Chapter 81: The Fight with Shuichi Akai
Evening shadows stretched across the walls of a dimly lit hotel room in Beika Town. Shuichi Akai sat in the quiet gloom, holding a glass in one hand and his phone in the other. He swirled the clear liquid, the ice cubes clinking softly against the crystal, listening intently to the voice of his superior on the line.
"You are saying there is progress in the investigation regarding the potion?" Akai asked, his voice a low, steady rumble in the quiet room.
"Yes," James Black replied, his tone heavy with professional concern. "During our latest operations, our field agents noted a disturbing anomaly. Core members of the Black Organization in Japan have been seen consuming a specific liquid after sustaining severe injuries. In one instance, we nearly captured a target alive. They were bleeding out, cornered. But the moment they drank this potion, their wounds appeared to close and stabilize instantly. Following that, they consumed what we now identify as an Energy Supplement Potion—a highly sought-after commodity currently circulating through the underground black market. The target immediately shook off all post-injury fatigue, fought our agents to a standstill, and broke right through our encirclement."
James paused, allowing the weight of the information to settle. He waited for a response, but only the faint sound of clinking ice came through the receiver. Taking the silence as a cue to proceed, he continued.
"We later discovered that even within the Organization, only a select few core members have access to these supplies. Jodie took a massive risk. She infiltrated Tomoaki Araide's residence while he was away and managed to secure a few residual samples. The lab ran a full diagnostic. They found no recognizable chemical compounds or special synthetic ingredients, but the animal trials were staggering. The substance drastically accelerates cellular regeneration and floods the subject with raw vitality. It is, for all intents and purposes, a miracle drug. Because of this, identifying the supplier has become our absolute highest priority. A resource that can instantly restore and enhance Organization operatives... we cannot allow it to remain in their hands."
Akai took a slow, measured sip of his Gin. The cold liquid burned pleasantly down his throat. "You mean to say the Organization did not develop this internally. It was traded to them by an outside party."
"Exactly," James confirmed. "These potions appeared in the hands of their operatives overnight, with zero transitional phases or prototype testing. What they possess is already a perfected formula with zero observed side effects. The Organization's research division could never produce something so flawless out of nowhere. Someone else handed it to them."
Akai set his glass down on the table. "Then what was the progress you mentioned at the start of this call?"
James finally shifted to the core purpose of his briefing. "We tracked the movements of the code-named operative Bourbon—the one you warned us about. A short while ago, he visited a local hotel seeking a specific individual. According to the registry and our subsequent background checks, he was looking for a visiting nobleman from Country H. Specifically, the adopted son of the Ragnvindr family. Recently, the Organization has ramped up its activities within Country H, and we strongly suspect they are receiving logistical support from the Ragnvindr estate., the timing of this nobleman's arrival in Japan aligns perfectly with the sudden appearance of the potions on the black market. We have every reason to believe this gentleman is either the supplier or holds critical knowledge regarding the source."
James sighed, the sound crackling slightly over the line. "The problem is, he seems to have noticed our surveillance teams. He has not stepped foot outside his hotel room since, leaving us completely blind. I need you, Shuichi, to find a way to close the distance. Get near him. See if you can extract any actionable intelligence."
Akai processed the variables in his mind. He picked up his glass, draining the remaining Gin in one smooth motion. "Understood. Send me the coordinates of his hotel. I will find an opening..."
His voice died in his throat.
A faint, almost imperceptible shift in the air pressure drifted from the living room. A floorboard groaned—a sound so soft it would have been lost to anyone without years of life-or-death conditioning.
Someone was inside his suite.
"Hello? Shuichi? What is wrong? Did something happen?" James's voice spiked with sudden, sharp anxiety, recognizing the dead silence of an agent who had just sensed a threat.
"Someone entered my room. I will contact you later," Akai whispered rapidly. He cut the call and slipped the phone into his pocket.
Moving with absolute silence, he slid open the desk drawer. His fingers wrapped around the cold, familiar grip of his handgun. His thumb flicked the safety off with a muted click. Dropping his center of gravity, he advanced toward the bedroom door, his footsteps making zero sound against the carpet. He pressed his back against the wall, straining his ears to catch any movement from the living room.
Nothing. Total silence. It was as if the noise from a moment ago had been a phantom trick of the mind.
But Shuichi Akai did not survive this long by second-guessing his instincts. His muscles coiled like a compressed spring. He waited, letting the seconds tick by, preparing to breach the doorway and sweep the room.
He pivoted, slamming the door open with his shoulder, his handgun rising instantly to acquire a target.
A sharp, piercing whistle tore through the air.
Before Akai could even align his sights, a massive kinetic force slammed directly into the barrel of his gun. The impact was jarring, sending a violent shockwave up his wrist. His fingers went numb for a fraction of a second—just long enough for the weapon to be ripped from his grasp. The gun clattered across the floorboards, knocked entirely out of reach by a heavy, metallic arrow.
Akai did not freeze. He threw himself backward as three more arrows buried themselves into the doorframe where his chest had just been, the shafts vibrating violently from the force of the impact.
Rolling to his feet, he finally locked eyes with his attacker.
Standing in the center of his living room was a slender young man. He had messy, short orange hair that caught the dim light, and eyes the color of a frozen ocean—deep, blue, and utterly devoid of warmth. He wore a sleek grey uniform accented by a stark red scarf draped over his shoulder, and a strange, glowing, jewel-like ornament buckled securely to his belt. In his hands, he held a bizarrely shaped, mechanical bow, already nocking another arrow.
Akai cataloged the face instantly. He had never seen this man before in his life. An operative with such distinct, striking features would be impossible to forget.
He opened his mouth, intending to ask if this assassin had the wrong target, but the intruder gave him zero room to breathe.
The young man shifted his grip on the bow. With a sharp mechanical snap and a surge of unnatural energy, the weapon fractured down the middle, transforming instantly into a pair of wicked, gleaming dual blades. A feral, excited grin split the intruder's face as he lunged forward, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Akai dropped into a defensive stance, entirely reliant on his mastery of Jeet Kune Do to survive the onslaught.
The speed was terrifying.
The moment their limbs clashed, Akai realized with cold clarity that he was at a severe disadvantage in close-quarters combat against this monster. The intruder fought like a warrior born on a battlefield. Every strike was blindingly fast, every defense utterly flawless. There was zero wasted movement, only a relentless, flowing aggression that adapted instantly to every counter Akai attempted.
A blade swept toward his throat. Akai threw his weight backward, bending his spine to an extreme angle. The razor-sharp edge hissed past his eyes, missing his corneas by millimeters. He used the momentum to push off his back foot, sliding across the floor to finally create a pocket of distance between them.
He reached up, his fingers brushing against his cheek. They came away wet. He had not dodged completely. A thin line of fire burned across his face, adding to the various dull aches and shallow cuts scattered across his arms and torso from the brief, brutal exchange.
Breathing heavily, Akai kept his guard up, watching the orange-haired man closely.
The intruder had stopped. He stood relaxed, his dual blades lowered, making no move to press the advantage or finish the kill.
Akai let out a slow, controlled breath, the immediate spike of adrenaline beginning to level out. He had noticed it during the flurry of blows. The attacks were heavy, fast, and suffocating, but they lacked lethal intent. If this man truly wanted him dead, Akai knew he would not have lasted this long unarmed.
Taking advantage of the sudden ceasefire, Akai straightened up slightly, his piercing green eyes locked onto the stranger.
"Friend," Akai said, his voice remarkably calm despite the blood dripping from his chin. "May I ask exactly how I have offended you, to make you suddenly show up and give me a beating?"
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