女神 (Kusari no Megami)
Rain devoured the sky.
Thunder rumbled like angry oni in the clouds as Hikami sprinted barefoot through the narrow alleys of Tama Ward, her school uniform soaked, clinging to her skin. Her foxfire lantern flickered weakly in her palm — a spirit-guided charm taught only to the fire fairies of the southern clans.
"Gojo-kun… please…"
She followed the trail — erratic, broken, but unmistakable.
And then, she saw him.
Gojo .
Collapsed beneath a streetlamp, crimson leaking from his back like ink in rainwater. His Seireiken – 聖霊剣 (Spirit Sword) lay beside him, humming faintly, protective runes pulsing like a weakening heartbeat.
"Gojo!!" she cried, dropping to her knees.
No answer.
His eyes were closed. His breath shallow.
She checked his pulse — still alive, but cold.
Hikami wrapped her arms around him, whispering a charm of warmth:
"Hinokami no mawari, atatakai hi o ataete…"
(O Fire God of the hearth, grant this warmth...)
A gentle orange glow flowed into Gojo's chest.
She held him tighter.
"Don't you dare die, you pervy idiot…"
---
Inside Gojo's Mind — The Spirit Realm: Yami no Kokoro (闇の心)
Darkness.
A void stretched in every direction, timeless and quiet. Gojo floated in it, weightless. No pain. No cold.
Just… silence.
Until—
The sound of chains rattling.
He turned. In the black mist stood a figure — a woman, kneeling, bound in heavy kusari (鎖), iron links trailing like serpents. Her hair was obsidian, flowing endlessly behind her, and her eyes were covered with a strip of crimson silk.
She spoke, voice soft and echoing like a shrine bell.
"Haruki Gojo… you have finally bled enough to hear me."
He staggered forward, heart thudding.
"Who… who are you?"
"I am the flame within you. The storm caged inside your blood. The soul passed down from your ancestors. I am… Remis – 緋神の記憶 (Remis, the Memory of the Scarlet God)."
The chains rattled again, as if resisting her words.
"I was sealed here… by your mother, by her mother before her… They feared me. But you, Haruki, are different."
Gojo clenched his fists. "You're the… power inside me? The one they said I couldn't control?"
She nodded. "The Spirit God you inherited — Shinkami no Hi – 神火の真霊 — runs through your soul. But as you are now, it will consume you."
"Then tell me how to control it."
The woman tilted her head, a sad smile on her lips.
"Break my chains… and survive my trial. Or die here, and be forgotten."
Chains surged from the floor like vipers, wrapping around Gojo's arms, dragging him to his knees.
Flames ignited across the void.
He looked up — and her crimson blindfold fell away.
Her eyes were gold. Glowing. Divine.
"Come, Haruki Gojo," she whispered. "If you wish to protect them… then prove yourself worthy of my fire."
---
Back in the Real World
Hikami sat beside his futon in her apartment. Gojo's body lay still, skin beaded with sweat, teeth clenched.
"His energy's… rising…" she whispered, watching a faint red glow pulse beneath his skin.
From her spellbook, she read aloud:
"When the cage breaks, beware the flame god's cry…"
Outside, lightning tore the sky.
Inside, Gojo's fingers twitched.
And in the dark of his mind, the chained goddess laughed—
"Now burn, boy. Burn until you understand who you truly are."
---
To be continued...