Dawn in Tokyo. In a small cafe, Taro and Yuri are sitting at a table.

Yuri, with the Matsumoto family files hidden in her bag, looks at Taro seriously.

“Taro… how involved are you in all this?” (She thinks as she watches him.)

Taro, with a calm but tired expression, stirs his coffee.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been looking at me as if you wanted to ask me something.”

Yuri hesitates for a moment, but then answers:

“I was just… wondering what your life was like before all this.”

Taro smiles slightly, but his gaze hardens.

“Before… well, let’s just say life pushed me down paths I didn’t choose.”

Short flashback to his childhood: Taro as a child watching a yakuza meeting in his home.

Back in the present, Yuri tightens his grip on his cup.

"What if you could choose now?"

Taro watches her in silence for a moment before answering,

"It's not as easy as you think."

Outside the cafe, a man wearing dark glasses watches them from afar.

He speaks on the phone, "Yes. I have him in sight. Shall we act now?"

Voice on the other end, "Not yet. Wait for the order."

Yuri and Taro leave the cafe and walk together.

"Taro..." Yuri hesitates before continuing, "If something were to happen, if someone were looking for you... you would tell me, right?"

Taro pauses for a moment before smiling calmly, "Don't worry about it."

A dark alley. A hooded man receives a photo of Taro on his phone.

"The target has been located."

"Now it all begins."

End of chapter.