The next day began quite normally, with Mirai and Ren working in the kitchen to prepare breakfast together. They cooked some food, had fun while doing so, and spent time getting closer. But as soon as they sat down to eat, somebody knocked on the door of their house, interrupting everything.

Ren sighed, then went up to open the door. Mirai waited a moment before following him, but she stopped in the corridor and watched from there to see who the uninvited guest was.

As the door slid open, they both saw Kazuki with his deeply sunken eyes, ruffled hair, and a weird posture due to the device on his back, hidden underneath the cloak. He was smiling, basking in the morning sun.

"Good morning, friend!" He called out as he saw Ren's face.

"Morning… What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that some of the people, who took part in the tournament, want to join the investigation. To help the guards find the culprits behind it. There is Ryoma, Yumi, Kaito, Hikari, Masato, and Ryusuke. They heard what happened and wanted to assist. I agreed to help as well… Uhm… I was hoping to… To find more friends," he got embarrassed for a moment and had to look down, but then his eyes darted back up. "Do you want to join us? It… It would be easier for me if I had some support."

Ren opened his mouth to straight up say no, but then he realized something. At first, he simply wanted to avoid any trouble and begin his new life. Mirai seemed to be keen on it as well, and she tried hard to show her understanding, cooking and providing all the emotional support he could hope for. He wanted to return this to her. The fact that he snatched her because she already promised to marry a candidate made him feel like he was not truly worthy of the love she wanted to give him. He deeply desired to be somebody she would be proud of.

"Ren is busy today," Mirai said from the corridor, and she began approaching. "We have plans already, so he won't find the time," she said.

Looking over his shoulder, Ren noticed that her expression changed to a serious one, borderline angry, and he immediately saw the reason behind it. She felt bad about what happened yesterday and now wanted to fix everything, taking the possible blame on her shoulders.

"No," Ren stopped her approach, making her surprised. He then smiled at her. "I'll go. I should help. I'm a citizen as well, and if I can help, I should. We will have enough time to go to the temple. I’ll return as soon as I’m done."

She smiled back at him, then nodded. "I'll pack you some food," she said before turning on her heel and heading to the kitchen.

"Great!" Kazuki exclaimed, all happy. "I can't wait… Maybe we all could be friends after we catch the bad guys."

Since his friend didn't respond, they waited for Mirai's return in silence. She came back with a similar box of rice balls as yesterday, nicely wrapped in a piece of cloth. Giving it to her soon-to-be husband, she kissed him on the cheek.

"Be careful," she whispered.

A blush immediately appeared on his cheeks, rendering him unable to respond. Mirai noticed and went back into the house, closing the door to make the situation easier for him.

"Woah… Wives are nice," Kazuki said as if he completely didn't catch the situation.

"Yes..." Ren agreed as he walked past his friend, going off the porch. He began untying the piece of cloth on the box, then opened it and ate the first of a few onigiris packed inside.

Kazuki joined him, glaring at the food, so his friend shared some of it. Eating, they walked through the district of the Noroi clan, soon reaching the inner part of the city.

Ren didn't even notice that he was guided throughout the whole time by Kazuki, but this changed as soon as he saw the cluster of familiar faces standing on the road in front of a larger, but unassuming building with many guards coming in and out of it.

Ryoma, as usual, stood out like a sore thumb with his white attire, especially contrasting with the two members of the Noroi clan flanking him.

"Hi again, everyone!" Kazuki greeted the group. "I brought Ren. Have you found out anything yet?"

"Hi," Masato replied while the others appeared to ignore the greeting. He emerged from the group wearing a lab coat over a nicely fastened white kimono underneath. He looked more like a doctor than a warrior. "We tried to, but they refused to tell us anything. Apparently, they can't share the details of an ongoing investigation."

"Really? Then what are we going to do now? Maybe we should try to reach Captain Jiro or that weird guy, Riku?" Kazuki asked, and his attention shifted to Ren.

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He shrugged in response.

"Those are the two whom you helped?" Masato asked, only to receive a nod as a form of confirmation. "We could try."

"I'll go ask if they are around," Kazuki said, then separated from everybody else and headed for the building, where he soon vanished.

Ryoma seized this opportunity as if he was looking for it from the start, and he approached Ren. "Don't think I forgot that you humiliated my clan. Your punishment is coming, although I'm willing to postpone it, as the current circumstances require we cooperate for the good of the city," he squeezed through his teeth, then stepped back.

'What a douche,' Ren thought, watching him. He refrained from responding to avoid escalating the situation between them.

'Cowaaaard… Cut hiiiiim dooooown,' the voice of the Hearteater resonated in his mind, making him take an unconscious step back due to the sudden chill that ran down his spine.

'This freaking ghost… I need to come up with something to make him shut up,' the idea flashed through his mind, prompting a response from the evil spirit. The Hearteater laughed loudly.

Fortunately, at the same moment, Kazuki appeared out of the blue, so everybody's attention switched to him. "I have good news! I was able to find Riku, and he made it possible for us to speak with Captain Jiro, so..." He made an inviting gesture toward the guard station by swinging his hands.

Masato reacted first, heading straight there, with the rest following him. This forced Kazuki to awkwardly run to get in front of them all so he could lead the group to the correct place. Ren stayed a few steps behind everybody.

They entered the building. The lobby was a big, spacious hall with a glass ceiling that provided an abundance of light. Staircases on both the left and right led up to mezzanines. There were two levels on them, with corridors leading to the deeper parts of the station. Similar corridors were on the ground floor, and that's where most of the people appeared to work, as the biggest crowds were coming in and out of various corners.

By one of those corridors stood Riku, clearly waiting for the whole gang.

"Good morning, candidates," he greeted upon approaching and even bowed. There appeared to be no greeting toward the non-candidates. "Come with me," he instructed, then immediately headed into the corridor.

It was quite long, illuminated nicely with buzzing lights fixed to the ceiling. It appeared to end with a staircase leading underground, but they stopped before reaching it and entered one of the nearby rooms.

It was a simple office, with a single lamp fixed to the ceiling, providing more than enough irritating sound and a bit of light as well. There were a few closed cabinets in there, a desk, and a small sofa. There was nobody inside.

"You can sit if you want. The captain will be here shortly," Riku said, as he himself headed to sit behind the desk. He even pulled out his monocle and placed it over his eye. The customary grin curved his lips as well.

Ren rolled his eyes while the rest seemed a bit intrigued by his behavior.

A few people decided to sit on the sofa, while the rest remained standing, spreading out a bit to not be too close to one another. The strange, irritating silence took over the space, but fortunately, the tension didn't last long. It vanished as soon as the door opened, and Jiro entered his office.

"Good morning," he said, then bowed slightly.

The visitors responded in the same manner.

"I'm actually glad you are here," he revealed then sighed. "It's been a long night, but we learned a few things. A couple of unrelated ones, but also one significant bit of information," he said as he started to make his way to the desk. He stopped right by Riku's side, giving him a stern look. The cadet stood up with his head lowered, then stepped away, making room for his captain to sit on the chair.

"Apparently, there was a smuggling operation in the Noroi clan. They were taking out weapons from the city and selling them to our rivals. They used a tunnel underneath Hana-Sakana to move the goods out of the city. The same tunnel was apparently used to let those strangers escape with a few participants from the candidate tournament. That's all we learned, besides the little fact that they paid well. I'm in the process of splitting the resources of the twelfth unit between shutting down the smuggling operation completely and chasing after those strangers."

He paused briefly to scan the faces of everybody in the room, excluding his underling. He took his time, carefully picking up the words, before he resumed talking. "I know it's unprofessional, and I'm going beyond what my authority is, but I would like to ask you for help. We will be short on people, and the enemy might be not only crafty but also highly skilled. We could use your strength in the pursuit of capturing them and bringing back those who left with those criminals."

"Did they leave according to their own wishes, or were they kidnapped?" Masato asked, breaking the silence that hung in the room for a moment.

"It's hard to tell what happened. We have some circumstantial evidence leading us to believe that those strangers were behind the bomb incident during the tournament. I know that there are rumors pinpointing it to the delegation from Thessara, but I personally think it's just that, a rumor. Those three men used this symbol," as he said those words, Jiro pulled out the metal plate with the eye. "This symbol is associated with people linked to several serious crimes: assassinations, kidnappings, theft. I can't tell you what means they used to convince those few who went with them, but I'm positive they staged every part of this incident."

"I'll assist you. My fellow clan member went with those people. That is a disgrace for my clan," said Ryoma.

"I'll help too," Kazuki joined immediately.

One by one, others voiced their willingness to cooperate. Ren was the one who hesitated the most, but under the gazes of Ryoma and Kazuki, he caved in and nodded.

'Fuck… I might not make it in time to go with Mirai to the temple.'

"Good. Thank you for your help," said Jiro while standing up. "I'll assemble a pursuit team. There is no time to waste. Please wait for us outside. It won't be long," he instructed. "Riku will go with you," he added, looking at his underling.

"Yes, sir!" the cadet barked, stretching like a tight string, and saluting.

It caused Kazuki to giggle, while the rest ignored this behavior.

He then led them all outside of the guard station, where they waited for only a moment before a dozen men, led by Jiro, showed up. The two groups merged, and departed, heading straight for the Noroi clan district.

The sight of the pursuit team was enough to make the citizens step away, clearing the path for the group. This made Ren feel a little bit like he was a part of an old action movie.