Tokyo's heartbeat never stops. The city hums with life—horns blare, neon lights flicker, distant laughter lingers in the air. But for Yuzuha Hinamiyo, the world has stopped spinning. The noise is nothing but static, a cruel backdrop to the deafening silence inside her.
She stands in the dimly lit police station, her breath shallow, her hands trembling. Her legs feel like lead, but she refuses to collapse. Not here. Not in front of them.
"Someone killed my children,"she whispers.
The officers exchange glances, hesitant.
Her eyes burn. Her heart is raw. "Someone killed my children, Izui and Inui!" The words come out in a wretched scream, shattering the stale air of the station.
The officer before her shifts uncomfortably. "Hinamiyo-san, please calm down. We understand your grief—"
"You understand nothing!" she snarls, her voice venomous. Her chest rises and falls rapidly. "Do you think they were just dogs to me? Do you think they were replaceable? They were my family. My only family. And now they're dead. Gone. Slaughtered like they meant nothing."
A lump rises in her throat. She can still hear their paws tapping against the wooden floors, still feel the weight of their warm bodies curling against her at night, still see the way their tails wagged excitedly whenever she came home. But now—
Nothing.
Only cold bodies, lifeless and abandoned.
The officer hesitates, his expression softening, but it only fuels her rage."Find who did this." Her voice is ice, sharp and cutting. "Find them before I do. Because if I do—"
Her nails dig into her palms, crescent moons of blood forming in her skin.
The room is too bright. Too loud. Too suffocating.
The officer clears his throat, shifting papers around. "We have reason to believe this wasn't just a random act. There were... disturbances around your apartment building the past few nights. We suspect these men are linked."
Something in her gut twists.
Her voice is hollow when she asks, "What do you mean?"
The officer hesitates. A flicker of something unreadable passes through his gaze. "Hinamiyo-san, this is bigger than your dogs. Someone's targeting you."
Her stomach drops.
Targeting me?
Her mind fractures, thoughts spiraling like a cyclone. No. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. She lived her life carefully, avoiding trouble, never letting her guard down. But now—
Her babies were dead. And someone had made that happen.
The walls of the station close in. The air thickens. Her heartbeat is a war drum pounding in her ears.
She doesn't remember how she leaves, only that she's outside suddenly, Tokyo's neon glow warping around her like a dream.
At the Animal Hospital
The scent of antiseptic burns her nostrils. The cold, sterile light washes everything in pale misery.
They lie before her—Izui and Inui, their lifeless forms too still, too wrong.
Her body refuses to move. Her hands shake violently as she steps forward.
She wants to call their names, wants to see their tails wag, wants to feel their warmth against her legs. But they are gone.
"I need an examination now,"she says, her voice eerily steady despite the storm inside her."I'll take them tomorrow. No one touches them until then."
The doctor hesitates. "Hinamiyo-san... are you sure?"
Her fingers tighten around her coat. "I'll bury them myself. No one else will lay a hand on them."
There's an emptiness in her voice. The doctor senses it but does not question her further.
Then—
"Yuzuha-san! Yuzuha-san!"
Her head snaps up. A small boy runs toward her, eyes bright with a mixture of awe and innocence.
She barely finds her voice. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kiyokata Harichi!" he beams. "I've seen you on TV!"
A hollow smile ghosts her lips. "I see."
He shifts excitedly. "You're even prettier in real life! I think you're way prettier than on TV!"
Her chest constricts. If only he knew. If only he knew the ugliness festering beneath her skin, the rotting grief clawing at her insides.
His gaze flickers to the examination table. "You're here with your dogs, right? What happened to them? Are they gonna be okay?"
Her throat tightens. "Their names were Izui and Inui..."
"Were?"
She can't do this. She can't explain the unbearable weight of death to a child with such hopeful eyes.
"They're not okay," she murmurs.
Harichi frowns. "Why is the doctor cutting them up? Are they going to be okay?"
The words slam into her like a blade to the gut. Her hands shake.
"I don't know..." Her voice is a breath, breaking apart at the seams. "I don't know anything anymore."
She turns and flees before her grief can consume her whole.
The Abyss Stares Back
The night is cold. Too cold. The air bites against her skin, but she doesn't feel it.
Her phone buzzes.
She barely looks. But when she does—
Unknown Number.
A chill crawls down her spine.
She ignores it.
Her fingers fly across the screen as she messages her landlord about the house. The response comes almost instantly.
Too fast.
A link.
Something in her gut recoils.
She clicks it.
The screen distorts, a faint flicker.
Her stomach churns.
Something is wrong.
Somewhere, unseen, someone is watching.
Her breath quickens. Her skin prickles. Her reflection in the dark glass of the building across the street flickers, warping, twisting.
She blinks.
For a second, just a second—
Blue eyes stare back.
Unblinking. Cold. Amused.
Her blood runs cold.
And then—gone.
The silence presses in around her. Heavy. Suffocating.
A voice hums through the darkness, smooth and taunting.
"You think you can escape me, Yuzuha?"
Her stomach twists into knots.
"I'll bite your smooth flesh, savoring every moment. You'll scream for mercy, but there's no escape. You belong to me now, and I'll make sure you never forget it."
A shiver races down her spine.
The city hums around her, oblivious. But she knows.
She knows she is being hunted.
And the game has only just begun.