He didn't walk like a human
Didn't breathe like one either
Shigure first saw him in the reflection of a shattered mirror
A tall thin figure draped in rags that hissed when they touched the ground
His head tilted too far sideways like his neck had been broken and never fixed
Locals called him the bone eater
Said he fed on those who tried to forget who they were
Shigure wasn't scared
He was curious
The man moved without footsteps
Appeared in the alley ahead then behind then above
Like gravity didn't apply to whatever this thing used to be
"You shouldn't be alive" the thing said
Voice like gravel in water
"You already died"
Shigure didn't flinch
He just stared back
"Yeah
But I got tired of staying that way"
The bone eater lunged
Their fight wasn't a clash of swords
It was silence
Sickness
Movement too fast to track
Blades scraped bone
Not steel
When Shigure finally landed a strike
The man's skin peeled back like paper
Revealing nothing
Just an empty ribcage
A hollow where a soul should've been
"You're not like the others" it whispered as it vanished into the mist
"You still remember your pain"
He stood there alone again
Sword heavy
Breath shallow
What the hell was that
And why did part of him understand it