(Again, Make sure to read book 1 for context, happy reading!)

"These aren't the mutants you're looking for..." The voice of a young woman whispers to the security guard in front of her. He had just begun to reach for his weapon, but stopped at what he'd heard, entering a dreamlike trance.

"These aren't the mutants I'm looking for..." He groggily responds, causing the girl to let out a chuckle.

"Works every time~" She says, as if patting herself on the back.

"Stop playing around Yul, we have a mission to accomplish." The voice of another girl interjects.

"Yeah, yeah, Yena. No need to act all commando again, I know. Now get to work on that door." Yuri responds. It had been a couple months since the two girls had officially become a couple, but in some ways, their interactions, such as constant bickering, never really changed.

"We're in." Yena declares, after successfully short-circuiting the door's lock. From the outside, the building didn't look like much. It was just a simple three-story white apartment building. It honestly looked pretty identical to the other ones around Seoul, but the guards present were what gave away the location to them. As the two make their way in, the older girl tries to go over the instructions given for the mission again. They'd gotten a transmission from Sakura the other day on this lab located in the south side of Seoul that could have valuable information in it. After some deliberation and planning, the group decided to infiltrate the place at night to have more cover. Given the smaller size of the place, they'd also been told that only a pair was necessary, and with how easily Yena was knocking the guards out, they were probably right.

Eventually, the two managed to break into the main room of the building, on the third floor, containing the local database, and began looking around. Sakura's short message repeated in the couple's memories.

We still haven't found Jurina, but we came across some information where a hidden Japanese file is. It's connected to the syndicate. I'll send the location. It was the first update the group back in Korea had received in a couple weeks as Sakura and the others were erring on the side of caution, only contacting them when they had essential information.

"What could the syndicate possibly be hiding in a place like this?" Yuri asks as she sifts through files on the computers. The inside wasn't anything as impressive as the underground labs they'd been to either, only a few computers and a couple bookshelves occupying the room. Maybe that was the point, to blend in. She thinks.

"Sakura said it was important, so I'm just going to trust her." Yena responds.

"We don't even know what we're looking for though. Like, it could be any of these files."

"Then let's just download everything we can and look over it back at base." Yuri nods at the suggestion, and begins dragging all the files into the usb they'd plugged in. Unbeknownst to them, several figures were sneaking around, watching the two.

"So...what're we doing when we get back? Got any plans? Wanna watch a movie?" Yuri asks casually while waiting for the files to download.

"Whatever you want, Yuri. You know I'm happy as long as you're happy." Yena replies. Normally, the younger girl would swoon at the cheesy line, but Yuri felt put off by it this time.

"We can't just always do what I want though." She says with a pout. "You must have interests too, right? Why can't we try those out?" Yena ponders this for a second. She did think that she'd become a bit more passive lately, defaulting to whatever Yuri felt like doing, but she just wanted to make sure Yuri was happy. Admittedly, Yena was confused. Why wouldn't Yuri want to do the things she wanted all the time?

"Yah, Yena, aren't you going to say anything?" Yuri asked after Yena's prolonged silence.

"I'm sorry, Yul. I'll try harder-"

"That's not what I meant. You shouldn't be apologizing for anything!" Yuri says, a bit louder than she'd expected, her frustration becoming apparent. Before either could say something again though, a notification popped up on the computer screen announcing the completion of the download. Yuri sighs.

"Let's just head back already..." She says quietly. That's when they both hear a creak in the floor outside the room. Yena quickly gets back into her serious mode, putting an arm over Yuri protectively.

"We're not alone..." She whispers.

"You think it's more guards?" Yuri asks.

"Maybe, but I don't want to stick around longer to find out." At this Yena grabs onto Yuri's hand and pulls her along as they begin to make their way out of the apartment. Before they could make more progress though, five figures dressed in black appear from all sides, surrounding them.

"The data, please." A voice of female speaks out to them.

"Over my dead body..." Yena replies, gritting her teeth. "I have half a mind to just take you all out right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The voice says again, giving what looked to be a signal to one of the other four people round them. Without warning, Yena is kicked from behind, and shoved to the ground all within the blink of an eye, the usb taken from her.

"What the...how?" Yena says, coughing and trying to catch her breath. The only person she knew with that speed was Chaeyeon, but that thought just made her realize something. These people were mutants too.

Yuri was still in shock at what just happened, and before she could use her charm speak to get their usb back, she too was targeted by a sharp punch to the gut, bringing Yuri to her knees. The woman in command just smirks before summoning a ball of fire in her hand and laying it on the ground where it begins to spread.

"Time to go girls..." And with that, the five mysterious figures join hands, and like magic, disappear.

"We...need to get out of here..." Yena says between coughs, the smoke starting to fill the room. Yuri staggers as she gets herself up, still winded by the quick attack. By the time they get their bearings, the fire had spread everywhere, making it difficult to determine where the exit even was. Every hall they would pass by would either be blocked by fallen debris or engulfed by fire. Yuri was now starting to cough even more, eventually dropping to one knee from exhaustion. Yena, seeing this, tries to carry the younger girl on her shoulders despite her increasing fatigue.

"Yena...are we gonna make it?" Yuri slurs.

"Yes. I won't let us die here." Yena says with conviction. Yena looks out the window, seeing the far drop. Residents in the area had already begun to take notice of the building burning, gathering around outside.

"If we don't...make it...Yena, I lo-" Yuri couldn't even finish her sentence, finally passing out. No... Yena thought to herself. It is not going to end here. And with a defiant yell, Yena fires a bolt of electricity at the window, shattering it. She picks up Yuri, and leaps out, hoping her training on how to break her fall would finally come in handy, granted, they never taught it while carrying an unconscious person.

By virtue of luck, she'd managed to soften their landing by landing on the shrubbery outside the lab. Yena was still in pain from landing back-first, but she was relieved that Yuri looked okay.

"Did you see that girl just jump out of that building?" Voices of civilians begin to chatter from what they'd witnessed, and that was a signal that it was now imperative to get out of there.

"Was she a mutant? Did she cause this?" Another voice asks. By then, a firetruck had finally arrived on the scene as well as a few members of the police. Yena took advantage of the confusion and snuck her and Yuri away from the place She could already see the headlines now. Mutant burns building and flees the scene. She'd have to deal with that later.

Eventually, she'd managed to get herself and Yuri to their getaway car, plopping the younger girl on the front seat. Yena sighs to herself as she settles into the driver's seat. Who the hell were they? She thinks as she drives off into the night.

~~~~

By the time the two had arrived back at base, it was already early morning. Trainer and resident healer, Lee Hongki was already waiting at the entrance to get Yuri to the infirmary. The younger girl had woken up sometime during their trip, but Yena insisted that Yuri be taken care of when they got back.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Choi Yena." He says curtly before taking Yuri away.

Oh, joy. I can't wait... She thinks to herself sarcastically as she trudges towards her room.

"Unnie!" A familiar voice greets when Yena walks in. It was Ahn Yujin, one of her first friends here on the newly renamed, PD campus. As of right now, it was just the two of them in the room as their other roommates had likely gone off to eat breakfast.

"So, how was the mission? It's still so unfair how you got to go alone with Yuri-unnie." She jokes. "Speaking of which, where is she?" Leave it to Yujin to ask endless questions. Yena thinks tiredly.

"I guess you haven't seen the headlines yet, then. Yuri's...with Hongki-sunbaenim right now. It got a bit complicated." Yena responds cryptically. Yujin looks at her inquisitively, appearing to want to ask so many more questions, but just couldn't settle on one. The younger girl could tell though that Yena was extremely fatigued, so she decided to hold off until later during the mission debriefing.

"Okay, Yena-unnie, I'll go check those out first. You should rest too." When she hears the door shut, Yena simply collapses on her bed, and goes to sleep.

~~~~

Somewhere in Fukuoka, Japan...

"Is this the place, Kkura?" The voice of a woman asks, seeing the large intimidating building with the letters HKT emblazoned on it in front of them.

"Should be, Chaeyeon. If there's any place that knows where Jurina is right now, it's here." Sakura responds. Over the past couple months, Sakura, Chaeyeon, Nako and Hitomi had been scouring around the country looking for clues on where to find Matsui Jurina, the mutant who betrayed them and sided with the Syndicate. They'd gone around the country looking for her old hideouts based on whatever data Sakura had at the time, but she was completely off the grid. Sakura was desperate for answers, knowing that whatever they stopped in Busan before was only the beginning, and at the moment, Jurina was their best bet.

"Didn't think we'd be back here so soon..." Nako says. When they first got to Japan, Sakura had made it a point that going here in Fukuoka would be there last option. They already had a target on their back as it was for the older girl's disobedience to direct orders, and she didn't want to risk it. With the corruption embedded in the Japanese system, literally any of the people they meet could be working for Sakura's former boss. Now though, after the wild goose chase they've been on looking for Jurina, they didn't have much choice. All the data of AKB was connected, including HKT, so getting into one of their databases would really help in narrowing down an approximate location.

"So, what's the plan then? Sneak in, download the files, and get out?" Hitomi asks. Sakura nods in reply.

~~~~

Sneaking in was actually the easy part. Sakura knew this building like the back of her hand, being here for much of her life. They went around to the back entrance where she knew there were less guards. Nako, Hitomi and Chaeyeon knocked them out quickly while Sakura hacked through the doors.

Once they got inside, Sakura felt a nostalgic wave wash over her. She felt like she'd changed so much since she was last here, while this place hadn't changed a bit, still as busy as ever. There were many Japanese trainees walking in organized lines to wherever their next training sessions were, the instructors and soldiers lining up beside them to make sure no funny business would happen. Sakura remembers being one of those kids until she was picked out by one of the higher officials for her potential. She would've recollected more if her train of thought wasn't interrupted by someone tugging on her sleeve.

"Saku-chan. We don't have time for reminiscing. We have a mission to accomplish, remember?" Nako says in a joking tone.

"I don't think 'reminiscing' is the right word, Nako." She responds. Nako hadn't been in HKT for as long as the older girl, but Sakura was sure Nako dreaded coming back here as much as she did.

"Well, whatever it is, we gotta move, now." Hitomi interjects, pointing at a new guard patrol approaching. Sakura tries to regain composure and quickly directs them to an empty hallway to their right, out of sight. The problem was there was no other exit.

"This is a dead end, unnie!" Nako says panicking.

"That's what you think." Sakura responds with a sly smile as she places a hand on the wall, sensing for something until she hears a satisfying click. With that, a secret entrance opens up, leaving Nako dumbfounded. Sakura only shrugs.

"You really should've taken the time to look around more, Nako-chan. Now, come on, we have to get in before they see us." They just manage to get Hitomi through and shut the door when they see the shadow of a guard turn the corner.

As the group tried to regain their bearings, Chaeyeon studies the situation. She'd remained relatively quiet during this mission because she hadn't wanted to step into Sakura's past too intrusively. This place was Sakura's home for many years, and she didn't want to trigger any bad memories. The same went for Nako. She would rather wait for them to open up first than prod more. This hesistation hadn't gone unnoticed by Sakura though, who finally decided to break the tension.

"You okay, Chaeyeon?" She asks gingerly.

"Yeah, it's just, you and Nako know this place much better than me. I figured it'd better if you two lead us today." Chaeyeon responds.

We're fine Chaeyeon. Just be yourself. Sakura projects a message over, surprising the younger girl. She had forgotten that they set up a link before going in. Though Sakura could very easily read Chaeyeon's thoughts, she had been practicing over the past few months to avoid looking in. She respected her friends' privacy, but right now, she just wanted to assuage Chaeyeon's apprehensions. Sakura could tell Chaeyeon was holding back a bit, not wanting to overstep boundaries. Chaeyeon gives Sakura a smile in response, acknowledging the message.

"So, how long has this tunnel been here, Kkura?" Hitomi asks to change the topic, not noticing the silent exchange that just happened.

"Yeah, I've never seen this place before." Nako adds. It appeared that they were in an abandoned sewage tunnel, green moss protruding from the walls, and a trash filled waterway next to them.

"This place was actually here even before the HKT building was created. They simply built over this place when they laid the foundation. Some time after, the board members decided to create these secret entrances just in case an emergency exit was required." Sakura says, while holding her nose, gagging at the stench.

"And how did you find out about it?" Chaeyeon asks, finally starting to act like herself again.

"Downloaded some schematics for the place once when I was young and found it there. If we follow this path, we should eventually get to the data room." She answers, pointing to their north.

~~~~

After trudging along for a couple minutes, Sakura raises her hand, signaling the others to slow down. She feels the wall next to her again, and like before, opens the secret entrance, revealing a hallway leading to set of elevators and a couple of surprised guards who Nako knocks out quickly. Sakura ushers the others into the elevator, and short-circuits the cameras before clicking on the 12th floor button.

When the elevator doors open again, they are welcomed by a couple more guards who Hitomi incapacitates.

"We're here." Sakura announces, seeing the rows of computers in front of them.

"Now what?" Chaeyeon asks for instructions.

"Secure the perimeter while I look for what we came here for." The others nod as the older girl goes to work. Sakura closes her eyes as she gets on one of the computers and when she opens them again, she was in the digital world, files and folders flying around her.

Matsui Jurina...When Sakura thinks this, a wave of files appear and she begins sifting through until she finds a folder labeled "known locations". The Japanese had always made a point to keep tabs of all the mutants they could, and Jurina was no exception.

Last sighting...Chuo Ward. That's about an hour from here. She thinks to herself. What would she be doing out there? Now that Sakura had that information though, she decided to do a bit more digging.

Honda Hitomi parents...wait...Chuo Ward as well? Sakura was confused at that result. What the hell is in Chuo Ward? At this, more files show up on the location to answer her.

It's a jail? Sakura gasps to herself. She didn't envision this mission to become another extraction operation, but it looked like that was the direction it was heading. Before she decided to report to the others, she takes one more peek, out of curiosity, at where the Japanese thought she was.

Miyawaki Sakura...last known location...HKT headquarters...Sakura's eyes widen in shock. There must've been a silent trigger that alerted the guards to a data breach. She realizes. Rather than send a loud announcement that would signal the group to start running, they let her get complacent while the guards would get ready to ambush them. Those sneaky dogs... Sakura thinks as she opens her eyes staring right at the barrel of a gun. She sees Chaeyeon across from her, being held down, but Nako and Hitomi were nowhere in sight. Hopefully that meant they managed to escape for now.

"Greetings, Miyawaki Sakura. Welcome back..." The familiar voice of a woman says.

"Dr. Koyama, it's been a while." Sakura responds surprisingly calmly given the gun aimed at her head.

"You didn't think we'd forget about your treason, did you? Disobeying direct orders is not a good look." She chides before continuing.

"Your other two friends, managed to escape, but I know they'll be back when we have you two." She walks over to Chaeyeon and gives her a kick to the side. "Korean filth." She sneers. Sakura wanted to break her calm façade so badly to help her friend, but she didn't want to give them any more reason to hurt Chaeyeon.

"Take them away to Chuo Ward, guards. They'll be the bait to lure out the others." Before Sakura could object, one of her captors grabs a needle, and sticks it into her, causing her to slowly lose consciousness. Afterwards, Chaeyeon and Sakura are carried away to somewhere. From afar, Nako and Hitomi watch with dread, unable to step in.

There's too many of them, guys. You two need to regroup and come back for us later. Chaeyeon had said. They were ambushed, as without warning, soldiers had burst into the room, and surrounded them. Chaeyeon had tried to shake Sakura out of her technological trance, but the Japanese girl had become too engrossed in digging for information. When it was clear that they were outnumbered and outmatched, Chaeyeon cleared a path by creating a mini-cyclone that allowed Hitomi and Nako to run before she was shot by a tranquilizer. Nako let out a yell, but Hitomi grabbed her hand and pulled her to cover before they could be followed, using the office plants to create a blockade for them.

"We'll get them back, Nako-chan. We just need a plan." Hitomi says, trying to be calm.

"I hope so..." Nako responds. Chuo Ward, huh. This is gonna . She thinks as they make their way out.

 

A/N: Hello! Welcome to the first chapter of book 2 of project IZ*ONE. If you're an old reader, welcome back! If you're new, maybe try to read the first one linked in the description, because this story is largely based around that. I'm always super appreciative of every single one of the readers here, so if there's any questions reactions, etc. feel free to leave them here or even message me. My twt acct is @TofuBeagle22. Again, thank you for reading, I hope you'll stick around for the rest of the story!