The safe house was tucked away in the outskirts of Kanazawa, a modest, unassuming building surrounded by dense foliage. To anyone passing by, it looked like a neglected cabin, but inside, it was a fully equipped tactical base.
"Home sweet home," Hana said dryly as they entered.
"Not much, but it'll do," Renjiro replied, setting his gear down on a metal table in the center of the room.
Yukari immediately set up her equipment, plugging the data device into a secure terminal. "I'll need a few hours to work on decrypting the files. This kind of encryption isn't standard—it's practically a work of art."
"You admire Kaede too much," Saito said, dropping into a chair.
"She's brilliant," Yukari retorted without looking up. "And dangerous. You'd do well to remember that."
Renjiro surveyed the group, noting their exhaustion. "Get some rest. We'll take shifts on watch. Kaede's people might not know we're here yet, but we can't take any chances."
As night fell, the safe house became eerily quiet. Aiko couldn't sleep. The events of the day replayed in her mind—the explosion, the drones, the narrow escape. She felt out of place among the others, who seemed so composed despite the chaos.
She wandered into the main room, where Renjiro was keeping watch. He glanced at her briefly before returning his focus to the monitors.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"No," she admitted, sitting down across from him. "How do you do it? Stay calm when everything is falling apart?"
Renjiro hesitated before answering. "You don't stay calm. You just keep moving. If you stop to think about everything that could go wrong, you'll freeze. And in this line of work, freezing means death."
Aiko nodded, absorbing his words. "Do you think we'll beat her? Kaede, I mean."
"We have to," Renjiro said simply. "People are counting on us, whether they know it or not."
His unwavering confidence gave Aiko a small glimmer of hope. She didn't know what lay ahead, but for the first time, she felt like she might be able to face it.