"Through me the way into the suffering city,
Through me the way to the eternal pain,
Through me the way that runs among the lost.
Justice urged on my high artificer;
My maker was divine authority,
The highest wisdom, and the primal love.
Before me nothing but eternal things were made,
And I endure eternally.
Abandon every hope, ye who enter here."

---------------------------

Light and Dark
Chapter 1
Start of Act 1: Pitch Black Secrets

----------------------------

It started snowing.

I stood alone on a random rooftop.

I had a clear view of the city skyline as I stood there. The bright street lights combined with the fast moving car lights gave me a marvelous lit view of what is now called Hinata Province. Coffee stores, market places, houses, and adult stores scattered the land as far as I could see populated by small ordinary people going on with their normal lives. And at the end of it all I could make out the faint structure of a particular building. A building that towered over all the rest with a grand staircase full of Sakura trees cascading up to it.

The Hinata-sou.

I stared at the desolate building as a cold breeze swept in and decided to play with my hair and orange jacket. It was a frigid winter night tonight. Out of all the days I had to do this, it just had to be today. Its wasn't the weather that I'm complaining about though, I could stand the cold, in fact I kinda loved the cold. Its just the day which I was complaining about.

Today was Christmas eve. The most sacred night of the year for me.

I closed my eyes to only have myself remember the girls I just gave gifts to before I left and wondered what they were up to right about now.

I bet anyone that right now they were having a great time.

All of them smiling, partying and enjoying each other's company.

But most importantly finding out the grade I just received.

A failing one.

But I decided to put that all aside for now.

Nothing mattered too me at this very moment.

Not the girls.

Not the fact its Christmas eve.

Nor the fact that its cold.

Because I had a job to do.

I reopened my eyes and found myself looking down. The streets were paved with busy last minute shoppers who were currently speeding off to the safety of their own houses.

Especially for one.

My eyes narrowed and my gaze locked on to one man out of the many. I stared him down just like how a hunter would stare at his own prey right before he was about to pull the trigger. Coincidently the man started to walk faster and began to weave past the throng of shoppers more and more. As if he noticed some one staring down at him and panicked. I could sense the fear in him rise, his heart beat started to pound more and more and I could taste the sweat that ran down his face.

I grinned.

His name was Carlos Henry. A blond Caucasian male, about five feet and eleven inches tall and has a weight one hundred and eighty pounds. He was a judge back in America, a rather famous judge who put a lot of criminal masterminds behind bars. He came over here to Japan for a nice Christmas vacation.

I watched him as he stopped right in front of his door.

He hastily fumbled with his keys.

He managed to get them steady enough so as to unlock his door.

His opened his door and looked back.

He looked around for anyone suspicious.

He didn't notice me.

Then he stepped in, disappearing from my view.

I cracked my neck, took off my orange jacket along with my single strap backpack. I took my black leather trench coat that reached to my knees out from my bag and proceeded to put that on. I searched deeper into my bag and found a pair of black gloves. I grinned and began to put them on, one by one. After a few good seconds I replaced my big dorky looking glasses with a pair of sleek, jet-black shades. Prescription of course.

As soon as I finished changing into my new attire, the whole world got a lot darker.

I liked it.

Tonight...I have a job to do.

With that I disappeared into the shadows.

-----------------------------

Judge Henry stepped into his apartment building. It wasn't anything complicated or fancy, just two bedrooms, a nice warm kitchen, and a cozy living room with comfy sofas around the huge plasma television smack dab in the corner. Overall it was a nice getaway for a hard working judge.

"Heya Judge, how ya doin?" Shouted a quite chubby middle aged man from around the kitchen as he peered through the door frame. He had greeted himself to the judge's refrigerator a while ago and practically took out every edible substance that resided in it. He had on a white sweatshirt and over it was his shoulder holster for his standard issue handguns. Like a detective in one of those old cop shows.

"Your suppose to be my bodyguard, not a freeloader eating all my stuff Rodriguez." Judge Henry snorted.

"Haha, come on I was hungry. I'm risking my neck out for you and you won't let me eat."

"You can eat my food, but not that much! Look, literally all of my food is out on the counter top."

"I was about to cook a feast Judge! I need a lot of ingredients."

"Hahaha Yea right, can you even cook Rodriguez?" The judge laughed as he shuffled into the kitchen.

"Um...no...but Charles can. Oye Charles. Get your ass over here."

A shout from the living room "How about no so shut up!"

"Well ain't that nice." The Judge said, taking off his coat as he entered the living room. There he found his second bodyguard watching the television sitting down on the recliner. He was another Caucasian male and had the same shoulder strap holster over his black sweatshirt. But he was thinner then the other bodyguard, also a lot more muscular. "Charles, why are you all in sweatshirts?"

The man looked up at his boss. "Because a certain Judge forgot to put the heater on when he left."

"Hehe, my bad."

"Forget about it. Just next time you leave the house let one of us go with you."

The Rodriguez joined them with a sandwich.

"Yea, rumor has it an assassin is out there in this country. And a man of your stature shouldn't leave the house with out proper protection. I mean they say this man is a real killer. He is too good to be just a plain murderer. He is professional. They also say if you meet face to face with his sunglasses you will die for sure. "

"Pffft, thats only a rumor, and anyways he wouldn't attack me in front of groups of people. Thats just crazy. So I didn't see any reason to let one of you tag along with me."

"All right."

"Mhmm."

Charles threw a piece of paper at Rodriguez. "Talk with your mouth closed pig."

"Hey shut up."

The Judge chuckled and went up the stairs. He could hear the distant shouts and various other noises from the television as reached his bedroom.

He smiled to himself, fully secured inside his own bedroom.

He got into his computer chair and started to surf the web.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence..

Judge Henry stopped typing on his computer for a moment and listened.

He expected the voices of his two body guards yelling at each other or at least the television.

But got nothing.

"Rodriguez? Charles? You guys still fighting out there?" He shouted.

Silence.

"What the?"

The judge rose from his chair.

He slowly reached the frame of his bedroom door.

It was hauntingly silent.

"Hey! any of you there."

Still dead silent.

The Judge swallowed and stepped down the first step of the stairs.

He could here the small creak of his footsteps against the wooden steps.

He didn't like it.

He reached the bottom, and by this time his hair stood on end.

It was weirdly cold around him.

"Ch-Charles?"

He softly peered into the living room.

His body went rigid cold and froze.

There on the recliner was Charles. Or rather the bottom half of him. Charles's head was on the floor oozing out a river of blood from the neck while the body laid back on what used to be a tan leather recliner, but was now painted crimson red with his own blood.

The judge was speechless and frozen.

A choking voice to his right. "Ru-Runnnnnnnggckkt."

The Judge's hysterical eyes jerked to his right.

There Rodriguez was. His eyes bulging out of his sockets. His mouth wide open in a desperate plea as a single black gloved hand was strangling the bodyguard by the neck, actually lifting the man above the floor. Feet dangling. His eyes were trained on the judge, literally shouting for him to run the hell out of there. But curiosity got to the judge. With his eyes he followed the black gloved hand to a black leather sleeve. The sleeve ran up to a firm shoulder and was then attached to a head. The head gazed at his way and the Judge met the man's eyes... or rather the man's black shades.

My black shades...

-SNAP!-

I effortlessly snapped the man's neck like a twig.

-Plop-

The body limply fell to the floor.

The Judge let out a silent scream and dashed back upstairs.

-Slam!-

He slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it.

"Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god!"

He ran to the phone and put it against his ears.

"Come on, come on."

The line was dead.

"Shit!"

-BLAM!-

"Aaah!"

Splinters from the door flew at him in a furry as a shotgun blast tore through the locked door knob.

The now unlocked door slowly swung open.

I casually stepped in.

The judge reached into his computer cabinet and pulled out a switchblade.

"You freak! You won't be getting me any time soon!"

He lunged at me with desperation and the switch blade.

I picked up my foot and kicked him right at his chest.

His breath left him as he went sprawling back first into the floor.

He winced and opened his eyes.

-Kla-Klack!-

He was met with the barrel end of a shotgun to the face.

His pants suddenly got wet.

"Pl-please! I-I'll give you anything! Money! A car! Just name it! Pl-please just do-do-don't kill me."

"..." I kept my sawed-off shotgun trained at his face.

"Please! Do-dont kill me. I'll give you what ever you want!"

"Trust me...you won't feel a thing." I closed my eyes behind my shades.

"Huh?"

Judge Henry indeed didn't feel a thing as his head exploded-

BLAM!

Blood shot out in every direction like an exploding land mine from underneath. The whole room lit up in a crimson fashion and red spots formed around the room. Brains and skull matter had flung themselves into the walls, the windows, my leather trench coat and even at the bright computer screen.

"..."

I didn't even look back at the body.

I instead turned around, gripped my shotgun and left the room as it was.

"I'm going to have to wash this suit..."

-----------------------------

Several minutes later.

It was still cold.

It was still snowing.

I still found myself wandering in front of a very familiar building.

Tokyo University.

The moonlight illuminated the sky in a sheet of white as the cold snow continued to flow down from the heavens around me. My blood stained trench coat and gloves were safely tucked back inside my bag. My orange coat and my dorky glasses were back on me and in my grasp was none other then my black shades. A symbol of what I just was.

A ruthless murderer.

Now that I had it off I felt relief and disappointment flow through out me.

I couldn't tell which one I had more off.

I didn't care. I felt lost.

I had reverted back to my old self.

I reached the front gate of Tokyo University and stopped in between the gate and the street. I looked back at the University and admired it's structure. The way it reached for the white silky sky in such an elegant, gracious manner. The way it looked behind a veil of snow flakes and fog. I admired it.

Just looking at it calmed me down a bit.

-Vr-vr-vroom-

A black unmarked van pulled up behind me.

I turned around and walked over to the van's side.

I slid the van's sliding door open.

From the inside driver's seat a dark, resonating voice greeted me.

"You did good agent. We received the bounty from our contact and all ties to us have been disclosed and done with. As usual you will receive thirty percent of the money in a couple of days."

I narrowed my eyes to get a better look inside the van but I could only see pitch black. I couldn't see the speaker at all.

"Put your equipment that needs to be washed and cleaned into the van. We will clean it for you."

I nodded and took out my trench coat and my black gloves but kept my shades and shotgun inside my bag. I placed the equipment inside the dark interior of the van.

"Next time agent, do a cleaner job. We don't want the cops to sniff up our asses and find blood all over us now do we?"

I smirked, saying nothing.

"Why are you out here Agent?"

"I was kicked out of the house."

"Why? I thought you were the alpha male of that estrogen filled dorm house?"

I snickered. "I don't know exactly. I guess because of the grade I got on my last test. It said that I should apply somewhere else other then Tokyo University...after finding that ...I can't seem to face them. Especially one of them. I kinda looked into her diary."

"Haha, our number one Agent can't face a bunch of girls. How the hell did we ever get stuck with you."

I laughed with him.

"Basically, yea."

"Don't give up Agent. I never knew you as a guy who quits like a sissy when ever your in one of our missions. I don't see why you should quit now." A pause.. "Well, while your out here in the cold freezing your ass. This should help ya." An umbrella flew at me.

-Snatch-

I quickly caught it with my right hand.

"Take care Agent and Merry Christmas. Keep that personality of yours the way it is. Its hard to find agents with actual emotions these days."

I didn't know whether to shoot him or hug him for that so instead I waved, shut the sliding door and watched the van speed off into the distance.

I sighed, swiveled around and opened my new umbrella.

I looked back up at the University.

I felt a tear go down my face...

Or maybe it was a melting snow flake

...yea thats it...

A melting snow flake.

I leaned my umbrella on my shoulder and turned around.

A young teenage girl stood in front of me.

I jolted. "Na-Naru!"

Naru pouted at me, her umbrella leaning on her shoulder as well.

"I knew you would be here."

"Um? Uh.." I stumbled with my words but I managed to sneak my hand into my bag.

"Close your eyes Keitaro."

"Wh-what?"

My hand reached the shotgun's handle inside my bag and I quickly flipped the safety on.

"Hurry!"

I closed my eyes. Zipping my bag up at the same time.

"Like this Naru?"

-Wham!-

I felt a fist pound my face in.

I was sent flying across the field of snow and skidded to a stop.

"Haha, that felt good, now we're even, ok?"

I sat up right on the snow.

"Ok. But how did you know I was here?"

"I just knew you would be here before you leave. I think I have a better understanding of you know." She said smiling. "But anyways, you don't need to leave just because of the prep exam gave you a bad grade. Then who would I pound on when I'm mad?"

I stood up, patting my self down.

"Me I guess."

-Splat-

A cold snow ball slapped me in the face.

"Exactly."

I smiled scooped up a hand full of snow and threw it at her.

-Splat!-

"Hey!"

"Haha!

We continued our snowball fight all the way up until we reached the train station. During our trip we met up with the others. Shinobu, Motoko, Suu, and Mitsune all joined us in our little snowball fight. All of us smiling and having a fun time on this holy night before Christmas Day.

Yet, I could still here the sirens from cop cars ringing in my head.

I ignored it.

---End of Chapter 1--------

Note: Everyone, look in my bio by clicking on my name at the top of the page. There you will find all the latest info of all my stories. Like what I am doing to it right now and all. Have a look see.