Preparation 1: — "Blasters & Equipments (Gone wrong!)"

The air outside Lysethia City was colder than I expected. The neon haze of the skyline faded behind us, leaving only the orange flicker of old street lamps and the faint hum of power lines. Kaito walked ahead, hands shoved in his jacket pockets, his breath visible in the night air. Rin followed a few steps behind him, her blaster strapped to her thigh like she couldn’t wait to use it. I trailed close behind, trying to keep my nerves from showing.

We were heading toward the dealer’s base, a rundown complex of metal walls, dim lights, and old neon signs that buzzed like dying insects. The ground was littered with wires and rusted tools, half-buried under sand and oil stains. The kind of place where people went in, made deals, and didn’t always come back out.

Kaito didn’t speak for most of the walk. He looked… different. Focused, sharper. Not like the usual him who joked with Rin and threw small glances my way to make me smile. No, this version was colder, quieter, like every step brought him closer to something personal he couldn’t let go of. I didn’t have to ask why. It was Kouji. It always came back to him.

When we reached the edge of the complex, Rin sighed, pulling her hood lower. “Great. Smells like piss and engine oil. Real professional setup.”

Kaito ignored her. He stopped near a flickering sign that read ‘Lynex Arms & Trade’, then turned to us.
“Remember what I said,” he muttered. “No trouble. We’re here to buy, not fight.”

Rin smirked. “Yeah, yeah, Captain Serious. You sure they’ll even talk to you?”

Kaito’s jaw tightened. “I made a deal. They know I’m coming.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know much about what happened between him and these dealers — only that it hadn’t ended well. From the way Rin kept glancing at him, I could tell it was bad enough that she didn’t trust walking back here.

So instead, I just nodded quietly and kept close behind.
Still, the silence between us felt heavy. Kaito’s shoulders were tense, his steps sharp, like each one was holding back something he didn’t want to say.

We moved through the narrow alley between two warehouses, the lights flickering overhead. A few guards stood outside the entrance — older men with cybernetic arms, tattoos creeping up their necks, and eyes that glowed faintly blue from their augment lenses. When they noticed Kaito, they straightened, whispering to each other. One of them chuckled, the sound rough and ugly.

“Well, well. If it ain’t the little thief himself,” one of them said, folding his metal arms. “Didn’t think you’d show your face here again, kid.”

Kaito exhaled slowly. “Told you... I made a deal with Jyn. He said we could talk.”

“Talk?” the other laughed. “You mean you steal again?”

Rin muttered under her breath, “God, this is going great already…”

Kaito ignored her again. “I’m not here to steal. Just to buy. That’s all.”

The guards shared a look, one of them smirking like this was entertainment. After a moment, they stepped aside, letting us through a rusted metal gate that creaked like it hadn’t moved in years.

Inside, the base was even worse, dim red lights, crates stacked high, weapons on display, and a few shady-looking dealers counting credits at a table. When Kaito walked in, every head turned.

It felt like walking into a trap.

Jyn, the dealer Kaito mentioned, was leaning against a table at the far end, polishing a pulse rifle. His grin faded when he saw who entered.

“...You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He dropped the rifle with a metallic clatter. “You actually came back here?”

Kaito approached slowly, hands visible, calm but tense. “I told you I would.”

Jyn laughed, loud and sharp. “You’ve got some nerve, showing up here like we’re old friends. You think I forgot how you ripped us off two months ago?”

“That wasn’t my fault,” Kaito replied, voice low but steady. “Your men tried to sell us fake blasters. I took what I deserved.”

“Deserved?” Jyn barked a laugh. “You’re a damn kid, Kaito. You don’t deserve anything here.”

Rin stepped forward, glaring. “Watch it, old man.”

“Rin,” Kaito warned under his breath, his tone clipped. She scoffed but backed off.

I stood behind them, heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. The tension in the room thickened, the kind that made my stomach twist. I could feel the anger in the air, the disbelief that this was real. They didn’t see Kaito as someone to negotiate with. They saw him as a problem that needed to be erased.

Jyn leaned forward, his grin returning, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “So what’s the plan, huh? You walk in here, flash that cocky smile, and expect us to just hand you top-grade weapons because you said ‘sorry’?”

“I came to buy,” Kaito said again. “Full price.”

One of the men behind Jyn laughed. “With what? Babysitting money?”

Kaito’s hand twitched, but he didn’t reach for his weapon. I could see the tension in his shoulders though, every insult adding to it. “I’ve got the Syns. Check the damn chip.”

Jyn motioned lazily, and one of his men took the chip Kaito offered. The man scanned it, eyebrows raising slightly. “He’s not lying. It’s enough.”

That surprised them. It surprised me too. I had no idea where Kaito even got that kind of money.

But instead of easing the tension, it just made them more suspicious.

“So you suddenly got Syns, huh?” Jyn tilted his head. “What’s the catch? You working with someone now? Syntrix Umbra, maybe?”

Kaito’s eyes hardened at the name. “You know I’d never work with them.”

Jyn smirked. “Sure, sure. Everyone’s got morals until they’re desperate.”

Rin crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. “Are you gonna sell or keep flapping your mouth?”

“Watch your tone, brat,” Jyn snapped. “You don’t talk here unless spoken to.”

Rin glared but stayed silent, lips twitching with anger.

I stayed behind them, gripping the strap of my bag so tightly my fingers hurt. Something felt wrong, the air, the way they looked at Kaito, the mocking laughter that didn’t match the situation. I could feel the shift, the kind that happens right before everything breaks.

Kaito’s voice was firmer now. “You said we could make a deal, Jyn. Don’t test me.”

The dealers started whispering to each other. One leaned toward Jyn, muttering something I couldn’t catch. Kaito’s hand drifted slightly toward his blaster. Rin noticed and took a step closer to him, her posture tense.

I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, anything to break the growing silence, but my voice wouldn’t come out.

Then Jyn chuckled, the sound cold and final. “You know what, Kaito? Maybe we will make a deal. Just one thing first…”

He nodded toward one of his men, a signal I didn’t understand yet. The man’s hand moved slowly toward his holster.

My chest tightened.

Something inside me screamed wrong.

And just before it could happen, just before everything shattered, I blinked, and the world around me froze.

The sound faded.

The colors dimmed.

And that’s when the future started bleeding through my vision.

Futuregaze.

In front of me, Jyn’s smirk vanished. His expression hardened. He lifted his gun, slow, deliberate, and pointed it at Kaito’s head.

There was no hesitation. No warning. Just the flick of his finger—

BANG!

Kaito fell backward, blood splattering across the concrete.

I screamed, but no sound came out.

And then, as suddenly as it hit me, the vision shattered. The noise came back. The lights flickered normally again.

Jyn was still talking. Still smirking. The gun was still holstered at his waist.
But my chest felt like it was going to explode.

“Yuzuki?” Rin whispered beside me. “You good? You look pale—”

I didn’t think. I couldn’t think.
I reached for my blaster, heart hammering so loud it drowned everything else out.

“Wait—” Kaito started.

BANG!

The blast tore through the air, burning ozone and metal. Jyn dropped instantly, a hole between his eyes, shock frozen on his face.

For a second, nobody moved.

Then—

“THE HELL WAS THAT?!” someone shouted.

Everything went to shit.

Bullets exploded from every direction. I dove behind a crate as the wall behind me shattered into splinters. Kaito grabbed Rin and shoved her down just before another volley ripped through the air.

“FUCK! YUZUKI!” Kaito’s voice thundered over the chaos. “WHY DID YOU SHOOT?!”

I couldn’t answer. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped my blaster. I could still see it, that flash of the vision, Kaito’s blood. My brain wouldn’t let it go.

Rin peeked over the crate and fired back, shouting, “SAVE THE QUESTIONS FOR LATER!”

The room filled with noise, gunfire, shouts, metal scraping concrete. The neon lights exploded above us, showering sparks. Kaito rolled to another crate, reloading with practiced precision, and fired at one of the dealers taking cover near the exit.

“MOVE LEFT!” he yelled.

I did, barely managing to crawl to another crate before a bullet grazed my shoulder. The sting made me flinch, but I kept crawling, ducking my head.

“THERE’S TOO MANY!” Rin shouted, voice tight. “We’re cornered!”

Kaito slammed another clip into his blaster and growled, “Not for long.”

He broke cover, sliding across the ground and firing three perfect shots, each one hitting their mark. The metal-jawed guy collapsed, his weapon clattering beside him. Rin followed up with two more blasts, taking down the ones near the door.

The smell of smoke and blood filled the air. The gunfire started to fade.
And I just sat there, knees to my chest, blaster still in my hands, ears ringing.

My vision blurred at the edges. My heartbeat was still racing from the Futuregaze.
I killed someone.

I killed him.

Jyn’s body was still there, twisted in a heap on the floor, smoke curling from the burn wound on his head. The exact same spot I saw in the vision. I couldn’t breathe.

Rin was reloading. Kaito was checking the last bodies, making sure none of them were getting back up. Then he turned to me.

He walked over fast, boots crunching on broken glass, and crouched in front of me. His face was flushed from the fight, sweat running down his jawline, but his eyes weren’t angry anymore. They were something else. Something like fear.

“Yuzuki,” he said softly, gripping my wrist. “Hey. Look at me.”

I did. Barely.

“You saved my life,” he said.

I shook my head. “I killed him.”

Kaito’s jaw tightened. “You saved me. Don’t twist that.”

“He was going to shoot you,” I whispered, voice trembling. “I saw it. I-I saw it before it happened.”

Rin came over, still catching her breath. “Futuregaze again?” she asked quietly. When I nodded, she sighed. “Shit, Yuzuki… you couldn’t have known what else they were planning. You did what you had to do.”

“I hate this…” My voice cracked. “I hate killing people. He was human. He-he wasn’t like Syntrix Umbra drones... He wasn’t a machine.”

Rin and Kaito exchanged a glance, the kind of silent look people share when they both want to help but don’t know how.

Then Kaito stood up, scanning the wrecked room. “Grab everything you can carry,” he said, voice harder now. “Ammo, grenades, blasters, all of it. We’re not leaving empty-handed.”

Rin nodded, moving to collect the crates stacked by the wall. The air was still thick with smoke and the smell of ozone, making my eyes sting.

Kaito turned back to me. “Can you stand?”

I didn’t answer at first. My hands were still shaking. But he reached down and pulled me up gently by the wrist, his touch warm despite the cold around us.

“We had no choice,” he said again, quieter this time.

I swallowed hard. “You always say that.”

He looked at me, and I saw the guilt behind his eyes too. The exhaustion. The same kind of fear I felt. “Because it’s true,” he murmured.

We gathered everything in silence. Piles of stolen weapons, boxes of blaster cartridges, a few energy cores. The flickering neon from outside reflected off the floor, turning the blood near our feet a dull purple.

As we left through the side door, the last echo of the gunfight faded into the night.
The streets were empty, quiet, like nothing had happened.

But I knew better.
Every step away from that warehouse felt heavier, like I was walking with someone else’s ghost sitting on my shoulders.

I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.