Chapter 25: The Price on Thier Heads

The rain hadn't let up by the time they reached Sai's "safe house."

Except calling it a safe house was generous. It was an abandoned karaoke bar, neon sign flickering weakly, a few broken windows patched up with duct tape.

Ryuuji whistled. "Classy."

"Shut up and get inside," Sai muttered, pushing open the door. The hinges screamed in protest, like the building itself was begging them to leave.

Inside, it smelled like stale beer and mold, but there were couches (questionable), electricity (flickering), and — to Kuro's delight — a vending machine that still worked.

"Snacks!" Kuro immediately started trying to kick the machine open.

"Damn it, Kuro, can you focus for five minutes?" Hotaru groaned, collapsing onto a couch that coughed out a cloud of dust.

Tora flopped down next to her, wiping his soaked glasses on his sleeve. "So, who wants to bet Kurogane put a bounty on us?"

"They did." Sai tossed a crumpled piece of paper onto the table.

It was a freshly printed bounty poster — a sketch of Hotaru's face, along with Mira, Tora, Ryuuji, Sai, and even Kuro, which made the cat puff up indignantly.

"Wanted alive," Mira read aloud. "For interrogation and public execution."

"Public execution? That's fancy." Ryuuji tried to sound casual, but there was tension in his voice.

Hotaru's jaw clenched. "This means they're desperate. They want to make an example out of us."

Jin, who had been silently brewing a pot of tea on a portable stove, spoke up for the first time. "Desperate enemies are the most dangerous kind."

Tora scrolled through his tablet, pulling up the dark web bounty site. "It's already up — 50 million yen for Hotaru, 20 million for the rest of us, and…" He squinted. "100,000 for Kuro?"

"I'm insulted!" Kuro howled. "I'm worth at least a million!"

"Maybe if you were a tiger," Mira muttered.

"Or if you had a driver's license," Ryuuji added.

"Or if you could cook," Jin said, calmly sipping his tea.

"This is bullying!" Kuro dramatically collapsed onto the floor, tail twitching furiously.

Hotaru rubbed her temples. "Focus, people. We have two choices — run for our lives or hit them back before they can regroup."

Sai leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Running won't work this time. They've already tracked us to two bases in a row. They've got a mole, or worse — a tracker planted on one of us."

The room went silent.

Mira slowly lifted her hoodie, checking her clothes for any hidden devices. Tora flipped his tablet over, scanning for signals. Even Kuro sniffed his own tail suspiciously.

Hotaru stood up. "Forget running. We attack first."

Sai's brow raised slightly. "You sure?"

"More than sure." Hotaru's eyes burned with determination. "I'm tired of being chased. It's time we make Kurogane the ones who are scared."

Ryuuji clapped his hands. "Oooh, a revenge arc! I'm so into this!"

Jin set down his tea. "I'm getting too old for this, but fine."

Tora's fingers hovered over his tablet. "Then we need intel — where their current base is, how many men they have, and who's in charge now."

"Already on it," Sai said, tossing his cigarette into an empty beer bottle. "But first, we need weapons. Real ones."

"More weapons? I already have a mop," Ryuuji said proudly.

"No."

"Fair."

Hotaru grabbed her jacket. "Let's move. Kurogane made this personal — now, we're gonna make them regret it."

As the squad marched out into the rain once more, the flickering neon sign above the door blinked out completely, leaving the night darker than ever.

But for the first time in a long time, Hotaru wasn't afraid of the dark.

She was ready to own it.

To be continued.

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