The rain had started an hour ago. It was a fine mist. It did not soak so much as cling. Kaito Ashen stood at the entrance of his apartment building. The automatic doors were broken. He pushed the glass manually. It groaned.
He stepped into the lobby. The light flickered overhead. He did not look in the mirror near the mailboxes. He knew what he would see.
His jacket was torn at the left shoulder. The fabric hung in loose threads. Beneath it, the skin was bruised purple. The entity's claw had grazed him during the partial merge.
The adrenaline was fading now. The pain was arriving. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat.
Kuro said: "You are bleeding."
Kaito said: "It is stopped."
Kuro said: "You look like you lost a fight with a grinder."
Kaito said: "I won."
Kuro said: "Winning does not fix the jacket."
