“Wooooaaahhh!!!”

  Look, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a man from the slums, but this penthouse was something else entirely. Sitting at the very top of the tallest apartment block in Tokyo, it had everything.

  Infinity pool. Check.

  Personal gym. Check.

  Rehearsal room. Check.

  Music studio. Check.

  Five deluxe bedrooms. Check.

  My eyes soaked it all in, dazzled at every turn. Everywhere I looked, there was only one thing screaming back at me.

  Money, and a lot of it.

  “Yo, newbie. You alright?” Jia said, peering over my shoulder, her red hair brushing lightly against my ear.

  I immediately blushed.

  She adjusted her glasses, something she clearly never wore on stage, noticed my reaction, and chose to pretend it hadn’t happened.

  “Y-yeah, I’m good. Just… a lot to take in, y’know!?”

  She smirked. “Then let me show you around.”

  Before I could say anything else, she took my hand in hers. And just like that, my heart was not cooperating at all.

  Jia led me through the penthouse like she owned the place. Which, to be fair, she kind of did.

  “And this is the rehearsal room,” she said, pushing open a wide set of mirrored doors. “Soundproofed. Reinforced floors. You can jump around all you want without the neighbours calling the cops.”

  I glanced at the walls, the ceiling, the sheer size of it all. “You rehearse… here?”

  “Yep.” She shrugged. “Easier than renting space. Plus, if Tal gets annoyed, she can’t yell at us for being late.”

  That earned a quiet giggle from me.

  She noticed.

  She winked, her smirk widening just a little before we moved on.

  The music studio came next. Rows of equipment I didn’t recognize. Glowing panels. Cables laid out with almost obsessive neatness. Jia wandered over to one of the desks and idly spun a chair with her foot.

  “I write most of my stuff here,” she said casually. “Lyrics. Beats. Sometimes, no, most of the time at three in the morning when my brain refuses to shut up.”

  “That explains a lot,” I muttered before thinking.

  She glanced back at me. “Oh?”

  I froze. “I mean— in a good way! Like… creatively. The vibes. The… musical vibes.”

  She laughed, lifting a hand to cover her mouth.

  “You’re funny, newbie,” she said. “In a kind of awkward, trying-not-to-die way.”

  “Glad that’s my brand now.”

  She stepped closer, leaning back against the desk, arms loosely crossed. Up close, she felt even more relaxed than she ever did on stage. Less polished. More real.

  “You okay, though?” she asked, quieter now. “For real.”

  I hesitated. Just a beat too long.

  Her eyes sharpened slightly. Was she analysing me?

  “…Yeah,” I said. “I think. Still feels like I’m waiting to wake up.”

  She nodded, like that made perfect sense. “Fair. First few days are weird.”

  “Few days?” I echoed.

  She waved a hand. “Metaphorically, I mean. You’ll get used to it.”

  We walked again, heading toward the glass doors that opened onto the infinity pool. Tokyo stretched endlessly below us, bathed in neon and sunlight, impossibly alive.

  Jia rested her arms on the railing. “Pretty wild, huh?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Hard to believe this is my life now.”

  She tilted her head, studying me from the side. Not yet judging. Just observing.

  “You’re handling it better than most,” she said. “Most people would panic, cry, or start asking if they’re going to hell.”

  “…Am I?”

  She snorted. “Relax. If you were, we wouldn’t be here.”

  Silence followed. Comfortable. And yet somehow dangerous in its own way.

  Then she nudged my shoulder lightly with hers.

  “C’mon,” she said. “Still got bedrooms to show you. Try not to faint.”

  “I make no promises.”

  She smiled, took my hand again like it was the most natural thing in the world, and started walking. Her subtle scent of vanilla lingered in the air, brushing past my senses like a pleasant distraction.

  My heart, meanwhile, was doing something very unprofessional.

  As we reached the bedrooms, a normally cheerful figure stepped out into the hallway. This time, though, she didn’t look happy at all.

  Arms crossed. Brow furrowed. A very visible pout. It was Bea.

  “Hmmm.” She tilted her head, eyes flicking between Jia and me. “Why do you get to show him around?”

  I felt my spine straighten instinctively.

  “I wanted to do it.”

  Jia barely reacted. She let out a lazy yawn, still holding my hand like it was an afterthought. “Too slow, princess.”

  Bea’s eye twitched.

  “Oh, really?” she shot back. “Says the girl who takes three to five business days to get up from the sofa.”

  “You can say that again.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “You’re not even going to deny it!?” Bea gasped. “You slob!”

  “Nah.” Jia shrugged. “I pride myself on never denying facts. Something you’re kinda terrible at.”

  “Oh really…!”

  Bea stepped forward, closing the distance. Jia didn’t move an inch.

  The air tightened.

  Bea’s amber eyes burned with challenge. Jia’s dark gaze remained half-lidded, calm, almost bored. The contrast was ridiculous and somehow terrifying.

  I raised my hands slightly. “Girls, easy…”

  Neither of them looked at me.

  Bea leaned in closer to Jia, their foreheads nearly touching. “You always do this. You act like you don’t care, but you totally do.”

  Jia smirked. “And you always act like you don’t care, but you very obviously do.”

  “That’s different!”

  “Is it?”

  The staredown intensified. Mostly on Bea’s side. Jia just stood there, unfazed, like she was waiting for a bus.

  Finally, Bea huffed and turned her attention to me instead, her expression instantly softening. “You okay? She didn’t scare you, did she?”

  “I— uh— no,” I said quickly. “She’s been… really nice.”

  Jia glanced at me sideways. “Wow. Glowing review.”

  Bea shot her a look. “See? He agrees with me.”

  “I did not say that,” I protested.

  Too late.

  Bea’s mood lifted just a little, the gloom cracking at the edges. She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. “Well, if you’re already here, I guess I can help too. It’s only fair.”

  Jia sighed. “Fine. But if he faints from excitement, that’s on you.”

  “Rude!” Bea stuck her tongue out.

  I stood there, caught between them, heat creeping up my neck.

  I didn’t particularly enjoy watching them argue.

  …But I couldn’t deny it felt a little flattering that it was about me.

  “Bea. I thought I told you to bring him to the training room?”

  Bea froze.

  A very audible gulp slipped out of her throat as she slowly turned around.

  “T-talia, I was just planning on showing J-jo h-here around the place.” She offered a nervous smile, the kind that knew it was already doomed.

  Talia did not return it.

  “Later,” she said flatly. “For now, we have more important matters.”

  “Aye, aye, captain!” Jia replied instantly, snapping a lazy salute. Even she knew better than to poke the bear right now.

  “B-b-but I really wanted to show J-jo around!” Bea protested, fingers twiddling anxiously in front of her. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, eyes darting between us. “I didn’t even get to show—”

  “Not now.”

  The finality in Talia’s voice cut straight through her.

  Bea puffed out her cheeks and leaned forward slightly, eyes shining. “Pretty plea—”

  “No.”

  “That’s an order. Training room. Stat.”

  Game over.

  Bea let out a defeated whine and dramatically slumped to the floor, arms spread out like she’d just been struck down in battle. “Cruel… absolutely cruel…”

  Jia stepped over her without a second glance. “Get up, princess. You’ll survive.”

  I hesitated, looking down at Bea, then back at Talia.

  I did not want to get on her bad side.

  So I obediently followed.

  As we walked away, I could still hear Bea muttering behind us, muffled against the floor. Something about injustice. And destiny. And how she would remember this betrayal forever.

  The so-called training room loomed ahead.

  And judging by Talia’s posture, this was where things stopped being fun.

  The door at the far end of the penthouse was sealed tight, its surface smooth and metallic, broken only by a recessed face scanner. Talia stopped in front of it and motioned for me to step forward.

  I hesitated for half a second before complying.

  The scanner came to life, a soft hum filling the hallway as a thin band of light swept across my face. Lines of unreadable data flickered across its surface as it analysed me, pausing just long enough to make my skin prickle. A mechanical voice followed, cold and clinical, requesting authentication and access.

  Talia answered without hesitation.

  The lock disengaged with a heavy click.

  The door sliding open to reveal a stark white room beyond.

  At first glance, it looked simple. Sterile, almost empty. But the moment I stepped inside, my sense of space warped. The room stretched far deeper than the penthouse should have allowed, its ceiling soaring high above, walls disappearing into clean, seamless distance.

  “This is a portal realm,” Talia explained. “Constructed using ancient light and dark magic.”

  “The Church uses magic!?” I blurted out. “I thought that was heresy?”

  “Correct,” she replied calmly. “That would be witchcraft. Magic, according to the Church, is simply the manipulation of the natural world through non-practical means. By that logic, the harnessing of electricity is also classified as magic.”

  I blinked.

  I… didn’t really get that.

  But I also wasn’t about to argue theology with a woman who could probably decapitate me without blinking.

  “So,” I said carefully, “is it something I can learn?”

  The idea of magecraft was admittedly very appealing.

  “Unfortunately not,” Talia answered without hesitation. “The age of mages and true magic is long over. What remains are relics. Echoes of a forgotten era.”

  Jia chimed in, adjusting her glasses. “We just repurpose ancient tools like this one. Only witches still know the secrets.”

  That sounded promising.

  “However,” she continued flatly, “they practice dark magic. Which is illegal. And unethical. And usually ends with someone getting possessed, sacrificed, eaten, or worse.”

  “…Ah.”

  “Yeah,” Jia added. “Not recommended.”

  I nodded slowly, taking another look around the impossible white expanse of the portal realm.

  “So then why am I here?” I shouldn’t have asked that, because Talia only smirked at me deviously.

  Out of the wall slid a clothes rack, revealing what looked like a black ninja suit with, let’s just say, a very traditional Christian overlay. Mostly black, with white interwoven throughout, a silver cross chain resting over the chest, and a black hood like a ronin’s to cover the face.

  If I was being honest, it did not look comfortable.

  Something about it felt clunky yet still too tight, mostly because of the silver mixed into awkward places. And on top of that, it somehow managed to look… cringe.

  I could see Bea smiling behind me, clearly anticipating something. I already had a pretty good idea what it was.

  “As you’re going to be working as an Executioner, you’re going to have to wear this,” Talia announced, smiling as she picked it up and held it right in front of my face.

  I could not understand her excitement at all.

  “Why? I thought I’d be like an outlier or something.”

  “Nope. If you’re going to hunt vampires, you have to comply with the Church. If you someday… ever… become an Inquisitor, then you can choose your own clothes. Got that?”

  “Yes, miss…”

  “I’m not a miss, y’know!” Talia huffed.

  It was kind of cute, though.

  “…I should do that more often…”

  “Say that again.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Good. Now. Let’s start training. If you don’t want to die tonight, we may as well show you a few things.”

  “Or… we could sleep?” Jia added, completely serious.

  “Jia, if you want to go, just go.” Talia paused, then added, almost deliberately, “Although you would be the best at this…”

  Jia stopped. Looked back over her shoulder.

  “Nah.”

  She left. Talia deadpanned. Then I felt a hand grab my arm.

  “Don’t worry!” Bea said brightly. “I’ll show you everything you need to know and get you up to scratch!”

  She flexed without warning. Her biceps shockingly toned.

  “…Right.”

  “So how do I start?” I asked, already regretting the question.

  In my mind it was basically a gym session with two out of three of my celebrity crushes. What could possibly go wrong?

  That was the last thought I had before walking straight into hell.

  Yet compared to the battle I would face tonight, this would end up feeling like nothing more than the calm before the storm.