Fourteen years, Rui fought for the only home he had. Fourteen years, he endured the whispers, the fear, the pain of a power that lets him read the memories of everything he touches—but never his own past. Then the Vermunt Society came for the ledgers, and the man who raised him sold him out without a second thought. Now Rui lies bleeding on a cold hill, the orphanage burning behind him, and the children he swore to protect scattered to the wind. But a blade doesn't choose where it's picked up—on
The Picked-Up Blade Eventually Finds Its Place - Snow Falls on the City of Ash Blades—The Morning a Picked-Up Blade Declares Its Name
The snow was beginning to melt.
In the warehouse district of the Bay Side harbor area, the white that had piled up was giving way to patches of dark ground. The wind, carrying the scent of the tide, slid across the half-melted snow. The sky was still overcast, but a thin light leaked through gaps in the clouds.
Haiya Rui stood with his back against the wall in front of a small warehouse behind the Gohnt Logistics office. His near-black dark brown short hair swayed in the wind. His narrow gray eyes gazed absently at the sea visible beyond the warehouse district.
At his hip hung the knife "Mumei."
A plain piece of steel, passed down from Kamiya Gen. It held no special power. But its weight alone seemed to anchor Rui's feet to the ground.
The knuckles of his left hand still had scabs. Wounds from that night, from pounding the snow-covered ground. The pain was mostly gone now. But every time he bent his fingers, he felt the skin pull tight.
(One week, huh.)
One week since Kamiya died. One week since the Vermund Society's attack. Four days since he'd heard everything from Aoi.
Rui closed his eyes.
Behind his eyelids rose the image of red stains spreading across snow. Kamiya's eyes, left open, powerless. The words he'd left behind at the end.
"You can stay here."
(You can stay here.)
(Can I stay here?)
(Kamiya-san, I still don't know.)
(But I have to choose.)
(Like you taught me—from the one who gets picked up, to the one who picks up.)
(By my own will.)
A crunch of footsteps on snow.
Rui opened his eyes.
Fuyuki Aoi stood before the warehouse's iron door. His golden-brown curly hair was sticking up again today, cowlicks untamed. His amber eyes held the same cold light that betrayed no emotion. On the shoulders of his black long coat, half-melted snow had left damp stains.
From behind him, Hayase Nagi peeked out.
Her shoulder-length black hair swayed softly in the wind. A pale blue scarf was wrapped around the collar of her white coat. When Nagi's eyes found Rui, they wavered—just slightly.
"You came."
Rui's voice was low and hoarse.
"You're the one who called me."
Aoi replied in a cold voice.
"Good morning, Rui."
Nagi's voice trembled, just a little.
Rui looked directly at Nagi's face.
(She looks like she's about to cry.)
(Because I pushed her away.)
(That night, in the snow.)
(But today is different.)
Rui pushed off from the wall.
"I've got something to say. Both of you, listen."
Aoi watched Rui in silence. Nagi gave a small nod.
"I'm staying with Gohnt Nest."
Rui's voice fell quietly onto the half-melted snow.
"This time, it's not because I was picked up. I'm staying here by my own will."
Rui touched the Mumei at his hip.
"Kamiya-san taught me. From the one who gets picked up, to the one who picks up. I can't become the one who picks up yet. But I can choose. Not a place that was given to me—I choose this place by my own will."
Rui looked at Aoi.
"I'll play along with your calculations. But that's my decision. I'm not being used. I'm choosing to go along with it."
Aoi was silent for a while.
Half-melted snow dripped from the warehouse roof with a soft plop.
"I never intended to let you go in the first place."
Aoi's voice was cold, yet somehow quiet.
"No matter how you choose, I need you for my plan. So the option of letting you go never existed from the start."
"Still creepy as ever, the way you talk."
"It's the truth."
"I know."
Rui let out a small snort.
"That's why I won't let you go either. Call it a rotten bond or whatever. You're in the place I chose. That's all."
Aoi's amber eyes narrowed slightly.
"Fine by me."
Aoi said it shortly.
Nagi stepped forward.
"I'm here too."
Nagi's voice was shaking.
"I'm staying by Rui's side too. That night, you pushed me away, but I decided I wouldn't leave. So I'm staying here too."
Tears spilled from Nagi's eyes.
Like snowmelt, they traced quietly down her cheeks.
Rui looked at Nagi.
(Don't cry.)
(All I ever do is make you cry.)
(But today, I won't push you away.)
(I won't push you away anymore.)
"Yeah."
Rui nodded shortly.
"I get it. ...You choose too. Whether you stay here, by your own will."
"I'm choosing. I chose a long time ago."
Nagi laughed while wiping her tears.
"...I see."
Rui placed his hand on Nagi's head.
Roughly, messing up her hair.
"H-hey, what are you doing?!"
Nagi raised a startled voice.
"Just checking whether you stopped crying."
"Your way of checking is way too rough!"
"Like I care. What a pain."
Rui let go.
Nagi's hair was spectacularly disheveled.
"Honestly, you're terrible..."
Nagi laughed as she fixed her hair.
Aoi sighed, as if exasperated.
"Enough of this farce. The boss is calling."
"Yeah, I know."
Rui pushed open the warehouse's iron door.
The rusted hinges creaked.
The smell of old oil and dust drifted out.
Inside the warehouse was dim. From a small window near the ceiling, weak light illuminated the dust-filled air.
In the back, Karasuyama Tsuyoshi stood.
The boss of Gohnt Nest. An older man with salt-and-pepper short hair slicked neatly back. His narrow eyes always seemed to be smiling, but behind them lurked an unyielding pressure. He wore a black suit without a single flaw.
"You came, Rui."
Karasuyama's voice was low and calm.
"Yeah."
Rui stood before Karasuyama.
"I heard about it from Aoi. You're staying with the organization. You chose it by your own will."
"That's right."
"Then let me say one thing as well."
Karasuyama looked Rui straight in the eyes.
"You are no longer the one who gets picked up."
Karasuyama's voice echoed quietly through the warehouse.
"As a member of Gohnt Nest, I formally acknowledge you. Your will shall be accepted as the organization's will."
Rui nodded without a word.
(Not the one who gets picked up.)
(The same words as Kamiya-san.)
(I'm no longer the one who gets picked up.)
(Then what am I?)
(I still don't know.)
(But that's fine.)
(I'm here by my own will.)
"And one more thing."
Karasuyama continued.
"We've received information from Kuroda. It's about Sakakibara Dozou, the former administrator of the Sunlit House."
Rui's shoulders tensed slightly.
"Among the children Sakakibara brokered, there may be ability users whose memories were sealed, just like you."
"What did you say?"
Rui's voice sharpened.
"There's no proof yet. But Kuroda's information network indicates it. The blank in your memory may not be your problem alone. The same thing may be happening to other children connected to the orphanage."
Rui clenched his fist.
(The blank in my memory isn't just mine.)
(Sakakibara Dozou did the same to other children.)
(Damn.)
(How far does that man go?)
"Your next mission."
Karasuyama's voice rang cold.
"Track down the children Sakakibara Dozou brokered. If they're alive, protect them. If they're dead, uncover every trace."
"Understood."
Rui answered shortly.
"Your past belongs to you. But the organization's code won't allow us to abandon children in the same situation. We don't kill children. And we don't abandon them."
Karasuyama placed his hand on Rui's shoulder.
"Go. This is your role."
Rui closed his eyes for a moment.
(My role.)
(To stand on the side that picks up children in the same situation as me.)
(Can I do it?)
(I don't know.)
(But I have no choice but to do it.)
(Kamiya-san, can I become the one who picks up?)
(I still don't know.)
(But I'll do it.)
Rui opened his eyes.
"Yeah. I'm going."
Rui turned on his heel.
Outside the warehouse, snowmelt wet the ground.
The sky had brightened, just a little.
Nagi fell into step beside Rui.
"Hey, Rui. Want to walk a bit?"
Nagi's voice was soft.
"We're between missions. No time for that."
"Just a little. The road from the Old Quarter to Bay Side. The snowmelt scenery is beautiful."
Nagi tugged lightly at Rui's sleeve.
"...Do what you want."
Rui started walking.
Nagi happily fell in beside him.
The road from the Old Quarter to Bay Side was muddy with snowmelt. Dead grass poked through gaps in the stone paving. Old merchant houses lined both sides of the street, and from their eaves, melted snow dripped steadily.
In the distance, seagulls cried.
The scent of the tide and the scent of melting snow mingled.
"You still haven't apologized for pushing me away that day."
Nagi said it while facing forward.
"No need to apologize. I just put distance between us on my own."
"But I got hurt. That night, in the snow, left behind all alone."
Nagi's voice trembled, just slightly.
"...My bad."
Rui muttered quietly.
"Huh?"
Nagi looked up at Rui's face.
"My bad. That night, I didn't have it in me. I didn't feel like I could protect you. So I pushed you away. ...My bad."
Rui said it while facing forward.
Nagi's eyes welled up.
"...No. It's okay now. Because you said that."
Nagi smiled.
"But don't put distance between us anymore, okay?"
Nagi grabbed Rui's sleeve.
Tightly, firmly.
Rui didn't shake her hand off.
"I want to be by your side. Not just to be protected—I want to stand beside you and fight together."
Nagi's voice was earnest.
Rui was silent for a while.
(Stand beside me.)
(I always thought of you as someone to be protected.)
(Ever since I was a kid, protecting the children was my role.)
(But Nagi is different.)
(Nagi is trying to stand beside me.)
(Kamiya-san, I never noticed.)
(Protecting isn't just about being the one who protects.)
"You're not someone to be protected."
Rui said quietly.
"You're someone who stands beside me. ...I can tell you that now. That night, I couldn't. But now, I can."
Tears spilled from Nagi's eyes.
"Rui..."
Nagi stopped walking, still gripping Rui's sleeve.
"Kamiya-san told me. To protect you. He entrusted you to me."
Nagi's voice was shaking.
"Kamiya-san told you?"
Rui stopped.
"Yeah. Kamiya-san really cared about you. He said he didn't want you to charge ahead alone. He wanted someone to be by your side. ...That's what he told me."
Nagi said it while wiping her tears.
Rui looked up at the sky.
(Kamiya-san.)
(You went that far.)
(For me.)
(You were thinking about me that much.)
(I never knew.)
(Your teachings, your feelings.)
(I still know nothing.)
"...Nagi."
Rui turned toward Nagi.
"You're not someone to be protected. You're someone who stands beside me. So stay by my side."
Rui placed his hand on Nagi's head.
This time, not roughly—gently.
"Yeah."
Nagi laughed through her tears.
"I'll be by your side. Always by your side."
Nagi placed her hand over Rui's.
Snowmelt ran along the stone paving.
Between the two of them, an unspoken but certain closeness was being born.
(Can I stay by your side?)
(I still don't know.)
(But if you say you want to be beside me.)
(I won't let go of your hand.)
(Never again.)
Toward evening, Rui headed alone to the hill by the sea.
The outskirts of Twilight Edge. On the hill overlooking the sea stood the Sunlit House.
A two-story wooden orphanage. Capacity of thirty. Around twenty children had always lived here.
Now it was closed, abandoned.
Rui looked up at the building from the bottom of the hill.
Snowmelt dripped from the roof. The white walls were stained dark, and the window glass was still broken. The place where children's laughter had once echoed was now just an empty shell.
(Eight years, huh.)
(No, that's not it.)
(I haven't come here once since Aoi and Nagi picked me up that night.)
(Eight years, I couldn't come here.)
(But now, I have to.)
(To face my past.)
Rui slowly climbed the hill.
The grass was dead, the ground muddy. Mud clung to the soles of his shoes.
When he reached the top of the hill, the sea spread out before him.
A gray sea. The horizon was hazy.
The entrance of the Sunlit House was wide open. The hinges were rusted, unmoving.
Rui stepped inside.
The hallway was dark and musty. The floor was missing in places. On the walls were graffiti. Names of child
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