BLACK KISS
“Some kisses steal your soul.”
Chapter 1: The First Kiss
Tokyo’s night felt more alive than usual today.
The colors of the festival were everywhere—red and yellow lanterns swaying in the air, the sound of taiko drums beating with the heart of the crowd. The streets smelled of yakitori, laughing faces, and shining eyes. When this city celebrates, it does so with its whole soul.
Akari was standing in the middle of the crowd—alone, but not lonely.
The cotton candy in her hand was melting, as if time itself was slipping through her fingers. She had always been like this—among people, yet slightly different. Maybe that was why her eyes stopped on him.
That boy.
Not too tall, not too striking. A simple dark coat, wet hair falling over his eyes. His eyes… there was something strange in them. As if he was here, yet came from somewhere else.
The rain suddenly became heavier.
People started running around, hiding under the lanterns. Akari ran too, and at that moment she bumped into someone. The cotton candy had fallen to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time.
Akari looked up. It was the same boy.
For a moment, everything between them stopped—as if even the rain forgot to fall for a while. In the middle of the noise, there was a strange silence. There was a faint smile on the boy’s lips, but something else in his eyes—something old, something tired.
“You’re getting wet,” he said, his voice calm, almost hollow.
“You too,” Akari replied.
He did not laugh. He just stepped closer.
Akari’s heart started beating fast. It meant nothing. He was just a stranger. Just one night. Just rain. And yet, her feet felt stuck to the ground.
And Then—
he leaned in.
The kiss was small. No romance, no promise. Just a light touch of lips—cold. Very cold.
Akari stepped back and closed her eyes. It felt as if someone had placed ice in her chest. When she opened her eyes again, the boy had stepped away.
“Forget it,” he said.
And then he disappeared into the crowd, as if he had never been there.
Akari touched her lips.
Something stuck to her finger—wet, but not rain.
Black.
Standing in front of the mirror, Akari’s breath stopped. On her lower lip was a thin black line, as if drawn with ink. She tried rubbing it hard—but it only grew darker.
The cold inside her heart began to spread.
That night, Akari could not sleep.
Whenever she closed her eyes, the boy’s face appeared. But what she remembered most were his eyes—as if he already knew what was going to happen.
When she woke up in the morning, the black line was still there.
And not just the line—
mist came out of her breath, like in winter, even though it was warm outside. When she touched her phone, a thin layer of frost formed on the screen.
“What is this…?” she said to herself.
Even at college, people looked at her differently. They did not say anything, but there were questions in their eyes. Akari felt as if even the air was staying away from her.
Aur then—
she saw Ren.
Ren’s eyes fixed on her.
Just for a moment.
But in that moment, pain rose in Akari’s chest, as if something was pulled out from inside her. A burning cold ran across her lips.
The curse breathed.
That was when Akari understood —
this was not just a kiss.
This was the beginning.
Of the Black Kiss.
