In a closed meeting with Councilor Ogata, Superintendent Ibuki discloses to her superior that Ranmaru is a possible symbiote, telling him that she'll have him killed if it has to be the case. Later on, Ibuki informs Kureha to see if Ranmaru has the symbiote inside of him. Back in the TOKKO office, it was business as usual until Muramasa informs Ranmaru to entertain Kunikida, who didn't go to work since he was pissed off at the NPA officials for denying his search warrant on the forensic building. Ranmaru was about to tell Kunikida what happened at the forensic building last night when Kureha arrived on her motorbike. The two went out to visit a carnival and a cemetery, laying a flower on two graves. Kureha tells Ranmaru that the graves belong to her parents and her younger brother, who were killed in the aftermath of the Machida massacre. From their conversation, Kureha found out that Ranmaru had the symbiote, but cautioned him to think it over if he would want the symbiote to awaken inside him, with the chance of being converted into a demon. When asked by Ranmaru on what happened to her younger brother, Akito, Kurehad joked that he was killed. But as the two went back to the city, Kureha cried with her motorbike helmet concealing it and the truth was discovered: She had to kill him when Akito's symbiote made him insane and converted him into a Gaki Phantom demon.

Sakura relieves her memories of meeting with Inukai and her sister prior to joining TOKKO. After TOKKO's clash against Gaki demons, Ranmaru receives an anoynymous call from a mysterious person who could provide him information as to the true reasons behind the events behind the Machida massacre years ago. During his investigation, he is suddenly attacked by a lone Phantom demon in the nearby park, specifically the 13th Phantom demon. Later on, he is saved by Sakura and her TOKKO comrade, Inukai when the two killed the 13th Phantom. In a conversation between Ranmaru and Sakura, she warns him not to continue getting involved in fighting the demons anymore. Ranmaru is left baffled by her strange warning. Sakura is left to believe, at first, that some people in the Public Security Investigation Agency were responsible for Ranmaru's appearance in the park

Ranmaru gets unofficially transferred to the TOKKO division while still being under the official command of TOKKI, which pissed off Kunikida and thinks that Akiha may have been responsible for Ranmaru's supposed transfer. In a meeting with the Phantom Countermeasures Committee, lead by top NPA (and possibly Public Security Investigation Agency) officials, they accuse Ryoko of wasting her time in their investigation against the Phantoms and not doing anything to calm the public about the supposed serial murder cases since Ranmaru's own symbiote was awakened by her subordinates without enacting on their authorization. In the dead of night, Gaki Phantoms infiltrate a NPA office in Tokyo in order to assassinate Ryoko in order to halt TOKKO's investigation against them. In the subsequent fight, Ryoko gets minor injuries on her left arm and they discover Ranmaru's power, which was the ability to channel his symbiote energy on his broadsword to do a projectile attack. Ranmaru, through Akiha, understood why Ryoko wanted to be in charge of TOKKO. It was for vengeance when her fiancée died protecting her from one of the Phantom demons during the subsequent Machida massacre.

TOKKO had decided to move Saya to a safer place, more specially Ryoko's apartment instead of the Shindo's for her own protection. During Ryoko's surprise visit, she managed to obtain information from Muramasa that he was the inside man paid by Taishi to provide police information regarding the case after threatening him with Ryoko's Colt SAA revolver. Later on, Taishi dispatches Gakis to assassinate all active TOKKO members as a means of further slowing down their investigation against him. Surviving the said incident with help from the Araragi siblings, Ryoko obtains an arrest warrant for Taishi. Despite heavy security, the group was able to penetrate deep into Taishi's mansion, but not before he escaped. After the assault, Ranmaru reaches to find Ryoko's apartment, only to realize that it was ransacked, probably stormed by Taishi's henchmen with Saya held as his prisoner. Taishi's associate in the PSIA later moved in against TOKKO by disbanding it and having Ryoko arrested, on false charges of using a fake arrest warrant and supposedly trying to kill Muramasa, who lead the PSIA agents to arrest Ryoko in her office.

Kunikida encounters Muramasa and after an argument, the two tried to shoot each other out when the former heard Muramasa ordering Shindo and the other TOKKO operatives to be arrested and taken care of when PSIA agents tried to raid Ryoko's apartment to arrest Shindo, Sakura and Kureha with Kunikida shocked to realize that Muramasa is a PSIA agent in reality. Kureha and Sakura stormed the supposedly empty PSIA complex to rescue Ryoko with Gaki Phantoms, which had appeared due to low security. In a change of heart, Kunikida assists the two TOKKO agents by breaking Ryoko out of her cell, only to be arrested by PSIA agents for helping Ryoko escape. Back at the Machida apartment complex, Shindo and the others assemble to do battle against Taishi, with Kureha severely wounded. Ranmaru and Sakura head into the underworld via the giant hole in order to rescue Saya and defeat Taishi. When Taishi placed a good fight, Sakura told Ranmaru to kill her in order to get her symbiote merged with his. When Ranmaru refused, he was forced to confront her until he accidentally wounded her. With her symbiote's power in him, Ranmaru travelled deep into the underworld and found Saya held captive. In a show of force, Ranmaru and Taishi fought sword to sword with the former being able to win by using projectile moves on him. Following the rescue, Muramasa is reinsatated back in TOKKI with Kunikida as well with alterations removed by NPA and PSIA officials. Sakura was recovering from her injuries with the TOKKO members and Saya visiting her. The hole in the Machida apartment was permanently sealed, but another was opened near the heart of downtown Tokyo. Unknown to Sakura's visitors, her eyes were shot wide open