She's dead? No, that can't be true. This has to be a dream. Yes, just a nightmare. Any second now, I'll wake up, and Hana will be laughing, pulling me to go play for hours.
"Boy."
Yes... it's all fine. We're fine, I know we are. Hana's okay, she always is. She'll jump in front of me, show me another silly drawing with crooked hearts, and I'll complain, but deep down I'll be smiling.
"BOY!"
A firm touch on my shoulder yanks me from my thoughts like a jolt. My eyes snap open, and I stare at a man crouched in front of me. He's blond and wears glasses that reflect the sunlight. His gaze, even behind the lenses, is intense, alarmed, but there's something else — a shadow of pity that makes my stomach churn. He has one hand on my shoulder, the other holding what looks like a sword, stained with something dark.
I blink, confused, and look over his shoulder. The monster... is gone. In its place, there's only a misshapen heap of flesh, scattered across the grass.
No. No, no, no.
My hands are trembling, still holding a piece of Hana's hand. It's real. Her weight, the cold of her skin, the dried blood between my fingers. My vision blurs, and the tears come without warning, hot down my cheeks, dripping onto the grass. Hana. My sister. Dead. Devoured by that… thing.
"I'm sorry, kid," the man says, his voice deep but with a gentleness that doesn't match his appearance. He bows his head for a moment, as if bearing the weight of my pain. But I barely hear him. The world feels distant, muffled, like I'm sinking into a dark lake. All I can see is Hana's notebook, tossed a few feet away, open on a page with our stick figure drawings, the crooked hearts now stained with dirt and blood.
I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. My throat burns, and my chest feels like it's being crushed. Why? Why her? Guilt tightens around me like claws, and I let go of Hana's hand. I fall to my knees, my hands gripping the grass, fingernails digging into the soil.
The man says something else, but I don't hear it. My head droops, the ground tilts beneath me. The last thought to cross my mind is the promise I made to her — now broken forever. Then, the darkness swallows me.
***
"How is he, Leiri-san?"
A deep voice echoes, pulling me from the darkness. My head feels strange, my thoughts all jumbled. Where am I? I try to move, but something is... wrong. I can't feel my body.
"He's stable. Must have been the shock," replies a female voice—calm, but with a touch of professional coldness. "His body experienced extreme stress."
"Haa..." The first voice, which I now recognize as the blond man's, lets out a heavy sigh. "It was my fault. I let that curse escape. If I had been faster, that little girl—"
"Don't blame yourself, Nanami," the woman interrupts. "You know how it is. We can't save everyone."
I open my eyes—or I think I do. But what I see makes no sense. I'm not in my body. I'm on the floor, spread out like a dark stain, a stretched shadow beneath the blond man's feet. He stands tense, hands shoved into his pants pockets.
In front of him, a woman in a white lab coat, brown hair tied in a loose bun. The room is cold, with white walls and a gurney beside them, where I see… me. My body, pale and still, face stained with dried tears.
What's going on?
"Leiri-san," the blond man—Nanami, as the woman called him—continues, lowering his voice. "That boy restrained the cursed spirit. I think it's an innate technique."
The woman, Leiri, raises an eyebrow. "Oh? That's interesting. What was it, exactly?"
Nanami frowns. "Thorns. Black thorns that came out of the ground, as if they were made of shadow."
Cursed spirit? Innate technique? The words spin in my head, heavy and meaningless. Thorns? Shadows? I didn't do any of that… or did I? My mind is fractured, flashes of the park coming back in fragments: Hana, the darkness swallowing everything, the rage burning in my chest. But now, I'm stuck here, a shadow on the ground, unable to move or speak. I want to go back to my body. I want to wake up. I want this to be a dream.
"Leiri-san, he might be..." Nanami hesitates, as if choosing his words carefully. "He might be special. But with what happened to his sister... I don't know if he can handle it."
Leiri gives a narrowed glance at my body on the gurney, analyzing it like a puzzle. "If he survives the trauma, we might have a new sorcerer on our hands. But a child's mind is fragile. Let's see if he wakes up before making any plans." She pauses, her tone drier. "Did he have any family?"
Nanami lowers his eyes, voice barely audible. "No. Just the sister."
"I see..." Leiri sighs, adjusting her coat. "I have other matters to attend to. Keep an eye on him for now. He could wake up at any moment."
"Yeah, that was the plan."
Leiri walks toward the door, her shoes echoing against the cold floor. And then, without knowing how, I move. I slide across the ground, attached to Leiri's shadow, leaving the room with her. Panic swallows me. No! I don't want to go! I want to stay with my body, I want to understand what's happening! But I'm just a stain, an extension of her shadow, unable to resist.
The hallway is long, narrow, lit by white lights. Leiri walks briskly, oblivious to my presence. My shadow ripples beneath her, following every movement like an invisible current. I try to cling to the floor, I try to fight back, but it's useless. I'm a shadow—nothing more.
Leiri turns a corner, entering another hallway, this one darker, with closed doors on both sides. She stops in front of one, knocking twice before opening it. "You're in there, aren't you?" she says, her tone almost bored, as if she already knows the answer.
"Shoko! My favorite doctor!" A cheerful voice echoes from inside the room. I slip in with Leiri's shadow and see a man with white hair and a blindfold, sitting in a chair with his feet up on a messy desk. He wears a dark uniform, and even with the blindfold, his presence is... overwhelming, like the air around him hums. He smiles, pointing at Leiri. "Here to rescue me from paperwork, or is it just that you missed me?"
Leiri rolls her eyes, dropping into a chair beside him. "Don't start, Gojo. I came to talk about the boy Nanami brought in. He apparently has an innate technique."
Gojo tilts his head, his smile widening. "An innate technique, huh? What's his name?"
"Eiji Yamikage," Leiri replies, crossing her arms. "But don't get too excited. He lost his sister today. A curse. I don't know if he'll be able to handle it."
Gojo's smile fades—just for a second. "Tch, that's rough—"
He stops mid-sentence, as if something interrupted him. The air in the room grows heavier, and I feel a chill, even without a body. Gojo slowly tilts his head, the blindfold pointing toward the floor—straight at Leiri's shadow, where I'm hiding. "Shoko," he says, his voice now low, almost dangerous. "You brought a tagalong."
Leiri frowns, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Gojo stands and crouches, still "staring" at Leiri's shadow, and I feel it... he knows I'm here. "Interesting," he murmurs, the tone light again, but with a sharp edge of curiosity. "You're the boy, right? Eiji, yeah? How are you doing this, huh? Hiding in Shoko's shadow like a ninja?"
Panic swallows me. He can see me? How?
Leiri leans forward, eyes wide. "Gojo, are you saying he's... in my shadow?"
"Yep," Gojo answers, snapping his fingers. "Pretty interesting innate technique. He probably doesn't even know he's doing it." He smiles, but there's something predatory in it. "Hey, Eiji, relax. We're not gonna hurt you, so just take it e—"
His words are cut off abruptly. An invisible pull, like a cord snapping inside me, yanks me out of the shadow. The world spins, the darkness dissolves, and suddenly I'm back in my body.
"Ah!" My lungs expand with a ragged gasp, and my eyes snap open, the fluorescent light of the room blinding me. My heart pounds in my chest, and the air feels too thin, like I've been running for hours.
I sit up quickly and clutch at my body in desperation, confirming I'm human again. What the hell just happened?
"Easy, kid," the man—Nanami—says, stepping closer and placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're safe now."
No, I'm sure I'm not.
***
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.