Neutral zone street – Night, 10:26 PM
---
> Two black cars skid into a near crash.
Cassano and Sebastian soldiers hop out, guns raised. Traffic stops. People scream.
Streetlights flicker like a countdown to hell.
---
Cassano Shooter (reloading):
> "You bastards still want smoke? Bring it!"
Sebastian Gunner (laughs):
> "You blew up our lab — now you die in public."
> Gunfire erupts. Glass explodes. Civilians duck for cover.
---
> Across the street, inside a peaceful bookstore, a young woman flinches.
She looks out the window, confused. Her bodyguard yells.
Bodyguard:
> "Miss Tanaki, GET DOWN—!"
> But it's too late.
> A stray bullet rips through the glass.
> She collapses. No scream. Just silence.
> Her body hits the floor. The Tanaki insignia glimmers faintly on her necklace.
---
🩸 Street goes silent.
> Everyone freezes for a split second. Even the shooters pause.
---
Cassano Member (whispers):
> "Wait… did we just—?"
Sebastian Gunner:
> "Shit… that's a Tanaki…"
> They retreat fast. No more bullets. No more trash talk.
> Just panic.
Tanaki Estate – Main Hall, 11:03 PM
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> News plays faintly on an old radio beside a zen garden.
"…shootout between two known crime families—Sebastian and Cassano—resulted in one civilian death.
Victim identified as a university student… daughter of…"
---
> Tanaki — the head — stands still, his back turned to the screen.
No movement. No breath. Just a teacup cracking slightly in his grip.
News Anchor (faint):
> "…daughter of respected businessman and philanthropist, Sensue—"
> The cup shatters on the floor.
> Suddenly—
Tanaki SCREAMS.
Not rage.
Not pain.
Just a howl that tears through the ancestral walls of the house.
---
Outside the room — Tanaki sons approaching
> Two of his sons walk down the hall, fast but hesitant.
Son #1 (urgent):
> "We have to tell him—"
Son #2 (grim):
> "No need."
> They stop. Silence. Then the sound of something crashing inside.
Son #2 (quietly):
> "He already knows."
> They both lower their heads. One clenches his fist. The other lets a tear drop silently.
---
> Inside the room, the sword stand is already empty.
The Tanaki head is kneeling. Silent again.
But in front of him: a black cloth, opened. Blades. Seals. A list of names.
---
Tanaki (whispers):
> "Prepare the rites
Tanaki Ancestral Shrine – 2:21 AM
---
> Dim candlelight fills the wooden room.
Weapons hang on aged walls. The air is thick with silence.
The old assassin—scarred, calm, disciplined—enters quietly.
He finds the Tanaki family head kneeling alone.
---
Tanaki (voice trembling):
> "My family… we stayed quiet.
We stayed out of this war."
> His voice cracks, hands shaking.
Tanaki (lower, almost whispering):
> "But they dragged my daughter into this…
Why? Why…?"
> His knees collapse.
He bows—forehead pressed to the ground.
Shoulders tremble as silent tears fall.
---
> The old assassin says nothing at first.
He approaches slowly, then kneels beside him.
Places a calm, steady hand on his back… then lays a steel coin next to him.
---
Old Assassin (softly):
> "Your father knelt here once, too.
Right in this room.
And after the tears... came the storm."
> He stands back up, voice steady.
"The clan is waiting.
All you have to say is: It begins."
---
> Tanaki stays bowed for a long moment.
Then slowly lifts his head—eyes red, but voice cold and controlled.
Tanaki:
> "Then it begins."