Bix had always hated surprises.
He hated noise, attention, and above all—reunions. So, when a plain envelope slid under the door of his old Tokyo apartment, his hands trembled even before opening it.
No stamp. No return address. No school emblem.
Just one line in fading ink:
> "Class of Misora – Reunion after 7 years. May 9. Don't be late."
Behind him, Hari leaned over his shoulder with a toothbrush in his mouth.
"A reunion? Oh man, you gotta go!"
"No chance," Bix muttered. "There's no name. No details. It's probably fake."
Hari raised a brow. "Or fate."
Alarm run and they saw it was 5:00 pm ,
They rushed to work at The Cafe Blossom, where their boss—nicknamed "Pretty Poison"—ruled the floor with venom to her workers and charm to her customers...
Hari escaped blame for being late, flashing his winning smile. Bix, of course, got the tongue-lashing.
After 5 hours of work they returned to by 9:00 pm
On their way home, Hari stopped at a red postbox and slipped in a card.
"Who's the letter for?" Bix asked.
Hari grinned. "You."
"What?"
"I mailed your RSVP."
"You—!?"
"I'm your best friend, remember? You need this."
---
🛐 NEXT DAY : SUNDAY
After church, Hari insisted on buying Bix proper clothes.
"You're not going to that island looking like a tired
Family-Man."
Bix grumbled but followed.
At some point, Bix got lost and wandered off into a side alley. Away from the busy crowd, the narrow path led him to an old wooden door beneath a faded sign:
[ "Faith & Fortune – Since 1957"]
Inside, an old woman sat surrounded by dusty shelves of charms, bells, and relics.
"You've been invited," she said before he spoke.
Bix frowned. "What?"
She pointed to a charm—circular, with a smudged eye-like symbol and gave him ..
He unknowingly accepted it . "How much?" he asked
"It's already paid for," she replied, disappearing behind a curtain.
When he turned again, the shop was gone.
Only an empty alley remained.
As Hari rejoined Bix near a quiet café shop, hari gave him a lot of hearing but Bix ignored that and kept his eyes froze to
Aoi—his old college crush—was sitting alone outside, sipping peach soda.
She looked just like she had back then. Dreamlike. Unreachable.
"I—I can't say hi," Bix muttered.
"Which is why I will," Hari said, and marched up.
"Aoi!" Hari waved. "Long time!"
She looked up, smiled, surprised. "Hari?"
Her eyes shifted to Bix. "...Bix?"
"H-hi," Bix stammered.
She smiled warmly. "You haven't changed at all."
Hari asked, "What brings you here?"
Aoi replied, "I'm here for some shopping cause I am planning to visit Kiji Island on May 5. A short vacation."
"Oh, perfect!" Hari grinned. "Bix is on the same cruise. His stop's just after yours—Kobashi Island. "
Bix turned in shock. "Wait—how—"
Hari winked. "Booked it while we were in church."
Aoi chuckled. "Really? That's nice… Maybe we'll run into each other."
She stood to leave. As she walked off, Bix finally shouted mustering all his courage..
"See you at the port!"
She turned, smiled and said
"I'll be waiting."
Bix was know standing still of embarrassment
After reaching home ,
Bix tried to argue one last time. "If I leave now, Pretty Poison will kill me. It's summer. Tourists. Chaos."
"I'll manage," Hari said, slapping his back. "Go make a memory. I'll hold down the fort."
Thus May 5 came
Bix grumbled all the way to the port. When he boarded the cruise, Aoi was nowhere in sight.
"She may already got on," a hari said. "You're are already late just hop in."
Hari waved ,Goodbye with smile ... so did bix.
Bix meets aoi after hours of searching
Aoi and bix got a moment to talk but fate was something else
He fell like coconut tree in tsunami due to his seasickness ..
Aoi carried him to his cabin and gave medicine..
Bix spent the first day sick in his cabin. His stomach refused to settle.
He missed dinner. Missed the sea breeze. Missed his chance.
That night, between fever dreams, he remembered a soft voice.
Aoi had visited before boarding to kiji —he had seen her, blurry through sleep.
She leaned down and said something.
But all he heard was—
> "Dess… teee… ssss…"
He didn't know if it was a word or sentence
On the morning of the second day, Bix finally stepped out on the deck.
The sun was rising. His stomach still churned, but he needed air.
He clutched the railing, thinking of Aoi. Of everything.
Then—a violent shove.
Suddenly, the deck vanished beneath him.
He was falling.
Cold water swallowed him whole.
---
Coughing, gasping, he surfaced—but the cruise ship was gone.
Sailing away in the distance. No one saw him fall.
He kicked toward the shoreline, exhausted. And when he crawled onto the wooden dock…
He realized something was wrong.
This wasn't the modern cruise dock.
It was the old dock—rotted, forgotten, held together by rusted nails and algae.
He'd been dumped somewhere else.
---
As he staggered forward, dripping and confused, he bumped into a man—an old fisherman.
Splash! The man fell into the water.
"You damned city rat!" the man shouted. "This ain't no place for wanderin' fools!"
Bix apologized quickly, his head still spinning.
The area was quiet. Too quiet. More boats than people.
The buildings nearby were unfamiliar—part old, part oddly new.
Then a familiar voice snapped:
> "Still as clumsy as ever, huh?"
Bix turned.
Hiroshima. The smug, spectacled nerd from college.
"You?" Bix blinked. "But the cruise…"
"I didn't take it," Hiroshima said. "I went to Kiji. Then took a local ferry. Cheaper."
"But… there aren't regular ferries to Kobashi—"
"Not for clueless people like you," Hiroshima laughed. "Still dumb, huh?"
Bix forced a weak smile, but his heart thudded.
I don't remember any daily ferry.
I don't remember this island looking like this.
Kobashi had changed. Or maybe… he had arrived in the wrong version.
He clutched the wet charm in his pocket.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
[]
The sun had long dipped below the horizon, casting Kobashi Island into a sheet of grey and black. The wind carried whispers from the mountains, and the sea groaned in the distance.
Bix walked beside Hiroshima along the cracked, weed-choked road leading to their hotel. Shadows stretched across the street, the occasional flicker of an old streetlight the only interruption to the encroaching night.
"You okay now?" Hiroshima asked gently. "You... over that incident?"
The question hung in the air like fog.
Bix didn't answer immediately. He stared at the wet asphalt as memories surged back like seawater breaching a dam.
---
[Years Ago — 11th Grade, Kobashi School Camp]
There was only one school on Kobashi Island. Around 300 students in total, and back then, bix had been one of them—a cheerful, delusional otaku who lived in his own colorful world. People called him weird. He didn't care.
That year's school camp was meant to be a fun getaway—tents, bonfires, silly games.
Instead, it became a nightmare.
As part of a courage test, Bix and Kirita—his classmate and constant rival—were paired together. Just two boys, one lantern, and a trail into the thick East Mountain forest.
Then came the rain.
Cold. Blinding. Disorienting.
They got lost.
Kirita suddenly froze. "Did you see that?" he whispered, eyes wide, stepping off the trail.
Before Bix could stop him, Kirita ran ahead, drawn by something unseen. The lantern flickered violently, wind howling through the trees like a scream.
When Bix finally caught up—his uniform soaked, his teeth chattering—he stopped dead.
Kirita was screaming.
Surrounded by monstrous, mangy beasts—like rabid dogs fused with decaying corpses. Their skin hung loose, like wet cloth over bones. Eyes clouded. Mouths filled with teeth too human. The smell was rot and iron.
Bix couldn't move.
He watched the creatures swallowing Kirita into the shadows
One of the creature sees him , started growling and biting teeths..
Then he ran for his life
He fell down a slope, cut his leg on a sharp rock, and eventually stumbled upon a rotting wooden house hidden in the trees. From there, he reached the main camp, shaking, bleeding, terrified.
But no one believed him.
Instead, rumors spread like fire.
"You were jealous," they said. "You liked the same girl that kirita dated so you used this opportunity to kill him."
Next Day
The police came. Kirita's body was recovered at the bottom of a cliff—no bite marks, no torn flesh. No monsters. Nothing matched Bix's story.
"Fell during the storm," they said.
No one spoke of the creatures. Not even in whispers.
Bix changed after that.
The joyful otaku faded. What remained was a silent shadow.
Only Hiroshima stuck around, offering company in his own awkward way. He'd make jokes like: "Guess you've got guts, man… going into haunted woods like that."
But Bix never healed. And he never forgot.
---
A sharp tap on his shoulder pulled him back to the present.
"Yo, we're here," Hiroshima said, pointing to a small, rundown hotel overlooking the sea.
Inside, the lights flickered weakly. The lobby smelled of mold and wet carpet. The wallpaper peeled in corners, revealing the scars of a place long forgotten.
> "Pete!" Hiroshima shouted, waving to a figure in the corner.
Pete smiled and walked over. Tall, tan, and full of forced energy—though something in his grin didn't reach his eyes.
"Still a gloomy dude, huh, Bix?" he said, clapping him on the back.
Then, turning to Hiroshima:
"Hard to believe you two stuck together this long. You always had a thing for lost causes, didn't you?"
Hiroshima blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Pete laughed it off too quickly. "I'm kidding, man. Just kidding."
But Bix caught the way Pete's fingers twitched. And for a second, the smile faded—like something underneath was straining to break through.
The three sat down in sagging chairs and began catching up. Hiroshima talked the most. Bix barely spoke—just watching, trying to feel something other than dread.
Then Pete stood suddenly.
"Let's go. I want to show you something cool."
[The French made Lighthouse]
Perched on a cliff, the lighthouse loomed like a sentinel above the crashing waves. Its metal frame groaned under the wind's pressure. Inside, the narrow staircase spiraled upward, reeking of rust, salt, and something else—iron and rot.
Halfway up, Hiroshima stumbled.
"Whoa… I feel weird," he muttered.
"You okay?" Bix asked, steadying him as he leaned on his shoulder.
Pete grinned behind them.
A grin too wide.
"Funny, huh?" Pete said. "It was Hiroshima who screwed me over."
"What?" Hiroshima coughed.
"You told the university I cheated," Pete growled. "You snitched. Because of you, I got blacklisted. My name—trashed by every firm. You ruined me."
Hiroshima's eyes widened. "I didn't do anything "
Pete's voice twisted, deeper, more feral. "And after I got into that new college, you sent them also more crap. They kicked me out. Said I wasn't 'trustworthy.' You destroyed everything."
He turned.
From the shadows behind an old control box, he pulled out something heavy.
A chainsaw.
"No—wait, what the hell—" Hiroshima cried.
"You drugged him," Bix whispered, the pieces fitting too late. "You put something in his drink…"
Pete's grin stretched unnaturally as the lighthouse's rotating beam cast moving shadows across his face.
The chainsaw roared to life.
Bix tried to run, but Hiroshima collapsed.
He turned back just in time to see Pete raise the blade.
"RUN!" Hiroshima screamed.
And Bix did.
But the scream behind him… it didn't stop.
The sound of flesh splitting. Bone snapping.
Then silence...
"Bix," Pete's voice echoed behind him.
Bix turned. Pete stood in the lighthouse corridor, his face stretched into something crooked and furious.
"I don't hate you," Pete said, voice low. "You were just... there. A ghost. Always tagging along. But Hiroshima... he ruined my f***ing life."
He lifted the chainsaw again, but then paused.
"No, not this."
He dropped it.
Picked up an old axe.
Bix backed away. "Pete, don't. Please—"
THWACK.
The axe slammed into his ribs.
Bix screamed. His body hit the floor. His breath came out in ragged, bloody gasps.
Pete kicked him toward the edge of the lighthouse stairs. Dragged him up again by his collar.
"You'll understand soon," Pete whispered.
And then—
He hurled Bix off the lighthouse cliff.
---
🌊 The Ocean
Wind.
Water.
Rocks.
Impact.
The sea swallowed him.
His vision blurred. Blood clouded the water. Cold pierced him to the bone.
And as his last breath escaped—
FLASH.
[]
Bix opened his eyes.
He found himself standing in the exact same position as earlier that afternoon — at the Old Port of Kobashi.
Soaked. Shivering.
His heart raced.
"You damned city rat!" the old man shouted. "This ain't no place for wanderin' fools!"
He looked it was the old port
It was like nothing had happened.
But he remembered everything.
Then he heard
"Still as clumsy as ever, huh?"