Night had fallen over the village.
Inside Leo's house, the mood was far heavier than the quiet outside.
No one was joking now.
No one was relaxed.
They all sat around the table in the living room, the recording of the council meeting paused on Kurenai's phone.
The room was silent for a moment.
Then Asagi finally spoke.
She leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on Leo.
"You truly believe an elder is working with Nomad?"
Leo didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
His answer was immediate.
Calm.
Certain.
Across from him, Sakura rubbed her temple.
"You literally attacked the Igawa Elder."
She looked at him seriously.
"Our elder."
Leo leaned back in his chair.
"And?"
Sakura blinked.
"And?!"
She gestured toward the phone.
"That meeting almost turned into a civil war!"
Kurenai suddenly tapped the screen.
The recording resumed.
The video showed the moment Leo lunged across the room—
And then the thirty Taimanin drop from the ceiling.
BOOM.
The impact replayed clearly.
The room watched the footage in silence.
Kurenai paused it again right when the gravity technique activated.
Then she leaned back in her chair.
"Let's focus on something else."
She pointed at the screen.
"Thirty elite Taimanin."
She held up three fingers.
"Each one of them alone could wipe out a small city."
Then she pointed at Leo.
"And they barely held you down."
Leo shrugged slightly.
"Blacklight helps."
Kurenai smirked.
"That's one way to put it."
Rinko, sitting nearby with her laptop open, didn't look up from her screen.
"Actually, that isn't the concerning part."
Everyone looked at her.
She turned the laptop toward them.
"I've been analysing the recording."
She tapped the keyboard.
The video zoomed in on the Igawa Elder's face during Leo's accusation.
Frame by frame.
"You all thought he looked calm," Rinko said.
"But look closely."
She froze the frame.
"His left hand."
Everyone leaned closer.
His hand was resting on the table.
Perfectly still.
Too still.
Rinko adjusted her glasses.
"His heart rate didn't increase."
Yuuko blinked.
"You can detect that from the video?"
Rinko nodded.
"Microvascular colour shifts."
She zoomed further.
"No adrenaline spike."
"No stress response."
She leaned back.
"He wasn't surprised."
The room went quiet.
Asagi slowly crossed her arms.
"That could just mean he has strong emotional control."
Leo shook his head.
"No."
He stared at the frozen image of the Igawa Elder.
"That's not control."
His eyes hardened.
"That's someone who already knew the accusation was coming."
Silence filled the room again.
Then Kurenai leaned back with a grin.
"Well."
She cracked her knuckles.
"That just makes things more fun."
Sakura groaned.
"This is not fun."
But Leo was already thinking ahead.
Because if he was right—
Then the problem wasn't just Nomad.
It was that someone inside the village leadership was helping them.
And if that was true…
Then rescuing Kotaro was going to be a lot more complicated than just kicking down a door.
Later That Night – Leo's House
The house had gone quiet.
Most of the lights were off, the halls dim, and everyone else either asleep or at least trying to be.
But in one room—
Blue light from a laptop screen cut through the darkness.
Leo stood behind Rinko, one hand resting on the back of her chair, eyes locked onto the screen.
Rinko hadn't moved in hours.
Her fingers were still moving across the keyboard, slower now, but steady.
Lines of code, signal maps, and fragmented data filled the display.
"…Still nothing clean," she muttered. "Whoever routed that call knew exactly what they were doing."
Leo exhaled quietly.
"They're hiding deep."
Rinko nodded.
"Multiple layers. Signal ghosting, dead-end routing, artificial noise injection…"
She paused.
"…This isn't standard Nomad."
Leo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Meaning?"
Rinko didn't look away from the screen.
"Meaning someone upgraded their systems."
Before Leo could respond—
The door slid open slightly.
"Asagi" stepped in.
She paused when she saw them.
Still working.
Still awake.
She sighed softly and walked over.
"You two should sleep."
Rinko didn't respond.
Leo didn't move.
Asagi crossed her arms.
"It's three in the morning."
Still nothing.
She walked closer, now standing right beside them.
"Let the others take over."
Rinko finally leaned back slightly, rubbing her eyes.
"…I'm close."
Asagi gave her a look.
"That's what you said an hour ago."
Leo chuckled quietly.
"She's not wrong."
Asagi turned to him.
"And you."
Leo raised an eyebrow.
"What about me?"
"You've been standing there the entire time."
"…I like standing."
"Go to bed."
"No."
Asagi sighed.
Then, without warning—
She reached forward and closed the laptop halfway.
Rinko froze.
"…Hey."
Asagi looked at her firmly.
"You're both exhausted."
She glanced at Leo.
"And tired people make mistakes."
Leo rubbed the back of his neck.
"…Fair."
Rinko hesitated.
Then she sighed.
"…Fine. Five hours."
"Six," Asagi corrected immediately.
Rinko frowned.
"Five."
"Six."
"…Five and a half."
Asagi nodded.
"Done."
Leo smirked.
"Negotiation skills."
Rinko rolled her eyes but stood up slowly.
Asagi stepped closer to Leo.
"You too."
Leo stretched slightly.
"Yeah, yeah."
But as he turned away—
His expression shifted for just a second.
Because deep inside—
The Blacklight stirred again.
Not violently.
Not urgently.
Just…
Awake.
Watching.
Leo glanced back at the laptop.
Then toward the window.
"…Yeah," he muttered quietly.
"Tomorrow's gonna be fun."
Asagi gave him a look.
"That's never a good sign when you say it like that."
Leo just smiled faintly.
But neither of them missed the feeling.
Something was coming.
And sleep—
Was just a short break before it hit.
To be continued
Hope people like this ch and give me power stones, ok Explain why I have been here and there with this Fic, my Exams are starting do to this I hadn't have time to write my fics sorry