The Rescue

A few hours earlier...

Ring ring... Ring ring...

Shiro looked at his phone.

“Aunt Haruka? I’m sorry, but I can’t answer your call.”

Shiro immediately turned off his phone.

He followed Yūto to Mount Nokogiri.

“What is he doing on this mountain?” Shiro muttered.

From a distance, Shiro watched Yūto walking along a dark path.

He continued following Yūto from a safe distance.

He saw Yūto enter the gate of a building.

“Why did he throw away his katana?” Shiro muttered.

When the area was quiet, Shiro quickly picked up Yūto’s katana and hid again.

A few moments later...

Step... Step...

Someone came to retrieve Yūto’s sword.

He looked around, searching for the katana Yūto had thrown.

“Where's that katana? I’m sure he threw it somewhere around here.”

The man searched for a while but couldn’t find the sword.

“Strange...”

Finally, he went back inside the warehouse.

Shiro looked at the large entrance.

There was almost no way to get inside.

Shiro thought for a moment.

“If I enter through that door, they’ll definitely notice me.”

Shiro tried to contact his friends.

“Hello. Can you help me?”

“Sure.”

“I need a car to take my injured friend. Can you come here?”

“I’ll come. Just send me the address.”

“Okay, I’ll send it by message."

The call ended.

After Shiro sent them the address, his friends immediately headed to his location.

“I have to find another way in."

Shiro walked around, looking for a way to get inside.

That was when he found an air vent.

He tried to open it, but it was very difficult.

Finally, he used Yūto's sword.

Clang!

Shiro managed to open the air vent.

Shiro slowly climbed inside and crawled through the ventilation duct while following the sounds of Yūto and Kaito.

“Let him go!” Yūto shouted.

“I heard you’re pretty tough. You managed to defeat Kabuto’s men!” Kaito said.

Shiro stayed focused and moved slowly so they wouldn’t notice him.

“I have to be careful,” Shiro muttered.

Shiro also tried to remember the path he'd taken so he wouldn’t get lost when he returned later.

A few moments later, Shiro reached the room where Yūto and Aoi were being held.

“Beat him up!” Kaito shouted.

“Arrghh...” Yūto groaned softly after being beaten by several of Kaito’s men.

“Those bastards! I can’t act recklessly. I have to wait until they leave,” Shiro muttered.

Ring ring... Ring ring...

Suddenly, Kaito’s phone rang.

He answered the call.

He listened to the person on the other end.

“In that case, I’ll go there.”

Kaito immediately left the room.

“Boss, what about this guy?” one of his men asked.

“Just leave him hanging there! Wait for me until I come back...” Kaito said before leaving.

After Kaito left, Shiro moved closer so he could see Yūto more clearly.

He was directly above Yūto.

“Huh! What a pain! Just because you’re the son of the founder of the Kokuryu-gumi Dojo! If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t let you order me around like that!” one of Kaito’s men grumbled.

They then hung Yūto next to Aoi.

There were four men taking turns guarding Yūto and Aoi.

One of Kaito’s men took a picture of Yūto.

“Done. We have the proof.”

Not long after that, the two guards standing near the front gate called the other two guards.

“Hey, you two. We don’t need to keep watching them. Besides, there’s no way they can escape. How about we play cards?”

“Kaito might get angry if he finds out we’re relaxing."

“He won’t know."

“Besides, who’s going to come to this mountain at ten o’clock at night? A ghost?” the man who suggested playing cards joked.

They laughed.

Eventually, all four men went outside and locked the door from the outside.

Shiro waited for a while to make sure they had really left.

Then, he climbed down from the ventilation opening and approached Aoi.

Aoi had fallen asleep from exhaustion after crying.

“Aoi... Aoi... Wake up,” Shiro whispered.

Aoi woke up and was surprised to see Shiro.

Her voice was still weak.

“Shiro?!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll save both of you."

Shiro untied Aoi’s hands and feet.

“Don’t make any noise, okay?”

Aoi nodded.

Tears filled Aoi’s eyes again.

“Shiro, please help Yūto.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll help Yūto. But I’ll get you out first. Hold on to me.”

Shiro then jumped up and grabbed the air vent.

It was about 250 centimeters high.

“Aoi, from here, you just need to turn right twice, then turn left once. Keep going, then turn right. Go straight again, and you’ll reach the outside. Wait for me there, okay?”

“Okay.”

Aoi still looked sad as she glanced at Yūto.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you,” Shiro said.

Aoi nodded slowly and began crawling toward the exit.

Shiro then jumped back down and untied Yūto.

“Yūto...”

Shiro tried to wake him, but Yūto seemed to have passed out from the hard blows he'd received.

“Wake up, Yūto.”

But Yūto didn’t move.

Shiro then lifted Yūto and carried him away.

“Looks like you need to start dieting, Yūto,” Shiro muttered.

After getting outside, Shiro led Aoi toward a road.

“Aoi, my friends will be here soon. Wait here. I’ll go get my motorcycle first.”

Aoi nodded.

A few moments later, Shiro’s two friends arrived.

Aoi waved at them.

“You’re Shiro’s friend, right?”

They nodded.

“Where’s Shiro?” one of them asked.

“Shiro is getting his motorcycle. Please help Yūto."

“Come on, let’s get him into the car. You come with us, too.”

After an hour of riding, they arrived at a clinic.

Not long after that, Shiro also arrived at the clinic.

It was already two in the morning.

“How is Yūto?”

“He’s already been treated. They said his injuries are only external injuries. He just needs to rest,” Aoi replied.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness...”

“Shiro, what actually happened?” one of his friends asked.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you tomorrow. You guys should go home now. Thanks for helping me."

“Don’t worry, Shiro. We’ll always help you."

Shiro smiled.

Not long after that, his two friends went home.

“Aoi, go to sleep. You need to rest, too. I’ll stay here and watch over Yūto,” Shiro said.

Aoi looked worried.

“But..."

“Don’t worry. I’ll watch over him until morning."

Eventually, Aoi fell asleep in a chair inside Yūto’s room.

A few minutes later, Shiro also fell into a deep sleep because he was exhausted from carrying Yūto, who was unconscious.

A few hours later...

As the morning sun began to rise, Shiro woke up.

“Ah... I slept so well. That was a really exhausting night."

Shiro stretched his body.

However, a few seconds later, he realized something.

Shiro turned toward the bed.

“Oh no!”

He immediately stood up.

“Doctor! Where are my friends?” Shiro shouted as he ran out of the room.

But instead of finding them gone, Shiro saw Yūto and Aoi sitting outside the clinic, drinking tea and enjoying the morning sunlight.

“Good morning, Shiro,” Aoi greeted him.

“You two?!”

Shiro was still shocked.

Yūto smiled.

“I thought you guys were gone,” Shiro said.

“Thank you, Shiro. I knew you'd been following me since the Samurai Festival last night. That’s why I wasn’t worried.”

“So you knew I was following you?”

“Of course. I could even hear you when you were inside the ventilation duct.”

Yūto smiled.

“I knew you were a great guy, Shiro."

Shiro was silent for a moment.

“Hmm... I guess we’re even now, right?”

Shiro smiled.

“You once saved me from Kabuto and those samurai, and now I saved you.”

Aoi and Yūto smiled.

“Thank you, Shiro,” Aoi said.

Yūto nodded.

Embarrassed, Shiro turned his face away.

“I just didn’t want Aunt Haruka to be sad if she found out you guys were in danger.”

Yūto and Aoi smiled.