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Chapter 34 - Chapter 34 – The Awakening in Tsukigakure

In Morning,..

> "Mori's Awakening"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh!"

Mori's own scream ripped him from the darkness. His chest heaved like he'd been drowning. Sweat soaked his skin, his lungs burned, and his eyes darted around frantically.

'Where…? Where am I?!'

He wasn't on the battlefield. No torn earth, no pools of blood, no monstrous shadows rising to kill him again. Instead—

A wooden ceiling. Dim lantern-light. A blanket tangled around his body. The faint smell of herbs and something warm drifting from a pot nearby.

He clutched his head, gasping.

"…I… I'm alive?"

Slowly, his trembling hands pressed against the sheets. They were soft, warmer than he remembered. His muscles felt heavy, weak, but not broken.

Ten days of unconsciousness had drained him — though he didn't yet know it had been that long.

He swung his legs off the bed and tried to stand. His knees nearly buckled, but he forced himself upright, gripping the wooden bedpost for balance.

'I need to know… where is everyone?'

He staggered toward the door, every step like pushing through mud. His hand shook as he gripped the handle and pulled it open.

---

> "The Village of Tsukigakure"

The sight that hit him nearly froze him in place.

Outside stretched a wide street lined with houses carved from stone and reinforced with bones of beasts. Smoke curled gently from chimneys. Lanterns glowed with eerie blue flames.

And the people—

Dozens. No, 'hundreds.'

Men and women with scars and strange features. Some bore horns, others fur across their arms. One elderly man with a long tail stirred a pot, while children with slit-pupil eyes chased each other. Tall, shadow-skinned hunters carried weapons across their backs. Elders with robes whispered, their gazes heavy with suspicion and sorrow.

It was a village. Alive. Hidden within the Shadow World.

'…A world inside a world…' Mori thought, breath catching. 'So this… this is where the people came from.'

But before he could take another step forward—

---

> "Saki's Tears"

"MORI!!!"

The voice came like lightning, and before he could even react, arms slammed around him.

Saki Fujimoto buried her face into his chest, clutching his clothes so tightly it almost hurt. Her whole body shook.

"You idiot! You stupid, reckless, insane idiot! Don't you ever—don't you 'ever' scare me like that again!!"

Mori froze, his body stiff with shock.

"S-Saki…? I—"

Her sobs muffled against him, wetting his shirt.

"You were gone for ten days! Ten days lying there without moving, without opening your eyes! I thought— we all thought— you'd never come back…"

His chest tightened. The words sank deep into him, heavy and suffocating.

'Ten days… I've been gone for ten days?'

Slowly, awkwardly, he lifted a hand and rested it against her back.

"…I'm sorry."

Her grip only tightened.

"You don't get to be sorry! You… you don't even remember, do you?!"

Mori blinked.

"What do you mean?"

---

> "The Story Retold"

Finally, she pulled back, wiping her tears, though her hands lingered at his sleeves as if afraid he'd vanish again. Her voice wavered as she explained.

"You don't remember… what you did out there. Against the Serpent. The way the air turned black, the way everything 'died' when you moved. Mori, you… you're the one who killed it."

Mori's mind went blank.

"I… killed it?"

Saki nodded. Her eyes, red from crying, burned with something else now — awe and fear.

"You were… terrifying. You didn't even sound like yourself. You cut that monster apart in silence, like it wasn't even alive. And then—you collapsed."

He staggered a step back, his heart pounding.

"…No. That can't be. I don't… I don't remember any of it. It's just… black."

Saki's fists trembled.

"Well, 'we' remember. And if it weren't for you, Emi would be dead. 'We' would all be dead."

Mori: Emi?!

Saki: The One Who lost Her arm,.

Her voice cracked again.

"But it cost us… it cost us so much."

Mori froze, his stomach twisting. He didn't need her to say more.

"…The One Who Protect me and Died . And the other warrior…"

Saki lowered her head. "…Both gone. Emi hasn't stopped crying, even if she hides it when she guides us. And that warrior… he never even told us his name. He gave his life for us, and we can't even honor him properly."

Mori's throat tightened. He pressed his palm against his face, trying to stop the trembling.

'I was unconscious while they carried the weight. While they buried the dead. While they cried and bled… and I wasn't even there to share it with them.'

---

> "At the Restaurant"

Moments later, the two of them walked through the village streets together.

Every villager's gaze lingered on Mori — some curious, some suspicious, some fearful. He felt their weight, every stare pressing on him like chains.

Finally, they reached a low building at the corner, marked with faintly glowing lanterns. The smell of roasted meat and herbs wafted from inside.

Inside, around a large table, sat his team.

Haruka looked up first, gasping.

"MORI!" She nearly leapt from her seat, eyes wide with relief.

Kaida smirked faintly, though his eyes betrayed exhaustion.

"About time you woke up, sleeping beauty."

Renji gave a weak grin, his body still bandaged.

"Tch. Ten days, huh? You're lucky we didn't leave you behind."

Takumi just exhaled, relief soft but visible in his posture. Miya stared, sparks of lightning flickering faintly in her hair as her lips curved upward, just a little.

And at the far end of the table sat "Emi Kurogane", one arm gone, her eyes shadowed with grief. She didn't speak, but when her gaze met Mori's, he felt the storm behind her silence.

Mori sat down slowly. The weight of everyone's eyes, everyone's expectations, pressed down on him.

"…I don't remember what I did. But I'm sorry… for making all of you carry that burden alone."

Silence hung. Until Saki leaned forward, her voice trembling but firm.

"We survived. Because of you. So don't you dare apologize for being alive, Mori."

The food arrived then — bowls of steaming stew, roasted beast meat, strange glowing fruit. The group began to eat, their silence breaking into murmurs, weary laughter, even teasing. For the first time since the battle, they felt like people again, not just survivors.

But Mori's thoughts remained heavy, turning again and again to the faces of the two who didn't make it.

'I'll carry them. Both of them. I swear it.'

---

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