"Is this Building A?" Aoshi asked.
"Yeah, according to the location Kiyoshi sent me," Ren replied.
There was a short silence before Ren glanced at her. "Hey, Aoshi… I know you guys have that tech gear, right? Kiyoshi's got that gauntlet thing that shoots thread and burns stuff. Izumi's got that… cube only he can control. But what about you? Yours just looks like a normal rapier. From what I heard, you never mentioned anything special about it."
Aoshi gave a small nod. "The day Raidon called me and said he finished upgrading it, I asked him what he added. He just told me, 'Find out yourself.' He said he asked Kiyoshi what suited me best."
"…So you don't know. Got it," Ren said with a slight chuckle.
They both stepped into the building.
---
Scene shifts to Izumi and Kenji.
They arrived at Building B, the evening casting long shadows over the entrance.
"I really hope this building isn't the one they're bombing," Izumi muttered. "There are way too many people here. That's just messed up."
"Yeah," Kenji nodded. "For sending a message? Killing this many people isn't worth it."
They started exploring, checking the first, second, and third floors. Everything seemed normal—until Izumi, standing at a third-floor window, spotted something odd below.
"Kenji, look. That cardboard box on the bench at the first floor—someone just dropped it off and left."
They quickly made their way down.
The box was sealed shut with tape. Izumi frowned. "Can't open it without leaving a mark."
He pulled out the cube. "Scan the contents."
The cube hovered, emitted a pulse, and then projected a faint hologram—revealing a cone-shaped item inside.
"What even is that?" Kenji asked.
"Let's see," Izumi said. "Cube, analyze its components."
[SCANNING…]
PRIMARY MATERIALS: WOOD. STRING. GUNPOWDER.
"Gunpowder?" Izumi raised an eyebrow. "If it's got gunpowder, it's either a bomb… or fireworks."
"Should we grab it and throw it away?" Kenji asked.
"No. Not yet," Izumi replied. "The explosion from just this wouldn't be big enough to send a message. And besides, this kind of setup usually needs a direct ignition—someone has to light it manually."
They quickly hid nearby with a clear view of the bench.
Moments passed—and Izumi's gut instinct was proven right.
More boxes arrived.
"They're moving them upstairs," Kenji whispered. "We need to follow."
They moved stealthily, keeping their distance, eventually finding themselves watching a group of people planting the explosives in an abandoned third-floor room.
"We have to stop them before they light anything," Izumi said. "Three people in there. Think we can take them?"
Kenji stepped into the doorway suddenly and shouted, "TERRORISTS!"
Startled, one of them cursed. "GET AWAY, KID!"
One man rushed toward the door. As he charged out, Izumi—hidden behind the frame—used the cube to extend a small energy barrier, tripping him. He hit the floor hard, and the two quickly tied him up.
"Now it's 2 versus 2," Izumi said, eyes sharp.
"I've got the one on the left," says kenji.