The rain didn't fall. It hammered.
Black umbrellas stood like a forest of wilted shadows, heads bowed, lips tight, eyes blank. The funeral was silent—not out of respect, but because no one knew what to say. Two coffins. Closed. Burned beyond recognition. No time for goodbyes.
And in the middle of it all, a boy.Small. So small. Too small for that much pain.
His hands clutched the soaked edge of his oversized white shirt. His shoes were untied, socks mismatched. His hair, wet and stuck to his forehead, clung like the last memory of the hands that once brushed it aside.
He looked up, eyes wide—not crying, just lost."Where… where are Mama and Papa?" he asked, voice barely a whisper, like it might break if spoken too loud.
No one answered. Just shifting eyes and uncomfortable throats.
"They're not inside… right? They just had to go somewhere, didn't they? For work?" he asked again, stepping closer to the coffins. His small fingers reached out—hesitating—then withdrew.
One of the relatives, an aunt maybe, knelt beside him, forced a smile. "Yuu… sweetie, they just had something very important to do. They'll be back, okay? Just… be strong until then."
He blinked up at her, slow, searching. He wanted to believe it. That's what made it worse.
"Stop feeding him lies," a low voice snapped.
The woman flinched. Heads turned.
A man stood nearby, tall, soaked through, cigarette burned to the filter between his fingers. His eyes—cold and sharp like broken glass—locked onto the boy.
"Uncle Renji," someone muttered, worried.
Renji walked forward, heavy boots sinking into the mud with every step. He stopped just in front of the boy, crouched to eye level. The boy didn't back away. Something in Renji's presence held him there, frozen.
"They're dead," Renji said, no softness, no decoration. Just truth, stripped and sharp."They're not coming back. And nothing in this damn world will bring them back."
The boy stared at him, breath caught.
"You wanna cry? Cry. You wanna scream? Do it. But after that…" Renji leaned in closer, his voice dropping."You get up. You eat. You read. You live. You survive. Because they died protecting you. And if you waste that, then their deaths meant nothing."
Silence.
Not a single tear rolled down Yuu's face.
His lip trembled. Just for a second. Then it stopped.
He nodded.
Not because he understood—but because something inside him shattered and rebuilt itself in that moment. Different. Colder. Hungrier.
Renji stood, lit a new cigarette, and turned to leave.
The rain picked up again. Yuu stood alone between two coffins. A boy too small for the storm he was about to walk into. But already, the fire inside him had been lit.