– Chapter 38: My Shadow Has a Voice
Darkness swallowed the hallway of the agency.
Hiragi stood in front of the bathroom mirror, cold water dripping from his hands.
But his reflection... didn't match.
It blinked one second too late.
It smirked when he didn't.
"You're not me."
The mirror rippled. His reflection spoke, voice distorted with static and emotion.
"No. I'm better. You left me behind—but I survived."
The lights flickered.
Hiragi stepped back. The floor below him turned briefly into code—blue veins of data crawling up the walls.
It was Eden, bleeding through.
The Eye of Eden pulsed in his pocket. It wanted to be seen.
It wanted to be heard.
"You're a program. A leftover."
"I am the you who didn't flinch when Sena screamed."
That line cut deep.
His fist clenched.
"Shut up."
"I'm the one who let her die. You just watched."
The mirror cracked.
A hand burst from the reflection, black as void, clawed like sharpened shadow. It grabbed Hiragi by the neck, yanking him forward—
—then a blade of light pierced through the mirror.
Slash!
A voice echoed—
"Get away from him, glitch."
Airi.
She stood in the doorway, holding an artifact Hiragi had never seen. A blade woven from paper charms and silver wires.
"We're not doing this alone again."
The shadow screamed, retreating into the mirror, leaving behind a final phrase that carved itself into the wall in glitching red text:
"You killed her. You can't deny me forever."