The sun hung low over Kagaryuu's skyline, painting the streets in quiet gold.
Akira adjusted the strap across his shoulder, his bag heavier than usual from the loot he'd gathered earlier. Each step ached — his wounds from the gate still fresh beneath his sleeves — but his mind was calm.
He made his way through the narrow alley behind the district market, entering a low building with metal shutters and a flickering neon sign:
"Gate Salvage Co."Licensed Buyers. Low-Grade Crystals. No ID? No Deal.
Inside, a hunched old man leaned behind a cracked counter.
"Hey, Kaito?" he rasped, adjusting his glasses without looking up. "Still not dead?"
"Not today, Just getting started," Akira replied dryly, placing his small loot bundle on the scale.
The man opened the bag, squinting at the contents. "Hm. Crawler fragments, some minor Zeir residue… average core. Let's see…"
After a few taps on his machine, he nodded. "4,300 yen. That's all I can give."
Akira took the bills without complaint.
Every yen counted.
The Hospital Visit
Two hours later, after buying rice, eggs, bread, and a few vegetables, Akira stopped at Kagaryuu General Hospital.
The nurse smiled when she saw him — he was a regular.
Room 302. That's where Kaito Diago, his father, stayed.
He found him sitting up in bed, laughing loudly at some terrible daytime drama on TV.
"There he is! Japan's most broke adventurer!" Diago beamed, lifting his hand. "Started your Solo Gate movement, huh?"
Akira laughed. " Yeah, escaped death. Barely."
His father didn't look like someone sick. His face still had color. His voice was loud, and his smile was warm. But beneath the skin, everyone knew: his body was fighting itself.
A rare bloodline affliction — one that rejected the world's natural Zeir flow. It didn't kill instantly. But it drained the body slowly. Progressively. And unless stabilized, it would eventually consume him.
"Brought you miso soup," Akira said, pulling out a container. "And I paid off part of the tab."
Diago's eyes softened. "You didn't have to—"
"I wanted to," Akira cut in, quietly. "Don't worry about it."
For a moment, the air in the room grew still.
Then Daisuke chuckled. "I raised a good one, didn't I? And hey… your mom would've been proud."
Akira lowered his head, a smile ghosting his lips. "Yeah… I like to think so."
Picking Up Yuna
After the visit, Akira made his way across the city. He stopped by Namakawa High, a modest school tucked between two train lines.
Yuna stood at the front gates, arms crossed, ponytail swaying in the breeze. She looked up when she saw him, pretending not to smile.
"You're late."
"Traffic," he said, ruffling her hair.
"Liar. You were training again, weren't you?"
He didn't answer — and that told her everything.
They walked together, exchanging casual talk — school, cartoons, food — until a familiar voice called out from across the street.
"Akira?"
He turned.
A girl in training pants jogged toward them, ponytail tied high, gym bag slung over one shoulder. Hayashi Rei.
One of the few people who had ever beat him in a tournament match.
And one of the few he actually respected for it.
A Familiar Friend
"Didn't expect to see you out here," Rei said, stopping in front of him. "You've been ghosting the last few tourneys. Thought you vanished."
Akira smiled. "Nah. Just busy with other things."
She raised an eyebrow, studying him. "You look tired. Are you eating right? Training with anyone?"
Yuna leaned in, smirking. "He eats ramen like three times a day."
"Yuna," Akira muttered.
Rei laughed. "Some things never change."
They talked for a while — old matches, new fighters, the latest prize pools. Rei had been doing well, placed third in a major bracket.
"You could've easily taken first," she said, nudging him. "You know that, right?"
"I'm not fighting for medals right now."
She caught the tone in his voice — serious, heavy.
Before she could ask more—
The ground rumbled.
Gate Break
A sound tore through the air — like reality itself splitting.
Behind them, at the edge of the commercial plaza, a jagged portal exploded into existence. Not a quiet pulse like usual.
This one shattered.
Zeir energy pulsed violently from it. Cracks raced along the ground. And from within…
Came the monsters.
Crawlers. Not like the ones from Akira's earlier fight. These were larger, hunched, and foaming. Red-tinted eyes. Bloodied claws.
"Gate break!" someone screamed nearby.
People ran. Cars screeched. A mother dropped her groceries and sprinted with her child. Sirens started wailing.
The monsters surged forward, scattering the crowd. One pounced toward a man — Akira flung a brick to distract it, yelling to Yuna.
"RUN!"
Yuna and Rei didn't hesitate.
The three of them bolted down the nearest alley as monsters gave chase. Screams echoed behind them. Akira reached into his jacket, pulling out his baton.
Rei was right beside him, already holding a training knife.
"You carry that to school?" he shouted.
"Shut up!"
A crawler lunged from the side — Rei slashed its leg, Akira crushed its skull with a downward strike. Blood spattered the wall.
They didn't stop.
More were coming.
Yuna tripped — Akira caught her, barely keeping them on their feet. They turned into an underground stairway, but it was a dead end.
The monsters rounded the corner, eyes glowing.
They were trapped.
Then — Light
Just as the first crawler leapt—
A wave of fire tore through the air.
The creature evaporated mid-air.
A second — sliced in half by an unseen blade. The third — blasted into the concrete.
Akira shielded Yuna, his breath caught in his chest.
Footsteps echoed behind the smoke.
And from the shadows stepped armored figures in blue-black uniforms, insignia burning like light across their backs.
The Souka Guild.
The one at the front walked past the corpses like they were nothing.
His hair burned faint orange. His eyes glowed like molten rock.
The 2nd bloodline user.
He looked down at Akira, then at the two girls.
"…You three still alive?" he asked, voice calm.
Akira didn't answer.
Because the way this man had just burned monsters to ash with a glance — it felt like staring into the storm itself.