Kouta walked through the rain, with no purpose in mind. He was just walking.
"Hey. That's a crazy stunt you pulled back there."
Kouta glared up. "What do you want? Who are you?"
It was a man in a black hooded jacket. He was perched on top of a streetlight. "I'm sure you know who Master Yu is right? He sent me to Tokyo looking for Murakami Kouta, but I didn't have an address. And then I see a building just collapse out of nowhere. And here we are."
Kouta frowned. "What's your name?"
The man pulled off his hood. He had brown skin, and dreads, with one half neon purple and the other half black. "Vanos."
Kouta continued walking. "Our group comes back together in three days. I'll come back here to get you."
—
The next day, police cars surrounded the demolition site of TPD HQ.
"Who could've done something like this? And overnight?"
"It's a disaster...! What are we gonna do now?!"
The media, with a large pool of news reporters, surrounded themselves behind the police barriers and yellow tape.
A blue sedan pulled up.
The news reporters started hounding the man who came out of the car.
He stepped under the police tape.
"Detective Takeshi...! Thank goodness you're alive."
"What happened here...?"
"Sometime last night TPD HQ was attacked, and the entire building collapsed, killing everyone inside, and also..." the officer pointed.
Takeshi turned around to see a body under a white sheet. He peeked under it and saw Kozan's corpse.
He jumped back. "General...!!"
"He's been punctured in the chest, severely burned from the inside out, and there are some broken bones."
Takeshi crouched down. "Rest easy." He put the sheet back over his face.
He stood up. "I've seen this kind of destruction before. Usako Ban had a power like this."
"B-But Ban is dead! He died in the Tokyo Incident two years ago...!"
"I know that. I'm saying that it's possible someone took his vector. And the only person I know who can do that is... Murakami Kouta."
The police chief walked up. "Are you saying that Murakami Kouta is responsible for all of this?!"
Takeshi nodded. He walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "Kozan is the one who ordered the hit on Sato Kasumi. She was a friend of his. I say his motive was revenge."
"I see. So he charged into HQ looking for the culprit."
"Yeah. I'd say there's a seventy percent chance that he knows I pulled the trigger. He might hunt me down, or kill me on sight. I'm going to resign from my position."
The chief's eyes widened. "Resign?! But you can't! The TPD needs you, you're our top detective!"
"Me being here puts the rest of you in danger. You see what happened to all the innocent officers in this building right? All because of one girl. This is a declaration of war. When I find out where Sakugami lives, it'll be his end. I'll put my own private team together and act from the shadows. We'll be in touch."
Takeshi walked away from the crime scene.
—
Kouta sat at a small circular wooden table in the tiny kitchen of a shady motel room. He sat with his head and arms on the table. He stared down blankly, wearing nothing but a black shirt and black jeans with socks.
The doorknob jiggled. The door opened.
Ezra walked in and shut the door behind her. She leaned back against it as she stared at Kouta.
About thirty seconds pass.
"Why did you do it?" Ezra asked.
Kouta said nothing. He laid his head on its side.
"The entire building, Kouta? Really? There were innocent people in there!"
Kouta frowned hatefully. "Kasumi was innocent...!"
Ezra stopped talking. She walked over to the table and sat down opposite him. "Kouta. You're not a heartless killer. This isn't you."
"You don't know what I am!!"
"Yes I do!! I know what you are, and I know who you are. And I'm telling you this isn't the way!"
Kouta's face softened up. Tears dropped to the table. "Then tell me... what is? If I don't do anything, they'll kill us all. I have to protect what I have left..."
"I don't know, but killing innocent people isn't it. That makes you just as bad as them. Hundreds of people died last night Kouta. Hundreds."
"I lost a part of my humanity a long time ago. It doesn't make any difference to me if it's ten or a thousand."
"Well I don't approve of it."
Kouta stood up, planting his hands on the table. "Why should I need your approval?!"
Erza also stood up, slapping her hands on the table. "Because I love you!" She glared him in his eyes. "And I don't want to see you like this."
Kouta stared her back for a little while longer before sitting down and putting his head back to the table.
Erza grabbed Kouta's hand. "Now come on, I'm getting you out of this dump. You can stay at my apartment for the next two days."