Takeshi didn't sleep that night.
Not because he didn't want to.
But because Nehvarra no longer waited for permission.
It pulled him in.
---
He opened his eyes to mist.
Soft gray clouds curled around his feet.
The sky above was cracked glass.
And beneath it, the world moved like a dream barely stitched together.
He stood at the edge of a wide plain.
Silent.
Endless.
---
Behind him, footsteps.
Not Asami.
Not anyone he knew.
The figure was wrapped in dark cloth, face hidden beneath a smooth mask.
Only the eyes showed.
They shimmered like silver ink.
> "You are the Tether," the voice said.
> "What does that even mean?" Takeshi asked.
The figure tilted its head.
> "It means you're not supposed to exist. Not in both places."
---
A wave passed through the plain.
Takeshi felt it.
A shift.
Something deep under the ground moved.
The figure continued.
> "You have a Singular Drift. One power. One rule. But the Tether breaks that rule. The Tether touches both sides. And the balance hates that."
Takeshi clenched his fist.
> "Then why me?"
> "Because you were empty."
> "I'm not empty," he snapped.
> "Not anymore."
---
Suddenly, the air cracked.
A bolt of shadow split the sky.
The plain twisted.
Reality shuddered.
And in that moment, Takeshi felt something crawl up from deep below.
A sound like grinding glass.
A presence old and wrong.
The masked figure turned toward the storm.
> "It's waking up."
> "What is?"
> "The Hollow."
---
Takeshi gasped—
And woke up.
---
Back in bed.
Sweat.
Shivers.
His wrist burned again—but not with fire.
It was cold.
Icy.
Like a part of Nehvarra had followed him back.
---
In the morning, Rei was already waiting for him outside school.
He had dark circles under his eyes.
> "I read more of that notebook," Rei said quietly.
They sat under the back stairwell, away from the noise.
> "It says the Tether can unlock. Not just doors, but memories. People. Even… beings that were sealed away."
Takeshi stared at him.
> "You mean like that Hollow thing?"
Rei nodded.
> "Whatever's on the other side… it's not just watching. It wants in."
---
Just then, the school PA cracked to life.
But it didn't play the usual chime.
It hissed.
And then a voice came through.
Faint. Soft.
Barely a whisper.
> "He's awake now."
Every student froze.
Even the teachers stopped moving.
The lights dimmed.
Then silence.
Back to normal.
Like it never happened.
---
Takeshi and Rei exchanged a look.
No words needed.
They both knew—
The line between the dream and the real world was vanishing.
And something was crossing over.
---
End of Chapter 30