The first thing Kaito felt was the smell—stale air, rusted iron, and the faint scent of medicinal herbs. His eyes snapped open, and he immediately tried to sit up, but a sharp, white-hot pain flared in his back, pinning him down.
He wasn't in the street. He was in a vast, dim warehouse, the high rafters lost in shadow.
"You're awake," a voice drawled from the corner.
Kaito froze. He recognized that tone instantly. Machinora Kanjo was sitting on a crate, peeling an apple with a small knife.
"Where... why am I here?" Kaito rasped, his throat feeling like it was full of glass.
"Because you're dead," Kanjo replied simply.
Kaito's face contorted into a confused, almost bewildered expression. "Dead? I'm speaking to you, aren't I?"
Kanjo continued without looking up. "In the official records of Azerion, the Shadow Fang died of his injuries in the Residential Sector two weeks ago. I made sure of it."
"Two weeks?" Kaito's heart hammered. "I've been out for two weeks? And why... why go through the trouble? You're a Hunter. You should have turned me in for the billion Azer."
Kanjo finally looked at him, his eyes unreadable. "I knew your mother, Hana Satomi. Years ago, before the rot in this country became a forest, she saved my life. I knew exactly why you were hunting those ministers."
Kaito's breath hitched. A secret debt. The monster of the Sutra Continent owed his life to the woman who died in shame.
"You cannot stay in Azerion, Kaito," Kanjo said, his voice turning stern. "You are a country-level threat. You can't just roam the open streets anymore. You have to head to the Mizaka Country in the Sutra Continent with me."
"No," Kaito snarled, trying to push himself off the cot. "I have a sister. I can't leave her."
Slap.
The sound echoed through the warehouse. Kanjo had moved so fast Kaito hadn't even seen him stand up. Kaito's head snapped to the side, the sting of the blow forcing the fog from his mind.
"Stop acting on your emotions," Kanjo hissed. "Think about the girl. If you stay, they will find you. And if they can't kill you, they will target her. Is that the 'Will' you're carrying? To let her become a bargaining chip for a bunch of greedy ministers?"
Kaito went still. The logic was cold, but it was absolute. His presence was a magnet for death. To save Hana, he had to disappear.
"Three years," Kanjo said, softening his tone slightly. "You train with me in Mizaka for three years. You pay the price of your karma. I'll give you three days to spend time with her. Then, we leave."
The Departure of a Ghost
Kaito accepted the terms. He had no choice.
He dressed in a clean white shirt and sturdy brown pants Kanjo had provided. His body was far from fully recovered—every step felt like a needle in his spine—but he walked out of the warehouse under a sky thick with brilliant, indifferent stars.
Kanjo stood in the doorway, watching the young man's silhouette. For the first time, he didn't call him Shadow Fang.
"Go on," Kanjo called out. "Go say goodbye... The Savior of Azerion."
Kaito paused, his back to the hunter. "I don't deserve to be a hero," he replied, his voice heavy with a grief that wouldn't lift. "I failed to save my mother. And now... I'm failing to save my sister."
As he stepped onto the pavement, the clouds finally broke. A cold, steady rain began to fall, soaking into his new clothes. Kaito didn't run for cover. He kept his head down, walking through the downpour toward the house of Asha Veldonia.
Brilliant stars always shine, the wind seems to whisper, it doesn't matter where they are. Even behind the clouds. Even in the dark.