The air was thick with smoke and the acrid stench of burnt metal as the team trudged away from the wreckage. The weight of their narrow escape pressed heavily on their shoulders. Aiko limped slightly, her ankle bruised from the fall during their escape.
"Let me take a look at that," Renjiro said, kneeling beside her as they found temporary refuge in a nearby alley.
"I'm fine," Aiko replied, though her wince betrayed her words.
"You're not fine," Renjiro said, his tone firm but not unkind. He examined her ankle briefly before wrapping it with a makeshift bandage from his pack.
Hana leaned against the wall, her gaze scanning the street for any sign of pursuit. "We need to move. Kaede isn't going to let us disappear into the night."
"I know," Renjiro replied, standing and helping Aiko to her feet. "But we're no good to anyone if we can't even run."
Yukari, still clutching the data device tightly, looked up from her tablet. "The files are partially encrypted, but I've already identified one critical piece of information: Kaede has a buyer. She's planning to meet them in three days."
"Do we know where?" Saito asked, his rifle slung over his shoulder as he kept watch.
"Not yet," Yukari admitted, frustration creeping into her voice. "But I'll crack the rest of this soon. We just need to keep her off our trail long enough for me to finish."
Renjiro nodded, his mind already calculating their next move. "We'll head to the safe house in Kanazawa. It's far enough from here to buy us some time, and it's secure."
As the team began their journey, the tension was palpable. Aiko couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in her chest. She glanced at Renjiro, who walked ahead, his shoulders tense.
"You think Kaede knows we survived?" she asked quietly.
Renjiro didn't look back but answered, "She'll know soon enough. And when she does, she'll come at us harder than before."