The Sacrifice Ghoul Web never slept.
Its corridors breathed with dim crimson light, its towers curved like ribs of a sleeping beast, and its lower tunnels pulsed with the muffled hum of ancient rituals. The scent of metallic incense drifted through the air—iron, ash, and something faintly sweet.
Yuki walked through the Threadhall passage in silence. All around her, ghouls murmured to each other, exchanging sigils, carrying vessels of charged aura, or whispering the latest rumors of disappearances and impure sightings.
But none of their voices reached her.
Her thoughts were drifting deeper—far below the flickering lanterns—toward a memory she still couldn't break free from.
---
Flashback — The Last Smile
Sakura had always liked the forbidden corridors.
She said they reminded her of old stories—the ones where people stepped into darkness and came out changed.
"Yuki," she had whispered, fingers wrapped tightly around hers, "there's a place beneath the Web where you can hear your own heartbeat echo. Isn't that beautiful?"
Yuki had shaken her head violently. "We shouldn't be here. The Silent Thread Level is sealed."
Sakura smiled at her, those warm green eyes glowing faintly with reflected lanternlight.
"One day, you'll understand."
And then—like a candle snuffed out—her hand slipped away.
Her silhouette disappeared behind a crumbling archway, swallowed by the dark.
Yuki reached for her—
—but only caught cold air.
She never saw Sakura again.
The Silent Thread Level remained sealed. The leaders denied knowing anything. And Yuki was left with a ghost of a smile burned into her memory.
---
Soft footsteps approached behind her.
A gentle voice.
"Your aura sinks when you're remembering her."
Yuki jolted slightly, turning to see Yuyu—calm, graceful, dressed in deep black threads with her hair falling like polished obsidian down her back. Scarlet shimmered faintly in her irises, a color far too vivid for an ordinary ghoul.
Yuyu stepped beside her without asking permission, matching her pace flawlessly.
Yuki swallowed. "Do you have to read me that easily?"
"It's difficult not to," Yuyu murmured. "You pulse louder when you're hurting."
Yuki looked away. "You say unsettling things so casually."
"Only because they're true."
The worst part? Yuyu made it sound gentle.
Caring.
Almost soothing.
Almost.
---
A Sudden Collision — Zero
A blur of motion shot around the corner.
"Yuki!"
She barely had time to gasp before Zero crashed into her, arms flailing, skidding across the slick ritual floor. He caught himself at the last second, grinning like the world wasn't about to collapse.
"Guess who survived mission hell and made it back early?"
"Zero!" Yuki's eyes widened. "You're supposed to be months away!"
"Well—funny story." Zero rubbed the back of his neck. "If you accidentally blow up a federal lab, they send you home."
Yuki laughed. A breath she hadn't realized she was holding escaped her chest. Zero. Loud, clumsy, human Zero. He grounded her in a way nothing in the ghoul Web ever did.
But then she felt it— that shift in the air.
Behind her, Yuyu's aura went still.
Cold. Thin. Perfectly quiet.
Zero noticed the pressure immediately. He always did—with her.
He straightened. "Uh… hi. I don't think we've met?"
Yuyu stepped forward elegantly, chin slightly raised.
"I'm Yuyu," she said with a small, polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Yuki and I spend… a great deal of time together."
Zero blinked. "Right. Okay. Cool. Nice to meet you."
He stuck out a hand.
Yuyu didn't shake it.
Her gaze slid over him like she was peeling back the layers of his existence. Like she already saw the truth he hid.
Like she already knew he didn't belong.
Zero laughed nervously. "So! Uh. Yuki—want to walk the upper corridors with me later? I brought you something—"
"No," Yuyu said.
Yuki's stomach dropped. "Yuyu!"
Zero's eyebrows rose. "I'm sorry?"
"She has plans."
Yuyu's voice was glass. "With me."
Yuki stared. "We do?"
"Yes."
Zero gave a cautious smile. "Is this a… protective best-friend thing? Or should I be worried?"
Yuyu answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
Zero's smile cracked. "Okay. Wow."
Yuki jabbed Yuyu's arm. "You can't just—"
Yuyu's voice softened instantly. "My apologies. I'm… unused to humans."
Zero frowned. "Wait. How did you know—"
But Yuyu didn't let him finish.
Instead she tilted her head slowly, eyes shimmering with a deeper crimson.
"Yuki," she murmured, "keep him close."
"What?"
"For now."
Her tone held weight.
A warning.
A claim.
Yuki's pulse stuttered.
---
Threadhall Shadows
Yuki tried to shake off the tension as the three of them walked deeper into the Web's central chamber, but the air itself felt thick—charged with something she couldn't name.
Ritual markings glowed faintly along the walls, breathing like dim embers. Ghouls filtered through in pairs or small clusters, most of them carrying sealed vessels or trailing faint threads of aura behind them.
Zero kept glancing around, clearly uncomfortable.
"This place feels different," he whispered to Yuki. "Did the lighting get dimmer since last time?"
"It's the same," Yuki whispered back.
But she wasn't sure of that at all.
Because she could feel something shifting—like the Web itself was drawing breath.
Yuyu noticed the tension too.
Her eyes gleamed.
"The lower chambers are stirring," she said.
Yuki paused. "Why?"
"Because a ritual is approaching."
Yuyu's voice was soft, almost tender.
"A significant one."
---
The Binding You Never Agreed To
They reached a small open alcove where faint blue flames burned in circular braziers. Yuyu stepped toward one, lifting her hand.
Threads of crimson aura danced around her fingertips—delicate, elegant, terrifying.
Yuki took a step back. "What… what are you doing?"
"Something harmless," Yuyu whispered.
Without warning, she pressed her glowing fingertips gently against Yuki's collarbone.
A flash of heat burst beneath Yuki's skin.
Yuki gasped, stumbling backward. "Yuyu! What—what is this?!"
Yuyu smiled softly, her voice a lullaby dipped in nightshade.
"I made us a duo bond."
Yuki's breath stopped.
"A—A duo bond? For what?!"
"For the Sacrifice Web's rituals," Yuyu said sweetly. "Because we're close friends now."
Her words were calm.
Her aura was not.
Yuki felt her pulse climb into her throat. "Yuyu… I didn't agree to this."
"You didn't need to."
Yuyu stepped closer.
"The Web listens to desire, not permission."
Yuki's blood turned cold.
Desire?
Hers?
Or Yuyu's?
Zero took a step forward, eyes wide. "Yuki, are you okay? You're turning pale—"
But Yuyu's head snapped toward him with unnatural speed.
"Don't touch her."
Zero froze, fear creeping across his face.
Yuki's voice cracked. "Yuyu… stop."
---
The Gathering — Sacrifice Ghouls Assemble
A piercing horn sounded through the Threadhall, vibrating the walls.
Leaf's bright green hair appeared around a corner. "Yuki! Yuyu! They're calling every Sacrifice Ghoul to the main chamber—leaders included!"
Behind him stood two new ghouls:
Soot — small, ember-freckled, eyes glowing like coals.
Miren — tall, river-calm, movements fluid like water.
Leaf gestured wildly. "Hurry up, the air's turning weird. Feels like something big's about to drop."
Yuyu's eyes flickered. "It is."
They walked to the Ritual Chamber—an enormous space shaped like a circular abyss, the floor etched with countless overlapping sigils. The leaders stood at the upper platform:
Vespera, draped in violet markings that pulsed with authority.
Hollowstep, skeletal and drifting like smoke.
Riven, dark-eyed and silent as stone.
Voices quieted instantly.
Vespera spoke.
"There has been a disturbance in the lower Web."
Riven continued, tone cutting like obsidian.
"Pure ghouls have been sighted leaving their domains."
A ripple of fear swept through the chamber.
Miren whispered, "Pure ghouls…?"
Soot grinned nervously. "Didn't think they actually existed."
Yuyu said nothing.
Her stillness was too perfect.
Hollowstep's hollow voice echoed across the stone.
"We have reason to believe one has infiltrated this Web… disguised."
Yuki's stomach twisted violently.
Leaf muttered, "Who the hell would be crazy enough to do that?"
Yuyu laughed softly.
A quiet, chilling sound.
"Perhaps," she said playfully, "it's Yuki."
Leaf snorted. "Right. Yuki? A pure ghoul?"
But Yuki stood frozen, because she felt Yuyu's gaze linger on her—too long, too heavy, too intimate.
Like she was marking her all over again.
---
The Ritual Announcement
Vespera lifted her staff.
"A Verification Ritual will take place tonight. We need volunteers."
A hush fell.
"Pairs only," Riven added. "Duo-bonded ones."
Yuki's bones turned to ice.
Yuyu lifted her hand.
Calm.
Certain.
Claiming.
"We volunteer."
Her voice was silk and finality.
"Yuyu—!" Yuki choked.
But Yuyu didn't even look at her.
She stared forward with a faint smile—one that didn't hide what she truly was anymore.
Not to Yuki. Not after that binding heat. Not after the shift in her aura.
A pure ghoul.
A predator in human shape.
And Yuki had just been bound to her.