*Threads That Refuse to Break**
*Fate Begins to Tighten Its Noose*
The night didn't calm after Eidolon vanished.
It felt *worse*.
The air was heavy, as if the city itself had paused to listen.
Kairo, still shaken, pushed himself fully upright.
He brushed dust off his jacket, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
Trying to act tough.
Trying not to make Aru worry.
Aru wasn't fooled.
Not tonight.
"Kairo…" Aru whispered, voice trembling with leftover fear.
"That thing… he knew my name. He knew *you*. And he—"
Kairo held up a hand.
"Bro. Stop."
He forced a grin.
"Whatever he thinks he knows, whatever he *saw*—we're not dying tonight."
Aru didn't laugh.
He couldn't.
Because the static in his chest had become a low, constant vibration.
Like something inside him was awake now.
Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
The alley around them was empty except for the shattered street lamps and the lingering chill of Eidolon's presence.
Kairo stretched his arms, trying to shake off the stiffness.
"What even WAS that freeze thing? I couldn't move at all. Not even a finger. It was like—like my whole rhythm was unplugged."
Aru's breath tightened.
Unplugged.
Silenced.
That was what Eidolon did.
But why?
---
## **THE RETURN OF THE THREADS**
Aru's vision flickered.
For a second—just a second—he saw something around Kairo.
A thin silver thread, connected from Kairo's chest to something in the air.
Aru blinked hard.
It was gone.
But the static pulsed stronger now, crawling up his spine like cold lightning.
Kairo noticed the way Aru froze.
"What? What did you see?"
Aru swallowed.
"I don't know. A thread. Like… attached to you."
Kairo raised a brow.
"A thread? Like a string? What am I, a balloon?"
Aru didn't answer.
Because the word Eidolon used on the rooftop echoed again:
**"When the thread tethering him to you snaps…"**
Was *this* what he meant?
---
## **THE INTERFERENCE**
A sudden digital chime cut through the silence.
Aru's wristband glowed with the Conservatory's emergency crest.
Kairo checked his too.
Same message.
**SYSTEM ALERT: Unidentified Rhythm Distortion detected in District 7.
All trainees report to the Arc Hall immediately.**
Kairo groaned.
"Oh perfect. Just what we needed. We just got attacked by a shadow-glitch demon, and now the school wants us to sign attendance."
Aru didn't move.
The alert wasn't what scared him.
It was the way the street lights flickered again…
but not randomly.
**In rhythm.**
A pulsing pattern.
Three soft flashes.
Two long.
Three soft.
Kairo didn't notice.
But Aru did.
His skin crawled.
That wasn't random interference.
That was **communication**.
The same pattern he used to tap on his wall as a kid when he was scared…
Someone was answering him.
Someone using *his rhythm*.
"Aru?" Kairo waved a hand in front of his face.
"Bro, you spacing out again—"
Aru whispered:
"He's still here."
And this time, even Kairo looked scared.
---
## **THE INVESTIGATOR ARRIVES**
A sudden gust tore through the alley.
But this one wasn't cold like Eidolon's presence.
It was warm.
Controlled.
Powerful.
A figure landed between them and the end of the street — boots cracking the pavement with the force of impact.
A tall woman in a dark crimson uniform stood, coat fluttering, eyes sharp as blades.
Her rhythm aura swirled around her like heat waves.
Commander **Veyra Lume**.
One of the Conservatory's elite wardens.
Both boys straightened instinctively.
Kairo swallowed.
"Oh crap. Aru. It's her."
Veyra didn't waste time.
"What did you two see?"
Aru and Kairo exchanged a glance.
Not a word was spoken, but the panic shared between them was loud.
Veyra stepped closer, gaze locked on Aru.
"An Aberration was detected here. High-level. Distortion class."
Aberration.
Aru flinched at the word.
That's what they called creatures made from rogue rhythms…
monsters created by broken emotions.
Eidolon didn't feel like a monster.
He felt like someone who knew too much.
Veyra looked Aru dead in the eye.
"Tell me what appeared here. Now."
Aru opened his mouth—
And froze.
Because over Veyra's shoulder, standing on a distant rooftop, just out of her line of sight…
Eidolon watched.
Hands behind his back.
Expression unreadable.
As if testing Aru.
As if waiting to see what he would say.
Aru's throat tightened.
"I…"
His voice shook.
"I don't know."
Veyra studied him.
Hard.
But she didn't call him a liar.
She just turned sharply.
"Both of you. With me. Now."
As she led them toward the Arc Hall, Kairo leaned close and whispered:
"Why didn't you tell her?"
Aru didn't answer.
Because he wasn't sure.
Fear?
Confusion?
Instinct?
Or something worse—
What if Eidolon wasn't trying to hurt him?
What if he was trying to *protect* him from the Conservatory?
Aru's chest tightened at the thought.
And far above them, Eidolon finally turned away—
but not before his final whisper brushed against Aru's mind like a cold fingertip:
**"Good choice."**
Aru stumbled.
He wasn't sure if he could keep walking.
Because the threads around them were tightening…
…and something in the darkness had decided:
**Fate would not wait much longer.**