Location: District 9 – Neon Vein Club, Neo-Tokyo Outskirts
Time: 11:14 p.m.
Smoke curled in slow spirals under the flickering pink and violet lights. The Neon Vein wasn't a club — it was a heartbeat stitched into the city's underbelly. A place where washed-up mercs, faded idols, and illegal Contractors gathered under the illusion of glamour. Where every breath tasted like static and synthetic sweat.
In the farthest corner of the club, beneath a broken screen playing silent footage of old war broadcasts, sat a woman cloaked in shadows and cigarette smoke.
Yuki Azumura.
She wore black gloves despite the heat, a slit silk qipao under a heavy tactical coat. Her raven hair fell in waves over her pale collarbone, but her eyes — they were sharp. Cold. Too quiet for a place like this. A gold Asetter's sigil glinted faintly at her belt, half-covered by the coat.
She drew from her cigarette slowly, the tip flaring red.
"Do you smell that?" she asked softly.
Across from her, half-buried in a booth seat, a teenage boy tapped away at a cracked phone screen. A cheap rhythm game blinked on the display.
Shota Kanzaki.
He looked maybe fifteen. Hood up, eyes dull, thumbs moving with surgical precision. If you didn't know better, you'd assume he was just some washed-out slummer wasting yen on caffeine and mobile gacha.
But a white jade charm dangled from his neck — carved with the mark of the Spiriters.
He paused his game and glanced up at Yuki. "Smells like sweat. And lies."
Yuki smirked. "Close. Burnt Ether. Someone's using catalysts here. Illegally."
A sudden pop broke through the bass-heavy music — not a gunshot, but close.
Then screaming. Chaos. And then—
A man burst from the VIP hallway, clutching his neck, eyes wide, bleeding. The crowd split like panicked fish.
Yuki stood without rush, flicking her cigarette to the floor.
"Time to work," she said.
Shota sighed, slid his phone into his coat, and followed.
---
Back Hall – Behind Neon Vein
Two thugs in Synth-suits dragged a dealer against the wall — his body was shaking, veins glowing faint green from overdosed spirit ether. Yuki recognized the symptoms instantly.
"Code J-Grade Dissolution," she muttered. "This stuff eats the soul from the inside."
One of the thugs turned. "Back off, lady. This is Syndicate jurisdiction."
Yuki tilted her head. "Then call your boss. Tell him Yuki Azumura's here."
That made them flinch.
Before they could raise their weapons, Shota moved. The jade charm in his hand flashed.
A shimmer passed through the air — like a ripple in reality — and a ghostly fox lunged forward, its body made of pale blue flame. It tore through the thug on the left, sending him crashing into the wall, unconscious.
The second thug screamed and fired.
Yuki raised a single finger.
The bullet stopped midair — frozen an inch from her cheek.
"Cute trick," she said. "My turn."
With a flick of her hand, the air around the gunman collapsed into a spiral of black particles. The man screamed, his weapon disintegrating as his body was crushed inward by invisible force. Blood sprayed against the wall.
The ether-dealer tried to crawl away, face blistered from withdrawal. Yuki walked up to him, heel grinding on the broken glass of the club's floor.
"Where did you get the Hollow Spirit strain?"
"I-I don't know! It came from— It came from the Core!" he stammered. "A guy—black coat—called himself the Reaper—"
Yuki's expression changed.
She crouched beside the dying dealer. "Black coat… glowing eyes?"
The man nodded, trembling. "They say he came back. From hell. From the breach in Outpost Theta."
A silence heavier than blood settled.
Shota blinked. "Black Reaper. That's him, isn't it?"
Yuki stood up. Her hands trembled for a brief second — not from fear. From memory.
"He was declared rogue and dead," she whispered. "They swore the breach was sealed. That he couldn't come back."
Shota looked up at her. "But if he did…?"
Yuki stared at the bleeding wall, the club's music still pounding in the background like war drums.
"If Lin Mikazuki is alive," she said, voice now iron, "then Project Helix didn't die in that fire."
She turned.
"And if the Black Reaper walks this city again… then everything is about to burn."
---
Meanwhile… Somewhere Deep Below Neo-Tokyo – The Syndicate's Hidden Hall
A tall, armored figure leaned back on a throne of chrome and bone, hooked to seven data-feeds. A cigarette glowed in his teeth.
Yurei, Syndicate Architect, ex-Contractor.
"They killed the dealer," a voice reported.
"And?" Yurei asked, voice amused.
"They were looking for the Black Reaper."
Yurei exhaled smoke shaped like skulls. "So he's finally resurfaced."
He stood.
"Tell the Asset Division to back off. He's not theirs anymore. Lin was my prototype. Let's see how far my original sin has come."
A pause.
"Oh — and send a gift to Yuki Azumura. Tell her I still remember her oath."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…