Chapter 29: The escape

Not giving him a clear answer, she instead started to tug at him again, pulling him up.

“We have to move out of here. They usually only come in two or three different groups, so if we can avoid them all, we can get out of Kataki without being noticed. No one else’s out here now, so any vehicle we use will make enough noise to tell them where we are. We have to go on foot.”

Running out of the alley, they cut the nearest corner and entered another one. According to Suzuka, this allowed them to skip about two streets and a half and put them closer to the town’s entrance. Hiding behind a parked car, they looked around the vicinity, confirming that the path ahead was clear of hostiles, and immediately started running again.

“Okay… So they’ve been tailing you this whole time? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought I’d lost them! But it looks like I was too careless. They tracked me down all the way here… In any case, what matters is that we have to get out of here, fast!”

“But what about the car?”

“Who cares about it!? It’s not worth risking our lives!”

“But we…! I mean… Okay, wow.” he couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer absurdity. “After all that talk about staying quiet and laying low, you’ve been getting yourself into messes with the mafia this whole time, which for some reason is also here! What’s wrong with you, matchsticks!?”

“You wouldn’t understand, master…”

“Humor me.”

“Look… I… I… When I arrived here, I did some racing jobs here and there, and I got a bit of fame between a bunch of factions all right? But I let it get to my head one day and I overdid some… investments, so to say. I got into a really bad fix, and I needed a lot of money. By the time I realized what I was getting into, I was already neck-deep in a bunch of really screwed up contracts with senators from both the eastern and southern factions which I couldn’t take back, and they wanted to force me into doing some… really gross stuff… Then before I knew it, I was illegally running away with a few, say, hundred thousands of credits I just happened to embezzle from both sides… and some other things, while I was at it… They’re probably still mad about that.”

“......... You’re unbelievable. I’m actually amazed you managed to survive this long with such… weird decisions…” he commented, barely able to fight the numbness of his gaping mouth.

“Hey, we can’t all be perfect! I just wanted some money and status to live a good life, I wasn’t expecting them to want… I mean… They were straight up lying in those contracts! I couldn’t have known what they were actually planning!”

“Oh, come on! Old fat bastards with a god complex. Naive high school girl desperate for some cash… It’s a story as old as time. You didn’t see it coming ‘cause you’re dumb! Pure and simple!”

“Sh-Shut up!! You’re not my dad!”

He couldn’t help but laugh a bit, though. Even as bothersome as that turn of events was, it was actually quite amusing, too.

“What’s so funny!?”

“I’m sorry, but I mean… You put in all that effort to try and escape some contract-slavery bullshit… Only to become my slave instead! Hah! This is too good…”

“Grrrr…”

As they sprinted past the last of Kataki’s buildings, Haruto could already spot the open gates in the distance, after which it would probably be safer to bring out Suzuka’s motorcycle and high-tail it out of there.

“Watch out, master!”

A few meters before they could reach the exit, however, the girl suddenly veered against him, sending them both violently tumbling onto the ground.

A golden, arrow-like object had just flown past his head, intending to pierce right through it, but failed instead as the two fell down, puncturing only the air as it flew further forward and suddenly shattered to pieces on its own, its tiny, barely visible fragments scattering around like glitter.

“Fermati, arvicole!” he heard someone shout.

There was a metallic click behind them, and, turning around on the uneven marble, Haruto froze in place as he laid his eyes on the attackers.

“At last, we meet again. Hellfire.”

Five of the men in suits had quickly run up to them, stopping just a few feet short as four of them drew their guns to point at them. The one man in the middle of them, however, who seemed to be the leader, did not have a gun. Covering his fist was a thick-looking iron gauntlet, on top of which sat a glowing, golden arrow similar to the one Haruto had almost been hit with before. Or maybe… Was it even iron? It was definitely some weird metal alloy… At first glance, it did look like somewhat rusted iron, but… Looking closer, from the odd angle he was lying down in, it actually looked more like a solid black, slightly purplish here and there. He couldn’t really make much of it…

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Even from that distance, he could tell the thug was pointing it directly at his head.

“Do not resist. The G.O.D.F.A.T.H.E.R. wishes to have a few words with you, my dear. He is not happy, you know? Not happy at all.”

Haruto gritted his teeth.

(Damn it, matchsticks. What kind of mess did you just get me into!?)

She was lying next to him as well, slightly turned to see the five stalkers pointing their weapons at them as her eyes moved aimlessly all around, trying and failing to find a means of escape.

“I don’t owe you or your boss anything!!” she asserted, haughty as ever. “You’re the ones who tried to scam me out of my freedom in the first place!”

“How highly do you think of yourself, young lady?” mocked one of them. “You are severely outgunned. One wrong move will liquidate you on the spot. Now, you and your little drudge there will be coming with us. We have much to discuss regarding your misdeeds.”

The boy moved his hand slightly, buried in the shadow of his armpit, searching for the prompt to activate his ability while hoping they wouldn’t notice. Maybe there was still a chance the two of them could get out of that mess.

“Assigned skill activated: On-site –”

The starting announcement rang about for a moment, but time did not slow down even slightly as it was immediately drowned out by a second announcement. One of the men had just lifted his finger towards a floating icon, as well.

“Assigned skill activated: Equalizer.”

The boy remained on the ground, astounded. That guy’s skill didn’t seem to have done anything, at least as far as his eyes could see. But all the same, time hadn’t stopped for him, either. His own ability had failed to activate.

“Hold it right there, ragazzaccio!” laughed the lanky man, who happened to be the tallest of the group. “We are trying to have a civilized discussion here. Do we really need to get so aggressive as to bring skills to the table?”

“... What the hell…?”

“Why, it was my personal ability, ‘The Equalizer’, capable of nullifying any ability it is used in proximity of.” he bragged with delight. “Not that you would know that. ‘Level 7’, is it? How pitiful.”

The one with the iron glove took a few steps forward, crouching next to Haruto and bringing his fist right before his face, the arrow only a few inches of piercing right through him. He looked sideways at Suzuka grinning ear to ear as though it was all entertaining him immensely.

“Just a flick of my finger and… H.A.R.U.T.O. here goes bye-bye. Forever. Of course, you can always run away while I’m distracted with dispatching this poor excuse of a Cyberacer. Heck, you can even try to use the five-ten seconds my little toy here takes to recharge and burn me with your flames to gain some time. But of course, you wouldn’t want your little boy toy here to go sleep with the fishes, would you?”

Even at gunpoint (or arrowpoint, anyway), Haruto could barely contain a snort. Did that imbecile really think she’d be all that hung up on getting him killed? He’d berated her, ridiculed her, tortured her, taken all of her belongings for himself. He’d treated her like shit in every possible manner.

(And honestly, with good reason. Hah. I regret nothing about that, at least.)

As much as it vexed him to get taken out in such a way, even he knew letting him go would be the wiser option.

“So?” asked the gelled up dork. “What will it be? If you come with us, you might just save him…”

She looked at the boy, as if asking for directions.

(The fuck do you want me to tell you!? Just do what you want?)

“... I… I…” she mumbled, followed by some other unintelligible strings of words.

“What will it be, Hellfire!?” roared the man, smacking his metal-clad hand against the boy’s face, prompting the good, old checkerboard cloud to faintly take form over his lower jaw. “Time’s running out.”

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