A Single Piano Note.

  Dun-dun.

  Darkness stretched beyond the walls. The warmth of the orphanage was gone—no creaking floors, no scent of fresh bread. Just an endless, shifting void, twisting and curling at the edges like a living thing.

  Watari’s breath sharpened.

  Where…?

  Kaito was the first to react.

  “Yeah, uh… this isn’t good.” His voice was light, but the tension behind it was unmistakable.

  Watari cracked his knuckles, exhaling through his nose. “Just a day in the life of a Tamashkii user.”

  Yumi crossed her arms, scanning the bckened space with narrowed eyes. “You know the kids are gonna be pissed.”

  Watari let out a small, tired chuckle. “Yeah. They probably already are.”

  Then—footsteps.

  Three silhouettes emerged from the abyss, stepping forward in perfect unison. The air thickened. Not just enemies. Predators.

  One of them—a man with sharp, hawk-like features—tilted his head slightly, eyes gleaming as he studied Watari.

  “Hm.” A pause. Then, curiosity ced his voice.

  “Are you the Hayashi boy?”

  The moment the words left his mouth, his gaze dropped to Watari’s shoulder—where the Jūmonban crest burned faintly against his uniform.

  Then he grinned.

  “Oh, no. That’s for sure him.”

  Watari’s stomach twisted, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he shifted his stance slightly, throwing a gnce at Yumi and Kaito.

  “Well… it’s looking like a three-on-three.”

  He rolled his shoulders, exhaling slowly. “I trust you two can hold your own?”

  Yumi scoffed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Hmph. What do you take me for?”

  Kaito grinned, stretching out his arms. “Finally. Time to show you guys what I’ve been cooking up.”

  And then—

  Their Tamashkii surged.

  Yumi’s Kiyohime fred to life, spectral dragon scales flickering along her skin. Watari’s Takemikazuchigleamed, its silver form pulsing with restrained power.

  And Kaito—

  “Come forth.”

  A new presence flooded the battlefield.

  The shadows beneath him writhed, twisting upward as a jagged, obsidian bde formed in his grasp. The air around him flickered, as if light itself hesitated to touch him.

  Kaito grinned, his golden eyes gleaming.

  “Kokushibō – Midnight Fang.”

  And then—

  The battle began.

  ?