The Beginning

It was about 5:15 pm, the students were still returning to their various homes on the coaches. Some students were quiet while some discussed the events of the day. Overall, the coaches were lively.

"Can you believe I kicked Mr Ichisuda at full strength and he wasn't knocked out? His strength is unreal. I'm still unsure what his power is though" Yashiro said to Rani and Rando.

"At the flowing fist tournament I could tell he was crazy strong but from what you described, he might be a monster" Rando said."I'm glad you were able to win though."

"Still not as good as knocking a teacher out though " Yashiro nudged Rani, who was sitting next to him as he said this.

She laughed, "it was really a team effort. Minako helped a lot"

"you're just being modest" Rando said.

"I'm gonna tell my mum the good news guys give me a second" Yashiro pulled out his mobile phone which was given back to him after the examination had concluded and called his mother.

After a few rings, his mother picked up.

"Shiro, is everything okay? "

"Yeah mum, everything is fine. How's work going?"

"It's nearly closing time so everyone is just getting ready to leave"

"i was just calling to say I passed the entrance examination mum, I got into the Academy"

"really? That's big news Yashiro, I'm so proud of you. I'm going to buy ingredients for your favourite meal on my way back from work. I'm really so proud of you"

"Thanks mum"

"I'll talk to you later. I have to go make the announcement for everyone to start leaving"

"Alright mum see you later"

"You're adorable" Rani said, smiling at Yashiro "you and your mum are really close aren't you?"

"I guess you could say that " said a slightly embarrassed Yashiro.

*

As Kirinaha Katsui made the announcement for customers to get ready to depart, she noticed two more coming through the entrance.

However, they did not look like museum enthusiasts. They were dressed in long leather jackets, boots and sunglasses, even though they were indoors. Everything they wore was black. One of them had long hair tied back into a pony tail while the other was bald.

One of Kirinaha's colleagues went to go tell them they were past the cut off time for customers to come in and that it was nearly closing time but she was pushed aside by the one who had the ponytail. He sighed deeply, pulled out a sawed off shotgun from his jacket and then spoke in a loud voice, "everybody lay on the floor with your face to the ground, nobody say or do anything. Don't try to be a hero. I'm not in the mood right now"

He took out what appeared to be a photograph and started searching the museum for something, mumbling to himself as he did so. His partner still hadn't moved.

One of the employees of the museum, who was underneath the reception desk slowly reached for the alarm underneath.

The museum had two alarm systems. One for incidents regarding powered individuals and another for regulars.

Unknowingly to him, he pressed the alarm for the powered incidents. Which turned out to be the right call because as soon as he did so, the bald one who had been standing still the whole time stretched out his hand, turning his fist into the barrel of a minigun and firing without hesitation.

The bullets easily tore through the desk and into the employee, killing him.

A vast majority of the people in the museum screamed but were told to shut up immediately.

"I mean he did say no one should try and be a hero. That guy brought it upon himself " The bald one said.

"Oi 5, come here I can't find this damn thing anywhere"

Number 5, as he was called, scratched his head as he walked up to his partner, "you're so impatient 3. Let's tell one of these guys to find it. Oh and by the way, the police might already be on their way. Also, who said you could boss me around?" He said, with a smile on his face.

He looked around then pointed to Kirinaha. "You there, brunette by the microphone, Come here"

She did as she was told without any hesitation.

5 continued, "Where's this artifact stored?" He showed her the photograph of what looked like the broken fragment of a Rod"

She recognised it and lead them to it. 3 broke the glass case it was kept in, which surprised Kirinaha because it was meant to be strong enough to withstand a bullet. He pulled out the fragment and said to 5, "Got it, now let's go. You," He pointed his shotgun at Kirinaha "get back on the floor and face the wall till we leave"

Although she was frightened at the thought of being shot in the back, she did as she was told.

*

At a nearby cafe, Yagita and Fuhira sat drinking coffee as they were on a break.

"I'm pretty sure the commissioner made us permanent partners on purpose, just to annoy me" Fuhira said, taking a bite of his doughnut

"No, I'm pretty sure it was so I could keep you in check"

Fuhira laughed, "yeah, like you have a chance of doing that"

She smiled at him."Hey I've been meaning to ask you something, you don't have to respond if you don't want to but have you spoken to your brother?"

Fuhira's expression changed to a serious one at the mention of his brother, but he responded anyway. "I spoke to him on the phone a couple of days ago. Nothing has changed, he's still a bastard"

Yagita sighed.

A few seconds later, there was a voice coming from their radios "attention officers, there has been a powered incident alarm triggered at the Blue Horn Museum. Requesting officers at the scene"

"Blue Horn? That's not too far from us" Yagita picked up the radio and responded as she got to her feet and headed for her car "detectives Yagita and Fuhira responding"

"why did your name have to come first?" Fuhira said, trailing behind her. She simply ignored him.

They quickly got in the car and Yagita drove at full speed towards the museum, with the sirens blasting.

[What could be going on in that museum?]Fuhira thought, inspecting his revolver.

Yagita got there just as number 3 and 5 were exiting the museum.

On seeing them, number 5 stretched out his arm once more and turned it into a rocket launcher.

With his enhanced eye, Fuhira was scanning the museum when he noticed this.

As 5 fired the rocket, Fuhira also fired his revolver through the windscreen of Yagita's car.

The rocket only travelled for a second before the bullet collided with it, causing a minor explosion which shattered the windows of the museum and sent the two robbers flying backwards. This also caused a few screams from the civilians inside.

In the process of this happening, the bag containing the artefact fell out of 3's hand.

As Fuhira quickly got out of the car, Yagita pressed a button on her bracelet and a protective Twaron suit appeared on her body.

She picked up her katana from the back seat then got out of the car to join Fuhira. 3 and 5 got up, 5 had an excited look on his face but 3 looked pissed off.

As Yagita drew her sword, 5 turned both of his arms into jagged swords and as they clashed, 3 turned his attention to Fuhira who had his revolver pointed at his head.

"I suggest you don't try anything funny. I'd advice putting your hands in the air and cooperating " Fuhira said to 3.

3 groaned, looked upwards and said to himself "this really isn't my day. I'm really not in the mood for this"

"What are you mumbling about over there?"

With the gun still trained on him, 3 swiftly pulled out his shotgun but Fuhira was faster.

He shot twice, hitting 3 in the head and chest.

3 fell backwards and hit the floor hard. The sounds of the gunshots distracted 5, who turned around to see what happened.

Yagita used this to her advantage, sprinting at him and sweeping his feet from beneath him causing him to fall on his back. She then held her katana to his throat.

"You're under arrest, buddy" smiling as she said this.

Fuhira walked over, picked up the bag and walked to 3's body. As he crouched, he noticed that the bullets didn't penetrate because 3 had covered his upper body with diamonds.

Before Fuhira could react, he sprung to his feet and with a diamond covered fist, punched Fuhira, who dropped the bag and blocked the punch but was still sent across the street.

He looked over to Yagita, who was speechless.

"5, stop messing about, we are leaving." He picked up the bag and tapped something on his ear "8, get us out of here"

5 opened his mouth and turned his throat to the barrel of a gun, Yagita moved out of the way as he fired. He got to his feet and laughed, "this was fun. Let's do it again sometime" Then a purple circle appeared underneath he and 3's feet and they disappeared.

Yagita was shocked for a few seconds then she went to check if Fuhira was okay.

"You good? That was a pretty nasty hit"

"you worried about me or something?" He said, as he dusted himself "but you're right that was a hell of a punch"

"I don't know how you're able to make jokes right now. They escaped, with whatever was stolen too. They just disappeared into thin air"

"oh I'm pissed. That ponytail bastard is going to get what's coming to him but we have to go check on the people inside the museum, they must be pretty shaken after all that"

"you're right, let's go " she tapped her bracelet again and the protective suit disappeared once more.

As they entered, they were surprised and angered to see someone laying lifeless in a pool of their own blood. Everyone in the museum was either still in shock or too hysterical to answer questions so they turned to Kirinaha, who gave them a detailed report of what had occurred. An ambulance crew and a few more police officers came shortly afterwards and attended to everyone there. The museum was officially made a crime scene.

The drive back to the police station was a quiet one for Yagita and Fuhira as they realised they had just let murderers escape and couldn't stop blaming themselves.

After they reported what had happened to their captain, he tried to reassure them but eventually told them to go home, after realising he wasn't getting through to them.

As they got to the garage, Fuhira spoke, "don't beat yourself up too much Yagita. Like the captain said, it happened before we arrived on the scene. We will definitely catch them."

She smiled but thought to herself [how can we catch people who literally disappear?]

"I'll see you tomorrow Fuhira, ride safely"

"you too" He got on his motorbike and rode off.

She sat in her car for several minutes, replaying the events of the day over and over again in her head, thinking about what she could have done differently.

[Who were those guys? Why did they steal a worthless fragment? Is this what Aihara was talking about? Should I ask him? Would it be right to tell an outsider about an active police case?]

She sighed, looked at the picture again and drove home.

As soon as Kirinaha got in, Yashiro knew something was wrong.

"Hey mum, what's the matter?" He had a very concerned look on his face.

As soon as she saw her son, she hugged him and began to cry.

Yashiro embraced his mum and comforted her.

After a few minutes, she sat at the dining table while Yashiro made tea and something for her to eat. She explained what happened at her workplace earlier and gave him a description of what the assailants looked like. Yashiro was both enraged and saddened at the thought of his mum going through that.

After she ate, she hugged Yashiro and then went to sleep. Yashiro sighed, and decided to watch movies to take his mind off how angry and helpless he felt. However, the descriptions of the men were etched in his mind.

At an unknown location, 3, 5, and 8 enter a room and stand in front of a group of individuals.

"Did you get it?" One of them asked

5 responded smiling, "we ran into some trouble on the way out but yeah, we got it." He threw the bag at the person who asked the question. "I can't wait to play with that female officer again. She smelt nice"

"creep", 3 said as he walked away from everyone.

The person who was referrred to as number 1 spoke, "we have the location of the next artifact. We will move on it next week. 4 and 7, you're going this time."

They smiled and nodded.