Zenjiro pushed himself off the car with effort. His ribs screamed in pain, and he could taste blood in his mouth. But his hands were steady; his training kicked in even though his conscious mind was still trying to catch up with what was happening.
The beast was fifteen feet away from him. Then ten feet. Then five feet.
Zenjiro dropped into a low crouch. The beast's claws passed harmlessly over him. He came up fast with his knife and drove it straight into the beast's throat, angling the blade upward toward where the brain stem should be. The knife punched through tough hide, dense muscle, and something that felt like bone but had a different texture.
The beast's momentum carried it forward, slamming it into Zenjiro and pinning him painfully against the car. However, the knife was buried to the hilt in its neck, going deeper with each second. The beast convulsed violently, and black blood poured from the wound, covering Zenjiro's hands and arms in sticky warmth.
The milky white eyes flickered once, then went completely dark.
The beast's massive body collapsed on top of him, crushing him against the car.
Takeshi and Hiro grabbed the corpse and pulled it off him with effort. Zenjiro slid down the side of the car, ending up seated on the ground, gasping desperately for air. His chest felt like someone had hit it repeatedly with a sledgehammer. His hands shook uncontrollably.
"What the hell was that about?" Hiro said, staring at the dead beast. "Why was it only targeting you and ignoring the rest of us?"
"I don't know," Zenjiro said honestly.
"Maybe it could smell fear coming off him," Takeshi said, though there was noticeably less mockery in his voice than usual. He looked at Zenjiro with an expression that wasn't quite respect, but was definitely closer to it than before.
"That was decent work," Daisuke said grudgingly.
Zenjiro didn't bother responding. He was too busy staring at his hands, which were covered in the beast's black blood. But underneath all the blood, for just a brief second, he thought he saw something strange. His fingernails looked darker than they should have been, and sharper at the tips.
He blinked hard and looked again. They were normal.
It must have been the shadows playing tricks on his eyes.
"We need to report this encounter immediately," Hiro said. He was already pulling out his radio to call it in. "An X-ranking beast this close to the residential district is extremely bad news for everyone."
While Hiro called in the report, someone else approached them from the direction they'd come from. Zenjiro recognized her immediately.
Natami was eighteen years old like him, but she'd been with the Shadow Cranes for three years already. She specialized in reconnaissance and tracking operations. Zenjiro had maybe spoken to her five times total in the two months since he'd joined the organization.
"Hajidan," she said quietly. Her voice was careful and controlled, as if she were talking to a wounded animal that might bolt at any moment. "Can I speak to you privately for a minute?"
Takeshi raised an eyebrow at that. "The princess has a secret admirer now?"
Natami completely ignored him. She gestured for Zenjiro to follow her a short distance away from the others, where they couldn't easily overhear the conversation.
When they were far enough away, she turned to face him directly. Her expression was completely serious and concerned.
"I found you first," she said. "Before the others showed up at this location."
Zenjiro felt his stomach tighten with anxiety. "And what did you see?"
"You were lying on the ground unconscious, but you weren't lying still. Your body was moving strangely. Twitching and jerking around. Your hands were clawing at the pavement like you were trying to dig into it. And you were saying something that I couldn't make out clearly, but your voice sounded angry." She paused and studied his face carefully. "Then, suddenly, you went completely still, like someone had flipped a switch to turn you off. That's when the others arrived and found us."
Zenjiro felt cold spreading through his chest. He had absolutely no memory of anything she was describing.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" he asked.
"I don't know what I'm saying yet," Natami admitted. She looked at him like he was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. She saw he was on the verge of panicking, so she deliberately switched her vibe. She chuckled softly. "Don't overthink it... it looked like a seizure or a stress response to me. Pretty normal when you're nearly killed." She paused, staring at Zenjiro, whose eyes were still narrowed in fear. She quickly nudged him with her elbow. "Come on, chill out."
Before Zenjiro could figure out how to respond to that, Takeshi called out loudly from where the group was standing. "We're moving out now! Command wants everyone back at base immediately for a full debrief!"
Natami held Zenjiro's gaze for another long moment, then turned and walked back toward the others without saying anything else.
Zenjiro stood there alone, trying desperately to process what she'd just told him. He had no memory whatsoever of lying on the ground. No memory of moving around, speaking, or any of it. There was just a complete blank space where the last hour of his life should have been.
What the hell happened to me tonight?
"Hajidan!" Takeshi shouted impatiently. "Move your ass right now!"
Zenjiro jogged after them to catch up. His ribs ached painfully with every single step. His head was still throbbing.
They made it back to the extraction point without running into any more trouble. The others climbed into the transport vehicle waiting for them. Zenjiro told them he needed to check on his family first to make sure they were safe before coming to base.
Takeshi looked like he wanted to argue, but Natami said something quietly to him that Zenjiro couldn't hear. Takeshi just shrugged and climbed into the vehicle without further complaint.
As the transport drove away, Zenjiro started walking in the direction of his neighborhood. It was normally a twenty-minute walk from here. He figured he could probably cut it down to fifteen minutes if he hurried.
The streets were completely empty. Most residents were following the government quarantine orders and staying inside their homes after dark. It was the smart thing to do. The beasts had been more active lately, with more sightings in residential areas. The Shadow Cranes were stretched thin trying to keep up.
Zenjiro reached his house without seeing a single other person on the streets. All the lights were off inside. His parents were probably already asleep at this hour. His little sister Yuna would definitely be in bed by now.
He went around to the side of the house where his bedroom window faced the street. He'd deliberately left it unlocked for exactly this purpose. Being a Shadow Crane operative meant keeping very strange hours, and he really didn't want to have the conversation with his parents about where he'd been at three o'clock in the morning.
He climbed up the drainpipe carefully and pushed the window open from the outside. He slipped through into his room and closed the window quietly behind him.
His room looked exactly the same as when he'd left it earlier. The bed was unmade. His desk was covered in half-finished homework assignments he kept meaning to complete.
Zenjiro sat heavily on his bed. The adrenaline from the fight was finally wearing off, leaving him feeling exhausted and sore all over. He pulled off his blood-stained shirt to check the damage to his body. A massive dark bruise was already forming across his ribs where the beast had hit him. It hurt to take deep breaths.
He thought about the beast that had targeted only him. And Natami had seen him thrashing, violent, while unconscious.
"What the hell is happening to me?" he whispered.