The walk home from school was usually a drag.
But today, the world felt different.
Clearer.
Sharper.
Like someone had wiped the fog off reality.
"Yo, Seiji, wait up!"
Masashi jogged to his side—a bundle of messy brown hair and nervous energy wrapped in a human shape. Seiji's oldest friend. A decent guy. A panicky nerd, yes—but loyal.
"Did you finish the math review?" Masashi puffed. "Ms. Takumi is trying to murder us. My grade is dead, I swear. Actually dead."
Seiji shrugged. Math felt irrelevant now. Numbers, formulas… were no comparison to the warm hum of the amulet waiting for him at home—brining it to school felt too dangerous.
Could calculus rewrite reality?
No.
But the amulet could. And it had already started.
Seiji smiled. "It's fine."
"Fine?" Masashi scoffed. "Dude, this is our last year. And then? University? Work? Oh—I don't know. What do you even want to do after graduation? It's scary, man."
Seiji stopped.
The question caught him by surprise. Not because of Masashi's panic—but because Seiji suddenly realized he wasn't scared of the future. Not anymore.
The world hadn't changed. Seiji had.
He looked at Masashi.
What is he so stressed about? His life is going to be fine.
Normal. Predictable. Safe.
Just like the one I was supposed to have.
But that was before the amulet.
Before destiny cracked open.
"I don't know exactly," Seiji said. Deep inside, he felt very calm and certain. "But I've decided I want power."
Masashi blinked. Hard. "Power? You?"
You could almost see gears switching in his brain. "What does that even mean?"
Seiji didn't answer right away. He had to find the best way to say it. Even though Masashi was his friend, he wouldn't understand. You couldn't understand the amulet unless you experienced it.
"My grandpa," Seiji said slowly. "Turns out he wasn't just some boring old man. He was… something else. Someone special. Someone big."
He chose these words.
They felt good.
They felt right.
Masashi frowned. "Your grandpa? But he—uh—"
"The one who died," Seiji finished for him. "Yeah."
Masashi rubbed the back of his neck. "If he was so powerful, where's your mansion? The money? Shouldn't you be rich or something?"
Seiji grinned.
"That's exactly what I'm going to find out," he said, voice steady. "And if he was powerful… why can't I be?"
For a moment, Masashi just stared at Seiji—like he had never seen him before.
Then he suddenly looked away.
Scared? I wouldn't blame you.
Seiji kept walking, without checking if Masashi followed.
The old Seiji would've worried about math.
Would've stressed about university.
Would've accepted a small life.
The new Seiji had a legacy to claim.
A power to uncover.
And a future that would bend to him—whether the world liked it or not.