“181 wins again. That makes over 100 consecutive victories,” noted Dr. Zuisaya Nori through thin lips, glaring down through the two-way mirror. Jotting down one final note, she sucked on the tip of her pen and turned to an associate dressed in suffocatingly sterile laboratory detail. “This will conclude this phase of testing. Record that,…

The dreadful silence echoing throughout the Yorusada Mall was punctuated by the drip, dripping of blood. The tip of a knife protruded from Tegata’s chest. “Tsushin,” he murmured, eyes wide. “Why?” The emotionless girl pulled harder, until the hilt pressed up against the skin on his back. Tegata swayed, vision swimming, before he hacked up…

“You’re not dying on me. I won’t allow it.” Rinkaku Harigane supported the back of Juusei’s head as best he could. With one arm under her legs and the other under her shoulders, he fought to sustain his balance, taking step after gradual step out of the Yorusada Mall. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a sweat.…

Eight Years Before Current Events The afternoon bell was the daily saving grace for the students of Chuokan Elementary School. A wave of relief passed through the young students itching to do anything and be anywhere else. The buzz of animated conversation immediately cut off the teacher’s lecture, and his attempts to retain order were…

Only a few stone throws from the waterfront in Toyosuna, Mihama Ward, the Yorusada Mall was a large, glass-roofed hanger, quarter of a mile long. Connected by an excellent trainline into Tokyo, it was the furthest one could go north-east without actually leaving the city limits itself. In no time at all, the Mazda Capella…

Ten Years Before Current EventsChiyoda Special Ward, Tokyo “Mom, where are we going?” “Not much further now, sweetheart,” soothed a young woman, dressed in an elegant pinstriped blue blazer and pencil skirt. She led her protesting son by the hand through the heart of the Tokyo Metropolis. Only two blocks away from the National Diet…

New to one of them, another voice made Rin and Ibuse both spin on a heel. “Is it finally over?” Stepping tremulously toward them, Aiko Yakuhin’ face was pale beyond belief. Her gait wobbled with every step. Laying her eyes on Rin, she paused for a moment, eyes wide. “You’re okay.” She mumbled. “Rin, you’re—”…

Rinkaku Mandala 麟閣曼荼羅 “You had better explain yourself. Right now.” Rin faced off against his mentor in his further plane. His gaze, steel-hardened; his voice, calm—unreasonably measured. “That man, Nagora Ibuse.” The Architect’s arms were folded. He glared back at his inheritor, eyes hidden by his helmet. “You cannot trust him. He has been blessed…

“Everybody freeze!” Nagora Ibuse charged forth from the beyond, gun in both hands. His detective’s intuition had been spot-on. Right at the centre of all this was Rinkaku Harigane himself; he’d recognise that black mop anywhere. One glance at this chaotic landscape told him all he needed to. From the boy’s eidetic profiling of JPRO’s…

“Shit—I knew this was another of Hakana’s schemes, sending me here.” Meguru Yoha tutted, scuffing the ground with his toe. “This messed-up landscape is definitely Yamashita’s doing. You’d think Hakana got the whole damn squad in on this, and didn’t even think of telling me.” He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled up…