The news reports were written just as Natsumi has expected it, except the fact that no one got any major injuries and died. Hope's Peak Academy's board of trustees and the Steering Committee have tried their best to prevent any major information on the bombing. From what Natsumi heard, they were able to delete or hide the recorded evidence of the main camera and took down any other videos of the explosion that has been posted. But that didn't stop the witnesses from blabbering their mouths off.
So to please the victims and the media, Sonosuke Izayoi, Ruruka Andou, and Seiko Kimura have been expelled. It infuriated Natsumi when she heard the news that Kimura got expelled when Fuyuhiko told her that the true bomb planter was Nagito Komaeda. There was no reports regarding the lucky student's suspension and all Natsumi had to think about this situation was that Kimura did not deserve this.
Seiko Kimura has helped out the Kuzuryuu Clan so it wasn't hard for her and Fuyuhiko to persuade their father to let Kimura join the Clan as their medic and Kimura gratefully accepted to continue her work to save people. And of course Fuyuhiko was the one to make sure that it was soda and not sake in Kimura's brotherhood cup.
The Ultimate Pharmacist's welcome into the Kuzuryuu Clan wasn't the only new development around Natsumi. Surprisingly the former Ultimate Housekeeper, Miss Chisa is now teaching in the Reserve Course. When she asked Fuyuhiko about this he explained that the teacher took responsibility for Komaeda's behavior and that the rest of the 77th class has been upset with her transfer. Apparently this means that their original teacher will be taking his job back but continues being hung over.
When she told all of this to Hinata, he just assumed that Miss Chisa must really care about Komaeda and recalled the time when she told him to believe in himself. His reasons to believe in Miss Chisa's compassion are valid but Natsumi can't understand why she would take some of Komaeda's consequences and end up here.
After all, practically the whole Reserve Course can see her displeasure of being around them. Her first day here had some excitement to her new class but at the lunch break her students came out of the classroom looking like they ran a triathlon. Whatever happened in there, the class never said, they were either too exhausted or too terrified to explain what they went through.
Hinata decided to visit Miss Chisa on her first day and Natsumi followed suit. Throughout the morning, loud crashes were heard from her classroom. Whether people heard human screams was debatable. So it appears that only Hinata and Natsumi were brave enough to enter the classroom when her students fled for lunch and safety.
With the title of Ultimate Housekeeper, Natsumi didn't feel threaten even though both Hinata and Fuyuhiko have seen her with a sword. Then they walked in her classroom and saw that the room was almost completely spotless. All the desks had a sparkling clean surface but its legs had cracks in the wooden frame. Majority of the lockers in the back had dents in them but it too had a shiny surface. Lastly, Natsumi and Hinata noticed that dust was falling from a huge crack in the cement ceiling.
Miss Chisa was currently sweeping the ceiling crumps and dust with a broom. Instead of her usual smile, she was frowning as she concentrated with her cleaning.
"Um, hello Miss Chisa," Hinata greeted and the teacher's attitude changed instantly, like she was genuinely happy to see two familiar students.
"Hinata, Kuzuryuu, oh it's so nice to see you two!" And then Miss Chisa started whining about how her class was filled with rotten oranges and they're wasting their youth or something along those lines. Natsumi wasn't paying much attention to her words, she was distracted by how fast the Ultimate was able to clean the room and it's only been seven minutes into the lunch break. Natsumi can't help but wonder how long it would take for Miss Chisa to clean up a murder. She should ask for tips later.
"I just can't believe what Komaeda did," Hinata said and Natsumi has no idea on how their conversation changed to that particular topic.
"Komaeda did what he thought would make his class happier, he cares about them," Miss Chisa trailed off.
"But he went to extreme measures," Natsumi added and remembered something she read in the news report. "Miss Chisa, can I ask you something about the bombing?"
The teacher swept up the pile of rumble into a pan and threw it in the trashcan that was almost overflowing with dirty rags and ceiling pieces, there was even a chair leg sticking out of it. "Sure Natsumi, but I wasn't a witness, I was with you and the others."
"But you must be the one who interrogated Komaeda, you were his teacher." The Ultimate's cheery face stilled but her eyes held a cold, serious focus. "The reports said that the bomb explosion had a unique and rare ingredient known as Greek Oil and I only know one gang in Japan that uses rare materials with stupid names."
She had already discussed her theory to Hinata and he instantly disbelieved her. Apparently one encounter with Komaeda gives Hinata the impression that the Ultimate Lucky Student isn't in cahoots with the Nero Gang. Well now they have Miss Chisa to prove who's wrong. "I see what you're implying Kuzuryuu and no, I've been taking notes on my," she paused and recomposed. "Former, that's right, my former students. Komaeda said that he found the bombs by luck and trust me he would never lie about his luck."
That's another lead that's shot down. Natsumi sighed, luck really is unpredictable. "Did he at least say where he got it?"
"Kuzuryuu, as a teacher, I don't think it's a good idea to tell students where dangerous objects might be."
Hinata blurted, "But you keep swords on your person, Miss Chisa. I saw you throw swords at Mitarai and then tie him up and drag him all the way back to the Main Campus."
"My first day as their teacher," Miss Chisa sighed in reminiscence but then frowned and looked at the empty seats, "And my first day teaching here."
"Hey Miss Chisa, you can still visit Fuyuhiko and the others." Natsumi reassured. It was weird to see the peppy adult frown. "It's not like it's the end of the world."
"I don't think I can, I'm working as a normal teacher so I need to prepare my courses for my new students," she sighed again, "even if they are rotten oranges."
"Oh right," Natsumi remembered. "The teachers in the Main Course are mostly just scientists, they don't really teach. The classes are mandatory for the teacher's convenience but I bet that Fuyuhiko would still attend class because he's too cool to ditch."
"Lawfully evil," Hinata said in agreement.
When Miss Chisa had that focused look back on her face, Natsumi knew she messed up. "You know, Kuzuryuu, most people your age wouldn't research that thoroughly into Hope's Peak."
"Well she's not like people our age," Hinata smiled like his explanation was decent and did not sound like horrible flirting. He tried at least.
Natsumi grabbed his arm in a death grip and glared at him, whether her face was flushed from his embarrassing words or it being a horrible cover up, she didn't care. "What Hinata meant was I researched the school because I really wanted to be an Ultimate but now I don't. Also we left our lunch in our lockers so we should go now."
They said their goodbyes but right before they left the door, Miss Chisa called out, "Kuzuryuu, before you leave, I liked to know how things are between you, Sato, and Koizumi."
"You already know I apologized and left Koizumi alone but for Sato, I haven't seen her in a while."
Hinata nodded, "Yeah she's not here today too."
After Koizumi accepted her apology, Natsumi thought that apologizing to Sato would be more difficult. The girl was always so protective of the Ultimate Photographer that sometimes she had a crazed, obsessive look on her face.
"I'll apologize to her when I see her," Natsumi assured the teacher. "Come on Hinata."
Now she understands why Fuyuhiko called Miss Chisa dangerous. Her skills can easily overpower people and leave no trace. Maybe she'll grow up to be like the teacher, just without that cheery attitude.
When she and Hinata returned to their classroom and began eating their lunch, Hinata said, "I told you Komaeda's not involved." He even pointed his small loaf of bread at her.
"That's not the important part," she dismissed, totally avoiding the part where she tells him he was right and she was wrong. "Now we find out where he got the stuff."
Finding out that the explosives in the gym were Greek Oil bombs was the biggest connection between Nero and the academy. Maybe they were lucky that Komaeda found their supplies to prove that Nero has people here. Or maybe life is just filled with bullshit because now she has to find out Komaeda's trail to ask him but she can't since he dropped off the radar the day he got suspended.
It took a week later for Natsumi to find out that Komaeda found the bombs at the loading bay of the science building. When Hinata asked how she found out, she said that she's brilliant. She will never tell him that during her week, some bum claiming to be a fortune teller with thirty percent accuracy predicted her future when he was begging for mercy.
Since she had no other leads, she took his word and spied on the science building and saw that some of the people there had snake tattoos. Natsumi threatened the fortune teller one last time to pay up his debt by the end of the month and told her men to reduce the debt by a thousand. It was only fair.
With a location and plan in mind, it was time to get supplies so after class was Natsumi checked the weapon inventory in her room. All she had was throwing knives, a lock pick, a silencer gun, and her trusty pocket knife, a birthday gift from Fuyuhiko. She knew that her equipment wasn't enough though and this was going to be a stealth and infiltration mission so she didn't trust herself with bringing a gun if there's civilian scientist in the building. She wouldn't put it pass Nero's morals to have innocent people in harm's way.
Only one place to go then, she decided and sent a text to one of her men to pick her up. Right after she exited her room and locked the door a hand grabbed her shoulder. Her reflexes kicked in and in a matter of seconds she had Hinata pinned to the door with her pocket knife pressing against his throat.
She saw his initial shock go away and he smiled, "You know, I should have expected this."
Natsumi retracted her knife and backed off, "I'm a yakuza, Hinata. I'm always prepared for danger."
"Don't try to be cool with me, Kuzuryuu. I've seen you drool in class."
She just scowled at him and went to the staircase, "Whatever Hinata, I got to go somewhere."
"You're going to the science facility tonight and you're preparing to go there alone," he said as he walked besides her.
"Hinata, you're not going to stop me and you're not going to come with me." Before he protested she pointed out, "You are not a killer Hinata and I want to make sure that if you ever kill anything it'll be a bug or whatever. I don't care if you smart or my friend, I want you alive."
He got in front of her on a lower stair, making their eye contact practically equal. "Well what do you think I want? I want you alive too, Kuzuryuu, and if that means getting into life or death situations then I'll willingly take the risk."
Natsumi recalled the few times where Hinata said that she had two faces, one sassy and vibrant and one serious and calculating. Now she sees the different faces that Hinata has, his usual concerned and kind faces are the ones she used too. The determined fire in his eyes as the sun begins to set makes Hinata look completely different and confident in himself, like he believes he'll always be there for her.
"Alright Hinata, we'll do this together," she walked passed him and he followed. "I trust you Hinata but you have to be honest with me. How good is your aim?"
"I'm not a natural but I'm decent." Hinata admitted and then they exited the dormitory and approached the main road that surrounds the campus where a black car and a man in a suit were waiting. "Are you really planning on giving me a gun?"
"Not exactly, we need something else." Natsumi nodded her head at the man by the car and he opened the door for them. Once inside the car he closed the door and took the driver's seat. "Take us to Kimura's lab, Jorge."
On the way there, Natsumi explained to Hinata the plan when they infiltrate the building and occasionally asking their driver, Jorge, how his kids were doing. Finally they reached the Kuzuryuu Clan's main medical base. It was a small apartment like building in the downtown district but the medical team said it was enough for them. Kimura got the whole top floor for herself and her experiments, probably to have complete focus and concentration.
Naturally Natsumi swung the door loudly and yelled, "Kimura, your chemicals are going to save the day once again!"
Instead of an expected scream, Kimura was calmly sitting at her chemistry table, "Miss Natsumi, Mister Hinata, it's nice to see you again." The two students assumed she was smiling behind her mask from her happy tone. "I got a heads up. So what do you need?"
"Two tranquilizer cartages," Hinata requested. "Also you don't need to call me that, Hinata's just find."
"Eh, I still like being called Miss Natsumi," the blonde shrugged.
For the next hour the two of them got their equipment ready. Both had a downloaded map of the science building on their phones, gloves to not leave fingerprints, a utility belt that had gun holsters, a small pouch of smoke bombs, another pouch of sleeping gas bomb, and now Kimura was putting the finishing touches on her tranquilizer formula. The pharmacist also gave them their own respirator masks similar to hers if they have to use the smoke bombs.
As Natsumi was cleaning her pocket knife her phone rang. It was her brother. "Hey Fuyu, what's up?"
"Don't you use nick names with me, Natsumi!" He yelled, "Jorge texted me that you're planning on a mission!"
"God dammit Jorge," Natsumi groaned. "Don't worry Fuyuhiko, I'll be fine, I have Hinata as my partner."
"Wait," Fuyuhiko was silent for a bit but then he screamed, "Are you two going on a heist or a date?"
His accusation was loud enough for Hinata and Kimura to hear. Kimura giggled while Hinata palmed his forehead. She didn't see his face but Natsumi's willing to bet that he feels like his life is in more danger now.
"I don't know, I'll tell you the answer when we're done," and she ended the call and turned her attention to Kimura. "So are the darts ready?"
Kimura handed them each two cases of her tranquilizer bullets for their belts, explaining that her formula should knock the target out for a maximum of three or four hours. With everything ready, Natsumi and Hinata left the lab as Kimura told them to be careful.
Jorge drove them back to the academy and before he left he gave them bulletproof vests and set his hands on their shoulders, "Look out for each other," he looked at Hinata, "take deep breaths and calm down before pulling the trigger," then to Natsumi, "do not go overboard. I want you both alive by tomorrow." The man went back to into his car and before he drove off he yelled, "Have fun on your date!"
"Are all your clan members like this?" Hinata asked.
"Nah, just a few," Natsumi lead Hinata to the path she went on the first time she spied on the science building. "Actually, it was Jorge who I sent to watch over you before I got here. Did he prank you by any chance?" At his unsure frown she muttered, "Well now it's only a matter of time."
The giant campus of Hope's Peak Academy is mostly separated by its own forest so the science building is surrounded by trees and bushes where the two students lurked in as the moon began to ascend. Like before there were men at the loading bay, transferring large wooden crates into the garage unit. There was a scientist taking inventory with a clipboard directing the workmen. Upon closer expectation, as in they used the zoom of their camera app; the workmen had snake tattoos on their arms and necks.
"Some of them are wearing dog tags," Hinata noted, "How often do soldiers join gangs?"
"Often, some of them are mercenaries but they stayed loyal to Nero," Natsumi watched as the last crate was unloaded, "It's almost time to move in, Hinata, now's your last chance to back out."
He took her hand with that serious face of his, "I am not leaving you, Kuzuryuu."
"Aright then, also don't hold my hand." Natsumi sneaked to one side of the truck and underneath it with Hinata in tow. The scientist did one last sweep of the crates while the gangsters went back to the front of the truck to drive off. The engine was then reeved and the garage rumbled to a close. That's when Natsumi and Hinata dashed out and under the closing garage door. They heard the truck drive away and fortunately the scientist already left the garage.
Hinata pulled up the map on his phone, "It's just a straight hallway up ahead. Also it's really weird that there are no security cameras on this floor when you think about it."
"They probably don't want to risk the chance that any Ultimate with computer skills might hack them but there has to be some cameras around here," Natsumi said, double checking her tranquilizer gun. "Chances are we're not the first people to suspect the academy of doing unspeakable things."
Down the hallway they went, as quietly as they could. The first floor were mostly laboratories or storage rooms so they headed upstairs to the scientists' private offices in hopes of logging into a vacate computer. Like the academy, all the offices had a keypad and a card reader. Natsumi wasn't impressed. She was kind of expecting a retina scanner somewhere in this place.
The moment they heard footsteps the duo side stepped into an adjacent hallway. Two scientists were talking about replacing chemicals in their experiment and they were coming closer. She was about to move to shot them before they were spotted but Hinata held her back, moving them away from hallway's intersection. The scientists were too caught up in their conversation to notice the students in their peripheral vision and they stopped in front of an office door.
Hinata took Jorge's advice and took a deep breath before aiming his tranquilizer gun at one of the scientist. She followed his lead and shot the neck at the one who pulled out a keycard while Hinata's dart hit the other one's back. Leave it to Kimura to make tranquilizer darts that work in seconds because the two scientists collapsed. Natsumi quickly got the keycard and swiped the door opened and then she helped Hinata drag the unconscious adults inside. They left the bodies in the office's corner and Natsumi plugged her phone to the computer.
Once again they were staring at a progress bar.
"Kuzuryuu, I get that we're here to get more files but I still don't understand why Komaeda would find bombs in the science building of all places," Hinata pondered.
The hacking program began its process of finding and downloading experiment reports as Natsumi clicked on one to read. "Remember what Miss Chisa said? It was all because of his luck. There could be a better explanation but we don't have any evidence right now so we need to focus on what we do know is happening here. There has to be emails or direct mention to Nero, Apollo, or the bastard in charge of this project." She clicked on another file and her stomach dropped, "Oh no, they've already started the experiments."
The file she picked were daily reports of the test subjects. Apparently Hinata wasn't the only Reserve Course student to be offered the Kamukura Project. It dates back to the month when Hinata declined the offer while other students in his situation accepted. All the test subjects had the same criteria, unable to fully pay the student fees and they held great admiration to either the Academy or Ultimates. So far the scientists have administrated chemicals into the blood vessels but recently they've started production on phase two.
Phase one was summed up to be a cleansing process, the subjects went through brain surgeries to wipe away their personality to become a blank slate while phase two focused on filling their brain with artificial talent. It's recorded that the test subjects, volunteers no less, are currently confined in the high tech pods from the blueprints Natsumi downloaded before.
"They've been in the pods for nearly two months!" Hinata exclaimed.
"Ten students from our school actually volunteered for this," Natsumi said, "and you could have been the eleventh one. What kind of sick persuasion did the scientist do to convince them that this was a good idea?"
"We got to do something, Kuzuryuu. This file says that they're in the basement level of the building."
Natsumi scrolled through more files, "And how do you think we'll do that Hinata? Drag all ten students out the building without getting caught? We don't have the right equipment or muscle to save them all."
"Well we can try to sabotage their research or delay their progress," Hinata suggested in a desperate tone. "Or write random numbers on their chalkboard."
Leaning away from the computer, Natsumi took a deep breath and then slapped her hands on Hinata's cheeks and shook his head, crinkling his mask. "That is stupid!" She ceased her shaking but kept her hands in place. "Breath and calm down Hinata. The students are attached to complicated machinery that messes with their brains and if the scientists miscalculate they might hurt the students or try a different, more risky alternative to further their experiments."
He composed himself but Natsumi knew that he was still freaking out. He wanted to save people but if he's reckless or under stress he might not make the best course of actions. That's why Natsumi's taking lead of the mission. "Okay, you're right Kuzuryuu."
"Now that that's settled," her hands returned to the keyboard and mouse, "we may not be able to save them right now but exposing the experiments might be the best next thing."
She popped up a new window to display camera feeds of the test subjects, all focused on the pods they're in. All viewports looked the same with the subjects motionless behind the tinted windows of their pods but then the feed switched to one subject in the phase one machines.
"Wait is that Sato?" Natsumi zoomed in to the unconscious girl sitting in a chair that plugged needles in her arms and some helmet to operate on her brain.
"She hasn't been to class for days and Koizumi said that she hasn't been able to contact her," Hinata said.
"You talk to Koizumi?" She regained her focus, "Never mind, of course you'll make friends with everyone. Okay so she's been missing from class recently so she's still in phase one while the rest are in the second phase but if they get out they might not be the same."
He pointed to the scientist moving out of frame, "Can you unmute it? They might explain some stuff about this."
Natsumi clicked on the audio button and sure enough the teenagers did not understand the science gibberish that was going on. Hinata had his confused puppy face but Natsumi was distracted by the other thing the audio picked up, music.
"You got to be fucking kidding me," Natsumi groaned and then switched the camera feed of the other test subjects only to hear the familiar song continue. "Apollo is overseeing the experiments."
When she muted the audio, Hinata asked, "What, is this his theme song?"
"It's his waiting room music."
There was a pause and then Hinata said, "This Apollo guy must have a lot of free time on his hands."
She rubbed her temples, formulating a plan, "Okay so there's a possibility that he's here and along with more of Nero's men. We got about," she checked her phone, "fourteen files of this experiment."
"You should send those to one of your men," Hinata suggested.
"Good call." Natsumi tapped her phone and sent the files to Jorge and then she lowered her mask and hooked an arm around Hinata's neck to take a selfie with him. The picture of Hinata looking surprised and awkward and of her sticking her tongue out was sent along with the files. Natsumi set her mask back on and said, "Alright let's get out of here."
The hacking program erased their tracks and they left the office where the knocked out scientists inside would probably wake up feeling like they're hung over. Taking the same path as their escape route wasn't as easy as the duo would hope it would be. It was easy to avoid the scientists by taking alternative routes but the guards were a different problem.
Before Natsumi believed that Nero's men were just in charge supply shipments but now there's gangsters with snake tattoos guarding some laboratories on the first floor. She shared a worried look with Hinata, both of them feeling uneasy as they round another hallway only to see more gangsters standing guard. With this many gangsters around Natsumi suspected that there's no camera's built in so that the scientists won't get caught working with Nero.
They've already seen at least ten gangsters on the first floor alone and Natsumi knows from experience how skilled most of them are. The cold feeling in her gut is making her even more worried since she allowed Hinata to join her. She can't risk a guns blazing escape.
She held up a sleep bomb and Hinata nodded at her wordless plan. Hinata held up his gun readily and Natsumi pulled back her arm then threw the bomb at the gangsters' feet. It released the gas on impact and the gangsters quickly used their shirts to cover their mouths. Right when they spotted the teenagers Hinata shot the arm of one gangster while the other one pulled out his coms. Immediately the alarms went off and the lights flashed red. Well now Natsumi's going to risk a guns blazing escape but with more smoke bombs.
She smashed another smoke bomb as Hinata shot the injured gangster's leg and thankfully the sleep gas and the darts got to him. The other one pulled out his gun and chased them down. The two of them ran down the hallways, barely hearing more guards shooting at them as the alarm system continued blaring. Her smoke bombs impaled their shooters' vision because so far bullets only grazed her left arm. Hinata also had some cries of pain as they focused on running. Up ahead Natsumi saw an open door and at the end of the hall were more gangsters running their way.
It's becoming more obvious to her that this mission won't end well but as long as she keeps Hinata safe she'll be satisfied. That's why she shoved Hinata behind her as the guards drew their guns and shot at them. This wasn't the first time she's ever been shot, the pain in her right shoulder is familiar but still she can't help but bite her lip to stop screaming in agony. Thankfully she has experience to build up her pain tolerance and she managed to drag Hinata through the open door as he threw a sleep bomb before she slammed the door close.
They were in another lab and Hinata just shot the three scientists inside. His aim wasn't bad but it could be improved if she ever taught him.
"Hinata, are you okay?" Natsumi said shakenly, applying pressure on her bullet wound and its exit wound.
"You can't be seriously asking me that," Hinata grabbed the band aid wrap from his utility belt and mended her shoulder.
"Stop, I can do this myself Hinata," she took the wrap and did a shooing motion, "Go barricade the door."
As Hinata started pushing chairs and chemical cabinets in front of the door Natsumi tried to think up a plan. The vents were too small for either of them to crawl in, there want's any other room attached to the lab, and since the panic alarm is going off all the computers have its monitors displaying the message that they're in lock down mode.
When she checked her phone it read that there's no signal available and when she tried to send an emergency signal to her men it failed, meaning there was a signal jammer going off, in fact the Wi-Fi was down too. Well at least she already sent the files to Jorge. Still, she had Hinata once again in harm's way. The door was getting banged and pounded on from the other side as Hinata pushed another shelf in with the other furniture that's their last hope of survival. She then noticed both his arms have bullet grazes. It must be either a miracle or Komaeda's bullshit luck that the both of them are still alive by now considering they're wearing bulletproof vests that Jorge had in the trunk.
One of the unspoken rules of Clan is to be suspicious of anything Jorge gives to people, even if it is a life or death situation.
"Kuzuryuu, are you okay?" Hinata asked but she ignored him and took his arms to wrap the band aid gauze around. "We don't have many options in here."
"You're right, we are trapped. I've used up most of my smoke bombs but I think if I use one right when they break the door open we might be able to shoot most of them down and escape." They reloaded their tranquilizer guns as the door's pounding increased. "Hinata, I'm starting to regret bring you here."
"Do you regret meeting me then?" The room went quiet and when Natsumi was about to say something they realized that the pounding stopped.
Hinata knocked down a table for their cover and Natsumi said, "You're the second friend I ever had."
His surprise expression changed into a sheepish smile, "Yeah you're also my second friend too, since I met Nanami first."
Nastumi blinked and declared, "Now that I think about it, you're probably my third friend, yep definitely number three. Fuyuhiko and his hitman were there from the beginning for me but now it's you who's here if this is the end."
"You almost make it sound like a bad thing that I'm here with you," he said quieter when they heard a ticking noise go off beyond the barricade.
"Hajime, I am trying to have an emotional conversation with you." She stared at the door, her gun and aim ready. At her side she saw Hinata had his jaw drop. "Get ready."
He snapped his attention back to the door, "Alright Natsumi."
The bomb ignited, blasting the rushed barricade sailing over their heads. Hajime threw a sleep bomb at the entrance as the gangsters ran in. Natsumi were able to shoot the necks of five gangsters that got knocked out while Hajime mostly aimed at their torso but it wasn't that effective. The gangsters had time to prepare to get body armor and their hazard masks. They were pinned down and now there's a bullet wound in her right arm. Even though pain was surging through her body she had to focus on the task at hand, shooting down as many as Nero's men as she could. Hajime didn't seem to be in a better state, he screamed when his left arm got shot.
Natsumi noticed that none of the shots were at aimed at their heads or torsos. They're not killing on sight, she realized, they're going to bring them to someone. Chances are they'll take their weapons away when they caught them. A moment later Natsumi and Hajime were outnumbered and backed to the wall. One gangster ran at her, punching the air out of her gut while another rushed Hajime and twisted his arm and kneed his chest. The bullets stopped firing, the smoke cleared and the alarm system was cut off. Only Apollo's stupid song was playing as the two teenagers were struggling to get out of their captors' grip, dragging them to the basement level.
They reached a door with a golden frame and knob and Natsumi and Hajime were lugged inside by two thugs. It was an observation deck redesigned to be an office. The entire left wall was replaced by glass to have an overview of a giant laboratory, the pods of the Kamukura Project in orderly stations with scientist attending to each test subject. Watching it all stood a man in the office, wearing a pristine black suit and had a gun holstered to his hip.
"This is truly a sight, Miss Natsumi. I wish I could take credit for the idea but having a front row seat is good too," says the man with that familiar accent.
Natsumi felt tried. She has bullet wounds, got punched in the gut, and kind of had an emotional moment with Hajime. It has been a long day. So she spat out, "Fuck you Apollo."
This fic is coming to a close with the next chapter being the last and possibly an epilogue too.
Thanks for reading!