The road to Kanah Village was not an easy one—for Sunny, it was a path marked by pain and blood. Though his wounds had only just begun to heal, both physically and mentally, he still bore the weight of the man he had killed. The battle had left him broken, bruised, and hollow, yet something inside him whispered that his journey wasn't over.
"I need a break," he muttered to himself, stepping into a dimly lit bar on the edge of the village. "Just for a while. Just to breathe."
The place smelled of old wood and stale memories. As Sunny entered, his eyes instinctively scanned the room—and then they froze. In the corner, beneath the flickering neon light, sat a man with his head buried in his hands, trembling. Crying.
Sunny took a step forward, his breath caught. There was something familiar about him."No way..." he whispered. The man looked up—and in that moment, time folded. It was him. His old friend. But not just any friend—the man who once held the heart of the girl Sunny had loved.
Their eyes met, and recognition sparked like a jolt of lightning. The silence between them was heavier than any words.
Sunny walked over slowly, pulled out the chair opposite him, and sat down. "Why are you crying?" he asked softly. "What happened to you?"
His friend hesitated but eventually allowed himself to be led to Sunny's hotel room. Once there, they sat across from each other, the dim light casting long shadows across the walls.Sunny leaned forward. "Talk to me. What happened?"
"I can't," the man said. "If I tell you, you'll hate me. You might even want to fight me."
"I won't," Sunny replied firmly. "I promise. Just tell me the truth. No lies. No games."
His friend looked at him, eyes heavy with guilt and sorrow. Then he took a deep breath.
"Alright," he said, voice cracking. "Then listen... and don't stop me."story begin's
Three years had passed since Aiko's final breath faded beneath the starlit sky. Ren disappeared after that night—physically present in the world, yet hollow. He never spoke of her, never mentioned love. His eyes, once soft and searching, had become distant mirrors reflecting a world that no longer held meaning.
But pain has a way of finding new homes.
One day, Ren met another girl—Jun. She reminded him of Aiko in small, cruel ways. Her laugh was sharper, her steps more grounded, but there was something in her spirit that drew him close. He didn't want to love her. He didn't try to. But hearts are traitors—they remember how to beat even after they've been broken.
And for a while, Ren smiled again.
But fate is cruel to those who dare to love after loss.Three months into their fragile happiness, Jun began showing the same symptoms Aiko once had—forgetting things, falling unexpectedly, her eyes drifting into empty space mid-sentence. Ren knew before the doctors confirmed it.
Kurosaki Syndrome.
He didn't tell her.
Not because he was afraid of losing her, but because he knew what would come. He couldn't relive that nightmare. Not again.
Jun grew weaker. The darkness in her mind crept closer. And one night, she collapsed. When she opened her eyes in the hospital, she wasn't herself anymore. Ren saw it. Her gaze was distant. Her hands trembled, searching for memories that wouldn't come.
That night, she called him.
"I need you to come," she said. "Bring Kaito."
Kaito—Ren's best friend. The one who had been there when Ren shattered the first time.
They came. They found her sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, pale and thin, eyes calm like a dying flame.
"I don't want to become her," she whispered. "I don't want to become that."
Ren stepped back. His hands began to shake. "No. Don't ask me. Please."
Jun looked at Kaito. "You do it."
"What?" Kaito froze. "Why me?""Because," she said, her voice soft. "I don't trust Ren to let go."
Ren broke. "Why would you say that?"
Jun smiled sadly. "Because you're still holding onto her."
Kaito refused at first. He screamed. He cried. He begged for another way. But Jun only repeated her request.
That night, the room was filled with silence and a single syringe.
She held Kaito's hand. "You were always the strongest one. That's why I asked you."
And with the same trembling hands Ren once had, Kaito did what she asked. Her breath slowed. Her eyes stayed open for just a second longer, resting on Ren.
"I hope she's waiting for you," she whispered, and then she was gone.---
Outside the hospital, Ren finally asked.
"Why? Why did she ask you?"
Kaito, his face pale and wet with tears, answered quietly:
"She told me… she didn't trust you to let her go. She said... you still live in that night."