Broken Rooftops
The night sky cracked with thunder, painting Tokyo's rooftops in flashes of white and silver. Snow fell sideways with the wind, plastering itself against the broken shingles of the old district. Akio Hukitaske stood trembling on the rooftop, his coat heavy with ice, his heart heavier with grief.
The fox-masked figure had revealed nothing but a note: Hello, brother.
Two words that still burned into his heart like a brand.
Akio's lips parted to ask a hundred questions, but the words never left. His throat tightened as if bound by a ghost's hand.
And then it happened.
A shadow swept past him — faster than thought, sharper than memory. A brutal impact slammed into his ribs. He staggered, eyes wide — and before he could catch his balance, a second masked figure materialized out of the storm.
This one wore an Oni mask, crimson and cruel, horns jutting from its crown. The creature moved with inhuman grace, kicking Akio square in the gut. His body flew from the edge of the rooftop, arms flailing as gravity seized him.
For a heartbeat, he thought it was over.
Raka's Fall
A roar cut through the storm.
"AKIO!"
Raka Grundane launched forward, pure muscle and desperation. Her massive hands seized Akio mid-air, hurling him back onto the roof with strength born from years of survival. But the price was hers. Her foot slipped on the icy tile, her bulk dragging her down.
With a thunderous crack, Raka struck the alley pavement below, bricks splitting beneath her.
"Raka!" Akio screamed, scrambling to the edge. His breath tore into the night air as he saw her stirring, bones bent unnaturally, blood staining the snow beneath her. Yet even broken, she raised her fist, defiant, alive.
But Akio's relief was short-lived.
The Oni leapt from above, landing with the silent grace of a predator. And beside him, the fox-masked figure descended too, his motions fluid, reluctant — as if his steps resisted their purpose.
Brother Against Brother
The Oni's voice growled through a modulator, deep and metallic.
"You always ruin it," he spat at the fox. "Every time, you shield him. Every time, you interfere."
The fox remained silent, his head lowered, shoulders taut with conflict.
Akio forced himself upright, jaw aching, vision spinning. "Who are you? Why... why are you after me?"
The Oni turned toward him. His stance was rigid, controlled, terrifying. He walked closer, boots cracking ice beneath each step.
"Why? Because you're their favorite. The Lab's little obsession. The perfect bait."
Before Akio could reply, the Oni's boot smashed into his jaw. His body reeled, blood filling his mouth. The world spun.
"You've ruined everything, Hukitaske," the Oni snarled. "Every plan we set, every trap we built. You kept living when you should've died. You think it's luck?"
Akio staggered to his knees, coughing. "What do you mean—?"
The Oni grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground like a rag doll. His voice deepened, rage surging.
"It's him. Your precious brother. The fox."
Akio's heart stopped. The word echoed, heavier than thunder.
Brother.
The Truth Revealed
The fox-mask turned his head, as if ashamed. Snow collected on his shoulders, melting against the warmth of his skin. Finally, after agonizing silence, his voice came — muffled, trembling, but sharp as glass:
"...Grandfather's last wish."
Akio blinked, confusion blurring with dread.
The Oni dropped him, letting him crash against the floor tiles. He laughed bitterly. "That's the only reason he protects you. Not love. Not loyalty. Just some dying persons words."
Akio struggled to rise, his gut aching with each breath. "Grandfather...?" The memory sparked, faint, fragile — his grandfather's hand guiding his own across a mortar and pestle, the scent of herbs, the warmth of a workshop. Then the image flickered away, as if stolen by static.
The Oni's fist crashed into his gut. Akio folded, gasping, bile rising in his throat.
"Do you know why I hate you, Hukitaske?" the Oni roared, his voice breaking into fury. "Because he died because of you!"
Akio's head snapped back, eyes wide.
The Oni's strikes came relentless: a whip kick to his ribs, a punch to his face, a knee driving into his stomach. Each blow painted the snow with blood.
"You forgot him! You forgot his smile, his teachings, his sacrifice! You, the so-called grandson of Japan's greatest pharmacist — and you spit on his memory by drowning in despair from amnesia and your friends death!"
The Oni's words burned more than the blows. Each sentence was a blade slicing through Akio's amnesia, through the fog of years. A child's laughter. A kind smile. A legacy abandoned.
Tears mixed with blood on Akio's lips. "I... I didn't mean to forget..."
The Oni's fist stopped inches from his face, trembling with rage. "Then why do you live like forgetting was mercy? Why do you walk through this world blind, while I've carried his burden alone?!"
The fox mask finally stepped forward, his voice sharp. "Enough."
Hatred Without Mercy
The Oni turned, glaring through the slits of his mask. "You always stop me. You always save him. Why? Didn't you say you hated him too? Didn't you say he was the devil's spawn?"
The fox's voice broke. "I don't protect him out of love. I protect him because Grandfather asked me to. Because if he dies, then everything we've done means nothing. We can't bait the Lab with a corpse. It was grandfathers last promise to keep him alive despite the fact we hate him so much. After all we always follow his words even if your not related to him like I was and yet you still call him grandfather, because in the end we both respect him."
Akio's heart wrenched. The words stabbed deeper than the Oni's fists. Not love. Not brotherhood. Just obligation.
The Oni chuckled darkly. "You hear that, Hukitaske? Even your so-called brother admits it. He doesn't love you. He never will. He's only keeping you alive because you're useful."
The fox-mask tilted slightly — and though Akio couldn't see the face beneath, he felt the truth in his silence.
Akio staggered back, pressing his hand against the wall, stomach heaving. "If... if I'm so useless to you... then why do I feel this?" His voice broke. "Why do I feel like I've lost something I can never get back?"
The Oni's fist smashed into his face again, sending him crashing into the wall, brick dust showering around him.
"Because you have," the Oni spat. "And I'll make sure you never forget it again."
The Shattered Bond
Snow whipped across the rooftop, lightning flashing above. Raka's groans echoed faintly from the alley below. The Uki brothers, far away, could not yet hear the battle's cries.
And Akio — broken, bloodied, trembling — stared at the fox-masked figure.
"Brother..." The word escaped his lips like a plea, like a curse. "If I've forgotten you... if I've forgotten him... then tell me why. Tell me what I lost. Tell me... why it hurts this much to even look at you."
For the first time, the fox mask lifted his head, staring directly into him. The snow melted on the porcelain surface, trailing down like tears.
"...Because you abandoned me," the fox whispered. "...And I'll never forgive you."
Akio's body shook. Not from the cold. Not from the pain. But from the unbearable weight of a truth he could no longer escape.
His brother's hatred was real. His brother's pain was eternal. And the storm between them had only just begun.
To Be Continued...