When I opened my eyes, I realized I was tied to a chair. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the blinding brightness. The moment my vision cleared, I noticed I wasn't alone.
Grace, Mica, Rakki, Ella, and Freya were all tied to chairs too.
"What the hell?" Freya cursed.
"Why are we here?" Ella asked in panic.
"What is happening?" Mica whispered, almost crying.
Before any of us could say anything else, the front door suddenly opened.
A man stepped inside.
He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, tattoos covering his neck and arms. I had to admit—he was good-looking. The kind of guy who could easily compete with Yuri.
Wait…
He looked Japanese. And then it hit me. Sato. Damn. We were doomed.
"Who are you?" Freya snapped.
"What do you want from us?" Ella shouted.
"Leave us alone!" Mica cried.
Sato's cold eyes scanned all of us before he spoke.
"Urusai." (Shut up.)
"What?" Me and Freya said at the same time.
Sato's expression darkened.
"I said shut up. You girls are too noisy."
The way he shouted instantly silenced the room. He was terrifying. I forced myself to stay calm.
"What do you want from us, Sato?" I asked.
A smirk appeared on his face.
"I want Keifer, Yuri, and their gang."
Keifer? Yuri? Section E? Then go kidnap them, idiot. Why drag us into this? But I kept those thoughts to myself.
"Then go get them and leave us alone. We have nothing to do with it."
Sato chuckled darkly.
"Yes, you do. Did you already forget what you did to Jason?"
I scoffed.
"Tss… he deserved it."
His smile disappeared.
"Then what I'm about to do will also be deserved."
"Whatever happened between us had nothing to do with the girls. Leave them alone."
"No." He tilted his head slightly. "This is fun."
Then he pulled out his phone and walked toward me.
"Call Yuri. Tell him to bring Keifer and the rest of his gang."
I looked straight into his eyes.
"I'm not interested in becoming a pawn in your stupid game. If you miss him that much, call him yourself. It's not like he won't come."
His jaw tightened.
"You bitch. You're going to regret that attitude."
I smirked back.
"We'll see about that, asshole."
SLAP.
His hand struck my cheek so hard my head snapped to the side. My cheek instantly went numb. Without another word, Sato stormed out of the room. The second he left, Mica panicked.
"Jay Jay, are you okay?"
I slowly looked back at them.
"I'm fine."
Then I glanced at the ropes around our wrists.
"First, we need to get out of these ropes."
Ella frowned.
"But how?"
"Yeah," Rakki added. "They're tied too tightly. I can't even move my hands."
I took a deep breath.
"Leave that to me."
After struggling for several minutes, I finally managed to free myself. The ropes were so tight it felt like my wrists were about to bleed.
The moment I got free, I searched around the room and spotted a broken piece of glass on the floor. Perfect. Using it carefully, I cut the ropes around the others' hands one by one. Grace stared at me in shock.
"Jay… how did you do that?"
"Yeah!" Mica added. "How did you untie those ropes?"
I avoided their eyes.
"It's not my first time getting kidnapped like this."
Ella blinked.
"Huh?"
I immediately changed the topic.
"Leave that for later."
I walked toward the only window in the room and opened it carefully. Looking down, I realized we were on the second floor. A metal pipe ran all the way down beside the window. A way out. I turned back toward them.
"You girls can escape from here. Just listen to me carefully."
Rakki's eyes widened.
"What about you? Aren't you coming with us?"
I shook my head.
"No. I'll handle Sato here so he doesn't come after you."
Freya immediately protested.
"Don't try to act like a hero, Jay. Come with us."
I stepped closer to her. "Listen to me, Freya. You don't know what Sato is capable of. He wouldn't even think twice before putting bullets in your heads."
Freya glared at me.
"Oh, and what about you? He won't shoot you?" I gave her a tired smile. "I can fight, Freya. You can't. Right now, escaping is the smartest thing we can do. So go."
After a lot of arguing, I somehow convinced them. One by one, they climbed out of the window and escaped.
Only after I was sure they were gone did I sit back down on the chair in the middle of the room, throwing my head back against it.
A few minutes later, the door suddenly burst open. Sato stepped inside. The moment he realized I was alone, his face darkened with rage.
"Where are the others?! I tied all of you here!"
I smirked lazily.
"Well… not anymore."
His eyes burned with anger.
"You think you're smart, Jay Jay, but you're a fool. Now you'll see what I'm going to do to you."
I slowly stood up and cracked my knuckles.
"Good." I smiled coldly. "Because I want my revenge too."
Sato's eyes darkened as he stepped closer to me. The room suddenly felt smaller. Dangerous. I slowly stood from the chair, wiping the blood from the corner of my lip where he had slapped me earlier. He cracked his neck.
"You really think you can fight me alone?" he asked mockingly.
I smirked despite the pain in my cheek.
"I've dealt with worse."
That was enough to snap the last thread of his patience. Sato lunged toward me. But I moved first.
I grabbed the metal chair beside me and shoved it hard into him. The chair crashed against his body, making him stumble backward. I didn't waste a second. I punched him straight across the face.
THUD.
His head snapped to the side. For a second, silence filled the room. Then Sato laughed.
Actually laughed.
Slow.
Dangerous.
Terrifying.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb before looking at me with amusement.
"Interesting."
Before I could react, he charged at me again.
This time, his fist slammed into my stomach. Pain exploded through my body. A gasp escaped my lips as I stumbled backward.
Damn.
He was fast.
I tried kicking him away, but he grabbed my leg mid-air and threw me harshly against the wall.
My back hit the concrete hard enough to make my vision blur for a second. Sato walked toward me slowly. Like he was enjoying this.
I looked down quickly and noticed the broken piece of glass still lying near the chair. Perfect. As Sato grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me toward him, I secretly reached for the glass shard behind me.
"You talk too much, Jay Jay," he growled.
I smiled coldly.
"And you hit too much."
Before he could react—
SLASH.
The glass sliced across the hand he had slapped me with earlier. A deep cut instantly appeared across his skin. Blood dripped onto the floor.
Sato froze.
For the first time since this started—
He looked shocked. Then furious. His grip tightened painfully around my wrist.
"You little—"
I kneed him hard in the stomach. He groaned and staggered back, but only for a second.
The next moment—
His fist slammed directly into my face. Everything spun. Before I could recover, his foot crashed into my side. The force of the kick sent me flying backward.
BANG.
My body hit the floor hard. Pain shot through my ribs and back instantly.
The piece of glass slipped from my hand and slid across the floor. I tried to get up— But another punch landed across my jaw. My head snapped sideways.
For a moment, all I could hear was ringing in my ears. Sato grabbed my collar and yanked me upward violently. Blood dripped from the cut on his hand while his breathing turned heavier. His eyes looked murderous now.
"You should've escaped when you had the chance," he hissed.
I spit blood to the side and laughed weakly. Even while barely standing, I smirked at him.
"And miss the chance to ruin your face?"
That only made him angrier.
I was about to punch Sato again when the door suddenly slammed open with a loud bang. Sato instantly grabbed my hair tightly and turned toward the entrance.
And there they were.
Yuri.
Aries.
Percy.
Section E.
Every single one of them stood there with pure rage burning in their eyes. Aries stepped forward first.
"Let my sister go, you fucking asshole!"
Yuri's jaw tightened dangerously.
"Sato, leave her. We're here now, so let her go."
Sato smirked.
"No. You're not all here." His eyes scanned the group. "Where's Keifer?"
Silence.
Everyone exchanged glances. Of course Keifer wasn't here. He was in London. Why would he suddenly come back? Sato's grip on my hair tightened painfully. A sharp scream escaped my lips.
"Let me go, Gesu yarō!" (Piece of trash bastard!)
Sato raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? You speak Japanese?"
I glared at him through the pain.
"No. I only curse in Japanese. Want to hear more, kuso baka?" (Damn idiot.)
His eyes darkened instantly. The next second, his hand wrapped around my throat tightly.
"You have such a filthy mouth."
Percy stepped forward angrily.
"Leave her, Sato. Otherwise, you won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise."
Ci-n shouted from behind him.
"Leave my ate alone, idiot!"
David cracked his knuckles.
"Let her go and face us instead."
Sato only laughed.
"No. She's fun."
I struggled against his grip.
"You son of a bitch… I'm going to kill you."
Then—
"Profanity."
A cold voice echoed from behind the crowd.
The entire room fell silent. Including me. No. That voice It couldn't be. Slowly, I saw black polished shoes step forward from the shadows.
And then—
Keifer emerged.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe. Black pants. White shirt. Dark coat draped perfectly over his shoulders. Even his loosened tie screamed luxury and power.
And his face—
Damn. He looked unfairly handsome. No. This was not the time to think about that nonsense. I immediately looked away.
Sato smirked.
"Oh… so you finally came."
Yuri spoke coldly.
"Let her go."
Percy crossed his arms dramatically.
"Leave my baby sister. Isn't my handsomeness enough to intimidate you?"
I instantly rolled my eyes. Even in a life-threatening situation, this idiot still found a way to flirt with himself. Aries shoved Percy.
"She's not your baby sister. She's MY sister."
Seriously? Were they really arguing about this right now? My patience was already dying.
I snapped.
"ENOUGH!"
The entire room went silent again. I stared directly into Sato's eyes. Every word left my mouth slowly and clearly.
"Leave. Me. Right. Now."
Sato tilted his head mockingly.
"And what if I don't?"
I smiled dangerously.
"Then pay for your actions, asshole."
And then—
I kicked him straight between the legs with all my strength. Sato immediately let go of my throat and collapsed onto the floor, clutching himself in pain. The room went dead silent for two whole seconds.
Then—
Rory blinked.
"Remind me never to piss her off."
Eren looked horrified.
"She's scary…"
Ci-n dramatically covered his face.
"Jay, I'm sorry for all my past mistakes."
Edrix stared at me in disbelief.
"Damn… did she really just do that?"
I tried taking a few steps forward, but the moment I moved, my legs gave up beneath me. Before I could hit the floor, someone caught me.
Aries.
His grip tightened around me carefully. Keifer's cold voice suddenly cut through the chaos.
"Take Jay Jay out of here."
David immediately walked over and gently scooped me into his arms.
Honestly, I was too exhausted to even argue. As soon as we got outside, he carefully helped me sit against the wall. The cold air hit my bruised face painfully. David crouched in front of me, worry obvious in his eyes.
"Jay, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
I forced a weak smile.
"I'm fine, David."
Which was a complete lie. My entire body felt like a truck had run over it multiple times. Even blinking hurt. A few moments later, Calix crouched beside me.
"Why did you do that, Jay Jay?"
I frowned slightly.
"Do what?"
"Help the girls escape." He looked at me seriously. "Why didn't you leave with them?"
I rested my head against the wall tiredly.
"Because I had to make sure Sato wouldn't follow them."
Then I looked at all of them quietly.
"And because I knew you guys would come for me."
Kit's expression softened instantly.
"Sometimes it feels like we don't deserve your trust, Jay Jay. You're too good for us."
A small laugh escaped my mouth—
And I immediately regretted it because pain shot across my bruised cheek. David noticed instantly. His eyes darkened.
"He hurt you. Your cheek is already bruising."
I was about to reply—
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
Gunshots echoed from inside the building. My entire body froze. Panic instantly rushed through me.
"That was gunfire!" I tried standing up immediately. "What's happening in there? I need to go—"
David quickly held my shoulders.
"Calm down, Jay Jay. Nothing's going to happen to them."
I wanted to fight. I wanted to run back inside.
But my body had already reached its limit. Everything hurt too much. My vision slowly blurred. And before I realized it— My entire body collapsed. The last thing I heard was everyone shouting my name.