Ren didn't go straight home after the rooftop.
He took the long way—cutting through back alleys, hopping low rooftops with Shadow Step when no one was looking, letting the night air cool the flush still burning on his face and neck. Every few minutes he caught himself touching his lips like an idiot teenager who'd just had his first kiss.
Which, technically, he had. With a girl who was supposed to murder him.
You're smiling like a moron, Kurogami observed dryly. If this is how you react to lip contact, I dread the day you discover actual—
"Shut up," Ren muttered, but there was no heat in it.
He finally reached his 6-tatami apartment in Ikebukuro just past 1 a.m. The building was old, the hallway light flickered like it was on its last breath, and the door still had that dent from when the last debt collector had tried to kick it in six months ago.
He unlocked it, stepped inside, kicked off his sneakers.
The room smelled of instant curry and unwashed laundry. Same single futon, same pile of manga, same empty fridge humming in the corner.
He was reaching for the light switch when he froze.
Someone was already inside.
Three someones.
They sat casually on his futon like they owned the place. The biggest one—tattooed neck, missing two fingers on his left hand—held Ren's last unopened cup ramen like it was a beer can. The other two flanked him: one skinny with a switchblade tapping against his knee, the other wearing cheap gold chains and scrolling through Ren's phone.
"Evening, Ito," the big one said without looking up. "Been a while."
Ren's stomach dropped—not from fear exactly, but from the sheer annoyance of it all.
"Tanaka-san," he said flatly. "You're in my house."
"Landlord let us in. Said you've been late three months running." Tanaka finally looked at him. Eyes narrowed at the torn hoodie, the faint bruises that were already gone, the way Ren stood a little too straight. "You look… different."
Ren shrugged. "New skincare routine."
Skinny laughed once—sharp, mean. Gold Chains pocketed Ren's phone.
"Boss wants his 2.8 million yen. Tonight. Or we start taking fingers. Yours, then maybe your little sister's tuition money next semester."
Ren felt something cold uncoil in his chest. Not Kurogami. Just him.
"My sister's in Busan. Safe. And you're not touching her."
Tanaka stood slowly. Two meters of muscle and bad decisions.
"Then it's just you tonight, kid."
He cracked his knuckles.
Ren sighed. "You really picked the wrong night."
Tanaka lunged first—fast for a man his size. Fist aimed at Ren's jaw.
Ren didn't dodge. He caught the punch in his open palm.
The impact should have broken bones.
Instead Tanaka's hand stopped like it hit a wall. Black tendrils snaked out from Ren's fingers, wrapping the man's wrist in an instant.
Tanaka's eyes widened.
"What the fu—"
Ren twisted.
Tanaka went down hard, face-first into the tatami. Bone snapped—wrist, not Ren's.
The other two moved at the same time.
Switchblade came low, aiming for the gut. Gold Chains pulled a snub-nose revolver.
Ren activated Shadow Veil.
The room dimmed. His outline blurred into nothing.
Switchblade stabbed empty air.
Ren reappeared behind him, hand on the man's shoulder.
"Drop it."
The knife clattered to the floor.
Gold Chains spun, gun up.
Ren Shadow Stepped again—appeared right in front of the barrel.
The shot went off.
Point blank.
The bullet punched through Ren's hoodie, exited his back in a spray of black—not red—then dissolved into smoke before it hit the wall.
Ren looked down at the hole in his chest. It was already closing, shadows knitting flesh like thread.
Gold Chains stared. The gun trembled.
Ren plucked it from shaking fingers.
"Bad idea," he said quietly.
He crushed the barrel in his fist like tinfoil.
Then he looked at all three of them—Tanaka whimpering on the floor, Switchblade frozen, Gold Chains pale as paper.
"I'm going to give you one chance," Ren said. "Walk out. Tell your boss the debt's canceled. Tell him Ito Ren is no longer collecting debts. He's the one collecting now."
Tanaka tried to stand. "You think you can just—"
Ren let a single shadow tendril rise from the floor and wrap loosely around Tanaka's throat.
Not choking. Just… present.
Tanaka went very still.
Ren leaned in.
"I'm not the same kid you used to slap around for pocket change. Something woke up inside me. And it's hungry. You don't want to feed it."
He released the tendril.
The three men scrambled for the door.
They didn't look back.
Ren stood in the middle of his tiny apartment, breathing hard.
The hole in his hoodie smoked faintly.
He looked at the crushed gun on the floor.
Well, Kurogami said, sounding almost proud. That was delightfully theatrical. Level 5.5 now, by the way. Resonance from the angel kiss earlier helped. You're growing faster than anticipated.
Ren sank onto the futon.
His hands were shaking—not from fear. From the sudden, bone-deep realization that he really wasn't normal anymore.
He could have killed them.
He hadn't.
But the line felt thinner than it ever had.
His phone buzzed on the floor—Gold Chains had dropped it.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Aoi's voice, soft and urgent.
"Ren? Are you okay? I felt… something. Pain. Then anger. Through the Resonance Echo."
He closed his eyes.
"Yeah. Just some old friends stopping by to say hi."
A pause.
"Did you…?"
"No. They're alive. Walking. Probably running."
Another pause—longer.
"I'm coming over."
"You don't even know where I—"
"I do. I've known since the first night. Courier ID, remember?"
Ren laughed despite himself—tired, rough.
"Stalker."
"Protector," she corrected quietly. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Don't move. And Ren?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't hate yourself for what you did tonight. You protected yourself. That's not corruption. That's still you."
He swallowed.
"I almost wasn't."
"But you were."
She hung up.
Ren stared at the ceiling.
Fifteen minutes later the door opened—softly, no knock.
Aoi stepped inside wearing the same black hoodie from Kabukicho, hood down now. She looked around the tiny room: the single bulb, the empty fridge, the pile of unpaid bills on the table.
Then her eyes found him.
She crossed the room in three steps and wrapped her arms around him without a word.
Ren stiffened—then slowly let himself lean into her.
She smelled like rain and citrus and something faintly golden.
They stayed like that for a long time.
When she finally pulled back, she cupped his face in both hands.
"You're still you," she whispered. "I can feel it. Through the echo. Through everything."
Ren searched her eyes.
"And if I stop being me?"
"Then I'll remind you."
She kissed him again—slower this time, less desperate, more certain.
Shadows curled around them both. Golden light answered—gentle, warm.
When they parted, Aoi rested her forehead against his.
"I brought something."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, palm-sized crystal—pale blue, pulsing softly.
"Purification-grade stabilizer. It won't remove Kurogami, but it'll help you control the surges for a while. Buy you time."
Ren took it carefully.
"You're breaking every rule for me."
"I know."
"Why?"
Aoi smiled—small, sad, beautiful.
"Because the first time I saw you, you chose not to kill. And every time since then… you keep choosing the same thing. Even tonight."
Ren absorbed the crystal.
Cool relief spread through his chest—like fever breaking.
Stabilizer effect active. Corruption surge risk reduced 40% for 72 hours.
Essence Level: 5.5 → 6 (resonance bonus applied)
New ability unlocked: Echo Link (share minor sensory input with bonded Miracle within 1 km)
He felt it immediately—a faint echo of Aoi's heartbeat, steady and strong, syncing with his.
She felt his too.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Then she smiled wider.
"Guess we're stuck with each other now."
Ren pulled her down onto the futon beside him.
"Guess so."
They lay there—two impossibilities tangled together in a too-small room—while Neo-Tokyo hummed outside the thin walls.
For the first time in days, Ren didn't feel like he was running.
He felt like he was finally standing still.
End of Chapter 5