Location: The Rooftop of Omen High School
Time: 6:00 PM (Sunset)
The school day had ended hours ago, but Dante and GiGi were still on the roof. The sky was bleeding purple and orange, casting long shadows over the chain-link fence.
GiGi was sitting on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over a fifty-foot drop. She was sharpening her combat knife with a rock.
Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.
Dante was leaning against the AC unit, eating a stale melon pan. He watched her back.
"You're sharpening it wrong," Dante said.
"Shut up, squire," GiGi snapped. "I'm adding texture. It hurts more if it's jagged."
"It breaks easier if it's jagged," Dante countered.
GiGi stopped. She didn't turn around. She stared out at the city lights flickering on below them.
"He's better than me, you know," she said quietly.
Dante stopped chewing. This was rare. GiGi never admitted weakness.
"Matsuzaki," she continued. "He's a genius. He mastered the Iron Lotus technique when he was twelve. I couldn't do it. I just... broke things. Mother used to say my blood was 'dirty.' That I fought like a beast, not a lady."
She threw the rock off the roof. It clattered into the alleyway below.
"That's why I ran away," GiGi whispered. "I didn't want to be a statue in their garden. I wanted to be... me."
Dante looked at her. He saw the platinum pigtails tied with zip-ties. He saw the combat boots covered in mud. He saw the girl who ate hot dog water and danced to Gorillaz.
"You're not a statue," Dante said.
He walked over and sat next to her on the ledge. He dangled his legs too.
"You're a nuisance," Dante said. "You steal my food. You leave trash in the van. You listen to terrible music."
GiGi glared at him. "Hey!"
"But," Dante continued, looking at his Hello Kitty socks. "You're also the only reason I haven't quit this job yet."
GiGi blinked. Her red eyes softened.
"When I joined the Bureau," Dante said, "I thought I was just a monster waiting to be put down. Sora picked me up, sure. But you... you treated me like a person. A person you could annoy, but still a person."
Dante reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small, silver object.
It was a hair clip. But not a normal one. It was made of reinforced titanium, etched with the Smile Mart logo.
"I made this," Dante mumbled, looking away. "In the workshop. It's reinforced. So your hair doesn't get in your eyes when you fight."
GiGi stared at the clip. Then she snatched it out of his hand.
"It's ugly," she said, her voice wobbling.
"It matches your personality," Dante said.
GiGi laughed. A real laugh, not her usual manic cackle. She clipped her bangs back with the titanium pin. It glinted in the sunset.
"Thanks, Crow," she whispered.
"Don't call me Crow."
"Whatever." She stood up, dusting off her shorts. Her feral energy was back. "Okay! Enough feelings! I need to eat. If I'm going to kick my brother's ass, I need calories."
"We have Synth-Red in the van," Dante said.
"Boring!" GiGi shouted, jumping off the ledge and landing on the fire escape below with a metallic clang. "I want real food! Let's go steal Benji's pizza!"
Dante watched her go. He touched his black choker.
He knew the odds. Matsuzaki was a monster. A Highborn prodigy. GiGi was a runaway with a knife.
But Dante had something Matsuzaki didn't.
He opened his umbrella.
"She's not fighting alone," Dante whispered to the empty roof.
Location: The Safe House
Time: 11:00 PM
The mood in the apartment was tense.
Benji was pacing back and forth, holding a tablet. "I ran the simulations. Matsuzaki's win probability is 89%. His defense is impenetrable. His blood constructs are diamond-hard."
"Never tell me the odds, nerd," GiGi said. She was stretching on the floor, doing impossibly flexible yoga poses. She was wearing her combat gear: the bomber jacket, the shorts, and the new titanium hair clip.
Sora was sitting in the armchair, polishing his shoes. He looked serious.
"Remember the rules," Sora said. "It's a duel. One on one. If Dante or I interfere, the Matsuzaki clan declares total war on the Bureau. We lose the city."
"I know," GiGi said. She stood up. She cracked her knuckles.
"I don't need help," she said. "I know how he fights. He fights by the book. He expects me to be the same little girl who ran away three years ago."
She grinned, revealing her fangs.
"He doesn't know about the Smile Mart training regimen."
"Which is?" Benji asked.
"Surviving Dante's bad mood," GiGi said.
Dante walked in from the bedroom. He was fully geared up. Hoodie up. Vest on. Piercings polished. Umbrella on his back.
"The van is ready," Dante said. "Let's go."
Location: The 100-Step Stairway (The Hillside)
Time: 11:55 PM
The stairway was legendary in Kagura-Zaka. A steep, narrow stone path that cut through a dense bamboo forest, leading up to an ancient shrine gate.
At the top of the stairs, a figure waited.
Matsuzaki stood under the moonlight. He wasn't wearing his suit anymore. He was wearing traditional Hakama robes, white as snow. In his hand, a katana made of solidified, crimson blood hummed with power.
Behind him stood a dozen Thralls holding torches.
At the bottom of the stairs, the beige minivan pulled up. The door slid open with a groan.
Squad 4 stepped out.
GiGi walked to the first step. She looked up at her brother.
"Hey, Kenjiro!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the trees. "Did you bring me a souvenir?"
Matsuzaki looked down. His expression was stone.
"I brought a cage," he said. "Come, Gin. Let us finish this."
GiGi drew her knife. She bit her lip until it bled, coating her hands in red.
"Let's dance."