Chapter 9

And from the giantess of Jarnvior was borne Hati Hroovitnisson, the wolf of the night who chases the Moon, thus beginning the cycle of night and day. - Unknown Author

* * * *

Year 2009

Japan

In the country of Japan, there is a certain organisation that existed in the shadows whose existence was generally left unknown to every single inhabitant save for the higher ups of the Japanese government, as well as the government officials holding high seats of power in every single country across the globe. And members of the underworld generally knew about their existence as well.

This particular organisation was otherwise known as ‘Hati’.

Those who feared Hati call the organisation an organisation of assassins. Those who hated them call Hati the ‘dogs of the government’. And those who vaguely respected them are mostly people serving as high ranking government officials in each and every country all across the globe, and call Hati the ‘protectors of the peace’.

But to members of Hati, they referred to themselves as ‘people who dwell in the shadows’, similar to the ninjas of the past who had lived during the Edo era during ancient Japan.

The organisation Hati had been around for as long as anyone could remember, and the jobs of Hati are mainly to take out any threats to world peace and the order of justice – both major and minor threats.

In fact, most had believed that Hati had been around since the Japanese Paleolithic period. And as the first discovery of their existence was in Japan, that was the sole reason why their main headquarters was and still is in the country of Japan.

The existence of Hati is kept a strict secret, and in rare cases when members of Hati had to intervene personally in a case, the name ‘Hati’ is used as some secret government organisation.

And unlike what most in the underworld who knew about Hati think, Hati was actually ruled by a leader, not the government. That leader was known as the ‘Elder’ who rarely showed his face but to the elites of the organisation.

The elites of Hati were known as the ‘Phantoms’, and only the trickiest and most difficult cases that Hati received were handled by them, and unlike the regular assassins of Hati, the Phantoms worked alone without a partner.

Ever since Hati’s founding, there were always only thirteen members in the Phantoms, and even the members of the Phantoms don’t always know the faces and names of their fellow Phantoms.

Among the thirteen Hati Phantoms, there was one Phantom who is said to be the best among them, surpassing even the captain of the Phantoms in terms of ability and strength. And Phantom XIII was also the youngest ever to be in the Phantoms, and was both feared and admired by all in Hati. Most of the lower ranked assassins in Hati actually wished to be like Phantom XIII.

Nine years ago, the sudden disappearance of a nine-year-old girl who was the major suspect in a murder case in the country of Singapore sent the entire country’s police into a wide-scale panic. It didn’t help matters that said girl had vanished a mere three days after she was placed under house arrest. Because the girl was Japanese, the government of Singapore had contacted the government of Japan two weeks after her disappearance, and had told them that the girl might possibly be heading towards her native country.

The Japan government had in turn informed the government of Singapore that indeed, the girl was in Japan. However, they will never hand one of their own over when in the first place, it wasn’t even proven that the girl did commit murder.

The government agencies of the two countries were then engaged in deadlock for several weeks until the two countries agreed to a compromise.

The country of Singapore will erase any and all records of the girl, especially since she’s only a PR (Permanent Resident) there. The Japanese government will then list the girl as a native in their country which she technically is, especially since both her parents were Japanese by blood and birth. However, she will not be allowed back into Singapore, and if she were to return, she would be arrested and tried for murder.

A mere month after this was decided between the two countries, the girl had vanished, and all records of her had disappeared with her as if she had never existed before – something that had only happened with members of Hati.

The girl’s name was Yuri Kirisawa, now Phantom XIII of the Hati elites.

* * * *

In Shinjuku, located in the Tokyo district of Japan, was the headquarters of Hati. The headquarters looked like any normal place of work – looking almost like an ordinary office building. But the members of Hati, as well as the top government officials of Japan who knew about Hati’s existence knew better; things are not always as they seemed.

The headquarters of Hati is located in Ichigaya – a commercial area in eastern Shinjuku which also happens to be the site of the Ministry of Defence. The dormitory complex for the members of Hati is situated in Kabukicho – an area in Shinjuku unofficially known as one of the areas in underground Shinjuku.

It is in that very dormitory building for Hati, in a room on the second floor, otherwise known as the recreation room, where one can find Yuri Kirisawa.

Now eighteen, she is very different from the terrified nine-year-old framed for her mother’s murder.

Where once she was shy and trusting of others, the eighteen-year-old is now cold and has a sharp mind – honed by the years of training in Hati, as ‘their world’ is one where you would get killed if you trusted others too easily.

Several of Hati’s members were in the recreation room where a number of billiard tables were set in the middle of the room for the members of Hati to unwind and relax. A couple of them were hanging around the billiard tables talking, whilst a few were huddling in a corner of the recreation room talking in low voices.

Yuri Kirisawa could be seen standing in a corner of the room as well, her arms crossed over her chest with a look on her face that practically screamed out that she doesn’t want to be disturbed, and no one is suicidal enough to do just that.

She was wearing a slightly off-shoulder black shirt with a white sleeveless shirt beneath, with black jeans, and a dark blue hoodie with edges of white, a pair of dark blue and white sneakers finished off her look.

She looked like your average everyday teen had it not been for the fact that a belt holster was around her waist from which a gun hung from the pouch on her right side, hidden by her jacket. A black chain was also looped three times around her right wrist from which a silver crescent moon pendant had the Roman numeral thirteen – XIII engraved on it.

Everyone in the recreation room fell silent as the doors swung open, and a teen about eighteen or nineteen entered, with a solemn look on his face.

His hair fell down around his face perfectly, just reaching the nape of his neck, and he was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt with a black short-sleeved shirt worn over it, and black jeans with a pair of black Nike shoes on his feet. A black choker with a silver dagger-like pendant hung from around his neck. And a black butterfly tattoo appeared just above his collarbone on the left side of his neck. He was wearing a similar bracelet and pendant, but his had the Roman numeral eight – VIII.

The teen glanced around the suddenly quietened room as he searched for his target before spotting her standing in a corner. He walked over to where Yuri Kirisawa is standing.

In the normal way, most people in Hati wouldn’t see the Phantoms unless they wished to be seen, and the Phantoms rarely mixed about with the others in Hati as well. The Phantoms mostly kept to themselves, and they were even given an entire level of the dormitory building for their bedrooms on the top floor of the dormitory building.

As such, most people in Hati felt rather intimidated by them.

Ren Shibasaki approached Yuri Kirisawa who raised an eyebrow upon seeing her partner, and one of the only two friends that she had in her life and in Hati.

“You’re summoned by the Elder,” said Ren curtly. Short and to the point. One of the traits of a Phantom, as they wouldn’t waste time with useless banter, and rarely spoke unless spoken to, or if they have something important to say. The Phantoms though, are a little different when only around their fellow Phantoms.

“A mission.” A faint smirk could be seen tugging at the ends of Ren’s lips before it faded away again. “Phantom XIII. Hekate.”

Gasps could be heard around the room.

Yuri sighed before she nodded and unfolded her arms.

“Understood,” she said curtly before leaving Ren Shibasaki and the recreation room, but not before part of her shoulder-length hair swished away from the left side of her neck, revealing the black butterfly tattoo just above her collarbone – identifying her as a Phantom.

“S-She’s one of those Phantom people?”

Yuri raised an eyebrow as that was the last thing that she heard before she left the room, knowing quite well that Ren did that on purpose. Her reputation as Hekate, the Phantom XIII of Hati is rather famous or infamous in the underworld, and especially in Hati.

For now though, Yuri ignored them. She was summoned by the Elder.