Chapter 10: Retrieval Operation (Pt. 4)
If there was one thing that Ren had come to understand during the few days that he was staying with the Genjis, it was this: the man named Kaito totally despised him. It wasn't much of a surprise though as it was already proven through previous experiences that people tend to misjudge his bluntness and humor as arrogance. He was almost certain that was the major contributor as to why the man didn't have a good opinion of him.
"To be frank, I have never faced Tomo Ogawa's men before. I have only relayed the information that I was able to dig about them. So, I'm sorry if you were disappointed that they are not as strong to your liking", Ren tried his best to sound as less churlish as possible, giving himself an internal memo to save the banter for later, after they made sure that their mission was a success.
Luckily, Kaito decided not to push the matter any further but only puffed an exasperated breath. He actually had the same thoughts as Ren. It wasn't the right time to argue over it. They had a more important thing to pour their energy on.
"Don't let yourselves be distracted. Let's keep moving", Akira beckoned her group to follow her as she moved towards the palm trees lined up closely to each other.
When entering Tomo Ogawa's property, you'd be first greeted with a spacious garden - the sort that would make you feel as if the Amazon Rainforest and Hawaii had merged.
At the base of the palm trees, almost three feet tall, was another plant that wasn't exactly a palm tree but had huge leaves that kind of resembled that of a palm tree's - tall enough to hide their figures if they kneeled and bent over just a little.
Akira peered through the small gaps between the huge leaves. She immediately caught sight of the two men guarding the huge front door of the mansion. Unlike the first two men they encountered earlier, the two men were wearing black sunglasses, tight black shirts that traced their toned and muscular builds, cargo pants, and combat boots. She then resumed to search for other possible guards in sight but found none.
Pulling herself back, she gathered her companions close to her. They formed a circle, as if they were playing truth or dare below the stairs.
She muttered to them, "Alright. There are two men guarding the front door of the house. Nao will hide us as we move forward then when we get close enough to them, we'll all attack simultaneously. Stay as close as possible and remember to be quiet."
With that, everyone nodded and stood from their awkward positions.
Nao was the first to move out of their current location. She walked away from the trees and walked into the open area. However, the guards didn't notice her. They wouldn't because they couldn't see her in the first place. Her comrades followed behind her, their footsteps are light as a feather.
Just a few meters away, someone in the group suddenly cursed under his breath, "Oh, shoot. I completely forgot about the traps", Haru muttered as he stepped on a cobblestone that felt like it was sitting on a button.
He and his companions quickly jumped on their feet, separating them from each other as a loud explosion came.
The guards, taking notice of the explosion immediately took their guns out and pointed at the air. "Who's there?!" one of them yelled.
There was no response - only silence. Akira's group were invisible from the sight of the two guards. Nao pressed her index finger, a sign for her companions to remain silent. They eyed one another - a non-verbal cue to stay where they were until it was ensured that it was safe to move.
Realizing that there was no one with them but only the sound of the morning breeze, the two guards pressed a button on the side of their sunglasses. Almost immediately, they pulled out two more guns from their waistbands - one each - then they pointed their guns precisely at where everyone was.
"How?" Nao uttered in astonishment and disbelief. Everyone had the same bewildered look on their faces.
"It's the sunglasses! Everyone, run!" Akira screamed.
The group ran in a frenzy as they desperately saved themselves from getting hit by the bullets while the guards continued to fire shots non-stop and so accurately at them, their guns seeming to have infinite loads of bullets.
"What in the world of gunner are they using? Don't they run out of bullets?!" Haru expressed his frustration. "And seriously, their aims are very precise and fast too! You better take back what you said earlier Kaito!"
"Shut up Haru! This is not the right time for that!"
When it finally dawned on Akira that they could not move past the guards unless they used one of their gifts aside from Nao's, she said the following instructions, "Nao, release you gift now. It doesn't matter if we're invisible. It seems like they have some sort of body heat detectors in their sunglasses. Sato, it's your turn!"
"Yes!" Sato replied while dodging the bullets.
He suddenly pressed his right hand against the ground, then, the grass and the path made of cobblestone leading to the mansion's entrance started shaking. Out of nowhere, thick vines and what looked like tree branches that were alive emerged below the guards' feet, piercing through the expensive-looking tiles they were standing on. The vines wrapped themselves around the two men's feet, catching them off guard. The next thing they knew, they were hanging upside down in the air, held captive by the weird creatures.
"What the - "
"Guys, you go inside! Nao and I will take care of this", Sato declared to his group, giving them a reassuring look.
Akira glanced at the couple momentarily as she studied their current situation. Then she nodded, and together with the brothers and Ren, they ran inside of the mansion.
It was very swift and faint that an ordinary human wouldn't catch it. But Sato of course, caught it: a silent bullet going straight for his wife's head. It appeared to have come behind one of the bushes in the garden.
A shield of interwoven tree trunks covered Nao just right in time, protecting her from the abrupt attack. More bullets followed, but this time, it went directly to the vines holding the feet of the two guards. The bullets pierced the vines upon contact, releasing the two men. They landed on their feet with a thud quiet effortlessly. They again pressed a button, but this time it was on their watches and all of a sudden, four drones appeared in the sky.
Sato gave the two men a menacing lopsided grin. It gave them shivers. They could feel it - someone was about to break loose, and it was the man in front of them.
"So, you two still got more cards under your sleeves, huh? Well, it doesn't matter. I'll crush you two together with those four little airplanes of yours. Afterall, no one who has ever tried to harm my wife has ever made it our unscathed."
Meanwhile, Akira and her group were welcomed by what looked like a very expansive lobby as soon as they opened the huge double doors of the mansion.
Two men who were dressed up similarly to the two guards whom Sato and Nao were dealing with outside were running towards them from the opposite direction on the first floor. Kaito raised his head and found four more men with the same attire from the second floor approaching them.
An unidentified item that resembled a tin can suddenly came flying in the air. Kaito immediately recognized what the thing was. "Tear gas!" he exclaimed.
The men approaching them smirked as they saw the intruders being covered by the toxic gas. As for them, just on click from their sunglasses and their faces were covered and protected in mere seconds. Talk about the convenience of technology!
But their celebration was quick to disappear as they noticed raindrops-like water sprinkling all over the place.
"What the hell!" the men yelled both in frustration and confusion as they got caught up and drenched from the water display.
The gas was quickly washed away, saving Akira's group, but it didn't save their clothes from getting damp and soaked in water.
"Kaito!" Akira complained as she stared dumbfounded at her now wet clothing and skin. "Couldn't you have done it more lightly or weaker? We're soaking wet, and you know I hate rain!"
"The gas was thick. The water had to be strong or else it wouldn't wash away the gas completely. Also, that wasn't a rain, technically."
Akira raised both her hands in the air in defeat. There was no point to keep arguing over the matter. She realized that they best way to deal with the problem was to finish their business right away so she could go home and get herself changed. "Fine", she uttered. "You two can take care of these by yourselves now, right?" she asked to Kaito and his brother.
As if reading each other's mind, the brothers smiled at each other at the same time.
"Hell yeah", Haru replied confidently and excitedly as he knew he was about to have a good time, and by that, he meant a good time beating the asses of their opponents.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone