Chapter 4: — "Death by Dumbassery..." - Target: Arai Akimitsu (III)

Rain hammered the rooftop, cold needles slicing across my face as I slammed Arai against the air vent. The metal rattled under his weight. His hair was plastered to his forehead, eyes wide, chest heaving like a trapped animal. He smelled like sweat and fear, sharp enough to twist my stomach.

“Where is he?” I growled, pushing my pistol against his chest, not enough to shoot, just enough to remind him how thin his chances were. “Who killed Itsuki? Which one of his so-called-friends pulled the goddam trigger on him HUH??”

“I—I don’t know!” Arai stuttered, voice cracking. “I swear, Naomi, I don’t know! They don’t tell me everything!”

My finger twitched on the trigger. God, I wanted to pull it. “Don’t lie to me,” I said, voice low, tight, shaking with restraint. “If you’re lying, the only thing you’ll see is the street below rushing up to meet you.”

He flinched hard. A choked sob slipped out. “I’m not lying! I—I… I know one of them! One of them was Yamaguchi! I swear that’s all I know!”

I narrowed my eyes. “Yamaguchi. Just one name? No one else?”

“That’s it!” he gasped. “Please... I’m telling the truth!”

Frustration coiled in my chest, hot and electric. One name wasn’t enough. One name wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t bring Itsuki back, wouldn’t give me the answers that had ripped a hole through my life.

Rizzy hovered beside me, optics flickering. “Threat potential minimal. Subject cooperative but unstable.”

I ignored him. My glare stayed locked on Arai. Let him feel the wind whip rain across his face. Let him drown in the fear he deserved.

“You better not try anything,” I muttered, releasing a sliver of pressure from his chest. “You’re not leaving this roof without me watching your every move.”

Arai sagged with relief, trembling. “Th-thank you… thank you…” he whispered.

I didn’t answer. Didn’t feel like he deserved one. He was useless, fragile, terrified.

But alive.

For now.

I stepped back, still watching him like he might sprout fangs. The relief written across his face almost made me roll my eyes. He looked like a kid who’d just escaped a nightmare, except he hadn’t. He’d just delayed it.

“Follow me,” I said sharply. “Don’t make me regret keeping you alive.”

He nodded fast. Too fast. “O-of course! Thank you, Naomi, I—”

“Shut up.” I didn’t need his gratitude. I needed answers. Answers he didn’t have.

I turned toward the stairwell, rain pouring down my coat in cold sheets. Rizzy floated behind me, silent, scanning the shadows.

Then everything went wrong.

Arai stepped exactly where he shouldn’t have, back onto the air vent we’d slammed against earlier. It had been loose. Slick. Dangerous.

“Wait... what are you—?!” I shouted, but he already knew he’d messed up.

His foot slipped.

His arms flailed.

His eyes went wide with instant, pure regret.

And then he fell.

His scream tore through the night, sharp, panicked and straight up stupid.

“Are you... FUCK! FUCKING IDIOT!” I slammed my fist against the railing, metal singing under the impact. Rage, disbelief, and frustration exploded inside me so violently I felt dizzy.

Rizzy hovered beside the open gap, scanning downward. “Probability of survival: zero.”

I stared over the edge, jaw locked so tight it hurt. “I could’ve gotten more out of him,” I snarled. “The only lead I had! Fucking idiot...”

Rain hammered harder, mocking me. Laughing at me. My hands shook, itching to shoot something, anything, but there was nothing left except the smear of neon on wet metal and the echo of Arai’s final, idiotic scream.

I stepped back, shivering with anger and the cold reality of wasted opportunity.

“Come on,” I muttered, brushing past Rizzy. “We’re done here.”

Rizzy’s optics glimmered softly. “Naomi… vitals elevated. Recommend immediate evacuation.”

“Yeah,” I snapped. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

But even as I headed for the stairwell, the fury kept burning. I wasn’t done being angry. Not even close.

I barreled into the narrow stairwell, boots slipping slightly on wet metal. Rain dripped from my coat and stung my eyes. Arai’s death replayed in my head, pounding in my skull like a taunt I couldn’t escape.

Rizzy floated behind me, steady where I wasn’t. “Multiple hostiles inbound,” he said, all calm precision. “Probability of confrontation: high.”

I didn’t bother responding. I heard them... shouts echoing up the stairwell, weapons clattering, boots slamming metal. Arai’s men, desperate and angry, trying to avenge a boss who’d managed to kill himself.

I fired first.

Short bursts. Sharp. Clean. The first thug went down instantly. The others scrambled, tripping over each other in their rush to form a plan.

Rizzy swung over my shoulder, unleashing suppressive fire that lit the stairwell in bursts of white and orange. Bullets ricocheted off the railings, sparks flying like angry fireflies. Shouts turned panicked. Steps turned hesitant.

One idiot tried to flank me from above. I pivoted and kicked him square in the chest, sending him crashing down the steps before blasting his rifle out of reach. Metal screamed. Someone yelled. Someone else cursed Arai’s name like it would save them.

“Keep moving!” I hissed, sprinting downward. My hands were shaking, not from fear but from rage, pure, crackling rage that made every movement feel too fast and too sharp.

Rizzy monitored me like a nervous doctor. “Naomi, vitals still spiking. Recommend—”

“I know!” I shouted, firing another burst over my shoulder. “Just cover me!”

We moved together, me ducking, sliding, firing with instincts I barely controlled, Rizzy covering every angle with inhuman precision. The stairwell funneled our enemies into perfect targets. The ones who didn’t fall back soon enough fell permanently.

Finally, we hit ground level.

Behind us, Arai’s men skidded to a stop at the rooftop exit, staring down at where their boss had fallen. Their shouts grew louder, angrier. Good. Let them be pissed. Let them chase me.

I didn’t stop. Didn’t look back.

Rizzy floated close, scanning. “Threats neutralized. Path clear for withdrawal.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, breath ragged, bitterness sharp on my tongue. “Let’s go.”

Rain washed the blood and gunpowder from my skin as we pushed into the neon-lit night, leaving behind Arai’s body, and the sickening truth that my lead had died like a moron.

We hit the alley at a sprint. Water splashed around my boots, running in tiny rivers down the cracks between bricks. Neon signs flickered across every puddle, turning the ground into distorted streaks of pink and blue. The city smelled like metal, wet pavement, and distant smoke.

Arai’s men were still shouting on the roof, but by the time they made it down they were too late. All they would find was their boss’s broken body and the fact that he’d died without me laying a finger on him.

Rizzy hovered close. Ever-present. Ever-watchful. “Naomi… vitals remain elevated. I advise immediate return home for de-escalation.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, wiping rain from my eyes. “But seriously… what a fucking idiot.”

My muscles still trembled from adrenaline. My chest still burned like something was clawing inward. I’d had one lead. One. And he’d managed to eliminate himself before I could squeeze anything real out of him.

We ducked into a narrow side street. Rizzy scanned every doorway, every shadow, every flicker of light.

The shouts behind us faded. The rain softened to a steady hiss against pavement.

Finally... FINALLY, we were clear.

I kicked at a puddle, sending a spray across the pavement. “Next time,” I muttered, “someone better not be this stupid.”

Rizzy’s optics flickered gently. “Acknowledged. But for now… home.”

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. “Fine. Home.”

But as I followed Rizzy toward the glowing skyline, one thought kept burning, hot and merciless:

Yamaguchi.

Arai hadn’t been completely useless after all. Just a little stupid in the head...

And unlike him, Yamaguchi wasn’t going to get the chance to slip away.