A warm breeze swept across the park, lifting little swirls of dust and fallen leaves. The distant laughter of other students echoed like a dissonant chorus, misplaced, almost indecent.
Shinome walked slowly toward the old wooden bench at the back of the courtyard. He had chosen it for a reason — it was where they had all sat just a few days ago, talking about their future, about graduation, about everything that came after. But today, everything felt frozen. Even the sky seemed drained of color.
They were already there. Yuriha, her eyes filled with concern, was fiddling with the bracelet she always wore on her left wrist. Asaka lounged back on the bench, tossing small stones into the air, defying gravity out of boredom or unease. And Reiji… Reiji stood with his arms crossed, eyes locked on Shinome since the moment he'd appeared at the end of the path.
"You scared the hell out of us. We haven't heard from you in two days," Reiji said — not coldly, but without warmth either.
Shinome didn't respond right away. He just sat down at the end of the bench, back straight, hands clasped together. His gaze drifted off into the void.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Asaka stopped playing with his stones. Yuriha leaned in slightly.
"…Is everything okay?"
He inhaled slowly, as if each word he was about to say carried the weight of a mountain.
"My father is dead."
No sobs. No tremor in his voice. Just a sentence, sharp and cold, like a blade.
The shock was immediate. Asaka sat upright. Yuriha raised a hand to her mouth. Reiji didn't move.
"What?" Yuriha whispered. "But… what do you mean, he's…?"
"He's dead," Shinome repeated, softer this time, as if saying it again would make it feel more real. "I found him. He…"
The words stuck in his throat. He remembered too vividly — the cold in his bones, the eerie silence, his father's lifeless eyes… and that feeling, like a voice calling from somewhere far beyond.
"I'm so sorry, Shinome…" Yuriha said, her voice shaking.
"Where did you find him?" Reiji asked, brows furrowed. "Was it… an accident?"
Shinome hesitated, then looked away.
"In an old church. Near the edge of the forest."
"A church?"
Asaka leaned forward. "What the hell was he doing out there? And why were you alone?"
Shinome stayed silent.
Reiji took a step closer. "You're not telling us everything."
It wasn't an accusation — just a statement. But it hit like an arrow. Shinome felt a tight knot form in his chest.
He could've said everything. About the strange light, the unseen presence, the chant he thought he heard, the fragments of distant memories that flooded his mind when he touched his father's cold forehead. But he didn't.
Because he knew, even his closest friends wouldn't understand. Not yet.
"There are things I don't even understand myself," he finally said. "But now's not the time."
The silence returned. Heavier than before. The kind of silence you don't know how to break, because it doesn't ask for a response. Because it weighs heavy.
Yuriha clenched her fists on her knees. Asaka, usually so carefree, had lowered his eyes. Only Reiji kept looking at Shinome, as if trying to read the things he wasn't saying.
In the end, it was Yuriha who finally spoke, her voice trembling.
"Do you… want us to come with you? For the funeral, or maybe—"
Shinome gently shook his head.
"There won't be a funeral."
"What?" Asaka blinked, finally raising his gaze. "Why not?"
"There's no body."
No one understood at first. So Shinome continued, eyes fixed on the void.
"He… disappeared. When I found him, he was there. And then… he wasn't. He just… burned away."
This time, the shock turned into unease. No one wanted to ask the question lingering in the air, but Reiji voiced it anyway.
"Shinome… do you hear what you're saying?"
"I know what I saw."
His voice was calm, but there was something broken in it. A crack.
"There was… something else. That church—it wasn't a normal place. I felt it. Something was happening there, something… bigger."
Reiji leaned back slightly, visibly unsettled. He'd known Shinome since they were kids, and never had he seen him speak like this.
"You mean… supernatural stuff?" Yuriha whispered.
Shinome simply shrugged.
"I don't know. I can't explain it. But… my father, he wasn't like other men."
A heavy silence followed that confession. A silence full of questions that weren't ready to be asked.
"He always seemed distant, mysterious. He'd vanish for weeks without warning. Never talked about his past. Always wore that weird pendant around his neck… And now I understand. He was protecting something."
Asaka frowned. "You think he was part of a cult or something?"
"I don't know," Shinome replied. "But I'm going to find out."
Yuriha's voice was full of concern.
"So what are you going to do?"
He looked up at her.
"Go back to the church."
The reaction was immediate. Asaka shook his head sharply. "Are you insane? After what you saw there? You lost your dad in that place, man!"
Shinome clenched his fists.
"Exactly. That's why I have to go. I can't just sit here and do nothing. Something happened—something bigger than me. And if my father died for it… then I have to know what it was."
Reiji stepped forward and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"You're not alone."
Shinome looked up at him. Reiji's gaze was steady. Behind him, Yuriha slowly nodded. Asaka, arms crossed, muttered something under his breath, but didn't object further.
But Shinome stood up slowly.
"Thank you. Really. But I have to go alone. Just this once."
They were about to protest, but his gaze stopped them. Not by force—but by conviction.
And deep down, they knew there was no point in trying to stop him.
The sky darkened slowly, swallowing the last glimmers of the day. Shinome had walked away without another word, leaving his three friends frozen in the middle of the park, as if suspended in a reality they no longer understood.
His steps carried him on their own, familiar with the path. His thoughts, however, spun in circles.
"This isn't normal… None of this is."
The evening wind whispered softly, making the trees rustle like murmurs. He paused now and then, took a deep breath, trying to anchor his mind in the real world. But reality seemed to drift further away with every hour.
His father's face still haunted his closed eyelids. That gaze, on the edge of the abyss, that hand reaching out into the void, that broken voice uttering words whose meaning still escaped him.
He needed answers.
"The church…"
The word rang in his head like a funeral bell. The abandoned church. The place where it all began. And where, he sensed, everything would continue.
He stopped at the top of a hill, just high enough to see the dark ruins of the old building in the distance. Even from there, it seemed foreign to the world, as if detached from time.
A drop of rain fell on his cheek. Then another. Quickly, a fine, persistent shower settled in. But Shinome didn't move. He stood there, eyes fixed on his destination.
He thought back to what he had told his friends. What he had also hidden from them.
He hadn't told everything.
"I'm not crazy. I know what I saw."
He had seen the air tremble around the stele. He had heard voices… Ancient, distant, indistinct voices, like a chorus of shadows.
But how could he have explained that to them? How to speak of such things without seeming like a broken mind?
He struck the ground with his foot, frustrated.
"I have to know…"
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside him, as if emerging from the darkness. Shinome jumped.
It was Reiji. Soaked, out of breath.
"I told you I wouldn't let you go alone, idiot."
He didn't have time to answer before Asaka arrived behind, grumbling as she rubbed her arms.
"Seriously, I almost slipped three times trying to keep up. You're impossible."
And finally, Yuriha, coming last, breathless, with a hard look.
"We might not all agree with what you're doing, but we're not letting you go alone. Not after what you went through."
Shinome looked at each of them, one by one. Their presence warmed him, even under the pouring rain. His throat tightened, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Thank you. But tonight… I have to go alone."
They wanted to protest, but he raised a hand.
"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just… I feel like I have to do this. Alone."
A long silence followed.
Then Reiji slowly nodded.
"Alright. But promise me one thing. If anything feels off over there, you get out. No lone heroes, got it?"
Shinome nodded.
"Promise."
And without another word, he turned and walked down the slope toward the ruined church.
Destiny awaited him.