A sphere emerged from his field, expanding terrifyingly after Toki uttered those words that had granted him the chance to explore a new perspective.
It froze the space around it.
Everyone inside saw the colors vanish, turning everything into black and white, as if watching a scene on an old television.
The sphere rapidly contracted around Luna and her surroundings after having expanded.
At the same time, Luna closed her eyes and smiled at him—a gentle, enigmatic smile.
Shun's electric hand wilted and disintegrated, and the field absorbed all the luminous particles.
Toki remained suspended in the air under the influence of that field, waiting for the right moment to control the sphere, despite bleeding heavily from his abdomen.
His skin turned pale, indicating the massive blood loss he had suffered.
From Shun's perspective, worry dominated his features.
He glanced at Sophie and the guard, then rushed toward Toki.
Shun hadn't noticed Sophie waking up as he ran;
she opened her eyelids as if her intuition was whispering something to her.
Shun lifted his head and saw Toki falling while clutching Luna.
And from what he could gather, despite the vast distance of the fall, Toki was exhausted by some unseen force.
At the same time, Toki murmured:
"Welcome back… Luna.
I'll make sure no unknown interferes with our path."
He waited for the perfect moment to descend, using another air pulse.
His weary body could barely hold Luna's cold form any longer, and now he faced a fight for survival from this height.
His eyes were disoriented, seeing the ground far below like reflections of himself, waiting for his failure and collapse.
He closed his eyes calmly as strong winds pushed them against the current.
Toki whispered to himself in a cold voice:
'What's happening to me… Is this what I came for? Or—just neutral logic?'
'What happened before? No… I must forget.'
He sighed as he slowly opened his eyes.
'Perhaps this… is not true.'
He opened his eyes slowly, and black-tinged blood streamed down his cheeks, after returning their gray hue.
"Toki!! Look at me!" Shouted Shun, waving his arms.
Toki twisted in the air, lightly pressing the air with his feet, while his knees began to tremble.
Shun blocked the rush of air caused by Toki's descent with his forearms.
He approached, his brows furrowed:
"Allow me to examine you for a moment."
Toki responded in a broken, panting voice:
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"Please understand," Shun said, extending his palm toward Toki's forehead, unable to move his head.
Shun whispered to himself, tense:
'This boy… doesn't he value himself? His spiritual pulse isn't completely stable.
But what he did is both strange and rare at the same time.'
He continued, withdrawing his hand:
'It seems his will surpasses the limits of his own body and mind.'
"You— you nearly died!" Shun said in an uneasy tone.
Toki, with a confused expression:
"What?! What do you mean?"
Shun sighed and added sarcastically:
"Your luck is that you survived."
"...?!"
"Wow! I've never seen someone try to kill themselves themselves. This is hilarious!"
Shun patted Toki on the shoulder, his expression optimistic yet tinged with tension.
Toki sat down carefully, leaning Luna on his right side, unaware of the faint glow diminishing from her body.
After sitting, Toki asked:
"By the way, where's Zone? We're in the main courtyard, and he was supposed to be here."
"He left according to his own judgment… that recluse is hard to understand."
Suddenly, the deep wound in his abdomen began to restore its blood, though the scar remained.
Thin crimson threads wavered in the air.
Shun was astonished by the sight and involuntarily turned toward the source.
The threads led to Sophie's location.
She was sitting, clasping her hands slowly, sensing all the blood sources that had cooled in the night air, then returning them to their place.
Sophie had assumed that her brother Toki had risked himself for what he cared about.
Moments earlier, Orphin had peeked from his window with a deep gaze, then quietly lowered his curtain with dignity.
That night was among the strangest and most wondrous nights the village had experienced;
though all the residents were asleep, it was a rare moment unlike any before.
Toki returned Luna to her room in Marcy's house as usual, sneaking quietly, forgetting his shoes.
Meanwhile, Sophie went to her bedroom, leaving the straw hat for the guard, bowed, as if signaling something.
Before Shun could head home with his conflicting thoughts, he returned to his previous spot to check on Sophie, only to notice the night guard slightly bowing while sitting on a barrel.
Shun bowed after thinking, understood the situation, then continued on his way home.
—
Back in the present…
Luna opened her eyes calmly, rose from her bed, and stretched her arms above her head.
She yawned and said while adjusting her red-framed glasses:
"What a beautiful morning~… but I feel something different."
She stared at her semi-glassy palm, which appeared paler than usual. She bit her thumb with her fang, creating a wound from which celestial gray dust seeped instead of red blood.
She whispered:
"The flow of my spiritual pulse isn't in its place…"
She felt a slight weakness in her movements, a light fatigue binding her.
She arranged her bedding elegantly after surveying the area, realizing the cold weather.
She changed from her nightwear into her usual outfit—a coat integrated with a classy dress.
She picked up a hairpin shaped like a rose, half blooming, half perforated, with a butterfly on top, half intact, the other half perforated.
She fixed it onto her pink hair with two medium-length ribbons at the bottom, after arranging her hairstyle, which consisted of two strands forming a figure-eight, ending in a braid along her long hair.
She sat on the bed for a moment, lost in thought, gazing at the modest ceiling.
While the sound of rain fell above.
She contemplated the possible events of recent days outside, suspecting today after noticing the changes within her as evidence.
She paused, took a deep breath, then curiously spoke to herself:
'I wonder what this morning holds… something is out of place. I need evidence—'
Suddenly, Luna heard the sound of the room door opening. She quietly approached the door, her features a mix of confusion and stillness.
It was Toki, standing expressionless, his messy hair covering half his gaze, droplets of water falling from him like ticking seconds.
An incomprehensible tension filled the room, and silence was the only barrier between them.
Luna raised her eyebrows involuntarily as soon as he appeared.
°°°
(Author's note: Contradictory Presence)