Chapter Text
“The mind is the easiest thing in the world to reshape.
Humans do it to themselves every day.”
— Kurokai
Snow no longer reached the shrine where Kurokai remained.
The falling flakes dissolved before touching the ruined grounds, swallowed by the mass of spirit corruption spreading beneath the ancient cedar roots.
The shrine itself had once been considered sacred.
Now it's just an echo of the Seraphels existence.
Dark veins pulsed faintly across shattered stone while distorted shadows crawled slowly along broken pillars like living nerves beneath skin.
Kurokai sat alone at the center of it all, with his sword rested across his lap.
In a way, the sword is Kurokai's soul itself.
Not just his though.
He's been devouring souls for countless years now.
He's slowly forgetting who he was though, since each soul has it's own fragments of memories.
Countless thoughts and decisions echo throughout his mind.
The Hive, he likes to call it.
With it, every Mourner is connected to eachother and Kurokai's able to observe through them.
That was the misunderstanding the Seraphels made.
Kurokai did not command thought. (he techinally does but very rarely)
He merely listened to it.
Fear.
Hatred.
Grief.
Everything that makes up a Mourner.
Kurokai is a Mourner himself, but he has a rather unique power.
The ability to create pathways through each soul and esstientally become them.
It's why he's able to understand and have authority over a species such as the Mourners.
They carry those emotions back to him endlessly.
An invisible network woven through humanity itself.
For the first time in centuries though, the network he has created so meticulously, has failed him. (very advanced words yes)
The shrine darkened faintly as dozens of distorted figures knelt soundlessly beyond the torii gates.
(I SEARCHED THIS UP ON GOOGLE OKAY IT SAID THE RED/ORANGE GATES AND SOMETHING CALLED THE SANDO GUYS IM NOT ARIGATO OR SUM I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS WORKS)
Their stolen faces twitched unevenly against their shadowy siltuohette. (i mean i guess also in the rough draft i mispelled half of these words so my fault)
One stepped forward carefully, its jaw split open unnaturally.
“We cannot locate the vessel.”
Every single pale face on its body had spoken at the same time.
( just to clarify, it's not JUST their faces but also their heads that got absorb so I guess that's why the vocal chords work like most of the head is hidden except the faces yk)
Kurokai remained still.
Another Mourner spoke immediately after.
“The soul disappeared after contact.”
“No resonance.”
“No celestial trace.”
“No spiritual fragmentation.”
Three more Mourners had decided to report.
The Soul Vessel had vanished into humanity itself.
Kurokai’s fingers tightened slightly around the sheath of his blade.
“...Impossible,” one Mourner rasped quietly.
“No,” Kurokai replied softly.
“Only inconvenient.” (yo stop tryna act nonchalant you know so well you wanna run the fade lmao)
The shrine fell silent again and his gray eyes lowered thoughtfully.
The soul had chosen someone. (it's not like special bs like oh shiori is special, it's finders keepers but it CAN be a little picky like first person to come in contact yk)
The Lumen had always been sensitive to emotional composition.
Specifically, the structure of the human heart which Mourners and Seraphels lack. (veilkeepers can have the soul but kurokai was deciding on just eating the soul so yikes)
Kurokai closed his eyes slowly to listen.
The Hive stretched endlessly through Yokohama.
Millions of thoughts echo through his mind and he sees countless memories.
People changing themselves constantly just to survive another day.
Students pretending confidence or parents suppressing resentment. (alright bro i failed ONE test)
Children learning "life lessons" which change them for the better or the worse.
Humanity shedding pieces of itself endlessly.
Adapting.
Rotting.
Evolving.
Kurokai smiled faintly.
“Humans are fascinating,” he murmured. (yo shut up this is for plot okay im sorry that gave me the ick too)
The Mourners remained motionless.
“They peel away parts of themselves so casually.” (like the peelerz candy i've only tried the mango/peach one)
His voice stayed soft, almost thoughtful.
“A child learns silence because honesty embarrasses them.”
“A woman learns cruelty because kindness failed her.”
“A man learns apathy because he's forced to keep it to himself.”
Kurokai’s fingers traced lightly along the blackened edge of his sword.
“Layer after layer.”
There's a beat of silence.
“Until eventually…”
His eyes slowly opened.
“…they no longer remember what they looked like underneath.” (very aura i guess but chop chop this took me fucking 4 hours like started this right after school btw)
The dead trees outside of the shrine seem to shrink a bit more. (im crine I only added that to signify that's it's winter)
One of the Mourners lowered itself further.
“What should we do?”
Kurokai stood slowly.
The souls surrounding the shrine stirred violently in response.
“Continue searching.”
“The vessel cannot hide forever.”
His gaze drifted toward the distant lights of Yokohama below the mountains.
Thousands of glowing windows beneath the night sky.
Each one containing someone trying to become something the world would accept.
Kurokai paused for a moment.
A flicker across the Hive and his expression changed slightly.
The presence vanished almost immediately beneath layers of ordinary human emotion.
Kurokai had already felt it though.
A soul hiding behind a false mask.
“Oh."
One of the Mourners twitched.
“Lord Kurokai?” (bruh im crineeeee)
He ignored it completely.
Gray eyes narrowed faintly toward the city lights below.
It wasn't a Veilkeeper as he thought it would be.
A human isn't supposed to be able to hide themselves with a soul that bright. (it's the lumen guys shiori is average I promise no bs power scaling)
Interesting.
The Lumen would never choose strength alone.
It would choose compatibility, or emotional resemblance.
Kurokai tilted his head slightly.
Then laughed to himself. (don't drop from school or this could be you)
The sound echoed strangely through the ruined shrine.
“So that’s the shape your loneliness took.”
The Mourners remained completely still.
Kurokai’s smile widened just slightly.
“Tell me,” he murmured quietly toward the city below.
“When the world finally forces you to change..”
"..then what will emerge from that false skin?" (BARS im joking bro i js sound mad schizo)
Far below the mountains, in a quiet apartment lit by soft yellow light.
Shiori Ayuzawa suddenly froze mid-page while studying.
A cold feeling crawled briefly down her spine before disappearing.
She slowly looked toward the window but nothing was there.
For some reason though, It felt like something had just noticed her. (prolly cuz it did like damn guys what a chapter)