The morning sky was tinged with orange, but Kaito wasn't looking up. He stood barefoot on the rooftop of the school, sweat rolling down his back. His fists were bruised and pulsing with dull heat—more broken concrete lay at his feet. He'd pushed his body all night again, ignoring Seiko's warnings, ignoring Rin's concerned glances, and most of all… ignoring the fear slowly creeping into his own heart.
Because something inside him was changing.
Not just physically. Not just muscle density or neural acceleration.
Something deeper.
> "If pain makes me stronger, then what happens when I stop feeling it?"
The idea chilled him more than the dawn wind.
---
Earlier That Morning – Journal Entry 1
Kaito sat by his window, pen shaking in his hand as he wrote in a stolen composition notebook. His handwriting was messier than usual.
> "Day 3 since shrine incident. I've evolved seven new traits so far. All tied to injuries or stress. But last night… I didn't need to be hurt to adapt. My body anticipated a threat and changed in advance. That's a problem. That's a rule breaking."
He paused, gripping the pen tighter.
> "Rule One of Evolution: Always triggered by pain."
"But now? It triggers by intent. Or fear."
He scribbled hard under the words:
> "This isn't just evolution anymore. This is… something else."
He didn't sign his name.
Because part of him wasn't sure he was still Kaito Hoshino.
---
Later – Classroom 2-B
Momo Ayase leaned against Kaito's desk, poking his forehead with a pen.
> "You're spacing out again, Terminator."
He blinked. "Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't 'huh' me. You've been sitting here for ten minutes staring at your textbook like it murdered your parents. You okay?"
> "Just tired," he lied.
She glanced at his hands. The bruises were gone—overnight healing.
> "You're not hiding your changes well," she muttered. "People are starting to talk."
Kaito turned slightly. "Do you care what they say?"
> "No," she replied instantly. "But I care about what you're turning into."
That made him pause.
Momo hesitated, her voice soft. "You're not the guy who walked into class last week. Your energy's different. It's like… you're holding something wild under your skin."
Kaito looked away.
Because she was right.
And the thing under his skin was starting to grow teeth.
---
Meanwhile – Rin Sawaki's Spiritual Reflection
Rin knelt in a silent temple chamber, candles flickering around her as incense clouded the room in holy fog. Her hands pressed together in a protective seal, her eyes closed.
And in her mind's eye, she saw him.
Kaito's spiritual form wasn't human anymore. Not fully. His aura shimmered with shifting patterns—bones and spirals and radiant pressure like tectonic plates beneath the ocean.
> "Evolution without balance creates monsters," she whispered.
She didn't hate him. In fact, it scared her how much she cared already.
But what frightened her more was the echo she sensed.
Something was copying him. Learning him.
And it was watching from just beyond the veil.
---
Afternoon – Seiko's Apartment
Seiko flicked a spirit blade through the air, its edge hissing as it cut through residual yokai energy. Kaito sat opposite her on the floor, shirt off, as she inspected the mark crawling across his spine now.
It looked almost like a dragon—made of circuits and nerves.
> "How many abilities?" she asked.
"Ten. Maybe more."
Seiko muttered a curse. "That's not evolution anymore, kid. That's acceleration. Like your soul's trying to outrun something."
Kaito said nothing.
Seiko set the blade down and lit a cigarette. "There's a rule in nature. No system can expand infinitely without collapsing. You're not just adapting—you're becoming something new. Something the universe might not want to exist."
He finally spoke. "Then I'll make my own rules."
Seiko chuckled dryly. "Yeah? Then write this one down:"
> "Every evolution makes you less human."
---
Nightfall – Unknown Forest Ruins
The whisper led him here.
Through old woods and broken temples, to a clearing with a stone pedestal at the center. Runes lined its base, ancient and spiraling — almost identical to the mark on his body.
Kaito approached slowly.
> "Why do I recognize this place…?"
He reached out—and the second his fingers brushed the stone, his vision exploded.
---
Vision – The First Rule
He stood in a world made of flesh and stars.
Floating above him were dozens of other forms—other versions of himself. Tall, scaled. Winged. Bladed. Armored. Crawling. Spiraled. Screaming. All evolved. All broken.
They spoke in unison:
> "The Rule of Evolution: Adaptation without Purpose becomes Madness."
One of the forms pointed at him with a twisted, clawed hand.
> "Choose your reason, or your power will choose for you."
The stone beneath his feet cracked.
> "You must anchor your evolution, or become prey to it."
Kaito gasped—and snapped back to reality.
He was on the ground, palms bleeding.
The stone? Gone.
But the mark on his chest now formed a circle within a spiral.
---
End Scene – Kaito's Room
Kaito stared into the mirror again.
And this time, his reflection didn't smile.
It spoke.
> "You're not the only version of yourself learning how to adapt."
Kaito stepped back.
The mirror image moved closer.
> "Some of us already finished evolving."
The glass spiderwebbed with cracks.