The roar of the cooling fans was suddenly drowned out by a sound Arata knew too well: the rhythmic, heavy thud of tactical boots on the floor above. Red and blue lights flashed against the frosted glass of the lobby entrance four floors up, visible even through the elevator shafts.
"Arata, the police are in the lobby," Hana whispered, her teeth chattering from the sub-zero air of the vault. She was clutching her tablet like a life preserver, the transfer bar on the stolen hard drive hitting 100%. "They aren't here for a routine check. They've been told there's a terrorist-level breach."
Arata looked at Kaito Hanagawa, who was slumped against the server rack, his hands trembling from the cold but a smirk returning to his face.
"You got the drive," Kaito rasped, his breath misting. "But you'll never leave this building with it. My security team.. they don't answer to the law. They answer to the Hanagawa board."
"Then we're taking the long way out," Arata said, grabbing Hana's arm and heading for the service stairs.
In the gold-marbled lobby of Chiryu Central, Shin Nosaku stood alone. He was surrounded by a dozen officers from the Special Investigation Unit, their weapons drawn. At the center of the circle was Prosecutor Himura, Nosaku's long-time rival and a man known for being the Ministry's most ruthless "cleaner."
"Shin Nosaku," Himura said, his voice dripping with venom. "Aiding a fugitive, breaking into a national bank, and impersonating an active prosecutor while on leave. You've had a long run, Red Viper. But even a snake eventually runs out of venom."
Nosaku didn't reach for a weapon. He didn't even look stressed. He simply pulled a cigarette from a silver case and lit it, the smoke drifting toward the 'No Smoking' sign.
"Himura," Nosaku said, exhaling slowly. "You always were a mediocre prosecutor. You're so busy looking at the man in front of you that you've missed the fact that your 'crime scene' is currently leaking the most classified data in the Hanagawa history."
"Enough!" Himura barked. "Arrest him. If he moves, treat him as a hostile."
Two officers stepped forward, roughly grabbing Nosaku's arms and forcing him to his knees. The silver cigarette case clattered to the floor. For the first time in his career, the "Red Viper" was in handcuffs.
As they forced his head down, Nosaku looked toward the emergency exit stairs in the corner of his eye. He saw a flash of blue Arata's tie disappearing into the parking garage.
"Go, Rookie," Nosaku whispered under his breath. "Fill that damn notebook."
Arata and Hana burst into the rainy night of the Aichi Chiryu district. Behind them, the bank was swarming with tactical units.
"They got him," Hana said, looking back as she threw the hard drive into the footwell of a getaway bike Arata had stashed earlier.
"Arata, Nosaku sacrificed his entire career to buy us those ten minutes."
Arata didn't respond immediately. He looked at the handcuffs being placed on Nosaku through the glass doors of the bank. The man who was his greatest enemy had just become his greatest alibi.
"He didn't do it for me," Arata said, kicking the bike into gear. "He did it because he wants to see the end of the 99.9%. And he knows he can't be the one to do it from the inside."
He opened his notebook to the page for Case #3.
"Hana, decrypt the 'Blood-Stained Contract' on that drive. If Nosaku is going to jail, I'm going to make sure he has the best seat in the house for the trial that destroys the Hanagawa name once and for all."
"Where are we going?"
"To the one place they won't look," Arata said, his eyes turning cold. "The Yatsurugi Law Office. It's time to stop running and start the prosecution of the Auditor."