A guy dropped from a rooftop to the street—turns out his name is Kaze.
Dust still floated because of the crazy punch Riko threw. It looked like ash, and the street was a mess. Luna kept her hand on Riko's arm, like she thought keeping him steady would stop everything around them from falling apart. It was too quiet, which felt weird. You could hear a pin drop. Then, someone landed softly behind them.
Riko turned around fast.
The person who was watching from the roof was now standing on the messed-up street. He looked like he just stepped off a sidewalk. He didn't trip or anything. His coat was long and dark, and it moved a little, even though there wasn't any wind. He looked young, maybe the same age as Riko, but his face looked like he'd seen way too much for someone his age.
He looked like he didn't care about anything. He was cold and sharp.
Luna whispered, "Who… who is that?"
Riko swallowed. "He said one thing before. 'Error.'"
The guy took a step. His boots crunched on broken glass, but even that sounded like he meant to do it. He didn't look at Luna, or at the wrecked street. He didn't even glance at the big hole where the boss disappeared. He stared right at Riko, like he was the most thing thing around.
"I told you," he said, his voice smooth but with an edge. "Error."
Riko stood up straighter. "What's that supposed to mean?"
The guy lifted a hand with a glove and tapped where Riko's arm-screen was glowing. It was like he was pointing out something only he could see. "You shouldn't have touched that screen."
Riko moved back without thinking. Luna moved with him, putting herself between them a little. "Why?" Riko asked. "What is this anyway?"
The guy tilted his head, looking Riko up and down like he was sizing him up. "A mistake," he said. "For you, for your world, for everything."
"That's not an answer," Riko said quickly.
The guy's lips moved a little, like he was about to smile. "You want answers? You can't handle them."
"Hey!" Luna snapped, her voice louder than Riko expected. "Leave him alone. He just saved everyone around here!"
The guy barely looked at her. "He didn't save anything. He just made things happen faster."
Riko felt his chest tighten. "What's going to happen?"
"Everything will fall apart," the guy said. "Because you touched something that wasn't supposed to be here. Now…," he pointed at the city, where cracks were spreading through the buildings. "Now reality knows something's wrong."
Riko's heart started racing. "I didn't ask for this thing! It just showed up! It said I was a user!"
"A user," the guy repeated softly. "That's the problem."
"What does that even mean?!"
The guy's eyes got a little sharper. "It means you're not the only one."
Riko felt a chill. "What?"
Before he could say anything else—
Before Luna could pull him away—
Before anyone knew what was happening—
The screen on Riko's arm turned on by itself.
It came on strong.
Blue light burst from the cracks, and symbols flashed across the broken screen. Static filled the air, so loud it made Riko jump.
Then the voice started.
It sounded rough.
Like metal.
And scared.
"WARNING. NEW ENEMY DETECTED."
Riko's stomach dropped. He knew something bad was coming.
The screen flashed like crazy, with symbols covering it until they spelled out two words:
"USER HUNTER."
Luna gasped and grabbed Riko's arm. "USER WHAT?!"
But the guy finally smiled.
It was a small, mean smile.
"I knew it," he said quietly. "The system finally noticed me."
Riko's heart stopped. "What does that mean?! Are you saying you—"
"I'm saying," the guy interrupted, raising his hand, "you're messing with something that's trying to control you."
Riko made a fist. "Then what are you?"
The guy looked at him with a serious look.
"I'm against it."
Riko blinked. "You mean… you're against the system?"
"I'm against it," the guy said again, "and everything it does."
Riko felt cold. "So you're against… me."
"Not yet," he said. "I'm just curious. I wanted to see what you're like."
"Well?" Riko asked. "What do you see?"
The guy's smile went away.
"You could be something. But you're not using what you have right."
Riko got angry. "You don't know me!"
"I know enough," the guy said. "I know the system messed up when it picked you." He took a step back, and for a second Riko thought he was going to attack. But instead, the air around his feet started to get blurry, like a bad video.
Luna grabbed Riko's arm harder. "Riko… he's doing something!"
The blurry stuff spread up like a tower of broken pieces. The guy's coat moved in the weird wind, and his hair stood up like he was floating.
Riko stepped forward. "Wait—don't just leave after saying weird stuff! Tell me what's going on!"
For the first time, the guy actually looked at him, not like he was studying him, but like he actually saw him.
"It's too early," he said.
"For what?" Riko shouted.
The guy started to disappear into the blurry static. "For you to know."
"THEN TELL ME YOUR NAME!" Riko yelled.
The blurry stuff rippled.
The guy stopped disappearing.
Just long enough to turn his head a little.
"Kaze," he said. "Remember that."
Riko's eyes got wider. "Kaze… why are you even here?"
Kaze's body broke apart into pieces, floating up like dust.
But his voice came back one more time—
It was calm.
It was cold.
And it was the last thing he said.
Kaze said, The system spotted me… I'll see you soon.