He was suspended in midair above him, cloaked in invisibility. His aura was gone, completely erased. Even the strongest observers couldn't sense a thing.
Ayane stood among the watching crowd, frozen in disbelief. Her lips trembled. "What's going on…? Why is this happening?"
Her voice cracked, thin and brittle. "We were friends… weren't we?"
Memories flashed through her mind—his shy smile, his quiet laugh, the way he used to walk beside her after school. Back then, his power hadn't even manifested. He was ordinary. Powerless.
"I just wanted to be his friend," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I never planned to be with him. I was just a kid. As I got older, the things I wanted changed. The kind of guys I liked changed. I didn't want someone… uncool."
Her throat tightened. "Even though I knew he always liked me."
She clenched her fists, her voice shaking. "But now… now his power has awakened. And he's nothing like before."
