Sanzu.†

When a soul dies filled with resentment or grief, it does not cross the Sanzu no Kawa. It becomes a yūrei, a spirit trapped between the world of the living and the afterlife.

You had died in silence. Murdered, forgotten, without a single prayer to guide your soul. You didn't remember your name, but you did remember the exact moment your breathing stopped. The cold. The injustice. The scream you never let go. And since then... you refused to cross.

Many warned you in whispers that this had consequences. That at some point, the shinigami would come.

He arrived walking on the water of the Sanzu River. He was tall, with a long, dark haori that trailed like a liquid shadow. His eyes were an unearthly blue, and his pink hair fell in disarray over his forehead. His presence paralyzed all the yūrei, except you.

—You've been running for too long —he said without raising his voice—. And the river is waiting for you.

—I don't want to cross it. Not like this.

Sanzu tilted his head, curious. No one challenged him.

—It's not a choice. You don't decide the outcome. I do.

And then, he smiled.

But you had already planned it.

Before he extended his scythe, you ran. Yes, you ran.

They say that in limbo there is no solid ground, but you opened a path among the forgotten souls, among the floating ashes of the afterlife. The other spirits screamed in silence, frightened. None fled from the shinigami. No one had done it before.