"Toma-san, Arai-san—head to the back of the building and stop anyone from escaping. Shimizu-san, you're with me."
I ignored Rin's visible reluctance to follow my lead and walked toward the building that Adelheid's men were using as a base. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daiki and Toma take off toward the back as instructed. I sighed when I heard Rin dragging her feet behind me.
"Why is Daiki listening to the psycho child?!"
'Should I...'
I shook the thought from my head, deciding to ignore her completely. As I approached the front door, I unsheathed my tanto and leaned in, pressing my ear against it.
"They're partying right now, Shimizu-san." I whispered.
She scoffed in response and withdrew a pair of daggers.
"Obviously. The last group sent from our side got wiped."
I nodded, then lightly tapped on the door. Rin leaned against the other side of the frame.
"That won't get their attention, kid." she muttered.
I hummed, stepping back from the door. Looking up, I spotted a vent above us. I pointed to it, then turned to Rin.
"Climb into it. You'll drop in and distract them while I charge in from the front."
She twitched but didn't argue, instead showing off her agility as she leapt up and pulled herself into the vent.
I waited a few moments as she got into position, my mind drifting.
'This is taking too much time away from my training...'
I thought about the limited time I'd had for personal development ever since the teams were assigned.
'And this team...'
Something felt off. I couldn't tell if it was paranoia or instinct, but I had a gut feeling this team hadn't been put together randomly.
'That, or I'm just—'
The sound of shattering glass snapped me out of my thoughts. I kicked the front door open and heard confused shouting from within. As I stepped inside, I saw the vent grate clatter to the floor, surrounded by a crowd of stunned men. Their eyes quickly shifted to me.
'Fucking bitch.'
I caught a glimpse of Rin waving at me from the shadows of the vent before disappearing.
"That kid is—Ack!"
I cut down the man who tried to speak. The others recovered quickly, drawing their weapons or smashing bottles for makeshift ones.
-
I flipped my grip on the tanto, slicing upward into a man's armpit and severing his arm. Twisting my body, I wrapped my legs around another's neck and drove my fingers into his throat, a spray of blood erupting across my face.
"Die!"
I let myself fall from the corpse just as a bat came crashing down onto his skull. The moment my hands touched the floor, I spun and kicked another man in the gut. Before I could capitalize on the opening, someone lunged at me with a broken bottle.
'The others will probably realize something's wrong by now.'
I wasn't worried—I leaned back, the bottle's jagged edge slicing a few strands of my hair— Still, it wouldn't look good for my "team" if I was the only one doing anything.
'Even though the higher ups think Arai is the leader of all this.'
I sighed—and that moment of distraction was enough. A katana pierced into my gut and I twisted on instinct, the blade snapping off inside me. Gritting my teeth, I tore it from my body and shoved the broken blade into the attacker's neck. Blood spurted as another enemy brought a barbedwire bat crashing down onto my head.
Everything went dark for a second.
Shaking it off, I grabbed the attacker's wrist and twisted until their arm popped out of its socket.
"Bastarrrrd!"
My wounds stitched themselves back together as I heard Toma crash in like a wrecking ball, Daiki close behind.
"Sato-senpai!!"
Sighing, I crouched and yanked a man's leg out from under him, then drove my foot into his throat. I turned in time to see Toma toss a tanto at me.
"Catch!!"
I caught it mid air and without hesitation, stabbed it backward into someone's leg. As they dropped to my level, I yanked the blade out and drove it straight into their eye.
-
We stood still, staring at each other—grey eyes meeting grey eyes.
"Well?" she asked, voice steady as we stood among the aftermath. Bodies littered the ground.
"Uhm… I feel like something happened that shouldn't have happened..." Daiki muttered awkwardly from the side.
"Nothing happened." I said flatly, turning away with Toma following close behind—silent, or at least as silent as he could be.
"Sato-senpai! Are you okay?! What happened?!"
I glanced at him, my eyes at a scratch on his cheek. "When we get back to base, have the nurses check you."
He whined like a dog being told he couldn't have his chew toy, clinging to my arm. "I don't wanna! It's just a small cut!"
I ignored his protests as he shook me dramatically while we walked. Hearing footsteps behind, I turned to see Daiki and a quiet Rin hurrying to catch up.
"Well… good work, everyone!" Daiki called out with a nervous smile, pumping his fist in the air.
Toma, easily distracted, joined in with a grin. I didn't react as Daiki turned to me, catching my gaze before glancing down at his own outstretched fist.
"Arai-san." I said, ignoring the gesture. "You'll probably be called in to report to the seniors again. Don't lie for the team's sake this time. I'd rather not be sent on these kinds of missions again."
He laughed awkwardly, no doubt remembering the last time he claimed the team was functioning well—only for a senior to find out otherwise and punish us all with this mission.
"I'll try not to, Sato-san."
~Arai Daiki POV~
'Now I see why the higher-ups want to keep him on our side.' I thought, watching Sato Kazuya walk off with the ever optimistic Toma bouncing behind him.
'Though I don't think they understand him all that well...'
Sighing, I headed toward the senior offices to give my report. As I arrived, I passed another team leader leaving the building.
"Seki-san." I greeted with a curt nod.
He scoffed in response and kept walking.
'Kana must be having a tough time with a leader like Seki.' I mused, squaring my shoulders before entering.
"Arai Daiki, reporting in!"
~Sato Kazuya POV~
"They want us to do duo missions as punishment for still being disorganized because of my lack of leadership." Daiki said the moment he walked into the building we were staying in, I hummed before speaking.
"What are the pairs? Are they rotating us after each mission?" I asked.
Daiki nodded. "Yeah. The first rotation will be myself and Toma-san, and—"
Thud!
Rin slammed her feet on the ground as she jumped up from her bed.
"Fuck no!"
She pointed straight at me as I calmly continued preparing for bed, ignoring her outburst.
"I'm not being stuck with the psycho child any longer than I need to! Tell the seniors that!"
Daiki sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It wasn't the seniors who gave the order."
That made Rin even more furious. I glanced her way out of curiosity, only to feel a faint flicker of wariness as Daiki said who it was.
"It was the Left Leader—Renard."