1 Shiro: 001

I think it's time to reveal the biggest secret of the Ogre into the Night operation. Most of you know very few about this ultra-secret mission. Most information you would be able to collect about this operation are blurry images of some public incidents about conspiracy theories in newspaper pages and websites about supernatural beings, Your Humble Narrator, and a girl who drops ice by the hand.

That's right.

A girl with ice powers

Who creates ice on the palm of her hands.

Right. It seems that I just told you the biggest secret too early. Besides the operation research, if you dig into the deepest on the internet, it is most likely you find things involving a girl who spreads ice by the hand. And my friend, Your Humble Narrator would like to say that the short videos about brutal murder with ice spears emerging from the ground or falling off the sky, are a big set in hollywoodian CGI, but… they are all real.

Even if Mythpool tries to hide what these creatures with peculiar skills have done, we don't run the world. Our power of influence is huge, but the internet is way too fast, and people's memories keep these extraordinary images very easily.

It could look like a comic book though, but unfortunately... it is real.

Maybe unfortunately is not the best word in this specific case. In this operation, fortunately can be the best term.

For me, Your Humble Narrator, who had just turned eighteen, the ice power girl was the gift who saved my life.

And for all of you that went searching about the girl or the mission on your neurons eaters cell phone, just stop. Your Humble Narrator here was there, saw everything and got out alive to tell the story, just like Captain Jack Sparrow.

That said, make yourselves comfortable anywhere and allow me to begin this first case, to this first narrative, introducing myself as your navigator through the story. My name is…

"Hey, 3K1. 3K1! What the hell are you thinking? We are in the middle of a mission".

My partner, with his back against the wall on the left side of the door, called my attention.

"Oh, s-sorry. I got a little distracted, that's all".

"Ugh, you are weird, but that is fine. Let's move forward on the mission. Do you remember?"

"Absolutely"

We nodded to each other and turned toward the door, breaking in with a single kick at the same time. We broke into a big apartment in one of those last floors of a building in Tokyo, aiming our guns into opposite directions.

Total silence. Very suspicious.

"Hey" My partner, 3K9, pointed with his chin to the corner of the hall's right way.

"What?"

"Open door."

He cautioned went ahead and I cautioned guard his back, stepping exactly where he did.

"Hands where I can see! Mythpool!"

3K9 stepped into the room, no hesitation, aiming his gun at the first suspicious looking thing and this thing was a man. The target man in our mission. One of the biggest in Yakuza. Big in every aspect.

This man was lying down, shirtless, with two naked girls cuddling his abdomen while asleep. His body was covered with random colors and style of tattoos, making him confusable like a Michelangelo piece. In his face there was a long beard covering his jaw and a wavy hairstyle.

"Are you the youkai, right?" My partner asked.

"Were you the ones who broke my door?" Answering with another question, totally ignoring ours.

"I asked first!"

The 3K9 cry sounded threatening, I confess. But to that man, it was like a naughty's cat meow.

The man gently took the arms off of his companions from above his body and raised his torso, moving the sheets from above and placing his feet outside the bed. Luckily, he was wearing boxers. I thanked the common sense.

The dude was a pile of muscles and he also had tattoos all over his both legs. He was higher than us and did not have to raise his voice to terrify us.

"Yes, I'm Oni, a youkai. What now? What are you going to do?"

"Tsc."

Without thinking twice my partner unloaded his gun comb against the youkai right in front of us. The shooting sound woke the girls up, who were screaming and hugging each other, bending their knees.

Then the bullets were over.

"What are you doing 3K9?! Our mission is to bring him alive!"

I shouted at him just for the thrill. The truth is, the bullets barely went through the man's skin. I guess it was the easiest way to express my fear without smearing my pants.

"I don't care!"

My impatient partner threw his now useless fire gun aside and grabbed a combat knife, attacking the youkai ahead of us. However, his attack failed on an unknown level.

Oni moved his arms from inside out, punching his knuckles at my partner's thin face, throwing his body, hitting his head against the wall, merciless crushing his skull.

To that, I widened my eyes with fear. My knees got weak and I saw myself falling on them before slowly turning to the youkai, who was analyzing me spitefully.

He stepped ahead. And then again.

And then…

The left side of his face was shot by a beautiful kick in the air. Now, it was youkai's body thrown against the wall, but differently from my partner, the tattooed man was thrown more violently. His muscled body simply went through the concrete wall, creating a hole into the next room.

Feet touched the ground inches before me. They were medium-high white sneakers followed by fair skin and strong thighs, whose upper halves were covered by the end of a red jersey of some basketball team, leaving the doubt if there was a mini short underneath it or not. She was wearing a glove on her left hand, also red, but the right hand was bare. Looking above, a beautiful face with dark-blue eyes only brighter than the girl's black hair. And for last, but not least, a grey beanie covered the top of her head.

"What do you want with my mission, douchebag?"

She looked at me like I was a disobedient dog.

"I-I am the one who should be..."

The girl snorted and took her eyes away from me. She looked at the wall's hole and covered it with ice. But not just that, the whole wall was cooled off,

like reinforced by the solid state of water.

"Get out." Said the girl to the naked two in the bed. They didn't think twice.

I swallowed, then I got up.

"It leaked a little bit there, you should use darker pants, don't you think?"

"No, it's just...well, come on, this is the first place you lay your eyes on! How old are you anyway?"

"Fifteen"

"What? That young?"

Damn, I'll have to wait for three years...no, this is wrong! You are an agent…

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What? Me? Like what? This is my face; I was born like that!"

"You douchebag, you are weird."

"I'm not a douche, ok? I'm the agent."

BOOM! The concrete wall crashed again, now with a much larger hole, like a big entrance.

Coming from the other side, Oni was burning in rage.

"Well, well, well, if it's not my criminal uncle." Said the girl, stepping forward.

"Yuna, you prick! What are you doing here?"

"I'm just looking for my mom who got me lost at the grocery shop. Where is she, Oni?"

"I told you I don't know! We lost touch months ago."

"Lier."

"I'm telling the truth! Why do you want to know, anyway?"

"I'm going to kill her." She coldly said. "I'm going to kill her and then I will join the AAA Elite."

Small Batteries?

"Ugh…" He huffed. "And how do you intend to kill her, hun? Your powers don't work on her, niece."

"The alternative methods I'll think about later. It would be nice to reap her heart out of her chest or something like that, but first I need to know where she is."

I felt totally out of place there.

"You want to kill her just because you were abandoned? What did you expect? That she should love you and keep you even if you are a freak?"

"..."

The girl, Yuna, kept the comments to herself about the youkai's last words, so she directed her speech to me, without taking her eyes off of Oni.

"Listen, loose bladder, what are you doing here?"

"You say, my mission?"

"Yeah douchebag, what's your mission?"

"I have to take him with me to Mythpool and…"

"So you are one of those morons from Mythpool, right? I got it."

"Hey, that's offensive… what?"

The girl stretched her right hand in youkai's direction who looked frightened by that simple gesture and tried to move away from her sight. However, without him noticing, his feet froze on the ground.

"Hey, what do you intend to do, niece?"

"Be cool. I won't kill you."

With these kind words, the man's left arm began to freeze, turning into an ice sculpture.

"No, niece, don't do…!"

Yuna clenched the hand that was pointing to Oni. At the same time, the frozen arm broke into minimum pieces of ice, turning into snowflakes. Astonished, the youkai just observed the hollow space where once were a muscled member, not grumbling one single word.

"He's all yours, douchebag. See you later."

The girl tapped my chest and peacefully walked away from the room.

"..."

Blood started to stream down with delay from the youkai's injury. It was like hemoglobin had forgotten to run through his body and suddenly recovered its memory, rushing to make up for the lost time.

What just happened?

While my eyes discretely searched for trick cameras, I put away my pistols and took my phone out of my pocket. Then dial a number.

"Your message will be sent to the voice…"

"Crap." I mumbled, canceling the call, and then I browsed my contact list. Oh, Found it.

It's ringing.

"Hello?"

"Chief?"

"It's two in the morning! What do you want?!"

"It...is...Oni sir. I capture him, but he's kind of… big."

I looked at the fainted youkai on his feet, almost like a sleepwalker but standing still. It's more likely he fainted by the lack of blood, at least it will be better. However, a flask appeared on my sight and I could not keep myself from reading the label.

Improved Viagra. It lasts six hours more. Its effect is probably the cause of the fainting.

"Take him to Tokyo's HQ!" The chief kept shouting. "I will try to get there this week."

"Yes, but 3K9...he...died."

"..."

"Chief? Are you there?"

The relationship of my boss and 3K9 was like father and son. They adored each other. Maybe I should have shown some compassion as I gave the news. To me, he mastered foolishness, but 3K9 was the boss sweetheart and…

"So?" The chief answered after a silent moment.

"What do you mean?!"

"3k9 was a jerk. My hope was the both of you wouldn't return from this mission, but apparently you got lucky."

"Oh, Chief, Thanks for agreeing with me about… hey, wait, I don't get it…"

"I already sent backup to your location, 3k1. Good night!"

Call ended.

He hung up on me. For a moment It felt like my first romantic break up. She talked and talked and talked… but this is not the case.

Who was that girl anyway?

That was an intriguing question. But I could not do anything about that but put it aside.

Eighty five percent from an hour passed by until Mythpool staff arrived at the site. Please don't waste your time calculating it. You should know that in the fifteen remaining minutes the support staff were able just to load Oni to the pickup truck waiting for us. And I even got a lecture, saying I should have stopped the youkai's bleeding. They didn't know I was completely useless in that mission.

The girl who makes ice in her hand, she did that. She saved my life, a shitty life but still…

You probably already realized that the Ice power girl doesn't spread ice by the hand. Until that moment, based on my own observations in that room, Yuna could freeze things with a gaze. Ok, not necessarily with a gaze like Gorgon Medusa but her sight was an important factor to accomplish those icy deeds.

I had to know more about that girl. So, in the middle of that same night, I decided to talk to someone close to her. The one she claimed being her uncle, the damn Oni.

Drunk with energy drinks and coffee I walked to the cage prepared for him. The youkai was trapped in a strength chair in the middle of an adamantine covered room (a metal people believe being mythological) and had already woken up from his post medicine sleep.

"So…" I begin to say… sir Oni…"

"..."

"You seem better, can we talk a little?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, It's about your niece, Yuna…"

"What about her?"

"She's pretty cute."

"She's a minor. Go straight to the point"

"No, no second intentions...It was just a compliment."

"Straight to the point." He growled.

"Ok, ok." I took a deep breath. "What exactly is she?"

"A hanyou." He answered, no hesitation. "Half human, half youkai."

"And why did she want to know about her mother? She doesn't seem to get along very well with her."

"Yuna hates her mother and her mother hates her."

"And why is that?"

"Yuna has the wolf syndrome. It's like Down's Syndrome for humans. For a youkai is like a manufacturing defect."

"But she looks perfectly healthy, I would say even too much."

"The human concept of health does not apply to us. But in fact, she is healthy." Oni directed his eyes to the left arm that no longer exists. "She is also a danger. Part of her is like a lonely and hungry wolf. The other party is a fifteen-year-old little angel."

"And her mother hates her because of this syndrome?"

"Exactly. Her mother tried to kill Yuna right when she was born, but the father didn't let it happen. He ran away with Yuna and took refuge in a village for five years. He was an American soldier, Nicolas Nate, that was his name. When Yuna's mother finally found them, Nicolas said she had died from a disease, and in return, his life was taken by the woman he loved. She regrets this until today. However, the youkai believes he can be resurrected and lately thinks she has found a way."

"And Yuna? What happened to her?"

"Yuna was left alone, maybe wandering through the woods aimlessly. She's been there for over a year, but her mother still thinks she's dead."

"Wow." My hands moved to my waist. "You really are an open book, huh? Who would assure me that everything you said is true?"

"I have no reason to lie to someone who urinated himself right in front of me. If you think I'm scary it's better to stay away from Yuna and especially from her mother. However, I think this is going to be a little complicated, especially today."

"Why?"

"Because Yuki-onna is coming to rescue me."

"..."

Yuki-onna, also known as the Snow Woman. This is Yuna's mother. A youkai, a supernatural creature with a beautiful woman shape. Her name certainly explained where the powers of the gray beanie girl, who saved my life and turned her uncle's arm into snowflakes, came from.

"What?" Asked Oni. "What's up with your face?"

"This room is covered with adamantine; I doubt a youkai can get through it."

"That is correct, no one would be able to by force. But strength is not the only method, isn't it?"

At that moment, someone knocked on the door at my back three times, as any of us was answering, the person pushed lightly the adamantine's board and a face emerged from the gap created.

It was a woman's beautiful face. Her blue eyes stared at me deeply and the young expression on her face was of a shy girl.

"C-can I come in?"

Hmph, it was just the delivered girl.

I nodded yes, she pushed the door and entered the cage with a tray on her hand. She was wearing a simple dark dress with a zipper on the back.

She approached me and greeted me with a nod, then went to Oni and placed the tray on his lap.

The youkai smiled. He looked down at the bowl of cereal removed from the tray and... that steel plate hit hard against the wall at my back, passing by buzzing over my shoulder.

Life sucks, doesn't it?

"Freeze! Hands where I can see! Who are you?!"

I grabbed one of my pistols and aimed at the woman's chest, who was already turned to me.

She put a hand behind her back and I instinctively pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The barrel of my gun was totally frozen, and to that, I began to sweat. Swallowing, as I looked at the woman, she unzipped the dress getting totally naked in front of my eyes. Her breasts and the region of her groin were covered by leaf designs in blue like a real-life censorship.

How could I focus against that?!

The woman ran her hand over her head, as if rinsing her black hair, and white horns like a tiger's fangs appeared in the middle of those dark strands.

"Oh, how pleasant it is to take a mask off, isn't it?" She said, kicking off her heels aside.

"You are…?"

"Yuki-onna, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"..."

"Why do you glance at me so perplexed? Haven't you ever seen a glimpse of a naked woman?"

"I-I? Of course I have! I've got the Internet."

"Internet?" The youkai looked over her shoulder at Oni on the chair. "Is that the magic that connects humans, brother?"

"Yes, I already explained about it and if it is not asking too much, I would like you to get me out of here."

"Oh, I'm Sorry."

Yuki-onna looked at me again. At the same time the gags holding Oni were frozen and then crumbled into snow.

"Much better." And the youkai rose.

The image my eyes showed me specifically at that moment was of a one-arm thug, covered with tattoos behind a beautiful naked woman with a pair of piercing eyes like glass spears being fired by long-range rifles. And if you thought what I think you thought I say you have a dirty mind. Believe me, the scene was terrifying.

To confirm the idea, my body instinctively gave two crooked steps back, but I took the reins of my legs to at least look determined.

"You don't need to fake it, Adam's son."

Yuki-onna paraded towards me. I tried to move but my feet were already frozen on the ground, the woman was a few inches away and frightened, I tried to strike her with my frozen revolver, failing. Miserably. The youkai caught my wrist in the middle of the movement of my arm and a gigantic absence of heat overwhelmed it. In a blink of an eye my forearm was completely frozen.

"Ugh"

The cold was painful. It felt like my forearm was shot by thick needles.

The Snow woman released my fist and my arm dropped quickly with the weight. She stroked my hair and brushed her nails on my head. No matter how much Oni had told me a scary story about that woman, looking her eyes up close It seemed impossible to see a drop of psychopathy behind those blue circles.

Honestly, it was passionate.

"Do you want to sleep with me?"

"W-What?"

She asked so naturally.

"I asked if you want…?"

"Sister, that's enough."

Oni stopped what could be the best thing for Your Humble Narrator here. If you asked me why I don't sympathize with these creatures, this little part of my life would be the main reason.

Even though she appeared to be stronger, the youkai did not hesitate at the request of her brother. She looked away from my face and passed me by heading to the door. The youkai went right behind her. And just like that, the supernatural duo left the cage.

Now think with me. How does a pile of muscles and a naked woman would come out of Mythpool's HQ drawing no attention?

The answer was what I expected, a resounding there is no way. I say that because of the soundtracks to the screams of horror, pain and agony echoing through the barracks seconds after the two of them left the room. It was chilling even to The Gorgon's Hunter.

Shit! Shit! Shit! If I wasn't stuck.

I hit my thigh with the right hand and…

Unfreezed?

I looked at my feet, just to find out in the last few seconds I was paralyzed by fear.

Seconds later I acted the way I should.

The youkai that was still below me as responsibility, ran away with a naked woman and it was my fault. Bodies and more bodies were scattered on the floor of practically the entire HQ, and it was my fault. One of the pickup trucks was stolen from our garage and it was my fault.

Do you have any idea of how close I was from losing my badge? We don't use them, but if we did, just Imagine.

Anyway, the problem beyond those mentioned above was the public attention that a naked horned woman, standing in the back of a pickup truck who drove a little above the allowed speed limit, was drawing to herself.

I was following the boiling social media while chasing the fleeing youkai's duo on a Mythpool's motorcycle. I called every possible reinforcement in Tokyo and it didn't take long for the sound of police cars and even a helicopter to show up.

And what goes on in the head of an agent in those hours?

I'm the worst possible agent ever! A piece of shit! I should have taken the SAT's!

And things like that.

Cutting off my self-critical meditation, the pickup truck hit a drift entering the right and I rounded the corner with a sharp curve as soon as I saw the youkais going to a spacious intersection. They were heading straight to the jaguar's den.

The Mythpool's vehicles came from all sides surrounding them in the middle of the intersection. The pickup truck braked with a spin, leaving a trail on the asphalt and all the officers got out of their cars pointing their guns at the dynamic duo.

"Freeze! Do not m….!"

Still braking, I saw the megaphone being frozen with a simple gaze over Yuki-onna's shoulder. The youkai jumped out of the bucket and carefree she stood exactly in the center of the intersection.

"Why do you intercept my crossings, humans?"

Like a queen she spoke those words with a sweet voice. It was really hard to believe that she was dangerous at all. That said, a question from a random agent came up: "Did he make you hostage? Did he dope you?"

The woman frowned at those questions.

"My brother? Are you asking about him?"

"He is from Yakuza, Miss." Another agent said. "He is dangerous, he is not human. Did he put these horns in you?"

The youkai didn't answer, only absorbed the questions and turned to the pickup truck to meet Oni, who was already leaving.

"What food is Yakuza, brother?"

"Are modern things sister, you did stay away for decades and…"

"Hey!"

Everyone's attention was caught by the sudden roar of an agent being pushed aside by someone, a red figure nimbly heading Snow Woman's direction. It looked like a fast scarlet demon froze the ground under her feet creating a cold carpet five feet away from the youkai. That crimson blur slid on the frozen asphalt hitting the woman's calves with a creeper and, still sliding, stood up after moving to the other side.

Yuki-onna fell face down. She spun to the average height in the air and crashed onto the ice mat that was already falling apart.

Standing, watching her with total contempt, was a girl in a gray beanie and familiar dark-blue eyes.

"Mother."

Hearing that, the youkai clenched her fists, still laying on the floor.

She began to stand, place herself on her forearms, got on her knees and finally stood up. The woman turned up her body and the pairs of blue eyes crossed each other.

Yuki-onna e Yuna. Mother and daughter, face to face.

"Your father's words were not entirely true. How could he love and protect a freak like you?"

"Tsc."

The girl sprinted. She threw without any hesitation a fierce punch to her own mother's face. But her fist was calmly caught by Snow Woman's hand.

"I waited years for this day, child."

"I tell you the same, exhibitionist."

The youkai pulled her daughter's arm aside and with her free hand she struck the center of Yuna's chest with her palm, throwing her with the force of impact, hitting her back against the hood of a vehicle.

"What goes through your head to make you raise your fists against your mother?"

All the agents were amazed watching that family case. The hanyou, or hybrid, clenched her teeth in response to her mother and jumped out of the smashed hood. Looking closely, you could see Yuna's hands trembling. It was the anger taking over the girl.

"How do you think I feel? You tried to kill me. You rejected me. Can you look in the mirror without an idiot cap on your head? Because I can't."

"It is minor for someone defected like you."

Yuna sobbed with that sentence. She looked away from Yuki-onna and appeared to want to hide her face on the ground by the humiliation. Then she screamed, turning a hostile glance at her Mom.

"That's why my dad was disgusted by you!"

Now the touched heart was of Snow Woman's. The look of contempt for her daughter failed for a moment, but what happened next was an expression of pure hatred. Those blue circles reflected Yuna the gates of hell.

"I shall kill you today."

The sweet voice of Yuki-onna was broken. It sounded like the cut of a blade in the air.

And when the situation seemed to go into a critical state a man appeared in a teletransport in front of the youkai, touching her shoulder. He stretched out his free hand to Oni, who with two quick steps managed to touch it. The next moment they disappeared in a smoky figure.

"..."

Yuna Nate, whose second name was taken after her father, fell to her knees. The shout of fury came accompanied by timid tears. She hit her fists on the ground, cracking the asphalt and there, at an intersection of Tokyo's streets, she let herself be consumed by depression.