Yo. Takeya Renshō again.

  And as you may have seen… things just keep getting worse for me.

  I was kidnapped.

  Kidnapped, I tell you!

  See, there’s this elevator-like thing they use to travel between gates. It doesn’t really have a name, so I started calling it the Chukavator. Because, you know… Chūkan + elevator? Yeah. I’m clever like that. But it all started when I was dragged in….

  The first thing I was told to do was pop a weird capsule.

  Honestly? No compints there.

  This is PREMIUM MATERIAL. The outfit is kinda cool, and I hate being in my Shinsei Gai all the time, so it’s kinda nice.

  The second thing?

  Yeah. That’s where the problems began.

  ———

  INSIDE THE ‘CHUKAVATOR’

  Watari ughed to himself, arms crossed casually behind his head.

  “So from here to the Gomōnban is about twenty minutes, huh?”

  No one responded.

  He repeated it. Louder this time.

  “So from here to the Gomōnban is about twenty minutes, HUH?”

  Ayase looked at him, deadpan.

  “Yes, Hayashi. It’s twenty minutes. You’ve learned simple math. I’m proud.”

  Watari grinned dumbly. “You hear that, guys? He’s proud!”

  Kaito cpped a hand on his shoulder.

  “Hey man, you really shouldn’t be proud that he’s proud of that.”

  Yumi bonked both of them on the head with the back of her hand.

  “We don’t have time for idiot hour, guys.”

  She turned toward Ayase.

  “What’s the situation?”

  Ayase paused for a beat.

  “It seems the Kegare have sent some of their lesser warriors on a warpath for the Fifth. About forty have reached the gate—but we’ve detected more incoming.”

  Ryuko sighed.

  “So basically, just go beat up their weak guys and make them retreat.”

  Ayase shook his head.

  “If it were that simple, the Gomōnban warriors you saw the other day would’ve handled it. The fact that it isn’t… is the problem.”

  Yumi crossed her arms. “So we’re going in blind. I love that.”

  Watari shrugged.

  “Just another day in the life of a Tamashkii—”

  Everyone except Takeya cut him off:

  “USER.”

  Watari gasped. “Wait… are we all soul bonded now?! We can just always finish each other’s—”

  Silence.

  Kaito gave him another pat on the shoulder.

  “Hey man… this ‘day in the life’ bit? It’s kinda pyed out.”

  Watari gasped again.

  “But—but it was kind of my thing.”

  Kaito slowly shook his head.

  Ayase cleared his throat.

  “Also, Hayashi… I assume you’ll be expining to our captain why you brought an Ichimōnban along that is not Captain Masaki.”

  Everyone turned to look at Takeya.

  He gulped.

  Watari shrugged.

  “Oh yeah, I’ll tell her when I see her. Trust me, he’s the man for the job. Ain’t that right, Takeba?”

  A bead of sweat rolled down Takeya’s face.

  “I-It’s Takeya…”

  Watari wrapped an arm around him.

  “That’s what I said. Takeya and I got this whole thing under control.”

  Everyone in the elevator sighed at the same time.

  ———

  So that’s the situation.

  I’ve been taken against my will. And put up against the Kegare.

  If my parents are reading this, I want them to know—

  It was Watari Hayashi’s fault.

  “Hey Takeba, we’re here! Let’s get going!”

  The Chukavator came to a stop.

  The ripple to the Fifth Gate shimmered open.

  Watari stepped out.

  And then—he pulled Takeya with him.

  CUT TO BLACK.