The Arrow. A Special Grade Cursed Object. Extremely dangerous.
Legend states it was forged from a meteorite, imbued with an ancient, predatory power. Before it was sealed, the Arrow wandered the world, actively hunting those with immense potential—most of them powerful sorcerers. Of those it pierced, nearly all perished, their souls hollowed out by a gaping void. Records maintained that no one had ever survived its sting.
Kira Nanami was the sole exception.
Fifteen years ago, during a sweltering summer break while he was still a student, the Arrow chose him. It descended from the heavens, piercing his frame, and from that day forward, a great pink cat began to haunt his shadow. Since then, he had been searching for it. His career as a sorcerer eventually led him to the truth: during a riot at Kyoto Jujutsu High fifteen years prior, the very Arrow that struck him had escaped. Now, it had been sealed within the Temple Annex.
Kira ran a finger along the cold, glinting shaft of the Arrow, his thoughts drifting.
Outside, the rain intensified. It might have been a hallucination, but he could hear the faint sound of tires splashing through puddles and the low murmur of voices drawing near. The sorcerers had likely finished the cleanup of the Cursed Plague and were arriving at the foot of the mountain. Kira's expression remained stony; he had prepared for every variable.
Killer Queen manifested behind him, its lean frame eclipsing the candlelight and casting a massive, feline silhouette against the wall. The Stand raised its left hand, detaching a small, blue treaded tank from its wrist.
Kira bound the Arrow to the back of Sheer Heart Attack, securing it firmly with Cursed Energy. He stepped out of the Annex into the driving rain, the freezing wind lashing his face. From the central courtyard dozens of meters away, the panicked cries of the returning sorcerers echoed through the mist.
"What happened here?" "The pavilions... they've been destroyed!" "The Principal! Someone help the Principal!"
While everyone was preoccupied with the battered Gakuganji, Kira bypassed the gardens and the tiered pavilions. He ascended the ginkgo-covered steps until he reached the summit of the cliff. Standing at the precipice, facing a hundred-meter drop into a dark abyss, he looked out at the churning storm clouds that made the peak feel more like a tomb than a mountain.
He cast Sheer Heart Attack into the void.
The tiny tank traced a blue arc through the air, its skull-like eyes staring back at Kira with blank innocence before it vanished into the depths. A dull thud drifted up through the relentless rain—a heavy, lonely sound that was quickly swallowed by the wind.
Because Sheer Heart Attack possessed a nearly undetectable Cursed Energy signature and near-infinite durability, the fall would not destroy it; it would merely crack the shell further. Kira could not risk the tank being seen with such a conspicuous prize by Grade 1 sorcerers. Instead, he would retrieve it later, once the heat had died down, by issuing a recall command that would bring the tank—and the Arrow—directly back to his side.
He looked at his left hand, noting with a twinge of annoyance that several cracks had appeared on his fingernails—a sympathetic injury from the tank's descent.
It should have been more durable, he thought, staring down at the drowned landscape. Below, the wheat fields were a graveyard of sodden, darkened stalks. The base of the mountain was a muddy brown, the mid-slope was shrouded in black fog, and the peak was a stark, shivering silver under the rain.
Despite the downpour, Kira sighed softly. "What a beautiful day."
He turned and descended the mountain.
A few days later, the sky cleared.
Golden sunlight reclaimed the scarred earth, the warmth killing the microorganisms and fungi that had flourished in the damp corners of the city.
July 3rd: Kyoto's suicide rate plummeted by three percent, and several cold-case murders were solved.July 4th: The social media account 'Fetal Light' was decrypted, leading to the rescue of several missing officers.July 5th: A serial killer surrendered, claiming he had been "blinded by hatred."
By the same day, crime rates returned to normal. The Self-Defense Forces dismantled several cults that had emerged during the ten-day chaos.
On the morning of July 6th, at 7:00 AM, the radio chirped to life.
"Morning, morning, morning, Kyoto Video!" "Good morning," Kira whispered to the empty room. "I'm your neighbor Kai Harada. It's a brilliant morning—let's start it right!"
Kira prepared a cup of hot cocoa, watching the steam rise. Golden light spilled through the pale blue window frame, pooling on the floor like a puddle of liquid sun.
The golden Arrow sat quietly on his table.
Thanks to the testimony of his "best friend" Aoi Todo, the higher-ups believed Kira was beyond suspicion. They lauded him as a hero; Gakuganji was particularly grateful for Kira "saving" his life. Given his performance, the academy recommended him for promotion to Special Grade, but Kira declined.
"I did this for the peace of Kyoto and the protection of justice," he had declared, "not for honor or power."
In reality, he just wanted to avoid the extra work. This only deepened the elders' respect for him, leading them to grant him the title of Semi-Special Grade as a gesture of goodwill.
Kira finished his cocoa, switched off the radio, and opened the window. The air was crisp, the streets clean from the days of rain. He watched children laughing in the park and old men strolling through the square.
The rain had washed everything clean, and the sun had risen exactly as it should. For Kira, and for everyone else, this was happiness. If anyone were to ask about those ten days, they would all give the same answer:
"It was like a dream."
At 8:00 PM, Kira closed the curtains.
The grey shadows returned to his face as he stared into the darkness of his apartment. His pale blue eyes narrowed, his expression becoming a mask of stony calm.
"Time for a little overtime," he whispered to the silence. "A man should always keep his word."
"I'm coming for what's mine, Hasegawa Kaede."