I was there—right in front of where my house used to be.
On my knees.
The ground beneath me was uneven, sharp rubble digging through my clothes, but I didn't feel the pain. Tears slid down my face, dripping silently onto the broken concrete below. My expression wasn't twisted in sobbing grief or rage. It wasn't screaming. It was empty. Frozen. Disbelief carved into my face like stone.
This couldn't be real.
This wasn't real.
This was where my house stood. Where the front door used to creak every time someone forgot to oil the hinge. Where shoes were always scattered near the entrance no matter how many times Mom told us to line them up properly. Where voices overlapped, where warmth lived.
Now there was nothing.
Just a crater. Rubble. Ash.
And memories—too many of them—came rushing in all at once, merciless and vivid.
My seventh birthday.
The cake Mom baked herself, uneven frosting but too sweet, because she always added extra sugar when she was nervous.
My brothers—Sora and Haruto—hogging the controller, yelling at the screen as they played video games and refusing to let me have a turn until Dad stepped in.
The smell of food drifting through the house in the evenings, my mother's cooking filling every corner with warmth.
Yumi sitting beside me at the table, patiently tutoring me, tapping the page whenever my attention drifted.
My father's raised voice—not angry, just stern—as he scolded my brothers for breaking the flower pot outside while playing, only to sigh and tell them to clean it up together.
Dinner.
All of us around the table.
Talking. Laughing. Teasing each other over the smallest things. Complaining about school. Arguing over chores. Living.
Every happy moment of my life with my family surged through me like a flood I couldn't stop.
My hands rose on their own, covering my face as my shoulders trembled.
"Mom…"
My voice cracked.
"Dad…"
"Yumi…"
"Sora…"
"Haruto…"
"…everyone."
The names slipped out of my mouth like a prayer that had no one left to hear it.
Tears fell freely now, soaking into the dust at my knees. My breathing started to spiral out of control—short, violent gasps tearing in and out of my chest. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, and I didn't know what to do with myself. There was no direction left. No answer. No next step.
Then—
Boom.
Pow.
Pew.
The sounds tore through the air.
I looked up.
High above the ruined town, the two lights were still there. Still fighting. Still colliding with earth-shaking force. Every clash sent shockwaves through what remained of Kitanoshima. Buildings collapsed. Fires spread. Streets split open like wounds.
Because of those two… the entire town had been turned into a battlefield.
My face didn't twist into anger.
It didn't harden.
It went blank.
Emotionless.
Tears continued to slide down my cheeks as I stared at them, my gaze fixed, unblinking. Slowly, I pushed myself up. My injured arm screamed in protest, my leg barely supported my weight, but I stood anyway.
Then I began to walk.
Limply.
I didn't think. I didn't plan. I didn't even realize where my feet were taking me. My eyes stayed locked on the two lights in the sky, as if nothing else existed.
Fire burned everywhere. Buildings lay crushed and hollow. Houses were reduced to fragments. The streets were torn apart. Children cried, their voices raw with terror. People screamed for help. Bodies—adults, children, everyone—lay scattered among the debris.
I saw all of it.
And none of it.
I just kept walking.
Eventually, my steps slowed. I stopped.
Only then did I realize where I was.
I had walked straight into the middle of the town—directly beneath where the two figures were fighting.
That was when I heard it.
A voice.
"Use me, and get your revenge. Look at me, child. I am right in front of you, on the ground."
I lowered my gaze.
There, resting among the rubble, was an orb.
A skull was embedded within it, hollow eyes staring back at me.
The voice came again.
"Come near me, child. Pick me up."
I moved closer, my body still sluggish, my mind still numb. I stared at it.
"Don't be afraid, child. Pick me up, and I will help you."
I let out a weak breath.
"Afraid?" I said quietly. "What do I have to be afraid of?"
My grip tightened around nothing.
"Afraid are those who have something to lose. I have lost my everything. Right now, I am afraid of nothing."
I picked up the orb.
"I can help you," the voice said, smooth and eager. "But it will cost you something. What will you give, child?"
I looked up—at the two figures tearing the sky apart.
Then back at the orb.
"Those two up there," I said. "You can have them."
Silence.
Then—
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The laughter was loud. Wild. Frantic.
"So you want me to use the bait to catch the bait! HAHAHAHAHA! Your wish will be fulfilled, child!"
Black light erupted from the orb.
It floated upward, spreading darkness across the sky as it positioned itself between the two figures. Both lights halted instantly, startled by the presence of something they didn't understand.
The black light swallowed everything. The orb itself vanished from sight.
Then—
A giant skeletal hand burst out from the darkness and grabbed the yellow figure in an instant. The figure struggled violently, but it couldn't escape.
The purple figure tried to flee—but a barrier surrounded the entire town. It fired blast after blast, desperately trying to break through, but not even a scratch appeared.
Changing tactics, it fired at the black light itself.
Nothing happened.
Another hand emerged—this one shadowy and formless—and seized the purple figure. Blasts passed straight through it, slamming uselessly into the barrier.
Both figures were dragged back.
Their screams echoed as they were completely engulfed by the black light.
Then—
Silence.
The darkness dimmed.
And vanished.
The orb was gone.
The yellow and purple lights were gone.
The sky cleared.
I looked up.
The moon hung full and bright, stars scattered across the night sky. My family loved nights like this—not because it meant anything special, not because it was poetic or symbolic.
Just because it was beautiful.
I stared at it for a long time, tears still slipping down my face.
Then I saw them.
Army jets.
They roared in from the distance, cutting through the sky.
My body finally gave out.
I collapsed.
Maybe because I thought it was finally safe.
But I didn't know then.
I didn't know that this was only the beginning.
And that the news I would hear tomorrow, would be even more earth-shattering.