Tokyo never really slept.
Even at dawn, when the first pale rays slipped between the steel towers, the city's pulse never slowed. Neon signs still blinked like tired eyes refusing to close, holo-billboards streamed ads over the rooftops, and the sky was thick with the hum of delivery drones weaving between skyscrapers.
Beneath it all, that strange metallic tang lingered half ozone, half battery acid, a taste that stuck to your tongue and made you wonder if the city itself was powered by some restless, artificial heart.
Genso reactors, deep beneath the ground, churned out energy for millions, bathing the streets with an unnatural glow.
But to Hikaru Saeba, all that power just made it easier to sense one thing: trouble. And right now, trouble was marching beside him, personified in a scarlet uniform and a scowl sharp enough to slice a tank in two.
Ria Kusanagi. Top of her class, the youngest ever to earn a G.A.R.I combat license, the kind of prodigy who treated rules like gospel and inefficiency like a personal insult.
Her long black hair was tied so tight it looked like it might snap. Her eyes cold, precise, always scanning for threats, never lingered on Hikaru for long, as if she was perpetually disappointed by his mere existence.
Hikaru jogged to keep pace, sneakers slapping the concrete as Ria strode toward the looming black tower that dominated Neo-Shibuya's skyline. G.A.R.I headquarters stood like a challenge to the gods: a monolith of obsidian glass, spiked with antennae and defense turrets, its silhouette a blade stabbed deep into the city's heart.
"Hey, Kusanagi, slow down!" Hikaru gasped, feeling the burn in his legs. "I'm dying back here!"
She didn't break stride. Didn't even glance his way. "You survived a Reborn last week. If you can handle that, you can handle a walk."
"My legs beg to differ."
"Your legs lack discipline."
He groaned, more from embarrassment than exhaustion. In this city of superhumans, why did being ordinary feel like a personal failing?
They reached the main gates. A massive holo-screen shimmered overhead, displaying G.A.R.I's emblem: an all-seeing eye, swirling with rainbow energy, hovering above crossed swords. Security drones drifted in lazy orbits, their micro-cannons tracking every movement. Soldiers in black and red, faces set in grim lines, hustled past. Cadets barked orders, clutching data slates and sidearms. Even the air felt tense, as if Tokyo itself was bracing for the next catastrophe.
Hikaru swallowed, nerves prickling. "So… should we, uh, tell the higher-ups that I might have, sort of, accidentally unleashed my powers last night?"
Ria stopped dead. Hikaru barely avoided colliding with her back. She turned, her eyes like twin shards of ice.
"Hikaru. You activated your Armament without clearance, destroyed city property, almost let a Reborn break containment, and endangered civilians."
He shrank under her glare. "When you put it like that, it sounds bad."
"It is bad. And you're telling them yourself."
He flailed. "That's so unfair! You're supposed to have my back!"
Her lips twitched almost a smile, but not quite. "I am. That's why I'm making sure you learn from it."
Before he could protest further, the ground trembled. A low, thrumming vibration, as if something deep beneath the city had just woken up hungry. The air rippled with violent energy violet lightning that crackled and screamed, twisting the light into unnatural shapes. Hikaru staggered, grabbing a handrail for balance.
Ria was a blur, her katana in hand, eyes scanning the horizon. "Reborn attack?" Hikaru shouted, voice cracking.
"No," she answered, her tone clipped, measured. "That pulse came from inside headquarters."
Inside? That was impossible. Before Hikaru could process what that meant, alarms blared shrill, urgent, echoing through the tower's bones. Genso energy arced like angry veins across the building's armored skin, bathing everything in flickering purple light.
A synthetic voice thundered from the speakers: "Alert. Sector Seven breach. Unknown anomaly in containment. All personnel to emergency stations."
Ria swore under her breath a rare crack in her composure. "Stay close, Hikaru!"
"I'd really rather not!" he yelped, even as adrenaline forced his feet to follow her.
"You don't have a choice!" she barked, already sprinting into the chaos.
Inside G.A.R.I Headquarters
The world had turned to panic. Soldiers raced through the corridors, weapons drawn, faces tight with fear. Energy rifles hummed, casting blue shadows on the walls. Emergency lights strobed red, painting everything in pulses of blood. The air was thick with the smell of ozone, sweat, and burnt metal.
Hikaru gawked as they dodged past squads of operatives and medics. "Why does it always look like the end of the world in here?"
"Because someone always makes it the end of the world," Ria snapped, already scanning her holo-map.
He tried to laugh, but it came out as a whimper.
They rounded a corner and stopped dead.
Ahead, a containment chamber yawned open, its armored doors blown inward like paper. The hallway beyond was thick with swirling violet Genso smoke, alive and writhing, crawling up the walls and floor in tendrils. The energy didn't just glow it pulsed, like a heartbeat echoing through the bones of the building.
Ria moved forward, every muscle taut. "This isn't a Reborn attack," she murmured, voice low.
Hikaru peeked out, trembling. "Then… what is it?"
From the gloom, a voice drifted. Soft. Familiar. Twisted.
"…Hikaru Saeba."
The words hit Hikaru like a slap. Not a monster's voice. Human. But warped, full of static and malice.
A figure stepped from the smoke, a tall man, his G.A.R.I uniform shredded and smeared with blood. His eyes blazed with unnatural violet light, veins of Genso energy crawling across his skin like living tattoos.
Hikaru's stomach dropped. "Y-You're"
Ria's face went pale. "No. That's impossible. You're supposed to be dead!"
The man smiled, slow and cruel, shadows writhing around him. "Not dead. Just… reborn."
The energy in the corridor thickened, hungry, as if the shadows themselves recognized him. Hikaru felt his sword, hidden in its sheath, begin to tremble. A whisper echoed in his mind: Feed me… feed me…
His hands shook so badly he nearly dropped the blade. "Kusanagi," he whispered, "we need to get out of here."
Ria's eyes narrowed, jaw set. "No. We stand our ground."
The man lifted a trembling hand. Lightning arced between his fingers, wild and poisonous, illuminating the madness in his gaze.
"For you, Hikaru… this is only the beginning."
Violet energy exploded down the corridor, swallowing light and sound and hope.
CHAPTER 2 — THE BLACK FILE OF G.A.R.I
The sky was still a pale watercolor when Hikaru found himself shackled in the back of a sleek black hover-car, wrists locked in magnetic cuffs that vibrated with hidden menace. The windows were dark, one-way glass, and every surface gleamed with quiet threat.
"Is this really necessary?" Hikaru moaned, tugging at the restraints. He could feel the low hum of the energy field, as if the car itself was judging him.
The cuffs didn't budge. They never did.
Across from him, Ria sat with arms folded, her expression a perfect storm of exasperation and concern. She'd developed this look just for him, a blend of 'why are you like this' and 'please don't make it worse.'
"If you'd just follow protocol for once, I wouldn't have to bring you in like a criminal," she said, voice tight.
"I didn't break protocol!" Hikaru protested, trying to sound brave. "You said not to use my Armament unless it was life-or-death!"
She raised an eyebrow. "You were buying taiyaki."
"It was a very aggressive taiyaki," he grumbled, cheeks burning.
Ria exhaled, fogging the window. For a moment, Hikaru thought he saw something softer flicker in her eyes worry, maybe, or exhaustion. Then it was gone, replaced by steely determination.
The hover-car descended, engines whispering as they slid into the underbelly of the city. They entered a vast underground complex, walls webbed with glowing blue veins of energy like the city's nervous system laid bare. It smelled of metal, fresh ozone, and coffee so strong it could fuel a reactor. Somewhere, machinery thumped and hissed, punctuating the silence.
Above the entrance, holographic kanji shimmered, pulsing with secrets and warnings. This was G.A.R.I's true heart: a place where rules were written, destinies forged, and shadows whispered of things even Tokyo feared to name.
Hikaru swallowed hard, realizing that whatever had broken loose upstairs, whatever secret the Black File contained it was only the beginning. And this time, running wouldn't save him.