«Maybe Kagura went a little overboard...» Kaito remarked, watching the surroundings with a hint of unease.

The room assigned to them looked clearly expensive.

As soon as they entered, they stood on a slightly raised level above the living room, which led to other rooms: a bedroom and a large bathroom.

A few steps down led to the lounge, where a semicircular red sofa dominated in front of a large TV mounted on a wall clad in stone-effect tiles.

The late-afternoon light poured generously through the wide windows, making everything warm and inviting.

—I've never been to a place like this...— thought Kaito, walking through the vast lounge.

«Kaito, the bathroom is amazing!» Yume shouted from the next room.

«She's really excited...» he whispered, heading toward the bedroom with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

«I wonder what it's like...»

He stopped dead.

«What on earth did she imagine?!» he exclaimed, visibly uncomfortable.

Moments later, Yume reached him.

«What's wrong?» she asked, seeing him frozen.

Kaito looked at her, his cheeks slightly flushed. With a vague gesture he pointed at the bed.

«The bed...»

«What's wrong...» she began, then stopped. Her face flushed as well.

The bed was heart-shaped, with pillows and blankets in the same theme.

«Kagura misunderstood everything...» Kaito huffed, gritting his teeth. «Don't worry, I'll sleep on the sofa.»

«I-it's not necessary... we can just talk to Kagura...» she replied, embarrassed.

Meanwhile, the sun began to set over Shinkase. The futuristic city gradually darkened as its artificial lights started to come on... unaware of the first incident that would soon shake it.

«Enough, enough!!»

a man's scream echoed inside a building under construction.

«Please, let me go! Don't turn me into him!» His eyes fell on the decapitated body of a companion.

From the shadows cast by the steel beams emerged a figure: an elegant boy with ice-cold eyes and his hair tied back.

«Do you really think I'd let you go, insect of the Reikeitai?» he asked, with a voice as cold as winter.

«W-what do you want from me? Do you want to know why we're in Shinkase?!» the man stammered, trembling.

«You're here to stop the Fuyumi family...» the boy replied, cutting him off.

«Y-you already know?! Then... then what do you want from me?!»

«I...» A thin smile appeared on his face. «I only want to kill you all.»

His hand moved slightly. The air grew heavy, lethal.

—It's over! —the man thought, closing his eyes.

Seconds passed, but nothing more was heard.

—W-what's happening...? I'm not dead?—

He opened his eyes slowly. He was several meters away from his attacker.

«Another insect...» the enemy muttered without turning around.

«Akizame!» the rescued man cried, a mix of relief and disbelief in his voice.

«Get out of here,» Akizame ordered, not taking his eyes off the enemy.

«Wait...» The man grabbed his collar. «That one is a monster!»

«I told you to leave,» Akizame repeated. The veins on his face stood out.

—I've never seen him like this...,—thought the companion. Then he nodded and fled, limping.

«Kagetsu...» the enemy murmured.

«That's my name,» he added.

«You're part of that organization, right?» Akizame asked.

«You call us Mugentamashii, if I'm not mistaken. Not a bad name,» he offered with a smile.

«What do you want?» asked the Reikeitai member, his gaze cold.

«Why should I tell you?» Kagetsu replied, slowly raising his hand. «Rather... what doctors should we have fun with.»

A thin, barely visible cut sliced through some steel beams, which crashed down with a roar.

Akizame had vanished. He reappeared atop a ceiling beam under construction, balanced in midair.

—He hasn't summoned his spirit yet...— the Reikeitai member noted.

At that thought, his body began to be covered in ash.

«Enzo: Lord of the Blazing Ash.»

From his shadow emerged a skeletal creature wrapped in swirling gray flames.

The figure looked around.

«Should we kill it?» the spirit asked.

«I'd like to... but I still have questions to ask him. For now...» Akizame clenched his gaze.

«Break his bones.»

«Very well,» Enzo replied.

The concrete beneath Kagetsu's feet shattered like glass.

«Let's see if you can do it, member of the Reikeitai!»

Akizame vanished again.

He reappeared moments later with his fist charged with spiritual energy.

Kagetsu intercepted it. The impact generated a shockwave.

Ash wrapped around Akizame's arm. He launched a low vertical strike. Kagetsu cut it cleanly, diverting it.

—How can he use his power without summoning his spirit?— Akizame wondered.

«Don't get distracted,» Kagetsu smiled, kicking him square in the face.

Akizame's body was hurled away, smashing through several beams. He stopped, bracing himself with an arm on the ground.

When he raised his head, a slash was already aimed at him. He managed to block it by quickly summoning consecutive blocks of ash.

More slashes followed. Again, he blocked them with ash, but with increasing difficulty.

«You won't make it like this...» the spirit behind him said.

«I know. Ash can't block those strikes...»

Suddenly, while he spoke, a figure materialized beside the boy.

—Shit.— Akizame gritted his teeth.

Kagetsu struck him in the abdomen with a slash, tearing it open.

The young man fell to his knees.

«Look at you — I told you not to get distracted,» he laughed, watching the blood pour from the wound.

«It's true, you told me...,» Akizame replied with short breath.

«But still... the same goes for you!»

The ash blocks he'd left behind moved, crashing into Kagetsu full force.

They lifted him off the ground, slamming him down violently.

Akizame, panting, struggled to stand. He slowly approached his enemy.

—He underestimated me if he thinks this is enough.— Kagetsu thought, trying to get up.

Another ash strike crushed him to the ground with force.

The crater in the concrete widened even more.

«Now,» Akizame began, his gaze cold and veins throbbing. «What do you want?»

«Do you think I'll tell you?» Kagetsu answered in a broken voice, still pressed down.

Akizame moved his hand. The ash tightened around the enemy's arm until it snapped.

A scream of pain echoed through the construction site.

«I told you, right? I'd break your bones.»

«You may be... stronger than me... but certainly not stronger than him...»

Suddenly, the entire area was drenched in a tremendous spiritual pressure.

—What the hell...— Akizame spun around.

Before him appeared a man with white hair, an unkempt beard, and a long black coat left open.

«You're here, Zo.»