Kairo’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, glued to the fracture in the stone wall. Of all the places to finally find the one person he’d been desperately searching for since
entering the West region, it had to be here trapped in a forced recruitment line inside a subterranean cavern.
Overcome by a sudden spike of anger and shock, Kairo hissed through his teeth, "That little bastard... what is he even doing down there?"
Crouched beside him behind the wall, Benji blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst. He leaned closer, whispering, "Hey Kairo… you know someone down there?"
"Of course," Kairo snapped back, his fierce gaze locked entirely on Bobo down in the chamber. He shifted his weight, his adrenaline spiking. "We need to find a way to infiltrate this territory right now."
Fueled by a sudden, intense wave of motivation, Kairo moved to turn away from the viewing hole.
"Wait, what do you want to do?" Benji asked, holding up a hand.
Kairo froze mid-turn. He blinked, the fiery momentum suddenly draining out of him as he realized a glaring problem: He didn't have a plan.
Slowly, Kairo turned back around, looking completely clueless.
Benji let out a long, heavy sigh, reaching up to slowly straighten his glasses. He looked at Kairo with a deadpan expression that clearly said He really don’t have a plan
"Right," Benji muttered, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Before you do anything reckless, we actually need to come up with a plan."
Kairo locked eyes with Benji, the turbulent rush of adrenaline settling into a cold, heavy resolve. He trusted the guy's weird, calculating brain.
"You have a plan, then?" Kairo muttered.
Benji turned back toward the monolithic barrier of stone separating them from the chamber. His eyes scanned the contours like a map. "Geographically, we’re boxed in. This partition blocks our direct route, which means we navigate the perimeter, find a bypass, and pick up a clean vector from there."
Kairo gave a sharp nod. “Sure, whatever that means”
Together, they scrambled back down from the upper pillar, landing softly on the cavern floor where the solid stone partition finally ended.
In front of them lay a T-junction, but with a unique structural twist: the wall directly ahead was a dead-end partition, yet a visible chamber hummed with activity just behind it. Opting for the available route, they slipped into the narrow side-path that stretched away to the left side, keeping their hands pressed close to the boundary wall that still separated them from Harumachi's staging area.
They moved in ghost-like silence down the dead-end stretch until a flickering amber glow licked against the dark stone ahead.
Carved directly into the boundary wall was a heavy entryway, framed by an iron fire basket blazing with orange flames that cast jagged, dancing shadows across the tunnel.
They quickened their pace, boots scraping softly against the dust.
Clank. Laughter.
Voices erupted from the doorway.
Instinct slammed down on them. Kairo and Benji dove sideways, plastering themselves flat against a jagged cluster of boulders by the path. Peering cautiously from behind cover, they watched as two of Harumachi’s boys stepped out through the doorway and crossed directly toward an opposite tunnel entrance–revealing another intersecting walkway they hadn't noticed before.
The moment the enforcers vanished down the opposite path, Kairo started to stand up.
Benji shot out a hand, grabbing Kairo’s arm and pulling him back down.
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Kairo's patience snapped, "What now?"
Benji adjusted his glasses, his expression grave. "It's too risky Kairo. We don't know what's waiting on the other side of that door, and we besides... just watched two of their boys walk straight out of it."
Kairo stared at him, the logic slowly sinking in. "Well... do we have any other options?"
A thoughtful look crossed Benji’s face. "Actually, yes. One of us needs to scout ahead."
Kairo frowned. "Okay… Which of us?"
Benji raised his finger and tapped it firmly against Kairo's chest.
Kairo stared at him in utter disbelief. "Huh… but why me?!"
Benji adjusted his glasses again, offering a completely unapologetic smirk. "Well, I came up with the strategy, so operational execution falls to you."
Kairo’s expression darkened into a deep scowl. "And what happens if I get caught?"
Benji offered a cheeky, deadpan grin. "Just do the four-leg dance."
Kairo blinked, entirely thrown off. "The… what now?"
"Run like a baboon, Kairo." Benji whispered smoothly, tapping his glasses. "That's what I meant."
Kairo glared at him in absolute silence, his face a mask of profound regret, before turning away and slowly stepping out from the rocks, making his way top-down toward the door.
..........................................
Kairo crept toward the doorway. Flanked by the flickering fire baskets, the threshold gave way to a stone staircase descending into the gloom. He swallowed hard, taking a quiet breath before stepping down into the shadows.
The spiral steps led him through the thick of the wall and out onto a narrow stone gallery. Pressing low against the worn balustrade, he looked down into the vast chamber below. Massive stone pillars cast long shadows across the floor, where Harumachi’s boys, who were swiftly wrapping up the processing line, herding the final batch of the new recruits.
Kairo dropped to one knee, keeping himself hidden in the shadows of the upper balcony to spy on the operation.
Clack.
Footsteps echoed sharply from the staircase behind him. Kairo whipped his head around as one of Harumachi ‘s boys as he stepped out from the lower steps, freezing dead in his tracks upon spotting the intruder.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the boy asked with authority, staring at the crouched figure.
Kairo’s blood ran ice-cold. Damn it.
Kairo stood up slowly, awkwardly scratching the back of his hair with a sheepish, hopelessly lost expression. "Ah... my mistake. Actually.... I was just looking for the restroom."
The guard blinked, momentarily paralyzed by the sheer audacity of the excuse. "Ah... yeah, restroom..." He paused, his brow furrowing as the gears finally turned in his head. "Waaait a minute, there aren't any restrooms here..."
His eyes narrowed, and as his hand reached back toward his pocket for a knife, he stared hard at Kairo. "Tell me who the hell are you?"
Kairo was lost in words, just that moment, the boy’s eyes narrowed, squinting through the gloom as they swept over Kairo's face: The distinctive dark hair tied back with a streak of white at the tail. Recognition violently struck him. His hand bolted to his pocket, ripping a sharp blade into the dim air. "You're—"
Before the guard could finish, Kairo closed the distance in two massive steps. As the boy brandished the knife, Kairo swept past the blade, redirecting it harmlessly over his shoulder, and drove a vicious elbow straight down into the guard’s stomach.
The boy let out a sharp, choked gasp of agony, his grip failing as the knife clattered to the stone floor.
"Sorry for this," Kairo muttered under his breath.
Not giving him a fraction of a second to recover, he surged upward from the crouch, unleashing a devastating rising palm strike that snapped beneath the boy's chin.
The boy’s eyes rolled back, knocking him instantly unconscious. As his body began to topple backward, Kairo caught him by the shoulders, easing the heavy frame silently down to the gallery floor to avoid making a sound.
He exhaled a sharp, shuddering breath of sheer relief. "That was way too close..."
Clatter.
A sudden, sharp voice echoed from the stairwell entrance.
Kairo froze. Standing at the top of the stairs was another of Harumachi’s boys, his eyes widening in pure horror as he took in the unconscious guard sprawled on the floor.
“What have you done?” Then snapped up to glare straight at Kairo. A machete gleamed in his grip.
"You bastard!" the boy roared, his face twisting with murderous rage as he raised the weapon high and lunged forward to attack.
Panic seized Kairo’s limbs. He scrambled backward, throwing both palms flat against the cold stone as the killer lunged toward him.
Suddenly…
CRACK.
The air split with a sickening, hollow thud.
Something massive struck the back of the charging boy's head. His eyes rolled up into his skull, the machete freezing mid-air before his limbs went completely limp. The heavy body crashed forward, collapsing directly on top of a terrified Kairo.
"Benji—!" Kairo screamed, shoving frantically against the suffocating, dead weight pinning him to the floor. "Get this off me!"
He heaved the heavy bulk aside, scrambling backward in a frantic, cold sweat. But as he looked up to find his savior, the terror instantly fractured into sheer, dumbfounded disbelief.
Standing over them, chest heaving and breathing heavily, was Izuno, still gripping a massive, jagged rock raised in both hands.
Kairo’s eyes widened in profound shock, a wide, genuine grin breaking across his face. "Izuno...?"
Izuno let out a ragged breath, his knees suddenly buckling as he slowly lowered the heavy rock and dropped down to the stone floor, resting his hands on his knees to steady himself.