It happened on a street I walked every day.
The vending machine hummed.A flickering streetlight buzzed overhead.
Four men.One woman.
She tried to pull away.
I stopped.
My feet didn't move.
"Hey—"
My voice came out thinner than I expected.
One of them laughed.
The sound made my chest tighten.
I told myself someone else would step in.Someone older.Someone braver.
The woman's eyes met mine.
Just for a second.
I looked away.
The next morning, the news played quietly in the kitchen.
"—the victim was found unresponsive—"
My mother turned the volume down.
"Don't watch things like that before school."
The screen showed a blurred photo.A familiar street.
My hand tightened around my chopsticks.
"Cause of death is still under investigation."
I didn't finish breakfast.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her stare.
Not angry.
Disappointed.
I could've stopped it.
The thought wouldn't leave.
My chest burned.
My heart felt a sharp pain, something I never felt before.
Eyes burned as if they caught fire
Then—
-THRESHOLD CROSSED.
The sensation vanished.
I collapsed onto the bed, drenched in sweat.
Outside, a black car stopped silently beneath my apartment.
Inside, a man closed a file.
"Confirmed awakening," he said calmly."Sixteen years old."
Another voice responded.
"Bring him in."
"What if he refuses?"
The man smiled.
"No one ever does."
I stepped back from the window.
*They're here for me.*
My heart started pounding.
I rushed to the door and pulled it open.
He was already there.
Standing inches away.
The man from the car looked down at me calmly, as if he had been waiting the whole time.
"Who are you?"
My voice shook.
His lips curled into a grin.
"Welcome to Kokuyō Academy, Mr. Izan Aoyama."
Before I could react, his hand moved.
Pain exploded at the back of my neck.
The hallway tilted.
The floor rushed up—
* * *
I woke up choking.
Cold metal bit into my wrists.
I tried to move.
Chains rattled.
The room was dark. Not empty—dark.
The kind that felt like it was watching me.
*…Where am I?*
The room lit up.
Not with lights.
With candles.
Their flames flickered to life one by one, casting long shadows across the walls.
Weapons lined the room.
Blades. Guns. Things I couldn't name.
A man stood in front of me.
His hands were in his pockets.
Relaxed.
He looked straight into my eyes, unbothered.
"It seems you've finally gained consciousness," he said.
"You were zoned out for quite a while."
My throat felt dry.
"Who… are you?"
He smiled slightly.
"Me?"
He tilted his head.
"I'm Ichinose. You can call me Ichi-sensei."
That made it worse.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"Why was I taken?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked past me, inspecting the weapons like they were decorations.
"No one kidnapped you," he said calmly.
"And calling the police would only make things… complicated."
I pulled against the cuffs.
"Then explain," I said.
My voice came out rougher than I wanted.
"Explain everything."
Ichinose watched me for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"First," he said calmly, "you need to calm down."
I let out a sharp laugh.
"Calm down?"
"You dragged me out of my house. I woke up chained in a room full of weapons."
I met his eyes.
"How exactly do you expect me to calm down?"
He didn't argue.
Instead, he asked quietly—
"You remember the woman, don't you?"
The words hit harder than any punch.
The room seemed to dim.
My mouth opened, but nothing came out.
*That night.*
*That street.*
*The moment I didn't move.*
My chest tightened.
Ichinose spoke again, slower this time.
"It's okay," he said.
"It wasn't your fault."
I clenched my fists.
"I could've—"
"You were weak," he interrupted, not cruelly. Just honestly.
"And even if you had stepped in, there's a high chance both of you would have died."
I hated how calm he was.
I hated how part of me agreed.
"That regret you're feeling," Ichinose continued, "that's the reason you're here."
He turned, gesturing around the room.
"This place exists for people who crossed something they can't go back from."
"A… Threshold."
The word felt heavy.
"There are others like you," he said.
"Very few. Most never awaken. Most break before they do."
I swallowed.
"And when someone awakens," I asked, "you kidnap them?"
He smiled faintly.
"We recruit."
That didn't make it better.
"Every Threshold manifests differently," Ichinose said.
"No two abilities are the same."
He looked back at me.
"You've been classified as an observation-type."
I stiffened.
"That's rare," he added.
"And dangerous."
He stepped closer.
"So let's find out," Ichinose said softly,
"what you see when you're forced to watch."
The candles flickered.
Something in the room shifted.
And for the first time—
Ichinose's smile faded.
"Stand still," Ichinose said.
Before I could ask what he meant, the world warped.
The room vanished.
Cold air hit my face as my feet slammed onto solid ground. I stumbled, barely managing to stay upright.
I looked around.
An open field stretched endlessly under the night sky. The ground was stone, cracked and worn, with strange markings carved into it. Large buildings stood far away, silent and dark.
"Kokuyō Academy," Ichinose said calmly.
I turned to him, panic rising.
"W-Where are we?"
"This is the safest place to kill you," he replied.
My blood froze.
"What?"
He took a few steps back, hands still in his pockets.
"You won't awaken unless you're pushed," he said.
"So I'm going to push you."
The pressure hit instantly.
It felt like my body was being crushed from all sides. My legs gave out and I dropped to my knees, gasping for air.
"Ichi—sensei—stop—!"
He raised his hand.
The ground in front of me exploded.
Stone shattered and flew past my face. I screamed and rolled away, heart pounding violently.
He wasn't aiming to miss.
He was testing how close to death I could get.
"I'm going to die," I whispered.
Fear swallowed everything else.
Then—
Something changed.
The noise faded.
My breathing slowed.
I could feel Ichinose's presence clearly now. Not his power—his **intent**.
I knew where he was without looking.
I turned.
He stood a few meters away.
And suddenly, I understood.
If he moved forward, I would die.
If he attacked again, I wouldn't survive.
The certainty made my stomach twist.
"I… can see it," I muttered.
Ichinose stopped completely.
His eyes widened just slightly.
"So that's your ability."
The pressure vanished. I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
"What did I do?" I asked weakly.
Ichinose walked toward me, no longer threatening.
"You didn't block my attack," he said.
"You didn't dodge it."
He looked down at me.
"You **recognized the outcome**."
I clenched my fists.
"I couldn't stop it."
"Exactly."
He straightened.
"Your ability activates when you're cornered. When fear and regret overlap."
He paused.
"I'll name it for you."
The wind passed through the empty field.
"**Silent Witness.**"
I looked up.
"What does that even mean?"
Ichinose spoke simply this time.
"You can see what will happen—
as long as someone has already decided to act."
I swallowed.
"So… I can see death coming."
"For now," he replied.
He smiled faintly.
"And someday, you'll learn how to change it."
He turned away.
"Follow."
Before I could ask where, the air around us shifted.
It wasn't violent.
It felt… guided.
The academy grounds blurred, the night sky stretching like thin glass.
My feet never left the ground.
Then—
The world settled.
Sunlight poured in through tall windows.
Voices filled the air.
I stiffened.
Rows of desks. Students. A classroom.
I was standing at the front of it.
Every conversation stopped.
"Wow," someone muttered.
"They really dropped him in like that."
A boy near the window leaned back in his chair, studying me.
"So this is the new one."
I swallowed.
Ichinose stepped past me and faced the class.
"Good morning," he said casually.
"This is Izan Aoyama."
Murmurs spread across the room.
"Observation-type," Ichinose added.
The reaction was immediate.
Some students leaned forward.
Others looked away.
One person in the back didn't react at all.
Our eyes met.
My head throbbed.
I looked away first.
Ichinose smiled slightly.
"Take a seat," he said to me.
"And try not to panic."
The bell rang.
And just like that—
My new life began.
CHAPTER ENDS.