Immunity Hunter

Chapter Eight - Sasame Kai

A new day brings a new mission. I have to work overtime pretending to be a squad member and a junior nurse at the hospital. I wish they'd find someone else for these missions. They always want more and more.

It's day two of my enrollment at Monanie, and it goes by fairly quickly. On top of being a Hunter, I was also assigned to work undercover as a junior nurse at the hospital to help one of The Organization's lab techs research infected patients. But Omi decided I needed yet another cover as well.

My main assignment today is to join an all-girls team and head to the other side of the wall with them for a research mission. According to my instructions, we're supposed to analyze each other's fighting style and learn our weaknesses, if we don't get killed first.

The leaders of the city allow General Sonnie to hand down some crazy orders, but throwing a group of teenage girls into a fight is pure insanity. It was his orders that got my parents killed. At the very least, we're lead by June Hino. She's been a squad leader since I was a kid. I've seen pictures of her with round brown eyes and short dark hair that lands just at her shoulders. Each story of her ends with some heroic feat. I'll find out if she lives up to the hype.

I'm not very fond of this idea, but it's understandable why I'm here. The pigtail girl from yesterday—the one that gave me the side eye after she cuddled up next to Dante—is in this group. If I'm going to catch her, I need to watch her. A good hunter can't just leap at its prey and hope for the best.

Omi better switch me from this team before the Annual Sweep. I refuse to be caught in the bloodbath.

After school, two girls with long, colorful hair—Ashley and Rin—sit in a white-walled room along with June, Maria and me, waiting for the missing member of our group to show up. Ashley is the cousin of Dante and the daughter of General Michael Sonnie, also known as "the princess of the Eradication Squad." General Sonnie lets her command this squad.

"You girls make sure you have all your gear in order." June leans against the wall on the furthest side of the room.

Four long, deep scars creep up from her elbow and disappear beneath the short sleeve of her combat shirt. They reappear at the base of her neck. I trace their path up toward her face and see a new scar, jagged and vivid above her left eye. It must be recent. I didn't see it in any of the old pictures. She glares at me, daring me to hold her stare. I clear my throat and turn away.

"So Ashley, what's your Kaji?" I ask the royal-blue haired princess. I read her file, but finding something else to focus on seems like a better idea.

"I'm an Energizer," she responds, staring at the clock.

"And her?" I point at Rin, Ashley's adopted sister. Her big purple eyes and matching hair make her look innocent. I doubt that's true. She reads a little odd to me. Her file contains very little information about her life before her parents were killed during one of General Sonnie's missions. I'm assuming joining the Eradication Squad is her way of avenging her parents' death. Then again, I wonder if she even remembers that the man she calls "Father" is the one responsible.

"She's one as well," Ashley says.

We have two Energizers on the same team, well three counting Maria who has been quiet this entire time. They'll come in handy if we need a barricade blown away.

The five of us sit in the empty room dressed in our Eradication Squad uniforms. We were assigned the basic uniforms—solid black short sleeve undershirt with a black jacket, black combat pants, and boots—but these girls put their own spin on it. Ashley decided to exchange the plain outfit for a black short-sleeved leather top and low rise matching leather pants that stop right below her knees. She wears dark violet and blue-patterned metal bands on her wrists—to help boost her mahou—and black high-top combat boots. June and I are the only two in the original all-black uniforms.