The mind can forget... but the heart never!

Chapter 39

After a roughly twenty-minute drive, they arrived at the hall marked by Celeste. During the journey, neither of them said a word. Both were very tense. Mamoru drove past the building and eventually stopped a little further down a side street. Just as he turned off the engine, a brunette man knocked on his window. Mamoru nodded briefly at him and got out of the car. Seiya didn't hesitate for a second and followed suit. The brunette unrolled a sketch.

"These are rough blueprints of the hall. We suspect he's holding them here or here," he began, pointing to two areas. "Shin is likely in the office here, as he hasn't left the building. There are 16 men around the building and at least 20 inside."

Mamoru rubbed his eyebrows strainedly with his index finger and thumb. There were significantly more men than he had anticipated.

"Cameras?" he asked curtly.

"Yes, but we're in the process of disabling them. Once we have them offline, Saphir will receive the signal."

Mamoru leaned in closer over the plan, thinking hard.

"How many of our people are here?"

"I have a team of eight, and then your elite squad." Mamoru began calculating. So, there were at least 38 against 12, not counting Seiya.

"It could be tight. Do you have any reinforcements nearby?" Mamoru grumbled in annoyance. Shin, that bastard, would be held accountable today.

"I could request five more, but it'll be tight. They could be here in a good half hour."

"Then do that. Angel is waiting at the back exit, send her half the team. The others will come from the front."

Mamoru was concerned about his responsibility for his men, but the fear for Bunny outweighed everything else. It wasn't the first time he had been in such a situation, but each time was different. Every fight had its own challenges and difficulties. However, the biggest challenge now was obviously Shin. He knew that only one of them would leave this hall alive.

Seiya examined the spots where Bunny was likely being held once again. He needed to memorize them precisely. He knew he would find her. He had to find her. He glanced at his watch. Yaten and Taiki were on their way. If Taiki's latest information was correct, they would be here in about an hour.

Mamoru patted Seiya on the shoulder and nodded toward the hall. They all took their positions. The tension in the air was palpable. They were only waiting for the signal.

As soon as the cameras were offline, Saphir would start taking out the first guards from his vantage point. Seiya and Mamoru stood close together, their pulses noticeably racing. Then they saw the first guard go down, shortly followed by the second. That was the signal. Saphir had opened fire. When the third guard was hit, they sprinted forward. The group sprinted toward the building, bullets flying around them, and some men screamed as they were hit. Mamoru gave instructions to his men over the radio while Seiya headed for the hall's door. He ran as fast as he could. He had finally reached the door without getting hit. Saphir seemed to be doing a good job as a sniper.

The walls of the hall were covered with dented metal plates, and the only light came from the sparse neon tubes hanging from the ceiling. The room was full of dust and dirt, and the smell of machine oil, cold smoke, and sweat hung heavily in the air. Just seconds after him, Mamoru jumped out followed by two men behind him. "Keep running!" Mamoru shouted at him. In his mind's eye, Seiya recalled the plan: straight ahead, then the next left.

Mamoru saw a group approaching them and swiftly drew his weapon. Before his opponent could even realize what was happening, a shot had already taken him down. Seiya continued running through the dark corridors of the hall, sticking to the path he had memorized earlier. He ignored the shots fired around him and focused on finding Bunny.