It had been a little over four months since Hiroy and I died.
That was still a strange sentence to think.
Four months since the alley. Four months since gunfire. Four months since Kokono brought us into this place and Muray decided sleep was apparently a luxury for weak people.
My body had changed.
Not enough for me to call it powerful, but enough that I noticed every difference. My breathing lasted longer during endurance drills. My eyes tracked movement better. My hands stopped trembling when magic flowed through them. Darkness, fire, and earth responded to me most naturally, like they were waiting just beneath my skin.
Hiroy was different too.
Light, lightning, and water gathered around him like they belonged there. When he trained, his magic looked clean. Controlled. Heroic in a way that annoyed me only because it suited him too well.
Even our weapons had begun showing personality.
Edith and Zenith rested at my waist as twin daggers most of the time, but during training they shifted constantly. A sword when I needed reach. A handgun when distance mattered. A chained blade when Muray tried to corner me.
They didn't just copy what I imagined.
They reacted to what I needed.
Hiroy's scythe was the same, but different.
His weapon was long, elegant, and silver-gold, with a crescent blade that hummed faintly whenever he moved. Unlike Edith and Zenith, it didn't shift into forms from his imagination. It created the right weapon for the moment: a spear of light to pierce defense, a shield-blade to protect, a curved sword to redirect force.
My weapons adapted to instinct.
His adapted to purpose.
Somehow, that felt like us.
That morning, Kokono led us into the garden behind the dojo.
Mist clung to the grass. Pale sunlight poured over rows of ancient stone lanterns. At the center of the clearing, two summoning circles waited.
One was dark purple, almost black, its lines shifting like smoke trapped beneath glass.
The other was radiant gold, bright enough to warm the air around it.
Kokono stood between them, hands folded within her kimono sleeves.
"Today, you will summon your first contracted beasts."
Muray stood behind her with his arms crossed, looking as thrilled as a funeral statue.
"These companions will become part of your combat foundation," Kokono continued. "But they will not obey you simply because you call them."
"So we fight them?" I asked.
Muray's mouth twitched.
Kokono gave me a patient smile. "If necessary."
Hiroy glanced at me.
I sighed. "It's always necessary."
"Shiro," Kokono said, gesturing to the dark circle, "your strongest affinity is darkness. That one belongs to you."
I stepped onto the circle.
The moment my boots touched it, the markings pulsed beneath me. Cold power crawled up my legs and settled in my chest.
Hiroy moved to the golden circle, his scythe resting calmly across his back.
"So mine is this one."
The gold beneath his feet answered with a warm flare.
Kokono's voice turned solemn.
"Place your hands over the circles. Focus on the strongest companion your soul can call. Do not imagine only strength. Imagine what would stand beside you when the world turns against you."
That last sentence sank deeper than I expected.
I knelt and placed my hand over the purple circle.
At first, I thought of monsters.
A wolf.
A serpent.
A beast with claws large enough to rip apart mountains.
But none of them felt right.
Then something moved in the back of my mind.
Wings.
Scales.
A shadow crossing the moon.
Not a monster.
A guardian.
The circle erupted.
Black smoke spiraled upward, swallowing the garden in darkness. The air grew heavy. Ancient. My heart pounded as something massive answered from the other side.
Across from me, Hiroy's circle exploded with golden radiance.
The two powers collided overhead, darkness and light splitting the sky like opposing storms.
Then the ground shook.
A dragon emerged from my circle.
Massive obsidian scales shimmered like polished night. Violet fire pulsed beneath the cracks of her armor-like hide, and crimson eyes opened with the fury of a creature that had never once known defeat. Her wings unfurled, blotting out half the garden.
From Hiroy's circle stepped a white tiger.
Her fur glowed with divine light, each stripe lined in gold. She moved with quiet majesty, paws touching the grass without bending it. Her eyes were sharp, ancient, and intelligent.
The dragon lowered her head toward me.
Her voice rumbled through the garden.
"A human summoned me?"
The word human sounded like an insult.
Her eyes narrowed.
"I will reduce your bones to ash."
The white tiger looked from Hiroy to me, then back to the dragon.
"Careful, Black Monarch," she said, her voice calm and rich. "These two are not ordinary."
The dragon's eyes flicked toward Hiroy first.
Then back to me.
For a single second, her pupils thinned.
Not fear.
Recognition.
It vanished almost immediately, replaced by arrogance.
"No human commands me."
I stood slowly.
Edith and Zenith pulsed at my waist.
"Good," I said, drawing both daggers. "I wasn't planning to command you for free."
Hiroy sighed from the other circle.
"You know, we could try talking first."
"You talk. I'll improvise."
The white tiger's golden gaze softened slightly at Hiroy's restraint.
"You do not wish to dominate me," she observed.
Hiroy gripped his scythe and smiled faintly.
"No. I want someone I can trust."
The tiger studied him for a long moment.
Then she lunged.
Hiroy moved instantly.
His scythe flashed gold, reshaping mid-swing into a shielded crescent blade that caught her claw. Light burst outward, but he held firm. The tiger twisted, faster than sight, but Hiroy's weapon shifted again, forming a spear of compressed light that forced her back without cutting too deep.
Clean.
Controlled.
Annoyingly impressive.
My dragon, meanwhile, decided subtlety was for people who enjoyed getting stepped on.
She opened her jaws and released a torrent of black flame.
I dove sideways.
The fire vaporized the stone behind me.
"Okay," I muttered, rolling to my feet. "Rude."
The dragon slammed one claw down.
I crossed Edith and Zenith. The daggers fused into a curved black sword just in time to catch the impact. The force drove me to one knee, cracking the ground beneath me.
Pain shot through my arms.
The dragon leaned closer.
"You are weak."
Something hot stirred in my chest.
Not rage.
Not exactly.
Memory.
Muray crushing me into the floor.
Hiroy always standing at the same height I did.
My own voice from years ago, promising myself I would never be too weak to protect anyone again.
"I know," I said through gritted teeth.
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
I smiled.
"That's why I train."
Darkness and fire surged from my body at once.
Edith and Zenith split apart again, one dagger swallowing black flame while the other burned violet-red. I pushed off the ground and moved under her claw, slashing across the scales of her foreleg.
The cut was shallow.
Barely anything.
But it was enough to make her freeze.
Not from pain.
From shock.
Behind me, Hiroy released a burst of light and wind that sent the white tiger skidding across the grass. He didn't press the attack. He stopped, breathing hard, scythe held low.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said. "But I won't let you look down on me either."
The tiger's expression shifted.
Respect.
My dragon stared at Hiroy, then at me.
"Your companion shines loudly," she said.
I pointed one dagger at her.
"And I don't?"
Her gaze returned to me.
The garden went silent.
Then, slowly, her expression changed.
For a heartbeat, I saw it again.
That strange recognition buried beneath her pride.
Her wings lowered slightly.
"You smell like destruction," she whispered. "But your heart does not match it."
The words hit something inside me I didn't understand.
I tightened my grip on Edith and Zenith.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She did not answer.
Instead, she lowered her massive head.
The white tiger did the same before Hiroy.
"We have witnessed your strength," they said together. "And more importantly, your will. Mark us, and we shall become your eternal companions."
Kokono smiled, though her eyes lingered on the dragon a little too long.
Muray grunted.
"Acceptable."
Kokono handed each of us a small ceremonial knife.
"Bind them with your blood. Names are important. Choose carefully."
I stepped toward the dragon.
Up close, she was terrifying. Beautiful too, in the way storms were beautiful from very far away. Her eyes watched me carefully as I cut my thumb and pressed it to her forehead.
A crimson mark bloomed beneath my blood, glowing dark violet at the edges.
"I name you Kyoko."
The dragon went still.
Kokono blinked once.
Hiroy looked at me like I had committed some kind of crime.
"What?" I asked.
"You named your dragon after the goddess?"
"It felt right."
The dragon, now Kyoko, gave a low rumble.
Not anger.
Amusement.
"I accept."
Hiroy stepped before the white tiger and pressed his blood to her brow. A golden mark bloomed instantly.
"I name you Syrah."
The tiger lowered herself beside him, her tail curling around her paws.
"A worthy name."
The contract settled into my body like a second heartbeat.
I could feel Kyoko now. Not her thoughts exactly, but her presence. Proud. Ancient. Irritated. Loyal.
Somehow that combination made sense.
Kokono gave us the rest of the day to bond and test compatibility.
We learned quickly that Kyoko was no ordinary demonic beast. She was the Black Monarch, a ruler among demonic beasts, capable of lending me speed, flight support, destructive pressure, and access to lesser beasts beneath her command.
Syrah was the same for Hiroy's heavenly beasts. Her presence amplified his light and wind-based movement, stabilizing his magic and sharpening his protective instincts.
By sunset, I was exhausted again.
Naturally, Muray ruined the peace.
He appeared in the training yard with his usual expression: bored disappointment.
"One beast is not enough."
I stared at him.
"It has been one day."
"And you are still breathing. Summon another."
I looked toward Hiroy.
He looked back.
Neither of us had the energy to argue.
Hiroy went first.
His golden magic rose into the air, forming a second summoning circle. This one opened with the sound of beating wings.
A majestic pegasus descended from the light, her white mane flowing like clouds, wings shining with faint lightning.
Hiroy smiled immediately.
"I name you Shura."
The pegasus lowered her head gracefully.
"Then I will carry your will across the skies."
My turn.
I placed my hand over the dark circle again.
This time, I didn't think of wings.
I thought of pursuit.
Of something that would never lose a trail.
Something that could walk beside me when darkness became too thick to see through.
The circle split open with a low growl.
Three pairs of eyes appeared first.
Then a massive Cerberus stepped forward, black fur smoking faintly around his shoulders. Each head carried a different expression: one fierce, one watchful, one almost amused. Crimson markings burned across his body like old runes.
He looked at me.
Then at Kyoko.
Then back to me.
Unlike the dragon, he did not threaten me.
He bowed immediately.
"My lord."
A chill crawled down my spine.
Muray's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kokono's expression became unreadable.
I swallowed.
"…That was easy."
The Cerberus's center head smiled, revealing too many teeth.
"Some scents are older than introductions."
I had no idea what that meant.
I wasn't sure I wanted to.
Still, I cut my thumb again and pressed my blood to his forehead.
"I name you Sangui."
The mark formed.
The bond snapped into place.
Sangui stepped beside me silently, all three heads watching the shadows around us.
By the time the sun vanished, the four summons stood with us in the training yard.
Kyoko, the Black Monarch.
Syrah, the heavenly tiger.
Shura, the radiant pegasus.
Sangui, the three-headed hound.
Hiroy adjusted his scythe across his shoulder and looked toward me with that familiar grin.
"So," he said, "still think you'll beat me?"
Edith and Zenith pulsed at my waist.
Kyoko rumbled behind me.
Sangui's three heads grinned.
I smiled back.
"Obviously."
Muray raised his wooden sword.
"Good. Then prove it."
The training began again.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, I felt it clearly.
We were getting stronger.
But something beneath that strength was waiting.
Watching.
And I had the uncomfortable feeling it had been watching me for a very long time.