Someone knocked at a door. Sharp, urgent, cutting through the silence of a room I'd come to know all too well-even though in that moment, I was miles away, bleeding out on the pavement of an abandoned town.

  "Sir, I have a report!" A yomu executioner rapped his knuckles against dark oak, his voice carrying a tremor that told anyone listening whatever he had to say was bad. Really bad.

  "Come in." The voice that answered was strange-too crisp to be a boy's, too light to be a man's. It belonged to Takumi Aoyagi: Mei-rank, blonde hair like spun gold, eyes the color of a summer sky, and one of the youngest executioners in Japan to reach such a high rank.

  The executioner pushed open the door and stepped inside, bowing low. "Excuse me, Aoyagi-san." He closed the door behind him, and the thud of it sounded like a death sentence.

  The room was a temple to weapons. Swords lined the walls-katana with curved blades that glowed in the light, tachi with long handles built for mounted combat, even a nodachi so large it took two hands to wield. There were guns too-ancient flintlocks next to modern assault rifles, all polished until they shone like mirrors. Bows of yew and bamboo stood in corners, quivers of arrows fletched with feathers from rare birds. And other things-chakrams that spun like deadly tops, kunai that glinted with poison, war hammers that could crush bone with one blow. Takumi sat in a high-backed chair in the center, leaning forward over a map of Kamakura, his finger tracing the coast where the abandoned town lay sealed off.

  "State your business." He didn't look up.

  "Yes! There have been readings that a yomu executioner is fighting another executioner. Location's just outside Kamakura-where the old town was locked down after the Great Calamity ten years ago." The executioner's hands shook as he held out a tablet with energy readings flashing across the screen. "We're still confirming identities, but one of them has a shin'en of blood manipulation. The signature's... twisted. Corrupted."

  Takumi's finger stilled on the map. He looked up then, and a spark ignited in his blue eyes-not fear, but excitement. "Blood manipulation... you say?"

  "Yes, sir..." The executioner looked confused. Most people would have been horrified by the thought of brothers turning on each other, but Takumi? He looked like he'd just been told there was a new toy waiting for him.

  Takumi stood up, his movements graceful and deliberate, and walked to the window. Outside, the sun was setting over Kamakura, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. "Prepare a car for me. Make sure it's fast-we need to get there on time. I'm going to the battlefield. This will be fun."

  "It's the first time I've seen Aoyagi-san this excited," the executioner thought to himself as he backed toward the door. "I wonder what's in his mind."

  At that exact moment, I was lying on the cracked pavement of that very abandoned town, my stomach bleeding, my body too weak to move. Above me, on the rooftop of the old school, Aya and Kouki stood frozen, their eyes wide with fear.

  "This Shin'en, why... is he here...?!" Aya whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of my own labored breathing. She recognized it too-blood manipulation. It was rare, almost mythical, and the power radiating from the courtyard below was so strong it made her knees shake.

  "We got to go to Yuuto quick," Kouki said, his hand flying to the hilt of his earth-forged sword. "His order's only to find out about their shin'en. If he kills Ren here, we won't see another day."

  They turned and ran, jumping off the rooftop with practiced ease-their bodies moving through the air like cats before landing softly on the ground. They sprinted toward the old house where Yuuto and I had been fighting, their feet kicking up dust as they went.

  The air around the house had gone unnervingly quiet. So quiet I could hear the drip of my blood hitting the pavement, forming a small puddle that glistened in the fading light. "Ren Kazenagi," said a voice from above me-low, gravelly, hidden behind a black mask that covered every inch of his face. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a presence that made the very air feel heavy. "He will bring hope in this world, or something bigger. We can't kill him."

  Yuuto stepped back from me, and the sword he'd forged from his own blood began to spin in a tight circle. It shrank smaller and smaller, until it vanished into thin air like smoke. He was Mei-rank too, with silver hair that fell over his eyes and irises the color of fresh blood. I'd thought he was my friend-until he'd turned his blade on me.

  The masked man knelt down beside me, and I could barely lift my head to look at him. Even through the mask, I could feel his gaze-old, wise, and filled with something that looked like sadness. "How about joining our group? I guarantee you, it will bring peace to this world. We understand what you're going through, Ren. We know about the power inside you-the power the Tenka Corps would fear and try to destroy."

  I tried to speak, to tell him to go to hell, but my throat was dry and sore. "Like... hell I'll... join you..." I managed to choke out, lifting a hand that had no strength to push him away.

  "What a lame answer." The masked man sighed, but there was no anger in his voice-only disappointment.

  "Yuuto!" Kouki shouted as he and Aya skidded to a stop a few feet away. They looked relieved I was still alive, but their hands shook on their weapons. They knew who the masked man was-a Shinrei-rank executioner, the highest possible. Fighting him was suicide.

  "Kouki and Aya, are the two of them still alive?" The masked man stood up, his eyes fixed on the pair. He meant Tatsuya and Ayaka-my teammates from Team Gesshoku.

  "Yes! They're still in the school, not killed, like you ordered." Aya said, her voice trembling. She'd fought Ayaka earlier, using her earth shin'en to set traps in the hallways, but Ayaka's ice had been too strong. She'd barely escaped.

  I closed my eyes, and I imagined Tatsuya and Ayaka beaten and broken, their bodies lying in the school hallway. Damn it, Tatsuya, Ayaka-I'm sorry for involving you in this. The guilt washed over me so strong it made my head spin.

  "I see. We need to leave-executioners are on their way. Takumi Aoyagi is coming, and we don't want to face him yet." The masked man's shadow suddenly spread across the ground, like a pool of ink spilling from his feet. It grew larger and larger, forming a huge circular portal that glowed with a faint red light. "What matters is you followed orders. We learned what we needed about Ren's shin'en."

  Yuuto, Aya, and Kouki looked at each other for a moment, then walked toward the portal. "W-wait..." I reached out my hand, my fingers stretching toward them as consciousness slipped away. "Yuuto... why..."

  "The next time we meet, it will be a battlefield. Ren."

  Then the four of them stepped into the shadow, and they vanished in a cloud of ash and darkness. The portal closed behind them, leaving me alone on the pavement, bleeding out.

  A few minutes later, I heard the roar of a car engine-loud, powerful, cutting through the silence. It skidded to a stop beside me, and four people jumped out, their voices filled with urgency.

  "Hey! Someone's injured! Call medico-quick!" One of them knelt down beside me, pressing his hands against my wound to stop the bleeding. The pain was so intense I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Search the area-check the houses, the school! Find anyone else who's alive!" Another voice shouted, and I heard footsteps running off in different directions.

  I tried to focus on the faces of the people around me, but they were blurry and indistinct. As they talked, their voices started to fade-slowly at first, then faster and faster-until I couldn't hear anything at all. The world went black, and I was gone.

  I had a dream. It was loud-so loud my head felt like it would split open. There were screams of pain and terror, the sound of explosions shaking the ground, the clash of swords and the crack of gunfire. I saw images of death and destruction: cities burning, people running in fear, yomurei with twisted faces tearing through crowds of innocent people. But somehow, it felt familiar. Like I'd lived through it all before.

  The dream lasted only a few seconds-a flash, really-before I heard a voice. Deep, rough, coming from inside my own head.

  "I'm sorry that you have to carry all the burden I have, boy."

  I woke up gasping for air, sitting up so fast my stomach screamed in pain. I looked around, my eyes adjusting to the bright light of the room, and realized I was in a hospital. My clothes were gone, replaced with a thin white gown that felt like paper against my skin. I lifted the gown and saw my stomach wrapped in thick bandages-stained slightly with blood, but otherwise clean. A curtain surrounded my bed, so I knew I wasn't alone.

  Tatsuya. Ayaka. The thought hit me like lightning. I had to make sure they were okay. I tried to stand up, but a nurse pulled back the curtain and pushed me gently back down.

  "Hey! Don't push it-you lost a lot of blood. You're lucky to be alive." She was young, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and kind, brown eyes. "The medico says you need at least a week of rest before you even think about getting out of bed."

  "Where's Tatsuya... and Ayaka?" My voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. I looked up at her, my eyes filled with desperation.

  "If you're talking about your friends, then they're in the other curtains." She pointed to two more curtains on either side of my bed. "Tatsuya had three broken ribs and a fractured arm, but his lightning shin'en is healing him fast-faster than we've ever seen. Ayaka just has a concussion and some cuts on her head-she's fine, really."

  Relief washed over me so strong I almost cried. Then she looked at me curiously, her head tilted to one side. "I heard you're the one Saiten-sama recruited, teammates with the youngest daughter of the Sumeragi family. That's a big deal-he doesn't pick just anyone."

  I shrugged. I'd never felt special. I'd just been a normal kid living in a small town until four years ago, when Saiten-sama had found me and taken me to the academy. Since then, I'd been training to be an executioner, but I'd always felt like there was something missing-something hidden inside me that I couldn't explain.

  The door to the room opened, and two men walked in. One was blonde-Takumi Aoyagi. The other had short green hair and a warm smile that made him look less intimidating than his rank suggested.

  "Aoyagi-san! Morioka-san!" The nurse bowed deeply, her face lighting up with respect. Everyone in the corps knew Takumi-he was a legend in the making.

  "How are they?" Takumi asked, his blue eyes fixing on me. There was a look in his eyes that made me feel like he was looking right through my skin, seeing things I didn't want anyone to see.

  "Tatsuya and Ayaka are sleeping. This one's already up, though he shouldn't be." The nurse gestured to me, and Takumi raised an eyebrow.

  "This boy?" He said. "He's already fine, as you can see."

  "I see. Boy." Takumi called to me, and I sat up as straight as I could.

  "Yes, sir?"

  "I'll talk to you later when I'm available. I just wanted to check if you three are okay." He turned to leave, and the green-haired man waved at me. "See you later, kid."

  They walked out, closing the door behind them, and the nurse bowed again before turning back to me. "Oh, I forgot about a patient on the first floor. I'll be back in a little while." She sounded like she was teasing-leaving me alone with my friends so we could talk.

  "Ren, are you there?" Ayaka's voice came from the right curtain. It was strong, clear-nothing like mine.

  "Yeah, I'm here." I carefully got up from the bed and walked toward her curtain, fighting the pain in my stomach. "Can I open it?"

  "Yeah."

  I pulled back the curtain and saw her lying in bed, a blanket over her, with a bandage wrapped around her head. She looked pale, but her eyes were bright and alert, and she smiled when she saw me.

  "First of all," she said, laughing softly, "we need to buy you a phone. You were gone for hours, and we had no idea where you were. I thought I was going to throw up from worrying."

  I laughed too, sitting down in the chair beside her bed and scratching my head nervously. "You're right. I've been putting it off for too long."

  "Good grief-it hasn't been a week since Instructor Minazuki and Kaien fought, and so much has happened. I'm already exhausted." She sat up, and I saw she was wearing the same hospital gown as me. The staff had changed our clothes while we slept-it gave me a weird, uncomfortable feeling, like someone had been looking at me when I couldn't defend myself.

  "Do you think..." Her smile faded, and she looked down at her hands. She was thinking about her fight with Aya-her ice traps, her strategy, her defeat. "...I'll be able to kill the jūma that killed my family?"

  I thought about when we first met-how she'd found me in the academy hallway, her eyes filled with pain, and asked for my help. I'd agreed without hesitation, because I knew what it felt like to lose someone.

  "I'm sure you can," I said, leaning forward. "You're the last hope of the Sumeragi family, and I promised I'd help you. You're smart, you're strong, and you'll only get stronger. That jūma doesn't stand a chance."

  As I said it, I thought about the masked man's words: "He will bring hope in this world, or something bigger." What did that mean? Was he talking about me? And if so, what kind of "something bigger" could he possibly mean?

  "Can you tell me what happened after you arrived in Kamakura, when you were biking?" Ayaka looked at me with serious, determined eyes. She deserved the truth-all of it, except for the part about the creature that had possessed my body. I couldn't tell anyone about that. Not yet.

  "Of course." I took a deep breath and started from the beginning-how I'd left the dorm early that morning, biking along the coast toward Kamakura. How a yomurei had jumped out at me from the woods, its claws sharp as knives, its eyes glowing red. How I'd fought it as best I could, but I'd been outmatched. How Team Rinkazan-Yuuto, Aya, and Kouki-had shown up out of nowhere and saved me.

  "I thought they were my friends," I said, my voice tight with anger. "They helped me, they talked to me, they made me feel like I belonged. But it was all a trick. They used me-took me to that abandoned town to find out about my shin'en."

  I told her about the old house, about Yuuto turning on me, about the masked man showing up. I didn't hide the fact that I'd been beaten-there was no point. But when I got to the part where the mysterious creature had taken over my body, I changed the story slightly. "Something... woke up inside me," I said. "I don't know what it was, but it gave me the strength to fight back. Just for a moment."

  Ayaka nodded, her eyes wide with wonder. "That's incredible. I've never heard of anything like that."

  "I wonder what their goal is," she said after a moment. "Why would they turn against the corps? Why target you?"

  "I don't know," I said. "But if we report this, the corps won't just sit there and do nothing."

  "Enkuroda-san was a hard opponent."

  We both turned toward the left curtain. Tatsuya's voice was quiet, but clear. He'd been listening the whole time.

  "Geez Tatsuya-if you're awake, you should have said so!" Ayaka rolled her eyes playfully, but I could see she was relieved he was okay.

  I walked toward his curtain, but before I could touch it, he pulled it back himself. He was standing up, his posture straight, and he looked like he'd never been injured at all. The nurse was right-his bones had already healed. His lightning shin'en really was something else.

  "You surprised me," I said, looking at him in amazement.

  "You don't have to worry about me-I'm fine." He said it so casually, like breaking three ribs and a arm was no big deal. He started walking toward the door.

  "Where are you going?" I stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

  "Going to clear my mind, that's all." He pushed past me gently, his eyes avoiding mine. "I'll be back."

  He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ayaka and I looked at each other.

  "That Tatsuya," she said, shaking her head. "Wakes up from nearly breaking every bone in his body and acts like he's just been for a walk in the park."

  "Can you walk?" I asked her.

  "I think so. Why?"

  I smiled. "We're going to follow him."

  Ayaka smiled back, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Sure!"

  Tatsuya was walking in the hospital frontyard, his hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the ground. The frontyard was beautiful-filled with tall cherry trees that provided shade from the sun, green grass that was soft underfoot, colorful azaleas that bloomed in every corner, and wooden benches where people could sit and rest. The air was fresh and clean, filled with the scent of flowers and cut grass.

  There were kids playing on the grass-some with IV poles tucked beside them, their faces filled with smiles despite their illnesses. A group of injured executioners sat on a bench, their bandages visible, talking and laughing as they shared stories from their missions. Near the entrance, a family was hugging and crying tears of joy-one of them had just been given the all-clear to go home. Seeing this made me smile. This is why we became executioners: to protect moments like this, to make sure that people could live their lives in peace.

  We saw Tatsuya standing near the edge of the frontyard, looking toward a small playground where two boys were playing tag. Ayaka and I approached him quietly, not wanting to startle him.

  "What are you looking at?" I said, and I realized something-my wounds had healed so fast that I could walk properly now, without any pain. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling it had something to do with the power inside me.

  On the playground, there was a kid who couldn't have been more than seven years old, running after his older brother. The younger one didn't have a right arm-his sleeve was empty, tied in a neat knot at the elbow-but he was laughing so hard his face was bright red. The older brother was wearing the uniform of a yomu executioner, and he was letting the younger kid catch him every time, his face filled with love and pride.

  "Despite having that condition, I'm surprised that they are still laughing and smiling." Tatsuya said quietly, his voice barely audible. I'd never seen sadness in his eyes before-he was always so calm, so unreadable.

  "That's because we are the hope," I said, standing beside him and watching the brothers play. "As yomu executioners, it's our job to keep the world safe. His little brother doesn't want his older brother to feel useless. That's all there is."

  "By the way..." Ayaka said, trying to lighten the mood. She'd noticed the sadness in Tatsuya's eyes too, and she wanted to cheer him up. "...I still don't know your purpose of becoming an executioner, Tatsuya. Is there someone you want to avenge?"

  "No..." Tatsuya turned away from the playground, his face expressionless again. He started walking toward the hospital entrance, his steps quickening. "...there's someone I want to find."

  He walked away, heading inside without looking back. Ayaka followed him immediately, calling his name. But I stayed behind, staring at the playground where the two brothers were still playing. Who was that voice in my dream? I thought. Is that the one inside me? Why did he apologize? I stood there for a few more minutes, watching the sun dip lower in the sky, before turning and following Ayaka and Tatsuya back inside.

  When we got back to our room, the nurse had already brought us food-a simple meal of rice, grilled fish, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. We'd barely eaten anything since that morning, and our stomachs were