Shibuya on October 31st was completely filled with people even before 7:00 PM.
Neon signs lit up one after another above the heads of the crowd. The giant screen of the "Shibuya Scramble Square" was looping a Halloween-themed animation. At the pedestrian crosswalk signal, the cartoon person holding a small flag had been Photoshopped with a pumpkin head, and each flash drew a burst of laughter from the surroundings.
A boy in a black cloak squeezed past, holding cotton candy. When the hem of the cloak brushed Chen Tian's ankle, he could smell the cheap pumpkin spice.
Three girls wearing devil horns were tugging at each other's lace skirts, the glow sticks in their hands tracing bright yellow arcs in the crowd. Their laughter was crisper than the shouts from the street-side izakaya.
Someone with their face painted like a zombie deliberately pushed into a group of couples. When a girl playfully pushed him away, he exaggeratedly shook his fake broken hand—this was Halloween in Shibuya, chaotic yet vibrant, with a restless sweetness floating even in the air.
Chen Tian was squeezed by the railing at the crossroads and looked down at the person in his arms. Kitagawa Marin was pulling his sleeve, standing on tiptoe to peer out, the small devil tail behind her gently brushing the back of his hand with her movements.
Her hair today was dyed wine-red, and she was wearing a black, off-the-shoulder crop top with white lace trimming the neckline. She wore tight leather pants on her lower body, perfectly highlighting the beautiful curve of her legs.
"They're selling candy apples over there!" she suddenly bounced, pointing at the street corner. The little devil horns on her head nearly poked a wizard-robed uncle nearby. "I didn't manage to get the one with strawberry jam last year. I have to get it this year!"
Chen Tian naturally gripped her wrist, his fingers touching the bell on her bracelet—a little decoration she added herself that jingled when she walked. "Don't bounce. We're three steps closer to getting there." When he tilted his head to speak, his white, tousled hair brushed her cheek, causing her to instinctively pull her neck back.
A round of whistles suddenly broke out nearby. A few boys in knight armor were smiling at them. One of them even held up his phone to take a picture, shouting, "You guys look so good together." Kitagawa's ears instantly turned red, but she intentionally leaned closer into Chen Tian's arms, hooking her arm around his neck: "They're complimenting my taste." Just as she finished speaking, the traffic light changed.
The surging crowd was like a machine that had been switched on, instantly pouring toward the opposite side.
Chen Tian pulled Kitagawa closer into his arms, using his arm to shield her from a nearby pumpkin-head costume that nearly bumped into her. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a promotional poster for the Devil May Cry Concert flashing on the large screen by the street—it was a photo from his performance last week, the silhouette of his white, tousled hair and electric guitar particularly striking in the neon lights.
"Look over there!" Kitagawa followed his gaze, suddenly stood on her toes, and pecked his chin. "Next concert, you are not allowed to go shirtless again." Before Chen Tian could respond, she dragged him and plunged into the crowd.
Just past seven, the Shibuya streets grew even more boisterous. Kitagawa held oden in her hand, skewered a tenderly simmered piece of daikon radish with a bamboo stick, and held it to Chen Tian's mouth, her eyes crinkling in a smile as she said, "Ah—open up." Chen Tian obligingly bit it off, and in turn, fed her a fishcake thoroughly coated in broth.
The crowd surged around them. People in strange costumes occasionally squeezed past, letting out happy bursts of laughter.
Suddenly, Chen Tian's actions froze as if he had been struck by an electric current, and the smile on his face instantly vanished.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed straight up at the sky.
Kitagawa sensed the anomaly and asked in surprise, "Ten-kun, what's wrong?" She followed his gaze, but all she saw were the flashing neon lights and the jumping Halloween animation on the giant screen. The crowd remained immersed in the festivities, with no sign of anything unusual.
However, in Chen Tian's eyes, that patch of sky had already transformed. Countless clumps of thick black sludge appeared out of nowhere, as if being poured out from another dimension.
They were just scattered spots at first, but in an instant, they spread out like a breached flood, rapidly covering the surroundings. They expanded every second, as if they were about to devour and shroud the entirety of Shibuya.
The eerie thing was that the people around them were still laughing and fooling around, eagerly buying candy apples, completely unaware of the terrifying scene above their heads.
The boy in the black cloak still held his cotton candy, the three girls with devil horns were still tugging at each other's skirts, and the shouts from the street-side izakaya and the noise of the crowd intertwined, creating a stark contrast with the black sludge spreading across the sky.
Chen Tian's brow furrowed into a knot. The discomfort brought by the black sludge became increasingly clear—it felt as if countless cold tentacles were crawling up his spine. He stared at the sky, muttering under his breath: What the hell is that thing? Just looking at it gives me the creeps.
"Ten-kun?" Kitagawa's fingertip gently poked his cheek, carrying a bit of warmth from the oden. "You've been acting weird since a moment ago. What's up there?"
Chen Tian finally snapped back to attention, turning to grip her wrist. He could feel the bell on her bracelet in his palm. "Nothing," he offered a smile, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "Maybe the lights were just dazzling."
As he spoke, he quickly looked up again—the black sludge had completely spread out. The colorful light of the neon signs, soaked in ink, appeared as lifeless, dark gray to his eyes.
Even the giant screen on the building looked as if it was covered in a layer of ash, the colors of the Halloween animation faded to the point of nearly disappearing.
Kitagawa stared at his tense profile for a while, then suddenly leaned close to his ear, her warm breath hitting his earlobe: "If you space out again." Her voice was very low, the final note ticklish. "My new succubus outfit will only be for me to appreciate, you know."
Chen Tian's fingers paused. When he turned his head, he met her flushed earlobe. The girls wearing devil horns nearby were still laughing, and the pumpkin-head traffic light began to flash again, but he suddenly caught a faint smell of something fishy in his nostrils—it wasn't the smell of street food; it was more like it was seeping out from that black sludge.
"Got it." He squeezed her hand, pushed toward the edge of the crowd. "Let's go buy that candy apple first. Didn't you say you wanted strawberry jam?" Kitagawa's eyes lit up, and she immediately responded with a smiling "Mmm-hmm," naturally hugging Chen Tian's arm tightly to her chest.
The devil horns on her head gently swayed with her steps, bringing a coolness from the evening wind.
The two slowly moved with the crowd. Chen Tian helped her push away a pumpkin-head mascot blocking their way, and she, in turn, offered him a half-bitten candy apple. Nearby, boys in wizard robes were wrestling with their companions over cotton candy, and girls in zombie costumes were taking selfies with glow sticks. The noise, wrapped in the scent of roasted chestnuts, surged toward them, genuinely making Chen Tian temporarily forget about that ominous black sky.
By the time the shopping bag was filled with Halloween snacks and street food, the hands of the clock had quietly slipped past 8:30 PM.
Chen Tian held the shopping bag in one hand, while the other was held tightly by Kitagawa, his fingers feeling the bell on her bracelet—it had been knocked askew when they squeezed through the crowd, and now it let out a faint jingle whenever she moved.
"Time to head home, right?" Kitagawa looked up at him. "If we wait any longer, the subway will be too crowded."
When Chen Tian looked down, his white, tousled hair fell over his forehead, concealing a flash of abnormality in his eyes.
He had just said "Mmm" when his feet suddenly rooted to the spot.
The neon sign of the Shibuya ShinQs building was glaringly bright. A girl in a maid costume had just run out of the building entrance, her pumpkin lantern nearly bumping into him.
But Chen Tian's gaze wasn't focused on her—just a second ago, a white figure had flashed past him. The figure was as fast as lightning, the white hair leaving an afterimage in the night, and the profile of the face was faint under the streetlights, yet he could clearly see the black eye mask covering the eyes.
Chen Tian's fingers tightened abruptly. The handle of the shopping bag instantly distorted from the grip. He could even feel Kitagawa's body temperature in his arms, but his nerves instantly became taut. "What's wrong?"
Kitagawa followed his gaze, only seeing the reflection of the crowd in the building's glass curtain wall. "Are you tired?"
Chen Tian didn't speak, his eyes fixed on the direction the white figure had vanished.
Beneath the sky shrouded in black sludge, Shibuya's neon lights still flickered, but the wind stirred up by that figure just now carried an ominous energy.
At this moment, the Halloween animation on the street's large screen was still playing merrily, the multicolored lights were still flashing, and the cheerful laughter of the surrounding crowd was endless.
He recognized that figure. It was very familiar, someone he had mocked countless times before his transmigration.
But he didn't understand. Shouldn't this world be a world like a lighthearted manga? Why was that guy here too?
Kitagawa clearly felt Chen Tian's arm suddenly tense up. The sharpness in his gaze, fixed on the front, was alien to her, causing her heart to skip a beat.
"Ten... Ten-kun?" A slight tremor entered her voice. She shook his arm hard. "What is wrong with you? First, you kept looking at the sky, and now you're..."
She leaned closer, trying to see what was reflected in his eyes, but there was only the reflection of Shibuya's chaotic neon lights.
Chen Tian was recalled to his senses by her anxious voice.
He looked down, meeting her upturned face, which was full of worry.
That's right. In front of her, he was always that lazy, casual guy, acting as if he didn't care if the sky fell, as long as she was by his side.
His sudden tension and solemnity had scared her.
His taut nerves relaxed slightly, and a light, habitual smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He raised his hand and ruffled the top of her wine-red hair, the cute little devil horns among the strands feeling slightly cool to the touch.
"It's nothing," his voice returned to its usual lazy, soothing tone. "I just thought of..."
He deliberately paused. Only when Kitagawa opened her eyes wide in confusion did he slowly add: "...that we won't be able to take the subway back home."
"Eh?!" Kitagawa was clearly stunned, then broke into a hearty, careless laugh, as if the worry from moments ago had been an illusion. "Why? How are we going to get back? Walk? Our place is so far from Shibuya!"
She gestured exaggeratedly. The little devil horns on her head wobbled with the motion, and the bell on her bracelet let out a crisp jingle.
The crowd around them was still noisy, with young people in strange costumes laughing as they brushed past.
Chen Tian looked at her carefree smile, and the amusement in his eyes deepened, tinged with tenderness.
He leaned in slightly, close to her ear, lowering his voice with a hint of mystery: "The subway is too slow. Besides..."
He intentionally paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd who were immersed in the celebration, completely oblivious to the ominous black sludge in the sky, and the direction where the white-haired figure had vanished. "...it might not be safe to take the surface roads right now."
Kitagawa blinked, completely unable to follow his train of thought: "Then what should we do?"
Chen Tian straightened up. The smile on the corner of his mouth was very familiar to Kitagawa—the same wild, arrogant smile he wore on stage, like the idol known as 'Nero.' Neon lights cast dancing light patches across his face.
He looked down into her eyes and said, one word at a time:
"I'm going to show you a secret."