Chapter 5: Catching Up

The next day

Ammar yawned and scratched his head as he walked downstairs. He looked around and saw no one other than several maids that were preparing breakfast. He felt a bit bored and decided to walk around the house but then something caught his attention.

He saw several photos hung on the wall and inspected them. The first photo caught him off guard.

It was a photo of a smiling, happily Mikhail with a girl that's very familiar. They were both happy with the girl showing a peace sign while Mikhail crossed his arms.

"I took this picture."

Ammar turned around and saw Mizuki with a cup of coffee. She took a sip and then explained, "This was taken after the Tournament of Fist."

"Wait, Mikhail joined that tournament?" Ammar looked at Mizuki with a surprise expression, making Mizuki nodded her head and chuckled. 

"Actually, he wasn't supposed to be in that tournament. It was someone else, but because that person was almost dead, Mika interfered in the tournament and saved her." Mizuki explained to Ammar.

"Who did he fight?"

Mizuki giggled and replied, "Katagiri Shizuka."

Ammar was quite surprised and then noticed another picture of Mikhail with Shizuka back when they were teenagers. The next picture was Mikhail when he was a baby and being held by a man that looks like Mikhail with shorter hair and a scar on the corner of his lips and cheek. Next to the man was a beautiful woman with a young Mizuki hugging her.

'That must be his father and mother. Damn, Mika really looks like his father,' Ammar thought to himself. "Oh, I just remembered something. Weren't Shizuka and Mika enemies before?"

"Yeah, they were enemies once during the tournament but after Mika spared Shizuka's life. They seem to be on good terms after that. I remember that I saw them once walking around in Shinjuku when I invited him to come over here." Mizuki finished the remainder of her coffee and cracked her stiff neck.

Ammar looked at Mizuki, wanting to ask more questions regarding Mikhail, especially his past with them. But after witnessing what happened last night, Ammar chose to ignore it.

"I wonder where Mika is right now…"

"Probably sleeping in Shizuka's house." Mizuki replied and then went to the dining room.

Katagiri Clan's house

Mikhail slowly opened his eyes and blinked them. He turned around slowly and saw Shizuka staring at him with her right cheek resting on her palm.

"Morning." Shizuka greeted Mikhail while staring at his Kamigan, which mesmerized her.

"You surprised me since last night, Shizuka. You are the last person that I expect to greet me," Mikhail said and then closed his eyes as Shizuka laughed. "You've really changed, Shizuka."

"Oh, shut up, loser. I am still the same person," Shizuka said and then playfully ruffled Mikhail's hair, much to his amusement. "You were sleeping like a baby last night. To be honest, I was worried and woke up to check on you several times."

"Sorry, I just had a great sleep after a very long time," Mikhail replied while gazing at Shizuka's eyes. "Thank you for last night."

Shizuka only gave a smile and then got off from bed, dropping the blanket and exposing her well-toned and slightly scarred body. She grabbed a towel and threw it to Mikhail who caught it.

"Go take a shower. I'm going to bring you somewhere to eat and talk." 

Half an hour later

CoCo Ichibanya, Kabukicho, Shinjuku

"After you killed Lucifer, my old man stepped down and I became the head clan. My first action was to reconcile and form an alliance with Genji, Uzumaki and Kashimo."

Mikhail stopped eating his food and stared at Shizuka with a surprise look, making the young woman chuckle at his reaction. He was about to ask the reason for her action, however Shizuka quickly gave the answer.

"You saved my life, Genji. Not just mine but everyone in that school as well including the child of King of Malaysia and Prime Minister's family. That is the answer for your question." 

The young Genji smiled and then asked, "What happened after that?"

"What happened after that? Mizuki and Yukiko approached me about a mission which is searching for you. We all knew that you survived the battle and ran away to start a new life. So, for the next six years and ten months, we searched for you across the world," Shizuka answered and then took a sip of the hot coffee that she ordered. "It was hard to track you down. Well, that's enough from me, what about you?"

Mikhail laughed and rested the left side of his face on the palm, staring at the empty plate. He then said, "After three months of recovering, I decided to leave Kuala Lumpur and go to Johor since that is the only place that I have attachment with Amaris."

"Why?" asked a curious Shizuka.

"She always told me how she always wanted to go to Johor since it is the only place in Malaysia that she has never explored yet. Anyways, for the first few months, I had to go from one place to another since you guys were on my tail and almost caught me a few times," Mikhail smiled at the memory of him avoiding a group of people in suits. "Eventually, I decided to settle down at Segamat and the rest is history."

After paying for the meals, they both left the café and went to Genji Clan's house. While walking to their destination, Mikhail spoke to Shizuka,

"I know that there's something that you hide from me. What is it?"

Shizuka looked at Mikhail with a surprised expression and then released a heavy sigh, apologizing to him for hiding the important matter. She looked up and watched the clouds before finally telling him the truth,

"The truth is we need you."

Mikhail scoffed and felt annoyed although he continued listening to her.

"Two months ago, we heard a rumour about Lilith planning to start the Third World War. Mizuki decided to send someone to gather any information and...."

Shizuka stopped walking and paused for a moment, staring at the ground which made Mikhail raise his eyebrow since he never saw Shizuka acting like this.

"After three weeks of gathering the information, we found out that Lilith is building a secret weapon. A weapon that can wipe out humanity in an instant. She's also creating an army that is said to consist of immortal warriors."

An army that is said to consist of immortal warriors. Mikhail narrowed his single eye upon hearing it and then said, "Then, we need to get back to that place. If what you said is true, then we don't have much time left."

'Moreover, Ammar is in great danger if I didn't start his training by today.' Mikhail thought to himself, fearing the danger that might come from Ammar. 

Somewhere else

"So, you fought him… How was he?"

Irina looked at her mother who's flicking the syringe that filled with thick, oozing red liquid and replied, "Not what I expected, but he did put up a good fight. Just like you said, he gets distracted easily when it comes to saving those filthy monkeys."

Irina's mother, Lilith, chuckled as she injected the unknown substance into a grotesque humanoid creature that bore a great resemblance to Mikhail. She smirked when the creature gave a response by opening its mouth, exposing long and sharp teeth.

Lilith, the Mother of Demons, Lucifer's consort and currently leads the malevolent beings known as Demons and their realms, the Seven Planes of Hell, after Genji Mikazuki killed Lucifer seven years ago.

Lilith is an impeccably beautiful, tall woman with a curvaceous figure. Those who meet her for the very first time will describe her as the walking definition of beauty. She possesses long smooth dark hair that reached her waist, dark purple eyes, and spotted a crown made from dark branches and twigs.

"What about his eyes?"

Irina looked at Lilith and then said, "He only has one Kamigan."

Lilith was about to cut off the humanoid creature's finger with a shear but stopped when she heard her answer. How could he only have one of those divine eyes? Could it be that he lost it due to a battle during her idiotic and weak consort?

"Mother, what is my next task?" asked Irina to Lilith, who snapped and then proceeded to cut off the fingers of the creature. 

"I want you to continue to train and tame the beast. We need it for the war," Lilith replied. "Also, please bring Rae here. I have a mission for her."

Irina nodded her head and then left the room, leaving Lilith to continue her sick experimentation on the creature to create an army of immortal warriors made from Mikhail's DNA that she collected seven years ago.

Genji Clan's House

"You want to train me?"

Mikhail nodded his head and then glanced at the smoking Shizuka.

"I will train you about the basic level of Mystic Energy and after that, Shizuka will train you until she thinks she has nothing to teach you," said Mikhail to Ammar. "I really wanted to train you, but I need to train myself first to make sure I can protect everyone. After I am done with my training, I will train you."

Ammar grinned madly and bumped his fist with Mikhail, feeling an overwhelming excitement. He is going to be trained by Genji Mikazuki, the saviour of the world.

"When do we start?" Ammar asked the smiling Mikhail.