---
It began in darkness.
Akari stood in an endless void, the ground soft underfoot, like walking on wet velvet. There was no horizon — only black stretching in every direction.
Then, from above, a shape descended.
An eyeball.
It was massive, its glossy surface glistening with a faint sheen, the pupil wide and deep. Veins spiderwebbed across it like cracks in porcelain. It hovered without sound, swaying slightly, always watching.
When it blinked, the world shifted.
The blackness pulsed in time with his heartbeat. He could feel its gaze not just on his skin, but inside his skull, peeling back his thoughts layer by layer.
A whisper filled the void, though the eyeball's lid never moved.
Izan: "You cannot hide from me, little fraud."
The word fraud echoed, multiplying, until it was the only thing in the dream.
---
Akari's eyes snapped open.
The ceiling above him wasn't white — it was alive.
There it was. Izan. The eyeball clung to the plaster like an insect, the wet gleam of its surface catching the faint morning light. Its pupil shifted to meet his gaze.
Izan: "You dreamed again."
Akari sat up, rubbing his face.
Akari: "Yeah. Same one."
The eyeball didn't reply. It didn't need to. The quiet hum in the room was its presence — a constant, invisible weight.
He swung his legs off the bed, moving to the small desk in the corner. Papers, incense, and a cracked ceramic cup sat scattered across it. This was his "office" — the place people came when they wanted help with things they couldn't explain.
The truth was… he was no exorcist, no spirit hunter. He didn't have any powers worth speaking of. He just had Izan.
And Izan… saved him. Over and over.
Every client thought Akari was the one banishing spirits, cleansing homes, breaking curses. They never saw the real work being done by the quiet, patient gaze hovering just out of sight.
Fraud. The word fit too well. But if it kept people alive, maybe it didn't matter.
---
A soft tap came at the door.
Izan: "Your client has arrived."
Akari frowned. Of course Izan knew.
He slid the door open to find a woman in her late thirties, dressed simply but with an air of exhaustion. She stepped inside hesitantly.
Her eyes flicked around the room as if searching for something. Then, she exhaled, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly.
She didn't know it, but Izan was watching her — and whatever was clinging to her had already begun to peel away under that gaze.
Client: "I… don't know how to start this. My village… there's a man." (she swallows) "If you can call him that."
Akari stayed silent, letting her speak.
Client: "He has… no eyes, no nose. Just a mouth. Always smiling."
Her voice shook.
Client: "He… gets the women in the village pregnant. Every time. And then… after the child is born…" (she looks down) "He kills them."
The air seemed to grow colder. Izan's pupil narrowed slightly.
Akari leaned forward.
Akari: "Tell me everything you know about him."
---
End of chapter.