I do not own the anime/manga that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

YOAKE NO HŌTEISHIKI (EQUATION OF THE DAWN)
written by Franco Ferrer
based on the Hōteishiki (Equation/Immorality) Series and its characters by Kurenai Azuki and Mari Yamasaki

Hello, readers! This is my second (technically third) story, Yoake no Hōteishiki (Equation of the Dawn). This is the first story I've ever uploaded to dA (I'd've wished for it to be A-Eight, but it wasn't to be.)

This story took me one whole year to make, and, much like Race Against the Clock before that, I didn't want to make this story, but fate intervened and made me write the whole story (with a good amount of help, but I managed to write one entire story. And some of the way how I ended up writing this story will probably also be beneficial in writing the other main story that still has to be finished: A-Eight. But Yoake finally got its due, and after one year of writing (followed by a month and a half of doing the Spanish translation [which will be published in tandem for the first time, as opposed to waiting 3 months because of a fight I was having with one of my writers and with people in the Hey Arnold! fandom like what happened with Race]), some of which I spent either in an argument or languishing from actions that affected me, I am finally publishing this story. It's probably fate that serialisation started in April; as not only it's my birth month, but many of the religious holidays happen in April, especially Walpurgisnacht. 

The period of gestation is finally through, and Yoake can finally be birthed into the world.

That said, enjoy the story!

I would like to give thanks to Barry Levinson and Chris Columbus; and Terry Nation as well. Because, once again, I borrowed a few things.

Hōteishiki Series and its characters and plot belong to Kurenai Azuki, Mari Yamasaki, Angel Publishing/Futabasha, and GP Museum Software/Milky's Animation Label/All In Entertainment/PMP. No infringement intended.

To the two Alexes, SaigaDrop and Livan�s, for believing in me, and helping me bring my vision to life.

To Kurenai Azuki, for creating the world that I'm now proud to be adding.

Dedicated to the memory of my grandmom,

Raquel Tirado-Erazo (January 8, 1934-December 20, 2025)

and to the memory of my grandfather,

Octavio San Miguel-Griffo (January 22, 1936-April 20, 2015)

If you're somehow reading this, know that I miss you tremendously.

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō and Gasshō.

FRANCO FERRER-SAN MIGUEL

PROLOGUE: THE STORY THUS FAR

To say that this has been an adventure is nothing short of an understatement.

A young woman, Sayoko Saeki, had just recently become the new guidance counsellor/school nurse at the Mikami Academy; however, she is there undercover to investigate the sale of drugs amongst the administrators and several of the elite students. In her first day, things almost got to a rocky start: the school's principal, Sonia Seyrig-van Lierop, attempted to molest her, but quick thinking by Sayoko quickly got her out of harm's way, as it seemed that the two women had some history. Sonia, undaunted, sends two thugs whom Sayoko had previously been acquainted with (the first people she'd asked about the drug, in fact) to try and rape her. Sayoko reveals that evening to have another facet hidden to the world: the 34-year-old secret agent (working for an organisation named Kinryū-tai, "Unit of the Golden Dragon", Kinryū for short) is, in reality, a succubus (or hinoenma, in Japanese mythology); the two thugs are then killed during sex. In retaliation, Sonia sends three more henchmen to rape Sayoko � this time in the academy itself. Not deterred, however, Sayoko dispatches the would-be rapists as well.

Further complicating her mission is her friendship with a young student, Ryōichi Yano, who offered his services to her, partly out of a slight crush he has on her (he also notes that she resembles his long-deceased mother, Haruka). Realising that Sayoko may be in deep trouble, Ryōichi attempts to film the goings-on at the academy, unaware that Sayoko had also been given a mission to infiltrate the academy to kill the school chairwoman, Aiko Nogami. What he encounters that night would change his world forever: Aiko Nogami is, in fact, a witch who can transform her private part into a penis; she is observed having sex in this manner with Kirika Chūzenji, leader of the school's occult club and student council president. Ryōichi then discovers that the school principal herself is running a sex cult in the school. He is caught by her and nearly killed by her bodyguards, but the timely intervention of Sayoko (dressed in a kunoichi outfit; so neither of the two know the other's identity) rescued him from certain death.

Faced with this increasing opposition, Sonia and Kirika, without the help of Nogami, decide to take matters into their own hands. On September 28, 2004, things reach breaking point. A few days earlier, Kirika Chūzenji attempted to seduce Ryōichi into joining their side with a lie, but Ryōichi quickly resisted her and escaped the school grounds. As he did so, Kirika then lured one of the occult club's members, one of her bodyguards who was infatuated with her, to have sex with him; as they have sex, she, like a more modern Angel Blake or Sada Abe, strangles him to death and uses his reanimated corpse for a nefarious purpose yet to be revealed. And then, on the 28th, during one of Sayoko's night prowls (in the full moon, her succubi urges are amplified), she is ambushed by Kirika, who uses a needle hidden in her Seal of Solomon signet ring to extract blood from her. Kirika left Sayoko to be raped by the zombified acolyte, who rapes her with tentacles. Sayoko eventually frees herself and kills the zombified acolyte. By chance, Ryōichi Yano, who had been coming back from shopping at a konbini, finds her, covered in blood and sperm and faints right in front of him. She is taken to his house, where she wakes up after 4 days of being unconscious. She tries to offer him sex as a reward, but he, part worried about her/part scared/part still noting the resemblance to his mother, turns her down. As soon as she picks up a photo of his mom, she enters into convulsions, worrying him.

4 days later, on October 6th, the situation finally explodes.

Sonia and another follower, Ayako Nakamoto (arts teacher in the academy), make a doll/demon clone in the likeness of Sayoko to help find her. During a round of sex between both of them (where Sonia is revealed to also be a witch who can transform her private parts into a penis) � ostensibly to kill Ayako so as to use her heart to power the doll/demon clone �, the doll, filled with Sayoko's blood, takes control of the real Sayoko, who's still recuperating at Ryōichi Yano's house, and she attempts to strangle Ryōichi; fortunately, the situation is stopped thanks to the timely intervention of a young girl named Yūka Genzōji, who is, in fact, Sayoko's teammate who joined the academy to aid Sayoko. Sayoko promises to protect Ryōichi, over Yūka's concerned protests. Soon, however, Sonia figures out Sayoko's location, and sends out a hit squad to ambush them, led by Kirika Chūzenji. All three manage to escape; Yūka decides to buy time for the other two to escape by fighting the hit squad all by herself. As Sayoko and Ryōichi escape, she apologises for getting him involved, whereupon he promises her that he will protect her as well, and the two share their first kiss together. However, they are ambushed by Kirika. Ryōichi puts up a brave fight, but Kirika, armed with her needle, stabs Ryōichi with a poison; Kirika orders Sayoko to come quietly with her and her entourage, threatening Ryōichi's life should she refuse. With little options, and despite Ryōichi's protests, Sayoko goes along with them, and is spirited away to the school.

Yūka fails in keeping them both safe, and when she tells Major Anna Midō, leader/founder of Kinryū, Midō says she'll handle it, and warns Yūka to not get involved with the boy, implying that there might be more to Ryōichi than meets the eye. Disregarding that advice, Yūka infiltrates the school by herself. As she begins her search, she encounters Kirika Chūzenji, and the two girls fight. After an intense struggle, Yūka emerges the victor and, just before Kirika falls into unconsciousness, demands Kirika give information as to Ryōichi's whereabouts.

As this is going on, Sayoko is brought before Sonia, powerless. Sonia then offers her a very sadistic choice: either she becomes Sonia's sex slave and participate in her rituals, or Sonia will slowly drain Ryōichi's life until he is dead; faced with the imminent death of the boy she had grown to love, Sayoko is forced to become Sonia's sex slave, and Sonia has Sayoko's doll/demon clone rape her before she herself rapes Sayoko. But the sexual torture doesn't end there: Sayoko is later spirited away to Yokohama, to the Hamarikyū restaurant, which is owned by Aiko Nogami; however, the restaurant is a front for Sonia's organisation, which has far more sinister purposes. Sayoko is then drugged and whored out to Sonia's organisation, comprised of several members of government and even the GSDF. During Sayoko's rape by Sonia and her lackeys, her tragic past emerges: she was a demon raised as a human, named Haruka Yano. When she was 18, she was forced to leave the Ryūkyōshi Shrine as well as renounce her duties as miko, as she had gotten pregnant by a young boy named Isao Yano; that baby was none other than Ryōichi. For five years they became a happy family, until Isao died. The official cause was suicide, but as it is implied, Sonia Seyrig-van Lierop and Chief Cabinet Secretary Tarō Chūzenji, Kirika Chūzenji's father, murdered him. Sonia and Chūzenji p�re (and later, by extension, Chūzenji fille) are part of a doomsday cult called the Seiryūkai (Clear Stream Society), descendants of that ugly period in Japanese history: Japan's occupation of China in the '30s by the Kwantung and its infamous Unit 731. Sonia and Chūzenji p�re are racist, separatist demons who asked to join forces with the cult, made up of the remnants of the Kwantung/Unit 731 and members of the GSDF, to create a twisted end times prophecy; they soon become its leaders. It is also implied that Sonia and Chūzenji p�re then offer Haruka a choice similar to the one later made in 2004: either she becomes the Seiryūkai's sex slave and allows herself to be experimented to bring about a child that will end the world, or they will frame Isao's death on her, as well as shut down her adoptive father's shrine and kill him and Ryōichi as well. Haruka is forced to let them rape her; even in front of the family memorial altar. On June 28, 1999, Sonia and Chūzenji p�re attempt to bring their dreams to fruition, until Haruka, in an act of defiance still unexplained to this day, begins to fall apart; her body, scarred from the mental and sexual torture forced upon her is destroyed, and another body emerges. At that ritual is a young Anna Midō, then a cadet in the GSDF, who helps her escape; together with Haruka (now going by the name of Sayoko Saeki), Midō founds Kinryū as atonement. In the present day, Sayoko/Haruka is raped, this time by Tarō Chūzenji, who is insistent that the ritual succeed, and is obsessed with being the Adam, to Sayoko's unwilling Eve, of the new race. The Seiryūkai are the same people who are raping Sayoko/Haruka in the present day. In a heartbreaking move, Midō takes part in the ritual as well, starting her betrayal of her close friend, Sayoko Saeki.

Meanwhile, back in the school, Ryōichi recuperates from the poison. He is then surprised to see what looks like Sayoko, but is in fact the doll version of Sayoko, who pretends to be his mother, Haruka; she then attempts to rape him, and reveals to him that in fact, Haruka is Sayoko. Ryōichi resists her, however, refusing to have sex with someone he knows isn't the one he loves. The doll then reveals that Sonia had no plans on keeping Ryōichi alive anyway, and attempts to strangle him, in much the same manner as the real Sayoko attempted to do to him earlier that night. He is once again saved by the timely intervention of Yūka Genzōji, who had just emerged victorious from her fight with Kirika Chūzenji. Yūka beheads the doll clone of Sayoko and rescues Ryōichi, who insists in rescuing his mother Sayoko, his feelings of romantic love towards Sayoko beginning to consolidate; Yūka, who herself harbours romantic feelings for Ryōichi, agrees to help him, but already, it seems too late.

Anna Midō ordered a hit squad to infiltrate the school and kill every single member of the Seiryūkai operating there. Initially the mission was a breeze, but then they encounter some strong resistance from Seiryūkai soldiers. During the m�l�e, Yūka is wounded by friendly fire, but is alive. Midō, fearing the worst and deciding to clean up evidence, decides to betray Sayoko and Yūka and whatever soldier still lived by bombing the Mikami Academy.

And so, the story continues....

CHARACTERS:

Sayoko Saeki (佐伯沙夜子)

(Left to right: Sayoko as she appears in the anime; Sayoko/Haruka, aged 18, as she appears in the manga)

The main heroine. Sayoko Saeki, or Sayoko-sensei ("Miss Sayoko" in English), is presented as a temporarily new teacher and counselor at the Mikami College in Japan, but in reality she is an undercover agent who works for a secret organization that's trying to investigate a strange drug affair in the institute. However this is not her only secret: in fact she, her chief, the principal of the school, and many other students are hiding a much more lustful mystery. Furthermore, she looks a lot like a bustier version of the deceased mother of Ryōichi Yano, one of the students, who is perhaps the only harmless, innocent and unaware person in the entire school.

SPOILERS:
In fact, Sayoko is Ryōichi's mother Haruka; the current personality is a result from Sonia's sexual and physical torture of Sayoko/Haruka. It is implied that she was always a demon, contrary to Sonia's wishes of turning Sayoko into one.

Official bio from Milky/MS Pictures:

Sayoko Saeki:
A newly appointed school nurse. With her neat features and voluptuous figure, she is known as the Madonna of the school nurse's office. However, she also has a hidden side to her face...

Ryōichi Yano (矢野涼一)

(Left to right: Ryōichi as he appears in the anime; Ryōichi as he appears in the manga)

The co-hero of the story. A student who has a crush on Sayoko. In an attempt to uncover the school's secrets for Sayoko's sake, he ends up discovering secrets about the school's chairwoman and principal; he is nearly killed for this, until the timely intervention of Sayoko (in a kunoichi outfit) rescues him from certain death. He is initially unaware of who Sayoko really is; but as he gradually finds out more, his romantic feelings for her intensify.

Official Bio from Milky/MS Pictures:

Ryōichi Yano:
(1st kanzenban)
A student who has a crush on Sayoko. In an attempt to uncover the school's secrets for Sayoko's sake, he ends up discovering secrets about the school's chairwoman and principal...
(2nd kanzenban)
A student who has a crush on Sayoko. While trying to uncover the school's secrets for Sayoko, he gets caught up in an incident.

Yūka Genzōji (玄蔵寺優香)

(Yūka as she appears in the OVA; little to no difference between the OVA and the manga)

Secondary heroine. She works for the same organisation Sayoko works for. She has a crush on Ryōichi Yano. She has a passing resemblance to Kirika Chūzenji, the Student Council President.

Anna Midō (御堂亜奈)

(left to centre: Midō as she appears in the OVA and as she appears in the manga (the only change is: Midō wears the uniform of the Metropolitan Police in the OVA, and in the manga, she wears the uniform of the GSDF; a young Midō, as seen in the manga)

Midō is the mysterious chief of Sayoko; she gives her the order to investigate the drug outbreak in the school and also ordered her to kill Aiko Nogami. When she was younger, she rescued Sayoko (or Haruka Yano, as she was known then) from the failed ritual. However, she will eventually betray Sayoko in the second tankōbon.

Note: I gave Midō the name "Anna" since Azuki never gave her a first name; just simply "Midō"; I'm sure Misty Moon Metropolis, where she also appears, has a first name for her, but that's in Japanese, and I can't understand the language.

Sonia Seyrig-van Lierop (ソニア・セリッグ＝ヴァン・リーロップ)

(Sonia as she appears in the OVA; little to no difference between the OVA and the manga, save for Sonia letting her hair loose for the ritual in '99 on BOM 15's flashback)

Main villain of the story. A witch who can transform her private parts into a penis should she wish to have relations with women (similar to Reika from Bible Black, only Reika has redeeming qualities). She is the leader of the sex cult that runs under the school's operations, as well as co-leader of the Seiryūkai, the main cult that wishes for the demonic destruction of the world -- by using someone like Sayoko/Haruka. To have her way, Sonia is prepared to do everything, including murder, blackmail, sexual enslavement, torture, drug trafficking, bribes, and much more. In fact, she and Secretary Chūzenji are responsible for Sayoko being who she is today.

Official bio from Milky/MS Pictures:

Sonia:
A mysterious beauty who became the principal of Mikami Academy in her thirties. She seems to be up to some shady business using the school's delinquents....

Note: I gave Sonia the surnames "Seyrig" and "van Lierop" in honour of Delphine Seyrig (who played a character similar to Sonia [Elizabeth B�thory in Daughters of Darkness]) and Nikkie van Lierop, better known as Jade4U, former lead female singer for Lords of Acid; again, Azuki never provided Sonia with a surname. I'm sure Misty Moon Metropolis, where she (and Midō and Nogami and also Kirika, Yūka, and the General of the GSDF) also appears (Sayoko gets mentioned as well), has a surname for her, but that's in Japanese, and I can't understand the language.

Kirika Chūzenji (中禅寺桐華)

(left to right: Kirika as she appears in the OVA; Kirika without her glasses, as she appears in the manga, the resemblance to Yūka Genzōji being more obvious)

Secondary female villain of the series. She is the Student Council President of Mikami Academy, as well as leader of the Academy's Occult Club. She's also the daughter of the co-leader of the Seiryūkai, Secretary Tarō Chūzenji. She is almost never seen without her glasses, except when she's in combat duty, when she takes them off; without her glasses, she has a passing resemblance to Yūka Genzōji.

NOTE: Kirika originally appeared in Venus Academy G: SLAVE, which was a precursor of sorts to BOM 4 in the original manga. OG Kirika had a bit of a difference to the final Kirika as seen in the Hōteishiki Series: whereas Kirika in SLAVE was pretty much a doormat who ends up being drugged by Nogami, Kirika in the Hōteishiki Series was overhauled to be far more involved in Sonia's schemes and downright evil, very much a Lady Macbeth-type figure (to the Richard III-type figures of her father Tarō and Sonia).

Chief Cabinet Secretary Tarō Chūzenji (中禅寺太郎)

(Chūzenji as he appears in the manga)

Tarō Chūzenji is co-leader of the Seiryūkai, along with Sonia. He and Sonia are the ones responsible for Sayoko being the woman she is today. Like Sonia and his daughter Kirika, he will stop at nothing to create a world where demons rule and humans are destroyed; for this, he is ready to murder, blackmail, sexually enslave, and even bribe his way to the top. His daughter Kirika continues the tradition via her Occult Club. (At present, he's only a manga-only character, as the OVA and Manga were cancelled before they could be completed.)

NOTE: I gave him the name "Tarō" as, again, Azuki never gave him a name.

Aiko Nogami (野上愛子)

(Nogami as she appears in the OVA; in the manga, she has a bit of a semblance to Midō, save for the lock of hair falling on Nogami's right side.)

Aiko Nogami is the owner of Hamarikyū, a Chinese restaurant found in Yokohama and is also the principal of Mikami Academy. She's plotting something against the government using a special drug, the one that was found in her school. Sayoko received the order to kill her. She, like her mistress Sonia, is also a witch who can transform her private part into a penis.

Official bio from Milky/MS Pictures:

Aiko Nogami:
The chairwoman of Mikami Academy and the young owner of a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama. A mysterious beauty who is said to have ties to a dark organization.

Ayako Nakamoto (中本綾子)

(Ayako as she appears in the OVA; little to no difference between the OVA and the manga)

Homeroom teacher/Arts Teacher in the Mikami Academy; her actual position, however, is a doll-maker for the Seiryūkai. She was the one who made the doll/demon clone of Sayoko for Sonia and Nogami.

NOTE: I gave Ayako the surname "Nakamoto" as Azuki once again didn't give names out.

Isao Yano (矢野勲)

(a younger Isao, as he appears in the manga)

Sayoko/Haruka's husband. Their love starts everything throughout the Hōteishiki Series, as also does his death under mysterious circumstances. It is implied that Sonia and Chūzenji p�re murdered him in circumstances unknown. (At present, he's only a manga-only character, as the OVA and Manga were cancelled before they could be completed.)

PART 1: "SUR LES VAGUES DE L'OUBLI...."

BOM 17: NIGHT OF RESOLUTION

Stand up and fight, for you know we are right.

We must strike at the lies that have spread like disease through our minds.

Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest,

And we'll spread our kindness to all who our love now deserve.

Some of you are going to die,

Martyrs of course to the freedom I shall provide.

(Genesis, "The Knife")

Mikami Academy, Tōkyō

October 7, 2004

00:05

This wasn't supposed to be happening.

This just wasn't supposed to be happening.

Both of them got up slowly and surveyed the area after the explosion nearly engulfed them.

No...., Yūka Genzōji thought, her eyes widened in shock. I've been betrayed by my own organisation?!

Ryōichi Yano also looked in shock, then looked at Yūka.

"So," he snarked, "this is how we're gonna save Miss Sayoko?"

Yūka was livid. This was not how things were supposed to go! However, unfortunately for the leader of their organisation, and fortunately for Ryōichi, Yūka, and whatever men were left who were now feeling betrayed, the Mikami Academy was unscathed � no doubt it was protected by a force field Sonia and Chūzenji p�re and fille put up a long time ago.

"What the hell is our Major doing?!", Yūka spat. "Did she really have no faith in us that she'd be willing to sacrifice her own agents by bombing us to oblivion?!"

Ryōichi, however, was insistent and worried. "Now we have to save Miss Sayoko, no matter what!", he said.

Yūka looked at him with determination. "Oh, you can be sure I will help you out, Ryōichi, you can count on it," she said. "First things first though: I'm going to make my feelings known about this!"

Thus saying, she began to dial the headquarters of the organisation. Whether her boss liked it or not, she was going to hear her out for this appalling action.

"Major Midō!", she yelled. "What is the meaning of this?! The mission was going well! Why did you attack us?!"

Back at the headquarters of Kinryū, Anna Midō, who had just picked up the call after returning from Hamarikyū, could only curse herself for the failure of the first round of bombardments. So, some people survived, she thought bitterly. No matter, the destruction of evidence will continue, regardless of what some of my subordinates think. She turned her attention back to the now very much irate Yūka Genzōji, who felt very much betrayed by the actions Mido had just taken.

"Lt. Genzōji," she started, "it's a pleasure to have you with us again�"

Yūka was having none of it.

"Shove it, Major," she curtly replied. "I want to know why the hell you bombed us! Did you have no faith whatsoever in us?!"

Midō feigned innocence.

"Trust me," she started, "I knew nothing about the bombing."

Yūka could only chuckle ironically at this.

"You know, you're a lousy liar, Midō," she said. "I know for a fact that you bombed us; I know our contingency plans all too well. Is this how you repay us for our services? By bombing us into oblivion?! Do you really have no heart as to what happens to your agents?!"

Midō was silent.

"My friend's mother is still inside!", Yūka screamed. "Kirika Chūzenji has been killed � I was the one who killed her after they kidnapped Ryōichi Yano and his mother � your agent! How can you be so cold, Anna?! How can you just bomb the place and not give her�"

"Don't bother, Yūka", Ryōichi spat. "Secretary Anna Midō on the other side of the call has no heart. In fact, don't be surprised if she wanted to kill my mother all by herself, but couldn't do it because her son was still alive. The word we use for people like you, Midō, is 'psychopath'. Isn't that why my mother was trained by you � to be nothing more than a psychopath as well? Or were you planning on killing her and taking the Messiah, whatever that even is, for yourself to train as your next-generation soldier?"

At this, Midō exploded.

"Listen here, Yano," she started, "I did what I had to do! If word got out that a succubus was being harboured by a paramilitary agency and later taken by a doomsday cult for nefarious purposes, the whole of Japan would fall into chaos! And that's without mentioning the military itself being part of that cult! I was doing what in my mind is right!"

Yūka's rage intensified. Then I didn't matter to Midō at all? I was a pawn in a grand scheme?!

"Sure," Ryōichi spat bitterly, "what the Major thinks is right. Forget the fact that the agent is in danger. The safety of the government is first and foremost. People like you make me sick to listen to."

"Anna, you're wrong," Yūka spoke. "Until this moment, I would've laid my life down for the organisation, but what you did tonight amounts to nothing more than betrayal on your part. You've betrayed the country, you've betrayed your own men�"

"No," Midō interrupted, "my men knew they were going for a suicide mission! They willingly gave their lives for this!"

"No, they didn't!", Ryōichi responded. "You made that choice for them � for them and for my mother! You've betrayed everyone who would've laid their lives for you without question; you led them to a continuation of a situation you caused 5 years ago!"

At this, Midō froze. How does this brat know?, she thought. Those records were sealed � I made sure of that!

"I don't know what you're talking about," Midō feigned ignorance again.

"Don't play dumb, Midō," Ryōichi responded. "It's come to my attention that there was a ritual at the Ground Self-Defence Forces' base � with my mother involved. Unfortunately, I don't know the details, but the ritual, for whatever reason, failed. My sixth sense tells me that you were involved somehow."

As Ryōichi spoke those words, Yūka grew shocked at both Ryōichi being able to deduce something as heavy as that, and his tone of voice � as if this situation were forcing him to reach depths like these. However, she could not think about that now, as she needed to take back the phone to say one final thing to her Major, who had so utterly betrayed them.

"Anna Midō", she started, "regardless of what my buddy just said, I'm grieved at this action you took on me and other soldiers, who did not decide to join a 'suicide mission' as you call it. Forgive me to say, but you're an absolute coward. Maybe you want to give up any hope of rescue, but I sure as hell haven't! Sayoko Saeki is in there, and I and Ryōichi are going to save her, no matter how hopeless you may think it's become! I refuse to leave my comrade behind!"

"Alright, fine," Midō decided, "if you and Yano want to rescue the vessel of the Messiah, be my guest! But know this, Lt. Genzōji: You can consider yourself removed from our roster as of this moment � you and the other soldiers who survived the first round of bombing! And if you should somehow walk around after this, be careful we don't make you into a target! As of this moment, you and Sayoko Saeki are no longer agents!"

If Anna Midō thought those threats were effective at making Yūka bend again to her will, she was sorely mistaken; those threats did nothing at all to her, but strengthen her resolve.

"I was planning on quitting, anyway!", Yūka responded, scoffing. She hung up the call, having proved her point. She then turned to Ryōichi.

"C'mon, Ryōichi," she started, "let's go save your mother!"

They both started quickening their pace. They were going to look for more soldiers that survived. Yūka then had a feeling that something had happened after the bombing. She found a walkie-talkie off of a dead GSDF soldier, and tuned to one of the special frequencies.

"...this moment, given the gravity of the situation," a voice was heard, crackling; it was presumably the General of the GSDF, "we have no choice but to enact martial law against these terrorists. As of this moment, Japan is now under martial law. You are hereby ordered to stay in your homes. Do not flout these orders; they are here for your safety. If we see you breaking the curfew that is currently in place, we will shoot to kill. For the good of our Nation, and for your own good as well, we must insist that you stay in your homes."

A disgusted Yūka then turned off the transmission. Typical cowardly GSDF and Seiryūkai action, she thought. No doubt this was their plan all along; they want to enact the end of the world so badly that they'll be willing to kill those that stand against them. If I can just find some soldiers, goddamn it! The resistance to those bastards will be set! I have to hurry; me and Ryōichi have to hurry: the fate of the world is now in our hands.

With these thoughts on Yūka's head, they continued to look around. It was then that Yūka decided to brief Ryōichi on the entirety of the mission � he deserved to know that much.

"How much do you know about the overall mission?", Yūka asked.

"Only the basics of what I saw over the past few weeks," Ryōichi replied. "All I know is that Miss Sayoko was in trouble, and so...."

"Our enemy is a cult called the Seiryūkai", Yūka spoke. "They're descendants from the Kantō-gun, the Kwantung."

Ryōichi was shocked, to say the least. "The former Imperial Army is involved in this?!"

"Right," Yūka replied, "but it gets worse: They're descendants of Unit 731."

Ryōichi's shock grew into horror. "Oh Gods, that unit?! The one which experimented on human beings?! They were disbanded when the war ended, no?"

"Supposedly," Yūka agreed, "but they weren't totally disbanded. Several of their soldiers, the most hardcore of them, wanted to carry on their mission, and went into hiding � only now, they were freed from the fetters of their governmental chains. So they swore revenge. They managed to get their hands on many members of the Ground Self-Defence Forces, I don't know how, but the entire Eastern branch became involved in the conspiracy. With no Fifteen Years' War for them to fight, they decided to take pages from what would eventually be people like Aum Shinrikyō: a millenarian doomsday cult. But not any ordinary doomsday cult either � they were experimenting with demons and humans in order to beget, you're right, a being called the 'Messiah of Darkness', in order to allow demons to reign over this planet. As you've deduced, there was a ritual on June 1999 to try just that. I don't know the specifics; but that ritual, as you've deduced, failed. After that, they'd also supposedly disbanded. Never would I have imagined that they'd be involved in this!"

"What was Miss Sayoko's mission?"

"Originally, she was supposed to trace some drugs that were being sold in Mikami Academy, sold amongst the elite students. Midō then gave an order to eliminate certain key members, beginning with Aiko Nogami, the school chairman. However, like you, Sayoko also discovered that there was a cult running out of the academy. I'm sorry to tell you this, but one of the leaders of the cult, and the one distributing the drugs � it's your principal, Sonia Seyrig-van Lierop."

"That part I know," Ryōichi stated. "The part about the drugs I had only known in passing, but I didn't make the connection with Miss Sayoko's investigation until you just told me. Is there a link to the Seiryūkai, you mean?"

"Sadly, yes," Yūka replied. "Sonia Seyrig-van Lierop and Kirika Chūzenji's father � former Secretary Tarō Chūzenji � were also involved in the activities of the Seiryūkai; to be more specific, they were the then-current leaders."

Ryōichi blanched. "And now Miss Sayoko's a victim of theirs � I hope I'm not right about her being involved in that ritual from '99!"

"For our sakes, I hope so too," Yūka agreed.

"If my suspicions are correct, and I hope they aren't," Ryōichi continued, "then the Seiryūkai somehow have infiltrated the academy and probably through the Occult Research Club." He remembered Chūzenji fille was running the club, in addition to her duties as the student council president; if what Yūka said was true, then that meant that Kirika, via her involvement in the Occult Research Club, was also involved in the Seiryūkai's apparent revival, either by her father grooming her for such, or of her own volition.

"If that's true," Yūka mused, "then we can't trust anyone at Mikami Academy. This is on some Suspiria shit!"

"I won't let it happen!", Ryōichi countered. "I'll find a way to rescue Miss Sayoko from them! I swear it!"

"Let's hope we're not too late," Yūka agreed. "We must find survivors from the bombing � they might help us stop the Seiryūkai from achieving their goals!"

"We must hurry!", Ryōichi agreed.

They continued searching the school grounds for survivors.

Kinryū Headquarters, Tōkyō

00:11

Meanwhile, at headquarters, Midō began contemplating what just transpired.

The nerve of those two!, she thought. Who are they to tell me that I'm wrong? Those brats have no idea of the fallout that would ensue if the country found out about Sayoko and the Seiryūkai. I'm doing what is right in my mind. The destruction of evidence will continue.

She then started lifting up the phone to issue the order to do another attempt at bombing the Mikami Academy. Suddenly, however, a pang of conscience struck Midō.

But what if they're right?, she suddenly thought. What if I'm not doing what's right? There's no denying that the job must be done, but there's also no denying that Sayoko was.... she was.... She shut her eyes.

She then remembered the time she had rescued Sayoko, at the time Haruka Yano, from her captivity and failed ritual. She'd been bathed in her own blood as a consequence of the ritual, but was otherwise still alive; her body had been returned to pretty much its pristine condition, pre-Seiryūkai rape and experimentation. She then woke up, almost hardened in her heart, but also carrying a childlike air about her.

"You poor thing," Midō said, pitying the poor woman on the floor. "I can't imagine what they've done to you, the horrors they put you through. I promise you though, it's all over. Will you come with me?"

Haruka looked at her, bewildered. "Really?", she'd asked. "You would take a succubus in?"

Midō shrugged. "It's either that," she replied, "or you can continue being their sex slave forever � or at least until their next attempt at a ritual. Regardless of that, your days are numbered if you stay here. I can't think of any other way to put this, even if it were a clich�: If you wish to get away from this, come with me, please. There truly is no way out than this."

Thus saying, she extended her hand to Haruka. Haruka wasted no time in accepting the help.

And for two years, a rigorous training was taken, followed by 3 more of active duty.... until, of course, that evening. When the Seiryūkai took hold of her again. And now, here was Midō, bombing the academy, with everyone in it; as well as leaving Sayoko to be raped by the people she had rescued her from.

Midō had a moment of clarity. What am I doing?!, she realised. Sayoko is my friend! "Never leave a man down" � that was the credo I believed in. I'm such an idiot! Sayoko � no, Haruka, forgive me for this! Why didn't I realise it sooner?!

Midō then turned to one of her adjutants. "Take me to the Mikami Academy," she said, "and hurry! There are people there that need my help.... if they still want it," she added bitterly, realising the stupidity she had been about to commit seconds earlier.

She hurriedly took the helicopter and flew outside the perimeter of the academy. She had no support, but that was the way she wanted it. She was going to find any survivors who didn't have a grudge on her for deciding she'd sent them on a suicide mission � if there were any.

However, things were about to shape in a direction no-one expected.

BOM 17 End

NOTES:

And there you have it � an explosive beginning to an already explosive conclusion.

From the start, I'd been trying to adhere to the original Manga (if anyone here has read it) in terms of details and characters, since that's the one that was fleshed out more. However, as you'll later notice, I'm also using some of the OVA adaptation's character designs (eg. Sayoko's hair, Ryōichi's hair and eyes, etc.); it kinda mixes canons a bit, but for the most part, it's 95% the manga timeline. In my desire to stick to the manga, I've obviously also had to do some translation for some of the dialogue in that, which you'll notice in the next BOM; the translation that's out there for In no Hōteishiki (Equation of Immorality, which gives the OVA its title, even though it still was referred to as Equation of the Night ["Misty Moon Metropolis" side story] when it was published in ANGEL Club back in '99-'03) has so many errors rampant (including giving Sayoko/Haruka a name that was never revealed for the temple; as well as mistranslating several key lines), so I've had to run several pieces of dialogue from the manga through Google Translate. This will also manifest itself in the next BOM, where I toyed with a character's fate, but upon further rereading the story, I realised that that character was too far gone, so I had to rewrite an entire arc which occurred in later BOMs, which also was another cause for the delay in writing. However, I'm sure that the benefits shall be reaped by you, the readers, so....

For those who haven't yet ran to the hills: I'm planning on posting this twice a month (on the first and 15th or so of the month) � timing it with the Full Moon and New Moon, which means May will have a funny schedule: it has two Full Moons, so there'll be three releases (I could've chosen to Post BOM 21 on the first of June, but I decided to take advantage of the Blue Moon).

Don't forget to leave a comment! I'll see you next time!



FFSM