The man moved faster than the rain had fallen.
One moment he stood across the street.
The next—
he was already halfway to Kenji.
The black blade in his hand cut through the air without a sound.
Kenji barely had time to blink.
But the shadow beside him reacted instantly.
The darkness beneath their feet surged upward.
Not like smoke.
Not like fog.
Like a wall.
The blade struck it.
For a split second, steel met shadow.
And the street exploded with force.
A shockwave rippled across the pavement.
Windows in the hospital lobby rattled violently.
The attacker landed several feet away, boots scraping across the asphalt as he regained his balance.
Kenji hadn't moved.
He stood exactly where he had been.
The shadow towered beside him now.
Not flat.
Not shapeless.
It had the outline of something tall and vaguely human.
The attacker stared at it.
"That's impossible."
Kenji tilted his head.
"You keep saying that."
The man's eyes darkened.
"That thing shouldn't obey you."
Kenji glanced sideways at the towering silhouette.
"Honestly," he said, "I'm not sure it does."
The shadow shifted slightly.
Like it had heard him.
The attacker's grip tightened around the blade.
"Do you even understand what that is?"
Kenji thought about the darkness he had seen when he died.
The crowded darkness.
The voices.
"No," he admitted.
"But I'm guessing you're about to tell me."
The man lunged again.
This time the blade aimed directly for Kenji's throat.
The shadow moved.
Not in front of Kenji.
Through him.
For a brief instant, Kenji felt something cold pass through his chest.
Then the shadow emerged on the other side.
Its arm—if it could be called that—shot forward.
The attacker froze.
The blade stopped inches from Kenji's neck.
The shadow had grabbed the man's wrist.
Not tightly.
Just enough.
But the man couldn't move.
His eyes widened.
"That's not possible…"
The shadow slowly tightened its grip.
The sound of bones creaking echoed faintly.
Kenji leaned slightly closer to the man.
"You came here to kill me," Kenji said calmly.
"So let's try something different."
The man struggled.
But the shadow held him perfectly still.
Kenji studied the black blade.
"First question."
The man glared at him.
Kenji continued.
"Who exactly are 'they'?"
The attacker didn't answer.
Instead, he smiled.
A slow, unsettling smile.
"You think this ends with me?"
Kenji shrugged.
"It usually does."
The man laughed quietly.
"You crossed the wrong door."
Kenji had heard that before.
"And?"
The man's eyes burned with something close to fanatic belief.
"Now the First Rule applies."
Kenji frowned slightly.
"First rule?"
The man leaned forward as far as the shadow allowed.
"If something escapes death…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"…we hunt it."
Kenji considered that for a moment.
"Seems rude."
The shadow tightened its grip again.
The man winced.
Kenji tilted his head slightly.
"Second question."
The man's breathing grew strained.
Kenji asked calmly:
"What exactly followed me back?"
The man stared at the shadow beside Kenji.
And for the first time—
real fear entered his eyes.
"You don't know?"
Kenji waited.
The man's voice trembled.
"That thing…"
He swallowed.
"…isn't your shadow."
The streetlights flickered again.
Kenji slowly turned his head toward the towering silhouette beside him.
For a brief moment
he thought he saw its face.
And it was smiling.