(Kalemonath 2, 56 / 9:03AM)

  A couple of days ter.

  All five senses hit like a truck.

  Her smell, her taste, her hearing, her vision, her touch; she could feel them returning to life.

  Flinching her body upwards, with her bottom sitting on a normal hospital bed, she looked around the white clean room, her eyes gring at her surroundings.

  Her chest heaving up and down heavily, she looked down towards her own body.

  Her hands had many blisters and bruises on her palms and knuckles, followed by her forearms having many white strips of bandages ced onto one another. The rest of her body moved normally, she sniffed the tex glove air as she noticed a man in a bck leather jacket sitting on a chair.

  The man had a brown cowboy hat on, followed by little facial hair underneath his chin and some wrinkles ced on his forehead.

  (???) Are you doing ok? Are you hungry or thirsty?

  Putting his right hand on top of his cowboy hat, he pced it down on his p as he made eye contact with the teenage girl. Noticing that the girl just continued to stare at him, the man stood up as he pced his cowboy hat onto his seat.

  Walking towards the girl who started to widen her eyes at him, the man used his right hand to dig into his right pocket, looking inside to notice a familiar touch. Pulling out the object, he showcased it to Luna, her eyes softly sparkling at the creamy dessert.

  (???) I don’t know if you like donut holes. If you don’t like them, then I’ll—

  (Luna) Please give me it…

  Tossing the donut hole towards the teenage girl, Luna brought out her hands as the mini donut nded into her palms. Bringing the donut to her mouth, she ate it in one bite, swallowing it whole as she wiped away a couple of saliva from the corners of her mouth.

  The man folded his arms as he continued to stare at Luna, letting out an exhale of air from out of his lungs.

  (???) I don’t know how you survived, but you did. Have you ever fought before?

  (Luna) N-No… I never lifted a weight…

  (???) Hmm …

  (Luna) My dad was a boxer though … until he had me …

  (???) And your mom?

  (Luna) She died in a car crash nine years ago. She wasn’t the best mom from what my dad told me…

  The man slowly walked backward as he made his way back towards his seat, putting his cowboy hat back on as he sat down. Swiping away a little strand of his hair that almost got into his eyelid, the man started to cusp his hands as he straightened his back, clearing his throat with a huge swallow.

  He continued to look towards the tanned girl, with her face glued to the man’s dark eyebags that were under his eyes.

  (???) I’m with a special forces agency, and I and my colleagues are looking for boys and girls to train to be elite soldiers.

  Luna widened her eyes as she slowly slouched her body towards him, pcing her hands on her thighs as it started to tremble.

  The man’s hands started to shake, his fingers trembling as he continued to speak.

  (???) To be an elite soldier, there are three golden rules. Strength, will, and mental stability. You need to be strong, you need to have an iron will, and you need to be sane enough to push on through.

  Luna looked down onto her own hands, her palms smooth like honey sickle as her knuckles barely were barely able to sprout out. Clenching her fists twice, she saw veins already etching in between her fingers, her bones flinching erratically she csped them together as she stared at them.

  Which caused the cowboy hat man to let out a bead of sweat down his right temple.

  (???) Even though you have strength, I don’t think you’re mentally stable from what I can see.

  (Luna) What…

  The cowboy hat man pushed down his eyes as he continued to look at her, both his feet pulling back towards his body as he remained sitting on the chair. Putting his hand toward his prickly chin, he rubbed it repeatedly, a single droplet of sweat dropping onto the white tex floor.

  (???) You flinched upwards, which meant your mind was already in flight or fight mode. You gred all around your surroundings until you saw me. Any normal person would flinch and then try to control their breathing first before assessing the situation.

  Luna let out a weak smile from her face, her smile twitching downwards as the corners of her lips started to fight itself to go downward. Her cheeks and forehead already turning red, followed by her nostrils fring up, she still had that begging face as she had both her hands on the edge of the bed.

  Her voice caught in her throat, and she quietly spoke as a vein sprouted from the little corner of her forehead.

  (Luna) W-W-W-W-What are you trying to say?

  (David) You’re not qualified to join, you probably have anger issues that could lead us to dangerous situations.

  Luna then instantly jumped out of the bed as her bare feet nded on the cold white marble floor, her eyes soulless towards the man wearing the cowboy hat. Clenching her fists tightly, her knuckles sticking out like sore thumbs, her breathing started to intensify as her chest pushed in and out at a high speed.

  (Luna) I want to fight…

  The man looked away as the girl started to tighten her body, his eyes glued to the white marbled floor as his hands started to uncontrolbly shake. Hunching his back forward, he ignored the movements of Luna’s twitching body.

  (???) You’re not going to fight, you’re not ready—

  (Luna) I want to fight.

  Luna started to gre towards the man, her eyes sharpening intensely as her feet dug themselves onto the frictionless floor. Biting her lip, blood started to slowly form on the corner of her right lip, her teeth grinding onto one another as her stomach clenched to showcase her skinny stomach.

  Standing up, he turned his head back towards Luna, his eyes sharpening at her as he put his hands in his pockets.

  (???) For the st time, you’re not—

  A small wooden chair was thrown towards a wall, the chair breaking apart with ease as the culprit of the thrower…

  Started to fast walk towards the man, her enclosed fists motionless as she thumped with each step. Upon standing right in front of him, Luna put her right hand onto his colr, bringing the man’s face close as she yelled right at his face.

  (Luna) I want to fight!

  The weak smile was repced by the grinding of teeth, causing the cowboy hat man to take a step back.

  Staring at the teenage girl with both his gring eyes, he put his right hand onto her shoulder, gripping the white patient uniform as he pushed her back a step.

  (???) Can you promise me one thing?

  Luna continued to have a death grip on the man’s colr, her eyes making a total focus on the man’s face as blood started to drip onto the white-marbled floor. Seeing his face pushed down, he let out an exhale of another set of air, his eyes softening towards the girl that reminded her of someone…

  (???) I’ll allow you if you promise me you won’t die.

  (Luna) I won’t! I’m not dying! Not yet—

  (???) I don’t want a not yet, I want just three words coming out of your mouth, not seven.

  Letting go of the man’s colr, Luna took many steps back as she continued to gre at him, her eyes unwavering as red tear stains remained on her cheeks. Swallowing her saliva with one big gulp, she then folded her arms, tilting her head as she made a cold frown.

  As the school girl mask completely vanished from the now delinquent girl.

  (Luna) Sure old man. I won't die.

  (???) Good, and don’t call me old man.

  (Luna) Why? You look like you’re—

  In an instant, the man grabbed the lower end of her right ear, making Luna bend down from the annoying pain. Her hands reaching towards the ends of his face, she tried to grab a hold of his face but his long arms were able to keep him from harm’s way.

  (???) The name’s David, not old man.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Quintiles 29, 59 / 9:12PM)

  (On the 55th Floor)

  (Luna)

  (Luna’s thoughts) Can I fight him?!

  The woman continued to grovel under the weight of pain that she endured, her arms and legs on the verge of colpsing onto herself as her vision blurred from the sight in front of her.

  Having both of her hands occupied by two swords that she held firm, her breathing thinned more as her heart felt like it might explode out of her chest, her feet struggling to maintain stability. Slowly lifting her swords in front of her, she clenched her teeth shut as blood started to trickle down to her left eye.

  (Kenichi) You look like you’re going to faint.

  Kenichi walked evermore slowly towards the struggling Luna, his thundering step creaking the marble floor from underneath him. Pcing the two chainsawed swords that were in midair in front of him, it made it seem as if he was wielding four arms as if two arms were invisible…

  Now being several feet in front of the woman, Kenichi made a lunging position as he spread both of his swords outward, all tips of the bdes pointing away from Luna. Gripping the marble floor tightly, his eyes peering at his target, he slowed his breath, and steadied his chest.

  And lunged with an absurd intensity, his heel making the marble crack as he barreled the air toward the unfortunate tanned woman.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Am I going to die? Is this the end?

  The bdes of all four chainsaws were on the verge of reaching toward her neck, chest, torso, and knees; the bits of fabric of her jacket and pants felt the tingling sensation of the chains.

  Closing her eyes again, she had her swords motionless to her sides as her right eye was coated with dripping blood from the back of her head.

  As she vanished into thin air.

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) She teleported again huh?

  Turning around to see that she was on the opposite end of the room, Kenichi tightened his grip on all four swords, creaking the metal with his fingertips.

  Looking at his right side where his chainsawed sword was in midair, he quickly repced that sword with the sword in his right hand. Turning his eyes on the woman letting blood flow from her mouth, Kenichi wiped his nose with his right sleeve, blood starting to come out as beads of sweat rolled down his temples.

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) I want to make this quick. Don’t know how long this shot will keep me pumped.

  Going into a lunging stance again, Kenichi jumped towards the air as he prepared to hit another strike at the defenseless woman, the air around the bdes being cut.

  Her vision saw two to three figures of the same person, Luna quickly closed her eyes as her right leg went numb, causing her to colpse as she put most of her weight on her left leg. Still having her hands and arms in front of her, she wielded them in front as she again vanished with her blessing.

  But this time…

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) She’s going to teleport right there.

  Gripping the chainsaw sword in an iron grip, Kenichi then pulled back his arm as he caught the whiff of a woman teleporting to the left of her, her body in front of the elevator door.

  With a quick thrust, Kenichi threw the sword right towards where the woman stood, her eyes barely able to see the incoming weapon lodging right at her. Unable to dodge in time, the only thing that she could do at that moment was…

  Vanish again.

  (Kenichi) I’m starting to know a pattern about your teleportations.

  As the chainsawed sword managed to lodge itself onto the metal of the elevator, Kenichi turned his head the opposite way toward Luna who began to vomit out blood, her legs colpsing onto herself. On her knees, she put the palms of her hands on the marble floor, her elbows barely holding her body weight.

  The same thing as before, Kenichi then repced his chainsaw sword that was in midair with his original left-handed sword.

  (Kenichi) You always have to teleport in the direction you’re facing.

  Pulling his left arm back, he did a little twirl to the sword and he then threw it straight towards her face.

  Unable to get up in time, Luna’s entire body began to crumble as she started to vomit out even more blood from her body, her throat burning from the sticky red liquid.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Please … just …

  Teleporting yet again, Kenichi saw the gust of windfall upon him again, causing him to turn his head towards the back of him. Hearing the chainsaw sword hitting the gss, he gnced at the sword tumbling over, making the gss the winner of the fight despite it starting to creak.

  But he had something holding him down.

  Looking down, his right ankle felt the presence of a cold and shivering hand clinging onto him, causing him to take a step back. Seeing that Luna had her grip lost, as well as having her left sword being held with her hand, Luna tiredly gred at him, her eyes sharpening yet pushed down weirdly.

  (Luna) Why … pants … did you have … pants … to kill my dad…

  Kenichi let out a small frown as the corners of his lips created an upside-down U, his face looking the other way as his face slightly darkened.

  Pushing the buttons off of two of his dual-wielding chainsaws, he waited for the chainsaws to stop rotating, the bdes of them being dull and rusted. Putting them back into the back of his jacket, he also took note of the two swords that were thrown into different pces.

  And stly, Kenichi had a surge of relief as his body rexed, the air around him loosening like an anvil was let free from his back.

  (Kenichi) I didn’t have a choice. The woman who wanted me to do it saw “good” things from your brothers. Even I thought it was horrible what she did.

  Luna continued to stare into the cold eyes of Kenichi, her face sweltering a bit with tears as her stomach and chest clenched itself shut. Letting go of her left sword that was in her palm, she slowly put it towards the same ankle she was holding on to, gritting her teeth as more blood came pouring out of her mouth.

  Pushing his face down, he didn’t budge his right ankle as he put his hands into his pants pocket, letting out a sigh.

  (Kenichi) You want to kill me, you want to take my head and make it into a pinata. I could understand what you’re getting at.

  Crouching down to where his face was right where he was at eye level, he put his left hand onto the top of her head. Gripping her scalp with his fingertips, he slowly lifted it, their faces a couple of inches apart from each other.

  Her face was smudged with blood all around her mouth, followed by the stench of body odor ruminating across her body, Kenichi's nostrils became molested by the mixture of smells coming out of Luna.

  Yet he continued to have her face close to his.

  (Kenichi) But from where I stand, you’re the one that dug your path. If you just stayed back and didn’t let your anger get the better of you, you could’ve still kept on living.

  Her eyes barely saw the figure in front of her, she tried to nudge her head, but it was no use, as the only body part that she could barely move was being held in pce. Her feet dangling into pce, she slowly tried to lodge her feet onto his stomach, but even her legs started to go numb.

  Turning his head towards the front of the room, he saw the dented and cracked window that started to leak air into the room.

  (Kenichi) And unfortunately, I’m afraid I have no choice.

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) That’s the story really, me having no choices…

  Walking towards the front window, he continued to grasp Luna’s head high as he held her until he got to the front, smelling the leaking ash and smoke through the cracks. Analyzing the many cracks and ash air leaking into the room, he pced his right foot on the window slowly, feeling the cold air that reached the innards of his pants.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Oh … oh …

  And in a simple kick, he thrusted his heel right towards the center of the window, the gss shattering instantly as the shards fell 50 floors below. Pulling his leg back, he quickly started to cough as the smoke instantly crept into the room.

  (Kenichi) You’ll die instantly, giving you a quick and painless death. Sounds better than being sliced up, I hope you can understand.

  Having his feet on the edge of the tower’s window, the ash got into both of their eyes quickly, causing Kenichi to squint and arch his head back. Extending his left arm so that Luna was in the air, not being able to see the ground beneath her, he quickly covered his nose.

  His eyes softened at the barely awake woman, noticing that she didn’t have her swords on her holsters, as both of them were right in the center of the room.

  (Kenichi) I’ll give you a token for the afterlife. A dedication for your harsh training and tribution.

  Closing his eyes, a good amount of blood rushed out of his nose as he started to quicken his breath.

  Unrealistically, the two swords that were in the center of the room were being uplifted by an invisible force, the same force used during his final fight with her. The two twin-bded, double-edged swords being pced into the holster as his final act of appreciation, the man—

  Let out a single tear roll down his right cheek.

  (Kenichi) Farewell, Guerra.

  Letting go of the top of her head, gravity motioned her body to fall into the abyss, unable to see her body being dragged down by gravity.

  Pulling back his arm, he slowly walked to get his swords, while keeping his close eye on the elevator doors.

  (Kenichi’s thoughts) She reminds me of a girl I knew of … I just don’t remember the name… or anyone from what I recall… but I feel like… nah … I should reach towards the Boss.