Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For the third night in a row, Jun Fudo sat in the back of a JSDF urban reconnaissance vehicle in a back road near the heart of Ginza. Spending time in what amounted to the back of a van with a bunch of monitors integrated inside of it was very far from any ideal way to spend her time. And the presence of Aoi Kurosaki sitting next to her didn't help very much. Barely a word had passed between herself and Aoi during these four hour shifts. They simply sat and waited; watching the monitors displayed CCTV feeds from a handful of nearby jewellers.

"We're getting close to midnight," Aoi finally broke the uncomfortable silence, "Looks like tonight is a wash." Jun recognised the disappointment in her voice. Aoi wanted action; she wanted a fight. She wanted to become a monster to inflict violence on another monster. This situation though was different from the norm. There had been two recent jewellery store robberies; one in Shinjuku and one in Shibuya. They happened within a few days of one another, and the reason they were of interest to the Human Alliance was due to the evidence caught on concealed cameras. The footage on these cameras had captured the fast, blurry movements that almost certainly couldn't have been made by a human, and though it wasn't much to go on, Asuka had decided to try staking out potential targets in order to apprehend whomever was committing the thefts. It was unusual behaviour, as there had been no signs of recent related beast attacks. Both the prior robberies that occurred between eight pm and midnight, so if there was any fixed pattern, Aoi could have been correct in her observation.

"The other incidents occurred four days apart, this might take some time," Asuka responded from her position sitting at the front of the vehicle in the passenger chair.

"Are you even sure it's going to target any of these stores?" Aoi asked doubtfully, "The next one could be at the other side of Tokyo for all we know."

"Can't be 100%," Asuka admitted, "Only having two incidents to try and predict the pattern from is difficult, but I believe they wouldn't move away from Central Tokyo, and based on the calibre of targets and the fact they chose different districts, I believe this area is the most likely candidate."

"We don't even know for sure if we're dealing with a beast," Jun sighed, "There could be other explanations for what's on the footage. And even if we are, what harm is this one doing exactly?" Aoi glared at her.

"A crime is a crime. These beasts don't respect the laws of human civilisation," Aoi said bluntly.

"Pardon me for not equating theft to murder," Jun replied bitterly.

"Enough you two," Asuka snapped, "If it makes you feel any better Jun, I'm not ordering you to kill it, yet. We'll see what we're dealing with first." Jun sat back; they wouldn't be here much longer. But roughly after another minute of waiting, a monitor displaying the CCTV feed from one of the stores on Chuo-Dori Avenue caught their attention; they watched from inside as the outer shutters began to shake; a moment later something tore through the metal like it was little more than paper. Deciding time was of the essence, Jun and Aoi didn't stay to see anything more; instead, immediately they hatched Asuka's plan to try and apprehend the beast. Aoi would run around and enter by the front; Jun would attempt to cut the creatures escape off at the back and Asuka would use her access to the local CCTV network to coordinate their actions.

Jun needed to run behind the building, to a deserted car park carrying a two-way radio strapped to her waist. She had the key to unlock the back door access to the jewellery store, which she produced and used; trying to fumble as little as possible. As she did this, a voice crackled through her radio. "It's completely destroyed the shutters and smashed through the window. Going in to intercept now," Aoi informed her. With the back door opened, she entered a storage room. Small piles of boxes were arranged neatly on some tables, it was hard to make out any other details in the darkness. "Jun, Aoi's engaging the target!" Jun heard through her radio from Asuka. She then heard the sound of smashing glass and earthy roars nearby. Quickly she engaged her transformation. She had only just finished tearing off the remnants of her clothes and picking the radio back up when the nearby ajar doorway shot open and a large creature bounding on all fours charged at her and successfully knocked her aside with a shoulder tackle. The suddenness and strength of the attack sent her crashing through one of the tables and knocked the radio from her hand.. Aoi followed through the door a moment later in Devilman form, holding her side which was bleeding.

"You didn't stop it? This plan has gone to shit already." Aoi sighed in frustration.

"Give me a situation report, what's happening?" Asuka's voice crackled through Aoi's radio. Jun failed to produce more than static and so was probably broken.

"Jun didn't cut it off. We need to give chase," Aoi reported, "Also Jun's radio is already broken I think." She regarded Jun like one might an annoying, inept child.

"Get a move on then, catch it. I'll try to keep up; we'll do what we can to seal up the area."

"Affirmative." Aoi bounded past Jun through the back door. Jun picked herself up, feeling embarrassed and still shocked at the sheer speed of that creature. She wasn't sure if chasing it on street level was going to actually work. Fortunately, unlike Aoi she had a better option. After exiting back into the car park herself, she allowed her wings to sprout from her back and floated up to the roof of the adjacent building. She was still able to use the creatures scent as a guide, and from a higher vantage point she was able to see it running through one of the alleys below. It would be best to try and cut off its exit onto the main street. Wasting no more time, she flew through the air and shot downwards, landing bodily at the alley's exit, cutting off the creature's escape. It was also the first opportunity to get a good look at it, as it stopped momentarily. The beast was female, with a bipedal body structure very similar to Jun and Aoi's own. Despite that, she appeared very comfortable running on all fours and moved at quite an incredible speed. Horns jutted out from the side of her head through her shock of mocha coloured hair; and her facial features fell somewhere in between those of a dog and those of a rather young girl. Late teens at most. Jun prepared herself for an oncoming attack, however rather than engage with her, the beast shot up the fire escape of the adjacent building.

"After it!" Jun heard Aoi yell as she herself came bounding through the alley. Jun didn't need the instruction as she flew up to the roof of the great stone block. As she landed on the roof, she came eye to eye with the target again. If she didn't know any better, the expression on the beast's face seemed far more of panicked desperation than anything else. The beast held position only for a moment, before shooting off and leaping towards the next building. Jun followed, using her wings to assist moving between rooftops. Jun didn't feel the same urgency she would often feel when fighting a devil beast. Before, her motivation came from the obvious threat that her prey posed; either to herself, or others. She didn't get the same sense of malice from this creature. But if she let it slip away, she imagined Asuka's admonishments and Aoi's mocking of her abilities. Such thoughts, insecure as they were provided her the motivation to keep up the pursuit. The chase carried beyond the highways and rail tracks, and Jun caught a glimpse of the creature as it dashed into nearby Hibiya Park. She frowned internally; if the beast made it much further there would be too many available hiding spots to make it easy to find. This forced her to quicken her pace. Taking care to avoid the street level lighting, she flew across and entered the area of the park, flying over its east entrance gate and landing nearby an ornate fountain. The scent and trail led her across a flower garden where the beast was not able to hide her tracks. The trail of crushed flowers led into a field of elm trees. Jun's instincts told her that the beast had stopped, probably to regain its breath, and was making an attempt to hide amongst the trees to buy time. Carefully she kept a look out, making sure to not be caught offguard as she entered the treeline. The sound of crying and heavy panting perked her acute ears, and in her excitement at detecting her quarry, she bounded to a nearby tree and leaned to look around it. In her vision she saw the visage of a terrified teenage girl frozen in shock and fear.

"Get away from me, please God don't hurt me," the girl cried pitiably, crawling backwards on her elbows and hips. Jun realised that right now her face must have been a horrible thing to behold, and she immediately changed her expression. Jun hesitated, and didn't try to move forward. After moving a few feet, the girl picked herself up but stayed low to the ground and didn't try to escape. Instead she simply continued to look at Jun, horror etched on her face. Jun knew her sudden appearance must have terrified this girl.

"W-wait," Jun eventually stepped forward, stopping when the girl winced again. "Please, wait. I'm not going to hurt you." Jun's assurances didn't do much to calm the girl down.

"Jun, there you are!" They both heard a growling voice from nearby. Jun cursed internally; the timing couldn't have been worse. Aoi strode in between the trees. "Looks like you chased it down." Jun glared at Aoi uneasily. "What are you waiting for?" Aoi said as she glared back. When Jun didn't move, Aoi sighed and approached the girl herself.

"So, are you surrendering, or is this an act?" Aoi addressed the girl. Aoi's approach did put her on the defensive, the girl growled back at Aoi. Aoi shot her hand forward and picked up the girl by the throat.

"How pitiful," Aoi looked back towards Jun, "Not even going to put up a fight." Jun stared daggers at Aoi's casual abuse of the girl, but a moment later Aoi screamed out in pain. The girl partially transformed enough to allow her to bite deeply into Aoi's hand through the narrow gaps in her chitin gauntlet.

"You fucking bitch!" Aoi yelled in pain, kicking the girl hard before she could get away and sending her sprawling against the tree. Jun winced at the impact. The girl was stunned, if not in worse condition. And she'd seen enough.

"What the hell are you doing, Jun?" Aoi growled as she held her bleeding hand, as Jun moved in between herself and the vulnerable girl beast.

"I've seen enough, I won't let you do anything more to her," Jun stated resolutely. Aoi walked towards and bore down on her, using every bit of height advantage to intimidate Jun.

"Out of my way," Aoi snarled.

"You don't frighten me," Jun growled back. She was prepared for a fight if that's what it came to. To hell with the consequences, that girl didn't deserve any of this. After a few extremely uneasy moments, Aoi realised the girl had come to and immediately made her move to intercept. For Jun's part she had a split second to make a decision; she moved with Aoi, grabbed her by the waist and tossed her away from the girl. Aoi landed bodily, before she could get up Jun ran up to her and smashed her fist to the side of her jaw. Jun had learned from the last physical confrontation that she couldn't afford to let Aoi find her centre of gravity. But she had most likely already had bought the girl enough time to get away; she intended to ensure it.

"Damn you!" Aoi grunted, trying to find her way back to her feet. Jun continued her offence, mounting Aoi and grappling her around the neck and shoulder; holding Aoi down was her only hope if she wanted to prevent things from getting worse. Fortunately, Asuka arrived with backup just a few moments later.

"What in the hell are you two doing!" Asuka yelled angrily. Jun let Aoi go and backed off.

"Fudo let the target escape. She's a damn traitor!" Aoi snarled angrily as she finally stood up. Asuka glared at Aoi and then towards Jun.

"There will be consequences for this Jun. I hope you have an explanation. A damn good one." Jun glared back defiantly. Asuka turned away. "Debriefing, oh-eight hundred hours. Be there." Aoi ignored Jun and stalked off, leaving Jun alone in the dark. Jun simply looked off to the city skyline, which was now basking in moon glow. She did the right thing... didn't she?

A naked girl slunk through the dark shadows of the quiet streets of Ikebukoro, taking care to avoid being seen by any passers by. She panted heavily, tired by the journey she had just made on foot. She had almost certainly made it in record time, her desire to get away from those two monsters had certainly put a spring in her step. She carefully meandered through dark back alleys, staying in the shadows as biker punks or salarymen soliciting hookers would walk by. Nobody else would be walking the streets this late. She eventually reached her destination, an old and somewhat decrepit bungalow situated between two larger, fancier apartment blocks. A pockmark in suburbia, stuck out of time almost as the rest of the world moves on. The house itself was raised, and so she had to go up a metal rampway to reach the front door. She chanced one more suspicious glance back out on the street, before quickly entering, and shutting the door.

"Is that you, Sakura?" asked a timid voice from a nearby room. Sakura didn't answer the voice, instead she knelt down and began retching, and forced her fingers down her throat in order to release the contents she had stored within her stomach; some loose gemstones, rings and a bracelet found their exit through her vomiting. Far slimmer pickings than she had made twice before; she had been forced to run early.

"Sakura, you didn't do it again..." The other voice asked again, this time from a nearby doorway.

"Mother, go back to bed," Sakura said sternly as she picked up the night's earnings. She headed into the bathroom, intending to wash her phlegm off the merchandise. Yua followed her.

"You look hurt," Yua pointed out. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror as she cleaned the jewelry, noticing a lot of nicks, cuts and bruises marking her light brown skin. Yua Imai began to reach forward, as a mother would to try and comfort her child, however Sakura simply stalked by and ignored the gesture.

"Just some knocks and bruises, I'll be fine," she said tersely.

"Sakura... wait," Yua grabbed Sakura by the shoulder. Sakura stopped and turned around.

"I don't have any more tablets. Ren didn't give me any this week."

"Because you've bled your accounts dry, mother. He's not going to give you them for free." Yua looked down at the ground, as they stood at the bathroom doorway.

"You could get some..." Yua asked plaintively. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I'm doing this to get you help, to get us away from here. Not to just keep going through the same shit over and over."

"Please Sakura. I'm your mother, please," Yua begged pathetically. Before Sakura could help it, she pulled away from her mother and slapped her hands aside.

"No fucking way am I dealing with that lowlife. I'm not going out there and risking my neck, being seen, trying to get us out of this mess only to trade away what I can get so you can keep popping meth." Yua grabbed Sakura by the scruff of the neck.

"Daichi wouldn't let you treat me like this," she cried. Sakura's survival instincts kicked in and caused her transformation to trigger, partially. Before she could stop herself, she threw Yua to the floor.

"Daichi did this to us, and the fucking bastard is where he belongs." Yua looked up at her daughter, who was somewhere between human and demon. She didn't say anything more, instead limping to the ground and crying. Sakura felt a horrible descending sensation to the pit of her stomach. Part of her wanted to pick her mother up and hold her, and try to convince her things would be all right. They were going to be all right; she would make sure of it. But her mother was so ingrained and addicted that she didn't even want to be around her, in case she did something she would regret. She was so angry at the injustice of it all.

"Crawl back to bed, the withdrawal symptoms will pass. I have school tomorrow, I don't have time to trawl among all the dealers you know." Sakura chided, picking up the jewellery that she had dropped. She then walked to her bedroom, and bolted the door. For a moment she recalled exactly why her room had a bolt on the door. That reason was buried six feet under a forgotten lot somewhere nearby, since the day he found out just what Sakura was capable of. After placing the goods inside her drawer and locking it, she looked at her hands. They still had traces of fur and claws on them. This was the first night she realised, she wasn't alone. There were others like her. Possible answers to her questions about what she could become. But that only made things even more dangerous than they were before. She laid down on her bed, looking up at the skylight, saturated in moonlight. The stars twinkled down, like teardrops. For as long as she could remember, one cloudless night she could see the stars. They seemed so full of possibilities. Now, even with them she couldn't really find any solace. Sleep wasn't going to come easy tonight, or probably any other night. Not just because of tonight, though that was concerning; but ever since she found out what she could do, she never quite felt the same again.

Jun was collected by Izumi Kogare from outside her apartment at 7:00am; before Kazumi even got out of bed. Jun simply left a note about a job with a really early start, wondering just how many times she could keep spinning the same old excuses. At least she didn't have any modelling gigs that she had to cancel on Yuasa, not this time anyway. After reporting to reception at the front of the administration building where they went through the standard procedures, Kogare brought Jun to a nearby side room. She noticed immediately that there was a set of military fatigues about her size draped upon a table.

"Get dressed, you're expected in ten minutes so don't tarry," the raven-haired secretary said. Jun regarded the uniform with reluctance. "This is a high level debriefing, and its about time you were reined in to follow the protocols the rest of us do," Kogare scolded when she noticed Jun's attitude.

"Alright, some privacy if you please," Jun relented, and she started getting dressed once Kogare had stepped out the room. Even though the fatigues had been selected for her size more or less, she felt they ill-fitted her. Her opinion didn't improve when she glanced over at the mirror. She felt she looked like some weird manikin; one of those military propaganda posters that cynically used attractive women to enhance the appeal of signing up to young men. Ever since she discovered what she was, she didn't think she would ever find something she felt less comfortable in than stepping into the skin of that monster; but this almost topped that. She sighed, and then headed out the door.

"You look presentable, I suppose. Good enough, follow me." Jun tailed Kogare out of the administration building and along the grounds of the base to the command building. Jun had never really had a clear view of what the exterior of the base was like. It was very large, the largest area dedicated to vehicle bays and hangars. Right now the place seemed abuzz with activity, engineers and maintenance crews were running around all over the place; when she looked the other way, towards the training fields, drills were being held as men ran around the tracks.

"Asuka thought you might benefit from seeing more of the base operations. It's been many years since the JSDF maintained this state of readiness," Kogare commented, "It's only a matter of time before the situation will grow in scope. We have to be ready. We need reliable soldiers." Kogare stressed the last part. Jun didn't try to argue. Eventually they entered the Command building and Jun experienced a sense of déjà vu; they were heading to the vicinity of General Seta's office. However, it wasn't the actual office that Kogare took Jun to; but rather a meeting room adjacent to it. General Seta and Lan Asuka were present, sitting at a mid-sized rectangular table made out of a very dark wood. MajorYamazaki and Aoi Kurosaki's presence also didn't surprise her but there was someone new sitting at the very head of the table; a stern caucasian woman with the same hair colour as Asuka and the same piercing blue eyes. Jun remembered that her mother had told her about the woman who was in charge of the HA in Washington; who also happened to be Asuka's mother. It didn't look like the fruit had fallen far from the tree.

"Good, you're here," Asuka stood up, and gestured to the seat next to her, "Sit down, we have quite a lot to get through today." Jun sat down as asked, feeling uncomfortable, as if she didn't belong in this room. It was also not what she had expected; she assumed that Asuka, maybe with General Seta present would give her the third degree and an official admonishment. That didn't seem to be the purpose of this meeting though.

"Fudo, Lieutenant Kurosaki, this is your first time meeting me; I am Jillian Bates, COO of the HA. Now that you know that, let us waste no time," the new arrival introduced, her voice enunciating every word with authority. "The beast threat is spreading. There have been more incidents in the US. However, Tokyo is still the point of grave concern. Based on Asuka's recommendations, we have recruited more subjects to operate as beast fighters in the same manner as the pair of you. We will be transferring two of our units to help bolster the forces here, and you will also receive another one recruited from the JSDF itself. The three of these units have past military experience, but it will take time to complete their training and implement all the new protocols."

"Essentially, we are building a beast hunter squadron," Asuka explained when Bates gestured for her to, further elaborate, "And even if we are still some months away from establishing the unit, we have to consider well in advance, who will be the field commander? We've been debating the merits of that selection before sending for the pair of you, and we have agreed that the post must be given to a member with significant field experience. This means it will be one of you two."

"I see," Jun replied timidly.

"Which one of us will it be?" Kurosaki asked. General Seta answered.

"This is where we have come to an impasse; not that these things are done by vote but we are evenly split."

"After hearing about the events of last night, I question your competence, and your commitment, Fudo," Bates directed coldly at Jun. Asuka quickly cut in before Jun made any response.

"Might I remind you, that Fudo has far more field experience than Kurosaki does; last night's operation was a failure, and she does bear the responsibility for that, but her record right now stands as sixteen to two. Kurosaki has only been sent out on six operations in total, and only two in Tokyo as back up to Fudo." Asuka sat back after making her point. Jun was surprised at the vehemence Asuka seemed to have in favouring her.

"Fudo rarely follows protocol properly," Yamazaki pointed out whilst glaring disapprovingly at Jun. "You haven't been willing to join the military proper and be granted a formal rank. And last night you explicitly disrupted an operation. Normally a soldier is court martialled for that." It wasn't difficult for Jun to figure out how the voting split at this table. She didn't know what to say in her own defence. "Kurosaki on the other hand has taken steps to fully integrate into the command structure," Yamazaki continued, "And has demonstrated the kind of behaviour I'd expect from a Private; I would be satisfied with her performance if she was under my own command."

"Of course the matter of rank will be moot if this goes to Fudo because she will accept the rank of Captain that comes with it," General Seta pointed out, glancing over at Jun, "Also, there is another factor which to me makes it very difficult to consider anybody for this promotion other than Fudo," he continued.

"Yes, yes," Bates replied, "We have already had this debate and we are starting to cover familiar ground already. I've watched the video of the incident at the docks, Fudo. What you can become is truly terrifying. We've come no closer to discovering the source of such power; we can conclude other creatures achieve it through the consumption of human flesh; obviously an impractical path for our cause. At the moment you are the only unit with innate access." Jun felt the tone which Bates used to say this suggest that she was unhappy with that fact.

"Despite that, we haven't come to a firm agreement. What I would ask of you is do either of you have anything to add to your own cases?" Asuka asked.

"I... I'm not sure," Jun replied. Aoi looked towards her disdainfully.

"Fudo lacks confidence and discipline. You need someone who will respond efficiently and correctly to threats," Kurosaki said confidently. "She might have succeeded in dealing with a number of threats up until now; but having been given the reports to read on those incidents, I don't believe in many cases that she took the most efficient actions to resolve them. Even with the training she's been given, she still is little more than a civilian in terms of competence. Last night is clear evidence of that "

"You haven't been in my shoes, Kurosaki," Jun finally responded with some force, "You act without thinking or assessing the situation. I believed things could have been resolved peacefully last night, but you clearly were only interested in sating your bloodlust. If I had acted anything like you when you first transformed, I would have just torn you apart and you wouldn't be sitting here right now." Kurosaki bared her teeth.

"I would have liked to have seen you try," she responded hotly.

"Enough!" Bates commanded loudly. Aoi and Jun stopped focusing on one another and looked towards Bates.

"Fudo, I'm placing you on suspension pending further review based on Asuka's report of your actions." Jun was about to make a response, but was silenced by Bates raising a hand. "You are on thin ice, and lucky that you are essential to the operation. Lest assured however, that you will be handled very differently if this ever happens again. Once you return to the field, you will be subordinate to Kurosaki. Now, You're both dismissed. Kogare will see you out." Jun stood up, ignoring the grin on Aoi's face, and followed Kogare out, seething underneath, still angry at the things Aoi dared to say about her, and at the unfairness of the situation.

Jun felt too agitated to want to go straight home. Instead she decided to make use of her access to the base facilities for once; she hit the base's gym with the intent of getting a solid physical workout and blowing off a lot of pent up steam. After putting herself through a gruelling routine that had drawn some attention from other attendees, she returned to the locker room area to take a long, hot shower. Her head still swam with emotions, however. It was obvious that no one else cared that the target of last night's operation hadn't fought back; hadn't even been violent, until Aoi had gave her no other choice. Surely there were other ways to deal with situations like that? If Aoi is sent after that girl again whilst she remain suspended, she had no doubts about what would happen. Still beset by inner turmoil, she finished her shower and went back into the locker room. Only now did it occur to her that she didn't have the civilian clothes she brought with her; she needed to get them back before she left. She didn't want to leave in the military uniform. It would be very hard to explain it if Kazumi was home when she arrived. She didn't have a chance to do anything before Kurosaki entered. Immediately Aoi fixed her sights on Jun.

"I was told you came here. I'm shocked you didn't immediately crawl back to your fashion model life," Aoi said smugly, "I'm glad the brass saw some sense after last night. You completely forgot your duty just because that beast flashed its puppy dog eyes at you." Jun found herself backing up against the lockers as Kurosaki approached her up close. "I felt I needed to come here and make my point. It's obvious that you need to be working under me, because you don't have the competence of a leader, Jun," Kurosaki said as she brazenly reached an arm forward against the locker, and an open act of hostility and dominance as she looked down on the smaller woman.

"Go... go to hell Aoi," Jun weakly said before trying to walk past her and out of the stifling corner. But Kurosaki shoved her roughly back against the lockers.

"I don't know about you, but this feels familiar. Doesn't it?" Jun wanted to be angry, she wanted to be furious; she wanted to rip Aoi's head off right now. But her weak body wouldn't respond to her will. Kurosaki grinned.

"You won't take this away from me Jun. Not like you took my swimming career, my confidence. My whole life," she growled, carrying the weight of long held resentment. Jun remembered the moment which Aoi referred to; a moment of intimacy between them that could have... that should have been beautiful. It occurred in that high school locker room about seven years prior. She remembered how Aoi had held her as they locked lips, and for a moment it had felt right. But just as quickly it felt wrong. Something had made her push Aoi away with strength she didn't know she had, more strength than she'd meant to use. Aoi's thigh struck the bench, hard. No more words passed between them for those seven long years, but she knew what that injury had cost Aoi. Her hopes, her dreams. Swimming competitively had been everything to her. The guilt from it came flooding back and started flowing through her eyes and whimpers.

"Pathetic! You're just pathetic Jun," Aoi growled angrily, before stalking off. Jun needed some time to collect herself, so she simply sat down and continued crying. After a short while had passed, she heard the door open and looked up to see Asuka enter carrying a paper bag. There was an awkward pause when Asuka saw Jun's state. Then she sat down on the bench beside her.

"Here, I figured you probably don't want to leave in those fatigues so I brought your clothes." Jun took them, and started getting dressed.

"You need to sort out your issues with Kurosaki; both your field performances will be compromised the way things are," Asuka said.

"We could have took that girl alive. We didn't have to kill her, she hadn't shown any hostility. But I felt Kurosaki was going to do it anyway, regardless of the necessity," Jun explained her position as she put her shirt on. Asuka nodded.

"I understand where you're coming from. Of course, letting the target escape has done a lot to undermine you," Asuka sighed. "It's also weakened my position. I'm not actually happy with my mother's decision, I think its short sighted. But the only way to reverse it is to provide incontrovertible evidence that you are the most suitable one to lead." Jun sighed.

"Hard to do anything about that whilst I'm grounded. And if Aoi encounters that girl again, whilst I'm not there, she'll kill her." A very slight but sly grin came over Asuka's lips.

"About that. We got a fairly good description from Kurosaki of the girl. I didn't need very long to cross-reference with the police criminal records database to come up with a match, because I figured it was possible that she wasn't the best behaved before she became a devil beast."

"So what, aren't you just going to hunt her down? Why tell me about it, to rub it in my face?" Jun snapped angrily as she pulled on her bottoms. Asuka feigned injury on her face.

"I haven't told anyone else about it yet. You know, I might need an extra day or two to cover other possible leads and make positively certain this is who we are looking for. Since your off duty, I figure you have some spare time on your hands." She took out a file from the bag she had brought and laid it on the bench. Jun could scarcely believe the implication. But this was Lan Asuka; there was going to be an underlying motive.

"You're not doing this out of the kindness of your heart. What angle are you playing?" Jun asked as she put on her shoes. Asuka nodded honestly.

"I think you put too much faith in the belief that you can somehow save these people, Jun. Well, I think you need to learn your lesson the hard way. " Jun sneered

"So that's how it is," she said as she finished getting dressed. She then picked up the file.

"That defiant attitude of yours would be useful if it was simply redirected more sensibly," Asuka remarked, "I'm curious to see what you think you can do with it right now." Jun glared at Asuka angrily, and left the locker room without another word. Asuka watched her leave with the sly grin still on her face.

Sakura Imai entered the back alley behind Gen-Mix, a bar located a few blocks from her home and situated on her route back from school. Guilt and pity for the scene her mother had made the night before had dominated her thoughts the whole day, but given she was rarely focused on her schoolwork, none of the staff noticed, and none of her fellow pupils would care. The withdrawal symptoms from forcing her mother to go cold turkey would be awful, so she decided to call Ren Masuda. She had one of the expensive rings with her, considering wearing it at school but thinking better of it. It did mean she had something to pay with, so she had arranged to meet him here, given he worked at this bar during the day. She waited patiently for a few moments at the back door, before Masuda opened it.

"Well now," he rubbed his bearded chin, "I didn't expect a call from you, Sakura," he said, dripping sleaze from his voice as he leered at her in her school uniform. Sakura didn't have any time for his games.

"I want some of your tablets for my mother. Just whatever you've got on you will do, this should more than cover it," she said as she produced the ring from a compartment of her schoolbag. Thin, golden with a tasteful teardrop sized emerald mounted on it. Masuda snatched it from her before she could react, and took a closer look, holding it up to his eye.

"Now, I have to wonder, where did you get a tasty little knickknack like this?" He said with a glint in his eye. Sakura kept a straight face.

"That's none of your business. I'm a paying customer, you want to make the sale or not?" Masuda scanned her with his beady eyes, obviously looking for weaknesses. After a few moments consideration, he slipped the ring into his shirt pocket, and reached down into one of his trouser pockets. Looking around cautiously, he produced a tiny transparent bag with the pills, and passed it over. Sakura secured them in her bag.

"I'll do it this one time, but I'm not a fence. I want cash next time you come, all right?"

"There won't be a next time," Sakura replied, with less certainty instilled in her voice than she'd hoped.

"Sure you won't. Also, I don't know if you'd heard but some jewellers got hit in the past couple of weeks," Masuda suggested probingly.

"No, I can't say I've heard," Sakura turned to leave, but Masuda placed a hand on her shoulder.

"The Yakuza don't like rogue burglars hitting stuff on their turf without their permission. Not people you want to fuck with, I'd be really careful if I were you." Sakura slapped his hand aside.

"I can take care of myself, Masuda."

"I'm impressed you're saying that after Daichi disappeared. I doubt you want to end up wherever he is." Sakura kept her composure, she didn't want to give up anything through her face on that subject.

"Yeah, well he was an asshole. Not surprised the yakuza iced him. Good riddance," she said. Masuda's face hardened.

"He was an asshole, but sayin' that's just disrespectful to his memory. Get the fuck outta here, before I teach you some respect." Oh, I'd like to see you try. Sakura left before saying anything more. It was well known that Daichi had dealings with some Yakuza and that he owed them money, so after that night, nobody had really suspected anything else in regards to his disappearance. It was about the only piece of good fortune that had really occurred from the whole mess. It wasn't lost on Sakura that a murder she had committed had led to no consequences, other than her mother's fear.

Sakura reached about thirty yards from her home when she realised that someone was at the door, speaking to her mother. She darted behind a parked car, and watched intently. It was a little difficult to make out specific facial features, but the visitor was a woman, who had a rather striking appearance. A familiar scent from the previous night hung around the woman, which worried Sakura greatly. She thought she'd have more time, that those beasts wouldn't find her this quickly. Whomever that woman was, she left when Yua slammed the door in her face, and walked back down the ramp. Sakura did her best to stay out of sight. She leaned deeper into her cover when the woman looked over to her direction. She couldn't do anything though if her own scent betrayed her. She sighed with relief when the woman hailed a taxi that passed by, got in and left. Only after waiting another couple of minutes did Sakura break cover and head for the front door. She used her key to enter, and found her mother sitting on the floor of the living room, looking as despondent as ever.

"Mother, who was that that just left?" Sakura asked. Her mother refused to meet her eyes.

"She was looking for you, introduced herself as Fudo. This is something to do with last night, isn't it?" Her mother asked apprehensively. Sakura shrugged.

"I doubt it," she said, trying to keep her tone non-committal. Yua didn't believe her.

"You killed someone else, haven't you? They're after you now." Sakura winced at her mother's accusation.

"No, no mother, I didn't." Yua stood up and approached her, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"We're going to burn in hell for what you did to Daichi. How many more people have you killed? When you go out at night, is it to murder? Are you even my daughter any more?" Yua's hold became tighter and more violent as she spoke. Sakura made her denials, the her mother simply continue talking over them.

"You're a monster, Sakura, a monster! If you're going to kill me, just get over and done with!" Sakura couldn't take any more and roughly shoved her mother to the ground. It was harder than she meant, and Yua landed on her hip with a thud. She yelped in pain. Yua began crying and Sakura realised she was starting to as well. She reached forward, though her mother tried to back away. But Sakura forced her arms around, embracing her mother as gently as she could.

"I love you. I'd never hurt you. I'm sorry about, all of this. I didn't choose it, it just happened. It'll be all right, if we can just get out of Tokyo. That's why I've been going out. It won't be much longer, I promise." Sakura helped her mother up, and examined her hip. "You'll be all right, just a knock. It won't happen again, I'm really, really sorry. Here, let me put you to bed." Yua didn't say anything, and didn't try to resist as Sakura led her to the bedroom. After Sakura laid her down, she took the bag of pills that Masuda had gave her out of her bag, and placed it on the bedside cabinet.

"Maybe take one, it might make you feel better." Sakura suggested. She was a little surprised that the news didn't really draw any reaction. She thought her mother's eyes would light up. Instead Yua simply looked at her with very little in the way of life in her eyes. The glare made Sakurai feel wilted.

"I'm going to get us out of here. Tomorrow. By this time tomorrow, we'll be in a hotel in Kamakura. Then we can go north or south, find a place to live where no one will bother us and I can hire a professional who can get you detoxed." Yua didn't say anything, but her eyes didn't reflect any reassurances. In fact her mother's continuous stare made Sakura feel incredibly uncomfortable. More uncomfortable than anything else that she had ever experienced, even becoming the beast. But it helped her motivation, it just made her feel that it was even more important that she go through with her plan. It was the only way to help. She kissed her mother's forehead.

"I'll be back later tonight. I'll arrange everything tomorrow morning. Everything will be fine. You'll see." Sakura left the room, to retrieve the rest of the jewels. She was going to need money, she was going to need it tonight. If Masuda wasn't a fence, well, she was sure she could find one; this was Tokyo after all.

Sakura had used all of the money she had on her to take a train south to Kabuchiko. The carriage was crowded, and she felt nervous about all of the jewellery she carried in her bag, paranoid that someone might touch it, realise the contents and attempt to steal it. Even after getting out of Kabuchiko Station, her nerves were still fraying. People milled all around her, and neon signage was everywhere. It was late in the evening now, when business really starts around here. Wasting no time, she scurried past a number of different bars, clubs and love hotels , looking to following the only lead she really had. She knew that Daichi often frequented a specific bar that also had a love hotel above it, a place called Hotel Lilim. She had been asked to meet him there in the past, so she had a rough idea where it was. Given his dealings with the Yakuza, it was possibly a front. She had to cut through a couple of back alleys to get there. Walking through the darkness was an unpleasant experience. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found her destination, situated on the corner opposite a noodle stand and a chemist. It was a grotty little place, really exactly the kind of place she felt a lowlife like Daichi would spend a lot of his time. When she entered, a couple of drunks at a table nearby looked over at her, still wearing her school uniform.

"And what brings a young'un like you here?" One of them, cat called at her. Sakura ignored him, not even registering his face, and walked towards the bar. The bartender, an older woman with a haggard face glared at her disapprovingly.

"We don't serve schoolkids in here. Get out," the woman snarled. Sakura ignored the welcome and placed her bag on the bar. Carefully she opened it up and made sure the woman got a look at the contents.

"I need a buyer, know anybody here who might be interested?" She said, trying to sound casual. The bartender side eyed her, seemingly not convinced.

"I doubt they're real, and you wouldn't want to pull this act around here, it'll probably get you killed. Get lost."

"They're real, and I need a buyer. Just give me a name, and I'll go," Sakura refused to budge. For a second it looked like the woman was going to get physical, but just then, someone came through the back door, a man with a well groomed goatee and slick hair. He was wearing a suit and looked kind of out of place to Sakura.

"What's going on, Megumi?" He asked.

"Nothing, just got a kid here trying to hustle some booze, I'll send her on her way." The man spotted the bag on the table. Before either of the woman reacted, he picked up the bag and looked inside. He whistled in reaction to the contents.

"Nice haul. Is this the girls?"

"Yeah, hands off!" Sakura growled, which got her a withering look from the bartender.

"Megumi?" The man prompted for an answer again.

"Yeah, yeah it's hers," she sighed.

"I'm looking for a buyer," Sakura blurted again, "Interested?" The man smiled and nodded.

"Sure, lets go upstairs and we can sort something out. Come on," he invited her behind the bar. Sakura lifted up the panel to follow him through the doorway. She felt a hand grab her shoulder.

"I really wouldn't, if I were you. This will be your last chance, you should get out of here," the bartender advised.

"I'll be fine," Sakura pulled away. Without looking back, she headed for the door and up the back set of stairs. The man had paused to wait for her at the top.

"I'm Eijiro, by the way," he smiled. Sakura felt it was more creepy than friendly, but she was sure she would be fine if she presented herself the right way; she wasn't going to show any fear. They'd respect that, and maybe even take her seriously. Still, she wasn't going to give her real name.

"Haru." Eijiro bowed at her politely.

"I guess we can just use the suite here." She walked in as he held the door open for her. Inside was a fairly lavish room with a large four poster bed, red leather couches and expensive looking furnishings. Sakura couldn't help but be impressed.

"Hotel Lilim takes pride in its services, despite the humble face," he said. "Just take a seat, I need to go and get someone who can authenticate the merchandise. No offence, but I don't really have that expertise myself and it's just best to be sure, right?" Sakura sat down and nodded.

"Yeah, I get it. Will that take long? I'm kind of on a timetable." Eijiro shrugged.

"Shouldn't, I'll be back in five minutes."

"Alright." After Eijiro left the room, Sakura couldn't sit still. For a few moments she paced, before taking in her surroundings properly. The room really was quite lavish, with leather lounge chairs, a large rectangular bed with cherry blossom pattering to duvet and pillow cases. She sat on the bed, then gingerly laid upon it. It was really comfortable. After lying there for a few moments, her mind wandered, and she didn't know how much time passed.

"Comfortable?" A voice said, snapping her back into the present.

"Ah, sorry, couldn't help myself," Sakura started to apologise, before she realised who had entered the room. It was Eijiro. But he was also with three other men. One was older, with grey hair and wearing a black kimono. The other two both wore shades and black suits; they were both very rugged-looking.

"Please, allow me to introduce myself," the older man in the kimono said, "I am Toshio Maruyama."

His eyes made Sakura felt extremely uneasy. The man's voice sounded polite, but the look in his eyes was anything but. Her instincts were telling her that things had just gone very wrong.

"I'm Haru..." she began, he waved her silent with a hand.

"It doesn't matter. I imagine it's not your real name anyway. Now I want to know, where did you get these gems? I will ask, only once." Sakura slowly stood up and tried her best to put on a strong front.

"I broke into a place in Ginza, okay," she looked from one hostile visage to the next, "I'm not pretending their mine, I'm here to fence them." She decided to give him the truth, more or less, hoping it might defuse the situation somehow. Maruyama paced left and right in front of her, eyeing her disapprovingly.

"Well, I think that's probably the truth. I also think you burglarised other stores that were under my family's purview. I don't like petulant children muscling in my territory. To do so without informing me is great disrespect." He stopped pacing and met gazes with Sakura. "I will be taking the jewels, you will get nothing for them." He smiled sinisterly, "But since you went to the trouble of coming here, Eijiro and my men here will make a proper example out of you," he sneered. "You should have stayed out of the world of adults, child." Sakura immediately tried to make a break for the door, trying to get underneath the grasp of the men who sprang for her, but she wasn't fast enough. The two unnamed men grabbed her by both arms, and forced her onto the bed.

"Don't do this! If you do this, I'll kill all of you!" Sakura screamed, realising this was only going to end one way. All she heard was mocking laughter as they used a rope to tie her to the posts of the bed. Once they were done, Eijiro clambered on top of her as she struggled.

"Well now, let's see what this kid has," he leered, and tore her school shirt off.

Jun stepped out of the taxi after paying the fare and apologising for asking the driver to about turn and return her to the place she hailed it from. The driver merely shrugged and drove off. Something had felt wrong to Jun, and she regretted ignoring her instincts earlier. She had smelt something, and looking at the Imai residence now, she knew something was wrong. It just gave her a horrible feeling that was hard to describe. She walked up the ramp to the front door, and knocked. She waited several moments, but heard no sounds from inside the house. Sakura Imai's mother had rebuffed her firmly before, denying that Sakura had done anything wrong. Of course, Jun hadn't even got to the point of insinuating anything about what Sakura might have done. She should never have left. There was a strong septic scent in the air, and she decided that she had to get inside. With a fierce shove she broke the doors lock and entered. The hallway was dark, and foreboding. All she could hear was the ever so slight creaking of a nearby ajar door. Slowly she approached the door and peered inside.

The noise of sirens caused Sakura to come to. The last minute was a blur, but she realised she was naked, kneeling down in her monstrous form, and caked in blood and offal. She looked around, the torn, mutilated bodies. Two of the men had been decapitated, and three of them disembowelled to varying degrees. Possibly one had been tossed through the window because it was broken now, and she heard screaming from outside. She had warned them. The remnants were almost unrecognisable as human beings at this point. There was just red, slimy red everywhere. Slowly she reached down and touched in between her legs; they hadn't got that far, it would have made her feel worse had she been violated. Even Daichi hadn't tried to do that. Judging by the noises coming from downstairs, she realised she had to get moving. These bastards must keep an office up here, and it probably had a safe. It was going to be her only chance at this point. Wasting no more time, she headed into the hallway, and used the scent of Eijiro and that Yakuza boss to try and ascertain where they came from. This took her up another flight of stairs, and into a nearby room. It wasn't a particularly pleasant room, with little in the way of furnishings and just a desk with some chairs and some whiteboards set on the walls. This was the jackpot though, judging by the markings on the boards. This is probably where they counted the takings from the local activities, and sure enough she found a safe tucked underneath one side of the table. This was only a temporary home for the takings at best, so hopefully she would be lucky. She simply tore the door off the safe, her claws easily piercing the metal. There were two leather bags inside, and a quick look inside them made her eyes light up. There was more than enough in the bags to fulfil her and her mother's needs and the bags themselves would keep the notes clean. She was going to have to run home; she could probably run to a nearby park, find a stream to quickly clean herself to avoid leading a blood trail all the way there, but going back by public transport would hardly be an option now.

Hold on, mother, I'll be there soon.

Sakura knew immediately as soon the house came into view that something was off. It had taken time for her to make the journey back from Kabuchiko; cautiously moving from street to street trying her best to stay out of sight of any potential bystanders. However her trepidations left her the moment she saw the front door was ajar and she quickly sprinted up the metal ramp, dropping the bags of money. She had locked it when she left. There was no reason it should be open now. Her pulse quickened when she saw that the lock had been forced open. Her immediate thoughts were that woman from earlier had come back. As she entered the hall, she found her assumption to be correct.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" she asked the stranger who stood in front of the door to her mother's bedroom. The woman answered without meeting her angry gaze.

"My name is Jun Fudo... I wanted to try and help you." Sakura marched forward, wanting to check on her mother. However Fudo held fast, blocking the door.

"Move!" Sakura demanded.

"Sakura... you need to listen to me, before you go in there," Fudo started to explain. In a fit of rage, Sakura grabbed Fudo roughly and threw her aside. She plunged through the doorway... and everything fell apart.

An eerie silence pervaded the room. Her mother's cold eyes stared blankly at her, from her head lolled to the side on the bed. Froth dripped from her lolling mouth. Sakura looked to the bedside cabinet and realised what she'd done.

"N... no. No. This isn't happening..." she stammered as she backed away, back through the door.

"I came back too late," Fudo said from behind her, "I'm sorry, Sakura." Sakura felt years of oppressed rage and sorrow start to bubble up inside of her.

"YOU'RE SORRY!? What the fuck do you know?" She yelled at Fudo angrily, futilely. Sakura threw herself at the wall, and started to beat on it, venting her unlapsing fury.

"I know... I read your diary," Fudo said, "And I know what its like to be... different." Sakura finished destroying the wall and looked over at the unwelcome woman coldly.

"Oh, so you know what its like for your mother to be a drug addict! You know what its like to be fucking abused by her so-called boyfriend! The bastard that put us down in this pit!" She cried out in contempt. Fudo couldn't even meet her eyes.

"I had the right idea when I tore his fucking face off. All of them, they all deserve to die!" Sakura engaged her transformation, and grabbed again at the wall, this time tearing right through it with her clawed hand.

"Sakura! I can get you out of here, but only if you calm down, and pull yourself together!" Fudo yelled, her voice cracking.

"It's not fair. It's not fucking fair. Look what they did to her. Look what they made her do. Look what I made her do," the beast girl slammed her fist again clean through the wall. "I'm fucking done, done living this lie, done pretending. This is what I am," she hissed, pointing at her fanged mouth, "And I'm going to drag as many of the scum that did this to us to hell with me as I fucking can!"

"Sakura, don't do this!" Fudo reached forward, but Sakura simply shoved her away.

"Follow me, and I'll kill you too!" Sakura seethed, before bounding outside the front door before Jun could react. Already she could picture her first victim in her mind. The streets would run red with the blood of drug dealing scum, before this night was through.

Jun felt weak. No, she felt totally impotent. Even now, she stood not knowing what to do. An angry voice at the back end of her skull admonished her.

This could have been over already, you had an opening and you didn't take it!

As much as that was a product of the thoughts of the beast inside her; she also realised that in not doing so, more people were going to die tonight. Even now, she lacked the will for pursuit. She walked back into Yua Imai's final resting place, feeling the weight of it. She felt most guilty about being unable to even offer the assurance that she could help Yua's daughter. There was nothing in her left to help; for in her eyes there was only the beast left.

"The transformation alone, didn't strip her of humanity," Jun suggested out loud, with only a corpse to listen, "Nor her pain. Not even when she struck out at her tormenter. But with you gone, what does she have left? Only lashing out at the world that has been so cruel to you both." Jun didn't judge Yua for taking her own life; she had an idea of what despair could do to someone. But that tragedy would have further consequences. Just then, her phone rang. Slowly she reached into her bag and answered.

"Jun? Where are you now?" Asuka enquired. Her tone suggested something was going on.

"The Imai home," she said after a moment's pause, considering whether to tell the truth or not.

"I take it you had no luck? Because we have four bodies at Hotel Lilim in Kabuchiko, and a witness who claims a young girl had gone up with her boss before all hell broke loose." Jun's hand shook. Asuka continued when Jun didn't answer her. "You can't save her now. Aoi will be dispatched, as soon as we find her." Jun crushed the phone in her hand. Asuka and her bitch of a mother were crazy if they thought she was going to simply stand aside. Suspension? Military protocol? What did any of that mean to her? No, either she was going to save that girl, or she would put her down. She looked over at Yua one more time.

"I won't give up, not yet." From reading Sakura's diary, she had a good idea of where the enraged beast-child was headed, and she wouldn't have much time to prevent a blood bath. Nor would it take long if Asuka had done her homework on the Imai family's criminal records for the HA to descend on the scene. She would have to take to the skies.

She skulked in the darkest of shadows, haunting a blind alley way near the bar she had met Masuda earlier that day. This was a very delapidated street on Ikerubukoro, very few occupants, several disused buildings. Not many people around, she surmised other than her intended targets. That suited her just fine. Luring out her prey was done in a similar manner as before. It was very simple for her to break open the change box to make use of the public phone booth situated near the mouth of the dark alleyway. It hadn't taken much to persuade Masuda to come meet with her, with the promise of hard cash. The drug dealer was going to find a very different sort of deal this time though.

"Is that you, Sakura?" The mark queried, as he arrived at the entrance to the alleyway. "Yeah, I mean we don't want to do this out in the open, but I can barely see anything." Sakura slowly trod forward, wearing her girl-skin, and nothing else for the world to see. Masuda eye'd her incredulously.

"Okay, I think I get it. You don't have cash, so you're trying a different currency. Tempting offer, maybe I can think about it, if we take it to someplace a little bit more... comfortable," he leered. The perverted smile vanished from his lips however, as Sakura continued moving forward, only her form not remaining static. Her horn started to sprout from her head, her fangs began to glint from what little light there was, and her eyes glowed golden and black. Her formerly slight build exploded in mass, almost instantly far exceeding the size and power of any human. No sound escaped Masuda's lips despite the fear etched in his eyes. Sakura's hand shot forward and took ahold of his throat. He felt himself rise from the ground, and began flailing his legs helplessly.

"Tell me, right now, where the lab is. I won't ask twice," Sakura growled as she dominated the scum effortlessly. Masuda felt his bowels loosen. He could hardly breathe with the monstrous fingers gripped around his throat, but he knew answering the question was his only option.

"Upstairs.... across the street. Middle building," he sputtered, "Fourth... floor." He felt himself drop to the ground. Clumsily, he tried to back away on his hips and elbows.

"Shit, what the fuck are you? You killed Daichi. You must have, you fucking monster." Sakura grinned ghoulishly as she towered above him.

"He, brought it on himself," she said as she leaned forward, saliva dripping from her lips. "And so... have you." Masuda screamed. His wailing was cut short, as Sakura's hungry jaws bit deep into his throat. The taste of human flesh was a very welcome sensation. Right now she didn't know why she hadn't started doing this a lot sooner. The blood she sucked down her gullet filled her with life. After she was done with her meal, she glared towards the location that Masuda had pointed out. She licked her lips.

Following Sakura's scent was difficult, because as Jun had already found out, the child could move so very, very fast. She felt like she flew above half of Ikebukoro before a faint but very familiar smell tantalised her senses. She descended in between two buildings and quickly found the source, mainly thanks to her enhanced vision that gave her clear sight in the dark.

"Oh... god." Even with all she had been through, she still had to look away. There were human remains there, but not the remains of a complete body. So much of the meat had been torn off the bone, leaving a white and red husk. It would be completely impossible to identify the cadaver as Ren Masuda; but Jun was fairly confident that was this corpses identity. Sakura had partaken, and now there was really no question of whether or not she could be saved. This rampage would go on until the beast was stopped, and that was all that was left to do. The question of where to go next was answered momentarily; Jun heard screaming, and the sound of gunshots across the street. It seemed Sakura's new targets were better armed than Masuda, but she also knew guns would do little to stop a creature like herself. As she ran out onto the street, she saw an object flung from the shattered glass window of the opposite building. The object smacked into the ground like tenderised meat.

"Sakura," Jun breathed, as she stared at the broken remnants of what was once a man, the limbs twisted and contorted like those of a doll. Wasting no more time, Jun used her wings to assist a leap up towards the now open gap in the building. Graciously, she narrowed her body to allow her entry. She landed on her feet, and saw the nature of the scene before her. Tables and chemistry equipment were flying everywhere, smashed and broken. Doubtlessly this was a meth lab; 'was' being the key word. Presently it could only be described as a slaughterhouse. Around her she had to guess there were at least a dozen dead bodies, with varying levels of being partially consumed and strewn around the wreckage of the chemistry equipment. And in a corner near the back, was a four-legged creature hungrily stripping flesh from its freshly slain prey.

"Sakura... what have you become?" She asked, as the beast turned to face her. Before, Sakura's human features were still apparent in her beast form. The lithe shape of a young girl was still present in her body and facial features. That was no longer the case, as the beast before her drooled. Sakura's body had further mutated. Her face had grown into a snout, her horns had grown larger, and her body structure had become fully quadrupedal. The creature roared at her, and charged. Jun braced herself, but even her considerable strength wasn't enough. Sakura's body had increased further in mass, so as she closed in, Jun realised her body was the size of a bear. The beasts smashed through the wall together, Jun taking the brunt of the force on her back. Only thanks to her quick thinking, did she try to shift her weight from beneath Sakura, avoiding the large creature from landing on top of her and crushing her at the point of impact. She may not have survived that. The impact of the fall had driven some air from her lungs, but she reacted quickly and rolled away. The impact had been harder on the beast that was once Sakura Imai, who breathed in deep gasps as it looked at Jun intently. Jun realised she had an opening, and sprang forward. The beast tried to gore her with its horns, and Jun felt her side being gashed, but she managed to grab a hold of one of the horns and started twisting with all her might. The creature felt its neck crank, and had no choice but to follow Jun's motions. Jun clenched all of her muscles and used every bit of power she had in them to continue the motion, and then to use the momentum to pull the multi-tonne beast from the ground. Rarely had she had a chance to test the terrifying limits of her true strength; this was a demonstration of it here. Spinning three or four times in succession, she felt she had enough momentum and flung the beast into the nearest structure. That was the wall of the ground floor of the building they had just descended from. The impact cracked through the brick structure and loud thud of the impact told Jun she had just injured the creature greatly. Looking around the street, Jun was grateful that all the nearby buildings appeared to be in disuse. Except for the operation that Sakura had crashed, of course. If anybody had managed to get a call out, Asuka and her whole entourage would no doubt be closing in on the scene.

"Fudo? What the fuck are you doing here? They suspended you!" She turned to see Aoi approaching, in her beast form. It seemed the HA had indeed quickly become aware of the situation.

"I don't care," Jun replied. Aoi side-eyed her disdainfully. However their attention was kept on one another for several moments, and only the clattering noise broke their distraction.

"Shit," Aoi swore as she spied the open manhole cover on the sidewalk. Jun moved to follow, but Aoi blocked her with an arm.

"You are done for the night, Fudo. Don't even think about it," she growled angrily, "Again, why are you even here?" Jun was fully prepared for another physical confrontation with Aoi, and might have instigated it if a squad of soldiers led by Major Yamazaki didn't shortly arrive on the scene.

"Fudo?" Yamazaki exclaimed, as he walked up to the pair of beasts. However he was quick to focus again on the immediate threat. "Where is the target, Lt Kurosaki?" Aoi pointed to the open manhole.

"May I make a suggestion of how to proceed, Major?" She saluted. Yamazaki nodded. Aoi continued with her recommendation.

"It's clearly trying to escape underground via the sewers. Let me take some men, and I'll handle it, we can cut it off. I don't want Fudo interfering, she's done enough damage already." Yamazaki stroked his chin.

"I see, you want me to stay topside and keep her from disrupting the mission further." Aoi nodded. Both ignored Jun as she was little more than a nuisance.

"Yes, I think she'll think twice about it with you up here." Jun snarled, but Aoi wasn't wrong. She was aware that crossing Yamazaki, or doing anything at all to him physically would have dire consequences for herself. However, she realised something important, and yelled after Aoi as she led some of Yamazaki's men to enter the manhole.

"Aoi... This is a mistake. Sakura has consumed a great deal of human flesh. It caused her body to mutate, she's stronger than before." Aoi paused for a second and looked back at her.

"So you know the beast's name, now?" Yamazaki said rhetorically, "I think after this operation is over, there's going to have to be an enquiry into your actions, Fudo. This might be it for you." Part of Jun wanted to kill Yamazaki then and there. But she realised what was still at stake.

"Aoi, you're not prepared to deal with her if her mutation progresses." Aoi appeared to consider Jun's words for a moment, then continued down.

"She's a fool," Jun muttered darkly under her breath.

"What was that, Fudo?" Yamazaki asked grimly. Jun glared at him, not completely sure if her eyes looked as murderous as she felt right now. Perhaps they did, because Yamazaki stepped back and his men pointed their guns at her.

"She's a fool, and you're a fool to cut me out," Jun snarled, "If that beast triggers another mass increase, Aoi will not be able to handle things." Yamazaki looked uncertain for a moment, but seem to be intending to stand his ground. Jun slammed her fist into the ground, almost creating a fissure purely out of frustration. The physical reaction by Yamazaki's men suggested they were terrified. Good. Let them be. Only a few more moments passed before they heard the approach of a helicopter, descending down towards the street, shining its lights upon them. Jun blocked the glare with a hand, and hoped that it was Asuka arriving. The situation was desperate if her best hope was for Lan Asuka to listen to reason, but it was all she had. Sure enough, Asuka stepped out of the chopper, flanked by Kogare as usual.

"Situation report!" She yelled impatiently at Yamazaki. He quickly saluted her and did as she commanded.

"The target has fled into the sewers, Aoi has taken some men in pursuit. Fudo was present here, without explanation. We held her here, as she has no part in this operation." Asuka nodded, absorbing the information.

"Asuka," Jun almost yelled, "You have to let me go down there." She was mostly expecting dismissal. Instead,

"Why?" Asuka simply asked prompting a reaction from Yamazaki.

"You can't be serious, Asuka..." He began.

"Quiet," Asuka tersely silenced him, and looked back at Jun waiting for her response.

"The beast has consumed a great deal of human flesh. And I remembered that your mother said at the briefing, that your conclusion about the mass increase that some beasts appear capable of is fuelled that way." Asuka nodded.

"Indeed, this is of grave concern," she acknowledged.

"And," Jun continued, "If the beast triggers that mutation, Aoi and those soldiers are not equipped to deal with that. This is a situation where you need me." Asuka considered the words for a few moments. Yamazaki however did not approve.

"How dare you be so arrogant..." He started again. This time Asuka simply cut him off with a hand.

"You're not wrong," she agreed with Jun. "Come on, let's go. If we're lucky, the situation won't get any worse, but we can't afford to take the chance. You too, Major."

"It's best if I don't wait for you," Jun pointed out. Asuka nodded.

"True, but it might be a maze down there. You can leave us marks on the brickwork to point the way. Otherwise, try to catch up with Kurosaki as fast as you can." Jun nodded, and promptly leapt towards and straight down the manhole.

The target left behind a trail of blood and such a musky scent of its presence that even a human would have little difficulty tracking it; for Aoi it was child's play. She'd led her assigned detachment at first through the labyrinth of stone and sewage, before coming up on a tunnel access sealed up by a huge grille door. Of course, the door part had been ripped off at the hinges. The party advanced through the tunnel into the larger one that it connected to. The flashlights of the soldiers fell on the steel track that ran across the tunnel's floor.

"Looks like this connects to an abandoned part of the subway," one of Yamazaki's men commented out loud. Aoi ignored him, she wasn't interested in anything they had to say. Only the hunt right now had any meaning for her. The blood trail continued along the tracks. Aoi accelerated forward, believing that the chase was about to near its end. The tunnel converged with three others at a major junction, but a swift look down these tunnels confirmed that they were sealed completely by stone. There was only one way forward. Eventually, the tracks lead to a huge chamber, an abandoned depot. There was almost a dozen carriages nesting on the tracks, rusting and rotting in their isolation, cut off from the body they once served. The target was clearly hiding somewhere in or underneath the carriages, Aoi was certain of it. It wouldn't take long to zero in on her. She gestured for Yamazaki's men to commence searching the area; they were well-trained. As she herself searched around the carriages, tearing off doors to look inside them, she heard movement, and she knew she'd finally located her quarry. She felt a growing excitement with in. This was an ugly business, she wasn't too shocked that Jun was resistant to it; but Jun hadn't known Kairi. Aoi never let it show, but deep down she bore such hatred for what Kairi had become. Kairi had been such a sweet girl when they had first met, but her condition turned her into a psycopathic monster, a monster who had derived pleasure from violently murdering and mutilating innocent girls she percieved as an obstacle. This had to be done, because without the benefit of training that she had been fortunate enough to receive, Devil Beasts were a threat to all around them. She was chosen as a guardian of mercy. Death was mercy to people perverted into monsters. She would give this poor girl release.

"Got you!" She leered when she finally found the naked girl hiding beneath one of the carriages. It was a tight fit though; so she reached in with an arm and grabbed the girl's leg before she could react and crawl further out of reach. The girl grabbed hold of a jutting piece of metal from one of the carriage wheels and screamed in terror. She kicked out, making it hard for Aoi to maintain her grip; still, she just needed to get a good hold for one quick pull. As she readied her stance, she felt an odd and violent pulsating run through the girls leg. It quickly turned so violent in fact that she could not maintain her grip, and the force flung her back, sending her crashing completely through the adjacent carriage.

"Oh shit!" Aoi watched as the entire carriage started to rise, and others were knocked aside. If any of the soldiers had been in that vicinity, they were just crushed to death. She had to keep moving to avoid being crushed by one of the toppling carriages. They landed with the sheer force of their mass, cracking the ground where they landed. Aoi stared up in horror as the beast's growth alomst consumed the whole chamber. It stood up at it's full height, at least eighty feet tall. The Titan's roar almost deafened her, and Aoi was forced to leap and dodge to avoid the massive arms as they attempted to reach out for her. She knew Jun possessed this power, and confronted with it herself, she was speechless. Why did Jun have access to such strength and she didn't? It was so unfair. Faced with the crushing reality before her, she didn't feel there was anything she could do but retreat. She made for the tunnel, hoping it would be too tight for the creature to follow, but a moment's hesitation cost her as the creature's foot kicked her in midair. She hurtled through a pillar with concussive force. The impact caused the collapse of the scaffolding above, which fell on top of her. She found herself buried without the strength to dig herself out.. She shut her eyes, prepared for the end as the creature raised her leg up and stood upon the platform causing minor quakes.

Instead she heard the creature cry out, and looked up again. Jun, herself now a giant in the truest sense of the word, had grappled the creature from behind. With her immense strength, Jun managed to pull the creature away and toss it to the side. Aoi couldn't help herself but to be grateful as she looked up at the great beast. Jun had saved her from certain death.

"Who are you," Jun's voice boomed, talking to the creature. "If there is anything left still human inside you, tell me your name." Even now, Jun was making platitudes. But one look at the creature's face told Aoi everything she needed to know. There was no humanity left underneath that mask of slathering ferocity. It was like a dog with rabies now. It roared and flung its entire mass at Jun. It didn't stand a chance, as Jun simply thrust her arm out at its throat. Her claws cleaved straight through, causing blood to spurt out in great gouts. Jun pulled her bloodied hand out, and pushed the creature's body away where it collapsed upon the tracks. Seconds later, the body reverted to its pitiable human form, as its life force ebbed completely away. After a pause, in which Jun soaked in her victory, the giant turned to her, and Aoi had never felt intimidated like this in her life. She was a beast, but Jun, now that she'd seen this part of her; Jun was something much, much worse. She felt the weight of the scaffolding and the debris be lifted off her, before Jun's hand closed around her. The pressure greatened the pain already resonating through her haggard body.

"Put me down, damnit, put me down!" Aoi weakly protested. Jun's lips parted in a terrifying smile as Aoi rose to her face.

"Why could such a pathetic little creature like you lead something like me?" Her voice boomed, and Aoi felt the rush of her warm breath. In Jun's eyes, was no longer truly the woman that Aoi knew. She was scared.

"I see the fear in your eyes. You haven't reckoned with our true enemy; Kurosaki. I have," Jun continued, "They are not like that aimless berserker that I just killed. They will not die this easilly; you are not prepared for that. Your stunt got four men killed needlessly." Aoi nodded desperately, anything to get Jun to release pressure on her body.

Now I want you to say, that you will follow my lead," Jun commanded. "You will do as I say. From now on, we do things my way." Aoi grunted in pain as Jun slowly tightened her grip even more.

"Stop, please, stop!" She cried in pain submissively. Jun did lessen her grip slightly, mercifully. Aoi looked into Jun's great golden eyes, forced to swallow all of her pride. "I'll follow your lead," she cowed. Jun's great head nodded.

"Good." Jun lowered Aoi down to the ground. Aoi couldn't even stand due to her injuries, and felt humiliated by her inability to do so. Jun regarded her like she might an annoying insect, and Aoi felt herself wilt under such a glare.

It only took a few minutes for Asuka and Yamazaki to lead the rest of their squad through the underground tunnels, luckily with a trail already made for them to follow in the dust and muck; but for Asuka a few minutes could still mean they'd be too late. Eventually they reached the deprecit subway depot which opened at the end of the dark tunnel; their lights immediately catching on the presence of a giant mockery of nature.

"It looks like I was right to send Jun down here," Asuka looked around as she observed the chaos, and Jun's colossal form before her. On the tracks now laid the tiny form of a young girl with blood flowing from her throat. Asuka gestured for some of her men to retrieve the body. Jun turned towards them and approached, her footsteps causing minor quakes. Yamazaki ordered his men to train their guns on her.

"Is she mad, she might collapse this whole tunnel around us," he proclaimed.

"Asuka," Jun stopped and addressed the little human far beneath her. "Aoi and I have come to an agreement. I'll be leading the squad," she declared.

"That's not your decision," Yamazaki butted in, yelling rather ineffectively at the titan. Asuka waved him silent.

"It seems you were able to come to a natural agreement yourselves. That will make things simpler," Asuka acknowledged.

"Major Yamazaki, all Aoi succeeded in doing was getting your men killed. I want you to remember your mistake. They were your responsibility, not mine, and not hers." Yamazaki simmered violently at the giant's words, but had nothing to say back. Jun reverted her form finally, and walked past without another word to head back to the surface; though she spared one glance towards Aoi. She was badly injured and looked mentally broken, which didn't make Jun feel satisfied. She wanted to leave everything that happened here behind. She did what was necessary; only she could fight these creatures at their most powerful. Nobody had any business leading but her, and she can't allow her past regrets to get in the way. Her heart wept for Sakura Imai, and for Yua. But she knew when she looked into its eyes; Sakura was also dead.

When Jun finally reached the surface, she asked for and collected a set of clothes from one of the officers whom had set up a perimeter. But then she flew back into the night sky, and traced her flight path back to the Imai home. She wanted to collect Sakura's dairy before it fell into the hands of the HA. Sakura Imai deserved some privacy in death. Her intimate recordings of everything she had gone through in recent months were deeply personal, but also deeply affecting to Jun as she had read them earlier that day. Of course, the HA had already set up their stake on the premises; Asuka had likely made the arrangements earlier. The guards at the front door initially stood their ground, but it didn't take much more than a glare from her golden eyes to make them stand aside. She entered the residence. Someone in a grey coat walk past her carrying items in plastic evidence bags. She hoped she wasn't too late. She quickly reverted and clothed herself before entering Sakura's bedroom. Inside she found Izumi Kogare, with the diary open in her gloved hands. Jun couldn't contain herself, and immediately snatched it.

"Give that back Fudo, its HA property now," She growled. Jun glared back.

"The only way you're getting this is over my dead body." Izumi stared daggers at her.

"One of these days, it's going to come to that if you keep defying us." Jun shrugged and smirked defiantly. "Asuka will be informed of this." Jun started making her way out of the room.

"Go right on ahead Kogare, but I doubt it'll get you anywhere. I'm not afraid of the HA anymore. You need me, more than I need you." Kogare bristled.

"You arrogant little bitch." Jun ignored her and left, dairy in hand. She requested a car to take her home outside, arrangements were quickly made. As she entered the backseat of the hastily arranged transportation, she reflected. Things were going to be different for her now; the importance of her task was obvious. As tragic as events such as those that occur to Sakura Imai were, as sorry as she was for the poor girl; there would be more like her. It didn't really matter if the beast was evil, or insane. They had to be stopped either way. And it was her job; she was finally prepared to accept it in her heart. If Asuka wanted a hunter, she had her hunter.

Aoi Kurosaki finally arrived to her private apartment in Ichigaya, not far from the JSDF base where she'd endured a physical checkup, feeling humiliated and also still smelling like she had ran through a sewer. The first thing she did was to get undressed and take a shower. As she used a soap and sponge to wash her body, she reflected on what happened. She couldn't believe the almost divine power that Jun possessed, even after witnessing it directly for herself. She was embittered by being at that bitch's mercy, and the audacity of doing what she did. The pressure and pain that titanic hand caused was practically imprinted on her body; she would never forget it. She winced as she felt the tenderness of her ribs; they were heavily bruised. They would heal by morning, but her pride was a different matter. Satisfied that she had at least cleaned off the smell, she stepped out the shower and dried herself with the towel hanging off the shower rack. She entered her bedroom after wrapping the towel around herself. There had been a short debriefing after the night's operation, and whilst the decision hadn't been made formally, there was absolutely no question as to what it would be, and she contemplated that fact staring out the window into the night sky. Ever since she was a young girl, and first found her talent in swimming, she had always cultivated a desire to be great at something. To be the best. And as she looked over at the only family photo she possessed on the mantle of a drawer chest, she picked it up. She knew that wasn't something that her parents hadn't pushed on her. She had no doubt that many people sought greatness in order to gain some kind of familial approval or pride. In fact such a thing was definitely quite common in Japan, but it wasn't the case for herself. She barely spoke with her parents any more. She didn't even know why she kept the picture in view, and tilted it down. After finishing school she had immediately moved to Tokyo from Sendai to become a swimming instructor without consulting her family. She sighed wistfully, wondering where all the time had gone and why things seemed so distant, so long ago. Even just the days at Shibuya Life; seemed like a whole other lifetime now.

"Well now, feeling nostalgic, are we?" sang a strange, female voice; Aoi looked around, unable to discern a source.

"Who are you?" She snapped, "Show yourself right now!" She sat up and made sure the towel was secure around her body.

"Now, now. There is no need for that. I just want to talk with you. I heard about what happened earlier tonight; Fudo has very much put you in second place, hasn't she? As long as she has you cowed, you'll never reach your full potential." Aoi winced.

"Just what do you want?" She asked, sitting back down but staying tense.

"Let's just say there's an opportunity for you, if you want it. We know potential when we see it; we could help you attain power you can only dream of," the melodic, unsettling voice continued.

"And just who are 'we'?" Aoi asked, finding herself intrigued.

"Well, to be honest, we're humanity's sworn enemy. If you joined us, you would be too. Let it not be said that I would ever lie." Aoi tilted her head. She was fairly sure this wasn't an attack; though she was prepared just in case.

"Why come to me?" She asked, still curious.

"Like I said, an opportunity. Consider it an open door policy; we realise you might oppose us in the immediate future, but that can be water under the bridge anytime you want."

"Forget it, I want to protect humanity from monsters like you," Aoi grit her teeth. The bodiless voice laughed chillingly.

"Noble. Admirable, and I'm not just saying it. Fighting for a cause is always praiseworthy; all I want you to do is just remember this conversation. And to munch on this food for thought; are you so sure they'll show you any gratitude whatsoever for your sacrifices? Will they ever accept you for what you've become? And is there any hope for progression for you at this point? I'd say it's rather clear that Jun Fudo has destroyed that. Farewell." Aoi breathed heavily, and waited a few moments before she was sure that whatever presence she felt was now gone. Still, she took some rudimentary precautions, making sure her windows and doors were all properly locked. Even so, that strange voice had shaken her deep down. Just the way it seemed omnipresent; like it could talk to her any time, anywhere that suited it, and probably easily worse than that. When she shut her lights off and laid in her bed, she knew sleep wasn't going to come easy. Either from worries of further intrusions into her home, or for the words that particular intrusion had brought this night.