Deafening Silence

Yami sat there with a strong sense of regret, fear, and agony.

What am I supposed to do now…? That man erased me from everyone’s memory. Waiting for help is useless. I have to do something on my own.

He looked around, forcing himself to stay calm.

The room was simple—just a table with a lamp placed on it. The hooded man was nowhere to be seen.

A perfect opportunity to escape…

Yet he couldn’t.

His magic was being nullified. Completely.

How is that possible?

He knew he was a Hikensha—someone far beyond any ordinary magic user.

Then how could someone suppress his power so easily?

He kept struggling against the restraints, one thought echoing in his mind.

What is my role? What fate am I walking toward?

Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps outside.

He immediately shut his eyes, pretending to be unconscious—to avoid the man’s suspicion that he had been trying to escape again.

The hooded man entered the room.

He knelt and gently placed a finger on Yami’s forehead.

“If only you were born normal,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t have to do this to you. Trust me… I will release you—and everyone—from this never-ending pain.”

Yami clenched his teeth.

Something about the man’s voice felt strangely sincere, even if twisted.

He couldn’t stay silent anymore.

“Are you doing this because you know what role I have in the future?”

“Oh? You’re awake, Hikensha.”

“I’m asking you something. And stop calling me Hikensha. My name is Sato Yami.”

“YOU are a Hikensha,” the man hissed with a crooked smile. “So what’s wrong with calling you by your real nature?”

Yami glared at him.

“I don’t understand any of this. What do you gain by keeping me here? And for how long?”

“Not long,” the hooded man replied calmly.

“Only until I achieve what I want.”

He paused… and for the first time, there was pity—deep pity—in his eyes.

“It’s not like you’ll be alive by then anyway.”

He sat beside Yami, lowering his hood slightly, and began explaining everything—his plan, his intentions, what he believed Yami’s existence threatened.

With every word, Yami’s world seemed to shrink.

This was not what he wanted.

This was never how he imagined protecting everyone.

⸻

No one realized that someone was missing.

Everyone was living their normal life.

Everything around the Kurokami Clan was calm.

Too calm.

Everyone was living their lives normally—

food was being prepared,

children were playing outside the house,

and not a single person sensed that something had gone horribly wrong.

Sato Mizuki moved through her home as she always did.

She lit a candle in front of her husband’s photograph, the warm glow flickering across her tired face.

Even Yami’s own mother couldn’t remember him.

———

She had felt an uneasiness in her chest that afternoon, as if Akari was in danger.

She calmed herself, telling her heart that Akari would be home soon—

but she wasn’t.

There were three members in her family:

Hikari herself, her daughter Akari, and her husband Kiyoshi.

Akari was not at home right now, and her husband was never coming home again.

They had lost Kiyoshi in a car accident.

Hikari looked at Kiyoshi’s photo, tears in her eyes, speaking softly to him.

“She is just like you—stubborn, strong, responsible… and especially kind.

She has the same sense of justice you had.

You know, I’m missing Tsubaki right now.

Maybe she could’ve taught Akari more than I ever could.”

Tears rolled down her pale white skin.

There was a never-ending emptiness in her voice.

The clock showed 9 PM.

Hikari was growing worried.

This was the first time Akari had been this late without any notice.

She checked the training room where Akari usually spent her time.

Nothing.

No sign of her.

Akari didn’t have any friends to ask.

It was nighttime—when Shirokami members avoided using magic, because it drained their energy more than during the day—

yet Hikari still tried everything in her power to find her.

She failed.

“Where are you, Akari…? Are you okay?”

There was only one way left.

She went to the Kurokami head, Sato Mizuki’s house.

A Shirokami head visiting a Kurokami head officially—

this hadn’t happened in a very long time.

She was welcomed at the entrance by Mizuki herself.

Tea was served.

Servants moved gracefully around her, attending to every detail.

“What is the matter, Lady Hikari?

You visiting us at this hour,” Mizuki asked, her silvery voice calm and her smile perfectly polite.

“I’ll be direct, Lady Mizuki.

I am unable to find Akari… and I sensed she was in danger.”

Mizuki’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“If I may ask—

you don’t suspect us, right?”

It sounded less like a question and more like a warning.

“Absolutely not, Lady Mizuki,” Hikari replied quickly.

“It’s the opposite.

I am here to ask for your help.”