The group turned at the final corner of the street, where the old sidewalk widened slightly, making way for the "Autumn Mist" Restaurant. The place had a traditional charm: polished wooden floors, orange paper lanterns hanging from thin strings, and several tables outside with colorful cushions instead of chairs. The air smelled of dashi, roasted green tea, and grilled meat.
Already seated at a corner table, leaning against the wooden railing with his legs stretched out under the table, was Ryo.
Today, he had traded his ceremonial attire for what could only be described as the most "stylish sleepyhead" outfit one could wear without looking sloppy. He wore a black cotton tunic with white details on the wide sleeves and a grayish sash at the waist, tied in a loose knot. Over it, he wore a long, thick, dark blue wool cardigan, which gave him a warm and slightly melancholic air. His disheveled brown hair still looked a little wet, as if he'd just gotten out of the shower and hadn't bothered to dry it properly.
"Finally." he murmured, without getting up, as he saw them arrive. "I was starting to see you getting old here."
"You're already old on the inside, Ryo." Yuto teased, then threw himself onto the pillow in front of him.
"Shut up." Ryo replied, his voice hoarse, but with a small smile at the corner of his lips.
The other three also sat down. Reika leaned back on the table with her arms crossed, Takumi let out an exhausted sigh, and Renjiro just looked around, absorbing every detail of the atmosphere.
"Damn, this is so cozy." Renjiro murmured.
"It's the best place in Yumehara to relax." said Yuto. "And it's rarely crowded."
"Also, if it's full, Ryo would never come." Takumi finished with a wink.
The group laughed, but stopped when they realized... Ryo was talking. A lot.
"I'm in a good mood today." he admitted, taking a sip of steaming tea. "It's rare to see new people passing the exams and not fainting on the first day."
"You should talk more often, Ryo," Reika commented, surprised.
"You should be quiet more often, Reika," he replied dryly, but with a playful tone. She laughed.
Then she appeared.
From inside the restaurant came a woman with firm and elegant features, dark brown hair tied in a high ponytail, a fringe slightly falling over one eye, and amber eyes that seemed to read the soul with a simple glance. She wore a modern wine-colored kimono with subtle maple leaf patterns on the sleeves and a side slit that revealed a shapely leg.
"Good evening." she said in a soft but firm voice. "Could you place your orders?"
Renjiro, Takumi, and Yuto swallowed hard at the same time and exchanged glances.
"Damn it." they all said in unison. The silence was broken by Ryo, who let out a low, almost sarcastic laugh.
"You look like teenagers at a spring festival." she said, while the woman smiled, already accustomed to the reaction.
The woman pulled out a notepad and an elegant pen.
"So, let's go. What would you like?"
Renjiro, still somewhat unsure what to do, pointed:
"Spicy ramen with pork and an iced tea, please."
Takumi, sweating slightly from his face:
"The same. But… without the spiciness. My whole body is screaming for mercy."
Yuto was trying to maintain his composure:
"Hot udon with a raw egg and a glass of sake. By the way, your name, by any chance?"
"My name is Sana. But it's not on the menu, darling." she replied, with a sly smile and a wink before turning to Reika.
"And for you?"
Reika shook her head, amused:
"I'll just have some yakisoba and water. And a pillow for them to sleep on before they drown in their drool."
Sana gave a graceful laugh and disappeared inside the restaurant, leaving the scent of her perfume and the tension in the air.
The three boys sighed at the same time.
"It's official," said Takumi. "Yumehara is paradise."
"Well, at least you're relaxing now." Ryo commented, returning to his neutral expression. "Tomorrow you'll feel your muscles aching. Enjoy it."
Renjiro looked around. The light from the lanterns danced on the faces of his friends and allies. For a moment... it seemed that the weight of the mysteries, masks, and Kurogane no Kagura had been forgotten.
But not for long.
The atmosphere around the table seemed to slow down. The hanging lanterns swayed gently in the night breeze, casting soft shadows on the attentive faces of Renjiro, Reika, and Takumi. They all had their eyes fixed on Ryo, who, surprisingly, seemed willing to continue speaking.
He leaned back, pulling a hand-rolled cigarette from the pocket of his cozy robe, but didn't even light it, just holding it between his fingers.
"Before Yumehara…" he began, his voice low, as if telling a secret in the dim light "I was just a wanderer. I had no home, no destination. I slept wherever I could. I stole, lied, deceived half the world. All to stay alive. It wasn't pretty."
The three fell silent. Takumi stopped tapping his fingers on the table. Reika straightened up. Even Renjiro, who rarely fixed his gaze on someone for so long, couldn't take his eyes off Ryo.
"Awakening my mask was a punishment." he continued. "I was running from a guy who wanted to rip out my kidneys to sell. I went into an abandoned warehouse, tripped over a statue… and heard his voice." He paused. "He told me I'd run enough. That it was time to become a predator. I woke up in Yumehara. I had left everything behind, but for the first time… I didn't care."
Reika fell silent.
Takumi murmured:
"Damn…"
Yuto cleared his throat.
"Ryo loves to make his life seem like a soap opera." he said with a slight smile, but then his face became more serious. "I… wasn't anything special, really. I worked at a clinic as a physiotherapy technician. I thought I was helping people. But one day… one of my patients, a child, died during treatment, it was a very... bizarre situation."
The three of them looked at him, astonished. Yuto's usual smile had completely vanished.
"It wasn't my fault, they said. But… I felt it was. I felt like I failed. I spent months trying to get over it, but every time I closed my eyes… I saw the child's parents crying."
He closed his eyes for a second. His voice faltered for a moment.
"I awakened my mask in the bathtub of my apartment. I wanted to disappear, and I did. I ended up here. And here… I found a new kind of strength."
Silence fell. The table was enveloped in a painful tension. Reika kept her gaze downcast. Takumi was completely quiet, his eyes lost in the void. Renjiro… clenched his fists under the table, as if each story affected him in a way that was too personal.
And it was at that moment that the restaurant door opened, and Sana returned with a tray full of steaming dishes.
"The heroes' banquet has arrived!" she said with a wide smile, as if she hadn't sensed the heavy energy hanging there.
The three jumped slightly at the sudden sound, and the tension broke like a stone falling into a lake.
"Oh my god, finally." said Takumi, rubbing his hands.
"I could already hear my stomach growling." Renjiro added, forcing a smile, relieved by the interruption.
Sana lightly placed the dishes, Renjiro's red ramen, Takumi's steaming udon, Reika's aromatic yakisoba, and the tempura dish that Ryo had ordered without anyone noticing. The aroma filled the table, warm, salty, and comforting.
"Eat." she said, winking. "Food heals more than words."
And that's what they did.
The spoons and chopsticks began to dance. The sound of the broths being slurped, the brief laughs returning, and the glances between them now lighter. The stories were still there, etched in the air, but the food... the food pulled them back to something simpler.
More human.
"Yumehara may have been an escape... but maybe it's the only place where we can breathe without masks." Ryo said, with a half-smile. "Ironically."
Renjiro looked at him thoughtfully... and then at his friends in front of him.
And for a moment, he felt at home.
The laughter already echoed unrestrained. Takumi almost choked on his udon while trying to imitate the ridiculous way Yuto tripped when entering the Council room days before, and Yuto himself laughed so hard he almost cried.
"And then… then he turns to Akari and says, 'You're the Council? I thought you were a cosplay RPG group!'" shouted Takumi, slamming his hand on the table.
"Don't blame him, he was nervous!" retorted Yuto, his mouth full. "And besides, cosplay is an art!"
"Only if it's the art of embarrassing yourself." grumbled Ryo, a small smile dancing on his lips.
Reika laughed so hard she had to hold onto Renjiro's arm to avoid falling out of her chair, tears of laughter already streaming down her face.
The night breeze blew softly, lifting everyone's loose hair, and the city shimmered in the background, the lights of the lanterns, the sound of water in the distance, and the echo of laughter mixed with the clinking of glasses and plates.
Amidst all this, Renjiro remained silent.
He looked at everyone around him. For Reika, her eyes still brimming with tears and a hand on her chest from laughing so hard. For Takumi, wiping the corners of his mouth and continuing to tell another story. For Yuto, so different from that first man full of energy and weapons on his back, now a smiling human with scars around his eyes. And even for Ryo, with that relaxed, yet present, attentive, curious air.
Renjiro slowly put down his chopsticks and leaned back slightly in his chair. His eyes gazed at the purple-orange sky of Yumehara, and the sound of the night seemed to push everything away. Everything that was behind him. The past. The emptiness. The pain.
In a whisper meant for no one, but which nevertheless made itself heard, he murmured:
"Finally… I found a home."
But Reika heard. Takumi too. Even Ryo stopped chewing for a moment.
Reika looked at him with a small, but sincere smile.
"Huh? What was that, poet?" she teased, her tone light but her eyes… her eyes said she felt it.
"Oh no… Renjiro has become a slice-of-life character now." said Takumi, wiping away a tear of laughter "The next step is for him to start writing haikus about sunsets."
"Shut up." said Renjiro, his voice firm… but with a smile at the corner of his lips.
Yuto crossed his arms, looking at him.
"You know… it's not ridiculous to say that, you know? To say that you finally feel like you belong somewhere. We've all said that at least once when we got here." He paused, looking at the street. "And even so… there's something about you that tells me this means more than usual."
Renjiro fell silent.
"You're the kind of person who doesn't say these things lightly, right?" Yuto continued "So, when you say… it's because it comes from very deep within. And that's beautiful. Damn, it really is."
Reika sighed and leaned on Renjiro's shoulder, saying nothing. Takumi placed his hand on the opposite shoulder.
"Maybe Yumehara is a somewhat makeshift home… but it's what we have," Reika said softly.
Ryo, who had been quiet until then, took off his cap, ran a hand through his disheveled hair, and said simply:
"Home is where we stop running away."
The silence that fell wasn't uncomfortable. It was dense, but comforting. As if everyone there, even without words, understood the weight of being alive. Of surviving. Of continuing. And of finally being able to laugh at the table with people who care.
Renjiro closed his eyes for a moment. Nyxalith said nothing, and that was rare. But she didn't need to. The moment spoke for itself.
Yumehara was still a mystery.
But for the first time in a long time… he wasn't afraid.
Renjiro rested his chin on his palm, gazing at the darkening sky as he pushed the last bits of food onto his plate with his chopsticks. He still felt the weight of what they had said earlier… but he decided to change the subject.
"Hey…" he began, glancing at Ryo and Yuto. "What about your masks? What are… the entities like? I mean, the voices inside them?"
Takumi and Reika also straightened up, curious.
Ryo raised an eyebrow and placed his chopsticks on the table with a light tap.
"Hm. Curious." he murmured, as if considering whether it was worth answering. "I suppose there's no harm…"
From inside the wide, padded coat he wore, a smoky-gray shade with geometric embroidery in dark thread, Ryo pulled out his mask.
It was made of a material that looked like both petrified wood and metal corroded by time. The surface was riddled with fine cracks like spiderwebs, but nothing about it seemed unstable, it was as if it had aged gracefully. A vertical fissure divided the central part, from which escaped a soft, spectral glow, a pale amber color, like the light of an old candle.
"This is the Mask of Lirith-Mara." he said, his voice lower than usual.
And then, a warm breeze blew between them.
"Present are… the eyes that see oblivion."
The voice that emerged didn't come from Ryo's mouth, nor from the mask, it was as if it seeped into everyone's ears, as if it arose from behind the nape of the neck, like a whisper that wasn't threatening… but inescapable.
"I am Lirith-Mara… daughter of the void and guardian of the final silence."
The voice was feminine, paused, with an archaic, almost melodic accent.
"Ryo is the host who sustains me. And I am the memory he tried to forget."
Reika stood motionless.
"That… is poetic and terrifying at the same time."
"She is all of that." said Ryo, smiling slightly. — "Very calm, very centered… but also very, very old. And she sees things that no one should see."
The mask seemed to emit a slight hum, almost like a suppressed laugh.
Renjiro turned to Yuto, who already had his gaze fixed on the group with an air almost like a child about to show off a forbidden toy.
"Mine…" he said, pulling the mask from a bag attached to his belt "is a nightmare with legs. But one of those that you learn to dance with."
Yuto's mask was chaotic, it had an asymmetrical shape, as if it had been hastily sculpted by a delirious hand. It was made of a bluish-black material, with three eyes drawn in a spiral, none alike. In the mouth area, small bone teeth were embedded, but not in a grotesque way. It was strange, eccentric, and artistic, as if representing a fragment of madness transformed into ritual art.
"It's called Kudashin." said Yuto with a half-smile.
And then…
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH-!!!"
A loud and ridiculously exaggerated scream cut through the air.
Takumi jumped from his chair.
"WHAT THE HELL-"
"RELAX!" shouted Yuto. "It's just his entrance! He always does this!"
And, with an echo that seemed to dance between the plates and glasses, a distorted voice emerged, high-pitched and low-pitched at the same time, as if two beings were speaking out of sync.
"GOOD EVENING, DRAMA CHILDREN!! KUDASHIN PRESENTS HIMSELF!!! Blood! Tradition! And theater! LOTS OF THEATER!"
Yuto's mask vibrated slightly on the table.
"Think of a demonic bard who swallowed a philosophy book and smelled too much coffee." Yuto commented, rubbing his face, laughing. "He's powerful, very powerful, but his personality is kind of… unbearable sometimes."
"UNBEARABLE IS NOT DANCING WITH LIFE!" Kudashin shouted. "AND I DANCE WITH IT UNTIL THE ABYSS!!"
Reika shook her head, amused.
"How do you put up with that?"
"With love, hate, and lots of tea." Yuto replied with a wink.
Nyxalith sighed within Renjiro's mind.
"Kudashin… the acrobat of chaos. He was even spoken of in Velum. A fool… but a dangerous fool."
"Kagura, have you heard of them?" Reika asked.
"I have, and I'm already tired of him." her mask replied with a theatrical sigh.
The five at the table laughed. But even amidst the banter, Renjiro couldn't stop thinking about what those entities represented.
Living pieces of history… pieces of something bigger.
Renjiro couldn't resist commenting:
"And I thought my entity was intense."
Nyxalith, enveloped in that mysterious aura, intervened.
"You haven't seen half of it, Renji Renji~."
Renjiro rested his elbows on the table, between the empty glasses and half-touched plates. The sky slowly darkened, tinged with orange and dark blue hues that slid between the traditional rooftops of Yumehara. The soft glow of the street lamps reflected in the young man's thoughtful gaze.
"Oh wait, I'd like to confirm something." he began, looking at Yuto and Ryo, "Is it true that you can summon weapons with the masks? Is that really really possible?"
Takumi straightened slightly in his chair.
Reika, curious, also turned her head.
Ryo was the first to answer, in a slow, calm tone.
"It's possible, yes." He took another sip of his hot drink before continuing. "But it's not like it comes out of nowhere. It requires training. Connection with the mask. And... understanding of what it represents."
"But is it difficult?" Takumi asked.
Ryo shook his head slightly.
"Not really. If you have sensitivity to Æther and a decent bond with your entity, you'll get there quickly. But it requires more than just willpower. The mask reacts to your soul. If you're disorganized in here, it won't give you what you want. Only what you need."
Renjiro crossed his arms.
"I see… So this will be taught during training?"
Yuto smiled, leaning back and glancing with his thumb over his shoulder towards the city center.
"The day after tomorrow. That's when your official training begins." He paused. "And I bet you'll be taken to Asuka's training grounds."
Reika grumbled.
"The tsundere?"
Yuto chuckled.
"Yes, that's the one. Her field has an extremely high concentration of Æther. It's like a catalyst, it accelerates spiritual growth, amplifies manifestations. You can do some funny things there."
Takumi raised an eyebrow.
"Funny things like…?"
Ryo, with a mischievous grin, replied:
"Like… seeing your weapon manifest with so much Æther that it almost breaks the ground. Or… your mask showing a form you didn't even know existed."
Renjiro's eyes widened slightly.
"New forms?"
Yuto leaned against the table with his arms crossed, speaking more calmly:
"Masks aren't just a 'thing.' They're alive. And like any living being, they change over time. They evolve with you. And when that happens… unexpected things can arise."
Reika, suspiciously, wrinkled her nose.
"That sounds… dangerous."
Ryo glanced at her sideways, that look somewhere between sleep and mystery.
"Of course it is. But it's also beautiful."
Nyxalith, inside Renjiro's mind, whispered:
"He's not wrong. The beauty of change lies in the pain that precedes it."
Renjiro sighed, his thoughts churning.
"So… that's it. The day after tomorrow everything really begins."
Yuto slapped his shoulder hard with a smile.
"Welcome to the fucking reality of the Tamashi Zetsumetsu."
Takumi chuckled.
"I can't wait for Asuka to scold us."
Reika crossed her arms.
"I hope she tries. You'll see what a veteran tsundere is like."
Everyone laughed.
And for a moment, there at the table, amidst hot food and laughter, the fears vanished.
Only anticipation remained.
And the certainty that, when the sun rose... their world would never be the same again.
Takumi fiddled with the empty glass, gently pushing it with his fingertips. The sound of the glass sliding across the wooden table interrupted the quiet, light moment they had managed to create that night.
"Okay... okay, but... what's the point of summoning a weapon anyway?" he asked, his face genuinely confused.
Ame-no-Kagura sighed loudly, her frustration almost palpable.
"But for the love of all that is divine, Takumi! What are weapons for? Cooking?! Obviously they're for killing enemies!"
Takumi shrank back a little, glancing sideways at his friends.
"I don't know, they could be symbolic or something..."
Ryo let out a muffled laugh, with the air of someone who wasn't surprised by the boy's occasional stupidity.
"No. They're as real as the enemies we'll face. Velkraths. And the Kurogane no Kagura, if we encounter them."
Yuto finished:
"And each of you will manifest a different weapon. Based on you, your essence, what shapes you. No two are alike, there are exceptions, but that's another conversation."
Reika crossed her legs under the table and leaned slightly forward, her eyes shining with curiosity.
"And what about Asuka? What kind of weapon does she have?"
Yuto smiled as if about to reveal a funny secret.
"Asuka? I don't know, but… she's… well. She reads BL in her spare time. And other equally suspicious genres. An… interesting person, let's say. I've never seen her weapon."
Reika opened her eyes with genuine enthusiasm.
"Really?! What titles has she read? Does she prefer slow burn or enemies for lovers? Has she read The Corner of the Blue Sky[1]?"
But before Yuto could answer, a hand landed calmly on his shoulder.
Yuto paled.
Reika, Takumi, and Renjiro stood motionless, as if time had frozen for a second.
"Yuto." The female voice, firm but without anger. Just laden with... authority.
Yuto swallowed hard, turned slowly, and found Asuka standing behind him, a slight smile on her lips, but her gaze clearly said: say one more word, and you'll fly off to the roof of the tower.
She was no longer wearing the ceremonial uniform the three had seen earlier.
Instead, she wore wide, grayish-black linen trousers with discreet, dark copper-toned stitching, like intertwined branches. Over this, she wore a tight-fitting, high-necked sweater in burnt red, with long sleeves and fine metallic details at the wrists, like bracelets embedded in the fabric.
Around her neck hung a necklace with a spiral symbol, likely linked to Æther, a symbol Reika found immediately beautiful. Asuka's hair was loose, with a few thin braids tucked into the right side, and the silvery white of her natural strands shone under the warm restaurant light.
On her feet? Dark red leather boots with slightly high heels and stylized buckles—enough to intimidate, yet still look comfortable. Everything about her said, "I am beautiful, dangerous, and you have no moral authority to judge me."
"I hope you're telling good things about me, Yuto." she said, with a short, menacing smile.
Yuto raised his hands.
"Sure, sure. I just said that… you have good literary taste."
Asuka looked at the three teenagers.
"Good night."
"Good night…" the three murmured in unison, still somewhat stunned by her sudden presence.
Reika winked at Asuka.
"…so what's your favorite trope?"
Asuka smiled slightly.
"Mutual pining. And now shut up before I throw the whole book in your face."
Everyone laughed, including Asuka herself, who sat down in an empty chair next to the group.
"So? You were talking about weapons and training?" she asked, crossing her legs and adjusting her coat sleeve.
Renjiro nodded.
"Yes… I asked how summoning a weapon works."
Asuka gave him an analytical look, but this time, a gentler one.
"You'll find out soon. But I can tell you this: when your weapon first appears... you won't be able to forget the sound."
Takumi looked curious.
"The sound?"
Asuka leaned back in her chair, looking at the dark sky above.
"It's as if the Æther is shouting your name... and, at the same time, whispering the name of your weapon."
Reika leaned back in her chair with a somewhat daring smile, crossing her arms.
"Then go on, Asuka. Don't run away from the conversation now. Which BL have you enjoyed most lately?"
Asuka raised an eyebrow, her usual serious look... but hesitated. For a few seconds, it really seemed like she was going to change the subject, but Reika kept her gaze fixed on her, like someone challenging someone to a duel of truths.
"Tsk..." Asuka said, glancing sideways. "You shouldn't meddle in these matters."
"Too late. I've seen that glint in your eyes before, woman." Reika approached the table, almost laughing. "Admit it, what was the last one?"
Asuka sighed, crossing one leg over the other and biting her lower lip for a moment.
"…Yoru no Bakemono to Bara no Otoko[2]."
Reika gasped dramatically.
"WHAT?! You read it too?! The one with the wolf-human hybrid?!"
Asuka shrugged, trying to maintain a cool pose.
"The art was beautiful."
"The art was divine, you say!" Reika slammed her hand on the table enthusiastically. "And that moment in the forest when the protagonist thinks he's going to be rejected, but he…!"
"The other one appears in the rain and hugs him, saying that no matter what he is, he will never leave him." Asuka finished, her eyes softening.
Silence. The two looked at each other.
"…We're made for each other." Reika said, half-jokingly, half-seriously.
Asuka rolled her eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. It was discreet, small… but genuine.
Renjiro watched the scene with a smile that was half astonished, half delighted. He leaned back and crossed his arms.
"Here we go… the combo." he said, in a dramatic narration tone. "Asuka and Reika. Sisters of ink and tears, united by handsome men in emotional distress."
Takumi let out a laugh.
"We're screwed. They'll spend all their training exchanging books instead of training."
Yuto laughed.
"If this keeps them emotionally in shape, I don't see any harm in it. Preferable to more of Kagura's yelling in our heads."
Lirith-Mara, in her soft voice, commented:
"I never thought mythical entities would share a dinner table with such enthusiasm for love stories and things like that..."
Tenax replied in a more relaxed tone:
"Humanity has always enjoyed emotionally torturing itself. Now it's just with pretty drawings and bittersweet endings."
Kudashin snorted, as always full of sarcasm:
"Ugh, how boring! Now imagine if I had to see Ryo reading romance... that would be the end of the world!"
Ryo, without bothering to look up from his plate:
"I read romance. But I don't tell anyone."
Everyone looked at him, surprised.
"Seriously?" Takumi asked.
"Yep." Ryo replied. "But only when I'm really depressed... or have terrible insomnia."
The whole group burst into laughter.
Even Renjiro, who normally wasn't so outgoing, was laughing, his head tilted and his heart light.
For a moment, at that table illuminated by warm lights, surrounded by the clinking of dishes and the smell of food and tea, the weights of the world, the Fractures, the mysteries of the masks… everything seemed distant.
And there, amidst the chaos, a new team was born. A new family.
Timeskip - 2 hours later...
Night had fully fallen, and the gentle breeze of Yumehara caressed the restaurant awnings. The surrounding tables were almost all empty, but theirs… that one still vibrated with life, voices, and laughter.
Asuka leaned over the table, her eyes shining with excitement as she spoke to Reika, who was completely engrossed in the conversation.
"And then there's Kami wa Kimi o Yurusanai, which honestly… is a sin in book form. The protagonist shouldn't even be cool!" Asuka said, waving a hand in the air as if expelling the fire from the scene she remembered.
Reika's eyes widened, completely captivated.
"But this book is so good! I screamed when I read chapter eight… THE REVELATION, Asuka, THE REVELATION!"
The two were in their own world. Paper sisters of suffering, completely oblivious to the chaos unfolding on the other side of the table. Yuto's cheeks were flushed, laughing at something he didn't even seem to understand himself.
"You guys... you're like... like... main characters from a shonen manga, but with lots of drama... and pain... and... good food! Hah!"
Takumi, sitting next to him, already had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard at Yuto's silliness.
"Hey, you're drunk. I've never seen anyone get like this after two cups of Kujira-sake."
Yuto pointed dramatically to the sky.
"Because I drink with my heart!"
Meanwhile, Ryo was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes closed... completely asleep, but with such a serene expression that he seemed to be meditating.
Renjiro, elbows on the table, observed everything with a small smile, but his gaze more focused on the clock than on the jokes. Exhaustion was already weighing on his shoulders, and responsibility was taking precedence.
"Hey guys… it's getting late." he said, in a calm but firm tone. "We should go back to the dorms. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day."
Takumi stopped laughing for a moment and nodded.
"Yeah… you're right. I need to sleep for about 16 hours."
Reika and Asuka exchanged glances, in a silence of deep telepathy between fangirls, before Reika turned to the group.
"Okay, okay, go… we're ending the BL club for today." she said with a wink to Asuka, who simply nodded with a knowing smile.
Yuto was still rambling about writing his own epic love story with fights and desserts, while Takumi helped him to his feet.
Renjiro leaned over to wake Ryo, who lazily opened one eye.
"Time to go?" he murmured.
"Time to go." Renjiro replied, helping him to his feet.
The group began to leave, the streets now silent, bathed in the orange light of Yumehara's old lampposts. Their footsteps echoed off the pavement, with muffled conversations, yawns, and that strange comfort of a late night among friends.
Nothing more needed to be said.
And in that brief instant, the weight of the missions, the masks, the training, and the secrets… all of that was suspended. Because, even if only for a few hours, they had been just young people, with strange stories, dangerous powers… and dreams to be discovered.
The doors creak softly as the three enter the dormitory illuminated by a soft, warm light. The atmosphere still retained a faint scent of incense and polished wood, cozy, almost as if the space had absorbed the laughter and stories from dinner.
Takumi was the first to speak, stretching his arms in the air.
"Okay… that dinner was awesome." he said, collapsing onto the sofa like a sack of potatoes.
Reika let out a soft sigh.
"I agree. Finally, a moment without stress, without dimensional fractures or brain-blowing evaluations."
Renjiro nodded with a slight smile, slowly removing his coat as he walked to the closet.
"The food was good… and the others aren't so bad either. At least today, they were just… people."
Takumi stood up and rubbed his head.
"Tomorrow's our first day off, right? Let's plan something decent. No missions, no mysterious people showing up out of nowhere…"
Reika, already with a determined look, placed her hands on her hips.
"Tomorrow morning we sit down and decide what to do. It could be exploring, relaxing, training just a little… anything but dealing with the Council." she said, pointing at the two of them.
"Deal." they both said in unison.
Without further ado, the three went to their respective corners of the room. The sound of zippers opening and fabrics being folded filled the soft silence of the room.
Takumi took off his dark shirt, revealing scars and muscles still recovering from previous training sessions. He put on a loose t-shirt and light shorts before throwing himself onto the bed with a guttural yawn.
Reika, with fluid and natural movements, tied her hair back with a ribbon, took off her blouse and shorts, changing into an oversized white shirt that fell to her thighs. She stretched her arms and relaxed her shoulders before collapsing onto the cool sheets of her bed, sighing in relief.
Renjiro, for his part, stayed last, carefully folding his clothes and putting on a dark short-sleeved sweater and comfortable trousers. He looked at the ceiling for a moment before lying down.
The light was turned off. Only the soft sound of the wind outside and the tranquil breathing of the three could be heard.
But…
Somewhere, far away… or perhaps not so far
On a high rooftop, immersed in the shadow of an old, forgotten ceremonial bell, a figure stood motionless. The black cloak billowed in the wind, and the golden eyes shone with an animalistic intensity.
"They sleep like lambs… ignorant of what awaits them." murmured the man in a dry, almost poetic voice.
His feline pupils dilated as he observed the room illuminated only by the faint moonlight through the window. He tilted his head, like a predator savoring the moment before the attack.
"And his son… he's here, right before my eyes."
A short, but bitter smile formed beneath his cracked mask, different from the others. Organic. Pulsating.
The night was still long… and the game had barely begun.
[1] a popular "enemies to lovers" BL in Yumehara, there's even a club in Yumehara's only school dedicated to that same BL. Trust the world building.
[2] Yoru no Bakemono to Bara no Otoko is generally treated as BL/yaoi-adjacent, not a mainstream romance title. So if you’re asking “is it explicit yaoi?” the safest answer is no, not really. If you mean “does it fall under BL themes or get grouped with BL works?” then yes, it can be categorized that way, but it’s not a straightforward romance manga/light novel. But i wanted to include this one here, just for the fun of it. I'll be making some stuff up as well.