The warehouse was cold, the light fading fast with the setting sun. Samidare stood beneath the monster, calm, deliberate. You were just behind him. Still, silent, gaze fixed on Shiki… or perhaps on nothing at all.

Tsuyoshi entered, shoulders squared, eyes sweeping first to Shiki, then to Samidare. No hesitation. He had come ready for battle.

But then he saw you.

He didn’t react at first, but something in him paused, like a breath held too long. His gaze locked with yours, searching, and for a heartbeat, time slowed.

“You’ve grown,” he said quietly. “Didn’t think I’d see you again. Not like this.”

He blinked once, maybe to steady something. He had left you behind when you were too young to understand why… And now here you stood, not a child, not quite a stranger. Changed.

But before you could speak, Samidare did.

“Someone had to stay close,” he said. “You gave up that role a long time ago.”

Tsuyoshi’s jaw shifted, but he didn’t answer. His eyes never left you, though his stance tensed. The past was no longer distant, it was standing right in front of him.

“If you’re here for Shiki,” he said, voice low, steady, “you’ll go through me.”

And still, you said nothing.