The late afternoon sky burned in hues of crimson and gold, the sinking sun stretching shadows long across the pavement. Kurayami Hikari adjusted the straps of his school bag, letting out a tired sigh as he walked the familiar route home. The quiet streets of his town felt unnervingly empty today. No bustling students, no idle chatter. Just the sound of his own footsteps echoing against the narrow alleyways.
He was just a normal student, going through the humdrum of school life as a sixteen-year old. These days, he felt like his routine was creeping up to him, emphasized by the notion that there was nothing interesting going on in his life... well, not until today.
For some odd reason, he felt like the air was especially colder than usual. He knew that the autumn was slowly fading away as it welcomed the cold embrace of winter. But that wasn't the case... or should it be?
Then he felt it—a presence.
At first, it was just a prickling sensation at the nape of his neck. A formless, creeping dread that made his fingers clench tighter around his bag strap. He turned his head slightly, catching glimpses of his surroundings. Dim streetlights flickered. Storefronts were already closed. The autumn wind swept leaves across the asphalt. Yet, there was no one there.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling. Someone was watching him.
Hikari picked up his pace, his heartbeat subtly quickening. He told himself it was just his imagination, that he was tired from school. But when he turned a corner, something cold coiled around his gut. His own shadow—elongated by the setting sun—twisted unnaturally, stretching in ways it shouldn't. It pulsed, as if breathing.
Then, it moved.
Hikari staggered back as a figure emerged from the darkness beneath his feet. Slowly, as though peeling itself away from the fabric of reality, a man stepped out from his shadow. His boots hit the pavement with a dull thud, and the moment his body fully materialized, the temperature around Hikari seemed to drop.
The man was tall, his long coat billowing slightly in the breeze. Disheveled black hair framed his sharp, pallid face. His right hand pressed against his abdomen, where dark red blood seeped through his clothes. He was injured—badly. Yet, his golden eyes gleamed with something beyond pain. Amusement, perhaps.
"I'm looking for a successor... and what you did this morning," the man said, his voice a low rasp, "was remarkable."
Hikari stood frozen. His mind reeled, trying to process the impossibility of what just happened. He tried to scream, but his voice won't come out. At a young age, he had already been deathly afraid of shadows... and now, a man just stepped out of his. It was not every day a normal human being comes out of a shadow— that is, if he could call the mysterious man normal.
"I—I don't know what you're talking about." Hikari's voice came out weaker than he intended. He wanted to deny what had happened this morning... no, more like he wanted to forget everything about it, erase it from the core of his memories.
The man chuckled, though it ended in a pained cough. "Come now, don't be so modest. You fell from the Love Bridge and crushed a delinquent right when he was about to rob a girl blind. A perfectly timed act of heroism, whether intentional or not."
Hikari's breath hitched as the memories flooded back.
— — —
That morning—
"When you find the love of your life... you can go here and profess your wholehearted feelings in this very place. I for one proposed to your mom here."
For some odd reason, Hikari remembered his father's words as he passed by the Love Bridge, a famous spot for couples in their town. It was the usual morning, and Hikari found the sunrise exceptionally beautiful, so much so that he just had to pause and take in the breathtaking scenery.
Sigh~
An exhale, followed by his drooping shoulders, overcame Hikari as he reminisced his life. There was no such thing as a love of your life in his life, not just yet. But somehow, the pause brought a certain tranquility to his soul.
He leaned on the railing of the Love Bridge, but he wasn't there for romance, nothing of the sort. He had just been enjoying the morning breeze when—
Creak.
The metal beneath his hands gave way.
For a split second, his mind registered the terrifying realization—he was falling. The wind roared in his ears as the world tilted, his stomach flipping violently. He braced himself for the inevitable impact, expecting cold pavement or water. Instead, he hit something… soft?
A choked scream. A heavy thud.
Then nothing.
When Hikari woke up, he was sprawled on the ground, his body aching. People were gathered around, murmuring. His head spun as he struggled to sit up, only to see an unconscious man beneath him—a student, larger in build, his face bruised. Nearby, a girl looked on, clutching her bag to her chest with wide, teary eyes.
Someone shouted for a teacher. Someone else said something about an ambulance. Hikari barely processed it all before his vision darkened again. When he woke up later, he was in the infirmary. His wallet was gone.
And now, this stranger was standing in front of him, bleeding, smiling.
"You…" Hikari's voice wavered, his face turning a nice shade of red as embarrassment overcame him. "Y-y-you saw that?"
The man let out another weak chuckle. "More than that." He took a slow step forward. "You survived a fall that should've shattered your bones. You landed perfectly on an aggressor. And you, somehow, woke up without a scratch."
Hikari swallowed. That was true. At the time, he had thought it was just sheer dumb luck, but… was it really?
"Who are you?" Hikari finally asked.
The man sighed. "Introductions can wait." He grimaced, pressing harder against his wound. "I need your answer first."
Hikari frowned. "Answer to what?"
The stranger tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Would you like to be my successor?"
Silence.
Hikari blinked, sure he had misheard. Successor? What was this guy talking about? And why did he look so serious?
Seeing his confusion, the man exhaled sharply. "It's a long story, but let's put it this way—your little stunt this morning wasn't normal. And it sure as hell wasn't luck." He paused, his golden eyes gleaming in the dim light. "Also... I don't have much time. I badly need a successor, you know, and you were at the right place, perfect timing."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hikari said, taking a step back. "Also, if this is one of those pyramid schemes that I've heard about, I'm not interested. I don't know what magic trick you did to come out of my shadows like that... b-but I'm not falling for it." He stammered.
The man didn't move to stop him. Instead, he let out a dry chuckle. "I figured you'd say that." He looked down at his wound, lips curving slightly in amusement despite his pain. "No matter. We'll meet again soon."
Before Hikari could ask what he meant, the shadows around the man began to ripple. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, the man melted back into the darkness beneath Hikari's feet, vanishing without a trace.
Hikari stood there, breathless, staring at the empty pavement where the man had just been. The chill in the air faded. The world around him returned to normal. But his mind was anything but calm.
Dash~!
Without further ado, he sprinted all the way home, kicking his heels as adrenaline coursed through his veins.