Kageshiki Trainee Report
Total Trainees: 200
Disqualified Due to Injury: 45
Disqualified Due to Death: 60
Remaining Candidates: 95
A shadow moved behind her. Reika didn't dare turn around. Not yet. Not until she was sure she could handle whatever the hell was stalking her tonight.
Her fingers curled tight around the worn handle of her knife, cold against her skin. The city smelled like rust and garbage, mixed with a faint metallic tang that made her stomach twist. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to panic. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to run. But where? The streets were traps, and the shadows were alive.
No one survives the Shikiban. Except those hunted by the Kageshiki — like her, whether she wanted it or not.
Reika's heart hammered in her chest. She'd learned long ago that fear was the only thing sharper than a blade. But it didn't stop her from feeling it. Not really. Not tonight.
"Stay inside after dark. Never go out. If you leave, you'll die."
Her father's voice played in her mind, a broken record of warnings that now felt like a prophecy. She'd heard it so many times, she'd almost believed she was already dead.
But something about tonight was different. The air was heavy, thick with a warning she couldn't ignore.
Then she heard it — a voice, low and amused, cutting through the silence like a knife.
"How lucky… a human, all alone at night."
Her muscles tensed. Her breath caught. She didn't want to look, but she knew she had no choice.
From the darkness stepped a figure.
Tall. Still. Too perfect to be real.
His skin was pale but flawless, like porcelain. Dark hair fell around his face, framing sharp features that didn't belong in this world. And that smile — wide, knowing, like he'd already won.
Her hand moved instinctively to the knife at her waist. Useless. She knew that.
The air thickened, heavier, like it was squeezing the life out of her lungs.
Then came the sound — bones cracking, flesh shifting, something unnatural unfolding.
Black wings erupted from his back. Jagged, twisted like shattered glass.
A Shikiban.
Her body froze. Legs locked. Heart pounding so loud it drowned out everything else. Her throat closed tight, dry as dust.
The creature lunged.
Silver flashed.
A sharp, brutal slash cut through the air.
Black blood sprayed, sticky and hot against the cold night.
Another strike. Faster. Cleaner.
The Shikiban's arm hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Its head followed, dissolving into ash before it even hit the pavement.
Silence slammed back in.
Reika's hands trembled, knees weak.
She wanted to scream, to run, to collapse — but none of it happened. She just sat there, breath ragged, heart slamming against her ribs like a trapped animal.
Then — he appeared.
The boy.
Calm. Cold. Like he stepped out of a nightmare.
His eyes locked on hers, sharp and calculating.
"Kagetsu Reika," he said flatly, voice steady like he'd been waiting forever. "I know who you are."
Her chest tightened so hard she thought she'd choke.
How the hell did he know her name?
Before she could say a word, he reached out his hand.
A black envelope shimmered in the dark, almost alive with a strange energy.
Her fingers brushed it.
A jolt ripped through her — sharp, electric, like lightning splitting through her veins.
It burned away the last of her doubt.
Inside the envelope, a single sentence glowed:
"Kagetsu Reika, You are summoned to Tenshiko Academy. The choice is yours. But once you step inside, you will never be the same."
Her stomach twisted cold. The city didn't care. It never did.
Every breath was a gamble.
Death was just another fact, not a fear.
She almost welcomed it.
But the night had other plans.
Because now, she was caught in something bigger than herself — a war between monsters and hunters, between a forgotten past and a shattered future.
And this black envelope? It was her ticket into the fire.