Rain hadn't stopped.
But it didn't fall like before — it whispered now. Like it knew what Renji had seen.
He and Yua sat by a broken window inside an abandoned tram station, silence between them heavy as lead. The files they had found about Project Mugen lay in Yua's lap, unopened since they left the lab ruins.
Renji stared at the ceiling, listening to the quiet patter of the rain.
Finally, he spoke. "That kid in the pod… I don't think he was just another subject."
Yua looked at him. "You mean…"
"I think he was me — before I was reborn. The real me."
---
The Past that Sticks
Yua bit her lip. Her hands trembled slightly, though she tried to hide it.
There was something she hadn't said. Something she'd never said since they met.
And now it clawed at her throat.
"I've seen that kid before," she whispered.
Renji looked at her sharply. "What?"
"I was six. There was a storm. I got separated from my parents during the evacuation. I ended up hiding in an alley. And that's when I saw him—" she pointed to Renji, "—you, I mean. You were lying on the ground, bleeding… humming something."
Renji's blood ran cold.
"What was I humming?" he asked quietly.
Yua met his eyes.
> "Watashi wa umarekawaritakunai..."
"I don't want to be reborn…"
---
Why She Stayed
Renji's lips parted, but no words came.
Yua stood up, pacing.
"I didn't understand it then, but that moment stuck in my head. I used to dream about it — a boy with golden eyes, humming under the rain. When I saw you again last month... I recognized the hum. That's why I followed you. That's why I stayed."
She turned to face him.
"I've been lying to you, Renji. I didn't meet you in the market like I said. I was looking for you."
Renji stood slowly, every word crashing through him like thunder.
"But why?" he asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I was scared!" she shouted. "Scared that if you were that kid... you weren't real. That none of this was. That I'm just part of some... experiment."
---
The Journal Entry
Renji walked to the files and picked up the oldest one.
Inside it was a leather-bound journal with initials burned into the front:
> G.S.
(Gin Shisui)
He flipped it open.
A page had been dog-eared. The ink was faded, but readable.
> "Subject R-00 showed emotional binding to a child during escape attempt. We were forced to erase partial memory. However, traces of the connection remain. It's fascinating. Even machines crave anchors..."
Renji looked up.
"It was you," he whispered.
Yua took a step back.
"You were the only person I had before they wiped me. That's why I always felt safe with you. That's why the mark reacts when you touch it."
---
Connection Ignites
Suddenly, the mark on Renji's palm blazed.
A pulse erupted from it — not violent, but warm. Soft.
Yua gasped as her own chest glowed faintly — just over her heart, a tiny symbol appeared: a matching spiral.
> [Resonance Detected: Anchor Bond Formed]
[Subject Stability Enhanced by 38%]
[Memory Reconstruction Now Possible]
Renji staggered back.
"Anchor…? What does that mean?"
Yua covered her mouth.
"I don't know… but it's not just a bond. It's a tether. I'm your tether, Renji. You fall — and I'll pull you back."
---
Far Away… A Plan Awakens
Atop a distant cathedral, Gin Shisui knelt in a circle of glowing sigils.
Twelve black feathers floated around him.
He held a cracked photo — of a small girl holding hands with a golden-eyed boy.
His voice was barely audible.
> "So, the tether still lives. Good. It will make the collapse more… poetic."
He smiled.
> "Let's see how long love can protect a ghost."
---
Final Scene
Back at the station, Renji touched the mark again.
And this time, when he whispered the name that had haunted him since the lab...
> "Mugen…"
The word didn't echo.
It answered.
From the shadows, a soft voice replied:
> "Then wake me."
The deeper we dig, the closer we come to the beginning — and the end.
Comment "Tethered Souls" if this chapter shook your heart.
Chapter 11 — a citywide blackout, and the first shadow of Project R-03 appears…