Chapter Two:The Awakening

  Uburashi jolted awake, his chest rising and falling in heavy breaths. His bedsheets clung to his sweat-drenched body as his mind scrambled for crity.

  "It was just a dream. Just another nightmare."

  But this one felt different too real. The blinding white light, the burning power surging through his veins, the final smirk of Gooseby Fang before fading into nothingness. Uburashi ran a hand through his damp blue hair, exhaling sharply. His reflection in the cracked mirror across the room looked pale, shaken.

  He scoffed. "I really need to stop watching weird crap before bed…"

  Rubbing his temples, he reached for the small bottle of sleeping pills on his nightstand, shaking it. Empty. Figures.

  Sunlight bled through his cheap curtains, reminding him of one undeniable fact he had school.

  The cssroom buzzed with meaningless chatter, but Uburashi sat alone, as usual. A single earbud in, his gaze bnkly fixed outside the window. Nobody ever noticed him.

  "Not like I care."

  Teachers droned on. Csses blurred together. The only time he moved was when a textbook hit his desk.

  "Hey, Nagata," the teacher called, tapping the board. "Since you’re so deep in thought, why don’t you solve this?"

  Uburashi sighed and stood, answering in a ft tone before sitting back down. The teacher, clearly unimpressed, continued the lesson.

  Lunch came. Uburashi ate alone on the rooftop, watching clouds drift by. It was just another boring day.

  Or so he thought.

  The walk home was quiet. Uburashi stuffed his hands into his pockets, zily staring at the pavement.

  Then he felt it.

  A whisper, not in words, but in sensation. A pull. His body froze before his legs moved on their own. Something was calling him.

  His heartbeat quickened.

  "What the hell is this…?"

  He turned corners without thinking, his feet leading him into the depths of the city. Past quiet streets. Past flickering streetlights. Until

  A construction site.

  Dark. Silent. Wrong.

  His feet stopped. His body refused to move.

  And then he saw it.

  A corpse, limp and lifeless. Blood pooled beneath it, soaking into the dirt. And above it, crouched like a twisted nightmare a creature.

  Its body was humanoid but wrong distorted limbs, jagged teeth, bckened veins pulsing under sickly pale skin. It feasted on the corpse, ripping flesh apart like wet paper.

  Uburashi’s breath caught in his throat. His knees locked.

  "No… No, this can't be real."

  The demon stopped eating. Slowly, its grotesque head turned. Sunken, soulless eyes locked onto him.

  It grinned.

  Uburashi felt the air shatter around him as the demon lunged, cws extending.

  He wanted to move scream, run, fight anything.

  But he was frozen.

  This is it. I’m going to die.

  A blur of motion then blood.

  The demon’s charge ended midair. Its body ripped apart, split down the center like fragile paper. Crimson mist exploded in all directions.

  Uburashi blinked. The demon's remains fell lifelessly to the ground.

  He looked down at himself. An aura white, violent, untamed wrapped around his body, flickering like fmes.

  Then, he felt it.

  Dozens of eyes watching him from the dark.

  The shadows moved.

  He wasn’t alone a

  nymore.

  And whatever lurked in the darkness had just realized something new had awoken.