Chapter 5: — "Hacker Tracker!" — [INTERLUDE]

I dropped my backpack on the floor, letting it spill open like a defeated soldier. Books, notebooks, and random pens scattered across the bed and floor. I didn’t even bother picking them up. Not tonight.

The city hummed quietly outside my window, lights flickering in the distance like tiny, indifferent stars. Normal life was going on, cars driving, people laughing, streets buzzing, but my world wasn’t normal. Not anymore.

Kaito.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him. The way he had looked yesterday, bent over that workbench, surrounded by weapons I didn’t even know the names of. The drones hovering silently outside, scanning the area like predators. And the sheer scale of it all. How did he do it? How did he keep all of that secret… and why?

I hugged my knees to my chest, trying to push the fear down. My chest felt like it was being squeezed by invisible hands. “Why does he have to do all of this alone? What if something happens…?” I whispered, voice barely audible over the quiet hum of the city.

My fingers dug into my arms as I rocked slightly back and forth, heart pounding in a way that made everything feel unreal. I wanted to help him. I had to. But how? How could I even begin to reach into his world without breaking something… without breaking him?

I leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling, trying to map out a plan that didn’t exist yet. Every time I pictured Kaito fighting alone, my stomach twisted. I couldn’t… I wouldn’t let him do it alone. Not when I could… maybe… somehow… be there.

The thought both terrified me and made my heart race.

I pressed my palms to my eyes, trying to stop the tears before they fell. But even through the blur, I could see him, Kaito. His calm, unreadable eyes, the way they seemed to look right through me, like he could see everything I was feeling without me saying a word.

It wasn’t just fear this time. My chest tightened in a way that made my stomach knot. Something deeper. Something I hadn’t wanted to admit to myself.

I whispered it, barely even hearing my own voice: “I… I can’t lose him. Not him.”

My hands curled into fists in my lap, nails digging into my palms. What could I even do? How could I protect him from all of this, the AI, the drones, the secrets he was carrying? I was just… me. A girl with nothing but a hopeless crush and a messy head full of worries.

Tears slid down my cheeks, and I bit my lip, trying to hold myself together. My chest ached, my thoughts twisted around fear, worry, and longing.

And then, just for a fleeting second, a tiny, dangerous idea flickered in my mind.

The idea hit me like a bucket of cold water: maybe… maybe I could track him. Just a little. Not like a total creep… just enough to know he’s okay. My heart started pounding, and I muttered to myself, pacing my room.

“Okay… Yuzuki, you can do this. Totally normal… nothing creepy here… just… helping… totally helping… not stalking… heh…”

I stormed down the hallway toward my dad’s study, muttering like a lunatic. “He’s not gonna care. He never cares. Just mutter ‘hey dad, I need the PC’ and boom, done… right? Right?”

I barged in, voice wobbling slightly. “Uh… Dad? I… I need your computer.”

He barely lifted his head, muttering in that deadpan monotone he always used: “Whatever.”

Whatever? That was literally everything he ever said. Perfect. I plopped into the chair in front of his glowing monitor, trying not to trip over my own feet.

And then… the sticky note. Bright yellow. Big letters. Yuzuki’s butt.

“…What?” I whispered, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. I peeked at Dad, who was already pretending I didn’t exist, buried in some mountain of papers. Great. Perfectly normal. Sure. Let’s type it in.

I typed carefully. Yuzuki’s butt. The screen blinked, accepted it, and the desktop loaded. I couldn’t help but smirk. My dad was… special. And weird. And apparently hilarious.

Now, the real mission. I navigated through his files, trying to act like a seasoned hacker instead of a panicked teenage girl. There it was: Hacker Tracker. A tiny icon, almost innocent. But I knew better. This was my dad’s pride and joy, or obsession. He probably knew how to hack anyone’s phone in the city. Creepy. Definitely creepy. But… right now… exactly what I needed.

“Okay… okay… calm… think… type the address… slowly…” I muttered, holding my phone in one hand and pecking at the keyboard with the other. My fingers shook. My pulse thumped in my ears.

I pulled up the picture I’d taken yesterday of Kaito’s house, the one I’d snapped when I was sneaking around. There it was. The little fenced yard, the perfect angles, the way the sun had hit the roof just right… My cheeks warmed. Totally normal, Yuzuki. Totally normal.

Step by step, I typed it into the app. My hands were trembling, my tongue sticking out slightly as I concentrated. “Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up. Don’t… ugh, come on, come on…”

The app began downloading the data. Tick… tick… tick… Ten agonizingly slow minutes crawled past, and I chewed my lip the whole time. “Come on… faster… I don’t have all day… he’s probably fine… right??” I whispered, pacing, glancing at the door as if someone might come catch me.

Finally, a small menu popped up: Choose target: Marhoma Kaito or Marhoma Industries. My hands shook. I stared at the screen like it was a bomb about to explode. Of course… Kaito. No contest. My heartbeat was so loud I thought it might break the speaker of my headphones.

Next step: link his phone to mine. I grabbed a USB stick, muttering all the while. “Okay… plug… plug… not fall… not fall… it’s just a USB… come on…” The device slid in, and I followed the prompts, whispering commentary as I went.

“Yeah… totally fine… normal… just tracking a boy in my class… nothing creepy… why am I like this…”

The progress bar inched forward at a glacial pace. I leaned closer, whispering, almost hypnotized. “C’mon… faster… faster… faster… don’t fail me now… don’t… please… oh god, please…”

Finally… ding. Success. My phone buzzed. I stared at the small blinking map icon, my heart hammering like a drum solo. I could see him. Not just theoretically, I could literally see Kaito’s location... the dot moving.

I leaned back in my chair, muttering in disbelief. “I… I feel like a total weirdo. But… if something happens… if he’s alone… I can’t… I just… have to know…”

I sat there, staring at the tiny dot moving on my screen, my chest tight. Part of me felt guilty. Part of me felt relieved. And part of me… okay, fine, maybe a little thrilled. I could finally do something. I could help him. I could… maybe… protect him.

“Just… don’t let him know. Ever,” I whispered to the empty room, hugging my knees to my chest. My eyes lingered on the screen, watching the dot move across the city. My mind was spinning with a thousand thoughts: what if he’s in danger? What if I mess this up? What if… what if he thinks I’m a weirdo?

I shook my head, muttering softly, “No… doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. I… I’ll fix it. I’ll keep him safe. I have to…”

For the first time, I felt a small spark of power, a dangerous kind of hope. I could do this. I would do this. I had to.