Their eyes were bound in silent defiance, a storm held still between blinks.
Though the kunai kissed Ayro's throat, not a tremor touched his calm. His composure was a sculpture in the midst of chaos—unshaken, unblinking, his pulse steady even as the cold steel pressed against his skin.
His left hand hovered like a whisper, mere inches from the blade-wielding grip, suspended in a moment so taut it felt the very air might decide their fate.
Time seemed to hesitate, caught between breath and blood, between action and restraint.
The woman watched, the moonlight catching a flicker of genuine curiosity in her eyes at Ayro's restraint.
"Hoh?.."
She smiled under her mask, the fabric pulling tight against her cheekbones.
"Why didn't you stop it?"
Ayro's lips curled into a sneaky smile, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Stopped what?"
"Fool! My attack! Your hand was only a few centimeters away from blocking my kunai! Why didn't you stop my hand?!"
The kunoichi barked, her voice low but sharp with irritation.
"Ahh... this?"
He waved the left hand he'd held ready to block, as if brushing off the danger like a bothersome fly.
"Yes!"
Her eyes drifted from his face to the hand still waving casually in the night air.
"Well... I didn't sense your murderous intent. Figured it'd be a waste of energy to block for no reason."
Ayro shrugged, the movement causing the kunai to nick the surface of his skin, though he didn't flinch.
She raised a brow, the tension in her arm finally snapping.
"Ah..."
The kunai withdrew, and with it, the immediate threat. In one fluid motion, the kunoichi flipped the blade into the air—silver flashing once against the backdrop of the stars—then caught it with practiced grace.
She slipped it back into the sheath at her right hip before speaking.
"Maybe you guys aren't too bad after all..." she smirked.
Ayro scratched his neck slowly, his palm grazing the faint, stinging mark left by the blade before he finally spoke.
"What do you want from us?"
Without turning, her voice carried the weight of unspoken thoughts.
She faced away toward the city skyline, as if the distance between them was something she needed to hold onto.
"...Nothing in particular. I'm just curious what your organization is truly made of."
"Huh... Never seen a U.W.D.S. before?"
Ayro asked, his voice remaining suspicious.
"Always those WESCUs... Most of their staff who are meant to 'protect' the people are just half-assed cowards. They couldn't do shit here in Nagasaki. So I'm doing it myself,"
She replied casually, her silhouette cutting a sharp line against the darkness.
"Hoh? Protecting your hometown, sacrificing your freedom... huh?"
Ayro hushed, his eyes fixed on the distant hills.
The woman froze.
A flicker of surprise crossed her features, though she still faced away. Ayro's words had cut deeper than she expected, leaving her momentarily unsettled.
"Sacrificing my freedom? I've spent most of my life protecting this town. Every decision I make, every move I take—it's for my own pleasure. So don't you dare say I'm not free."
"Woah, woah. Calm down. I didn't intend to question your freedom."
Ayro waved a hand, his eyes locked on the kunoichi's tense shoulders.
"Fool, you just did."
She turned back to him, her eyes furrowed.
"I didn't."
Ayro shrugged.
"You did." "I did not." "You—... You know what, fine..."
Her anger simmered down, and she chose not to push further. Instead, she shifted her tone—colder now, more observational.
"Ayro-kun... that's not how you pick women."
"I don't intend to."
Ayro crossed his arms, his stance an absolute claim of disinterest.
"Gay."
She thought, squinting her eyes at him.
"Eh... What a lame way to live... Well, I suppose fighting Seele with your gang for who knows how long isn't too bad."
"Just... who are you?"
Ayro asked, his arms still crossed.
She hummed, a low vibration in her throat.
"Curious, are we? You can call me Hoshi."
She said it so casually—no smile, no emotion.
Thoughts raced in Ayro's mind as he lowered his gaze, each question fighting for dominance.
"Hoshi? Is that her real name? Enemy or ally? Can we trust her? What's her purpose here?" His eyes returned to the Kunoichi.
"If you're really hiding your identity... Why drop your name so sudden to a stranger?.."
"Hoshi... huh?"
Ayro muttered, pinching his chin.
"Familiar?"
She asked, smirking.
"Nah."
Ayro shook his head.
"Why did you tell me your name so casually?"
"Huh? Ah..."
She smirked, pride flashing behind her mask.
"So you'll know the name of the kunoichi who'll outshine you."
Ayro didn't respond—or at least, Hoshi didn't let him.
"Oh well."
The mood shifted again, the tension ebbing and flowing like a tide. Sharp words softened into something quieter.
"Now that I have an idea what you're capable of, I'll be taking my leave. Keep in mind, I'll be watching your squad closely."
Like a breeze fading into the night, she vanished into the shadows. One moment she was there—then nothing but the whisper of wind against the apartment railing and the fading echo of her presence.
"What the hell..."
Ayro muttered to himself, one brow raised.
A window creaked open above him. Aldrin leaned out, his eyes scanning the quiet streets below.
"Ayro-san!"
Ayro looked up, locking eyes with Aldrin.
"Were you talking to someone?"
"Nah... it's no one,"
Ayro answered.
"Ah! I just heard your voice with some lady after I finished bathing..."
"Don't mind it... anyway, how are Kara and Jayu?"
Aldrin turned his head back.
"Ah! They fell asleep while I was in the bath..."
Then he turned back down to Ayro.
"When will Ryujin-san return?"
"I don't know... anytime now..."
~~~A hill somewhere in Nagasaki~~~
"Woah! Japan is so huge! Are we gonna clear all of this by ourselves?!"
Itoshi exhaled deeply, the cool night air filling his lungs as they climbed to a higher vantage point.
Below them, the sprawling city of Nagasaki stretched wide—a sea of shimmering lights flickering like stars caught in the embrace of the dark valley.
The distant hum of life mingled with the quiet rustle of the wind, carrying the faint scent of salt from the bay and the sweet, lingering perfume of blooming cherry blossoms.
"It's a collaborative mission, Itoshi,"
Ryujin answered, his eyes sweeping over the cityscape.
"Yeahh, but I mean... this place is huge..."
Itoshi shrugged.
Ryujin turned around, the moonlight catching the hard lines of his face.
"Don't worry. We'll be with other squads and the Field Men."
"Ah... yeah! I wonder what the other squads are like,"
Itoshi hushed as he tapped his right fist into his left palm.
"Nothing special, honestly. They're just like us,"
Ryujin reasoned.
"It's honestly better not to encounter them..."
He thought to himself.
"I see... Were you part of a squad before becoming the squad leader?"
Itoshi suddenly asked.
Ryujin's gaze drifted briefly toward the glowing horizon, but his eyes clouded with a distant memory—a shadow of the past flickering behind his calm exterior.
For a moment, he was somewhere else—caught between then and now, between the ghosts he'd left behind and the team he led today.
"Yeah..."
"Were they like us?.. "
Itoshi asked, one brow raised.
"Not even close,"
Ryujin chuckled, though there was no humor in it.
The night air grew quieter, the only sound the faint murmur of distant traffic.
Kirashi stretched his fingers with a satisfying crack, the sharp sound cutting through the silence as he rose to his feet.
His calm determination settled like a weight around him.
"The view is nice. You can get quite the sight of the city here. The lights try their best to peek from behind the mountains."
"Indeed," Itoshi nodded.
As they stood surveying the city, the stillness shattered. A loud, wailing siren tore through the streets, its sharp cry slicing through the night. It echoed across Nagasaki, a chilling alarm that sent ripples through the quiet air. The warning was clear: Seele had been spotted.
"Well... that's a noise I haven't heard in a while," Itoshi shrugged, though his muscles tensed.
The weight of the moment settled on them all.
Kirashi's eyes narrowed as he flexed his hands, the air around him beginning to hum with the faint, restless pressure of his wind gift.
"It's time for work!"
"Let's meet with Ayro and the others. We can't waste any time,"
Ryujin ordered.
The group moved with a sense of purpose, the city lights behind them flickering like distant beacons of hope.
As they descended from the hill, the air thrummed with the promise of battle—the static, electric charge of the quiet before the storm.
[In a dark alleyway]
The kunoichi melted into the shadows of Nagasaki's sleeping streets, her presence barely more than a whisper. The city seemed to hold its breath.
Then, the sharp wail of the siren shattered the stillness—its shrill cry seizing her full attention.
With a fluid motion born of countless battles, Hoshi drew the twin sai from the straps resting against her back.
The tapered blades caught the cold moonlight in fleeting glints of silver. No hesitation—just instinct. She sprang forward, leaping with deadly grace from rooftop to rooftop. Her keen eyes sliced through the night as they scanned the rooftops for movement.
The voice over the Public Announcement System crackled through the night air, steady and foreboding:
"Warning. Seele detected marching for the city from Omura Bay. Landing near Shioizaki Park."
A slow, confident smirk curved Hoshi's lips behind her mask. The thrill of the hunt coursed through her veins, igniting a fierce anticipation.
Each leap was a dance with the night—every movement precise, calculated, lethal.
"That's more like it."
The shadow of the kunoichi vanished into the darkness once more—a phantom ready to meet the coming storm head-on, her eyes fixed on the glowing park by the water where the first monsters would rise.
~~~To be Continued~~~