Chapter 23 - A Bombing and a Stupid Idea

Third person POV

 A full week later, a commotion had occurred at the agency: a bag full of bombs had been found at one of the seats in the lobby. It was discovered by one of the employees, a hacker named Seiya Mizuno, and he shouted, "Bomb!" And so, since that 8:11 a.m.-morning, the entire agency was in full panic. They called the police, who then in turn, called the bomb squad, but this takes an hour for them to arrive, so the employees are still panicking. This last, however, until Akira, Hachi, and Toshi came for work at 9:09 a.m.

 Upon seeing the commotion, Toshi asked, "What is going on here?"

 "Toshi-san, there's a bomb here," one of his coworkers from his department replied back, before pointing at the said bag still on one of the seats.

 "Bomb?" responded Akira back, before going to check it out.

 "No, don't!" shouted the receptionist, warning him.

But Akira did it anyway then, and opened it, only to be surprised by its contents: dynamites with wires and a digital countdown to zero.

 "Wait, was that one not motion-sensitive?" one of Valentino's coworkers raised a question.

Toshi then glanced at Akira and the bomb, then at that employee. "I think so not."

Analyzing the situation, Akira asked them, "Did you guys called the bomb squad?"

 "Yes, we did," answered Seiya.

 "But it will take an hour for them to arrive," the janitor added.

 Because of that, Akira looked at the countdown time and began to calculate how much time left for the bomb to go off either before or after the bomb squad had arrived. And suddenly, he calculated it right. So, he turned to them. "Guys, this one will go off 5 seconds before the bomb squad would arrive." 

Toshi, Hachi, and the other employees were very surprised and stunned simultaneously. 

 "What?" 

 "What do you mean by that?" 

 "How did you know that?" 

 "Well," Akira responded while thinking, "a few days ago, while I was riding a taxi to a mall, I saw some vehicles belonging to a bomb squad going ahead due to some emergency. So, I used my phone as a stopwatch and calculate how much time left for them to arrive at a location."

He then lifted his finger. "And due to that area being somewhere near here, I calculated that it was approximately 5 seconds."

Because of that, the other employees continued their panic, thinking that would be their end and doom.

 Because of they are inability to handle situations like that, Akira decided to do something so stupid and dumb: grab the bomb-filled bag and dump it somewhere safe and empty. So, he did it, grabbing the bag without a second thought, much to his friends' and coworkers' horror and went outside with it.

 "Are you crazy?"

 "You'll die with that!"

But Akira didn't care at all, disregarding their warning.

 Then, once outside, he started to find somewhere safe and empty, only to hear some conversations coming from a truck at the parking lot. The conversation is about the agency going to be destroyed in no time. Now, suspecting that those who are in that truck might be the ones who planted the bomb, Akira thought, "So you're the ones who did it...Fine, how about this?" 

He then went back to the back of the truck, tossed the bag carefully into it, closed the doors, and walked off as if it was nothing.

Shortly thereafter, the truck left the parking lot.

Akira noticed that, and he began to snicker a bit like a child, before walking back to the agency.

 Upon returning, the employees asked him what did he do to the bomb.

 "I just disposed that," answered Akira back.

This shocks them, including his friends.

 "Why did you do that?"

 "Where did you dispose that?"

 "At the back of the truck of the bombers," Akira replied back.

 "The truck?" Toshi responded to this.

 "What truck?" Hachi added.

 "That might belong to the ones who had made some repairs in the agency's fuse box," Seiya answered back. "At first, I thought they are just regular electricians, but they actually used that to plant a bomb here."

 Then, suddenly, they heard an explosion coming from the streets outside a few blocks away. And then, five seconds after the explosion, the bomb squad came, only to miss everything.

 "Where's the bomb?" one of the squad members asked.

 "Uh, it has been taken care off," one of the employees of the agency responded.

This alerts the bomb squad.

 "What? How?"

 "Did you cut the right wires or something?"

 "I just tossed it away," responded Akira back.

The bomb squad then looked at him.

 "You did that?"

 "That's dangerous, kid."

 "It wasn't motion-sensitive," Toshi explained in response, "so that's how my assistant and friend grabbed it and took it outside."

 "Okay then," the same bomb squad member responded, "where did you toss it?"

 "At the back of the truck of the bombers," Akira replied back positively.

 "What the...?"

 "And," Akira continued on, "it exploded five seconds before you guys arrive."

As a result, everyone, including Hachi and Toshi, are very dumbfounded by his intelligence and quick thinking.

 Then, shortly thereafter, Masashi and Valentino, who both worked a bit more last night, came, only to see that the bomb squad was there, too.

 "What is going on here?" Masashi asked.

Then, Seiya and Toshi came forward and told him and Valentino about the bombing and what had happened.

They were shocked to the core at the part where Akira just disposed that weapon without a second thought.

 "Yeah, you're welcome, sir," Akira responded with a nervous chuckle.

 "That was dangerous, Cruz-san," Masashi commented.

 "I can't even comprehend this kid's ability to analyze and solve problems," Valentino added.

Then, one of the bomb squad members came forward to Akira. "Next time, kid, don't do such a stupid thing. Let the professionals handle it."

But then, one of the employees of the agency responded with, "Um, you know what they say, if it works, it works."

"Yeah, since it works so well, we can't anything about it," Seiya replied, before chuckling a bit.

Because of that, the bomb squad didn't argue back since it was so true.

 After that, the bomb squad checked every nook and cranny in every room in the agency for any other bombs planted just in case. When they find no other bombs, they eventually packed up and left the place in their vehicles. It was stupid, but it works very well, with karma for the bombers. Akira had saved the agency from being bombed, and he was more like a hero to them, even though Akira didn't deserve it all; he just did what he needed to do. But, who planted it in the first place?