The café was quieter than Ren anticipated.
Located by the roadside near the station, squeezed between a small grocery store and a laundry shop, Volt stood with a worn rustic sign. Outside, the lighting was dim. Only two tables were enthralled — an old man reading a review, and a couple bruiting in the corner.
Ren pushed the door open. A small bell above it chimed.
Too loud for the silence outside.
Kazuki was formerly there, sitting near the window. Black leather jacket, spiky hair, one leg propped up on an empty president. He smiled when he saw Ren and Hana enter.
A smile that felt too wide for a first meeting.
" You made it. " He raised a hand to call the server. " What do you want? My treat. "
Ren and Hana sat across from him. Ren chose the seat facing the door — not out of fear. Just habit.
" You're Kazuki? " Ren asked.
" Yeah. Independent idol. Former pupil of Nova Academy. Expelled three times agone
. " Kazuki listed it casually, like reading off a grocery list. No weight. No emotion.
" Why are you looking for us? " Hana asked.
Kazuki pulled out his phone and showed them the screen.
A videotape of the request fight. Nakamura sinking into the slush. Ren with his gravestone hand.
Five hundred thousand views.
" You're viral,Kai-less idol. " He put the phone down. " But I'm not interested in the videotape. I'm interested in this. "
He refocused at Ren's wrist where the heritage was hidden beneath his sleeve.
Ren said nothing. His left hand shifted slightly under the table, out of reach.
" Relax. " Kazuki raised both hands. " I'm not your adversary. I've got issues with Ouroboros too. "
" You know Ouroboros? " Hana asked.
" Yeah. They're the bones
who set me up three times agone
. Got me expelled from Nova. " Kazuki leaned back. " I got information from someone. A former Ouroboros scientist who defected. Name's Dr. Kenji. He told me that one day, a sprat with the heritage would appear. He said if that sprat showed up, I should help him. "
" Why should we trust you? " Ren asked, his aspect
steady.
Kazuki did n't answer right down.
rather, he took out his portmanteau and pulled out an old snap. The colors had faded, the edges worn and torn.
Two boys.
One aged. One youngish.
The youngish one smiled brightly.
The aged one did n't.
" That's me and my aged family. Shinobi. " Kazuki placed the print on the table. " He's a general in Ouroboros now. "
Hana picked it up, gaping at it. " Your family? "
" He used to be a good joe, " Kazuki said still. " Until Ouroboros got to him. They told him, join us, and you'll be strong. No bone
will ever hurt your family again. "
He took the print back and slipped it into his portmanteau.
" My pater
failed because he was n't strong enough. My mama left because she could n't take it presently. Shinobi believed Ouroboros could give him the strength our father did n't have. "
Ren did n't know what to say.
He just watched Kazuki, who was n't smiling presently.
" I'm not asking you to trust me right now, " Kazuki continued. " But you need to understand commodity. Ouroboros wo n't stop. They formerly have three vestiges. They need the heritage. And they'll shoot anyone to get it. "
" Krait, " Hana said still.
Kazuki jounced. " Krait. Mid-level agent. Bane specialist. She — "
The café door opened.
The bell chimed again.
Three people stepped outside.
Two men. One woman.
Black jackets. strange faces.
But Ren knew incontinently.
From the way they walked.
From how their eyes locked onto their table.
From the woman's hand formerly slipping into her jacket fund.
" Down! " Kazuki flipped the table, turning it into a guard.
BANG!
A glass bottle shattered against the face. Clear liquid spread, also faded into white bank.
Hana coughed, her eyes burning. Ren pulled her back behind the capsized table.
" Krait! " Kazuki released a swell of electricity toward the woman.
But she had formerly moved — nippy, precise — two further bottles in her hands.
" Kazuki Kurosawa, " she said, her voice soft, nearly lyrical. " You're snooping in matters that do n't concern you. "
" My business is my own, " Kazuki snapped, striking again. Electricity cracked like a scourge.
Krait threw another bottle.
The liquid burst skyline, turning into a unheroic mist.
Kazuki staggered back, covering his mouth. " Respiratory poison! Do n't breathe it in! "
Ren dragged Hana toward the corner of the café, down from the spreading pall.
In front of them, the two men advanced.
One's hand morphed into metallic claws.
The other's body expanded, muscles swelling constitutionally.
" You're the bone
with the heritage? " the clawed man sniggered. " You're small. "
He dived .
Ren actuated petrification — his right arm turning to gravestone just in time to block the strike.
But the claws were strong. They scraped deep into the gravestone.
Ren stumbled back.
Hana pressed her hand against his reverse. Warm. " I ca n't heal gravestone! "
Ren knew.
Stone had no blood.
Gravestone could n't be healed.
If those claws broke through his petrification he would n't recover.
The larger man attacked from the side. Ren thawed the bottom beneath him. The man sank but only for a moment. He was too heavy. Too strong.
He pulled himself free with a scowl.
" Ren! " Kazuki cried from across the café. Still locked in combat with Krait, bane mist filling the room. " Get Hana out! "
Ren did n't get the chance to answer.
The clawed man was formerly in front of him again.
Hana collapsed first.
Ren did n't see exactly how it happed. He was busy blocking the clawed attacks, holding the larger man back with the thawed bottom.
also he heard her voice.
A cry.
When he turned, Hana was formerly on her knees, clinging her throat. Her face had gone pale.
A bottle had shattered near her.
Clear liquid.
No visible mist.
" Hana! " Ren rushed to her, abandoning the fight. He did n't watch presently.
She fell into his arms, her body burning hot, cold sweat covering her forepart.
" Ren " her voice quivered. " I ca n't breathe "
Behind him, the clawed man laughed.
" Krait prepares bane for every type, " he said. " One for those without Kai. One for those with Kai. Your friend got the alternate bone
. "
Ren held Hana tighter. Her body quivered — briskly, also cold, also hot again.
" You can save her, " the man continued. " Give us the heritage. Krait gives the cure. Fair deal, right? "
Ren looked down at Hana.
Her eyes were fading, but still concentrated on him.
" Do n't " she rumored. " Do n't give it "
Ren did n't hear anything differently.
Only her breathing.
Getting weaker.
Shorter.
The cuff on his wrist burned.
" Kai detected. Type Emitter — Cellular rejuvenescence. comity Maximum. Copying. Complete. "
" Critical condition detected. Initiating exigency energy transfer. cranking Bond Link. "
Ren did n't understand.
But his body moved on its own.
His hand clasped Hana's.
Their fritters intertwined.
Blue- tableware light burst from the cuff, flowing into her body, filling her.
Hana heaved .
A deep breath — like someone surfacing after being aquatic for too long.
The light did n't fade.
It kept glowing.
Connecting them.
Illuminating them in the bane- filled darkness of the café.
Krait stoppedmid-attack.
Her eyes narrowed.
" Bond Link insolvable "
Ren did n't hear her.
He only held Hana, feeling her body cool down, her breathing steady again.
And commodity differently.
commodity new.
He could feel her twinkle.
Inside his own casket.
Not hearing it.
Feeling it.
" Ren? "
Her voice.
Inside his head.
Not from her lips.
Direct.
Ren lifted his head.
Hana goggled at him, just as confused.
" What — "
" latterly, " Ren cut her off gently.
He stood up, placing her behind him.
In front of him, the two men still stood.
Across the café, Kazuki was still locked in battle with Krait.
Ren raised his hand.
Not gravestone.
Not slush.
He simply stood.
" You want the heritage? " His voice was n't loud.
But everyone in the café heard it.
" Take it. "
The clawed man stepped forward.
Ren did n't move.
The man slashed.
Ren actuated Mudrock Aegis — gravestone and slush fused into a thin hedge.
The claws struck.
Stopped.
Did n't break through.
The man set.
Ren did n't give him time.
Petrification in his right hand.
Liquefaction in his left wing.
He struck.
One punch.
Gravestone fist slammed into the man's casket.
His other hand swept his legs.
The man crashed to the ground.
Did n't move again.
The larger man roared.
Ren moved first.
The bottom beneath the man softened incontinently.
As the man sank, Ren leapt —
And drove a petrified kick straight into his head.
The man collapsed into the slush.
Silence.
Ren stood in the center of the café.
Blood on his lip he had stunk too hard.
His breathing uneven.
Krait watched him.
Not hysterical .
But no longer smiling.
" You suppose this is over? " she said vocally.
She pulled out her largest bottle.
Black liquid churned outside.
" This bane can kill a hundred people with a single drop. Want to try? "
Ren did n't answer.
He stood still.
No defense.
No gravestone.
Krait threw it.
The bottle spun through the air.
Ren did n't move.
Hana screamed behind him.
Kazuki leapt forward, lightning ready to strike —
But before anything could be —
The cuff exploded with light.
Not an explosion.
A swell.
A surge.
It pushed the bottle back.
Back toward Krait.
The bottle shattered in front of her face.
Black liquid splashed across her arm, her neck, her impertinence.
She screamed.
Fell.
clinging her face as the liquid ate into her skin, thin bank rising.
Her riots echoed through the café.
Ren stood still.
He did n't move.
He did n't feel anything.
Kazuki approached precisely, remonstrating down the remaining bottles.
He looked at Ren.
" You "
Ren said nothing.
He walked back to Hana, helping her stage.
" We're going home, " he said.
That night, they sat in Ren's living room.
Hana had changed clothes and was holding a mug of gusto tea Ren made for her.
But her face was still pale.
Her hands still pulsing.
" Can you feel me? " she asked.
Ren jounced. " Your twinkle. Your breathing. A little. "
" Me too. " Hana looked down at her hands. " I knew you were going to hit that joe before you did. I knew you were spooked when I fell. I knew "
She stopped.
Ren awaited.
" I knew you watch about me, " she finished vocally.
Ren did n't answer.
But through the Bond Link —
She felt it.
Clearer than words.
Kazuki arrived an hour latterly, climbing in through the reverse window.
His jacket was torn. His face scratched.
But he still smiled.
" Krait's in the sanitarium. Police are formerly there. Asked a lot of questions. I told them I do n't know anything. "
Ren jounced.
Kazuki sat down, looking at both of them.
" Bond Link, " he said. " I've heard of it. From Dr. Kenji. It's permanent.However, the other might fall into a coma or die too, If one of you dies. "
Hana went pale.
Ren stayed still.
" Do you lament it? " Kazuki asked.
Ren looked at Hana.
She was still shaking.
Still blench.
But she was alive.
" No, " Ren said.
Kazuki smiled. " Good. Because from now on, you're a package deal. No separating you two. "
He stood and walked toward the window.
" I'll gather further word on Ouroboros. You two get some rest. We'll talk hereafter. "
He faded into the night.
Ren and Hana sat in silence.
The Bond Link palpitated between them.
Warm.
Steady.
Connected.
" Are we going to be okay? " Hana asked still.
Ren squeezed her hand.
" We'll try. "
Hana smiled.
For the first time that night —
She stopped pulsing.