Rain drizzled softly in the narrow alley, the drops glistening under the dim flicker of a broken streetlamp. Rin Takeda lay motionless on the cold, damp pavement, his chest barely rising, his face pale and strained. The air around him still shimmered faintly with the remnants of spiritual energy—unstable, wild, and fading fast.
Akari Minase was the first to find him. Her school bag dropped to the ground with a dull thud as she rushed to his side, her breath caught in panic. “Rin!” she cried, kneeling beside him. “Hey, wake up!” She shook him gently, but his body was limp, unresponsive.
Akari didn’t waste time. Pulling out her phone with trembling hands, she called for an ambulance, then gently lifted his head onto her lap. Her eyes scanned his features, worried and confused. There were no visible injuries, no signs of trauma—yet he looked like someone who had run a marathon with his soul.
By the time the paramedics arrived, she was soaked through. She rode with him to the hospital, refusing to leave his side.
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Hours passed.
The room was quiet, sterile white walls absorbing the soft hum of machines. Rin stirred slightly, his eyelids fluttering before finally opening. He blinked against the harsh light.
“Takeda-kun?” a voice said gently.
A man in a white coat stepped closer, clipboard in hand. “Good. You’re awake.”
Rin sat up slowly, wincing at the soreness in his limbs. “Where… am I?”
“The hospital,” the doctor replied. “You were brought in unconscious. Do you remember what happened?”
Rin’s brows furrowed. He tried to recall—the alley, the sudden surge of energy, the searing heat in his chest. But after that… nothing. A blank space.
“I… don’t know,” he said quietly. “I just collapsed.”
The doctor gave a slow nod. “Your vitals are stable. No signs of physical injury, but your system showed strange fluctuations when you arrived—elevated heart rate, irregular breathing patterns. Almost like a shock response. We’ll keep you overnight for observation.”
As the doctor left, the door creaked open again. Akari stepped in, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail, eyes shadowed from worry but brightening the moment she saw him awake.
“You idiot,” she said, walking over. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Rin managed a tired smile. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to.”
Akari pulled up a chair and sat. “You passed out in the alley. I had to call an ambulance. What the hell happened, Rin?”
He looked down at his hands. They looked the same. Felt the same. Yet somewhere deep inside, he knew something had changed. But when he tried to sense it—whatever it was—there was nothing.
“I don’t know,” he said again, this time more honestly. “Everything feels… normal.”
Akari frowned. “Well, normal or not, something happened. And we’re going to figure it out.”
Rin nodded slowly, unease settling in his gut.
The power had awakened. But it slept, silent and invisible—for now.
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To be continued. ......
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