Hardcore Exorcist: Reborn to Grind

“Lend me your strength. We’re going to kill Ikaku Akamuro. That bastard is hunting down our safe houses one by one. He’s completely lost his mind… Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

“Hm? Can’t you tell? I’m packing.”

The man who answered Hakuya so flippantly was devastatingly handsome, with black hair, red eyes, and unnervingly perfect features.

He stood 190 centimeters tall, with long, slender limbs and a superb physique. He wore a dark brown leather coat and a fedora.

The man was stuffing clothes into a backpack, tidying up the room as he went.

“Hayate, don’t tell me… you’re planning to run?”

Hakuya stared as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. The man—Hayate Akayanagi—simply met his gaze with a faint smile and a slight tilt of his head, offering no verbal reply.

“Well, when you hear Ikaku’s coming, it makes anyone want to bolt, don’t you think?”

Hakuya drew his pistol and aimed the muzzle at Hayate.

“You damn traitor.”

Hayate finished his packing, shouldered his bag, and started walking toward Hakuya.

“Don’t move,” Hakuya warned.

“Nah. I’m moving.”

“I see. Then die.”

Hakuya pulled the trigger. A shot rang out. The hammer struck.

In the next instant—Hakuya’s heart seized. Hayate’s hand was gently covering his own, wrapping around the pistol from above.

“…!”

A bullet hole marred the wall behind Hayate, yet Hayate himself was completely unscathed. Smoke curled from the barrel, proof that a round had been fired.

It was as if the bullet had passed straight through him and into the wall.

But that wasn’t what happened.

Hakuya had seen it. And because he’d seen it, the sheer, transcendent grace of the movement sent a shiver of terror down his spine, freezing the blood in his veins.

First, Hayate had dodged the initial shot the very instant it was fired.

Second, he had returned to his original position.

Third, anticipating Hakuya’s second shot, he had pressed down on the pistol’s slide with his hand before it could cycle.

That was it.

A semi-automatic pistol relies on the back-and-forth movement of its slide to function. Pin the slide, and the gun cannot fire.

With this method, one can prevent a shot even while the opponent is still gripping the weapon. The trigger can be pulled again and again, but no bullet will chamber.

But almost no one could actually use this tactic to neutralize an enemy's firearm. It was a feat of brute force that required an absolutely inhuman level of speed.

“Easy now,” Hayate murmured in Hakuya’s ear, then gently removed his hand from the pistol.

Hakuya lowered the gun and slowly backed away. Hayate matched his retreat, stepping forward until he was out in the hallway.

“I’m moving because I was ‘called.’ There’s no issue here.”

“Called…? You don’t mean… to their side?”

“That’s right. Their side.”

“…”

“By the way, Hakuya-kun. You said you’re going to take down Ikaku?”

“Yeah. That’s why I need you to lend me your strength.”

“Not a chance.”

Hayate turned his back on Hakuya and began to walk away.

Hakuya raised his gun to Hayate’s back once more, but this time, he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

“…Why not? If you kill Ikaku Akamuro, it would be the ultimate proof of your loyalty, wouldn’t it? You’ve been labeled a traitor. ‘Once a traitor, always a traitor.’ Don’t you realize that’s how everyone sees you?”

Hayate stopped and turned back around.

“A label, huh? Yeah. You’re right. Taking out Ikaku would be the perfect way to score some points. Thanks to all the damage he’s causing, the glory for defeating him would be huge.”

“And you could do it. With your strength.”

“Impossible. I can’t beat Ikaku.”

“I don’t get it. Does he know one of your weaknesses or something?”

“No, nothing like that. I have no weaknesses.”

“Then why?”

“Don’t you get it? I’m scared. Scared of the man called Ikaku Tanpakushitsu. Oh, that’s right… it’s Akamuro now, isn’t it?”

Hakuya stared blankly at Hayate’s answer. After a moment of processing the words, a mocking smile spread across his face.

“Scared? You’re scared of that nobody?”

“Oh yeah, I’m scared. I know what he’s like. Ikaku never forgives a traitor. He’s the last person on Earth I ever want to see again. If you value your life, you stay the hell away from him.”

Hayate murmured, his gaze distant.

Then, his sharp, red eyes fixed on Hakuya. “Hakuya Dōdō, from Ikaku’s perspective, you’re a traitor, too.”

“So what if I am?”

Hakuya puffed out his chest and tilted his head inquiringly.

Hayate walked up to him and gently patted his shoulder. “You’d be wise to fear Ikaku more.”

With that parting shot, Hayate turned his back once more and strode coolly away.

“…Tch. What the hell is with that spineless bastard?” Hakuya hissed, then sighed.

He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

He immediately started making the rounds through the hideout, looking for anyone else he could use.

A little over ten minutes later, the man he was waiting for arrived.