Takami stood silent, watching the figure.
Its voice broke the pin-drop silence. "Avatar."
"I am NOT an Avatar," Takami replied, voice low but firm after a stretch of silence.
But the figure wasn't listening, it didn't care for resistance or denial.
"This journey of yours will not be easy… Your fate lies in your actions. You may think peace has returned, but that is only the fuel to your future struggles and challenges."
Takami stared at the shadowy form, trying to analyze it, but his gut already knew. This wasn't a simple illusion. This was something… primal. Real in a way nothing else was.
The figure continued, "Power never comes free. It comes with a price, and it doesn't let you decide how or what to pay with. You may lose something simple, recoverable… a part of you… or even something or someone close and important. This path you're walking is full of several turns, and none of them leads to light. It's left for you to decide which of the dark paths you want to go with. Be careful, Avatar."
Then darkness swallowed everything.
The world collapsed into a pitch-black void. That last warning echoed and echoed in his mind.
"Be careful, Avatar."
"Be careful, Avatar."
"Be careful, Avatar."
He clutched his ears, breath shaking.
"Get out of my head!" he yelled, eyes shut tight. "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!"
And then…
"Takami, are you okay?"
His eyes opened.
Everything was normal again.
Hanae stood in front of him, worry etched across her features.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly, stepping a little closer.
Takami slowly dropped his hands, looking at them. "What happened?" he muttered.
"You zoned out. Just stopped walking," she said. "Then you started holding your ears, saying 'get out' over and over."
He inhaled deeply, grounding himself. "I'm just… going through some stuff," he replied, pressing two fingers against the bridge of his nose.
Hanae nodded gently. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."
"…Thank you." Takami gave her a look of honest appreciation. Then the two resumed walking.
Some minutes later, Takami finally arrived home. Hanae had gone her way at a junction.
Yosuke, Mina, and Tomoe were all on the floor in the living room, wrapped up in a game of shiritori, tossing words back and forth.
Takami smiled faintly at the sight. Mina was laughing along with the others. Seeing her loosen up was a win in itself.
In the kitchen, Akane stood by the sink, head bowed slightly, having just finished swallowing her last capsule. Her hand lingered on the glass she used. "That's the last one," she thought. "I'll need to get a refill…"
She glanced toward the living room.
"Should I tell Takami? No. He's been doing too much already. He's finally relaxing, smiling again. I don't want to see that worry in his face anymore. I'll find another way."
"Hey, Mom."
She nearly jumped. "Takami!"
Her hands moved quickly pushing the capsule bottle into the sink, then she turned with a smile. "You're back already?"
He tilted his head. "Just a little meetup with someone," he said, eyeing the sink slightly.
"Oh, okay. Come, let's join the kids in the living room." she said, playfully pushing him out.
Takami chuckled. "Okay, okay."
"They are playing a game," she said brightly. "Let's see if you've still got it."
"Maybe," he asked playfully.
Yosuke looked over smugly. "He's just scared he's gonna lose."
Akane gave Takami a mock-serious nod. "Mind showing them how to really play?"
"Oh absolutely." He smirked.
They both joined the game on the floor. The rounds got intense quick. Akane and Takami began pulling out all the stops, tricky vocabulary, rare words, and the kids scrambled to keep up.
Mina even started getting competitive, throwing in a few clever ones of her own.
For the first time in a while, the Ryusei household felt whole. Real. Loud laughter. No underlying tension. No hushed trauma.
They played until the shiritori got worn out and moved on to other games. By the time they neared the final round of the last one, Akane and Mina had teamed up, while Yosuke and Tomoe formed a duo.
Takami sat off to the side now, watching them. Akane and Mina took the win, and Mina hugged her tight.
Akane blinked in surprise, but quickly returned the gesture warmly.
Mina's eyes trembled a little. The hug had come out instinctively… and she didn't want to let go.
She hadn't felt something like that in a long, long time.
Time slipped by. Eventually, Takami checked his phone. "Whoa… 4:27 already?"
"I'm going to the park," Yosuke announced, stretching, then rethinking. "Or maybe I'll just read manga. Nap sounds good too." He wandered off toward his room.
Tomoe chased after Velis, who had just emerged from Takami's room. "VELIIIS!"
Velis spotted the her incoming and tried to run back, but too late…she scooped it up just in time.
Velis wore a deadpan look.
Back in the living room, Mina sat quietly for a moment, twiddling her thumbs. Then finally, she turned toward Akane.
"C-Can I…" she hesitated. "…Can I call you… mom?"
Akane blinked, surprised at the question. Then her expression softened.
"Of course, you can. You don't even have to ask, sweetheart."
Mina's eyes widened. Her lip trembled. Then she lunged forward and hugged Akane again, tighter than before.
She hadn't even called her real mother any name before she passed away.
"Ohh," Akane exhaled with a smile, wrapping her arms around her. "You're going to make me cry."
Takami looked away, pretending to check something on his phone, but he was smiling. That moment right there? That was all it took to completely make his day.
The evening melted into night.
Dinner went smooth, conversation flowed freely. Jokes, stories, playful bickering. It all felt so… alive.
Akane was about to head into the kitchen for the dishes, but Mina quickly stood up.
"I'll do them," she insisted with a proud little grin. "You've done enough. Go sit."
Akane blinked again. "Thank you so much, dear." She allowed herself to be guided back to the couch, gently.
Mina walked into the kitchen with a confident bounce.
Outside, Takami sat on the front step, feeling the evening breeze, letting it wash over his skin. Thinking a little about what the mysterious figure said.
The wind felt like it carried peace with it. Not forever, not permanent. But just enough for tonight.
He sighed, stood up, and went back inside. Heading into his room, he loosened his hair and took off his shirt, preparing for a bath.
"Early sleep tonight," he thought.
The night passed on. Peacefully.
For now.
The Next Day
Tokyo – Akasaka,[1:58 PM]
JSS Board Headquarters
The afternoon sun shun through the tall glass windows of the JSSB skyscraper, casting sharp rays across the white marble floor. Jin moved with composed precision, his black suit crisp, his polished shoes echoing softly with each step down the corridor.
He arrived at Hado's office and knocked gently.
Silence.
He gave it a moment, then knocked again, a bit firmer this time.
Still no response.
Jin glanced at the door, then down the hall. "Training sector," he muttered under his breath and turned around.
Two floors below, the heavy sounds of sparring could be heard as he entered the reinforced dojo. He paused at the entrance, observing the scene before him.
Hado, calm and centered, danced around his opponent, Sora Tenma, the formidable guild master of Azure Dawn. Tenma moved in aggressively, attempting a feint before lunging with intent to lift and slam Hado to the ground.
But he never got the chance.
In a blur of motion, Hado twisted out of the way and appeared behind Tenma, gripping his leg just enough to throw his balance off. Tenma hit the mat with a grunt.
"I give up!" Tenma groaned, lying on his back as his breath slowly steadied. He stared up at the ceiling, then lazily turned his head toward Jin, who stood quietly just a few feet away. "Hello, Jin."
Jin nodded politely, a subtle smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"You expect too little from your opponent," Hado said, extending a hand to help Tenma up.
"Well, in my defense, you're an old man now," Tenma chuckled, accepting the hand and pulling himself up.
Hado gave a small, knowing laugh. "Old enough to outlast you."
He turned to Jin. "What's the report?"
Jin gave a crisp nod. "News from Guild Master Mizuno. One of the Avatars has awakened… and is willing to ally with us."
Hado's stern features relaxed into a rare smile. "That is good news. One more thread weaving into the right future."
The rest of the day passed quietly. Routine operations. Minimal alerts. Nothing out of place.
But the peace was deceptive.
Later That Night
Takami stood on a hill beneath the stars, hands in his pockets, he brought out his phone and checked the time. [10:54]
He turned his head slightly. Footsteps, faint. Leaves rustling, too controlled to be nature. Too deliberate.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Third time you've tailed me," Takami said aloud, not even turning to face the trees. "Come out already."
A curse echoed behind the bark. "Shit."
The figure bolted through the forest line.
Takami sighed and vanished with a silent step.
The man sprinted through the foliage, heart pounding. He was sure he'd lost him, until he stumbled to a stop.
Takami stood there, leaning casually against a tree in the spy's path, arms folded, waiting like he'd been there the whole time.
"I believe now you understand that running won't work," Takami said coolly. "Now then… who sent you? And why spy on me?"
The hooded man trembled, half a step from collapsing. "I-I was sent from Azure Dawn… to m-monitor your actions."
Takami tilted his head slightly, gauging his fear.
"You don't have to reveal your identity if you don't want to," he added.
He stepped forward and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, not aggressively, but with a weight that said he could end it right there if he wanted to.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Just… stop following me," he said, voice calm.
Then he walked away, leaving the spy frozen in relief.
Takami returned to the empty main road where the streetlights buzzed overhead. His footsteps echoed against the pavement.
He stopped beneath a flickering lamp.
Then he felt it.
A presence.
Familiar.
But closer than it used to be.
His gaze shifted, and there, beneath the next lamp post, stood a figure. A woman.
She wore casual clothes; jeans, boots, a hoody jacket. But it was the way the hood concealed the upper half of her face that made the hair on his neck rise. Her lips curled into a playful, dangerous grin.
"Hello, Takami Ryusei," she purred.
Takami's heart didn't skip. He didn't flinch.
But his fingers curled slightly into fists at his sides.
She wasn't just some random presence. This one... was deliberate. Measured. And whatever game she was about to play, he knew she wasn't bluffing.
To Be Continued...