To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

Chapter 51

"Should I continue down the hallway?" Emi's voice rang through the desolate area, echoing a few times before disintegrating into nothingness.

"Yeah. You're doing a good job, just go all the way down." She heard from the earpiece, oblivious to the fact that it wasn't the blond she knew, but a distorted version of his voice replicated by a computer.

"Where are the others? Am I meeting up with them?"

There was a long pause before the earpiece boomed to life. "Yeah, something like that. They're a bit farther up ahead."

"But what about you?" Emi sighed. "Jiro, you're not a good hand to hand fighter, and those bullets won't last forever!"

The line was once again silent and a heavy feeling invaded Emi, like she just said something she shouldn't have. Biting her lip, she was ready to apologize to the blond for speaking that way. Even she knew that Jiro didn't particularly suck at hand to hand, considering he's an elite.

His voice, however, reached her before Emi could utter an apology.

"You're right." He said, accompanied by a cheap laugh.

Emi froze on her spot, her eyes widening as a needle-like feeling pinched her brain.

The Jiro she knew would never admit defeat. Ever.

Meanwhile, the fierce clicking of keys slamming against the board rang through the otherwise quiet area where Jiro was stationed at. His gaze was locked on the screen, a layer of sweat covering his forehead and making some of the blond strands stick to it like glue.

He was almost done with the process of regaining control of the map and earpieces, but that only upsetted him more.

The Hiiragi know we're here, he thought.

If he wanted to somehow turn the events around he would have to warn everyone in the team, but without the earpieces he could only be a spectator.

His hazel eyes flickered up for half a second, realizing the night sky was already upon him. A new wave of tension washed over his body but he didn't allow it to reach his fingers, which were stealthily flying around the keyboard. Time went by quicker than he had expected. He'd been alone for fifteen minutes already.

For the first time in his life he was growing sick of the smell of fresh grass and the cold night air. All he wanted was to be with his team, even if that meant facing a group of ghouls, and maybe his death.

Suddenly a sinking feeling overtook his stomach as his inhuman hearing capacity caught the sound of multiple steps slapping against the floor not too far from him. He immediately bolted up, throwing the backpack against the open computer as a barrier before grabbing the sniper off the floor. His actions were just in time, as once he straightened up he caught sight of the fairly large group hurling toward him.

"Fuck." He whispered. His teeth were gritted beyond human comprehension as his eyes locked on the group, a deadly aura eminating from him.

Because of these people he had to pause his work, which meant Emi, Shin and Ryuu could be in potential danger. An uncomfortable feeling flowed through every vein in his body. Jiro was annoyed.

And boy, how annoyed he was.

The group closed in on him, all pointing guns at the blond's body as he remained immobile, trying to contain the sudden urge to decapitate every single one of them.

But suddenly he realized, like a lightbulb going off, that his self restraint wasn't needed at this particular moment.

A new feeling emanated from his body in waves, overcoming his frustration as the indicators of a small, sinister smirk began appearing on his face.