GIANCARLO
Akiko sleeps for three days.
Not the peaceful rest of the exhausted but something deeper—a hibernation while her body learns to contain what she's become. Dr. Tanaka checks on her every few hours, muttering about readings that defy her three centuries of experience. I don't leave her side except when Marco physically drags me away to handle pack business that can't wait.
The yokai keep vigil with me. At first, seeing them clearly feels like looking at the world through water—distorted, wrong, too much information for senses not designed to process it. But as hours pass, my vision adjusts. Noriko sits by the window, frost patterns spreading and retreating with Akiko's breathing. The twins perch on the headboard, their light dimmed to barely visible flickers. And Kazuki... the o
