The late afternoon sun filtered gently through the rustling tress, casting long golden shadows across the quiet park. Children's laughter echoed in the air soft and distant like a memory Blessing couldn't quite touch.
He sat alone on a rusted swing, its chain creaked faintly with shift of the breeze. His black hoodie hung loose around him, the hood drawn just enough to shade his honey brown eyes. His gaze drifted across the park not at the playground but through it, past the joy the noise and comfort.
A boy tripped while chasing a ball and scraped his knee. Before the tears even formed his older sister knelt beside him, brushing dirt from his hands and whispering something that made him smile again.
Blessing's hand tightened on the chain of the swing. "How many of them have powers? How many don't even know? How many could protect the ones they love… and how many like me are still trying?"
His thoughts tangled like wind-blown leaves. He glanced at his palm, recalling the last time his power had slipped. "I can't loss another loved one. I have to get stronger… for Esther."
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He didn't expect a message. No one ever texted unless it was her. The screen lit up to show an unknown number which texted. "I know what you can do. Meet me and find out the truth."
Meanwhile the sky burned orange and rose, streaking gold across Naoki's usual training spot. Beneath a tree that had seen too many lonely afternoons, Naoki moved in silence his breath steady, his arms worn but precise.
Each swing of his practice blade sliced through the dying light like it mattered. Whip, step, slash. Again and again. The fading sun glinted off his white hair casting shadows over his focused storm-blue eyes.
"Still poking holes in the air with arts and crafts, I see." Naoki froze mid-swing. The voice came from behind. Smooth, playful, laced with a subtle chill and annoyingly familiar.
"You're still here?" Naoki asked not quite surprised.
Headless didn't move. Instead he flicked something small through the air. A ribbon worn, reddish-brown fluttered down in front of Naoki's feet. "Tie it on your blade," Headless said "It's special."
"What is it?" Naoki asked as he picked it up. "Just try it, or don't. Your choice."
Naoki eyed the ribbon, then sighed. Carefully he tied it around the hilt of his blade. The second he pulled the knot tight a flash. His blade surged with dark orange energy, pulsing like embers dancing in twilight. A gust of hot wind spiraled around him, and the tree's leaves scattered like they'd been blown from another world.
Naoki's eyes widened. "What the hell?" Headless chuckled. "An upgrade." He turned away, cloak swaying from the breeze. "One of many."
Then, just as the light began to fade completely, he added without looking. "Training can only get you so far. What you need is actual combat."
Later that evening the moon cast a pale glow through the open window, cutting across the quiet mess of Naoki's room blueprints scattered, broken tools on the floor, glowing embers from his earlier training still lingering.
At the desk a single candle flickered. Naoki sat hunched over, studying a paper dagger, the ribbon now tied securely around its base. As he tilted it, a faint trail of orange flame shimmered across the blade's edge thin, flickering and alive.
A grin crept onto his face. "This power…" he whispered, eyes lit with mischief and determination. "It's mine."
Then tap, tap. He didn't jump. He just turned.
Upside down at the window like a shadow that forgot how gravity worked, Headless hung in place mask gleaming in the moonlight.
"You ready to make a name for yourself?" he asked, voice low and crooked. Naoki spun the dagger once. "What's the plan?"
Headless smile seemed to be wider than ever. "Underground circuit no rules, no mercy. You win… you gain strength in return."
Naoki stood immediately, strapping on his gear with quick hands. "Let's go."
At the underground circuit air reeked of sweat, metal and heat. Shouts echoed off the concrete walls. People crowded around a wide, gritty ring lit only by overhead bulbs that flickered like they were afraid of what they'd see.
"Nights fight Chain Bullet versus Paper boy." The announcer shouted.
On one side, a man in chains stepped forward, bulky and shirtless, thick metal links wrapped around his fists and shoulders like armor. Tattoos ran up his arms like snakes.
"They sent a kid?" he laughed, cracking his knuckles. "Come on kid go on home its way past your bedtime."
Naoki smirked. "It's gonna be your bedtime cause I'm gonna make you go night, night." He said eyes glowed faintly under his hood, his paper dagger tucked at his waist, the ribbon dancing like it remembered fire.
The bell rang. Chain Bullet charged chains whipping forward with brute force and a thunderous roar.
Naoki didn't move. Then snap one step, one slash. A single orange arc cut the air.
Flames exploded from the dagger's edge. The chains flew off course, melted mid-air and Chain Bullet collapsed backward with a grunt, smoke rising from his chest defeated in one blow.
The crowd went silent, then erupted.
Headless watched from above the shadows, laughing quietly. "Not bad, paper boy."
By the next morning Blessing stared at the strange message on his phone again. Esther, eating toast peeked over. "Are you really going to meet them?" she asked as she took a bite.
"I guess so, whoever they know something maybe they can help."
Esther stood up and crossed her arms "Then I'm coming to. So that when they try anything funny I'll beat them up." Blessing shook his head "It says bring you I'm not sure if that's good or bad," He sighed "But I guess I don't have a choice, let's go."
Blessing and Esther went to an abandoned train station. The air was cold and heavy as they stepped past the rusted gate, their footsteps echoing along the cracked stone path. Dust drifted in the beams of light that came from outside as they descended the stairway to the forgotten station.
The scent of iron and mildew clung to the air, thick and stale. The once vibrant walls were now coated in grime and graffiti, the silence pressing in like a weight. Flickering lights lined the ceiling not electric but spectral, faintly glowing with unnatural hues.
At the far end of the platform stood a figure cloaked in a long dark coat. His face was hidden beneath the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat, but what caught Blessing's eye was the symbol pinned to his chest. A silver badge shaped like a cracked choir bell, etched with lines that pulsed faintly like veins.
"You came," the man said, voice low and calm, carrying through the air like a whisper wrapped in power. "So you're the famous Chiaki siblings."
Blessing tensed "How do you know us, what do you want?"
The man tilted his head "You two have made a name for yourselves in our industry, and ooh you do want to know the truth don't you." He tossed a wrapped file toward Blessing.
"Read it, I think it might help answer some of your questions."
Blessing picked up the file and opened it, his eyes widened. What he saw were things he only saw in horror movies. Pictures of ability users, human flesh and blood everywhere.
"Everything you see on the surface is but an illusion the only thing that truly exist is darkness." He turned slowly and walked toward the mouth of the dark tunnel. "And you two have no choice but to live in that constant darkness because you're…. Mirakai"
Later in a different part of the city Naoki defeated another fighter using a paper whip with static energy. He's growing stronger. The crowd cheered. He looked to the shadow where Headless watched.
Naoki, breathing hard "That's five in a row."
Headless grinned "Good but strength alone won't get you recognition. You need theatrics, fear and presence." Naoki quietly "What do you want from me?"
"I want to see what a desperate child can become…. When he forgets who he's trying to impress." Headless said seriously for once.
At the same time Kairo stern and quiet watched surveillance clips of Naoki, Headless and the Mysterious man meeting with Blessing and Esther. "They're all moving at once we may need to act before the season turns." A voice behind him then responded calm and sinister of screen. "No let them gather, let them believe they're ready."
But behind the entrance of hero society a man with snowflake earing stood singing twisted nursery rhymes almost childlike. "Boom." He giggled as he stared at the large doors. "Let the game begin."
Who this unknown man with a childlike altitude was, a mystery but one thing one for sure things were about to get way more dangerous.