Tokyo overwhelmed Glad immediately.
Not the city itself—she'd visited before. But the creature community here operated differently. More hidden. More fractured.
"We've never had a central leader like you," Yuki explained, leading them through back alleys and hidden passages. "Kitsune trust kitsune. Tengu trust tengu. Cross-species cooperation is... rare."
"That's why you're vulnerable."
"Yes." Yuki's voice was grim. "The disappearances—they're exploiting our divisions."
They met with representatives from each affected species in a hidden shrine beneath the city.
A tengu elder, feathers ruffled with age. A kappa spokesperson, still damp from her river home. Several kitsune, tails twitching nervously.
"Tell us everything," Glad requested. "Every detail, no matter how small."
The stories emerged—fragmentary, frightening. Creatures going about their days, then vanishing. No struggle. No witnesses. No traces.
"But there IS a pattern," the kappa said slowly. "All of them mentioned feeling watched before they disappeared. A presence. Just at the edge of perception."
"Watched by what?"
"Don't know. But the feeling was consistent."
Glad exchanged glances with Ariel.
Something was hunting.
And it was smart enough to hide its tracks.