Let's Have A Talk—Kasahara Kentaro I

I closed the door behind me. A grey room filled with medical equipment and a single hospital bed. In that bed lay Ken, his eyes closed. I examined him closely. He hadn't aged much since I last saw him. Same exact style — shirt untucked and a couple sizes too big, dark hair covering one eye, and that girlish face of his. This time, though, he was in a completely different state, considering it was just the second day after his surgery to remove the bullet.

— Coloepy, you always stare straight into people's souls. He said.

So he wasn't asleep.

— What brings you here? New orders from your employer... or personal issues?

— My client wants us to ensure you're safe and under protection 24/7.

— So it's just you, the great leader of AmberSkulls, checking in on me? How generous.

— I'd be lying if I said I came here without an ulterior motive.

— I figured.

— I know you and my father orchestrated the terrorist attacks ten years ago. But why?

— Your father didn't share the same vision of this conflict. Like me, he decided to destroy both factions from the inside. But things didn't go as planned. The Westerners managed to nearly win this so-called unofficial war between factions.

— I understand. But if they've almost won the war, why wouldn't they just come straight for you and end it once and for all?

— Seems like the global government has caught your interest. I thought you only partnered with whichever side paid best for dirty work. The kind of dirty work that would stain their public image.

— I care about this because you created that damn monster that's chasing my brother everywhere.

— So that's where this is going. Well, my theory is that The Man of High Society is facing some kind of obstacle. I don't know what it is exactly, but your brother seems to be connected to it — or knows something about it. That's why they're monitoring him using the beast. Most likely, they planted a tracker on it to follow your brother's movements.

— Can you tell me anything about the man who shot you? Purpleguy?

— I'm not sure what to say. I didn't get a good look at him.

— Ken... anything?

— Maybe one thing. His obsaiadan blade — The Cane.

— What about it?

— The last person to wield it was Hamura's subject before he vanished. He was a being of obsaiadan, like your brother. He was the weapon Hamura planned to use to destroy both factions — and also the man who would bring about the apocalypse. The first obsaiadan lifeform.

— Okay... and what does that have to do with Purpleguy?

— I believe they're the same person.

— What makes you think that?

— "The man who will bring the apocalypse" — that's what the legend says. That "on January 1st, 2000, the firstborn shall bring the end of the world." There's some truth to that, but it's not entirely accurate. You see, the words don't lie — but they don't tell the full truth either. I witnessed many of this subject's analyses and learned a lot about these obsaiadan beings. They don't age — at least not past a certain point, around 30 years old. In addition, their bodies are capable of destroying any virus, bacteria, or foreign tumor within seconds of exposure. Plus, their tissue doesn't die once it's cut. I reached a conclusion: they're not meant to die of natural causes. And from that, I deduced something else — the energy they're made of is unstable, which means that their death would release all that negative energy, potentially unbalancing the universe and triggering the end of the world.

To be honest, I understood what he said — but I was also fighting the urge to fall asleep. I had forgotten how, once he got talking, Ken just didn't stop.

— Wait... doesn't that mean that Andreas's death could also bring the apocalypse?

— Exactly. That's why The Man of High Society didn't kill him when he attacked your father's mansion. He knows Andreas's death would lead to the same outcome.

— What do you know about The Man of High Society?

— There are two of them. One goes by the name Davis and the other Emma. Fake names, of course. I also know they possess parasites.

— Davis and Emma...

— Are those two related by any chance?

— No idea. I've never seen them in my life. You're about to ask if they're siblings, aren't you?

— ...

Then something else came to mind.

— Ken... how familiar are you with the legend of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

— The ones who are said to stop the apocalypse. Chaleon, Calamity, Cristha, and Centuria.

— What if that legend isn't entirely true?

— I don't know. It's just a legend. We don't even know if those people really exist...

— I got a hunch that if the Apocalypse is real, then they're already among us.

— I think the only thing we can do is to wait and see if that's the case.

— That's all I needed to hear. Thank you Ken!

— You are leaving already?

My phone rang. It was the client. There was a change of plans...

-Hamura Coloepy