Silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
Not the kind Haruki remembered from quiet nights in his village, when snow would fall gently and the world felt distant and still.
This silence was heavy.
Pressing.
Like something waiting.
Haruki drifted somewhere between waking and dreaming.
Fragments of light flickered behind his closed eyes.
Voices echoed—but none of them were clear.
He saw things.
Too many things.
A blade cutting through snow.
Karin's voice calling out his name.
Raizen standing still—watching.
A future where he didn't move.
A future where he moved too late.
A future where—
Haruki's eyes snapped open.
Cold air rushed into his lungs as he inhaled sharply, his body jolting upright before pain forced him to stop.
"—Ah…!"
His head throbbed instantly.
Not a dull ache.
A sharp, splitting pain that radiated from behind his eyes down into his skull.
"…Don't move."
The voice was calm.
Familiar.
Haruki blinked, his vision slowly stabilizing as he turned his head slightly.
Karin sat beside him.
Arms resting loosely on her knees, chains coiled around her wrists like sleeping serpents.
She wasn't looking at him.
Just ahead.
Watching the forest.
"You've been out for hours," she added.
Haruki swallowed.
"…Hours?"
His voice came out weaker than he expected.
Dry.
Unsteady.
Karin nodded slightly.
"Yeah."
A pause.
"You scared me."
That made him look at her properly.
Her expression hadn't changed much—but there was something there.
Something quieter.
Less guarded.
"…Sorry," Haruki muttered.
Karin exhaled softly.
"Don't apologize for something you couldn't control."
Haruki flinched slightly at that.
Because that wasn't entirely true.
He lowered his gaze.
Snow crunched faintly as he shifted, trying to sit up more comfortably against the base of a tree.
Everything felt heavier than usual.
His arms.
His legs.
Even breathing took effort.
"…What happened?" he asked.
Karin didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she reached beside her and picked up his katana, holding it out toward him.
"You dropped this," she said.
Haruki stared at it for a moment before taking it slowly.
His grip tightened instinctively around the handle.
Familiar.
Grounding.
"You pushed too far," Karin continued. "That's what happened."
Haruki looked down at the blade resting across his lap.
"…I was getting it," he said quietly. "For a second."
Karin didn't deny it.
"…Yeah," she admitted.
That surprised him.
"You were," she continued. "You actually were."
A small pause.
"Then you collapsed."
Haruki let out a weak, humorless breath.
"…Sounds about right."
Silence settled again.
The forest around them was quieter than usual.
Too quiet.
Even the wind had softened, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
"…Where's Raizen?" Haruki asked after a moment.
"Nearby," Karin replied. "He went to check the perimeter."
A slight shrug.
"He does that when he's thinking."
Haruki nodded faintly.
That sounded like him.
Another pause.
"…Karin," Haruki said slowly.
She glanced at him this time.
"…What if I can't control it?"
The question lingered in the air.
He didn't look at her as he said it.
Didn't want to.
"What if this is just…" He hesitated, searching for the words. "…how it is?"
Karin didn't respond immediately.
Haruki continued, his voice quieter now.
"Every time I try to use it, it gets worse. The visions—they don't stop. They don't slow down."
His grip on the katana tightened.
"I can't tell what's real half the time."
His breathing became slightly uneven again.
"What if one day…"
He swallowed.
"…I can't tell at all?"
That was the real fear.
Not the pain.
Not the exhaustion.
Losing himself.
Karin watched him carefully.
Really watched him this time.
"…Then you deal with it when that happens," she said.
Haruki blinked.
"…That's it?"
Karin frowned slightly.
"What else do you want me to say?"
He didn't answer.
Because honestly—
He didn't know.
Karin leaned back slightly, resting her weight against the tree behind her.
"You're thinking too far ahead again," she said.
Haruki gave a weak laugh.
"…That's kind of my problem."
"Yeah," Karin replied bluntly. "And you're making it worse."
He glanced at her.
Karin met his gaze this time.
Firm.
Unwavering.
"You're scared of something that hasn't happened yet," she said. "And you're letting that fear mess up what's happening right now."
Haruki looked away.
"…Easy for you to say."
Karin's expression shifted slightly.
Not offended.
Just… thoughtful.
"You think I didn't go through something similar?" she asked.
Haruki hesitated.
"…You didn't collapse mid-fight," he said quietly.
Karin didn't respond right away.
Instead, she looked down at her hands.
At the chains wrapped around her wrists.
"…No," she said after a moment. "I didn't."
A pause.
"But that doesn't mean it was easy."
Haruki glanced back at her.
Karin's voice was calmer now.
Quieter.
"When my Eyes first awakened," she continued, "I couldn't control the heat."
Haruki blinked.
"It wasn't like now," she said. "It wasn't precise. It wasn't controlled."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the chains.
"It was… explosive."
The word hung in the air.
"I burned things without meaning to," she said.
Haruki's expression shifted.
"…Things?" he asked.
Karin didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
"…People?" Haruki asked carefully.
Karin's gaze didn't move.
"…Yeah."
Silence.
The weight of that settled heavily between them.
"I didn't understand it," she continued. "I didn't know when it would happen. Or how to stop it."
A faint exhale.
"So I avoided using it."
Haruki frowned slightly.
"That doesn't sound like you."
Karin let out a small, almost amused breath.
"…Yeah. It didn't last long."
A pause.
"Because avoiding it made it worse."
Haruki stilled.
"When I finally lost control again…" Karin's voice lowered slightly. "…it was worse than before."
Haruki looked down.
"…So what did you do?" he asked.
Karin leaned her head back slightly, looking up at the pale, cloud-covered sky.
"I accepted it," she said.
Simple.
Direct.
"I stopped treating it like something separate from me," she continued. "Stopped acting like it was a problem I could ignore."
Her gaze shifted back to him.
"It's part of me," she said. "Whether I like it or not."
Haruki held her gaze.
"…And that worked?"
Karin shrugged slightly.
"…Eventually."
That wasn't comforting.
But it was honest.
Haruki exhaled slowly, leaning his head back against the tree behind him.
"…I don't know if I can do that," he admitted.
Karin didn't respond.
Because this time—
She knew he wasn't asking for an answer.
Footsteps crunched softly against the snow.
Both of them looked up.
Raizen emerged from between the trees, his spear resting across his shoulder.
He stopped a few steps away, his gaze briefly scanning Haruki before settling.
"You're awake," he said.
Haruki nodded slightly.
"…Yeah."
Raizen studied him for a moment longer.
"How do you feel?"
Haruki hesitated.
"…Like my head's going to split open."
Raizen nodded.
"Good."
Haruki blinked.
"…Good?"
"That means you reached your limit," Raizen said.
Karin rolled her eyes slightly.
Raizen continued, unfazed.
"Now you know where it is."
Haruki frowned.
"…And what am I supposed to do with that?"
Raizen stepped closer, planting the base of his spear into the snow again.
"Expand it."
Haruki stared at him.
"…You're serious."
"I'm always serious."
Karin snorted quietly.
Raizen ignored her.
"You're afraid of losing control," he said, looking directly at Haruki.
Haruki didn't deny it.
"Good," Raizen continued. "You should be."
That wasn't reassuring.
"But fear isn't the problem," Raizen said. "Your reaction to it is."
Haruki frowned slightly.
"You're trying to suppress something that can't be suppressed," Raizen continued. "And every time you fail, it hits you harder."
Haruki's grip tightened slightly.
"…Then what do I do?" he asked.
Raizen's gaze sharpened slightly.
"You endure it."
Haruki blinked.
"That's it?"
Raizen nodded once.
"For now."
A pause.
"You're not ready to control it yet," he said. "So stop trying to."
Haruki looked down.
"…That sounds like giving up."
Raizen shook his head slightly.
"No," he said.
"It's surviving."
Silence followed.
Haruki let those words settle.
Slowly.
"…Surviving, huh," he muttered.
Raizen stepped back slightly.
"We move at dawn," he said.
Karin frowned.
"Already?"
Raizen nodded.
"The Rift activity is increasing," he said. "Staying here isn't safe."
Haruki glanced up at that.
"…You felt it too?" he asked.
Raizen's gaze shifted toward the deeper forest.
"Yes."
A pause.
"…Something's coming."
The air grew heavier again.
Haruki felt it too.
That faint, distant pressure.
Like something watching.
Waiting.
That night, sleep didn't come easily.
Haruki lay awake, staring up at the darkened sky through the thin gaps in the trees.
Karin slept a few meters away.
Raizen remained awake, as always.
But Haruki—
Every time he closed his eyes—
He saw it.
Fragments.
Shattered pieces of futures he couldn't understand.
A battlefield.
Fire.
Ice.
Darkness swallowing everything.
And at the center of it—
Himself.
Standing still.
Blind.
Haruki's eyes snapped open.
His breathing quickened slightly.
"…What was that…?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
And the faint, lingering feeling—
That what he saw…
Wasn't just a possibility.
It was inevitable.