Welcome to my new story, The Whorl Within the Cloud!
This is my second published work, and I'm so excited to finally share it with you. If you've read my previous story, Naruto: A Change in Timeline, thank you so much for your continued support 💫
I hope you enjoy this brand-new tale full of mystery, betrayal, spirit realms, and unforgettable bonds. Let's begin the journey together... 🌙
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October 25th, 2016. Tokyo. Southbridge High School, Journalism Club Room. Afternoon.
The bright lights in the journalism club room at Southbridge High School hummed quietly. Empty snack wrappers and piles of school books lay around, looking a bit messy but familiar. It was a normal Tuesday afternoon, the kind where most students just wanted to go home. But for six friends, something big was about to start.
Kento Kamitani, the club leader, sat at the main table. His dark hair was usually a bit messy, but now he was very focused. He had notes spread out like a secret map. He picked up an old newspaper clipping about a famous man who disappeared a long time ago.
"Listen, everyone," Kento said, his voice quiet but full of excitement. "Forget the school bake sale story. Forget the debate team. We have a new case. A much more important one."
A soft groan went around the room. Lu Shiyi, who was usually very calm and smart, looked up from her phone. She looked a little annoyed. "Kento, please tell me this isn't another one of your 'mysteries of the old candy factory' ideas. Remember, we almost got sick from that rusty gate last time."
Shiyi was Kento's best friend. She was very smart and always spoke her mind. She liked to challenge Kento, especially when his ideas were a bit wild. 'She's right about the rust,' Kento thought quickly, almost smiling. But then he got serious again.
Tokisaki Hori, Kento's girlfriend, leaned closer. Her long, light-colored hair fell around her shoulders. Her light blue eyes, which usually showed what Kento was feeling, now looked a bit worried, but also curious. Hori was like an anchor for Kento, always there to support him. She trusted him a lot, but she also knew when he was getting too obsessed. "What is it this time, Kento?" she asked gently. Her voice was always so calming.
Itsuka Shido, Kento's best friend and like a brother to him, leaned back in his chair, his feet propped on another. Shido was an orphan, and Kento's kind family had taken him in years ago. Kento was his first and most important friend. Shido was usually relaxed, but he was very loyal. He was sharing headphones with Kaneri Tamiko, his girlfriend, who sat next to him. Tamiko had bright eyes and a sweet smile. She was also Hori's best friend and had a strong, loving friendship with Kento since they were little kids. She was drawing in her notebook, but she stopped when Kento spoke.
"It's about Toriyama Akira," Kento said, sliding the newspaper clipping across the table. "The super-rich businessman. The one who vanished five years ago. Everyone said he died in that private jet crash over the ocean."
Lu Shiyi snorted. Her phone was finally put down. "Kento, that's old news. The police closed the case. He's dead. That's it."
"Is he?" Kento shot back, his eyes sparkling. "Think about it. No body. Hardly any plane parts. Just a few tiny pieces. The official report said the plane broke down, then blew up. But some fishermen nearby said they saw… strange lights. A weird burst of energy, not a normal explosion. Then, nothing."
'He has that look again,' Hori thought. 'That mix of worry and wonder. When he gets like this, there's no stopping him. It's either going to be amazing, or we're all going to get into big trouble.' She reached out and gently touched Kento's arm, a small, reassuring gesture. He gave her a quick, grateful smile.
"So, you think he just ran away to an island?" Shido asked, though his eyes showed he was a little interested now. He liked hearing about strange things, especially from Kento.
"No," Kento said, leaning closer, his voice quieter now. "I think he went somewhere else. A different world. A different time. Some people whispered back then that he was studying… strange, old science. Things like invisible energy, other universes, spirit power. The normal news just said he was crazy."
Kashima Ryuichi, the quietest person in the group, adjusted his glasses. He was also a good friend of Kento. He usually didn't say much, but when he did, it was important. "So you're saying he used some kind of… door to another dimension?" Ryuichi asked. His voice was flat, but he was looking right at Kento.
"Exactly!" Kento beamed, as if Ryuichi had just said the smartest thing ever. "And I think we can find proof. The police didn't look hard enough. They just stopped at the easy answer."
Lu Shiyi threw her hands up. "Kento, this is journalism! We write about facts, not made-up stories about rich people flying into wormholes!"
"But what if the facts are stranger than made-up stories, Shiyi?" Kento argued, still looking at her. "What if the truth is out there, waiting for someone brave enough to find it? Imagine the story! The biggest news report in our school's history!"
Tamiko, gently nudging Shido, finally spoke. "It does sound… interesting, Kento. But where would we even begin? He vanished five years ago. All the clues would be gone."
'Kento really cares about this one,' Tamiko thought. 'It's not just a story. It feels personal for him. Like he's pulled towards it, even if it sounds crazy.' She looked at Shido, who gave her a small, knowing nod. They would listen to Kento, even if they had their doubts.
"We start at the beginning," Kento said, tapping the newspaper. "His life. His family. The people he knew. The pilot. The flight path. And most important... his home. He lived alone near the end. Maybe there's something there that the police missed."
"What about the school?" Shiyi asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "Mr. Tanaka will be mad. He wants us to cover school events, not chase ghosts."
"We'll call it 'deep dive reporting into old mysteries'," Kento said with a playful smile. "A study of what people believe versus the real hidden truths. It's still reporting, just… bolder."
Hori smiled softly. "He has a point, Shiyi. It is a type of journalism." She knew it was useless to argue with Kento when he was this excited. It was better to help him. "So, where do we look first, Kento?"
Kento's eyes lit up even more. "First, we find every public record we can. Every news story, every police file, every talk he gave. Then, we start calling people. Anyone who might know something. And then… if we're lucky, we try to visit his old house. It's been empty for years, but who knows what secrets it still holds."
Shiyi let out a big sigh. "This is going to be a mess, I just know it." But even as she complained, her eyes showed a little spark of interest. Kento always got them involved in his big plans, and even if she grumbled, she usually found herself impressed by how determined he was.
Shido grinned. "Sounds fun, actually. Better than writing about the cafeteria food again." He wrapped an arm around Tamiko, who leaned into his side. "Ready for adventure, Tamiko?"
Tamiko giggled. "Only if you promise to protect me from any real ghosts."
'Akira Toriyama… a rich man who disappeared without a trace. What if Kento is right? What if there's really more to it?' Tamiko's mind, usually full of art ideas, began to buzz with possibilities.
Ryuichi, always practical, simply closed his laptop. "I've found the address and old house plans. The place is empty, but there's an old side door that hasn't been blocked off." His eyes met Kento's, a quiet understanding of the big step they were about to take.
November to December, 2016. Tokyo.
Kento's Home, Suginami District.
The next weeks flew by in a blur of intense research. They spent most evenings and weekends at Kento's house in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo's Suginami District. His parents, who were very kind, often let them use their spacious living room. Kento's mom, Mrs. Kamitani, a graceful architect, would sometimes bring them snacks and drinks, smiling at their serious faces. "Still solving the world's mysteries, are we, Kento?" she'd say warmly. Kento's dad, Mr. Kamitani, a busy lawyer, would just nod approvingly. "Good to see you boys and girls using your minds. Just don't break any laws." They were very supportive, which meant a lot, especially to Shido, who felt so at home with them.
The smell of instant noodles and strong coffee filled the air. Their corkboards, once bare, were now covered with printouts: old newspaper pieces, maps of the huge Pacific Ocean, detailed drawings of private planes, and long, confusing reports.
Their first attempts to find new information hit a wall. Kento tried calling the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's cold case unit. He explained they were high school journalism students doing a research project on the Toriyama Akira disappearance. He was met with polite but firm rejections.
"I'm sorry, young man," a tired voice on the phone told Kento. "That case is closed. All leads were followed, and the conclusion was clear: a tragic accident. There's nothing more to investigate."
'They're not even listening,' Kento thought, frustrated. He tried sending emails, detailing their findings about the strange energy spikes, but he never received a reply. Shiyi, using her calm and proper speaking skills, tried contacting a few media contacts who had covered the original story, hoping for an insider tip. They all gave the same answer: "It was huge news, then it just... went quiet. The government stepped in fast. Nothing to see here."
They couldn't actually go to the crash site, which was thousands of kilometers away in the vast Pacific Ocean, somewhere south of Japan, near the Mariana Trench. But they spent hours looking at old news reports and official summaries about it.
"Look at this," Shido said one evening, pointing to a diagram of the plane. "They said it was a private jet. Only Akira and his pilot were on board. Two people. And the official report clearly states that both bodies were... never recovered. Assumed lost at sea."
"Wait, I found something else," Ryuichi cut in, his fingers flying across his keyboard. "Some older, smaller news outlets, before the official story took over, briefly mentioned a few more names on the passenger list. Not just Akira and the pilot. There were five other people listed, very high-ranking employees, heading to a business meeting in Chicago. So that's seven people in total."
'Seven?' Hori thought, a chill running down her spine. 'Not two? Why would they change that?' She looked at Kento, who had a fierce look in his eyes.
"And all seven were declared dead, assumed lost in the ocean," Tamiko added quietly, reading from another report. "No survivors, they said. The area was searched for weeks, but they found almost nothing, just a few scraps. It's like the plane just… vanished."
'So, all seven people on board died,' Kento thought, a new wave of questions hitting him. 'But if Akira went somewhere else, what about them? Did they go with him? Or did they just… die, like everyone believes?' The idea that Akira might have survived, or traveled, while others perished, added a darker, more complex layer to his puzzle.
Despite the closed doors and grim details of the crash, their research into Akira's life outside official channels continued to spark their interest.
Ryuichi, as promised, found lots of strange patents filed by Toriyama's company. "They were about 'energy fields,' 'other dimension sounds,' and 'strange gravity spots'," he calmly explained one evening. "All hidden under fake company names, but the path leads straight back to Akira himself." He showed them complicated drawings on the wall that looked more like old magic symbols than engineering plans. 'This is truly odd. Not just unusual, but... unsettling.'
Hori found sad talks with Akira's younger sister, who seemed truly confused and heartbroken. "She mentioned he became very distant in his last year," Hori quietly told the group. "He sent away his bodyguards, fired most of his house staff, and spent all his time in a special 'study' in the basement of his house outside Tokyo. She said he was 'taken over by something not of this world,' whatever that means. She sounded scared, not just sad." 'Not of this world…that sounds exactly like what Kento thinks. Was his sister just sad, or was she telling the literal truth?' Hori felt a cold shiver. Kento, sensing her unease, gently squeezed her hand under the table, a silent comfort that made her feel a little less scared.
Tamiko's look at social media didn't find clear answers, but it showed Akira became very lonely. "His last few online posts were very philosophical," she shared, showing an old blog post from late 2010. "He wrote about 'finding old secrets,' 'the thin wall between worlds,' and 'what life really is.' People just thought he was having a crisis, or just being a weird rich guy." 'He wasn't just talking about big ideas. He was actually trying to do it. Was he really so desperate for… something, that he would try to break reality itself?' Shido wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close, and she leaned into his warmth, finding comfort in his presence.
Shido's search on weird online groups found many theories. Some were crazy, but some seemed strangely real. "Many people who looked into this, and were called crazy, saw the same 'energy spikes' near where the plane was last seen, exactly when it disappeared. They call it a 'time jump event' or a 'hole in space'," Shido explained, showing blurry satellite pictures that had strange, unexplainable shapes. 'This is the stuff of movies. But what if… what if it's all real?' He looked at Kento, excited.
Shiyi, even though she tried hard to find normal reasons, became very quiet. "The plane's official flight data showed everything was fine until a sudden, huge power surge, then total silence. No calls for help, no black box data after that. It's… never happened before," she admitted, her usual strong confidence shaking a little. "And there are rumors that a special government team quickly blocked off the area and took all the evidence. It was too fast, too perfect for just a normal crash." 'This is more than Kento's usual wild idea. The strange data, the quick government cover-up… something truly impossible happened.' A knot of worry formed in her stomach.
The clues they found, from hidden corners of the internet and old files, started to tell a story much stranger than any fairy tale. Kento's 'fiction' now looked like a hidden truth. The group, who were first doubtful, now felt a strange mix of fear and exciting discovery.
December 25th, 2016. Tokyo. Kento's Home, Suginami District. 3:00 PM.
"There's only one place left that might have the answers," Kento said, pushing his empty noodle bowl aside. His eyes looked at his friends, who now all shared his strange interest. "His private estate. The one with the basement 'study.' If Akira was doing what we think, that's where the heart of it is."
Hori immediately said, "I'll go with you, Kento." She knew this was a point of no return. 'Whatever is there, we're going to find it. And whatever it is, I have a feeling it's going to change everything for all of us.' She reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers, a silent promise.
Shido, seeing Tamiko's worried but curious look, spoke up. "We're all in this together, Kento. We've come this far. Let's go."
Tamiko nodded, a nervous flutter in her stomach. "Yes, we should all go. It's safer if we're together." Shido gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'll keep you safe, always," he whispered, just for her.
Shiyi sighed again, a deeper, more accepting sound this time. "Fine. But if we find anything that looks like a portal, I'm calling the police. Or a therapist." But her eyes, though still careful, had a little sparkle of reluctant excitement.
Ryuichi just closed his laptop. "I've got the house plans. The estate is officially empty, but there's an old side entrance that hasn't been blocked off." His eyes met Kento's, a quiet understanding of the big step they were about to take.
It was Christmas Day, a time when most families in Tokyo were celebrating with warm meals and gifts. But for these six friends, the pull of the unknown was stronger than holiday traditions. The cold, afternoon air in Tokyo seemed to hold its breath as they headed towards Setagaya District, driven by curiosity, strong friendships, and a fate none of them could yet understand.
They took a train to Setagaya, then walked through quiet residential streets, the sound of their footsteps muffled by the crisp air. Soon, the houses grew bigger, the gardens more spread out, until they stood before a tall, weathered stone wall. Beyond it, hidden by overgrown trees, was the Toriyama Estate. It looked exactly as Ryuichi had described: dark, silent, and abandoned.
December 25th, 2016. Tokyo. Toriyama Estate, Setagaya District. 3:45 PM.
The air inside the estate felt colder, heavier. Old leaves crunched under their shoes as they walked along a winding, cracked path. The main house loomed ahead, a grand building that time had not been kind to. Its windows were dark, like empty eyes.
"Ryuichi, you said there was a service entrance?" Kento whispered, his voice hushed in the spooky silence.
Ryuichi pointed towards the back of the house, where a smaller, rusty metal door was almost hidden by thick ivy. "That's it. Looks like it hasn't been used in years."
With a shared glance, Kento carefully pushed the door. It groaned loudly, sending shivers down their spines, but it opened. A wave of musty, damp air washed over them. They stepped inside, pulling out their phone flashlights.
The inside was even worse than the outside. Dust lay thick on everything, and the air was heavy and still. Broken furniture lay under white sheets, looking like ghosts. They moved carefully, their flashlights cutting through the gloom. Shiyi clutched her phone, ready to dial, but she stayed close to the group. Shido kept an arm around Tamiko, who gripped his hand tightly. Hori stayed right beside Kento, her presence a steady comfort.
"The basement should be this way," Ryuichi said, leading them towards a small, dark doorway hidden behind a heavy curtain. The air grew colder as they went deeper into the house.
A set of narrow, wooden stairs led down into pitch blackness. The air here was strangely still, not moving at all, and it carried a faint, coppery smell. It felt different from the rest of the house, like time had stopped.
"Are you sure about this, Kento?" Hori whispered, her voice barely audible.
Kento took a deep breath. "This is it. This is where he spent his last days. If there's any truth to it, it's down here." He gripped Hori's hand, then started down the stairs, his flashlight beam shaky.
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