A Generic Love Story

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The cold was resonating with the shrieking wind, creating an atmosphere that repelled humans from going outside. Snowflakes rained from the sky, before the wind shoved their face into some random objects on the street. On the bright side, it made humans stuck closely together, giving them their needed Christmas atmosphere. Even families like Kyoya's were united around the kotatsu [google it pls], drinking hot chocolate and watching TV. Still, it was an unusually cold winter night.

Meanwhile, Takumi was still lost in his deductions. His brain worked at 100%, jumping from one clue to another. But nothing really pointed that Kyoya was the second culprit. Feeling frustrated, he recalled what his mother said about the incident.

(Aliens...)

He turned on his desktop and started searching.

(1, the serial killer had a hiatus in our test season, but recently started again. That's all the clue that pointed to Kyoya. 2, they spared Kaa-san, meaning that they do have some method to select their target. 3, that method probably has something to do with aliens...)

Typing a few random things, he didn't get any wanted results. Takumi fell into a trance again

(If the first human is a rather crazy one, then he would need some sort of motivation to continue his killing spree. Something like pure pleasure won't do: he did not rape any of them, nor were there any sign of semen on the scene. If not sexual, what else can drive a human so crazy...A sense of duty! Right! If the second one was smarter, which Kyoya seemed to be, that one would be able to manipulate the killer like his puppet. The motive of the second culprit? Not necessary. He wasn't even human to begin with!)

Then, Takumi typed "Astronomical event, Christmas"

The results were just as he expected.

(Star of Bethlehem. Heh, nice one Kyoya. They are Christians too then... So, he must have told his henchman something about this star that only appears on Christmas. And then told him that Aliens would invade us from the star or something. Too obvious!)

At that very moment, his phone went off. Picking up a strange number, he heard a distorted voice:

"The park... Now..."

Takumi eagerly went to prepare for the battle. Little did he know, the wind had blown his thoughts a little too far, making him missed some crucial details that might reveal the real criminals...

10:24 pm. A tall shadow can be seen running. The streets of Tokyo tumbled towards Takumi as he rushed through the snowy night with haste. Frigid air clawed his bare cheeks, leaving red marks on them. Smoke formed whenever he exhaled, and strangely, he wasn't a bit sleepy. But he did not care about either, nor did he have the sanity to. Even his brain couldn't remember when was the last time he got this excited, as the memories were way before he developed this syndrome. Finding the villains, defeating them, avenging his mother as well as saving the day, in his mind Takumi was going to become a hero in those novels and mangas he had read.

Why was he so confident you ask? Takumi never trained in any martial arts, but his deceased dad was an American commando. They would usually spend their free time on combat sports like airsoft and paintball. But he never accounted the fact that he might be facing 2 armed opponents. Even if Kyoya was small and weak, a knife was all he needed to become a major threat.

Arriving at the place, Takumi was out of breath. His stamina was garbage. Lowering his profile so as to both stay hidden and rest, he began scouting the area. It was dead quiet. Nobody could be seen, or be crazy enough to go out at this time in winter. However, the dim lights slowly showed a small figure in the distance. And, as he proudly expected, it was Kyoya. Takumi became so confident in himself that he decided to walk up to his target.

But Kyoya went from jogging to sprinting, as though he had sniffed out Takumi behind him.

"Argh! Get back here you prick!"

Abruptly, another person darted through him. Takumi caught a glimpse of her just as she looked back. A small girl, with silver hair, red eyes, and a stature that resembled lolis in animes. Her silky hair undulated as she moved, sparking beautifully under the moonlight. Still, the most striking feature was the expression her face. Her eyes opened wide, and her lips rose slightly, creating a calm but determined look. It was the look of a true scholar: inquisitive, curious, and analytical until the very end. Only a short gaze from her made him feel like he his mask has been pierced, as he appeared hopelessly naked in front of this pure being.

"Nigerundayo.[Run. Also, Jojo reference] You can't win." The girl casually told him, before running as fast as she could into the shadows.

(That was weird...)

Yet another sound of footsteps reached his ears. A man, covered in blood, ran at his direction. Pausing to look at him, he who was obviously the infamous killer talked to Takumi in a hurried manner:

"Did you see any aliens running past? The one I'm after is in the form of a human girl with white hair."

"So it was you, mister serial killer. What are you doing, threatening the life of random cosplayers at this time?"

"The fuck? I told you it is an alien! Wait... You are one of them too right?"

"Hell do I know, but I'm not very close to being a human either..." Takumi grinned

"Die." The murderer snapped.

His back leg pushed against the ground, bringing him forward; instantaneously, his left hand moved to grip the knob of the baseball bat. With his front leg, he stomped the ground to stop the motion, right before revolving the other end of the bat around his right hand, performing an upward slash.

Takumi quickly crossed his arms to block, probably getting fractured bones on both. The tip of the bat circled out of the way and suddenly disappeared, before falling down on him from above.

In that split second, Takumi shifted his balance backwards, effectively making his back touch the ground in the shortest time. Reaching inside his thick jacket, he managed to pull out a Glock 18 after the bat crash landed in the space between his legs. Aiming at the murderer's face, he squeezed the trigger.

"Nani!?"