In the large swimming pool of Himura residence in Azabu neighborhood, located at Minato Ward, Tokyo.
June 18th, 2026
9:01 AM 22° Celsius/71.6° Fahrenheit
The mid-morning sun bled lazily across the sky, casting golden beams over the Himura mansion's luxurious backyard. At the center of it all lay the grand swimming pool, an architectural wonder of marble tiling, gold-trimmed statues, and tranquil, glittering water that mirrored the sky above.
The place was silent save for the occassional ripple in the water. Despite the elegance surrounding them, the three Himura sisters, Reina, Kitsune, and Arashi, floated in an odd mix of silence and subtle unrest.
Reina reclined on a floating pool bed, sunglassed perched atop her blonde-dyed, sunkissed hair. Her long, toned legs dipped into the cool water, swaying lazily. A cocktail rested in one hand, and her phone in the other.
Kitsune sat cross-legged on the stone ledge by the pool, not even wet. Clad in a white one-piece swimsuit that contrasted starkly with her raven-black hair and pale, porcelain skin, she looked less like a girl on vacation and more like an enigmatic statue brought to life. Her phone glowed dimly in her hands, but her eyes barely blinked.
Arashi lingered in the shallow end, resting her arms on the ledge with her chin placed upon them. Her eyes were glazed over, not from the sun, but from the last night. From him. She hadn't spoken much since the incident. The shadow of Ray - the devil - still lingered in her mind. What she saw...what she heard...it wasn't easy to forget.
Reina suddenly sighed.
"Ugh, I swear, If I stay in this pool one more hour, I'm going to drown from ennui." She expressed, bored and restless.
"You say that every time you're not touching a barbell." Kitsune replied softly, her voice light, airy, and strangely devoid of judgement.
"Well, sorry, not everyone can be content sitting like a haunted doll by the pool." Reina retorted with a playful smirk.
Kitsune tilted her head slightly, blinking slowly. "And yet you keep trying to understand me, it's....adorable."
Reina scoffed, but smiled. Then suddenly, a soft ding sounded from her phone. Her sunglasses slid down slightly as she glanced at the screen.
There he was..
Ray....
The devilish handsome man..
Her wallpaper...
The gym picture. She had secretly taken it while he wasn't looking - he was punching the punching bag, sweat glistening in his chest, those cold, emotionless, light silver eyes staring into a mirror. The moment was so raw, so real, it made her heart throb just looking at it.
And the notification...
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Oh my god." She suddenly exclaimed.
Kitsune looked up. "Hmm?"
Reina sat up on the float.
"There's a gakuen-sai tonight. Tokyo University, our old campus. They're hosting a reunion fair. Games, performances, food stalls, everything." She said, her voice filled with excitement.
Kitsune's lips curved ever so slightly, like a whisper of smile.
Arashi looked up faintly.
"The university...?" Her voice hesitant.
"Yup!" Reina grinned.
"We should totally go. Dress up a little, walk around, maybe run into old friends." She added.
"Old friends, huh?" Kitsune looked at her curiously.
Reina raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. You had some friends, didn't you?"
"Friends are overrated. They either get too close, or die." Kitsune said, her gaze at the rippling water.
There was a strange silence after that.
Arashi turned her eyes to Kitsune, confused and unsettled.
"Kitsune-chan, you really need to work on your humor." Reina rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't joking." Kitsune said flatly.
"Wait...seriously?" Reina blinked.
Kitsune gave her a small, serene smile.
"They were very sweet girls...until they found out what I was. What I liked to do. They got scared, people always do."
Reina frowned a little.
"You don't look like the type who prefers solitude, you know." She said, her tone now more tender.
Kitsune chuckled. It was soft and dry.
"I don't prefer it, Onee-san. I was born into it." She said.
The words lingered in the air like a mist. Sad, quiet, intimate.
Then Reina, always the one to break tension before it drowned her, lit up again.
"Anyway, back to the important thing...."
"We're bringing, Ray-kun." She then smirked.
Arashi shuddered visibly. She turned away quickly, pretending to focus on the pool's surface.
Reina noticed. Her smirk softened.
"You okay, Arashi-chan?" Reina asked her, concerned.
"I'm fine. Just....cold." She mumbled.
"Liar." Kitsune said softly, eyes fixed on her phone's screen.
"You still can't stop thinking about last night, huh? Maybe it was just your dream. Ray-kun isn't like that. I know him." Reina said, her tone dropped a little.
Arashi didn't answer.
The pool fell quiet again.
"He's.....not like us. He's.....evil and darker, like something cursed. I swear." Arashi finally said in a whisper.
"Good." Kitsune muttered.
Reina gave her a long look.
"We're not saints either, you know. We've done things also."
"But he enjoyed it. I saw it in his eyes." Arashi whipered.
Reina took a breath.
"Then maybe he did it for a reason, Arashi-chan. Maybe he did it just to save someone, or for self-defense purposes." Reina said, in denial.