A Reason To

Ren wiped his mouth as he finished his lunch, washing all the plates between his mom and himself.

He started toward his room. Aira had been quiet all morning, but he knew she was there. They were one, after all.

"Come on, Aira," he muttered as he entered. "You were all talk yesterday. What happened?”

He paused for an answer.

Silence.

A sigh escaped. He lowered himself onto the bed, eyes flicking to the clock on his desk beside him.

12:15pm

Sayaka should be here soon, he thought, sliding in an earbud before laying back. The hum of the ceiling fan blended with his music, setting a peaceful, mundane rhythm.

_________

Footsteps echoed frantically outside his room, stirring Ren awake.

He blinked, glancing at the clock.

1:02pm

"Sayaka must be here by now," he muttered, lifting himself up from the bed.

Aira was still nowhere in sight, but that wasn’t his concern. He stepped into the hallway to welcome his sister.

As he closed the door behind him, a thought crept up on him.

Something isn't right.

The faint rattle of keys was picked up, and before he knew it, his legs already moved toward the stairs.

His focus catches his mom at the door, her movements rushed, her shoes half-on.

"Mom?"

His mother turned to his voice, her face with clear signs of worry.

"What's going on?" Ren asked, quickly studying the home. "Where's Sayaka?"

"I don't know." Her voice trembled. "I spoke to her half an hour ago. She said she’d landed in Tokyo and needed thirty minutes to reach us.”

"So she should be arriving minute now, right?" Ren placed a steady hand on her shoulder. "We just have to wait."

"You don't understand Ren." Her head turned toward the door. "I tried calling her a few times and none of the calls went through. It’s like her signal vanished.

Ren studied her expression. He thought that it was true that Sayaka wasn’t the type to let her phone die or ignore calls. For her signal to drop like that… there was only one explanation.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered.

“What?” his mother asked.

“Sit tight, Mom.” He gently took the keys from her hand. “I’ll go get her.”

“Ren...”

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”
He grabbed his jacket and slipped on his shoes. “You said she came from Tokyo Station, right? She probably took the main expressway back.”

His mother nodded, unsure. “Be safe… please.”

Ren slipped out the door, the afternoon light sharp and cold against his eyes. He zipped up his jacket, eyes catching the faint mark on his hand. 

"You better be okay, Sayaka."

The sound of cicadas mixed faintly with his racing foot steps. Each step echoed on the pavement as he glanced toward road signs, replaying what his mother said. She came from Tokyo Station. Thirty-minute drive. Straight route.

"I just have to follow the main expressway." He whispered.

He turned at the next intersection, tracing the direction in reverse.

Minutes passed. The further he walked, the fewer people he saw. Even the traffic noise thinned until it felt like he was the only one moving through the air.

He frowned. “This should be the way…”

A shadow flickered across the pavement. The world around him dimmed...not like nightfall, but as though the color itself was bleeding out.

Ren’s pace slowed. His breath turned heavy. The air grew dense, soundless. Not even the wind dared move.

His body stiffened. “No way… not again.”

He spun halfway, half-expecting to still see the world he left behind. But the scenery had already changed, warped and hollow, like glass under water.

This time, he didn’t run.

“Please,” he muttered under his breath. “Let her be in here. Don’t make me do this alone.”

Ren took a step forward.

And then another.

Each step held both resistance and purpose. A duality he didn't want to deal with. He realized that he should have brought a weapon from home. It was too late now.

He creeped forward, alert. When he reached a curb, his eyes widened at what lay below.

Either this was a coincidence or dumb luck.

A loose pipe, bent and half-rusted lay on the street. He picked it up, gripping it like a bat.

The silence pressed in. His heartbeat hammered in his chest. Then, faintly, he heard footsteps in the distance. Quick. Uneven. Followed by a shout, sharp and strained.

His pulse spiked.

That voice.

Sayaka.

He was already moving toward it, careful but fast. The echo of her movements grew louder with the sound of combat.

As he turned the corner, his breath caught.

Sayaka sprinted through the open street, three shadows chasing her. Her hand glowed briefly before releasing a burst of light. A radiant sphere tore through the air, colliding into one of the creatures pursuing her.

Pieces of stone split apart from the building it was on, as the explosion of mana scattered smoke and dust. When it cleared, Ren saw them.

Demons.

But they weren't the same as before. They looked different than the one he had slain days ago. These were leaner, almost as if their shapes were more human. Their faces were smooth but hollowed, their eyes burning with a steady crimson glare. Wings sprouted jagged from their backs like cracked marble. Each movement seemed coordinated, intelligent.

Sayaka pivoted toward his direction. He watched as she moved with heavy legs, her breathing ragged. 

Ren’s grip tightened on the pipe. Why isn’t she attacking again?

He noticed the spot of the one she hit earlier, destroyed. 

"She killed one cleanly," he whispered. "Why can't she do it again? Why is she running away?" 

He peeked behind the fractured wall, watching as the last two split to flank her. 

His mind spun.

If I interfere… I’ll trigger another fight. I’ll level up again.
But if I don’t...

A faint feeling in his mind stood out to him. Almost as if he could feel Aira laughing at his predicament.

Sayaka crumbled to the street, her body too drained to move.
Demons closed in from both sides, their shadows looming from the rooftops. One lunged first, crossing the distance in a blur.

Time seemed to slow down. Even his heartbeat fell silent.

Ren exhaled.

His feet moved on their own as if time didn't effect it.

The next second, the creature’s head jerked back mid-air. A high-pitched screech echoed the air before dying out. The rusted pipe pierced clean through its skull, shattering its form into pieces of black mist.

Sayaka froze mid-turn, panting. Her eyes widened as the figure stepped forward, pulling the pipe free.

From behind trembling hands, a familiar voice, low and steady spoke. 

“…Ren?”

“Can you walk, Sayaka?” Ren asked, eyes locked on the remaining demon.

“I… wait a minute.” Her voice trembled. “Are you a Seraph too?”

"No." His fist tightened around the metal. “I’m just here because I promised Mom.”

The demon lunged. 

Ren darted forward, weapon raised. He swung, but the creature’s wings snapped open, dodging his strike.

“Tch. Guess it’s trickier when I don’t have the element of surprise.”

Sayaka’s gaze locked on her little brother. She thought of how she had always protected him. Now, she was only alive because of him.

"Ren!" She yelled. "I should be able to snipe it. All you have to do is stall until I recover mana."

Ren swung once more at the demon. It quickly dodged to the side, before lunging at Sayaka.

“No you don’t!” he roared, leaping between them. The pipe caught in its jaws, forcing it to the ground.

“Perfect!” Sayaka cried, a sphere of light forming in her hands. “Hold it right there!”

The demon begins to flail at the sight, claws puncturing Ren's side.

“I won’t let you go!” he screamed, forcing it down with everything he had.

Sayaka released the blast of light toward the demon, grazing Ren’s sleeve before disintegrating the demon in an explosion of white.

Ren staggered to his feet, the pipe clattering on the floor from his grasp. Blood pooled from his side as he stumbled toward Sayaka.

Sayaka screamed, forcing herself up and catching him halfway as his knees gave out.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered.

“Yeah… let’s.”

Before they could take another breath, light began to pulse from Ren’s wounds...covering them, sealing them before revealing untouched flesh.

“Rafael…” Sayaka whispered internally. “He healed.”

The voice in her mind replied, calm and certain.
“That is the power of a Seraph. He must have leveled up.”

Sayaka looked at her sleeping brother and smiled faintly.
“You big liar.”