Tennouzu First High School, Tokyo Japan July 26

Shu sighed with relief as he leaned back in his chair, with many of his new classmates getting up around him and leaving the room, going to take care of whatever it was students took care of during their lunch breaks. Waiting until the commotion around him died down a bit, Shu turned to the girl who now stood next to him, giving her a friendly smile while inside he was practically bouncing off the walls because of what their homeroom teacher had said when he sat down.

Flashback

Shu calmly took his seat, glad that he had been able to sit so close to Eve, when the man who introduced him spoke up again, speaking to Eve he said "Inori, since you know what it's like being the new student, would you mind helping Shu here settle in? Show him around the school and the like?"

When the pinkette gave a small nod, Shu felt like breaking into laughter at the opportunity being presented to him to get closer to Eve, or Inori as she was called here, ignoring the glares of the other boys in the class at the new students luck.

Once the teacher had his back turned, he turned to Inori, and held his hand out and said "I'm sure we will be great friends, Inori." The girl said nothing, but still took his outstretched hand.

Flashback End

Shu stood up and flashed a charming smile at his guide, before asking "Well, is there a store or anything where I can buy something for lunch? I wasn't able to prepare a lunch this morning." He chuckled a bit at himself, while Inori still stood stoically.

She then raised her hand and pointed to the door, before saying in a soft, almost musical voice "There is the school store down the hall, they will have something." She then began to walk out of the room and to said store, before realizing her charge was not following her. When she turned around she found Shu still in the same position he had been in, standing only now with a stunned look on his face. Shu had become frozen upon hearing her voice, to his ears it had sounded like the proverbial bells of heaven, with no sound he had heard up till now even coming close to what he had just heard.

When Shu noticed he was being given a curious look by Inori, he merely blushed and began to follow her, internally cursing himself for not having greater control in front of her. As they walked out of the classroom, they saw many groups of friends all standing around talking, some by the walls, some in the middle of the walkway. Out of the corner of his eye, Shu saw a student rushing down the hall with what looked like an A/V cart, many of the students barely moving out of the way in time to avoid the speeding boy. Noticing the group of girls right in front of Shu had not yet moved, to engrossed in their conversation to hear the churning wheels fast approaching them, Shu reacted before he could even think. He reached forward and grabbed the girl closest to him, coincidentally standing in the dead center of the carts path, and pulled her out of the way by the arm. Just in time as the cart sped by the next second, startling the other girls as it did. As for the girl who he had saved, Shu was currently looking down on her, his pull having put her into his chest, she stared at the cart as it shot down the hall, before giving a small sigh and starting to thank him as she looked up at him. When she stared up at him she realized the position she was in, and her face lit up in a blush, before she took a large step back and looked down in embarrassment, finishing her thanks with a small stutter.

Shu merely gave a polite smile and waved off her thanks, further embarrassing the girl, much to Shu's ignorance as he moved on with Inori down the hall. After arriving in the store, both Shu and Inori bought a sandwich and began to walk back to the classroom. Glancing at the food in her hands Shu asked "Did you not bring anything today Inori?"

The girl shook her head slightly and said "No, I don't know how to cook, and my family is rarely at home to cook in advance. So I just buy something from the store." Shu gained a disgruntled look at this, but was quickly dropped as one of their classmates walked up to them, specifically Inori. Inori gave him a curious, but blank, gaze and asked "What's the matter Souta? Is Yahiro still looking for more help for the contest?"

A grin forming on the boys face he quickly brought his hands up and waved off her question "No, no! Well, I mean he probably is...But! That's not what I wanted to ask you!" Here a slight blush fell over his cheeks and he nudged the ground with the toe of his shoe before asking "I was kinda wondering, if you wanted to, you know, eat lunch with me on the roof?" Souta blurted the words out in a quick string as he looked Inori in the eyes and clasped his hands together, as if begging her to agree.

Inori, however, kept the same look on her face as she said "No, sorry Souta. I have to bring Shu back to the room, the teacher said he is my responsibility." She then tried to step past Souta, who quickly moved in her way again, this time sending a small glare to Shu before returning to a kind gaze as he turned to Inori.

"I'm sure Shu can find his way back, and if not he could always ask someone right? He doesn't need to follow you around like a stray dog you know." With Souta's eyes only on Inori, he failed to see the look of anger and contempt that flashed across Shu's face, before he returned to his kind facade and decided to put this boy in his place, not only for insulting him, but for attempting to get close to his Eve.

Shu suddenly took a step forward, smoothly placing himself between Inori and Souta, forcing the latter to quickly take a step back or be pushed down. Shu gave a disarming smile to face against Souta's glare, and said in a voice that sounded normal, yet made sure many of the halls occupants could hear him "Now, now, there's no need to be so insistent Souta. May I call you Souta?" Without waiting for a reply Shu continued "Inori has said that she doesn't want to eat with you, as she obviously takes the duties given to her by the teacher very seriously. By persisting you are only causing the situation to become gravely awkward, and if it's just between you and me," Here Shu leaned forward as if to whisper but kept the same presence in his voice to say "Persistence does not paint you in a good light when it comes to a lady, sure you should try your hardest, but don't disrespect their wishes, alright?" Giving Souta a quick wink, Shu placed one hand on Inori's back and led her away from the red faced, though with anger or embarrassment no one knew, Souta.

When Souta could finally regain his voice, he turned to see Shu and Inori walking into the classroom, and ground his teeth. While many of the male population of the school were vying for Inori's affections, many of them had gone for more subtle, or long term plans to win her over, Souta had thought he had gotten a leg up over them by being bold, but that transfer student just had to muck it all up. While at first Souta had thought the new boy would assume a beauty like Inori was already taken, it was clear to him now that Shu Shuichiro would be one of his foremost rivals for the pinkettes affection.

Once Shu and Inori had sat down and begun to eat their lunch, Shu was surprised to hear Inori's voice saying "Thank you, for back there Shu." At his questioning look she continued "I didn't want to be rude to Souta, so when you stepped in I didn't have to. Thank you."

Shu merely gave her a small, seemingly friendly smile and said "Don't worry about it Inori, I know you would have done the same if our roles were reversed." Meanwhile Shu was cackling inside, glad he could put one of the usurpers for Inori's affection in their place. But unfortunately, their lunch ended, and afternoon classes begun, and all the while Shu could practically feel Souta's glare from across the room.

When classes had finished, Shu and Inori walked side by side out into the courtyard, where they were waved over by Yahiro, who stood a bit off from the gate. The taller boy gave a small, almost apologetic smile before he said "Hey, I'm sorry about what Souta did earlier, I tried talking him out of it, but once he gets an idea in his head he just can't get it out. Anyway, please don't read too much into anything he does, he always has been an impulsive kind of person."

Shu returned the smile and waved his hands in front of himself, before replying "No apologies necessary, it's perfectly alright. In fact, if you wouldn't mind could you apologize to Souta for me? I fear I may have gone a bit too far. I'd do it myself, but I don't think he'd be too understanding if it came from me. Speaking of, Inori tells me you and Souta are making a video for some competition with Inori as the main actress. Would you mind joining us? Inori was going to show me what you have filmed so far at her house, and I wouldn't mind getting some of the directors commentary."

Yahiro gave the duo a sheepish grin and said "Sorry, but I have some work to take care of, perhaps another time alright?" With a befuddled look on his face, Shu nodded and the two left, with Shu giving Yahiro one last glance before turning the corner onto the street. Yahiro stayed in his spot for a few more minutes, before he himself took to the streets, quickly turning down an alley the gentle, happy look dropped from his face, turning into a more irritated and serious one. When he was sure no one was in earshot, he pulled out and old style portable flip phone, hitting the speed dial he waited until the person on the other end picked up, and without waiting a moment said "Yes, I have made contact with both targets, beginning observation." And without further ado hung up, before moving deeper into the alley, becoming consumed by the shadows.

Ouma Residence, Tokyo Japan Four-Thirty P.M.

Mana gave an irritated sigh as she checked the clock for the fifth time that minute. Normally she wouldn't have been this wrapped up in a schedule and keeping to it, however that was before she was put in charge of a young woman who had the innocent naivete of a child and was wanted by the governing body, who would likely shoot first and ask questions never. That was why she currently was close to tearing her hair out over her "cousin" being a few minutes later getting home from school. She could just be taking her time walking, but until now Inori had always done whatever she was told to do with no distractions, getting it done quickly and exactly how you told her.

Mana was saved from further torment by the sound of the door opening and Inori's voice calling out her return home, before continuing her conversation with an unseen partner. Giving out a sigh of relief, Mana moved to meet Inori and her visitor, wondering who it was as she did. Inori did not generally bring many people home with her, so far only three of her classmates had earned that honor, and while the voice talking to Inori did feel strangely familiar, it was not one of those three. Deciding to introduce herself she called out "Welcome home Inori! And who is this friend you've...brought...home..." Mana trailed off as she stared wide eyed and open mouthed at what was in front of her.

The best way to describe how Mana Ouma looked in that moment, would be to say she had seen a ghost, which in her situation might not be far from the truth. Standing in front of her was the exact likeness of her presumed dead brother, from the hair on his head, to his facial structure, losing the childish baby fat and becoming leaner, and more reminiscent of their father. With a stunned look on her face, Mana took a few hesitant steps forward and nervously held her hand out in front of her, as if to touch the boy in front of her. "S-Shu?" Her shaking voice asked, "Is..Is that really you?"

The boys eyes lighted with confusion, and cautiously took a few steps back before saying "Um, I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm the person you are looking for, my name is Shu Shuichiro. Who are you?"

With those words Mana's heart felt as if her heart was simultaneously breaking and pounding with joy. Here was someone who she was definitely sure was her brother back from the dead, and yet he seemed to have no memory of her. Then, she jolted as she took in all of what he said, including the last name he had given her, it was one she could barely remember from when she was a little girl. If she remembered right, Shuichiro was the name of a friend of her fathers, who was now the head of the Antibodies at GHQ, and the maiden name for her stepmother, Haruka.

Chuckling nervously Mana turned to let the two further into the house and said "Please, make yourself at home. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you a few questions in a bit. First I have to make a couple of quick calls, why don't you two get something to snack on and I'll meet you in a few minutes."

After the two agreeing and moving into the living room, Mana pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a number she had been told to only use in case of an emergency. When she heard the voice on the other end answer with nervousness and a hint of fear she gave a soft giggle before saying "No, no calm down. Listen, we need to meet up later tonight, I have big news."

Shu sat down on the couch, thanking Inori when she offered to get them food from the kitchen. When he was sure Inori was gone and Mana still on the phone he allowed the scowl he had been suppressing since he arrived in the house to form, his lip curling up in a feral snarl. 'How dare she!' he raved inside the confines of his mind, 'How dare she put up such a facade, to cover her horrid true self and pretend like she cares about me. She does not even have the pride to stick with her decision and keep her hatred visible. Instead she backtracks and tries to lull me into letting my guard down? Well my dear sister, it will take far more than that to get me to drop my guard, and one bad move and I'll show you just what happens when you try to go against the King.' And with but a thought his left arm became encased in his crystal, coming to a point in front of his hand, matching the psychotic grin he now wore.

Both of which dropped the second he heard footsteps approaching him, he turned and gave a small grin to Mana as she took a seat across from him, and was definitely not expecting her next words "Alright Shu, I want you to tell me everything you remember, everything."

And so, Shu began to tell the story he, Yu, and Shuichiro had come up with to cover for the large part of his life where he had simply been off the radar, to the whole world Shu had simply disappeared that Christmas Eve, and now returned. Although it took much longer than Shu would have liked to finish the conversation, due to Mana's many interruptions in his story, constantly asking questions of him. By the time he had finished, the sun was already dipping below the horizon, and Shu stood and said "Well, I really would like to stay and watch the video Inori invited me over to see, my father set my curfew early so that I can stay caught up with my schooling. Maybe I can come over again tomorrow?" After getting a nod from Inori Shu's smile returned and he walked out the door, calling out over his shoulder "Perfect! I will see you at school tomorrow Inori! And it was nice to meet you Ms. Ouma."

With that, Shu stepped into the cool summer evening, but instead of taking a calm stroll home, Shu ducked into an alley out of sight from the Ouma's apartment, and without further pause, slammed his fist against the side of a concrete building. Slowly pulling his now bloodied hand from the hole his anger had created, his crystals already moving to cover the wound and let it heal. With a growl of pure anger, Shu was finally able to vent, announcing to the empty air in front of him "Damn those disgusting humans. Damn them all. I had hoped that my time in isolation had caused my imagination to go wild, and make my thinking all the more radical. But what I have seen today, no, what I have seen since arriving in this cesspool of humanity only proves my thoughts. To think, my innocent, pure, Eve is living in these conditions, with men who hound her and do not even take into account her feelings, pressuring her into spending time with them. And to live in a house run by such a bold two faced woman, if I allow that woman to spend more time with my Eve, with my Inori, she is sure to try and corrupt her, if only to spite me one final time."

Shu turned, and pressed his back against the side of the building, next to the hole he had created mere moments ago, as he continued rambling "Yes...I see now. I must remove all of these corrupt filth who claim to be righteous. I must do it, before they can corrupt her, and if I have to sully my hands...my name...my very soul then so be it. If Da'ath are the only ones willing to assist me, then I will use them like the tools they truly are."

Before Shu could say any more, a man walked around the corner, wiping sweat off his brow he loudly called out "Hey kid, what are you doing? Don't you know it's getting late out? And what's all the racket out here." As the man walked forward he noticed the hole in the wall next to Shu and rushed over, yelling "What in the world is this! Did you take a hammer to the wall or something kid? What's your name kid? You are gonna be in so much trouble when the boss finds ou- grgh"

The man suddenly found his voice taken away in a wet gurgle as an object lodged itself in his throat, looking down the man found a spear made of some kind of crystal in his throat, he weakly brought his hands up to try and do something, anything about the intruding object, before a noise returned his attention to the boy in front of him. Although his hair covered one half of his face, the man could barely see through the evening shadows and his darkening vision, a psychotic grin that continually broke with giggling as a single red eye stared at him, unseeing, caught up in his own world as he muttered "Yes, I have to eradicate the filth from this world. I'll get close to Eve, and when she is ready, we will destroy this world, once and for all." Without a second thought, the boy made a motion with his wrists and the man found himself feeling nothing at all, for a few more seconds before death finally saw fit to claim him, his head falling to the ground with a muted thump. The boy walking through the streets, a ghoulish cackle breaking free from his throat every now and then.

GHQ Headquarters, Tokyo Japan, Six P.M.

Haruka huffed as she stood in front of the desk of her older brother, Keido, tapping her foot as the man ignored her in favor of finishing documents in front of him, blatantly ignoring the increasingly impatient woman standing but a few feet away. Once he reached the bottom of the pile of paperwork he looked up, giving the woman a cold unfeeling stare as he said "Now then, what is the meaning of this unexpected, and unannounced visit Dr. Ouma? As I understand it you are under Sephirah Genomics, in which case any problems you have should be brought to them and not myself. Now if you will excuse me I have many problems that require my attention."

He then began to gather his things and stand up, off to do whatever duties he felt like, as long as it took him away from his office, when the woman in front of him took a purposeful step forward, planting her hands on her hips and leaning forward slightly she said in a voice that was as thin as it was cold said "Let's cut the crap here, brother, I want to know just what exactly you think you are doing with my son? I thought that after my engagement to Kurosu you wanted nothing to do with me, or my family?"

Shuichiro sighed and realized the woman would not stop hounding him until she got some answers, and so sat down and ignored his estranged sister in favor of reaching into a cabinet built into his desk, pulling out a cigar, and proceeding to light it. After taking a puff of the imported tobacco, Shuichiro looked up at his sister with a light glare as he explained "Trust me, Dr. Ouma, I had fully intended to follow through with that promise. However after Lost Christmas occurred, and my placement as the head of the GHQ Antibody division, I was forced to rescind on that when it came to young A-Shu." Shuichiro mentally berated himself for his minor slip-up, but luckily Haruka did not notice.

"When the GHQ discovered that Shu had been found comatose at the epicenter of the explosion, yet was mysteriously free of the Apocalypse Virus, they eliminated any records of him at the field hospitals and placed him at a secure research facility in hopes of synthesizing a cure from him, even if it cost the boy his life. When I gained my position, I immediately claimed guardianship and pulled him from the facility. Instead letting him heal in one of the most secure hospitals the GHQ had, they unfortunately had to place him in a medically induced coma for five years, in order for him to heal from not only the stress of surviving the explosion, but also the tests in the months after that. When he finally woke up he claimed to know nothing about his life before that point, and any attempts by us to awaken his memory have only created pain for him and regression in his amnesia. So, all I have told him is that I have adopted him, and his father is an old, dead friend of mine. We have spent the last five years using private tutors, paid out of my own pocket mind you, to catch him back up on his studies, he has only recently been admitted to a real school." His gaze turned to steel as he glared at Haruka before continuing "Although perhaps we should have stuck with the tutors if you have found out about him, and could possibly set back years of progress with him."

Haruka's mask of anger dropped as her brothers words washed over her, before returning just as suddenly as she growled out "You still should have told me about Shu as soon as you learned! I'm his mother, by birth or not and should have been told!"

Keido simply took another puff and leaned back, calmly retorting "Despite marrying Kurosu, you had never adopted his children, probably because you wanted to, 'Get closer to them' or something of the sort. Or if you did, the paperwork was lost after the disaster. What wasn't lost was Shu's birth certificate, which clearly names me as his Godfather, to gain custody if anything were to happen to both of his parents, which I'm sure we both know did. Besides, even if you did have a chance to take the boy, who do you honestly think he would receive better care from? Some random researcher at a branch of the GHQ? Or the head of their security force?" He quickly held up a hand to stop the next tirade he could see forming on Haruka's lips by saying "And before you ask, no, you could not have visited him after he woke up, like I said, any reminder of his past life made him relapse. The only reason I did not was because of my lack of presence in his life up to that point. The mere mention of his past caused him to revert and forget anything he had learned up to that point, imagine what damage would have been done if you had shown up in the flesh! He's only barely become stable, which is why I believe he was able to stand seeing whoever it is told you he is alive."

Her voice dying in her throat, the most Haruka was able to do was to cross her arms over her chest and look to the side, muttering just loud enough to be heard "You could have at least told us, even if we couldn't visit..."

Blowing out the smoke from his lungs, Keido just gave a small cruel chuckle before saying "No, you still would have demanded to see him, or worse, tried to sneak in. Face it Doctor, there was nothing for you to do. Now if you will excuse me, I really must be getting back to work."

As he stood and made for the door, Haruka had one last card to play and said "Your job must be very intensive, I imagine you rarely get home at a decent hour. But because of a niece of mine staying with us, Mana is home very often to watch over her. Living alone is not something a young man like Shu should have to go through, especially after having to be put on the fast track when it comes to learning, why don't you let him live with me. He will have a good environment, which should be important to you as his guardian, and since he is stable, we might be able to jump start his memory without causing him to relapse."

Keido stopped with his hand on the door, before he turned slightly to stare at Haruka with a single eye, after a moment of silent contemplation he slowly nodded and said "I will tell the boy of these new arrangements immediately." And with that he stepped out the door.

Haruka allowed herself a small smile, proud at her apparent victory, and yet at the same time felt a knot of dread form in the pit of her stomach. Keido's story seemed to be perfect, and yet something inside her screamed that everything was deeply, deeply wrong. She was on the group set to create cure or vaccine, and she had never heard of any such arrangement, it could be that is was simply above her pay grade, but she had ever even heard rumors of such a thing. And besides that, why would he go to such stakes, put himself at such a risk by protecting him, and yet let him go to someone he hadn't had contact with in years? "Something not adding up," she whispered to herself "and I intend to find out just what it is." With that, Haruka pulled herself together and marched out of the office, intent on digging to the truth, no matter how deep down the rabbit hole she had to go.

In the elevator, Keido pulled out a his work communicator and placed it to his ear, once he was connected to the other end, he ordered "Yes, I want surveillance increased on the secondary target. I no longer have a direct link to him, which means we are all but free from the watchful eye of the targets sponsor, double the time table of the plan, I want it to be ready to start by this December."

Ikebukuro District, Toshima Tokyo Japan Seven Thirty P.M.

Mana sighed before taking a sip of her drink, staring at the man across from her, warily glancing out the window and to the door to the fast food restaurant. Giving him a slightly annoyed smile she said "Triton, stop acting like cops are going to be busting down the door any second. There's no way they could spot you in all the people out there, and even if they did, wouldn't those guards of yours tell you first?"

Triton glanced around a bit more, before deciding she was right and slightly dropping his guard. Taking a sip of his own drink he asked her "You're right, you're right. So, what was the reason you called me out here so quickly? Since we are just sitting here, I assume we haven't been discovered right?"

Mana quickly shook her head, before casting a glance at Inori, who stood in line waiting to order their food, she wanted to make sure the young girl heard as little of their conversation as possible. It wasn't because she didn't trust Inori's ability to keep a secret, she knew more about the Undertaker organization than Mana did at this point, she just didn't want the naive girl to accidentally reveal anything to Shu when his caretaker was the head of the Antibodies. "Well Triton, do I have a story for you."

She then reiterated the story she had heard from Shu, that he had been found in the aftermath of Lost Christmas, was tested on by the GHQ for a few weeks before being adopted by Shuichiro Keido and given proper medical treatment. Since then he had been taught by tutors and now joined a real school. At the end of her story, she could practically read Triton's number one question off his face, and added "I know it's him Triton, he's grown up so much...he looks so much like father." She barely felt the tears falling down her cheeks until Triton reached across the table to wipe them away, giving her a sympathetic smile at her questioning stare.

While Mana wiped off her face, Triton began to think over all the information given to him, muttering in a voice low enough that only Mana could hear him "Hm, Shuichiro Keido huh? That could be trouble, the reports we have gotten so far place him as the Organization's top man here in Japan. We need to get Shu away from him as soon as possible" As he watched Mana mull that over, he added "We also have learned about a new piece of equipment they have, and if we can get our hands on it, we should be able to finally have the upper hand in this war. Even if we can only make sure that they don't have it will be a huge blow to them. Because of that, I'm going to need to bring Inori back with me her skills are necessary to finish the job, don't expect her back until at the earliest two days from now, possibly longer if we run into trouble."

Mana huffed in clear annoyance and said "You could at least ask her yourself Triton, she is her own person after all. Besides, she barely started school, don't you think you should give her a little more time to get situated?"

Guy stonly looked to the side, not wanting to meet Mana's accusatory gaze and said "For now, she is an asset that we need to use, if it can increase our chances of winning and getting rid of these bastards, and then fighting them on their own turf, we need to use any chance that we can get, even if we do not agree with it morally. After this is all done, then we can set about righting these wrongs, but for now, the ends will justify the means. Besides, Inori won't complain, no matter what you ask her to do she never complains."

Mana, face quickly reddening as her eyes narrowed on Triton, opened her mouth to give a new tirade, when suddenly Inori walked over with their food. Setting it down, and getting their attention in the process, Inori quickly saw the situation and asked in her normal soft voice "Are you two fighting? Should I leave?"

Mana quickly shook her head and waved for the young woman to take a seat as she said "No! Nothing like that Inori! We were just having a...very spirited discussion!"

As Gai began to eat he decided to change the topic, before he got another earful, and asked Mana with a curious gaze "So, are you any closer to creating a cure for the virus? The sooner we can start giving it out, the sooner those bastards lose their justification to be here."

Mana looked down, and bit her lip as she said "No, no, we are no closer to making it than when they took the lions share of our funding away after the vaccine was made. It's near impossible to do it when we only have the offspring strains, it took nearly everything we had to make the vaccine with only those strains, now we have a fraction of the funding to make a cure. If we had the mother strain, with that anything we did would apply to the disease as a whole, instead of having to make a weaker batch to ensure it effects them all like we did with the vaccine."

Gai's head suddenly perked up at her words, wiping his face he said "But didn't you mention how you thought Shu had the mother strain? Since the incident seemed to come from him?"

Mana rested her chin on her hand and hummed in thought, "I thought so, but after seeing him today... He didn't look like the disease had done anything to him at all, I would have expected at least some crystallization at this point, but he looks completely fine. Maybe the disease has gone dormant because of outside pressure? Or maybe the primary host doesn't exhibit signs of infection as a form of camouflage? I'll have to get a blood sample from Shu to be sure. It could be that after Lost Christmas he went into a near death state and the disease died off."

Gai nodded, and quickly stood up, "Sounds good, I'll leave you to that then. I'd love to stay longer, but we really need to get going." He lead Inori by the shoulder and began briskly walking out, calling out over his shoulder "Me and Inori will catch up with you later." And before Mana could react, they were gone, disappearing into the rushing evening crowd.

Da'ath Headquarters, Tel-Aviv Isreal Two P.M. July 26

Yu sat behind his desk, mindlessly doing the paperwork that had built up while he was helping Adam in his search for Eve. He had just finished approving a request to influence the next choice for representatives to the U.N. when a messenger rushes in. Yu gave the young man an irritated glare that caused the boy to drop to one knee and bow his head, muttering apologies. When Yu felt the boy was thoroughly frightened, he asked in a lazy drawl "You may rise. Now then, tell me what is so important that you have barged into my office unannounced. If it's important enough you may just avoid being executed."

Yu gained a smirk when he saw the beads of sweat drip down the boys head, and it grew when he heard the boys voice quivering in fear "M-Master Yu, we just received a message from Sir Shuichiro. Apparently he has released Lord Adam into the custody of one Haruka Ouma, and one Mana Ouma, the family we have observed as housing Lady Eve. What are your orders Master Yu? Should we order Lord Adam to be returned to Da'ath security?"

Yu quietly began to chuckle as he stood up, moving around the desk to start pacing the length of the room. "Well well Shuichiro, seems you have decided to make the opening move, very well, then it seems I'm to respond. Double our security on Adam, but take no further action. We will let Shuichiro think he is ahead for now."

The boy suddenly looked alarmed, and quickly spoke up and said "But Master Yu! Forgive my audacity, but we have heard about Sir Shuichiro's very...outspoken criticism of you and Lord Adam, would this not allow him to corrupt more of our officials now that Adam's presence is not around them?"

Yu nodded, himself thinking about that, before retorting "Yes, but it was likely that we would lose those personnel to his sway eventually, this will only speed it up. Besides, this new freedom will allow Adam to earn the loyalty of new vassals, and perhaps find some who are compatible with the Void Genome, we should be receiving a few of the vials any day now for a primary trial. Besides, while Shuichiro is important to our overall goals, and has quite a following behind him, he is not untouchable. In fact, we have another that our eyes are on, all we need to do is get close enough to convince him."

The boy was confused as to why his superior seemed to be having a brainstorming session with him, but since he was not yet dead he assumed he was doing something right. So, he continued on, keeping Yu talking by asking "Sir, we have also heard that the ones Lord Adam is staying with have connection to the terrorist responsible for kidnapping Lady Eve, are you sure that it is safe for Lord Adam to stay with them?"

Yu openly laughed at this, before saying in his derogatory tone, "If anyone, those terrorist are the ones who are in danger with Adam near, not the other way around. Besides, as things are now, Adam's plan is going wonderfully." As Yu began to mutter to himself more and more, the boy began to slowly walk out of the room, thankful that he had survived his first meeting with his leader, when suddenly his entire world went black. As the boy's body toppled to the ground, Yu spoke to himself one last time, saying "Hm, shame, he did his job adequately. Unfortunately I couldn't let you walk out of here knowing so much. But, you know what they say, the more people in on a secret, the more likely it is to get out." And without a word he returned to his desk, finishing what paperwork was left.

Authors Note: Hello everyone! I am terribly sorry for taking so long to return to this story, but, I hope this extra long chapter, plus another one that is in development and soon to come, will make up for it! Unfortunately, I can not devote as much time as I would like to this story, but that doesn't mean it will be abandoned! But, if you can not stand to go so long without reading something, I have a few other stories that might catch your interests! So, without further ado, let's get to the review responses, I am thinking about moving them down here so those who don't read them can get right to the story, tell me what you think!

Kyuubi's Death: No problem! And again no problem! After all, if it wasn't for you all, I wouldn't have any point to do this, so why not communicate with you?

Ford1114: Yep! And although we have a little more setup work, we are about to get into the thick of things!

Alexis-Senpai: Well, I didn't update soon, nor did Triton and Shu meet, but what if I promise they will soon? Haha

Guest: Thank you!

LittleWesties9: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it!

Nightlance44: Thank you very much! I think Shu will be able to do the whole oblivious act very well, it will be a bit more trouble for those who have to deal with his..."anger issues" when it gets too much for him.

TH3 51L3NT A55A551N: Thank you!

MysteriousOwl: Here you go!

SB and OGMM: Thank you! And it really does, and I feel terrible that it took me this long to get the next chapter out. And yep, Shu is definitely badass, after all, who know's what Da'ath was training him in all those years(well, I do, but that's besides the point). And Shu seems to be keeping his feelings of rage against Mana and Triton under control for now, unless you happen into his path afterwords.

plsupdate: Thank you!

BrokenPiecesofHell: Thank you very much! Glad to find someone who enjoys the same things! And here is another part of it to keep you satisfied until it's all done!