The alarms didn't stop.
They screeched through every hallway of G.A.R.I headquarters as Hikaru and Ria pushed through panicking cadets and sprinting officers. The entire building vibrated like a living thing under attack.
"Hikaru, stay close!" Ria shouted, weaving through the chaos.
"No problem! I'm glued to you emotionally and physically!" Hikaru yelled back.
"That is NOT comforting!"
They reached a blast door that slid shut behind them, locking out the shouting and the sirens.
Inside was a dim, quiet hallway lit only by red emergency bulbs. The silence felt wrong.
Too heavy.
Too still.
Hikaru swallowed hard.
His Armament usually whispering or pulsing was dead silent now.
That scared him more than the alarms.
"Ria… what was that thing? That… creature?"
Ria's jaw tightened.
"It wasn't a normal Reborn. I've fought dozens. That one was… conscious. Focused. Like it was giving orders."
"To me," Hikaru whispered.
"That's why we need to secure you. Whatever is happening today it's centered around you."
The Violet Mark
They reached a guarded checkpoint two officers in white armor stood ready with energy rifles.
Before Ria could speak, the officers stepped forward.
"Saeba Hikaru," one said.
"Show us your arm."
Hikaru blinked. "Um. Buy me dinner first?"
"Hikaru!" Ria hissed.
She grabbed his wrist and pulled up his sleeve
revealing what made the guards flinch.
A violet mark.
A glowing sigil shaped like a sharp, jagged ring burned into his skin… but under it, the veins around the mark pulsed black.
Hikaru stared.
"W-What the—!? That wasn't there earlier!"
The guard's voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's been marked by it."
"By what?!" Hikaru shouted.
Neither answered.
Instead, the guards stepped back.
"Protocol RED-9.
Contain the subject."
"CONTAIN?!" Hikaru yelled.
"I'm a person, not a"
Ria stepped in front of him, katana half-drawn.
"You will NOT treat him as a threat!"
The guards raised their rifles.
"Stand down, Kusanagi."
"No."
Her voice was cold enough to freeze steel.
The tension was slicing the air
Until the lights suddenly flickered.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
One by one.
The building went quiet.
Too quiet.
Hikaru's voice trembled.
"…Ria?"
She stepped closer to him.
"Stay behind me."
The ceiling ventilation shafts rattled.
The guards turned their weapons upward.
A low, distorted chuckle echoed through the vents
"You cannot contain what has already chosen him."
A blast of violet wind slammed the corridor.
The guards were thrown across the room like dolls.
Ria grabbed Hikaru and rolled them aside as something tore through the ceiling
A figure dropped down, landing gracefully.
Tall.
Shrouded in smoke.
Eyes like burning amethysts.
The same creature from Sector 3.
It looked at Hikaru.
Right at him.
The smoke receded
Revealing not a monster.
But a man.
A young man, maybe early twenties.
Black hair.
Torn G.A.R.I uniform.
Violet marks crawling across his skin like living tattoos.
He smiled faintly.
"You've grown," he said to Hikaru.
Hikaru almost vomited.
"Grown WHAT?! My trauma?!"
Ria drew her katana completely.
"State your identity!"
The man ignored her.
He stepped toward Hikaru.
The shadows bent toward him like he was gravity itself.
"Hikaru Saeba," he murmured softly.
"You are not ready to meet him yet."
Hikaru froze.
"Meet… who?"
The man stopped just inches away.
"The one who marked you."
Hikaru's voice cracked.
"Who?! Who did this to me?!"
A long silence.
Then the man leaned closer, whispering:
"…Your father."
Hikaru's world snapped.
Ria lunged instantly.
But the man vanished,
disappearing in a swirl of violet dust.
The lights flickered back on.
Silence.
Hikaru's knees buckled, and he collapsed against the wall.
"My… my dad marked me…?"
His voice shook.
Ria knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders.
"Hikaru, don't jump to conclusions. That thing could've been lying."
Hikaru laughed weakly, eyes burning.
"My life isn't even a puzzle anymore," he said.
"It's just loose pieces in a blender."
Ria didn't disagree.
Because for the first time,
She was scared, too.