The small noodle shop near the station looked the same as always, dim, overheated,
Yui pressed her forehead to the cold window beside her. The glass fogged a little from her breath. Outside, snow kept falling in slow, lazy flakes. She liked how soft it made everything feel. Still. Like time was pausing for a bit.Yui, Ayumi, Haruka, and Haru were crammed into a booth, coats draped on the bench, slurping from oversized bowls. Winter break hadn't been relaxing — not when spirits had been flickering into alleyways and giving kids nosebleeds at school.
But at least they were full.
Ayumi tapped Yui's arm with her chopsticks. "It's sooo spicy.. I'll actually die."
"You're dramatic," Yui said, but smiled anyway.
Haruka was halfway through a bite when she nudged Haru with her elbow. "That guy is staring again..."
Haru didn't need to ask who. He already felt it — the prickling on the back of his neck. Kaito Tsukino sat near the counter, his tray half-empty, untouched. He wasn't even pretending to eat. Just… watching. "Okay," Haru muttered, setting his chopsticks down. "I'm done with this. I'm just gonna ask him."
"Haru," Ayumi said warily.
"No, it's making me uncomfortable. He's always around, always staring, and he never says anything."
He slid out of the booth and started toward the front.
Kaito's eyes flicked up. And then he stood and slipped out the back door.
"Wow," Haru muttered under his breath. "Seriously?"
He hesitated at the counter for a second, then sighed. "Alright. Benefit of the doubt. I'll just talk to him out there."
Without another word, he headed for the back.
Yui was already scooting out of the booth. "We should follow him."
"Obviously," Ayumi said, grabbing her scarf. "Because leaving Haru alone with the mysterious boy who's been stalking us would be a great idea."
Haruka was already pulling her jacket on. "Let's go."
Haru was already halfway down the alleyway behind the shop, his boots crunching in the slush, shoulders tense like he was preparing to swing if Kaito even looked at him wrong.
"Hello!" he called out. "Hey!"
Kaito didn't respond. His pace didn't change. His hands were shoved into his coat pockets like he was just on a walk — except he wasn't blinking. At all.
"Hey, stop walking."
Nothing. Haru jogged to catch up. He grabbed his arm. He stood there like he was waiting for this.
"You," Haru called, stepping closer. "What's your name?" Kaito hesitated, eyes flicking toward him. His voice came out soft.
"…Kaito."
Haru kept walking. "Kaito what?"
"…Kaito Tsukino."
A beat.
Then Haru's eyes widened.
"Wait. Tsukino? You were in Class 3-C…I haven't seen you since 3rd grade, you were that quiet kid who sat by the window."
Kaito looked down, embarrassed.
"You transferred out halfway through the year. Nobody saw you again till middle school," Haru continued. "Same school, different uniform. You came back and suddenly everyone started paying attention… not in a good way."
Yui tilted her head. "Wait. That's Tsukino?"
"Yeah," Ayumi said. "I remember now. He was quiet before—now people just mess with him."
"Constantly," Haruka added, frowning. Kaito didn't say anything. His breath was shallow, fogging the air in front of him."I'm not trying to be weird," he said at last. "I was just… watching, because I'm like you."
That made the air go still.
"Like us?" Yui echoed.
"I'm a protector of life and death," Kaito said. "I've known about the spirit world—about Limbo—since I was eleven, I didn't tell anyone. I thought I was alone." Kaito's voice trembled slightly. "Until I wasn't."
He looked at Haru and Haruka. "I saw you two in Limbo. I was trying to put a spirit to rest—a violent one. I was losing. Then you showed up. You didn't see me, but I saw you."
Haruka's brow furrowed. "That was months ago…"
Kaito nodded. "After that, I started watching you. I didn't want to get in the way. I was just… relieved I wasn't the only one." His gaze flicked to Yui and Ayumi.
"When you met them—and they became one of us—I kept watching. Not to spy. Just to learn. To see if maybe I could get the courage to walk up to one of you"
Haru crossed his arms. "And why didn't you say anything before?"
Kaito hesitated. "Because you already noticed me. Just not in the way I want. I don't need more bullies." There was a long pause. Kaito's words echoed in the silence.
"…You're not wrong about Limbo," Yui said finally.
Kaito looked up, surprised.
"We already know it's cracking into our world," she continued. "We've seen spirits slipping through. People are disappearing. We tried a ritual to seal the boundary but it failed."
Flashbacks flickered in all their minds—symbols carved into the dirt, energy swirling, and the sudden collapse. The hum of Limbo crashing back through the veil. Ayumi shivering, saying she felt watched. Haru flickering like a dying signal.
Haruka stepped forward. "You're not alone in this. And honestly, if you've seen what we've seen… we could use the help." Kaito stared at them, stunned.And then, for the first time since they stepped into the alley, he smiled—barely, just for a second.
"I just didn't want to be a freak," he said quietly.
Then the air changed.
Crack.
It didn't come from the street. It didn't come from the sky.It came from everywhere.The shadows behind them snapped.Yui turned her head—A long, skeletal hand reached from the darkness and ripped her away before anyone could speak.
"Yui!" Haruka shouted, spinning around—but another limb, slick and writhing like smoke made flesh, lunged at Ayumi next.Ayumi vanished in a blur of black.
"Ayu—!"
Haruka reached for her pin. A clawed arm curled around her waist and yanked her off the ground mid-motion. Haru drew his blade, but the alley shuddered. The ground buckled. A hand wrapped around his ankle, another his shoulder, pulling.
"Kaito—!"
Kaito turned, his mouth open, ready to shout—Then he saw it.
A thing crawled from the wall itself—its form wrong in every way. Once human, maybe. Long ago. Now its body was malformed, bloated and stretched with hunger. Its face had no eyes. Only a grin of shattered teeth.
The spirit lunged—And Kaito, too, was gone.
Just like that, the alley was empty again. Snowflakes fell in silence. And the wind whispered through the open back door like nothing had ever happened at all.