8. Bug

Kazuki went to the door again and rang the bell. The same man answered saying:
- "You again? I've already told you, I know nothing."
- "Well, hello again sir, it's just" - Kazuki blinked and directed his eyes to communicate - "my boss is quite strict, so I need to make sure my report is complete. Can you confirm me your name, and mother's name? We need to prove to him we talked with everyone." - the man replied, panting as he felt the cold gun pressuring his nape.
- "Yes, alright. No problem. My name is Sato Gomi, and my mother, I miss her so much... she was beautiful, and caring" - the man gulped as he felt the gun pressuring him more - "her name was Sato Aoi. Do you need anything else?" - his voice was deafened by a shot which broke the window and hit the man who made him a hostage.
Kazuki kicked the door open and shot the criminal thrice with rubber rounds. The man knelt in pain and in seconds fell asleep, as Haruka's shot was a tranquilizer. Gomi was on the floor. Kazuki went close to him and asked:
- "Are you alright?"
- "Yes".
- "Now go hide!" - the man complied. Haruka was already with Kazuki, carrying her rifle. They advanced together in the expansive, beige walled room and got down as they were met by gun shots. Both found cover on wooden pillars. On the other end of the room, a man continued shooting with a rifle. Kazuki waited for an opening and started shooting back. He got one shot on the man's torso and Haruka used the chance to shoot her tranquilizer shot on his neck. The man fell asleep.
- "Come on, let's go!" - rallied Kazuki as they rushed forward. They passed through a wide sliding door and left the house.

The house lent itself to an expansive backyard, featuring wood stairs which led to a grassy field, surrounded by a few colorful trees and a few chairs It was surrounded by a stone fence and on its end was a beige brick wall, which separated the house from the hill. Despite all these features, what stood out was the enormous bug deviant that stood in the center of it. It had six long black legs with white hair, a yellowish spotted back and two meter long antennae. Surrounding it, were four armed men who kept their distance. Haruka and Kazuki saw one man shoot at the devian, who avoided the attack, dashing into the other direction, faster than the bullet. They also saw the men's faces of dismay at the deviant's speed. The deviant was clearly the Cheetle.

Before they could advance more, however, one of the men looked in their direction, saw them and shouted. Three of the men started shooting into their directions and Kazuki and Haruka separated, getting cover behind the trees around the bushes. The stream of shoots was deafening, the men were using rifles and the agents had to wait.
- "Any ideas, Kaa-chan?" - they still could use the NCID.
- "Not yet, I don't want to use a flash bang or a gas bomb, we might lose the deviant."
- "I have an idea. I will try a distraction, then you try to take out one of them."
- "Right, Raikubo-san, on your call." - Haruka released her rifle and prepared electricity. With her right hand, she touched the ground, creating a surface of charges. With her left hand, she touched the tree and released her power. Without the ground to go, electricity flowed up to the leaves and to the other trees, creating streams of lightning. This scared the men, who tried to find someone to shoot. With that, Kazuki got up and shot one of the men with rubber rounds and he got down.

At the same time, the Cheetle dashed away from the trees and closer to one of the men. This men was carrying a shotgun and used the opportunity to shoot at the deviant. He got a shot on its leg. The deviant turned to him and dashed in his direction. The man fired another shot, but it didn't stop the Cheetle, which threw him more than 10 meters away.

One of the other man turned towards his comrade who was thrown, giving Haruka the opportunity to get her rifle back shoot him, with a tranquilizer. The final man then tried to shoot in Haruka's direction and as she got cover, Kazuki fired several shots at him.
- "Let's remove their weapons!" - Kazuki shouted. Kazuki advanced and kicked their weapons away, while Haruka shot tranquilizers to make sure they weren't getting up. They also looked for the men who was launched, and from the blood splatter and gross state they saw, even from a distance, it was clear he was dead. Now, only Haruka and Kazuki remained, looking at the Cheetle on one of the ends of the field, near the brick wall.

Haruka and Kazuki observed tensely as the Cheetle moved around through small dashes, at blinding speed. The deviant was tense, but ignored their presence. Shocking Blue looked at each other and decide to jump right in. They went to opposite ends of the field and started shooting. The Cheetle dashed to avoid the shots. starting like a dance: Haruka and Kazuki ran around keeping a distance and shooting, while the deviant avoided each hit and tried to target them. Its dashes were short, however, which made it possible for the agents to avoid them.

Haruka recharged her rifle and shot twice, drawing the Cheetle's attention. It avoided the shots and now started to dash towards her. Kazuki watched as Haruka waited for it to come closer.
- "Raikubo-san! Watch out!" - Kazuki shouted, advancing towards her, as he saw the Cheetle dashing. Before he could react, he saw Haruka on the grass, and the tranquilizer on one of the deviant's legs. She had just jumped and shot at the same time. The monster however, grazed her thigh. She was bleeding.
- "Are you crazy?"
- "Maybe I am - Haruka replied, while she got up with pain. - "But I did get it, didn't I?" - Much to her dismay, however, the deviant seemed unaffected and turned towards them. They ran to different directions to avoid the attack and Kazuki shouted:
- "What the hell is happening?! Did it not work?"
- "I'm making some research and I know" - replied the operator on the NCID - "this deviant is a bug and a tranquilizer needs to hit the fluids on its back, if you hit a leg, the tranquilizer won't spread over its body!"
- "Damn it!" - cried Haruka - "it's tough do that!" - and she ran away again as she said that. They kept running until Kazuki shouted:
- "Raikubo-san, draw its attention, and prepare for blitz!"
- "Yes!" - Haruka fired a volley of bullets in the deviant's direction, which prompted its attack. While she shot and jumped around, Kazuki spread his arms and sent a powerful stream of ice all over the field, creating a layer of thin ice. Then, Kazuki started shooting. The deviant turned towards him and started dashing. Kazuki stared at it. The Cheetle dashed towards him and Kazuki jumped away. As he did that however, the deviant was unable to stop and crashed on the wall. Haruka dashed and emptied her cartridge, on the Cheetle's back. It finally fell, knocked out. Kazuki and Haruka sat on the grass, and looked up, panting.

- "Operator-san, we are done here" - said Kazuki as he got up, stretching - "please call the local police to arrest four people who were trying to shoot us. And also to burn the deviant's body and recover a body, a man who was killed by the Cheetle."
- "Sure thing, Kazuki-kun, thank you." - Haruka also got up, approached Kazuki and said:
- "Do we really need to kill the Cheetle?"
- "Yes, of course" - he replied - "these are our instructions, isn't that correct?"
- "Yes, it's just that I" - she paused - "I feel sorry for them. I prefer when we save people and deviants, not kill them." - Kazuki kept looking at her. Haruka sighed, approached the slumbering deviant, and electrocuted it through its antennae, ending its life. Her face was downhearted. They tied down the three men they defeated on the field and returned to the house to tie down the fourth one. Then, they both sat down on the floor and Kazuki sprayed anti-septic on Haruka's thigh prompting her to shiver. He then applied some bandage and said:
- "It is a small wound, you will be fine."
- "I like when you feel worried about me" - at the sound of her teasing, Kazuki just looked away, scowling.

The two called the house's owner, Sato Gomi, who was hiding. He came into the living room, where they were, still in shock. They helped him to sit down on a white sofa and he suggested them to sit on another one by its side. Kazuki then said:
- "I am glad you are okay, Sato-san."
- "No no" - Sato replied bowing - "I am the one who is glad, you saved my life, I can't thank you enough."
- "Don't worry" - said Haruka - "this is our job, after all."
- "It doesn't matter, I must thank you." - he still bowed.
- "Don't worry Sato-san, this is our job, we are really glad you are well. Just one thing." - Kazuki continued - "the police will conduct the investigation more deeply, but can you please tell us what happened?"
- "Alright" - Sato took a breath before continuing - "It was so sudden, this monster bug or whatever dashed into my field and then some men came after it, and then I ran to my phone to call the police and this horrible man made me a hostage. I hardly had any time to think. Fortunately, you only took a few minutes to arrive. I really thought I was gonna die, I am really grateful to you" - the man again bowed.
- "Again, don't worry." - Kazuki insisted - "can you tell us anything about those men? Have you seen them before?"
- "Unfortunately no" - Sato sighed - "I've never seen them before and hardly had any time to pay attention to them."
- "Alright, no problem. Thanks for your help." - Kazuki was getting up when Sato continued:
- "Actually, please don't leave, I need to thank you more, I owe you my life" - the man got up, left to another room and continued talking - "one question, are you from Tokyo? did you pass through the brume?"
- "Yes, we are and we did." - Kazuki sat again - "Why the question?"
- "Alright, just a moment." - the man came back a minute later standing out his hands to Kazuki and Haruka.
- "Here, I have a gift for you two." - he handed necklace to Kazuki, with a gold elaborate chain. On its end was an intricate pendant. If featured two fish sculpted with lapis lazuli, tied by a cloth which was made of gold. On the their eyes, there were two gems, one had a pink quartz and the other had a fiery ruby.
- "Thanks, but we cannot accept such a gift" - Kazuki put his hand on his chest - "We just did our jobs, and this necklace is clearly quite special."
- "No, please accept it, I insist" - the man looked only down. Kazuki accepted it.
- "Alright, thanks a lot" - Kazuki slightly bowed - "that's a gorgeous necklace."
- "Yes, it is amazing" - said Haruka.
- "Not only a necklace, mind you." - Sato continued - "It is an special artifact. You see, I used to live on Tokyo, but I was never truly happy and I didn't feel good in the city. Then, there was this man, he was my neighbor and we sometimes had a chat and I mentioned once or twice about my dream of living in the countryside. Despite that, it was nothing more than small talk, he was reserved and I thought he was strange. One day he came and gave me that necklace. He told me it was powerful, it could ward off spectres, but didn't last too long. He said that, with it, I would be able to go to Okutama and live a peaceful life. I was afraid, but he told me to follow my dreams with a such a serious and hopeful expression that I was convinced. I got a motorcycle, wore the necklace and entered the brume. throughout the entire trip, the gems on the pendant shined, and the brumes kept white, I did not see any sign of a spectre."
- "Wow, that's amazing."
- "Yes" - replied Haruka - "but how can we accept such a special gift?"
- "First because you saved my life. And second because I never wish to leave Okutama, I love my life here and wish to die here. You don't. You need to return to Tokyo and may need to travel through the brumes again. You will make a better use of it. " - the man paused - "just one thing, the man told me that using it takes a toll, so I'm not sure how much protection it still has, but it certainly has some."
- "Alright, thanks a lot" - Haruka and Kazuki bowed as politely as they could - "all the best, Sato-san" - and left the man's house.

As Haruka and Kazuki walked towards the motorcycle, Kazuki said:
- "This necklace is ravishing, maybe you could use it."
- "No, I think it's better for you to keep it." - Haruka walked with her hands behind her back, smiling - "I trust you to decide when we should use it" - Haruka's smile turned to a serious expression as she stared into his eyes - "should we use it now?"
- "I was thinking about it" - he was unfazed - "I don't think we should. Usually, spectres don't show up in the same place in a short time span and I think we can take another fight. We can use the necklace as a last resort."
- "Well" - she looked around and spread her arms - "I can beat down another spectre right now, so I agree with you."
- "Great" - Kazuki breathed and recomposed - "let's return home then."
- "Let's go." - they both put on their helmets and rode on the motorcycle. Fortunately, no spectres assaulted them, and they had a smooth return to Tokyo.