The stars blinked above like broken lights in a ceiling too far to reach.
A boy walked alone.
Mike pulled his thin cloak tighter around his shoulders as the wind bit at his skin. His boots crunched softly on the gravel path leading away from the Hero Clan manor. No one noticed him leave. No one ever did.
At the edge of the district, under the twisted tree that stood between the three noble territories, two shadows were already waiting.
Jay leaned against the trunk, arms crossed, silver eyes dim. AO sat in the grass, legs pulled to his chest, staring quietly at the moon.
They didn't greet each other with smiles. Just silence. Heavy. Familiar.
"I thought maybe this time it would be different," Jay said first, voice barely louder than the wind. "Thought my father would actually look me in the eyes."
AO scoffed. "Mine hasn't even said my name in three years."
Mike sat down beside them, exhaling sharply. "My father paid for someone to kill me."
That shut them up.
"…Still alive though," Jay muttered, nudging Mike's foot.
Mike gave a weak smile. "Barely."
They sat together like that, three shadows under a broken tree, in a world that hated them for existing.
"Do you ever… regret it?" AO asked.
Jay looked up. "Regret what?"
"Being here. This world. Being reborn."
No one answered right away.
Then Mike whispered, "I don't know. I miss Her my mother … Star's the only thing keeping me together. But sometimes… I wish I'd just disappeared."
The silence returned. But this time, it felt heavier. The kind of silence that stuck to your chest.
"Let's stay alive," Jay finally said. "If only to spite them."
Later That Night…
The Hero Clan estate was quiet. Too quiet.
Mike stood beside his little sister's bed. Star was asleep, tiny arms wrapped around the stuffed bear he gave her.
He knelt beside her, folded his hands, and whispered into the darkness.
Late at night, under three separate roofs in a world far from Earth, three boys who once shared the same room in Tokyo now whispered prayers to the stars.
The Hero Clan estate was as silent as a grave.
Mike sat beside his bed, knees hugged to his chest, staring at the moonlight slicing through the window.
He clasped his hands and whispered "Mom… Dad… it wasn't my fault, was it? I still remember the accident. I still remember how Grandma looked at me like I was some kind of monster… like I cursed our family. I just wanted us to be happy again."
He took a shaky breath."I didn't know where else to go. I wandered for so long. I was just a kid, and nobody wanted me. But I kept going… I kept surviving. Because I knew you'd want me to, right?"
His hands trembled.
"I'm in a different world now. But every night, I still see that rainy night… the crash… and your faces."
AO lay in his luxurious bed, alone in the Sheen family estate — the house full of magical wonders, but empty of warmth.
He stared up at the ceiling, eyes dry but distant. He didn't cry anymore. He had run out of tears back in Tokyo.
He whispered:
"Mom… Dad… I don't know why you fought so much. I don't know why you didn't want me. I never asked to be born into a war zone."
He turned onto his side, voice lower:
"You both left. Like I was nothing. But I wasn't nothing. I had friends. I had Mike. I had Jay. We got each other through it."
"Still… some nights, I'd trade anything just to hear one of you say 'I love you.'"
Jay knelt beside a window in the Aishan family house, hands pressed together, head bowed.
His voice was barely above a breath:
"Mom… I never met you, but I miss you like I did. They said you died of cancer right after I was born. I never even got to say hello."
"Dad told me I shouldn't feel anything. That I didn't know you. But I did, didn't I? I knew you in my heart. That's enough."
"You're the reason I kept trying. The reason I smiled for the others, even when I wanted to disappear."
His eyes lifted toward the stars outside the window.
"I hope you're proud of me. Wherever you are."
As the night deepened, a silent bond echoed across the three corners of the land — a shared grief, born from a world now lost, but never forgotten.
Tomorrow, they'd be called powerless. Useless. "Mistakes."
But tonight?
They were just three broken boys, praying into the dark, carrying the weight of Tokyo in their hearts.
The academy loomed like a castle of judgment. Towers high enough to shame clouds. Students in perfect robes, glowing with power, laughter, and superiority.
The trio walked in — quiet, stiff, wearing hand-me-down uniforms.
Whispers followed them like curses.
"That's them."
"The freaks."
"The ones with no magic."
"Why even let them in?"
They kept walking.
Inside the classroom, Professor Harnell — a tall man with a stern face and slick white beard — scanned the room.
"Michael Star."
Mike stood up. "Here."
"Arien Sheen."
AO nodded. "Here."
"Jayden Aishan."
"...Here."
The professor raised an eyebrow. "Ah yes, the anomalies. Let's hope you're not a complete waste of the Academy's resources."
Chuckles broke out around the room. Mike swallowed. Jay scowled. AO didn't flinch.
They were told to introduce themselves.
Mike stammered. AO just bowed slightly. Jay kept it short: "Don't expect anything."
The rest of the day was a blur of humiliation. No aura. No spells. No sparks.
By the end of class, they were already being called:
"Powerless."
"Mistakes."
"The Moon's failed joke."
The trio sat on the high ledge of the Academy, overlooking the glowing city below.
They said nothing.
Until Jay whispered, "Let them laugh now."
AO added, "We'll see who's laughing later."
Mike nodded. "Together."
The stars blinked. And this time, they blinked in rhythm.