Renji
I don't even know how long I was out.
Could've been minutes, hours, or like… days in ghost time.
All I know is, when I woke up
that damn black cat was sittin' right beside me…
lickin' my ear.
Bro.
That's not cute. That's weird.
I jumped up so fast I almost gave myself whiplash.
Dusted my shirt, bounced twice like I was preppin' for a boxing match,
then started walkin'.
Didn't know where, didn't even care.
But the more I walked, the more the world started looping.
Same streets, same houses… same creepy-ass cat.
Always sittin' somewhere, just starin' at me like,
"Yeah, I know somethin' you don't, kid."
Nami & the Samurai
Man, that samurai wasn't givin' her no space to breathe.
Like bro, take a nap or somethin'.
Every time she tried to run
BAM!
He was right there, kicking her like it's some Mortal Kombat DLC fight.
She barely got a breath in before wham!
Fist to the gut.
Then he dragged her leg like she owed him rent.
Pullin' her straight toward that flaming katana.
That wasn't a ghost anymore.
That was a whole boss battle.
Cairo
My dude Cairo was done with school.
Like officially retired from learnin'.
He crawled out the sandpit, barely breathin',
just one leg still stuck in that cursed ground.
He looked up
and saw not one, not two, but four giant mouths around him.
Each one droolin' like it's dinner time.
"Yo, ghost baby!" he yelled,
"Can't you eat somebody else? I'm not even seasoned!"
But the mouths just kept closing in.
He sighed.
"If this how I'm goin' out," he said,
"at least let it be quick."
Renji
Meanwhile, I'm still lost in that damn street.
Tried every direction still end up in the same spot.
That same creepy cat sittin' there, smirkin' like it owns the place.
Then it meowed,
soft and weird, like it was tryna say, "Follow me, dumbass."
I stared for a sec.
Didn't trust it.
But you know how it is
curiosity's my toxic trait.
So I followed.
Every few steps I had to stop, sit, breathe.
The air was thick, the street felt old
like it been dead for years.
Then finally
we hit the end of the street.
And when I reached out to touch the exit
boom.
I was back.
Right in the damn maze.
And right there
in the middle was Cairo.
Still trapped.
Still fightin' those four giant mouths.
I froze for a sec.
Didn't even blink.
Then something just snapped in me.
I clenched my fist and ran straight at that mess.
Didn't think. Didn't plan.
Just yelled, "Not today, you ugly-ass ghost!"
Right before I could swing,
a bunch of shadow hands came outta nowhere.
Grabbed me tight,
squeezin' my lungs, my ribs, my soul
everything.
It felt like I was gettin' turned into orange juice.
Couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.
I was done.
Then
meow.
That same sound again.
I looked up
and that damn cat wasn't small no more.
It got huge.
Like skyscraper-size huge.
For a second, I thought,
"Yup, this is it. The cat was playin' me all along."
Thought it was about to eat me, too.
But nah.
The cat lunged
and ate the ghost baby instead.
Whole maze started shaking.
Walls crackin', lights flaring
then boom!
Everything snapped back.
The school was normal again.
Classroom, desks, rain tapping the window like nothing ever happened.
The cat shrunk back down,
lookin' all innocent like,
"Y'all good now."
I stared at it, dizzy as hell,
then just collapsed.
Cairo
Before blackin' out,
he looked at the cat and mumbled,
"Yo… that thing just saved us."
He tried to point,
but he was already gone.
I crawled to him,
propped his head on my backpack like a pillow.
Could barely stand,
but I had one thought in my head
Nami.
She was still out there somewhere.
And that same black cat yeah, the same one that tried to kill me five minutes ago
was already walkin' ahead, lookin' back like,
"You comin' or what?"
I didn't trust it.
Not one bit.
But I followed anyway.