Ren reached the shopping arcade because the main road was blocked.
Police cones cut across two lanes.
A bus sat diagonally near the intersection, hazard lights blinking against the rain.
People walked around it without looking through the windows.
Someone had taped cardboard over the front door.
DO NOT ENTER Ren did not read the rest.
He turned into a side street and pushed his bicycle beneath the cracked glass roof of the arcade.
Most shops were closed.
Metal shutters lined both sides.
A noodle shop at the far end still had lights on, but no customers sat inside.
Steam rose from a pot behind the counter.
The owner stood with both hands on the counter, staring at a small television mounted near the ceiling.
Rainwater dripped into plastic buckets along the walkway.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Ren stopped beside a closed game center.
A claw machine blinked pink and blue behind dusty glass.
He looked at it by accident.
— CLAW MACHINE — — POWER DRAW: LOW — — INTERNAL MECHANISM: PARTIAL FAILURE — — PRIZE RETRIEVAL PROBABILITY: 3% — Ren stared at the words.
Even the claw machine had been cheating people.
A laugh escaped him.
Small.
Dry.
Wrong.
His legs shook.
He lowered himself to the floor beside the machine and leaned his back against the glass.
His phone was dead.
No map.
No way to answer Shizuka.
No way to tell Hayato he was still moving.
For a moment, silence felt safe.
Then guilt followed.
He had replied once.
Then vanished again.
Ren closed his eyes.
The dark behind his eyelids did not stay empty.
— HARVEST RESULT: FAILED — — SOUL HARVEST: INTERRUPTED — — OBSERVATION UNIT: ACTIVE — — STABILITY: 12% — He opened his eyes at once.
The claw machine blinked.
The buckets dripped.
The world waited.
Ren looked down at the wet tile and kept his gaze unfocused.
Do not look.
Do not ask.
Do not know too much.
Footsteps entered the arcade.
Two sets.
One quick and controlled.
One heavier, trying to keep up.
Ren knew them before they appeared.
Shizuka came into view first.
She held a clear umbrella in one hand.
A dark track jacket was pulled over a plain white T-shirt, damp at the shoulders from the rain.
Loose strands of hair clung to her cheek.
Hayato followed behind her in a hoodie and track pants, breathing hard, one hand pressed against his side.
He pointed at Ren.
“I told her chasing blurry videos through side streets was insane.” Shizuka did not look away from Ren.
“You followed.” “I was providing supervision.” “You are seventeen.” “I am taller.” Ren pushed himself up too quickly.
His vision tilted.
The claw machine answered again.
— REN KURONO — — PHYSICAL CONDITION: CRITICAL FATIGUE — — BALANCE: UNSTABLE — Ren gripped the machine until the words thinned.
Shizuka saw the movement.
Her pace slowed.
That hurt more than if she had rushed him.
She stopped two steps away.
Close enough to reach him.
Far enough to let him breathe.
Hayato stopped beside her, still catching his breath.
“Ren.” “I’m fine.” “No,” Shizuka said.
Not loud.
Not sharp.
Only tired.
“You say that when you want people to stop asking.” Ren looked at her.
The world answered.
— HUMAN FEMALE — — NAME: SHIZUKA AYANAMI — — PHYSICAL CONDITION: STABLE — — STRESS RESPONSE: HIGH — — INTENT: PROTECT — Ren turned his eyes away so fast pain sparked behind them.
Shizuka paused.
“What?” “Nothing.” “You made a face.” “I did not.” “You did.” Hayato looked between them.
“What face?” Ren said nothing.
The arcade went quiet around them.
A bucket dripped near the wall.
One drop.
Another.
And another.
Shizuka lowered her umbrella.
“Tell me enough to stop guessing.” Ren looked down at his hands.
His fingers trembled.
That felt almost normal.
“I see things.” Hayato frowned.
“What kind of things?” “Damage.
Condition.
Intent.
Danger.” Hayato opened his mouth.
Then he closed it.
He looked at Shizuka.
“You mean people too?” Ren did not answer.
That was enough.
Shizuka’s voice softened.
“You saw mine.” “I didn’t mean to.” “What did it say?” Ren swallowed.
“Protect.” She went still.
Hayato looked away first, like the word was too private for him to hear.
Shizuka held Ren’s gaze.
“That is not something you need to apologize for.” “It is if I did not ask.” “You did not choose this.” “You do not know that.” “I know you.” Ren looked away.
The words landed too close.
Hayato cleared his throat.
“Good.
We are accepting impossible eye powers now.
Next issue.” Ren stared at him.
Hayato held up his phone.
A paused video showed Ren running from the vending machine scene.
His back was blurred but clear enough.
The bicycle.
The delivery bag.
The soaked uniform.
The comments moved under the clip.
[COMMENT] Same rider.
[COMMENT] He was at the bus stop too.
[COMMENT] Why is he always there?
[COMMENT] He touched the victim.
[COMMENT] Someone stop him.
[COMMENT] Find him before he spreads it.
Ren looked at the screen until the comments blurred together.
Shizuka said, “They are scared.” Hayato lowered the phone.
“Scared people look for someone to blame.” Ren gave a small, tired laugh.
“Nice.” Hayato frowned.
“What?” “Your comfort needs work.” Hayato slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“I am not wrong.” Shizuka looked away.
For one second, her ears turned red.
Ren noticed.
So did Hayato.
Hayato opened his mouth.
Shizuka said, “Don’t.” He closed it.
Before Ren could ask, footsteps came from the north entrance of the arcade.
Several.
Ren turned.
Three men entered beneath the broken sign.
One wore a raincoat.
One held a phone.
One had a bicycle lock wrapped around his hand.
The man with the phone looked down at his screen.
Then he looked at Ren.
“That’s him.” Hayato sighed.
“Great.” Shizuka shifted the umbrella to her left hand.
The man with the bicycle lock stepped forward.
“Hey, rider.” Ren did not move.
Hayato stepped in front of him.
“Bad time.” The man smiled.
“You his friend?” “Depends who is asking.” The phone man kept recording.
“We saw the video.
He touched another victim.” Shizuka said, “Leave.” The raincoat man laughed.
“Who are you?” Hayato kept his eyes on the lock.
“Someone telling you to leave.” The bicycle lock swung once in the man’s hand.
Ren saw the attack before it came.
A red line cut through his vision.
Low.
From the man’s right hand toward Hayato’s knee.
Impact.
Collapse.
Pain.
“Hayato, step back.” Hayato did.
No question.
No hesitation.
The lock cut through empty air.
The man blinked.
Shizuka moved next.
She stepped in as the swing passed and struck downward across his wrist with the umbrella.
Sharp.
Clean.
The bicycle lock hit the tile with a heavy clack.
Hayato caught the man by the collar and sleeve.
A turn.
A shift.
A clean drop.
The man hit the wet floor on his back and lost the breath to curse.
The raincoat man stepped back.
The phone man kept recording until Shizuka looked at him.
Then he lowered the phone.
Hayato pointed at the fallen man.
“Stay down.” The man groaned.
Ren stared at Hayato.
Then at Shizuka.
He had seen danger.
They had believed him before they understood it.
That trust scared him more than doubt.
The raincoat man dragged his friend up.
“You people are crazy.” Hayato looked at him.
“You came in with a weapon.” The three men retreated toward the arcade entrance.
The injured one kept his wrist pressed against his chest.
Shizuka waited until they were gone before turning back to Ren.
“You saw the attack.” Ren nodded once.
Hayato rubbed his knee.
“He was aiming there?” “Yes.” Hayato exhaled.
“Good call.” Ren said nothing.
Hayato’s voice softened.
“I mean it.” Ren looked away.
The claw machine blinked behind him.
— PRIZE RETRIEVAL PROBABILITY: 3% — Ren nearly told it to shut up.
Shizuka stepped closer.
This time, Ren did not step back.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“Yes.” “When?” “When I look too much.
When there are too many people.
When I touch someone being harvested.” Hayato’s face changed.
“Harvested.” Ren looked toward the arcade entrance.
“The old man said it first.
At the bus stop.” Shizuka’s mouth tightened.
“It’s not a sickness.” Ren nodded.
“It’s pulling me apart.” Hayato went quiet.
Ren continued, voice low.
“The man earlier had time left.
I saw it.” “How much?” Hayato asked.
“Two minutes.
Then nine seconds.
Then nothing.” Shizuka looked down.
“You tried to stop it.” “I gave him a few seconds.” His throat tightened.
“That was all.” Hayato lowered his phone.
“For him, a few seconds might still matter.” Ren looked at him.
The words should have helped.
They did not.
A public screen above the arcade entrance flickered to life.
It must have been tied to a backup power supply because the shops around it stayed dark.
The sound was low, but captions rolled beneath footage from different countries.
GLOBAL UPDATE Sudden-collapse incidents continue across multiple countries.
LIVE FEED Crowds gather outside government buildings in Seoul, Taipei, Berlin, Washington, and Manila.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS BRIEF Foreign governments request clarification from Japan regarding military activity.
Japan declines to comment on security matters.
A post feed crawled beneath the broadcast.
[POST] People are dying everywhere.
[POST] What is Japan hiding?
[POST] People are dying here too.
Stop hiding behind “security matters.” [POST] If it is not a disease, then say what it is.
[POST] They keep saying calm because they have no answers.
Hayato read it silently.
“What is Japan hiding?” No one answered.
The broadcast cut to footage of helicopters lifting from a military airfield.
No location shown.
No explanation given.
Only gray sky, rotors, and soldiers moving too quickly to look calm.
Hayato looked up.
“Again?” Far above the arcade roof, hidden behind clouds, helicopter blades beat through the morning.
Shizuka’s grip tightened around the umbrella.
Ren did not look up.
He already knew the direction.
Hayato rubbed his face.
“I hate that sound now.” Shizuka said, “Everyone does.” Ren’s gaze shifted past them.
At the far end of the arcade, near the noodle shop, an old woman had entered without any of them noticing.
She held a shopping bag in one hand and a walking cane in the other.
The bag slipped from her fingers.
Apples rolled across the tile.
Ren went cold.
“No.” Shizuka turned.
The old woman’s knees buckled.
Hayato moved first and caught her before she hit the floor.
“Got her.” Ren ran toward them.
The world answered before he reached her.
— HUMAN FEMALE — — AGE: 73 — — PHYSICAL CONDITION: ACUTE COLLAPSE — — SOUL STABILITY: 16% — — HARVEST MARK: FORMING — — HARVEST STATUS: PENDING — — ESTIMATED HARVEST: 00:03:08 — Ren dropped beside them.
Three minutes.
More than the man at the vending machine.
Still not enough.
The noodle shop owner backed away, face pale.
“Is she sick?” “No,” Ren said.
His own certainty scared him.
Hayato held the woman carefully.
“She’s breathing.” Shizuka knelt across from him.
“What do we do?” Ren stared at the words.
— SOUL STABILITY: 16% — — HARVEST MARK: FORMING — The old woman’s lips trembled.
Her eyes rolled unfocused beneath half-closed lids.
Ren’s mind moved too fast.
The man at the vending machine.
His son.
A small rise.
Not enough.
But this time, Ren was not alone.
“Hayato,” Ren said.
“Yeah?” “Hold her.” “I am.” “No.
Hold her like she is falling.” Hayato stared at him for half a second.
Then his expression changed.
He understood enough to stop asking.
He shifted his grip.
One arm behind her shoulders.
One hand locked around her wrist.
The moment he tightened his hold, his face went pale.
“What the hell?” Ren looked at him.
“What?” Hayato swallowed.
“She feels like she’s falling upward.” Shizuka’s eyes sharpened.
The words flickered.
— SOUL STABILITY: 17% — Only one point.
But it moved.
“Good,” Ren said.
Hayato’s grip tightened.
“Good?
This is not good.” “It slowed.” Shizuka leaned closer to the woman.
“Ma’am.
Listen to me.
Is there someone important to you?” The old woman’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
Ren looked at the shopping bag.
Apples.
Medicine.
A small packet of sweets.
A paper charm tied to the handle.
He focused on the charm.
— OMAMORI — — PURPOSE: FAMILY SAFETY — — OWNER ATTACHMENT: STRONG — Ren grabbed it.
“Here.” He placed it in the woman’s hand.
Her fingers twitched around it.
Shizuka lowered her voice.
“Hold it.” The countdown continued.
— 00:02:31 — The old woman whispered something.
Ren leaned closer.
“Again.” Her voice shook.
“Granddaughter.” — SOUL STABILITY: 18% — Hayato grimaced.
“She’s getting heavier.” Ren looked at him.
“Don’t let go.” “I wasn’t going to.” The air above the woman warped.
This time Ren saw it clearly.
Thin distortions drifted through the arcade, almost invisible beneath the weak lights.
They crossed the claw machines, the buckets, the noodle shop counter.
Then they bent toward the old woman.
All at once.
Shizuka did not seem to see them.
But she felt something.
Her hand moved to the umbrella.
“Where?” she asked.
Ren stared at her.
“What?” “The thing.” She kept her voice steady.
“You are looking at something.
Where is it?” Ren pointed above the old woman’s chest.
“Slightly left.
About here.” Shizuka stood.
Hayato looked up.
“What is she doing?” Shizuka raised the umbrella like a shinai.
Ren almost told her it was useless.
Then he remembered the man at the vending machine.
No Hayato.
No Shizuka.
No one.
This time, he had both.
The harvest began.
— HARVEST STATUS: IN PROGRESS — — REMAINING TIME: 00:00:12 — “Now,” Ren said.
Shizuka swung.
No glow.
No wind.
No special sound.
Only a clean, precise strike through empty air.
For one instant, the distortions bent sideways.
The countdown stuttered.
— 00:00:11 — — 00:00:11 — Ren stopped breathing.
Hayato shouted, “It paused.” “You saw it?” Ren asked.
“No,” Hayato said through clenched teeth.
“I felt it.” Shizuka pulled back.
“Again?” Ren looked at the countdown.
— 00:00:10 — “Yes.” She swung again.
This time, the umbrella snapped in half.
The broken tip spun across the tile.
The distortions twisted.
— SOUL STABILITY: 19% — The old woman gasped.
A real breath.
Ren felt hope open inside him.
Then the pressure slammed down.
The arcade lights flickered.
Hayato’s knees hit the tile.
“Ren!” The countdown jumped.
— 00:00:05 — Ren reached for the woman.
— WARNING — — EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE: UNSTABLE — He ignored it.
Pain shot through his arm the moment he touched her sleeve.
— 00:00:04 — Shizuka’s voice sharpened.
“Ma’am.
Say her name.” The old woman’s mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Hayato held on.
His face had gone white.
“Name,” Ren said.
“Please.” — 00:00:03 — The old woman’s fingers tightened around the charm.
“Airi.” — SOUL STABILITY: 21% — — 00:00:02 — Shizuka lifted the broken umbrella handle.
No blade.
No edge.
Only intent.
She struck anyway.
The distortions snapped sideways.
— 00:00:01 — The timer froze.
Ren stared.
The words trembled.
— HARVEST STATUS: UNSTABLE — — SOUL STABILITY: 21% — — HAYATO KUROGANE — — UNREGISTERED INTERFERENCE DETECTED — — SHIZUKA AYANAMI — — UNREGISTERED INTERFERENCE DETECTED — Ren’s skull rang.
The old woman inhaled.
Then coughed.
A wet, broken cough.
Alive.
Still alive.
For one impossible second, none of them moved.
Then the system spoke without sound.
— FAILED HARVEST DELAYED — — CAUSE: UNKNOWN — Ren stared at the words.
Delayed.
Not prevented.
Delayed.
The old woman’s eyes fluttered open.
Hayato let out a breath that almost became a laugh.
Shizuka lowered the broken umbrella.
Her hand was shaking.
Ren looked at both of them.
The system had noticed them.
That made his stomach tighten.
Then a single line appeared by itself.
— OBSERVATION UNIT: ACTIVE — Outside the covered shopping street, sirens approached.
Close this time.
The noodle shop owner took one step back.
“What did you do?” Ren looked at the old woman breathing in Hayato’s arms.
He had no answer.
Hayato kept one hand around her wrist.
His face was pale, but he did not let go.
“She’s still breathing,” he said.
Ren looked at the system lines above her.
— HARVEST STATUS: DELAYED — — SOUL STABILITY: 21% — — DELAY WINDOW: 00:17:44 — His stomach tightened.
“It’s not over.” Shizuka turned to him.
“What does that mean?” Before Ren could answer, blue and red lights washed across the arcade entrance.
The ambulance stopped outside.
Then the police arrived behind it.
Chapter 7 End