A new path, a new burden

 Darkness. An inky void stretched endlessly around Hiroki. He strained to focus on a figure far away, in a faint glow. Was it a girl? Her voice echoed through the emptiness, blurry like a distant memory.

"You have to prepare and be patient for what will come to you later," she whispered. "Don't worry, I will be by your side."

Hiroki woke with an unsettling calm, the dream clinging to him like cobwebs. "What did it mean? Was it a premonition?" He mulled over its cryptic message, a knot of unease tightening in his mind.

Determined to make sense of his situation, Hiroki headed to the central service room. A woman worker greeted him.

"You must be Hiroki," she said, consulting a list. "Nao mentioned your case. With the influx of displaced survivors after last night's tragedy, the village is stretched thin. The best option for now is the Main Shelter. It will provide you with basic necessities and access to village services."

Hiroki's tired nod spoke volumes. The chaos of the previous night – the explosion, the lost lives – still hung heavy on him. Shelter, even temporary, sounded like a haven.

"Alright," he mumbled. He prepare by gathering his meager belongings.

A fleeting thought struck him. "Wait, didn't I have a book to take with me? Ah, whatever," he dismissed it, focusing on the move ahead.

He boarded a ramshackle transport carriage, resembling a horse-drawn relic from a bygone era. Other survivors crowded the cramped space, their faces etched with loss and uncertainty.

Across the wagon, a boy his age locked eyes with Hiroki. The intensity of his stare left traces of doubt in Hiroki. Exhausted and numb, Hiroki simply looked away, lost in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room, village officials huddled together, their faces grim.

"The sudden influx of newcomers is suspicious," one muttered. "Do you think it's connected to last night's catastrophe?"

Another chimed in, "The perpetrator could be among them. Who knows?"

Back at the shelter, eight newcomers, including Hiroki, arrived. Whispers swirled around him:

"He looks too old for this place."

"Just another homeless soul."

"Wonder what dark secrets he's hiding?"

Conversations swirled around his enigmatic past. Lost in thought, Hiroki couldn't help but mutter, "My real story? I wish I knew myself. My head's a mess after that blast."

Organizers lined them up, assigning rooms and roles. Overwhelmed and exhausted, Hiroki struggled to engage with his surroundings. A curious girl approached him, noticing his troubled expression.

"Why do you look so lost in your mind?" she asked in cold way. Without a response from him, she continued speaking with a sigh from him, "ugh, no answer here, seems like you're carrying the weight of the Night Massacre."

Hiroki hesitated, unsure of how to respond.

"Not exactly," he finally admitted. "I can't remember anything before. Why I was even there…"

A flicker of interest sparked in the girl's eyes, tinged with a playful silly smile. "Sounds like you have a lot to unpack," she remarked with a hint of amusement. "But hey, welcome! I'm Yoru Hoshizora. And you...?"

"Hiroki Kurogane," he replied.

Her lips curved into a sly smile. "Nice to meet you, Kurogane. This shelter might seem dull, but it holds some hidden gems. And you certainly seem like one of them."

As introductions unfolded, the boy from the carriage appeared behind Hiroki, a shadow cloaking his features. "You," his voice barely a whisper. "Got a moment? Need answers."

Hiroki sighed, weariness etched on his face. He knew he couldn't ignore those piercing eyes. "Fine," he conceded.

____Resume:____

Hiroki is called into a secluded corner by that person. "You," the boy hisses, barely a whisper. "Know anything about what happened before? That catastrophe?"

Hiroki shakes his head, his memory a frustrating blank. "Not really. I can't remember much after…" He sighs, a heavy weight settling on him. "Look," he continues, "I'm not the one you need to be suspicious about. I don't even belong here."

The boy relaxes slightly. "Sorry," he mutters, offering his name. "Kenji Nakamura. Hope we can get along despite the weird rumors."

Hiroki nods. "Hiroki Kurogane. Hopefully things will pass good here."

As Hiroki walked in the shelter, what Kenji said about the basic idea of the explosion ran through his mind: "Can I find something to benefit from if I go to that place? After all, it is not far away at all, but more suspicions may be raised in this case." He continues on his way, lost. In his thoughts until he finds his intended room, so he take a rest for today.

Back in the central office, Nao finishes reviewing new arrivals' paperwork. "These cases are bizarre," she mutters to a colleague. "Completely illogical."

"Could it be connected to the old legends of Yumix and that mysterious book?" one of them suggests.

Nao scoffs. "You really expect me to believe that fairy tale? Besides, I wouldn't have anything to do with such nonsense."

The next day dawns, and Hiroki wakes feeling refreshed for the first time in a while. At breakfast, the crowded room buzzes with activity as people fight for food before it runs out. Observing the dynamic, Hiroki gets a glimpse of the class system at play here.

Indeed, Hiroki was able to find a table and enough food for him in his lonely situation.

Suddenly, Yoru appears beside him. "Look who we have here, you look like you're having a boring time over here" she teases.

Before Hiroki can respond, a weary-looking Kenji plops down next to him with a meager breakfast of bread and milk. Yoru raises an eyebrow. "What brings you to our table, boy? Didn't you have a problem with him yesterday?"

Kenji shrugs nonchalantly, ignoring her comments.

"Are you even listening to me?!"

Hiroki actually tried to resolve the conflict calmly, the situation became farcical. Hiroki tired and sighed anyway.

He notices a girl across the room struggling to reach the food, she was trying to silence her hunger with just a glass of milk, and her helplessness was clear with a silent gesture.

Until Hiroki appeared in front of her, he offers her a portion of his own meal.

"This is just what I was able to get, I apologize if it is not enough."

Her eyes widen in surprise, followed by a grateful smile. Hiroki's features changed slightly as unexpectedness, then they invites her to join their table, and they begin a conversation. He knew that her name was Miyu Tanaka.

As the day progresses, Hiroki, Yoru, Kenji, and Miyu find themselves bonding over shared stories and lighthearted arguments, the shared misfortunes and their escape from higher authorities due silly problems, it was fleeting memories.. A sense of relation washes over him, a stark contrast to the isolating fear he felt upon arrival.

The dream world welcomes him again. He was used to these strange dreams, and was completely calm, but this time with a different scene. He finds himself in a dark forest? A severed hand, frozen with blood, sends a tremor through him. But the true horror comes when he recognizes the attached arm belongs to Miyu. He turns to her, his eyes widening in terror to see a girl walking away holding a book… the same book from his first dream! But the features were not clear. Until the world fades to black, then he woke up with a jolt.

He ran towards Miyu's room as fast as he could in a crazy way, his head was in endless conversations, "Why all this? What exactly does this mean? I don't understand anything anymore. Is Miyu really okay?"

Driven by panic, Hiroki bursts into Miyu's room to find her peacefully sleeping in silly way. Relief washes over him as he sees her peacefully sleeping, but it's short-lived. Kenji and Yoru stand calmly and coolly in the doorway, amusement tinged with suspicion playing on their faces.

"You… pervert!" Yoru said in a cold, almost ridiculous way

Hiroki tries to stammer out an explanation, but before he can, Miyu wakes up, startled by the commotion. This makes the situation even more awkward.

Finally, he manages to explain his terrifying dream. His friends apologize for the misunderstanding, and thankfully, Miyu stays out of the loop.

The next day after things had calmed down, while everyone settles in for dinner and Hiroki with his group, Nao came to call Hiroki to her office for specific reasons. A murmur ripples through the room – not many have dealings with the Nao unless they have a high reputation. His friends exchange curious glances. "Tell us what you did this time to be called for this", and Hiroki doubted with a comic smile that he never understood anything.

Following Nao through unfamiliar corridors, while she was asking him, "It seems to me that you are having a good time here," to which he responded with a slight shy tension, "Actually, I feel comfortable at this place, I can pass my time here."

Until they reached a room with an open door, it looked like Nao's private office; it was huge there, filled with strange artifacts. He notices books detailing history, supernatural powers, and a term he barely grasps – mana.

"Do you know anything about the Lost Book of Yumix or the Crystal of Scourge?" Nao asks while she was searching through her piles of tools.

He barely understood anything from what she was saying "What? Me? Not at all."

Nao explains that similar incidents were reported before his arrival and she had hoped he might have some knowledge. When she realizes he's genuinely clueless, she changes tack. With a sigh "It's nothing important if you don't know anything."

Changing the topic, she asks "Tell me, what are your plans after this situation? Do you have a specific path that you would like to take?"

Hiroki, overwhelmed by the day's revelations, simply replies "I need to focus on my future anyway, I can't stay here for long, I need to work on myself after a while."

In this moment, Yoru, hidden outside the room, listens intently to their conversation, a flicker of worry crossing her eyes.

 [To Be Continued]