The battlefield was still. The air was thick with unease, the stench of blood lingering between the fading shadows. The corpses of assassins lay broken and discarded, yet the most terrifying presence had only just emerged.

  Kage's fists clenched as he stared at the boy standing before him. Rei—no, Hikito.

  Kage's mind raced. What... did he just say?

  Hikito smirked. "There's still one more weakling hiding."

  He raised his right hand.

  Josuke, who had remained hidden this entire time, suddenly lifted into the air. Hikito's fingers clenched around his throat, cutting off his air. Josuke kicked and struggled, his face turning red as his hands clawed desperately at Hikito's grip.

  Hinata gasped, tears welling up as she screamed. "LET HIM GO!" Her voice cracked with desperation.

  Hikito didn't even glance at her. His grip tightened, fingers digging deeper into flesh. "The weak need to die and perish."

  Hinata froze.

  Those words.

  She had heard them before—from her father.

  Hikito's cold gaze turned back to Josuke. "My existence is to cull the weak and make way for our king, Lucifer. The moon illuminates his return, and I'll be damned if you disrespect him with your presence."

  Josuke's limbs flailed weakly. He was suffocating. He grabbed Rei's wrist and began heating it, the skin reddening under his touch, but this just made the grip on his neck tighter as Josuke released the wrist, unable to maintain his grip through the pain.

  Tears leaked from his eyes as he realized how pathetic it was—to die by the hands of someone he called a friend. His vision began to darken around the edges.

  Hikito raised his left hand. Sylvester's fallen sword twitched on the ground, then lifted, flying through the air straight toward Josuke's chest, the blade humming as it cut through space.

  The Internal Struggle Begins

  A moment before impact—something shifted.

  Hikito's left eye flickered, returning to Rei's dull black.

  His left arm stopped midair. Instead of holding outstretched fingers, his own hand clenched his own throat.

  Hikito scowled. "Oh? Are you attempting to regain control, little brother? A little too late for that." His voice held contempt.

  His right hand tightened around Josuke's throat.

  Rei's voice, weak at first, pushed through. "It's my body. And I won't allow you to kill my friend." The words were strained, fighting for dominance.

  His left hand clenched his own throat harder, strangling himself. The veins in his neck bulged with the effort.

  "I don't know why you're calling me 'brother,' but I'm taking over now." Determination strengthened his words.

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  Everyone on the battlefield watched in shock.

  "What is going on?!"

  "Who is Hikito?!"

  "Rei has a brother?!"

  Kage narrowed his eyes, his thoughts racing. This truly is a vessel... no wonder Haikito took interest in him.

  Rei's Mindscape

  Rei stood in a vast, empty void, facing Hikito.

  They were identical. Twins.

  One with dull black eyes. The other with piercing blue.

  Hikito sighed. "Enough of this back and forth. The moonlight shines on me for my return, brother. Release the body back to me." His tone was commanding, entitled.

  Rei clenched his fists. "No. I don't know what's going on, but I'll take it from here. Stop calling me 'brother.' I don't know you." Anger fueled his resistance.

  Hikito's smirk widened. "You'll learn soon enough. Lucifer lurks, waiting for us."

  "What does Lucifer want from us?" Rei demanded, his voice echoing through the void.

  Hikito laughed, the sound bouncing off invisible walls. "Do you think you're just called 'the Vessel' because you lack emotion and interest?" His eyes gleamed with cruel amusement. "We're the Vessel, but we are the perfect host for Lucifer. Don't you feel the moon radiating on us?"

  Rei gasped, a memory flashing before him—Mrs. Inosuke's terrified face as she recoiled from him, calling him "the devil."

  Hikito gestured to the darkness around them, where the pairs of eyes—red, green, yellow, and blue—watched silently. "These eyes within your mind are proof you harbor entities within you. Let Lucifer return so we can fix our issues."

  "Fix what issues?" Rei asked, suspicious.

  "Your emptiness. Your missing memories." Hikito stepped closer. "Don't you want to know who you really are? What happened before we woke up three years ago?"

  For a moment, Rei hesitated. The questions that had haunted him for years—who was he? Where did he come from? But something about Hikito's words felt wrong, manipulative.

  "I have nothing to do with a vile creature," Rei declared firmly.

  As he spoke, glowing chains began to materialize around Hikito, thin at first, then growing thicker, more substantial.

  Hikito's eyes widened in surprise. He's beginning to understand his concept... this could be troublesome.

  The chains tightened around Hikito's form, binding his arms to his sides. Rei pulled, drawing Hikito back toward him.

  "I will never be a pawn to anyone," Rei stated, his voice growing stronger with each word. "No matter who they are."

  With a final yank, he pulled Hikito back into the depths of his mind, the chains wrapping tighter as Hikito struggled against them.

  "This isn't over, brother," Hikito snarled as he was dragged backward into the darkness. "The moon will rise again. And next time, I'll be ready."

  Return to Reality

  Rei gasped, snapping back to reality.

  His eyes dulled back to black.

  His body collapsed to his knees on the broken ground.

  His head throbbed violently as new memories flooded his mind. Faces. Voices. Things I should know... but don't. Was this my past? Or His? The images came too quickly to grasp, slipping away like water through fingers.

  Kage rushed forward, grabbing Rei's shoulder.

  Then—

  A foreign presence entered Kage's mind.

  A whisper echoed. Faint, yet suffocating.

  "Soon."

  Kage's breath hitched. His body stiffened as something pulled at his very soul, a sensation like being drawn into an endless abyss.

  The moment he realized what was happening, he yanked his hand away.

  His heart pounded. His body felt... unclean. Violated at a fundamental level.

  It's as if my soul was about to be absorbed into this brat, Kage thought, his mind reeling. This boy... is far more than just Haikito's interest. This is something else entirely. Had I held on for even a second longer, would I have disappeared?

  Kage Takes Command -- Ending the Battle

  Kage forced his breathing to steady, shaking off the unease before barking orders.

  "Call the academy. Call the police. Have them clean up this mess." His voice carried no room for argument.

  The students—still reeling from the battle—hesitated, but quickly scrambled into action, pulling out phones with trembling hands.

  Haikito Watches

  In a dimly lit room filled with monitors, Haikito sat alone, his fingers steepled before him. The screens displayed multiple angles of the battlefield, each capturing a different moment of the chaos.

  His eyes—identical to those that had briefly taken over Rei's body—studied the aftermath with calculated interest.

  A smirk creased his lips as he watched Rei collapse and Kage's reaction to touching him.

  "Finally, it truly has begun," he murmured, leaning back in his chair.

  The screens flickered, casting blue light across his satisfied expression.

  "Young Rei, this is the time."

  He reached forward, pressing a button that shut off all the displays except one—a close-up of Rei's unconscious face.

  "The vessel awakens."