Chapter 19:

Troublemakers / Rule-breaker (Part 1: A good leader)

The Dusk of Revenge


  When I arrived at the location where the others were having some rest. I found Rin waiting for me outside.

“…What was the sound of the explosion I heard minutes ago?” She asked with a worried look on her face.

Since we were technically in the enemy territory at that time, worrying about every small detail is the right thing to do. I smiled as I entered the house: “… It’s nothing important. The house where I was interrogating the traitor got blown due to a gas leak. It looks like the explosion of the dome destroyed the pipes in that zone.”

“…You’re trying to do everything on your own once again?” She asked as she tried to stop me for a bit. Unless I explain what happened, I thought she wouldn't leave me alone. I seriously didn’t want to spoil the mood with irrelevant details…

At that time, if I hadn’t noticed the smell of gas getting stronger in the room after using the poison, I would have been dead. It was really a close call. I think that explosion occurred the moment when the gas made contact with electricity. That kind of thing happens a lot. Even in these days where gas wasn’t used as much as it was before, accidents like gas leaks weren't a rare thing. Well, explosions are a rare thing of course but, in my case here, I think that I should call it a happy accident. Cleaning all that mess that I left there wasn’t a thing that I would’ve entrusted the police department with.

There was always that problem between the special forces and the police. We tend to do everything on our own: Arresting criminals, investigating, and even eliminating the enemy when we’re obliged to do so. While the police were obliged to follow the global and local human rights when dealing with criminals, we weren’t. After all, our job was to fight terrorists, spy, and enemies from other countries not capturing thieves…

This fundamental difference between us made cooperation a bit difficult. In cases where we are considered rule breakers from their perspective, we were always obliged to clean the scene behind us. That’s why I called the explosion a happy incident. I have nothing to clear, nothing to report, and especially nothing to worry about.

As I sat on the sofa, Rin followed me quickly and sat before me silently. She kept looking at me with wide eyes without saying anything. She was waiting for me to explain what happened. Seconds later I couldn’t bear the awkward silence, so I coughed then said: “… So… How do I say this... The traitor is dead!”

“…What happened exactly?” we turned to the stairs to see Shuna who was descending when she heard me saying that sentence.

“… Apparently there was a gas leak in the old bookstore where I took Mr. Karuizawa to interrogate. I barely made it to escape when I discovered the explosion risk.” A meagre smile appeared on my face as I told an obvious lie like that. “…The man was an old member of the Red Claws anyway. I hate to say it, but he had to die.”

What they don’t know won’t hurt them. I had to keep the information I got from him to myself and just discuss the next phase of the mission.

“What about the connection that got severed moments before the man wakes up?” Rin asked.

“There wasn’t any signal in the basement…” I looked away as I answered her question. I didn’t know what expression was on my face at that time, so I thought that I would be safe to hide it anyway. “… Where are the other boys? Are they still sleeping?”

A worried expression was printed on Shuna’s face as she answered: “… When I woke up minutes ago, I found a letter hanging on the door of their room that reads “… We went to check the surrounding area. We will return before the return of Shinji” It looks like they haven't returned yet.”

I jumped from the sofa immediately after hearing that. “I asked you all to stay here and wait for me until I return with some info to decide our next move!” I looked at Rin who was surprised.

“Did you see anything before my arrival?”

“…No! They have probably jumped through the window.”

“What about you, Shuna?”

Fear expressions were all over her face as she looked at me. She knew that they were probably in danger. “…I just woke up, so I have no idea when they left or where they did go.”

“…How were they even supposed to know when I will be returning?!” I asked with a frustrated voice.

“Master! Asahi will find their location!” Ai notified me. “… I gave him a brief explanation about what happened in the bookstore and now he is searching for the three boys’ location”

Meanwhile the two girls went to prepare to bring their weapons from their room upstairs since they expected me to order them to follow me on a research mission. That scene made me wonder why the boys are taking this mission a bit lightly while the girls on the other hand were the ones with the best performance so far…

It isn’t like the boys were having a hard time or anything. But disobeying the orders makes all the achievements they made go to waste.

I sat again on the sofa waiting for a call from Asahi or the girls to get ready as I kept thinking about the consequences of this irresponsible act…

A minute later, as we were leaving the house, I received a call from Asahi.

“… I think this is the worst possible scenario!”

“What do you mean by that, Asahi?” I asked.

“Based on the info that Ai gave me a moment ago there is a big chance that they are going to meet with the real enemy in the Komazawa Olympic Park.” He sent me a map with our location and the current location of both the enemy and the three boys as he continued explaining. “…You should go north as quickly as possible. I don’t think you have much time left!”

We started running immediately. We were about 1 kilometre away from them, so it was a matter of minutes until we reached them.

“…If they didn’t turn off their connection devices like you, this wouldn’t have happened!” Asahi commented in a sarcastic voice.

“You mean this is my mistake?”

“I just pointed out that they acted the same way you did! You didn’t rely on anyone to help you although we are a squad. Now they are trying to score some achievements without your help. To be honest, at least they are moving in a group, not like you!”

I sighed as we continued running toward The Olympic Park. We had to reach them before arriving at the south entrance. Based on what Karuizawa said, the enemy should be preparing themselves for the next step in their plan which is to attack the seven squads from behind and completely destroy them. The ultimate goal for them was to destroy the whole special forces and demolish three domes: Setagaya, Ota, and Meguro.

As we arrived at the south entrance gate Asahi called again: “…The three of them are in Heading towards the Olympic tower!”

“… Don’t enter the park yet!” I ordered Rin and Shuna. “…Can’t you feel that this is getting a bit strange?”

The girls looked at me with puzzled faces, so I continued the explanation: “…You didn’t notice that we’re currently going straight to the enemy location? Why do you think the boys went to the park of all the places in the huge area of Setagaya?”

“…Come to think of it, this situation is kind of suspicious!” Rin replied. Shuna kept thinking for a moment then answered: “… There are two possibilities: Either they were able to win against a member that they found while roaming in the area and got the answer from him. Or this is a trap.”

“… If they are planning to meet us before the Olympic tower then we should be prepared for the worst!” We continued walking toward the entrance as I continued talking: “… Shuna you take position and prepare yourself to snipe the enemy. We will be counting on you to cover us. As for you Rin, you will be coming with me!”

None of us thought for a moment that the boys were actually fine and that they weren’t at least captured by the enemy. If they lost to the enemy, then there would be absolutely no way they are alive now. The Red Claws have no benefit in keeping one of the special forces alive especially when they know that the person they defeated was actually trained for the sole reason to destroy them.

“Do you think that those guys actually lost a fight?” I asked.

“You’ve got a point there! We’re talking about Akira, Rintaro, and Kazuto after all!” Rin answered. “…Thinking that they got defeated this easily is a bit hard!” Shuna went to find a good position to hide as we continued walking straight to the trap of the enemies….

Before reaching the location, we found the idiot three boys hiding waiting for our arrival…

As they kept looking forward, I gave a sign to Rin to keep advancing quietly as I marched slowly and silently behind their backs.

“…Master! What are you going to do?” Ai asked. I kept advancing as I whispered: “Nothing just paying them for all the trouble they caused!”

Rin followed me silently as she understood my intention…

Of course, we were happy that they were still alive but that doesn’t mean that we weren’t angry. They made us worry for nothing. We had to make them go through some scary moments. We pulled our guns as we stood just behind them then pointed them silently at them. The three kept silent and raised they hands in the air to surrender. That was the only choice they had if they were really caught in reality. Luckily for them this wasn’t the case this time.

“Picking a bad position to hide, disobeying the orders, and following the enemy mindlessly.” I whispered in Akira’s ear. “…I know that this all was your idea. But I think I should give you all a compliment for acting correctly when being attacked from behind: Never act tough, surrender, and wait for the perfect moment.”

“L-Leader?!” He said as he turned his head to see me. The others slowly got the courage to turn around and see who was behind them…

They sat on the ground and bowed their heads as they knew that we were completely angry at them.

“We apologize, leader, for leaving our position without asking. We spotted three enemies walking near the house, so we jumped on them quickly to fight them since they looked a bit tough, we left our transmission devices on them and decided to contact you!” Kazuto explained.

“Then?” I asked with a serious tone.

“We couldn’t reach you, so I told them to chase after the enemies to at least know their hideout. We are terribly sorry!” I wasn’t planning on doing anything at that time. Any punishment they were going to receive will be after we finish this mission. They surely tried to do their best, but why did they use their three devices when they simply could've used just one... After hearing Akira’s words and seeing Rintaro lifting and bowing his head repeatedly since he couldn’t find anything to say I smiled. Actually, I was holding myself from laughing at that scene.

[I think it is time to show some passion towards my soldier…]

I hugged them as I said with a smiling face: “…Thank Goodness! You’re all okay.” Everyone kept looking at me without saying anything for a few seconds then finally Rintaro asked: “…You’re not going to punish us?!”

I looked at him then answered: “…A leader should set a good example for his soldiers. This time, we both made a mistake so we should maybe forget about the whole thing. And after all, …”

“And?”

“Since childhood you’ve all been troublemakers!”

That’s true, ever since my childhood, they were famous in the orphanage for being troublemakers…