Kai woke up gasping for air, his chest heaving like he'd been running a marathon. The problem was, he hadn't moved a muscle. His apartment looked as chaotic as ever—half-eaten ramen bowls stacked precariously next to a makeshift lab of blinking gadgets and tools. But something was off.
For one, the katana was glowing.
"Uh, is it supposed to do that?" Kai muttered, reaching for the blade, which pulsed faintly like a low heartbeat. The room felt heavier, the air charged with an almost electrical tension.
Before he could think, the world around him blurred, the edges of his vision stretching and twisting like someone had hit the rewind button on reality. A second later, he was no longer in his apartment.
He was in a laboratory.
Flashback: A Father's Farewell
The place was eerily familiar. Kai stood in the middle of a brightly lit lab, its surfaces covered in half-finished devices and holographic screens displaying complex equations.
"Dammit, Ishida!" a voice yelled.
Kai spun around and froze. His father, Dr. Hiroshi Takeda, stood at a console, furiously typing. He looked younger than Kai remembered, his face taut with determination. Behind him, Professor Ishida leaned casually against a counter, arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face.
"You think you can outrun this?" Ishida sneered. "Kurogane won't stop. You know that."
"I'm not trying to outrun anything," Hiroshi snapped. "I'm trying to make sure my son has a future."
Kai's heart stopped. He wanted to call out, but his voice wouldn't work. It was like he was a ghost in the scene, watching a movie he couldn't pause.
His father grabbed the katana from the table, the blade gleaming unnaturally even then. "This blade is the key. It's encoded with the fragments—memories, data, everything Kurogane wants. If they get it, the timeline isn't just broken—it's obliterated."
"You're throwing away everything we've built," Ishida said, his voice laced with venom.
"No," Hiroshi said firmly. "I'm protecting it from people like you."
A loud crash shook the lab as armed guards stormed in. Hiroshi turned to Ishida. "You brought them here?!"
Ishida shrugged. "Someone had to clean up your mess."
The flashback blurred again, the colors bleeding into each other like wet paint. Kai tried to hold on, to absorb every detail, but the scene collapsed into darkness.
The Morning After... or Before?
Kai woke up face down on the kitchen floor. His katana rested beside him, now glowing faintly in sync with his pulse.
"What the hell was that?" he groaned, sitting up. His head throbbed, and the timeline felt... wrong.
A voice buzzed from his wrist comm, pulling him back to reality. It was Riko. "Hey, genius, where've you been? I've been trying to reach you for hours."
Kai squinted at the comm. The timestamp was off by three hours. "Uh, I think I've been... time tripping."
There was a long pause. "What now?" Riko finally said, her voice dripping with skepticism.
"I saw my dad," Kai explained, pacing the room. "It wasn't a dream—it was like I was there. He was arguing with Ishida about the blade, about Kurogane. They're after something called fragments. And they were... in me. Or the sword. Or both. I don't know."
"Well, that sounds absolutely insane," Riko replied. "But also completely on-brand for you."
Kai ignored her sarcasm, his mind racing. "Riko, what if these flashbacks aren't random? What if they're a message—like breadcrumbs left by my dad? I need to figure out how to control them."
"Right, because uncontrolled time travel has worked out so well for everyone else in history," Riko said.
Uninvited Guests
Before Kai could retort, the katana's glow intensified, the pulse syncing with a faint vibration. A notification popped up on his HUD:
Incoming Hostiles: Kurogane Strike Team En Route.Objective Updated: Evade Capture.
"Oh, come on!" Kai yelled, grabbing the blade and a backpack of essentials.
Outside, hovercraft engines whined as Kurogane's black-clad soldiers descended from the sky. They moved with military precision, their sleek suits reflecting the glow of neon signs.
Kai bolted for the fire escape, his heart pounding. The game interface highlighted pathways and escape routes, flashing warnings about approaching enemies.
Another Jump in Time
As Kai sprinted down the alley, the katana's pulse grew erratic. A bright light erupted from the blade, and the world around him warped again.
This time, he landed in the middle of a battlefield.
"What the—?!" Kai ducked as an arrow whizzed past his head.
He was surrounded by samurai warriors locked in combat. The clanging of swords and the shouts of soldiers filled the air. Kai looked down at himself and realized he was wearing traditional samurai armor.
"Okay, cool. Time travel cosplay," he muttered.
Before he could process the scene, a figure emerged from the chaos: a warrior clad in black armor, his face obscured by a mask. The warrior's katana gleamed like Kai's, but its glow was a sinister red.
The masked figure pointed his blade at Kai and spoke in a language Kai didn't recognize. Yet somehow, he understood.
"You shouldn't be here."
Back to the Present
With another burst of light, Kai was yanked back to his reality. He stumbled into the alley, gasping for air.
Riko's voice crackled through the comm. "Kai, are you okay? What's happening?"
"I think I just fought a ghost samurai," Kai said, his voice shaky.
"Of course you did," Riko replied. "Why wouldn't you?"
Kai straightened, gripping the katana tightly. "Riko, this blade—it's more than just a weapon. It's a tether. My dad hid something in it, something that connects to time itself. I have to figure out how to use it before Kurogane does."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
Kai smirked, the glow of the blade reflecting in his eyes. "I'm gonna find out where this thing takes me next."