---
That night, as the group settled into uneasy silence around a small fire near an old shrine, no one spoke much. Yuki sat a little away from the others, staring into the flames. Aiko had fallen asleep leaning against a tree, her expression soft but restless.
Himari, however, hadn't stopped watching the sky.
She could feel it.
Something shifting.
Later, when the moon was high and everyone else slept, she rose silently and slipped into the forest.
I need to know if what I felt was real, she thought.
She followed the pull in her chest, deeper into the woods, toward a place no ordinary human would ever find. A ring of stones lay buried under moss and roots, humming faintly with ancient energy. Himari placed her hand on one and whispered in an old tongue.
The space around her shimmered.
A mirror-like surface of energy formed in the air.
Within it, flashes of images appeared—spirits whispering, void echoes rippling, and then… a figure cloaked in black mist, eyes like hollow stars.
Himari recoiled slightly. "So it's waking…"
The dark figure pulsed, its presence alien and twisted—something ancient and forgotten. Not born of myth, but of something beyond.
She clenched her jaw. "Yuki doesn't know. Not yet. But we don't have much time."
---
Meanwhile, deep in the void…
Nogitsune stood alone in a fractured realm of swirling shadows. Time moved differently here. The rift had cracked more than just space—it had echoed through the layers between dimensions.
He could hear it.
The thing Himari had seen?
He had known of it long before now.
"I was right," he muttered. "It's returning. And if Yuki can't control what he's becoming…"
He tightened his fist. For all his teasing, his cold lectures, and harsh sparring—he wanted Yuki alive. Strong. Ready.
Nogitsune reached toward the shadows, and from them came a soft whisper.
"You're preparing him for me, aren't you?" the voice teased.
Nogitsune narrowed his eyes. "No. I'm preparing him for it. You're just part of the path."
---
Elsewhere, back in the shrine clearing…
Ren's eyes snapped open. The wind had changed.
He looked toward the trees, as if sensing something far away. Himari hadn't returned yet. He frowned.
"Trouble's coming," he muttered.
Beside him, Aiko stirred slightly, murmuring something in her sleep. A single word escaped her lips—
"Yuki…"
---
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