...The light in the dream was warm
The kind of warmth fate gives you... just before it takes everything away
.
We were in the backyard, and the air carried my mother's scent—Tsuki. She laughed freely as she chased Zane and me, not like a grown woman, but like a child, her hair flowing wildly behind her with every step.
"I've got you!" she shouted, throwing herself at us and dragging us both onto the grass.
She pulled us into her arms, wrapping us in a warmth that felt unbreakable. I could hear her heartbeat, fast from running, and feel her fingers as they ran through my hair, tickling Zane until he nearly burst into laughter beside me. In that moment, Zane wasn't my orphaned cousin.
He was my brother.
And that embrace... was our fortress against the world.
A sudden warmth rushed to my ears. I quickly looked away, trying to hide my embarrassment at her affection, forcing my usual bold tone back into place to cover it up.
But the truth was... I didn't want that moment to end.
She looked at us with those sharp, knowing eyes—eyes that held a depth no eight-year-old could understand.
"Kai, you little troublemaker... if you keep this up, no one's baking you sweets tomorrow," she said with a playful wink.
For a second... I felt like something was watching us.I ignored it.
On the balcony nearby, my father—Hikaru—sat in his usual composed silence. He didn't join us, and he rarely smiled... but his eyes were fixed on us, as if he was trying to memorize every detail of that moment.
A cup of tea rested in his hand. Every now and then, a faint smile would touch the corner of his lips—so subtle you'd miss it if you didn't know him.
He looked like a silent guardian watching over paradise.
"I don't want to go to school tomorrow," I muttered later.
She leaned in close and whispered, "If you go, I'll make your favorite chocolate."
I agreed instantly.
(Not that it mattered... I had already planned to run away.)
The next morning...
I woke to find Zane lying in bed, pale, his breathing heavy. My mother pressed a damp cloth against his forehead, worry written all over her face.
I got dressed quietly.
At the door, I paused—bag over my shoulder—my usual confidence in place, though I couldn't ignore the way his body trembled.
"Oh, look at that... the 'drama queen' chose today to get sick? Math test too scary?" I smirked.
"Did you eat soap just to stay home and get pampered?"
Zane looked at me, exhausted but still sharp.
"Shut up, Kai... go rot in school."
As soon as my mother stepped out, he grabbed my shirt weakly, a faint grin forming.
"Kai, you're going to run away, aren't you?"
(I was surprised that he knew that.)
"...Don't forget who taught you how to do it."
I laughed—my usual crooked laugh—and left.
In the hallway, I ran into my father.
Hikaru.
He stood there like a mountain—silent, unmoving—his eyes locked onto me.
For a moment... I couldn't breathe.
"If you don't go, Kai," he said, his voice breaking the silence; like a sword,
"then consider yourself dead."
I lowered my gaze.
"I'll go..."
But I didn't.
As soon as I stepped outside, I met Takemaru and Shin.
Around them, I was different—louder, bolder.
But deep down, I was still that quiet kid who hid behind sarcasm and attitude to cover what he couldn't say.
The moment I was out of sight of the house, I tossed my schoolbag behind a thick bush.
Freedom.
It tasted like the green apples we used to steal from the neighbors' trees—sharp, fresh... forbidden.
"Kai!" Shin shouted as he jumped over a low wall. "We thought your father scared you so much that you wet your pants to go to school!"
I smirked, adjusting my collar.
"Hikaru? He just likes hearing himself talk. I left him with his tea while Zane played dead to get spoiled."
We ran through the alleys, laughter bouncing off the narrow walls.
I knew every shortcut, every weak wall, every house with dogs too lazy to bark.
That was my world.
Or at least... I thought it was.
We reached the abandoned container yard behind the port—our secret playground.
No rules.
No teachers.
No consequences.
"Check this out!" I grabbed an old spray can and started dragging messy lines across the rusted metal.
Takemaru kept glancing around nervously.
"Kai... what if a guard sees us?"
I shot him a look, half amused, half annoyed.
"You worry too much. They're probably eating right now. Relax."
We spent hours chasing cheap thrills.
Climbing a broken crane...
Watching the city shrink beneath us...
Jumping between containers where one wrong step meant a broken bone—
I jumped anyway.
Without hesitation.
The rush hit me instantly—the kind that made everything else feel small.
"You're insane!" Shin yelled, struggling to keep up.
I sat on the cold metal edge, staring out at the horizon.
"Better insane than bored to death listening to Akio talk about history no one's ever seen."
We stole candy from a street vendor while he slept and ran like idiots through the alley, laughing so loud it felt like nothing in the world could touch us.
For a moment...
I really believed that.
That day... would never end.
That nothing could break it.
But the sun had other plans.
The laughter faded.
And something... shifted.
The shadows stretched unnaturally long, crawling across the ground like black arms reaching for us.
The sky—once bright and blue—turned into a dull, copper haze.
And the air...
It changed.
Cold. Heavy.
Wrong.
That's when I realized it.
I was late.
More than two hours.
I don't know why...
but something inside me whispered—
Don't go back.
I ignored it.
Of course I did.
And started running.
My footsteps hit the hard ground, but I couldn't feel them.
With every step closer to our street, my chest tightened... like something invisible was wrapping around my lungs, squeezing.
My father's voice echoed in my head.
"Consider yourself dead."
Again.
And again.
And again.
But this fear...
Wasn't about him.
It was something else.
Something deeper.
Something I couldn't name.
The air didn't smell like home anymore.
No food.
No dust.
No life.
Just...
Something metallic.
Thick.
Unfamiliar.
Wrong.
I slowed down.
Then stopped.
The door was slightly open.
Waiting.
And the silence...
It wasn't quiet.
It was watching.
I stopped.
Right at the threshold.
Something was there.
At the edge of the half-open door...
a single drop.
Not a stain.
Not a smear.
A drop.
Dark red.
Too vivid.
Too alive.
It clung to the stone like it didn't belong there... like it had been placed, not spilled.
Still wet.
Still glistening under the dull copper light of the fading sun.
My breath caught in my throat.
That drop...
It wasn't just blood.
It was certainty.
Every doubt in my mind went silent.
Every excuse... gone.
That quiet voice inside me—the one I ignored—
It wasn't whispering anymore.
It was screaming.
Don't go in.
The world behind me faded.
No voices.
No wind.
No footsteps.
Just the sound of my heartbeat—
loud... violent... echoing inside my skull like something trying to break out.
My fingers twitched.
Cold crept up my arm as I slowly reached for the handle.
The metal felt wrong.
Too cold.
Like it had never known warmth.
"...Mom?"
The word barely left my lips.
Weak.
Uncertain.
Unanswered.
No movement inside.
No voice.
No sound.
Only that smell.
Stronger now.
Heavier.
Metallic...
and suffocating.
My hand trembled.
I tried to summon that reckless boldness... that stupid confidence I used to hide behind.
But it was gone.
Completely gone.
All that remained was a child...
standing at a door he already knew he shouldn't open.
I closed my eyes.
Just for a second.
Took a breath that felt like swallowing iron—
And pushed.
The door didn't creak.
Didn't resist.
It opened... smoothly.
Quietly.
As if it had been waiting for me.
The darkness inside didn't feel like shadow.
It felt like something deeper.
Something heavier.
Alive.
"Kai..."
The voice was barely a whisper.
Shaking.
Broken.
Zane.
He stood in the hallway.
Pale.
Too pale.
His body swayed slightly, like he might collapse at any moment.
His eyes—
They weren't just scared.
They were... full.
Overflowing with something he couldn't say.
His lips parted.
Tried to form words.
Failed.
Again.
And again.
No sound came out.
"Zane...?"
My voice cracked.
I took a step forward—
He flinched.
Slowly... painfully...
he lifted his hand.
It trembled like it was carrying something far heavier than it should.
And pointed.
Toward the kitchen.
I didn't want to look.
Every part of me refused.
Screamed.
Begged me to stop.
But I moved anyway.
One step.
Then another.
Each one heavier than the last.
The smell hit me first.
Stronger.
Sharper.
Unmistakable now.
I reached the doorway.
And looked inside.
(This isn't home anymore.)
It's hell.
(TO BE CONTINUED)