4. Project IZ*ONE III

Chapter 6- Stolen Spirit

[Note if it wasn't clear that chapters 4-6 are all happening at the same time.]

"Hey, Kkura. I have a question." Eunchae says as Le Sserafim approaches KYB Programming.

"What is it?" Though Sakura was not in the best of moods knowing that a lot of what was going on was her fault, she didn't want to show it, especially to the maknae of the group. She tried to encourage Eunchae as much as possible these days because the time mutants need the most support was when they were young.

"You and the others believe KYB is the one who had your laptop stolen months ago, right? Eunchae asks. The tech-girl nods in response, leading to a follow-up question.

"Well, there was a mission shortly after that where Eunbi-unnie and Hyewon-unnie were investigating cybersecurity firms that were being broken into. If KYB has their own programming division, why didn't they just have it hacked over there?"

It was a good question to be fair; one that she's also considered since doing her research on the company.

"My best guess is that they didn't want the extraction to lead back to them. It was clear in those robberies that they were looking for specific tools, so maybe they were trying to recreate their own codes using third-party software. You see, when someone touches my tech, I can trace exactly what was done with it. If they used a code created by their company, I'd be able to cross reference that until I found them whereas if they used several different parts, it'd be harder for me to figure out it was them." Sakura explains, though from the looks of things, it had only seemed to confuse the youngest even more.

"Uhm, anyone able to simplify that for me?" Eunchae asks the others in the van.

"How about this- bad guys just like to cover their footprints." Yunjin says with a laugh, giving Sakura a pat on the shoulder. The maknae finally nods in understanding.

"Oh, okay. That cleared it up. Thanks unnies." From the smile on Eunchae's face, you wouldn't know that the six girls in the car were on their way to an infiltration mission. On the opposite end, Sakura's been on so many that it's become routine for her, and yet, she felt a bit on edge for this one.

As Sakura sits back in her seat, a hand suddenly taps her shoulder. It was the other Japanese member of the group, Kazuha.

"Saku-chan, are you worried about something?" The younger girl asks in their native language to have a bit more privacy.

"Is it showing that much?" Sakura chuckles back, realizing that her poker face had worsened compared to before she came to Korea.

"Mhm, you've had that look on your face ever since we met up earlier to discuss the plan. I know that you feel that this is your fault, but we're here to support you." Kazuha says.

"A lot of people are getting hurt because of me. Chaeyeon was supposed to come with us, but the robots I designed attacked her sister's home. If something bad happens, and I'm unable to fix it, I won't be able to forgive myself." The tech girl replies. Kazuha was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating what to say.

"You don't have to say anything, Zuha. I'd prefer us dealing with this problem with actions rather than words." Sakura ends up saying, as if reading her friend's mind.

"Alright, Kkura-chan. You know you can count on me for that, but for the record, I understood why you did the things you did. I know you're a good person." Though Kazuha was still rather new to the country, Sakura had quickly made her feel at home. Only a few people like Chaeyeon knew it, but the older girl had a soft side. Everything Sakura did was in an effort to protect her teammates.

Over at the front of the van, Minjoo looks back at the four girls conversing about different things.

"You have a nice group of people in your group, Chae." The raven-haired girl says to her girlfriend who was driving. It had taken her a couple of attempts, but yes, she could now drive.