Arrival at Dawn

Takumi Hasegawa’s breath hitched as he blinked, disoriented. The last thing he remembered was stepping off the curb in the rain. A red light. Static in his earbuds. And then... nothing.

Now, his cheek pressed against cold, cracked stone, and a strange, acrid scent filled the air. The wind tugged at his hair as he pushed himself up, confusion clouding his mind. He was no longer in Tokyo.

Looking around, he saw a ruined shrine atop a jagged hill, the sky above tinged with an unnatural crimson. Dark, heavy clouds hovered like a suffocating blanket. The air was thick, oppressive, as though it held secrets he wasn’t meant to know. The only sound was a distant rustling, as though something watched him from the shadows.

Where was he? How did he get here?

His eyes scanned the ancient stonework beneath him. Symbols and runes were carved deep into the stone, their edges weathered by time. They pulsed faintly with an eerie warmth. The place had the aura of something forgotten, abandoned by time—and yet, alive in a way that sent a chill up his spine.

Takumi staggered to his feet, unsteady on the uneven ground. His clothes—his school uniform—were torn and stained. Blood spattered his hands, but he couldn’t remember why. He wiped them on his jeans, but the stain wouldn’t disappear.

Then, his gaze fell on a figure lying motionless near a broken altar. A girl. Silver hair spilled across her shoulders, and her cloak was torn and stained with blood. She looked pale, as though life itself was draining from her body.

Fear lanced through him, pushing him into motion. His legs moved before he could think, stepping closer to the girl. He knelt beside her, reaching out, but as his fingers brushed her skin, a sudden sharp pain stabbed through his skull.

The world shuddered.

He gasped, clutching his head as images flashed before his eyes—flames, screams, metal grinding against bone. His own voice, crying out in pain. Dying. Over and over again.

Takumi gasped for air, choking on the suffocating terror. It felt as though his mind was being torn apart, memories warping and twisting, impossibly fast. In a single breath, his vision blurred, his senses spinning.

And then… the pain stopped.

The sudden silence was deafening. His breathing slowed, but his heart raced. The shrine was the same, the air still thick with unease. But he felt... different. Not just physically. He felt as though something within him had shifted.

A whisper brushed his mind, not words, but something far more ominous.

Cycle 1 begins.

Takumi blinked. The voice was soft, distant, and yet it felt like it was pressing against his very soul.

Cycle? What cycle? He didn’t understand. His head throbbed with confusion, his mind fogged by what felt like a thousand thoughts at once. He pushed himself to his feet again, the weight of something unknown pulling at his chest.

Looking down at the girl, his gaze softened. There was something familiar about her, something he couldn’t place. He knelt again, lifting her limp form with more ease than he expected. He needed to do something, to fix this. But in the back of his mind, he couldn’t shake the thought that nothing he did would change what was coming.

A final whisper echoed in his thoughts.

Death is just the beginning.

The weight of the unknown loomed over him as he began to walk, his every step echoing the certainty of a fate that would never let him go.

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