Secret NA stuff 1
For special addicts only.
Preparation for Akuma no Manazashi
By Xia Sang Li via Hateya_Habiba
Seated at her Europol desk, forensic researcher Mika Coretti nervously watched the sun sink lower and lower in the crimson sky. Fear turned somersaults in her belly. Every day at dusk, when the light was almost gone, full-blown terror became the dominant emotion.
Before darkness meant death, glorious sunsets were like a joyous gift from the heavens. Now when night devoured the day's brilliant rays, it was like a ravenous animal clawing at its prey, baring its bloody fangs.
Marked for death, Mika's life would never be the same. It would never return to normal. The sheer act of staying alive was exacting a heavy price on her mental, emotional and physical health. It was a constant struggle to wrap her head around the events that had taken place.
It had all begun with a mistaken requisition and when the truth finally came to light, she had no choice but to act. At the time, exposing the deadly shinobi, ninja clans, seemed like a good idea. Intervening to prevent assassinations and to save the children who had been kidnapped and brutalized was indeed a good thing. It was equally good that the clan master, Ozunu, was finally killed. With him gone, the world should have been a safer place.
Fortune didn't play by such simplistic rules though. The evidence sitting on Mika’s twin computer monitors was the proof. Every single member of the Europol joint task force that had helped to destroy Ozunu's orphanage was marked for death.
Once again Mika's ability to put together the pieces of an elaborate jigsaw puzzle had revealed a horrifying truth.
Over the last eleven days, beginning in an obscure town on the outskirts of Bogotá, four assassinations per day had taken place in various parts of the world. The first known victim was Europol's head receptionist. She and her family had been traveling around Colombia. A conscientious swimmer, best friends with a former German national swimming champion, she had drowned in a pool with two feet of water. Her three-year-old son had disappeared without a trace.
As the death toll mounted, so did another pattern. There was every indication that the attacks were steadily closing in on Europol's main office. Just yesterday, two agents in Paris and two in Moscow had either died of natural causes or had killed been in freak accidents.
This time Mika's boss, Agent Ryan Maslow, accepted her conclusions without question. The Hanta Kirra were zeroing in on Berlin, leaving a worldwide bloody trail of death and destruction in their wake. A swift warning was issued to all surviving agents and their support staffs. As a result, Europol had virtually become an armed encampment teeming with police and military soldiers on loan from NATO.
Everyone was armed to the teeth, except Mika. She held onto the untraceable Glock Ryan had given her earlier. Not that it mattered. If the ninja came for her, the gun wouldn't be able to protect her. Having learned from their earlier mistakes, Raizo assured her that they would never again send a lone assassin. They would travel in packs just like wolves.
Mika never doubted for a moment that Raizo was the only person in the world who could save her.
Raizo, a child most likely orphaned by Osunu, had been raised as a living weapon of the clan. Unlike his siblings in brutalization, he'd broken away from the indoctrination and had spent his entire adult life actively engaging them in warfare.
Although Mika hadn't laid eyes on him since the attack on the orphanage, she felt him in her heart; she felt him in her soul each and every day. Somewhere, out there in the darkness, he was risking his life to save hers. If they ever met again, she would find a way to repay him.
A loud knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
“Come in,” she said, her voice was tight as the hand clutching the Glock. Anxiety churned relentlessly in the pit of her stomach.
“I'm sorry to bother you, Ma'am,” said a heavily armed sandy-blond soldier with clear green eyes. He was Polish. “It's nearing curfew. It's getting dark. You must return home now.”
Oh God, she thought. If he and his people continue guarding me, they're get killed. I doubt any of them are more than twenty-five-years-old.
Mika stood up, secured the Glock in the small of her back and grabbed the little purse. She hardly carried anything more than cash, credit cards and identification these days.
“I'm ready. Thank you.”
“Very good, Ma'am. The parking lot is secure. Everyone else are also be under lock and key for today. Is that the right American saying... lock and key?” he asked with a faint smile.
“You hit the nail on the head,” Mika answered, knowing how much he liked idioms. That's all she knew about him though. She didn't know his name because she hadn't asked. He also hadn't volunteered the information. Everyone knew what was at stake.
*****
To-ku...to-ku...to-ku...to-ku.
In the shadows, Raizo could hear and feel the beating of Mika’s amazing heart as though it were in his own chest.
To-ku...to-ku...to-ku...to-ku.
Own the meaning of a man's life and you own his heart.
As if Osunu, the master of death, understood life.
“I hope you're rotting in hell, Old Man,” Raizo murmured.
Although the taking of Osunu's life hadn't given him the satisfaction he'd craved when he first left the orphanage, Raizo had learned a very important lesson. He’d learned the purpose of his life: to serve and to protect. If saving people meant breaking rules and laws, then so be it. Eight more ninja clans existed and if necessary, he would do everything in his power to destroy them, too.
An unfamiliar odor skimmed the surface of the air snatching Raizo from the reverie. A wolf's sense of spell was approximately 100 times better than that of an average human's. Ninja were not average humans in any sense of the word.
“The Hanta Kirra has arrived,” he deduced. The hunting party was skillful and was making its final approach downwind to help mask its scent. It almost succeeded.
Like wolves, the pack commenced hunting at dusk and utilized three primary methods: scent, tracking and chance encounters.
Toku-toku-to-ku-toku-to-ku-to-ku-to-ku-toku-toku-to-ku-toku.
“Mika!” Raizo emerged from his hiding place and slipped effortlessly past the guards into Europol's main parking lot.
Part 2 of background stuff
Preparation for Akuma no Manazashi
By Xia Sang Li via Hateya_Habiba
Seated at her Europol desk, forensic researcher Mika Coretti nervously watched the sun sink lower and lower in the crimson sky. Fear turned somersaults in her belly. Every day at dusk, when the light was almost gone, full-blown terror became the dominant emotion.
Before darkness meant death, glorious sunsets were like a joyous gift from the heavens. Now when night devoured the day's brilliant rays, it was like a ravenous animal clawing at its prey, baring its bloody fangs.
Marked for death, Mika's life would never be the same. It would never return to normal. The sheer act of staying alive was exacting a heavy price on her mental, emotional and physical health. It was a constant struggle to wrap her head around the events that had taken place.
It had all begun with a mistaken requisition and when the truth finally came to light, she had no choice but to act. At the time, exposing the deadly shinobi, ninja clans, seemed like a good idea. Intervening to prevent assassinations and to save the children who had been kidnapped and brutalized was indeed a good thing. It was equally good that the clan master, Ozunu, was finally killed. With him gone, the world should have been a safer place.
Fortune didn't play by such simplistic rules though. The evidence sitting on Mika’s twin computer monitors was the proof. Every single member of the Europol joint task force that had helped to destroy Ozunu's orphanage was marked for death.
Once again Mika's ability to put together the pieces of an elaborate jigsaw puzzle had revealed a horrifying truth.
Over the last eleven days, beginning in an obscure town on the outskirts of Bogotá, four assassinations per day had taken place in various parts of the world. The first known victim was Europol's head receptionist. She and her family had been traveling around Colombia. A conscientious swimmer, best friends with a former German national swimming champion, she had drowned in a pool with two feet of water. Her three-year-old son had disappeared without a trace.
As the death toll mounted, so did another pattern. There was every indication that the attacks were steadily closing in on Europol's main office. Just yesterday, two agents in Paris and two in Moscow had either died of natural causes or had killed been in freak accidents.
This time Mika's boss, Agent Ryan Maslow, accepted her conclusions without question. The Hanta Kirra were zeroing in on Berlin, leaving a worldwide bloody trail of death and destruction in their wake. A swift warning was issued to all surviving agents and their support staffs. As a result, Europol had virtually become an armed encampment teeming with police and military soldiers on loan from NATO.
Everyone was armed to the teeth, except Mika. She held onto the untraceable Glock Ryan had given her earlier. Not that it mattered. If the ninja came for her, the gun wouldn't be able to protect her. Having learned from their earlier mistakes, Raizo assured her that they would never again send a lone assassin. They would travel in packs just like wolves.
Mika never doubted for a moment that Raizo was the only person in the world who could save her.
Raizo, a child most likely orphaned by Osunu, had been raised as a living weapon of the clan. Unlike his siblings in brutalization, he'd broken away from the indoctrination and had spent his entire adult life actively engaging them in warfare.
Although Mika hadn't laid eyes on him since the attack on the orphanage, she felt him in her heart; she felt him in her soul each and every day. Somewhere, out there in the darkness, he was risking his life to save hers. If they ever met again, she would find a way to repay him.
A loud knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
“Come in,” she said, her voice was tight as the hand clutching the Glock. Anxiety churned relentlessly in the pit of her stomach.
“I'm sorry to bother you, Ma'am,” said a heavily armed sandy-blond soldier with clear green eyes. He was Polish. “It's nearing curfew. It's getting dark. You must return home now.”
Oh God, she thought. If he and his people continue guarding me, they're get killed. I doubt any of them are more than twenty-five-years-old.
Mika stood up, secured the Glock in the small of her back and grabbed the little purse. She hardly carried anything more than cash, credit cards and identification these days.
“I'm ready. Thank you.”
“Very good, Ma'am. The parking lot is secure. Everyone else are also be under lock and key for today. Is that the right American saying... lock and key?” he asked with a faint smile.
“You hit the nail on the head,” Mika answered, knowing how much he liked idioms. That's all she knew about him though. She didn't know his name because she hadn't asked. He also hadn't volunteered the information. Everyone knew what was at stake.
*****
To-ku...to-ku...to-ku...to-ku.
In the shadows, Raizo could hear and feel the beating of Mika’s amazing heart as though it were in his own chest.
To-ku...to-ku...to-ku...to-ku.
Own the meaning of a man's life and you own his heart.
As if Osunu, the master of death, understood life.
“I hope you're rotting in hell, Old Man,” Raizo murmured.
Although the taking of Osunu's life hadn't given him the satisfaction he'd craved when he first left the orphanage, Raizo had learned a very important lesson. He’d learned the purpose of his life: to serve and to protect. If saving people meant breaking rules and laws, then so be it. Eight more ninja clans existed and if necessary, he would do everything in his power to destroy them, too.
An unfamiliar odor skimmed the surface of the air snatching Raizo from the reverie. A wolf's sense of spell was approximately 100 times better than that of an average human's. Ninja were not average humans in any sense of the word.
“The Hanta Kirra has arrived,” he deduced. The hunting party was skillful and was making its final approach downwind to help mask its scent. It almost succeeded.
Like wolves, the pack commenced hunting at dusk and utilized three primary methods: scent, tracking and chance encounters.
Toku-toku-to-ku-toku-to-ku-to-ku-to-ku-toku-toku-to-ku-toku.
“Mika!” Raizo emerged from his hiding place and slipped effortlessly past the guards into Europol's main parking lot.
Part 2 of background stuff