Scene 1 — Morning After the Blackout
The lights came back at dawn.
No one said a word about it.
Kaiya cooked breakfast, humming off-key.
Teo read the paper that didn't mention them.
Kenta chewed toast, pretending everything still made sense.
The flicker from last night could've been a grid fault, a storm glitch, anything.
He told himself that twice.
Outside, the GR86 sat half-wet from rain.
Across the hood, someone had sprayed a single white line — too straight, too careful.
Not vandalism. A message.
Kenta sighed.
"At least they have taste."
Teo looked up once.
Teo: "Don't joke about warnings."
Kenta: "Then it's art."
No one laughed.
Scene 2 — Harbor Routine
The shop opened late.
Tourists had thinned out, but the regulars still came, whispering.
Kaiya tried to keep the air light.
Kaiya: "Maybe it's just promotion. Free marketing. Every legend needs a logo."
Kenta: "Yeah, I'll print T-shirts next."
She smiled, but watched him carefully.
There was a weight in his eyes she hadn't seen before — the look of someone who'd stopped believing in coincidence.
When the last order went out, he said he needed to "pick up supplies."
She didn't stop him.
Scene 3 — The Investigation
He drove through Sendai's backstreets, retracing last night's route — the docks, the vending machine, the alleys.
Nothing.
Then, near the industrial edge, he saw it: the same white streak painted along the walls, repeating every few meters.
Each line curved slightly, guiding him somewhere.
He followed it to an old warehouse with one light burning inside.
When he stepped out, the night air hit his arm — the arm with the scar.
The smell of metal hit first — same as the night he burned himself fixing the GR.
The memory came uninvited, sharp and hot.
The scar pulsed, skin reddening where the torch once kissed it.
He rubbed it once, forcing the tremor down.
Kenta (quietly): "Not now."
Scene 4 — The Warehouse
Inside, the floor gleamed with oil.
Voices echoed — low, unhurried.
Voice 1: "He'll come looking. They always do."
Voice 2: "Then we give him what he's looking for."
Kenta stepped into the light.
The men froze.
They hadn't expected him yet.
Kenta: "I'm not here for trouble. Just want to know why you touched my car."
One of them smirked.
Man 1: "We didn't touch it. We just kept it visible."
Kenta: "Meaning?"
Man 1: "You think the police believe stories? They believe symbols. We just made sure they could see yours."
Silence stretched until one of them shifted uneasily.
Man 2: "You've got his eyes."
Kenta: "Whose?"
Man 2: "The Oni's."
That word again.
Static in his chest.
Kenta: "Then you're seeing ghosts."
He turned and walked out before they could answer.
Scene 5 — The Breakpoint
He sat in the GR86 with the engine off.
The scar throbbed — hot, precise.
Every breath came with flashes of light in his vision.
He gripped the wheel tighter.
Outside, the city blurred — steel, rain, sirens somewhere far away.
He looked down. The skin was red, trembling.
He could almost hear the old mechanic's voice:
"Scars remember faster than people."
Scene 6 — Midnight Return
He drove home slow.
Every stoplight felt like judgment.
At one intersection, a patrol car waited across the lane.
The officers didn't move — just watched him pass.
When he reached the shop, it was past one.
Kaiya slept on the couch.
Teo wasn't there.
On the counter sat a single note:
Don't follow where you don't belong.
No signature.
Kenta folded it once, slid it into his jacket beside the paper crane.
Kenta (whispering): "I'm not following. I'm catching up."
He turned off the light.
End of Episode 15 — "All Roads Lead Downhill."