Episode 15: On the Way to the Hotel
We arrived at the local airport on schedule.
…
As he disembarked from the plane and headed towards the arrival lobby, a strange sensation ran down Hayato’s spine. His Sense of Danger, which had saved his life countless times in the other world, was now reacting sharply.
The moment he sensed it, Hayato scanned his surroundings with a perfectly natural movement. At first glance, it was an ordinary airport scene. However, Hayato could feel multiple sources of hostility. The target of this animosity was clearly his companion, Tsuyoshi.
Hayato detected several men blending into the crowd. While subtly keeping their distance, they were constantly tracking Tsuyoshi’s movements. They exchanged signals with their eyes. Their cold gazes and whatever they concealed in their pockets stimulated Hayato’s danger-sensing ability.
Hayato intuitively grasped the enemies’ positions and sent a look to Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi, receiving the glance, narrowed his eyes slightly and gave a small nod in response. Seeing this, Josuke also heightened his guard. Hayato felt a little relieved that he could share the sense of danger with his companions. He remained vigilant.
Tsuyoshi approached the leader of his accompanying bodyguards and spoke to him in a low voice.
“It seems there are some suspicious individuals around, doesn’t it?”
The leader was inwardly surprised by such an abrupt statement from Tsuyoshi, the person he was assigned to protect. However, maintaining a professional demeanor, he replied in a quiet voice while looking straight ahead.
“Suspicious individuals, you say?”
From the leader’s perspective, there were no suspicious individuals in the vicinity. He couldn’t sense any omens either. He cautiously scanned the surroundings just in case, but still couldn’t find anyone fitting that description.
He tried to understand what Tsuyoshi had seen to make him feel they were suspicious, but he couldn’t pinpoint the cause.
“Could it be a misunderstanding?”
Hearing that, Tsuyoshi gave a wry smile.
“I see. Maybe it’s just my imagination.”
He shrugged.
“But, just stay on alert.”
“Understood. We’ll heighten our alert status.”
Hearing the request from the person he was protecting, the leader promised to increase their vigilance just in case. He seemed to understand that Tsuyoshi was currently overly sensitive to danger. He probably considered dispelling anxiety to also be part of a bodyguard’s job.
The leader contacted his subordinates via radio and instructed them to raise the alert level.
Upon exiting the airport, the group planned to board a large van that had been prepared for them. The vehicle was a black, luxurious-looking model, large enough to comfortably accommodate a large number of people. First, they would take this to the hotel they planned to use as their base.
One of the bodyguards did a quick check around the vehicle. At the same time, Josuke, feigning natural movements, meticulously inspected the car. His eyes were sharp, checking under the chassis and the surrounding area as if sensing for abnormalities.
Seeing Josuke nod to indicate there were no problems, Tsuyoshi finally boarded the vehicle.
The seating arrangement inside the van was as follows: the driver and the lead bodyguard in the driver’s and passenger seats. Tsuyoshi was in the center of the first row of rear seats, flanked by bodyguards, with Hayato and Josuke taking the row behind them. The remaining two bodyguards sat in the last row.
The van slowly began to move.
As they left the airport and entered a main road, traffic increased. Hayato pretended to look out the window, but he was actually closely watching the movements of other cars. He had noticed a car tailing them from the moment their van had departed.
Where on earth are they planning to make their move?
Hayato continued to watch his surroundings naturally, without letting down his guard.
The group was on their way to the hotel that would serve as their base. A quiet tension filled the car, while Tsuyoshi reviewed documents on a tablet and Josuke pretended to check emails on his smartphone.
It was at that moment.
“They’re coming!”
Hayato’s voice echoed inside the car. Having been the first to sense the danger, he muttered it to alert those around him. Hearing his words, Tsuyoshi and Josuke immediately braced for impact.
In the corner of their vision, they caught sight of a car rapidly approaching. The sedan that had been tailing them earlier suddenly accelerated and closed in from the side. Before the bodyguards could even check outside the windows, the car was approaching at tremendous speed.
The moment the bodyguards showed expressions of confusion, screams erupted.
“Wh-What?!”
“Uwaah?!”
“They crashed into us?!”
“Look out!”
Suddenly, a car approached from the side of their vehicle at high speed and rammed into them. With a dull thud of metal colliding, the van was forcefully pushed sideways and jolted.
A violent impact rocked the interior of the car. Thanks to their seatbelts, there were no major injuries, but the vehicle’s body was shaken violently. They could hear the window glass creaking from the vibrations, and items inside the car were scattered about. The van’s driver desperately gripped the steering wheel, trying not to lose control of the vehicle.
While the bodyguards cried out in alarm and hurriedly began to assess the situation, Hayato, Tsuyoshi, and Josuke remained calm, preparing for the next attack with practiced composure.