Chapter 2: A Dream and an Incident

A weak voice stirs him awake. Though the voice is gentle, it bears some weight as if it's about to burst out of grief. "Kiyoto. When everything is ready, I swear that I will wake you up…for now, let us bear the pain of being separated from each other…"

A soft, gentle hand touches the man's face. Everything after that becomes a blur, consumed by a dark void that swallows everything.

He finally woke up, feeling too weak to even lift a finger. He doesn't know what to make of the dream he just had as he does not remember a thing. To add more to his pressing dilemma, he just found himself in a hospital bed with one of his hands chained into the bed's side rail. It's also noticeable that there are no patients here besides him. Soon after, a nurse wearing a cropped vest with a Sword insignia walked towards him after noticing his slight movement.

"Hello mister, my name is Mylene. I'm a member of the Swords, but mainly just a nurse" She reassures him, although Kiyoto has no idea what the "Swords "are and more importantly who she is. "You might be wondering why you are here instead of a normal hospital..actually the reason is about the mask you are wearing. You see we tried to take it off for you to take in some medicine..but alas, you see how it went. So can I ask you to please take it off by yourself with your free hand."

"...."

No one can make it out because of the mask, but behind it, Kiyoto is clearly showing a befuddled expression. After a brief pause, he finally speaks up with a weak tone.

"What do you mean? I possess no mask." He says. It looks like Kiyoto's confusion also reached the nurse as she as well made a befuddled expression.

"Wait, huh?" She replied. "Uhm…are you pranking me mister..? But you're clearly wearing one right now. There's not even a single hole for your eye to see something" Mylene added as she gestures to her patient's head.

Dumbfounded, Kiyoto reached out his free hand to where the nurse was pointing. Surprised by a hard surface he felt in his fingertips as soon as he's about to touch his face, Kiyoto gasped. "What..the hell..?"

"Wha- You're serious aren't you mister?" Based on his tone of course, anyone can tell that Kiyoto is being genuine about his reaction. "With what you have said earlier, does that mean you can clearly see and breathe easily like you have nothing on your face?" Mylene inquired, curious of her patient's situation.

"Yes…that would be the case…"

"Interesting. Well it might be one of the mask's many features."

Mylene fixes her posture before continuing. "I can safely assume this then…if I ask you about yourself and what's gotten you into that situation…you wouldn't be able to answer it no?"

"T-that's right. The only thing I remember right now is my name…and that I am searching for someone." Kiyoto affirmed, as he continued to touch the mask currently resting on his face. "I can't seem to get it off as well.." he added.

As the conversation goes on, the door of the room opens up revealing two Sword members. It was Fudo and Yato who were about to check up on the man they just brought in. "Oh he's awake…right? Why is his mask still there?" Fudo inquired.

"Actually…"

After a while of explanations from Mylene. "I see. He must have been a journeyman, but we can't really cross out if he is dangerous" Yato voiced his opinion "Well you're right but…what do we do, I think he needs some help" Fudo on the other hand wants to do something to help him.

Meanwhile, Kiyoto couldn't think of what to do next. Many questions are beginning to fill up his mind. What brings me here, who are these people, why am I wearing a mask that I can't feel and why can't I take it off. More importantly…who am I searching for.

A voice finally breaks Kiyoto's dead silence "Kiyoto-san, you probably should come with me and have an audience with Akafuyu. She might be our best shot to answer your current dilemma." Mylene suggested.

"Uhm...Mylene-san, are you sure about bringing a complete stranger in the presence of Lord Akafuyu?" Yato asked by which Fudo immediately intervened "Hey you're making it as if Lord Akafuyu cares about Social Classes"

Akafuyu. The Eighth of the Ten Heralds, she holds one of the legendary masks and is the current Ruler of this territorial city for about five years after inheriting it from her father. She is also the acting Supreme Commander of the "Swords". Despite her young age, she can already wield the power of the legendary mask in its maximum output.

Mylene nodded in response to Fudo "Yes there will be no worries there, I'm confidently sure she would be elated to provide assistance. After all, she kinda…gets a bit lonely sometimes" No one catches the last part as she speaks it too silently. Yato on the other hand just shrugged his shoulders and went with the flow. With that said, when he is about to unlock Kiyoto's chains, a loud explosion can be heard outside causing a minor quake to be felt inside the room. In regards to the incident, a staff radioed in whilst coughing.

"Are cough…are there any nearby Sword combatants available for immediate dispatch cough near the 2nd HQ Hospital? We have some hostiles to be apprehended!" The radio transmission has been cut off by the sender probably because he's about to get busy.

"Are you serious? An attack this close to one of our HQ?!" Bewildered, Fudo rushed out of the room along with Yato. "Ah wait! And they're gone…" Mylene tried to stop them to free Kiyoto first but things happened too fast. Mylene rests her fingertip below her chin as if pondering about the incident. "An attack…after many years of peace, why now..and who could it be…" She was thinking out loud. Meanwhile, Kiyoto glanced at the chains in his right hand. He has this weird feeling that he can easily break out if he tries.

They waited out for the situation to calm down and is looking forward to hearing some feedback, but it never came to. Worried, the nurse decided to step out, but to her surprise, what was waiting for her outside the door were unknown masked men. They are all wearing a theatrical mask with different expressions. Mylene immediately backs off, she then notices that the men are also wearing the same uniforms with a symbol of a Scythe. "Scythes…?" Mylene exclaimed in panic. Hearing this, a man wearing a sad mask stepped forward and announced:

"That is right. We are the Scythes, and we will be responsible for taking out the monopolizing Swords." Without wasting more time, the sad man grabbed Mylene by the collar of her uniform in an attempt to throw her out of the window. For more information, they are currently on the 10th floor. An ordinary human would definitely die if they fall from that height and in this case, Mylene is just an ordinary human without her mask.

Clank…Everyone inside the room heard the same thing, like a metal that got forcefully ripped from where it's resting. Glancing from where the sound came from, the sad man saw a fist coming close to his face. With a quick response, he hastily let go of Mylene and shielded himself from the punch with both of his hands. "Ghh..huh?!" A force he did not expect has come in contact with him which results for the sad man to get blown across the next room. Of course, the culprit of that punch is none other than the man with a cracked carved mask, Kiyoto. Mylene just looks at him quietly and dumbfounded.

There are 5 masked men in total which also includes the sad man that got blown across to the other room. The remaining four finally hold their guard up prepping for a fight and without further ado, they rush him one after the other. Let's identify each one of them as: angry mask, crying mask, happy mask and neutral mask.

Angry mask who led the charge swings a strong right hand by which Kiyoto responds with a sidestep to dodge and might as well drag Mylene to get her out of the way. It is noticeable that angry mask is a strong brute due to his bulk body which is also in turn enhanced by the mask he is wearing, but in turn he is quite slow compared to his other colleagues. Kiyoto then slid Mylene under the bed to get her out of the way completely.

Continuing the battle, Kiyoto hovered over the bed to gain more space but then crying mask was waiting on that side as he launched a frontal kick. Kiyoto managed to stop it with his left hand, but then the assault kept on coming as neutral and happy mask attacked at the same time with a straight punch. In quick response, Kiyoto pulled the foot he is holding and made a shield out of crying mask who took two punches to his guts like a champ. Being true to the mask he is wearing, he cried out of pain. As to not waste the moment, Kiyoto freed the crying mask and reached out his hand onto the two masked men in front of him and banged their heads into each other. Between the gap of the space created after their heads separate from each other, Kiyoto saw the bulked angry mask charging at him like a bull. With no chance to recuperate, Kiyoto picked up the two masked men and made another shield by which the angry mask did not care and just charged through.

The impact was quite strong that Kiyoto and his "meatshields" got thrown away, hitting a wall and cracking it. "Kiyoto!" exclaimed Mylene as she saw him getting blown away. "Ghh" Kiyoto tries to regain his footing, but angry mask won't wait, he charges again like a bull with an intent to ultimately crush him. Having seen no other options, he readied himself, clenching his fist, he pumped it onwards. "Aaaaargh!"

Rushing footsteps can be heard nearing the hospital room. Seeing the door open and upon hearing an unfamiliar loud voice, Fudo entered in a panic. "Mylene! Cracked Mask! Are you two-" The next thing they knew…a bulky man wearing an angry theatrical mask can be seen flying towards a wall, and what's more is that Kiyoto can be seen with his fist clenched forward where the direction of the flying man came from.

Fudo pointed out all the unconscious masked men and inquired in surprise "This is all him?"