CHAPTER 44: CHAOS. JUST CHAOS...

Without having a choice, Tengen reacted quickly to make sure the mission wasn’t a bust.

"Wait! Wait! Kira! Maybe that’s not the best idea, you know? Hehehe..." Tengen’s voice cracked with desperation as he half-stepped in front of her.

"You know a man’s privacy is vital... just like girls like their privacy. Right?" he reasoned, palms open.

Kira paused and tilted her head.

Tengen braced for the obvious answer.

But instead, she smiled faintly. "Well... I wouldn’t mind if he peeked when I got changed..."

Tengen blinked unable to react. "...Kentaro, you lucky son of a-"

Before he could finish his curse at Kentaro, Kira casually walked past him, her short heels clicking softly on the hotel floor. He panicked. She wasn’t just suspicious anymore; in fact, it was much worse. She was heading straight to Kentaro’s room, and Tengen was officially out of backup plans.

"Kira! Please, wait!" Tengen’s desperate cry rang out, echoing down the lonely corridor, raw with urgency and pain.

Still, she did not look back. Not even a flinch.

His chest tightened as regret crashed over him like a wave. The sting of failing his friend was unbearable, suffocating. He watched helplessly as Kira strode away, her back unreadable and resolute, making it clear, she would not give him another chance.

Just as she reached the corner...

"OH! Hey, Kira! You’re out, I was just heading over now, hahaha!"

Tengen’s eyes widened.

He recognised that voice.

Rushing toward the turn, he caught sight of Kentaro, panting hard and drenched in sweat. But he was here. And he’d also got an outfit change.

He was wearing a dark-blue dress shirt now, untucked but clean, paired with fitted black slacks and a watch that still had the price tag attached. Kira tilted her head and blinked in surprise.

"Took you long enough," she grumbled, narrowing her eyes like a suspicious cat.

"Heheh, sorry abou-WHOAH!" Kentaro barely got the words out before Kira snatched his shoulders and catapulted herself at him, delivering a hug that felt more like a surprise rugby tackle.

Tengen turned around, making sure she was out of view, then threw himself into an Oscar-worthy performance of relief, complete with fake tears and dramatic clutching of his chest.

"Kenny boy, you’ve got perfect timing. Another second and she would’ve discovered your Reis gremory body pillow," Shogo snickered over the comms.

Kentaro just grinned, slowly pulling Kira off him, but it felt like there was a dumbbell pressed on him. Eventually, Kira would let go, and she looked him in the eyes, clearly wanting a sorry or an explanation.

"H-hey Kira, sorry I’m late. My alarm clock lost the will to live," he said with a lopsided grin.

Kira eyed him, deadpan. "You should introduce it to your sense of shame."

He gulped, unable to answer her back.

"I figured. I was just about to check if you’d forgotten about me," she replied flatly, but then stepped closer, gently poking his chest with her index finger. "So... where are you taking me... big boy?"

Kentaro immediately forgot how to breathe. "Big boy?" Both he and Tengen replayed those words in their heads like a glitchy ringtone. He coughed, trying to compose himself. "Uh, yeah, so I was thinking we could hit up the art museum? And then maybe... coffee? Because, you know, big boys need their caffeine."

There was a pause. Kira stared.

Kentaro braced for the worst. Tengen shook his head slowly, disappointed at the ending of Kentaro’s sentence.

Then, she gave a tiny approving nod. "That sounds lovely."

"In the comms, Shogo cheered like he’d just won the universal lottery. ’Haruka! You dating sim genius! Honestly, if dating sims were an Olympic sport, you’d have more gold than Sonic has rings!’

No reply. Just the sound of awkward digital wind.

’No but I swear, Haruka, I’ve seen you play that 18-plus dating sim—yeah, the one where you seduce literal vegetables-AHHHHHH!’

The line went dead...

Meanwhile, back near the ruins.

In the abandoned underground gallery where Serica and Kira’s photoshoot had once taken place, something slithered through the shadows, smooth and mechanical.

Kestrel crouched beside a broken statue, watching the feed from his hovering drone.

"Target reacquired..." he whispered.

The screen zoomed in on Serica laughing beside Kentaro, just minutes earlier at the arcade.

"...Still emotionally vulnerable. Still bonding with the boy."

He tapped his earpiece.

"Corruption sequence ready. Awaiting isolation point..."

His voice was cut short as his screen flickered, an interruption signal.

Kestrel’s eyes narrowed. "No... Someone’s trying to jam me."

*

Haruka’s fingers danced across the monitor.

"Shogo," she said calmly but with a hint of urgency, "It seems Kestrel is alive and he’s got his own drone locked onto Serica’s last known location. I’m disrupting his feed for now, but he’s adapting."

Shogo slammed his hand on the table. "He’s back again!? What is he, a discount comic book villain?" His voice echoed throughout the room.

Haruka pushed her glasses up with a sigh. "We’ll need to intercept him soon. I’m sending you to prep the perimeter. We can’t let him get close."

Shogo clenched his fists. "You got it. But if I get stabbed, someone better let me pick the music next time."

*

Kira and Kentaro walked side by side along the quiet forest path, the crunch of pine needles beneath their feet mingling with the gentle whisper of a cool breeze that followed. As they drew closer, a building emerged from between the towering evergreens, its presence striking against the tranquil woodland.

The structure resembled a harmonious blend of a modern art museum and an ancient marble palace. Smooth, elegant stonework gleamed in patches of sunlight, while massive columns soared skyward, anchoring the building with stately grace. Gleaming black-glass windows mirrored the delicate pastels of the late afternoon, scattering flickers of light across the mossy forest floor.

"I don’t remember this being here yesterday?" Kentaro whispered.

"That’s because it wasn’t," Shogo replied over the comm, smug. "Halcyon’s logistics baby!. Pop-up architecture in twenty-four hours. Also... Look at Yumi! She looks great!"

Kentaro blinked toward the small structure across the courtyard.

Yep. That was Yumi. Full barista get up. Stirring coffee with surgical precision.

For zero customers...

"She even has a latte art manual," Kentaro muttered in surprise, staring at the overly intense Yumi.

"We needed ambience, Kenny boy. Pure atmosphere. And she’s the only one who didn’t threaten to poison me when I asked." There was a pause. "I need to ask for a raise..." He cried out softly.

"She must have earned a bit..." Kentaro muttered still watching Yumi.

Kira didn’t even notice Yumi. Her eyes were locked on the museum. She turned to Kentaro. "Are we going inside?"

"Yeah, totally! There’s a new 3D audio exhibit, a shadow painting gallery, and some sculptures. Maybe even a dinosaur room?" Kentaro said, scratching his head as he glanced around the building.

Kira blinked slowly, glancing at the building, then back at the uncertainty on Kentaro’s face.

She could hear him holding his breath, waiting for her response.

"That sounds perfect," she said with a grin. "I love ancient things, especially the ones with sharp teeth."

"That’s... great," Kentaro replied, sounding both relieved and a little confused.

As they stepped inside, they were immediately struck by the sheer enormity of the space—a vast, cathedral-like hall where every footfall echoed off gleaming marble. The first gallery was lined with a series of imposing classical statues.

Kira stopped dead in her tracks in front of one statue, utterly unfazed. The statue was completely nude, resembling Shogo, if Shogo had spent the last decade bench-pressing steam engines and eating nothing but steak.

"This one," Kira said flatly, "Reminds me of you."

Kentaro turned bright red. "I don’t look like sho- I mean him!"

"Not yet," she replied. "But you scream in similar ways."

"S-s-scream?!" Kentaro shouted back.

Kira didn’t elaborate.

They kept walking through until they reached a minimalist gallery of black and white abstract shapes.

Kira tilted her head. "I like this one."

It’s literally just a triangle," Kentaro said, squinting.

"Exactly," She nodded. "Simple. Sharp. Like my desire for you to take me."

Kentaro took an immediate step back, fearing for his manhood.

*

Kestrel knelt beside a collapsed building buried beneath some grass that had some ice shards left on it. The area looked like a skeleton of its former self, an icy landscape, and in fact, there were a couple of deep slashes and holes around the area.

He looked at his screen, which had a camera visual on it, and it was locked onto her.

Inside his earpiece came a voice.

"Drone signal acquired. Visual feed clean."

Kestrel’s eyes gleamed as he adjusted the lens.

"Your time is up." He muttered,

"Target locked. Prepare the corruption node. Ice-Breaker will be ours."

Heartbeat thundering in his ears, Kestrel moved to confirm the target, feeling the gravity of the moment; all that mattered was a single keystroke. But then, without warning, the world seemed to ripple; a presence appeared out of nowhere, as if dropped from the sky, shattering the tense stillness.

Kestrel froze. The operation hung on a knife’s edge. Who, or what, had just arrived?