Night in the Thirteenth Domain was not silent.
It breathed.
Rin heard it in the shifting lanterns, in the croak of distant Yokai, in the murmurs that slithered through cracks of the withered alleys. Shadows here were deeper than they should be, as if the Domain remembered every crime committed in it.
And tonight, the Domain was remembering him.
Rin and Ayame moved quietly across a canal bridge, the wood groaning under their steps. A pale fog curled around their legs.
Ayame held Rin's sleeve lightly, her unblinking white eyes fixed forward though she couldn't see the world. She could feel it—she said the fog was filled with "fearful colors," like bruises left on the air.
"We're being followed," she whispered.
Rin already knew.
His shadow had been restless for the last hour, flickering subtly in ways he wasn't controlling—alert, coiled, flinching at something Rin couldn't sense.
"How many?" Rin asked.
Ayame swallowed. "A group. Their emotions are… muted."
"Muted?"
She nodded. "Like a room with all the oxygen sucked out. No fear. No thrill. Just obedience."
Rin's jaw tightened.
Veil Hunters.
But then Ayame added something that made Rin stop.
"There's one with them who isn't empty."
He turned to her. "Meaning?"
Ayame's fingers trembled as they gripped his sleeve.
"His emotions are sharp… cold… incredibly quiet, but somehow… smiling."
Rin didn't like the way she said that.
A person whose emotions were both cold and amused didn't exist. Not naturally.
Ayame drew closer without thinking.
"Rin… whoever he is… he's not human in the usual way."
Rin's hand moved to the hilt of his short blade.
"Stay behind me."
Ayame shook her head. "You'll need me. His presence… it twists the colors around him."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," she whispered, "he kills people with his name."
Rin blinked. "What—?"
A slow clack… clack… clack echoed behind them.
Footsteps.
Calm.
Measured.
Too confident.
Rin and Ayame turned as fog parted like curtains.
A silhouette drifted through it—not stepping, but gliding with predatory leisure.
He wore a long black coat embroidered with red strings of protective seals, each swaying like strips of flayed skin. A half-mask of lacquered bone covered the lower half of his face, carved into a permanent crescent smile.
His hair was tied in a neat, traditional hunter's tail.
His walk was elegant.
His presence felt like the temperature dropped by ten degrees.
But his eyes—
—his eyes were not the eyes of a sane man.
They were gentle. Curious. Almost polite.
But beneath that softness was a blade sharper than anything Rin had ever felt.
He stopped ten paces away.
"Good evening," the masked man said softly.
Ayame flinched. Rin's shadow lurched beneath him.
The man bowed slightly—courtly, precise.
"I am Kagehito. Hunter of Names. Please don't run. It makes things terribly boring."
---
Behind him, figures emerged from the fog like puppets waking:
Six masked Veil Hunters, each clad in black armor etched with wards. They wielded curved sealing spears and net-launchers.
They did not speak.
They did not breathe loudly.
They simply waited, poised.
Rin stood in front of Ayame. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
Kagehito's eyes crinkled at the corners.
"Of course not. People rarely come willingly."
He lifted a thin black scabbard to his shoulder, the weapon inside humming with a sound Rin could feel rather than hear.
The Obsidian Soul-Cleaver.
A blade forged for severing souls.
Ayame whispered shakily, "Rin… he's thrilled. His emotions are—he's enjoying this."
Kagehito chuckled lightly, politely, as if overhearing a compliment.
"My dear girl," he said, "I enjoy all things equally. Beauty, death, despair, silence. But tonight—"
He tilted his head. "—I get to see a shadow that eats Yokai. How could I not be delighted?"
Rin stepped forward. "Why are you hunting me?"
Kagehito's voice remained soft.
"Because your existence is dangerous. And because your father once broke an oath."
Rin's blood chilled. "You… knew my father?"
"I collected his name," Kagehito replied simply. "Beautiful man. Said very little, but his fear tasted elegant."
Rin's grip tightened around his blade. "You killed him?"
"No," Kagehito said lightly, "I simply held out my hand. He gave me the rest."
Ayame clutched Rin's robe. "Rin—he's lying. No—he's twisting the truth. This man enjoys bending emotions."
Kagehito's smile behind the mask sharpened.
"So you truly can see through hearts. Fascinating. A blind girl with a gift."
He tapped his mask.
"Would you like another sense? I can give you one. In return for your name."
Ayame took a trembling step back.
Rin's shadow surged violently.
Kagehito's eyes locked onto it with predatory hunger.
"There it is," he whispered. "The grief inside the Authority. That's what I want."
Rin pulled Ayame behind him. "You're not touching her."
Kagehito nodded gently. "Of course. I have no desire to harm her. My interest… is strictly you."
He snapped his fingers.
The hunters behind him stepped forward in silent unity.
Kagehito raised one gloved hand.
"Do not kill him," he commanded, his voice flat. "I want his name intact. I want the Authority whispering inside him. Bind him."
The squad moved as one—fast, coordinated, deadly.
Rin felt his pulse spike. "Ayame—stay behind me!"
Ayame trembled. "They're coming from three angles!"
Rin darted left, slashing the arm of the nearest Hunter. Another hurled a sealing net—Rin ducked, rolling beneath it. A spear lunged at him—he parried, sparks flying, shadow flaring behind him.
Kagehito watched calmly, amused.
"Your movements are very raw. But beautifully so."
A second net came from behind—Ayame screamed, "Rin!"
He spun, slicing the net mid-air. The sealing threads spat blue sparks when cut, ringing like bells.
The Hunter Squad closed in tighter.
Ayame's voice cracked, "They're trying to separate us!"
Rin's shadow writhed in rage, forming claws, tendrils, shapes he didn't command.
Kagehito's smile widened.
"There it is. The Authority wants to eat. Show me more."
"Shut up!" Rin roared.
He slammed his palm into the ground—his shadow erupted upward like a geyser, flinging two Hunters away. One crashed into a wall, armor denting inward.
But the effort made Rin stagger.
Ayame grabbed his arm. "Rin—you're bleeding emotion. The grief is leaking!"
Rin gritted his teeth. "I can't control it—!"
Kagehito finally moved.
He unsheathed his weapon.
A whisper of black glass slid into the night.
The Obsidian Soul-Cleaver didn't gleam.
It drank light.
Kagehito blurred forward—so fast Rin barely saw him.
He appeared in front of Rin in a silent flash, blade poised not at Rin's throat—but at his shadow.
"Don't—!" Ayame cried.
Kagehito's blade touched the shadow.
A shriek tore through Rin's skull—not from Ayame, not from the hunters, but from the thing living inside him.
The grief Authority recoiled, twisting violently.
Rin collapsed to one knee, gasping as pain lanced through his chest like someone was carving his name into his bones.
Kagehito exhaled softly, savoring the reaction.
"Oh," he whispered. "That cry… exquisite."
Rin's eyes widened. He heard it too.
Ayame stumbled toward Rin, but Kagehito raised a hand and two Hunters blocked her path.
"Ayame!" Rin reached for her.
Kagehito pressed his blade deeper into Rin's shadow.
"Stay still. If you move, I'll sever its hunger first. Then its voice. Then it will die screaming inside you."
Rin choked, "Why… why are you doing this—"
Kagehito leaned close.
"Because I love beautiful things. And your suffering…"
He smiled beneath the mask.
"…is flawless."
Rin felt black spots in his vision. His legs trembled.
Ayame screamed, "STOP HURTING HIM!"
Kagehito looked at her with mild interest. "I'm not hurting him."
His voice lowered.
"I'm disciplining him."
Rin coughed blood. The shadow writhed uncontrollably, trying to escape the blade's touch.
Kagehito's hunter squad tightened their formation.
"Bind him," Kagehito ordered calmly. "Bring the Sealed Casket. His soul will be extracted at dawn."
Ayame cried out, "Rin—!"
Rin tried to stand—
Kagehito kicked him in the ribs, sending him crashing into the canal railing.
The world tilted.
Ayame tried to run to him but a Hunter seized her arms. "NO! LET GO OF ME!"
Kagehito approached Rin again, blade angled with clinical precision.
"You shouldn't have awakened something you can't control, Rin."
He lifted the Soul-Cleaver—
—and a sudden WHISTLE split the air.
Something flipped overhead.
Spinning.
Glowing faintly red.
Kagehito's eyes narrowed.
A massive slab of metal crashed into the ground between Rin and the Hunters—cracking the stone, sending dust exploding outward.
The Hunter Squad recoiled.
Ayame gasped. Rin blinked in confusion.
The giant blade—more like a broken executioner's sword—was taller than Rin. It hummed with residual fire.
A voice called out from the roof:
"You guys look like you're having fun."
A man dropped down, landing atop the embedded slab of metal.
He wore a burnt-orange kimono, hair messy like he hadn't brushed it in months. His eyes glowed faint crimson, as if embers lived inside.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Mind if I join?"
Ayame whispered, "Rin… his emotions… they burn."
The man smirked lazily.
"Name's Goro Tenro."
He jerked his thumb at the Hunter Squad.
"And I REALLY hate Veil Hunters."
Kagehito tilted his head, expression unreadable.
"You're not on the registry."
"Nope." Goro grinned. "I'm exiled."
"Ah." Kagehito seemed almost pleased. "A criminal."
Goro shrugged. "A bored criminal."
His eyes slid to Rin.
"And since I'm bored, kid… I think I'll save you."
Rin stared.
"Why?"
Goro winked.
"Why not?"
Kagehito sighed softly.
"This is unexpected. Annoying. But unexpected."
He sheathed his blade slowly.
"Very well. New plan."
He pointed at Rin.
"Break his legs. Kill the exile. Bring me the girl's name."
Ayame's heart froze.
Rin's shadow stirred in panic.
Goro cracked his neck.
"Oh?" he said, grinning wildly. "I was really hoping you'd say that."
Fire erupted around him.
The night lit up with the promise of violence.
And the battle truly began.