The next few days blurred into a tense routine.
Haruto met Aoi every evening after school—same abandoned rooftop, same bruised sunset. She drilled him relentlessly: focus, breathe, feel the shadow without letting it swallow you whole.
"Again," she snapped, arms crossed. "You're still hesitating. The yokai smells fear."
Haruto stood in the center of the roof, palms out. Shadow pooled at his feet like spilled oil. He pushed—gentle this time. Chains rose slowly: thin, tentative, wrapping around a discarded metal pipe like curious snakes.
Better. No fading spike. No chest pain.
Aoi nodded once—almost approval. "Progress. But slow. Too slow."
He let the chains dissolve. "You said 'we' hunt them. Who's 'we'?"
She hesitated. Looked away toward the city lights flickering on. "Kage Hunters. Loose group. People like us—bound to shadows—who track rogue yokai. Or worse: users who lose control and start erasing themselves and everyone around them."
Haruto's stomach twisted. "Like me, if I screw up."
"Exactly." She met his eyes. "You're not the first half-forgotten soul they've latched onto. But you're... different. Your shadow's pure void. No fire, no form—just absence. That's rare. And dangerous."
Before he could ask more, the rooftop door slammed open.
A tall figure stepped out—broad shoulders, silver-streaked black hair falling over one eye, uniform impeccable despite the wind. Cold aura rolled off him like frost.
Ren Tsukiyo. Class 3-A. Top of the school in everything: grades, sports, rumors. The kind of guy who walked through crowds like they parted for him.
Haruto's breath caught. Recognition hit like a punch.
Ren?
Childhood flashes: Mumbai playgrounds, shared vada pav, racing trains home. "Bhai, tu hamesha peeche reh jaata hai!" Ren laughing, pulling him along. Then the accident—car crash, hospital, Ren vanishing from his life. Family moved. Memories faded like old photos.
But Ren stared at Haruto like he was a stranger.
Aoi tensed. "Ren. What are you doing here?"
Ren's gaze flicked to her, then back to Haruto. Voice low, emotionless. "Felt a disturbance. Void energy. Uncontrolled."
He stepped forward. Shadow under his feet didn't ripple—it commanded. Multiple tendrils rose without effort: dark spears, precise, lethal.
Haruto's shadow reacted instinctively—coiling protectively.
Ren tilted his head. "So it's you. The new one."
"You know me?" Haruto asked, voice rough.
Ren's expression didn't change. "Should I?"
Something cold settled in Haruto's gut. Ren's eyes—same gray as before, but empty now. No warmth. No recognition.
Aoi stepped between them. "Back off, Ren. He's under my watch."
Ren smirked—thin, sharp. "Your watch? Cute. But the Syndicate's interested. Void user this strong? They'll want him."
"Syndicate?" Haruto echoed.
Aoi cursed. "Eclipse Syndicate. Rogue faction. They don't hunt yokai—they weaponize them. Turn bound users into tools for power. Erase the weak ones."
Ren's shadows sharpened. "They see potential. I see... noise."
Without warning, Ren attacked.
Dark spears lanced forward—fast, silent. Aimed at Haruto's chest.
Instinct took over. Haruto's chains exploded outward—black links clashing against spears in a shower of sparks. Metal screech echoed across the roof.
Aoi's flames ignited—serpent of black fire coiling around her arm. "Ren, stop!"
Ren didn't. He moved like shadow itself—slipping between attacks, another wave of darkness surging.
Haruto dodged, rolled. Chains whipped back—caught Ren's leg, yanked.
Ren twisted free mid-air, landed lightly. "Sloppy."
But his eyes flickered—something almost like surprise.
Haruto panted. Power hummed in his veins—stronger now. But his left hand flickered again. Fading faster.
Not now—
Ren paused. Shadows retracted slightly. "You're fading already. Pathetic."
Haruto glared. "You don't remember anything? Mumbai? The trains? Us?"
Ren's face blanked further. "Irrelevant."
Aoi's flames flared brighter. "Enough! Ren, if you're with the Syndicate now—"
"I'm not with anyone." Ren's voice cut like ice. "I'm just... cleaning up loose ends."
He turned away. Shadows swallowed him—literally. He vanished into darkness, reappearing at the door.
"Tell your Hunters," he said over his shoulder. "The void user won't last the week unless he submits. Or we'll take him."
Door slammed shut.
Silence fell.
Haruto dropped to his knees. Chains dissolved. Pain throbbed in his arm—skin translucent up to the elbow now.
Aoi knelt beside him. "You okay?"
"No." Voice cracked. "He was my friend. Childhood. And he doesn't even..."
Aoi's hand on his shoulder—firm. "Yokai bonds twist memories. Sometimes erase them. Ren's shadow is advanced—multiple dominions. It probably consumed his past to fuel power."
Haruto clenched fists. "Then I'll make him remember."
Aoi sighed. "First, survive. Your fading's accelerating. We need real help."
She pulled out a small black card—embossed with a crescent eclipse. "Kage Hunters safehouse. Tomorrow night. Bring nothing but yourself."
Haruto took the card. Fingers trembling.
As night deepened, shadows lengthened across the roof.
Haruto's own shadow stirred—whispering.
He forgot you. But I remember. Every slight. Every abandonment.
Let me help you remind him.
Haruto stared at his fading hand.
For the first time, the whisper didn't scare him.
It felt like an ally.