Chapter 229 - Tokyo's Deadly Secret Part 4/4

(Chiaki's View)

This is a big scoop. Not only that, but it is also related to my current scoop, and seeing this event unfold before I am a huge blessing for me. I don't need to find and try to wait for the event to appear without the certainty of when it will be done. There is only one way for me to do it: capture the event in my camera lens myself.

"Chiaki! Wait! What the hell are you doing?!" Yuya's voice trembled behind me as he chased me behind after I dash away from the cafe to follow the protests on the road and get a proper scoop that will help me get my questions answered.

But I am far too preoccupied with what incident is going to happen. The guy on the megaphone earlier caught my interest. From the tone of his voice, he is someone with authority. And if someone did fire the gun earlier, that means this is going to be a big news tonight. I am quite well versed in the buildings around here since we always hang out around here with Yuya.

Passing the crowd is a tough challenge and everyone is still in chaos so it's going to be not easy for me to pass through without getting pushed and swayed with the ocean of crowd. But that doesn't mean I will easily give up. With perseverance and pushing without stopping, I managed to cross and get into the buildings. There was a building where we can easily climb up even we are strangers. Besides that, it was a good vantage point to the surroundings. If that voice in the megaphone sounded loud then that means the owner of that voice is just nearby.

"Chiaki! You brat! Slow down will ya?!" Yuya is panting behind me as he chased me all the way to the building.

"You shouldn't have followed me if you keep on complaining!" I retorted.

"Dammit, you always go where danger is so who should have been the one who will help a person like you out of that except me?! You ungrateful... ha...nevermind," Yuya sighed.

We climbed the building until we reach the third floor since if we proceed further into the fourth floor, we will have no better view of the situation below. Looking at the street, the amount of people gathering is comparable to the ants. Still, it was easy to see where the chaos is ensuing. Not too far from the protest is a group of soldiers deploying their riot shields while a man in a business suit is behind them and currently handling the command to the soldiers.

I immediately snap my camera countless times to the scene. Every scene is necessary to be captured or else I might miss a vital piece of info from missing it.

"Hey, Chiaki! Turn off your flash! They will spot us in that case!"

"Wait a minute, there is something else I have to snap a photo with," I said and continue to snap a photo.

Then, just as I was at my finishing touches, the guy in megaphone raises his head and look towards our direction. Then, he somehow beckons one of the soldiers but since I was high up in this building, I can't hear anything on what he was saying.

"F*ck! Get down!" Yuya shouted and pulls me down.

BANG!

SPLISH!

"Urk!" Yuya groaned in pain.

I didn't understand at first what happened until I saw the red liquid flowing in Yuya's elbow.

"Yuya!"

"Tch, I am too slow...ngh..." Yuya's contorted his face due to the pain he was experiencing.

That noise earlier was a clear gunshot. If that gun is not a pistol, the bullet won't ever reach here, even a normal rifle isn't enough to reach this far on us unless it is a sniper rifle which is the only plausible thing that might have caused this to Yuya. This means, there was a sniper and I would have been dead if Yuya didn't push me down.

"Let's go to the hospital Yuya! You are bleeding! We can't let that continue to bleed!"

"Heh... let's get out of here first. We won't be able to escape if they ever find us here and shoots us down. Lucky for us, this floor is currently not in use, or else, the people living here would definitely be checking us out," Yuya said.

I didn't hesitate and helped him to crawl. If we stood up, the sniper won't hesitate to shoot our heads with bullets from a sniper rifle. When we reach the blindspot, we stood up and slowly descend the building. Staying here would surely spell our death. We didn't return to the streets but decided to go to the nearby alley and patch up Yuya's gunshot wound. I am a bit trained in first aid so it's not just random patching.

The bullet wound is not deep enough and I can tell that the bullet only managed to graze his skin but that doesn't mean it is safe to let it be.

"Stop moving! I can't patch it that easily!" I said to Yuya.

"F*ck, it hurts you know? Don't be too rough on it," before tying up the knot from my long handkerchief that has been sanitized with alcohol I always carry around.

"Why did they started shooting at us? We didn't even participate in the rally, why did they involve us?" I frowned.

"That is not really a mystery. Ever since they locked down the whole Yamanote Line and the whole Tokyo out of the neighboring city, the government no longer cares for any kind of law about killing. It's not going to be a problem for them since they became law themselves. We can't do about it since we are just mere civilians," Yuya said.

"Does that mean they will no longer hesitate to shoot even when we are unarmed? Even if we are just snapping photos?"

"The way you snap photos earlier is totally eye-catching for them. If what I am thinking is true, they don't want any kind of info going out of their knowledge. And if that was the case, they won't hesitate to blast your head if they have known you hold a vital piece of knowledge about them."

"Then, what are we going to do then?" I asked.

"I am quite sure that you want to get a scoop so I decided to find a hole of their security. Apparently, one of my contacts managed to get a hold to a certain person who said to have a hold of an underground passage that will allow us to move from Tokyo to anywhere outside here. If you are really that desperate for info, we can go and seek them."

"There is a way out?"

"Yeah. But I heard that they have some restrictions if we wanted to ask them to let us leave Tokyo. But that doesn't matter much to you, right? As long as you get the info needed to fill the scoop you are trying to get."

"As long as it is not about selling my body for men to pleasure or becoming a slave, I will accept their conditions."

"Alright then, we need to hurry. Those soldiers must be on the trail to silence us."

...

The brush with death earlier shook me a little bit because I have to adapt, I can't just break down after that. It was not necessary for my profession to easily be shaken by something like that. Death threats and danger are normal but to see someone almost die because of my fault is a bit too much even for me. Luckily, Yuya did not even blame me for the gunshot wound he got today even though it should have been meant for me.

Right now, Yuya is leading me to the person we needed to meet so that we can get out of Tokyo and get ourselves info about the situation outside Tokyo. Well, to be honest, I am not sure if this is the right thing. Yuya also has no idea who is this person too, all he knows is that this person can cross Tokyo and other areas without being detected by any security.

It didn't take us too long to arrive on a manhole in an alley. I was confused about why Yuya brought me near the manhole.

"What is this Yuya?"

"Apparently, this is the place..." Yuya is also visibly confused. I bet he didn't expect it to be a manhole too.

"Are you sure the GPS and location you are pinpointing are correct? We might have wasted our time here if that was the case."

"No. According to my connection here, we just needed to tap the manhole's cover three times then say "Bang" on it."

After that, Yuya crouched and tap the manhole three times.

"BANG!" he said with a matching finger gun.

"..."

"..."

The two of us stared at each other waiting for a response but it seems like nothing is happening.

"Did I just embarrass myself?" Yuya looked at me awkwardly.

"I...I guess so?"

Then, the manhole cover suddenly opened and we saw a ladder leading below it. It was glowing with light below the manhole so it was clear that there were people in there. Even though it was a manhole, it was too dry to be a passageway that leads to a drainage system so this must be really a hidden passage.

"Ladies first...I guess?" Yuya scratched his head.

I nodded and descend to the manhole followed by Yuya. We didn't close the manhole's cover but it closed all on its own which is a bit strange. When we arrived, we are welcomed by a pub looking place. Of course, it doesn't look like one at all since this place is much more displaying weapons, guns, and other items that looked like they are tools for murder.

"Welcome to the Bang Gun store, Tokyo Line Branch. I am Shoko, who is running this shop in the meantime since the original owner has an errand to run into for now. You two must be new customers who wanted to see the outside of the Tokyo Lockdown?"

"Yes," I immediately answered.

"Then please state your names so that we can immediately process things," Shoko said.

"I am Yuya Subaru and this is Chiaki Ichinose," Yuya answered.

"Oh? An Ichinose eh? What a small world this was, heh," Shoko grinned.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I frowned from her reaction.

"Nothing much. Well, you two should follow our rules. Of course, whatever happens to the two of you outside the Tokyo line will not be our care. Of course, we will help if you two get back in here and begged for help but we always needed payment, so if you want our service, payment first. No money allowed though..." Shoko said and grinned at us with a smug.