Rain fell hard against the rooftops of Shibuya, echoing like distant footsteps. Kaito Ren, seventeen, soaked and tired, wandered the alley behind his part-time job, humming to drown out the creeping anxiety.
Shibuya's neon haze flickered above the alley, reflecting off puddles of ramen broth and cigarette butts. The city never slept, but tonight it felt like it held its breath.
He'd always seen things others couldn't—shadows that moved when they shouldn't, whispers in empty rooms. He thought they were hallucinations. Anxiety. Stress. But tonight, those shadows felt alive.
Then it appeared.
A tear—like glass shattering mid-air—ripped open the world in front of him. Out stepped a creature, tall, armored, with glowing blue cracks running through its body like veins. It wasn't a curse. Not like the ones he'd seen lurking around exorcists before.
It was something else.
It roared, the sound vibrating through Kaito's ribs. He froze. His legs wanted to run, but his body didn't respond.
That's when time stopped.
Well, not exactly. Everything slowed. The raindrops hung midair, and a voice echoed inside his head—not his own.
> "You've been marked by the Rift. Accept, and become something more. Refuse, and be forgotten."
A glowing black screen hovered in front of him now. The text pulsed.
> [Accept? Yes / No]
Kaito stared at it, breath catching. His mind screamed this was impossible, a dream, a breakdown. He thought of his mother asleep at home, the rent they barely scraped by paying, the future he wasn't sure he wanted.
His fingers trembled. Then he clenched them.
"Damn it."
He pressed Yes.
The moment he did, darkness swallowed the alley. The monster lunged—but the world shifted. Black smoke burst from Kaito's shadow, forming a giant wolf-like beast—something ancient, something not his own.
The Riftbeast had answered.
It snarled, and with one swipe, it tore the creature apart.
Kaito collapsed, panting, heart racing.
He wasn't just seeing shadows anymore.
He was the shadow.