Outside, the rain had turned to a relentless downpour, each drop exploding against the street like tiny sparks. Riku leaned against the wall, trying to steady his thoughts. But every word Hikari had spoken gnawed at him bloodline, erased memory, fake family.
Then, a faint sound beneath the rain like a single footstep too close.
Hikari froze.
"You heard that?"
Before Riku could answer, the front gate creaked.
From his window, he saw a dark figure standing motionless in the street, rain cascading down their cloak. No movement, no sound… except the slow turn of their head toward the house.
"Stay here," Riku whispered.
Hikari grabbed his wrist. "If you go out there alone, you're dead. We do this together."
They slipped out through the back door, circling around the garden fence. The figure was still there, as if waiting. But when they drew closer, Riku realized this wasn't the masked man the face under the hood was younger, almost his age, but the eyes… cold, like polished steel.
"Riku Ayane," the stranger said, voice barely audible over the rain. "You're requested by the Black Lotus. Come quietly, and your family will be spared."
Riku's pulse spiked. "Not happening."
The boy smirked. "Then they'll wake up to fire."
Before he could draw the blade at his hip, Hikari was already moving. Her dagger flashed, forcing him back. They clashed in the rain, steel ringing, feet splashing through puddles. Riku grabbed a fallen broom from the garden and joined in, swinging it like a staff.
But the boy was fast unnervingly fast and with each strike, he seemed more amused than threatened. "No wonder they erased you," he taunted, blocking Riku's strike and twisting his wrist until pain shot up his arm.
Hikari's kick broke the lock, sending the boy stumbling back. She seized Riku's arm. "We can't win this here too close to the house!"
They sprinted down the alley again, hearts pounding. Behind them, the boy didn't chase he just stood under the rain, watching, a small black lotus emblem glinting on his glove.
When they finally stopped under an old shuttered shop, both soaked and panting, Riku glanced at her.
"You risked yourself back there. You didn't have to."
Hikari's eyes softened for the first time since he'd met her. "I told you… I was there the day you were taken. I couldn't save you then. I'm not failing you twice."
For a moment, they just stood there the world muffled by the storm before Hikari looked away, tightening her grip on her dagger. "Come on. We need to move before the next one finds us."
Somewhere in the distance, thunder cracked again… and in its echo, Riku thought he heard the masked man's laugh.