Kobayashi had been attacked while out buying groceries.
It was confirmed that a Dark Side organization had been involved, that they had clashed with him head-on, and that the incident had even resulted in a fatality…
Everything had spiraled into chaos. No matter what, as both a member of the Security Department and Kobayashi's guardian, Yomikawa Aiho had no choice but to rush over personally.
"Toumi-chan," Yomikawa said apologetically, "I'm really sorry I can't keep entertaining you today. Next time, I'll invite you over again and let you try Nana-kun's cooking."
"That's not the important part, is it?" Toumi replied. "I heard the call too. Kobayashi is in trouble right now—and he's missing."
"Please don't worry. I'll find him," Yomikawa said as she had already changed into her Security Department uniform. "Just wait for good news… Do you want me to take you home? It doesn't seem very safe outside right now."
"No need. You should go help Kobayashi first," Toumi shook her head. "I'll be fine."
The two of them left the apartment building together.
At the moment of parting, Yomikawa Aiho couldn't help but call out to the blonde girl,
"Toumi-chan, you… don't do anything reckless, okay?"
"Don't worry, Yomikawa-sensei," the girl replied with a smile. Then she turned and walked toward the bus stop, as if she were heading straight home.
Mature beyond her years, Torahachi Toumi didn't say anything more. She knew Yomikawa would never agree to let her help directly. In that case, there was no point in asking—only wasted time and needless worry for both sides.
But once she left Yomikawa's line of sight, what she chose to do next was entirely up to her.
"Of course I'm not just going to sit this out."
Her emerald-green eyes narrowed, gleaming with the dangerous light of a hunter.
She gently flared her nostrils, as if catching some invisible scent.
"Ah… this city has been peaceful for far too long. Even the faintest trace of gunpowder stands out so clearly."
As though bathing in the long-forgotten smoke of battle, Toumi suddenly snapped her head toward a certain direction. Her legs kicked off the ground, and she lunged forward like a beast on the hunt.
"The people of this city have lived in peace for too long. Even the Security Department won't find Kobayashi before I do!"
With unwavering confidence, Toumi sprinted along the route she had already determined.
Having grown up in war-torn regions since childhood, Toumi possessed an abnormally sharp sensitivity to "conflict." If not for this almost instinctive "talent," she likely wouldn't have survived such a brutal environment in the first place.
Now, leveraging that talent, she was confident she could locate Kobayashi within the vast sea of people in this metropolis.
Based on the conversation she'd just overheard between Yomikawa Aiho and her colleague, several key facts could be deduced—
First: Kobayashi had been attacked. The mastermind was most likely the same research facility he had once belonged to, only this time they had hired a Dark Side organization called "Hunter" to carry out the assassination.
Second: Kobayashi had already engaged the enemy directly, and it was likely a decisive victory on his part.
Third: Kobayashi wasn't the type to passively endure an attack. After dealing with the immediate threat, he chose to counterattack and strike at the enemy's base instead.
"Kobayashi probably has the same concern I do," Torahachi Toumi concluded. "He's worried the adults would stop him, so he chose to disappear temporarily and act on his own."
To be honest, Kobayashi's decisiveness and way of handling things suited her tastes perfectly. His style was sharp and resolute—very much like her own. That was why Torahachi Toumi decided to lend him a hand.
More importantly, the organization that had tried to assassinate Kobayashi was also one of her sworn enemies.
Sakurai-sensei—the person she was closest to, like a mother to her—had been gravely injured by assassins hired by that very organization. Even now, Sakurai-sensei remained unconscious in the intensive care unit.
How could such a blood debt go unanswered?
This time, Kobayashi had defeated the assassins sent after him. If he managed to extract any information from them, then she could take the opportunity to exact her revenge as well.
That was Torahachi Toumi's plan.
And if Kobayashi wasn't good at "interrogation," then all the more reason he'd need her help.
Toumi firmly believed that as long as there were prisoners, something could always be wrung out of them.
Using alleyways and shortcuts between buildings, Tora-hachi Toumi reached the site of the battle even faster than Yomikawa Aiho, who was driving.
The area had already been cordoned off by the Security Department. Torahachi didn't recklessly approach; after a single distant glance, she immediately locked onto a new direction and dashed toward an office building a little over a hundred meters away.
The situation at the scene was obvious at a glance—especially the enemy's heavy use of firearms.
To someone with battlefield experience like Toumi, this was practically a giveaway.
There had been a sniper.
A bullet capable of blowing someone's head apart couldn't have come from the compact submachine guns found at the scene.
Judging from the victim's posture, it wasn't hard to reconstruct the general trajectory of the shot.
And along that line, there was only one suitable location for a sniper position
That office building.
Kobayashi isn't here. He probably went after the sniper.
Toumi never once considered the possibility that Kobayashi might have fled to avoid the sniper. Because if it were her, she wouldn't run either.
She would attack. Close the distance. Kill the enemy.
Whether or not Kobayashi had already captured the sniper, pursuing this direction would at least yield more clues.
Crossing the street took less than three minutes. As she neared the office building, the ambient noise dropped sharply, as if she had stepped into an uninhabited zone.
Her instincts screamed confirmation
She was in the right place.
In Academy City, both the Security Department and Dark Side organizations possessed specialized methods for clearing civilians from an area. Generally speaking, if a lively downtown district suddenly contained a silent, empty pocket, it meant someone had deliberately "cleaned" the area.
Toumi raised her guard, but her pace never slowed as she plunged straight into this "quiet zone."
Then she heard it
Sounds breaking the silence
The heavy thuds of fists striking flesh, and…
"…Are you talking or not?! Are you going to talk or not?!"
Toumi sprinted toward the source of the noise.
"Is Kobayashi interrogating someone?" she thought.
When she got closer, she saw it clearly.
In the alley behind the office building, a slender figure was straddling another person, pinning them to the ground. Both arms swung in relentless arcs, fists crashing down again and again.
There was no mistaking it.
The boy delivering that savage beating—
Was Kobayashi.
(End of Chapter)