Ruka had started her star journey.
She had begun to feel the weight of the whispers.
A few months had passed.
Ruka sat on the worn couch in the dance practice room.
Quiet. Alone. Suspicious.
And then… the building shifted.
A new monster arrived.
Enami Asa.
Twelve years old.
A growing teen, unaware of the shadows waiting.
Unaware of the secrets of the building.
Unaware of the darkness stirring within herself.
She stepped inside.
The doors groaned.
Lights flickered.
Asa's strides echoed,loud.
Deliberate. Powerful.
But it wasn't just her footsteps.
Something else moved in the dark.
Something whispered.
"Second…"
The word slithered through the walls.
Soft. Hungry. Vanishing like wind.
Asa flinched.
Her eyes darted.
She knew she saw something.
But she couldn't be sure.
The building was watching.
And it had just acknowledged its second monster.
Asa moved toward the elevator.
She stepped in, unaware this star journey would change her entirely.
The elevator shivered as it moved.
At the first floor, she froze.
The practice room.
"H-hello?"
Her voice was small, shy, trembling.
It echoed across the empty room.
Ruka looked up.
A sweet little girl stood at the door.
"H-hi… I'm a new trainee. Enami Asa."
Her voice was soft. Innocent. Fragile.
"Welcome, Asa! I'm Ruka. Kawai Ruka."
Ruka offered her hand.
Asa took it.
They didn't know.
This simple, sweet interaction…
Would make them unbearably powerful.
Ruka smiled at her.
Sweet. Innocent. Fragile.
But the building didn't smile.
It shivered.
A pulse ran through the walls, rattled the mirrors, hummed through the floor.
Asa stepped fully inside the room.
The air grew heavier.
Lights flickered again.
Shadows stretched across the corners, whispering, curling toward her.
"Second…"
The word had followed her.
It wasn't a voice.
It was the building itself, breathing, alive, hungry.
Ruka felt it too.
Her heart skipped.
She glanced at Asa.
The girl's eyes…
They weren't just shy.
They were sharp. Hungry. Curious.
Asa tilted her head.
She didn't run.
She didn't cry.
She watched.
A single mirror along the wall rippled.
Her reflection lingered longer than it should have.
Then it smiled.
Asa hadn't.
The room seemed smaller now.
The shadows closer.
Even Ruka felt it:
The building was alive, and it had just claimed its second monster.
They shook hands again, but this time, it felt different.
A spark passed through their fingertips.
Not warmth.
Not light.
Power.
The whispers weren't finished.
They never were.
And as the lights flickered one last time, a shadow moved behind the door.
Watching. Waiting.
The game had only just begun....