Chapter Four: Tracked:

A man in a business suit sat on the roof of an office building. He smiled over his camellia tea.

“You finished the mission already?” he asked. The man turned to see the man in white. The man handed him a small black card.

“Good,” his employer said.  He handed him an envelope of money. The man in white didn’t move.

“Come on,” the employer said. “Just take the payment. You earned it.” The man in white took the envelope and bowed. He vanished into thin air. His employer smirked.

“And now the show begins,” he said.

---------

Watari ran the scan in his lab. Anna gulped on her back.

“Anything yet?” she asked.

“Hm,” he said. She lifted her head.

“What does that mean?” the woman asked.

“Keep still,” the scientist said. Anna closed her mouth.

“Thank you,” Watari said. He stared at the screen. The shinigami narrowed his eyes.

“Huh?” Watari asked. He clicked on the screen. “Hey, Anna.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“You’ve got a strange mark on the surface of your core.”

“What?”

The blonde shinigami blew up the image. Two ears… Black dots…

“The heck?” Watari asked.

“What is it? Can I get out and look?” Anna asked.

“Hold on,” Watari said. He copied the image into a separate file. He turned off the machine.

“All done,” the blonde shinigami said. “You can get out now.” Anna slid out of the machine and sat up.

“Come look at this,” Watari said. Anna walked over to the computer. A blank stare came over face.

“What… is that?” she asked. Watari connected he image fragments together. Two ears, white holes, a giant black circle…

“Is that a face?” Anna asked. She shivered at the wide grin. The eyes seemed to stare into her soul. She took a step back.

“You know,” Watari said. “I think I’ve seen this somewhere.” Anna lifted her head.

“Where?” she asked.

“Not sure off the top of my head,” Watari said. “Describe your attacker again for me?”

“White all over.”

“Okay.”

“Didn’t talk much. Had a long dagger.”

“His eyes?”

“Excuse me?”

“His eyes. What color were they?”

“Red.”

“How red? This is real important. Try to remember.”

Anna thought for a second. “Bright red. They really stood out from the rest of his body.”

“I know it!” Watari turned to his computer.

“I don’t know his name in particular,” he said. “But, I know what party he belongs to.” He plugged in the name in the database. One file came up.

“You were attacked by the Okami Sect,” he said.

“Who?” Anna asked.

“They are hunters in hell,” Watari said. “They do not kill their target mark them.”

“Why do that?” she asked. “Why don’t they kill them on the spot?”

“It depends on who hires them.”

“Who hired one to attack me? Was it Haruka?”

“I cannot say,” Watari said. “The signature looks too generic for me to tell.”

“So what happens to me now?”

Watari pushed up his glasses. “Right now, we have the mark. I could trace the contract, but it will take time. Until then, please be careful.”

“Yeah…” Anna said in a flat tone. Suddenly, Watari’s phone buzzed.

“Excuse me,” he said. The blonde scientist picked up his phone.

“Hello?” he asked. “Ah, April-san. What did you find? Good, good. Good. Ooo! You’ve peaked my interested. Meet me here back here in ten. Got it? Good. Okay, bye.” Watari hung up, grinning.

“I’ve got a lead,” he said.

“On what? The core case?” Anna asked.

“Yep,” Watari said. “We’re getting close.” He smiled and winked.