The soup was cold now
He hadn't touched it
The old woman was asleep in the corner
Or maybe dead
Shigure didn't check
He stood
Quiet
Like guilt on a good day
The door creaked as he stepped back into the night
Fog clung to him like a second skin
Even the stars were hiding tonight
His body ached
Not from the wounds
But from existing
He walked
No destination
Just away
Always away
Voices echoed behind his eyes
Memories that refused to rot
Tenzo's laugh
Yuria's scream
His own silence
He passed a broken sign
Once it said "Hope's End"
Now it said nothing
He smiled at that
Figures
There was a boy on the roadside
Eyes wide
Holding a knife too big for his hand
"Food"
The boy whispered
Shigure knelt
Reached into his pocket
Bread
Old
Hard
Still warm from the woman's shack
The boy didn't thank him
Just ran
Smart kid
Shigure stood again
Felt the weight of that look
The one people gave him when they didn't believe in saviors anymore
He didn't blame them
He didn't believe either
But he kept walking
Somewhere in the trees
A bell rang once
Then stopped
Like God changed His mind mid-prayer
He looked up
Nothing but black
No moon
No comfort
Just the same tired sky he'd seen since he stopped being human
He wondered
What color Heaven was
If it existed
And if his tired eyes
Would even recognize it anymore