🌧️ 6:03 PM – On the Outskirts, Just Before Rain
The three of them — Ren, Kiyomi, and Zephyr — stood at the edge of an abandoned overpass where Rift energy shimmered like heatwaves.
"There," Zephyr pointed, his ring pulsing. "The surge is concentrated beneath that tunnel."
Ren squinted. "That's... my old neighborhood."
Kiyomi glanced sideways. "Too close for coincidence."
They moved quietly, wind shifting as storm clouds churned above. Below the bridge, the walls were covered in erratic symbols — glowing faintly.
At the end of the tunnel stood a figure.
Wearing a school uniform.
Blue hair. Same height. Same hoodie.
Ren blinked. "No way... That's—"
Kiyomi grabbed his arm. "Don't move."
👥 The Imitator
The figure turned. It was Ren. But wrong.
Its smile was too wide. Its eyes too still. And its voice — a perfect copy.
> "I remember this tunnel. You cried here after your mom's funeral."
Ren froze.
Zephyr stepped forward, voice low. "This is new. It's not just copying your form. It's reading your memories."
The Imitator tilted its head.
> "You hate birthdays, don't you? They stopped meaning anything after that crash. Jin tried... but it wasn't the same."
Ren's fists clenched.
Kiyomi stepped in front of him. "He's trying to get in your head."
> "Oh, I'm already there," it whispered, before vanishing i
nto a wave of mirrors.
⚔ The Mirror Fight Begins
The tunnel fractured — walls turning to glass.
Dozens of Ren reflections blinked back.
Each one moved independently.
One launched a blast of Rift energy.
Ren dodged — barely.
Zephyr cast a protective ring, deflecting another mirrored bolt.
"Every copy is real enough to hurt," he warned.
Kiyomi spun, slicing through two reflections. "They're echoes. Cut the memory, break the shell."
Ren focused.
One version stepped forward, holding something.
A stuffe
d bear.
His sister's.
🧠 Memory Trap
The air twisted. Ren found himself in a fake version of his old home. Dinner table. Broken photo frame. Rain outside the window.
He was alone.
Then — his mother stepped out from the hallway.
> "Renny, come eat. It's getting cold."
Ren's breath hitched. His Mark flared, confused.
> "It's not real," he whispered. "You're not her."
She smiled sadly.
> "But you miss me. You miss all of us."
He fell to his knees, hands shaking. "Please stop."
Suddenly — the illusion shattered.
Kiyomi's voice cut through: "You're not alone anymore."
Ren opened his eyes — back in the tunnel.
💥 Breaking the Illusion
Anger burned in him now — but controlled.
He raised his hands. "You want to wear my pain?"
The Mark glowed with brilliance.
"Then choke on it."
He launched a pulse of pure memory energy — emotion sharpened into a blade.
It cut through every reflection like glass.
The Imitator screamed — its face flickering through everyone Ren had lost.
Until it crumbled.
Ash in the wind.
🕯 Aftermath – Broken, But Wiser
Rain fell as they emerged from the tunnel.
Kiyomi looked at Ren, surprised. "You focused your Mark. Without breaking down."
Ren wiped his eyes. "I'm done letting the past control me. I'll carry it. But it won't carry me."
Zephyr nodded approvingly. "You've passed the next threshold. But this was only a messenger. The Watcher is preparing worse."
📰 Meanwhile – Trouble at School
Aya printed out a screenshot from a traffic cam feed.
A still frame: Ren glowing faintly near a Rift anomaly.
She pinned it to a corkboard already covered in string, arrows, and printed conspiracy articles.
She sipped juice from a box. "You're so busted, Kaido."
Then she looked up — and gasped.
On her laptop, the Watcher's symbol appeared, glitching the screen for a split second.
Her smile dropped.
> "...Uh-oh."
🔥 Chapter 15 Teaser:
> Aya digs too deep. And someone doesn't like that. Meanwhile, Ren has a dream — or is it a memory — of the day his parents died. But in this version, someone else was on the plane. Someone who survive
d.