Chapter 41: The Path of No Return

The corridor was damp and narrow, with water dripping from somewhere above. Every breath tasted like rust and old earth. The team trudged forward, battered but unbroken, their footsteps echoing in the silence.

Kuro's fur was damp, his tail flicking irritably as he rode on Tora's shoulder. Mira was limping slightly, her jeans torn from the earlier scuffle. Sai walked ahead, sword in hand, every step cautious but deliberate.

Hotaru wiped sweat from her brow, her fingers trembling slightly. That voice… It had been years, but she'd never forgotten it. Him. The man who had taken everything from her family.

"You okay?" Ryuuji nudged her lightly with his elbow, his usual smirk softer than usual.

"Never better," Hotaru lied.

"Liar."

She didn't respond. There wasn't time to deal with feelings. Not when their enemies were probably tracking their every move.

Tora squinted at his tablet, fingers flying over the cracked screen. "Good news and bad news."

"Start with the good," Mira groaned.

"We're only about 500 meters from a hidden surface exit. Sai's map was right."

"And the bad?"

Tora sighed. "Kurogane's team is already waiting for us topside. They know exactly where we're headed."

"Of course they do," Sai muttered.

"Then we change the game," Hotaru said firmly. "We don't run through their trap — we set our own."

Ryuuji grinned. "That's the bloodthirsty Hotaru I know and love."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Love might be a strong word."

"Admire?"

"Barely tolerate."

"Close enough."

Hotaru raised her hand, cutting off their banter. "Focus. Tora, can you hack the exit controls? Make it look like we're taking that route, but we actually double back and take a different one."

"Easy. Child's play." Tora cracked his knuckles dramatically, only to be whacked on the head by Kuro's paw.

"We'll need a distraction," Sai added. "Something loud. Something explosive."

"I'll handle that," Mira said, patting her bag. "I still have those homemade flash bombs."

"Perfect."

They broke into action — Mira and Ryuuji set the decoy at the surface hatch, while Tora hacked the system to make the enemies' trackers show fake movement toward that point. Sai scouted ahead to find the real exit, and Hotaru paced restlessly, mind racing with plans.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Kuro, who had been quietly perched on Tora's shoulder, suddenly jumped down and trotted ahead, tail flicking.

"Where are you going, little guy?" Hotaru called softly.

Kuro paused, meowed once, and continued forward.

Sai narrowed his eyes. "I think…he found something."

They followed Kuro through a side tunnel, deeper than the maps showed. At the very end was an old rusted door, half-buried under rubble.

Tora scanned it quickly. "This isn't on any map."

Hotaru stepped forward, fingers tracing the metal surface. There was something familiar about it — a symbol scratched into the door's edge.

Her father's symbol.

Her heart pounded. This was no ordinary exit. This was a hidden vault her father had sealed years ago.

"Do we open it?" Mira asked quietly.

Hotaru didn't hesitate. "We have to."

Tora worked fast, bypassing the ancient lock in under a minute. The door creaked open, and cold air swept past them, carrying the scent of dust and metal.

Inside was a small, windowless room, barely bigger than a closet. But the walls were lined with weapons, old maps, and coded journals — all belonging to Hotaru's father.

"Holy…" Ryuuji whispered. "This is a goldmine."

Hotaru's hands trembled as she reached for one of the journals, the familiar handwriting bringing a lump to her throat.

"We don't have time to read all this," Sai said gently, "but take what you can."

Hotaru nodded, stuffing the journals into her bag. Her fingers brushed against a knife on the wall — her father's knife. She took that too, fastening it to her belt.

"Let's move," she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

With the fake exit set to lure Kurogane's team, and their own route now a hidden passage through the vault's secret tunnel, they had a slim window to escape.

They followed the tunnel's curve, the air growing colder with each step. Finally, they reached a cracked grate leading to the surface — inside a run-down warehouse, far from the main checkpoint.

"We did it," Mira whispered, voice filled with disbelief.

"Not yet," Hotaru said. "This was just the warm-up."

As they climbed out into the dim night, the city stretched before them — a glittering battlefield waiting for the final showdown.

Hotaru clenched her father's knife, eyes locked on the distant skyline where Kurogane's headquarters loomed like a dark promise.

"No more running," she said. "Next time, we end this."

And her team — her chaotic, ridiculous, lovable team — stood beside her, ready to follow her into hell if that's what it took.

End of Chapter 41