The wind howled softly over the old bridge at the edge of the city. Evening had begun to crawl in, painting the sky in shades of bruised violet and pale gray. Below, the river churned quietly—dark, cold, and indifferent.
Renji stood there, hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie, the faint vibration of his phone barely registering in his numb fingertips.
He'd left his school bag behind hours ago. He didn't even remember where.
It didn't matter.
Nothing did.
Until—Rrrring.
The sudden sound snapped through the silence like a crack of thunder. Renji frowned, pulling his phone from his pocket.
Unknown number.
For a moment, he almost tossed it into the river.
But something… stopped him.
He answered.
"...Hello?"
Static buzzed for a heartbeat. Then—
"Stop, Renji."
A voice. Genderless. Calm. But unmistakably human.
His blood froze.
The voice continued, low and firm.
"I know where you are. You're at the bridge, aren't you?"
Renji's eyes darted around, breath catching.
Was someone watching?
He looked up. Across the bridge. Down the road. The lampposts flickered. The distant hum of the city felt too far away.
"...Who are you?" he asked, voice tight.
"Just listen. Please." The voice cracked slightly. "I don't have much time. Just… don't do it. I have something to show you. Something you need to see. You're not—"
click.
The call dropped.
Renji stared at the screen.No signal.
The message hung in the air like unfinished breath.
Then—"HEY! BOY!"
Renji jolted.
A flashlight beam caught him in the face. Down the bridge, a security guard was approaching, waving a baton with suspicion.
"What're you doing up there?! Get down from that railing!"
Renji blinked.
The moment shattered.
He turned and ran.
Elsewhere...
Hina was breathless when she reached Renji's house. Her fingers shook as she pressed the doorbell again and again.
It had been almost an hour since she'd spoken the truth in the auditorium.
No Renji. No reply.
Where was he?
The door creaked open.
A young woman—mid-twenties, pale like Renji, but sharper in features—stood in the doorway. Her eyes widened at the sight of Hina.
"You…" she breathed. "You're… Hina?"
Hina nodded hesitantly. "S-Sakuragi-san… I—"
Renji's sister stepped aside slowly. "Come in."
The house smelled like antiseptic and stale air. Too clean. Too hollow.
"Is this about Renji?" his sister asked. "What did he do now?"
Hina's eyes watered instantly. "No! It's not like that! Please, just listen…"
They sat on the edge of a cold sofa, and Hina spilled everything. The lie. Middle school. The rumors. Her silence. Yuuto's manipulation. Her regret.
Tears streaked down her face. Her voice cracked again and again.
"I wanted to fix it… I didn't think it would destroy him… I just wanted to protect… I didn't mean for it to go this far…"
The silence that followed was suffocating.
After a long pause, Hina looked up. "Is Renji home?"
His sister looked toward the hallway, expression unreadable. Then shook her head.
"No. He should've been back by now… He always comes home straight after school."
She checked her phone.
No messages.
No missed calls.
A heavy silence hung in the room.
Then, from the kitchen, a cup shattered.
Renji's mother had been standing there the entire time.
She didn't say a word—just collapsed to her knees, pale and shaking.
She didn't faint. Just… couldn't move. Her mouth parted, but no sound came.
She'd heard everything.
And it broke something in her.
Back at the bridge, Renji had escaped the security guard by ducking into an alley and weaving through empty backstreets. He hadn't looked back once.
Now, he wandered.
Aimless.
Through packed market streets, under glowing signs, past food stalls and buses and laughing couples. The world moved around him, unaware of the weight dragging behind his steps.
He looked like any other teenager from a distance.
But his eyes were hollow.
And his heart was gone.
"Maybe I was supposed to die a long time ago…" he muttered under his breath, stepping through the crowd.
He walked across a wide intersection.
And didn't notice the truck.
A sharp screech tore through the air.
Brakes failing. Horn blaring.
The truck barreled forward.
People screamed.
Renji turned his head—slowly. Like time had fractured.
The headlights bathed him in white.
He didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
He accepted it.
And then—
Darkness.
Later that night…
A phone rang in Renji's home.
His sister answered.
A shaky voice on the other end."Is… Renji home yet?"
"No…" she whispered, gripping the receiver tight. "He still hasn't…"
But she couldn't finish the sentence.
Because outside the window—
The moon hung low.
And Renji… was still missing.