🛌 Nightfall – Ren's Dream (or Memory?)
It started like always.
The sound of airplane engines.
His mother's laughter.
The glow of the cabin lights.
His little sister curled up beside him with a plush bear.
He was 9.
He remembered this.
The day everything ended.
But something was different.
Ren turned his head toward the aisle… and saw someone else.
A man.
Mid-thirties. White coat. Black gloves.
Face unreadable.
Sitting three rows down. Eyes locked on Ren.
Ren had never seen him in the dream before.
> "What…?"
The stranger raised a hand.
Marked with a symbol.
Ren's symbol.
> "You weren't supposed to remember this," he said calmly.
"But you will. Soon."
The cabin jolted. Alarms blared.
And this time — before the crash — the man vanished in smoke.
Ren jolted awake in his bed, drenched in sweat.
🌀 Jin's Confession
Ren stormed into the ramen shop's back kitchen.
"Who else was on the plane, Jin?"
Jin stopped slicing scallions.
"What?"
"There was someone else. In my dream. He had the Mark. And he knew me."
Jin's eyes darkened.
He set the knife down. Dried his hands slowly.
"Ren… there's something I never told you."
Flashback:
Jin sits across from a man in a dim ramen shop, years ago. The man's face is covered in burn scars.
> "If anything happens… keep him away from the Gate."
> "And if the others find him?"
> "Then he needs to awaken befor
e they do."
Back in present day:
"That man worked with your parents," Jin said slowly. "He was the original Gatekeeper before you."
Ren's blood ran cold. "You mean… I inherited it from him?"
"No. You inherited it because he gave it to
you."
🧩 Meanwhile – Aya Goes Too Far
Back at school, Aya Sato wasn't just investigating anymore.
She was breaking into the AV room.
She connected the school's closed cam loop.
Downloaded footage.
She saw the tunnel fight. The reflections. The glow. Zephyr appearing out of thin air.
"Okay… magic boy confirmed," she muttered.
Then — the lights flickered.
Her laptop screen went black.
And a face appeared.
White eyes.
A mask of glass.
Whispers crawled into her ears.
> "You shouldn't have looked."
Aya scr
eamed — but no one heard.
🔥 Kiyomi's Training Escalates
That night, Ren met Kiyomi on the school rooftop again.
No joking this time.
She lit a flame in her hand and said, "Show me how much you want to protect the people around you."
They sparred. Hard.
Flames scorched the roof tiles.
Ren's Mark pulsed like a heartbeat.
But then he slipped — caught by a blast of his own energy.
He landed on his back, dazed, whispering:
> "I don't know if I'm strong enough…"
Kiyomi stood over him, eyes fierce.
> "Then become strong enough. Or everyon
e you love will burn."
💀 Back at the Watcher's Domain…
The Watcher knelt before a Rift altar.
Beside him stood the Mirror Vessel — now wearing Ren's full appearance, down to the voice.
> "Send him to the city," the Watcher said.
"And make him feel like he's the enemy."
Then the Watcher turned toward a new silhouette… Aya, unconscious, floating inside a Rift crystal.
> "Let's see how far the Seal-Bearer is wil
ling to go."
✨ Bonus Unlocks:
📜 Mini Character Sheet – Aya Sato
Name: Aya Sato
Age: 16
Class Rank: Top of her grade, annoying genius
Traits: Sharp memory, suspicious of everything, unintentionally adorable
Currently: Imprisoned by the Watcher after uncoverin
g too much
🧠 Ren's Dream Memory Fragment Log – Entry 1
> "The man on the plane is not the enemy. Not entirely.
He passed the Mark to Ren before the Rift collapsed that aircraft.
Jin knows more than he says.
And the Gate Ren holds closed?
It was built to keep something ins
ide."
🐔 Kazuki Side Note (Because comic relief matters)
Kazuki was seen arguing with a delivery pigeon about grain taxes.
He lost.
But swore veng
eance.
🔜 Chapter 16 Teaser:
> Aya is gone. And no one remembers her… except Ren. The team investigates, but the Mirror Vessel is already in the city — impersonating Ren. And someone's about to get hurt in his nam
e.