Erina didn't know how to feel about two flights in as many days. On one hand, it was absolutely exhausting. On the other, maybe changing timezones twice would undo her jetlag, so it would be as if she didn't fly at all.

  "Thank you again for rescheduling on such short notice," she said as they left the airport.

  "Don't mention it," drawled Akira. "You wanted to get back ASAP, yeah? And what the hell do I care about money, anyway! So, you know where to go?"

  Erina waggled her phone in one hand. "I have all the notes available."

  "Mm." Akira leaned on the wall and regarded Erina.

  "What is it?"

  The road was busy, with travelers bustling to and fro around them. Cars trundled by in between waves of pedestrians on the street beside them.

  "You really wanna be doing this?" asked Akira. "It doesn't seem like you. What happened to safety? Staying out of fights? Looking into who you are, sure, go wild. But you're getting mixed up with some big names. You've already seen Goukei, and Darius, and Julian. Now you wanna round out all four?"

  "I'll stay out of trouble," said Erina.

  "Danger's got a special gift for findin' people with mana flowin' through their circuits."

  "Even so. I've had some time to reflect, and I think I understand—a part of myself that hasn't changed from who I was before. I want to learn the truth. I want to know more. Be it physics or magic, scientist or mage, I want to understand the world around me. And I want to understand myself as well."

  The ground rumbled and the air shook. An airplane roared overhead as it took flight to some far-off destination.

  As its shadow passed over them, Akira's expression darkened further still for a split second.

  "There's such a thing as knowing too much," she said in a low voice.

  "What do you mean?"

  Akira's phone went off before she could answer. Irritation all over her face, she dug it up and turned away. "The fuck is it? Oh, Aoi. It's you. Yeah, what's up?"

  Erina caught the shock and anger on her face as she turned to the road.

  "No chance they're that stupid. Are you fucking with me? You're not. You're serious. For Subsistence or what? Not even her? Then get your hands on a few of 'em. See? I told you I should've trained them myself! Fine, I'm there in the hour!" Akira groaned aloud as she put her phone away and turned back to Erina. "Business calls. You're gonna have to go the rest of the way yourself."

  "Alone?" asked Erina.

  "Not gonna babysit you twenty four seven," said Akira. "You'll be fine, trust me. Call me if anything goes down, 'kay?"

  Erina shuffled on the spot, but she couldn't just pull Akira away from her work to follow her everywhere. "I understand."

  Akira hopped into a private car with one of her men at the driver's seat as usual. Erina got on the subway, checking her phone as it sped along. She confirmed she had copied everything Aileen told them in her notes. Erina punched her destination into her phone and followed the GPS faithfully. Take this line here… Transfer there…

  ". Is that right?"

  She looked up from her phone, luggage at her side. While she was waiting on the underground platform for her train to arrive, a group of men in suits came up and solicited her.

  "Yes, that's me," she said. She kept her tone at a careful neutral. "Is there something you need from me?"

  "Akanaga Family," the man leading the group introduced themselves. "You're to return to HQ immediately. Come with us. Akira's orders."

  Erina made to take a step before her mind caught up with her. "Akira's orders?"

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "That's right."

  Erina frowned slightly and looked at her phone again. "She calls me whenever she needs something. This is the first time she's sent someone out to collect me."

  "It's urgent," he said.

  Suspicion crept into Erina's heart. She kept it inside as best she could. "If Akira needs me urgently," she said, "why didn't she call me? Wouldn't that be faster?"

  "She hasn't been able to make calls. Look, we don't have time to stand around all day. You going to leave her out to dry? Are you coming with us or not?"

  Erina's finger slid to the power button of her phone… and then stopped over it. She weighed her options. The two of them did offend Asayuki by swiping Orochi out from under her noise, and there was that altercation with the other two Equalizers. Had something really happened to Akira?

  "She can't call," said Erina. "But she sent a group all the way after me to bring me back?"

  "There's faster ways to get around than car," said the leader.

  "What happened to Akira?"

  "It'll make sense when we get there!" he snapped. "You capped Kirigami, didn'tcha? What, lettin' one fluke go to yer head? You fuckin' with your seniors, Erina? Mouthin' off just 'cause you made one blip on the radar?!"

  "No, sir." Erina lowered her head. "Of course not. I apologize for my rudeness."

  She stepped forward, and the group of men parted. They surreptitiously rearranged themselves into a circle around her as their leader led her to the escalator going up to the station exit. On the way up, one more thought occurred to her.

  "Excuse me, sir," said Erina. "Where's your pin?"

  He spared one glance over his shoulder. "Eh? What now?"

  Erina pulled it out of her blazer pocket. The small pin bearing the crest of the Akanaga Family glinted in the light.

  The men around her shifted uncomfortably. Several exchanged glances with each other. Their leader scoffed and turned to face forward again. The escalator whirred quietly as they neared the top.

  Erina raised her phone to her ear as it dialed. "Akira?"

  A rough hand snatched her arm and wrested down her phone.

  Erina whirled and clocked him over the head with her suitcase, sending him spilling down the escalator and dragging his buddies with him.

  Erina turned the other way. The men closed in on her, expressions of angry scowls and bared teeth filling her vision as more and more hands reached out and seized her.

  The suitcase flew over the side of the escalator and clattered to the platform below. Two buttons popped off Erina's blazer as she ripped open the front and twisted out, leaving the men grasping only the black suit while she was down to her white shirt. Erina's hand flew to her hip, green light flared, the katana flew, and equal parts blood and bright yellow ether painted the walls.

  Their leader tripped and fell back onto the landing at the top of the escalator, his yellow ether staining his suit. He yelled, "Get her!"

  Erina vaulted over the rail and dropped, rolling to her feet on the station platform. She kicked her luggage further down the platform as the yakuza jumped down after her. Where were they hiding those bats and swords they just pulled out?

  The men's first approach was warded off by a wild slash of the green katana. Erina summoned her spear into the other hand and clumsily brandished both weapons to keep her attackers at bay for only a few more seconds. This wasn't good. She was caught out on the Surface. Green eyes flitted about, looking for a mirror. Anything that reflected light would do! She'd jump headfirst into a puddle for all she cared!

  Light in the tunnel. A rumbling noise, and the whoosh of displaced air. Erina's jubilation quashed itself in an instant. The platform serviced multiple lines. This wasn't her ride. The train would come right through without stopping.

  But she couldn't stall for time. Any second now, the yakuza would get their wits about them and attack. She couldn't defend herself properly. She'd be easily surrounded or overpowered if she stayed on the platform. They were blocking the escalators too—the only decent exit.

  No… there was one other escape route.

  Erina dispelled her weapons and snatched up her suitcase. Carrying it in both hands, she leapt down onto the tracks, and she ran straight at the oncoming train.

  "Stop her!" barked the leader. "We need her alive!"

  A look over her shoulder confirmed several climbed down to follow her. Pumping her legs even faster, she turned her attention where she was running, and light filled her vision. The headlights dazzled her as the train bore down on her, closer and closer and louder and louder. It was right on top of her!

  This was either going to work, or she was about to learn how mosquitoes feel when they meet a car on the highway!

  With a yell, Erina pushed off and jumped as high as she could. The lights pivoted, beams of illumination angling around her as she leapt higher than them. For an instant, she saw the inside of the cabin, brightly lit with plenty of people browsing their phones on their ways to their destinations.

  But if it could reflect light at all, it counted as a mirror surface.

  Erina phased through the glass and entered the Reverse train.

  And then she tumbled wildly out of control, spinning end over end. The floor came to life and beat the living daylights out of her from every angle. A hard blow jolted her, banging off the walls as she careened from first cabin to second, limbs flailing, before she crashed to a stop at the back wall of the cabin. A splash of bright green ether marked each impact.

  Erina groaned weakly. Eventually, she figured out which direction gravity was pointing in, and she hauled herself into something resembling a sitting position. Her suitcase broke open in the tumble, spilling her belongings all across the cabin. She winced at the splatters of ether laid out before her. She didn't get turned to roadkill on or under the front of the train, but jumping onto it was still about equivalent to jumping out of a car on the highway at full speed. No, worse, what with all the walls and chairs and poles she rammed into.

  But nobody else was in the train with her, save for those shimmering souls of the humans on the other side. She'd shaken off her attackers.

  "No signs of enemy forces," mumbled Erina. "Fight successfully… disengaged."