Chapter 1: Those Night Children
It was four in the afternoon when Ayumu got home. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door. "I'm home," he shouted as he took his shoes off. When he didn't hear a response he shouted, "Madoka, are you home?" After finding a note left by her saying she would be late tonight, he went over to the fridge to pull out something to make dinner with. After setting things up, the phone rang. He picked it up and said, "Hello, Narumi residence. Ayumu speaking."
"Hey there little brother," said the voice of Kiyotaka. "How have you been?"
Ayumu wasn't able to speak at all. He hadn't heard from his brother in who knows how long. And now, out of the blue, Kiyotaka calls him up. "Hey are you still there," Kiyotaka asked.
"Is...is that really you Kiyotaka?"
"Well it's good to know that you're still alive," Kiyotaka said sarcastically. "But now isn't the time for jokes. I have to tell you something. You need to look into something for me. I need you to find out anything and everything that you can about the Night Children.
"The who? Don't you mean the Blade Children," Ayumu asked, now a little confused.
"No little brother. I mean the Night Children. Now that the Blade Children have been saved, there is one more task I must accomplish. To help the Night Children change their fate as the Blade Children have done. Their destiny is far more worse than anyone could have imagined. I need you to... uh oh. Listen I have to go now. Give Madoka my love for me ok? And tell her that I won't be coming back until I solve this new mystery. Talk to you again real soon ok?"
"No wait," Ayumu shouted to his brother. But it was to late. Kiyotaka had hung up. 'Great,' he thought to himself. 'I finally hear from Kiyotaka and it's opened up a whole new case for me to solve. Well... at least I know he's alive.'
Ayumu hanged the phone up and picked it up again. He dialed Hiyono's number. When she finally picked up, Ayumu's message was short and to the point. "Hiyono, I need your help finding out who, or what, the Night Children are. My brother asked me to look into it."
A boy with black hair and green eyes tossed and turned in his bed. Plaguing nightmares haunted his mind.
"Father! Don't do it! We're your children! Stop! Mother would never allow this!" a younger boy yelled to his father in the shadows. He struggled against the person holding him. Five other guards were holding five other kids the same age as him.
"Silence! I don't have any children! You and that other brat were the ones who stole her away from me!" the man roared. "Conduct the experiments NOW!"
"You're a horrible man! Horrible!" a small girl screamed. She looked like the other boy except that she had hazel eyes.
"You think that matters to me!"
The girl furiously whipped the single black chopstick from her hair. A silver blade glinted in the dim light show it was really a weapon. She stabbed continuously the guard holding her until he crumpled to the ground, dead. Her hands were stained with blood of another.
"What are you doing!" their "father" yelled. The girl sprinted towards her father with the bloodied knife in hand. When she reached him, she stabbed him close to the heart. Her father punched her away. "How dare you wound me!" He tore the knife from his chest and stabbed his own daughter in the shoulder.
"RAINE!" yelled the boy.
The boy sat up in his bed screaming. His face was drenched in sweat. He breathed hard as he ran a shaky hand through his black hair. His door opened and an older boy poked his head inside.
"Calm down Kurai. It was only a nightmare." he answered. "Was it the day..."
"Yes." Kurai answered quickly. "Raine was the first to kill a human being. And the "gene" wasn't planted in us yet. When she transfers tomorrow, how many more will she murder?"
"Raine will be fine, as well as the others." the older one replied. "Our efforts to survive may be in vain though."
"Maybe so but we have always lived off the streets like this." Kurai said.
"Killing others?"
"Protecting ourselves." he corrected. "You remember what Kiyotaka said right?"
"What? You mean that his younger brother Ayumu and the Blade Children can save us?" the older boy asked.
"Yes. Do you believe it?"
"Do you?"
"No. Our fate is unchangeable either way."
"We have to start believing. Because...because they are the only ones who can save the Night Children..."
"Everyone, we have a new student in our class." The teacher announced. Ayumu looked away from the window and stared at the girl. She was dressed in the school's uniform and shyly looked at the floor with her hazel eyes. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail with a white ribbon. "This is Raine Namikama. Please welcome her."
"Hello Raine." The whole class chanted. Ayumu said nothing. A whole lot more new kids were transferring to the Academy. He was getting a little suspicious but shook the matter off. He felt a pencil eraser poke his back. He turned around to see Mei Ichiiwa, one of Hiyono and the Blade Children's new friend. She had long brown hair and brown eyes.
"What?"
"You didn't see hello to the new girl!" she whispered.
"So? Is that a crime?" Ayumu asked.
She shrugged. "You can be so mean to others at times…" she muttered. Ayumu turned back round and stared out he window again. Mei sat back in her chair. Her eyes glinted oddly as she watched Raine walk down the isle to her new seat. 'They have no idea…'
"When are you coming home?"
"In due time."
"And that would be…"
"In a month like we planned."
"…"
"Raine?"
"What?" she asked.
"Do something about Ayumu and those Blade Children."
"Yes…brother…"
Raine snapped her cell phone closed. She overlooked the school grounds from the roof. She could see her "savior" and the Blade Children. "Let the games begin…" she muttered. A twisted smile appeared on her face.
She opened her cell again and dialed a number. When he other line picked up, she immediately said, "What's your status?"
"Impatient aren't we?" the person asked.
"I'm always impatient Mei. Now get to the point." She demanded.
"Hiyono and Ayumu left the Newspaper Room at one as usual. Kyle claimed that he spotted Ryoko, Kousuke, and Rio meeting up in the usual spot under the trees. Lain called a few minutes ago to report that they are currently having lunch." Mei reported.
"What's your lullaby?" Raine asked her fellow Night Child.
"I want to finish a report before having lunch."
Raine snorted. "A report?"
"Which is the truth. I am printing out all the Blade Children's files. I still have Hiyono's and Ayumu's to go." Mei answered.
"Work faster." Raine ordered.
"Shut up. I'd like to see you try and do this. Hiyono's system was harder to hack into than I thought."
"Whatever. Just get the job done. I want to look over their records by he time you come home." Raine demanded. She ended the call and placed her cell in her pocket. Her hand reached up to the white ribbon in her hair. She fingered it lovingly. 'Kiyotaka…is what you said really true?'
Mei was just done printing out the last of Eyes Rutherford's record when her phone began to ring softly. She answered the phone only to hear Kyle's voice. "Get out."
"Excuse me?"
"Get out." Kyle repeated.
"What for?"
"Hiyono is coming. She's coming to find you." Kyle said hastily. Mei neatly separated the Blade Children's records into piles. She then placed them onto each other, marking each one as reference. When the girl didn't answer for several minutes, Kyle finally said, "You're taking your sweet time, aren't you?"
"Only to piss you off." Mei answered with fake sweetness.
"Can you please hurry up and get out of there!" he yelled.
"Patience is a virtue Kyle Borne." Mei replied. She opened up a hollowed out book and stuck all the papers inside. Mei shoved it into her backpack.
"My patience I running thin! You know that none of the Night Children are supposed to reveal themselves to our "saviors" until we start our little game!"
Mei opened the door of the Newspaper Office and stepped out in the hall. She looked back inside to make sure it looked the same. She softly closed the door and headed for her locker. "You don't think I don't know that? I'm best friends with Raine so I know exactly what she said." The girl shot back. Before she could reach her destination, Hiyono was coming her way. "Well, I have to take me leave." She quickly snapped the phone shut before Kyle could say anything.
"Hey Mei!" Hiyono greeted brightly.
"Hi Hiyono!" The Night Child put on a fake smile.
"Well, I was going to go find you for lunch. Are you ready?" Hiyono asked.
She nodded. As her and Hiyono walked down the hall, she smirked to herself. 'They won't know what hit them…' she thought.
"Little Narumi, have you heard about the Night Children?" Rio asked. Ryoko, Kousuke, Ayumu, Hiyono, and herself were eating lunch.
"Yeah…several months ago, Kiyotaka called about them. He said he wants to help change their fate like with the Blade Children." Ayumu answered. The three Blade Children looked at each other.
"We got the same call. Only this time, we have to help you save them." Ryoko answered.
"I asked Hiyono to look into them." Ayumu hinted.
The young reporter shook his head. "I still don't have anything about them. We have no clue who they are." She replied.
"Obviously, they have a fate worse than us…" Kousuke summed up.
They all sat around silently. Hiyono stood up. "I'm going to find Mei." She said. She left the group.
"Who are they…?" Ryoko pondered out loud.
"It's not about who they are. It's about what they are." Ayumu pointed out. "We won't stress and try to find them. We'll have them come to us."
"Do you think it will work, Little Narumi?" Kousuke asked.
"Well, think about it logically. That's what you did to me the first time. But we still should keep our guard up." The boy answered.
"Hm…Night Children…They sounds like they kill in the night…" Rio predicted.
"Whatever they are, they must be highly dangerous…" Ayumu said. "What are they? Those…Night Children…"