On a lonely street in Tokyo, the rain falls softly. Taro walks with his hands in his pockets, his face shadowed by the hood of his jacket.

His mind is clouded. He remembers the bar… the massacre… the blood on his hands. Blurry fragments of that time

"No matter how much I run… the past always catches up with me," he thinks as he steps into a puddle.

Meanwhile, Yuri checks his computer for information on yakuza families. He stops at a file on the Matsumoto family.

"What is Taro really hiding…?" he wonders, frowning.

His phone rings. It's an anonymous message: "Stop looking for answers that don't belong to you."

Taro arrives at his apartment and turns on the light. Someone is waiting for him in the shadows.

It's an older man, a cigarette in his mouth. "Long time no see, kid."

Taro tenses his jaw. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check on you… after what you did in that bar."

Taro crosses his arms. "You have nothing to say to me."

"Maybe not… but there are those who do. And they're not happy that you're still breathing."

A flash of lightning lights up the room. Taro feels like the storm is just beginning.

"Listen to me, boy. The truth always comes out. And when it does… you better be ready."

The man stands up and walks away, leaving Taro with a bad feeling.

End of chapter