The phantom stood before Maki, who had collapsed onto the sofa, her legs giving out from the sheer terror of the intrusion. In a voice that sounded hauntingly familiar, he spoke.
"Would you mind making yourself decent?"
The words jolted Maki back to reality. She realized, with a start, that she was nearly half-naked. Her dress had been torn open, the sleeves the only thing still clinging to her frame. While her lingerie remained intact, her exposed skin bore the undeniable, messy evidence of the moments that had preceded the phantom's arrival.
"Oh? And are you sure you want me to cover up?"
Maki fought with every fiber of her being to suppress her trembling, forcing her body into a pose of practiced, coquettish allure. If this phantom was indeed the boy she suspected, he would surely succumb to her charms. No matter his goal, Maki was confident that once she introduced intimacy into the equation, she could steer the situation in her favor.
However, her gambit failed before she could even take the first step.
"Of course. Though, if you're content to remain as you are, it makes no difference to me."
It felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. The chill of wounded pride momentarily eclipsed her fear. Bristling with indignation, she pulled her clothes back together and straightened her appearance.
"...There. Satisfied? And honestly, how long do you intend to wear that ridiculous thing? It doesn't suit you at all, Tatsuya Shiba."
Even with his face hidden by the mask, Maki could tell—or rather, she was made to understand—that Tatsuya wasn't the least bit shaken. By simply and naturally ignoring her provocation, he asserted absolute control over the room.
"Now then," he said. "Let's move on to our negotiation."
"Negotiation? What could you possibly want?"
"First, listen to this."
Maki felt a prickle of unease at his polite, formal tone. That unease vanished instantly, replaced by sheer horror as a recording began to play from the device in Tatsuya's hand. It was the sound of her and Takuma, caught in the heat of their exchange on the sofa.
"You were eavesdropping?! You pervert!"
Maki screamed, her temper finally snapping. But the sentence Tatsuya uttered after pausing the recording turned her blood to ice.
"It would be quite the scandal if this leaked to the press, wouldn't it? Only recently, a similar incident caused a massive public outcry. If a former idol on the decline caused that much of a stir, imagine what would happen to a beautiful actress at the very peak of her career."
"What do you want?!" she hissed, her voice bordering on hysterical. In sharp contrast, Tatsuya remained perfectly composed.
"I have two demands. First: cut all ties with Shippou. And don't bother pretending you don't understand my meaning—I'm not talking about romance."
"I get it," Maki muttered, her attempt to deflect the conversation preemptively crushed. She nodded sullenly.
"Second: do not lay a finger on anyone high-school-aged or younger."
"...And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know the details of what you're plotting. Perhaps it's even something beneficial for magicians; frankly, I don't care. Just stay out of my orbit and stop stirring up trouble around me."
"Wait... that's it?"
"If your targets are college students or older, they are adults. I have no intention of interfering with your business—provided it doesn't disadvantage me. Do you accept these terms?"
"Yes... yes, if that's all you want."
In that moment, Maki realized the terrifying truth: this boy did not fear the law, nor did he fear the power of the state.
"Who... what are you?"
"The moment I confirm your compliance, the audio data will be deleted. Thank you for a productive discussion."
Without answering her question, Tatsuya's silhouette vanished through the balcony doors. Maki rushed to the window in shock, but he was gone. Instead, her eyes locked onto an airship looming closer to her building.
"What is that...? A news blimp?"
It bore the markings of a television station, but the aura emanating from it was anything but ordinary. It wasn't the voyeuristic energy of a paparazzi crew looking for a scoop. It was a cold, sharpened intent to kill. Maki felt, with bone-deep certainty, that the vessel was looking directly at her.
She was alone. Takuma was dead to the world, unconscious from the sedative ball Tatsuya had used. Her bodyguards were still slumped on the floor, knocked out cold. If she were attacked now, she had no way to resist.
"But why am I being targeted...? Wait, what?"
Maki blinked, unable to believe her eyes. One moment the airship was there; the next, it had vanished as if erased from existence. In its place, something seemed to be falling through the sky.
"Was that... what Tatsuya was wearing?"
As the object fell, Maki caught a glimpse of a humanoid shape with a black mask and wing-like appendages. It was the exact same gear worn by the boy who had just been extorting her.
"I don't... I don't understand any of this..."
Confronted with a series of events that defied all logic and reason, Maki surrendered to the overwhelming confusion.
Tatsuya had just finished dealing with a remnant cell of the No Head Dragon—operatives of the Great Asian Alliance who had marked Maki's father for "purging" and intended to use her death as a warning. In the process of taking them down, Tatsuya had taken a hit to his back so severe that, without his Self-Restoration ability, he would likely never have moved again.
"Tatsuya-kun! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. Though, if I didn't have Regrowth, I might be dead."
"That is not what 'fine' means!"
Kyouko's voice crackled through the comms, her words bordering on a shriek of panic. Tatsuya took the scolding with a quiet, internal sigh.
"The enemies were definitely Great Asian Alliance. I caught an accent in their speech."
"It was likely a purge," Sanada's voice joined the feed. "Maki Kowamura's father runs a TV station that apparently failed to follow their instructions. They wanted to make an example of her."
"In the middle of the city? That's remarkably short-sighted of them."
"Hard to say for sure. After all, you've gone and 'erased' the evidence before we could ask questions."
"Major! You know as well as I do that leaving them be would have caused a logistical nightmare!" Kyouko snapped.
"I know, I know. That's why I left it to Tatsuya-kun."
"...Regardless, I'm heading home. I'll decompose the mask and the flight wings now."
"Right. We got some excellent data from them, anyway."
Tatsuya discarded the jammer-equipped mask and the mechanical wings, decomposing them into their constituent molecules until not a trace remained. He then began moving across the rooftops toward his parked bike at the station. He knew all too well that if he returned to the surveillance car now, a worried Kyouko wouldn't let him leave for hours.
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