Chapter 48: Whispers in the Rain

The rain turned heavier as the night deepened, its rhythmic drumming filling the shrine with an eerie calm. Despite their exhaustion, no one truly slept.

Hotaru lay on her side, facing the wall, her mind refusing to rest. The weight of everything — the battle at the dockyard, the tracker in her sword, Sai's strange past — it all tangled together into a knot of tension in her chest.

Suddenly, Mira's voice whispered beside her.

"You awake?"

"Yeah," Hotaru replied softly.

Mira shifted closer, their backs almost touching for comfort.

"Do you trust this place?" Mira asked.

Hotaru hesitated. "It's not about trusting the place. It's about trusting the people I'm with."

A loud slurp echoed across the room, followed by Tora's exaggerated sigh.

"This is the taste of survival," Tora declared, waving his empty noodle cup like a trophy.

"Shut up," Ryuuji groaned, his blanket pulled over his face. "You're the reason ghosts haunt people."

Sai, who had been sitting by the door, still polishing his sword, stood abruptly.

"Quiet," he ordered.

Everyone froze. Even Tora's usual comeback died in his throat.

Sai stepped outside into the rain, his sharp gaze sweeping the trees. Hotaru followed silently, hand resting on her sword's hilt. The forest was unnaturally still — no insects, no rustling leaves, just the rain.

"Someone's watching," Sai whispered.

"Are you sure?" Hotaru asked, scanning the darkness.

He nodded, fingers tightening on his sword. "It's faint, but I know the feeling. We're not alone."

A soft rustling came from the left side of the shrine, followed by a flash of movement — too fast to be human, but too solid to be a ghost. Hotaru's heart kicked up its pace.

"Ryuuji, Tora, get ready," she called back into the shrine.

"Ready for what?" Tora shouted nervously.

A dagger flew out of the dark, embedding itself in the wooden doorframe just inches from Sai's head.

"THAT!" Hotaru shouted.

Instantly, everyone sprang into action. Tora kicked over the camp stove in panic, Ryuuji grabbed his twin blades, and Mira armed herself with her collapsible staff. Even Kuro, ears flat against his head, hissed lowly as his fur stood on end.

The attacker emerged from the trees, clad in dark grey, face obscured by a mask. No emblem, no insignia — a ghost of the underworld, the kind sent to erase people without leaving a trace.

"Well," Ryuuji grinned, spinning his blades. "It's been a while since we had a midnight guest."

"Less talking, more stabbing!" Mira shouted, charging first.

The fight was brutal in its silence — no war cries, just the clash of steel, the shuffling of feet over wet leaves, and the muted grunts of effort. The masked figure was fast, moving like liquid shadow, but Sai was faster.

Steel met steel in a flash, sparks flying as Sai's sword forced the intruder back step by step. Hotaru moved to flank, but before she could strike, the figure vanished into the trees, leaving only a small scroll at Sai's feet.

Everyone stood still, catching their breath.

Tora peered out, shaking. "Did we just get attacked by a ninja ghost?"

"It was no ghost," Sai said grimly, picking up the scroll. His expression darkened as he read the characters etched into the paper.

"It's a message from Kurogane."

Hotaru stepped closer. "What does it say?"

Sai's voice was cold as ice.

"Run all you want, but your past always catches up."

The rain fell harder, drenching them all to the bone. But the cold in Hotaru's chest had nothing to do with the weather.

End of Chapter 48