The market of Grimreach had become a mess of broken wood, scattered fruit, and rising dust, but the trouble still hadn't ended. The people who had gathered around earlier still stood at a distance, watching in silence like this kind of chaos was entertainment to them. No one stepped forward to stop it. No one even looked surprised anymore. In Grimreach, trouble was just another part of the day.
Kairo's breathing had become uneven as he stood beside Tyouro, both of them facing the three warriors who still hadn't shown a single sign of panic. The invisible force around them kept shifting through the air, pressing against Kairo's skin like unseen hands waiting for the right moment to strike again. Tyouro wiped the side of his mouth and forced a grin, even though his body was starting to feel the damage.
"You really know how to turn buying food into a disaster," Kairo muttered.
Tyouro looked at him with a crooked smile. "I didn't buy it."
Kairo stared at him for a second before letting out a tired breath. "That's exactly the problem."
The lead warrior stepped forward slowly, his eyes moving between both of them. "You had multiple chances to stop this."
Tyouro rolled his shoulders as faint heat rose from his skin again. "And you had multiple chances to let us go."
The warrior's expression didn't change.
"That's not how Grimreach works."
Before Kairo could answer, the pressure in the air suddenly shifted again.
A sharp force exploded toward them.
Kairo barely reacted in time, twisting his body as the invisible impact tore past his shoulder and slammed into the stone wall behind him, cracking it apart. Fragments rained onto the street as Tyouro rushed in at the same moment, his fire surging hotter than before. He threw a punch wrapped in burning energy straight at the nearest warrior, and the heat distorted the air so badly the crowd instinctively stepped farther back.
This time the warrior raised an arm to block.
The impact sent a burst of heat through the market.
Wood nearby blackened.
Stalls shook.
The ground split under their feet.
Tyouro's eyes widened slightly because for the first time, he had actually forced one of them to move.
"There," he muttered under his breath. "You can feel that."
But before he could follow up, another invisible strike slammed into his side and threw him across the street again, his body crashing through a stack of empty crates. The wood exploded around him and rolled across the ground.
"Tyouro!"
Kairo stepped forward, but the third warrior was already in front of him.
Too fast.
Kairo lifted his arm just in time to block, but the force behind the hit still sent pain through his bones. His feet dragged backward across the stone as he gritted his teeth. He could feel the difference now. These weren't random guards. They were trained fighters.
And they were getting serious.
Back near the outer streets, two familiar presences finally reached the edge of the market.
Kimimaru stopped first.
His eyes slowly moved over the destroyed stalls, the frightened merchants, the broken stone, and then toward Kairo and Tyouro standing in the middle of the mess.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then his grip on the Zweihander tightened.
His expression stayed calm, but there was something cold in his eyes.
Annoyance.
Not because of the warriors.
Because of them.
"You broke the rules," Kimimaru said quietly.
Even over the chaos, Kairo heard him and turned. "Kimimaru?"
Tyouro slowly pushed himself up from the broken crates and laughed nervously. "Technically…"
Kimimaru looked at him.
Tyouro immediately stopped smiling.
The air around Kimimaru felt sharper than before, not because of power, but because his patience was almost gone. He stepped forward once, his long blade resting against his shoulder as his eyes settled on the three warriors.
"I leave for a few hours," he said flatly, "and you start a fight over food."
Kairo rubbed his forehead. "It wasn't my fault."
Kimimaru looked at Tyouro.
Tyouro pointed at Kairo. "See? Even he knows."
From above, another figure landed softly on the edge of a broken rooftop.
Yura.
Unlike Kimimaru, she said nothing.
Her white hair moved gently in the wind as her calm eyes looked down at the scene below. Broken market stalls. Warriors. Kairo breathing hard. Tyouro bruised. People watching.
Her face didn't change.
No anger.
No panic.
Just stillness.
She jumped down lightly from the rooftop and landed beside them without making a sound.
Kairo glanced at her. "You came."
Yura looked at the warriors, then at Tyouro.
"You stole food?"
Tyouro scratched his cheek. "When you say it like that it sounds bad."
"It is bad," Kimimaru said.
The lead warrior narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two new arrivals. He could feel immediately that the atmosphere had changed. The careless energy from before was gone.
Now the students were complete.
And somehow, the market felt smaller.
"You four are leaving with us," the warrior said.
Kimimaru slowly lowered his sword from his shoulder.
"No."
The single word made the air feel heavier.
Yura remained beside him, quiet as ever, her gaze locked on the warriors with that same unreadable calm that made people more nervous than anger ever could.
Kairo looked between them and let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
The trouble still wasn't over.
In fact
now it was only getting worse.