Akane's eyes shifted toward the villa opposite. Shadows moved behind the lit windows on the upper floor. Someone was still awake inside. Akane's posture changed—shoulders lowering, body coiling with professional focus once more.
"Use your invisibility," she said without looking at me. "Follow me. Stay behind. Never get in front of me, no matter what you see or hear. If I tell you to leave, you leave. Clear?"
I nodded once.
"Clear."
Akane moved first. With a soft swish of her black cloak, she stepped off the edge of the rooftop and crossed the gap in a single fluid leap, landing soundlessly on the tiled roof of Keisuke Yamashita's villa.
I activated invisibility at once and followed, the night air cool against my skin as I used telekinesis to float and land a few paces behind her.
She didn't glance back to check whether I was there. She simply trusted—or forced herself to trust—that I would keep the promise I had just made.
