First time

"I'm fine, don't worry," Sora said, lowering his mask without deactivating it, smiling briefly at Judy to calm her down.

"The rest of the Minis are through that door, it's clear, but whatever happens, don't go out, Trauma Team should be just about to arrive.

They won't move an inch from their clients, so as long as you don't go out, they won't either. If anything happens, there's another exit in the room that leads to the warehouse, so use it in case of an emergency. Okay?" Sora said, looking at them as he spoke.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Judy asked, not agreeing to let Sora go alone, again.

"No, sorry, Jud, I still have something to do," Sora replied.

Judy, knowing what Sora meant, didn't say anything more. However, ever since she saw the wounds on Sora's arms, she had been feeling pressure in her chest, a reality check of how dangerous what they were doing was, especially Sora. She felt guilty for being the one who had encouraged him to continue.

"Say hi to the boss of these assholes and his son for me," Rebecca said.

"Are we really leaving him alone?" Skyler asked.

"You should be worried about us or the people in that room," Rebecca said, looking at the double golden door with two tigers engraved on it. "Not about So-, Okami hahaha. Let's go."

Judy, still looking at the wounds on Sora's arms, reluctant to leave him alone again, said, "Sora, let me go--"

She didn't finish before being interrupted by a sincere "NO!" from Sora, who didn't need to hear the rest to know Judy's intentions.

Seeing that he had scared Judy with his sudden outburst, making her jump a little like a frightened animal, he..."Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you, but no, Judy, I don't want you to come. Until now, I've been able to fight without holding back because I knew you were safe-" Sora said, being interrupted by...

"How true!, you almost got Rossy killed, insisting to her captor to kill her. What's your problem?! The poor girl was still trembling when we left the bar." Rebecca, who had joined the conversation uninvited.

Making Sora curse Rebecca in his head while "Hahaha, I don't know what she's talking about..." He scratched the back of his head avoiding Judy's gaze.

Being aware of the change in her expression and how she was staring at him, to finally say, "Sorry."

To a Judy that "Sora really-" she couldn't finish speaking when she was interrupted as well.

"Tell that to Rossy" By Rebecca, who kept interrupting a conversation that no one wanted in it

""Rebecca, stop fucking around!"" Causing both, Sora and Judy to tell the annoying Rebecca.

"Tch, don't get mad at me. If it bothers you so much, stop replying to me."

"Ahmmm, I'll go with them, but be careful. Also... here," Judy said, pulling something out of her bag.

"My jacket!" Which made Sora happy to see it.

"Yes, I barely managed to switch it with Natasha, who was holding onto it, for a long coat that I grabbed from the bar," said Judy.

"Samurai, huh? You like that old band?... my dad liked them too, one of the few good memories I have of him. Well, it's better than something trendy like Jackie," said Rebecca.

"Hey! What's wrong with Jackie? He's... awesome!" Judy's inner fangirl responded quickly to Rebecca's denigrating comment about Jackie.

"You're crazy! Control your inner fangirl in front of your boyfriend, we don't want a jealous Sora running around the city.... just thinking about it makes my hair stand on end!" Rebecca joked, hugging herself before continuing.

"I'm not saying it's bad. I like the song Sora chose to enter the base. It's become one of my favorites, but I like heavy, and Jackie doesn't have many in his repertoire."

Sora seemed amused by the conversation they were having "I assure you, Rebecca that he knows some Heavy songs. Maybe you'll be surprised in the future, but let's stop wasting time," Sora turned their head towards Judy. "Be careful, and Jud..."

"Yes?" Judy asked.

"Thanks for the jacket," Sora said, smiling at Judy.

"No...it's nothing," Which she replied, somewhat embarrassed but still smiling.

"..."

"..."

"For god's sake! Go to a fuking hotel! you're making me want to vomit!" exclaimed Rebecca and Skyler as they saw the sweet couple together.

"Yes, I have to admit that Rebecca is right for once. It's kind of impolite to get in that mood in front of us... especially in an environment like this," Skyler added, looking around the room with the dead Tygers and bloodstains everywhere.

"Heh, jealous bitches! Be careful, Sora," Judy responded, heading towards Rebecca and Skyler, who were in front of the door that Sora had mentioned, as she said goodbye to him while smiling.

Sora nodded and waited for the three to leave.

When the three girls disappeared, Sora rolled down the sleeves of his jacket, trying to hide most of their burn wounds on their arms. Despite the sensation of stiffness and the pain that made it difficult to move them, they noticed that they were much milder than when they got them, noticing a significant difference after the short conversation with the girls.

Sora stood in front of the imposing double golden doors with a relief of two tigers in profile on each side. Jumping, one towards the other as if they were about to collide in the gap where the door opening was located.

Pushing with both hands, Sora slowly opened the heavy doors, revealing an elegant office with dark wooden furniture and illuminated by an indirect light that covered the entire room. As he entered the room, he found a large, imposing man in his fifties sitting behind his elegant wooden desk.

With his eyes fixed on the ceiling, letting the smoke from his cigarette escape through his nose, he seemed lost in thought. He wore an impeccable garnet shirt with a subtle silky sheen, over a black suit vest and matching pants.

"So, you've made it here," said Shigeo slowly, lowering his gaze from the ceiling to Sora. "You really are Musashi's grandson. Your grandfather will be proud of you when he finds out. I'm sure you'll remind him of when he was young...."

"Tch, I thought Ishii would be here, crying over his father," Sora muttered disdainfully.

"No, he hasn't returned," Shigeo replied with a disgusted expression. "But if he had, after failing once again, I would have killed him myself."

"Hoo, what a lovely family," Sora said sarcastically. "And you, old man? How do you know Ojii? Did he pay you a visit in your youth or are you an admirer?"

"Ojii? Is that what you call Musashi Hatake? You call him... Ojii?"

"Well, duh! He's my grandfather, what else would I call him?"

"Wahaha, you make it sound so obvious. You don't know how terrifying your 'ojii' can be. Do you want a cigarette, kid?" Shigeo said amiably to Sora.

"Eh? A cigarette? What are you planning?"

"Nothing, I'm not planning anything. When I finish smoking, I'll get up and fight Musashi Hatake's grandson. If I win, I'll use you to save my life. If I lose... well, it's not up to me, right?" Shigeo said calmly, picking up the pack of cigarettes from the table and throwing it at Sora's feet.

"Huh? That's practical and straightforward, I like it. I've never smoked, I've always been curious... besides, my old man is apparently was a big smoker" Sora smiled with his face uncovered, thinking about his father's bad habit and the curiosity of two lives about what it feels like to smoke, feeling fine with wasting more time to allow his arms to heal more.

Without showing any difficulty in moving his arms, Sora grabbed the pack of cigarettes that Shigeo had thrown him. Inside the pack there was a beautiful zippo lighter, with an Ace engraved on it and several more engravings around it decorating it and with a marked cut on the back.

Sora took a cigarette, lighting it with the Zippo, and "Coff, coff!, Coff, coff!..."

"Wahahaha, it happens to all of us the first time, hahaha you're certainly young..."

Reddened from his coughing fit after taking the first drag of the cigarette, Sora looked at the Zippo with the engraved Ace, putting it back in the pack and getting ready to throw it back at Shigeo again, but...

Seeing how Sora was staring at the lighter, Shigeo said, "Keep it, I've always believed it brings me luck... until now, I got it the night I met your grandfather, it's funny that you keep it, what's your name, kid?"

".... Sora," said Sora with some reluctance to engage in conversation with Shigeo, as he placed the package of cigarettes and lighter in the pocket of his jacket. Sora continued speaking out of curiosity, "Sora Inuzuka, how do you know my grandfather?"

"Inuzuka? Why does that name sound familiar? Your grandmother's family name, I suppose? How odd...To answer your question,

your grandfather is... terrifying. When I was barely 20 years old, the Tyger branch leader I was with, sold Arasaka's Cyberware on his own. When they found out, they were not happy, and they decided to send Red Oni to make an example out of us. Your 'ojii' wasn't much different from what you did today; he went alone into the base and killed the entire Tyger branch without mercy or guilt with just his sword."

"If that's true, why are you still alive, old man?"

"Heh, I'm alive by luck. Have you seen the cut mark behind the lighter? When I faced your grandfather and he disarmed me in two moves, winning these..." Shigeo paused, showing off his chromed arms, before continuing.

"When I was lying on the ground with both arms cut off, and your grandfather went to finish me off by stabbing me through the heart with his sword... that lighter saved me. I kept it in the inside-pocket of my jacket, just as you have done...

Your grandfather left such a mark on me in my youth as he did with that lighter. From that day on I never felt safe after that. I even bought something just in case I ran into him again... I bought a Cent-"

Shigeo couldn't finish his sentence when both he and Sora heard...

[Warning: This is Trauma Team, landing, stand clear! Initiating security protocol, follow all instructions] The megaphone system with a distorted voice speaking through it, accompanied by the sound of several AVs flying over the area, making the building vibrate.

[Repeat, this is Trauma Team. We are authorized to use lethal force to safeguard the safety and protection of our clients. Last warning.]

["Scanning client positions, securing the area. Clients found, initiating rescue protocol."] After those words from the Trauma Team's AV megaphone system,

"Alpha team deploying Breaching Charges in a safe area." Sora and Shigeo could hear from the other side of the door the voice of one of the Trauma soldiers, along with the sound of the AV flying parallel to the building while one of the Trauma soldiers in the AV placed a Breaching Charge to land directly on the third floor.

"Breaching Charges, ready, countdown in 3, 2, 1, explosion."

Generating a loud noise when the wall facing the exterior, of the room opposite Shigeo's office, where Sora had fought against the Tygers entrenched, exploded.

"Alpha team deployed." With those words, the 4 members of the alpha team jumped from their AV to the third floor.

"Oh, fuck!, control! This is... This is more than we thought," surprised with what they saw.

["Don't waste time and scan the clients."]

"Control, we need the other teams from the AVs. Alpha team isn't enough to secure all the clients. The situation is graver than we initially assumed." said the leader of the alpha team.

"This is full of corpses, there are no clients without some missing limbs. Moreover, as the initial scan from the AV has shown..." The team leader was following the screen of a specialized scanner for the frequency emitted by the clients' IDn, following a faint signal in the room where they had flown the wall to enter and among the debris they had generated themselves.

"I've found an eighth signal, I repeat, I've found an eighth signal as demonstrated by the initial scan. It appears to belong to a client with a disrupted signal. Their condition is horrific, barely alive, and it seems they've been tortured. They're missing all their limbs, with a penetrating wound in the....."

Even a professional like the leader of Alpha Trauma Team had difficulty continuing to describe the state of the eighth client to the Control Center, as a man and as a veteran in his profession for more than 10 years

"Penetrating wound in the pelvic region... More than 50% of their body is covered in third and fourth degree burns, mostly concentrated on their chest. What the hell happened here!... I need the rest of the teams deployed ASAP!"

Shigeo and Sora could hear everything the nervous leader of the Trauma Team had said. Shigeo stared at the one responsible for everything, surprised to learn about the sorry state of the clients he had invited, all powerful people...

Noticing Shingeo's gaze, Sora continued smoking without changing his expression, beginning to enjoy his cigarette without caring about what the Trauma soldier was saying, or Shigeo's gaze.

Shigeo, seeing Sora's indifferent reaction, "WaHahaha, tell me, boy, don't you feel anything? From the few words we've exchanged, I don't feel remorse or guilt from you. On the contrary, from the way you looked around when you came in, searching for Ishii, if I had to put it into words... I'd say you still want more. Does that seem normal to you? That a boy your age has such instincts running inside him? Or is it because of how your 'Ojii' raised you that, despite your young age, you're already accustomed to killing?"

"What do you expect me to feel after killing someone or something that threatens someone I love? Remorse? Guilt? No, I have none of that, just a determination to protect what's mine. If I gotta kill to do it, I'll kill...." as a wild grin grew on Sora`s face, "even if I gotta burn it all to the Ground,.... then I'll let it burn"

"Did the guests threaten her too?"

"No, but they annoyed me, those degenerates deserve worse" Said Sora growing his smile, while "Come on Old man let's get it over with, I still have to go find for your degenerate son".

When he finished speaking, Sora unsheathed Getsuga, and that was not all. He reached under his jacket, pulling out his retractable tanto, which he had fixed and sharpened since his incident with Mendez.

Sora, with Getsuga in his right hand and his deployed tanto in his left hand, reversed the grip of his two swords. Sora had not been just plain smoking all this time. He had been scanning Shigeo's cyberware and thinking about how to deal with him, and his tanto was the key

Without wasting any more time, Sora launched himself at Shigeo, not caring that he was still seated.

Sora jumped onto the desk and, with his Tanto inverted, swung it horizontally at Shigeo's face. Shigeo responded by kicking the desk, moving away slightly while extending his arm toward Sora's strike, and deploying his mantis blades, which ripped through his elegant shirt as he did so.

The two blades clashed with a loud metallic sound, filling the air with a sharp buzz. Sora, with his free hand holding Getsuga, spun it back into a normal grip to perform a vertical slash with it.

This blow was intercepted with the same movement by Shigeo, who extended his free arm and deployed his mantis blades on it.

While blocking Sora's second strike, he lifted one leg and kicked powerfully toward Sora's unprotected left side, deploying a curved blade from his shin that extended upward to his knee and curved downward to his foot.

Sora, aware of Shigeo's raptor blades, forcefully spun his Tanto downward and stuck it into the desk, using it to help him to stop the powerful kick from Shigeo's raptor blades.

The collision between Sora's tanto and Shigeo's raptor blade made the sounds of the previous collisions pale in comparison.

Dragging back Sora's Tanto that was pinned to the table and Sora himself that was on it, by the force behind Shigeo's kick.

Sora, still on the desk and being pushed backward by the kick, decided to stop trying to block it and instead used it to propel himself backward with a flip, dodging and getting away from Shigeo's attack.

Meanwhile, Shigeo deployed his other raptor sword from his other leg, but this one was different from the previous one, as the blade emerged from behind his leg, starting from his heel and going up to the middle of his calf.

He raised his leg high and performed an axe kick that cut the sleek desk that stood between him and Sora in half.

As Sora was about to launch himself back towards Shigeo....

He was interrupted by a loud mechanical sound accompanied by strong vibrations, that just locked up, and by the way the vibrations shook the walls, it was definitely something big!

And that wasn't all - in the next instant, all the lights in the building flickered again, just like when the server was attacked by Cortana. It wasn't a coincidence that, at the same time, Sora also lost access to all the cameras in the building that Cortana had previously given him.

Soras didn't even have time to call Cortana to ask when...

"[SORA!]" he could hear her calling his name almost in desperation. The only thing Sora could hear, without interference.

"[STORAGE!...CAREFUL... ISHII... -TAUR... RUN... JU-....SOMETHI-... ATTACKING... -ERVER... FROM CYBERSPA-... I CAN'T... HOLD-..... MUC-... SORA... BE CAREFUL... PLEAS-..]"