Step Step
Step Step
Crash!
Kicking down a door, Azusa immediately took a step back. But when no explosions occurred, she immediately cleared the exposed part of the rooms.
There's no need for flashlight, this entire building is already quite lit up from the fact that there's no longer any windows covered.
Plus, it's quite early in the morning.
'She's not here.'
Calming analyzing the information she gathered, she realized that the building today seemed to be less equipped with traps and stuff.
'Was it because she's exhausted that she couldn't get as much explosives as the first day?'
Perhaps it is due to that.
Or maybe it was because Azusa was becoming more alert in noticing the locations in which an explosive would be attached to.
The more grounds she covered, the more explosives she could make out.
'Was it always this easy trying to stop them before?'
No. It was just that Saori was starved to the point of exhaustion. There's no way she could be as discreet as when she was at peak condition.
Truly, this would be the only time they'd ever see her this weak.
Clearing the floor one by one, Azusa finally reached the top of the building.
Just above this floor, the rooftop.
"..."
Taking a deep breath, she prepared to clear out the entire floor.
But before she could even take the first step,
Bang!
She felt the impact of a bullet hitting her shoulder.
"Gagh!"
She couldn't stop the noise of pain escaping her lips.
"That's not good. Even if you're injured, you should never expose more of yourself."
It sounded like Saori was standing behind her, but as she looked, she saw nobody.
"Keep it in. Don't make noises."
Bang!
Quickly, Azusa covered her face and right then she felt a bullet hitting her arms.
"Ugh!"
'How can she still be so swift even while starved?'
She's truly a monster in her own leagues.
Knowing now that Saori was hidden somewhere inside this floor, Azusa dashed back onto the stairs, trying to take a breather.
Right as she caught her breath, she was reminded of Kasuka's words,
"Saori's weakness, do you know what it is?"
She started with a simple question. But to that, Azusa couldn't answer.
She simply doesn't know what kind of weakness such a person could have.
Kasuka had looked at her as if she could read her thoughts.
"Hm, trust me this once. If I'm wrong, I'll do one thing, anything you wished of me to do."
"Right, I know this might not hold much value now since I'm really weak myself, but... Just think of it as you're investing in the future!"
"Hah..."
She needed to build a courage before she could put the plan to use. It's not something she could just simply do because she has the resources to do it.
If she were to put it in another word, she's practically trying to commit suicide right now.
Time and time again during this entire trial, she had thought of the success rate of such plan, but she couldn't be sure.
Azusa's hand went into her coat, the one that was give to her a couple of days ago by Saori.
Moving it around slightly, she could feel the clean texture of a metal ball, and a pin connected to it.
"..."
"Are you done contemplating?"
From across the room, Azusa could hear Saori's voice.
"...Yes."
All Azusa needed right now was a glimpse of Saori's body. If she could spot it in this messy environment, it's her victory.
It's not like she has a choice. She's putting everything into this strategy.
Just for today, she'd put 100% of her trust in Kasuka's words. Just for today, she'd trust Saori's moral compass.
"Heh, you see... her weakness is us!"
The one concern she had about this plan was that she had only ever known Saori for a week, not long enough to build a connection closer than acquaintance.
Kasuka's confident smile was very bright. It doesn't fit this place.
But deep inside her heart, Azusa was... relieved. Relieved that such a bright person was here to be her pillar.
"..."
Saori heard Azusa's words she stopped herself. Then, everything became quiet.
A few seconds passed before the tense atmosphere was broken by the sound of a rushing footstep echoed through the high floor.
Saori had a bad feeling about this situation.
As of right now, she have got a full view of Azusa's person. Every single action, every single decision, she could see them.
Azusa was dancing in the palm of her hands, she was still too green for Arius.
Thinking like that, Saori hesitated.
But it was that short moment of hesitation that costed Saori her position.
"Found you!"
Immediately pulling out her gun, Saori prepared for Azusa to start rushing towards her.
Her aim was stable and accurate. Even while starved, she could still exert enough strengths to fight back.
But as she thought of pulling the trigger...
Tink
The sound of a small metal object hitting the ground echoed.
"...!"
No matter how exhausted she is, she'd never mistakes that sound for anything else.
It happened in an instant.
Azusa was rushing towards her in a straight line, in her hand was a grenade.
This wouldn't have been a problem, she could've simply dodged the trajectory and hide behind a fallen table if she really was in a pickle.
"You're insane!"
The distance between them slowly disappeared as Azusa was catching up.
They ran in a cat and mouse chase, going from one floor to another, hiding inside rooms and disappearing into another.
It was hard trying to shake off such a determined bird like Azusa. Most of the time, she wouldn't have been able to even get close to Saori, but this time it's different.
Saori's weak.
And for that, she'll lose this battle of attrition.
Crash!
Saori crashed into a room filled with fallen tables and office chairs.
Dunk
It was then that she felt a heavy impact hitting her back. It only took a split moment of thinking to realize that Azusa had finally thrown the grenade at her.
'That's idiotic. I could simply kick it away and all your effort would've been in vain.'
Saori could've easily get out of this situation unscathed.
But...
"What are you doing!?"
Azusa was still rushing towards her, seemingly ignoring the fact that she had just thrown the grenade in the exact same direction.
After all, there's absolutely no way she'd be able to be quick enough to deal with both an active grenade and an Azusa.
Boom!