Haruki Aizawa had always been indifferent to the past.

  Even with his exceptional memory, he tended to discard anything he deemed irrelevant, pushing unnecessary details into the dusty corners of his mind.

  Yui Yuigahama, however, seemed disappointed by his ck of recollection. She shifted tentatively, her voice trailing off. "Well, it wasn't a huge deal or anything. It's just, that morning before the ceremony, I was out walking my dog. Sabure—my pup—tripped out and slipped his colr. He ran right into the street, and a car was coming fast. Out of nowhere, this handsome guy appeared like a hero and saved him. It really left an impression on me..."

  "There are people like that, I suppose," Haruki replied ftly.

  He had absolutely no memory of the opening ceremony, so naturally, he had no idea who this "dog-saving hero" was.

  Yui's expression twitched at his bnk response. She let out a helpless sigh. "So... I've been wanting to thank that handsome hero ever since, but it's like he completely forgot I even exist..."

  "It doesn't matter," Haruki said, following his own internal logic. "People who do good deeds rarely care for the thanks. If someone does a kind act just for a reward, they aren't worth the title of a hero anyway."

  "Is that how it works?" Yui murmured, her gaze turning even more respectful as she looked at him.

  The school day finally crawled to an end, though the hours had been a blur of agony under the constant erosion of the Darkin's influence. But the end of css didn't mean the end of the corruption.

  To fix this distortion, Haruki had to find a way to purge the demonic residue. After a long moment of hesitation, he dialed a number he had once sworn never to call again.

  "Hello?" a mature, sultry female voice answered.

  Haruki didn't waste time on pleasantries. "I have a problem. Can we meet?"

  "Hehe... for you to actually call me for help, it must be something significant," the woman chuckled. "Fine. Come to the usual pce."

  "I'm on my way."

  Tormented by the whispers in his head, Haruki didn't care about the consequences of this meeting. He followed the familiar path through the outskirts of the city until he reached a secluded, somewhat cluttered office.

  Inside, he was met by a woman with a red ponytail and gsses.

  If Haruki's memory served him correctly, her name was Touko Aozaki. She was a magus, a master puppet maker, and the woman who had gifted him his first true bde, the Kanesada.

  "What happened?" Touko asked, cutting straight to the point.

  "I'm being eroded by a foreign power. It's crawling through my consciousness, fueling a desire for sughter I can barely contain."

  Haruki didn't mention the System, describing only the symptoms.

  "Consciousness erosion? A hunger for death?" Touko seemed surprised. It wasn't a phenomenon she encountered often, even in her line of work.

  But as a magus of her caliber, her perspective was vast. After a brief silence, she offered a suggestion. "I don't have a direct 'cure' in my repertoire for a spiritual infection of this scale, but I can give you a lead on how to break the cycle."

  "Go on."

  "Do you remember the girl you encountered six months ago? The one who almost became a 'Serial Killer'?"

  "You mean... the child from the Ryogi family?"

  "Exactly. Back then, you made the 'correct' choice, but you ended up carrying a burden that wasn't yours to bear. As it stands now, she might be the only antidote for your condition."

  "Her..."

  Haruki went silent. Memories from half a year ago began to flood back.

  He hadn't first encountered the supernatural through Miko Yotsuya. Six months ago, his obsession with the sword had taken him to Mifune City. There, he had encountered a "Satsujinki"—a man-syer—wandering the night.

  The girl was Shiki Ryogi.

  She was a patient with a dual personality: Shiki, the female persona (Yin), and SHIKI, the male persona (Yang). The male personality was the one Haruki had fought night after night. SHIKI was a creature of pure destructive impulse, using the city's darkness as a pyground.

  Their battles had been legendary. Back then, Haruki only knew the Wuju style, and even then, he could only fight the girl to a draw. Their final meeting, however, had ended in tragedy. Or rather, a choice.

  SHIKI had chosen to disappear, allowing Haruki to "kill" the male persona so that the female Shiki could live. Haruki had carried the weight of that "murder" ever since. He had left Mifune City, trying to bury the memory of the opponent he had respected.

  "Where is she now?" Haruki asked Touko.

  "At the hospital, of course. And for your information, she woke up from her coma a few days ago."

  "I see... and you think she can help me?"

  "From what I've gathered, Shiki's brush with death granted her a set of very special eyes. Eyes that can perceive the 'death' of all things—even abstract concepts. If the thing haunting your mind has a 'form' or a 'concept,' she might be able to kill it with a single look."

  "The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception..." Haruki nodded, his curiosity piqued. He didn't feel fear at the thought of eyes that could kill him; he felt the familiar spark of a warrior wanting to face a new challenge.

  Touko gave him a warning look. "One more thing. Your retionship with the male SHIKI was... unique. Almost like friends. But the female Shiki likely views you as the man who murdered her other half. If she still holds that grudge, those eyes of hers might bring you more than just a cure. They might bring your end."

  "Then I look forward to the match," Haruki said with a sharp smile.

  Haruki arrived at the hospital. To the average eye, the hallways were quiet and sterile. But to Haruki, whose right hand was a conduit for spirits, the building was a graveyard.

  Shadows of the restless dead—those who had died in agony or regret—wandered the halls like static.

  "Weaklings," Haruki muttered. He didn't even bother drawing his bde. He walked through them as if they were mist, heading for Shiki Ryogi's room.

  He pushed the door open. A girl sat on the bed, her long bck hair messy from disuse, her eyes covered by a thick yer of medical gauze.

  She seemed to be in a state of sensory overload. She was reaching up with trembling fingers, as if she were trying to gouge her own eyes out through the bandages.

  "What are you doing?" Haruki asked, his voice steady.

  The girl froze. Her head tilted toward the sound of his voice. Even behind the bandages, her focus was sharp.

  "Haruki... Aizawa?"

  She recognized him instantly. The air in the room suddenly turned freezing.

  In the dim hospital room, the two stared at each other—or rather, Haruki stared at her, and she focused her senses on him.

  "Why are you here?" Shiki asked, her voice dropping to a dangerous chill.

  Haruki had expected this. In her eyes, he was the reason her other self was gone. He didn't offer excuses. He didn't even know if SHIKI's choice was something she understood yet.

  "I heard from Touko Aozaki," Haruki said calmly. "I heard you woke up with a new set of eyes."

  ***********************************************

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