The morning light burned through Ren's eyelids like a knife.
He flinched awake, gasping — drenched in cold sweat.
His room was quiet. Too quiet.
Only the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat filled his ears, deep and heavy — thump… thump… thump, as if echoing through metal walls.
Ren sat up, clutching his chest.
"...It's still beating. Okay. I'm still human."
He tried to laugh at his own words, but his throat was dry.
He glanced at his mirror and froze.
For just a second — maybe less — his reflection didn't move. It stared back at him with black veins running across the skin, eyes glowing faintly like dying embers.
Then it blinked and returned to normal.
Ren exhaled shakily. "I really need to stop pulling all-nighters."
He splashed water on his face and headed out for school. But no matter how hard he tried to shake it, the world looked sharper. Every sound cut through the air. He could hear footsteps from blocks away, feel the tension in the pavement, smell the metallic tang of passing cars.
"Did coffee always smell this… alive?" he muttered, gripping his cup as he walked.
At school, the day started normally. Class chatter, the hum of air conditioners, the teacher droning about advanced biology. But Ren couldn't focus. He kept hearing a second heartbeat — not his own. It followed him, faint and pulsing, like something waiting beneath his skin.
Then, he noticed them.
Five classmates who always seemed... slightly out of sync with the rest.
Kael Morin, who always sat near the window, eyes half-closed, yet could answer any question before the teacher even finished asking.
Lyra Vale, who somehow managed to break three pencils in one day with her "nervous energy."
Toren Ashei, quiet, composed, but his eyes had a predatory gleam — like he was scanning prey.
Jax Rion, loud, teasing, and too physically strong for a "normal" student. He'd crushed a vending machine button last week by accident.
And Selene Kyra, who never said much, always wore a soft smile that never reached her eyes.
Ren had seen them around before. But today, every instinct screamed that something was off.
During lunch, he overheard whispers near the stairwell.
"You felt it too last night, right?"
"Yeah… something awakened nearby. The pressure was heavy."
"Could it be… another one?"
Ren stopped mid-step. The words stabbed into his brain.
Awakened.
Pressure.
Another one.
He took a slow breath.
"No… they can't be talking about me. Right?"
He laughed quietly and walked away.
But his hand was trembling.
That night — whatever had happened — wasn't normal. And something deep inside him knew the truth: he wasn't the same anymore.
Classes dragged on. By the time the final bell rang, Ren was exhausted.
He decided to go to the rooftop — the one place students weren't supposed to go, but everyone did anyway.
The city spread beneath him, a sea of glass and noise.
Ren leaned against the fence and let the wind hit his face.
"Maybe I'm just losing it," he muttered.
"You're not."
The voice came from behind him.
Ren turned.
Selene Kyra stood by the door, her silver hair catching the sunlight, eyes calm but knowing.
"You've been… different lately," she said, stepping closer. "Your scent changed. Your heartbeat too."
Ren blinked. "Uh… thanks? I didn't know I had a 'scent report card.'"
She smiled faintly. "You're trying to hide it, but you can't. We can all sense our own kind."
Ren froze. "Our… kind?"
Selene tilted her head, studying him like a cat would a mouse. "Don't look so scared. You're not infected, Ren. You were just… born wrong. Like us."
The air around her shimmered faintly — a subtle vibration, like static before lightning.
"Come to the club tomorrow," she said softly. "Supernatural Studies. Room 3-B. You might enjoy it… since you're one of us now."
And with that, she turned and left — leaving Ren standing under the fading sun, feeling his shadow tremble beneath him like it wanted to move on its own.
The next day felt heavier.
Ren couldn't sleep; Selene's words kept looping in his head like a broken record.
"You were just born wrong. Like us."
He'd tried convincing himself it was a joke, maybe some weird prank. But every time he blinked, the shadows around him moved. The air around him listened.
By the time the final class ended, curiosity had eaten through his nerves.
Room 3-B. The Supernatural Studies Club.
Ren stood in front of the door for almost a minute before knocking.
Bang.
The sound was loud — too loud. His knuckles left faint dents in the wood.
He stared at the marks, horrified.
"Okay… that's… new."
"Come in, before you break the whole door."
The voice was amused. Selene's.
Ren pushed the door open.
The room was dimly lit, curtains half-drawn. The smell of old books and incense filled the air.
Five people sat or leaned around the room, each one exactly who he'd noticed the day before.
Selene sat on a desk, legs crossed.
Kael flipped through a thick book, eyes half-lidded but sharp.
Lyra was sitting upside down on a couch, eating Pocky.
Toren leaned against the window, silent, arms crossed.
And Jax — Jax was trying to balance three pencils on his nose.
Ren blinked. "…This looks less like a club and more like detention."
Jax grinned. "Oh, it's way worse."
Lyra jumped up, tossing her snack aside. "New recruit! Finally! I thought Selene was making you up again!"
Ren frowned. "Recruit? I didn't say I was joining."
Kael didn't look up from his book. "You're already in. You just haven't accepted it yet."
Ren stared. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Selene slid off the desk and stepped closer, her presence calm but commanding. "You felt it, didn't you? The change. The pull in your chest. The hunger you don't understand."
Ren stiffened. "How—"
Kael finally looked up. His pupils were slit, like a reptile's.
"It's how we find each other," he said quietly. "We smell the same fear."
Lyra clapped her hands. "Okay, dramatic much, Kael. You're scaring the poor guy!"
She snapped her fingers — and a spark of electric blue lightning crackled across her fingertips.
Ren stumbled back, eyes wide.
"What the hell—"
"Relax!" she laughed. "It's just a demonstration. We're all hybrids here. You too, obviously."
Ren shook his head. "I'm not—"
Before he could finish, the shadows on the floor around him shifted.
They twisted like ink in water, forming faint shapes — chains, blades, claws — before melting back into darkness.
The room went silent.
Selene's smile widened slightly. "There it is."
Ren looked at his trembling hands. "I… didn't do that."
Jax whistled. "Oh, you did, buddy. And whatever that was — it's not normal even for us."
Kael closed his book and stood. "Shadow materialization. Adaptive construct formation. That's… Specialist-level."
Ren frowned. "Specialist? What are you talking about?"
Selene met his eyes. "The classification of Yuno Organs. Yours isn't defensive, elemental, or beast-type. It's something rarer — a Specialist."
Ren backed away, shaking his head. "No. No, I'm not one of you."
Toren finally spoke, voice low but steady. "You can deny what you are, but your shadow already knows the truth."
At his words, Ren's shadow quivered again — almost growling from the floor.
The atmosphere thickened. For a moment, Ren thought something inside him might explode.
Then — Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling brightly.
"Hey. Don't worry, okay? The first time's always scary. But we've all been there."
Her warmth steadied him.
He looked around — Selene's calm gaze, Kael's analytical stare, Jax's smirk, Toren's silent understanding — and felt something strange.
Belonging.
Selene nodded toward the door. "You can walk away if you want. Pretend this never happened. But if you stay…"
Ren swallowed. "If I stay?"
Her voice softened.
"Then you stop running from what's inside you."
The silence stretched. Then Ren sighed, rubbing his temple. "You guys are insane."
Lyra grinned. "Yup. Welcome to the club!"
Everyone laughed — even Ren, though quietly.
But as the laughter faded, Selene's eyes lingered on his shadow — and for a moment, it moved again, forming the faint shape of a creature crouching behind him.
Her smile didn't fade, but her voice dropped to a whisper only she could hear.
"So it's true… you're the one she's been waiting for."
The school loudspeakers crackled.
"All personnel evacuate. Containment breach in West District—Level D threat detected."
The clubroom went silent for a heartbeat. Then Kael's comm on his wrist flashed red.
"Confirmed," he muttered. "It's a hybrid. D-Class, uncontrolled."
Selene grabbed her jacket, eyes cold. "We move. Normal students are being cleared—"
She looked at Ren. "You stay put."
Ren blinked. "Stay put? While people are out there—?"
"Exactly," Kael cut in. "It's not a game."
They ran for the exit, leaving Ren alone amid half-finished tea cups.
He hesitated only a moment before bolting after them.
Outside, the night had split open. Sirens painted the street in crimson pulses. A humanoid shape staggered through the smoke—skin like cracked glass, veins burning with violet light.
The air trembled with a low, wet growl.
Kael drew a short blade glowing with sigils.
Selene raised a hand, light gathering at her fingertips.
"Lure it away from civilians," she ordered. "We end this fast."
The creature screamed, lunging. Asphalt exploded under its claws.
Kael parried, Selene's flare seared its flank—but it kept coming, faster, hungrier.
Ren stopped ten meters away, chest heaving. His hands shook—not from fear, but from something alive under his skin. A whisper crawled through his thoughts:
Use it.
His shadow stretched, longer than the streetlights should allow. It pulsed once—then ripped upward, forming a jagged arm of darkness that shot forward and caught the hybrid mid-charge.
Everyone froze. The creature shrieked, thrashing against chains of shadow.
Ren's eyes widened. "Wh-what—?"
"Ren! Step back!" Selene shouted.
But he couldn't. The shadow moved like instinct. Spikes burst from the ground, pinning the monster in a cage of black glass. With a final twist, the structure imploded—swallowing the hybrid into dust and silence.
Ren dropped to one knee, gasping. The shadows receded, leaving faint trails like smoke in water.
Kael stared. "He… neutralized it."
Selene approached slowly, her expression unreadable. "You said you didn't know what you were, didn't you?"
Ren looked up at her, pale. "I still don't."
For a moment, she almost smiled—but the sky above them flickered. A single drop of black rain hit the pavement, hissing as it burned.
Somewhere beyond the clouds, a voice too faint for the others to hear whispered through his mind:
My child… you've finally woken.
The sirens died. Only the echo of that voice remained.