Tokyo, Japan.
At Tokyo University, Gakuen-sai's night.
June 18th, 2026
8:17 PM 23° Celsius/73.4 Fahrenheit
Night had fallen over Tokyo University like a velvet curtain embroidered with stars. Beneath the warm glow of paper lanterns, the Gakuensai festival bloomed in full spectacle. Streams of visitors, students, and faculty wandered across the expansive campus grounds, immersed in music, color, and laughter. Traditional drums pulsed gently in the background, blending with the sizzling crackle of food stalls and the lively chatter of youth suspended in a fleeting celebration. Ray had accepted Reina's invitation to come with them at Tokyo University to attend Gakuen-sai.
Izanami insisted that she should go with him. Wanted to see where Ray had graduated and met with his new stepsisters . But Ray turned it down. He didn't want to let the girls know about a piece of his past, of his mysterious vocation.
Ray Shigeyoshi moved through the crowd with three women—each commanding her own gravity.
Reina, dressed in a daring, obsidian-black yukata with ruby-threaded cranes, walked with quiet pride at Ray's side. Her lips didn't smile, but her presence burned. A silent territorial storm brewed behind her eyes as she caught every envious or admiring glance sent toward Ray. Her fingers twitched once, longing to claim him openly, though she said nothing.
On Ray's other side, Kitsune wandered silently, her silver fox mask clipped to her obi, her pale hair glinting beneath the lanterns. Her serenity masked something deeper—calculating, detached, always watching. Even in this atmosphere of peace, she looked ready to strike.
A short distance behind them, Arashi trailed quietly. Her violet yukata matched the calm, but not her heart. Her eyes rarely left the ground. The weight of memories—the shattered night, the blood-soaked tatami, the sound of Ray's voice after the final breath of her friends—still lived within her. It was hard to walk behind him and not feel the gravity of what he had done, even if some part of her still clung to the safety he once promised.
They were a picture together—beautiful, haunting, untouchable.
But they were being watched.
From across the university's western gate, under the shadow of a stone arch, Ryuji Takahashi sat on a raised planter wall, biting into a skewer of grilled chicken with lazy satisfaction. His outfit was simple—a plain black jacket, faded jeans, and sneakers—but his posture was that of someone who controlled the room without needing to announce it. The chaos he had orchestrated in Osaka just days ago—tearing down an entire Yakuza faction at the Mistress's command—lingered on his mind like the aftertaste of smoke and victory.
Beside him stood Maria Tachibana, arms crossed, dressed in a slate-gray blazer and fitted trousers. Her sleek crimson hair swayed gently in the evening breeze. The tension coiled within her wasn't born of fear, but anticipation. She scanned the crowd with the cool precision of a hunter in the tall grass.
"Why the hell are we here?" she asked, voice low.
Ryuji wiped sauce from his mouth with a napkin, unconcerned.
"It's Gakuensai," he said casually.
"I graduated here. Thought I'd enjoy some yakitori and nostalgia. After Osaka, we deserve a break." He added.
Osaka. The order from The Mistress herself. They had...instilled fear on a rebelling Yakuza family.
But let's just say, it ended badly for the rebelling Yakuza family. After all, the Mistress didn't want any fools with dishonesty and dishonor in her empire.
Maria's eyes didn't move from the crowd. "
"With our mission, we can't do 'breaks.'" She rebutted.
"Maybe not," Ryuji admitted, chewing thoughtfully. "But tonight has potential. The kind of night that shifts tides."
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you waiting for?"
Ryuji didn't answer immediately.
Then Maria saw him.
Her breath caught, just for a heartbeat—but it was enough.
There, moving with casual ease through the crowd, illuminated by the golden haze of lantern light, Ray. Alive. Unknowing. Trapped in a moment of peace that wouldn't last.
Surrounded by three beautiful women, his posture calm, his aura unreadable. He looked like a man who didn't know he was being hunted.
Maria leaned forward slightly, her heart tightening.
"There," she said, her voice lower than before. "It's him."
Ryuji followed her gaze. His chewing slowed to a stop.
They watched in silence as Ray passed under a cherry blossom archway, smiling faintly at something Reina said. Kitsune smiled behind him. Arashi hung back in silence.
The crowd parted for them like water for a prowling beast. The other festival-goers saw only beauty, mystery, and magnetism. But Maria and Ryuji saw the target.
"He's right there," Maria whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "After all the moves, all the threads, all the blood… he's just here. Out in the open. Like fate is offering him to us."
Her fingers dug into her arms. It felt surreal.
"The Mistress will be pleased," she said.
"She'll get it," Ryuji replied. His voice had changed—quieter now, more serious.
The thrill of the hunt simmered beneath his tone.
"But not yet." He added.
Maria shot him a glance. "Why wait?"
Ryuji grinned, tossing the skewer into a nearby trash can. "Because I want him to enjoy his last night of normalcy. Just for a little longer. Let him think he's free. Let him breathe."
He stood up slowly, brushing off his jacket.
"Because when we take him," he said, "it won't be by force. It'll be with inevitability."
Maria said nothing more. She understood the weight of his words. The inevitability of a storm that had already begun to swirl beneath the peace of Gakuensai.
The music continued to play. The lights continued to dance. And laughter still rang through the night.
But in the shadows of Tokyo University, the noose had already been tied.
It was only a matter of when it would drop.