The world returned in fragments — sound before sight, fear before reason.
Itsuki's eyes opened to a faint orange glow. The candle beside him was almost gone, its flame trembling as if afraid to stay alive. The floor was cold beneath him; his breath came in uneven gasps.
He pushed himself up slowly, every muscle stiff. The room around him wasn't his. The walls were cracked, breathing shadows. The air smelled of rust, dust, and something faintly sweet — like dried blood.
And then, from the corner, something moved.
"You're awake," a voice murmured.
Itsuki froze. The sound wasn't human — too deep, too calm.He turned toward it, and his heart stuttered.
There, standing in the far corner, was a figure.
Not a man. Not a shadow. But a shape made of eternal darkness — its body absorbing light instead of casting it. Its surface seemed to swallow the air itself.Where a face should've been, there was only a smile — wide, unnatural, stretching far beyond what a human mouth could bear — and two white eyes glowing faintly through the void.
"Who… who are you?" Itsuki whispered, his throat trembling.
The smile twitched. The figure's head tilted.
"You already know me."
The voice wasn't heard — it vibrated inside his skull.
Itsuki blinked once—and when his eyes opened again, the figure was right in front of him.
No sound.No movement.Just… there.
"What… do you want?"
"Only what belongs to me," it said. "Only you."
Itsuki's body froze; the air thickened. The candlelight bent toward the darkness, flickering like it wanted to flee.
The figure reached out — a thin, shadowed hand — and pressed it against Itsuki's chest.
"Sleep, Itsuki," the voice whispered, almost kind."You're not ready to see… what you've done."
The candle went out.The room drowned in silence.
And the last thing Itsuki saw — before the dark swallowed him —was that smile, carved into nothingness, still staring.
Then, nothing.