"A serial killer?"
"Could be he's a Master too..."
Amber sat in the sports car, watching Rohan in the driver's seat as he scanned the road through the windshield.
"Ideally, that bastard isn't part of this war."
Rohan glanced at the time and replied.
If Yoshikage Kira was also a Master, he'd have a Servant. Whatever kind of Servant that turned out to be, anyone with special abilities meant trouble.
At the very least, Rohan didn't want to face opponents like Josuke's Servant—or Amber herself.
"It's almost 8:30 and no one's shown up yet. What the hell?!"
The appointed time was nearly here, yet not a single ally had arrived. Rohan's patience was wearing thin.
"Master, is that child the Hayato Kawajiri you mentioned?"
Amber peered through the window, comparing the boy with the photograph in her hand.
"That's the one."
"Please, Assassin—use time stop."
"No problem."
Gray hues swallowed the world. Amber granted Rohan the freedom to act.
"Questions are a pain. I'll just read him with Heaven's Door."
Rohan opened the car door and approached Hayato, who stood with his head bowed.
No matter how many times he experienced it, time stop remained an outrageous power. Combined with Heaven's Door, it enabled perfectly traceless assassinations.
"Master, you have ten minutes. Don't exceed it."
"Got it."
Not ten minutes of activity—ten minutes before the time stop expired.
"Heaven's Door!!"
His Stand materialized. Rohan peeled open Hayato Kawajiri's face like a book.
Pages flipped frantically as he read.
[I discovered Dad's sketchy secret]
[Yesterday I tried threatening him—don't hurt me or Mom]
[Otherwise I'd expose him]
The opening entries told Rohan this wasn't an ordinary child.
[I was killed by Dad]
Rohan's pupils contracted. He read on.
[But somehow, when I regained consciousness, I was alive again]
[He said "Saber" at that moment]
[Then a guy with red eyes appeared...]
[After our eyes met, I don't remember anything]
[Later, I destroyed the videotape that recorded Dad's killing]
[Today I have to go to school like a good boy]
Reaching the end, his worst fear materialized.
"Kosaku Kawajiri... is Yoshikage Kira?!"
"And he's a Master!"
The very scenario he'd dreaded. Rohan gritted his teeth.
Not only had he stumbled upon the elusive killer on his first try—Kira had also become a Master.
"What's more, this kid looks like he's been manipulated by a Servant..."
"He has no will of his own!"
"What the hell is going on?"
Too many secrets to uncover. Rohan dug deeper.
But no matter how thoroughly he searched, he couldn't find information on the Servant's identity or abilities.
"The eyes... could that be...?"
Recalling what he'd read, a suspicion formed.
"Heaven's Door!"
He uncapped his pen and wrote directly on Hayato's face.
[My consciousness and thoughts are functioning normally]
He stepped back, then glanced at Amber.
Understanding his cue, she released the time stop from inside the car and waited.
"?!"
Hayato blinked, disoriented.
"Why am I here?"
He looked around, unable to piece together his situation.
"Just as I thought—you were being controlled somehow."
Hayato finally noticed the tall man standing before him.
At that same moment, a chill crept up from behind. Both Hayato and Rohan turned.
A figure in a black robe adorned with red clouds and a scratched forehead protector had appeared on the road.
"You're—!"
Hayato recognized him instantly, terror flooding his face.
"You're Yoshikage Kira's Servant?!"
Rohan pointed, voice raised.
"..."
No response. The stranger only watched them with cold, indifferent eyes.
Red irises. Tomoe markings.
Rohan studied those strange pupils, already formulating plans.
'Assassin—stop time!'
But he wasn't careless enough to wait. He called out inwardly.
Silence. No response. A chill of dread crept through him.
"It's already over."
Uchiha Itachi gazed at Rohan, murmuring softly. Whatever abilities his Servant possessed, it was too late to prevent this Master's death.
...
"Hey! Wake up!!"
Hayato tugged frantically at Rohan's pants leg—but that vacant stare reminded him of yesterday. Of himself.
'Just like me back then...'
'He's been caught in that guy's control too!'
Thanks to Heaven's Door, Hayato himself had slipped free of the genjutsu. But this man hadn't been so lucky.
"Kosaku Kawajiri... is..."
"Yoshikage... Kira..."
The mechanical recitation made Hayato freeze.
Then—in Rohan's glassy pupils—a small figure surfaced.
Killer Queen.
*BOOM!!*
Itachi watched the body disintegrate without a flicker of emotion.
Genjutsu and Killer Queen had formed a seamless double trap.
Any enemy could be killed with precision.
Upon Rohan Kishibe's death, time would rewind one hour...
When that moment came, all Itachi had to do was inform Yoshikage Kira of this intel—let him ride out the hour, then cancel Bites the Dust.
Rohan Kishibe would die permanently.
The world around him began to shift. This was Itachi's first time experiencing such a phenomenon.
Time reversal.
"!"
But things didn't unfold as expected—
His vision didn't return to Kira's house. Instead, he was at the exact moment Hayato had crossed the crosswalk.
He remembered this scene vividly.
'That's not right...'
Time had rewound, yes—but something was off.
Kira had told him Bites the Dust returned events by one hour.
This was clearly far shorter!
And in the sports car ahead, Rohan was clutching his chest, drenched in sweat.
"That was dangerously close, Master..."
"You exploded before I even noticed."
*Gasp... hah... hah...*
Rohan panted heavily. He'd just walked along the very edge of death.
He dimly remembered... seeing that Servant. Calling out to Assassin. No response.
Not just Assassin—everything around him had been utterly silent.
He'd sensed something was wrong—and then the agony of his body tearing apart hit him. Only then did he realize he'd suffered a fatal attack.
At the instant their contract nearly dissolved, Amber had rewound time to the moment before Rohan stepped out of the car.
That single act changed his fate.
"That Servant... what the hell was that?!"
Steadying his breathing, Rohan didn't dare exit the vehicle.
Without Amber's time reversal, he'd be a corpse right now.
'Thanks to Assassin, I can still remember what happened before the rewind...'
Gratitude washed over him at the thought of Amber's power.
He'd come within a hair's breadth of dying.