KUROGANE ENMA:CRIMSON SYNC

HOUSE OF MIRRORS 🪞 ✨️

Dawn came without sun.

Enma was already up. Sitting on the floor. Eyes open.

He hadn’t slept. Couldn’t. Every time he closed them he saw black vans. Jin’s face.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 11%*

The red lines were faint. Angry.

A knock. Aoi. No training gear today. Black combat uniform. Sword on her back.

“You look like hell,” she said.

“Feel worse.”

“Good. Means you’re awake.” She tossed him a protein bar. “Eat. Floor 4 in 40.”

Enma caught it. Didn’t eat. “B7. Any updates?”

Aoi’s face went still. “Containment is on lockdown. No visitors. No signals in or out.”

“Kuroda’s moving him.”

“Probably.” She met his eyes. “Which is why we can’t slow down.”

Enma nodded. He took a bite. It tasted like dust.

They walked in silence to the elevator. Guards saluted Aoi. No one looked at Enma.

Inside, the screen showed the match.

*FLOOR 4: HOUSE OF MIRRORS. SOLO BATTLE. OPPONENT: ILLUSIONIST CLASS: SYL.*

Aoi frowned. “An Illusionist. Kuroda’s testing your mind now.”

“What do I do?”

“You trust what hurts,” Aoi said. “Illusions can’t copy pain. If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not real.”

The elevator stopped.

The doors opened to white.

Not an arena. A house. Big. Too big. Every wall was a mirror. The floor was white tile. The ceiling was mirrors too.

Enma could see himself. 12 versions. All of them had red eyes.

A voice, sweet and wrong: “Welcome, Null.”

From the hall, a girl stepped out.

*SYL. ILLUSIONIST CLASS.*

She looked 15. White dress. Bare feet. Hair down to her waist. She was smiling.

But her shadow had too many arms.

“Rule 1,” Syl said, tilting her head. “Everything you see is a lie.”

She clapped.

The mirrors rippled.

Suddenly there were 20 Enmas. 20 Syls. All walking. All smiling.

Then the real floor dropped out.

Enma fell.

He hit something soft. When he looked up, he was in F-Block.

The smell. The rust. The noise.

And there, at the end of the alley: *JIN.*

Small. 11. Scared. Looking at him.

“Enma?” Jin whispered. “You came.”

Enma’s chest broke.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 23%*

_“Go to him,”_ the King said. _“He’s real. I promise.”_

Enma took a step.

The Jin in front of him smiled. Too wide. Too many teeth.

Then it lunged.

Enma caught the knife. The one that came out of Jin’s sleeve.

Pain. 28%.

The fake Jin screamed and melted into glass.

The F-Block vanished. He was back in the white house.

Syl was standing 5 meters away, head tilted. “That was good. Most break at the brother one.”

Enma stood. Blood on his palm. Real pain.

“Rule 2,” Syl said. “I can be anyone.”

The mirrors shifted.

Now it was *AOI*. Injured. Kneeling. Sword broken.

“Enma,” Aoi said. “Help me.”

Then *HANA*. Crying. “They’re hurting me.”

Then *KURODA*. Smiling. “Give up, boy.”

Then *HIMSELF*. 100% Sync. Crowned in red. “Join me.”

All of them talking. All of them bleeding.

Enma closed his eyes.

Breathed.

Thought of real pain. The bruises from training. The cut on his palm.

He opened his eyes.

All of them were still there. But now he could see the cracks. The way the light didn’t hit right. The way the shadows were wrong.

“Nice try,” Enma said.

He walked forward. Through Aoi. Through Hana. Through himself.

They shattered like glass.

Syl’s smile slipped. “You’re not supposed to—”

Enma grabbed her wrist. 35%.

“Where’s the real exit?”

Syl laughed. Even as he squeezed. “There isn’t one. You have to break me.”

“Fine.”

He hit her.

Once. The house cracked.

Twice. The mirrors bled.

Three times. Syl screamed and the illusion broke.

The white house collapsed. He was back in the arena. One room. One Syl. On her knees.

*WINNER: KUROGANE ENMA. TIME: 4 MINUTES 18 SECONDS.*

Enma stood over her. 38%. Breathing hard.

Syl looked up. Blood on her lips. “You’re not human,” she whispered.

Enma didn’t answer. He walked out.

Aoi was waiting. She took one look at him and pulled him into a hug.

“You’re okay,” she said into his shoulder.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m fine.”

She pulled back. Wiped blood off his cheek with her thumb. “38%. You kept it down.”

“Jin looked real,” Enma said. Voice flat.

“I know.” Aoi’s eyes were hard. “That’s why they used him.”

A guard ran up. “Kazehara-sama! Message from Headmaster!”

Aoi took the tablet. Read it. Her face went blank.

“What?” Enma asked.

Aoi showed him.

*NOTICE: CONTAINMENT B7 TRANSFER COMPLETE. ASSET: JIN KUROGANE. NEW LOCATION: CLASSIFIED. NEXT VISITATION WINDOW: AFTER FLOOR 10.*

Enma stared at it. Then crumpled it.

“They moved him,” he said. Quiet.

“Yeah.”

“When’s Floor 5?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Good.”

Aoi grabbed his arm. “Enma. You can’t—”

“I can.” He looked at her. 38% fading to 30%. “They want me to break. So I won’t.”

Aoi studied him. Then nodded. “Okay. Then we train harder.”

---

That night, Enma couldn’t stay in his room. The walls were too close.

He went to the courtyard. Fake grass. Fake stars.

Hana was already there.

She stood up when she saw him. “You won.”

“I won.”

She came closer. Looked at his hands. No blood. “Are you okay?”

“No.”

Hana nodded. Like she expected it. She sat next to him.

“They took him because of me,” she said suddenly.

Enma turned. “What?”

“I told someone,” Hana whispered. “I told them you were climbing. I thought... I thought if people knew, they couldn’t hurt you. I was stupid.”

Enma was quiet for a long time. Then he put his arm around her shoulders. Awkward.

“It’s not your fault,” he said.

“It is.”

“Then we fix it.” Enma looked up at the fake stars. “Floor 5. Floor 6. Floor 10. Then we get him.”

Hana leaned into him. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

They sat like that until the guards came to tell Hana visiting hours were over.

Before she left, Hana pressed something into his hand. A small stone. Smooth. Gray.

“From F-Block,” she said. “So you don’t forget where you came from.”

She ran off.

Enma closed his hand around the stone.

---

Back in his room, Aoi was waiting.

She had a sword. Not hers. A training sword. Wood.

“We’re doing Rule 4 tonight,” she said.

“What’s Rule 4?”

“You fight me. And you win without going over 40%.”

Enma stared. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.” Aoi tossed him the wooden sword. “If you can beat an S-Class at 40%, you can beat anything on the Wall.”

They fought for 2 hours.

Enma lost. A lot.

But he never went over 40%. Every time he felt the red rising, he thought of the stone in his pocket. Of Hana. Of Jin.

At the end, Aoi had him pinned. Wooden sword at his throat.

“Good,” she said, breathing hard. “You’re learning control.”

She let him up. “One more thing.”

She rolled up her sleeve. There was a scar on her forearm. Old. Shaped like claws.

“My grandfather did that,” she said. “At 80%. He didn’t recognize me.”

She looked at Enma. “So if you ever hit 70% around me, I’m running. Okay?”

Enma nodded. “Okay.”

Aoi smiled. Small. “Good. Get some sleep. Floor 5 is a gauntlet. 10 fights. No breaks.”

She left.

Enma laid down. Held the stone.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 9%*

_“You’re weak,”_ the King whispered. _“If you’d hit 100%, Jin would be free already.”_

Enma didn’t answer. He just held the stone tighter.

Rule 3.

---

The next morning. Floor 5.

*THE GAUNTLET.*

10 doors. 10 enemies. No healing. No breaks.

Enma stepped in.

Door 1: Brute. Down in 30 seconds. 12%

Door 2: Mage. Down in 1 minute. 18%

Door 3: Assassin. Down. 22%

Door 4: Two at once. Down. 28%

Door 5: Armored knight. Down. 33%

By door 6 he was bleeding. By door 8 his vision was red at the edges.

Door 9 opened.

Inside was a room full of mirrors. And in the center: *A BOY.*

11 years old. Scared. Wearing Jin’s clothes.

“Brother?” the boy asked.

Enma stopped. 40%.

The boy cried. “They hurt me. Please.”

Enma’s hands shook.

_“It’s him,”_ the King said. _“Save him.”_

Enma took a step forward.

The boy smiled. And his eyes went black.

It was a trap.

Enma punched the illusion in the face. It shattered.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 45%*

He was breathing hard. So close to the line.

Door 10 opened.

*FINAL ENEMY: GAUNTLET MASTER.*

7 feet tall. Four arms. No face.

It charged.

Enma met it.

The fight was ugly. He got hit. A lot. Ribs cracked. 48%. 49%.

He thought of the stone. Of Hana. Of Aoi saying _“run at 70%.”_

He grabbed the Master’s head and slammed it into the ground.

*WINNER: KUROGANE ENMA. TIME: 19 MINUTES.*

The doors opened.

Aoi was there. She caught him before he fell.

“48%,” she said. “You held it.”

Enma coughed blood. “Jin...”

“I know,” Aoi said. She picked him up. “We’re going to get him. I promise.”

She carried him out. Past the cheering crowd. Past the cameras.

On the 80th floor, Kuroda watched.

He paused the footage on Enma at 49%. Shaking. But not breaking.

“Fascinating,” Kuroda murmured. “He’s resisting the Sync.”

He pressed a button.

“Send a message to B7. Move the asset again. Somewhere he can’t find. And prepare Floor 6.”

He smiled.

“Let’s see how long his will holds.”

---

In the med bay, Enma woke up to Aoi asleep in a chair next to him. Holding his hand.

Hana was asleep on the floor, holding his other hand.

Enma didn’t move. He just looked at them.

*CRIMSON SYNC: 7%*

For the first time in days, the King was quiet.

Rule 1.

Rule 2.

Rule 3.

He was still human.

---