Rain.
That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
The sky had been crying all afternoon, soaking the empty streets of Shibuya in silver threads of water. My bicycle chain squeaked with every turn as I pedaled home, the cold wind slicing through my soaked uniform. My knuckles still ached from training, but that pain was familiar — a reminder of my parents' mantra:
"If you can't fight for yourself, Riku, no one else will."
I hated that phrase. Not because it was wrong, but because it was true.
All my life, I'd been the target — the weak one. Pushed around in school, beaten in alleys, laughed at by people who saw me as nothing more than a joke. My parents tried to make me stronger — endless martial arts lessons, sparring, bruises that never healed. I thought maybe one day it would finally pay off.
I just didn't expect that day to be the day I died.
The bus came out of nowhere.
A blinding light.
A screech of tires.
Then… silence.
I remember flying — weightless — before everything vanished in a splash of rain and shattered glass.
When I opened my eyes, the rain was gone.
At first, I thought I was dreaming. The air was thick with mist, the ground cracked like broken glass, glowing faintly beneath my feet. The sky — if you could even call it that — was painted in a pale twilight that never shifted between day or night.
All around me were ruins: crumbling arches, toppled statues, and flickering blue flames suspended in midair.
And then… the screams.
A distant cry cut through the fog. I turned, my instincts kicking in. Down the slope of the ruined path, I saw a little girl — maybe ten years old — running, her white dress torn and stained. Chasing her was a monstrous figure clad in rusted armor, its eyes glowing red through a broken helmet.
It moved like a corpse dragged by invisible strings.
Without thinking, I sprinted forward.
"Hey!" I shouted, grabbing a loose rod from the ground. My body still moved on reflex — training kicking in. As the armored monster swung its axe down, I rolled to the side, thrust the rod upward, and drove it into its neck joint.
Sparks and black mist burst out. The thing let out a hollow screech, collapsing in a heap of armor and shadow.
My heart hammered in my chest.
The little girl clung to my sleeve, trembling.
"Th-thank you…" she whispered, tears in her eyes.
Before I could reply, the ground trembled. From the armor's remains, a faint blue glow pulsed, crawling across the floor like liquid light until it reached a half-buried sword sticking out of the ground nearby.
It was beautiful — a sleek, silver blade with intricate markings, glowing faintly with the same aura I saw in the ruins.
Something inside me whispered, Touch it.
As I reached out, the world around me shifted — the air rippled, and voices echoed in my head.
"Bearer of the Soulbound Blade…"
"Chosen between life and death…"
"Fight, and your soul may yet return."
The instant my hand gripped the hilt, the blade flared to life, bursting into a radiant blue light that wrapped around my arm. Power flooded my veins — a strange warmth that felt both alive and ancient.
The little girl stared in awe.
I looked down at the glowing sword, my reflection staring back in its mirrored steel.
And for the first time since I'd woken up… I wasn't afraid.
The silence returned, thick and heavy. The girl tugged gently at my sleeve.
"W-who are you?" she asked.
"I… I'm Riku. Riku Hayato."
I swallowed, glancing around the misty wasteland. "Where are we? What is this place?"
The girl looked down, her expression darkening. "This… is the Realm of the Dead. Everyone who comes here… has already died."
My breath hitched.
"What?"
She nodded. "People appear here right after their bodies stop working in the real world. Some call it the waiting ground. You can't move on until your soul is judged… or until you find the Fountain of Return."
"The Fountain of Return?"
"It's a spring hidden somewhere in this realm," she explained, her small hands trembling. "If you drink from it, you'll be sent back to your world — back to life."
I stared at her, my heartbeat echoing in my ears. Alive… again? Was that even possible?
"And you?" I asked. "How long have you been here?"
She hesitated. "I don't know. Time doesn't work the same here. I only know that everyone who appears gets a weapon — something connected to their soul."
She pointed at the glowing sword in my hand.
"That's yours. It chose you. It's your soul's weapon. You'll learn to channel your power through it someday."
I frowned. "Power? What kind of power?"
She shook her head sadly. "I haven't learned mine yet. Without it… you can't survive long here."
⸻
The words barely left her lips when the mist thickened again.
This time, I heard the clanging of metal — many metals.
Shapes emerged from the fog — more of those armored soldiers, their eyes burning red, their movements jerky but relentless.
Five.
No — seven of them.
The girl gasped. "They're drawn to the living energy of new souls! We have to run!"
But something inside me snapped. I was tired of running — tired of being weak, tired of being a victim.
I raised the sword, feeling it pulse with my heartbeat, its blue glow intensifying. The soldiers closed in, their weapons dragging across the cracked ground.
"I'm not dying again," I muttered.
The girl looked up, startled.
"I'm going to survive," I said louder, gripping the hilt with both hands. "No matter what this place is — I'm going to fight. And I'm going to return to my world."
The nearest soldier charged. I swung Eclipsera. The blade carved through the air with a flash of blinding blue light, slicing the creature clean in half. Its body disintegrated into motes of shadow.
Another lunged — I spun, deflecting the strike, my body moving faster than I ever could in life. It wasn't just training. The sword itself was alive, guiding me, amplifying me.
The mist swirled with the light of battle — blue sparks against endless gray.
When the last goon fell, the world fell quiet again. The air shimmered with fading energy. I dropped to one knee, panting.
The little girl approached slowly, awe in her wide eyes.
"You really are different," she whispered.
Maybe I was. Or maybe I was just desperate.
I tightened my grip on the glowing sword, staring into the fog.
"I don't know what this place is," I said softly, "but I promise you… I'll find that Fountain. And when I do… we're both going home."