They stood face to face.
Eye to eye.
Silent.
The chaos of the world—the screams, the alarms, the blood dripping off Asahi's fingers—none of it mattered. Only the boy in front of him. Only him.
Unknown Asahi.
Asahi leaned forward, lips cracked open, voice hoarse and barely human.
"You're mine…"
UA smiled. Calm. Unbothered.
But inside Asahi's mind, everything spun.His thoughts spiraled. His instincts screamed.His blood whispered: Kill him. End it. No more questions. No more mercy.
Asahi moved. Quick. Sharp.He caught UA's wrist in one swift motion.
UA blinked. Slightly.A single syllable left his mouth.
"…Huh?"
Asahi grinned. Eyes dead."Repel."
A pulse of force exploded from his hand—UA's wrist recoiled violently, sent backwards with a burst of kinetic backlash.
But… he didn't flinch.
He didn't fall.
The Repel had landed.But it hadn't done anything.
UA stood there. Hand relaxed.Eyes still empty.
Asahi's pupils narrowed.
(Didn't work. Shit. Calculate faster—NOW.)
He activated his left eye.The cursed one.The one that bled when it saw too much.
Red rings spun.
Black dots glitched into his vision.The curse ignited.
"ARARARARARA—"A breath caught in his throat.
He gasped. Staggered. Nearly collapsed.
It was too much.
His energy—too low.His body—too broken.
But worse…
What he saw inside UA—Wasn't light.Wasn't power.
It was… something else.Something twisted.Flowing under the skin like corrupted ink.Like a river of screaming souls.
(What… are you…?)
UA stood tall. Calm.Then, he twisted his broken wrist—Snap.It popped back into place.
Like it was nothing.
Asahi's breath hitched.
(…Healing? He has regeneration too…?)(Tch. Disappointing.)
But he wasn't scared.Not yet.
(Maybe that makes it easier. Maybe I'll get to break him twice.)
UA moved.
Faster.
Asahi saw the foot slide. The shift in weight.The subtle lean forward.Every movement.
He tracked it all with his eye—Frame by frame.Mathematical precision.
A smirk touched his lips.
"Got you."
But UA—
Smiled back.
"I knew you would calculate my attack."
He ducked. Lower. Faster.
Asahi's heart dropped.
(He knew I'd track him…)(Calculated. Like me.)
Both jumped.The same angle. The same burst.Mirrored perfectly.
(I have to go one step ahead.)(One beat faster.)
But—
UA's hands began to glow.
Blood-red. Burning.
Asahi's eyes widened.
(What is that?)
His cursed eye zoomed in—Trying to see through the light—But couldn't.
He dodged the strike—barely.
Landed.
Almost.
As his foot neared the floor—The same glow traveled from UA's hands to his legs.
He vanished.
Too fast.
Asahi saw it—But his body was tired.His limbs slow.
Too late.
A flash of red.
And then—
THUD.
The sound of flesh ripping open.
A hole exploded through Asahi's stomach.
Blood poured out like a waterfall.His body bent backward.Eyes wide. Empty.
He didn't scream.
He couldn't.
He just stood there.Silent. Still.Staring at the blood now soaking his hands.
His stomach…
Was gone.
UA took a step back. Arms folded.Expression flat.
"Huh… already over?""Tch."
Asahi didn't fall.
He refused.
He stood—barely—his hand on the wound.His blood pooling at his feet.
And still…
He didn't heal.
He stopped his own regeneration.
UA tilted his head.
"…Why?" he asked."I know you're not dead, Asahi."
He took a step closer.
"I see it. Your eyes are still trying to kill me."
Asahi's eye bled again.A single stream of red trailing down his cheek like a dying tear.
It was reading. Calculating.
His vision flickered.
Lines. Angles. Pressure points. Weaknesses.All swirling.
He could still win.
He could still—
UA raised a hand.
"Just die."
He stepped forward.One final strike.
Asahi stared up.
He didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
But suddenly—
CRACK.
His left eye—
Exploded.
Blood burst outward like a grenade.
It sprayed across the room—All over UA.All over the floor.
The pain was unimaginable.
Asahi staggered.Gripping his face. Screaming.
"RARARARARARARAAAA!!!"
It echoed like a dying god.
UA reeled back, laughing.Mad. Wild. Joyful.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"So that's it!"
"You were trying to read me… with that cursed eye.""You were trying to calculate my power…"
He stepped forward.
"You fool."
His smile widened.
"Asahi… this is also one of my curses."
"You cannot read what isn't human."