Bonus Chapter – The Unfinished Story

The waves whispered secrets only the wind could hear. The sun had long dipped below the horizon, leaving behind the soft glow of moonlight that shimmered over the ocean.

Renjiro sat on the wooden deck of their secluded beach house, watching Akane as she danced along the shoreline, her bare feet sinking into the cool, damp sand.

She was laughing—really laughing.

For the first time in centuries, they were free.

No more curses.

No more ghosts.

No more past chasing them like an unforgiving shadow.

Or so he thought.

A Faint Whisper in the Wind

It started as a feeling.

A shift in the air.

Renjiro’s body stiffened, an old instinct he had long since discarded stirring within him.

He turned, eyes scanning the darkened tree line behind their house.

Nothing.

But he knew better than to trust the silence.

Akane noticed his sudden stillness. “What is it?”

Renjiro hesitated. He wanted to tell her it was nothing, that his paranoia was simply a remnant of the life he had left behind.

But then—

A whisper.

So faint, it was almost swallowed by the ocean breeze.

Yet he heard it.

“Saito…”

His blood ran cold.

The Ghosts That Never Left

Renjiro rose to his feet, scanning the darkness.

The name Saito was no longer his burden to bear.

He had left it behind, erased it from existence.

Hadn’t he?

But as he took a cautious step forward, a chill crawled up his spine.

Not fear—he had long outgrown fear—but a familiar presence.

A presence that shouldn’t exist anymore.

And then—

A figure emerged from the shadows.

Tall. Cloaked.

The air around them seemed to distort, as if reality itself was struggling to contain their existence.

The figure stepped forward, their voice smooth, almost amused.

“Did you really think it would be that easy?”

The Final Price

Akane was at his side in an instant, her expression wary. “Renjiro… who is that?”

Renjiro didn’t answer.

Because he wasn’t sure.

Something about this person felt… wrong.

Not like the ghosts he had fought before.

Not like the Yakuza who had fallen by his hands.

Something older.

Something deeper.

The figure let out a slow chuckle.

“You broke the curse, yes,” they murmured. “You even erased the Saito name from history.”

Their voice dropped, turning almost mocking.

“But nothing in this world comes without a price.”

Renjiro’s hands clenched into fists.

“What are you talking about?”

The figure tilted their head, almost pitying him.

“You thought you freed yourself.” A pause. “But you only freed this world.”

Renjiro’s heart pounded.

The ocean breeze turned still.

The stars above them flickered—as if something had shifted.

The figure took one last step forward, their voice dropping to a whisper.

“But did you ever stop to wonder… where the curse actually went?”

Renjiro felt the ground beneath him sway.

Where the curse actually went.

His eyes widened.

He thought he had ended it.

But what if—

What if he had only pushed it somewhere else?

A Fate Worse Than Death

The figure extended a hand, palm open.

And for the first time in centuries—Renjiro felt it.

A pull.

A whisper of something beyond this world, wrapping around him like unseen chains.

Not dragging him to the past.

Not tying him to the Yakuza.

But something else entirely.

Something… far worse.

The figure smiled.

“You didn’t break the curse, Renjiro.”

Their voice was soft, almost amused.

“You only transferred it.”

Renjiro’s breath hitched.

And then—

Darkness.

To Be Continued?

The curse is not gone.

It was never gone.

Renjiro changed fate…

But he never considered what fate would do in return.

Because nothing is ever truly erased.

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