The gunfire had long since faded into silence. The once-grand penthouse of Takeda Hiroshi was a battlefield of shattered glass, bloodstains, and bodies. The Osaka skyline stretched beyond the wreckage, neon lights flickering through the smoke curling from broken fixtures. The air reeked of gunpowder, death, and something acrid—perhaps the lingering scent of Takeda's desperation before Akihiro had cut his throat.
Akihiro exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he wiped his blade clean on the fabric of the dead man's suit. Takeda had fought, but in the end, he was nothing but another name to cross off the list. Another traitor erased.
He stepped over the corpse, making his way toward the exit. His phone rung and he picked.
"Moshi moshi"
"Are you done playing around up there?"
Mai's voice, dry and unimpressed, cut through the static.
Akihiro smirked, pressing a finger to his earpiece. "Had to make sure he felt it before he died. Where are you?"
"Still downstairs. Cleaning up your mess."
The sound of gunfire punctuated her words, followed by the unmistakable gurgle of a dying man. A wet thud echoed through the connection.
Akihiro chuckled. "How many left?"
"Two. Maybe three." A pause. "They're more persistent than I expected."
Akihiro leaned against the elevator doors, tapping his foot idly as he listened to another burst of gunfire through the comms.
"Want me to come down?" he offered, knowing full well what the answer would be.
Mai snorted. "If you're that desperate to get shot, be my guest."
There was a grunt of exertion, followed by a muffled scream. A body hit the floor.
Akihiro's smirk widened. "You sure you don't need help?"
"I said I got it."
A final gunshot rang out, then silence.
Akihiro pushed off the elevator doors just as they opened, stepping inside. "Coming down anyway."
Mai's sigh was audible. "You're annoying."
"Sure sure."
No response. He chuckled.
By the time he reached the lower floors, the fight was over.
The once-polished marble floors of the building's lobby were slick with blood. Bodies were sprawled across the room—Takeda's guards, some still clutching their weapons in death. The air was thick with gunpowder and smoke, a faint haze drifting through the shattered remains of glass partitions and overturned furniture.
And in the center of it all stood Mai.
Her clothes were streaked with crimson, her hair damp with sweat. In one hand, she held a gun she had taken off a dead body, her own weapons long spent. She was breathing hard, but her eyes remained sharp, cold, unreadable.
She barely glanced at him as he stepped through the wreckage.
Akihiro surveyed the scene, giving an appreciative whistle. "I leave you alone for fifteen minutes, and you redecorate the place."
Mai flicked the blood off her hands. "Fifteen? Felt like twenty."
Akihiro grinned. "You miss me that much?"
She shot him a look. "Shut up."
He laughed, stepping over the corpses to stand beside her. The two of them took in the destruction, the weight of their mission settling over them.
The Syndicate's orders had been clear—eliminate Takeda and his men, make it look natural, and disappear.
Akihiro stretched his arms over his head, rolling out his shoulders. "So. What now?"
Mai wiped her hands on her pants. "We clean up."
He sighed dramatically. "Hate this part."
Mai ignored him, already moving toward the bodies, checking for anything valuable—USBs, burner phones, anything that could be used to track Syndicate business. Akihiro watched her for a moment before following suit, crouching to rifle through Takeda's men.
"Ren and Kaede should have finished by now, considering those two just live to kill" he said absently, slipping a bloodstained drive into his pocket.
Mai didn't reply immediately. She crouched beside a dead guard, pulling a folded note from his jacket. Her brows furrowed as she skimmed its contents.
Akihiro glanced over. "Something interesting?"
She handed him the note. He unfolded it, scanning the message.
"To Barbie—
Good job eliminating Hideo Takeda.
Everything has unfolded exactly as it should.
I hope you at least gave him a nice burial since he died for a greater cause.
—Y"
Akihiro's smirk faded.
Mai dusted off her hands. "What the hell does that mean? And how the fuck is Barbie?"
Akihiro exhaled through his nose, crumpling the note in his fist. "Barbie is probably referring to us or the syndicate as a whole, It means someone wanted him dead and the had planned for Takeda to die here tonight on purpose."
Mai nodded slightly, then turned her attention to the next body. They worked in silence for a few minutes, gathering everything worth taking.
When they were done, Akihiro glanced around the ruined lobby.
"The Syndicate said to make it look natural," he murmured. "How do you want to do this?"
Mai considered it for a moment. "Gas leak. One of the guards left a stove on upstairs, maybe a spark from the gunfire set it off."
Akihiro raised a brow. "You're disturbingly good at this."
She shot him a look. "You're disturbingly bad at it."
Akihiro grinned, pulling out a lighter and flicking it open. "Want me to do the honors?"
Mai rolled her eyes. "Keep it controlled."
A few minutes later, a controlled explosion ripped through the upper floors. Fire alarms screamed as smoke began curling from the building's windows. The flames wouldn't destroy the whole place, but by the time authorities arrived, everything inside would be too scorched or smoke-damaged to be useful.
They stood on the rooftop of an adjacent building, watching the smoke rise.
Akihiro exhaled, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Well. That's that."
Mai nodded. "Mission complete."
A silence stretched between them, broken only by the distant wail of sirens.
Then Akihiro grinned. "So. Drinks?"
Mai shot him an incredulous look. "We just killed thirty people."
He shrugged. "And?"
She shook her head. "You're insufferable."
"You love me."
Mai exhaled, turning away. "I'd rather die."
Akihiro chuckled, following after her. "Cold as ever, huh?"
She didn't respond, but the faintest ghost of a smirk touched her lips.
As the smoke billowed into the Osaka night, the two assassins disappeared, leaving only a perfect crime behind.