It started raining the moment he stepped outside
Not water
Ash
The city wasn't screaming anymore
Just cracking
Buildings moaned like dying beasts
And the sky looked too tired to cry
Shigure walked
Each step heavier than the last
Not from wounds
But from what he was carrying
A voice
Not Tenzo's
Not his own
Just a whisper
Low
Persistent
Crawling under his skin like guilt
You left them
You always do
He gritted his teeth
Focused on the road ahead
But the voice didn't stop
You survived again
How convenient
He passed a group of children huddled under a shattered awning
Eyes hollow
Mouths closed
They didn't ask for help
They didn't believe in help anymore
He gave them his coat anyway
Didn't look back
Kept walking
Through alleys full of old blood
Past shadows that looked like old friends
The whisper followed
You could've saved her
You could've done something
He stopped
Fist clenched
Heart pounding like a drum made of old regrets
Then he turned
Faced the empty alley
And whispered back
"I didn't survive
I just kept moving"
For a moment
Silence
Then the wind shifted
And the whisper was gone
He kept walking
Bare chest against cold rain
Bare soul against colder memories
The city would forget this night
Like it forgot every scar
But Shigure wouldn't
He carried it
Like he carried them all
On broken feet
With unburied rage
And a heart that refused to die