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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwxVY1xtLd
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvdlicZBSG
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"He's pathetic, really!" she laughed.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHrhbvhoLt
"I almost pity him… but he's so easy to manipulate!"229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwf4IjFoJRV
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YBqyKKN08
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcKCgiYmr9
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDgEOiavAA
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"Leave her alone!" he shouted.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnTATJaYsV
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzE97ag4cjU
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"This can't be happening…" Kenji whispered, paralyzed with fear.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQTy8PnnnS
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfYwaC8ESV
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"You should have stayed out of this, kid."229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftIjHcscQT
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CWOchy2is
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWvpEOKp8d
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUuM7rBvzy
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBbqPgvNa1
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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."229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBvI4bdE3Z
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Desperate and unable to think clearly, Kenji accepted without understanding what he had just agreed to.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlg8y29RyIm
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogQYpXnrnx
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqM1whKRndQ
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDAb2FnnvE
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVhWY4rVTF
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"Why did she abandon me?" he wondered every day.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrqhDQDVs2
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzhbC28BPw
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOCUKlusno
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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.229Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9rC0oBnJC
