Chapter 49: Truth

A mentally exhausted Sora walked into his apartment with a tired look on his face. Locking the door behind him, he moved towards the couch in the living room before allowing his body to fall on it.

'What a drag!' He complained internally, barely noticing Zatanna who was moving around in the kitchen.

"Rough day?" She asked from the kitchen, noticing his arrival.

It was an open kitchen that was connected to the living room so it wasn't too hard to notice.

"You have no idea. The only thing worse than working for hours is working with dumb people for hours." He complained, causing her to giggle.

A cup of coffee floated to him before stop in front of his face. He snatched the cup out of the air, taking a sip as his eyes regained a bit of seriousness.

"Did you find anything?" He asked as he took another sip.

When he 'interrogated' Kenji, he found some information about a strange group of individuals that arrived appeared on the radar Tokyo's underworld.

Their arrival was around the same time his mother was killed. It could be a coincidence but just in case, he had Zatanna hunt for intel while he performed his heist.

"Yeah. They call themselves the 'Saviors'." She started as she walked out of the open kitchen to sit beside him.

"They claim to the heroes of Tokyo but word has it that they're just another group of delusional murderers. They're looking into the cause of activity in Tokyo but they haven't made any big moves recently." She said as he mulled over her words.

"Also, Kenji was a big name with many connections. A lot of people are sniffing around for what took him out but they're being cautious." She said.

"So they won't end up like him." Sora said, voicing the unspoken meaning as she nodded.

"Nicely done. Keep an eye out for anything related to them and keep me posted." He said, genuinely satisfied with her work.

Kenji knew a lot of hotspots for gang activity in the city which he had of course taken note of. All he had done was give Zatanna a general location and she did the rest herself.

'With how long she spends with that grimoire, I'd be surprised if she wasn't competent.' He said as he took a final sip of his cup.

A random thought popped into his head.

'Maybe I should pick up a cooking skill.' He thought as he dropped the cup on the small table in front of him, dismissing the thought.

Just as he dropped it, the cup floated on its own back to the kitchen before gently landing in the sink.

He turned to Zatanna who simply smiled innocently.

'Okay now you're just showing off.' He thought dryly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what exactly are you planning to do?" Zatanna asked Sora who was staring at the screen of the computer while absentmindedly working on what looked like a tiny motherboard.

The watch was connected to the computer as it decoded the data he 'acquired'. It wasn't anything fancy, it would be done in about-

*beep!*

-now.

He immediately tossed what he was working on into his inventory as he turned to the computer.

"The badge worn by some of the senior staff in YoshiTech is the same one that one of the shooters wore that night. I'm going to go through the files of anyone who's ever been issued that badge." Sora explained as he perused the information on the screen.

"Are you sure? It could have been borrowed. Besides, how are you to recognize him?" She asked, considering some possibilities.

They were valid questions.

"Apparently it's forbidden to wear the badge if you weren't issued one. If caught, they would be let go for impersonation and insubordination." Sora explained what he read a few lines ago.

"That's a bit extreme, though it does narrow down the suspects. Still, how would you be sure you got the right person?" She questioned not out of concern for whoever was unfortunate to be at the receiving end of that mishap but out of curiosity.

"I remember that night like it was just yesterday. I can't forget his face." Sora answered softly as he opened a folder that held employee information.

The room was silent for a moment as only the clicking of the keyboard could be heard.

"Ju-just don't over do it." She said gently, breaking the silence. As she stood beside him, she gave his neck a soft hug before walking out of the room, leaving him to his devices.

A serious look was plastered on Sora as he scrolled through folder after folder.

Almost an hour passed and he still hadn't found what he was looking for. There was many more people with the badge than he expected.

He didn't even care about the dirty secrets of the company he found among the data. His sole goal was to find someone and he wouldn't stop till he found him.

Another twenty minutes passed as Sora was already getting frustrated. Just as his frustration reached its peak, his eyes settled on the picture in front of him with a cold glare.

Black hair that was cut short, a small tuft of hair on his chin and an overall average middle aged face.

'Found you!' He thought darkly, recognizing the face instantly despite it being some time ago.

He quickly scanned through the folder for his place of residence and all relevant information about him.

Asari Gen, a spy planted in the company by the Purple Hat gang. What they didn't know was that the company knew he was spy and so manipulated whatever data they received.

He's been in two marriages which both ended up in a divorce for different reasons. He currently lives alone in…

Sora prepared the necessary tools and equipment as he read it, the cold look never leaving his face.

Changing into dark clothes, he left the room. On the way out, he met Zatanna.

"Get changed. We're going out." He said coldly yet she knew that tone wasn't because of her, leading her to one possible conclusion.

He had found him.

With a nod of her head, she dashed into the room for a moment before coming out in a set of dark clothes similar to him.

Silently approving, be led them out of the apartment towards the home of his target.

Given how hard he had trained her, it wasn't shocking that she could easily maneuver her way on the rooftops as they sped deeper into the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sora and Zatanna stood at the top of their target's home. It wasn't large by any means but it was still decent.

Spreading his perception, he felt someone inside the upstairs room just below their feet. They weren't moving and hadn't moved for a while now, a nagging feeling appearing in his mind.

Silently gesturing to Zatanna who waved her now shimmering hand in the air, he walked down the wall of the building until he was beside the window.

Without remorse or any use of subtly, he smashed his fist into the glass window, shattering it. The noise would have woken up a lot of people if it wasn't for the fact that no sound rang out at all.

He entered and looked around as Zatanna floated right behind him into the room. They were in a bedroom but it was devoid of anybody.

Sora still felt someone in the room, easily finding them as he walked to the large cupboard in the corner of the room before ripping the doors open.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" The sound of a screaming man met his ears as he was faced with a frightened but familiar man.

"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" The man screamed as he was pulled into the air by a glaring Sora who threw him violently against the wall.

The man let out a shriek of pain as his body slammed into the concrete wall. He managed to look up at Sora who held a cold expression that was hidden by the hood of his clothes.

"I won't tell anyone, I swear!? I don't want to die!?" The man screamed in fright as Sora brought down his hood.

"Do you remember me?" He asked, his voice dangerously calm as a glint of recognition flashed in the man's eyes.

"Y-yes!" He answered in shock as he shook in pain and fear.

While he and his group were setting up, he made brief eye contact with the boy. He had assumed he was a simple nobody so he didn't bother chasing after him.

"I'm Makoto Sora, son of the woman you and your friends killed." He continued, as the man's fear grew to new heights.

"Before I kill you, tell me. Where are your friends who were with you that night?" Sora asked as he gripped the man by his throat, a vial appearing in his hand as he dumped the content down the man's throat.

He threw him back against the cupboard, watching as it broke under the force.

He wasn't one for torture due to its messy nature but he couldn't help but admit that he was feeling extra violent.

The man opened his mouth to speak but the words that came out of his lips were words that shook Sora.

"They're dead!" The man exclaimed as he shook, almost crying as he tried to shuffle away from Sora.

'Dead? What do you mean?' Sora thought as his blood ran cold.

"What do you mean dead?" Sora questioned the whimpering man.

"They're dead! Someone's been hunting us down to silence us! Mitsu managed to warn me just before they killed him! And I'm next!" The man screamed in fear as his shaking increased.

Sora stood stunned by what he had just learned. From when he entered, he found the man's reaction to be a bit exaggerated but now it made sense.

"Who is they land why are they hunting you?" Sora asked as the man began to explain.

"A few days before that night, a man came to us telling us he had a job for us. The boss wanted to refuse because the job was just strange but he couldn't argue once they dropped a huge amount of money!"

"The job was to kill a woman who was coming out of the hospital. It was supposed to look like a gang shooting and we pulled it off! Last week some of our guys started turning up dead!"

"The boss managed to figure out who was doing it and told us but not before they killed him too. Me and Mitsubishi were the last ones left but they got him and now it's only me!" The man's fear grew with each passing second as he spoke.

"P-please! Y-you have to protect me! I'll do anything!" The man begged as he whimpered.

'They had over two months to tie up loose ends so why wait until now?' He thought as he repeated his question that had gone unanswered.

"Who is this man who hired you?" Sora questioned. He didn't doubt the answers given seeing as how he had dumped what was basically a truth serum down the man's throat to prevent him from lying.

"It was dark and he wore a mask so we didn't know what he looked like but he had a name! It was Ka-" He was interrupted as Sora's senses blared as he shifted his body away as twin bullets shot past him.

It was only then that he realized his mistake. The bullets shot past him and into the frightened man, one in the center of his head and one in his neck.

———————————————-

[Author Note: I'm looking for a fellow author who's willing to work with me on something. If your interested just comment on this with your discord username]