The Dragons Fang Communication Center hummed with its usual quiet industry — screens, data feeds, the low sound of people doing careful work. Ms. Kasami stood beside Mary at her station and watched the footage play.
The timestamp in the corner. The empty street. Then — movement.
Two figures passed the camera. The first was a young man, walking at an unhurried pace, hands in his pockets. The second was a young woman, slightly behind him. For one brief moment she glanced toward the camera — not looking for it, just a casual sweep of her surroundings — before they both continued out of frame.
Mary paused the footage on the woman's face.
They studied it in silence while the facial recognition algorithm worked through the database.
Two of them, Ms. Kasami thought. I assumed it was one person. But the woman had what looked like a sword — which means the fighting was most likely the male. She watched the frozen frame. Who are you?
"Mary." She straightened up. "Thank you for this. Find out who that young man is."
"I'll get it done," Mary said.
Ms. Kasami gave her a brief smile and headed for the door.
Mary's colleague watched her go. "So you're friends with her?"
Mary exhaled. "I think so, yes." She turned back to her screen. "Most of the S-Rank Protectors come in here and ask for what they need and leave. And yes, it's my job, I know that. But with her it feels like—" she searched for the word. "A conversation. An actual one."
Her colleague considered this and said nothing.
The Dragons Fang Association appeared on the horizon as Ms. Kasami's car cleared the edge of the city — a vast structure that widened as she approached, sprawling across the landscape like something that had grown rather than been built. Twenty-five storeys. Wider than three football stadiums placed side by side. The country's stronghold.
It never gets old, she thought, pulling into the approach road. Every time.
The meeting room was high up, with windows that looked out over the surrounding landscape in every direction. Luke, Takomi and Creed arrived in that order. Ms. Kasami waited until they had settled before she began.
"Thank you all for coming. As you're aware, the battle takes place next week. Before we discuss strategy I want to share what the military reported this morning." She pulled up the drone footage on the central screen — infrared, the Death Zone rendered in heat signatures. "They sent a reconnaissance drone into the Death Zone. Infrared imaging confirmed over ten thousand Rippers before the drone was destroyed."
The room was quiet for a moment.
Takomi spoke first. "Ten thousand. The four of us, the S-Ranks behind us and—" she paused, "—most of our S-Ranks lean too heavily on their abilities. Take away favourable conditions and their hand to hand combat is unreliable at best."
"She's right," Luke said, leaning back in his chair. "And the A-Ranks aren't filling me with confidence either. What are our actual odds when half our force are effectively meat shields?"
"We use what we have," Ms. Kasami said. "The four of us hold the front. S-Ranks form the second line. Behind them the healers, protected by the A-Rank the B-Ranks for support."
Takomi looked up. "B-Ranks?"
Creed laughed — a short, dismissive sound. "You're taking ordinary people into a war. How far we've fallen."
"Don't," Ms. Kasami said simply. "We are strong so that others don't have to be. That's the entire point. Don't mistake your rank for your purpose, Creed."
Creed stood. He crossed the room toward the door — and stopped directly in Ms. Kasami's path. He looked down at her with the patience of someone making a point without words.
The temperature in the room didn't change. But something did.
Ms. Kasami's aura built slowly — not aggressively, not as a challenge, just a quiet statement of fact. Luke and Takomi exchanged a glance and said nothing.
Creed held it for a moment longer than was comfortable. Then he stepped aside and walked out.
The door closed behind him.
Ms. Kasami turned back to Luke and Takomi as if nothing had happened.
"I've already contacted all the signup ports. They're to send their strongest A-Ranks and their most capable B-Ranks — specifically those with the physical conditioning to carry weapons and ammunition. Too many of our Rankers are power-dependent. We need people who can function when their abilities aren't enough." She paused. "The process has already started."
Luke nodded slowly. "That's a solid plan. The only thing we have to do now is wait"
Takomi nodded in agreement.
Ms. Kasami looked out the window at the landscape stretching toward the horizon — toward the Death Zone, somewhere beyond what she could see.
I wonder, she thought, how it will all end.
A week passed. The war was one day away.
Kagekami was called to the viewing chamber at the port. He knocked and entered to find Walter standing at the window, a glass of wine in his hand, looking out over the city below.
"You called for me, sir?"
Walter turned. "I did." He gestured to the chair across from him but didn't sit himself. "Your comrades voted. Unanimously. They want you on the front line tomorrow."
Kagekami said nothing.
Walter took a slow sip from his glass. "All hell will break loose out there. You know that." He set the glass down and looked at Kagekami directly. "So. Will you fight?"
"Yes," Kagekami said. No hesitation.
Walter crossed the room and extended his hand. Kagekami shook it.
"Be safe," Walter said quietly. "You came here with people waiting at home for your return. Don't forget that."
Kagekami nodded and left.
Walter stood alone in the chamber for a moment after the door closed, looking at his own hand.
He's strong, he thought. I didn't become head of this port by accident. I can feel power through touch — and that boy carries something I've never felt before.
The sun was low and orange by the time Kagekami got home. Sora and Saito were both there — Sora on the sofa, Saito in the chair beside her, the comfortable arrangement of two people who had spent the afternoon in easy company.
Kagekami stood in the doorway.
"I'm joining the battle against the Rippers tomorrow."
Sora looked at him. The ease left her face.
"No." Her voice came out quietly but firmly. "I can't let you do that. What if you don't come back?"
"I'll come back, Sora."
"You don't know that." Her eyes were filling. "Kagekami — ever since the day Saito left for her training—" She stopped. Started again, and this time the words came out with the weight of something that had been building for a long time. "It's like I don't even know who you are anymore. You're always somewhere else. Even when you're here you're somewhere else."
She stood up and walked to her room. The door shut behind her.
The apartment was very quiet.
Saito looked at Kagekami. "She's growing up," she said simply. "She doesn't need protecting as much as she needs you to be present. Maybe that's all she's asking for."
Kagekami looked at Sora's door for a long moment. Then he crossed the room and knocked.
"Sora. Can I come in?"
Silence.
He waited. Then he turned the handle and walked in slowly. The room was dim. Sora was a shape under her blanket, completely still, giving nothing away.
Kagekami sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at the lump under the covers and exhaled.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I haven't been present. A lot has been happening and I kept it from you because I thought I was protecting you — but I was just leaving you out." He paused. "Last week at the port — three A-Ranks tried to buy you. Like you were something that could be bought." His voice stayed even but something underneath it didn't. "I turned them down. I will always turn that kind of thing down. But they almost killed me for it." He looked at his hands. "And when I was in that rubble, barely able to move — the only thing I thought about was you. About what would happen to you if I didn't get up." He was quiet for a moment. "I've been so focused on protecting you that I forgot to actually be your brother. And I'm sorry, Sora. I'm really sorry."
He waited. Then he started to stand.
The blanket moved.
Sora pulled it back from her face. Her eyes were red and wet and she looked at him the way she had looked at him the night Annie died — like he was the only fixed point in a world that kept shifting.
She sat up and wrapped her arms around him.
Kagekami held her tightly.
"I'm grateful," she said into his shoulder, her voice muffled and unsteady. "I'm so grateful you're my brother."
"I love you, Sora."
She hugged him tighter. "I love you more, Kagekami."