The Tokyo sky seemed crystal clear that night—too clear, like a painting forced to shine on a dusty canvas. Neon lights reflected off puddles on the narrow streets of Shinjuku district, while pedestrians walked by without truly seeing each other. The world kept moving, as if everything was fine.
In the midst of the crowd, Kuro Itsuki stood silently on the train platform, his eyes fixed blankly on the tracks.
"Don't forget to buy bread for dinner," his foster aunt's message still echoed in his mind, but as usual, he ignored it. He knew his life's pattern by heart—school, work, returning to his cramped apartment, sleep, repeat. His life was hollow, without direction, and most painfully: without origins.
But tonight was different. As the train was about to arrive, an old man in tattered black robes stood motionless across the platform, staring straight at him with empty gray eyes. The train roared by like a metal beast, and when the train finished passing by, the man vanished.
Itsuki stood frozen, the back of his neck feeling cold. He quickly turned around and found the exit empty. But just as he took a step, something slammed into him from the side.
Clang!
A metal sword swooped towards him, sparking as it hit the iron pillar. The same robed man now stood before him, but his form was no longer entirely human. His eyes glowed with a faint red light, and black veins bulged beneath his skin.
"You... are the blood. The child of darkness." The man's voice was like a scream in a nightmare.
Before Itsuki could run, another figure appeared behind him. A young girl with silver hair, wearing a long coat and black gloves, leaped from the station roof and thrust a strange weapon into the robed man's chest.
"You have to come with me now if you want to live." Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Itsuki's hand and jumped down to the lower platform.
Itsuki's breath quickened. The world seemed to spin faster. The familiar streets transformed into unfamiliar corridors. Ancient symbols appeared on the walls, glowing faintly like light tattoos.
"What's happening?! Who are you?!"
"I'm Reina. And you, Kuro Itsuki, are the heir of a bloodline that shouldn't exist."
Itsuki fell silent. His blood boiled. Behind his skin, he felt something stirring. It was as if the world—once dull and gray—was slowly opening up, revealing colors that ordinary humans shouldn't be able to see. And for the first time... he saw the veins of light spreading across the ground, walls, and night sky.
***
Their footsteps echoed as they descended into the emergency corridor. The cracked concrete walls seemed to emit a faint glow. Itsuki nearly stumbled several times, his eyes still struggling to comprehend what he was seeing: the world seemed to be split open. There were trails of purple and red light that spread like tree roots, dancing in the air, wrapping around pillars and cables, merging with reality.
"Don't stare too long," the girl warned quickly. "If you're not used to it, it can drive you mad."
Itsuki took a deep breath. "What... is this? What kind of world is this?"
"I'll explain later. Now, we need to disappear from the mukuro's sight."
"Mukuro?"
"Dead body spirits. Once human. Now just empty shells controlled by those who want you dead."
They finally reached the underground—a vast space resembling a forgotten temple, not just an old station. Stone pillars with ancient symbols stood at each corner, and in the center, a giant red circle glowed slowly.
Reina quickly pressed a specific symbol on the floor with her boot. The light faded. Everything became quiet. For the first time since this began, Itsuki could breathe a sigh of relief. But his mind was still filled with questions.
----
The Unknown Past
Itsuki was raised by an old woman who claimed to be his aunt—though she never specified which side of the family. He had no photos of his parents. Never celebrated his birthday. Even his birth certificate was late-printed and falsified. He grew up like a shadow. Didn't talk much. Didn't have many friends. He preferred walking alone in the rain to laughing with his classmates.
For some reason, people always felt "uncomfortable" when they were around him for too long. They said Itsuki's aura was too "silent."
The one thing that made him feel alive was painting. He often painted ruins, dark forests, or alien creatures with many eyes, even before he knew they came from the real world. Now, all those paintings seemed to be calling out to him: "We're not just imagination. We're memories."
---
Reina: The Open Second Eye
Reina sat cross-legged on a stone chest, slowly removing her gloves. On the back of her left hand was a seal shaped like a Yin-Yang circle with a small dragon's tail. She looked at Itsuki as if assessing whether the young man was worth saving... or killing.
"I'm from Shingan-kai, the last organization that believes the world should be guided by the balance of spirit and flesh. And you—the child of darkness—are the axis that has started turning again after a hundred years."
"You know my name. But I don't know who you are."
Reina nodded slightly. "I was trained from the age of five. Taken from my family because I was deemed to have the 'second eye'—the ability to see between two dimensions. Since then, I've lived with one purpose: to find the Black Emperor's seed before anyone else does."
"And if you find it...?"
"I have to choose: protect it, or eliminate it. Depending on... whether it will destroy the world or save it."
Itsuki swallowed hard. "And what do you think I am?"
Reina smiled faintly for the first time. The smile was like a cold breeze passing through embers. Not warm, but enough to make him wonder.
"I haven't decided yet."
----
An Ordinary Day That Will Never Return
Itsuki remembered that morning. Before everything went chaotic. He overslept again. His breakfast was just stale bread from the night before. At school, his math teacher scolded him for not doing his homework. His friends played with their gadgets and laughed, but none of them looked at him.
During recess, he sat alone on the rooftop, drawing. This time, he drew a stone door with a large eye in the center. He didn't know why his hand drew it like that. Now he knew why. It wasn't just a door. It was the final seal that locked away his ancestor's power. And he had started to open it without realizing it.
Itsuki finally leaned against the stone wall, trying to calm himself down. "So, why me? Why my blood?"
Reina looked straight at him. "Because you're not an ordinary human. You're not a full human, not a full spirit. You're in between... just like the world that you'll either destroy or protect."
She pointed to Itsuki's chest. "There, inside you, flows the last trace of the Black Emperor—the ruler of the spirit world, the last human to challenge the real world. And this world hasn't forgotten the fear of his name."
Itsuki looked at his hand, as if hoping to see something different. But there was nothing. Just an ordinary hand. Yet deep inside, he knew: the world had cracked. He wanted to go home. But he knew there was no "home" waiting.
***
Itsuki was still trying to understand what was happening to him. He felt like he was trapped in a dream that he couldn't wake up from. Reina, the silver-haired girl who had saved him, looked at him seriously.
"You need to understand who you really are," Reina said. "You're not an ordinary human. You have the blood of the Black Emperor in you."
Itsuki shook his head. "I don't understand. What is the Black Emperor?" Reina took a deep breath.
"The Black Emperor is the ruler of the spirit world. He was the last human to challenge the real world. And you, Itsuki, are his blood heir."
Itsuki felt like a heavy burden had been placed on his shoulders. He wasn't ready to be the heir of the Black Emperor's blood. He just wanted to live a normal life, without having to face threats from the spirit world.
But, Reina didn't give him a chance to think further. "We need to get out of here," she said. "The Mukuro could come back at any moment."
Itsuki nodded, following Reina out of the underground room. He felt like he was entering a new world, a world full of danger and uncertainty. As they walked, Itsuki saw many unusual things. There were ancient symbols on the walls, and strange lights appeared in the air. He felt like he was in a different world. Reina looked at him seriously.
"You need to get used to this," she said. "You'll see many unusual things in this world."
Itsuki nodded, trying to understand. He knew he had to get used to this new world if he wanted to survive. After walking for several hours, they arrived at a safe place. Reina took him to a small room, where an old woman with long white hair and sharp eyes was waiting.
"Welcome, Itsuki," the old woman said. "I am Hana, the leader of Shingan-kai. We will help you understand who you really are and how to control your abilities."
Itsuki nodded, feeling a little relieved. He knew he needed help to understand this new world.