Conspiracy

[Author Note]

Disc: HrPrTeam

My upload schedule is weird af.

Do I care?

No.

...

At least I upload chapters, lmao.

__________

JAA Testing Facility: 3rd P.O.V.

While Toji and Rion ate lunch and Gaku's family settled in, the JAA tested a new technology model after the JCC invasion.

The voice spoke on the loudspeaker. "Test on-"

*SLICE*

...

A fly was cut in half by a katana.

...

*crack*

The heavily reinforced plastic hand cracked under the pressure of a single sword swing, preventing the test subject from moving it.

The group of people running tests, who weren't familiar with the subject, were shocked, to say the least.

Even though he has been out of commission after his injuries, he still retained his skill.

Not much annoyed him, but the small buzzing of insects was one of the things he hated most since they were small and took some concentration to kill.

They were a waste of time and annoying.

Even if he had to cut a car in half, he would kill those little bastards.

As one might've guessed, this test subject was Takamura, the previous strongest assassin.

After his fight against Toji, the JAA has been trying to fix his hand issue to regain their trump card.

The JAA officials were angry at Toji and wanted him to face serious consequences, but they kept their distance from him because the chairman was adamant that they must stay away from him if they wanted to keep their lives.

Takamura didn't care about revenge or 'reclaiming his title' as the strongest assassin.

The JAA officials were the ones who assigned him the nickname in the first place. Even the title of Phantom was given to him by the JAA.

Takamura wasn't an emotional teenager or complainer.

He would help his coworkers and old comrades but didn't harbor any hatred or grudges.

Takamura would kill when asked to kill.

That's all there is to it.

Even though Toji cut his hands off, preventing him from performing his duties as an assassin, he ultimately lost the fight.

To Takamura, losing his hands is fair, considering that losing a fight in their profession usually leads to death.

In fact, he respected Toji.

The most he could do now was work with the technology department to regain his usual strength.

Unfortunately, their technology for prosthetic limbs wasn't advanced enough to handle Takamura's fighting style, but they were getting close.

Takamura showed a rare expression as he mumbled out loud. "I'll get stronger, boy."

...

Chairman's Office: 3rd P.O.V.

Kindaka and the Soichi Amo, the chairman, sat in a room together.

Soichi was lost in thought after a lengthy conversation about the Sei situation.

Kindaka spoke and tilted his glasses down to look him in the eyes. "What's the issue? Can't we take him in for questioning? It doesn't seem like a difficult decision."

Soichi looked at the ceiling as he spoke. "That's the issue. The officials will listen to me on certain topics like Toji, but a conspiracy is a different matter."

Kindaka raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't it be fine if you say that he's aiming to kill you? It sounds like a justified reason to me."

After a moment of silence, Soichi opened his desk drawer and lit a cigarette. "*Poof* The JAA runs differently. There needs to be agreements within the group to make a serious decision. Sei, being one of the officials, makes things complicated. Another problem is there are most likely other officials that want me dead. Who knows how many are working with Sei?"

Kindaka rubbed his forehead. "This shouldn't be that complicated."

Soichi spun his chair to look outside the window. "If other JAA officials are working with Sei, then I will be in even more danger since they'll know I've learned about their conspiracy. The fact that Sei hasn't made a move means he doesn't have enough influence to take the position."

Kindaka rested his chin on his fist, thinking about the complex situation.

The thoughts running through the two were complicated. On the one hand, they could bring in Sei Asaki to discuss his conspiracy. On the other hand, they don't know how involved other people are in the JAA.

If they aren't careful with this situation, the entire JAA is at risk of destroying itself.

Soichi leaned back in his chair. "Shit, I screwed up with Toji. I wish he took me up on my offer of protection."

Kindaka huffed a laugh. "With the hit you placed on him and his treatment of being sent to the JCC to be trapped, it's no wonder that he hates the JAA. I'd be pissed too if I got screwed over by an organization."

Soichi spun around and gave Kindaka a deadpan expression.

Kindaka shrugged. "What? I'm right, aren't I?"

To be fair, anyone who was treated like trash by the JAA would be upset. Someone like Toji wasn't a good person to screw with, given his performance so far.

Soichi shook his head and sighed. "You aren't helping. Anyways, while I figure out how to deal with this situation, you and I will keep in contact."

Kindaka leaned forward. "You're saying that like I'm leaving you alone, not protecting you."

Soichi crossed his hands. "I'll contact Satoru to work with me."

Even though they had heard about the invasion, the two didn't experience the strength firsthand.

Kindaka's face turned serious. "If the superhuman freaks are as bad as I think they are, Satoru Yotsumura isn't going to be enough. Sure, the Order members can likely handle one at a time, but if they decide to send a ton of people after you, you'll die."

The atmosphere turned somber since Soichi didn't know it was as terrible as it was.

It made sense that Soichi thought this way since the island had no Order casualties.

Little did he know that the most prominent person responsible for keeping the Order members alive was the same person he wanted to be neutralized.

Soichi rested his chin on his hands. "Very well. Contact Hyo to get him here. I'll need to get Satoru to come back from his mission as a spy."

Kindaka pulled out his phone and walked over to a chair in the corner of the room.

He wouldn't leave Soichi alone and let Sei ruin the JAA and Order.

Kindaka wasn't a massive fan of the JAA, but he and Satoru Yotsumura founded the Order. Sei was also a threat to his organization.

...

Elsewhere

*crash*

Sei Asaki dodged a beaker glass as Ando threw it at him.

Ando was pissed.

Sei failed his one job: To find the Database and gain information about unusual abilities.

He didn't even gather any new data for his research, and he lost most of his latest creations.

Sei sighed as he leaned against the wall. "Look, I'm figuring something out. I'll get you some data on Rion Akao."

Given his position, he thought there must be something in the public archives on Rion's strange ability to see Paths.

After the failed invasion, Sei has been looking for anything that can calm Ando down. Although he was a fantastic ally, if Ando wanted him dead, he would die nearly instantly.

He wasn't a stereotypical weak scientist. He's already applied his research to his own body.

His right eye twitched as he was interested, but he was still agitated that he had lost months of work. While interesting, a new field of research wouldn't take him months to complete.

Ando scowled at Sei and exploded at him. "Are you insane!? You picked the absolute worst time to attack the island! The Phantom, experiment 115, Satoru Yotsumura, Hyo, and Etsuko Satoda were all there simultaneously!"

It wasn't Sei's brightest idea, but he had faith in Ando's creations.

He was very, very wrong.

Before he could speak up, Ando yelled once more. "Not only that, but you gambled the entire invasion on three children!? If you weren't useful, I would've beat the ever-living shit out of you!"

If it were anyone else, Sei would've had them killed, but this was an extremely dangerous man.

*boof*

Ando fell back in his chair. "Monarch doesn't need people who can't get jobs done."

Sei clenched his fists since that was the only thing he could do. He would put up with Ando's rant if it meant calming him down.

After Ando finished, Sei turned around and walked out of the room, not before speaking. "It won't happen again. When I become the chairman, I'll give you all the support you need."

If he had access to Ando's creations when he became chairman, he could make the JAA the strongest assassin organization in history.

Nobody would be able to take him down.

However, he needed to get a few things done.

The first step...

...

Killing the chairman.