Project IZ*ONE III

Chapter 2- Tarnished Tranquility

"Did you have to pack that much, Tomi?" A short girl asks as she pushes a cart full of suitcases to the check-in.

"We don't know how long we'll be in Korea, Nako-chan. Besides, my parents told me to pack gifts for the others." The other girl, Hitomi, replies.

"I thought this was supposed to be a mission, not a holiday like last time." Nako says. It had been more than six months since the duo had been to Korea for Yujin and Wonyoung's birthday. Since then, they've both been very busy assisting with the restructuring of the AKB system as well as watching the trial of Dr. Koyama which went without a hitch. Their old enemy was sentenced to twenty years behind bars for conspiracy and illegal weapon development among other charges. Hitomi felt like the punishment was still too short, but it was better than her going free. Everything was finally calming down for the couple until a couple days ago.

"Hii-chan? Hello?" Nako's voice calls, snapping the peach-cheeked girl out of her thoughts.

"Sorry about that... just got a lot of things on my mind. It's not every day that your house gets blown up, you know?. I just hope my parents and Jurina will be fine." She replies. The short girl's expression softens at this, placing an arm around her girlfriend's shoulder to calm her down.

"Jurina's been through worse. She'll bounce back. Shige said they'd take care of her and your parents at one of the facilities while we're gone. When Jurina wakes up, she'll contact us. Maybe then we'll have a hint on what in the world is going on. As for your house... just think of it as a chance to remodel." Nako says before they finally arrive at their gate. Seunggi had spared no expense in getting two of PD campus' best agents back to Korea.

As Hitomi sits in her comfy first class seat, the fatigue she'd accumulated over the past few days finally weighed on her. Her eyes then slowly begin to shut, thinking back to the day of the attack.

~~~~

Hitomi was in the garden at the back of her parents' house watering plants while Nako helped prepare lunch. It felt like a perfect day. The two girls didn't have any tasks in AKB and Dr. Koyama's trial had finally been concluded. For the first time in a while, there wasn't a mission they had to take care of. That's when she heard someone knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it!" The peach-cheeked girl had said, putting her watering can down.

"Who is it?" Hitomi asked as she approached the door, but the knocking only persisted which put her a bit on edge.

When she arrives at the entrance, she quietly commands the roses next to the window spill to grow thorns just in case.

"Yah, Hii-chan, who's at the door? Why won't they stop knocking?" Nako asks suddenly from behind, still wearing her baby blue apron. Hitomi gestures to keep quiet before slowly turning the doorknob. Nothing could've prepared her for who was on the other side.

"Jurina...?" It was indeed their good frenemy Matsui Jurina, but what surprised Hitomi was the shape the older girl was in. Her clothes were burnt, she was covered in cuts, and her hair was a mess. She couldn't even muster a word, collapsing at the doorstep the second they made eye contact.

"Woah, what happened to you? Hii-chan, pull her in." Nako says, scanning the roads for any suspicious activity before shutting the door.

~~~~

"Who could've done this to her?" Hitomi asks while tending to Jurina's injuries.

"I don't know, but whoever it was must've been pretty strong." Nako replies. It had been a couple of minutes since the two had brought her in and laid her on the couch, but Jurina was still unconscious.