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Kenji was a fragile and introverted teenager, often mocked and bullied by his classmates. He lived in imposed silence, seeking refuge in his thoughts. The only person who seemed to understand him was a girl in his class gentle and kind who sometimes defended him and offered him a smile during his darkest moments. Over time, Kenji fell in love with her, believing he had finally found someone who saw beyond his apparent weakness.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKhHTWoNgj
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One day, as he was returning to school after classes, Kenji heard laughter coming from an empty classroom. Intrigued, he approached discreetly. Through the slightly open door, he saw the girl he admired, but what he overheard froze him in place. She was with the very boy who bullied him, and they were both laughing at his expense.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfPMT8E2Ty
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"He's pathetic, really!" she laughed.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh4tmvKGNu
"I almost pity him… but he's so easy to manipulate!"279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8qQupFjAB
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Those words shattered something inside Kenji. Everything he believed in crumbled in an instant. The shock was so intense that he walked away without saying a word, his heart heavy, his mind spiraling into despair. That evening, unable to cope with the pain, he climbed to the roof of a building, determined to end his life.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6p35AfWufB
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As he prepared to jump, an unexpected scene caught his attention. Down on the street below, a young girl was running, panic-stricken, being chased by a man dressed in a long dark coat. Curious and driven by an instinct he didn't fully understand, Kenji rushed down and followed the scene to an abandoned warehouse.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmIZNu59xa
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The young girl, out of breath and terrified, had hidden behind some crates, but her pursuer soon found her. Seeing she was in danger, Kenji mustered his courage and rushed forward.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAR5yhnXeH
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"Leave her alone!" he shouted.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFf4CrZvmq
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The mysterious man turned slowly, a cruel smile on his face. Kenji, acting out of sheer desperation, grabbed a brick lying on the ground and threw it at the man's head with all his strength. The brick bounced off without even making him blink.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJgBUu1UwL
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"This can't be happening…" Kenji whispered, paralyzed with fear.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvnX3ZNsMA
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Without a word, the man drew a sword from a hidden sheath within his coat. The blade glinted faintly in the darkness. Before Kenji could react, the weapon slashed through the air, cutting deeply across his face, striking his right eye and leaving a bloody trail down his cheek. The pain brought him to his knees.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgu5LN8In2
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"You should have stayed out of this, kid."279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKwWzuii1b
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The man struck him again, this time across the torso, leaving a deep wound that knocked the wind out of him. Kenji collapsed to the ground, his frail body trembling in pain, blood pooling around him. The assailant, thinking he was dead, sheathed his sword and pulled out a pistol, aiming it at the girl still hiding behind the crates.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpy6X3Kyzj
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At that moment, something awakened within Kenji. With a final burst of strength, he threw himself in front of the girl, intercepting the bullet meant for her. The shot pierced his head.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8vDFVpdWl
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The last thing Kenji saw was the horrified face of the girl, tears streaming down her cheeks. She held him in her arms as his world faded to black.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXlXMriwPH
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Kenji drifted into nothingness, an absolute void where neither time nor space seemed to exist. A strange, mesmerizing voice echoed in the darkness.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBO9MZLuPjK
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"Is this how you want it to end? Lost, forgotten, useless? I can give you another chance… but every gift comes at a price."279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYjEo4mNKJ
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Desperate and unable to think clearly, Kenji accepted without understanding what he had just agreed to.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9sO9niRRi
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Against all odds, he woke up in a hospital bed. But it was no true miracle. He was broken: unable to move, speak, or even remember who he was. The doctors murmured that he had little chance of survival or of ever leading a normal life.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU46M8jv3He
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Kenji, now amnesiac, was utterly alone. No family or friends came to visit him. Yet, an unexpected light entered his life in the form of a young girl: Aiko. She was the one he had saved that night. She began visiting him regularly, bringing flowers, talking to him about anything and everything, reading him stories. Her kindness and consistency became the only reason Kenji didn't sink into total despair.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDhO6A8eXh
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But after months of regular visits, Aiko suddenly stopped coming. Days turned into weeks, then years. During that time, Kenji remained alone, a prisoner in his own body.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n8VVuZQY8
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Three long years passed in this crushing solitude. However, against all odds, Kenji began to recover. His fingers moved weakly at first, then his legs, and soon he regained the ability to think clearly and form words. Yet the emotional pain, the void left by Aiko's absence, remained his deepest wound.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAv364fd1h
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"Why did she abandon me?" he wondered every day.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDy5BCtdp2o
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What he didn't know was that Aiko's father, a powerful and influential man, had forbidden her from continuing her visits, deeming Kenji an unworthy distraction for her.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6t07jdj419
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As Kenji struggled to rebuild himself, he felt something strange stirring within him. A dark, indescribable force seemed to awaken, like a shadow lurking in his mind. He sometimes remembered a voice the one he had heard in the voidc alling him to embrace this newfound power.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kblx2Lzpz
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Now driven by a mix of pain, anger, and determination, Kenji vowed to find Aiko. But this journey would not just be a quest for answers. It would also be a journey to uncover the truth about himself, the dark force growing within him, and the world far more complex and dangerous than he had ever imagined.279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOr7JSNBkRc
