The Tokyo sky shone with neon lights that flickered in the night. The city never slept, but neither did Ryususei. He walked through the streets like a ghost in the crowd, with the spoils of his latest raid well hidden under his coat. It had been too long since he had a moment of rest, but tonight, before his next big move, he would allow himself a pause.
When he arrived at the hotel, a modest building in a low-key neighborhood, his senses were heightened. There were no signs of danger. He entered the lobby and the Common Heralds who had been taking care of Aiko were alerted at the sight of him. They did not attack him, but the tension was palpable.
"Thank you for taking care of Aiko," Ryuusei said calmly. It wasn't something I said often, but this time I felt it.
One of the Heralds, a man of robust build and cold eyes, folded his arms.
"Our lady informed us that they are no longer Bastard Heralds. We are no longer obligated to serve you.
The words fell like a sentence. Ryuusei felt a strange emptiness in his chest. He had expected this answer, but he couldn't help but hurt him. He looked at the Heralds in front of him. They were warriors with no purpose now, discarded pieces of a game they hadn't chosen to play. They could go on and forget everything... or they could build something new.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward, his gaze steady but his voice less arrogant than usual.
"I know. And they are right," he admitted. They don't owe me anything anymore. They are no longer bound by an oath or a cause they did not choose. But do they really believe that this freedom is enough? That they can simply disappear and live in peace? He paused, searching his eyes, one by one. Lara gave them freedom, yes, but freedom without a purpose is just another prison.
The Heralds exchanged glances. Some were reluctant, others seemed to consider his words. Ryuusei clenched his fists. I couldn't lose them.
"Listen... I don't want them to serve me like they did with Lara. I don't want them to kneel before me. He paused, lowering his head slightly. I just want them to believe in something other than the shadow of their past. I cannot promise you an easy path. I can't guarantee that we'll make it out of this alive. But what I can promise you... is that together we will be more than mere pawns on a board of gods and emperors.
The silence became heavy. One of the Heralds, the same one who spoke earlier, snorted and folded his arms tightly.
"You're a proud bastard, Ryuusei," he said in a harsh voice. But maybe... You're not entirely wrong.
There were murmurs among them. Some still doubted. Ryuusei swallowed hard and, for the first time in a long time, spoke with absolute honesty.
"I'm asking you to follow me. Not out of fear. Not because of empty promises of glory or power. I'm asking you to fight for a purpose. By yourselves. His voice trembled slightly. And if they don't want to do it, if they really think it's better to follow another path... Then leave. I won't blame them.
The silence seemed eternal. Then one of the Heralds stepped forward.
—… You're an idiot, but at least you're our idiot," he said with a half-smile.
Another one advanced. Then another. And another. Until, one by one, everyone nodded. It was not a pledge of blind allegiance, nor an oath of servitude. It was a choice. And it was real.
Ryuusei closed his eyes for a second and let out a sigh. It was not victory... but it was a beginning.
With a slight smile of satisfaction, Ryuusei made his way to the room where Aiko was resting.
When he entered, he saw his figure asleep in the dim moonlight. It had been too long since he had seen her at peace. He approached carefully and sat on the edge of the bed.
Aiko opened her eyes slowly, her gaze still sleepy but alert.
"Ryususei...?" What happened?
He sighed and explained everything that had happened. His escape, what he stole, the deal with Lara, the uncertain future. Aiko listened to him silently, her expression turning from astonishment to disbelief. When he finished speaking, she rubbed her eyes and sighed.
"Whenever you disappear, you come back with a crazier story than the previous one.
Ryuusei chuckled.
"At least you're never bored.
She shook her head, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled for real.
Over the next few days, Ryuusei took care of Aiko as she recovered. They shared simple meals, talked about the future, and in an attempt to distract themselves, began watching movies. One in particular caught Ryuusei's attention: Fight Club.
As the film progressed, he felt that something inside him fit Tyler Durden's words. Society was rotten. People lived enslaved by invisible systems. They held on to jobs they hated to buy things they didn't need. They lived with the illusion of freedom, not realizing that their chains were more subtle, but just as strong.
Ryuusei had never felt like he belonged in that world. But now, he understood something deeper: he didn't want to belong to him. I didn't want to be part of the gear. I didn't want to be just another piece in a system designed to control and repress. When the film ended, Aiko looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"That look," she said with a slight smile. What are you thinking?
Ryuusei did not immediately respond. He looked at the black screen of the television, his barely visible reflection in the dim light of the room.
"That we have to disappear from the map for a while," he replied with a lopsided smile. But his tone was more serious than usual.
Aiko blinked slowly and settled into the bed. The fatigue of the last few days finally overcame her.
"Don't think too much, Ryuusei. Sometimes it's just a movie," she whispered before falling asleep.
But for him, it wasn't.
Ryuusei got up quietly and walked out of the room. He climbed to the roof of the hotel, where the night breeze blew gently. Tokyo stretched out before him, a jungle of lights and steel. From there, the world seemed as immense as it was insignificant.
He looked up. The stars.
It had been too long since I had looked at them. He was always trapped in fights, strategies, running or hunting. But there they were, motionless, distant, as if their war meant absolutely nothing to the universe.
He crossed his arms and took a deep breath.
"Humans think they're the center of everything," he murmured. We fight, we destroy, we look for meaning in nothingness. But up there... None of that matters.
He grew up believing that he must fight to find his place in the world, but what if his true freedom was not in winning a war, but in stopping playing the game?
He looked at the city, the infinity of people trapped in their own cycle of life and death, ambitions and fears. How many of them were actually alive? Most just survived, stuck in rules they never questioned. As he once was.
"They teach us to obey, to follow the path laid out without asking why," he whispered. But what if the purpose of life is not to find a way, but to destroy it and create our own?
He stood there, silent, letting the wind ruffle his black hair. Perhaps I would never have answers. Maybe they didn't matter. All he knew was that he wasn't going to let the world shape him. He would be the one to break it.
With one last glimpse of the sky, he walked down the stairs back to his room.
Aiko slept peacefully. Ryuusei stared at her for a moment and then slumped into a nearby chair, closing his eyes. Tomorrow, the world would continue to turn. But he, little by little, was learning to turn in his own direction.
The next day, Ryuusei dropped Aiko off at the hotel and left. I needed two things: a new identity and a new face. He entered a hairdresser and asked for a radical change. Two hours later, her black hair was gone, replaced by a golden blonde that gave her a completely different look.
Satisfied, he went to a clandestine office where the most dangerous criminals obtained false documents. There, with a mixture of threats and blackmail, he managed to secure false passports for himself and an unknown girl, whose name he had not yet asked.
The man who made the passports reluctantly agreed.
"It will take two weeks," he said in a deep voice.
Ryuusei smiled.
— Perfect. I have time to have a little fun.
The next two weeks were unusually quiet for him and Aiko. They allowed themselves to live like normal people for a brief moment. They strolled around the city, tried foods they'd never enjoyed before, bought new clothes, and even indulged in moments of sheer stupidity, like spending money at a game room or having competitions of who could eat the most takoyaki without burning their tongues.
"Aiko, before we can continue to have fun, we must do something important: go back to our old mansion and find our butlers.
Two days after what Ryuusei said, they arrived at the mansion, now in ruins.
The wind was blowing with a funereal stillness as Ryuusei and Aiko arrived at the remains of the mansion. What had once been a refuge, a fortress, was now nothing more than charred rubble and crumbling walls. The scent of ash still lingered in the air, mixed with the bitter trace of what was once life.
The Heralds who had followed him in his cause were silent, waiting for orders, but Ryuusei said nothing for a moment. He just stood there, standing among the ruins, watching the bodies covered in dust and dried blood.
There were no screams, no groans of agony. Only a sepulchral silence.
Aiko lowered her gaze, biting her lip guiltily. He knew what this place meant to him. I knew that although Ryuusei would never admit it out loud, this hurt.
"We'll start picking them up," said one of the Heralds, breaking the silence in a deep voice.
Ryuusei nodded without a word. He crouched down and, with calculated but respectful movements, began to remove the debris over the bodies of his butlers. They were not soldiers. They were not murderers. Only people who had decided to serve him loyally. And he had failed them.
Aiko and the Heralds did the same, carefully removing the bodies of the fallen servants. Despite the weight of the situation, the work continued in solemn silence. Each recovered body was placed with dignity, aligned with the respect they deserved.
When the last one was found, Ryuusei stood up. His gaze swept over every lifeless face, every expression frozen in time. He took a deep breath, feeling a lump in his throat, but swallowed it. She couldn't afford to cry. Not now.
He stepped forward and spoke, his voice firm, but with a load of emotions that he rarely let on.
"You weren't warriors. They were under no obligation to die here, and yet their loyalty brought them to this end. I was not a good master for you, because a good master protects his own. And I... I couldn't do it. His jaw tightened. I will not bring you back to life, but I promise you something: when I get up again, when the world knows about me again, your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
He remained silent for a few more seconds, observing the bodies with the respect of someone who knows that death does not distinguish ranks or promises. Then, with an almost reverent gesture, he closed his eyes and bowed slightly in farewell.
"We're leaving," he murmured.
The Heralds nodded and, in an act of recognition, did the same before they began burying the bodies. Not a mass grave, but individual graves, with stones marking each of their names. Because they deserved it.
When it was all over and the last shovel touched the ground, Ryuusei turned towards the ruins one last time. There was nothing else to do here.
"When I return," he whispered, more to himself than to others, "I will do it with more strength than I ever had.
With that, he turned and left without looking back. But in his chest, the weight of that promise burned like a flame that would never go out.
The next seven days were unusually quiet for him and Aiko. They allowed themselves to live like normal people for a brief moment. They strolled around the city, tried foods they'd never enjoyed before, bought new clothes, and even indulged in moments of sheer stupidity, like spending money at a game room or having competitions of who could eat the most takoyaki without burning their tongues.
But his last great prank was the best of all. It would not be just a simple graffiti, but a statement to the world.
They bought dozens of cans of spray paint and headed to the Azabudai Hills Tower, Tokyo's tallest and most modern building. It was not only a symbol of the city, but an emblem of the power and order they despised so much.
When they reached the top, the city stretched out beneath their feet, bright and chaotic. Ryuusei scanned the horizon with a defiant smile before uncorking one of the cans of black paint.
"If we're going to do it, we're going to do it in a big way," he said, and without hesitation, he began to write.
The letters were gigantic, impossible to ignore even from a distance. With firm and confident strokes, Ryuusei conveyed his message:
"Ryuusei is going on vacation, but he will come back for everything."
Aiko laughed and added underneath in equally huge letters:
"See you soon, Tokyo."
The result was shocking. It was not a simple street graffiti; it was a provocation, a warning. They knew that this would not go unnoticed.
And he didn't.
The next morning, Tokyo woke up to the news stamped on all channels and social networks. Images of the gigantic message at the Azabudai Hills Tower went viral in a matter of hours. The reporters were freaking out, debating its meaning. Ryuusei and Aiko were already known as terrorists in Japan, their names associated with destruction, the war against Aurion and Archangel. This message was not a simple act of vandalism. It was a warning.
"The criminals known as Ryuusei and Aiko have left a message that has shaken the nation," a reporter reported with a tense face. The authorities have tightened surveillance in Tokyo and it is hoped that this provocative act will be responded to with extreme measures. What do his words mean? Is it a threat of his return? Is it a direct challenge to the government and the forces that persecute them?
Social networks were ablaze with theories. Some called them traitors, destroyers of order. Others, on the other hand, saw them as figures of resistance, those who dared to challenge the giants of power. But amid the confusion, one thing was clear: Ryussei was alive. And he had something planned.
From the hotel window, Ryuusei and Aiko watched the news with a mixture of satisfaction and expectation.
"Do you think they were exaggerated?" Aiko asked with a mocking smile.
Ryuusei crossed his arms, staring at the tower on the screen, where images of the massive graffiti were still projected.
"No. This is just the prologue. His gaze became more intense. The best is yet to come.
And with that, they turned around and disappeared into the crowd, while Tokyo burned with debates, fear and expectation.
Continue...