The encounter in the park left Rei deeply unsettled. Being seen—truly seen—by Momo Ayase was like having a spotlight thrown on him in a dark room. He retreated further into his shell, becoming even more meticulous about suppressing his spiritual pressure. At school, he was a phantom, sticking to the edges of the hallways, his head perpetually bowed, avoiding all eye contact. He could feel Momo's occasional glances, her psychic senses brushing against his carefully constructed shields like a curious cat pawing at a closed door. He ignored them. He had to.
His self-imposed isolation gave him a unique perspective on the school's social ecosystem. It was from this vantage point that he first truly noticed Aira Shiratori. He knew who she was, of course. It was impossible not to. She was the sun around which a significant portion of the male student body orbited. She was beautiful, with an almost ethereal grace, and carried herself with the unshakeable confidence of someone who had never known a day of social awkwardness. But Rei saw more. He knew her fate, the tragic role she was destined to play. He saw the misplaced righteousness in her eyes, the conviction that she was a chosen one, a warrior of light in a world she was only just beginning to understand. It made her compelling, and it made her a target.
He saw the initial confrontation between her and Okarun, the accidental bump in the hallway that set the stage. He was there, a shadow in the courtyard, when Momo, simmering with a jealousy she wouldn't admit to, saw Aira putting on a friendly act for Okarun. From his rooftop perch, Rei watched as Momo's frustration boiled over. He saw the glint of psychic energy gather around a metal basin left on a windowsill. He saw it lift, hover, and then plummet directly towards Aira's head.
The Hollow within him stirred, a predatory instinct screaming at him to act. Protect the potential mate. Eliminate the threat. It was a base, animalistic urge, and he clamped down on it with force. This wasn't his fight. The manga's plot was a river, and this was a minor ripple. To intervene would be to throw a boulder into the current, and he couldn't predict where the new waves would crash. He watched, his fists clenched, as the basin found its mark. The hollow clang echoed in the courtyard. Aira crumpled, and Momo stormed over to reclaim a flustered Okarun. Rei let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He had made the right choice. The logical choice. It didn't feel good.
That feeling of unease festered. It was later that afternoon when he felt it—a new spiritual pressure appearing on the school grounds. It was cloying and possessive, like the scent of wilted flowers and decay. It felt of obsession, of a love twisted into a hungry, grasping thing. It clung to Aira Shiratori like a shroud. The Acrobatic Silky had arrived.
Rei's resolve to stay hidden began to fray. This was no minor ripple. This was a monster that was going to kill Aira. His knowledge of the future was a heavy burden, but it was also a weapon. He began to shadow Aira, keeping a safe distance, his senses on high alert. He watched as she, emboldened by finding one of Okarun's… golden balls, convinced herself she was an exorcist about to face her destiny. He saw her lead Momo into the abandoned school building, her friends in tow, ready to perform a misguided exorcism.
He followed, melting into the shadows of the derelict building. The air was thick with the yokai's presence. He could hear their confrontation, Momo's exasperated denials and Aira's zealous accusations. He felt Momo unleash her psychic power, easily overpowering Aira's friends. And then, the Acrobatic Silky made its move.
The yokai manifested in a blur of crimson and tangled black hair, its movements unnaturally fluid and silent. It seized Aira, its long, spindly fingers digging into her arms. "I've found you, my baby," it rasped, its voice a discordant symphony of love and menace.
Okarun, alerted by the commotion, burst in. He transformed instantly, Turbo Granny's power surging through him. He was a bolt of lightning, a furious blur aimed at the yokai. But the Acrobatic Silky was true to its name. It twisted and contorted, evading his every charge with a dancer's grace, all while keeping a death grip on a terrified Aira.
"My baby is mine," the yokai shrieked as it opened its impossibly wide maw, preparing to swallow Aira whole.
This was it. The moment from the manga. The point of no return. Aira would die, be revived by the yokai's aura, and become inextricably linked to the supernatural world. The plot demanded it.
But watching it happen, feeling the raw terror pouring off Aira, seeing Okarun's desperate, futile attacks… Rei's logic shattered. The river be damned. He was tired of being a ghost. He was tired of the silence.
The Hollow inside him roared, not with a need to hunt, but with a singular, focused purpose: protect.
He didn't bother with a partial transformation. He didn't have time. He stepped out from the deep shadows of the hallway, his right hand already a blur as it swiped across his face. The bone-white mask snapped into existence, and his spiritual pressure exploded outwards, a shockwave of raw power that made the very air in the room feel heavy.
Momo and Okarun froze, their heads whipping in his direction. The Acrobatic Silky paused, its head tilting as it sensed a new, far greater threat.
Rei's left hand came up, and the sleek, black pistol materialized in his grip. He didn't aim at the yokai. Not directly. He aimed at the crumbling concrete wall just beside its head. He didn't need to kill it, not yet. He just needed its attention.
He pulled the trigger.
The Cero wasn't a beam this time; he released it as a condensed blast, a crimson cannonball of destructive energy. It screamed through the air and impacted the wall with a deafening roar. Concrete and plaster vaporized, the explosion rocking the entire building and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
The force of the blast was enough to throw the Acrobatic Silky off balance. Its grip on Aira loosened for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. The yokai stumbled back, momentarily stunned by the sheer, overwhelming power that had just been unleashed.
Through the settling dust, they all saw him. A figure in a school uniform, his face hidden by the mask of a skeletal beast, a smoking black pistol held steady in his hand. The fragment of jawbone on his neck seemed to glow with a faint, cold light.
"Let her go," Rei's voice echoed, distorted by the mask into a low, menacing growl that was more beast than human. "She's not your baby."