The evening air hummed with an unexpected electricity. Usually, the streets surrounding the district would have begun their slow descent into a quiet, shadowed slumber, but tonight the city was alive. A local festival had transformed the asphalt arteries into a vibrant tapestry of light and sound; lanterns glowed like amber embers, and the rhythmic cries of street vendors hawking their wares created a chaotic, festive symphony.
Mai Sakurajima walked alongside Rin Kuga, her arm laced firmly through his. The warmth of her touch was a stark contrast to the cool evening breeze.
"You know, Bunny Girl Senpai," Rin remarked, his voice cutting through the ambient noise with a dry, knowing edge. "Walking around like this is a dangerous game. If a stray lens catches us, the tabloids will have a field day. 'National Idol Spotted with Secret Boyfriend'—that's a heavy price to pay for a walk. Are you sure you're ready to let your career go up in smoke?"
The light in Mai's eyes flickered, replaced by a sudden, heavy gloom. She bit her lip, the soft pink skin yielding under the pressure of her teeth.
"If they find out, they find out," she murmured, her voice laced with a defiant weariness. "Maybe it's for the best. I'm tired of being a product. I'm tired of the spotlight."
Rin didn't need the power of the Ohma to see through her. He could hear the lie in the slight tremor of her breath. She had clashed with her manager—her own mother—and was currently using her resentment as a shield. But deep down, the girl who had spent her life under the hot glow of the stage still craved the gaze of the world. She didn't want to quit; she wanted to be seen on her own terms.
"Lying to yourself is a dangerous habit," Rin said, turning his head just enough to catch her gaze. "If you love the stage, then stay on it. Strangling your own desires just to spite someone else is a slow way to drown."
He looked back toward the sea of festival lights, leaving his words to hang in the air like a challenge. He wasn't comforting her; he was stating a fact of causality.
"I'm not... I just..." Mai began to protest, but the words died in her throat. He had stripped away her pretenses with precision. She hated the situation, yes, but the thought of fading into total obscurity was a different kind of terror.
"It's not that complicated," Rin continued, his tone shifting into something almost conversational, yet strategically detached. "If the management is the problem, cut the cord. Find someone else to hold the reins. The world is full of people who would kill to manage a star like you. Why act like a martyr when you could just be a professional?"
He spoke with the feigned ignorance of an outsider, yet his words carried the weight of a decree. Mai felt her heart hammer against her ribs, a strange, fluttering heat rising in her chest. She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with a sudden, soft vulnerability she hadn't known she possessed.
"Do you... do you really believe that?" she asked softly.
Rin met her gaze. He didn't offer a platitude or a comforting smile. He simply gave a slow, deliberate nod. To him, this was merely a logical correction of a deviated timeline, but to Mai, it felt like the first time someone had looked past the idol and seen the girl underneath.
The air between them grew thick, the festive noise fading into a dull roar as the silence stretched. Mai seemed to be leaning in, waiting for a word, a sign, a confirmation of the bond forming in the quiet. Rin, however, remained a pillar of composure. The time wasn't right—not yet.
"AAAGH! HELP!""GET OUT OF THE WAY! MOVE!""MONSTER! THERE'S A MONSTER!"
The delicate atmosphere shattered like glass. The festive cheers curdled into high-pitched screams of pure terror. The flow of the crowd reversed in a frantic, panicked surge as people trampled over stalls and each other to escape an approaching nightmare.
Rin's eyes sharpened. He stepped in front of Mai, his body shielding her as a massive, ash-grey silhouette tore through a nearby silk banner.
It was the Centaur Orphnoch. The creature was a grotesque fusion of man and beast, its lower half a powerful, four-legged equine frame and its upper half a muscular, humanoid torso encased in stone-like plating. It brandished a massive, jagged greatsword, swinging it with a mindless, brutal efficiency that turned the festive street into a slaughterhouse.
"Tch."
Rin let go of Mai's hand, his expression shifting from observer to the cold judge of the timeline. He turned fully toward the rampaging Orphnoch, his silhouette framed by the flickering festival fires. He raised his right hand, extending his thumb in a silent, grim gesture.
Then, he slammed it downward in a sign of absolute execution.