Part 4

One week ago….

“I am Mr. Yamamoto. I have been instructed to take care of you two till your parents come for you.” A middle aged Japanese man introduced himself to Inoue and Akito, in Korean as he held the Night Clan’s emblem, which authenticated his claim, in his right hand.

Both Akito and Inoue bowed respectfully and spoke Japanese in unison. “The children of the night greet respected Elder.”

Yamamoto was taken back in surprise and hurriedly replied, “I did not know that the two of you spoke Japanese. Please do not address me as ‘Elder’. I am just a humble servant, following orders of Elder Ji-san.”

“Then how should we address you?” Akito asked cautiously.

“Yamamoto-san is fine or Oji-san.” The middle aged man replied with a smile as he showed the way to a Rolls Royce with open doors was waiting for them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Inoue kept silent for most of the way as she looked out the window.

“Hime-sama, please back away from the window.” Akito mumbled as he tried to pull away Inoue from the window.”

Yamamoto smiled as he spoke, “I notice that Akito-san is really worried about Night Clan’s only princess. Don’t worry Akito-san, these windows are bullet proof. We understand your circumstances well and have taken every precaution necessary.”

Akito frowned slightly before backing away from Inoue.

Yamamoto continued speaking, “Do you see those two black cars following us in the back? Those are our escort vehicles….”

Yamamoto explanation was interrupted by the cackling of the radio and a deep voice. “Yamamoto-san, Ohori here. We have company.”

Yamamoto’s expressions stiffened as he picked up the radio-com and rolled up the window. He did not want to distress the children any further. Unfortunately, what Yamamoto didn’t know was that both children were very sensitive to sound and despite the barrier could hear everything.

“You are clear to speak, Ohori.” Yamamoto replied.

“Tech support has picked up chatter on the airwaves and has updated our schedule. Please navigate as per new route.”

Yamamoto checked the GPS navigation screen and it did update to a new route.

“I understand.” Yamamoto replied as he sped up the car and began pulling away from the escorts. “I wish you well my friends. Give our enemies a wonderful Japanese welcome.”

“Don’t worry about it…..”

**BOOOOOMM**

A loud explosion ripped through the highway and one of the escort cars went flying up into the air.

The radio went silent.

Yamamoto grit his teeth and stepped on the accelerator. As their car blurred past other vehicles, clearly violating the speed limit, Yamamoto spoke up, “Inoue-sama, Akito-san, please put on your seat belt. This might be a rough ride.”

The children followed the instructions quietly without saying anything. However, their body language revealed everything. Inoue’s face was stoic however her hands were clenching the seat belt tightly. Her body movements were stiff, she knew well what were pursuers were capable of – they would go to any lengths to carry out their mission even if it meant attracting attention in the mundane world.

Akito on the other hand was tense. He was battle ready. Although, his expression did not reveal how tense he was – he was ready to jump any time to cover Inoue. He had one hand on his seat belt button, ready to open it at a moment’s notice.

“Oji-san.” Inoue pressed the intercom and spoke. “We should not go this path.”

Yamamoto did not have time to reply to the princess as he was continuously checking all his mirrors for pursuers, then cross checking his navigation for traffic updates, real time satellite updates and even speaking with his tech support over the phone.

Noticing, Oji-san was too busy to reply, Akito opened his seat belt buckle and held Inoue’s hand. “Tell me Hime-same.”

“There is someone on that building staring at us.” Inoue replied while unbuckling her seat belt as well.

It was only then did Yamamoto notice what the kids were doing. “Hey! Don’t open your seat belts!!”

“There is a man on that building!” Akito spoke up loudly, very agitated as the middle aged man was not taking them seriously, as he pointed out to a building two miles away.

Yamamoto was momentarily perplexed how the children could have known something like that. However, he found the answer – ‘they are from the Murim.’ It wouldn’t be strange if one of them had very keen sight – something like that was considered very normal in the Murim.

“Tech support. We have a problem – sniper dead ahead.” Yamamoto dutifully reported.

“We have confirmation. Satellites have picked up movement on the roof of Kasori Towers. Closest distance between you and sniper is 2.3 miles. After which you will be entering the expressway tunnel. We have escort vehicles on standby there. We repeat no change in route.”

“You heard them?” Yamamoto asked as he lowered the barrier between them. “2.3 miles. Even the best sniper shot is 1.5 miles.”

However, the children did not reply. Their eyes were fixed on the building ahead of them.

“Unlock the doors, Oji-san.” Inoue spoke calmly. Yamamoto eyes went dull as he followed Inoue’s instructions and unlocked the doors without questioning Inoue.

“The shots have been fired.” Inoue softly spoke as Akito tightly clenched her and flung open the door.

“What the hell!!!” Yamamoto angrily shouted as he returned to his sense. Before he could even react, the two children jumped out of the car.

In the next moment, three bullets hit the wind shield of the car. The first cracked the wind shield of the car. The second broke it open and the third killed Mr. Yamamoto. All shots fired hit at the same point.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Present day

All the children lay asleep in their bed, except for Inoue’s – whose bed lay empty. A lone figure, stood by the window covered from head to toe in a blanket.

“Were you expecting me?” A woman’s voice softly rang throughout the room. The woman who entered the room was the caretaker of the facility – the same lady who admitted Shin into the facility tonight.

However, Inoue’s figure did not move as she continued to stare out the window – a simple nod in acknowledgement.

“Heh…” The woman’s voice changed into a man’s voice. “Did you know from the start?”

Without turning to face her pursuer, Inoue nodded her head once more.

“Then I guess, I don’t need to wear this piece of shit.” The woman with a man’s voice replied as he tore of the mask from his face. The assassin continued walk cautiously towards Inoue and continued to speak, “Did you realize I poisoned your friend.”

Once again Inoue nodded.

The assassin stopped in his tracks – to observe the room. All the children were sleeping peacefully. No…there was one...Akito, who was no longer breathing. Even his body was giving off no heat.

“He’ssss already dead.” The assassin gleefully spoke as he licked the blade. “Oh- Hime-sama….lone Princess of the Night. Where will you run next?” At the end of his sentence, he stood behind Inoue – just outside her striking distance – can never be too cautious.

“I would have loved to sell you somewhere…but boss said to cut you up into little piece and bring you back to Korea. Ready to return home, Hime-sama?” The assassin continued to speak as he readied to shove his blade into Inoue. He wore a crazed evil smile on his face as he took stance.

It was at that moment the figure by the window turned around….to reveal…Shin.

“Am I the one you seek, disgusting human?” Shin asked with a smirk on his face.