Chapter 20: — “Into the Umbra: Part 1 — Sneaky Bastards!”

Kaito crouched by the steel gate, his fingers flying across the small portable device hooked into the panel. Sparks flickered, the locks clicked, and with a soft hiss the gate slid open. No alarms. Just a yawning darkness waiting for us.

“Stay low,” he muttered.

We slipped inside, the night swallowing us whole.

Almost immediately, I heard voices, low, gruff laughter echoing from just ahead. My stomach knotted. Two guards, leaning near the corner of a building, rifles slung lazily at their sides.

Kaito reacted fast, grabbing Rin and me by our sleeves and yanking us against the wall. His breath was steady, calm, like he’d done this a thousand times before. Mine was anything but.

He peeked out, then gave us the hand signal: move. Quiet.

We crept along the shadows, hugging the building, every crunch of gravel under my boots sounding like a gunshot in my ears. My hands were slick with sweat. I kept telling myself: Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up.

And then, of course, I did.

My elbow brushed against a loose pipe sticking out of the wall. It clanged, sharp and metallic. One of the guards’ heads snapped up.

“Hey!” he barked, his flashlight beam cutting through the dark. It landed right on me.

My heart stopped. My throat locked. We were screwed. So completely, utterly screwed.

I froze like a deer, caught in his beam. His hand went for his gun. I couldn’t even scream before—

BANG!

The crack of Kaito’s blaster split the night. The guard’s head jerked back, and he collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud.

The silence that followed felt heavier than any sound.

My stomach lurched. My breath caught in my throat. He… he just… killed him.

I turned, wide-eyed, to Kaito. “Was that... was that really necessary?!” The words tore out of me, sharper and louder than I intended.

“Shut up,” Kaito hissed, his voice like ice. His eyes cut into me, warning me, demanding silence.

But my chest burned. My legs trembled. I couldn’t just swallow it. “He was a human being, Kaito! You just... you just shot him like it was nothing!”

Rin stayed silent beside us. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her gaze flicking between me and the body on the ground. She wasn’t as shaken as me, but… she wasn’t unaffected either.

Kaito’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. He just gestured sharply, motioning for us to keep moving. Like it was just another step in the plan.

I wanted to scream at him. To grab his shoulder, to make him answer me. But when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. Just a strangled breath.

My legs moved on their own, following him and Rin deeper into the compound. But my eyes… my eyes betrayed me. They flicked back one last time.

The guard lay crumpled, eyes glassy, a dark pool spreading beneath his head.

And all I could think was: That could’ve been me.

We moved deeper past the gate, Kaito leading like he owned the shadows. I tried to match his steps, but every crunch of gravel under my boots made me flinch. My head still throbbed with the image of the guard he shot, the body, the blood. I couldn’t shake it.

Rin broke the silence first. “Where are we even headed?” she whispered, her voice sharp with impatience.

“The office,” Kaito muttered, scanning ahead. “That’s where they keep the basement keys. Without those, we’re not getting anywhere near the box.”

I glanced at him, my curiosity probably obvious because he nodded before I could even ask. “Yes. Physical keys. No hacking past it.”

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. “Just great.”

We reached it after weaving through rows of empty crates and dimly lit pathways: a squat, square building with glowing blue panels marking it as important. My chest tightened at the sight of it.

Drones.

Half a dozen of them zipped lazily around the perimeter, their red sensors sweeping in arcs. We ducked behind a wall just in time. The faint hum of their engines buzzed in my ears.

Rin raised her blaster, lips curling into a grin. “Easy pickings—”

Kaito’s hand shot out, gripping her wrist before she could fire. His voice was cold, deliberate. “Don’t. You’ll draw them all. Too many eyes.”

Rin groaned but lowered her weapon, muttering something I didn’t catch.

And then… it hit me.

The world around me shimmered, the sound of the drones fading, and my vision flickered like a broken screen.

A futuregaze.

I saw it: Kaito edging around the corner, crouched low. A drone pivoting, sensors locking on him. The blaster fire, the alarm blaring. Guards swarming. All of us running, failing, cornered.

I gasped, clutching the wall. My pulse spiked as the vision snapped away, leaving me trembling.

And Kaito... Kaito was about to do exactly what I’d seen.

“No—!” I grabbed his wrist before he could move. My grip was tighter than I expected, desperation in my voice. “Don’t.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

My throat closed up. I couldn’t tell him. Couldn’t admit I’d just seen him dragged down by a drone, couldn’t risk the words giving it more weight.

“I… just, don’t.”

For a moment, we stared at each other. His eyes searched mine, hard and unreadable.

Then I saw it: the tiniest flicker of understanding.

“The futuregaze,” he muttered. Not a question.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My heart skipped when he didn’t push me, didn’t doubt me. He just… trusted me.

Kaito trusting me. That was new. Almost enough to make me forget the knot of fear still choking me. Almost.

But it didn’t solve the problem. Drones hovered, lights flashing in slow circles, and none of us had a plan.

We were stuck in the dark, pressed against cold concrete, waiting for someone to decide what the hell we were supposed to do next.

Suddenly Rin’s eyes lit up. “Wait. Duh. I’ve got an EMP.” She dug into her belt pouch, holding up a small, round grenade like it was some kind of toy.

Kaito’s brow furrowed. “That’ll take them out… but only if you hit it right. One drone survives, we’re screwed.”

Rin smirked, spinning the grenade in her palm. “Relax. I may be a dumbass, but I’m not that much of a dumbass.”

Kaito scanned the area, quiet, no guards in sight, just the steady hum of drones. Finally, he gave a curt nod. “Do it. And don’t miss.”

“Watch and learn,” Rin whispered, pulling the pin.

The grenade pulsed with blue light as she hurled it. It clattered against the pavement, a sharp crack following as an electric wave surged out.

One by one, the drones sputtered, sparked, and dropped like broken toys, the sound of metal smacking concrete echoing in the night.

Rin raised her fist, grinning wide. “Bulls-fucking-eye.”

Even Kaito allowed a ghost of a smile. “Not bad.”

No time to celebrate. We darted from cover, slipping toward the office. My heart hammered in my chest, but the path was clear... for now.

We crept along the side of the office, shadows stretched long under the faint security lights. Kaito motioned for us to hang back, his hand sharp and commanding. “Stay here. I’ll check the side.”

I swallowed and nodded, clutching my blaster.

Kaito slipped around the corner, silent as ever, until suddenly, a figure lunged from the darkness. A guard grabbed him from behind, an arm clamped around his neck, the muzzle of a gun jammed into his temple.

“Don’t move!” the guard barked, his voice rough, deadly serious.

Rin gasped, immediately raising her blaster and aiming straight at the man’s head. My stomach dropped. I froze, eyes wide, my throat tightening like I couldn’t breathe.

“Let him go!” I screamed, voice cracking.

The guard sneered. “Shut it. I don’t care if you’re kids. He makes one wrong move, he’s dead.”

Kaito’s jaw clenched, but he couldn’t break free, the man’s grip was too tight. For once, he looked… helpless.

Rin’s hands trembled but she didn’t lower her aim. “Release him. Now.”

The guard pressed the gun harder against Kaito’s temple. “Try me. I’ll drop him right here.”

My chest burned. I felt my eyes sting, tears threatening to spill. I couldn’t lose him. I wouldn’t.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I shoved Rin aside and ripped the blaster from her hands.

“Yuzuki, wait—!” Rin cried.

But I didn’t wait. I didn’t think.

“DIE! DIE, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” I shrieked, pulling the trigger over and over.

The shots lit up the alley. The guard’s body convulsed, bullets tearing into him until he crumpled to the ground. Kaito staggered free, released from the man’s lifeless grip, but I didn’t stop. My hands shook as I kept firing, screaming through gritted teeth, unloading everything in me onto the corpse.

“Yuzuki, STOP!” Kaito’s voice cut through, sharp and commanding.
“Enough!” Rin shouted, grabbing my arm.

Finally, my finger slipped off the trigger. The gun fell heavy at my side. My breath came in ragged pants, my ears ringing from the blasts.

I dropped the blaster and stumbled forward, crashing into Kaito. My arms wrapped around him before I could stop myself, holding tight, burying my face in his chest. My tears stained his shirt, but I didn’t sob, I couldn’t. The sound was caught in my throat, stuck there.

“I… I thought—” My words broke apart.

Kaito’s hand hesitated, then rested lightly on my shoulder. “I’m fine,” he said softly. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

I clung tighter.

Over my shoulder, Rin stared at the body, her face pale. The guard lay sprawled in a pool of blood, riddled with holes. Kaito’s gaze lingered there too, dark and calculating.

“Lucky idiot didn’t call for backup,” he muttered under his breath.

The words barely registered with me. All I could hear was my own heartbeat, hammering like I had just crossed a line I could never come back from.

Finally we reached the office. It was eerily quiet. No guards, no drones, just rows of desks gathering dust. We slipped inside cautiously, weapons raised, but nothing stirred.

Kaito moved straight for the counter, rifling through drawers with quick precision. A few tense seconds later, I heard the metallic jingle of keys. He held them up, smirked, then slipped them into his pocket.

“Plan one, complete,” he muttered.

Relief flickered through me, but it didn’t last. The office wasn’t just an office, another door at the far end caught Kaito’s attention. A narrow steel frame, almost hidden in the shadows.

He flicked open his wrist device, the map glowing faintly across the screen. “Shortcut,” he said, zooming in. “This leads to the buildings above the basement. Faster way in.”

Rin grinned. “Perfect. Let’s go.”

We stepped toward it together, but the moment Rin and I crossed the threshold, the heavy door slammed shut. The sound echoed like thunder.

“Kaito!” I yelled, spinning back.

He was on the other side, fists pounding against the metal. “Shit. It’s locked.” He kicked it hard, once, twice, but it didn’t budge.

“Try hacking it!” Rin said.

“Already checked,” he snapped. His voice was sharp, but underneath it I caught a thread of frustration. “It’s deadlocked. No way in, no way out.”

My stomach sank. We were separated.

For a moment, the three of us just stood there, me and Rin on one side, Kaito on the other, a wall between us that felt a thousand times heavier than steel.

Then Kaito exhaled, steady and cold. “New plan. You two go through the mantrap. Get to the basement. I’ll find another way down.”

“No,” I blurted, panic edging into my voice. “We’ll wait, we’ll figure something out—”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll make it.”

Through a narrow gap in the frame, just wide enough for fingers, Kaito slid the keys through. Rin snatched them quickly.

“Take care of Yuzuki,” Kaito ordered.

“I’m not a baby,” I snapped, heat rising in my cheeks.

He didn’t bite back. Didn’t even tease me. He just gave me that calm, unreadable look, the one that always made my chest tighten.

Something shifted inside me. My annoyance dissolved into pure worry. I pressed closer to the door, lowering my voice. “Kaito… just, be careful, okay? Don’t get caught. Don’t do anything stupid. Promise me.”

For a second, there was silence. Then, faintly, I heard him chuckle. “You worry too much.”

“Kaito,” I pressed.

“Fine,” he said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I promise.”

And then, just like that, he turned and walked off, his footsteps fading into the distance.

I stared at the sealed door, my heart sinking.

Rin’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Come on. He’ll be fine. We’ve got our part to do.”

I took a shaky breath and nodded, forcing my feet to follow her into the dim corridor of the mantrap. But no matter how hard I tried, the worry wouldn’t leave my face.

Kaito was on his own now. And I hated it.