The Day Everything Changed
The classroom was like any other in the school: pale walls, half-erased boards, rows of desks worn by time and compass scratches. A flickering neon light buzzed from the ceiling, adding rhythm to the adolescent chatter.
Everyone was talking, laughing, throwing paper balls… except one. Slumped over his desk, Keita let his head rest between his crossed arms. His bright orange hair, like the glow of dying flames, fell over his forehead. The recently shaved undercut left a visible dark strip on the sides, like a shadow clinging to his light. Mischievous by nature, he wasn't talking today. He was just tired. Nothing else.
Then, in the hallway, a noise.
Faint, but strange.
A long, heavy shadow approached, stretched unnaturally, as if it belonged to nothing human.
Without a word, the classroom door slowly opened. The students fell silent instantly. One stood up nervously and called out:
— Stand up!
Then, immediately:
— Sit down…
A massive figure stood in the doorway. The man entered without saying a word, dragging behind him an almost suffocating authority. Perfectly opaque black sunglasses covered his eyes, and no one remembered ever seeing him without them. He was tall, built like a human suit of armor, and rumors said he had once smashed a locker… with a student's head.
He scanned the room, then spoke in a deep voice:
— Well… since it's the last day, administration is granting you free time. Enjoy. And try not to die.
He immediately turned on his heel, walked out… and vanished down the hall, as if he'd melted into the air.
As soon as he was gone, the chatter resumed—twice as loud.
A few minutes later, another boy entered, slowly. His black hair fell like a curtain over his forehead, completely hiding his eyes. His calm demeanor contrasted with the surrounding chaos. He walked silently toward Keita, still half-asleep.
— Keita, he whispered. Remember? You said you'd tell her today. You promised.
Keita sighed without raising his head.
— I know, I know… But you think it's easy? It's not just "hey, I like you, let's date." It's… it's Yuna.
— Exactly, said the other. You love her, right? Then go tell her.
Keita sat up reluctantly.
— Fine… let's go.
They walked into the hallway, its white tiles slightly grimy. Crumpled posters on the walls reminded students of the safety rules, the ban on using powers in school (even if barely anyone had them), and the closure dates. Dented lockers lined the walls.
Elsewhere in the school…
A door burst open. A group of girls in uniform poured into the hallway, laughing loudly, swapping stories about classes, hairstyles, and boys with the typical energy of a final day.
Back to the two boys:
— You have to tell her you love her today, insisted the calm friend.
— I know, sighed Keita. But I'm afraid she only sees me as her childhood friend… or worse, a big brother. If she rejects me, it's over.
— Honestly, you're an idiot. I'm sure she loves you too.
— That's just you hoping it's true… but fine. I hope you're right.
Back to the group of girls:
Among them, one stood out with her graceful composure. Long hair, sharp gaze, balanced figure—she laughed with the others but already seemed mentally elsewhere. Her name was Yuna.
— Alright, girls, see you later!
She walked away, turning down another hallway.
I wonder where those two disappeared to… she thought.
As she walked past a large window… she suddenly froze.
Her eyes widened.
Just behind the glass, only a few meters away…
A gigantic eye was staring at her.
At the same moment, Keita and his friend turned into the adjacent hallway.
A piercing scream tore through the air.
Yuna had screamed.
Beyond the city's inner walls, several kilometers from the central zone, stood an outer wall—broad and thick, twelve meters tall.
A simple wooden door, barely two meters high, marked its entrance—like a tiny mouth at the base of a stone giant.
All around, a dense forest encircled the area, but stopped dead two meters from the wall, as if the trees themselves refused to get any closer. A narrow path carved through the trunks led directly to the door, slicing through the vegetation in a straight line.
Two teenagers, probably sixteen years old, sat at the roadside.
— I'm telling you, nothing's gonna happen, grumbled Kohaku, arms crossed. Let's go to the lake instead.
Her long blond hair, tied back with a rough cord, flowed over her tanned shoulders. She wore a plain white t-shirt tucked into denim shorts. A small knife was strapped to each thigh. Her gaze was fierce, her tone blunt, and her anger always ready to explode.
— We have to watch the gate, Hiro replied, calm but firm. Make sure no monsters get through.
Slim but solid, Hiro wore a red t-shirt faded with the words: "I'M ALL FIRE." His black hair fell just above his eyes as he stared intently into the forest.
— JUST SAY YOU DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE WITH ME! Kohaku shouted, blushing. MONSTERS GIVE OFF WIND—WE CAN SENSE THEM FROM FAR!
— Yeah, except some can hide their presence, Hiro muttered. And what's that about being alone with you?
— N-Nothing! she snapped, turning her flushed face away.
Hiro sighed, got up, walked a few steps down the path, then came back.
— I… have something to tell you.
Kohaku turned, intrigued, heart pounding.
— What is it?... Tell me…
— This morning, my grandfather gave me this.
He pulled out a small package wrapped in dark cloth, carefully bundled. Kohaku, thinking it was a confession, turned away angrily.
— This is serious, insisted Hiro. According to him, it's a prison. One of my ancestors supposedly sealed a mythical monster inside it… and for generations, each descendant must prevent its release.
Kohaku, arms crossed, turned to respond… then saw the object.
— Wait… looks like something's inside…
— Exactly, said Hiro. Even I don't know what it is. Neither does my grandfather. He said anyone who touches it gets pulled in after a few minutes.
— Whoa… That's dangerous. I kinda wanna—
Crack.
A sharp sound froze them. A twig snapped. A footstep.
The teens looked up slowly. A figure approached from the shadows of the trees.
It moved slowly, but with certainty.
It looked like… a deformed octopus, gigantic, as if it had swallowed an elephant and digested it while keeping its mass. Two thick gray legs—remnants of the absorbed creature—supported its weight, while multiple tentacles extended and retracted constantly around its slimy body.
Two small, close-set black eyes scanned the area near its limbs, and a third, larger eye—like a brown pearl—gleamed at its center.
Hiro swallowed hard.
— See? Told you it wasn't a good idea to swim.
Kohaku didn't look away.
— Okay… you were right.
A frozen silence. A second of disbelief.
Then the screaming began.
Students screamed in the hallways, fleeing in all directions. Some tripped, others froze, eyes wide with fear. But amidst the chaos, two boys ran the opposite way, pushing through the panicked crowd to find the one they sought.
Yuna.
She was still frozen before the large window, her hands pressed to the glass. But before Keita and Kubira could reach her, a heavy sound echoed.
A massive fist smashed through the wall.
An entire portion of the façade collapsed, sending shards of stone and clouds of dust through the classroom. A giant crater now replaced the wall.
A huge, grotesquely deformed hand, with rough greenish skin, plunged into the classroom like a monstrous claw. It grabbed Yuna effortlessly, yanking her from the floor.
Keita froze, breathless.
The monster, at least three meters tall, wore only a tattered loincloth. Its body was grotesquely disproportionate. One eye, massive and rolling, nearly the size of its head, dominated one side. The other eye, smaller, seemed normal—but lost in the asymmetry.
Its arms, far too long, hung like giant weights. Each hand was bigger than Keita's torso—yet it lifted them with ease. In one of them, Yuna's body dangled, head and shoulders out one side, feet the other.
The monster tilted its head, observing its prey with almost childlike curiosity. Then, in a slow, guttural voice, syllables dragged out by idiocy:
— Preeee-tty…
The wind shifted. A surge of static brushed Keita. He turned, startled.
Kubira's hands and feet crackled with electricity.
— You've got powers now?! Keita cried.
Kubira didn't look away from the monster.
— Yeah. Sorry I never said. But I've gotta help Yuna.
— You're gonna jump? We're on the fourth floor!
— I know.
And without hesitation, he leapt.
Thunder cracked. His fist, wrapped in blue lightning, struck the monster's head with devastating force.
Outside the city, the calm shattered.
A loud sound, like an explosion, erupted from the outer wall. Then a second, louder. A portion of the wall had just collapsed from impact.
A blaring alarm rang across the entire district.
— And you still wanted to go swimming?! Hiro growled through clenched teeth.
Kohaku, eyes blazing with fury, drew her knives.
— Got it.
Without hesitation, she charged at the monster. A war cry burst from her throat as she leapt. Hiro, right behind her, took a combat stance, his hands heating up from a magical surge.
The monster turned. Two tentacles swelled and lunged toward them.
Kohaku dodged the first with ease, spun, and sliced the second. It fell to the ground… then immediately regrew, as if made of eternal flesh.
— Hiro! Block its powers! she shouted while cutting another tentacle.
— I'm trying! he yelled, aiming both hands and concentrating energy.
— But… it's not using any power! I can't block anything!
— Then come help me! Just distract it for one second!
Hiro dashed forward, barely avoiding another tentacle. He jumped off a rock, soared, and slammed his fist into the monster's central eye.
A shriek of pain shattered the air.
But before he could land, three tentacles wrapped around him.
The monster squeezed. Hiro screamed in agony, ribs compressed.
— HIRROOOO!!
Kohaku screamed at the top of her lungs. Her eyes hardened. She charged at the tentacles, slicing them with surgical precision.
Then, she crouched slightly… and vanished.
The air folded, literally. In front of her, invisible creases formed, as if space itself wrinkled. She dove into them…
… and reappeared behind the monster, blade forward, plunging her knife deep into its flesh.