Even in the Lower District, where neon lights flickered over rusted steel and the streets smelled of damp asphalt, life moved in restless waves. Workers shuffled to their stations. Vendors yelled over the hum of old machinery. And gangs? They prowled like hungry beasts, waiting for easy prey.
And today, Ash Atsuyuki was their target.
He walked with his hands stuffed into his coat pockets, shoulders hunched against the morning chill. His route to school never changed. The same cracked pavement, the same broken signs from a past era when his clan's name had meant something. Now, the only ones who remembered were those who wanted to grind his face into the dirt for it.
"Oi. Shirogiri's last mistake."
Ash exhaled through his nose. Here we go again.
They stepped into his path—three of them. Gang colors, scavenged cybernetics, cheap muscle enhancements. Their leader, Kiri, sneered as he flexed his synthetic arm, the joints clicking from lack of maintenance.
"Still pretending to be somebody?" Kiri's voice dripped with amusement. "You walk around like you matter, but you're just a relic. Like the rest of your dead clan."
Ash kept walking.
He knew better than to stop.
Tama, the one with cybernetic legs, moved first—faster than a normal human. His knee drove into Ash's ribs before he could brace for it.
Pain flared through his side, but he didn't fall.
He staggered, but he kept walking.
"Tch." Tama clicked his tongue, dissatisfied. "That's it? Your ancestors must be weeping."
The third one, Shu, chuckled. "Maybe we should knock some sense into him."
Kiri smirked and raised a fist—but never got the chance to swing.
A gust of wind. A shift in the air.
And Kiri was on the ground, his cybernetic arm sparking.
Standing over him was her.
Tsukihime Rei
Her uniform, immaculate. Her stance, relaxed—but absolute. She wasn't enhanced, not like them. She didn't need to be. Her body was a weapon, sharpened through mastery alone.
Tama lunged at her.
Three seconds. That's all he lasted.
She sidestepped, caught his wrist, and with a twist of her body, drove him into the pavement. He coughed, struggling to breathe.
Shu hesitated. Rei's crimson eyes locked onto him.
He ran.
Kiri groaned, clutching his cybernetic arm, still on the ground. He wanted to fight, but his instincts told him he wouldn't even touch her.
Kagura turned toward Ash, studying him. Then, without a word, she extended a hand.
A silent offer.
For a long moment, Ash stared at it.
Then, he walked past her.
He never even glanced back.
Rei's outstretched hand slowly lowered. Her expression unreadable.
Behind her, Kiri scowled. The fight was already over.
Ash didn't look back.
He just kept walking. Like nothing had happened.