Chapter 36: Storm at the Door

The ramen bowls were still half-full when the first bang shook the front door.

Hotaru was on her feet instantly, hand flying to the knife at her waist. Mira kicked her chair back, grabbing her twin pistols from her belt. Ryuuji, with his mouth still stuffed with noodles, gave a muffled, "Already?! I was still eating!"

Sai moved silently to the window, peeking through the curtain. His face was grim. "Two vehicles. Blacked-out windows. No plates."

"Classic Kurogane," Hotaru muttered.

Tora was already crouched by the control panel beside the door, fingers flying across the keys. "I can jam their comms for a few minutes, but if they brought a signal booster, we're screwed."

Kuro perched on the back of the couch, tail flicking anxiously. "Meow."

Hotaru cracked her neck. "Alright. Team meeting. Right now."

Mira smirked. "This is gonna be good."

"Here's the deal," Hotaru said, pacing in front of them. "We could run, but I'm sick of running. They're gonna keep chasing us no matter where we go."

Sai's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Agreed."

"So we fight." Hotaru's eyes gleamed in the dim light. "We fight smart, and we fight dirty. Tora, lock down all exits except the back door. Mira, take the upper window and cover us from above. Sai, you and I are front line."

Ryuuji raised his hand. "What about me?"

"You," Hotaru grinned, "are bait."

"What?! Why am I always the bait?!"

"Because you're loud, cocky, and they hate your face."

Mira snorted, loading her pistols. "She's got a point."

Before Ryuuji could protest further, the door slammed again — this time cracking down the middle.

"Positions!" Hotaru ordered.

Tora flicked a switch, and the front room plunged into darkness. Outside, the rain had picked up again, sheets of water hammering the roof like a war drum. Thunder rumbled, as if the sky itself was rooting for chaos.

The door burst open with a deafening crash, and four masked men poured in, guns drawn.

"Now!" Hotaru shouted.

Mira fired from above, her bullets precise, shattering the lights outside and plunging the room into flickering shadows. Sai moved like a ghost, silently taking down the first man with a brutal elbow to the throat.

Hotaru slid across the table, kicking another straight in the chest, sending him flying into the wall. Ryuuji, despite his complaints, danced through the chaos, taunting the remaining two like they were in a street fight, not a life-or-death battle.

"Come on, boys! You want a piece of this?" he laughed — right before Mira shot the gun out of one thug's hand and Tora hacked the room's speaker system to blast obnoxiously loud techno music.

"Really, Tora? Techno?!" Hotaru shouted over the noise.

"It's motivational!" Tora yelled back.

Kuro leapt from the couch, claws flashing, and shredded the pant leg of one attacker, making the poor guy scream like a child.

The fight was brutal, fast, and chaotic — but they fought as a team.

Within minutes, the floor was littered with groaning bodies, and the only sound left was the rain, still drumming its relentless beat.

Hotaru wiped blood from her lip, breathing hard. "Everyone okay?"

"Peachy," Ryuuji grinned, holding up his now-empty ramen bowl. "Not a drop spilled."

Sai stepped over a body, frowning. "This was too easy."

Hotaru's stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"

Sai knelt beside one of the unconscious men, pulling something from his pocket. A small tracker, blinking red.

"They wanted us to win," Sai said quietly. "This was just a test. To see how strong we've gotten."

Silence crashed down heavier than the rain.

Mira holstered her guns, lips pressed into a thin line. "So what now? They know where we are."

"We move," Hotaru said, already packing her bag. "We move fast, and this time, we take the fight to them."

Tora's eyes widened. "We're attacking Kurogane?"

Hotaru's smile was sharp as broken glass. "That's exactly what we're doing."

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End of Chapter 36