The sun was at it's highest point, shining at the training grounds.
The dust kicked up.
Ryo stood opposite Haruki.
His new black arm flexed faintly, his claws scratching the air.
Haruki launched a wave of stones upwards with a flick of his fingers.
Sweat streaked down his forehead.
Ryo batted it aside with a single clean slash, the fragments scattering harmlessly behind him.
"Been a month since you got that arm now," Haruki said between breaths. "How's it feel?"
Ryo spun his blade in his right hand, then stilled it. "I've adapted a new style of fighting."
"New?"
"I used to fight with both hands," Ryo said with a casual tone, "Two hands give more control and power. But this—"
He swung once with his left arm only.
The scratch that he drew in the air flew at a newby stone and split it.
"—this arm gives me a lot of power already. So I strike with the left to utilize this power and use my sword with the right. If it gets tricky, I can still return to two-handed."
Haruki gave a faint grin, dropping his stance. "Sounds complicated."
"It's very efficient," Ryo simply replied and lowered his blade.
Haruki exhaled and sat down on the nearest boulder, the stone shifting subtly under his weight as if obeying him.
Ryo side-eyed him as he wiped his blade clean.
For his age… he's strong. Yusei said they were prodigies, but this level?
Haruki threw a rock in the air lazily, like it was weightless.
The way he bends the ground… it's close to what Akechi did, though he has less control and without the whole rewriting the past stuff.
Ryo sheathed his sword. "We're done for today."
"Yeah," Haruki said, still smiling faintly. "See you tomorrow."
Far away, wind blew through the narrow streets of a small town.
Kagami walked in front, baggy pants and a camisole, her hair in a ponytail like usual.
Sora, Tohru, and Kyouma followed.
This was the team she arranged after Ryo had told her to.
They left right before Ryo got his arm, searching for clues about Shinji.
Sora was muttering, "Still no sign of Shinji. No movement, no clue… nothing."
Kyouma yawned, hands stuffed in his pockets and leaned against a wall.
The three stood there waiting for something.
At the edge of the street, Tohru stood speaking softly to an elderly couple, taking notes.
Sora glanced sideways at Kyouma. "Do you have a goal?"
"Hm?"
"Like… why you became a hunter."
Kyouma scratched the back of his head. "Goal? …Not really. I got dragged in. My friends were hunters. So I just helped."
Sora stared at him for a moment, then gave the faintest smile. "That's surprisingly honest."
Tohru walked back, closing her notepad.
"Got any info?" Kagami asked.
"Well, it's not much," she said, "not enough for my ability to do the work. But I did find something."
Kagami raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"There's apparently a duo," Tohru explained. "A boy and a girl. Been roaming around here for a while. Taking out criminals, they said."
Sora frowned. "A duo…"
"Oh, and this might be nothing," Tohru added, "but ever since Shinji showed up, the crime rate's been climbing. No direct link, but still."
She flipped through her notes again. "The description I got—girl has short brown hair, yellow eyes and wears a black top with a black/red skirt."
Kagami hummed softly, gaze distant for a moment. "Interesting. Then we'll split."
Sora blinked. "Split?"
"To cover more ground," Kagami said. "Tohru, with me. Sora, you're with Kyouma. Search for the duo. If they've been cleaning up criminals… they might know something."
Kyouma gave a lazy half-shrug. "Fine by me."
Sora nodded.
They broke off in pairs, walking down in different directions.
None of them noticed the figure standing in the bell tower high above the town, whose shadow stretched around the town.
"Raise from the ground, my children," the figure whispered.