Aki Hayakawa stood alone at the edge of the park, hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat as a cold breeze pushed through the trees. Morning light filtered in through the branches, but it barely softened the hard set of his jaw. He looked like a man who’d tried and failed to find a moment of peace.

His cigarette hung loosely between his fingers, burning slowly while he stared out across the empty field. The quiet should’ve been calming — no Denji yelling, no Power causing disasters, no Makima calling him in early — but instead, Aki’s shoulders were stiff, his posture wired with something sharp and uneasy.

He checked the time on his phone for the third time in a minute. A mission in a few hours. A partner he didn’t trust. A “cheerful” new Division 4 member whose smile made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"..Reze."

Just her name made his expression harden.

Aki exhaled, smoke trailing past his lips before fading into the cold air. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead, frustrated, trying to make sense of the instinct clawing at his chest. Something about her aura felt… wrong. Wrong in a way that didn’t fit anything human.