yeah, yeah, who cares? Anyway, let's get back at Mrs. Hiture! She won't tell us when to get back to class."
Sakido looked at him with a puzzled look. "Uhhh, isn't that her job, Shizuka."
The young Shizuka rolled his eyes and lectured him. "You're not getting it, dude! We should get to do whatever the hell we want!"
"Why?" Sakido questioned.
"If you can't rebel in life, what's the damn point? You know who I've always found awesome?"
"Who" Sakido asked.
"Those guys, Ronin, the ones who come on the news sometimes with the badass powers. One of them had fire coming from their sword, they actually got it in a broadcast! Oh man, what I would do with power like that! Aren't they awesome?!"
For a moment, the young Sakido recollected the horrors that had not elapsed even a year past the current moment. His breathing grew faster as he remembered the ever growing flames, the gore, the bloodshed, the shuddered and put his hands over his eyes.
Shizuka, showing his way of concern, pat Sakido on the back and said "Jeez man, sorry. I guess you haven't watched many movies. You wouldn't want powers?"
"No." The young Sakido said quickly.
"Why man?" Shizuka asked. They had now reached the outside of the academy and walked along a nicely cared for garden that led along the side of the school.
"Power like that, only tears people apart." The young Sakido said.
Shizuka scoffed at Sakido's answer and threw small pebbles at the brick wall of the academy.
"Why would you wish to have something of that sort?" Sakido asked him.
"So that I could show these people something they'd open their eyes to. They won't listen without, trust me dude, I've seen it."
"To that, we can agree." The young Sakido accepted.
Shortly after this exchange, one of the pebbles that Shizuka tossed, had curved and made contact with one of the windows of the academy. The result was a shattered window that spread shards both inside and outside of the building.
"Ah, fuck!" He exclaimed. "I only wanted to piss that bitch off with the noise, oh dude, let's get out of here!"
Before the two could dart away, Mrs. Hitrure had leaned her head out of the open space that once held a pane of glass. "Boys, which one of you did this?! Tell me now!"
Shizuka prepared to announce that it was himself, however, before he could build that courage, Sakido stepped in front of his companion and announced "It was I, Mrs. Hirute, I apologize."
"Sakido, how could you? You make such good grades, yet you find yourself doing things like this, how deplorable. Go home, I'll have a talk with Izumi about this.
The teacher had walked away from the scene to grab materials to clean up the mess.
"Dude, why did you do that? It was my fault." Shizuka asked.
"I don't know, maybe so that you can save your pass for something better than just a window next time." Sakido said while smiling.
Shizuka's eyes widened with excitement. "Hell yeah man! High five!"
A few moments later, in the Academy conference room.
"I just don't know how many more accidents we can take from Sakido, Izumi. He scores excellent grades, but he can't stop causing trouble." Hiture said while pushing up her grey rimmed glasses.
"Please Mrs. Hiture, give him a chance, he really is a charming child, I suppose he's only impressionable." Izumi said, with an air of sarcasm and kindness in her voice.
"You know this about him don't you, Mrs. Hinode? Oh my, I can see him being expelled very shortly, we don't tolerate this at Kamigawa."
Izumi suddenly shot up from her seat and marched over to where Hiture stood. Izumi took a firm hand to Hiture's shoulder and leaned into her ear. She proceeded to say with a most intimidating cadence.
"Do anything to affect him, and you'll hear from me, and it won't be words that'll exchange. Don't fuck with him."
Hiture stood, her eyes widened, inhaling heavy breaths.
Within a moment's time, Izumi had headed for the exit door of the conference room. She turned to Hiture and said kindly "I'll see you tomorrow okay? Have a good night, love!"
A detectable malice remained under Izumi's words, but Hiture would not contest them. Izumi walked out of the room, the footsteps from her heels being audible all the way to the exit of the building.
Present
"Oh yeah, we certainly had some good times, the greater the punishment, the sweeter the punishment is." Shizuka said while peering downwards and keeping a look of subtle joy on his face.
"To that, we can both agree." Sakido said in acceptance.
Sakido then added "You know, you haven't told me much of your parents either, I'd care to know more of them. You mentioned your mother passed."
Shizuka lifted his head and took on a more serious cadence. "Before...everything...happened, they were photographic parents, nothing to complain about. My mother and father worked, my mother, Naomi, was a waitress, and my father, Tetero, was a stockholder. He was a sort of entrepreneur. One day, my mother fell ill, a disease that the doctors had never seen before. Her skin turned darker, along with her veins. She was overly fatigued at all times, all of her bodily fluids became blood, her pupils faded, and she would sweat profusely. My sister, Ami, is much older than I. She's twenty five now, she was living at an academy during this time, although she visited often. The stress my father took began to weigh on him, he was worried about his income and treating his slowly dying wife. His hair fell out, and he became incredibly thin. One day, however, he saw an advertisement for an experimental solution for an experimental disease that appeared to show the same symptoms as my mother. They called it 'Blut'. My father spent millions on this treatment, almost all that he had, she went all the way to Russia for this. Upon returning back to Japan, it showed that nothing had changed in her condition. They only injected her with pain killers and put fake scars on her body. Once my father found out, he lost it. Out of a desperation to save her, he did his own research and managed to create a serum out of existing medications, and a chemical that I still am unaware of. This serum did sustain her life for a little while, but, her life slowly faded before him. She passed and he went mad. Even though she was gone, all was not lost. He quickly gained his riches back, the serum that he created was regarded as a scientific breakthrough. He sold the recipe for millions and now holds a share in most of the company. This wealth got to him, and he wanted more. I questioned if he even cared about mom anymore. We got into arguments all the time. He gave Ami and I more money than we knew what to do with. But, I hardly ever saw him. I saw him twice in two years. The last time I saw him was 10 years ago. Oh, how did I forget to tell you? That serum that he created, it's called 'X-Axis'. He's the CEO and main shareholder of it now, that rich fuck."
Sakido's eyes flew open with the utmost surprise. "WHAT? Your father is the founder and owner of X-Axis? Shizuka, if I didn't know you, I would tell you that you're lying. I mean, his name is Tetero Shizo, is it not?"
Shizuka nodded. "It is, but I take my mother's maiden name. I refuse to accept the name of that tyrant."
Sakido began again with "Shizuka, that man is worth billions, he's Vice President! What the hell?!"
Shizuka let out a malicious snicker and commented "Yeah, tell me about it. They just allow anybody with a pocket full of gold to become powerful. Wealthy in stock, empty in intelligence, that's how they all are. I just want to tear it down."
Sakido drew a breath and replied fervently "I understand, Shizuka. We both share that sentiment. We can perhaps work on dismantling them!"
Shizuka laughed a sanctimonious laugh. "Oh, Sakido, I don't need your help, I just wanted to make my motives known. Everything that they've built, it will fall. Your ways, your ways are too contained, too specific. To them, there's no specification, everyone is beneath them. The ones like my father, they hold no exception, so I won't."
"How would you ever go about doing something like that, Shizuka? You need years of planning to even attempt a revolution like this. Don't you think others have tried?"
Shizuka again, laughed a wicked laugh. "Oh, Sakido, those others that you speak of, didn't have what I possess."
Sakido gritted his teeth and asked "What do you mean, Shizuka? What do you possess?!"
Shizuka turned to Sakido and spoke his final words for the encounter. "This was a nice chat, Sakido, thank you for your time. We'll see each other again, very soon, I hope."
After these words were spoken, Sakido attempted to respond, but found Shizuka nowhere in front of him. He called his name and searched for him, but the young man was nowhere to be found. This sudden event had Sakido question if all of the transpired events had actually been real. Still, he remained steadfast that it was true. Hsi breath grew faster as contemplated over Shizuka's words. He had received too much information in too little of a span of time, his mind was flooded with unquenchable inquisition.
Panicked, the boy began to head straight to his apartment, there was too little time to contemplate what ifs and possibilities, he recalled Izumi's training and felt even more obligated to attend after these events. He was anxious to see Korihime, he hoped that she was fine by herself, he realized how late it had become and made his way through the barren streets back to where he called home.
A strange figure walked slowly down the sidewalk, where the confrontation between the two boys had just taken place. The figure watched as Sakido ran off vehemently.
The figure was dressed in formal archaic attire. His garments were of European origin, and clad with ribbons and ornamented with jewels and pendants of all kinds. The figure had neck length black hair that was tied into a ponytail. He peered at the ground to see the mask that Shizuka dropped before him. He slowly and dramatically reached down to procure the facewear.
As he picked up the mask, he spoke with a strong German accent. "Oh nein, Ich kann nicht (I can not) believe that Frau Mizumi allows for just any neimand (nobody) to wear my sacred mask. This is an antique, how disrespectful of sie (she).
After these words, the man put on the mask and his dark blue eyes were enunciated by the pitch black phantom mask.
"All of this movement between Ritter of both sides. Der neue Krieg (the new war) must be beginning."
He clenched his right hand into a fist and out came a three pronged straight claw blade from under his sleeve.
With his left hand, he lifted his mask. He raised the blades to his mouth, the blades were dirtied with blood from a supposed victim. He reached his snake-like tongue from his mouth and took one long lick across the blades.
" Oh, how I miss the sweet tearing of Fleisch (flesh)."
The End.
Characters introduced in Chapter 12:
'The Phantom'
First name: Unknown
Last Name Unknown
Association: Unknown