Chapter 74: Company
Vrrmm...
The car drove on carrying the weight of a past that had shaped a man, into something far more dangerous and far more human than he ever intended to be.
The engine hummed steadily as the car cut through the long, open road, but inside the silence had shifted.
Not empty just heavy.
The Driver's hands remained firm on the wheel, yet his thoughts were clearly somewhere else.
"…When I came back a month later…" she repeated, her voice slower now, more deliberate, "…I expected to find you barely surviving."
Cassian let out a quiet chuckle.
"…Yeah? Starving… crying… begging for civilization?" he teased lightly.
Shinsei didn't smile.
"…No."
A pause.
"…I expected to find you… broken."
That made Cassian glance at her.
"…And instead?" he asked.
Shinsei exhaled softly.
"…Instead, I found something I still don't fully understand to this day."
The road ahead shimmered in the heat.
"I saw an estate."
Cassian's smirk returned.
"…Of course you did."
Shinsei shook her head slightly.
"No."
Her voice sharpened.
"…Not just an estate."
"A functioning one."
Driver slowed the car just slightly, as if the memory itself demanded precision.
"…You had built everything."
"Shelter."
"Water systems."
"Power."
"Storage."
She paused.
"…Even security."
Cassian leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head casually.
"…I had time."
Shinsei shot him a look.
"You had a phone."
"…And nothing else."
Cassian shrugged.
"…That's all I needed."
Shinsei continued, ignoring his tone.
"…You used the phone to gather information."
"Blueprints."
"Engineering structures."
"Material compositions."
Her voice carried a mix of disbelief and reluctant admiration.
"You studied everything… in days."
"You mapped the terrain."
"You calculated distances."
"You located natural resources."
Cassian smirked faintly.
"…Efficiency."
Shinsei's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…You taught yourself how to build an entire living system… from scratch."
A pause.
"…In less than a month."
Cassian looked out the window again.
"…Once you understand how things work…" he said calmly, "…it's not that hard to recreate them."
Shinsei shook her head.
"…That's not normal."
Cassian laughed quietly.
"…Nothing about me is.."
She didn't argue, because she knew that part was true.
"…But that's not what shocked me the most," Shinsei continued, her voice lowering slightly.
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
"…Oh?"
Shinsei's grip on the tablet tightened just a little.
"…It wasn't the estate."
"…It wasn't the systems."
"…It wasn't even the fact that you survived."
A pause.
"…It was you."
Cassian blinked once.
"…Me?"
Shinsei nodded.
"You were calm."
"…Focused."
"…Clear."
She glanced at him briefly.
"…You weren't angry anymore."
That lingering statement hung in the air.
Cassian didn't respond immediately.
"…Yeah…" he said finally, his voice quieter now.
"…I figured something out."
Shinsei looked ahead again.
"…You found your answer."
Cassian nodded slightly.
"…Killing everyone…" he muttered, "…would've just left me with nothing."
A faint smirk.
"…And I don't like having nothing."
Shinsei almost smiled.
Almost.
"So instead," she said, "…you decided to understand the world."
Cassian tilted his head.
"…Not understand it."
A pause.
"…Use it."
Shinsei exhaled slowly.
"…That's when I knew."
Cassian glanced at her.
"…Knew what?"
Shinsei's voice softened but only slightly.
"…That following you…"
A pause.
"…would never be boring."
Cassian let out a small laugh.
"…That's one way to put it."
She shook her head.
"No."
Another pause.
"…That following you…"
"…would take me to places no one else could reach."
Cassian's smirk faded just a little.
"…Sounds dangerous."
Shinsei nodded.
"…It is."
A beat.
"…But I made my decision that day."
She finally glanced at him briefly.
"…I decided…"
"…to follow you."
Cassian held her gaze for a moment.
"…To the ends of the earth?" he asked lightly.
Shinsei didn't hesitate.
"…If that's where you go."
The silence returned, but not the empty kind.
Cassian looked forward again.
A small grin forming.
"…Guess you got stuck with me then."
Shinsei scoffed softly.
"…Don't flatter yourself."
But her tone said otherwise.
Silence returned.
But this time it wasn't empty.
"…So that's what you told him?" Cassian asked finally.
Shinsei nodded.
"…More or less."
Cassian smirked faintly.
"…And what did he say?"
Shinsei's eyes softened just slightly.
"…Nothing."
A pause.
"…He just listened."
Cassian chuckled quietly.
"…Yeah…"
He looked out the window.
"…That sounds like him."
The car continued forward, disappearing into the distance.
Two people bound by a past, and neither of them could escape, driving toward whatever came next.
And somewhere out there, Daito walked his own path, carrying pieces of a story he was only just beginning to understand.
* * *
The road stretched endlessly ahead, sunlight flickering across the windshield as the car cut through the quiet outskirts beyond Gregor Naught.
The car sped forward, carrying three people bound not by obligation but by choice.
And somewhere deep within that choice was the beginning of something far more dangerous than power...Understanding.
The car climbed higher into the mountains, the air growing thinner, colder and more quieter.
For a moment, it almost felt peaceful.
Then Cassian spoke.
"…Alright," he said, finishing the last bite of his snack with a satisfied crunch, "story time's over."
Shinsei didn't even look at him.
"…Why?"
Cassian swallowed, eyes shifting slightly.
"…Because we've got company."
A split second later—
SHNK!
A blade pierced through the roof of the car clean and precise.
Straight through the driver's skull.
SKREEETCH!
The man didn't even get a chance to react as the car jerked violently swerving out of control.
Cassian blinked once then smirked.
"…Nice strike."
VRRROOSHH!
The engine roared as the vehicle accelerated forward, tires screeching against the mountain road.
Shinsei immediately reacted.
"…Brakes—"
"I know," Cassian cut in.
But the driver was gone and there was no control.
Shinsei didn't hesitate.
She slammed her heel into the floor of the car.
CRACK!
SKREEETCH!
The metal buckled under her force as her heel pierced through, grinding against the asphalt below sparks flying dragging.
Slowing the car down by sheer force.
Cassian opened the door mid-motion.
FWOOSH!
Wind howled into the vehicle.
"…On me," he said calmly.
In one fluid movement, he grabbed Shinsei by the waist and, with his other hand, the driver's body.
Then—
SWOOSH!
They jumped.
VRRMM!
The car sped forward unmanned until it slammed into a barricade and vanished over the edge of the mountain.
BOOM!
A distant explosion echoed below.
Cassian landed smoothly, Shinsei beside him.
The driver still in his grasp, as five figures stood ahead.
Faces covered.
The leader stepped forward slightly.
"…Cassian."
"…Your meeting with the 'Supreme Authority' is overdue."
Cassian sighed.
"…Always late to the party, huh…"
He gently lowered the driver's body.
"…Shinsei," he said quietly, "put him by the wall."
Shinsei nodded, carefully placing the body against the mountain rock.
"…He deserved better than that."
Then she turned, eyes cold.
"…So," she said, wiping a bit of blood from her lip, "…the 'SA' sends these to collect you?"
A faint scoff.
"…Amateurs"
Before the words even settled, the leader vanished.
SWOOSH!
And reappeared, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER.
BOOM!
A kick.
It was clean and brutal.
SWOOSH!
It connected with Shinsei's face, sending her flying off the mountain road.
Cassian watched her fall.
A beat.
Then—
"…Oh no, Shinsei…" he said, raising a hand dramatically, his tone completely flat.
"…What will I ever do…"
The leader stared at him.
"…Come with us," he said coldly, "…if you don't want any problems."
Cassian turned slowly.
"…Sure," he replied casually.
A pause.
"…But quick advice—"
His eyes sharpened.
"…If you're going to surprise attack Shinsei…"
A slight smirk.
"…you go for the kill."
BOOOOM!
The mountain trembled.
SWOOSH!
Shinsei shot back up the road.
And came crashing down, RIGHT ON THE LEADER'S FACE.
THWACK!
BRRMMM!
The impact shook the entire peak.
CRACK!
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground.
The remaining four assassins froze.
to be continued....