I shouldn’t have stayed that long.

I knew it.

Every time I ignore instinct, reality reminds me of what I am—flesh, blood, and painfully vulnerable to human emotion. I despise it. Being born into this body doomed me to weakness, the worst of which is the ability to be corrupted by pain.

Human pain.

I was about to leave when I felt it.

Not a sound.
A pull.

A vibration beneath the skin—subtle, persistent. It wasn’t coming from this place.

It was coming from her.

Himeko.

Her name should have meant nothing.

And yet, it didn’t.

From the moment Amai spoke it, from the very first instant, it struck something deep inside me. Since Sakura’s death, I had stopped paying attention to the world around me—but the frequency of this girl’s soul, small and fragile as it seemed, resonated in sharp opposition to mine.

Just like hers once did.

The memory of Sakura clenched around my heart like a vice.

Damn human emotions.
Always them.

I shifted, preparing to stand—when another presence settled behind me.

Kaisha.

My closest companion. The only reason I hadn’t collapsed into self-destruction after that night. He and Amai were the ones who kept me standing, who kept me moving forward after I lost everything.

After all, a Komainu without its other half is nothing more than an empty shell.

I should have died with her.
It would have been fair.

But something dark still binds me here—hostage to duty, to corruption, to a body that feels tighter and more foreign with every passing year.

And yet…

The pull toward Himeko intensified.

Stronger.
Closer.
Impossible to ignore.

And for the first time in a very long while—

I let myself pay attention.