Kaito stumbled through the door of his small, damaged house, the floor creaking in protest beneath his tired feet. The day had drained him—each hour on the construction site felt like an eternity of sweat and toil. He dropped his bag by the door and sank onto the threadbare futon, the thin fabric barely cushioning his weary body.
“Just five minutes,” he mumbled, his eyelids heavy. The world around him faded into darkness.
Hours later, Kaito jolted awake, heart racing. His phone glowed at him from the floor: 1:02 AM. “Ahh… Who is making this damn noise?” he groaned, rubbing his eyes. Outside, faint whispers danced through the still night air, pulling him to the window. A soft, eerie light flickered from the nearby shrine, shrouded in a strange fog.
Curiosity stirred within him, overpowering his exhaustion. He pulled on his worn shoes and stepped outside, the chill of the night wrapping around him like a shroud. As he approached the temple, the whispers grew louder, turning into a cacophony of indistinct murmurs.
“They knew you...” they seemed to beckon.
Kaito shook his head, trying to clear the fog in his mind. “This isn’t right,” he muttered, but something compelled him to move forward, his feet carrying him against his will. As he neared the bright light, his vision blurred, eyelids growing heavier until—
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His world went black.
When Kaito opened his eyes again, he was no longer standing by the shrine. Instead, he found himself in a moving wagon, the rickety cart bouncing along a forest path. Panic seized him as he realized he was not alone; he was surrounded by a group of children, all dressed in tattered clothes, their faces gaunt and hollow.
“Where… where are we?” Kaito’s voice trembled. He reached up to touch his face, fingers brushing against smooth, soft skin. Startled, he gasped. “What is this? I look like a 12 year kid"
“Hey!” A boy next to him, no older than twelve, looked over with wide, fearful eyes. “You’re one of us now. Just another slave.”
“Slave?” Kaito echoed, the word heavy on his tongue. “This can’t be happening. I was just in my house a moment ago"
“Doesn’t matter what you were. We’re all stuck here,” the boy said, glancing around nervously. “Keep quiet unless you want to attract attention.”
Kaito’s heart raced as he took in the scene—the chains binding their wrists, the hopelessness etched on every face. “I have to get out of here,” he whispered, determination igniting within him. “There must be a way.”
“Good luck with that,” a girl chimed in from the corner, her voice laced with bitterness. “We’ve tried. They’ll break you before you can escape.”
But Kaito was done accepting fate. “Not if we fight back,” he said, his resolve hardening. As the wagon rattled on, a plan began to form in his mind, one that would turn this nightmare into a battle for freedom.