"What are you doing here?"

Auntie Kiko doesn't answer. She just smiled peacefully.

Or...is it just an image? It's not the real Auntie Kiko? That makes sense. Everything here is an image of what Hiroshi wants…

****

"To kill or to tame a Nightmare, you must shoot it's core. No other way around," a bald man in his fifties said to Anzu.

"So I can find it in their Region?"

"Yes, but not that easily, a core is what defines the Nightmare, an easy word is what is the strength of the Nightmare. As you can see, Nightmares make their Region their own way. You will see many types that differ from one another."

"Is it possible to not find the core?"

"Of course, there's a Nightmare that nobody is able to find it's core. The right thing to do is get out of the Region and prepare for the next battle."

****

That's what the old man said. Should I get out now? I can't waste a bullet without any chance of success. There's no way this house is his core...I'm not confident of it.

"Bum!" the door was crashed by Hiroshi who had already arrived. Now, there's nothing blocking his way to Anzu.

"Ergh...Ergh…Whorgh!” Hiroshi dash forward.

"Bing!" Anzu quickly shoots himself with her left hand.

Before he could reach Anzu, she had already disappeared from her position.

****

Anzu is standing in Hiroshi's empty house without any furniture. She checks everything and can confirm it in the real world. After waiting for some minutes, Anzu doesn't find any Himiko trace.

Is she already running away? Or is she still trapped in the Region? Ugh, I know she will be fine either way… that's enough for today.

Anzu fled from Hiroshi's house.

****

In the afternoon, Anzu goes to an underground bar alone.

"Is the old man here?” she asked the waitress.

"He's inside…"

She opened the door that led her to one bald man checking his cabinet full of items.

"Hey, Anzu… Already running out of bullets?" the old man said.

"I still have five left...reload it," Anzu shows her right hand finger gun. There's five flickers of red light bullets arranged in her index finger.

This girl...cold as always…

"Okay then. Give me a minute."

"Why did you give me this weird rule? How can it benefit you?" Anzu asked.

"It's not for my benefit, it's for yours…if you can't tame one Nightmare using only 5 bullet, than you are incompetent. You should give up on being a Nightmare."

"Oh...so you want me to be precise in my decision?”

"Huh? Of course not. I just want you to stop being a Fantasion. I always hope you will use more than five and come back with nothing. So you can't ever reload your gun anymore."

"Really? For that kind of reason? You know I will do anything for this...you think I will stop if you are not gonna help me anymore?”

"Your father is dead!" he said in a serious tone.

He stops talking instantly like he regrets saying it. Anzu also seems frustrated.

"Huhhh...you are a grown woman with a career...you should stop clinging to nostalgia and the past…why don't you focus on your future?"

"You understand nothing…" Anzu mumbled.

Huhh...poor girl…

The old man takes a small bottle with red liquid and transfers it to an injection syringe.

"Give me your hand," the old man took Anzu's right hand and injected the red liquid into the index finger.

"Ergh…" Anzu can feel a little pain from it.

"Like I said before, this is not a science type of injection. So don't mind the procedure and the place you get injected to."

"I know…"

After everything is completed. Anzu prepares to leave the bar.

"It's never too late to return back, Anzu…" the old man said before she left.

Anzu left without a word.

It's too late Uncle Masaru...I'll never go back until I find him...