The Guild's interior struck Yoshito as both ancient and alien. Polished stone corridors twisted at unnatural angles, the walls adorned with strange symbols that seemed to shift when he wasn't looking directly at them. Torches burned with flames that cast no shadows, their light somehow both bright and insufficient. Distant sounds—metallic clangs, muffled voices, and something that resembled whispering—echoed through the halls at irregular intervals, creating a disorienting atmosphere.

  Yoshito sat in his wheelchair, painfully aware of his vulnerability in this unfamiliar territory. His hands trembled against the armrests, his breaths coming in short, uneven bursts. Without his partner Tamotsu, without any backup, he felt truly helpless for the first time since joining the Academy. The wheels of his chair, which had always given him freedom, now seemed like a prison—he couldn't run, couldn't hide, couldn't escape.

  He considered transforming into one of his kaiju forms, but in these narrow corridors, he would be trapped, unable to maneuver. And if he broke through the walls... who knew what might lie beyond?

  A sudden displacement of air—like reality folding in on itself—

  "Relax," said Togi, teleporting directly in front of Yoshito. The assassin's casual demeanor was somehow more unsettling than outright menace. He wore simple clothing—dark pants and a light shirt—with no visible weapons, yet radiated lethal capability. "Fighting within the Guild is unauthorized. But," he added with a slight tilt of his head, eyes never blinking, "if you try anything funny, you will be killed."

  The statement was delivered with such casual indifference that it took a moment for the threat to register.

  Yoshito gulped, trying to memorize every detail of his surroundings. Despite his fear, the hero in him was still gathering intelligence. The layout of the corridors. The number of doors. The patterns of guard movements he'd glimpsed on the way in. Any information that might help him—or others—later.

  Togi settled into a chair opposite Yoshito, folding his hands neatly in his lap. His posture was relaxed yet perfectly balanced, ready to move in any direction instantly.

  "My name is Togi. I live in Nara. Born oldest of three children. My father and mother are dead. I enjoy solving puzzles and reading. When I can, I also enjoy going to bed promptly at 8:15 PM. I also—"

  "Why?" Yoshito cut him off, anger momentarily overwhelming his fear. The incongruity of this casual introduction in his current situation was maddening. "Why are you telling me such bullshit? You kill, you murder, and you think I fucking care about your bedtime?"

  Yoshito's voice echoed in the stone chamber, his outburst hanging in the air between them.

  Togi's expression didn't change as he waited patiently for Yoshito's outburst to end. Then, without missing a beat, he continued: "I also am a part-time assassin. Although with a title like this, is there really a full-time position?"

  He teleported again, vanishing from sight without warning. Yoshito tensed, eyes darting around the room, searching for the assassin in the shadowy corners. Seconds later, Togi reappeared, holding two bottles of water. He tossed one to Yoshito before unscrewing his own.

  "Go on," Togi said, taking a sip. "Relax and have a drink."

  Yoshito stared at the bottle in his lap, suspicion written across his face. "I don't want your poison! This is all a trick!" He hurled the bottle across the room, water splashing against the stone wall, the plastic clattering to the floor.

  Togi sighed, lowering his own bottle. "I'll say this again. Fighting within the Guild is unauthorized. This includes murder attempts." His tone remained conversational, as if explaining simple rules to a child, yet something in his eyes hardened momentarily.

  Yoshito's brow furrowed, confusion mixing with his fear. "Then why am I here? Why kidnap me just to chat?"

  "We've noticed the Academy has been spying on us for the past week," Togi explained, leaning back in his chair. "Drones following, eyes on some of us liaisons, that sort of stuff." He took another sip of water. "Coincidentally, one of our very own assassins has been working for your chairman."

  Yoshito's eyes widened, unable to mask his surprise at the casual revelation. "Kage? You're talking about Kage?"

  Togi's lips curled slightly at confirming his suspicion. "The other individual you guys 'captured' wasn't our strongest, but I was sent out to ensure we got some questions answered from you heroes."

  Despite his wheelchair, Yoshito sat up straighter, trying to maintain whatever dignity he had left in this bizarre interrogation. "What information could a bunch of murderers want from us? We're the good guys, you're the bad guys. Seems like a pretty simple relationship here," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm to mask his growing unease.

  "Good guys is pretty laughable," Togi said, his smirk growing more pronounced. He stood up, walking slowly around Yoshito's wheelchair in a calculating circle, his footsteps silent against the stone floor. "Especially considering you all are funding the villains you're hunting."

  Yoshito's face paled, the accusation landing like a physical blow. "What are you talking about?"

  Togi stopped directly behind Yoshito, leaning down to speak near his ear. "Your Academy—your beacon of hope and justice—has been channeling funds to underground organizations for years. Creating the very threats you're supposedly protecting people from."

  The words sent a chill down Yoshito's spine. He couldn't see Togi's expression, but could feel the assassin's breath on his neck, uncomfortably close.

  "That's a lie," Yoshito spat, but doubt had already crept into his voice, undermining his conviction.

  Togi moved back into Yoshito's line of sight, pulling a small device from his pocket. He placed it on the table between them, and a holographic projection appeared—financial records, transaction histories, dates, signatures. The data scrolled slowly, giving Yoshito ample time to absorb the damning evidence.

  "The Academy creates the monsters," Togi said quietly. "Then sends heroes to defeat them. Quite the business model, isn't it?"

  The blue light from the hologram illuminated Yoshito's horrified expression as he stared at the evidence before him. Account numbers matching Academy holdings. Transfers to shell companies that eventually led to known villain organizations. Signatures from high-ranking officials he recognized.

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  His certainty began to crumble, foundations of everything he believed in shaken to the core. The worst part was, deep down, a part of him wasn't entirely surprised. There had always been whispers, rumors, inconsistencies that were quickly dismissed or explained away.

  Shoto's Vessel

  Shoto's actual body sat slumped against the wall in the Academy's control room, his chest barely rising with each shallow breath. His consciousness inhabited Giles' body, which was now being bathed in the healing light of Sama's unicorn. The spectral creature hovered above the assassin's head, its horn glowing with restorative energy that flowed into both captive and possessor.

  "I've finished reading the most recent memories of this murderer," Shoto said through Giles' mouth, the assassin's voice carrying Shoto's authoritative tone. "His name is Giles. A mid-level liaison with minimal combat skills."

  Sama noticed beads of sweat forming on both bodies—Shoto's real form and his stolen vessel. The concept was clearly taking a physical toll, straining both minds.

  "So here's the plan," Shoto continued, wincing slightly as a wave of pain passed through him. "Yumi, you're following me. I believe they took Yoshito into the interrogation room. Liaisons have tablets they break that transport them to and from the Guild."

  He pulled a small obsidian tablet from Giles' pocket, holding it up for the team to see. The surface appeared to shift and swirl, like liquid darkness trapped within glass, the edges adorned with symbols similar to those in the Guild's corridors.

  "If his memories are correct, this tablet will take us to the same room they're in." Shoto's expression hardened, determination overriding the pain of maintaining the connection. "We only have 15 minutes as I only healed enough mana to maintain this connection. Once the time's up, I'll be forced back into my body, and we'll lose our advantage."

  Azumi's hand drifted to her rifle, forming it instinctively. "I should come as backup—"

  "No," Shoto cut her off with a sharp gesture. "Too many of us will draw attention. Yumi's abilities give us the best chance of extracting Yoshito quietly." He turned to Yumi. "Are you ready?"

  Yumi nodded, her face betraying no emotion, though her hands clenched briefly at her sides.

  Sama watched, fascinated, as Shoto took the tablet and began rubbing it against his unconscious body on the floor, transferring some essence or energy between the two forms.

  "Uh, sir, what are you—" Yumi began, confusion evident in her voice.

  "Whenever I return to my real body, I'll use my concept to analyze this tablet so we can create our own later," Shoto explained, not looking up from his task. "The Academy needs every advantage we can get."

  Sama couldn't hide his shock. How powerful was Shoto? Taking over people's bodies was already extraordinary, but to analyze and potentially replicate complex artifacts? The scope of his abilities was far beyond what Sama had imagined, raising uncomfortable questions about what else the man might be capable of.

  As Shoto finished, he straightened up in Giles' body. "Sama, monitor us through your locusts as long as you can. If we're not back in 15 minutes..."

  He left the sentence unfinished, but his meaning was clear.

  Without another word, Shoto crushed the tablet in his hand. A surge of dark energy enveloped him and Yumi, tendrils of shadow wrapping around them like serpents. The air itself seemed to tear open, revealing a momentary glimpse of endless darkness before they vanished into it.

  And then—they were gone, leaving behind only Shoto's unconscious body and Sama's growing anxiety.

  Back in the interrogation room, Togi circled Yoshito's wheelchair like a predator sizing up its prey. His movements were casual yet deliberate, each step precisely placed.

  "Well. Who's your leader and why are you spying on us?" he asked, his tone still conversational despite the gravity of his questions.

  Yoshito was visibly overwhelmed. The doubt planted by the evidence of the Academy funding villains was suffocating, but he still believed in protecting the citizens of his country. Whatever the Academy's sins, the common people deserved protection.

  "Haikito is our chairman. That's our only leader," Yoshito answered reluctantly, deciding that this much information couldn't hurt.

  Togi shook his head, scoffing. "Bullshit, that's the obvious answer. I have a funny feeling about that Haikito but he's pretty straight and narrow. None of us have ever talked to him."

  "Talked to him?" Yoshito thought to himself, catching the implication in Togi's careful phrasing. "Does that mean assassins have talked to leaders of the Academy before?" he asked aloud before he could stop himself, curiosity overriding caution.

  "I'm asking the questions here, Hot-Wheels," Togi said, continuing his circular path around Yoshito. "It would be safe to assume we have, though. However, an Academy official wouldn't be so blatant talking directly with us. I guess that makes sense given the fa?ade of a 'hero'."

  He stopped directly in front of Yoshito, leaning down. "The only notable hint we have so far is they're very deliberate about one thing: elimination of a Vessel."

  Yoshito's mind raced. He didn't follow the news closely, but he remembered hearing about a boy within the Academy's hospital being called a Vessel, and later joining as a hero. Rei, the strange quiet kid who always seemed to be at the center of unusual events.

  "Now," Togi pressed, "why is the Academy of Arcane spying on the Assassin's Guild?"

  Just then, a sound—barely perceptible but unmistakable to Togi's trained ear—caught his attention. The breaking of a tablet, the dimensional tear it created disturbing the air.

  "Seems we have even more guests," Togi remarked, turning toward the source of the noise with mild interest, as if commenting on unexpected dinner visitors rather than intruders.

  Shoto and Yumi appeared, though Yumi had already activated her camouflage, rendering them nearly invisible. Only the sound of the tablet breaking had given away their position.

  "Giles, welcome back. You even brought a friend—" Togi began, but was cut off as Shoto charged forward, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him against the wall with surprising strength for Giles' relatively unimpressive frame.

  "Oh, you're not Giles at all!" Togi laughed despite being suspended off the ground, his eyes gleaming with interest rather than fear. The change in behavior was too dramatic, the movement patterns all wrong—this wasn't the liaison he knew.

  "Send these two back to Osaka or else!" Shoto snarled, tightening his grip on Togi's throat.

  "This voice sounds familiar," Togi thought to himself, mentally cataloging the cadence and tone, noting that this was definitely not Giles speaking. The realization that someone had possessed the liaison only seemed to amuse him further.

  Meanwhile, Yumi moved swiftly to Yoshito, placing her hand on his wheelchair and extending her camouflage over both of them. They began to retreat from the room while Shoto kept Togi occupied, moving silently across the stone floor toward the exit.

  Just as they exited, Togi vanished from Shoto's grasp, teleporting out of the chokehold. He reappeared behind Shoto, straightening his collar casually.

  "Fighting within the Guild is unauthorized," he stated calmly, as if reciting a rule in a classroom, no trace of concern for having been attacked.

  Yumi guided Yoshito through the Guild's labyrinthine corridors, following the grid coordinates she had memorized from Shoto's briefing. The stone passages seemed to shift and change, disorienting her sense of direction, but she maintained her focus, keeping them both concealed from any assassins they passed.

  "We're almost there," she whispered to Yoshito. "Just a little further and we can break out into the open air."

  They finally reached what appeared to be an exit—a massive set of doors leading outside. Yumi pushed Yoshito's wheelchair through, their forms still invisible to any observers.

  The night air hit them like a wave of relief, cool and clean compared to the stale atmosphere inside the Guild. They were out, the first step to safety.

  "We need to move quickly," Yumi said, picking up their pace. "Shoto can't hold Togi for long, and once his concept wears off..."

  Yoshito nodded, his hands gripping the wheels of his chair tightly. "Thank you," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I wasn't sure anyone would come for me."

  They continued moving, hope building with each meter they put between themselves and the Guild.

  Then—they stopped.

  Not by choice. Their bodies simply... froze.

  A presence loomed behind them, radiating cold fury that made the air itself feel heavy.

  "Where do you two fucks think you're going?"

  The camouflage flickered and failed as Kage stepped on Yumi's shadow, his own darkness extending to envelop both heroes. His eyes gleamed with dangerous intensity as he towered over them, his recovery seemingly complete—the assassin restored to his deadly prime.

  Yumi and Yoshito stared up at him, terror etched across their faces.

  Kage had returned.