Chapter 20: Dogs On Leashes

Mio

The training room was empty.

No—not empty. Someone was sitting at a table in the center, a cup of tea steaming in front of her. She had white hair and skin so pale it nearly matched, with eyes that caught the light like something frozen.

The cold made sense now.

Mio’s breath fogged as she stepped inside. The door swung shut behind her.

“You’re early.” The woman didn’t look up. “Ishida talks fast when he’s nervous.”

She gestured to the empty chair across from her.

Mio took it. Freezing.

“Good. You don’t wait for permission.”

The table was freezing too. A glass of water someone had left out had a thin skin of ice across the top.

But the woman herself seemed warm. She wrapped both hands around her teacup like she was savoring the heat. Sleeves pushed up. Bureau uniform worn loose.

“Shizuka,” she said. “Stasis-Marked. I’ll be handling your combat assessment.”

She pushed a second cup across the table. Steam curled off it.

“Tea? It’s jasmine. I keep it warm.”

Mio didn’t touch the cup. “You’re the cold.”

“Guilty.” Shizuka tilted her head. “Most people take longer to figure that out.”

“I’ve been freezing since the lobby.”

“Mm. The vents carry it.” She took a sip. “Seventeen years old. Gaian-Marked four days ago. Solo cleared a C-grade swarm.”

“Ishida told you.”

“Ishida tells me everything. It’s his job.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “You’re Gaian’s fourth, you know.”

“I just left his office. Are you a telepath or something?”

Shizuka paused. “Phones exist.”

“Oh, anyway,” Mio said. “Segawa mentioned it.”

“Did he mention how the others died?”

Mio’s jaw tightened. “He mentioned enough.”

“All three?”

“Reservoir overload. Heart failure. Suicide.” Shizuka stared Mio up and down as she recited the encounter with Segawa. The faintest goosebumps appeared on her arms. “I got the summary.”

Shizuka set down her cup.

“He told you the what. Did he tell you the how?”

Mio kept her mouth closed.

Shizuka wrapped her hands around the cup again. The steam rose between them.

“The first one cooked from the inside out. Gaian’s power is hungry, and it took more than his body could hold.” She took a sip. “They found him in his apartment. The walls were flowering.”

She swallowed something sour.

“The second made it two weeks. A healer, like you. She was trying to save someone. Pushed too hard, too fast.” Another sip. “Her team said she was smiling when her heart stopped. Like she’d finally done enough.”

Mio rubbed her arms.

“And the third?”

Shizuka’s gaze drifted to the frosted window. The empty hallway beyond.

“Four months. Longer than the others. He was doing well, actually. Learning the limits. Managing the hunger.”

Her finger traced the rim of the cup. Slow circles.

“Then he stopped sleeping. Said he could hear it even when he wasn’t channeling. Said it was getting louder.”

She looked at Mio.

“They found him in his bathroom. He’d chewed through his own tongue trying to stay quiet at the end.”

Shizuka reached across the table. Her fingers found Mio’s wrist. Cold enough to notice, not cold enough to hurt.

“I’m not telling you this to scare you.” Her thumb brushed across Mio’s pulse. “I’m telling you because the Bureau won’t. They’ll give you metrics. Targets. Quotas. They’ll tell you what you’re worth to them.”

A soft squeeze.

“But they won’t tell you what it costs. They’ve never worn a mark.”

Her hand stayed where it was.

“There are six of us, Mio. Six champions for six Vestiges. And half of us aren’t playing anymore.”

She said it like a fact, because it was.

“Kaname’s in America. Tellus-Marked. The incursions are worse over there. He’s busy.” She shrugged with one shoulder. “I’ve never met him in person. Just reports.”

Another slow circle on Mio’s wrist.

“Nami’s imprisoned. Pontos-Marked. Here, actually. Somewhere below us.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. “Don’t ask why. You’re not cleared.”

Not cleared.

Always not cleared.

“And Ezra.” Shizuka’s voice dropped. “Kharon-Marked. The Bureau knows he exists.”

She leaned closer. Her face inches from Mio’s.

“They just can’t find him.”

Her breath carried winter in it.

“That leaves Yenling.” The softness cracked, just for a moment. “Ignis-Marked. The strongest of us.”

Her grip tightened. Firm enough to feel.

“She went dark eight months ago.”

The water glass cracked. A thin line down the center.

“We used to train together. Spar.” Shizuka’s voice was quieter. “She was the only one who could push me. The only one who understood what this actually costs.”

She met Mio’s eyes.

“Then she stopped answering. Bureau sent people to her apartment. Empty. Like she’d never existed.”

Her thumb had stopped moving.

“So in Japan, it’s just me now.” A pause. “Was just me.”

Crazy woman.

“I want you alive, Mio. The Bureau has its reasons. Gaian has hers. Mine are simpler.”

She looked up. Her expression seemed real. Shizuka was good at that.

“Because I’m tired of being the only one.”

Part of her believed it.

Then her forehead burned.

The mark flaring like a coal pressed against bone. She flinched, hand flying up, but the skin was smooth. Unmarked.

Shizuka’s eyes tracked the movement.

“There she is,” she murmured. “Gaian doesn’t like me much.”

Mio’s breath fogged thicker.

“Does it hurt?” Shizuka watched the mark. “Mine burned too, the first time I met another Marked. Dogs catching a scent.”

She took another sip of tea. Watched Mio over the rim.

“They’re always watching. Always wanting. You’ll get used to it.”

The burning in Mio’s forehead pulsed. Once. Twice.

A notification. Gold-edged. Pulsing in her vision.

[ENGINE: DUEL REQUEST]

[Challenger: Shizuka — Lv. 67]

[Accept / Decline]

Sixty-seven.

Mio looked up.

Shizuka had gone still. The softness set aside. Put down like the teacup.

The temperature dropped. Frost bloomed across the table.

Somewhere beyond the door, Mio heard it. The training floor going quiet. Grunts stopping. Impacts pausing. They couldn’t see in here, but they didn’t need to.

They’d felt this cold before.

Shizuka didn’t speak. Didn’t explain.

Just waited.

The hunger uncurled.

Finally.

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