A short-brown-haired man who was standing behind the rows of teenagers appeared to be smiling broadly. The man seemed to really like the sight that his eyes had seen since the first time that person set foot in the hall. Plus, a familiar child in his eyes seemed to approach that person and for a while they already seemed to be engrossed in talking about something without awkwardness.
The man chuckled while he took off his gray suit, removing the two buttons of his shirt that felt suffocating. Still staring at the scenery in front of him, the man shifted to the side while leaning his head towards a man in a neat black suit who at first glance looked like a security guard.
"Gorou-san, Gorou-san," he whispered to the man in the all-black suit standing beside him. "Tell me, did your nephew intentionally approach The Chosen Elementor for something or was it just that the kid was too friendly?"
The man who was called Gorou immediately stared intently in front of him. His eyes wandered around as if he were looking for someone among the many teenagers in front of him. When the target was finally found, Gorou sighed.
"That kid ...." murmured Gorou while shaking his head. "I hope Kouichi can control his mouth so as not to say something he shouldn't say to The Chosen Elementor."
The man next to Gorou laughed amusedly. "Well, whatever his reason, I don't mind it. Because if I were Kou-kun, I would also do the same."
Gorou glanced to the side and looked at the man beside him with a flat face. Until the man stopped his laughter, Gorou raised his voice.
"Honestly, I feel both relieved and worried about your behavior like this as Higami's leader," Gorou said. He looked at his watch for a bit before continuing, "Not that I doubt you, Masayuki-kun, but what if—"
"That's why it's important to have Gorou-san, Aoki-san, Sasaki-kun, and the others, right?" interrupt him with a smile. "After all, our role has also been helped by the presence of Kou-kun who without we asking has become friends with The Chosen Elementor. I hope, all the information he stole from Gorou-san can help them if we're not around him."
Gorou cleared his throat. "Well, ekhm, I hope so too. Although Kouichi is a bit rebellious, that doesn't mean he's a bad boy."
A light chuckle sounded beside him. "How far does Kou-kun know? Does he know that Rat Road?"
Gorou nodded. "I assume, he followed me silently there when he was seven years old. Maybe I didn't realize Kouichi had a talent as a ninja."
The man beside him only laughed while Gorou sighed again and started to follow the line of teenagers in front of him.
...
In pitch darkness, a voice from the front beckons to remain calm, silent, and not to move around. The signal in the place suddenly disappeared when one of the people sitting in front of Ken turned on his phone and complained about his complaints with a dramatic roar. The tense atmosphere, which had previously been muted, was reawakened, as were the dots of white light that began to appear when everyone in the room checked their phones.
When the completely dark room became slightly luminous from the rays of the phone screen, Ken nailed his gaze towards one of the points at random while thinking about the worst scenario that happened at that time. The worst guess is that the third floor of the building—or maybe the entire building—is being attacked by something or someone. If this estimate is correct, nothing can be done, except by Higami's own higher-ups. Meanwhile, if there wasn't an unexpected attack, then Ken thought that this was some kind of test for the new members.
Still busy with various approximate scenarios in his head, Ken suddenly felt something rather wet and cold touching his wrist. Quickly, Ken turned his head and found that Yamashita was enveloping his left wrist, as if he hadn't done that, Ken's left hand wouldn't have survived. Yamashita didn't speak a single sentence. He just focused on looking ahead with a serious look in his eyes. Ken, who felt strange, shook his left hand so that Yamashita kept his hand away. However, the young man in the flannel shirt shook his head while looking at Ken with his mouth tightly closed. His gaze looked sharper.
From the outside, suddenly there was a loud sound like something was hitting the wall with full force or something fell from a height, accompanied by intense vibrations that made all the people trapped in the room think that an earthquake was happening. Ken was confused, and also scared, but he could not do anything. He didn't even know for sure what was going on outside. The incident was also a first for Ken, who according to him, seriously endangered his safety while making him feel what real fear means.
Meanwhile, Yamashita was still holding Ken's hand while glancing in all directions with a wary gaze. He also occasionally glanced at his phone which was still on but had not yet gotten the signal back. When Yamashita took his eyes off the phone screen and stared at one point, the man nimbly changed his sitting position to kneeling. His hand that was grasping Ken's hand wobbled.
"Follow me," Yamashita said, whispering.
Inevitably, Ken trusted Yamashita's instructions and followed what he said. Ken elbowed Chikara—who had been busy observing the situation in silence—to follow him away with Yamashita. With his one-handed position pulled from the front by Yamashita, Ken walked carefully so as not to misplace his foot on something that should not be stepped on.
"Say, Yamashita, what would happen if I trusted you but you weren't the person I should have trusted?"
Without looking back, Yamashita answered Ken's question. "Well, one thing you haven't and probably should know from me, Imai-kun, is that I would never want to joke in such a serious situation."
Yamashita continued to walk while pulling Ken's hand. Chikara followed the two from behind in silence. With his other hand, Yamashita is occasionally seen checking his phone periodically. Arriving at the end of the room, Yamashita stopped his steps. However, his hold on Ken's hand did not come off immediately. The three of them just stood there quietly for almost two minutes.
When Ken was intending to ask Yamashita for clarity as to why they just stayed there and didn't move anymore, suddenly a sound like the door being opened sounded right behind him.
"Hurry!"
Yamashita pulled Ken's hand again. In a bit of a hurry, Chikara followed them. Right after Chikara entered, the small gap that became their entrance was tightly closed without being noticed by anyone who was still trapped without direction and purpose in the room. In fact, even where they enter, no one will be able to realize it because what appears from the outside is just an ordinary smooth wall without overdrafts, carvings, or certain symbols that can be used as a sign that in that place there is a secret path to somewhere.
Ken walked carefully while trying to sharpen his senses because the place he passed was very dark beyond the darkness of the third floor room. Also, the road was very narrow, although strangely he did not feel the lack of oxygen. They continued walking in silence until he finally saw a speck of faint white light at the end of the room that gradually seemed to shine more brightly on his shoes, the path he walked, and the path of which he had only been able to feel the surface without being able to see clearly what it looked like.
"Sit down, sit down!" said the owner of the same voice as the figure who opened the secret passage to the three of them. "Kouichi, keep covering up Imai-kun's whereabouts and try to keep yourself calm even though we've moved to a safer place."
"Alrighty~"
The bright light beam in the six-by-six meter room made Ken have to briefly adapt to the bright light that suddenly entered his eyes. Then he raised his chin slightly while squinting. Ken blinked his eyes as a familiar face was seen standing on the side of the room in front of him.
"Sasaki-san?"
The man in front of him today is not like the other day when he was wearing his cozy gray knit sweater with his bangs covering his eyebrows. Although a little different, he can still recognize that man's typical friendly face. His thin eyebrows, his narrow eyes seems like he lack sleep, and the most recognisable were the lightly imprinted burn marks extending from under his nose, to his cheeks, all the way to his jaw. The man gave Ken a bitter smile.
"I'm so sorry. We didn't know something like this would happen. But take it easy. This building, especially this room, has been designed with its own immune system, just like humans when there are foreign bacteria or viruses that will enter. In addition, our security team will always be ready in case something more dangerous happens."
Sasaki's eyeball, which was no bigger than a marble, glanced at the young man next to Ken, who had not made a sound at all since the beginning, for whatever reason. When he noticed his gaze, Sasaki instantly put on a friendly face.
"Hello, Imai-kun's friend. I'm sorry for dragging you into something so troublesome and unexpected. I'm Sasaki Inaba, from administrative."
Sasaki introduced himself while handing out his business card. He took another piece from his suit pocket and gave it to Ken because he remembered he hadn't given it to him. The two young men sitting in front of him bowed for a moment to observe his business card. Less than half a minute later, the indifferent-looking young man next to Ken raised his head and stared right into Sasaki's eyes.
"Shimada Chikara," he said, lowering his head slightly, no more than ten degrees.
Sasaki was stunned for a moment. He did not expect that he could be that polite even though his face looks ignorant and somewhat seems like a delinquent. Inwardly, Sasaki apologized for his impudence while bowing his head back.
"... Um, Sasaki-san."
Sasaki turned his gaze towards Ken who was scrolling his thumb over the screen of his phone. A moment later, Ken turned the flat object upside down while giving Sasaki a serious look.
"What's going on outside?"