Softly splashing water droplets hit his black motorcycle as he drove onwards. The skies were overhung with a blanket of grey, so much so that he could barely tell the difference between the sky and clouds. It was clear it would rain heavily today. Rainy days reminded him of the death of their parents and Takeru. Yet he never hated the rain like Masaki did. It was actually calming him.

His ride had reached its destination. He returned home. He remained although on his motorbike and checked his phone. He opened Google Maps and searched for Amaya's timeline. The locations she had been was showing now. Minutes ago she was outside her work. Then she went to a cafe across the street. And minutes later it seemed she changed locations rather fast.

Something was not right. Hiroto turned back on the road and drove to Aseia Architects. His first priority was to check if Amaya was at work. Though the front desk told him, she never showed up this morning. Tension grew in his face and limbs, his mind replaying the last scene of Amaya walking towards the office. "Idiot! You should wait for her to enter inside." he cursed himself under his breath.

His next move was already predicted. He drove to the last location that was shown on Amaya's timeline. He was driving for so many years and now all the speed of the world was not enough to aid him to reach that forsaken place. It took him 15 long minutes to reach an area on the south parts of SWORD. And one more minute to spot her purse.

He grabbed her purse and placed it against his lap and searched her bag finding her phone. It was indeed Amaya's purse. His breathing became more rapid, more shallow. 'Doubt' his mind shouted. He hit speed-dial for Masaki. No answer. "Kuso! (Damn)!" he cried out and bumped his foot against the ground. He called again, his heart racing faster - no answer. And again.

Finally, Masaki answered this time. "Hiroto-kun, why aren't you back?" Masaki quizzed in his usual tone "Are you still stalking Amaya?"

"Aniki!" Hiroto lipped his heartbeat slowly calming down "Doubt! They captured Amaya. I found her purse in the East parts."

Masaki didn't respond at first. He needed a few seconds to process what Hiroto was telling him. And a few more to think about what their next move would be. "Send me the location and wait for me!"

"What'll you do?" he asked him as his panic was growing. Hiroto was not the person that would panic easily. But at that moment he felt useless and stressful.

"The White Rascals have connections with Doubt for years. Rocky might know something!" Masaki informed him and turned off the call. Hiroto sent him the coordinations of the location. And the oldest of the Amamiya Brothers paid a visit to Rocky.

It seemed that the location wasn't unknown to Rocky. Around those parts used to be a very old building Doubt use to do business. Masaki rushed off to find Hiroto, so they could search about that place. And Rocky went to gather the rest of the White Rascals and they would join them next.

---

The glass of the broken windows itself was a grey-brown, inviting the mind to see the settled dust even at a distance. Around it was the brickwork, perfect beneath the dirt of years and rising upward to the sky and cloud. It must have been abandoned for some time, a building waiting for a reason to remain standing. The windows and doors were blocked with metal bars.

Amaya's thoughts were accelerating inside her head. Suddenly she opened her eyes widely gazing around at her surroundings. There was darkness and dust. She wanted her mind to slow down so she could breathe but they won't. Her breaths came in gasps and she felt like blacking out.

The building seemed to shudder in the wind and sway as the rain attacked it. Her mind wheeled and connected all the dots. Doubt seized her outside her workplace. She was drugged. She could recall her last memories clear. Her heart was hammering inside her chest like it belonged to a rabbit running.

The room span and she squatted on the floor, trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. Her fear rose slowly as she could feel it. It was raising. No, it wasn't Doubt she was terrified off. It was her darker self. The one that was controlled and captured for so many years. Now that she was in danger it would not stay down.

The panic started to increase as thin cellophane, something her fingers can pierce breathing holes in. In the next minute, the panic was a deluge of ice water surrounding every limb, creeping higher until it was no longer. That's when the attack became absolute, awaking her body as fast as the raindrops fell.

Her eyes darkened and she stood up. Her hands were tied up making her escape harder. But her legs were free. "Dumb Doubt!" she uttered to herself. She scanned the room around in dim light. She crossed over towards the windows. She kicked against them once, twice.

Bang! Boom!

The room was filled with kicking sounds. Though the metal bars were stronger than her kicks. She didn't wait, like a wild animal that was trapped inside a cage, she was looking for her way out. Her body had now a mind on his own. Her next move was to kick the door. Once, twice the wooden door trambled against the force of her kicks.

Bang! Boom!

Suddenly the door opened and she reached the end of the room. Someone had just punched her. Though neither the punch or any fear would settle her in a quiet corner. She attacked the man. Grasping both of her tied hands together and striking blow after blow. Blood split against the dusty walls and soon the man fall to his knees.

Amaya stood above him with a dark look on her face. Her rusted mind had almost forgotten how capable she was to protect herself. For a second she recalled what it meant to hail from Sannoh. What it meant be Cobra's sibling. Indeed he had taught her well. At that moment she missed the old days. She missed home, her friends and Cobra. Though, with those good memories returned the dark ones.

A tear feel down her cheek as she recalled her past. The drug use, the betrayal, the lies, and the secrets. She took a few steps backwards bumping against the wall. Her head rolled with the impact, eyes glazed.

The outside noise sounded far away, as two motorbikes split through the echoing sound. The Amamiya had found the deserted building. Masaki climbed off his bike and went forward with his attack. Hiroto leaping his, followed punch after punch. In a few seconds, chaos was unleashed. Doubt Members were never strong. Especially now with Randmaru out of the picture and less Members being part of Doubt.

"Hiroto, I'll handle the rest. Go find Amaya!" Masaki cried out as he noted that dealing with those Doubt Members was not a hard task.

Hiroto nodded and stormed forward following the route towards the inner parts of the building. Panic rose once more, she could be hurt, bleeding or worse Hirai could have seized her. He searched room after room. Until he found the room with a locked door. He kicked his way in.

The sudden sound made Amaya jump and attack against the man that entered the room. Hiroto dodged the first strike and blocked the second with his right arm. His eyes widen openly confused at the view. "Amaya stop! It's me!" he pulled back and waved his hand in front of her face.

Her voice came out thin and distant, "What, but, no, it didn't, that's... not... right..." She was breathing all wrong, beginning to gasp like there's not enough oxygen in the air. "Hirai did I?" she suddenly turned and looked at the man on the ground.

Hiroto froze at the view of the bloody hands. Though he soon found out it was not her blood. It was Hirai's. In his mind, he had pictured to find a scared girl or even an injured one. Though the reality he was facing was odder than his mind could guess. He walked over and checked Hirai. He was injured but alive. He took a deep breath and walked towards Amaya.

He paused and studied her, she seemed so alien from the girl he knew. Though now was not the time to question her. He stepped closer and freed her hands. His right hand resting on her shoulder "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" he seriously asked her.

She could hear Hiroto saying something, but he sounded distant and muffled. Her stomach flipped as she thought of her previous actions. It took her a moment to answer avoiding eye contact with Hiroto as if he would read her. "I am fine! They didn't touch me!" was her response.

Hiroto breathed out like his worries were all vanished. Now he felt only annoyed by the odd roommate. He took off his leather jacket and put it around her shoulders. "Come, Let's take you home!" he simply said and walked away.

As they reached downstairs they found all the Doubt Members kicked and on the ground. Masaki was talking with Rocky, it seemed that the White Rascals had also joined to help. Hiroto sat on his bike waiting for Amaya. "We are going home!" he informed Masaki.

Masaki nodded and pointed at Rocky "I'll follow Rocky at Sannoh we need to inform the rest of SWORD. It's strange that Doubt were on the move." He paused to check on Amaya "How are you?" he asked her scanning her and finding out that she was very much alive and doing fine.

Amaya wore Hiroto's jacket and climbed behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned close resting her chest against his back. Her worries were slowly fainting away. She was terrified, as part of her older self showed itself. She felt safe and secure, strong and proud. It was a very long time she had those feelings. Though she knew very well that with those come a more sinister truth.

Hiroto was also troubled. Each day he was learning something new about the annoying roommate. If someone would look at her from afar, she seemed like the models from fashion magazines. She was not kind of Girl you would found around SWORD. Then if someone talked with her for the first time, they would think of her as a sweet and successful woman. For surely boring and annoying.

Yet if someone had a second look, she was orbiting an aura of mystery. Small things could bother her, like every girl. She would freak out at the time of the event. Then everything was forgotten. She seemed cool and calm like it never happened. When she was drunk, she was fearless and rather cute. And today Hiroto found out when she was in real danger. She could protect herself.

There was something really bizarre and maybe dark about Amaya. She was getting more and more on his nerves. Indeed he was never the flirty type. But he did like it when he was helping out a girl. They seemed helpless and always were thankful to him. Yet Amaya was not like that. She had a miscellaneous strength, one of those that seemed really familiar.

He hated it and at the same time, he liked it.

「Upcoming Chapter: Act Twelve」

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