Chapter 1: The Slow Beginning.

...The classroom was empty....

...Desks stood in quiet rows, untouched. Chairs slightly misaligned, as if abandoned in a hurry. The faint hum of electricity buzzed from the overhead lights, flickering just enough to make the room feel… unstable....

...There was something on the floor....

...Dark. Spreading....

...Blood....

...It had pooled beneath one of the desks, seeping into the grooves of the tiles, stretching outward like it was searching for something....

...Or someone....

...A sound broke the silence....

...Not loud....

...Not clear....

...But wrong....

...Something shifted in the darkness near the back of the room....

...A slow, dragging movement....

...Then—...

...A breath....

...Not human....

...And in the center of it all…...

...Asuki stood there....

...Unmoving....

...Watching....

...Or maybe—...

...Being watched....

—

Few Hours earlier.

Morning came quietly.

No dramatic sunrise. No sense of renewal. Just light slipping through thin curtains, falling across a room that hadn’t changed in years.

Asuki lay awake.

He hadn’t slept well.

He rarely did.

The ceiling above him was plain, slightly cracked near the corner where moisture had settled long ago. He stared at it for a while, eyes unfocused, thoughts drifting without direction.

Then—

A voice from outside his room.

“Asuki! You’re going to be late again!”

He blinked once.

Twice.

Still didn’t move.

“…Asuki!”

This time, sharper.

He exhaled slowly and pushed himself up.

“I’m awake,” he muttered, though no one was listening closely enough to hear.

His body felt heavy. Not tired—just… reluctant.

Like it didn’t want to move.

But it did anyway.

—

The house was small.

Not broken. Not poor.

Just… quiet.

Too quiet.

His mother Camaya stood in the kitchen, back turned, already preparing something. She didn’t look at him when he entered.

“There’s food,” she said.

No "good morning".

No glance.

Just routine.

Asuki nodded slightly, even though she couldn’t see it. He sat down and ate in silence.

The food was fine.

Everything was always fine.

That was the problem.

No arguments. No warmth. No presence.

Just existence.

“You have school today,” she added.

“I know.” Asuki responded.

A pause.

“You need to do better this term.”

There it was.

Not concern.

Expectation.

Asuki didn’t respond.

What was there to say?

He already knew.

He’d been held back.

Same class. Same subjects.

Same people.

Only now, with a label attached to him.

Failure.

—

The walk to school wasn’t long.

The streets were alive in that early-morning way—people moving with purpose, conversations overlapping, life unfolding in small, ordinary pieces.

Asuki walked through it all like he wasn’t part of it.

He passed groups of students.

Laughter.

Voices.

Someone shoved another playfully.

Someone complained about homework.

Normal things.

He kept walking.

—

The school gates stood open.

Welcoming.

Or maybe just indifferent.

Students flooded in, energy high from the start of a new academic term. There was a sense of reset in the air—a chance to do better, to be better.

Asuki didn’t feel it.

For him, nothing had reset.

If anything, things had just… continued.

—

The classroom buzzed with noise.

Chairs scraping, bags dropping, voices overlapping in chaotic harmony.

Asuki stepped in quietly.

No one noticed.

Or maybe they did.

They just didn’t care.

He moved to the back of the room, taking a seat near the window. It was the same spot he’d had before.

Nothing had changed.

A few students glanced his way.

Whispers followed.

Not loud enough to call out.

Just enough to reach him.

“…he’s still here?”

“Didn’t he fail?”

“I heard he repeated.”

He looked out the window.

The sky was clear.

That was something.

—

“Yo, Derek, chill out—it’s not that serious.”

“I’m telling you, bro, he said it like he meant it!”

“You take everything like that.”

“And you don’t take anything seriously!”

Laughter followed.

Not mocking.

Just… alive.

At the center of it stood Hansuke.

Relaxed posture. Easy presence.

He leaned back against a desk, arms crossed loosely, watching the exchange with a faint smile.

“You two are exhausting,” he said.

Chris adjusted slightly. “More exhausting than you? Please.”

Derek scoffed. “You’re boring.”

“I’m sane.”

“Same thing.”

Hansuke chuckled under his breath.

This was normal.

Familiar.

Comfortable.

—

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

The room continued in its usual chaos.

Hansuke’s gaze drifted briefly across the classroom.

It didn’t land anywhere specific.

Just passing.

Until—

It paused.

For a moment.

On Asuki.

Just a glance.

Nothing more.

Then it moved on.

—

The door slid open.

Silence didn’t fall instantly, but it weakened.

A man stepped in.

Stopped, turned around and slightly adjusted his Shirt as if cameras were on him

Tall. Composed. Unremarkable at first glance.

“Take your seats,” he said calmly.

No authority in his voice.

No need for it.

People listened anyway.

The class settled.

Slowly.

Reluctantly.

But it did.

He placed his materials on the desk, scanning the room once.

Not searching.

Just… observing.

“As you know, I’ll be handling your physics lessons this term.”

He turned to write his name on the board.

Dustin Wikler.

Nothing flashy.

Just a name.

—

“Physics is the study of interaction,” he continued.

“Force. Motion. Cause and effect.”

His voice was steady. Measured.

Easy to ignore.

Easy to forget.

“Everything that happens follows a sequence.”

He paused.

Just briefly.

“As long as that sequence isn’t interrupted.”

A few students exchanged glances.

Derek leaned toward Chris. “What does that even mean?”

Chris shrugged. “It means don’t fail physics.”

Hansuke smirked faintly.

—

At the back of the room—

Asuki wasn’t looking at the board.

His eyes were unfocused again.

But not on the sky this time.

Something felt…

Off.

He couldn’t explain it.

There was no sound. No visible change.

Just a subtle pressure in the air.

Like something unseen had shifted slightly out of place.

He blinked.

The feeling lingered.

—

Dustin’s gaze moved across the room again.

This time—

It stopped.

Not long.

Not obvious.

But precise.

On Asuki.

A fraction longer than necessary.

Then—

It moved on.

Like nothing happened.

—

“Open your textbooks,” Dustin said.

The class obeyed.

Pages turned.

Pens lifted.

The routine began.

—

Outside, the wind picked up slightly.

Just enough to stir the trees.

Just enough to make the shadows move.

Inside the classroom—

Everything continued as normal.

Or at least—

That’s how it looked.

—

At the back of the room—

Asuki finally lowered his gaze from the window.

For a split second—

It felt like something had been watching him.

Not from the class.

Not from the hallway.

But from somewhere else entirely.

He frowned slightly.

Then shook it off.

Probably nothing.

—

But the air didn’t feel the same anymore.

And somewhere—

Far beyond what anyone in that room could perceive—

Something had already taken notice.

And it wasn’t going to wait much longer.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***