It was a day like any other in the citadel surrounding the academy. The bustle of students mingled with shopkeepers shouting their bargains, the aroma of freshly baked bread filled the air, and laughter escaped from the crowded cafés.
Tokura Yoshi walked with his hands in his pockets, his figure gliding through the crowd. The inn he was staying at served decent food, but his palate was already tired of the monotony. Snacks, some personal hygiene items, and perhaps a new book to distract his mind from the disturbing dreams: that was his goal.
He stopped in front of a general shop, considering entering, when a moving figure caught his eye. A few metres away, inside another shop, a girl was checking products at the counter.
Hair as black as the abyss. Eyes of deep crimson.
His heart skipped a beat.
Kyria.
Without thinking, he hid in a narrow corridor between two buildings. From his hiding place, he watched. He saw her pick up a bag of medicinal herbs and examine it closely. Her movements were graceful, smooth. No one would have guessed that beneath that appearance was a predator.
In the midst of his tension, his mind began to work. To remember.
Noble families sometimes carried special skills inherited through their bloodlines. His family, the Tokugawa, was one of them. The activation of the bloodline usually occurred when an individual reached a particular threshold of power. When that happened, the light-haired ones usually transformed into beings with white hair and glowing sky-blue eyes. While those with dark hair would become pitch black.
However, there was another, rarer and more dangerous method: insanity.
A forced awakening. An overflow of power that broke the bearer's mind, driving him to indiscriminate murder of every living thing nearby.
Yoshi frowned.
The problem was that Kyria showed no sign of trying to hide her condition!
She recalled a crucial episode from the light novel: "Even in filth, a jewel shines". Kyria, in that story, was chasing a family traitor. When cornered in an alleyway, she smiled serenely and, before slaughtering her attackers, uttered words that now echoed in Yoshi's mind like warning bells.
-I guess I can't hide it anymore... I'll have to get serious....
And then:
-Oh, that's right! You are all traitors... If I kill you right here, my family will never know of my awakening.
He then used his special ability: "Bloodline Control".
An ability to suppress or manipulate at will the power flow of his inheritance.
But here, in front of him, the Kyria he watched made no effort to conceal her nature. Her ebony hair and crimson eyes confirmed it: something had changed radically.
This was not a normal awakening.
She had crossed the threshold into madness.
But she wasn't acting like a maniac on a rampage! She wasn't attacking anyone! She was smiling, talking politely to the shopkeeper, paying for her purchases!
The answer was obvious and terrifying: his ability "Bloodline Control" not only allowed him to hide his strength. He was now using it to suppress the brutal uncontrol that should accompany his state of madness.
In short: Kyria was, at this moment, a living bomb. A repressed madness about to explode, sustained only by her dark will.
Yoshi backed slowly down the aisle. His plans to buy snacks and staples were forgotten. His priority was now one:
Move away from her. Return to her inn. Barricade yourself in your room.
He turned and walked quickly through the crowd, dodging passers-by, not daring to look back.
He knew that his presence near Kyria could be a trigger. And the last thing he wanted was to be the spark that ignited that powder keg.
As he ran back, a single phrase pounded in his head:
-She can't go back... and neither can I!
The city was still alive and vibrant all around him. But for Yoshi, there was only darkness growing in the corners of his world.