Chapter 1: Chapter 1 : The Hunt
Mount Kamikochi
Japan
9 year old Kyoto Nakamura, and his 12 year old brother Raikame Nakamura, were walking at the bottom of the large mountain, carrying sacks of animals, walking through the horde of trees and rocks.
Kyoto had white wavy in an undercut style, and he had light brown skin, and one eye was red, and the other eye was pink.
His brother, Raikame, also had light brown skin, brown spiky hair with one braid going down his forehead, and pink eyes.
Kyoto asked Raikame, "Big brother...how much longer?"
Raikame responded, "Not much longer. We still have to avoid the mountain rangers from spotting us out here with these animals because-."
"Yeah, yeah I get it I get it. This is illegal because we're not old enough, I get it. AND because we don't have a stupid license."
"It's good that you know. There's a park nearby, this is basically a tourist sight. If they catch us, and we put up a fight, they won't go easy on us because we're not regular humans."
"Yeah, you told me. We're like, uhhhh, Hitmen or something right? That's why I'm so damn strong?"
"Watch your language, you're only nine. Still, I'm surprised you can talk so well at your age. And yes, that's the reason why. Plus, you're not really that strong yet. Oi, Stop."
Kyoto and Raikame stopped moving, Raikame put his hand out.
Kyoto whispered, "What is it?"
Raikame responded, "Shh."
It was silent for another few seconds, and Raikame had black tattoos in the form of Japanese letters appearing all over his skin, and he instantly leaped at least 30 feet in the air, leaving a strong wind behind him.
Kyoto was staring upwards, as the sunset was looking at him, nature making noise in the distance, and the clouds moving slowly.
Kyoto didn't see Raikame anywhere, and he wasn't falling back down either. Kyoto just stood there, holding the sack of animals on his back.
Just then, a small bug started buzzing around Kyoto's nose, and his nose shriveled up and started twitching. Kyoto swiped his hand across the bug, "shooing" it away.
Kyoto stood there for another couple of seconds, and then he heard growling behind him. Kyoto slowly turned around to look, and he saw a bear and a wolf slowly moving towards each other, with foam and spit oozing out of their mouths.
Kyoto wanted to run, but he's afraid that if he leaves, he might lose track of Raikame.
'Where's big brother?'
The bear and wolf began to fight, slashing and biting each other as blood was spitting out on the trees and grass.
Kyoto just stared and watched, as the two beasts mauled each other brutally. There were a lot of snarling sounds, spitting sounds, gushing sounds, and leaves scuffling sound.
When Kyoto watched another splash of blood smack onto the tree, he gave off a little smile. He put the smile away, and his face was neutral again.
The bear clawed the side of the wolf's face, making him slide across the ground whimpering. The wolf immediately got up and galloped it's paws toward the bear again.
The wolf jumped, and the bear tried to slash him again. The wolf instantly chomped hard on the bear's hand, and half of the bear's arm ripped off in a barbaric tone. The meat and the bones crushed and stretched, and a mini shower of blood leaked from the middle of the arm.
The bear screeched, and the bear stumbled back, and the wolf pressed forward again with it's teeth drooling blood. The wolf jumped up, and attached it's teeth down into the bear's face, chomping and biting hard. The wolf was completely devouring the bear's face, ripping it to shreds, throwing bear face meat all over the place.
The bear fell on it's back, and the wolf was still on top of it, still digging the bear's face out with its teeth.
Kyoto stood there, and his face was still neutral.
"That's...fucking nasty. Oop!" After Kyoto said that, he covered his own mouth because he accidentally cursed.
Kyoto looked left and right, making sure Raikame wasn't anywhere.
Suddenly, Raikame landed feet first on top of the wolf, crushing the wolf's head flat like a pancake, a piece of the wolf's brain spit out from its nose, and Kyoto still had a neutral face.
Kyoto said, "Raikame!"
Raikame's tattoos started to go away, and he replied, "Sorry, Kyoto. False alarm."
"What happened?"
"Thought I heard something. It's nothing. Come on, we got enough stuff for today. We gotta get back to mom and dad."
"Are we-are we taking the bear too?"
"Helllll no. That's too big of a game. And we don't have time to cut it up and stuff it in our bags. Make sure your bag is tight too. Come on, it's almost dark. You better keep up!"
"I will!"
Raikame started running through the trees and woods area, and Kyoto was running right behind him. Kyoto and Raikame were jumping over puddles, rocks, and even ditches and tree stumps.
Kyoto hung onto his bag as he ran, and he jumped over another ditch.
As Kyoto was running, he looked behind himself, and saw a grey and black wolf running right behind him.
Kyoto said to Raikame, "Big brother!"
Raikame looked at him, and he replied, "Grab my hand."
Kyoto nodded, and he jumped over to where Raikame was. Raikame grabbed Kyoto's hand, slung him around, and threw him to a tree. Kyoto was soaring towards a tree headfirst, but then he flipped around and placed his feet on the tree.
Kyoto looked up, and red and black tattoos began to form on his body, and one red tattoo on his face, which was going vertical from the top of the right corner of his head down past his eye to his chin; and one black tattoo on the left side of his face in the shape of the Japanese letter "Z".
His arms started having tattoos too, having black lines and Japanese letters all over it.
Kyoto dashed off the tree, making it shake a little bit off impact. As Kyoto was soaring fast forward, he leaned his hand down, picking up a sharp rock.
Then, Kyoto dashed past the incoming wolf, literally smashing the rock inside of the wolf's head, making the wolf's brain matter, skull, and blood sprout out into the air.
After Kyoto killed the wolf, his tattoos went away, and he ran back to where Raikame was, catching up with him.
A couple of miles away, down at a small cabin looking building with parking spaces around it, sat ranger Aoi, and ranger Tendo.
Aoi had short shoulder length purple hair and purple eyes, while Tendo had a scruffy beard, brown eyes, and a bald head.
Aoi was leaning back in the chair at the desk, playing a shooting game on her phone, while Tendo was taking phone calls at the other desk.
"..Yes. Yes sir….I understand….we'll look at it immediately, for the a hundredth time. Thanks...alright," Tendo hung up the phone, and looked over at Aoi.
Tendo called out to her, "Aoi?"
There was no answer, so Tendo repeated, "Aoi.."
There was no answer again, Aoi was too distracted into the game.
Tendo yelled again, "AOI!"
Aoi almost dropped her phone, looking straight at Tendo.
Aoi yelled, "Tendo! Tendo! Tendo! Tendo!"
"What?!" Tendo replied.
"See, how do ya like that shit?"
"You weren't answering."
"Maybe because I was too busy racking up kills. You know how shooter games are, fuck up one game, and your KD plummets all the way down to 0.63 or something."
"I don't have time for video games."
"Oh, I forgot. You're old."
"Anyway, the boss called again about the animal shortage out here."
"And?"
"He's been seeing tons of dead animals with their fuckin stomachs ripped open all over the area. He said it didn't look like an animal did it. And he's seen footprints in the mud too."
"Oh..he took one of those sightseeing helicopters again? I gotta tell ya, that's still a waste of money. Have you seen how ugly that shit is?"
"Yeah it is pretty ugly.."
"But, the last shift said they haven't seen anything suspicious."
"Geez, Aoi, you know Haru and Tachibana are the laziest people on the planet. They always miss something."
"Unlike us! Well, me. You're kinda slow, tee hee.."
"You little.."
"Haha! I'm joking! But hey! Did you see the news?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you're old and old people watch the news."
Tendo sighed, "Ugh. No. What happened?"
"People are still taking selfies with the Phantom monsters they kill. Standing right on top of the dead Phantom, and then 'Ka Churr'! Selfie posted."
"That's been going on for way too long, Aoi."
"No, but get this. A couple people tried it, thinking the Phantoms were dead. And then...BOOM! The Phantom isn't really dead, and it just slaughtered them in cold blood."
"Where was this it at again?"
"Tokyo."
"Ahhh."
"They're making a policy now that no one is allowed to take selfies near a dead Phantom."
"As it should be."
"Exactly. I can't stand those Phantom things, they look like humans but…"
"More muscular, the regular ones are like 11 - 14 feet tall, and their colors represent how strong they are. There are some that's like 50 feet tall but they are like giant blobs with multiple arms and legs and an ugly human face with no mouth and black eyes like the fucking rest of em."
"Didn't they hand us a Phantom level chart?"
"Yeah, it's somewhere around here."
"Yep. Oh! I gotta go!"
"Go where?!"
Aoi started standing up out of her chair, and she grabbed a plastic bag from the other chair beside her.
"I'mmmmm going to do a patrol! See ya!"
"But we just did a patrol!"
"Remember the boss is iffy about these dead animals. Would it hurt to do another patrol before it gets too dark?"
"Aoi.."
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."
Aoi grabbed a set of keys from her desk, and she started running out of the little cabin.
Aoi opened the front door, and ran out happily, shutting the door behind her. She jogged to the nearest company jeep, and she unlocked the door with the keys. She slammed the door open, got in with a smile, and slammed the door behind her as she put the key into the ignition.
She threw the plastic bag into the other seat, and she started driving off, driving on a dirt trail.
As the car was moving, she turned the radio on, going straight to the news station.
The news man on the radio was saying, "...Mimosa? Ew? You like that? Disgusting. But in other news, more Phantoms have been showing up more and more often, there have been 70 deaths today in total due to these Phantoms in Saitama, Tokyo, and Yokohama in total. But, the gifted people, also known as the Hitmen, have been using their supernatural abilities and soul given weapons to eradicate the Phantom's in our steed. We would still like to take this time to give a moment of silence to those who lost their lives today due to the Phantom activity…"
A few miles away
15 minutes later
The sky was dark blue, but it wasn't fully night yet.
On one of the mountains sat a small house made out of wood and logs, but it was covered in leaves to disguise itself.
Inside of it, Kyoto and Raikame sat in the middle of the floor in front of a fire, with their mom and dad covered in blankets right in front of them.
The mom, her name was Sakura. She had pink eyes, and long smooth brown hair with one long braid going down her back.
The dad, his name was Katsu. He had a bald head, brown skin, and dark brown eyes.
A pile of log stumps and a fire sat in the middle of the room.
Sakura said, "Boys…"
Kyoto and Raikame replied, "Hm? Yes ma'am?"
"….I wanna thank you again for going to get this food."
Kyoto exclaimed with a smile, "It was alllll me!"
Raikame responded, "Nuh uh! Liar."
Katsu spoke, saying, "Now, now, calm down you two."
Katsu coughed, and Sakura rubbed his back.
Sakura said to Kyoto and Raikame, "Dinner will be done soon. Kyoto, Raikame, could you two go get more logs from the back?"
Kyoto stood up quickly, saying, "I'll get it! I'll get it!"
Kyoto started running off, and Raikame stood up, and said, "No! Me!"
"Fool! She said both of us!" Kyoto responded.
"Then why did you say 'I'll get it'?!"
Kyoto and Raikame ran out the back, leaving Sakura and Katsu in the room alone.
Katsu said, "We have to tell them…"
Sakura replied, "We discussed this the entire time they were gone. I am NOT telling them anything right now."
"We should."
"I won't."
"You spoil them too much.."
"I don't. I just...love them. Why would I wanna see them hurt? Don't you love them too?"
"...Of course I do."
"Alright then, shut up."
"You shut up."
"No, you."
"You shut up. That's why you're bald as hell. That shiny ass shit."
"You can't be talking. Your feet are just...oh I'm gonna throw up..here It comes."
"That's not funny, why would you say that about me?"
"You said something to me first!"
"No I didn't, you're imagining things."
Outside, Kyoto and Raikame had already gathered all the logs they could carry, but it was sitting off to the side.
Kyoto and Raikame were fighting, punching and kicking each other, dodging and evading each other's blows, and breathing normally.
Raikame punched Kyoto across the face, knocking him to the ground. Kyoto grunted as blood flew out of his mouth, and before he could get up, Raikame dashed up near him and kicked him in his stomach, knocking him back down.
Raikame laughed, "Haha! You're lucky I'm not using my Hitman abilities on you. You lack a lot of defense."
Kyoto got to his feet, wiping blood off of his mouth, saying, "Ah. I know that you're better than me."
"Aww don't think like that! You'll get stronger one day! As long as we keep practicing our craft. Remember practicing without using your Hitman abilities makes you insanely strong. They even make your Hitman weapons and overall skill and ability better too."
Kyoto replied, "Oh yeah? And who told you that?"
"Mom and dad. You were too busy pissing in the bed."
"Oi.."
Kyoto ran up to Raikame and attacked again. Kyoto threw two punches, and Raikame dodged them, kicking Kyoto in the stomach.
Kyoto stumbled backwards and Raikame came at him with a flying kick. Kyoto leaned back, dodging the blow.
Then Kyoto accidently tripped over a small rock, but he redeemed himself right after. Kyoto put his hand on the ground, spinned upward like a breakdancing move, leaped upward, and kicked Raikame in the face.
Raikame fell back, hitting the ground, but he got back instantly. Kyoto ran up to Raikame, jumped and rammed his knee into his face, and then tried to throw a punch.
Raikame caught Kyoto's fist, smiled, and said, "Not bad, not bad. But I'll be ending this now."
Kyoto smiled nervously with a little bit of blood coming from his cheek and mouth, "Huh?"
Raikame yanked Kyoto towards him, and headbutted him in the face, making Kyoto fall back to the ground.
Raikame grinned, "Ha! I win. This is like my 16th time winning."
Kyoto said, "Owwwww. Whyyyy did you do that? I'm 9 years old…"
"Doesn't matter how old you are. You gotta get stronger no matter what. Now, I'll be back. Get yourself together while I take the logs inside."
"Ow-ow. Alright."
Raikame walked to the pile of logs, and began walking inside with them.
Kyoto waited until Raikame was fully gone, and then he stood up and started running away. Kyoto quickly ran and ran, moving past trees and holes in the ground.
He ran for two minutes straight, and then, he came across a small rock in the middle of a medium sized area.
And sitting on that rock was Aoi.
Kyoto said, "Aoi!"
Aoi looked back at Kyoto, and replied, "Hiya! I brought stuff!"
Kyoto grinned, and went to sit beside her. After a couple of seconds, Kyoto was eating a rice cake with juice, and Aoi was eating the same thing.
Aoi said to Kyoto, "Ya know, I can get you and your brother out of here. I'm really concerned about the situation. I mean, I'm not really familiar with your parents' situation...but I can help. Remind me again of what happened."
"If me and my brother leave mom and dad, who would take care of them? I remember them telling me they were a part of a tribe, and mom and dad fell in love when they were in rival tribes. So both leaders of those tribes got into a big fight with them, and used their Hitman weapon abilities to lock them in that place we stay in until they die. She doesn't even know how they used that power in the first place. It must've been really strong."
"Until they die? Oh...so that's why.."
"Yeah. That's why I can't just leave them."
"You know you have to live your life to ya know. You're only 9 years old, killing dangerous animals, and out in the wilderness like it's nothing. Isn't that a little too reckless?"
"Reckless?"
"Reckless means...uh...not being cautious and just doing things out of impulse."
"What does impulse mean?"
"Haha, impulse means doing things without thinking, like jumping straight into things."
"Ohhh okay okay."
"As smart as you are for your age, the way you talk so well, I guess this is the perks that come with being a Hitman."
"Well, I heard mom say that Raikame didn't speak like me when he was my age."
"Oooo, then there's something else. You're super mysterious! Man, I wish I was a Hitman. I would definitely go on social media and brag about myself."
"Social media?"
"It's uh, a thing on the internet where you can communicate and share your thoughts, pictures, and other content with a lot of people!"
"Content? What's content?"
"Haha! You're still such a young kid, you'll learn all of this when you get older."
"Haha, I guess."
"Do you know what the Phantoms are?"
"Those ugly pieces of shit monsters?"
"Yes, those ugly pieces of shit monsters. They've been here on earth for hundreds of years, all around the world, there are tons of Hitman organizations to take care of these Phantoms. I'm glad. And non-Hitman people like myself are glad too, we still have to live life in the cities and stuff, knowing we're being protected."
"Why do they look a little bit like us? Even built like us?"
"Wait, you've seen one?"
"Yes."
"Wh-where? Around here? What happened?"
"It was in a tree, and Raikame killed it. It was a weak one though."
"Oh my goodness. Do you know where they're from?"
"My dad told me they're from the dark realm. AND that the dark realm is a place where everything evil resides. But he never told me how they keep appearing."
"Heh. Not a lot of people believe the same thing. A lot of people have their own theories on how the Phantoms are coming from the dark realm repeatedly. Scientists and conspiracists even have their own theory on where the Hitman got their abilities from, like it's origin. Kyoto, what's your soul-given weapon? Since you're a Hitman?"
Kyoto finished eating, and he stood up off of the rock, and faced towards Aoi. Suddenly, a line shaped red tattoo went vertical from the top right of Kyoto's head, and went down through Kyoto's eye down to his chin. Then on the other side, was a tattoo of the letter "Z" in Japanese form. And the black tattoos on his arm that were forming were shaped like lines and Japanese letters some places on his arms as well.
Then, two katana swords formed in both of Kyoto's hands, a sniper, and a black 6 foot staff. Kyoto was holding all of them at once.
Aoi dropped her food, and she stood up instantly.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. The common number of weapons a Hitman can have is 1 or 2...but you have four...how?"
"Mmm, I don't know."
"Man, you're something else."
"I still need to get stronger and stronger. I train with these weapons sometimes, but I can never get things right. I always lost to my brother, and I've been beaten by a Phantom before."
"Why do you wanna be stronger?" Aoi asked with a grin.
"..So I can be stronger. I don't wanna be weak, that's so lame. What else?"
"KYOTO! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SAY SOMETHING LIKE, 'OH, I WANNA BE STRONGER SO I CAN PROTECT THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT'. Something like that."
"Mm. Sounds pretty boring."
Out of nowhere, Kyoto heard his name being called by his brother Raikame.
"Kyoto?! Where are you?"
Kyoto yelled back, "Coming!"
Kyoto looked at Aoi, and said, "Thanks again, Aoi."
Aoi responded, "It's my pleasure. I'll see you again tomorrow and I'll bring more treats for ya."
"Okay! Bye bye!" Kyoto nodded to Aoi, running away.
Kyoto then stopped, and he turned around to look at Aoi, and said to her, "Thank you, for keeping our secret, Aoi."
Aoi smiled, "It's not a problem, Kyoto.
As he ran, all of his tattoos began to disappear, and his staff, two swords, and sniper disappeared as well, making their way back to Kyoto's soul.
