Haruki didn't know much about "Mystic Eyes" yet.

  He had only recently begun to understand that this world contained specialized individuals with unique, supernatural gifts. Up until now, aside from the male SHIKI and Touko Aozaki, he hadn't encountered many people who could be cssified as "users of the mysterious."

  "Interesting? You think these eyes are... interesting?" Shiki’s voice was like ice.

  "They look like a burden to you," Haruki noted. "You seem to despise them. That’s strange. From where I’m standing, having the power to affect the world is a gift, regardless of how it looks."

  He had learned about Shiki’s awakening from Touko. To a man who spent every waking moment obsessively seeking more power, Shiki’s rejection of her own potential felt like a profound waste.

  "I didn't ask for this," Shiki whispered. She wasn't ready for the weight of the "Sight." To her, the eyes didn't represent power; they represented a constant, agonizing connection to the end of all things.

  "Power doesn't wait for an invitation," Haruki said, stepping closer to her bed. "And once you have it, you can't just throw it away like trash. People with power naturally attract things that aren't human. If you have the strength but refuse to master it, you’ll just end up being consumed by it."

  "Are you saying I'm going to die? Is that a threat?"

  "No. In your current state, you aren't even worth the effort of a strike. But you should worry about the things that have already found you."

  "What are you—"

  Before Shiki could finish, her breath hitched. Her hand flew to her throat as if an invisible wire were tightening around it. A sudden, numbing cold flooded her body, stealing the air from her lungs.

  There was no one else in the room, yet something immense and heavy was pinning her to the mattress, trying to force its way into her chest.

  "Do you see now?" Haruki asked, watching her struggle with a detached calm. "This hospital is full of the dead who want to be alive again. They’re looking for a vessel—a perfect body to restart their lives. You have the sight, but you ck the will to live. To them, you’re an empty house with the door left wide open. You have two choices: vanish and become fuel for the weak, or become truly strong and kill every parasite that looks your way."

  "I..."

  Shiki gasped, the pressure on her neck becoming unbearable. She could feel death reaching for her.

  Haruki didn't move to help her immediately. Saving someone who wanted to die was a pointless exercise. He needed her to choose life. He needed her to recognize that her survival was her own responsibility.

  In Haruki’s eyes, Shiki looked like she was about to give up. After a heartbeat of hesitation, she went limp, closing her eyes as if accepting the darkness.

  Seeing that expression, Haruki was suddenly reminded of his "friend," the male SHIKI. He thought of the way that personality had chosen to vanish so that she could wake up. The thought of that sacrifice being wasted by her current apathy sparked a rare flicker of emotion in his chest.

  He stepped forward. In one fluid motion, he drew his bde and sliced through the empty air above her.

  SHING.

  The malicious spirit was vaporized instantly.

  "Cough... hack...!"

  Shiki rolled onto her side, gasping for air. The crushing weight was gone. She looked up at Haruki, her eyes wide behind the gauze. "Why... why did you save me?"

  "I was just thinking," Haruki said, cleaning his bde. "If you die like this, then SHIKI’s death was a waste of a perfectly good life."

  "..."

  The words hit her like a physical blow. Shiki froze, her mind racing back to the moments before her long sleep. She realized then that SHIKI’s disappearance hadn't been an accident—he had chosen to go so she could stay.

  Despite the pain of existing, despite the horror of the eyes, she realized she couldn't just throw away the life he had given her.

  She reached up and slowly unwound the bandages. She dropped the blood-stained gauze onto the floor and looked at the world with her own eyes for the first time in years.

  And then she saw him.

  She saw the spirits wandering the hospital like static, but more importantly, she saw Haruki Aizawa. He looked human, yet he was surrounded by a swirling vortex of pitch-bck spiritual energy. And behind him, looming like a mountain of gore, was a jagged, crimson shadow that made even her new eyes ache with the intensity of its killing intent.

  "What... what are you?" she stammered, her voice trembling. Even with her power, the sight of the "Sword Ghost" in his semi-eroded state was terrifying.

  Haruki tilted his head, genuinely curious. "What do you see?"

  Shiki described the lines—the bck and red "cracks" in reality that only she could perceive.

  Haruki smiled. Touko was right. Shiki Ryogi’s eyes were the scalpel he needed. He formally requested her help to "kill" the conceptual erosion of the Darkin within his mind.

  Shiki nodded, but she had a condition of her own.

  "Haruki," she said, her gaze focusing on the crimson shadow behind him. "I hate you. Your arrival is what tore SHIKI and me apart. You are the reason he’s gone. But... because of that, I’m the only one who can tell you this."

  "Tell me what?"

  "My memory is fragmented, but I remember a man. He approached SHIKI before the end. A man named Souren Araya. I think he’s the one who really orchestrated everything. If anyone is responsible for the death of my other half, it's him."

  "Souren Araya?"

  Haruki repeated the name, but it meant nothing to him. He had never heard of the man. Still, if Shiki believed he was involved in the tragedy of Mifune City, Haruki wouldn't ignore it.

  "You think he's the culprit?"

  "I'm almost certain." Shiki frowned, a flicker of fear crossing her face. In her memories, the man was less like a person and more like a walking fortress of dread—a concept of "stagnation" given form.

  Haruki agreed to help her track Araya down. In exchange, Shiki used her Mystic Eyes to perform a "surgical strike" on his consciousness. She didn't kill Haruki; she "killed" the specific conceptual lines of the Darkin's erosion.

  The effect was immediate. The red mist in his mind cleared, and the violent whispers of the World Ender fell silent.

  However, the "cure" was only temporary. Haruki knew that if he tapped into the Darkin Bde’s ultimate power again, the corruption would return. He needed a permanent way to seal it, but for now, he was himself again.

  After leaving Mifune City, Haruki returned to Chiba. He tried to contact Touko Aozaki to ask about Souren Araya, but she had vanished on "business," leaving her office locked and dark.

  He decided to focus on his own life for a moment. He checked his phone and saw several missed calls from Miko Yotsuya. They were days old. Realizing she might be in trouble, he called her back immediately.

  "Hello? Haruki-san?!"

  Miko’s voice was frantic, a mix of panic and overwhelming relief.

  "What’s wrong?" Haruki asked.

  "I can't expin it over the phone! You just... you need to come here! Please!"

  She gave him the coordinates to a secluded shrine deep in the mountains. Haruki didn't wait for a train. Using his Highnd Soul, he sprinted through the outskirts and into the forest, reaching the shrine in record time.

  When he arrived, he found Miko standing in the courtyard. She looked shell-shocked. The second she saw him, she ran toward him, stopping just short of throwing herself into his arms.

  "Tell me what happened," Haruki commanded.

  Miko expined her ordeal. While Haruki was away, she had encountered a "God-Tier" spirit—an entity far more powerful and intelligent than anything she had ever seen. It had been feeding on the life-force of her friend Hana. In desperation, unable to reach Haruki, Miko had led the spirit to this shrine and prayed for help.

  The "Gods" of the shrine had appeared and annihited the evil spirit. But as they vanished, they had left Miko with a chilling message:

  "Three times remaining."

  "Three times?" Haruki looked around the shrine. He extended his Sense of Fluctuation, but the area felt strangely empty. Too empty. There was a lingering trace of an enormous spiritual discharge, confirming that a massive entity had indeed been "purged" here.

  "They won't come out for me," Haruki muttered, looking at the inner sanctum.

  He considered destroying the shrine to force the "Gods" out, but he hesitated. Miko was now tied to them by a spiritual contract. If he attacked the shrine, the backsh might hit her.

  In the spiritual world, there was no such thing as a free lunch. The shrine "Gods" had saved her, but the "Three Times" suggested a tally. Once she used up her "help," they would likely come to collect their price.

  "From now on," Haruki said, looking Miko in the eye, "if you see an evil spirit, you call me first. Don't use their help. Don't even think about it."

  "I... I will! I promise!"

  "Actually," Haruki added, thinking of the "price" the spirits might demand. "It might be better if you stayed with me. At my pce."

  "Stay with you? Like... living together?!" Miko’s face turned bright red.

  "It’s the most logical way to ensure your safety," Haruki said ftly.

  "I... I can't... I mean... my parents..." Miko stammered. As a high school girl, the idea of moving in with a guy—even one as "safe" as Haruki—was a massive leap.

  Haruki didn't push. He just reminded her to call him the second things felt "off." As long as she didn't use up those three charges of divine help, she would be safe from the debt. But he prepared himself for the day she would inevitably trip that wire. When that day came, Haruki Aizawa would be ready to draw his bde against a God.

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

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