8:30 AM – Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Inside the train station.
I left home a little early today, but this is my first day of high school—and my first day living alone.
I absolutely cannot be late.
A young girl in a pristine JK uniform stepped off the train, her flaxen hair catching the fluorescent light like spun gold.
The morning rush hour surged around her, a relentless tide of bodies and briefcases, and she clutched her phone like a lifeline.
Her hazel eyes—bright, but tinged with nerves—scanned the map on her screen as her lips moved in a quiet mantra.
“To get to school… this exit should be closer.
Okay, Asuna.
First day.
First step toward independence.
You’ve got this—”
She never finished the sentence.
A scream ripped through the station—then another.
Then a chorus of them, raw and frantic.
Asuna’s head snapped up.
And her world turned to hell.
A massive creature stood in the center of the concourse, grey-furred and towering, its head a grotesque mockery of a bat.
It moved on two legs with terrible speed, claws carving through the fleeing crowd like scythes through wheat.
Blood sprayed in arcs.
Bodies fell.
And above the chaos, the monster tilted its head back, catching the rain of gore in its gaping maw.
“Delicious… delicious!”
Its voice was wet, ecstatic, inhuman.
What… what is that?
A demon?
How can—
Asuna’s legs gave out.
She hit the ground hard, her phone skittering across the tile.
Her mind screamed at her to run, to hide, to do anything—but her body refused to obey.
She could only watch, paralyzed, as the Bat Devil swept through the last of the stragglers.
One by one, they fell.
And then—silence.
Only she remained, slumped against a pillar, trembling like a leaf in a storm.
The creature turned.
Its bloodshot eyes found her, and a grotesque smile split its ruined face.
“Such a fragrance…” It inhaled deeply, shuddering with pleasure.
“Your blood… it’s exquisite.
Top-tier!”
Asuna’s breath caught in her throat.
The devil lunged—
And something appeared beside her.
A mass of metal, like hundreds of swords fused into a single writhing entity, its surface shifting and groaning with every movement.
It spoke in a voice like grinding stone, ancient and hungry.
“Do you want to live?
Do you want my power?”
The offer was absurd.
Terrifying.
And yet—
“Help me,” Asuna heard herself whisper, “no matter the price—”
*BOOM.
*
An explosion shattered the moment.
Something—a projectile, moving so fast it was barely a blur—slammed into the Bat Devil’s head with brutal force.
Half its cheek dissolved in a spray of black blood and shattered bone, and the creature staggered back with a guttural snarl.
“Hey, student.”
The voice came from beside her—calm, almost casual.
Asuna looked up.
A boy stood over her, schoolbag slung over one shoulder, black hair ruffled, dark eyes fixed not on her but on the monster ahead.
His profile was sharp, handsome in an understated way.
And his voice… his voice carried no fear.
Not even a tremor.
“No matter the price?” he said, almost to himself.
“You don’t even know what those words mean.
You’re not thinking about yourself at all.”
“I—” Asuna’s voice cracked.
“What are you—”
She couldn’t finish.
She couldn’t understand.
In the face of that—the blood, the carnage, the living nightmare—this boy stood as if he’d just wandered into a minor inconvenience.
“You brat!” The Bat Devil recovered, its ruined jaw knitting together with sickening speed.
It opened its mouth wide, throat distending into a barrel-like shape, preparing to—
“Oh, that move?” The boy’s lips quirked.
“Since you like keeping your mouth open…”
He reached into his bag and pulled out a grenade—heavy, compact, military-grade.
He wound his arm back like a baseball pitcher, and Asuna barely registered the motion before the projectile left his hand with a crack of displaced air.
It flew straight.
Through the devil’s open maw.
Down its throat.
Gulp.
The creature froze.
Its eyes went wide with dawning horror.
Asuna stared, mouth agape.
From over ten meters away.
Through a constricted target.
At that speed.
Is he even human?
“I’m Namikaze,” the boy said, not even glancing at her.
Asuna blinked.
“I—I’m Yuuki Asuna—”
“Ready for the boom?”
Thump.
A muffled detonation echoed from deep within the Bat Devil’s chest.
Fire burst from its neck, its ribs—and then the creature erupted from the inside out, a geyser of viscera and black ichor spraying in all directions.
Asuna threw her arms up instinctively—
But the boy was faster.
He stepped in front of her, raised his right hand, and spoke a single word.
“Gluttony.
”
From the void, a serpent emerged.
Massive, coal-black, its body traced with pale gold patterns that writhed like living flames.
Its jaws unhinged to an impossible width, and with one sweeping inhale, it devoured every fragment of the Bat Devil—flesh, bone, blood—all of it, gone in an instant.
The serpent licked its lips, cast the boy a satisfied glance, and vanished as if it had never been.
Asuna’s heart pounded.
Her mind raced.
“Namikaze-kun—”
“Who’s ‘Namikaze-kun’?”
She faltered.
“But… isn’t your name Minato Namikaze?”
He turned to look at her then, one brow arched in genuine bewilderment.
“What Minato?
What Namikaze?” He snorted.
“I was quoting a meme.”
Asuna opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
He just killed a demon with a grenade, summoned a giant snake, and he’s making jokes about anime.
Who is this person?
She glanced to her right, where the metallic entity had appeared—
It was gone.
“Huh.
Ran off, did it?” The boy followed her gaze, unimpressed.
“Lucky for it.
I would’ve eaten that thing too while I was at it.”
He said it like he was discussing lunch.
Asuna stared at him, utterly speechless.
And somewhere, deep in her chest, the first fragile ember of something new began to glow.
Not fear.
Curiosity.