章 36: Haruki

All roads now lead to the train market. Monke had not forgotten about Collins's root and Joao's promise to make him a dish with it.

"Hey boss, how do you feel about seeing a real life GAFA?" Kaine asked as he looked at Monke's unimpressed reflection on the mirror.

"GAFA?" Monke asked.

"Are you that dumb?" Joao added.

Kaine laughed and Kira smacked him on the back of his head.

"Oww, GAFA stands for Grid Action Force Agents. It's an assault team made only of females. Like we said earlier, they are trouble. They might be here for you."

"And why would they want me?"

"Didn't we just discover that there are drugs being sold in our area. Chances are that they are being sold by one of our guys." Kira said as he tapped his dashboard.

"None of the recruits or permanent members would dare be that bold. So whoever it is must be an elder."

Everybody in the car looked at Joao and then immediately looked away. Kaine laughed out and said, "you should smile more."

"Why?"

"That way you can be a proper assassin. Nobody would ever fall for a broody girl."

"I'm not a girl."

"It's better than letting people now that you're a crime."

"Times have changed, but nobody minds my appearance."

"Is that so, and then what are doing here in Babylon 3rd. With no name," Kira finally joined the conversation and just as quickly, ended it. "What did I say?"

"The world would be a better place if you stopped talking entirely." Kaine laughed. "Plus I'm pretty sure that princess isn't ready to talk about her past. Her people are suffering after all."

"How am I the bad guy here?" Kira took out his gun and smacked Kaine's head.

"I'll swerve this car into a building if you do that again."

Kira smacked him again and Kaine swerved. It was sudden and people scattered, Kaine stuck out his tongue at Kira and Kira himself grabbed the wheel and straightened the car.

They checked the mirror and Monke was gone, but the two of them froze and exchange blaming remarks. A sound came from the back of the car and they looked again. It was Monke and his stomach was growling.

He glared at the mirror and a chill covered the car and the executioners fell quiet and drove forward in silence. He leaned back against his chair and sighed, "I'm tired," he whispered.

Joao looked at him with confusion, he had in various occasions seen Monke becoming cold towards people. But it was normally against the enemy and not his own crew.

'Will he ever get mad at me?' he wondered.

Over 30 minutes passed and no one said a thing, even when they went in and out of enemy territories. The train station was in the center of Babylon 3rd and it boasted of the biggest market place in the outer walls. Since transport between the smaller walls was not restricted by the Babylon state government this place was crawling with fugitives, criminals, and opportunists.

"Oh shit," Kira groaned.

"What's wrong?" Kaine asked.

Kira glared.

"If we leave the car here we won't find it when we come back." Joao answered on Kira's behalf.

"So, are these two staying behind with it?" Monke asked.

"They should…"

"We won't, our duty is to protect you and we can't be relaxed at any minute. Especially not now." Kira straightened and glared at Monke.

"Uh, we can always get a new car. But your talents are irreplaceable." Kaine added with a stern voice. He gently closed the car and locked it.

There were no further protests and all of the boys bid farewell to their priced muscle car. Although the Oasis was bright and full of life, it paled in comparison to the center of Babylon 3rd. There were mountains of civilians moving about and it was a diverse group of people. From the car to the entrance of the railway mall Monke and the gang had already seen every possible skin tone known to man.

The sound of people talking buried the sound of the hydrogen engine, what was initially a quiet bullet train was reduced to a clunking chunk of metal. The group of boys ascended to the first floor of the mall, looking down on hustlers and good citizens who just came from their proper jobs.

Some came from the other circles, the middle and inner, people were sweating and breathing down each other's necks. This made all the other boys except Kaine even grumpier than normal. Upon exiting the elevator, the boys were a few items lighter. Looking on to the people that came out with them, it was hard to identify the criminals, all off them looked like honest hard working citizens.

Joao wore a smug because no one dared to reach out for his stuff. Even though he was much cleaner and looked more refined than everybody here, he still blended in and gave off a dangerous aura.

If it were not for the many people there, the mall would look as beautiful as it was the day it was built. The shops were all fully functional and barely had many people in them. Most were either looking in from the windows or just passing by. Joao led them to a shop on the end of the floor next to a flight of stairs that led further up.

It looked shabby and abandoned, there were newspapers on the glass and made it that the shop was enclosed with darkness. It was only at the entrance however because further inside the shop became larger and even brighter. Darkness was still chief and the shop was crowded and dusty.

"Diamonds are silver and…" A man popped up from behind the counter and shouted at Joao with all the enthusiasm in the world.

"Hello to you too Spades," Joao said with an opposing reaction.

"Oh come on little cousin give me some love, I deserve it." Spaded protested.

"Where is the old man, I am here for the macguffin." Joao continued in his usual tone.

Spade reached under the counter and brought up with him a silver briefcase. He pushed it forward but kept his grip on it when Joao tried to take it. "The old man went back to the family, he was really looking forward to seeing you before he went back to Japan."

Joao scanned the ground before looking back up again, "good, I was hoping I wouldn't have to run into him." He forced the briefcase away from Spades's grip and threw it to Monke who immediately noticed a foul smell coming from it.

"Smells like shit?" he said with a whisper to himself.

"It's probably the Collins's root. I heard that even more and more people in these dumps are developing a longing for it... I wonder why." Joao's cousin answered.

Monke looked up surprised and walked away from them. The excercutioners followed behind and Joao remained to catch up with his cousin. They won't be able to see each other for at least a week after all.

" Let's go back to the family I'm sure everybody misses you."

"You say it like it's a simple task, besides, it was my decision to leave."

"You were 12 years old at the time, you couldn't make decisions . Even now, you're only 17, you're are probably in a dark place right now. Tell me, I how do you feel about killing someone?"

Joao paused and thought back to the elevator sequence with Monke, he bit his lower lip and his cousin sighed with disappointment.

" The elders warned of this happening, if you come home now. To your family, those who cherish you, you'll be back to normal very quickly."

"Are you calling me abnormal?"

"You will soon be when your feeling continue to drop and rise like this, your kind is special and therefore deserves special treatment. These slums will destroy you."

"These slums are my home." Joao said after a long breath of silence. He took off.

"If you ever need anything you can call me, I'll always be there for you… Haruki."