Path of Life: Arc 2: Chapter One: Untitled as of Yet.

Written by: Matdeception

Disclaimer: I disclaim. I make no money off this fiction, and aside from
numerous characters of my own creation, everything else belongs to some
one else.


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"You ever lose yourself in a fight?"

"What?"

"The fight. Have you ever lost yourself in it? Felt reality fade away,
where nothing but you and the fight remained."

"No.. I've never felt that."

"There is a purity in such things. You no longer know who you are, your
very identity is washed away in the painful euphoric haze. All the
hurts, the injustices.. they all fade away with that identity. It's
there.."

"It's there.. what?"

"Where you know your true self."

***

"Amnar." an annoying voice.

"Will I ever attain such purity?" he asked himself suddenly as
consciousness began to reassert itself, the reason for his question
fading once more into the abyss of his sub-conscious.

"Amnar!" same annoying voice, louder though.

"Shut up." he grumbled, leaning forward in his seat to clutch his head
in-between his hands. "Mitsuki, what time is it?" he managed to question
through his sleep fogged mind.

The older woman frowned, "Nearly seven." she reached over, gentle
patting him on the back. A comforting gesture of affection, one of many
he knew her to express when she was worried. "Are you sure about this?"
she asked, her voice cool and controlled, though he could detect beyond
the cold layers of her voice a warmth she rarely let show.

Amnar snorted, shrugging off her comfroting touch as he leaned back in
his chair. "Yes." he said simply, eyes focusing on the passing scenery.
"Why did we take the bus?" he asked quickly to cut off the woman's
following question. They have had similiar conversations since they
began working together, it amazed him constantly that a woman as cold,
calculating, and ruthless as Mitsuki often appeared to be could worry so
much about such trivial assignments.

Mitsuki was an enigma within an enigma. Stunningly beautiful despite her
aging years, she had naturally long thick blue hair, a set of stunning
feirce green eyes and healthy alabaster skin. Despite her thirty some
odd years, she looked as young as the day he first made her acquaintence
in the cold streets of Lhalu, Tibet. His time spent growing up with the
young woman had brought many revealations, revealations he had only
recently began to suspect were simply a primer for her true intentions.

"Ryo caused a few problems with our normal mode of transportation, we
were forced to secure an alternative means of transportation while
repairs are completed." she said, pulling her hand back into her lap.
She grew silent again, the warmth he could only barely detect in her
voice vanishing once again behind that cold exterior.

It was the same ryhme and dance he had grown use to in the previous
years, and for the life of him he didn't want to know why such a person
like her could be the way she is. Worse, he refused to acknowledge why
she allowed the icy walls she placed around herself to melt ever so
slightly in his presence. "No, best not to think about that." Amnar
thought irritably, leaning his head against the window he allowed his
eyes to close once more.

***

Mitsuki sighed deeply, glancing at the man as he drifted off again.
"Amnar.." she thought ruefully, her feirce green eyes tracing the young
mans features. The young boy she had met so long ago was growing up so
fast. His cherub face had begun to give way, replaced with hard ridges,
and a firm jawline. He still held a mediocre trace of baby fat along his
cheeks, but those too were fading fast.

"Time just flies so fast." she whispered, crossing her arms just under
her breasts.

It had been seven years since he met the man known as Amnar, the child
had been wandering the streets of Khalu, Tibet seemingly lost. She had
found the boy on the brink of starvation, he was dirty, and he stunk
something fierce. Her normal reflex to seeing the vagrant would have
been to hold her head up high and ignore the child, she had done it
often enough through the years of course. But the boy, when she saw his
eyes, the fierce determination and seemingly endless hate...

Mitsuki shook her head, dispelling the memories of their first meeting.
"It doesn't matter." she thought tiredly, resting her head back in her
seat. "Still a few hours until we get to Hong Kong." she mumbled before
closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

***

Amnar spared only a moment of his attention towards Mitsuki as she
claimed their limited luggage, perfering the numerous faceless drones of
humanity that filtered about. The little insects busy scurrying about
their pointless lives, moving from point A to point B, C, so on and so
forth. Sheep. Thats what they were. Mindless sheep, enraptured with
their pointless lives doing pointless things, all so those of higher
station could enjoy the benefits of their underlings sweat and tears.
"Pathetic." he thought as he grabbed their bags.

***

Later that night.

"Target?" Amnar asked, staring in the mirror as he adjusted his
gunstrapes.

"Kashuhito Hirugame, current CEO of Hirugame industries. He's staying at
the Imperial Hotel in down town Hong Kong." Mitsuki answered cooly from
the bathroom, taking an absurd amount of time to finish applying her
blood red lipstick. She pursed her lips, rubbing the thick pigments of
dark red against her full lips. "He goes by the name of 'Kash'. You will
find his other vital statistics within your mission package."

Amnar spared at glance at the bathroom, his view of Mitsuki impeded by
slightly ajar door. "What the hell is taking that woman so long?" he
thought, irritated as he moved to the bed where their luggage rested.
Unzipping his bag, he flipped the top flap open. "Counter measures?" he
raised his voice.

"Standard for some one of his wealth and standing. Metal detectors, body
guards, ect. ect. ect." she seemed to prattel off, uninterested in such
specifics, "You find your birthday gift yet? Check your bag, it's in
there some where."

Amnar looked around his bag for abit, until he found a small wooden box
that he knew shouldn't be there. Lifting the box slowly, he took a few
moments to admite it's sleek construction and glossy surface. What
really drew his attention was the emblem on the box. A circle about the
diameter of a quater, with three arrowhead pointing towards the top of
the box, the sheaf traveling down until it forms a bridge between each
arrow head, with three smaller circles placed along their shafts, the
outer sheafs had the circle in the middle, while the middle sheaf had
the circle at it's base.

"Beretta." he whispered, his hand gliding over the emblem for a moment
before opening the box. At the sight his breath caught in his throat at
what laid within.

A gold collection edition Beretta Pistol, double action Full size 92
model and it's derivatives. Alloy frame, ambidextrous safety lever,
reversible magazine release, open top slide, chamber loaded indicator,
unique triple safety, rear sight for impromptu aiming and so much more.
The 92 Beretta were designed specifically for use with the military.
After its adoption by the United States Armed Forces, many other
militaries and police corps have opted for similar pistols. Its great
firing capacity unites with its total reliability and safety to make an
ideal combot firearm.

Amnar smiled, holding the weapon up as if he were whorshiping it.

"I'm glad you like it." her cold voice was gone, filled instead worth a
subtle mirth and warm satisfaction. Amnar grinned. "It's beautiful." he
whispered in a tone conveiging a sense of awe. "How did you.." his words
died on his lips when he saw her, more appropriately what she was
wearing.

A long beige silk dress that flowed over her slender atheletic body,
with a distinctive oriental flower pattern rolling up the left side of
her shapely hips. Her shoulders were bare for the most part, her
alabaster skin glittering in the dim light of their hotel room. No doubt
due to the particles of glittler she rubbed into her skin. THe dress
itself was being held in place by two long stretchs of silk that
traveled up her chest, covering and emphasising her bust size, before it
traveled up to her neck were it was tied together in a bowtie on the
back of her neck.

Mitsuki smirked, leaning forward playfully with a hand on her hip,
"Amnar..." she whispered conspiratorly, fluttering her eye lashes,
"Something.. wrong?" she teased.

Amnar stared for a few moments, flighting down the urge to blush with a
snort. He turned his head back to his suit case, picking up and loading
his new Beretta before placing it in one of his gunstraps, "Nothing I
can't ignore." he replied coldly, picking up another of his weapons and
loading it. "Mother." he finished with another snort.

Mitsuki frowned, "Don't call me that." she replied angrily. She hated
being called the boy's mother, for obvious reasons. "I'm not your
mother, Amnar. Don't you dare look at me like that!"

Amnar shrugged, grabbing his suit jacket, "You raised me. You fed me,
clothed me, taught me. Everything a wonderful mother would do." he
frowned, "Why do you always insist on reminding me your not my real
mother? Is there something wrong with it?"

Mitsuki glared at the man hard, before turning around and schooling her
features, "Lets go."

***

"I didn't mean too Dai, honestly!" Ryo grumbled pathetically from here
he sat in the airplane hanger, ontop some crates of boxes. He looked
extremly bored watching the older man repair the damage their planes
engine had sustained.

"Stupid stupid stupid." grumbled Daisuke from where he worked on their
airplanes engine. "Stupid Ryo." he grumbled again.

Tetsuya chuckled, "Don't let it get to you Ryo, none of us is perfect."
he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it up and taking a deep
drag.

Ryo sighed, idly running his hand through his dark course hair. "It's my
fault Uncle Tet! Cause of me Amnar and Mitsuki had to take the bus to
Hong Kong."

Daisuke chuckled, reaching out and grabbing a 3/8th inch rachet, "Your
just upset you weren't the one who got to spend time alone with
Mitsuki."

Tetsuya snorted, "I don't see what you see in that bitch." he grumbled,
scratching the back of his neck irritably. "'Sides, doesn't Amnar see
her as his mother?"

Ryo nodded, sighing again, "I know Uncle Tet! I know! But you don't know
Amnar like I do!" he hissed angrily for a moment, "That bastard might
try something with her! I just know it!" he glanced towards Dai, who
opted to ignore the boy.

"I dunno... I think its the other way around." Tetsuya chuckled
despairingly, taking a long drag off his cigarette, "I mean, Dai, you've
seen the way she looks at him right? Or all the times she gets pissed
off when Amnar calls her mother."

Dai nodded, not that either could see him do that. "Yeah, she gets
pretty pissed." he frowned, "Stupid bolt's threaded. Ryo! Hand me a 15cm
bolt head would yah?"

Ryo frowned, doing as Dai requested, "What about Niami?"

Tetsuya blinked, "What about her?" How the hell did their boss figure
into this?

"Isn't she trying to get rid of Mitsuki? She's been bitching up a storm
a lot lately." Ryo shrugged slightly. While he didn't want to see
Mitsuki gone, Niami was still technically the boss.

Dai laughed at that, "Ryo.. heh.. Niami isn't trying to get rid of
Mitsuki, at least not as far as the team goes. She's trying to.." he
trailed off, chuckling some more.

"What? What's she trying to do!?" Ryo glared at the man, who once again
didn't notice from where he was working.

Tetsuya started laughing then, earning Ryo's glare in the process, "Ryo,
boy. If you don't understand now, you'll never get it."

"You guys are jerks!" Ryo seethed, clutching his fists tightly to his
sides.

***

Niami frowned at the mirror, idly rubbing strands of her long hair
in-between her fingers. "Damn that boy." she growled, turning away from
the mirror.

"Something wrong, Niami?" a voice picked up from her speaker phone,
sounding amused.

"No sir." she growled out through clenched teeth. "Due to an
unforeseeable accident, we are.. delayed.. from making out rendevou in
Hong Kong. I've gone ahead and sent Amnar and Mitsuki.." she spat that
name out with no small amount of venom, ".. to meet with the Oyabun."

"Excellent." the voice of her boss replied, "When can I expect your base
of operations to be up and running?"

She shrugged, not that he could see that, "A week? Maybe two when we
arrive."

"Good, good. Now.. daughter.." the tone of voice changed, from one of
command to one of small warmth and familiarity, "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing father, I just have.. things on my mind." Niami lied, slumping
into the seat at her desk looking the picture of dejection.

"Hmm, it wouldn't have anything to do with.. ah.. what was her name?
Mitsuki? Yes, Mitsuki. It wouldn't have anything to do with her, would
it?" the voice of her boss sounded amused, extremly so. A sure sign he
knew all about her current bad mood.

"I'd ask how you knew about that, but I think I already know." she
replied blandly, "There have been.. complications.. between the two of
us."

"Hmm, heh. Daughter, are you jealous of her for some reason?"

Niami snorted, "Nor more than she is of me."

"I see.. Very well, contact me when you have your base of Operations in
China set up and running. I should have a few contracts to throw your
way when you contact me."

"Very well, father."

Click. The other end of her speaker phone had been hung up. Niami sat
there for a long while, staring off yet seeing nothing. She began to
idly play with her hair again. "Maybe.. maybe it's time I cut it short?"
she asked herself, seemingly unsure.

***

"Finished." Daisuke sighed, closing the engine compartment before
grabbing his tools.

"Finished installing the 46.FX?"

"Yeah, Tet. Ryo blew the old .40 LA model with his little stunt. This
new one is top of the line, well.." Dai snorted, "Bout as top of the
line as we can get out here in the boonies."

Ryo chuckled nervously, scratching his head embarrased, "I reeeally
didn't mean too blow the engine Dai! Mitsu.. eer, ahh.." he gulped.

"AHA! I knew you were just trying to impress that slut!" Tetsuya pointed
his finger, accusingly, "Wait till Niami hears about this! She'll blow a
gasket! 20,000 big ones down the drain because of a woman!"

"Ah, give the kid a break Tet. It's not like we didn't need a new engine
anyway." said Dai with a chuckle, "Besides, I didn't work. I bet Mitsuki
thought he was being childish anyway."

Ryo growled, "Shut up! Asshole!" It just wasn't fair damnit! Why is it
every time he tried something to impress Mitsuki, it blew up in his
face. Arrgh! It just wasn't fair!

"Next time! Just you two wait! Next time I'll show Mitsuki I'm the best
man for her! If that stupid engine hadn't blown last time, she'd be mine
right now!" he crowed loudly.

"What was that?" a dangerous cold sounding growl sounded from behind
him. Ryo gulped.

Tetsuya and Dai froze, their faces paleing considerably.

Turning around slowly, Ryo nervously chuckled when his eyes met a pissed
off Niami. "Oh.. heh.. hi Niami.." he squeeked her name out, "I.. err..
heh."

Niami opened and closed her fist sporadically. "Must Resist Killing
Him." she thought heatidly. The money wasted wasn't a big deal as far as
she was concerned. No, that was the least of her problems as far as she
cared. What really pissed her off was Mitsuki. Because of this halfwit
and his stunt to impress that.. that.. lookalike bitch, Amnar is stuck
alone with that woman! True, she reasoned, nothing would come of it, but
her jealousy that something COULD and WOULD come of it would not be
quelled so easily!

"Ryo." she said coldly, deceptively calm.

"Ah.. heh, yes boss?" Ryo stuttered nervously. He knew that whatever his
boss was pissed about wouldn't matter, in the end he was going to get
his ass kicked.

"DIE!"

"Oh shit!"

***

(Unfinished/No Word/Grammer check/Unrevised/Unreviewed)