I didn't sleep after he left.
I just sat in my room, staring out the window, hoping I'd see him again.
Hoping I wouldn't.
Because if I did, it meant he was close.
And if he was close—
He was in danger.
Or I was.
Maybe both.
Kyouko didn't say a word when she came home. But she didn't need to.
Her silence was sharp. Sliced through the air like one of her knives.
She dropped her coat by the door, bruised and dirt-stained. Her boots were soaked through. Her eyes met mine for only a second before she looked away.
I waited for her to speak.
She didn't.
"Are you going to ask?" I said.
She grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and twisted the cap.
"I already know the answer."
I swallowed. "So then say it."
"I don't need to."
Her voice was flat. Final.
But she wasn't angry.
She was afraid.
Of what Kazuki was.
Of what I was becoming.
Later, after she went to her room, I walked the length of the house. Restless.
The night outside was strangely quiet. Too quiet.
No wind.
No dogs barking.
Not even the hum of the streetlights.
It felt like the world was holding its breath.
Then—
A sound.
A creak.
But not from the house.
From under it.
I froze.
Listened.
And then I heard it again.
A dragging sound.
Like something crawling.
Something... wet.
The lights flickered.
Then shut off completely.
I grabbed the flashlight from the drawer and swung it toward the floorboards. Everything was still.
For a moment.
And then—
A whisper.
Too soft to make out.
Too sharp to be imagined.
I backed up slowly, heart thudding.
And then a voice—
High, inhuman.
Right behind me.
"He tastes like fire and roses."
I spun.
No one was there.
I ran to Kyouko's room.
But she was already gone.
Her window was open.
And on the sill—
A single streak of blood.
Still fresh.
Still warm.
I didn't stop to think.
I jumped.
The street was empty, but the scent was there—metallic, sweet, wrong.
Kyouko had been taken.
I could feel it.
And she wasn't taken by Kazuki.
This wasn't him.
This was something older.
Something darker.
They were here.
The ones he warned me about.
The ones he said were watching.
The hidden clan.
I turned into the alley, following the trail.
And that's when I saw him.
Standing in the shadows.
Eyes gold.
Hair silver.
Face carved from regret.
Kazuki.
He didn't speak.
Neither did I.
But I didn't have to.
I ran to him.
Gripped his coat with trembling fingers.
"They took her."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Then opened them again.
"Then I'll get her back."