Rin didn't sleep that night.
How could he?
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the alley the screaming men, the shadow stretching like a beast tasting freedom, and the blackness swallowing everything it touched.
By dawn, his body was numb from exhaustion, but his mind thrummed like a storm.
He sat at the edge of his thin mattress, staring at the wall. The early morning sun sneaked through the cracked blinds, spilling across the wooden floor… but the light never quite touched him. His shadow stayed unnaturally thick beneath him, denser than any normal human shadow should be. It pulsed faintly with every beat of his heart.
And every time it pulsed, it whispered.
"…Rin…"
A shiver crawled across his spine.
He exhaled slowly. "Stop saying my name… Please…"
The shadow only hummed in response.
The voice was faint now, as if muffled by layers of dream and memory. But it was still there. Still alive. Still watching.
He didn't understand it.
But he remembered it.
He remembered the fear, the hunger, the emotionless hunger that surged through him the night before.
And deep inside him, beneath all the panic and disbelief, a question clawed its way upward
Why did it call me Rin?
How does it know my name?
What… is it?
He rubbed his temples. The exhaustion began to morph into a dull ache behind his eyes.
That's when it happened.
A scent hit him.
Not the musty smell of his small apartment. Not the lingering stench of the rain-soaked alley.
No this scent was older.
Incense. Ash. Forged metal. Blood.
The memory rose like a tide.
And suddenly… he was no longer in his cramped room.
He was small again no older than six.
And he was sitting on the warm tatami floor of their old home.
His father's workshop.
The forge glowed with an angry orange light, throwing waves of heat across the narrow space. Sparks leapt like fireflies, dancing along the walls before dying in the air. Rin watched from behind a stack of crates, hugging his knees, eyes wide.
His father Kengo Kurohane stood at the center of the workshop shirtless, sweat running down his muscular back. His long black hair was tied behind him, but strands had escaped, sticking to his neck. His hammer rose and fell in perfect rhythm, each strike echoing like a heartbeat.
Clang…
Clang…
Clang…
The sword on the anvil glowed crimson, pulsing faintly with swirling runes. Even as a child, Rin felt something wrong about it something heavy, ancient, and hungry. It felt like the blade was breathing.
Rin remembered clutching the crate tighter, whispering, "Daddy… why are you making another scary one?"
His father didn't turn. He only muttered:
"Because some blades must exist… even if no one wants them to."
The hammer rose.
Then froze in mid-air.
Kengo stiffened suddenly, as though someone had whispered directly into his ear. He lowered the hammer and set it aside, wiping sweat from his brow.
He spoke toward the shadows of the room.
"I know you're watching, Rin. Come out."
Young Rin jumped. "H-How did you know?"
Kengo turned, giving him a small, tired smile.
"Because you always hide in the same spot."
He knelt and opened his arms. Rin scampered across the floor and hugged him tight.
Kengo stroked his son's hair, letting out a long breath. "Rin… I need you to be brave tonight."
Child Rin pulled back, frowning. "Brave? Why?"
His father didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he glanced toward the corner of the workshop toward the darkest shadow there.
Rin remembered that shadow.
It was wrong.
Too deep. Too still.
As if it were not a shadow…
…but a doorway.
Kengo placed a hand on Rin's cheek. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"And do you trust the blade I forge for you?"
Rin blinked. "You're making a blade for me?"
Kengo's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Not a sword. Something… else."
For the first time, Rin noticed the circle carved into the floor. Intricate sigils, swirling patterns, runes drenched in a faint purple glow.
Rin touched his father's hand. "Daddy… what is that?"
Kengo exhaled shakily. "A prison."
Rin shivered. He didn't understand the word, but the way his father said it… made him understand the fear behind it.
His father's voice shifted lower, heavier, carrying the weight of someone reciting a truth they wished they could forget.
"There is something inside you, Rin. Something that… was never meant to be born."
Rin stared at him, confused. "Inside me?"
Kengo nodded. "You were marked the night you were born. It wasn't your fault. You didn't choose it. But that thing… that Authority… it wants to awaken."
Rin hugged his knees. "Am I… sick?"
His father shook his head. "Not sick. Just… special in a way that terrifies me."
Kengo stood and walked toward the shadow. He picked up a talisman and pressed it against the darkness. The paper burned into smoke instantly.
A cold wind blew across the workshop despite no windows being open.
Rin whimpered, "Daddy… I'm scared."
Kengo turned back and knelt again, gripping Rin's shoulders.
"Listen to me. If we don't seal it now, it will devour you when you grow older."
Rin's eyes widened. "Devour… me?"
Kengo nodded once.
Only once.
His father's voice trembled. "I cannot let that happen. You are my son."
Rin looked up at him with wide, tearful eyes. "Will… will it hurt?"
Kengo took a deep breath. "Yes."
Rin swallowed, but after a moment, he whispered:
"…If it's you doing it, I'm not scared."
The words hit Kengo like a blade.
His father pulled him into a fierce embrace, burying his face in Rin's hair. His voice cracked.
"You are stronger than you know, Rin."
Then
The workshop darkened.
The shadows along the walls quivered, pulling toward the center of the room, toward the sealing circle, like ink sliding across glass.
Rin gasped. "Daddy! The shadows are moving!"
"I know."
Kengo lifted Rin and placed him gently in the circle.
The runes glowed brighter.
The shadows gathered faster.
Then a whisper slithered through the room.
It didn't come from anywhere.
It came from everywhere.
"…Riiiin…"
Rin's blood froze.
He looked around wildly. "Daddy, someone said my name!"
Kengo grabbed a brush dipped in black ink and began to paint symbols on Rin's bare chest and arms. His face was tight with urgency.
"Don't listen to it. Keep your eyes on me. Only me."
The voice whispered again.
"…Riiiin… come to me…"
Rin's heart pounded. "Daddy, make it stop!"
Kengo gritted his teeth. "Stay still. I'm almost done."
The shadows surged.
A tendril of darkness slipped toward Rin's foot.
Rin screamed.
Kengo slammed his hand onto the ground.
The entire circle ignited.
Light exploded outward in a ring, forming a dome of shimmering sigils. The shadow recoiled with a shrill hiss.
Kengo's voice roared:
"RESTRAINT SEAL ECLIPSE BOND!"
The room shook violently.
Rin arched backward, crying out as the runes crawled across his skin. The ink burned like fire and ice mixed together. The shadow shrieked again, slamming against the protective dome.
Rin sobbed. "Daddy Daddy it hurts! It hurts!"
Kengo held him, pressing their foreheads together.
"I know, Rin. I know. I'm so sorry… but you must endure. For your future."
The circle's glow intensified to blinding white.
The shadow pounded against the dome again and again.
Then
It pierced through.
A single whisper slipped inside the circle.
Soft.
Gentle.
Inevitable.
"…Rin…"
Rin gasped.
His small shadow stretched beneath him… and reached toward him with delicate fingers.
And then, in a voice impossibly soft
"…I am yours."
Kengo's eyes widened. "No no, damn it!"
The shadows wrapped around Rin's hand.
Young Rin felt no fear.
Only curiosity.
"…What's your name?" he whispered.
The shadow pulsed.
"…I am what sleeps beneath the Eclipse."
Kengo slammed a final talisman to the ground.
White fire erupted.
The workshop exploded in light.
The shadow screamed.
Rin screamed.
Kengo shouted ancient words with all the strength in his soul
And the shadow was forced back into Rin's body, compressed into a single brand on his chest:
A black crescent consuming a sliver of sun.
Rin collapsed, unconscious.
Kengo fell to his knees, trembling.
But the seal held.
For now.
He whispered a prayer.
"Forgive me, my son… You will hate me for this one day."
The Present — Rin Awakens
Rin jolted awake in his room, drenched in sweat, panting.
His chest burned.
He tore off his shirt.
The mark was there.
The black crescent.
Glowing faintly.
Alive.
He touched it with trembling fingers.
"…You were there," he whispered. "You've been with me… since I was a child."
His shadow fluttered at his feet.
And the voice whispered again
"…Rin… you remembered."
Rin's breathing hitched.
"…Why were you sealed inside me?"
The shadow rippled like a smile.
"…Because you were born for me."
Rin staggered back. "Born… for you?"
His shadow spread across the entire floor, filling the room with darkness.
The voice became clearer. Older.
Terrifyingly calm.
"…You are the Child of the Eclipse Blade."
Rin swallowed.
"What… what does that mean?"
A pause.
Stillness.
Then
"…It means, Rin… the world is already looking for you."
Rin froze.
Outside, the city lights flickered.
Something moved on the rooftop across the street.
Watching him.
Waiting.
The chapter ends with a soft final whisper:
"…and they will kill you when they find you."