The transport leading back to the MIB Training Academy. Rain tapped lightly against the armored windows, and the gray sky overhead mirrored the somber silence inside. No one spoke, not Takeru, not Ema, not the blood streaked trainees clutching onto their gear like lifelines.
Sector 12-B had changed them.
Takeru leaned back against the cold wall of the vehicle, staring at the floor. The mist still lingered in his mind, thick, suffocating and alive. He could almost hear it again, that faint, whispering voice that threaded between the trees, calling his name. Even now, miles away, it echoed faintly in the back of his skull like a haunting lullaby.
"You alright?" Ema asked, her voice quiet, barely audible over the hum of the engine.
Takeru gave a small nod but didn't meet her eyes. She didn't push further.
The moment they arrived at the Academy gates, they were greeted by silence, not the usual drills, shouting or footsteps echoing across the training grounds. Instead, a full security detail waited for them. Black suited MIB investigators stood like statues and faces unreadable.
Instructor Ayame Kurose was there, arms crossed, her expression also unreadable. Behind her stood several unfamiliar figures, higher ranking investigators, clearly not part of the academy staff.
"Line up" Kurose barked.
The surviving trainees did, though the formation was sloppier than usual. Exhaustion and trauma weighed down their movements.
One of the suited figures stepped forward. He wore a white trench coat with silver trim, an outfit reserved for MIB internal affairs. His eyes scanned the trainees with surgical precision.
"My name is Investigator Kanzaki. I'll be conducting the debrief."
He paused. "Some of you encountered monsters beyond C-Rated classifications. Some of you lost teammates. Several tracking teams went dark. This is not a standard mission review. Each of you will be questioned individually."
Then his eyes settled on Takeru. "Starting with you."
The interrogation room was sterile and gray, lit only by a flickering ceiling light. Takeru sat alone at a steel table, hands folded. Across from him, Investigator Kanzaki and a stern looking analyst reviewed their notes.
"Tell us again" Kanzaki said, voice devoid of emotion. "What did you see in the mist?"
Takeru hesitated. If he told them about the whisper… the way the fog seemed to move with intent… they'd think he was losing it.
"We lost contact with other teams. The monsters weren't C-Rated or B-Rated but A-Rated. They ambushed us. The mist was too thick. I couldn't see anything. We fought our way out, We were lucky Commander Shizune save us."
Kanzaki leaned forward. "You didn't notice anything unusual? Nothing at all?"
The whisper scratched at the back of his skull again. He swallowed it down.
"Not at all" he lied.
After the questioning, Takeru was released back to the dorms. Ema passed by him in the hallway silent. Her expression was even more distant than usual.
Some didn't return from interrogation. Rumors spread fast, some trainees were being reassigned, others removed entirely from the program. The atmosphere in the academy shifted. No longer was it just about tests and drills. Now it felt like war.
The next morning, the routine resumed. Barely.
Instructor Kurose stood at the front of the outdoor training yard, eyes scanning the noticeably thinned out rows of trainees. Her voice cut the morning air like a blade.
"You're still alive. Good. But don't pat yourselves on the back yet. You're not investigators not until you earn your license."
She tossed a stack of folders onto the ground. They hit the pavement with a dull slap.
"New evaluation. Real combat scenarios. Anyone who fails will be removed from the program. You want to freeze up again like you did in Sector 12-B? Better go home."
Takeru bent down, picked up a folder. His name was stamped across the top in bold red ink.
Takeru stepped onto the field for hand to hand combat, eyes still heavy from lack of sleep. The early sun peeked through thinning clouds, casting pale light over the academy yard. He cracked his neck, exhaled slowly, and braced himself for another punishing session.
"Yo Hoshino."
A familiar voice cut through the haze. Takeru turned and there he was.
Kaneki stood a few meters away, already stretching, that usual lazy smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. His uniform was half unzipped, hair as messy as ever, and he looked like someone who'd just rolled out of bed five minutes ago. But behind his laid back look, something in his eyes had changed.
Takeru raised an eyebrow. "You heard what happened?"
"Yeah" Kaneki nodded, his tone dropping. "People talk, they said it got real bad in there."
There was a moment of silence between them, heavy but unspoken. Then Kaneki gave Takeru a light punch on the shoulder.
"But look at you, still standing. Guess that stare of yours scared the monsters off."
"Not funny you know" Takeru said but a tiny smirk slipped through.
Kaneki grinned. "Come on we're not dead yet."
The next drill was brutal. Pairs were locked into combat sequences, forced to fight in simulated low visibility conditions, thick smoke machines, flashing lights, blaring alarms. It was a recreation of the Sector 12-B incident or at least what the instructors thought it was like.
Takeru and Kaneki were assigned together.
"Scenario: Sudden ambush. Enemy unknown. Visibility: twenty percent. Objective: Survive for three minutes," barked Instructor Ayame.
A buzzer sounded.
The smoke flooded in.
Takeru's senses kicked into overdrive. Shadows moved through the haze. He heard Kaneki, engaging something to their right. Takeru ducked as a blunt training weapon sliced toward his head.
He countered, sweeping the attacker's legs and disabling them in one motion. He didn't wait. Another shape lunged through the smoke. This one moved faster.
Kaneki appeared beside him, parrying with a short wooden sword. "This almost feels nostalgic" he muttered between blocks.
"Yeah," Takeru replied, breath sharp. "Except no one dies this time."
They moved like a single unit. Years of instinct honed in mere weeks, survival had that effect. Kaneki's unpredictability balanced Takeru's calculated precision. They covered each other's blind spots, disarmed targets, and fought through the thick fog like wolves in tandem.
When the final buzzer sounded, most pairs had dropped to the ground, gasping. Takeru and Kaneki remained standing.
Instructor Kurose gave a rare nod.
After drills, they slumped on the grass behind the main hall, drinking water and watching the clouds crawl across the sky.
"Think we'll make it to the next phase?" Kaneki asked.
"Does it matter?" Takeru said. "Either we do or we die trying."
Kaneki chuckled. "Man, I missed your optimism."
A pause, then Kaneki looked over. "Hey… something different with you since that mission. You're more quieter than usual."
Takeru didn't answer immediately. His fingers tightened around the bottle.
"There's something in the mist" he said finally. "I heard it and felt it."
"Like… a monster?"
"No..." Takeru said. "Something that knew me..."
Kaneki's smile faded.
Takeru glanced at him. "You think I'm crazy?"
Kaneki looked away, then back. "Not crazy. Just… maybe tapped into something the rest of us missed."
Takeru nodded slowly. The wind stirred the grass around them, soft and distant like a whisper.
The gym echoed with the familiar sound of training weapons clashing, footwork pounding on padded floors, and breathless grunts of determination. Takeru and Kaneki stood in the center ring, both in standard academy gear, wooden swords in hand. Sweat streaked down Takeru's temple as he tightened his grip, eyes locked on his friend-turned-opponent.
Kaneki moved first, fluid, aggressive and precise. Takeru parried and countered, relying on instinct and raw reflexes rather than polished form. Their rhythm was electric, drawing attention from the other trainees who momentarily paused to watch.
"You've gotten better than before" Kaneki said between blows. "But still sloppy as hell though."
"I could say the same to you" Takeru shot back, grinning.
Their bout ended in a draw, both of them panting and laughing as they lowered their swords. It was a rare moment of peace, a pause before the storm they both felt coming.
Then, the air shifted.
The training grounds were unusually quiet for a late afternoon. Whispers had already spread through the academy like sparks on dry grass.
Ichikami was here. The first Special Class Investigator. A living legend.
White haired and clad in a long white ascedant coat that gleamed faintly under the muted sun, Ichikami stepped through the gates with calm purpose. His blue eyes, sharp and colder than winter steel swept over the field, assessing everything and everyone without a single wasted movement. At his side walked a far smaller figure, no less striking.
Lena.
White haired like fresh snow, her eyes a rich, blood crimson moon that shimmered unnaturally. Students and instructors alike couldn't help but stare. Whispers followed her: a witch, inhuman, the girl who doesn't age. She paid them no mind.
Takeru and Kaneki stood among the trainees, mid-sparring session, breathing heavily as they watched the two approach. A strange tension hung in the air, pressing down on everyone present like the calm before a lightning storm.
Lena's eyes passed across the students and then paused.
She stared directly at Takeru.
Her head tilted slightly, as if examining something only she could see. Then a faint, knowing smile played across her lips.
Ichikami stopped and followed her gaze. "You see something?" he asked, curious but detached.
Lena took a slow step forward, her crimson gaze fixed unblinkingly on Takeru. "You've heard it, haven't you?"
Takeru's breath hitched. "...What?"
"The voice," she whispered. "From the sky, at night."
Kaneki glanced at Takeru, confused. "Hey Hoshino, what's she talking about?"
Takeru didn't respond. His throat felt dry. How could she know? He'd never told anyone. Not even Kaneki. That whisper in the night, cold and distant, had haunted him ever since that day.
Lena's smile didn't fade, but there was something deeper in her gaze now. Curiosity. Maybe even recognition.
"You don't have to be afraid of it," she said softly. "You were chosen to hear it. Most people never will."
Ichikami raised an eyebrow. "Lena."
She turned slightly. "It's nothing. Just... a hunch."
Ichikami didn't press. He gave Takeru a quick glance, unreadable, then continued walking toward the main building. Lena lingered for a heartbeat longer.
"When it speaks again," she said, her voice barely above the wind, "don't ignore it. The voice doesn't waste its words."
Then she turned and walked off silently, leaving Takeru standing frozen in place, his pulse racing, his mind suddenly a storm of questions.
"The voice doesn't waste its words..."
And for the first time, Takeru wondered...
Who or what had been whispering to him that night?
The next morning, tension gripped the academy like a vice.
The trainees were lined up in full gear near the southern perimeter, where six armored trucks and three transport waited, engines humming with restrained power. Instructors paced in front of them, clipboards in hand, barking last minute instructions.
Takeru stood beside Kaneki, trying to still his breathing.
"This is it," Kaneki muttered, adjusting his gloves. "We pass this mission, we get our license and officially become rank 3 investigator."
Takeru nodded silently. His mind kept drifting not to the mission, but to Lena's words.
"When it speaks again, don't ignore it."
Before he could get lost in thought, the lead instructor, Captain Hino stepped forward, flanked by two veteran imvestigators in standard MIB tactical gear.
"Listen up!" Hino shouted. "Today, you're leaving academy grounds. This is your official Rank 3 qualification field test. You've been trained to handle C and B-rated threats. We're about to see if that training was enough."
He tapped the side of a large digital display. A 3D hologram of a rural forest region appeared, marked with glowing red heat signatures.
"Target zone is outside Saitama Prefecture. A cluster of C-rated monsters, possibly B-rated has been sighted. Your task is to infiltrate, neutralize the threats, and retrieve data from an abandoned research site inside the containment zone."
Hino's eyes narrowed. "Reminder this isn't simulated. You get hurt, you bleed. You screw up, you die."
The tension in the air thickened.
"You'll be broken into squads of five," Hino continued. "Each team has one instructor monitoring remotely. This is real ops protocol. If you pass, you're certified. If not... well, let's not find out."
He looked over the trainees. "Takeru Hoshino. Kaneki. You're Squad 4. Your squad leader will be Shun Hirata."
Shun turned slightly, his expression unreadable as always.
Kaneki raised an eyebrow. "Of course he's in our squad again."
Takeru gave a smile. "Well it couldn't be that bad."
"Everyone move to your assigned trucks!" Hino barked. "You launch in fifteen!"
As they moved, Takeru caught one last glimpse of Lena and Ichikami standing on a balcony above the field. Lena's eyes were on him again. Calm. Knowing. Almost like she already knew what would happen next.