"Day 732"
The Age of Architects is over.
The words echoed across the ruins of Neo-Tokyo as two figures stood atop the crumbling remains of what had once been the Kanzaki Memorial Tower. Smoke and ash choked the crimson sky. Buildings that had scraped the heavens now lay broken, their shattered glass glittering like scattered stars across the devastated streets below.Kaito Kanzaki, now barely recognizable, gripped a blade crackling with unstable energy. A jagged scar ran down his right eye, which glowed with an unnatural golden light. His breathing was ragged, his body covered in wounds that should have killed him. Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the rubble beneath his feet.Across from him stood his older brother.Hizashi Kanzaki looked down at him with eyes that had once been warm brown but now burned with the same terrible crimson as Mugen's influence. His face—so similar to Kaito's yet sharper, more mature—was twisted with something between rage and grief. He wore armor forged from corrupted energy, and in his hands, twin blades dripped with darkness."Is this what you wanted, little brother?" Hizashi's voice was his own, but something else lurked beneath it—ancient and mocking. "To stand against me? Against us?""Hizashi..." Kaito's voice cracked. "I know you're still in there. Fight it! Fight him!"His brother—his older brother, who had taught him to ride a bike, who had protected him from bullies, who had always been his hero—laughed. But the sound was all wrong."Hizashi is gone," he said, though tears streamed down his face even as he smiled that terrible smile. "There is only Mugen's will now. Only the Infinite Void.""You're lying!" Kaito raised his blade, blue lightning mixing with desperate gold sparks dancing along its edge. "The brother I knew would never give up! Would never surrender to that thing!"Behind them, the enormous carved face of their father—Ryo Kanzaki—looked down from the memorial tower's side, half-destroyed, stone eyes seeming to judge them both. What would their father think, seeing his sons like this? What would their mother say?"The brother you knew?" Hizashi's expression shifted to something like pity. "That naive boy died the day he tried to protect you. The day he made his choice." He raised his twin blades, crimson energy erupting around them. "And now, Kaito... now I'll free you from your suffering too.""Then I'll save you!" Kaito's voice broke. "Even if I have to beat Mugen out of you myself! I'm not losing you again!""How touching," Hizashi's voice merged with something deeper, more sinister. "The younger brother thinks he can save the elder. But tell me, Kaito..." His eyes blazed brighter. "Who will save you?"They charged at each other—brother against brother, blue light against crimson darkness——and reality shattered into white light.
"Day 1"
Several Years Earlier"KAITO KANZAKI, YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY!"Aiko Kanzaki's voice rang through the modern apartment like a battle cry. In his room, eighteen-year-old Kaito jolted awake, his blue eyes snapping open as he tumbled out of bed in a tangle of sheets."Five more minutes!" he mumbled, face-down on the floor."You said that twenty minutes ago!" His mother's voice grew closer. "If you miss orientation at Neo-Tokyo Technical University, your father will—""I'm up! I'm up!" Kaito scrambled to his feet, running a hand through his messy black hair. He caught sight of himself in the mirror—average height, lean build, his father's striking blue eyes, and his mother's warm smile. Nothing special. Nothing extraordinary.Just Kaito Kanzaki. Regular guy. Definitely not the son of a legend, grandson of the world's most controversial scientist, or younger brother to—A knock on his door. "Kaito, you awake?"The door opened to reveal Hizashi Kanzaki—twenty-two years old, already graduated from NTTU with honors, and currently working as a junior researcher at the rebuilt Kanzaki Institute. Where Kaito was lean and energetic, Hizashi was taller and more composed, with the same blue eyes but calmer, more calculating. He wore his researcher's white coat over casual clothes."Big brother!" Kaito grinned. "Shouldn't you be at work?""Took the morning off." Hizashi smiled that gentle smile that made everyone trust him instantly. "It's your first day. Thought I'd make sure you didn't oversleep and embarrass the family name.""The family name is already pretty embarrassing," Kaito joked, throwing on his uniform.Hizashi's expression flickered—something dark crossing his features before vanishing. "Maybe. But that's why we have to do better. Make our own path, right?""Right!" Kaito grabbed his bag. "Race you to breakfast?""You'll lose.""Wanna bet?"They burst out of the room together, Kaito laughing as Hizashi easily outpaced him with longer strides. Their mother stood in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed but smiling at her sons' antics.At the table, Ryo Kanzaki looked up from his holographic display. His expression was distant as always, but when he saw both his sons together—laughing, alive, innocent—something softened in his eyes."First day," Ryo said simply, looking at Kaito. "Don't do anything reckless.""When have I ever been reckless?" Kaito grabbed toast from the table."Would you like the chronological list or alphabetical?" Aiko asked."I vote alphabetical," Hizashi added with a smirk. "It's longer.""Traitor!" Kaito pointed at his brother accusingly, but he was grinning.Ryo watched his sons joke together, and his expression grew grave. "Hizashi. Watch over your brother today.""Dad, I'm eighteen, not eight," Kaito protested."I know." Ryo's eyes met Hizashi's with an intensity that made the room feel suddenly colder. "Just... keep him safe.""Always do," Hizashi replied quietly, and something passed between father and eldest son—an understanding Kaito didn't quite grasp."Love you both!" Kaito kissed his mother's cheek and headed for the door. "Hizashi, you coming?""I'll catch up," Hizashi said. "Need to talk to Dad about something."As Kaito left, he missed the way his brother's expression changed. Missed the worry in his father's eyes. Missed the way his mother's hands trembled slightly as she watched them.[The rest of Chapter 1 continues as written—Kaito's day at university, exploration of the facility with Takeshi, discovering the door, accidentally releasing Mugen][Final scene, revised:]Kaito woke to sirens and flashing lights.He was lying on the ground floor of the facility. Emergency responders were everywhere. Campus security. Police. His mother's frantic voice calling his name."Kaito! Oh god, Kaito!"Aiko Kanzaki dropped to her knees beside him, checking him over desperately. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? What happened?""Mom, I—" Kaito tried to speak, but his throat was raw. "There was a door. And something came out. Something called—""Mugen."Kaito looked up to see both his father and brother standing over them. Ryo Kanzaki's expression was carved from stone, but his eyes—his eyes glowed with that same blue light.Beside him, Hizashi looked devastated. "Kaito, what did you do?""I didn't mean to! I didn't know!" Kaito struggled to sit up. "There was this voice, and the door, and—""Mugen is free now." Ryo's voice was hollow. He looked at Hizashi. "It's begun. Just like we feared.""No." Hizashi's hands clenched into fists. "We can contain this. We can—""You can't contain Mugen." Ryo cut him off. "No one can. He's bonded to Kaito now. Marked him.""Bonded?" Kaito looked between his father and brother, confused and frightened. "What are you talking about?"Hizashi knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders. "Listen to me, Kaito. Whatever happens next, whatever you experience—voices, visions, powers you don't understand—I'll help you through it. I promise.""Hizashi—" their father started."I said I'd protect him!" Hizashi's voice cracked with emotion. "That's what older brothers do! I'm not letting Mugen take him!"Kaito had never seen his composed, brilliant older brother look so desperate. "I don't understand. What's happening to me?"Ryo's expression was absolute devastation. "Everything I've done to protect both of you, to keep you from this life..." His eyes blazed brighter. "The door is open. The countdown has begun. And whether you like it or not..." He looked at both his sons. "You're both part of this war now."Kaito looked at his hands. Were they shaking? Or was that energy crackling between his fingers?Beside him, Hizashi stood slowly, his own hands beginning to glow with faint blue light. "Then we fight together," he said firmly. "Both of us. I won't let you face this alone, little brother."Far above, through the facility's broken windows, they could see the night sky. And for just a moment, Kaito could have sworn he saw a massive shadow spread across the stars—wings of darkness blotting out the light.And a voice whispered in his mind:Day 1, my vessel. Only 731 days until I consume everything.And when I do... I'll start with your precious brother.Shall we begin?