The scene in the gym had become a routine. Fresh from a rather difficult training session, an exhausted Mei helps a barely conscious Ueno down to the basement for treatment from Aoi. Kiwako had decided to follow them. Yuzuki and Alice were in the office, discussing their dwindling supplies. Kohaku maintained her vigilant watch by…

Yosuke and Koharu squint as they try to look through the window of a small visitor center at the mountain’s summit. There is little else there, the parking lot and the picnicking area entirely abandoned, and one of the building’s walls covered in graffiti, indicating it hasn’t been serving its purpose for weeks now. From…

An entranced crowd of silhouettes murmur in an incomprehensible language, yet all of the shadows seem fixated on the ornate stage before them. Ruby red curtains draw open upon a lavish golden stage, equally inhuman silhouettes begin performing what appears to be some semblance of an opera. The crowd goes silent as the “play” commences.…

“I know the end, Xiaofei.” A blazing inferno in the middle of the city. A bright red truck arrives at the scene, followed by another, and another, each spilling dozens of firefighters onto the plaza. They don’t see Punisher, dashing past her as she gazes up at the mayhem in front of her, hands in…

It has been about an hour since Hanako and her friends started the hiking trail leading them through the mountains, and the woods are becoming denser as the trail snakes its way around large trees and protruding rocks. A sign at the foot of the mountain informed them the trail to the top of the…

A cabin sits just on the edge of Mitakihara, hidden from the rest of the city, and its usual flavors of chaos. On the horizon, a highway, or what remains of one is visible, even more collapsed than it was a month ago. The last visitor to this place came with the clarion call of…

In the meantime, Hanako, Shinju, Yasu, Koharu and Yosuke have made it to the unspectacular centre of yet another one of the countless small municipalities still separating Kitayama from the mountains surrounding their hometown. The difficult decision to stop using public transport — to avoid endangering more innocent lives — has quenched the desire for…

Kiwako is pacing around the boxing ring in the middle of the hidden Paradise Hall, her eyes locked on the center. Inside, Ueno and Mei are both exhausted, with Mei fallen onto her bottom, panting as she looks up at the ceiling. Kiwako’s expression is neutral, a rare sight for the girl. For the last…

As night falls, the communal space of Katawari Youth Hostel is bustling with last-minute guests, many of them having had to look for an emergency place to spend the night after both regular and railroad traffic were shut down by the horrendous derailing of a bullet train heading towards Kitayama.  All rooms have been booked…

On a nearby rooftop, a figure in a red jacket is casting her gaze over the city, meticulously taking in the view like a hawk, occasionally looking down onto a tablet computer, as if comparing what is on the screen with what is in front of her. As the scarlet garment flutters in the wind,…