Part 7: The Place They Will Choose
Inside the Homura District headquarters...
Raijin remained near the window.
A few trusted shinobi were still in the room.
One of them looked toward him.
"My Lord..."
"Where do you think the triplets are now?"
Raijin was silent for a moment.
"Home."
The shinobi nodded.
"Most likely."
Raijin slowly turned toward the table.
"But if they noticed something was wrong..."
"They might not stay there."
Yuji looked up.
"They would look for someone they trust."
Raijin nodded.
"Exactly."
His eyes moved toward Yuji.
"Where would they go?"
Yuji didn't need to think for long.
"Red Bowl."
The answer came immediately.
Raijin looked at him.
"Why?"
Yuji folded his arms.
"Because they've done it before."
He paused.
"Four years ago, Haruto came to the restaurant."
Raijin listened.
"And when the triplets were being attacked repeatedly..."
"At least twice a week during that period..."
"Ayame came near the restaurant."
Raijin's expression became more serious.
"So Red Bowl isn't just a restaurant to them."
Yuji shook his head.
"No."
"It's somewhere they associate with safety."
Another shinobi looked at the map.
"Then if they feel something is wrong tonight..."
"They could go there looking for you."
Yuji's expression tightened.
"Or Miri."
Raijin looked at him.
"Is Miri there?"
"I don't know."
Raijin's eyes narrowed.
"But if Yuji isn't there..."
"And only Miri is..."
Yuji understood immediately.
"Miri can't protect all three by herself."
The room fell silent.
Raijin looked toward the village map.
Then something else occurred to him.
"If we know their first instinct..."
"The Hunters may know it too."
Yuji's expression hardened.
"Which means Red Bowl could be exactly where they'd expect them to go."
No one spoke for several seconds.
One of the shinobi finally asked,
"Then should we send someone there?"
Raijin didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained on the map.
"If we move a squad toward Red Bowl..."
"We might expose them."
Yuji nodded.
"And if Hunters are already watching the triplets..."
"They'll know we've found them."
Another shinobi spoke.
"Then we wait?"
Raijin shook his head.
"No."
"We watch."
He pointed toward the routes surrounding the restaurant.
"Not just Red Bowl."
"The roads leading toward it."
"The surrounding districts."
"The rooftops."
"The patrol routes."
"We need to know whether someone else is already moving toward them."
Yuji nodded slowly.
"And if we find Hunters..."
Raijin looked at him.
"Then we know where they are."
"And if we find the triplets?"
Raijin paused.
"Then we protect them without making it obvious."
The room became silent again.
They had a destination.
They had a reason.
But rushing there...
Could be exactly what the enemy wanted.
Raijin looked toward the dark village outside.
"...For now, we watch."
And somewhere across the village...
Three siblings were already inside Red Bowl.
The place they had trusted before.
The place the Hunters might already be expecting them to choose.