Chapter 21: Void and Vengeance
The night was silent.
3:45 AM.
From a distance, I watched three buses arrive at the NIFL.
Students boarded the first two.
The third bus belonged to the staff.
And among them...
There he was.
Toshiro Sobu.
No.
The boy I once knew as Void.
For a brief moment, I simply stood there.
Years of searching.
Years of regret.
Years of convincing myself that this moment would finally bring me peace.
I quietly slipped onto the third bus before anyone noticed.
Most of the staff were too tired to pay attention.
One eventually looked toward me.
"Who are—"
I raised my pistol before he could finish.
The bus fell silent.
"It's been a while... hasn't it, Void?"
Toshiro didn't even flinch.
He continued looking through the window as though the night sky interested him more than the weapon pointed at his chest.
After several seconds, he finally spoke.
"You still use the nickname you gave me when we were children."
There was a faint smile on his face.
It irritated me.
"No."
It enraged me.
"My daughter..."
The words struggled to leave my mouth.
"Would she still be alive if it weren't for you? Would that fire have ever happened? Would any of this have happened?"
Only then did he turn toward me.
His expression remained impossibly calm.
"You speak as though everything is my fault."
His eyes met mine.
"As though you're the only one who has suffered."
He paused.
"Tell me... what happened to your wife?"
Something inside me snapped.
The gun fired before I even realized I had pulled the trigger.
The bullet shattered one of the bus windows.
Glass scattered across the floor.
I immediately pointed the gun toward the driver.
"Turn this bus around."
The driver's hands trembled.
He obeyed.
I ordered him toward a nearby beach.
No one argued.
No one moved.
The entire ride passed in silence.
Eventually, the bus stopped.
Void stepped outside first.
I followed him.
The waves quietly crashed against the shore.
The cold wind carried the scent of the ocean.
I loaded another round into my pistol.
"So..."
"This is how it ends."
Void remained silent.
He simply smiled.
Then...
He slowly walked toward me.
He gently took hold of the barrel of my gun...
...and guided it toward his own heart.
"If you kill me now..."
"...you won't find the closure you came here searching for."
His voice never changed.
"You expected regret."
"You expected fear."
"You expected me to beg for my life."
"But you and I both know something."
His eyes softened.
"You aren't a murderer."
Those words felt heavier than any bullet.
"Do you remember what you used to tell me when we were children?"
He continued before I could answer.
"You said you had no enemies."
"You said you hated no one."
His smile slowly disappeared.
"And now..."
"You abandoned your grieving wife."
"You threw yourself into one suicide mission after another."
"You call it justice."
"It isn't."
"It's revenge."
"False revenge."
My finger rested against the trigger.
I wanted to pull it.
I truly did.
Yet...
I couldn't.
Then—
A pair of headlights pierced the darkness.
A vehicle sped toward us.
Several objects flew through the air.
Smoke.
Within seconds, everything disappeared into a white fog.
I coughed.
I couldn't see.
Before I could react, multiple hands grabbed me.
I struggled.
Too late.
I was thrown into the backseat of another vehicle.
The doors slammed shut.
The car accelerated.
Someone beside me laughed.
"Well... it's been a while, hasn't it, Fumiatsu?"
I turned toward him.
Recognition came almost instantly.
"Kenzo..."
"You were one of those police interns..."
He grinned.
"Used to be."
He pointed toward the driver.
"And that's Ren."
"I was an FBI agent."
"Keyword..."
"Was."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Kenzo leaned back.
"Part of the United States government is trying to kill us."
For several seconds...
I wasn't sure whether he was joking.
Ren spoke without taking his eyes off the road.
"Why exactly did we bring him?"
Kenzo ignored the question.
"We're disappearing for a while."
Before anyone could say another word...
A loud thump echoed from behind us.
Everyone froze.
Ren glanced toward the rearview mirror.
"What was that?"
A few minutes later, the vehicle stopped deep within the woods.
Ren opened the trunk.
Inside...
A young woman.
She couldn't have been much older than twenty-one.
She immediately climbed out with her hands raised.
"Okay... I know this looks bad, but let me expl—"
A crack.
Ren had already fired a taser.
She collapsed before finishing her sentence.
Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket, removed a syringe, and injected her.
I stared at him.
"Ren..."
Kenzo blinked.
"What exactly did you inject her with?"
Ren looked at the syringe.
"...Knockout drug."
I rushed toward the unconscious woman and checked her pulse.
Still alive.
I exhaled.
Then I looked back at him.
"Are you out of your mind?"
Ren shrugged.
"She could've been working with the corrupt side of the government."
"I grabbed the non-lethal one by accident."
He said it so casually that it unsettled me.
Kenzo rubbed the back of his neck.
"If she is connected..."
"...we'll question her after she wakes up."
"Four to twelve hours, give or take."
I couldn't understand them.
"How can the two of you talk about this so casually?"
Neither of them answered.
Kenzo simply smiled.
"Who knows."
He looked toward Ren.
"Put her back in the trunk."
Ren lifted her without another word.
She was tied securely before being placed back inside.
The trunk closed.
The engine started.
And once again...
We disappeared into the darkness.
END OF CHAPTER