Chapter 3: An Akunama!

Night had once again descended upon the capital, and almost everyone in Aria's home was fast asleep. Everyone but Marima's mother. The older woman hummed to herself, as she walked through one of the manor's hallways.

"Now then...time to write today's journal entry." Marima's mother said, as she held her small journal close to her chest. "Heh, I just can't seem to quite this hobby..." Before the woman could say another word, her entire world turned upside down and immense pain coursed through her body. "Huh?" In that instant Marima's mother saw that she had been cut clean in half at her midsection. Blood sprayed from her severed torso, coating the walls and her unknown attacker. The older woman died before the top half of her body even hit the ground.

The assassin, revealed to be a busty violet-haired woman, swiped her large scissor like weapon; spreading the blood that coated it across the hallway. "I'm terribly sorry." The violet-haired woman said, as she bowed her head.

It was at this moment that Shunsuki shot up in his bed. A chill ran up the young man's spine, as quickly scrambled out of the bed. "What the? There's an intense sense of bloodlust in the air..." Shunsuki rushed to get dressed, grabbing his sword as he bolted out of his room. As Shunsuki raced through the mansion's halls, the guard's words about Akunama Drivers echoed in his mind. "I didn't think I'd run into them this quickly!" Shunsuki came to a skidding stop when he spotted several shadowy figures, standing on what appeared to be wire threads, outside one of the manor's windows.

"There's no doubt. That has to be Akunama Drivers!" Shunsuki clenched his fists, as he stared at the silhouetted assassins. "Are they targeting this family just because they're rich?" When Shunsuki lowered his gaze, he spotted several guards running out to face the assassins. "What do I do? Help them...or guard the family?!"

"Heh, three guards. They're our targets as well." A green-haired man named Boluck said with grin.

Boluck drops to the ground with Su-Hoo. Boluck releases the threads from the form of gloves and metallic fingertips, and the thread pulls the guard's neck, kills the guard. Su-Hoo throws his sword at one of the guards.

"This...is what I deserve..." The lead guard managed to say, as he felt about some thread are killing him and he collapsed as he died, causing it to instantly shut down.

"W-What th-the..." The last guard said, looking in horror. Deciding that fighting wasn't a possibility, the guard turned tail and started to run away. "Fuck this! Who the hell are these monsters?!" The man didn't make it three steps before he was shot in the back of the head.

"Pathetic." A pink-haired girl named Mayani said, as she lowered her still smoking gun. The girl's eyes were hard, as she glared at the dead guard. "Deserting your comrades under enemy fire."

"Ah, I think that was just plain old running away." Boluck said with a sweatdrop.

'T-They were all massacred...in seconds!' Shunsuki thought, as he stared at the carnage before him with disbelieving eyes. Gritting his teeth, Shunsuki tore his eyes away and took off down the hallway once more. "I've got to at least protect Miss Marima!"

In another part of the mansion, another assassin was finishing off her target. Lanina was here, Shunsuki had met the previous day was holding up Marima's father by his throat. However, Lanina hair had elongated, she had catlike ears on top of her head, a tail swayed from side to side behind her, and her hands had become covered in fur with sharp claws; her grip slowly tightening around the man's neck as the seconds ticked by.

"S-Spare me...P-Please...I-I have a daughter..." Marima's father struggled to say, as the yellow-blonde woman's grip continued to tighten around his neck.

"Don't worry. You'll be meeting her in hell soon enough." Lanina said, raising her head to reveal slitted golden eyes.

"Not my daughter too...I beg you, have mercy on us!" Marima father asked, just as the yellow-blonde woman snapped his neck with her bare hand.

"Mercy?" The yellow-blonde parroted with a sadistic glint in her golden eyes. "That's a word I've never heard before. You'll have to explain what it means when I see you in hell some day."

(Storage Shed; Just Outside of the Mansion)

"Miss this way!" A guard yelled, as he pulled Marima towards the storage shed.

"W-What's going on?" Marima asked in a frightened tone.

"We must get you inside the storage shed, you'll be safe inside there!" The guard exclaimed, as the shed came into view.

"Miss Marima, I finally found you!" The guard and Marima turned around to see Shunsuki behind them; panting heavily from running the whole way there.

"Shunsuki!" Marima exclaimed, as a look of relief spread across her face.

"Perfect timing!" The guard shouted, pointing at Shunsuki. "We'll seek shelter in the storage shed, and you stay out here and hold the enemy until the authorities arrive."

"That's the worst fucking idea I've ever he-" Shunsuki was cut off when Lenano arrives from the mansion, as she snap the guard's neck, killing him. As Lenano lands on the ground safety to Shunsuki.

"We still have some spare time, don't we?" Lanina asked, looking up to smile at Shunsuki. "Besides I owe this kid. So let me pay him back."

"HEY! Your that big titted-" Shunsuki yelled when he recognized who the yellow-blonde woman was.

"Yes, I'm that pretty lady you met the other day." Lanina said with a sickly sweet smile. The yellow-blonde woman walked towards the storage shed. "Listen kid. You were worried about us hurting an innocent girl..." When Lanina reached the storage shed's locked door, she swiftly kicked it open. "...I wonder if you can still say that after seeing this." Lanina stepped aside, so that Shunsuki could look into the opened storage shed. "Take a good hard look." Shunsuki walked up to the storage shed, and gazed inside...

It was an action he immediately regretted. The storage shed was filled with mutilated human bodies, most of them hanging from the ceiling and missing limbs. The entire building reeked of decaying bodies and human waste. "Here it is. Welcome to the capital, kid."

"Wha-What the hell is this?!" Shunsuki said, almost to stunned and disturbed to speak. Like with the mist in his dream, Shunsuki couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the disgusting display before him.

"We learned that they fancied picking up out-of-town newcomers from the countryside and the torture them to death for their own sick, twisted entertainment." Lanina explained, crossing her arm underneath her chest. "This is the true nature of those 'innocent' people you wanted to defend."

It was then that Shunsuki heard something that he saw snarling sound, Shunsuki sees an human girl Hell Beast has Jeanne's hair, which her hair was messy.

"An Hell Beast? I knew it, she tricked me." Shunsuki said in his pressure for handling himself.

"Follow for your own guy, Shunsuki. Only you must watch the Hell Beast." Lanina asked, just as Marima tried to sneak away into the woods. "You didn't really think we were through with you yet, did you, sweetie pie?"

"The family that lives here did this?" Shunsuki asked in an emotionless tone.

"Yes. And their guards kept silent about it, so they're just as guilty." Lanina said, as she held onto Aria to keep her from escaping.

"S-She's obviously lying!" Marima pleaded, struggling against Lanina's grasp. "I never even knew this place was here. Are you going to believe me, the one who saved you, or them, Shunsuki?!"

The human girl hell beast was slowly walks to Shunsuki and he said. "How come?"

"Shun..su...ki..." A weak voice called out from a cell to Shunsuki left. "It...really is...you...isn't it..." Shunsuki's eyes widened when he saw his other friend Matsu locked in the cage. The boy's body was covered in blood and sores.

"Matsu!?" Shunsuki exclaimed in a shocked tone.

"She invited us to stay at her house… " Matsu explained, as he glared at Marima. "She gave us something to eat, and then everything went black…Then we woke up here, and… and then that girl…" Matsu grabbed ahold of the bars of his cell, and grit his teeth. "T-That girl tortured and mutated Jeanne into an Hell Beast."

Matsu knew that Jeanne was now an Hell Beast, she growls.

"Fine! Fine, so I did it, okay?!" Marima shouted, slapping Lanina's hand away. "These trash are just worthless filth! They're nothing but… but livestock for me to use as I see fight!" Marima had an almost demonic look on her face, as she continued her rant. "And for a farm animal, that girl had such beautiful hair and way too much attitude! While I have to suffer with this unruly hair of mine. So I made her pay for it! She should be honored that I gave her so much attention! Ungrateful pig!!"

Jeanne has an demonic look on her face and growls, she runs away on the forest. Shunsuki was shocked to that.

"J-Jeanne....don't go...." Shunsuki saddened.

"They were just demons disguised as humans." Lanina said, snarling slightly at Marima. Just then, then violet-haired woman named Sabrina arrives in her scene.

"I terribly sorry, I just use my scissors for the playing. Forgive me." Sabrina said, she about to pulled her giant scissors.

"Wait." Shunsuki said, his hair hiding his eyes.

"Please don't tell me you're still going to defend this girl?" Lanina asked in an annoyed tone.

"No..." Shunusuki said, unsheathing his sword.

With a single slash, Shunsuki bisected the girl at her waist. "I’ll do it!" Shunsuki eyes were emotionless, as Marima's blood stained his shirt and his blade.

'I know she was a despicable person...but to cut her down without hesitation.' Lanina thought, as she rubbed her chin.

"Heh, heh...that's my Shunsuki..." Matsu said with a toothy grin. "I'm happy to see that bitch go." However Matsu stopped suddenly when he threw up some blood.

"What is it Matsu?!" Shunsuki exclaimed, as he threw the cage door open and held Matsu in his arms.

"He's in the final stages of Poison disease." Sabrina explained, as she walked up to Shunsuki. "The wife of the house enjoyed injecting her victims with drugs, and recording the symptoms in her journal...I'm sorry Shunsuki, but there's no saving him."

"Shu-Shunsuki..." Matsu struggles to say; his voice was extremely weak and labored. "Jeanne...never gave into that bitch...She was incredible… ngh… so… I wanted to… ngh… to go out… a hero." A large smile spread across Matsu face, as he clenched his fist. Then Matsu died.

"It was sheer willpower keeping him alive this whole time." Sabrina observed, as she gave Shunsuki a brief sympathetic look.

"W-What's happened to the capital?" Shunsuki asked himself, as he held Matsu close.

"Let's go, Lanina." Sabrina said, turning to leave.

"Say, why don't we take the kid with us?" Lanina asked, as she walked up to Shunsuki. "Homebase is always short staffed." Lanina grabbed the back of Shunsuki's shirt, and began to drag him off. "He's lucky, brave, and you must agree that he'd got talent."

"I will agree that he is a skilled fighter." Sabrina said, glancing back at the kicking and screaming Shunsuki.

"Let me go! I have to bury him!" Shunsuki screamed, as he struggles against Lanina's grasp.

(Two Minutes Later)

"You're finally back." Su-Hoo commented, as Lanina and Shunsuki approached.

"We better get out of here soon." Boluck said, as he held up a watch.

"You're both late!" Mayani shouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "What the hell were you doing?!" However Mayani quirked an eyebrow when she saw Shunsuki. "Who the hell is he?"

"We don't have much time to explain, but he's our newest comrade." Lanina said, causing the Mayani's eyes to widen. "Su-Hoo, you'll have to carry Shunsuki so he can keep up with us. It's all over now!"

"Don't worry, everything will be better soon." Su-Hoo said, as he picked Shunsuki up.

"But I don't want to kill people!" Shunsuki said.

"Aww, it gets easier." Su-Hoo smiled grinned, causing Shunsuki gets blushed.

"Operation complete. Let's return to base on the double! We have a life to save for once!" Sabrina exclaimed, as she raced across the rooftops with the rest of Akunama Drivers behind her.

'What a turn of events. going?! Ugh, how did I get myself into this?' Shunsuki thought, as he felt the cool air rush over his body. As Shunsuki was carried across the capital's rooftops towards Akunama Drivers' base, he couldn't help but feel that he would do that.