[Unknown White Realm—Leif's POV]
Everything was white.
Not the kind of white that comes with light—but the kind that swallows it whole. I wasn't falling. I wasn't standing either. I simply… was.
Somewhere, in that endless silence, a faint echo rippled through the air—like a whisper brushing the edge of my mind.
"Renji Takeda…"
My stomach twisted at the sound of that name. It had been months—years, maybe—since I'd heard it spoken aloud. Yet here, in this hollow nothingness, it sounded clearer than ever.
"Who…?" I turned, scanning the empty void. My voice sounded small, even to myself.
That's when I saw it—a cat. A perfectly ordinary cat. Well, ordinary if you ignored the fact that its fur shimmered faintly like starlight and its eyes glowed an unsettling green.
It padded closer with a slow, deliberate grace, tail swishing like it owned the place.
I squinted at it. "Wait a second… I've seen you somewhere before."
The cat tilted its head, almost smugly.
