The hill behind the dojo rose gently, its grass soft beneath their feet.

  By the time Akitsu Shouga and Ayame Hoshizaki reached the top, the sky had deepened into a quiet indigo, stars beginning to emerge one by one. Below them, Sunwind Village spread out like a living painting—warm lantern lights glowing from windows, thin lines of smoke curling upward, soft laughter drifting faintly on the wind.

  “It’s beautiful,” Akitsu murmured.

  Ayame nodded and sat down in the grass, folding her legs neatly beneath her. Akitsu followed, lowering himself beside her. The earth was cool, steady—real.

  For a while, neither spoke.

  Crickets sang. The village breathed.

  Ayame glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Akitsu-kun… may I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  She hesitated, fingers tightening slightly in her sleeves. “Do you remember anything at all? About your past. Your home. Your family.”

  Akitsu stared ahead, eyes reflecting the scattered lights below.

  He searched.

  And found nothing.

  “…No,” he said quietly. “It’s just… empty. Like trying to grab fog.”

  Ayame lowered her gaze. “Does that frighten you?”

  “…Sometimes,” he admitted. “But lately, it bothers me less than it should. And that scares me more.”

  She looked at him then—really looked at him.

  “You don’t feel like someone who lost something,” she said softly.

  “You feel like someone who was taken from something.”

  Akitsu gave a small, humorless laugh. “I wish I knew what that meant.”

  They sat in silence again.

  Neither of them noticed the figure moving through the village below.

  Elsewhere

  Kurogane Daichi stood before a small, weathered house at the far edge of Sunwind Village.

  “Hikari,” he called, knocking on the wooden door.

  No answer.

  “Hikari!”

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  Silence.

  Daichi frowned.

  “…That’s strange.”

  He slid the door open.

  The house was dark. Too dark. No lanterns. No fire. The air inside smelled stale, heavy.

  “Hikari?” he called again, stepping in.

  The door slid shut behind him.

  Crack.

  Pain exploded at the back of his skull.

  Daichi collapsed.

  When consciousness returned, it did so slowly.

  His head throbbed. His arms wouldn’t move.

  “…Tch,” he muttered.

  He opened his eyes.

  He was strapped to a chair, thick ropes binding his wrists, chest, and legs. The room was dim, lit by a single lantern swaying gently.

  Standing in front of him—

  Hikari Miyu.

  Her smile was gone.

  “You always were careless, Daichi,” she said calmly.

  “Hikari…” he groaned. “What is this?”

  She stepped forward, holding a small vial. Her eyes were sharp. Cold.

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  “You took in the wrong boy.”

  She forced his mouth open and poured the liquid in.

  Daichi gagged, coughing violently.

  “…Opioids,” she said flatly. “Strong ones. You’ll feel light soon. Happy. Brave.”

  She moved behind him.

  Metal clicked.

  Daichi’s vision blurred as something heavy was strapped across his chest. Then his sides. Then his back.

  Bombs.

  “Hikari… what have you done…?”

  She leaned close to his ear.

  “You’re going to walk back into the village,” she whispered.

  “And you’re going to burn it.”

  Akitsu and Ayame were still on the hill when it happened.

  BOOM.

  The ground trembled.

  Akitsu shot to his feet. “That—?!”

  Another explosion roared from the village.

  Ayame’s breath caught. “That came from the center—!”

  They ran.

  Fire greeted them.

  Smoke choked the streets. Villagers screamed, running in every direction. Buildings burned, orange flames devouring wood and cloth alike.

  At the center of it all—

  Kurogane Daichi.

  He stood laughing, eyes gleaming unnaturally, explosives strapped across his body. A house behind him collapsed in flames.

  “MASTER!!” Akitsu shouted.

  Daichi turned.

  “Why so serious, son?” he laughed wildly. “Isn’t this fun?!”

  “Stop this!” Akitsu yelled. “People are getting hurt!”

  From behind them—

  “AKITSU!! DON’T GET CLOSE TO HIM!!” Hikari screamed.

  Daichi’s grin widened.

  “BOOM!”

  Light swallowed everything.

  The Place Between

  Silence.

  Exactly fourteen petals touched the surface of the water.

  Akitsu opened his eyes.

  A small island floated in endless darkness. At its center stood a massive sakura tree, its leaves a deep, unnatural crimson. Below, the water was pitch black—perfectly still.

  “…Where am I?” he whispered.

  No answer.

  Red doors hovered across the water.

  “…Am I dreaming?”

  He stepped forward.

  The water didn’t ripple.

  He reached the first door.

  “…I don’t have a choice.”

  He opened it.

  Mud swallowed his legs.

  A swamp.

  Fireflies drifted silently. He ran.

  “Hoshizaki-san?!”

  “Where are you?!”

  The fireflies stopped following.

  Auroras twisted low across the sky.

  “This… isn’t possible.”

  A voice whispered from nowhere.

  “Looks like I found myself some good food.”

  Soft laughter.

  Darkness consumed him.

  He awoke again beneath the sakura tree.

  A single leaf fell.

  One door was gone.

  “…What just happened?”

  He opened another.

  Morning.

  A hill.

  The village gate ahead.

  Akitsu gasped, clutching the grass beneath him.

  “…I’m back.”

  The world felt real.

  But something inside him—

  Was missing.