Chapter 5: Lieutenant Kirigaya Mooi
Screams echoed between collapsing buildings.
And then—
VRRRMM!
An armored vehicle bearing the insignia of the National Biohazard Authority tore through the ruined street at full speed.
It didn't slow.
The rear door slid open mid-motion.
The woman in white stood inside, steady despite the chaos. In her hand—
Daito's blade.
She looked at him once.
"No detours," she said.
"Neutralize threats."
He took the sword without replying.
SLIDE! FWOO!
Then jumped.
A child stood frozen in the middle of the street.
Behind him—
CRACK! CRUMBLE!
A building wall collapsed inward.
Daito didn't think.
Didn't calculate.
He moved.
SLASH!
Blade flashed once.
BOOM! SPILIT! SCATTER!
The falling concrete shattered into dozens of harmless fragments before touching the ground.
Dust exploded outward.
The boy stared upward.
Recognition flooded his face.
"T–Daito?!"
Tears spilled instantly.
"You came back!"
Daito didn't smile.
But his eyes softened for half a second.
"Move," he said quietly.
VRRMM! SCRREETCH!
A roar interrupted the moment.
SWOOSH!
A tank-like assault vehicle accelerated toward him from the main road.
Heavy armor.
Mounted turret.
Full speed.
Daito didn't dodge.
He stepped forward instead.
The vehicle closed distance violently—
He drew his blade in one fluid motion.
SLASH!
A single horizontal slash.
The tank split cleanly in two.
SCRREETCH!
Metal screamed apart.
BOOOM!
The explosion behind him lit the smoke red.
He didn't look back as both halves crashed and burned.
The soldiers inside never had time to react.
Block by Block
More enemies flooded in.
Rifles raised.
Orders shouted.
Daito became movement.
SWOOSH!
Precision.
Silence between screams.
He disarmed without hesitation.
Pow!
Struck joints.
Pang!
Severed tendons.
Slash!
Cut through steel plating like paper.
Swoosh!
Each block he cleared left a trail of blood and broken machinery.
He advanced toward one place only—
Home.
On the outer street, Lieutenant patrols fell back under the sudden pressure.
"Greyhell is here!" someone shouted.
"Fall back and regroup!"
But Daito did not chase them yet.
He was focused.
Street after street.
Enemy after enemy.
Until he stood before the small house at the edge of town.
The Door
His mother stood at the entrance.
Weapon raised.
Hands steady.
Silhouette firm.
She had already decided she would die protecting whoever stood behind her.
Daito approached quietly.
She kept the weapon aimed.
Then she saw his shadow.
The posture.
The stillness.
She lowered the gun slowly.
The door opened.
For a moment—
Neither spoke.
Then she stepped forward and held him.
HUG!
Tight.
Longer than she meant to.
"You're late," she whispered.
He allowed the hug.
Just once.
Then stepped back.
The neighbors gathered behind her.
Whispers rose quickly.
"He's back."
"Look at that jacket."
"Training, huh?"
"He finally dresses his age."
"Better than that old leather coat like a father of eight."
Daito's brow twitched.
"I did not look like a father of eight."
A few of them laughed.
His mother sighed softly.
"They're joking."
He grumbled under his breath.
Still annoyed.
But the tension in the street shifted.
Hope had returned.
Children circled him.
Adults thanked him.
Some asked where he had been.
Some stared at the sword.
Some stared at the blood on his hands.
"You look stronger," one man said.
Daito replied flatly.
"I am."
His mother stepped closer.
Lowered her voice.
"If you go back out there…"
She looked toward the distant smoke.
"…be careful."
Then she added something heavier.
"Nagare is here."
Daito froze slightly.
"What?"
"He used to come over after school," she said quietly.
"You trained together in the field behind the market."
Memory surfaced.
A boy racing him across rooftops.
Arguing about who would leave town first.
Promising to change the world.
Daito's eyes hardened.
"He shouldn't have come."
Outside, in the distance—
A familiar voice echoed across the town through a loudspeaker.
"Daito Greyhell!"
It was Soldier Nagare.
"We both know you're here!"
"You've destroyed enough!"
"Come face me!"
The street fell silent.
Daito looked at his mother once more.
She nodded.
No fear.
Only understanding.
"You finish what you started," she said.
Daito turned.
Blade resting against his shoulder.
White and purple jacket catching the glow of distant fire.
Fwoosh....
He stepped back into the smoke.
Somewhere beyond the ruined blocks, the Lieutenant waited.
And Nagare stood at the center of it all.
This wasn't just a battle anymore.
It was personal.
FWOOSH!
Smoke rolled through the streets of Daito's homeland like a living thing.
* * *
The sky was stained black, buildings torn open, flames clawing upward as if trying to escape the violence below.
In the center of the ruined square stood Daito.
Across from him—
Nagare.
CLICK!
CLICK!
CLANK!
And behind Nagare, fifty armed soldiers formed a semicircle, rifles raised, blades drawn, waiting for a single command.
Nagare's voice cut through the crackling fire.
"You chose them. The NBA. After everything this town gave you."
Daito's grip tightened on his sword.
"You're attacking civilians."
"You killed our General. You destroyed our base. You burned the truth to ash!"
The fifty soldiers stepped forward in unison.
Nagare raised his hand.
"Bring him down."
RAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-TAT-TAT!
Gunfire erupted.
Daito moved.
FLASH!
Not fast, precise.
CLING-CLANG!
CLING- CLANG!
He cut through bullets mid-flight, steel clashing with sparks.
SWOOSH! SLASH!
He dashed forward, blade carving arcs of silver through the smoke.
"Uaargh!"
"Eeeiigh!"
Two soldiers fell.
"Aaargh!"
"Nooo!"
"Daammn!"
Then five.
"ARRGH!"
"OOAARGH!"
Then ten.
But this wasn't Freakers.
These were trained human combatants.
Coordinated.
Disciplined.
They adapted quickly.
GRAB!
One locked his blade.
POW!
Another struck from behind.
BOOM!
A third launched a stun-round that detonated near Daito's ribs.
SWOOSH!
BOOM!
CRASH!
He flipped backward—barely avoiding a spear thrust—but a boot slammed into his shoulder, driving him through a brick wall.
Dust exploded around him.
He rose immediately.
Blood at the corner of his mouth.
Nagare watched carefully.
"You're hesitating," he said.
Daito's eyes sharpened.
He wasn't used to fighting humans in numbers like this.
Against Freakers, instinct ruled.
Against soldiers?
Every movement risked killing someone who once had a normal life.
That split-second restraint cost him.
SLASH!
DODGE!
A blade cut across his side.
Another slammed into his thigh.
POW!
CRACK!
A rifle butt struck the back of his skull.
For the first time since arriving—
Daito staggered.
Nagare finally stepped forward.
"Stand down," he told the soldiers.
They backed away, forming a ring.
"This is mine."
Nagare drew twin hooked blades, their edges vibrating faintly with energy.
He rushed Daito.
CLING!
Steel clashed.
CLANG! CLING! CLANG!
SLING! SWING! CLING!
Their duel was violent and fast—sparks showering the cracked pavement as blades screamed against one another.
Nagare fought with rage.
Daito fought with control.
"You left!" Nagare shouted as he struck downward.
Daito parried.
"I was sent away!"
"You never came back!"
Their blades locked.
POW!
Daito shoved him back with a knee to the chest.
Nagare skidded across broken stone, wiped blood from his lip, and smiled.
"You've gotten stronger."
"You've gotten reckless."
They clashed again.
* * *
Suddenly—
The air shifted.
Pressure.
Heavy. Suffocating.
CRASH! CRACK!
A figure landed between them, shattering the ground beneath his boots.
One of the Lieutenants.
Kirigaya Mooi.
His voice was distorted.
"Enough."
Nagare frowned. "He's mine."
"You're failing."
Kirigaya extended his hand.
The earth itself convulsed.
BRRMMM!
SWOOSH!
Stone pillars erupted upward, forcing Daito to leap aside.
The remaining soldiers rejoined the fight immediately.
Now it wasn't fifty.
It was fifty....Plus a Lieutenant whose power shook the battlefield.
The ground became unstable.
BOP!
Spikes shot upward unpredictably.
Walls folded inward like paper.
Daito was forced on defense.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
He cut down three soldiers in a spin—
THWACK!
CRASH!
But a stone pillar smashed into his ribs.
He crashed hard.
SWOOSH!
CRASH!
Kirigaya moved instantly—faster than expected—grabbing Daito by the throat and slamming him into the street.
CRACK!
The pavement cratered.
Blood ran down Daito's temple.
Nagare watched.
Conflicted.
"Break him," Kirigaya commanded.
Daito tried to rise—
GRAB!
But ten soldiers pinned him.
STAB!
Another drove a blade into his shoulder.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Lieutenant Kirigaya raised his hand, gathering compressed earth into a spiraling mass aimed directly at Daito's chest.
"This ends now."
SWOOOM!
A sonic boom split the sky.
The "NBA" jet screamed overhead.
CRASH!
The ground exploded as three figures dropped from above.
Tasao V hit first—cratering the street with a savage grin.
Zumi C landed beside him, adjusting his gloves.
And the Woman in White descended last, coat fluttering behind her like falling snow.
Tasao cracked his knuckles.
"Miss us?"
Zumi glanced at Daito, pinned and bleeding.
"Tch. You really were struggling."
The Woman in White stepped forward calmly.
"You're interfering with NBA jurisdiction," she told Lieutenant Kirigaya.
Lieutenant Kirigaya turned slowly.
"So the dogs arrive."
Tasao laughed.
"Oh no," he said.
"We're the wolves."
* * *
Chaos erupted again.
BAM!
"Oargh!"
"Waaaigh!"
Tasao launched forward in a brutal shoulder charge, smashing through soldiers like bowling pins.
SMACK! SMACK!
"Yaairgh!"
"Eeeiigh!"
Zumi moved like a ghost—precise strikes disabling enemies without wasted movement.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Woman in White drew twin pistols, each shot calculated, clean, final.
The soldiers' formation collapsed.
Daito shoved the men, pinning him aside and stood again.
"Huff... huff."
His breathing was heavier now.
Blood soaking his shirt.
Nagare met his eyes across the battlefield.
"This isn't over," Nagare said quietly.
Daito nodded once.
"I know."
CLASH!
SWOOSH!
Kirigaya clashed with Tasao, their impacts shaking the square.
The battle was far from finished.
But Daito was no longer alone.
to be continued.....