───────────────
✦「 Footsteps Beyond Frost • A Gate of Clouds • The First Invitation 」✦
───────────────
The cold storms of the far-east finally quieted behind him, leaving only a faint crystalline whisper clinging to Akuma's shoulders as he stepped out of the blizzard's grave. His borrowed body — tall, broad-shouldered, the exact flesh and texture of Haru — slowly shifted back into his true form; pale porcelain skin, a strangely still expression, and hair so black it absorbed the dim sky. His eyes were dull, empty yet sharp, a contradiction that felt too natural for him. He did not smile, did not frown, did not breathe in surprise. He simply existed, calm as a blade resting on a shrine.
Before him stood the towering gates of the Azure Cloud Kingdom — white stone spires swirling like frozen smoke, embroidered with crystal-blue runes that pulsed faintly with warmth. Compared to the deathly cold he came from, the entrance alone felt like a completely different world.
Two guards stood at the front, armored in layered cloud-steel, polished and gleaming. As Akuma came nearer, their grip on their spears tightened.
Guard #1:"State your name, identification, and region of origin. This entryway leads to royal ground. Unauthorized crossing is forbidden."
Guard #2:"And keep your distance. You've got no badge, no mark, not even a traveler's token. For all we know, you could be… well—"his voice dipped, implying villain, spy, traitor without speaking it aloud.
Akuma paused.The wind draped silence around him like a cloak. His face remained still — unreadable, soft yet unnaturally blank.
He slowly tilted his head, analyzing their tone, their structure of speech, their human anxieties. Patterns. Predictable patterns. He had mimicked Haru's friends before — replicating speech was just another operation.
But instinctively, quietly, another response almost surfaced.A desire to end them.Fast. Efficient. No wasted motion.
Instead, he simply asked:
Akuma:"…Identification? I do not possess what you request. Should that absence truly equate to danger in your system of judgment?"
The guards exchanged looks — long looks — their suspicion thickening.
Guard #2:"You're avoiding the question. Can't answer where you came from? Then step back. We're not repeating ourselves."
Guard #1:"One last warning. Leave now… before we make you."
Akuma blinked once.Just once.Slowly.
His fingers twitched — a very small movement.Dark shadow-bones rippled faintly under his skin, eager. Unstable. His fighting instincts were nonexistent, but his killing potential was not. If he swung, he would simply aim to erase.
He almost did.
He almost let the bones bloom.
But then—
A soft voice cut through the tension like warm daylight cracking frost.
???:"Guards. Hold your spears."
Both men stiffened immediately and turned.Akuma turned too, his eyes narrowing a millimeter.
Descending from a floating stepped platform of light was a girl dressed in a long gradient robe of blue-white, her hair drifting like soft winter mist behind her. Her eyes were an icy violet, observing Akuma with an expression caught between curiosity and command.
Princess Yakumo.The heir of the Azure Clouds.
Her presence alone bent the atmosphere.
She approached Akuma slowly, the wind parting for her.
Yakumo:"You stand before the eastern gate without name, without record, without coldbite scars… and yet you survived the frost lands."She stepped closer, lowering her gaze to study him."That alone makes you interesting enough not to be thrown out."
Akuma was silent, but his stare followed her precisely.She felt him examining her — breaking down the way she breathed, spoke, walked.Almost machine-like, yet far too humanly calm.
Guard #1:"Princess Yakumo, with respect—this stranger is unidentified."
Yakumo:"And I identify him," she replied sharply."If someone survives the frost without even shivering, he deserves to be questioned inside… not left to freeze or provoke."
She turned fully to Akuma.
Yakumo:"…Who are you, really? And what were you doing so far east?"
Akuma processed. Her question. Her cadence. Her intention.
Then he spoke — slowly, smoothly, every word sounding deliberate, like he was assembling language in real time:
Akuma:"My designation appears unknown… even to myself.I woke amidst the frost. With no past. No recollection. No origin.Therefore, I cannot offer what I do not possess."
He held her gaze.Unblinking.
Akuma:"However… if information is your objective, Princess… then I remain willing to learn. And to answer what I can."
Yakumo's eyes widened slightly.Not in fear—in intrigue.
This boy was strange.Too soft-spoken.Too empty.Too controlled.
A normal person lost in frost would panic. Cry. Shake. Beg.
But he was… blank.Not lifeless — but unreadably quiet.
Yakumo:"…Very well. Come with me. You will explain more inside."
As she turned, Akuma followed her, calm, fluid, his steps soundless.But inside, a fragment of curiosity sparked—small, brief, like the echo of a distant laugh from another life.
He wondered…
Why did she choose him?Why did she take interest?What would she ask?What would he learn?
And more importantly—
Would this kingdom be worth keeping intact?
Or would it join the cold?
───────────────