Hollow

Inside the truck, Kazu's eyes slowly opened, and he found himself regaining awareness. He rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He looked around, realizing that Sachiko was slumped over in the passenger seat, seemingly fast asleep.

Kazu blinked and yawned wearily. The events of the previous moments slowly came flooding back to him. The sudden attack, being overpowered, the powerful being... Everything suddenly came rushing back to him. It took Kazu a moment for the realization to dawn on him.

Slowly, Kazu raised a trembling hand to his neck, feeling for any wounds.

He didn't have any.

And that being wasn't anywhere to be seen, no atleast that's what Kazu thought.

He turned on the truck's ignition and in front of the truck was that monster was lit up by its headlights.

The only thing separating Kazu from that monster was the truck's front.

Kazu froze in place, feeling all rational thought leave his brain.

All he could do was stare, wide-eyed and trembling.

There was a beast of a man standing there.

Kazu tried to speak but his fear had gripped him tight and prevented him from doing so.

The monster walked over to his side and knocked on the truck's window.

Kazu pressed on a button on his side to roll down the window and as it did — the cold air from outside came rushing in.

"w ..what do you want now..."

"Your truck is stuck in a hole, i wouldn't mind helping you."

Kazu looked baffled, that was the last thing he had expected this demon to say.

He then spoke, "Why would you help us?"

"if you have the strength to help someone and you don't — you are pathetic."

Kazu opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. He really didn't have a rebuttal against that, especially from a being like him.

Taking kazu's silence as a yes, the monster walked back to the front of the truck and with its bare hands — pulled the truck out of the hole. This guy had lifted a several ton truck like it was no bigger than a toy. Kazu couldn't help but be astonished.

Kazu didn't say a word.

The fact that the monster was still here proved that he wasn't a hallucination.

But before he could speak up, the demon began talking again.

"You see, the reason I'm here is because there's some sort of a powerful...mutant up ahead and I was going to go kill it. I advise you to go back otherwise you may be in danger."

A mutant?

A mutant. No, it was the wrong term to call it.

A wild bio-weapon.

That's more suitable.

During World War 3, major countries had started researching bio-weapons as biological warfare was a new field that no one had really tested before. Corporations had also taken an interest in this and invested billions to create the ultimate weapon.

The experiments were cruel and many bio-weapons were created but the war ended before these weapons could be used in battle. The government took charge of the bio-weapons and kept them secure in their facilities. But the world fell into economic crisis and the facilities fell into neglect, leading to almost 80% of the bio-weapons escaping and roaming the wild lands of Japan with the rest being put down.

Kazu had heard of these bio-weapons, creatures made by technology to kill.

He had hoped the demon was wrong but with how his luck had been going, it was unlikely that the demon was lying.

"So you're going to go after this bio-weapon?"

The demon nodded silently.

"I am." He replied bluntly, the demon's eyes showed no sign of doubt.

"Do you think I should turn around and drive away?"

"Yes, I'd say it would be better for you if you were to turn around and leave but you do as you please. I can't force you to do something you don't want to do."

"we'll I'm sorry but I am a mercenary, cancelling this mission might as well be the equivalent of shooting myself in the foot."

"Your choice then, don't say I didn't warn you." The demon said before suddenly disappearing.

Kazu watched in stunned silence as the being suddenly vanished into thin air.

After a few seconds, reality kicked in and Kazu blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

But he wasn't, the demon was gone.

The encounter he had just experienced was one for the history books.

He still could not believe that he had met with a demon. It felt surreal and even if he tried — Kazu doubted anyone would believe him. It seemed like something that only existed in fiction but the magic which the demon had displayed was completely real. If he had to guess – the thing the demon did just now was teleportation?

The thought of how something like this was even possible crossed his mind but he shoved those thoughts to the back of his head looked to his side — at his beloved — Sachiko.

She was in a daze, her eyes unfocused as she sat in the passenger seat.

She looked so calm — so relaxed.

"Sachiko..." He spoke to her, gently touching her shoulder.

That seemed to do the trick as her attention snapped back to him. She looked at him, her eyes blinking slowly.

"Are you... okay...?"

No answer.

Kazu repeated his question again before Sachiko finally spoke up.

"I ... feel dizzy...." She said, her hand coming up to her forehead.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Kazu's eyes widened slightly as he heard her speak. She wasn't feeling well and that was worrying.

His gaze darted to the supplies in the backside of the truck which was separated by a wall between the front and back section before coming back to her.

"Wait here, I'm gonna get you something."

Kazu was about to exit the truck and get something for Sachiko but she grabbed his arm and stopped him. Kazu paused, his gaze moving back to her as she grabbed his arm.

He could see an expression of fear and uncertainty on her face, though he couldn't understand why. It was only until she spoke again that he got an idea.

"Please, don't leave."

Kazu was taken back by her words. She sounded as if she was afraid that he was about to abandon her.

"Of course. If you want so."

Kazu returned her embrace and gave her a gentle squeeze.

Then, he let go and looked at her face, noticing her weary eyes.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, his voice tinged with concern.

Sachiko looked at him with tired eyes before speaking, her voice sounding somewhat hoarse.

"I'm fine," she replied.

Yet clearly, she didn't seem fine.

The encounter with that demon had clearly taken a tool on her mental state.

"how about you rest for a bit?"

"Do i hav-"

"You need to. It's the best for you. A little nap will be good."

Sachiko was quiet for a moment as she contemplated Kazu's words.

She did feel pretty tired and a nap would do her some good. Sachiko was quite stubborn and she always tried her hardest not to seem weak so she wasn't the type to give in easily, but at the moment, her will broke and she let out a tired sigh.

"Fine..." She murmured.

Kazu smiled faintly, watching as Sachiko gave in and agreed to rest.

He patted her head gently and spoke softly, "I'll be right here when you wake up. You have my word."

Kazu, then, still a bit disoriented, turned around and reached for a small window that provided a glimpse into the back of the truck. He opened it and peered through it. He saw the rest of his team, excluding Hiroshi, all seemingly asleep.

Concerned and wanting to rouse them, Kazu shouted loudly, "Hey! Wake up, all of you!"

"Hiroshi" looked into the window from behind, causing Kazu to jump in surprise.

"Jesus, man, you scared me," Kazu muttered, regaining his composure. "You—you're awake too, hey?" he asked. "How the hell did we all suddenly faint? I just woke up a minute ago also..how did we get back in our truck?."

"Hiroshi" responded, his expression unreadable. "Yeah, something weird happened. We all suddenly passed out, including me. I too just woke up a moment ago, it seems like that demon transported us back..maybe..."

Kazu glanced at the time displayed on the car's board, although he would've stayed for the back-up but since the demon had lifted the truck out of the hole, there was no reason to wait for them and they were enough late already. He turned his attention to the back of the truck and called out to "Hiroshi."

"Hey, wake the others up in the back, Hiroshi-san." Kazu asked.

"yeah, sure." "Hiroshi replied politely and moved out of kazu's sight to wake the rest.

Kazu closed the window and leaned back in his seat, sighing.

The situation they were in was so peculiar. He then looked at Sachiko.

"You can go to the back."

"Fine.."

Sachiko stepped out of the passenger seat and into the cold night air. She shivered slightly as the chill air hit her skin.

She mumbled to herself, "It's so cold..."

She quickly walked over to the back of the truck, The door's of the truck was opened as the team members were slowly roused from their unconscious state by "Hiroshi," who had woken them up. Sachiko stepped into the back of the truck, one of the men who had been woken up stood up and moved towards the front of the vehicle to occupy the passenger seat. In his place, Sachiko took a seat where he had been sitting.

One of the men closed the heavy doors, shutting out the cold night air.

After Sachiko settled in her place in the back, Kazu let out a sigh and waited. He was glad that she was safe, the fear that had been building up inside him had been eased.

He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

He placed one cigarette in between his lips and lit it up and took a long inhale, the smoke filling his lungs. He then exhaled it out, a cloud of smoke escaping his mouth.

He looked outside the window at the seemingly endless, empty city, the vast road being illuminated by the headlights.

Real cigarettes were expensive.

Kazu took another long drag off his cigarette, the bitter, chemical taste as it hit his tongue and rolled like poison down his throat before he suddenly threw it out of the truck after opening a window.

"That bastard ripped me off again."

It was a fake. Kazu cursed under his breath – annoyed and slightly pissed off, he had once again been ripped off. He took out the packet of cigarettes and looked at it, flipping it front and back. The packaging looked original, the label and even what was inside seemed legit. He had paid a decent amount for these and yet – the damn thing turned out to be fake again!

Kazu had been tricked. He had paid 4,000 yen for this packet of cigarettes but it turned out to be one of those imitations. It had even looked legit at first glance but one look at the taste and one could easily tell that it wasn't a real one.

These goddamn knockoffs were everywhere. These damn bastards could make a profit out of anything. The real and original ones were hard to obtain and expensive, but these copies were sold at a lower price.

It was probably the third time it had happened, at this point he was either having the shittiest luck with cigarettes or someone was pulling a prank on him. Kazu angrily threw the whole packet out of the window. This was the last time this was gonna happen. He didn't care how many real ones costed, he was going to find a genuine one and have a proper smoke.

To soothe his irritation he looked down at the music system – an extremely old one with approximately twenty cd's next to it.

Normally, he would've listened to some actual good music but these songs were so old, he didn't even know any of them.

He browsed through the stack of CD's, searching for something actually decent. Kazu's eyes fell on a CD titled "Old Classics" and hoped that the name might be accurate.

He picked up the CD and put it into the music player and waited for the system to start. The music player was quite old as it took a long time to load. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as waited.

Finally, the CD started playing – but the music which greeted him was...awful to say the least.

"I wanted her to know this, that I loved her, from the bottom of my heart. But, she couldn't even ever reciprocate."

Kazu's grimaced in disgust as he listened to the song. The lyrics didn't seem to make any sense – and that was putting it lightly.

He didn't expect some masterpiece but come on, it was that bad? The music itself was not appealing either.

He hastily pressed the buttons on the music system, fast forwarding into the next song, hoping that it would be better. But as his luck would have it, it wasn't.

He pushed the stop button on the player, the music coming to a stop.

Kazu cursed again. Great. They were all bad. Kazu's frustration was rising with every song.

Why was this always happening to him? Why couldn't things go the way he wanted?

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

He had really hoped to get even a few good songs to listen to on this road trip, but sadly, these old CD's weren't gonna cut it.

"I'll just drive without music."

He grabbed the steering wheel and pushed his foot on the accelerator, and began driving towards Yokohama.

———————————————————

Sachiko settled in beside "Hiroshi", her eyes discreetly studied him. " this is the Megacorp employee who hired us, huh? He does look the part..i wonder what sort of cyberware he has."

Just then, abruptly, Sachiko averted her gaze as "Hiroshi" suddenly turned his attention towards her. His face remained expressionless, giving nothing away. He asked in a soft, almost gentle tone, "Were you staring at me?"

Sachiko felt slightly caught off guard by his sudden question. She quickly composed herself, not wanting to appear flustered.

"Um.. no," she responded, her voice slightly wavering. "I was just observing our surroundings..." Her gaze flicked around the truck, trying to casually look anywhere except at him.

"Hiroshi" acknowledged her apology with a brief nod and a simple, "It's fine."

He then resumed his staring, his gaze fixed on the door of the truck, as if contemplating something in silence.

But then "Hiroshi's" eyes suddenly focused on her once more, he didn't blink. Not even once.

"Do you remember anything before losing consciousness?"

"Ah, I... I don't remember much, all i remember is that..demon...like sheltered us or something?"

"Demon, huh."

"well, I hope that we never encounter him again. We're probably gonna have to explain this to our superiors — you will probably have to, Good luck, Hiroshi-san."

Hiroshi responded with a polite, "Yes, that will likely be the case" as he nodded in agreement. The brief interaction ended there, and silence fell between them.

"I haven't told you my name yet, how did you know?"

Sachiko asked.

"Ah, that..."

Hiroshi seemed slightly surprised, as if he hadn't expected the question.

His expression remained somewhat unreadable, but there was a hint of nonchalance in his voice as he replied, "I.. Kazu told me while we were on the train...he spoke a lot about you."

Sachiko felt a bit flustered at the mention of Kazu.

"Oh, did he now?"

She felt a little self-conscious, and unconsciously brought a hand up to fiddle with the necklace she always wore. It was a heart shaped necklace.

"What uh...did he say, exactly?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Hiroshi took a moment to respond, as if contemplating what to say. He then spoke in a mild tone.

"He was very..." He paused briefly, and said, "He was very eager to talk about you."

There was a subtle flicker of amusement in his eyes as he added, "He seems to be quite fond of you."

Sachiko felt a tinge of warmth fill her cheeks at Hiroshi's last comment.

She tried to stay composed as possible, but it was difficult.

"O-Oh, really?"

She managed to reply in a slightly flustered voice. She couldn't help but wonder what Kazu had said about her.

"Yeah."

"I see.."